A cohort member, charging for the strangely fast girl, coughed as the hot mist stung his eyes.
The abilities were similar to that of the spawn they had killed earlier, caught by surprise however, it wasn't as easy to deal with.
They had used up their enchanted body heat tempering sand when fighting the spawn. Their de facto bearded leader had not yet replenished their supply.
Since the Alia vessel was not that good a fighter, he focused the heated claws and fangs on her together with most of the muscle state of the phantom vessels from that space. At times, he would distribute to The woman vessel.
A sword came down on her and she managed to spring to the left, hitting her shoulder on a thick tree trunk.
Bearing her fangs and stretched out claws, she jumped at her assaulter.
The injured knee man stood up straight from where he'd been lying on his back. Picking up his sword, his eyes narrowed in a particular direction.
The bearded man and short brown haired man brought down their swords on their possessed old comrade, stabbing her in the guts and throat.
She gurgled as blood flowed out her mouth and her watery eyes slowly lost life to them.
Hearing steps coming from behind him, the short brown haired man turned with a guarded pose. The shadowy form in the hot mist walked with a limp. The short man's eyes constricted as he slowly lowered his guard. "It's you." He said.
Sweating, the bearded man had a sombre look on his face looking down on the dead body of their old comrade. He pinched his nose as his head buzzed lightly.
Slush!
He looked forward, seeing the short brown haired man having a sword piercing through his throat.
His lips parted and brow furrowed. As the short man went to the ground, his hands around his neck, the injured knee man stood above him, straight.
"You too…. " the bearded man muttered. His nostrils flared and he bolted in the opposite direction. He'd always been a man of preparation and hated surprises.
As the other cohort members engaged with Alia Hadrian, Hadrian body heat spiked up. His jaws tightened.
Another warning.
Not wanting a repeat of what happened last time, Hadrian used his vermin vessels to heal the woman vessel and the short brown haired man vessel.
Alia, surrounded by four of the cohort members, growled as she scanned around with her heat vision, trying to find the source of her premonition.
They charged at her two at a time. But the longer they stayed in the hot mist, the more tired they got while Alia seemed unaffected.
As a cohort member charged at her, Alia created a heat mirage pool. The man jumped and Alia took the advantage, jumping at him mid air.
They went down together and her heated claws scratched his face and armor. The rest charged at them but then a suffocating force filled the area.
A shadowy form went through one of the cohort members, just like the horse, his body parts were sent everywhere.
It's that thing again?
Hadrian's hearts tightened.
Alia swallowed and immediately bolted out the area, as did the other Hadrian vessels.
The cohort members, affected by the mist, heat and mental drowsiness were slow to react.
Hadrian heard their screams and bodies being crushed as he jumped out the mist.
His vessels circled and reunited. Their direction north, heading back to the city.
After twenty minutes of running, he'd used up most of the core's essence and the state of the phantom vessels disappeared as well.
If it wasn't for the mage's expeditions, how dangerous would this forest have been? How did they manage to build those massive city walls surrounded by such beasts?
Hadrian could not tell the time, but it was still dark and cold, no sign of dawn.
Finding a safe space for his vessels to rest and replenish essence and energy, he tugged at the force in his centre, entering that white space.
Summoning the mist information, he went to his vessels category.
[ Basic lifeform : 0 ]
He'd used them up to heal and as substituted meals.
[ Basic sentient lifeform : 4 ]
[ Ascended sentient lifeform : 1]
His eyes went to the vessels, summoning the mist to cover their nude bodies.
The broad foreheaded woman was the tallest out of the three new vessels. The other was the short brown haired man and the injured knee man, well, not injured anymore. His hair was black, his eyes brown with full lips and slightly chubby cheeks.
Alia, who currently wielded the rank one core, floated there as well as the core replenished essence.
His eyes focusing on the black haired man vessel, Hadrian thought back to his dream.
If he had not woken up and I was pulled down to that black Abyss…. What would have happened to me?
Is this a matter of the soul and mind?
If a regular human can achieve such an effect on me….
His eyes darted between his vessels.
In any case, they will be good to train my main vessel and Alia vessel.
Hadrian had decided to start ignoring their memory glimpses, unless when needed or important, he felt this way he wouldn't be humanizing them further.
They're dead.
He told himself.
Worried something might attack him in the real world, Hadrian sunk back down into the mist, his consciousness returning to his vessels.
The cool wind made his hair strands restless. The forest still hummed a low vibration, the pale moonlight cracking in-between the trees created a rather beautiful scene.
I was too careless. What good would me gaining new vessels be if I lose traces of the Mages who caused my death?
All his different vessels' memories, though he tried ignoring them, would sometimes get mixed up and he would slowly feel himself losing identity of himself.
That's why it was important for him to have a vessel he could ground himself in who he was.
The teenage Hadrian vessel.
Keeping the other vessels close to their original form also eased the strain on his mental perception.
He could "act" out who his vessels were, stabilizing their different identities.
Listening to the cicadas, he heated up his bodies.
"Hadrian. It's beautiful."
His lips pressed tightly as he remembered the woman's words.
Biting on his lower lip his eyes narrowed. Trying to remember his own mother's face now was even harder than before with all his vessels' memories.
She'd been young when she had him, no older than twenty. His eyes twitched as a blurry memory of her long hair flowing in the wind came to his mind.
She smiled and called out to him from a distance.
Hadrian closed his eyes with a sigh, a tear rolling down his cheek.
I know who I am.