Away from the three tents that were set up out of eyesight of the main path was a collection of trees where Frey deemed far enough away. "Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine," His sweaty clothes stuck to his shaking body. His face turned red as his mouth opened and closed. "One hundred." He collapsed, spreading his aching limbs. For a few minutes he lay there, doing nothing but calming his breathing. Rolling over to his back, he sat up, but not completely. "One," Lay down, sit up, breath, count, lay down, sit up, breath, count, he repeated these actions until either he could not anymore or his partially digested dinner was at his throat.

His water sac's cork flew off with a pop. Water flowed through his dry mouth like a flood in the desert. After replacing the cap, he looked at his bag and clicked his tongue. Getting to his shaky feet, he took a stance like he held a spear. In front of him was his opponent. Sometimes it was Doevm, sometimes Thomas, today it was Ashtehar. Taking a deep breath, he brought out his life essence. The shadow moved and he followed, holding his s.h.i.+eld and imaginary spear like Kilot.

…

Hands shook at Frey, who flew to his feet in a stance. Doevm backed away and held up his hands: "It's ok, it's just me." The morning sun made Frey rub his saggy eyes. Looking back, the dirt had an imprint of himself. "You must have fallen asleep. Try not to push yourself so hard." Doevm doused Frey with a bit of water. "Wake yourself up. We need to keep moving. Training is fine and all, but it's dangerous if you leave us alone." He walked out of the collection of trees back to the tents. The white ashes of the firepit were cleaned up, everything was packed, and they were back on the road.

Frey tried to trail behind them, but he felt himself fall. Everything went slow. In his peripheral vision, his leg bent without permission. His front bent down in a chain reaction. Just before hitting the floor, he managed to catch himself with his other leg. He stumbled back to his normal posture, glad he was at the back and no one saw. His legs returned to their former reliable selves, but they shook. Grabbing around them, he tried to hold them steady, but his hands weren't any better. 'Work d.a.m.n it,' he thought. 'I finished training long ago. I should have recovered by now.' He coughed twice into his arms. 'Stay steady, stay firm. I'm not weak.' He increased his pace to match Wade's and Doevm's.

After hours of effort, he brought out his water sac. The last few drops dripped on his tongue like a slap to his dehydrated face. He grumbled and put the water sac back in his bag. The world tilted to him, like he was drunk. Shaking his head seemed to be a temporary solution. A few more hours pa.s.sed, and his feet dragged against the dirt. Doevm and Wade walked on, oblivious to his state. Frey swallowed his saliva, eyeing their water sacs. 'I can't ask for help,' he thought. 'I won't let myself be weak. I have to just keep going.' His feet halted and his world went dark. 'Wait, I can't go unconscious yet. I can still keep going!'

…

"What's going on?" Doevm asked.

"Doevm, can you hear me?" Frey asked, holding his hands in front of his face yet seeing nothing. Doevm pulled a light crystal out of his bag, lighting a small circle around them.

"It's happening again," Wade cursed as he looked around. "The world went dark." He held his spear in a stance, as if something would jump out of the shadows.

"When did this happen the first time?" Doevm asked, standing as if nothing had changed. His brows were slightly knitted, curious, but not too much so.

"When you two were inside of the Ghoul nest, the world went dark. Since the leaves blocked out most of the light anyway no one panicked, but it seems like the entire world went dark just like now."

"You're absolutely sure about this?" Doevm asked as he pulled out a pen and paper and wrote something down. Wade nodded. "Then it will pa.s.s. Let's keep going." He put some distance between him and them so they wouldn't get the chance to ask questions. 'That means the world going dark is some kind of defense mechanism. Since G.o.ds don't usually visit the world, this blackness must be a barrier of some kind.' He pulled out his black book and flipped through the pages. 'G.o.ds can restrict the magic of humans, but not the power of souls. This means the barrier is powered by Draken's soul magic, but how can he cover the world with his deceased soul…unless it's not just his soul. How many thousands, no millions are a part of that blackness? All of this just to pa.s.s on his knowledge. There must be another inheritor out there like me. I need to find him or her and take their knowledge for myself.' He closed his book and put it back in his s.p.a.cial ring.

'The inheritance was never meant to be a way of pa.s.sing information on. If it was so, then Draken would have given me everything, not just a starter book. Soul magic is the most complicated "magic" I've ever seen. I can't form my own spells for it like I do with holy magic. I need more information, and now someone else got to it before me. Draken said my necklace would lead me to more of his inheritances but it broke. That leaves me no choice but to take someone else's or find another inheritance by chance.' He clutched his fists. 'Draken, what is the purpose behind all of this? What happened to you that you had to make such an elaborate scheme?'

In the darkness, he felt his forehead glow. Out of the view of the others, he summoned and ice shard and used the reflective surface to examine it. 'Maybe the necklace wasn't the most important thing Draken pa.s.sed to me. Its design is unknown to me so I can a.s.sume it's soul magic, but what does it do?' He made sure to memorize it so he could experiment later. Shattering the ice shard, light flashed through the world as the barrier broke.

Doevm felt all the hair on his neck rise up as he felt three large magic signatures. He could even pinpoint their position as they traveled through the world from host to host. His knees. .h.i.t dirt as he fell, holding the sides of his head. Mountains rose on top of his mind, crus.h.i.+ng him. Everything he had learned and done vanished underneath it. His lungs pushed out all oxygen in his body. He didn't know when, but he was screaming. All at once, the three mana signatures disappeared. "Doevm," a voice said as he blacked out.