The last bunch of dirt fell on the grave. No one spoke. No one wanted to. Gale struck the spear down at the grave. Something to remember Dmitry by and something he couldn’t do for John. He crouched down and patted the ground with his palms.

“Let’s move,” he said, standing up and brushing the dirt from his palms.

“Ollie, check the marble again.” Rachel tucked in her torn shirt, covering up the bruises.

Ollie pulled out the red marble and flicked it into the air. It spun, then dropped, pointing deeper into the burnt forest.

“That way,” he said.

The group fell into formation. Ollie took point, leading up ahead. Rachel stayed close behind him, watching their flanks. Annett was behind her. Gale put himself at the rear, keeping an eye on the three weakest members.

They moved faster than before. Breathing in this area was toxic, giving the members more motivation to move quickly.

“So about Toronto. You guys say ‘eh,’ right?” Annett asked.

“What about it, eh?” Ollie said.

“Path HQ, right? What’s it like working as a corpo?”

“You know, life in the Path wasn’t all that bad at all,” Ollie said. “Sure, we dealt with some crazy stuff here and there, but it was never boring.”

Annett perked up. “What kind of crazy stuff?”

Ollie grinned. “Oh, you name it. Haunted houses that could just be demonic rituals from assholes wanting money. Drug rings of the magical kind that is highly illegal because higher-ups say they’re not getting a cut. Had to even bust a couple of human traffickers doing some illegal experiments on poor children. What of it?”

“You sure you weren’t in the sideline in all of those?” Annett said.

“No way, my master was throwing me into those situations without a care in the world. And she called it training. I call it, child labour,” Ollie said. “She’s crazy! I even requested many times to get transferred.”

“In Britain, my training was much more… structured,” Annett said. “My father focused on sword techniques and mana manipulation. We spent countless hours honing my skills, perfecting each stance and movement until they became second nature.”

“Couldn’t you just ask Gale to make you a sword, then?” Ollie asked.

Annett put a hand on her chin, thinking for a second.

“Well, you have to pick one,” she said after a pause. “Either you have me in the back line supporting you with my slow, or in the front line slashing at those things.”

Annett chuckled. “Pretty sure the slow is more important, don’t you think?”

Ollie nodded. Gale also agreed. There’s no point in having another damage dealer when the utility of her powers amplified their team’s effectiveness.

“Good point,” Ollie said.

“What’s your specialty?” Annett asked. “I mean, you mentioned dealing with all sorts of supernatural threats and all, so…”

“Telekinesis, mostly. I use it for gunslinging. Still a trainee, though, so I’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Gunslinging?” Annett chuckled. “Can’t see any of that in how you fight those beasts, though.”

“Well, beasts aren’t humans. I’m more of a… PvP than a PvE kinda guy,” Ollie said. “Besides, one day, I’m going to have a whole buttload of guns. Different guns for different situations. Pistols can’t generally do jack against these things. Imagine switching weapons mid-fight, always having the perfect tool for the job. Not to mention, the cool factor.”

“Typical North American,” Annett laughed.

“What about you, Rachel? Your family’s pretty mysterious. What did you do for a living?” Ollie vaulted over a log.

Rachel followed suit, jumping over the log. She fiddled with her fingers, her eyes looking around until she met Gale’s eyes, dropping them down to look at the ground.

“I… um… I didn’t really do much,” she said, stuttering slightly. “My parents stopped teaching me anything when I was twelve. They were strict about keeping me away from the family business.”

She paused and bit her lips. Yet the silence stretched on, waiting for her reply. After a moment, she continued, “Mostly just stayed home, read books at the library, and maybe sometimes my butl- my uncle showed me how to do some stuff in the garden. Nothing exciting like you guys. Maybe just going outside and donating to the nearby orphanage was exciting. I loved playing sports with the kids at the courtyard.”

Rachel’s shoulders hunched slightly. The others looked at each other. Even Gale had found himself interested. She must’ve been talking about the orphanage he went to, but he never saw her. Though he never did play sports. How did she know him then?

