A short silence felt the time Spica reflected.

They had already moved closer to the source of the noises, skirting around the beast, and could hear the frustrated cries of the furious creature. They could even distinguish his silhouette moaning and trying to get up.

“Can't we just lure him into a corner full of Ichor and let him be devoured?” he proposed softly but coldly. “When you've got an enemy, it's better to destroy him definitely.”

Map let out a little laugh. “You'll have to get used to it, but it's hard to kill anyone. There are so many Rifts with special resources, Concepts with escape skills, and so many beings who created and sold different means of rescue, believe me, even ensuring the extinction of a spirit from a simple awakened person like you or the big bird can be difficult in many cases.”

“As for your plan, it's what I told you, if the bird gets lost in Ichor, he'll collapse and become a Phantasm except that he’ll probably be under the same rule as the rest of Ichor. Which will be far more dangerous for both of us,” Map explained while Spica was attentive to the slightest sign of the bird.

“My problem is why can you assess its rank but you didn't sense it in time?” He questioned.

“That's because I'm not sure,” admitted Map. They had moved swiftly into an area full of Ichor, dodging as best they could the hunting eyes of the furious bird by skimming close to the walls of the buildings. The noise of claws and scrapings had amplified further as they were now a street away from the creature.

The area was completely twisted in darkness, the golden sky was unable to triumph over the mantle of opaque darkness that now shrouded the whole region. It was as if night had fallen exclusively on the clan's inner circle.

“But the chance that it's of higher rank is about the same as the chance that you'll have become a Soul by the end of the day or that you'll actually be my Lord reborn,” Map continued amused.

“I remind you that I've been alive for centuries. If I were incapable of evaluating the lower ranks I would have lived for nothing.”

“You've lived for centuries and yet you're not capable of defeating a bird,” Spica retorted expressionlessly. He turned his head and stared into Map's mantis eyes. “I wouldn't be so proud if I were you.”

Map was left speechless and the two companions slid close to the beast in silence. As they advanced, he urged Spica to be quiet by pointing his scythe at his lips.

“From now on, I'll be broadcasting Runes directly, which will illuminate his mind. Normally two or three should be enough,” Map whispered after inserting his little head almost into his ears.

“If it works, keep quiet and I'll talk to him in conceptual language. As long as we succeed we'll try to trade with him.”

Seeing that Spica didn't flinch, he continued. “At worst, he's already Phantasmed and he'll probably try to kill us. If that's the case, I'll shout and you'll run as fast as you can in menagerie's direction. Do you remember how to get there?”

Spica nodded.

Two or three buildings away, Spica couldn't see exactly, hidden by a large and wide building, they stopped. The bird was making strange gurgling noises with his shrill squeaking. However, he seemed unable to walk properly and moved erratically down the street.

Running is harder on Ichor. The bird will be all the more affected.

He turned around one last time, studying the terrain carefully. Thanks to Soudec and Map's memories, he had managed to build up a precise mental map of the area and the path to the menagerie.

There were few buildings as impressive as the menagerie, it was the biggest and the only one covered by a glass dome. It was the nearest building to the last circle of the Spirime clan, the clan's most mythical and revered site, home to their Rift and the patriarch's house.

In Soudec’s memories, along with the small hospital, they were the four most iconic elements of their clan, their pride, and joy, which had been engraved and reproduced thousands of times in the Swordfeather paperZnews.

A palpable tension set in as Map tapped on his shoulder, pricked up his ears and prepared to pounce.

Suddenly he felt this strange sensation and two superimposed voices, one whispering and one in his head, in this strange emotionless tone which also seemed very different from Map's, that pronounced three words, <[Oiseau], [Sword], [Lemon]>.

“That's weird,” Map mumbled, feeling no reaction from the bird. Instantly, he turned back into his necklace and shouted. “Run!”

Spica dashed forward without question and heard behind him the crash of a building as whole sections of it collapsed, littering the street with rubble, blocks of stone falling like driving rain, he avoided the rubble as best he could.

