Sina could barely believe her own eyes. The entire sight seemed not only illogical but also rather comical. The massive axe she used to chop rockbark weighed so much that one would often need both hands to carry it around. That, however, did not seem to concern Alma one bit. She was walking beside the elven woodcarver as if she had just decided to go for a little stroll around the town, not showing any signs of trouble holding the massive instrument in one hand and only sometimes letting it gently rest against her shoulder.

"You really don't find it heavy?" Sina couldn't help but ask.

"Nope. Not one bit," the girl replied and examined the beautifully maintained blade of the instrument.

"And... that is all part of the whole soullessness?"

"Yup."

"Huh... Glavie wasn't joking. You really are a little miracle."

Alma's face heated up with the blood suddenly rushing under her skin. She was not used to words of flattery. For most people, her condition was a curse, rather than something that would be admired. She partially felt such a mentality even in the case of Glavas. His fear that others might wish to abuse her power was reasonable, and yet, the girl quietly wished for him to see it as a blessing to be used, rather than something she should hide.

"Well, we're here," Sina turned to Alma and waved her arms to the side, pointing to a small house with a single missing wall, surrounded by a crumbling wooden fence, which ran around the outdoor storage space, partially filled with wooden logs.

"Wait, that's it?!" the girl asked, turning her head back and forth. "But... that's your home... and this is where you work? That's like..."

"Across the street, yeah."

"You really live in a convenient place."

"Haha, well, I have my husband to thank for that. He built most of the city and was so kind to make this tiny shack dedicated to my work. Right here, I have all I need." Sina hopped over the fence. It seems as though she had not bothered to install a gate.

"Aren't you worried someone will rob you?"

"Rob me? Nah! That doesn't really happen out here. Those who want to steal go higher up the mountain. Why rob someone of some firewood or an unfinished chair if you can try to steal some silver plates and ornate candlesticks?" Sina grabbed a sizable chunk of wood and placed it on the chopping block. The ashen gray of the timber was unlike anything Alma would see back home. At a first glance, she could immediately understand why it was called a rockbark. If it wasn't for the tree rings indicating its age, one could easily mistake the log for a large stone. "Now, would you kindly give me my axe?"

Alma did as she asked and handed the instrument over. Watching Sina swing the tool over her head and bring it down right through the presumably incredibly tough log was nothing short of spectacular.

"Now, would you like to try?"

"Well... yeah, of course, but I don't want to break the chopping block." Alma scratched her shaved head. Given everything she knew about her power, it was almost certain that the axe would not know where to stop and would just keep on going clean through until it or the block would break.

"Oh, right. Good thinking. Hmmm... then maybe on the ground? Or..."

"Or I could just do it like this?" Sina watched as the young girl picked up one of the logs. Her fingers dug into the middle section as if it was made of sand, and with a single smooth motion, accompanied by the screams of tortured wood, she ripped it in half. The old woodworker nearly dropped her axe, managing to catch it just barely. Knowing what the girl was capable of and actually seeing it were two indescribably different experiences.

"Wow... that's..." she tried her best to find the correct word. "Are your hands okay? Do you have splinters?"

"Nope. All good!" Alma smiled and showed Sina her palms. Other than the blue, glowing, crack-shaped scars on the fingers, they seemed to be without a single scratch.

"Alright... Well, if you want to do it like this, then... sure, I guess."

"Okay."

The woman could barely come to terms with what was happening. Such a small and frail human child was tearing through the wood one by one, working faster and more efficiently than she ever could.

"You're falling behind!" Alma teased her, which finally snapped Sina out of her fascination.

"Ohoho, so a competition? It's on!" She did not waste a single moment before grabbing another piece of wood and putting her axe to work. Despite all the rush, however, she simply couldn't match Alma, who was sitting there on the ground with her legs crossed, tearing through one log after another.

To at least try to reach the girl's tempo, Sina grabbed the biggest chunk she could find and placed it onto the block. The moment she did, her husband called to her from the doorway of their home.

"Sure, but don't spend a whole day like that," she replied to his request to postpone the feast preparations, and brought down her axe with all the strength she could muster. "Ha! In one swing!" She exclaimed and grinned at the girl beside her.

Alma's eyes briefly turned to the pile of unchopped wood. There wasn't another piece of such size, but that didn't matter. She had a better idea. With Sina's jaw slowly dropping lower and lower, the girl stacked five chunks of wood on top of each other.

"Watch this," she winked at her, and with a loud "HYAAAA!", her hand chopped right through the blocks without even slowing down.

"Ah, I surrender. This is too much," Sina sighed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "You're just better at this. I can't compete with someone like you."

"Sure you can! You had to train to build up those muscles. I didn't really do anything for these powers." Alma shrugged and shredded through another log.

Sina smiled and the two continued their work quietly for the next few minutes, only at times glancing over one another to see if the other was getting tired.

