‎Talia paused in her narration, throwing a furtive glance at Amanda.

‎Cassius frowned slightly, staring into the fire.

‎" So you can only use part of your abilities? "

‎Amanda shook her head, speaking for the first time since Cassius had woken up.

‎" I can only use the abilities I discovered first. My ability to fly came much later than lightning, so I guess that's why. "

‎" That's certainly interesting. "

‎Lucian threw a bone into the fire, stirring it up.

‎" But I'd say your ability is quite handy, for instance, we don't have to struggle with making a fire whenever we have to cook."

‎A pleased grin appeared on his face.

‎" You're somewhat of a, and I mean no offense, portable stove. Our very own portable stove. "

‎Amanda shot to her feet with a snarl.

‎" I dare you to say that again."

‎Her hands crackled with small bolts of electricity running down them.

‎Lucian grinned haplessly, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

‎A wolfish smile spread across Cassius' face.

‎Just then, Samantha choked, then coughed violently until she was wheezing in a futile attempt to stifle her laughter.

‎" There's no need to get worked up," Lucian shrugged," if anything, it was a compliment. "

‎Lucian leaned back in the ground.

‎" Besides, from what Talia's saying, you're strong enough to end me in an instant, that wouldn't even be a fair fight, right? "

‎Amanda stared at him for a while, noting the easy-going smile on his face.

‎Talia felt a chill run down her spine.

‎" This guy..."

‎Lucian's gaze turned to Talia.

" So Bruce is dead?"

Talia hesitantly nodded.

Lucian scrutinized her for a second, then sighed.

‎" Care to finish your story? "

‎Talia silently nodded.

‎" Sure. "

‎****

‎" You can't what?!" Talia looked at the redhead in disbelief.

‎" She can also fly?! That's just ridiculous. How are we even meant to combat such overpowered...I wish I could fly."

‎Amanda glanced back at the blonde girl.

‎" I'm classified as Class A-3. For the time being, it means I have access to several abilities, but since I'm still young, there's a high chance I'll be able to use more in the future. "

‎Amanda snarled in a very unladylike manner.

‎" The key point is I can't use my ability."

‎Talia raised an eyebrow in amusement.

‎" Are you actually throwing a tantrum right now? Seriously ?"

‎Amanda threw her a heated glare, then closed her eyes.

‎At that point, her stomach grumbled audibly. Her face turned beet red, and she shut her eyes tighter.

‎ Talia chuckled in amusement, turning to the corpses of the large serpents.

‎" Sounds like you're also famished."

‎In one fluid motion, Talia unsheathed her saber.

The pale blade glimmered faintly in the light, drawing attention to its razor-sharp edge.

She swung it a few times, the grey blade whistling through the air.

‎"What are you doing?" Amanda asked, eyeing her warily.

‎Talia scoffed.

‎" What do you think? I'm going to eat this. Food delivered itself on a platter, how can I refuse? I'm quite hungry myself after all."

‎Amanda's face turned considerably paler.

‎" I think I'm going to be sick."

‎Talia laughed in amusement, then violently stabbed her sword into one of the large snakes.

‎She skilfully cut off large chunks of its meat, laying them out nearly on a large leaf Amanda had procured.

‎" Care to help me out?"

‎Amanda stared at her in confusion.

‎" You use electricity..."

‎" Lightning," Amanda corrected.

‎" I use lightning."

‎" Electricity, lightning, it's all the same, just use it to start a fire. Much as I'd love to see you try out some raw meat, I'm not willing to get sick myself, so try and start a fire."

‎Amanda promptly disintegrated the first few pieces of wood they managed to obtain.

Talia glared at her in shock and something akin to disbelief.

‎" I swear if you ruin this again, I'll have to kill you as well," she muttered furiously under her breath.

‎Amanda sighed, then tried to set the wood alight again.

‎" Control, exercise control... Just a few sparks..."

‎A few tiny sparks erupted from her hands and set the wood ablaze.

‎The two girls jumped up in celebration, then paused awkwardly.

‎" I almost screamed! What a fine mess that would have been." Talia thought.

‎Their screams would have undoubtedly become a beacon for all the predators with a keen sense of hearing within the vicinity.

‎Minutes later, with a blazing fire going, Talia slowly roasted the chunks of meat over the fire.

She was almost drooling at the sight of the succulent cuts slowly turning over the flames.

‎The mouth-watering aroma of barbecue wafted through the air, sifting tantalizingly through the surrounding trees.

‎ Unknown to the girls, their dinner also roused the appetite of uninvited guests.

Amanda quickly decommissioned the few creatures that dared to interrupt their meal.

