Two hours passed in relative silence, aside from the incessant sound of a scribbling pen and, of course, the carriage’s creaking wheels as it rolled over the road.

  That road, by the way, was becoming less and less refined as time went on.

  Well, this much was to be expected; the place they were headed was’t exactly a popular spot for sightseeing.

  The five Healers were indecisively racking their brains.

  A little earlier, their sorcerer abruptly buzzed in, and what followed first and foremost was reproach:

  ”So… You idiots got caught in the end.”

  It was easy to image what sort of expression must’ve been on his face.

  ”Listen, it’s not so simple! The target engaged in conversation, and we concluded that it was a good opportunity-”

  Thirteenth instantly sprung up to defend his unit.

  ”-So, you did the one thing I told you not to. You ignored my warning and drew closer when I explicitly told you not to. And now, you’re usng big words to make your actions sound justifiable. Yes?”

  But the sorcerer’s sharp words left no room for rebuttal.

  ”…Yes.”

  And so, head hung low in guilt, Thirteenth admitted to his mistake.

  ”Great job.”

  The sorcerer’s sarcasm was thick.

  ”I apologize.”

  ”Sorry.”

  ”My bad, I should’ve thought this decision thought more thoroughly.”

  One by one, every Healer chimed in with an apology of their own.

  The sorcerer silently listened before eventually letting out a long sigh.

  ”Why bother bowing down to me? It’s not like I can go a tell Dren about how sorry you lot are - this one’s for you to figure out.”

  “Are you saying the Leader isn’t with you at the moment?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying, yes. I’ve got a mission of my own, quite far away; matter of fact, even talking with you right now is draining a monstrous amount of essence every second we speak.”

  As the Healers in the cart slowly realized just how screwed they were, a dread settled over their hearts.

  “So, on that note, good luck. You’ll definitely need it to survive the Leader’s wrath.”

  “Wait, stop! What are we meant to do now?!”

  Thirteenth’s desperate voice echoed in the minds of all six linked healers, sorcerer included.

  The remaining healers mentally cheered Thirteenth on, but…

  ”That’s for you to figure out.”

  *Bzzt*

  Following an infuriatingly short parting line, the link was severed.

  …There goes our last hope.

  A thought in the mind of one Healer, yet also a sentiment shared by every Black Lake Syndicate member within the cart.

  However, that wasn’t entirely true, was it?

  After all, they had one more person they could turn to:

  Their pursue target, who’d called himself Ori. Though his real name didn’t matter, as learning about it was never part of the mission.

  Without the sorcerer to help, the Healers had no way of communicating with each other; naturally, hand gestures couldn’t work either, as the kid had already displayed his monstrous perception.

  And so, Thirteenth found himself having to do the thinking on his lonesome.

  But it wasn’t easy.

  Not as easy at it should’ve been, at least.

  Ori was a walking contradiction, everything about him just ever so slightly… Off.

  The most glaring disconnect stemmed from his apparent lack of strength.

  The kid’s a first tier at best, yet with a perception of an exalted master, if not even higher. How?

  Thirteenth couldn’t simply dismiss it as a misread, as the rest of his unit had also confirmed Ori’s level.

  Silencing him should be a piece of cake for the five healers.

  Still, Thirteenth’s instincts, honed through an endless amount of life and death battles, warned him of something murky at play.

  It wasn’t just Ori’s unnaturally high perception, either.

  Sure, some artists practiced techniques which let them enhance one sense much more than the rest, turning them into a ‘master of one’ type of person.

  But, was that really the case with this one?

  No way.

  The answer came instantly, as if already lodged in Thirteenth’s brain.

  In the first place, their unit wouldn’t have been sent out to monitor Ori, were he to be someone unremarkable.

  And, while they could escape the worst possible punishment by preventing any information leaks, it also meant that their mission will have ended in a failure.

  Dren doesn’t waste manpower. There’s a reason Ori’s worth watching, I’m sure.

  Thirteenth reasoned with himself, coming up with one logical explanation after another - that was a farce.

  Behind the curtains of rationale laid a strong, emotional undercurrent.

  It was the healer’s sixth sense…

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  No, wouldn’t it be my seventh sense, since essence perception is - by definition - a sixth sense..?

  Deciding that the pointless pedantry was a dead end, the healer placed his thoughts back on track:

  First and foremost, Ori’s blatant lack of fear stood out as odd.

  Even the carriage driver, despite being an Apex level fighter, showed strong wariness upon seeing us.

  That was the normal reaction.

