The slump carnivore lied motionless in front of them, lifeless as the blood flowed from the cut torso. Arlene stood still poised with her sword looking over the dead predator. Her shoulder tensed until the smell of iron hit her nose, letting her exhale in relief for a finished fight. She lowered her arm and flourished her sword, wiping the blood off. She sheathed her sword.

  The forest still glowed in Arlene’s light clashing against the slowly dimming overloaded spark of Gavituth. Electric currents still shot out and arch around the predator. Surrounding them were trees felled or scorched. The smell of burnt wood, iron bloods, and whatever concoctions Anire threw during the fight filled the air. Of ash, metallic and sweet perfume?

  Anire strode to the animal. For someone who was chugging health vials repeatedly, she was walking like nothing happened. Few strains of her hair still stood from the current flowing through the ground.

  “Hmm~” She spoke rubbing her palms together. “I wonder what caused the overload?” Her voice was full of glee and wonder, circling around the animal. She poked her finger to touch the scale, immediately jerked back after. “Still electrifying hehe~”

  While Anire laughed with glee trying to study the corpse. Wattyson limped to Arlene’s side with a branch used as a walking stick.

  “You alright?” Arlene asked watching this weirdo dragging himself as if he was a penguin.

  “Yeah, I’m alright. You?”

  She exhaled as her body lessen in tension. “I’m alright yeah. I doubt we need to check on her.” She eyed to the explorer hopping around the corpse. “So how’s your injury? You got crushed on by it.”

  Wattyson pulled up his clothes showing a perfectly fine torso. No abs though.

  Her hands covered her face. “Alright alright, you’re fine!” Sighed as he finally let back down. “Watty?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Why were you… using tree branches the size of an average person as weapons?”

  “Well,” he mused to himself, “You have to fight nature with nature.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. How did you even get those branches?”

  “I was running around gathering them while you both were fighting.”

  “Okay but,” She turned to the pile of branches still assembled far. “Why didn’t you just… pull your weapons out from your maginithingy?”

  “Maginithingy?”

  “You know, your black hole storage thing!”

  “Ehhh… I don’t want to use it in front of other people.”

  “You used it the first time we met though?”

  “I trust you.”

  A small gasp. “Really? You trust me? Then… can you answer me honestly about yourself from now on?”

  “I just don’t trust you enough.”

  “Of course…”

  She shifted her hand and jabbed Wattyson on the arm before walking off to Anire. That explorer was concocting more vials whilst sitting few meters from the corpse. There were broken shards near the dead animal.

  Strode over and looking over Anire’s shoulder, the content of the bag wasn’t what she expected. There were no glass vials inside. Rune tablets. Rune magic was creating portal every time Anire shoved her hand inside to a storage revolving shelves wherever the portal was.

  “You’re a runesmith as well, Anire?” She questioned as she squatted next to the explorer. Careful to not trip any standing vials held by small holes in the dirt.

  “I’m not, but I paid for this bag~ Quite expensive!” giggled the neko. “I can grab everything I need from my home. This bag is my lifeline!”

  She pulled out a vial, one in pink liquid and scented with strawberry. “Here, have a drink Chosen One~”

  Noticing the Chosen One leaned back a bit, she giggled again. “It’s just strawberry drink. I promise.”

  Arlene took a deep breath and took the vial, knocking the knob off the tip and whispered a prayer, gulping down the drink. It was strawberry and sweet. “Hey this is quite nice.”

  “Hehe~ I made them with crystalized sugars mixing with the assorted ingredients.”

  “Got some for the whole party?” asked the weirdo limping to them now.

  “Of course, Test Sub- Wattyson~!” Anire hurled out three more vials to the quick hand Wattyson.

  He drank all three vials at once. “Diabetes this.”

  With narrow eyes to him, Arlene spoked. “Did you seriously just drank all at once?”

  “She gave me three at once. I assumed I have to drink all three.”

  “There’s more~” Anire gave him and Arlene more of the drinks. “While you’re drinking the sweet vials. I need some help discharging the corpse.”

  The corpse in front of them was still discharging current all around the body. In short intervals, sparks arched around. The glow dimmed in blue.

  “I need some parts of it to qualify this quest as a success!” She stood now pointing near the neck, her head leaned back with eyes shifting to both of them. “You can start there to ground the creature, don’t use fire. It’ll overload the lightning organ near the lung.”

