When he'd got all the blood off, Johan put his jacket back on and then pulled his coat over it. Isaac picked up Bjorn and they headed back towards the road.
Bjorn was floating somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness – he was in a hazy, semi-aware state. He happened to be in one of his more cognizant phases when they passed where Eva and Johan had fought Langley.
He saw the signs of battle and his foggy mind wondered what had gone on. He looked around dazedly, but a puddle of deep red drew his attention. It sharply contrasted the green surroundings like a blot of ink stands out on a clear page.
Bjorn slowly turned his gaze towards this attractive puddle of red, and he saw a body lying in the middle.
'Oh. I wonder who that is?'
Initially, he failed to comprehend. Slowly, details such as the corpse's distinctive brown fur coat and spindly forearms which looked exactly like his brother's began to filter through. His brain sluggishly processed these bits of information and pieced them together into a shocking conclusion: everything was a dream!
That was right! Langley couldn't be dead, so everything that happened up until now had to be a dream!
Bjorn began to laugh in a low, crazed tone. His laughter slowly grew louder, louder, louder, until it reached a crescendo of insanity.
Then he was suddenly silent. He had fainted again.
*************************
Less than 10 minutes later, the group were standing at the roadside with Abbie. They'd already briefed her on what had happened, and she seemed pleased with the result. However, she had a crucial question,
"How are we going to share Langley's Anima?"
"Well... there are 4 Anima and 4 of us. We'll each pick one: I will go first, Johan will be second, and you two will play rock paper scissors for 3rd."
"What?! Abbie didn't even fight Langley!"
"She's not even a member of our team!"
Both Eva and Abbie exploded, unhappy with Isaac's decision. Nevertheless, Isaac was unmoved,
"Those are both valid points, which is why I've chosen a method which is fair to both of you."
The pair stared at Isaac begrudgingly, then glanced at each other dismissively. They walked towards each other and played rock paper scissors on Johan's count. Abbie won.
"Right. I'll take the Shock Collar Anima."
'I don't need any of these Anima, but the Shock Collar Anima is the most valuable. I can sell it later and buy myself a more suitable one.'
"I'll have his movement Anima."
"I would like the ghost-style Anima."
Johan and Abbie both made their choices, leaving Eva with the Ice Fragment Anima. Once they were sorted, they set off back towards the sect.
*************************
The group had stopped for dinner, and Isaac had propped Bjorn up against a tree. The man had come to and, after a painful moment of acceptance, realised he was not living in a dreamland.
The moment he knew his brother was dead, he destroyed all his Anima and began weeping uncontrollably.
Bjorn cried for nearly half an hour. When he finally stopped, Isaac walked over. He looked at Bjorn's face.
There were still 3 teardrops on the man's cheeks which he couldn't wipe away. His eyes were red and slightly wet, but now they looked dim and stony. In fact, Bjorn's expression looked more like a statue's than a real human being's.
Isaac asked in a low voice,
"Why did you attack us?"
He didn't expect an answer, which is why Bjorn's response surprised him. He replied in a gravelly, mechanical tone,
"We wanted to join the war in the east. We were going to make a fortune as mercenaries. We needed some powerful skeleton soldiers."
"Was this your brother's idea?"
"Yes. Langley tamed the wolf with his Shock Collar Anima, then we used it to attack Kirk Village. We waited for the sect to send a team so we could ambush them. Then we could kill the Sect's cultivators and turn them into skeleton generals."
'I knew it! The pattern of attacks on Kirk Village was strange and unnatural; it didn't look like the Sarcevic Wolf was trying to destroy the village at all. Besides, Leon said anybody who left the village died. Then how did a messenger get all the way to the sect? Langley must've deliberately let them pass.'
Pieces of the puzzle began to fit together in Isaac's mind, but there was another crucial question,
"Why didn't you ambush us earlier?"
"You arrived in Kirk Village late at night. We didn't know you were there until the next day and we decided to wait until you'd left the village before we ambushed you, but you left in the dead of night and killed the Sarcevic Wolf before we could prepare.
"Then you went to Kukkula Village right away. We didn't even realise you'd left. When you came back to the wolf's den, we thought that'd be the best chance to attack."
Bjorn looked like a robot who was programmed to answer Isaac's questions; he simply couldn't refuse. However, Isaac didn't have much else to ask him. He only gave a few questions about the Anima they'd taken from Langley, then he left the grieving man be.
The rest of the story was already complete in his mind,
'The incident between Kirk and Kukkula Villages one month ago must've been caused by Langley. I imagine he noticed groups leaving the village for an unknown reason and decided to tag along. Then he killed everybody with that skull Anima and stole the Crystal of Pure Frost. Did he store it somewhere? Maybe he used it for an ice-style cultivation technique? His movement Anima and Ice Fragment Anima did look unusually strong, even for somebody in upper stage.'
'Regardless, it's not worth the time I'd need to spend looking for it. More importantly, I made several mistakes this mission. I assumed the skeletons were leftovers from a demonic ritual, but they were actually skeleton soldiers which got destroyed by the Sarcevic Wolf when Langley and Bjorn subdued it. Then, I also falsely assumed there was only one cultivator based on the condition of the bodies I dug up.
'These mistakes of mine left us vulnerable. I need to be more open-minded when investigating things in the future – I should stop jumping to conclusions.'
Isaac shook his head. His performance had been good, but it hadn't been perfect. That meant he needed to reflect on his flaws and strive to improve. He noted some key areas of improvement in his mind, then went back to finish dinner.
They'd completed the mission safely, so there was a cheerful atmosphere about the group. They shared a few jokes as the ate by the campfire, and everybody was in high spirits. After dinner, they climbed into the trees to sleep. Isaac had to tie Bjorn to his back and bring him up into a tree as well.
*************************
Another snowy day began. The group had already climbed down from their trees and had set off before the Sun even rose.
They trudged onwards for several hours, only stopping once for lunch.
Just as the golden orb of the Sun began to dip below the horizon, a tall silver steeple hove into view. The setting sun painted a picture of tranquillity across the open tundra, which stretched before them like a rolling white carpet which led to their mighty sect.
It reminded Isaac of the view when he'd returned to the Sect after passing the trials, and that thought made him smile.
The trials had happened over 2 years ago, and Isaac was reminded of how far he'd come since then: he was already capable of catching a middle stage cultivator and killing his upper stage brother. Admittedly they did have poor Anima, but it was an impressive feat nonetheless.
Now Isaac just needed to report that feat to the Sect and receive his rewards...
After a little more walking, the team arrived at the sect gates. When they arrived, they were stopped by the guards and asked to show their mission pass.
"Here."
Isaac handed his pass to a guard, but the guard still wouldn't let him pass,
"This says 4 people. Who's the man you're carrying?"
Isaac briefly explained who Bjorn was and why they were bringing him back to the sect, but the guard shook her head and replied,
"I can't allow any unauthorised people to enter the Sect. Wait here while I call my superior."
Isaac and the others sat in the snow as they waited. About 10 minutes later, the guard returned with a short, thin woman in a pale blue coat. She asked Isaac a couple of questions, and he gave concise but truthful answers. Then she decided,
"We'll bring this man into the Sect. The guards will keep him in custody while the Adventurers' Hall processes your reports and decides what to do with him. Go and file a report as soon as possible."
The woman's hawk-like eyes and pointed nose gave her a strict aura; she reminded Johan of some of the teachers in the Academy. And just like the teachers in the Academy, it felt like her commands were impossible to disobey.
The team entered the Sect and headed for the Adventurers' Hall.