Nir's eyes widened with a shock he couldn't suppress, his voice wavering with a fractured tone that carried the weight of the past years:
"Serayn... it's you... I can't believe it... are you truly alive?"
Serayn smiled with a comforting confidence, reaching up to brush a strand of her dark purple hair away from her face, saying:
"And what did you expect, Nir? I told you before when we parted... the world is small, and we would meet again."
Nir stared at the scattered remains of the monster behind her:
"You've become so much stronger... you killed a 'Fros' monster with a single strike as if it were nothing but a doll!"
She replied with a light laugh and a tone tinged with mockery:
"Oh, it seems you've become an expert on their types then... that makes it easier for me to explain. But the truth is, I didn't expect him to fall so pathetically; that doesn't speak to my strength as much as it speaks to his worthlessness. You see, the Fros have tiers; some are titans, and some are scum not even worthy of the title... and luckily for you, today's catch was of the second kind."
Nir lowered his head, feeling the burden of his memories heavy on his shoulders:
"I didn't know the difference... I was just trying to avoid the fight and survive."
Serayn gave a light shrug:
"In any case, the air here is poisoned with memories of death... let's continue our talk somewhere safer."
"Where to?" he asked with interest.
"To the hideout."
Before Nir could utter a word, Serayn lunged toward the edge of the building and leaped into the void with a breathtaking boldness. Nir froze for a second, watching her fluid descent, then a faint smile formed on his face:
(Fine... let's do this my way.)
He took off his medical glasses, and as soon as they touched the air, they transformed into a portal glowing with blue light. He jumped through it, finding himself suspended in the air alongside Serayn. Serayn raised her hands to release a soft wave of water beneath her feet, landing on the asphalt with the grace of a cat.
Nir clapped as he stepped out of his portal:
"An impressive show, Serayn!"
She laughed softly, looking at him:
"Thank you, Nir... but now, follow me in silence."
They walked through the dark streets where fear resided. Nir asked in a low voice:
"Is the hideout far?"
"Not very; it's a fortified underground shelter."
Suddenly, the conversation died. A heavy silence fell as if the air had turned to lead, and a suffocating dark aura formed, making their skin crawl. From the shadows emerged a small boy with black hair and yellow eyes with vertical pupils like a snake's. He wore a loose gray outfit and a hood that hid half his face, casting dark shadows over his unsettling, childish features.
Serayn prepared to attack, but a black, sticky substance erupted from the ground like tentacles, binding them with a force that completely paralyzed their movement.
The boy spoke in a calm voice dripping with coldness:
"Don't be in such a rush, beautiful... if killing were my goal, I would have done it the moment you slaughtered that weakling on the roof."
Serayn trembled, asking in a cautious tone:
"Who... who are you?"
He raised his hand with a cold smile that revealed small fangs:
"I am one of the followers of the Six Shadows... I am called Edi, of the 'Cannibal Fros' species."
Nir's face went pale, his mind screaming in panic:
(Is this a child?... Six Shadows? If this is just a follower, then what is their master like? Is my end beginning now, just after I found Serayn?)
Edi approached with slow steps, his body stretching unnaturally. He reached out his hand to stroke Serayn's cheek with a wicked smile:
"Don't be stubborn, my sweet... I was just saying hello to our new neighbors."
Then he turned coldly, and the dark aura began to fade with him as he vanished into the gloom of the alley:
"A pleasure to meet you both... see you soon."
As soon as he disappeared, the black bonds dissolved. Serayn breathed heavily:
"Damn it... for a moment, I thought it was the end!"
Nir replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead:
"Me too... why did he let us go?"
She said anxiously:
"No time for questions; let's get out of here before he changes his mind."
But on that same rooftop, Edi stood on the edge, watching their receding silhouettes with a cunning smile:
"Beautiful... I wonder how you will taste, Serayn? Will it be as lovely as your face?"
Edi turned toward the center of the roof, where a man was bound, trembling with terror, his mouth muffled by a piece of cloth.
Edi said in a soft, biting tone:
"Time to eat."
He ripped the cloth from the man's mouth, and pleas for mercy erupted:
"Please! Don't kill me! Take my money... take anything, but don't eat me!"
Edi stepped forward with an eerie weight, his eyes gleaming with hunger:
"I have to eat, friend... and the scene below has whetted my appetite irresistibly. No hard feelings."
Edi extended his hand, his fingers transforming into something resembling black snakes that coiled around the victim. He leaned his face in and planted a long, sickening kiss on the mouth of the man, whose eyes widened in shock. At that moment, dark, sticky tentacles penetrated from behind the man, beginning to manipulate his body with agonizing slowness.
