Six days passed since Sheena officially took the lead in navigating the party. They were about a day's walk away from Mandor, the next town. Much stayed the same; Sheena and Milla took up the position to scout ahead, while Regal and Colette stayed behind. Colette was currently animatedly sharing a story about when she healed a bunny that broke its leg, mimicking every action she was retelling in her story in real time. Regal nodded along; a bright smile plastered on his face. This left Lloyd to his own devices between the two groups. He was more than fine with that, considering he spent most of the day training his powers.

As Lloyd was telekinetically twirling a large bough with his right hand and trying to maintain a watermelon-sized rock with his left, he saw Milla sprint back towards Sheena. Sheena then turned to the rest of the group and quickened her pace to meet them. Seeing the serious look on her face, Lloyd dropped the objects he had in his mental grasp onto the forest floor.

“We have a few people ahead. They may have been attacked on the road as they were transferring a few wagons full of materials,” Sheena said.

Lloyd sucked in breath as his heart jumped a few beats. His mind immediately flashed back to the last time they ran into people standing next to carts in the middle of the road. Lloyd and Regal's eyes met. They tensed their muscles and prepared for a fight.

“How many? Can Milla tell if they had powers or not?” Regal asked.

“Not sure on the power's part, but I’m guessing they are all Ascended. They would be complete idiots if they ventured into this wilderness without powers,” Sheena said.

Lloyd turned his head, hoping that nobody would notice his reddening cheeks. Then he realized that turning away might be more obvious, so he quickly turned back. Sheena was looking right at him, but she didn't seem to notice his embarrassment.

“Looks to be four of them in total with two carts. There is a large bison-like creature pulling each one. The road they're on is the most direct path to Mandor. I say we continue forward. I’ll keep Milla on watch but be ready for anything.” Sheena said.

Milla received a few head scratches from Sheena before taking off into the woods.

“We are ready. Let's approach them and find out if they are friends or foes,” Lloyd said as he reached down and gripped the hilts of his blades.

Lloyd practiced a lot with his ability within the last week. He was fine if he only used his telekinesis or his swords. He was struggling to find a good combat style that would mix the two. Lloyd let go of his blades and tightened his fists in the air, feeling the tendrils of telekinetic power leap off of his skin. He was not willing to make the same mistake twice. Nobody in my group will die today.

They left the cover of the forest and walked onto a well-maintained dirt road. Trees were actively cut down and trimmed, keeping the roadway clear. Lines from wooden wheels crisscrossed through each other in the dirt. Clear signs that the road was used often. Sure enough, as Lloyd looked forward, he could see two carts pulled off to the side. One wooden cart was perfectly fine but the other had been severely damaged. The large wheel on the left side had been completely shattered, tipping the wagon into the ground. Lloyd saw large scratch marks gouged deeply into the wooden carriage. Lloyd wasn't positive at this distance, but the sun reflected off of a liquid on the ground that looked to be pools of blood. Four people stood around the carts, just as Sheena said. As Lloyd’s group approached, he could see the people’s eyes widen as they noticed them.

There were two men and two women standing next to the wagons. Their clothing was easily the most elegant apparel that Lloyd had ever seen. One man wore a sleeveless navy-blue overcoat with yellow buttons that matched his navy-blue pants. A similarly themed tricorn hat sat atop his short black hair. The sheen from the clothing was apparent even from where Lloyd was. The other man wore a deep crimson tunic with green threads woven throughout. His pants emphasized the green, while crimson threads weaved through the fabric. He wore both hair and beard long, deep brown with flecks of red. His clothing was a bit too bright for Lloyd’s liking, but it was clear this man’s clothing was made of high-tier materials as well. The men were fit but not overly strong, and their faces showed their age. They were likely in their upper 30s, maybe lower 40s.

The women both wore dresses that fell down to their shins. One wore a crimson red dress that matched the man. Her jet-black hair flowed in her face as the wind whisked through the trees. The other woman wore something similar to Colette, bright white with lacy frills. Her neon blue hair was much shorter than her companion. Lloyd noticed that her dress was as pristine as Colette’s. The woman in the white dress took a few steps forward before her friend grabbed her arm, preventing her from approaching the group.

