Rei didn’t know what happened.

With her Nascent Essence second stage realm, she lacked the most useful tool an adventurer obtains once they reach the Tempered Essence realm, that is, their seventh sense.

Without it, she couldn’t feel the essence gathering just ten feet away from her.

Or, to be more accurate, she shouldn’t.

For some reason she didn’t quite understand, a part of her was perceiving a wind of sorts, howling towards the direction she had last seen Avaln.

She felt her chest pounding. Even her body knew something big was happening, yet her mind couldn’t wrap around it.

“Who are you?” She asked, yet no one answered.

Suddenly, a lonely emotion found nest inside her heart. She didn’t know why.

She didn’t know why a tear fell down her cheek.

She didn’t know what happened.

She didn’t know.

As the world’s essence receded as the tide, Avaln let out a calm breath, half-opened eyes shining with new comprehension.

He learnt two valuable facts from his success. The first, there was a subtle yet definite difference between absorbing a creature’s essence and the world’s. The former was relatively easy in comparison if one had a secret refinement art; Avaln modified his to be able to do so, as it originally wasn’t meant to —as far as he knew― but he could now sort of understand the principles behind refinement arts:

They were meant to transfer the essence of a creature while adjusting the efficiency to the adventurer, or rather, to their own absorption capacity. Avaln, under normal circumstances, would have had a real hard time taking in just one demon boar’s essence, yet because of the disparity between his essence circulation and his refinement level, one could say he artificially improved his own absorption capacity.

And after ten years of abstinence, the rate at which he could do so was also quite above the average. His assertion was based on how much he researched how to become an adventurer, and he never heard of someone breaking through two minor realms in just a matter of days, not even at his meager Nascent Essence level.

Among the many reasons young, misinformed would-be adventurers died when trying to refine their essence for the first time, was their lack of patience after breaking through to the second stage, as they needed to stabilize their refinement level first, which could take from a month to a year depending on their aptitude.

Yet Avaln’s clover-like circulation helped him greatly.

As for absorbing the world’s essence, such an endeavor required much more time in comparison, and the very essence seemed to possess some kind of sentience, as it probed and tested Avaln before rushing in. What’s more, it seemed to further test him right before he leveled up.

Avaln’s mind stumbled upon a hint of truth, and he felt a certain enlightenment, like an idea he could almost touch yet was right out of his grasp. However, the more he sought to shape it into something intelligible, the more it escaped him, to the point of losing that feeling entirely.

A bitter smile surged on his features then, as if waking up from a dream.

He sighed, and focused again.

The second thing he learnt was rather disappointing, although he quickly let go of such a feeling as it didn’t do justice to how much he’d gained.

But it was a fact he couldn’t, and shouldn’t repeat that method of refinement.

At least, not for a while.

There were two reasons that led him to such conclusion:

First, he lacked experience. The results obtained were quite promising, yet he found an unexpected resistance when trying to pull at the demon boar’s essence once they were stripped from their demonic attribute, as if their essence was heavier than the world’s, which led him to strain his circulation to its limit.

It felt like recovering once’s balance at the edge of a dark, deep cliff. The only way he could avoid such unnecessary risks in the future would be by acquiring experience and knowledge to better choose them.

As for the second reason…

Right there Avaln was dealing with a new situation. After examining himself, he found out his essence circulation still couldn’t quite calm down despite his attempts at stabilizing it, albeit he was successful to a certain degree. It seemed this time the process would take longer than after his first advancement.

Fortunately, the consequences didn’t seem to be harsh, as he didn’t feel anything wrong with his body. Actually, he felt great. Same as last time, his fatigue had been washed away and his muscles seemed to have been further enhanced with new found strength. He closed his hand into a fist.

He could finally fight on equal ground.

He shook his head.

In comparison, given his means he could probably take on demon boars much more easily than your common Nascent Essence third stage adventurer. After advancing twice, he finally realized the effect of his enhanced circulation on his body and soul became exponentially stronger as his refinement increased.

Right now, if that brat Hallen were to punch him, he would probably not feel a thing.

And if a demon boar were to hit him with all its strength, he would certainly be hurt, but nothing he couldn’t just brush off.

His lips curled in satisfaction. One step.

One step closer.

“Uh?” He muttered in surprise then, as he set his gaze on the place the two demon boar bodies were.

As a certain incredulous expression took hold of his features, he witnessed a process he quickly recalled reading about when studying how to become an adventurer: The Unlinking.

Normally, when a creature dies, their essence slowly but surely returns to the cycle, as their flesh rots or becomes food for others. However, when an adventurer absorbs their essence, such a process takes on a whole new form; Down to their bones, they turn grey then gently dissolve into ash.

The name came from the analogy of removing a link from a chain.

Being able to see the process up close put Avaln into a sort of trance, his mind darting among foggy, unshaped thoughts about how essence and life were related...

“Master Avaln?” a female voice called out to him, cutting his thoughts.

Rei approached him, which worried him and annoyed him with the same weight.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come out until I called you?” He suppressed his annoyance, for even he felt a bit disgusted by it, seeing as the girl had nothing but worry painted in her cute features.

“Well, that strange wind stopped, so I... “She muttered, slightly abashed, but more confused than anything.

Avaln lifted an eyebrow upon hearing her. “Wind?”

She nodded. “I felt a strange wind rushing towards the place you are right now. I didn’t know what it was, but when it stopped…” Her voice faded into nothingness, feeling like she had done something wrong.

Avaln’s annoyance was blown off as if it never existed to begin with.

In fact, it was replaced with a sudden surprise, as a gentle smile was drawn on his expression. “Thank you, Rei. I’m fine, as you can see. Better than fine even.”

