The Blade-Spine Rats had fled.
The clearing was left covered in silence, blood, and metal plates embedded in the ground.
In the middle of the devastation,
Soren still stood on the log.
He breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling violently, while the green axe in his hand still dripped with that greenish liquid.
Below, Audrey watched him.
She hadn't expected an entrance like that.
She and Sira could have dealt with the monster…
Though not without paying a price. The spider was fast, brutal… dangerous.
Soren's breathing was heavy, almost visible in the air.
Finally, he let go of the axe.
The weapon fell with a dull thud against the ground.
His hands were ruined.
Blood, torn calluses, and deep gashes marked his palms.
Silence stretched between them.
The seconds passed slowly as Audrey looked at Soren's hands, the cut in the log… and the green viscosity running down his face.
Sira stood up.
She approached the boy.
So close… that she ended up licking his face, cleaning the greenish fluid.
Soren blinked, confused.
"Hey… was that necessary?"
Audrey let out a small laugh.
"Looks like she likes you."
Soren raised his sore hand to pet Sira. The great horned tiger still intimidated him, but he couldn't ignore that gesture.
The animal kept licking the green fluid from his face.
The battlefield was now empty.
Soren climbed down from the log with difficulty.
Audrey walked toward the spider. She drew the scale blade, cut beneath the neck, and easily inserted her hand into the creature's translucent body. It didn't take long for her to find the singularity.
She pulled it out.
It was a purple sphere, translucent and luminous. Inside it, a galaxy slowly rotated… and small green points emerged from its center.
Audrey observed it carefully.
Then she smiled.
"It's a level two singularity…"
"Interesting. Hehehe."
"Is that so?" Soren asked.
Audrey nodded. She walked toward him and placed the singularity inside the bag he carried.
"It's all yours."
Soren looked at his bag in silence, now a little heavier.
His lips curved slightly.
If that singularity was interesting to Audrey, he was sure it had to be something good.
"Come on," she said, amused.
"We need to check the nest, review the gains… and treat your hands."
She began walking toward the Blade-Spine Rats' nest.
Sira and Soren followed her.
They moved carefully between the metal blades embedded in the ground.
Soren could hardly believe all of this had happened in a matter of minutes.
There was blood, steel, and mud everywhere.
Finally, they reached the nest.
The burrows were filled with branches, fruits, insects, and other food the rats had collected. There was nothing truly valuable there.
But at the center of the nest…
In the place where the translucent spider had emerged…
There were three eggs.
They were large.
Each one about the size of a human head.
Their surface was translucent, pale purple, like glass covered by a thin layer of dried mud. Inside, a faint light slowly rotated around a small galaxy, just like in singularities… but much weaker.
Every now and then, something moved inside.
Very slightly.
Audrey stopped abruptly.
Sira reacted as well, looking at the eggs with interest.
"Eggs?" Soren asked.
"That's right. If they hatch, three level two creatures would emerge from them."
Soren nodded slowly.
If each of those eggs could produce a level two translucent spider, each with its own level two singularity, then of course… they were valuable.
"When they're still eggs, they're called life essences," Audrey explained. "And they're very valuable."
Audrey lifted them carefully, as if holding something fragile… but extremely valuable.
"Let's find a better place. I'll explain it there. The smell of blood will attract predators."
Soren nodded.
They left the nest in silence.
The forest gradually enveloped them, swallowing the battlefield behind them. The metal plates, the blood, and the mud were left behind as they moved between roots and bushes.
They didn't walk far.
Audrey chose a small clearing between thick fallen trees, where the ground was drier.
They lit a fire.
The flames began to crackle softly.
Over the fire, pierced by a branch, a piece of Blade-Spine Rat meat began roasting slowly. Fat dripped onto the embers, releasing small sizzling sounds.
The afternoon was already beginning to lean toward evening.
The light of the two suns filtered through the trees, painting the forest in orange tones.
Audrey placed the three eggs carefully near the fire. The light of the embers passed through their translucent surfaces, making the galaxies inside them glow faintly.
To one side, on the ground, lay six Blade-Spine Rat essences, their small galaxies spinning silently inside the spheres.
Soren sat in front of the fire.
Audrey took his hands.
First she cleaned the blood and dirt with a damp cloth. Then she applied a thick ointment that smelled of bitter herbs.
"We'll rest here today," she said while working. "Your hands need to recover."
Finally, she wrapped his palms with strips of cloth, tightening them firmly.
The fire crackled.
The meat continued roasting slowly.
When she finished wrapping Soren's palms, Audrey moved closer to the fire.
She took the six level one Blade-Spine Rat singularities and the three eggs.
She closed both hands into two fists.
In one were five level one singularities and one egg.
In the other, one singularity and two eggs.
She extended one of the fists toward Soren.