"What does it even feel like? Being soulless, I mean?" Sina eventually broke through the silence.

"Hmm... Normal, I'd say. I don't feel any different than when I still had a soul. Though I guess I can't really tell that for sure."

"You can't? How so?"

"Well, I don't really remember much from before it happened."

"Was it that long ago?"

"No. It's not about that. It's like..." for a moment, Alma stopped working and instead quietly gazed at her own hands, now covered in dirt. "Like I was someone else before it happened."

"Oh, I see. So it changes one's personality?"

"No, that's not it either, it's like... UGHHH! So hard to explain! Like... what Surdi keeps telling me is that I am still mostly the same as I was before, but some small things are just different. He says that during the summer when the demon attacked, I almost always wore this light yellow dress. Can you imagine that? A dress! And a freakin' light yellow one! Oh! And sandals with flowers. For playing outside! That just sounds ridiculous to me. And on top of that, he always says that I used to have this big curly hair that went past my shoulders. Bleh! I can't imagine actually looking like that. Still think he's telling me all that just to mess with me. Although... he's usually pretty serious when talking about it."

"Well, maybe what changed isn't your personality, but tastes? Sounds pretty normal to me though. When I was little, I also dressed completely differently. My hair was still the same, but that's because I'm an elf. But in every other regard, I was pretty much completely different. So maybe it's just time, instead of a missing soul. Maybe it really doesn't have any effects on you at all. Other than the crazy unstoppable power, I mean."

Alma's eyes turned to the wooden log sitting on her lap. She slowly dug her fingers into it and gradually began tearing it in two. "That could be it. But... I honestly think there is more to that."

"More to your soullessness? Like a purpose or something?"

"Like more effects. You know, Surdi often freaks out when he remembers something from the past. He can wake up and cry, or just completely freeze if something reminds him of home. I used to get really worried because he tends to look like he isn't even paying attention to his surroundings. It just often comes to haunt him."

"Yeah, I heard Glavas talk about it yesterday. And you? Does it happen to you as well?"

"That's the point. It doesn't. When I try thinking back at what happened, I just feel... nothing. It's like it even didn't happen to me. Like I was just watching someone else's life instead of living mine. And..." Her hands stopped moving, leaving the log half-cracked. "I don't even remember important details. I know who my parents were, but I can't recall what we used to do together. I know my mother had dark hair, but I don't see whether it was straight or curly. I don't know their eyes or can't remember their voices. And... that's awful." She started ripping off tiny pieces of the bark bit by bit. "Surdi keeps having troubles like these. When it is the anniversary of his family's death, he gets sad, and when he sees something that reminds him of their hobbies or interests, he always starts feeling all under the weather. But I don't. No nightmares, no proper memories, no nothing." A single tear slid down her face. "Heh, one awesome daughter I am, huh?" Her voice trembled. "Can't even bring myself to care. I gained so much at the cost of their lives. My best friend must face lifelong consequences and I am just happily pushing my way through everything like all is fine."

Sina's axe dropped to the ground with a loud thud. She sat down beside Alma, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulder. "Come here, sweetie," she whispered as she gently pulled her closer. "You shouldn't blame yourself for all this. There is no saying what the absence of a soul can do. Maybe it simply took away some of your memories. But either way, it is not your fault. I doubt you would willingly forget someone as important as your family." She gently stroked the side of Alma's head. "And it seems to me like you both have it difficult. You as much as Surdi."

"You haven't seen it! You don't know what it's like to have someone close to you go through what Surdi has to!"

"You are right. I don't know what it's like. But it seems to me that you don't have it easy either. Think about what is happening right now. Those feelings probably originate from that particular event. You both carry different burdens. Comparing them or feeling like life dealt you better cards will only make it hurt more. I saw only briefly how you two get along, but I can tell you are good friends. I'm sure Surdi wouldn't want you to blame yourself for something out of your control."

Alma wiped the second incoming tear out of her eye before it could have a chance to escape. "Right. Heh, wow, I'm not feeling okay. Maybe it's not really as easy to talk about as I thought."

"It's alright. Sometimes, certain things can seem easy at first, but get a lot more difficult when we actually get to them. Like chopping down a rockbark tree. It looks thin and wimpy, but then your axe gets stuck, and you spend half an hour just getting it out. Not sure if speaking about troubling past functions the same way as woodcutting, but who knows? Maybe it's more similar than one might think."

"Yeah, things are never as easy as one would anticipate. That's just life." Alma stood up, headed over to the pile of wood, and grabbed another piece. "Well come on. It's not gonna chop itself."

"Are you sure you want to do this? I can take you to Glavas or Surdi if you'd want some better company. Or if you wish to be alone for a moment, the house should be..."

"It's fine. I'll be okay, I promise. Right now, this is just what I need. Something simple to focus on to clear my head." Just as before, she tore through the wood and tossed the chunks over to the finished pile.