"I was a fool to think that you'd come here for family", Kenji laughed once more placing his hand on his forehead. Koa gulped as he examined his younger brother. He still hadn't answered the question and Koa would keep his lips sealed till he got an answer.

"I take a picture of every report I send out. I have reported every decision I've taken on the battlefield as well as the severity of the situation. The issue is not from me. I assure you older brother", Kenji explained.

Koa let out a sigh. It felt like he'd been hiding his breath but now he could relax. He adjusted his glasses once more and took the empty seat by Kenji's bed. "I will look after you for the time being. By the coming morning, I will head to the third sector myself and clear it out", Koa hummed. "I trust that you will, after all these years of being behind a desk, you must be itching to get back on the field", Kenji teased causing heat to rise to Koa's cheeks. "That is not it at all. I simply wish to be of assistance", Koa defended looking away.

***

"Hmm, the air here smells dead", Amaya complained pinching her nostrils. "This is such a tragic sight to behold", A gold-haired man stated. He wore a black open-chested kimono with embroidered gold flowers, exposing his broad chest. His skin was a pale white colour. He had two fangs emanating from his top teeth. His gold eyes sparkled and a shethed white sword with a gold hilt hung from his hip. His shoulder-length hair was in a low ponytail and a couple of short hairs adorned his facial features allowing only small portions of his eyes to be seen. He didn't look in the slightest bit normal.

The dead soldiers' remains are scattered on the ground as a couple of monsters fed on some bodies not too far off. "Rafka, you still haven't explained why you look human now that we're out of my soul", Amaya complained looking at the gold-haired man once more.

"I did some research to appear a bit more human for personal purposes", Rafka coughed.

"Is there someone on Misma, you're trying to impress?", Amaya teased.

"No. As of now, you're the only one who can see me. Other people only see me as the sword on my hip."

"So I'm talking to a weapon in the eyes of others."

"Precisely", Rafka chirped flashing her a toothy grin.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Of course, leave it to you to make me look crazy each step of the way and to also double the 1 year to 1-week ratio", Amaya hissed.

"You needed the extra time. And in that time I was able to also remaster how to appear human"

"You have fangs."

"Close to human."

"Are you sure we're at the 6th sector? The forest doesn't look like a forest anymore", Amaya says looking at the remaining trees. It looked like only a quarter of the original value remained.

A monster nearby approached them, it looked like a black crocodile with wings. It had blood still oozing from it. It had just finished eating not long ago. It screams, running at the two who paid no heed. A thin line of light could be seen before it disappeared. Amaya sheathed the sword allowing it to float beside her. Rafka reappeared fixing his hair. It was a strange phenomenon. She didn't understand it much.

Rafka was a part of her and resided in her soul but somehow his 38-inch-long sword allowed him to project himself into the outside world through her mind. The heavenly realm was not one to be messed with. Their concepts were too advanced and evaded mortal understanding.

"Your first motive should be finding the Misma scorpion and getting some of the deadly fruits-"

"Deadly?!", Amaya interrupts.

"Relax, they won't kill you. As long as we go about it the proper way, they'll have more effects than any of the normal methods we want to try. But we can start easy, by getting some holy water from the city", Rafka explained placing a hand on his chin.

"Holy water? Does that help?", Amaya asked confused.

"Yes, it helps with strength as well as purifying you. It prevents your mind from penetration as well. It is important."

"How are we going to get it though? We don't have money and I think it'd be better if we didn't make it known to the public that I'm Voer", Amaya explained.

"Since this is the only public forest, if we're able to gather some of the edible fruits, we should be able to sell them in the city and make some good money to buy Holy water."

"It's a good plan... But which ones are edible?", Amaya asked.

"Plants and medicine were always Mara's speciality, but from my limited knowledge. The easiest to obtain should be the adaberries. Their a lavender colour and their tree leaves bear the same colour making them easy to find", Rafka explained.

"Oh, a bunch of them are right there!", Amaya exclaimed pointing to a group of 7 trees clustered together in the forest.

"I'll leave the farming to you", Rafka declared disappearing once more.

Amaya brought down the fruits from the tree. They really were lavender. They looked like mutated grapes that sort of stuck together.

"That's 300 of these tiny things. I should be able to get a decent amount for them", Amaya looked at the haul she had.

"It's better if I don't travel with these on hand, I'd attract too much attention. Plus, I'm not sure how long the journey will take me since I'm not manipulating space while I'm in Misma"

Amaya looked at the haul once more. She placed her hand on the heap of adaberries summoning a small black hole in her hand. She expanded the hole and slowly moved her hand down allowing the berries to disappear.