With those words, Zeke fell into a deep, poison-induced slumber, leaving Akasha alone to ponder her Host's command. After all, "Take care of it" was a rather vague directive. Was he talking about the poison? The poisoner? The situation? What was she supposed to take care of?

Seconds passed as Akasha devised hundreds of conjectures, only to start anew each time. This approach was fruitless; her angle was wrong.

The directive was too ambiguous for her to derive a precise solution or devise an effective strategy. Perhaps she was interpreting it incorrectly. Her Host had placed significant trust in her, so it was imperative to resolve this accurately. Rather than fixating on the exact phrasing of the instruction, Akasha decided to adhere to its spirit.

As always, the most important objective was to ensure the safety of her Host until he regained consciousness. That could be a matter of hours or days, depending on the poison used. It was disconcerting that she could not detect any trace of the substance in his body.

She channeled Mana through the first engraving on her Host’s Core. The Spell came to life a mere moment later. [Perfect Body Control] allowed her to puppeteer his body by using his blood akin to strings on a marionette. Her host had mastered the technique to such an extent that he could convincingly imitate normal human mannerisms. For Akasha, however, this was her first time.

Instead of pushing itself off the bed using his arms, the body began to float. She directed it next to the bed and tried to make it land on its feet, but the effort didn’t pan out as she had imagined. The legs and feet limply hung down from the corpse-like body that was floating in midair.

Akasha pondered her next steps. Despite observing thousands of humans and understanding their anatomy thoroughly, mimicking their natural movements was challenging. It was especially difficult for her, having never possessed a physical body before. Seeing something a million times didn’t mean she could replicate it. She simply didn’t have the mental capacity to focus on thousands of muscle fibers and tendons simultaneously. Perhaps if she devised a framework, she could simplify the calculations required, but there was no time for that. More importantly, was there any real need in attempting to imitate human mannerisms? The answer was no.

She floated the body to the corner of the room. It was the optimal spot for gathering information with [Perfect Spatial Awareness], given that the spell's radius was centered on her Host’s body. Before making any further plans, she needed to understand what she was up against.

Akasha noticed a figure walking down the hallway, making straight for their room. It wasn’t hard for Akasha to guess the man’s intention: He was there to confirm if her Host had already passed out—if the poison had taken effect.

This could not be allowed!

She waited until the man arrived in front of the door. As expected, he slowed his steps and strained his ears. Akasha didn’t hesitate and directed Zeke’s body to move. Ideally, she would have had him walk around or even talk, but lacking those options, she settled for the next best thing...

The figure flinched upon hearing a loud banging sound coming from the room. It was the unmistakable noise of flesh hitting wood. However, instead of a cry of pain or a curse, a second impact followed, and then a third. The man’s expression distorted. Was somebody banging their head against the wall?

However, given the noise, there was nothing he could do but leave. He returned the way he came, disappearing from her Spatial Awareness. Akasha stopped her Host’s body from hitting the wall. Success. She had tricked the human.

The question was… what now?

To ensure her Host’s safety, her best course of action would be to use his Spatial abilities to get as far away as possible before somebody returned. However, Akasha knew her Host would prioritize the safety of their allies, even if it meant risking his well-being in the process. Despite this knowledge, she hesitated. It was a foolish choice that contradicted everything she knew about strategy. One did not sacrifice the king to save a pawn. It was illogical.

For a long moment, Akasha was paralyzed by indecision—torn between the logically sound choice and what she knew her Host would do.

Of course, there were rational arguments for saving their companions as well: The Chimeroi provided significant firepower, and Snow was crucial to their current quest. None of that, however, justified the risks. Even if they lost all their colleagues and the mission failed, they could still recover and rebuild. And as promising as the Mana Purifying device was, Akasha was confident they would find another way.

No. Those weren’t the reasons that made her hesitate.

The only reason Akasha even considered saving their companions was her Host's mental state. She couldn’t be sure how severe the fallout would be, but she suspected her Host would not handle the loss of their companions well. After all, the human mind was a fragile, tangled mess of emotional attachments.

Akasha had never fully understood how emotions worked. She had often seen how humans acted while in an emotional state. Anger, Love, Hatred, Grief… she knew these manifestations all too well. However, she had never experienced those feelings—never understood how they could turn a rational mind into a chaotic mess.

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Yet, for some reason, she was reluctant to choose the logical path this time. Something inside her told her she couldn't, under any circumstances, let her Host experience that loss. It wasn’t because Akasha thought he would blame her. No, she was certain her Host would blame himself, regardless of the outcome. And that was precisely the problem.

An irritating, illogical part of her urged her not to take that path. It was ironic. Moments ago, she had thought about how humans were irrational due to their emotions, and now she was grappling with the same issue. Naturally, it wasn’t her own emotions she was battling but those of her Host. In the end, though, it made little difference. The moment she hesitated to leave, her course was set.

New Mission: Rescue the party.

Step 1: Contact.

Akasha extended her mind toward the Chimeroi and used [Telepathy] to speak to them. As usual, she copied her Host’s voice while doing so.