She looked up, then suddenly blushed and averted her eyes, as if she didn’t know where to set her eyes. It was then when Avaln realized that somehow his shirt had been torn apart, revealing his torso.

It was a cheap shirt, with weak seams, and in his first fight with a demon boar he rolled on the ground countless times, so after thrusting his spear with all his strength it had finally given in.

Worst part was that he didn’t have anything to put on, but at least it was only his upper half… so it should be fine, right?

That night, Rei rested while Avaln kept watch. He doubted another demon boar would suddenly appear, given the majority of them seemed to have migrated southwest, but he still let his seventh sense out, using the opportunity to test his new limits.

Before, he could only reach a twenty steps radius...

But now, he realized his seventh sense had made a huge leap to fifty steps! The details he could sense were much more complex now too, as he could even glimpse tiny life forms like worms and insects and recognize them through their shape.

In fact, he could sense shapes much more clearly, something he found out by accident when he swept Rei in search of any damage she might have suffered during his reckless experiment. The detail with which he suddenly sensed her body was… not appropriate, to say the least.

He made a mental note not to do so again unless absolutely necessary.

Luckily, she seemed to be perfectly fine. In fact, she was probably on the verge of advancing to the Nascent Essence third stage. It seemed that, even if unwillingly, she had benefited from being in the proximity of his secret art, something he made sure to keep in a corner of his mind for later use and study.

Besides, the fact that she had even partially woken up her seventh sense spoke highly of her aptitude towards essence.

He’d be sure to praise her if she ever got used to him being half-naked.

Avaln spent the rest of the night studying his secret art, looking for something similar to what he had done and for further guidance, and after not having much luck, went to sleep as Rei took over.

His comprehension progressed at a good pace, but by the time the first ray of sunlight pierced through the leaves outside, he knew a certain moment had come —With Avaln having reached the Nascent Essence third stage realm, and their provisions on the quick path to running out, the time had come for them to depart towards Gale.

So he explained to Rei, once she seemed a bit more used to seeing him without a shirt.

“But… how are we going to find our way?” She asked, and another moment which Avaln feared, arrived.

“I think… I know where to find the map you spoke of.” He stared at her intently, watching her reaction, which as he expected went from confusion, to realization, then sadness.

“So… Master Avaln found them.” She cast her gaze downward.

“Yes.”

“Before meeting me?”

“Yes.”

Silence made itself known for a few breaths, then Avaln couldn’t help but ask “Do you feel I betrayed you?”

She shook her head immediately, which surprised him. “My uncle always says an objective hunter is a living hunter.” The memory of her home seemed to relax her somewhat. “And Master Avaln is so kind that he probably didn’t want to hurt me if it wasn’t necessary.”

He scratched his nose out of embarrassment at her casual remark.

“Could you show me?” The fact that she dropped the titles meant she was serious about her request.

Avaln nodded. At the beginning he had been prepared to go there alone, but he was also against the idea, as separating didn’t feel like a good plan. The fact that she asked him to take her there became actually a great help.

And so, their steps quickly took them through the forest; First to the stream, as it was on their way and they had no way to bring some water with them, hence they needed to fill their needs now; Then, to the forest clearing, both with their guard up as they approached the place Avaln had marked on the map inside his mind. Since obtaining his Tower of Babylon, he could remember anything quite easily, as long as the memories were from his own experience and not Sgithe’s, which required the help of the blue book.

A full stick of incense later, Avaln stopped in his tracks. His seventh sense was powerful enough now to know the exact shape the corpses were in, after days of being exposed to the elements and beasts, and the idea of Rei looking at them didn’t seem as good as before.

So he turned around, and gave her a stern gaze. “I think I should go alone.”

She shook her head. “I appreciate Master Avaln’s kindness. It’s a sweet, wonderful thing which has given me strength so far... but it's my wish and my duty to see their remains.” Her cute features wore a mature expression which astounded him. “Please, allow me to use the strength Master has given me.”

Avaln sighed, then nodded. Her gratitude felt like a dagger slicing his heart.

They soon entered the clearing.

As he expected, the elements and fauna had not been kind to their bodies. The smell of decay was also quite evident, and although he was able to suppress his reaction, Rei bent over, with her delicate hands covering her mouth.

The sight in front of them was not welcoming. Bone and flesh mixed in a myriad of nightmares, while black birds feasted on what was left of the party that had departed from Gale more than a week ago. Some corpses were almost only bone, cleaned by demon boars most likely, while others still had half their face, staring eyeless at the beast that had already killed them.

One could say the latter was even worse.

Rei couldn’t hold it anymore, and let out what little her stomach carried.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… “She muttered, and Avaln didn’t need to look at her to know tears, big as pearls blurred her vision.

What startled him though was that she ran to him, hugged him… and began to finally cry her heart out.

Avaln returned her embrace, warming her trembling shoulders, as the top of her head fit beneath his jaw. Despite the scene that surrounded them, his heart was calm.

“Why?” He interrogated himself, almost annoyed.

Not many breaths passed before he found the answer.

“Of course.” Was his realization translated into unspoken words.

He had actually forgotten about it.

As Rei’s shoulders convulsed because of her unrelenting tears, Avaln’s purple gaze took the clearing in, solemnity filling his chest as the sight of death mirrored the one inside his mind, from when he was but an eight year old boy, the flames licking the sky as it ate at the village he had lived in.

Blood, entrails, screams, skulls caved in, chests pierced, hands extended in one last attempt at holding on to life...

His heart was calm...

Because it wore a scar.