The streets chittered with the sounds of the crickets that had taken residence in the buildings humans had abandoned.

Talia and Keanu moved in silence through the run-down city.

It was one of the main signs of Placid City's state of disrepair: the sand had slowly accumulated over the cobblestone and stomped on it so many times that it had made a natural silencer for the two.

However, in any other city, this would have been a problem.

Sand could hide holes and uneven surfaces on the street, which meant carriages - or people - could struggle over it.

That’s why it was so important to constantly maintain the streets. But it was clear that Placid City didn’t have a strong need to do so—or, at the very least, no one was up to the job.

It was sad, really.

It spoke of people who had accepted these poor conditions as the norm.

Talia breathed in while exchanging glances with Keanu, jogging by her side.

There was something to the boy that she had met for the first time on Professor Iakopo’s boat during that madman’s first test that reassured her.

Keanu's demeanor was calm and collected, and, most importantly, he never appeared to be far behind Talia in his thoughts.

Fiora was a brilliant girl - or at least Talia thought so - but even the blonde had a way of thinking that didn’t resonate with her.

Keanu’s mind, instead, as proven by their stroll earlier during the day and the fact that he had readily agreed to come killing Slashing Crusters with her, followed the same tide cycle of hers.

There was a connection there, something Talia couldn’t yet understand fully.

But it did make her feel at ease when she shared her time with him.

Soon, they had made their way into the non-cobbled path they had taken from the beach where the Siren’s Song had landed.

The air was thickened by salt here and less by the rotten wood that seemed omnipresent in Placid City.

They were far enough from the buildings that both felt comfortable talking about their night-skulking without worrying about Professor Iakopo.

"How many should we go for?" Keanu whispered, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow. "We're supposed to be resting for the cave expedition. What if the Professor suddenly decides we have to go tomorrow. He could fail us."

Talia nodded, her grip tightening on her glaive.

"Well, he might,” she exhaled. “But I need to get stronger, Keanu. Those Slashing Crusters are our best chance at that right now. Plus, [Blood Siphon] also restores some stamina. If we don’t expend too much fighting them, we might come back in a few hours and sleep enough to be rested in case that piece of crap decided to put one over us."

“I don’t mind getting more levels,” the boy replied. “I wish I could have gotten more before coming to the Academy. I feel like I’m too weak.”

As they approached the beach where the battle had taken place earlier, the remnants of the conflict became more apparent.

Broken shells and patches of dried blood stained the sand, and the mangled remains of Slashing Crusters could be seen here and there.

"I still can't believe how quickly you took down those Cruster during the fight," Keanu remarked, a note of admiration in his voice. "Even without Mana Crystallization."

Talia smiled wryly.

"Thanks. But it's not enough. I can’t really summon it at will yet. Not during a fight. It’s… hard to concentrate enough. Maybe I’m naive, but I didn’t think being on the battlefield would be so much different regarding Mana Control. Maybe that’s why that bastard brought us here.”

“He’s infamous around the Academy for his methods,” Keanu said with a sigh, “but he does have the reputation of someone who knows what they’re doing.”

They paused at the edge of the beach, surveying the area.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

In the distance, several dark shapes could be seen moving across the sand – more Slashing Crusters, drawn perhaps by the remnants of their fallen kin.

"Looks like we've got company," Keanu muttered, his hands moving to the hilts of his daggers.

Talia nodded, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the situation.

"Let’s not engage too many at once. Let’s try to single out one at a time so we don’t get overwhelmed. We don’t know whether they might be able to summon more of their friends.“

"Keanu," she whispered, "by the way, what do you make of all this? The city, the cave, Professor Iakopo's secrecy?"

Keanu was silent for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought as they hid behind a large stone, still relatively far from the closest Slashing Cruster.

They had singled out one that was currently munching on the corpse of another monster.

Talia found it a waste that she hadn’t been able to use [Blood Siphon] on all of the dead ones. Still, Professor Iakopo wanted to bring the guards back to the city and wouldn't have let her stay behind.

"I think there's much more going on here than we've been told. That Placid City Catastrophe the mayor mentioned – I bet it's somewhat connected to why we're really here."

Talia nodded in agreement.

"My thoughts exactly. And I can't shake the feeling that it has something to do with my mother because of her connection to Professor Iakopo."

