Mir woke up to extreme discomfort all over his skin. Blinking rapidly, he tried to sit up, only to lose his balance and fall face-first into warm water. Luckily, the rest of his body was still up...on the raft.

Right. Raft, stream, running, being shot at...

The weight of the memories hit him hard. He quickly glanced at the West bank and found nobody there. Alarms going off in his head, he whipped his head around, checking every direction. Neither of his pursuers could be seen anywhere.

His communicator told him it was 09:45. He had slept for less than 2 hours, undisturbed. Nothing seemed off except the disappearance of the two men waiting for him on the Western bank of the channel.

Where could they have gone? The diary was still with him. He had openly declared that while escaping their pursuit. Why would they leave him?

Unsure of what to do for the moment, Mir entered the messaging software of his communicator to check for updates on Murray and Reno.

Reno's last message had been sent an hour ago. He had apparently managed to fool the crows tailing him by jumping into a waterfall and swimming into an underground cavern he had discovered beneath it.

Mir sent a message back, saying he was still near the origin of the wide channel. Just to be safe, he kept his exact location vague.

Murray hadn't yet sent any messages. Worried, Mir sent him one asking if he was alright.

Almost immediately, Murray replied.

"Fine. Got into a sticky situation. Safe now. Where are you?"

Mir described his circumstance and the inexplicable disappearance of the two men chasing him.

"They're probably hiding to lower your guard. You can't spend too long on the raft. When you land, they're probably hoping you'll land on the western bank again to meet up with Reno. He's still there somewhere, they know that." Murray's answer came without delay.

It made sense, Mir felt. Not a bad move on their part. Now, all he had to do was to lose them off his back again.

"How long will it take for you to return to the junction of the streams?" Mir asked Murray.

"I'm already pretty close to it. I'll wait near the beehive for you. I've talked to Reno. He can recuperate while I get you that Purplevein Bee Queen."

Mir's mouth perked up. Eagerly, he sent another message to his older brother.

"Reno didn't tell you, did he?"

"Tell me what?"

"I have already gotten a contracted creature. I didn't have the time to tell you last time we talked."

"WHAT? WHICH CREATURE?!"

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Murray's reply came in bold lettering. Mir couldn't help laughing pridefully. He had surpassed his talented big bro! Murray hadn't yet managed to form a contract with any creature.

Once Murray read his description of how he had defeated the Witchweed, he didn't reply for a long time, making Mir doubt whether he was even online. His next message, however, caught him off guard.

"Stay where you are. I'm coming to meet up with you."

Dumbfounded, Mir hurriedly reminded him.

"But those two who tracked me down might be waiting for an opportunity like that! We can't risk that! I can land on the Eastern bank once night falls. In the daytime, that place is impossible to hide in. I'll run to the junction during the night."

"You've got more important issues to worry about right now, fool. Sit there and wait. And if it is possible, try fishing."

"What?" Mir replied, even more flabbergasted.

"Just do it! I'm coming."

Murray no longer replied after that, no matter how many messages he sent asking what was wrong.

The relief he had felt till now gave way to a new tension. How was Murray going to handle those fellows? Both of them were Transcenders!

Still, he knew not to doubt Murray and act irrationally in a situation so delicate. Murray was smart, way too smart to randomly walk into a trap knowing the dangers. Since he said he would come, he probably had a trump card that Mir didn't know about.

Mir took out the short rope from his backpack, alongside a needle-thin steel wire that Murray had insisted they'd need inside the sacred ground. At that time, Mir hadn't thought much about its usage. But now, it seemed like an excellent fit for the role of a fishhook.

He tied the wire as robustly as possible with the rope and then pressed the tip of the wire hard enough to create a U-shape curve. Satisfied with the result, he searched through his rations. To keep the weight load light, he hadn't carried much with him. There were several packets of biscuits, bread, salt and a small bottle of peanuts.

He cut off a piece of bread and hooked it on his makeshift fishing gadget. Dropping the rope into the water, he held on to the other end and waited for the loop he had made in the middle of the rope to sink, ready to tug on it the moment it happened.

And then he waited.

The first time the loop sank, his tug produced an empty fishhook.

The second time, he was successful in catching a...fish with four tentacles protruding from its chin. It hadn't actually bitten down on the bread. It had wrapped its tentacles around the hook to separate the bread from the hook. Mir had been fortunate enough to notice the slight downward pull.

"Damn! No one's gonna profit from fishing here if all the fish have tentacles," Mir muttered as he examined this strange specimen. When he uploaded its pictures to the software, a 96% match told him what it really was.

Creature: Silverback Quad-Carp

Soulslot Consumption: 2 units

Mutation: Grade- 1

Evolution Potential: Grade- 2

Affinity: Aquatic

Danger Rating: Ordinary In the Mutant Class

Mutation Details: A cross between octopuses and silver carp, this creature's mutation is quite apparent, the four tentacles around its mouth. These tentacles are extremely sensitive to aquatic elements, working as current sensors, heat sensors, vibration sensors, and to a limited degree, lifeform detectors. An explorer who can form a contract with this creature will have a great advantage in water if the fish can reach a grade- 2 mutation.

Mir found it a pity to kill the fish. He could really use an advantage in the water right now. But he still wasn't sure about his mental capability to handle contracts with mutant creatures. And Murray's reaction to the news of his contract with a plant had only aggravated his suspicion that there was something he didn't know, or had ignored out of carelessness; something that was going to get him in trouble.

Pulling out the gas torch, he bid welcome to the Silverback Quad-Carp.

"In another life, you could've been my companion, brother fish. Goodbye!"

But the fish began to struggle the moment he put it on flames. Mir felt quite troubled. He didn't know how to kill the fish without pain. As its body twisted and turned on top of the fire, Mir had to look away. He hadn't experienced a shred of such guilt when he had almost wiped out the Witchweed population inside the Catkin grove.

Had the diary's influence temporarily turned him into an inhumane monster?