  Ori, though?

  He was completely composed, as if the our fearsome reputation didn’t matter to him.

  Secondly, his eyes were strange.

  The kid had the look of someone who’d given up on life long ago - the same kind of eyes that slum dwellers possessed.

  Dead, or cold, or detached; or, most probably, all of the above.

  His pain tolerance didn’t seem entirely normal, either.

  Thirteenth’s brows furrowed as he recalled the scene he’d witnessed upon first entering the carriage - in it, Ori was already seated, with a three deep gashes on his neck.

  That wasn’t what took Thirteenth aback, however; may people inflicted wounds upon themselves, whether it be for training or as a way of expressing internal anguish.

  But the kid didn’t even realize what he was doing to himself.

  There was no pained expression on his face, nor any masochistic elation.

  In fact, didn’t he only notice the wound after droplets of blood splattered on the floor?

  It really seemed like the level of pain, which would’ve sent most people into teary wails, didn’t even register with Ori.

  Everything, together, painted the picture of a well with something sinister inside.

  It was not a well Thirteenth desired to peek inside.

  I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling, but… This kid is really damn unsettling.

  “Mm? Whatcha staring at?”

  *Flinch*

  Thirteenth’s body instinctively went on high alert when Ori’s eyes, previously glued to his notebook, slowly raised with a red flicker.

  “Don’t start sweating bullets, if you will - I don’t do well with scared animals.”

  Those matter of factly words brought the tense Healer out of his momentary stupor.

  He’s right, I have no reason to be so on edge. But, how did he notice?

  And, more than that… What did he mean by ‘I don’t do well with scared animals’?

  Before he could dwell on the question any further - like a mere figment of the imagination - Ori’s eyes reverted back to the usual, dim crimson.

  As soon as the red glimmer left Ori’s eyes, so did Thirteenth’s inexplicable tension.

  Everything reverted back to the norm.

  Though, defining norm in this situation was rather difficult.

  Huh? What? Was I seeing things?

  Brushing past the Healer’s confusion, Ori opened his mouth to speak once more:

  “Good timing, actually. I was getting bored of staring at papers. Why don’t we lay down some groundwork?”

  With those words, he tucked the notebook back into his cloak. By now, all three healers in the cabin had their eyes on him.

  The two outside, sitting beside the driver, perked up their ears.

  It seemed like, internally at least, all five of them had already made up their minds; they’d start with a civilized conversation first.

  “Yes, I think we should.”

  As the one in charge of the unit, Thirteenth took it upon himself to do the talking.

  Ori smiled faintly.

  ***

  ”Yes, I think we should.”

  The shady guy - Thirteenth I think - readily agreed, which I found a little surprising.

  So they are willing to talk, after all.

  That begs the question of why we remained silent for so damn long…

  I chose to give it no thought for now.

  “Im guessing you can’t just tell me everything, yeah? Otherwise we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.”

  ”That’s right. And the same goes for you, I assume.”

  “Yep.”

  I responded bluntly.

  “…”

  ”So, we’re at an impasse.”

  ”…”

  Okay, wow. I never realized how hard it is to talk with non responsive people.

  ”Fine then, let’s start by revealing what we can.”

  I moved the conversation along.

  “Sure.”

  Thirteenth nodded. That was my go-ahead.

  “Let’s see… Okay, so as I’ve already said, I’m named Ori; currently on my way to kill some beasts at that M shaped mountain - you know the one -, and that’s about it.”

  Content with that explanation, I leaned back against the wall and folded my arms behind my head.

  ”That’s it? Nothing else?”

  ”Well, what can I say? I’m a man of few secrets.”

  Though clearly unhappy with my shitty ‘explanation’, the healer din’t get all up in arms about it.

  “We are here to monitor your movements without interference. Our leader suspects you have a relation with an important figure, and all we are to do is confirm his suspicions; that, or dispel them.”

  ”Right. And, until you’re certain it’s one of the two, you’re gonna stay on my ass.”

  “…Unfortunately, that’s how things turned out.”

  Thirteenth’s voice carried a trace of resignation.

  Understandably so. Sounds like a rather annoying task to have.

  ”Okay.”

  So, I simply nodded once and shut my eyes.

  “…”

  The healer’s gaze, however, remained on me; eyes closed or not, I could sense the stare and it pissed me off.

  “Tch. What?”

  I lazily raised one eyelid as I spoke.