The man resisted desperately, writhing in pain beyond endurance, while Edi sucked the very essence of his life through that cursed kiss. He didn't stop until the man had turned into a lifeless, gaunt mass—a mere shell of flesh emptied of its soul.
Edi withdrew his tentacles and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand with a satisfied smile, whispering:
"What a delicious meal!"
Then he sat at the edge of the building, staring into the sky with a terrifying calmness, as if the massacre he had just committed was nothing more than a passing stroll.
As darkness swallowed the streets, a massive creature suddenly appeared behind Edi—a bird of prey with terrifying agility. As it landed, its majestic body transformed into a man with broad brown wings and blue eyes as sharp as blades.
The newcomer said in a deep voice that echoed across the roof:
"Master Edi... I came looking for humans in this area; their scent is stifling."
Edi replied with a cold smile hiding a looming evil:
"There are no humans here... Asmeld."
"Are you sure, Master? The scent is pervasive and provokes the senses!"
"Oh... perhaps you mean my breakfast?" Edi pointed indifferently toward the lifeless corpse, "I was just keeping it."
Asmeld stared with a faint smile, trying to plumb the depths of his master, then bowed respectfully:
"Very well... I shall be on my way then."
He transformed back into his massive bird form and cut through the darkness of the sky as he flew away. Edi continued to watch the point where Nir and Serayn had disappeared, whispering with a wicked look:
"No need to thank me... my sweet Serayn."
Serayn and Nir finally reached the opening of the hideout. Nir kept looking back nervously, as if Edi's shadows were still haunting him:
"Are you sure he won't follow us?"
She answered confidently as she made her way through the dark corridor:
"If he wanted to kill us, he would have done it there... but what worries me is that strange bloodlust I felt; it was directed toward me personally and in a disgusting way."
She exhaled sharply to cast off the dark thoughts and continued walking until they reached a massive metal door. She opened it to reveal a room with cold walls, lit by a dim light that gave the place the solemnity of a military bunker.
Suddenly, a short girl rushed forward, drawing attention with her unique contrast of colors; her deep dark skin gave her an aesthetic depth, surrounded by carefully styled short black hair, and her eyes were a flash of clear blue. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt under a dark purple dress, with a wide belt signaling her constant readiness, ending in sturdy military boots.
The girl shouted joyfully:
"Serayn! You're back! Welc—"
She stopped suddenly, her blue eyes widening as she pointed with childish curiosity toward Nir:
"And who is this?"
Serayn answered seriously:
"This is Nir... an old and new comrade at the same time."
Nir raised his hand in a polite greeting:
"Pleased to meet you."
The girl began circling him with scrutinizing glances that made him stiffen in place from embarrassment. She stopped in front of him and asked in amazement:
"Why are you wearing glasses? This is the first time I've seen a special ability user who needs glasses!"
Serayn laughed with gentle sarcasm:
"Vanice, have you even seen any ability users besides me and Zeff to be able to judge?"
Vanice's face flushed with embarrassment, and she put her hand behind her head:
"You're right... sorry, Nir! I'm Vanice, truly pleased to meet you."
Nir shook her hand with a warm smile:
"I am Nir Spashi, and the pleasure is mine."
Vanice said enthusiastically:
"Serayn used to talk about you a lot, and she swore you were still alive!"
Nir looked at Serayn with gratitude and lowered his head shyly:
"Thank you, Serayn... I thought I had lost you forever in that accident."
She cut him off with a calm smile:
"What matters is that we are here now... sit and rest."
They all sat down, and Serayn asked with interest as she studied his features:
"By the way, Nir, what's the story with the glasses? You didn't wear them in the past."
Nir adjusted them on the bridge of his nose and answered:
"I don't know for certain, but my vision suddenly began to fail. Since the gelatinous substance I control is extremely flexible, I shaped it into glasses that act as precise corrective lenses to help me see."
Serayn commented thoughtfully:
"Perhaps the price of your power is the weakening of one of your senses—an internal reaction with Mana affecting your eyes."
Nir replied contemplatively:
"Maybe... or perhaps it's just a genetic defect from my father's side, whose features I don't remember very well."
Vanice jumped up from her seat with excitement:
"Nir! Show me your abilities now! Can I pass through your gelatinous portals like you?"
Nir laughed lightly, remembering his past experiments:
"I don't think so, Vanice... I tried it once with a cat, and the result wasn't encouraging at all."
Vanice lowered her head in comedic disappointment:
"What a shame... I wanted to try traveling through mirrors!"