"Whenever I touched something, it always turned into a statue of crystallized salt, instead of a pile of salt. That's how I was able to make that sword." Sirius said, confused as he stared at the dark pillar of salt in front of him.
Seeing this, Sirius picked up a twig, and it too transmuted into dark salt before crumbling and falling to the ground.
Philo observed his power with intrigue. Xander and Emilia stood in awe, while Aurelia, though impressed, couldn't help but think Sirius was delusional. How could salt crystallize so perfectly? And how could it support large objects like that tree? she mused.
Sirius was just as puzzled. I haven't transmuted anything into salt recently, but when I did, none of it lost its structural integrity like this, he thought, frowning.
He was about to approach another tree when Philo interrupted. "Hey, we can figure out what's wrong with your ability later. Right now, we need to leave this area before more Shades are drawn by the blood."
They quickly packed up and left the area with urgency. Not long after their departure, an Abyssal Shade entered the clearing—the same four-armed creature Sirius had faced before. Embedded in its chest was the remnant of its broken armor, and a menacing smile crept across its face.
It noticed the salt trail and the remains of the dead creatures. Fury flickered in its glowing green eyes as it sniffed the ground with its two normal hands, getting a sense of the direction. Its sickening smile widened as it began tracking them.
---
Back with Sirius and his group, they were quietly cooking meat, using Aurelia's Soul Weave abilities so they wouldn't need to start a fire. This was how they had been surviving in the dead forest—roasting their food with Aurelia's fiery sword before nightfall. Sirius, though used to eating raw Abyssal Shade meat, was ecstatic to finally have proper cooked food. Even though his system had adapted to the disgusting flesh, eating it raw had been a gut-wrenching experience.
Seeing Sirius so enthusiastic as he ate, Emilia couldn't help but ask, "What have you been living on for the past five days?"
Sirius shrugged. "Mostly raw Abyssal Shade meat," he admitted.
Both Emilia and Aurelia gagged in disgust, while Xander paused mid-bite, and even Philo, who had half-expected it, raised an eyebrow.
"Wait... was this before or after becoming a Soul Weaver?" Philo asked, intrigued.
"After, of course. I don't think my body could've processed uncooked Shade meat otherwise," Sirius said with a grin, munching happily on his roasted food.
"That's so gross," Emilia said, wrinkling her nose.
"Absolutely disgusting," Aurelia added, shaking her head in agreement.
It was rare for the two girls to be so united in their opinions.
"Cut my brother some slack," Xander argued, defending Sirius. "He had to do what he had to do to survive."
Sirius, tapping Xander's shoulder, shook his head. "No, they're right—it really is disgusting," he admitted with a grimace. His expression of disgust sent everyone into laughter, the weight on their hearts lightening.
Philo joined in, sharing jokes and stories about his time as a soldier and how he became a Soul Weaver during a war against Abyssal Shades.
"So your Soul Weave is Chronomancer, right? Does that mean you can control time?" Sirius asked, completely awed by the revelation.
The others shared his curiosity, eyes wide.
Philo smiled and shook his head. "Not quite. Right now, I can only see slightly ahead into the future and accelerate the flow of time in my body. It just makes me faster, nothing too grand."
"Still cool. I wish I had a Chronomancer Weave," Xander said, impressed.
Philo chuckled. "I'm not sure you would," he said, shaking his head.
Aurelia chimed in, "Why not? It sounds powerful."
"It's rare and incredibly hard to master. I only manage it because I've trained relentlessly," Philo explained.
The group nodded, absorbing his words.
"And... I'm a prodigy," he added, with a smug smile.
The kids collectively rolled their eyes. "Uncle Philo loves to brag, doesn't he?" Xander teased.
"I agree. I think he's forgotten the meaning of the word 'humble,'" Emilia remarked.
"He probably thinks he's still young," Aurelia said with a smirk.
"Maybe we should have at least pretended to believe him," Sirius added, stoking the fire of ridicule.
The group burst into laughter again as Philo muttered, "You little brats," through gritted teeth, though he couldn't help but smile.
As night fell, they huddled inside the hollow of a large tree to sleep. They agreed to take shifts keeping watch, with Philo taking the longest due to being the only adult. Xander took the first watch, followed by Sirius, and then Aurelia.
---
Aurelia stood in front of the tree, gripping her sword and scanning the area. Though she had dismissed the fire from her blade, she remained on edge, struggling to stay awake in the chilling darkness.
'I hate this place,' she thought.
As she was about to finish her shift, a strange feeling settled over her—heavy and oppressive. She gripped her sword tighter, looking around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
'Am I imagining things?' she wondered, trying to calm her racing heart.
Just as she turned to head back to the others, she felt an overwhelming presence behind her. Whipping around, she saw a pair of glowing eyes and a wide, blood-stained smile filled with jagged teeth. Before she could react, a claw was descending toward her, ready to tear her apart.
Suddenly, Sirius appeared, tackling her out of the way. They crashed to the ground, rolling before Sirius grabbed her by the waist and hauled her to her feet, running toward the others.
Philo, Xander, and Emilia were already outside, frozen in fear as they stared at the nightmarish creature that had haunted them for days.
Philo, pale and trembling, muttered under his breath, "Fuck."
Not that the kids would notice, too paralyzed by terror to care.