I chewed one of the tasty fruits, occasionally breaking off a small part to feed to my new friend.
Which was of course, the crow. Or rather, the abomination pretending to be one.
After resting, it turned into an actual crow.
The two legs, normal beak, normal feathers. Nothing revealing its true nature physically.
Just two soul cores revealing it's true nature to me.
It was nice having a companion, especially one that could fly.
Not that I needed any scouting for enemies.
But nice regardless.
I was also right about its level of intelligence.
It was perhaps even smarter than most of my family members, apart from Fenrir of course.
My brows furrowed, a frown replacing the small smile.
I had missed Fenrir, even if it hadn't been that long.
My friend's presence always assured me of safety, not to mention the fun we had.
Fenrir was like a brother I never had.
Strong, protective, fun to be around.
And sometimes even sitting in the ruined buildings in silence was enough.
It was comforting.
I shook my head, dismissing the saddening thoughts.
I needed to focus on my current objectives, which wouldn't get any easier.
Sure, the tree provided me with the fragments I need. However, I can no longer travel.
Which was a problem, a big one.
I should be at least halfway to a citadel, rather than sitting under a tree, enjoying fruits.
I scoffed at the notion, I wasn't stupid.
The tree's hexes were more powerful than I thought.
And while it couldn't fully enthrall me, it was strong enough to remove any notion of leaving as soon as I tried it.
So, I either needed to weaken it. Or kill it outright.
Since I'm sure, it wouldn't let me leave otherwise.
And that's the problem. It was a Terror. A Fallen one too.
How was I, a mere Awakened, supposed to even injure it?
I already tried using [Fear], and there was nothing, just a will to survive, feed, and grow.
And so, the only possible option was to cut off the food.
What would that do? No idea. It might not care, it might die.
Either way, it was my only option.
And so, I increased my daily fruit intake and made sure. Any creature wandering towards the tree was killed at a long range, or disintegrated outright.
I also always aimed at the soul cores, since my bow would manage to kill the creature from the impact, and the explosion would shatter the soul shards.
Sure, perhaps I missed a couple.
But those few fragments didn't mean all that much.
***
Now, a full week later. I picked up the last visible fruit on the lower branches.
I'm sure there was a lot higher up, but that didn't seem significant.
And the time required to carefully climb the tree in its entirety might allow several creatures to enter the range of the tree.
Which was for obvious reasons, not good.
I broke the fruit in half as per usual, offering the other piece to my companion, which I had affectionately named: Mirage.
Due to his abilities, which included shape-shifting and creating weak illusions.
I had gotten a taste of this when we played hide and seek for the first time, and once I finally caught the bird, I only then realized it was an illusion when my fingers passed through it.
Which was strange to say the least. Since the illusions were supposed to be merely soul essence reflecting light, or however it worked.
But it was almost a physical copy, just lacking the will to be forged into existence.
Which would change with the bird's evolution.
I had also gathered a lot of fragments this week. I had already nearly 200 before reaching the tree, from the hollow mountains and stray kills.
And now? The number had climbed to 500, a big leap. Yet still nowhere near enough. I need at least three more weeks at the current pace to reach the required 2000 fragments.
And the fruits might run out, even considering if there were more uptop.
And the Terror's strength hadn't visibly weakened, only its commands to bring corpses strengthening.
Which was good and bad. Since it means my tactics are working.
Yet bad, since I never know if I'll get it weakened before it starts trying to fully control me.
Sometimes, Mirage would start acting strangely. The control of the Terror is obvious.
It was either getting annoyed and angry. Or it was getting desperate.
And I don't know if it was for better or worse.
***
"So how's your so-called apprentice doing?"
Jet asked me in her usual nonchalant voice, swirling a glass of water with her right hand.
I raised a brow, sipping some of the usual bitter coffee.
"I've got two now, kind of."
Was my short reply, my gaze shifting from the beautiful woman to the chaotic ocean beyond the small window.
There was a noise of intrigue.
"Another one? Didn't take you for the kind type."
She half-insulted, half-joked.
Her tone was humorous, yet her eyes were filled with interest.
At that remark, my gaze shifted back to her eyes.
Barely willing them not to look a centimeter below.
"He's an outskirts kid, like us."
At that, all humor left Jet's face, her interest no longer hidden.
"Oh? So we're you preparing him for his first nightmare?"
I scoffed at the notion, the kid didn't even need training, he was probably stronger than me when I was awakened. Which said a lot.
I was about to answer her, when I remembered what the boy had asked of me.
To not talk about him, especially with government forces.
And he was adamant about that as well.
Probably due to his current issues of being tracked like a dog, as he had said himself.
I sighed, gulping down the remaining of my coffee.
"I wasn't."
Was my only words to Jet, before I left the small room.
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