  “Uhh, is that all you wanted to know? How about sharing some more details? Like, our standing with each other, or-“

  ”-Or what? Our power levels? Ha, you may as well ask me to give you a detailed breakdown of my weaknesses.”

  My voice came out sharp.

  It looked like Thirteenth was trying to formulate a proper response; one that would be pleasing to hear, no doubt.

  But, I wasn’t gonna let him swindle me.

  ”Look, man. You’re obviously thinking of straight up killing me, if the chance arises.”

  ”…”

  The healer’s heart skipped a beat.

  “It won’t. So stay put. Stay put, and keep watch over my every move like you’d been doing thus far. And who knows? Maybe I’ll slip up and lay all my weaknesses bare? Or maybe, you’ll find that I’m not suspicious in the slightest, and you got the wrong person.”

  I stood up, taking a moment to find my balance in the swaying cart.

  “Either way, I don’t give a shit. Just don’t get in my way, yeah?”

  Right on cue, essence began to coalesce at the feet of all five healers, emitting a threatening pressure.

  They’re stronger than me. Whatever delusions they may hold, I can’t take on the five of them if a fight breaks out.

  With how things were going, though… It sure seemed like an inevitability.

  For that reason I stepped out, climbing up into the carriage’s roof to get away from their hunger awakening essence.

  I wasn’t too concerned with getting attacked out of nowhere.

  After all, these healers are just as wary of me as I am of them, even if I did well to mask the wariness.

  Unsurprisingly, time passed with no sudden happenings.

  At some point, I’d drifted off into sleep, hood pulled over my face to shield myself from the irritatingly brilliant sunlight, and was now in that strange half awake state - the kind where your mind was mostly awake, but the body had yet to come to it.

  My thoughts, too, were kind of hazy.

  Hmm. This is quite nice, ain’t it? Been a while since I’ve slept this good.

  The carriage’s rhythmic swaying had some sort of effect on my psyche, putting me at ease.

  The air’s chilly. Must be nighttime.

  My lips pressed together in thought for a moment.

  In that case, imma sleep some more. No harm in resting my body for a bit.

  With that decided, I rolled over to the side and allowed sleep’s embrace to pull me back in. My muscles relaxed.

  ***

  *Fwoosh*

  A sound. Somehow uncomfortable, but not really noteworthy.

  *Crackle*

  And then another one, this time much more grating.

  Something… About the sounds - those of flowing wind and repetitive crackling - deeply disturbed me.

  Every fiber, no, thread of my being tensed in the sound’s presence.

  And then, finally, I woke up.

  I found myself lying on the carriage’s roof in a fetal position, as if cowering in fear.

  Droplets of sweat coated my body.

  Yet, the sickening sound remained.

  I pulled myself up, quickly assessing the situation.

  What the fuck is this noise?

  *Crackle*

  …Ah. I see.

  In the dark night, our cart stood still.

  Beside it, a small campfire flickered with blinding embers.

  A self deprecating smile naturally formed on my lips.

  Just the smile first. But then, it stretched into a distraught grin, before eventually breaking out into full blown laughter.

  ”Hah. Ahahahaha! Goddamn, hahaha!!”

  I clutched my stomach in joyless laughter.

  And abruptly stopped.

  What a fucking joke.

  All six men gave me weird questioning looks, but I swiftly turned away.

  Ya know what? I think I’d rather find a different place to sleep.

  Preferably, as far away from that abhorrent light as possible.

  ”Hey, Ori? Everything okay?”

  The carriage driver, Connor, called out to my retreating figure.

  “Yeah, all good. Just… Heading out for walk, is all. Cook dinner without me - I’m not hungry. Oh, and sleep on your own, too.”

  I dismissively waved my hand without turning to look back, legs carrying me further away.

  ”O-okay..?”

  Connor’s confused voice was eventually drowned out by the forest’s deafening nighttime silence.

  I preferred it this way.

  After walking far enough away, I stopped by a large tree.

  In seconds - with my hand pressed firmly against it - its core unwound, leaving a small but cozy gap within.

  I nestled in that gap, covering myself with my long cloak in place of a duvet; the tree’s roots served as a hard pillow.

  My heart finally stopped beating like mad, which was nice.

  It was time to get a proper night’s sleep.

  For real this time. Without some random bullshit to ruin my mood.

  The adrenaline release had ended in safety; a signal my body took all too readily.

  In this manner, within the familiar confines of a sleeping forest, I drifted off like a Sepulcher on a full stomach.

  Wait, was it ‘Ashen Wolf’ on a full stomach?

  …Whatever. I slept well.