The blizzard had passed hours ago, and now Edem, Kekeli, Leticia, and Zanetor were making their way through the densely populated forest. Each step they took was met with the crunching sound of the thick bluish-white snow beneath their feet.

Edem emphasised the need to travel quietly and keep a low profile, as the spirit warrior corps would likely intensify their search efforts, and the wild zones were to be avoided. Zanetor couldn't help but remember the plan they had to focus on – using the plane's transitional shrine instead of the inter-realm transit, which would attract unwanted attention due to Edem's past associations.

As they trekked through the forest, Zanetor's thoughts wandered to a past encounter with a forest guardian named Zozo. He wondered if the transitional shrine they were heading towards might also have a guardian residing within it.

"Zanetor"

A familiar voice snapped the shadow soul out of his musing, prompting him to look up. Edem stared back, smirking as he stopped in his tracks.

"Today, we'll work on honing your spiritual awareness," Edem explained, pointing towards a nearby clearing.

"Spiritual awareness?" Zanetor questioned softly.

"Exactly," Edem nodded. "Think of it as an internal radar of some sort. Once an awakened soul gains a feel for their spiritual energy, they begin working on sensing the spirit energy around them."

Kekeli, eager to share his knowledge, chimed in,"Oo Oo! I know a LOT about awareness! Pulled up all-nighters for my spirit warrior tests cuz of it."

"Oh?", Edem raised an eyebrow. "Well, then go ahead and explain."

A blank expression drew up on Leticia's face as the flame warrior cleared his throat and began to speak.

"You see, spirit energy works almost like music", he began. "Each and every form of the energy has a characteristic frequency that it travels with depending on the nature of its source."

He walked ahead of the others, clearly lost in his explanation.

"To perfectly hone one's awareness is to be able to sense each and every energy fluctuation distinctively in your surroundings."

"The way your soul core manifests this awareness is unique to you," Kekeli continued, "For me, it appears as a single flame burning in a pitch-black darkness. If multiple energy sources appear, new flames flare up, or if there are fluctuations, the single flame flickers in response."

Zanetor listened intently.

"That being said," Kekeli added, "a soul's maximum awareness level may surpass another soul's awareness, even if they are at the same level. It depends on the nature of the soul's core. Your max awareness may be stronger or weaker compared to mine."

Edem applauded Kekeli's explanation,"Well done, you've said quite enough, kekeli."

"Tehee", the flame warrior scratched his head and then suddenly paused as he muttered. "Wait, I don't recall ever telling him my name."

"That boils things down to one thing", Edem smirked. "We're going to start working on your awareness, Zanetor. That should heighten your battle sensitivity."

Determined, Zanetor replied, "Understood."

Edem was pleased with his response and led them to the centre of the clearing, where they would begin the training.

"The flow of energy here in this mountain area is relatively slow compared to the plane before this one so it should be easy to get the hang of it."

He walked towards the centre of the opening and gestured for the others to follow him.

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"I'll be taking Zanetor through his training", Edem began. "Leti, Kekeli, both of you can either choose to observe or do something else. Just don't wander too far."

"I'm staying with you, Uncle Edem," Leticia replied, brushing off the snow from a nearby rock and sitting on it. Jackie, the black feline, jumped onto her lap, and she gently stroked the furry creature, finding comfort in its presence.

"Well, uhm," Kekeli gestured towards a different direction. "I'm not one to sit around doing nothing, so I'll move around and keep an eye out for anything."

With that, the flame warrior ventured into the woods, disappearing behind the trees.

Turning his attention back to Zanetor, Edem said, "Let's begin, shall we?"

The shadow soul nodded, asking, "What am I supposed to do?"

"In order to hone your awareness, you'll need to clear your mind and try to become one with your surroundings," Edem explained.

"Being one with my surroundings? How?" Zanetor inquired.

"Simply focus on yourself and on the most minute sounds you hear. It should help you connect with the environment," Edem advised.

