The scurry pond was in front of him, as dark as every.

Well, more like the edge of the pond was in front of him. The landscape was a mix of flat and rocky parts. The path he had taken to reach the pond existed toward the right side of the world tree. The plain of the world tree acted as a connecting point for various domains. They all existed in one reality but different space pockets.

The reason he had chosen the world tree’s domain to travel there was because of the time savings. He could not afford to be on the road for a long time. Even if the memory of what that place was still haunted his dream.

However, that was the easy part of the whole journey. The tough part was just to begin. While he had been in the world tree’s domain, he had been relatively safe. Their shared power source meant that there was no danger present. However, now that he had exited the boundary of the tree, it was a free estate for danger.

His senses assaulted him in full scope. The clearing was no longer the pain and rocky domain, but a dense forest. If he were to turn back, all he would see is the dense canopy of the forest. Rays of light didn’t penetrate the green sky above him.

It was dark and dangerous to venture into the place alone.

Xiao moved his hand to wipe the blade of clear fluid which flew from the cut on his face. Even the wind was not safe here if he was bleeding. His transparent blood had been a consequence of bounding with the world tree. That and his Albinism - both a blessing and a curse at the same time.

However, it did provide him with advantages too. Unlike most humans with albinism, his eyes were extra sensitive and sharp to movement. They didn’t have the same flaws as the normal deficiency. However, his sensitive skin was a curse.

It made it very easy to acquire cuts even without much issue. Just like now, with the wind.

A defence mechanism this place had adapted to hide the scurry pond. However, there was something different about this place today.

Whenever he entered this place there was a sense of urgency that assaulted him head-on. That was missing today. Even if his senses were back, they were not there fully. It felt that they constantly missed a spot in direction.

Never had he been this put off before. His senses had never betrayed him before like this.

Never accept the time in the shop with his new Employee. And he had specifically told him to not come out of his room. He knew this was a possibility, but he chose to take it.

“Come out now. I know you are there. Were you there from the start Kei?” Xiao called out, one of his hands gripping a black bow and aiming it at the place his senses were not pointing at. It was dark enough to not be able to see and he was not taking any chances.

“I was not sure if you could sense me at all. Since you haven't called me out yet, I thought you were going to let me do my own thing” Kei’s amused voice called from the direction his arrow was pointed at. The shadow's could not quite hideout the black silhouette anymore now that the tall figurehead stepped forward. “Wow, out the arrow down or you might accidentally hurt me”

Xiao was sure that if he released the arrow it would be no accident. However, just like before in the shop, he could not release the arrow at all. There was something stopping him from doing it.

“You have been here the whole time? I specifically told you to not leave your room” Only after the words had left his mouth did Xiao realised how dumb he had been to call out Kei. Had he really expected the other to stay in his room all the time? Well yes, but also no since he knew that was wishful thinking.

It was more surprising to see the figure here with him though. With unrestricted access to his home, Kei had the perfect opportunity to do whatever he came for. So why was he wasting his time here? Unless what he wanted was here.

Was he after the scurry pond?

“Well, I’m still in my room or I should be. But I got pulled here when I was lying down in my room” Kei explained. Xiao had no way to call him out on that. Magical resonance was a common phenomenon that occurred when similar cores interacted with their magic.

It could explain how Kei was here if he himself never left the assigned room. After all, their distance was not enough to prevent this phenomenon. Also, Xiao had never felt the need to have a prevention build for such a cause.

He had not even thought that it was a possibility, but here they were.

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“Can you try and break the resonance from your end? I still have to do what I came here to do so I can’t right now” Xiao asked. If he terminated the bond right now, he would have to do it all again. Face that place again. He was not sure he could do it two nights in a row.

However, Kei’s frown told a different story.

“Well, I tried but it didn’t work. I’ll just stick with you for the time being. Also, watch out” Xiao didn’t have much time to guess whether Kei was telling the truth or not since the noise from his side had his senses ablaze.

His instincts took over as he dodged to the right. His bow still in his hand was aimed at ready as soon as he had regained his footing. The beast in front of him was big. Big enough that he could not spot Kei at the other side of the beast.

And it was most likely not alone at all. His senses were pointing out different directions with danger. There was a pack, at least 12 wolves in the vicinity.

Generally, he would not have much problem, but he had Kei to protect too, so he needed to be careful. Besides, these were not magical creatures but mutations that had been affected by the scurry pond. Their bond to the magic was tight which put him at a disadvantage.

“Kei, run toward the clearing you see in the distance. Step in the water as soon as you can and these wolves should leave you alone. I’ll divert their attention so that you can reach the pool. Once you’re there, send a butterfly and I’ll join you” Xiao called out, his voice breathy from running around the wolves.

He had blocked an attack meant for Kei with his bow. The paw of the big wolf met the obsidian black surface of the bow before Xiao pulled the string back. An arrow made up of wind struck the wolf in the chest which caused it to wobble back.

“I can help in the fight” Kei called out, but seeing as he was still unarmed Xiao doubted it. Besides, no matter how good Kei would be, he was but a child. It would just not feel right to have a child fight.