Colette stepped into the front of the group. Lloyd saw movement to his right and saw that Regal had quickened his pace, seeing Colette take the lead. He slowed his gait as he stood up next to Sheena, who walked only a few steps behind Colette. Lloyd wondered if he should join his brother closer to the front of the group or stay at the distance that he was. He wasn't afraid of fighting close combat, but he knew that his powers seemed to work fairly well at a distance, so he kept where he was.

“Hi there! Are you guys heading to Mandor? That’s where we're heading. It looks like you guys ran into some trouble. What happened?” Colette asked with her classic smile painted on her face. Lloyd supposed that of all four of them, she was probably the best person to lead the welcoming party. She was definitely the least dangerous looking of the group. Lloyd began to wonder who the second was. Looking over at Sheena and Regal, he immediately knew his answer: it was most likely him.

“Yeah, hi there,” said the dark-haired man wearing the blue attire. He stepped forward in front of the other three members of his group. “We are so fortunate that you four have come along. Are you venturing West to The Citadel? We are headed to Mandor, but we were besieged by a group of Corrupted deer. They came in and decimated three friends of ours. We held off for as long as we could, and eventually, they dragged the dead away to the north.” the man said as he promptly pointed north into the tree line.

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That was when Lloyd could see the trails of blood that extended from the damaged cart into the tree line. It wasn't until that moment that Lloyd noticed the ground around the wagons and into the forest was fractured. Small fissures less than a foot deep spider-webbed around the area. Lloyd wondered if the deer did that. Having Milla was a huge help because it ensured that there weren't others waiting in ambush within the trees. Lloyd's guard lowered a little bit as the tension started to ease from his shoulders. What the man said most likely is what happened. If not, they sure put a lot of effort into making it look like they were attacked.

“You said you held them off for as long as you could. What kind of powers do you all have? Lloyd asked as he stepped into the front of the group alongside Colette. He was hoping that an explanation of their powers would ease his mind. A frigid chill went down his spine as he realized the man in the purple robes asked the same thing to Lloyd's group, shortly before killing Cassius.

“I don’t have any combat abilities; I’m a Void Crafter,” said the woman in the white dress.

Lloyd knew that he was asking the question for a different reason, and that he was nothing like that man. The similarities still shook him, and it took him a few seconds before he looked up at the woman. He saw no fear or trepidation in her face and a wave of relief washed over him. It cleared the way for his child-like wonder to come through.

“That sounds awesome, but what does that mean? What items can you craft?”

“I can create Void Spaces, which are these black cubes that can hold lots of items inside. There are some Void Spaces that can only store one weapon that is soul-locked to an individual person. Those are much harder to make and require very rare materials. I have yet to make or see one of those.”

She looked upon Lloyd’s group and saw confused faces staring back at her.

“What do you mean when you say ‘soul-locked’?” Lloyd asked, thinking about how his dad could create weapons based on a person’s soul.

“When the Void Space is created, they need to be in contact with the individual who they are making it for. That person is then able to store the weapon in the cube, and the cube within their soul.”

There were hushed inhales and curious glances shot around Lloyd’s group until he spoke up again.

“What does that even mean? How do you store something inside a person?”

“I can feel my power working, but I’m not sure where it comes from or how it functionally works. I need a set of materials, and I fuse my Mana into it. I imagine it works the same way with your powers. Do you know how they function? Or do they just work with a little bit of direction?”

Lloyd never really considered the fundamentals of his or anyone else's powers. Gavin always mentioned that he could see what someone’s soul was like, but he never told Lloyd how that worked. How did beasts and people have powers? It was tied to the Cataclysm and the Manarite crystals, but that was all Lloyd knew.

