The night passed by uneventfully. Zachary didn’t hear the owl again. The next day, they set off early, continuing east. They followed the forest elephant trails as far as they could and then cut into the dense jungle.

Heather’s green mantis, named Toby, led the way, slashing the underbrush with ease. It was a powerful creature, well worthy of respect. Its two forelimbs were like a pair of sharp blades. Zachary had encountered this species a few times before. They were all strong, even at the novice rank. At the adept rank, they were suitable to serve as the ace of a summoner’s lineup.

The group took turns taking the lead. Shuhua didn’t have a summon like the green mantis but she had something almost as good, the powerful peach-eating monkey she had caught the other day. It was bigger than the mantis and full of rippling muscles beneath its short brown hair. More importantly, it was smart.

Heather’s gang had hunted a lot of novice rank Ensouled throughout the months, many of them the same mantis species as Toby. Their forelimbs were harvested to use as weapons. Even Zachary was given one. It took Shuhua only a few moments to teach the monkey, which she named Peony, how to use the mantis blade to hack at the branches and vines.

The monkey was highly effective at its task and the group made great progress.

In the afternoon, it was Carlos’ turn at the front. He didn’t fare as well as Heather or Shuhua. His summons were mostly brute force types. Thus, he had to do much of hacking himself with a mantis forelimb while his summons pushed their way through.

“Damn it… why couldn’t I get that monkey.” He grunted as his makeshift machete got stuck on a particularly large branch.

He strained to get it loose, making him curse a few more times.

Heather, who was walking besides Zachary, laughed, “Someone is cranky. Hey Carlos, stop whining like a bitch!”

"Shut up!" Carlos retorted.

She laughed mockingly.

After seeing Zachary’s apparent lack of a reaction, she explained, “Carlos was next in line after Shuhua. He got unlucky.”

“Ah… but wasn’t it your decision which targets to hunt first?” Zachary said.

“Hey!” She held a finger to her lips and shushed him.

“Hahaha! I see, I see.” Zachary replied.

He laughed some more when he saw Carlos and Shuhua starting an argument in front of them.

“Lend me your monkey,” Carlos said.

“No! Peony is tired!”

“Why did you name him Peony?”

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“Why not?”

Carlos grunted in anger and hacked at a defenseless bush to vent.

Shuhua snorted, “You want my Peony? It's not impossible, I can trade him to you for Broody and Fury.”

“Broody and Fury? Are you insane? No way! In what world is your monkey worth two adept ranks? You're dreaming!”

“Okay? And you’re delusional.”

“…” Zachary turned to Heather, silently asking when they were going to stop.

“They’re always like this. And besides, how else would we pass the time?”

He shrugged, “I don’t like to argue with people. Makes me nervous that I might say something I'll regret.”

"Hmm, maybe we have something in common." Heather said with a straight face, "Given the fact that I’m stuck here for getting rid of two husbands, maybe I also don’t like arguing with people.”

Zachary made a face, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Don’t worry. You’re not my husband so you’re safe.”

He chuckled, “I’ll remember that.”

“But…” She added, “You are very cute. If we weren’t in the middle of a jungle, I might be tempted to ask you out.”

She giggled at his expression, “What? You know you’re good-looking, don’t pretend to be ignorant.”

He shook his head and didn’t bother responding to her flirting. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t attracted to her. But his mind was focused on the mission and on quickly getting stronger. Everything could wait.

“So, how long were you and your girlfriend together?” She asked, changing the subject.

Zachary sighed in response and ran a hand through his long hair. The two kids up front were still arguing, now about which way they should go to bypass a potentially dangerous area. He turned back to Heather who was still looking at him expectantly.

“Pretty long.” He finally admitted, “Nine… actually ten years.”

“Ten years? Wow! Childhood sweethearts? That’s so cute!” Heather gushed.

But seeing his sad expression, she sobered quickly, “Sorry. I didn't mean...”

“No, you’re right. It was cute. She was cute.” He laughed, almost in self-mockery, “I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She was the most beautiful girl I have ever met.”

“And then?” Heather prodded gently, eager for a good story, “What happened?”

“Well… not much at first. I lived in a small seaside town. She came from the city with her mother. Everybody liked her. But lucky for me, she lived pretty close to me. We would always walk together to and from school.”

“Aww.” She squealed, “That is the cutest! You’re so adorable!”

He scoffed but he didn’t dislike her calling him that. He was surprised. He didn’t think he would ever willingly speak about Minah to others. But Heather had a strangely disarming and pleasant aura. It made him feel at ease.

“Yeah, even our parents thought so. My mom always said that she knew we would end up together. We became friends and we were pretty much inseparable from then on. We even got accepted to the same university. I can't remember exactly when we became a couple. It sort of just happened. I was even going to ask her to marry me…”

He trailed off, losing himself to the countless memories.

She let him reminisce for a while before asking, “Why did she break up with you? If you had known each other for so long, the least she could have done was stay true to you until the end. Even if you were given the death penalty, it was the least she could have done.”

“Why did she break up with me?” Zachary paused for a long time, searching for an answer he didn’t have, “I guess… I guess…”

He sighed, “I guess I never really understood her. I thought I did. We knew each other for so long, I thought I knew everything about her, what she liked, what she disliked, her personality, her moods, her feelings… but in the end... I didn't even know who she was.”

He cursed under his breath and looked away. That was pretty much all of it, his frustration and regret about the whole issue. The human heart was so difficult. It was hidden behind so many lies, so much uncertainty. He hated it.

It was wholly different between him and his summons. Before, it was Yaoyao. Now it was Onkie, Blue, and especially Wander. With them, there were no lies, no tricks, only a genuine bond between souls that would last for eternity.