“No Kei, just go. You’re distracting me here” Xiao called out as he dodged out of the way of the paw. It had thankfully spared his side, but the fall had hurt. Quickly regaining his footing, he loaded his arrow. There were more wolves around now and a bow was not going to cut it.

He needed to gather them around and the best was to do so would be the Masqurin. However, it was again something which he could not do with Kei in the way. At least he got stuck in it too.

But for now, he needed to buy time. A defence circle was quickly cast which pushed the wolves a little further. However, since it required a lot of pre-prep work, he only had one for emergencies. It would not last long.

“Kei, listen to me. Yes, I can allow you to fight but that would risk two casualties. There are too many wolves to fight alone. Plus, my magic is already being drained by the initial array I used to get here. I’ll use Masqurin if you quickly make your way out” while talking, Xiao was already edging the teen toward the desired location slowly.

The defence circle was already flickering in and out of light. There was only one chance he had before he ran out of power.

“Fine. I’ll go, so you better start” Kei finally agreed. There was no amusement in his voice, only resilience at his fate. Xiao felt better when he finally agreed. He should have checked on Kei and he might even have in a normal scenario, but not right now.

There was a distance of 30 M between him and the pond. At least 3 wolves in that direction were getting restless. He needed to make the angle absolutely right to get Kei through.

Masqurin was a technique that rapidly solidified slanting ice pillars in a single direction. It formed a circle of slanting ice pillars which formed and burst after a few seconds. If he was not careful, both he and Kei would be caught in the aftermath.

However, he could not use fire or lightning in here, or the fire would cause massive damage. Water would be equally bad since trees here were sensitive to moisture, but not a sudden change in temperature. If it was for only a few minutes it would be alright.

There was no other choice in this scenario. The scurry pond was too good to lose for such a simple reason.

“Kei go” he called as he spread the arrow. The brack pattern of his bow quickly melted away as it spread from his foot. It looked as if the shadow had expanded and covered a vast expanse of the forest. However, it avoided the trees in the vicinity.

Just as quickly, the black turned to bluish-white before thin, long ice pillars burst out of them. Their sharp tips not only hurt the wolves but also trap them in enclosures. It was lucky that he was so fast and had his full concentration on the technique because quite a few of these wolves had managed to sneak by to his side. One had almost bitten his arm before getting impaled.

Now all that was left was for these ice pillars to explode. It should get them enough time to get the information they need and then get out. However, his body here was not a real one and it could not keep up with the strain at all. For the first time, it had to sustain two people in the array and the energy cost had exponentially expanded.

This caused Xiao’s knees to buckle. He just had to snap his fingers and it all would be over. But his body was not cooperating with him at all.

“Really, what am I going to do with you. I told you that I can fight, but you refused. It would be a disaster if you fainted now” There were arms that were supporting him now that his knees had decided that they no longer wanted to cooperate with him.

The body which was holding him quickly jumped back with him still in those arms. Quickly jumping from one ice pillar to another, they both quickly made it to the lake.

“Let me go now. I’ll take it from here” shrugging the arms from around him, Xiao pulled himself together. Now that he had gained some distance and time, his body had a little more energy in it. With a quick snap of his fingers, the ice pillars exploded. The chill that penetrated the airdropped the surrounding temperature quite a few degrees.

It also caused a mist barrier to form in the vicinity. But both the mist as well as the temperature drop lasted a few minutes. It was all quiet again.

“That was dangerous. I’m glad I got stuck here with Xiao” Even if Kei said that Xiao had a hunch that he didn’t find this situation dangerous at all. It was more likely that he found it all humorous at the most and tedious at the least.

Looking at Kei, there were no scratches or any sign of any struggle at him at all. It didn’t even look as if he had been out at all. Even while getting him out, there was no look of strain on that young face. Xiao wanted to say something, anything to scold Kei. It had been a dangerous situation and he had treated it as a game.

However, he could not. He had no right to and nothing had actually happened. More likely, he had just gotten saved on another trip to this place. Even if it had been a move in self interest on Kei’s part, it had not been in vain at all.

However, to thank him now would be to encourage his reckless and dangerous behaviour.

“Well, I would love to have this talk here but we’re running out of time. I don’t think the array would hold for very long at this rate” And Kei was right. Already he could feel the time slipping out.

Xiao had to remember what he came here for. Also, Kei was no child. He needed to disassociate himself from the notion of seeing him as a child.

“You’re right. We’ll have this talk sometime else. For now, I’ll press the slip here and if you see anything tell me immediately” Xiao called out. His vision was already out of focus, but he needed to maintain his wits right now. With a quick pull from his pocket, the paper was submerged in the water and glowy ripples began making waves all around the party of two.

A long shadow swam beneath the two. The tail was at least 3 meters in length, however, the upper part was indistinguishable in all the haziness. As if drawn in by the light, Kei moved his face toward the water and the shadow swam away.

Only a sigh broke the silent peace.

“I knew that was it. I hoped it didn’t come down to this, but it did” Kei turned his tilted face toward Xiao, meeting those tired eyes head-on. “Kei, I’ll need to call in some favours. Wake me at 8:00 AM tomorrow”

With those final words, routes and veins covered the two figures in the lake before it broke down into black butterflies leaving no trace behind.