Before Keanu could respond, a sharp screech cut through the night air.

One of the Slashing Crusters had spotted them.

Without either of them realizing it, it had charged them from behind.

[Slashing Cruster - Level 9]

Talia and Keanu saw its blade-like appendages glinting in the moonlight as it charged across the sand.

"Here we go," Talia muttered, readying her glaive.

The Slashing Cruster charged at Talia.

Immediately, she tried focusing her mind on Mana Crystallization.

Without it, her weapon would barely scratch the monster's tough carapace.

"Come on, focus," she muttered to herself, trying to clear her mind of the thoughts that had plagued her since arriving in Placid City and the urgency of the impending battle.

She visualized the Mana flow within her body, originating from her core and spiraling outward like tendrils of crimson light. She focused on channeling that energy through her arms and into the blade, imagining it coating the metal in a protective and empowering sheath.

The first spark of mana flickered at the base of the glaive's blade.

In her mind's eye, Talia could see the intricate patterns forming as the mana began to spread across the weapon's surface.

But the sudden, shrill screech of the charging Cruster shattered her concentration, causing the glow to waver and dim.

However, the Slashing Cruster was upon her in seconds.

“Damn it,” she swore, unable to transition from Mana Coating to Mana Crystallization under the present conditions.

She battered the claw of the monster away and, taking a step back, sliced her own forearm, letting her blood snake alongside the glaive’s shaft up to its blade.

Then, using [Hemomancy], she expanded the blood into a razor-sharp crescent and swung at the Slashing Cruster.

Thankfully, her control of [Hemomancy] had improved, and the blood-based attack bisected the tall monster, making its top half topple unto itself.

As the bisected Slashing Cruster fell to the sand, Talia allowed herself a brief moment of satisfaction.

[Hemomancy reaches level 11!]

However, her relief was short-lived.

A sharp cry from behind her caught her attention. Talia whirled around with wide eyes.

Keanu was locked in combat with another Slashing Cruster.

"Keanu!" Talia shouted, her voice tinged with concern. “Where did that come from?!”

She stepped towards him but froze as the movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention.

More Slashing Crusters emerged from the shadows, their chitinous bodies gleaming dully in the moonlight.

They scuttled frighteningly across the sand, their blade-like limbs raised menacingly.

Talia counted at least five more approaching from different directions.

Perhaps this hadn’t been a great idea.

"We've got company!" she called out to Keanu, raising her glaive defensively.

Her eyes darted from one approaching Cruster to another, trying to gauge which would reach them first.

Keanu grunted in acknowledgment, too focused on his current opponent to spare a glance at the incoming threats.

Talia tried thinking of a way out of this.

They were outnumbered and would quickly become surrounded by monsters. Plus, if these five had heard her fight one Slashing Cruster, she could imagine even more would come out of their hiding place now that only two of them were fighting.

Soon, they would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the monsters.

"We need to get out of here," Talia said.

“Wait!” Keanu said. “Allow me!”

“What?!”

Talia opened her mouth to ask him what in the Deep he was thinking, but her words were cut off as two Slashing Crusters lunged at them simultaneously.

She raised her glaive in a wide arc, forcing one back and ducking the other's attacks.

"Keanu," she gasped between strikes, "we can't keep this up. We need to go!"

Keanu didn't respond immediately.

Then, just as Talia was about to repeat herself, something changed.

A soft glow began to emanate from Keanu's daggers.

At first, Talia thought it was just a trick of the moonlight. Still, the glow intensified rapidly, spreading from the blades to envelop Keanu's hands and arms.

"What the..." Talia began, but her words died in her throat as she witnessed what happened next.

The glow around Keanu's daggers suddenly flared, becoming blindingly bright.

Talia had to squint against the intense light and heard the Slashing Crusters emit high-pitched shrieks of distress.

As her eyes adjusted, Talia saw that Keanu's daggers were now coated in a shimmering layer of what appeared to be water.

But this was unlike any water she had ever seen.

It glowed with an inner light, and as Keanu moved, tiny droplets broke free from the central mass, floating in the air around him like miniature stars.

“Be ready!” Keanu shouted.

Talia would have expected fear to be in his words, but there was something else.

Something like…

Excitement.