He avoided them as best he could, although some caused him minor cuts or pain, and a large piece of debris struck him, throwing him forward a few meters.

He hiccuped under the force of the impact and struggled to get to his feet, his legs wobbling.

Behind him, he could hear footsteps coming closer, causing the ground to rumble and the street nad buildings to crumble, so he pulled himself to his feet as best he could and set off again, spritzing with all his soul, much faster than he could ever have done with his own body.

With a taste of iron in his mouth, and his head still troubled, he zigzagged and avoiding the final debris. The presence of the beast behind him had rapidly diminished, becoming a vague, distant clatter.

Map clung to his neck and said, “We're going to the menagerie because we need a place with some leftover spirits to lure him. He should be even dumber than before, so as long as we have other spirits we'll be able to outrun him. He can't leave the Ichor area so as long as we draw him down he'll concentrate there.”

After two minutes of running, with the threat of their pursuer only growing more distant, the two companions arrived at the outer enclosures, where the same kinds of large nests and enormous cocoons were to be found in the rest of the inner circle.

Although adrenaline had enabled Spica to run, the pain had returned and he could feel it getting worse with every step. Clambering forward, he strode with determination.

Happily, my leg isn't broken.

The small path led to the menagerie, the equivalent of six large buildings, even when completely tinted with muddy-looking Ichor, the place’s grandiosity stood out, its great dome protruding from the top and resembling a kind of giant black egg.

Spica recalled a fragment of memory, a giant fire breathing black swan, the creature reserved for Soudec, that should be among these cocoons.

“What a pity,” he regretted, looking at the masses of cocoons. “Another helping hand wouldn't go amiss.”

“But you never know, there might still be other lucky ones” Map observed the surroundings alertly. “But I must admit, I'd rather have had the Fleming with us, we could have got out of here already”.

“Didn't you tell me before that there was no chance of survival for the creatures during the attack?” asked Spica doubtfully.

“For the Spirime clan,” corrected Map. “Other creatures from your clan could have survived. Blazing flies, for example, I've seen nests of them, so there's a great chance some have survived. We could use them as bait or cannon fodder.”

“And you're telling me that now?” asked Spica incredulously, stopping in place in front of the entrance. “We could have passed there before trying to get down. Maybe we could have even fought the bird.”

“Not so much,” dismissed the paper mantis with condescending gestures. “To be really useful we need someone who has reached at least Integration Ether rank, otherwise they are as useless as we are. How many creatures in this desert place have reached that level? Do you think there are many in the whole Swordfeather? And given their Hunger, I doubt a blazing fly has ever reached the Integration rank.”

Map patted Spica, encouraging him to continue to advance. “By the way, for the forest, all we have to do is awaken all the hostile creatures in our path and if you find a creature worthy of a contract, we'll get an extra companion. The number of creatures that might need to satisfy their Hunger with you isn't that huge. Even if they want an ether-rich meal, they'll probably eat something else if you're threatening enough.”

“Zitronnia is about nine days' walk away. Admittedly, it's still dangerous, but much less so than staying here,” said Map as they set off again, the large doors of the menagerie were very close.

“Spirime said that practically every creature...” Spica inspired then resumed exasperated, “Is there any truth in what he taught them?”

“What is true or false I don't know, but I'd say all the resources you've got are more than enough as repayment,” Map’s voice broke the torpor of the sinister path in which they were slowly advancing.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“But even if everyone won’t want to kill us. There is surely the rest of the enemy clan, the Birdallred clan nearby, or other creatures like this bird that’ll be attracted by us,” Spica said.

“It’s true,” accepted Map. “But we just have to try to find a good companion quickly. It can be dangerous but here we have no chance to survive and the more times we stay the riskier it becomes.

“In any case, let's try to escape first.” He added obstinately.