“They never explained why,” Rachel continued. “One day, the lessons just… suddenly stopped. And whenever I asked about it, grandma just changed the subject or told me it was for my own good.”

She looked up briefly, meeting Ollie’s eyes before quickly averting her gaze.

“I know it sounds boring compared to your adventures, but that’s… that’s pretty much been my life,” Rachel said.

It was supposed to be a conversation to lighten the mood of the group, yet here we are. The tightness in her voice was as clear as day.

She fiddled more with her sleeves, tightening her hand around them. The times he’d fiddled with random objects when put into question by the staff countless of times. Hunched shoulders going even more inward. He knew how it felt.

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“Life at the orphanage wasn’t great, of course, everyone knows that, though,” Gale said. How does one even speak with a clear voice? He seriously needs to do some vocal practice after all of this.

“The other kids… they didn’t like that I kept to myself. Beatings were a daily occurrence,” he continued. “It wasn’t just physical. The isolation, the constant fear on when they’re going to start beating you… it wears you down. Makes you question everything about yourself. At least it did for the first couple of months.”

He took a look around their tired faces, Anna’s breathing was ragged yet she kept on walking. Gale continued, “my parents always told me… to survive. To stay low, blend in. So that’s what I did.”

Rachel glanced back as she pushed away low branches. Gale didn’t know where he was going with the story. Didn’t even know why he even bothered butting in just because she felt uncomfortable.

Anna, beside him, reached out, placing a hand on his arm.

“No child should have to endure that.” She took a deep breath, then continued. “I was going through a divorce when… all this happened. My husband, he…”

Gale didn’t know why she spoke up, but he could somehow understand. The books he read told stories of groups usually sharing their pains or just anything with each other to get through tough times. Tough times, huh, he smirked. Clearly.

“He wasn’t a good man,” Anna whispered.

“There were… things. Things I tried to ignore for too long. He was constantly drunk, and sometimes it was scary. Weird things would happen whenever he was drunk.” Her voice trembled. “When I finally decided to leave, it felt like I was breaking free from a cage.”

“I was on suicide watch,” Alex spoke up next, a tone too lively for what she said. “Depression. It’s funny because it’s like a monster that eats you from the inside out. That’s probably why even if I die right now, I feel that it would’ve been useful to you all that I did something. I wanted to leave a mark that would say I was brave for toughing it out. Toughing life out, even as life beats you up. Y’know?”

“We should keep moving,” Gale said after a small pause. “It’s not safe to stay in one place for too long. Hike faster to just find this damn exit.”

Ollie approached Rachel from the front. “Hey… sorry about earlier,” he said. “I didn’t mean to pry. Didn’t realise your family… uh… you know.”

Rachel offered him a small smile. “It’s okay. It’s just… complicated. It’s nothing bad.”

Annett joined them. “So, Ollie, tell me more about this telekinesis of yours. How does it work with guns?”

Ollie launched into an animated explanation with finger guns. “Well, you see, I’m trying to master an auto lock-on for my guns. Using telekinesis, I adjust my aim instead of having to look down the barrel.”

“But aren’t there already homing mags?” Rachel asked.

“Homing mags call for the use of ether just for accuracy, and that’s a waste. What if I could use high-pen fire bullets with auto-lock on? Wouldn’t that be sick?”

“Why would it be sick? Does it make you feel ill?” Annett said.

“Wow, you are a sheltered one, aren’t you? Sick means cool. Amazing. And of course that shit would be so amazing. No need to waste money on goddamn weak homing bullets.” Ollie fired his finger guns at the forest around.

“Anyways, it’s all about focus and intention,” Ollie continued. “I visualize what I want to happen, and then I channel my Ether to make it a reality. With guns, it’s like having an extension of my own body. I connect two points of my telekinesis into each other, and then BAM. Locked on for days.”

Ollie picked up two separate small rocks, throwing them up into the air. The cylindrical rocks glowed a slight blue for a flash of a second. A fine line connected both of them, snapping their ends towards each other.