"Right," Zanetor sat down on the snow, exhaling deeply, and watching his breath form thick white clouds in the cold air. He closed his eyes, attempting to follow Edem's instructions.

He could hear Leticia's giggle and Jackie's purring, but he knew he needed to focus solely on himself. Gradually, he felt everything around him fade away until he could only recognize one existence – something bright and familiar, emitting a partially blue colour. It seemed spherical.

He suspected he might be seeing his soul core. But before he could delve deeper, a snap sound broke his concentration. A weak branch had broken off a nearby tree under the weight of the snow.

"Keep trying until nothing can distract you," Edem encouraged with a mischievous smile. "From now on, I'm going to add to the nuisance."

"Tch," Zanetor closed his eyes again, determined. "Heh."

While the shadow soul continued his training, Kekeli found himself wandering around for what felt like an eternity. Walking around reminded him of his surveillance job as a third rank spirit warrior.

Those missions were never entertaining!

Secretly, he wished for something totally unexpected to happen!

He imagined an asteroid appearing out of nowhere and threatening the non-existence of everyone and everything on the pallid plane. Was that a bit too apocalyptic?

kekeli shook his head and then stopped in his tracks.

How about a pack of deadly spirit beasts with thirst for blood hunting him down? Yeah, that one seemed entertaining and devoid of an existential crisis!

The thought amused him and seemed devoid of any existential crisis.

A silly grin formed on Kekeli's face as he entertained the idea, "Maybe I should anger some spirit beasts."

With his eyes closed, he felt a giddy excitement at the prospect of running from a pack of angry spirit beasts.

"Huh," Kekeli opened his eyes, realising how bored he had become. "My boredom must be reaching seriously critical levels if I'm thinking like this."

The flame warrior sighed and turned around, "Maybe I should just head back-"

A serious expression suddenly appeared on his face as a second flame lit up in his dark awareness.

Someone or something was nearby.

Kekeli's eyes narrowed as his alertness flared up. At that point, an enormous weight donned on him as a third, brightly lit flame appeared in the darkness. This time, all three flames flickered violently.

"Something with an insane spirit energy is headed this way"

*SLAM!*

Loads of snow lodged into the air as something made impact with the ground a few feet away from him.

Instinctively, Kekeli leapt back and observed carefully.

From the snow mound emerged a soul wearing a thick black uniform with white fur lining the edges. The symbol of a snake with its tongue sticking out adorned the left sleeve of the uniform.

"A spirit warrior", he muttered, immediately hiding behind a nearby tree. "Did they manage to find us?"

The spirit warrior seemed to be in bad shape, struggling to breathe and displaying multiple wounds. Just as she was about to make a move, something else intervened.

*BOOM!*

An enormous impact sent snow flying as something huge crashed down on the spirit warrior from the air. The shock was intense despite the snow cushioning the landing.

Also, there was something off about its flame.

… It was red.

The last time he had seen a red flame was-

*SCREECH!*

A deafening cry filled the air, drawing Kekeli's attention to the source.

There, standing in the middle of the forest was an enormous creature that had a black body decorated with blood red lines. Its eight legs were menacing as they supported its oddly-shaped cylindrical body. A single eye could be seen in the middle of the creature's head and it glared upon the spirit warrior whose face it had impaled with one of its slender limbs.

Blood oozed down the sides of the female warrior's face as she struggled to break free from the monster's bind. Her body thrashed about as she writhed in pain and in an instant, the creature pulled out its limb, briefly raising the warrior's body into the air and piercing its other limb through her chest.

Kekeli's eyes widened, "H- her soul core"

The spirit warrior's movements ceased as her body slowly bloated and exploded into pieces. Her blood splattered all over the ground, drenching the snow in a crimson red.

A great heaviness dawned on Kekeli as the creature's spirit energy fell upon the area.

He had to get to the others and escape with them!

Immediately!

The flame warrior turned the other way and made a run for it, oblivious to the fact that the creature's gaze had fallen on him.

Prey…

Prey…

PREY!