Waking up in the morning and having a quick meal, the squad set off again. No one took any interest in my lack of appetite, so I avoided the extra trouble of dealing with food altogether. On the road, we rarely spoke: I couldn’t, because it would force us to stop too often; the twins were almost always on reconnaissance; Drodul didn’t seem like a talkative guy; and Sem kept an eye on Scot. So, moving forward amid the occasional sounds drifting from the fields, we continued our journey.

  “Fields? Wait a minute.”

  Glancing around, I began to recognize the area and realized we were approaching the village where I’d “privatized” clothing from a scarecrow. I wasn’t worried about complaints from the locals—especially not while traveling with such a powerful group.

  Catching up to Beri, I thought for a moment how to phrase my question as concisely as possible, then spoke:

  “What’s ahead?”

  The girl, who’d already noticed me, turned her head and watched as I paused for a second in place before starting to catch up to her again. A faint smile flickered across her face at the sight:

  “Quiet Village. Or sometimes they call it Empty Village.”

  Having walked a couple of steps ahead of her, I immediately asked the next question:

  “Why ‘Quiet’?”

  When we drew level again, she went on:

  “Because of the forest nearby. It’s called the Empty Forest—the name just carried over to the settlement.”

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  “Dangerous place?”

  “I wouldn’t say it’s outright dangerous. More… mysterious. Not a single animal lives there. They seem to dislike it, somehow. Maybe it’s some kind of Soul Magic—or something else happened there.”

  “Soul Magic?”

  “Yep. Remember yesterday I told you about artifacts? Well, first-tier is usually about quantity, but second-tier is already about quality. When people overcome trials, hardships, personal highs and lows, truly believe in something, or otherwise develop themselves, their souls grow stronger—and in some cases gain unusual abilities. These can be completely different, even phenomenal skills. Sometimes they’re called Soul Magic. It’s precisely from such strong souls that second-tier artifacts are born after death.”

  After this flood of information, I became deeply inspired. Magic exists! Powers capable of the unimaginable and inconceivable…

  For a while, I lost myself in fantasies—but then spotted a small problem. I immediately sought the answer from the girl:

  “How can I gain such power?”

  She stopped and looked at me with surprise. It lasted more than five seconds—then suddenly she burst out laughing:

  “Heh-heh-heh! If— heh-heh—if gaining power were as simple as asking, don’t you think everyone would have it?”

  Her answer shattered most of my hopes.

  “Heh, you see, some people meditate, completely giving up food and water; others fight monsters until they collapse from exhaustion or lose their lives. There are those who push past their limits again and again—but even they might gain nothing after years of trying. There are a thousand paths, but only one true way leads you to your dream. Want my answer? I don’t know. I received my gift when my parents left me—but I’ve never awakened any other power since. It’s all far too individual.”

  We’d stood on the road so long that Drodul caught up and started waiting for us to move on. Suddenly, Scot appeared beside us:

  “Want a joke? What made the cross-eyed guy explode? Huh? Any guesses?”

  “Scot, don’t—” Drodul began, but didn’t finish.

  “Because he went wherever his eyes led him! Ha-ha-ha! Isn’t that funny?”

  Beri and I exchanged glances and silently walked on.