“And that’s not all! Engraving spells is my specialty, although a pain in the butt,” Ollie continued as the two rocks gently fell to the ground. “Engraving this lock on mechanism to a bullet, all I have to do is lock onto a target, and the bullets themselves can adjust the barrel to the target’s location.”

Annett’s eyes followed the last few leaves as they settled. “You see… that would be impressive if you actually did all those things.”

“If someone hadn’t destroyed all my gun syringes, I wouldn’t be in such a tough spot,” Ollie grumbled. “You owe me a thousand a pop for each of those, that was like 10.”

“My sword was more than a hundred times that amount. You gonna pay for that too?” Annett said.

“Fair point, but that was your fault.” Ollie walked faster in front, now avoiding Annett.

The group continued their journey. Gale felt the mood slightly lifted by Ollie’s telekinesis display. Breath of the Void told him there were no enemies near them, so it was all fine.

Gale took to behind Ollie this time while Annett dropped down to the rear.

Ollie held the red marble and then flicked it into the air. It suddenly jerked to the right, dropping down onto the forest floor.

“This way,” Ollie picked the red marble back up. “Follow me, ladies.”

As they trudged through the dense undergrowth, Rachel fell into step beside Gale, not even hiding that she had her eyes to her side looking at him. Even if she hid it, he would’ve known. Breath of the Void would’ve told him so. He had no blind spots thanks to the skill, he distracted himself with such thoughts.

“Gale,” Rachel whispered softly. “I was wondering… do you remember much about your parents?”

Of course, I remembered everything from my parents. I wouldn’t be the beast that I am without their guidance. But clearly, that wasn’t the right thing to say.

“Every day was about survival with them. From dawn to dusk, we trained, prepared, fought,” Gale said, unsure what else to say. That was really his whole life. “My father… was relentless. Said the world wouldn’t give me a break, so neither would he.”

“And then?”

Wasn’t that enough? He sighed before continuing, “One time. My hands were bleeding from hours of practice. Blisters had formed and burst. But… he made me keep going. Said pain was just weakness leaving the body.”

“That’s… that’s awful, Gale. I’m so sorry.”

“It made me strong. Made me survive. And look at how I am now. A beas-I mean a survivor. I think.”

Gale gulped. Please don’t ask anymore. He didn’t know what else to say, and he didn’t want to not answer her. But in truth, he actually just didn’t know what kind of details she wanted.

“I want to tell you something…,” she said as her voice trembled. Gale’s head moved to look at her side view.

Rachel rolled up her sleeve, revealing a small scar along her forearm. “When I was little, my fire… it used to burn me. Every time I used it, I’d end up hurting myself.”

He reached out to touch the scar.

“Hey, I didn’t say you could touch it,” Rachel laughed.

He pulled back, but her hand caught his hand.

“I was joking. It’s ok.”

Her hand dragged his finger on top of the scar, brushing it along. Thickened skin, but felt tender at the same time. He took back his hand after.

“Does it still hurt?”

Rachel shook her head. “Not anymore. Back then when I burned myself, it felt like it was always burning even though they said it was just my imagination. It was terrifying, but I wanted to learn more… until my parents… they stopped teaching me after I learned how to avoid burning myself. That was it. No more training, no more practice.”

She traced the scar with her finger. “This used to be much bigger. I always hid it in public. It’s ugly, right? Haha.”

“It’s healing?”

Rachel nodded as she formed a slight smile. “Ever since we came to this forest, it’s been getting smaller. The more I use my powers, the more it fades. It’s like… like something within me is freeing itself up. Do you know what I mean?”

Gale nodded. It was like him. He didn’t have any scars, but he felt free in this forest. No obligations. Everything was simple. Before being transported, he felt like he’d always have to lay low, forever, even after he entered the real world that the grown-ups called ‘workplace’.

“Hey guys… the forest up ahead is just dead trees,” Ollie suddenly called out.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep