*
Propping himself up, Arion met her gaze, their eyes locking in a moment of silence.
Sighing, he finally smiled and said, "Don't worry, Shera. I understand. You helped me, you healed me, and you gave me a second chance in life. You even promised to reunite me with my parents and help them. I'm the one who's actually indebted to you. Besides, why not? With you, I'll get stronger faster. That's how a man lives his life anyway. So, bring it on! No matter how hard or painful it gets, I'm ready!"
"I see. Good then," Shera replied, turning her back to him as she began to walk away. "You can rest for now. I'll call you again when it's time for your training."
"Good! You rest well too, Shera!" Arion called after her with positive enthusiasm.
As he watched her walk away, Arion felt a strange sense of closeness between them these days, even amidst her unpredictable personality shifts.
Shera had told him that because of their vow, their souls were intertwined and mixed together.
So, essentially, they were like one individual with her different forms of personality – like a two or maybe more-for-one deal on magical companionship.
"Great," Arion muttered to himself, chuckling. "I'm stuck with a part-time devil and full-time friend. Just my luck! At least I won't be bored!"
With a grin on his face, he settled down to rest, ready for whatever wild training awaited him next.
* * *
Back on the bus, the group finally arrived at a village filled with houses made from planks and timbers, each one looking like it had seen better days.
Shortly after a few teachers and guards disembarked to camp there, one teacher who had led the journey and the one who approached the village to ask for permission – returned, his eyebrows creased in a way that suggested he was preoccupied with something serious.
Arion, who happened to catch a glimpse of the teacher's expression from the bus, felt a strange sensation wash over him – a sort of premonition.
Ever since he had reached the state of Minor Chakra in the Seeds of Insights, his senses had sharpened to the point where he could feel the emotions swirling in the air around him.
It was like having a lesser version of precognition, and right now, the atmosphere in the village somehow felt odd and eerie to him.
Nesa who sat in front of him, seemed to share his unease.
Her face had turned pale, and he could see the coldness seeping into her body.
Rhea, noticing Nesa's distress, quickly wrapped her arms around her in a comforting hug.
This was something Rhea had experienced before – twice, in fact.
It reminded her of that time when her silly club, with Nesa tagging along, had ventured into an abandoned house rumored to be haunted out of curiosity.
"Remember that?" Rhea started, with her voice a mix of nostalgia and horror. "You heard those weird noises, and I thought you were going to faint!"
Nesa shivered at the memory. "I did hear something weird! It was like… like a ghost was trying to talk to me! I got goosebumps, and my hair stood on end!"
"Yeah, and then we all ran out of there like our lives depended on it!"
Rhea added, chuckling nervously. "I think we all agreed to never do anything like that again! So, what is it now?"
With her voice trembling, Nesa finally spoke up, "I… I hear something in the direction of that village."
She gulped dramatically.
"It's… a cry from a baby and a shushing sound from a woman. It seems like she is trying to comfort the baby."
*
Solome, who had been listening quietly from the side, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
He kept silent, but inside, his mind was racing.
His fists clenched tightly behind his pocket jacket, trembling slightly as he fought to maintain his composure.
Ghosts were one of his biggest fears, and he couldn't help but curse Nesa and Rhea in his mind.
'What the heck is wrong with you two? Stop with the jokes! Don't talk about ghosts with those real, scaredy faces!'
Despite his internal panic, he forced himself to appear interested in what Nesa was saying.
After listening to her fully, he returned to his usual indifferent demeanor, lowering his head as if he couldn't care less about it.
Feeling uncomfortable in that position, he shifted in his seat and then leaned his elbow against the windowsill, resting his face on his hand as he gazed out the transparent glass.
The world outside was starting to turn dark, and he blinked his eyes, trying to shake off the chill that Nesa's hair-raising statement had left behind.
'Come on, Solome,' he thought, 'You're a big boy now. Ghosts aren't real! They're just stupid side stories to scare kids. These people probably just want to prank me and see my vulnerable side. Heh, sorry, helpless folks, no chance at all!'
Suddenly, in his clear line of sight, just after he blinked his eyes – a woman out of nowhere appeared at the entrance of the village. She looked like she was cradling something in her arms.
Squinting his eyes, Solome deduced that it actually was…
A baby?
Out of nowhere, Nesa's earlier words echoed in his mind: "It's a cry from a baby and a shushing sound from a woman. It sounds like she is comforting the baby."
A cold breeze suddenly caressed him, sending shivers down his spine.
'Nah, what am I scared of? Idiot Solome. You really are pathetic,' he chastised himself, trying to calm his racing heart.
He continued scrutinizing the woman.
She had long hair that reached the ground, and her feet were obscured by the flowing fabric of her long white dress, which looked similar to something…
A deceased body might wear in a coffin.
Gulping, he closed his eyes, trying to encourage himself.
'You're just being an idiot, Solome. You always manage to scare the hell out of yourself!'
When he eventually opened his eyes, what greeted him was a haunting face of a pale woman.
Her skin looked corpse-like, and her black eyes were empty and dead, staring back at him with an intensity that made his heart race.
At that moment, all Solome could scream inside his mind was,
'F*ck.'
'F*ck.'
'F*ck.'
*