“Now that we cleared that up, my name is Sarah. I'm an enhancer, which means that I can amplify and enhance the abilities of people around me. It's an aura that if you stand within, you become stronger. It happens naturally, but you have to be within a few feet of me. If I focus on it, I can expand the area to include maybe something around five or six feet in a radius around me. The effect of the buff increases as well. I can't hold that for very long, though; it drains my Mana rapidly. I can only hold it for a minute until I’m fully out of Mana,” Sarah said.

“Sounds like a useful power to have within a group,” Sheena said.

“It is indeed helpful. In fact, I think it is one of the few reasons that we are still alive. I am truly saddened that it was not enough to save the other three that we had with us. My name is Xavier, and this man here is Caleb,” Xavier said as he pointed toward the man in the red and green gear. “He is a Taylor that specializes in increasing the durability of clothing. Without his work, I fear that our bodies would not have withstood the onslaught. We were forced to dig into our shipment in order to heal ourselves. I wield the power of superior hair growth and manipulation. I know, I know…It sounds odd and useless, but it works well in combat."

Lloyd’s face soured at the description of Xavier’s powers. Lloyd couldn't even grasp what that meant. Before he or anybody else within his party could ask the man, Xavier continued.

“It is easier to show rather than tell." Rapidly, in front of the group's eyes, the hair along the man's exposed arms begins to grow rapidly.

“Cool?” Lloyd said.

Lloyd felt truly lucky at that moment. He was glad that his powers weren’t superior hair growth. He never knew people could get the short end of the Altered stick.

A smile spread on Xavier's face as he picked up a piece of metal from the damaged cart behind him. The hair on his arms stood straight up as the grip on the metal in his palm tightened. In the blink of an eye, the hair turned to a sharp metal. Everyone in Lloyd's group stepped forward as Xavier approached them as well. Lloyd was the first to get close enough to see that all of the hairs up and down his arms had been transformed. Instead of hair, they now were two-inch long metal spikes. Lloyd reached out to the tip of one and placed his index finger on the top. With only a bit of light pressure, the metal pierced through his skin. Lloyd withdrew his hand as a dribble of blood flowed out from the wound.

“I can choose to grow hair wherever there are follicles. I can then turn the hair into whatever element I’m currently in contact with,” Xavier said as he turned over his fist and opened his palm. The metal piece had disappeared. “Sadly, I lose whatever material I use within the process of converting it. I shouldn't have wasted the metal on the demonstration, but it is one of the more awe-inspiring forms that I can take. The fact that each of these blades is as thin as a human hair. It makes penetrating the hide of Corrupted beasts a lot easier. I usually only extend the hair on my fists and use them to punch through the enemies.”

Regal stepped up next to the man, and a smile spread across his face. He pushed his palm into a patch of hair on the man's left arm. Lloyd could see the dimples from the blades in Regal's hand from where he stood. Regal pressed down harder, which forced Xavier to exert effort to hold up his arm. The metal-plated hairs could not penetrate Regal’s skin. Xavier looked at Regal with a shocked expression.

“Well, well, well. It seems we know what your abilities are. When I use that metal, I can't say I've seen anything deflect or avoid being cut. That is quite impressive, young man. I wonder. You all seem to be about that age. Are any of you, in fact, Omegas?

“Myself and the two women, Colette and Sheena, are,” Regal said as he pointed at the women. “My brother Lloyd might be, but we are unsure of his lineage.”

“Which powers do you have, Lloyd?” Xavier asked.

“Telekinesis,” Lloyd said as he extended his hand and picked up a small stone in front of Xavier. He raised the rock so that it floated in front of the man’s face. Xavier reached out and gripped it in his palm. The metal hairs transformed into stone, and he opened his fingers one by one to reveal the stone had disappeared just as the metal had previously.

“Jealous. I had a buddy in Mulbar that had telekinesis. It always seemed like a very useful ability,” Caleb said.

At the mention of Mulbar, Sheena made a low growl. At least Lloyd thought it was Sheena, her being the only one within his vicinity. Milla was still off in the trees somewhere. The name Mulbar sounded familiar, and after a few moments, Lloyd realized it was the town that they skipped while they took the shortcut to Mandor.

“We should get moving before those animals get back,” Sheena said.