‎The two dug into the meal with gusto, remaining at the spot for several days.

‎Talia smoked some of the mea, then the two moved deeper into the mysterious forest.

‎After a few more days of travelling, an unsettling feeling settled in Talia's gut.

‎" This forest... there's something wrong with it. "

‎Dark trees loomed around them, and only the faintest splotches of sunlight managed to fight their way through the dense forest canopy, making it to the ground.

‎By nightfall, a thick, eerie mist covered the forest, making it much more difficult to move.

‎"Crap!".

‎Talia snarled furiously after stumbling over a large tree root for the umpteenth time.

‎" Hey, Talia."

‎Talia violently spun around, her eyes gleaming with fury.

‎" What?!"

‎Amanda let out a quiet, exasperated sigh.

‎" I think we should stop here for the night. We can't see where we're going; the mist is obscuring the moon. We'll walk into a monster's mouth at this rate. "

‎Talia paused, then tiredly nodded.

‎" Fine, we'll do that. I'm just tired of this, all of this."

‎Amanda nodded sympathetically.

‎" Me too, but it's either this or death. "

‎Just before Talia fully succumbed to sleep, a startling thought surfaced in her subconscious.

‎" What if the forest is alive? And all this time, we've been moving around in circles? "

‎Surely no forest could be large enough to encompass the magnitude this one forest had."

They'd walked for several kilometers without even catching sight of the forest's edge. In a way, it made sense.

‎She almost scoffed at the thought.

‎" It's impossible, that can't be right. "

‎But what if..?

‎Talia fell into sleep's embrace at that point, slowly drifting away into the darkness.

‎Talia dreamt of a forest, an endless forest. No matter how much she ran, the forest continued expanding infinitely in every direction.

‎" No, no, no! It's all in my head," she whispered.

‎" It's just a dream. Any moment now, I'm going to wake up."

‎Just then, in the periphery of her vision, a dark figure moved, silently skulking in the shadows.

‎A cold feeling of dread sank in her gut, settling in the pit of her stomach.

‎Her breathing became faster, erratic.

‎"I can't breathe, I'm scared. It's just a dream."

‎Her mouth felt dry. She warily licked her lips.

‎The dry leaves crunched underneath the monster's advance.

‎The telltale clacking of its jagged mandibles echoed through the trees.

‎Talia's eyes widened in horror

‎"It's here!"

‎She swiftly turned and ran, but it was too late.

‎Her body came to a stop, refusing to obey her commands.

‎" Move, damn it! Move!"

‎The monster stood in front of her, its mandibles clicking together in anticipation.

‎Bruce's mutilated corpse stood behind the monster, with an eerie grin on its face.

‎It pointed at her in silent accusation.

‎" No! You're dead, dead!"

‎Bruce's grin grew impossibly wider, stretching from ear to ear.

‎" Oh, but I've never felt so alive, Talia. And it's because of you, you did this. And now you're like me," the thing said, pointing at her.

‎In the next moment, Talia felt movement, tiny irritating movement across her skin. The burning itch spread beneath her skin, but she couldn't move her hand to scratch it.

‎She strained, peering down at her body.

‎Then she screamed until she couldn't recognize her voice.

‎Tiny small spiders burrowed in and out of viscous bulbs of pus in her skin, crawling up into her mouth, her nose, her eyes...

‎"Kill me, kill me please!"

‎In the next moment, the giant spider obliged.

‎Talia's eyes flew open.

‎The first sound that greeted her was the ragged sound of her own breathing.

‎" I'm alive, it was all a dream?!"

‎She slowly let out a sigh of relief, then inhaled, savouring the fresh morning air.

‎A short distance away, the dry leaves crunched, triggering a familiar memory.

‎The crunching sound was approaching fast.

‎Adrenaline surged through her, her heart pounding frantically in her chest.

‎In the next moment, Talia sprang to her feet.

‎"Amanda! Amanda!"

‎She violently grabbed the red head, shaking her out of her dreams.

‎"Hm, what time is it?" Amanda asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

‎"We've got to get out of here! Now!"

‎Talia roughly pulled the disoriented Talented to her feet.

‎"The spider, it knows we're here, it's coming!"

‎***

" So wait, why didn't you use Amanda's lightning? Why run again?" Cassius asked in puzzlement.

Lucian turned to the two girls.

" The man makes a good point."

" I tried," Amanda said quietly.

" But it kept moving, like it didn't even feel it."

A shocked silence filled the underground burrow.

" Well, you know what this means?" Cassius asked quietly.

" What?"

A large grin spread across his face. Lucian silently shook his head.

" Since I killed it, it met a bigger monster than itself."

‎

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