It all went so smoothly and without a single hitch…

-I don’t like this…

-It’s just wood.

-I know. And I don’t mean this - he pointed to the wood. - Don’t you feel like it’s a bit strange that they are… letting us do this?

-First you try to convince me and then have second thoughts? Make up your damn mind…

-I don’t… I just think we should be careful.

-And I agree. Their inaction is probably just because whoever was controlling those had finally run out of mana.

-Hm. Maybe.

Yeah, since we put a rather large pile of dry wood on top of those bodies, they stopped moving.

And it’s not like they got crushed by the weight.

But now, when I think of it, we probably could crush them, just to be safe… That is, if fire won’t burn them completely.

-Got it… - mumbled Mike, carrying a makeshift torch.

Well, it was just a branch of wood that he picked up from one of the numerous burning trees nearby.

Since our fight, some of the trees have been set on fire. We did stop the spread the moment we were relatively safe, but he kept one burning.

It’s not like we’re not going to cause another fire in a moment…

-Here goes nothing…

And, he tossed the branch into the pile.

I was a bit worried that fire was not going to catch, but it was unnecessary.

The moment it touched the pile it ignited like it was soaked in fuel. Well, it sort of was, considering the amounts of mana that were still inside those bodies… And since they were now dormant, supposedly that is, it meant there was nothing containing the residual energy that promptly ignited the moment of contact.

-Hm… I expected… I don’t know, something - I commented.

-It is going a bit too well, right? - he agreed with me.

-Yeah… I guess they were really dead. I mean, of course they were, but I thought they would, I don’t know, start moving again? Jump up? Try to escape? Something.

-Hm. Yeah, well, they still smell like shit.

True. The mix of burned human flesh combined with smoke from some random synthetic substances that were inside their clothes was hard to bear. Even for me.

If I had a regular nose, I probably would be choking somewhere in the corner.

Mike only managed to be relatively nearby because he was actively manipulating air near him, and even then he had to take a step away.

Everything went smoothly.

Absolutely nothing happened, and after all of that, we were left staring at a pile of ash with some pieces of crystal.

-Soo… no firestorms… no nothing…?

-I am honestly disappointed - I said, agreeing with this going so smoothly. - But I guess that’s a welcome change from… everything.

-Mh.

-Okay. Well, what now?

-What do we do with this? - he asked, gesturing towards the pile of ash.

-I mean… absorbing those would be probably the best… Can you?

-Probably… but I’d rather not.

-What, still having second thoughts about crystallizing your flesh?

-Yes. Especially when you put it like that?

-Like what?

-Nothing. Besides, don’t you think that those are… somewhat tainted?

-You suddenly care about them being from dead people? Or…

-Of course not - he said dryly. - I am more concerned about them being inside people that were controlled.

-You think that draining those might give… whoever that was, somewhat of a backdoor access?

-Yeah.

-Hm… Maybe… But first off, how do you even think I’d be able to drain those? Or you for that matter? I thought the pieces were almost immune to that.

-Pieces of real Origin Crystal. Sure. Like you. But I bet those are inferior.

I wasn’t so sure about that.

But, I agreed with him that trying that would be a bit of a stupid idea.

-Why not just leave them? - I asked after a moment of consideration.

-What?

-Just let them stay here. I mean, it’s not like they are going to possess anything.

-Well… there are animals here, you know? It wouldn’t be too hard for something like this to get eaten. Hell, even if some curious squirrel would try picking it up…

-We’d get a mutated magical squirrel after us?

-As stupid as that sounds, yes.

-Fuck… bury it maybe? Wouldn’t that minimize the chances?

-I guess we can… but I don’t think it matters much.

-Why?

-I mean… Let’s say it really gets taken by some animal and is going to chase us. Then what? It’s not like there’s going to be something more dangerous than a human. And there are plenty of those after us anyway.

-Maybe. But, speaking of, they’ve been quiet recently. Sure, we destroyed the initial attack, but I thought they would’ve found us by now.

-I am worried too…

-Do you think… They lost us?

-It’s not like we’ve even moved. That’s not possible.

-That’s actually a good point: we probably should move.

-Yeah.

-And we’re leaving this… just here?

-I’ll just…

He waved his hand and a pile of dirt had been pulled out of the ground, leaving a nice spot for us to bury it.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I say “us”, but he just pushed it back along with the soil he was holding and quickly slapped it back down, leaving only some disturbed ground.

-That was fast.

-Doubt it’ll help much, but at least it’s something.

-Hm.

With that, we started moving away.

-So, where’re we going?

-I don’t know - he replied, surprising me.

-What?!

I almost stopped.

-What? You think I have an atlas in my head? I have no clue where we are.

-I thought you knew the city!

-Yeah. Sort of. But it’s been a while. And I knew the city, not the fucking jungle outside. I only vaguely knew about a few things, that’s it.

-So what are we even doing now?!

-Waiting.

-We could’ve done that while standing still.

-You know what I mean! We are trying to escape…

-I am not stupid, I know where we’re standing. I mean, not literally. And that’s the main problem.

-So you know as much as I do. Hell, from my perspective, you know more about this place than me. You found us that shack and all…

-Not like it helped. And I was just lucky.

-Sure… but still. If you have that much luck, why not try to lead us somewhere? Not like it matters much…

-Gh…

I didn’t like it, but he had a point.

I could try and find something… Luck aside, I did have the furthest range if it came to detecting mana…

To be honest, recently I’ve been a bit slacking on scouting… I mean, I’ve had a lot on my mind and outside of it, but that shouldn’t be an excuse.