"This one is for you," Audrey said. "You killed the spider. You have the right to the life essences. I'll only keep one… but I'll give you a singularity."
Soren looked at the fist she offered and slowly nodded.
"These gains… if it weren't for you, I could never have obtained them. Are you sure you want me to keep the two life essences? I already have the level two singularity."
"They're yours. Even if they're useful to me, you earned them," Audrey replied.
Soren looked at the eggs for a moment.
"What are these life essences used for?"
Audrey glanced toward Sira.
"Well… life essences are valuable because they can make a companion singularity evolve."
Sira understood Audrey's look and approached them.
"The fundamental rule is that a companion singularity can only consume life essences of the same level. That's why I need one of them. It might improve her abilities."
Audrey stroked the neck of the great tiger.
"As you've seen, Sira isn't just a normal level two singularity. She can do many things."
Then she looked at Soren.
"Did you see the intimidation ability?"
Soren's eyes widened.
That information surprised him.
Forcing the evolution of a companion singularity…
It was incredible.
He had already found it strange that Sira could do so many things and show so much independence. Clearly, she wasn't a normal level two singularity.
"Yes… I saw it," he replied, fascinated. "It was incredible."
Audrey nodded.
"She developed it after assimilating the life essence of a level two egg. If she consumes another one, she might improve even more. She might not evolve… but she'll become stronger."
Soren nodded, understanding.
At that moment, the life essences were useless to him.
But he desperately wanted a singularity like Sira.
Soren looked directly at Audrey.
"Would you like to make an exchange?"
Audrey raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I already have the level two singularity," Soren continued, "and even though I still don't know what it does, I know it's a pretty good loot. But right now I have no use for those life essences."
He pointed to the eggs.
"If you're willing to trade me these two life essences… for the green light singularity… I'd gladly give them to you."
Audrey stared at him.
She hadn't expected that proposal.
She already knew Soren had talent for negotiating.
The green light was an extremely rare and useful level one singularity.
But even so…
Life essences were more valuable.
Audrey looked at the eggs for a moment.
Then she looked at Sira.
The great tiger watched her silently, her golden eyes reflecting the fire.
For a few seconds, Audrey said nothing.
Then she slowly opened her hands.
In one of them rested the two life essences Soren had offered.
The other remained empty.
Then something changed.
A faint energy began to emerge from inside her body, filtering through her arm until it gathered in the palm of her open hand.
It was a phosphorescent green energy.
At first, it was only a luminous mist.
But little by little, it began to condense.
The light spun upon itself, compressing more and more.
It wasn't just energy.
It was a singularity.
It was crystallizing from inside Audrey.
The sphere slowly took shape.
When it finally stabilized, a small galaxy rotated inside it, vibrating in gentle waves.
Audrey held it between her fingers for a moment.
Then she picked up another level one Blade-Spine Rat singularity from the ground.
She closed her hand.
And looked at Soren.
"I accept."
Soren accepted the exchange with a smile he couldn't hide.
The green singularity shone in his hand with a soft glow, its inner galaxy slowly vibrating.
It was beautiful.
Carefully, he stored it in his bag.
Then he added two Blade-Spine Rat singularities as well.
Now his bag weighed far more than before.
He could hardly believe it.
He had entered the forest with almost empty hands… and now he possessed a loot he never would have imagined.
Audrey held the life essences in her hands.
Then she looked at Sira.
"Go ahead."
The great horned tiger slowly stood.
Her golden eyes settled on the eggs.
Sira approached the fire and took the first one between her fangs.
The translucent shell cracked softly.
She swallowed it.
Nothing happened.
She took the second.
She devoured it as well.
The fire crackled.
The forest remained silent.
Then Sira took the third egg.
She held it for a moment between her fangs… and swallowed it.
Several seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
But then—
Sira's body tensed.
A tremor ran through her muscles.
Then another.
And another, stronger.
Her fur began to vibrate.
Soren stood up.
"Audrey…"
A faint light began to seep from inside Sira's body.
At first it was weak.
Then it began to grow.
The light spread across her chest… along her legs… slowly climbing toward her horns.
The air around her seemed to tremble.
And then it happened.
Sira's body began to come apart.
Not into flesh.
Into light.
Small luminous particles detached from her fur, floating in the air like tiny green fireflies.
More and more.
Faster and faster.
Within seconds, the great horned tiger was no longer a solid form.
Only a cloud of small lights remained suspended before them.
Then the lights moved.
All at once.
They drifted toward Audrey.
One after another, they entered her body… passing through her skin as if they were part of her.
The last spark disappeared.
The clearing fell silent.
Soren looked at the place where Sira had been.
"What… what happened?"
Audrey looked at her own hands for a moment.
Then she smiled.
"She's evolving."