“Ash, can you hear me?”

…

“Gravitas?”

…

“Vulcanos?”

…

“Snow?”

…

Even after repeating herself multiple times, she received no reply. A sudden sense of urgency struck her. There had to be a reason the group had been separated, and unlike their primary target, their captors had no reason to keep the Chimeroi alive.

Step 1: Contact — Failed.

Step 2: Rescue — Initiated.

With a swift spell, her Host's body vanished from the room and reappeared in the hallway. She raced down the corridor, utilizing [Perfect Body Control] to move at top speed. Idly, she noticed how the jerky, unnatural movements strained her Host's body. Muscles, tendons, and even veins began to accumulate damage, but she didn’t slow down. This level of damage was still within an acceptable range, though it illustrated why her Host never used this method to move around. The pain alone would be debilitating.

Moments later, Akasha reached the first chamber. They were all staying in separate rooms, a prudent strategy by their enemies: divide and conquer. Inside, she sensed movement—a hooded figure approaching the bed. Snow had barely made it to the bed herself before succumbing to the effects of the poison, and half of her body was hanging over the mattress.

Akasha quickly scanned the adjacent rooms. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any other attackers besides the one. It appeared the poisoning was orchestrated by a small faction, not the entire staff.

Akasha returned her attention to the man approaching the sleeping girl. Gender: Male. Estimated age: sixties. Earth Affinity. Grand Mage. Low-grade Core.

The assassin would make for a respectable opponent in a duel. Yet, with the element of surprise on her side, he stood little chance. In the blink of an eye, Akasha had devised a plan—accounting for all contingencies and three escape routes.

Before the man could even take a single step further, Akasha appeared. She had teleported behind him, and the man started to whirl. Even if he had been caught off guard, the Mana signature of her teleport was too obvious to ignore. Yet, before he could turn halfway, two red tentacles penetrated his skull and chest, killing him instantly.

Combat scenario 1: Instant elimination — Success.

Akasha retracted her weapons, letting the man drop to the floor. Just as she had theorized, [Blood Whip] was rather versatile. Especially the penetrative power, when used as a spear, was impressive. She added the need for further testing to her ever-growing list of research subjects.

Akasha approached the sleeping girl and analyzed her condition. Snow’s state was clearly abnormal, and the pattern in her brain matched those of her Host. Conclusion: She would not be able to wake the girl. Solution?

Akasha's gaze fell upon the corpse at her feet, recognizing him as the man who had guided them to their rooms. Though it wasn’t his identity that she cared for. Now that the protection of the Core was gone, his body was hers to do with as she pleased. After a bit of tinkering, the Spellform of [Blood Manipulation] appeared inside her Host’s Core.

As the spell snapped into place, the Spirit felt a strain on her mind, prompting her to increase her Mana consumption. The intense focus required to maintain even such a basic construct was staggering. Yet, she didn’t have the luxury of choice at the moment.

With the speed of a rushing river, all blood drained from the man’s body. A spherical, head-sized ball of red liquid gathered in midair, leaving only the dried-up husk of a man behind. Carefully, Akasha ordered the Blood to envelop the sleeping girl, preparing her for transport.

Step 2: Rescue: ¼ Success.

Akasha headed for the door whilst commanding the wrapped-up girl to float behind her. Now that she had baggage, Spatial Magic was no longer an option. Instead, she relied on [Telekinesis] to open the door. Mind Magic spells like this came more naturally to her than Blood or Space. Unfortunately, the spell was geared for precision rather than strength.

It took little effort to unlock the door, which swung open with an almost inaudible swish. The hallway was clear, and Akasha wasted no time. None of the locks posed a challenge, and soon three more sleeping figures joined her collection. Compared to her Host and Snow, the other three seemed less affected by the poison, though none were fully awake.

Step 2: Rescue: Success.

Akasha paused, scanning the area for any sign of movement. All was quiet. Good. Now, the only thing that remained was their escape. The city wasn’t safe; that much was certain. That was all the more true now that they were almost defenseless. There were only two options. She could either take the group back into the forest or… into the Deadlands.

The Jungle was familiar territory, but she doubted her ability to protect them alone, especially after carrying them there. Her Host's Core was already strained from maintaining multiple spells simultaneously. If she exhausted her resources, even the weakest predators could pose a serious threat to her Host.

That only left one choice: The Deadlands. Despite reports suggesting it was relatively safe, doubts lingered. Akasha still remembered the ominous feelings her Hosts had when gazing at the black plains…

The sound of footsteps coming from the stairway made the choice for her. She was out of time, and there was only a single viable option.

Akasha returned to her Host’s room and added his backpack to the mountain of baggage she was already carrying. By now, the Blood she had taken from the dead Mage looked like a giant red squid, grabbing a person or piece of luggage in each of its tentacles.

As she approached, the window swung open, revealing a quiet village under a starry night sky. Past the line of houses lay her target — endless black plains and the wilderness beyond.

Step 3: Escape — Initiated.