Horlum and Fredrinn stared at the book in silence. Both of them couldn’t blink, nor could they move an inch.

Even their breaths were stuck in their throats.

The ink changed shape, forming another set of words.

{Where’s Tyrel?}

This time, Horlum’s hands that were holding the book trembled.

“How… do you know my father’s name?” He asked softly, his words almost inaudible to Fredrinn’s ears.

{You spoke. I can’t understand you, go write on my body.}

Horlum took a deep breath, before he turned to look at Fredrinn. The poor elf’s mind was undergoing a restart.

Horlum waved his hand in front of his friend’s face, but Fredrinn remained unresponsive.

“Fred?” Horlum called out, touching Fredrinn’s shoulder.

“Ah?” Fredrinn’s eyes moved, looking straight into Horlum’s eyes.

“Are you okay? Do you need water?” Horlum asked, walking toward the table to grab a pitcher. Then, he searched for the cup, only to remember that it broke several minutes earlier when it fell to the floor.

“No… I need sleep,” Fredrinn fell back to the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. “I think I’m dreaming.”

At that, Horlum couldn’t find the words to say. ‘I know he’s scared of ghosts, but isn’t this too much? I mean, it’s just a… conscious book…’

Putting his thoughts aside, he grabbed a pencil from a drawer and picked up the book again.

He wanted to write: “What are you?”

{I am a book,} but the book responded before he could finish writing.

With an awkward smile, he wrote another sentence. “Do you know my father?”

{Are you his son?}

“Yes,” Horlum spoke, before writing it down.

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{Are you a half elf?}

Horlum opened his mouth, but this time, he held himself back. Writing down, “Yes,” his brows furrowed.

“Fred? You there?” He called out, but Fredrinn didn’t answer. Turning around, he saw that the poor elf had managed to fall asleep, his face pale.

Before he could check up on Fredrinn, the book pages started flipping until it reached the middle part.

{Did Tyrel mention anything to you?}

“Mention what?” Horlum frowned. He picked up the pencil, chewing on his lower lip before he answered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he wrote.

The book didn’t reply for a while.

Then, just as he thought that maybe the book didn’t see his sentence, the words on the pages changed.

{Have the humans invaded?}

Horlum’s hand froze, and his heart fell to his stomach.

Hurriedly, he wrote down, “No, what do you mean?”

{That’s good. Things are still salvageable. Where is Tyrel?}

“He’s…” Horlum gritted his teeth, writing down; “He’s dead.”

This time, the book didn’t reply for a long time.

Horlum waited anxiously until the sun was almost down, before new words appeared on the book.

{I’m dead? How did I die? What could kill me?}

----------------------------------------

Even after the dark elves finished eating, and Fick was preparing to “raid” the half elf village again, Arloum was still distracted.

He kept trying to separate the embryo from Fick’s soul to no avail. Instead, Fick was having a constant headache.

Arloum sensed it as well, so he could only give up in bitterness.

‘If he dies, will my “fairy” die too?’ He sighed.

‘It wouldn’t have been bad if it only merged with Fick’s soul. The main problem is, I can’t upgrade it anymore! It’ll be stuck on tier one.’

Thinking about it, he focused on the status mirror in his mind.

[Tree Of Darkness T2, Dark Energy T2 (14/15), Parasitism T1, Fairy T1]

‘To upgrade myself to the third level, I need all the skills to be in harmony…’

Without thinking much about it, he dump most of his dark energy into [Parasitism].

[Dark Energy T2 (14/15 → 2/15), Parasitism T1 → T1 (24%)]

‘Oh, not bad,’ he praised absent-mindedly.

All living creatures could become stronger, even to the point of becoming a Legend. They simply have to "stabilize" their “self,” and then break through their limits.

However, most creatures didn’t understand this concept. Currently, Arloum didn’t know anyone who knew the secret to advancing. Even Legends could only instinctively know what they needed to do in order to advance.

‘Only after I invented the status mirror did I learn about this… fortunately, I suppose, I have this information. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what went wrong when I try to advance.’

Each advancement would merge the skills a person knew and increase its potential. For this reason, not many people learn too many skills, in fear of not being able to advance.

‘That aside, how do I upgrade the [Fairy]? I tried giving Fick dark energy earlier, but all it did is make him stronger.’

“Lord,” suddenly, Fick spoke, startling Arloum out of his thoughts.

‘What is it?’ Arloum asked.

“Do you think… I’ll lose myself?” Fick asked, taking out his dagger and staring at the sharp edge. “Just earlier, I said I won’t kill. But now, I’m about to do the opposite.”

Before Arloum could respond, Fick took a deep breath and continued.

“If I was hesitating, or felt nervous, I wouldn’t ask this. But… I don’t even feel scared. I feel calm, too calm.”

‘That’s natural, I’m parasitizing you. Sooner or later, your thoughts will be in line with mine,’ Arloum thought to himself.

‘If you have a strong will, you won’t lose yourself,’ Arloum answered his Onyx.

It wasn’t a lie—Arloum wasn’t some sort of soul master.

‘While [Parasitism] can influence the host’s thoughts, it’s not an advanced skill,’ he murmured. ‘Though, with the difference in our souls, I can replace Fick’s soul if I want to.’

He sliced away at the thought. Changing bodies was a big taboo, and he had no plans of losing the [Tree Of Darkness] skill.

“How should I strengthen my will?” Fick asked.

‘...it’s simple. Either you never give into any temptation, or you jump into the deepest abyss and climb out.’

“...” Fick closed his eyes shut, quietly sheathing back his dagger. Then, after three steady breaths, he reopened his eyes.

“I’m ready,” he said, walking back toward the half elf village.

As for the dead bodies from earlier, he didn’t care if they were found and placed the village in high alert.

In Arloum’s words, it was “training.”

Still, before he left, he took the time to hide the bodies under the bed.

‘Remember, every time you kill, you must get soaked in their blood,’ Arloum reminded.

‘That way, it’ll be easier for me to harvest their life energy,’ he thought.

“Understood,” Fick nodded.

As he set off, the dark elves all secretly shared a look.