  She quickly lifted her free hand with two fingers out. “Then of course, help me cut out that organ! It is the size of a bamboo ball.” Three fingers out. “Lastly! I need help with the heart! As Chosen One already cut a deep one on its torso, should be easy~”

  Arlene twisted her arms, spinning around to loosen her joints. “How do you ground that?”

  “Use your ice magic!”

  “I see… so you want me to freeze the neck?”

  “Very slowly! Doing it to fast will just make the overloaded organ break through the shell. Doing it slowly cool the organ while also trapping the spark inside the ice shell.”

  “I see,” she turned to Wattyson and nudged him with a kick to the shin. “You’re up, Watty.”

  “Eh? I don’t know ice magic.” He quickly reached to his pant pocket and pulled out the glimmering guild ID. Showing in all its glory his magic aptitude of A+ Fire and B+ Earth. Everything else was F.

  Another kick to the shin, “Please…” with both hands clasping together.

  “Ughh… you and your puppy eyes. Fine,” grumbled the weirdo as he limped to the body.

  Arlene quickly squatted again near Anire and whispered, “Hey, stop whatever you’re doing. I need your help.”

  “Help I will give, Chosen One~ what is it?”

  “Use your ability to see mana flow. Aren’t you interested to see how he’s able to use magic?”

  Anire beamed at her. “Ahh~ The Chosen One is so kind! I almost forgot from how excited I was harvesting Gavituth. Yes, I will!”

  The two watched him stepped forward hunched. The corpse sparked across still fierce it could flow current through the dirt yet Wattyson was fine. Even Anire when she got close, her hair strains would shoot up. His ashen grey hair was fine, swaying from the occasional winds.

  His hand didn’t jerk back as he placed on the black striped scale neck. Up close, he could see the grey fur atop swirling upward from the sparks. A deep breath he took as he pressed gently and tracing left and right on it. The scale stiffened as it froze. The air was visible from his breath. His entire body shivering. The winds the blew passed the corpse to the two felt cold.

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  Through the vision of the ruby lined eyes of Anire, the world was filled with mana. Everything had mana, yet right now the being near the corpse had none. Only nineteen people in the world she knew of were devoid of mana. Wattyson was the twentieth. He was the only one of the twentieth doing something they couldn’t. Using magic.

  The void figure didn’t change yet everything around it was getting sucked in, like air rushing in to fill a blank spot. The sprawling leaves cluttering on the grounds, the trees even the fell one, and the corpse’s mana were all swirling to him. She then noticed the ground itself began to coat him in mana as if to tether him to the world itself.

  Frost was beginning to form on the neck, reaching out in a pattern akin to a star reaching out before the gap filled in a hexagon. The sparks were arching around less and less. The furs slowly swivelled and curled down.

  That frost was filled with mana. Anire’s grinned wider and wider. She held her hand up to cover how much her smile stretched. Giggling out erratically but muffled from her shut hand.

  “Anire?” Arlene whispered seeing the shaking Anire. “What are you seeing? Are you alright?”

  Anire didn’t answer. Her gaze sharpened to the lung area of Gavituth instead. The organ that was shooting out electrical currents began to do so less now. The mana sparks bounced off the ice particle surrounding the organ, dying out.

  She wanted to see more. Not of the reaction from one element discharging Gaviuth’s corpse, but how did Wattyson do it? How was he able to channel mana and cast magic? She needed to understand. This was fascinating.

  “Anire!”

  Her giggle came to a stop looking to the Chosen One’s nudging her. Her grin was still worn. “Y-Y-Yes?”

  “Are you alright? You can stop if you’re…”

  “I’m fine, Chosen One~. I’m even more fine… I’m thrilled, hehe. I want to see more. How do the process work? How does he— “

  Two hands held tightly, groping tightly on Anire. Arlene locked eyes with her. “Breathe. Deep breath.” Seeing Anire doing the breathing exercise, she added, “I doubt you can find the answer you seek. He barely knows himself.” Her eyes sharpened in the corner. “If you then seek your answers through other means that harm him…”

  “I won’t~” Anire shook lightly. “I told you, didn’t I? I never do anything without consent.”

  “Alright…” A breath of relief exhaled from Arlene. “Come on, he finished his part. Let’s get that organ and the heart.”

  The strong electrical current had ceased. They didn’t feel frizzly any longer. Anire’s hair went to normal, her ear twitching slightly. Her gaze remained on Wattyson.

  “Watty! Can you handle carving the organ out?”

  “Eh? With what?”

  “Here!”