The pain radiated down Spica's leg, making him struggle to move forward. They advanced and finally entered the menagerie.

Spica observed with attention the great hall. Clusters of Ichor formed garlands, hammocks, or even strange descending shapes reminiscent of chandeliers or stalagmites, as well as various cocoons belonging to different creatures, including the Spirime members.

Many small enclosures were completely covered over, making it impossible to identify the habitats and creatures they once contained.

The floor was even thicker and stickier, and he lifted his sole with difficulty. They crossed the hall and visited quickly several other rooms. Everywhere, the Ichor found increasingly complex and strange ways of showing off.

In the most concentrated areas, it even seemed to be regurgitated by space or emerging from the void.

Passing a small enclosure, he found an engraved sign, still partially readable, “Fire black kite”.

As they entered the next room, they heard a faint noise. Several reddish points of light were moving through the air, producing an unpleasant humming.

“Just as I thought,” The enchanted object noted as they could see one of the blazing flies approaching.

“Shall I contract one?” Spica asked, unmoved by his companion's hint of pride.

“If you can do a contract, it might be useful,” Map agreed.

Spica ran his hand over the long bloody mark on his leg, collecting a little blood. He held out his hand with his finger covered with blood where the nearest insect landed.

A big red fly, with yellow faceted eyes and an abdomen glowing with a blazing light, it was bigger, about ten centimeters of incandescent insectoid horror.

When you add to this the fact that they had a skill that enabled them to vomit a mixture of acid and fire specialized in the destruction of flesh and that their legs were extended by black claws, they truly resembled hellish creatures.

Following the shards of memory he still had, he tried to initiate a link between his ether and his body. He felt something blocking him but couldn't identify the reason.

Finally, he concentrated as much ether as he could onto his bloody finger.

Exhausting himself to draw out all the refined ether his body possessed, a fine transparent droplet gradually emerged from the inside of his finger and joined the blood to condense into a small candy pink pearl, which the fly drank from.

Spica could feel something stirring and shaking inside his head and then felt a kind of light shine through as countless images appeared.

He felt a glow cross through him and he saw into his mind, a dark veil chased by the white light that illuminated him and revealed or unsealed a mirror of himself, not this body but his previous one.

He watched his previous body. A young body with brown eyes, cropped hair, and soft features. Ordinary, neither beautiful nor ugly. However this body was compressed and in a fetal position, it seemed somehow bathed in some kind of liquid, as if it had been placed in a jar of formalin.

He then felt himself being penetrated into this spirit and saw an empty black boundless space occupied by a central transparent sphere with three grooves lit by a blue light and a fourth visible but completely gray.

So far, his way of thinking had been similar to that of men from his previous world, with a kind of space or box inside his head where his thoughts, images, and so on unfolded, except that in this world if there as this same space to think, it was a direct link to his spirit and permit the access to the core of his being.

A true link between the body and the spirit, that what represented the mind.

Spica continued his exploration of the place, his will inspected his spirit.

On his right, the Grimoire was suspended in midair, completely frozen.

A little further away was a large golden rune faintly illuminating the surrounding area and itself made up of countless moving runes. As he stared at it, he could read the word “Language”.

Finally, the last element, completely black, was almost hidden even though it was the closest to his will. A small figurine representing a black sun with a smiling human face.

This was his mental space. The Spirit’s place.

Suddenly Spica realized. It's true, I saw it in Soudec’s thoughts that we were supposed to be able to access his mind as long as we are lightened, why didn't I think of it before?

He repressed his thoughts and observed the little figurine, having no idea what it might be, with a combination of apprehension and expectation.

If Spica hadn't been in such bad circumstances, he wouldn't have dared touch it, but with the three dangers surrounding him, it was better to try to obtain a secret card.

As he concentrated his will, a cold, mechanical voice broke into his thoughts as the figurine shook in all directions before stopping itself.

[You don't have any Rift analyzed. Impossible to run a simulation for your contracted.]