Xhez took deep breaths as she walked down a cold Liberan street during the night.

A few of her allies were tagging along with her, on their way to the initiation party John had organized. They didn't say too much as they walked, as all of them carried scars on their hearts that had only barely healed over the years. Tonight, they hoped to find a few others with that same trait.

As they arrived at the inconspicuous building the party was being held, Xhez held her anger back as she entered and scanned her surroundings. Many of these people would be swept away as ashes with the powerful and tyrannical forces the Scorned planned on destroying. The rest would, hopefully, be standing by Xhez's side when that happened.

She stood by John's side on the second floor. Someone brought up two young women who had come to the party, a woman by the name of Triss and a girl called Sara. The person said that they'd been acting strange, with Sara, in particular, seeming strangely cold for someone who was here to enjoy a party.

Those suspicions led John to organize two groups to intercept potential spies. He sent one group to the entrance, in case the spies decided to walk out the same way they came in, and he sent the other to the alley behind the building, including himself in that one.

Xhez felt good about this turn of events. She'd felt like spilling blood for a while now and this meant she might just get the chance.

She followed her allies outside where they waited for a few minutes. Sure enough, the door to the alley opened and the two suspected women were the ones who came out, carrying a book that everyone there instantly recognized as the Initiate Registration.

John and the white-haired girl started talking to each other, but honestly, Xhez would have preferred it if they could skip all of that and get straight to the fighting.

People like her, people who flaunted their appearance and didn't carry a single scar on their pristine skin, were exactly the types Xhez had promised to eliminate when she joined the Scorned so many years ago.

Unfortunately, it didn't exactly go like that at the start.

The other woman, Sara, wasn't human. She couldn't be. A human wouldn't have killed people as fast as she did without giving Xhez even so much as a moment to internalize what happened.

Primarily because of her, Xhez's group almost stood no chance.

Almost.

Sara made one misstep and Xhez was able to close the distance and stab her throat. The feeling of sinking a knife into her flesh was orgasmic, sending a deep satisfaction coursing through Xhez's veins. Watching her head thud as it hit the concrete, leaving her blank eyes staring up at the sky as she choked on her own blood was just the cherry on top.

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The other woman, Triss, was distraught. Her amber eyes remained fixed on her partner as her body froze.

Xhez had her now. She walked toward her, dagger in hand, relishing every step she took.

A sinister laugh slipped past her lips as she approached Triss and, finally-

"Xhez?"

Xhez's eyes opened.

"W-What?"

Rin was staring down at her, worried. Moonlight highlighted her silhouette making it so that those brilliant golden eyes were all she could see.

"Are you okay?"

Xhez inhaled slowly.

"Yes. I am fine."

---

As a few more nights passed, Xhez's continued to dream outside of her water bag. Spirit was of no concern to her, as she'd charged up a significant amount over the last weeks. She wanted to know if there was a difference between dreaming in water and dreaming outside of water.

At this point, however, she wasn't too sure she wanted to keep doing this.

"How much farther is it?" Rin asked as they continued walking through the forest.

"We have made good progress," Xhez replied. "I would guess that if we maintain this pace, it should only take another week before we arrive at the pond."

"Oh, wow," Rin responded. "If it's like that, we'll definitely be back in Libera before the month ends."

"Your next term starts next month, right?"

"Yeah. I'd like to get some more training in before that."

"Why not train out here?" Xhez asked.

"I can, but... I don't know. It's more comfortable when Maria's there."

"I see," Xhez smiled. "I would like to speak to her again."

"Maybe we could ask her about these dreams you've been having," Rin suggested.

Xhez had confided in her about what she saw. Those aggressive visions didn't belong to her, and yet, they felt so visceral. She was used to it, having inspected the memories of others for so long, but with Rin being the focal point of these, it was different.

This was the first time Xhez could genuinely say she wished she didn't have this ability.

"Would she be able to help?"

"I dunno, but it's worth a shot, right?"

As Rin said that, the two of them heard something.

It was akin to a low buzzing, with some low, rhythmic thudding added on top.

Xhez had no idea what it was. Rin, however, reacted instantly.

"Get down!" She half-yelled, half-whispered.

The adventurer put a hand over Xhez's mouth, grabbed her, and hid behind a tree. Xhez's back was pressed against Rin's front as whatever made that sound drew closer. Rin kept her hand over Xhez's mouth the entire time.

As it came into view, Xhez's eyes widened.

A creature made of rocks appeared before them. Its body was massive, easily four or five times larger than theirs. It had no hands, no feet, and no face. Instead, at its center was a blue orb of some sort. That thing was where the buzzing was coming from.

It didn't look around at all. Instead, the huge creature simply kept walking in a straight line, as though it had a set destination.

Eventually, they couldn't see it anymore. As the thudding grew lower and lower, Rin finally breathed a sigh of relief, though she didn't take her hands off of Xhez's body.

"A golem," she quickly stated. "I could be wrong, but I think this thing was Rank C. It was too dangerous for us to fight."

As she heard that, a question came to Xhez's mind.

She turned her head up toward Rin, still in the woman's arms.

"Were fighting it or avoiding it the only options?"

"Huh?"

"Do you remember what happened with the yariko?" Xhez asked, turning back toward where the golem had walked off. "If I had approached it, would it have been guaranteed to react with hostility?"

Rin's response came quickly.

"Why take the risk?" She asked. "It's stronger than either of us. Trying the same thing you did with the yariko would have been a gamble."

Xhez's eyes remained fixed on the path the golem took as she murmured:

"... Is that so?"