  She threw the hilt of her sword first to Wattyson who caught with both hands.

  “You could’ve killed me!”

  “I didn’t!” A playful smirk on the Chosen One. “I’ll help Anire carve out the heart!”

  Wattyson grunted acknowledging it. He aimed the sharp end against the frozen neck and figured out immediately. Maybe sharp object wouldn’t work. He began using handguard as a hammer instead, clanking away the ice.

  Anire stood near the cut part of Gavituth’s torso, reaching down into her bag and pulling out two sturdy knives. “Here,” she handed over the giant cleaver to Arlene.

  The two got to work, enlarging the cut and cleaving through the inside of Gavituth for the heart.

  “Anire,” She pulled out the rest of the gut. “Mind answering some questions?”

  “Of course, Chosen One~”

  “You said… you suspected there might be byproduct of the Dark Lord’s war here. You showed me that vial with fluids you claimed are made from them. Yet, this creature we fought isn’t that byproduct.”

  “Correct~ Gavituth is a natural animal, an apex up in the far tundra north!”

  “So… the danger of that byproduct is still in the forest then?”

  “Hmmm…” Anire broke into a grin. “I don’t know yet… but!” She raised her pointy finger while her free arm was cutting away the inside and pushing them out. “It could be the reason why Gavituth migrated all the way here in the south as an invasive species.”

  “Something is forcing it down?”

  “Perhaps, Gavituth is the apex predator in its eco-system. It was so efficient their species evolve to fight only. Other animals would retreat if they are injured. Gavituth doesn’t because there isn’t anything to threaten up there. Even other people.”

  She paused to ponder. “If there’s anything to push it down… it could be nature’s coincidence or there’s really a monster of the Dark Lord’s tech. The heart should give us a clue~”

  “You suspect the heart might include that fluid?”

  “Yes~, Prolong exposure or some kinds of intake from fight or otherwise might inject it.” She stepped back and pulled that vial of purple then black then red and repeat. “This liquid is corrupted blood~. Found commonly in the demons and the Dark Lord’s machinations. What it does to natural animals I do not know… I hope it’s in that heart so I can analyze further.”

  Blood spewed out covering Anire’s coat. “Heh… for a displaced animal, it’s sure is meaty.”

  They made their way to the ribcage now, shifting the meat out as they braced through the smell of flesh. They made it to the lung and pushed through, finding the elemental organ. It was of smooth blue orb the size of a bamboo ball.

  Arlene stretched in to grab it, her hand jolted over and felt like she was touching glass marble rather than fleshy organ. It was slippery, too slippery. She reached in further, using both hands instead as a sort of friction to nudge the organ closer. It slipped across the still not cut out lung and soon enough Arlene managed to pull it out, snatching it off any meats connecting to it.

  “Here,” she tossed to Anire. Anire caught it with her bag like it was some sort of magical basketball hoops.

  Arlene took a few steps back looking over to Gavituth’s neck, to Wattyson. Extracting that organ was his job yet she managed to do it. What was he doing?

  He was still hammering the frozen neck with the handguard.

  She shook her head with a sigh and returning back to the task at hand, extracting the heart. Her attempt to pull that organ out earlier cleared the way to extract the heart easier. It was the size of a watermelon yet much rounder.

  “Let me~” said Anire as she dived into Gavituth, tunnelling through the ribcage and the lungs. Squeezing her ways through with her cleaver out front, she cut the stems connected to the heart and wiggled her way out. Her entire body covered in blood.

  She put the heart and tools down, and faced both palms to herself just shy off her chest. “By Ysoiea’s Grace, Cleanse me of impure mess!” She chanted out. Soon after, her entire body glowed in green and the blood flowed off her like she was made of oil. “Much better.”

  “That’s not how the chant goes.”

  “It doesn’t matter~ As long as the important bit is invoked.”

  The heart laid bare on the coarse dirt filled with fallen leaves. It was motionless, lifeless… as one would expect from a dead organ.

  Arlene squatted and eyed it further, through the stems hole and the heart entirety. “How are you going to find out if it has those liquid or not.”

  “Stand back~” Anire reached down to her bag and brought out more vials in red and orange. She threw them. Direct impact on the heart, entombing glass shards into it and releasing mist of red and orange.

  A beat, then few, then more. The heart was pulsing with life. It was beating erratically, increasing more and more in its tempo.

  “It’s not going to generate blood or anything.”

