It didn't take long to convince them to do what I had planned.

Before we began doing the work, however, I first needed to use Artist to create three tools, one for each of us. With that thought in mind, I called out the Story Weaver papers and began drawing three decent-sized shovels next to each other on the paper. Since I only needed a rough sketch for this to work, it only took me about ten minutes to draw out the lineart for each of the shovels. They were simple and practical, and that was all we needed. Once I finished the sketch, I stared at the images on the paper, trying to imprint the lines to memory. When I felt ready, I shut my eyes and dove into work, generating a more detailed picture of a shovel in my mind before throwing one energy ball at it: durability.

I wrapped up the creation process, sensing my mana stream out of me as I chose to deposit the shovels in front of me. When I opened my eyes again, Elias and Kaelen had already grabbed one shovel for themselves. Without wasting any more time, I tapped into my inventory again, confirming that I still had some resources left over. They should be enough for the item I wanted to make. I pictured a simple wooden coffin in my mind, big enough for Saskia to lie down in it comfortably. It only took a spark of thought for the crafting interface to appear in front of me.

Build a Coffin?

[Yes] [No]

Nervously, I chose 'yes'. Another blue box appeared , and much to my relief, it took a much shorter time to build a coffin, at least when compared to the tree house.

Build a Coffin in progress!

Time Remaining: 5 minutes

I nodded at my companions as I picked up my shovel too. We could make use of the five minutes to start on the hole.

"We need some measurements," Elias frowned, "Or we won't know how big it needs to be."

The urge to slap him erupted in my heart, but I forced it down. Instead, I carefully deposited Saskia's body on the ground between us, trying my best to avoid glancing at her. It was difficult, but I managed to avert my gaze for the entire time while Elias and Kaelen used their steps to measure the approximate size the hole needed to be. As soon as they announced that they were done with the task, I squatted down, ready to place Saskia's body back into my Inventory, but at the same moment, the coffin finished building itself, so I stood back up.

"I'll start digging. Can the two of you put... her in?" I began to dig into the dirt inside the region Elias and Kaelen had marked earlier. As I began throwing behind me shovelfuls of dirt while making sure that they would land outside of the pit, I watched from my peripherials as my companions moved her body from the ground to the wooden coffin before slowly sliding the lid so that it covered the whole opening. Then, they came over to join me, chatting about their ideas for the monsters' disappearance. I tuned them out and focused on my work. We wouldn't be able to do it for every dead person we met, of course, and I was not the type of person to use my resources and time for such tasks.

However, after what she did for us, it just felt right to do it for her, at least to me, and my companions agreed with me enough to help.

Ten minutes passed by slowly, and just as I heard a 'plop' sound behind me, signalling that the tree house was complete, we finished digging the hole. As we took a step back to review our work, a low rumble erupted from beside us. I turned to the source of the sound, and was surprised to find that it was the coffin that emitted the noise. Nervously, I materialized the lion daggers, preparing my mind to tug on the telepathic string between me and Hydra if it became necessary. Kaelen encased us inside a golden force field, and Elias drawn out his poisoned sword. The air crackled with electric tension, as we all waited for the unknown to happen.

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With a violent explosion of shadow essence, the coffin burst open, wood splinters flying everywhere. The dark ball of energy radiated outwards, and I had to construct a thin barrier of the same energy over Kaelen's shield to protect us from the mental effects of the force. As the remainders of the attack gradually calmed down, I warily removed the shield, allowing the shadow essence to flow back into my body. Now that the obstructive barrier was gone, all of our gazes fell unanimously on the figure that just emerged from what was left of the coffin.

It resembled Saskia in the rough outline, but that was where the similarities ended. The new creature's horns were much larger, and it was thrumming with a powerful energy. Its wingspan was also greater even from what I could see, and it had a mask and a set of armor made solely out of shadow essence, making the being appear dangerous and malevolent. It was hovering about twenty centimetres off the ground, even without the wings' assistance, and there was a spinning vortex of shadow essence at its feet, supporting it as the beast towered over us.

Instinctively, I could tell. It was not something I could fight. Just as I opened my mouth to yell 'retreat', the figure began speaking, its voice booming in our ears.

'As my vessel's companions, you have failed to keep her safe,' it growled, its voice striking a wave of fear. My ears rang, although it was speaking in my head, and when I touched my hand to my earlobes, I could feel a dense liquid trickle down my arm. Saskia had that thing as her patron? No wonder she was so strong. Even bringing up her name stung terribly, and I couldn't help but wince.

'I'm not a mere thing, human,' it grumbled, but I could hear a significant change in its tone. It wasn't as angry as before, 'I'm an Ancient Shadowborn from a world that has been integrated for a long time.'

'Sorry,' I sent reluctantly, and the moment my mind touched the shadowborn's, I felt a huge resistance, but the message drifted into its mental space without too much of a problem after I gave it a hard push.

The shadowborn's gaze interlocked mine, and I felt a shiver run down my spine from staring into the abyss-like souless eyes. Even so, I held strong. After a few seconds, the shadowborn broke our eye contact and continued in its deep voice, 'However, I will revive her for you to try again. Do not fail me.'

The last condescending remark made my anger ripple, but before I could shoot back an indignant reply, my telepathic link with Hydra activated, and I heard a single word through the transmission channel, 'Don't.'

It took a lot of effort, but apparently, even the competitive side of me didn't want to risk getting me exploded like the coffin, so I was able to hold my tongue.

The shadowborn's form wavered for a moment, and I could see a purplish black core form slowly at the centre of its chest area. The dark tendrils that flailed around it were pulled into the core, making it expand. When the last of the shadowborn's essence was eaten, the core disappeared, sinking into Saskia's chest and getting enveloped by the flesh. Her eyes returned to their natural colors, her wings and horns dissipating as well. Not wanting her to die two seconds after the shadowborn 'revived' her, I bent down slightly, rushing forward to catch her as Kaelen removed her force field.

However, she stood strong, although her eyes were closed. Realizing that she didn't need my help, I straightened from my half-crouching position with an awkward cough as I waited for her to wake up. I didn't have to wait for very long, fortunately, as the girl's eyelids soon slid open. I had half expected her to be scared, at least a little, but she regained her composure quickly after quickly surveying her surroundings, and I couldn't see a hint of wariness in her expression.

That would change soon, I thought to myself as I prepared to shake her with every ounce of strength I had.