-Eh… Let me take a look…

I tried to open my mind and scout around a little bit, but it was harder than expected.

Mostly because there were a lot of distractions nearby, including the leyline that was still not that far off. Not only that, but if there was anyone chasing us that was on the weaker side of mana, their presence would’ve been completely masked by the blinding light that it was emitting.

Hopefully we weren’t. But, if we were and they were weak, they shouldn’t be much of an issue to deal with, right?

Well, I knew that was not true. Especially if they would band together.

And, on top of that there was still the issue of those magical guns. They weren’t really emitting much of an aura, and yet could pack a punch.

And, of course, there were still the suicidal maniacs… I definitely have not forgotten them.

But, what I forgot was the creature that attacked us before.

Well, to be honest, I did have it in the back of my mind, but I suppose I did assume that it was dealt with along with the military people.

-It doesn’t seem like we are being pursued… - I said out loud. - Can’t really tell much because the leyline… We probably should get further out so I can get a better reading…

-Good idea.

Sure, the idea was good. And seemingly easy to do, right?

As we realized, not so much.

The forest was absolutely flooded with leylines.

I mean, sure, leylines are everywhere under us, like blood vessels of the planet. But just like them, they are hidden deep below. You know, to protect the “blood”.

Not in this place.

Here, it looked like every other turn, we were looking at yet another one that was spilling out of the ground and infusing everything around it.

And blocking my vision…

-What is wrong with this place?! - I finally said, after seeing a third one in a span of ten minutes. - It’s like the whole network of those is spilling out!

-That is… concerning… - agreed with me Mike. - I knew this place was supposed to be infused… but to this extent?

-Damn…

-Well, at least I guess it didn’t matter we buried those Crystals… Didn’t matter what we did, mana is everywhere here…

-That does not fill me with confidence.

-Hm. Let’s leave that for later… Have you found anything?

-Told you, can’t see shit with that much mana in the air. The best I can do is to lead us to another leyline, plenty of those everywhere.

-Well, I did need it… although now it’s going to be a bit pointless…

-Pointless?

-Never mind. Sure, we can go. It’s not like we have a better target…

-Okay…

That was weird.

He “did” need it? Why not now?

Before I could ask, though, he told me himself.

-I just wanted to spread my influence a bit more - he explained. - But, since we have lost our connection to the world, I can’t do shit. Besides absorbing mana, that is.

-Okay… so why go then?

-Do you have a better idea? It’s either that or walk forward until we randomly find something. Or we’re found by something.

-I was lucky, so I guess we could try that… - I mumbled. - But you’re right. Let’s go.

-Hm.

I turned us towards the closest strong signature.

I was thinking if I should choose a weaker one, to maybe test the waters a little bit, but I doubt it would’ve changed anything.

It didn’t even take five minutes for us to get there.

Where?

Well, the leyline was…

-Just an empty field?

-What, you don’t believe me? - I asked.

-I am not blind, I can sense the mana too, you know - he said. - Although it is not as overwhelming as the first one…

-Seems so. Does it matter?

-No. Of course it’s going to be weaker, I would’ve heard if it was stronger.

-Speaking of. How did you even know about the first one? - I asked. - And since you knew, why didn’t you know about the ones further away? This place is just a literal sea of mana, I can’t believe it’s just forest here.

-I…

He froze.

-What?

-I… I actually don’t know.

-You… don’t know? What does that mean!?

-I don’t fucking know!

He seemed absolutely flabbergasted.

-What, you forgot? Having this many people inside you had finally taken its toll?

-NO! I mean, I only take in information from the ones I am focusing on, rest is in the back as energy, but that’s besides the point! I am sure that’s not from any of those!

-What, so that information just randomly popped inside your head?

-Would you believe me if I said yes?

I was about to answer, but stopped myself.

The truth is, I actually could believe that.

I had, after all, had a similar experience.

But… was that it?

-That doesn’t sound too good… - I muttered.

-No shit.

-No, I mean it. You sure you aren’t just getting it from some other person you absorbed. Maybe… a certain person.

He immediately understood what I meant.

-No. She is gone. I mean, the connection. The only one I am getting is… well, you. I mean, I have some other links, but nothing that could…

-You are connected to me?

-So are you. I mean, it’s not some fucking wi-fi if you think…

-I know, I know. Just remembered that she said she could still connect to her servers, so I thought that might be it.

-Hm… nah. And besides, weren’t those our old servers? I doubt there would be any information about this place…

-That is, unless they updated it. MIRE is clearly active.

-They are, but you think they are so stupid they used our old servers?

-Probably.

-Eh… Fuck, even if you’re right… I think I would’ve known if it came from there…

-How? I mean, when I had flashes from her, I didn’t have much idea about them besides not being mine. If I didn’t know who I was with, I would be so confused. Even with that I was confused.

-Sure. But it’s not my first time. I know how those memories feel. This is something completely different.

-Uh-uh…

I sort of didn’t want to believe him, but I had no reason to.

He did, in fact, have the most experience with that kind of thing, so I guess he knew better.

But if so then, what was that?

I wanted to say that it was just some memories of the janitor he took by accident, but if he was right, then it was not it.

Besides, he was still kicking. Supposedly.

But…

-Say… could that memory… come from me?

-What?

-You said you were connected to me, being the closest, I guess it could be possible for you to not notice it came from me, right?

-And how would you know anything about this place?

-Just answer, yes or no.

-I… well, maybe. So you know this place?

When I was thinking about how to answer that question, I noticed something move near us.

It didn’t seem like a living being, though.

It was…

-A portal!

Something has tracked us once more.