  “I don’t need it too. If the corrupted blood here functions the same as that in demons… it should,”

  Right on cue, ooze of purple flowed out the stem. Only enough for a small puddle, it surrounded the heart. It was purple at first before hissing out burning to black and finally settled to red.

  “What’s that noise?” Wattyson peeked over before returning to his task, unaware the organ was already extracted out.

  Anire giggled to herself while Arlene looked skeptical over this, her arms crossed at the sight. “What does this mean, Anire?”

  “It means… there is something in the far tundra infecting them. How it affects Gavituth to migrate all the way south,” She had a smile stretched from ear to ear facing Arlene. Pausing to let the implication sank in. “I don’t know!” She shrugged.

  “What do you mean you don’t know?!”

  “This is new to me! Now with the elemental organ, and the heart. I should be able to experiment further.” She reached down and kicked the heart into the bag. “I’ll update you further when I make any success~. How long will you be staying in Toulasi.”

  “A week.”

  “Splendid! I’ll find you. Also,” A small tip toe to the Chosen One, voice fell to a whisper. “Can you help convince your companion to be my test subject~.”

  “You— “

  “Don’t you want to find out about his void of mana nature?”

  Arlene clenched her fists. Would this hurt him? But… He always say ‘I am what I am’ as if he wasn’t even sure who he is… and I want to know too. If it could shed some lights on him. Ughh…

  She groaned even more after. “Fine. I’ll try but don’t expect anything.”

  “Yatta! Thank you Chosen One~” Anire clapped her hands’ sleeves together.

  “Watty! You can stop now, we got it.”

  “Huh?” He limped over, using the longsword as walking stick. “When?”

  “When you’re too busy hammering like you’re sculpting. Let’s return to the city.”

  “Don’t you want to see my masterpiece?”

  “Wait… so you were sculpting?!”

  The trio strode to the frozen neck. It had a pine tree etched into it with a star on top. Even the leaves had its precise corners.

  Anire clapped again this times with her meaty hands. “Impressive~ Wattyson. You should be a sculptor!”

  “Thank you, neko girl.”

  “Anire~”

  “Thank you, Anire.” He turned to the two. “At least someone appreciate fine craftsman.”

  Arlene’s hand dragged across her face. She leaned to take her sword off him and sheathing on the dangling scabbard off her hip. “Alright, let’s teleport back.”

  Wattyson rubbed his hands off the cold frost. “Ah, not walking this time?”

  “I don’t think we can find our way back in the middle of the forest.”

  Arlene grabbed hold of Wattyson’s hand and Anire’s. Her mind raced to the memory of Toulasi. Her mana raced to the world, to the crystal embedded somewhere in Toulasi, to the time she attuned to it four years ago. Their visions began to blur with blue lights streaking in.

  She began chanting the teleportation spell. “Helios’s Dawn” she whispered out.

  Nothing.

  The blurry vision stopped.

  They didn’t teleport.

  Arlene realized they didn’t teleport. Redness blinked through her cheeks and settled into bright pink. “How?!” She stomped multiple times.

  Wattyson was crossing his arms, looking up to the thick canopy. “That was very… disappointing.”

  “No! Teleporting is a mesmerizing process! How did that not…” She looked to Anire who was smirking, her ruby darted eyes told story of knowing. “What is it?”

  “It could be because Wattyson is void of mana~. There is nothing to transfer over.”

  “Huh?”

  “Yes, test subj— Wattyson~. Your lack of mana at all is incompatible with teleportation magic. I had seen this happened with others devoid of mana. Looks like yours the same.”

  “What the fuck? I just found out through you today I had no mana and now I can’t even teleport the first time.” He just started walking off, kicking small branches.

  Arlene’s shoulders slumped briefly before rising back up with resilience. “It’s fine. I enjoy walking anyway! Feels more adventurous that way.” Much to the dismay of Wattyson as he groaned.

  The forest looked the same safe for the Gavituth’s corpse. Trees, fallen logs, pile of branches, a hot dog stand, and rows of fallen leaves.

  Anire stood silently, waiting for Arlene to decide which direction to take. She was fidgeting and hopping side way.

  “Which way again…” Arlene scratched her head to the seemingly still environment. She felt a nudge on her shoulder after. Wattyson poked her shoulder twice then pointed to a far off distance, a small boulder looking silhouette.

  A boulder? Oh! The Unobios carcass!

  Without further ado she beckoned the two to follow. Reaching the Unobios and then retraced their steps back to civilization.