The potato thief, Ren flickered in and out of existence. He struggled to stay. His fingers phased through the dirt, his feet barely touching the ground. It was exhausting.

  Then, suddenly—

  A weight on his head.

  Warm. Feathery.

  “Squawk! STAY STILL!”

  A Skychime bird had landed on him.

  And just like that—Ren solidified.

  His body stopped flickering, his fingers no longer slipping through objects. He blinked, dazed, looking up at the ridiculous bird now sitting comfortably on his head.

  The bird pecked at his hair. “Dumb kid! DUMB KID!”

  Ren scowled. “Get off me, you feathered menace!”

  Before he could argue, an explosion of heat filled the air.

  The boy flinched, head snapping toward the battle.

  Meanwhile, Al, fighting for its life, raises a hand, he conjured a controlled burst of flame, enough to engulf the walking corpse.

  Instantly, the rotting thing twitched.

  “NO,WAIT! DON’T USE FIRE!”

  The fireball already touch the eret and explode on the monster.

  The eret twitched. For half a second, everything seemed fine.

  Then—boom!

  Ren panicked. Who didn’t know Erets gets stronger in heat!? Why didn’t this person know that!? The more heat it consumed, the stronger it got. It was common knowledge, a basic survival fact drilled into every child. Yet here they were, recklessly feeding the very thing that could tear them apart.

  And based on how it exploded—not only was the fireball massive, but its sheer force was overwhelming. The heatwave slammed into him, scorching the air in his lungs. This wasn’t just a simple reaction; the Eret had absorbed more than enough energy, and now it was unleashing it in full force.

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  “GRAAAAAAAGHHH!”

  The air shuddered.

  The Eret's body convulsing as the heat it devoured twisted it further. It swelled to twice its previous size, its once-gaunt frame now more solid, sinewy muscle replacing its former brittle form. Its pale, frostbitten skin blackened into charred flesh, cracked and splitting in places where small tongues of fire flickered to life.

  Its movements, though still uneven, carried a newfound weight—each step heavier, each lunge more forceful. Its fingers thickened into clawed hands, no longer fragile but solid, capable of rending through anything in its path. Embers clung stubbornly to its body, flaring up where the heat still burned strongest, yet it lacked the raw, uncontrollable power of a fully transformed beast.

  It was stronger, more dangerous, but still incomplete—still starved for the heat it needed to reach its true monstrous form.

  Alric took a step back. “…Oh.”

  The once-sluggish corpse suddenly moved at unnatural speed, faster than what it was before. Its limbs snapping back into place like a marionette yanked by a violent puppeteer.

  THEN IT CHARGED.

  “WHAT THE HELL?!”

  The cursed kid scrambled to his feet. Running as he screamed at the man. “I SAID DON’T USE FIRE!"

  “YOU SAID IT TOO LATE, YOU DAMN BRAT!!”

  The man’s voice ripped through the air, raw with frustration as he twisted his body, barely dodging the lunging Eret. Its grotesque form skidded against the frozen ground, clawed limbs tearing through ice and dirt as it let out a shrill, inhuman screech.

  But it didn’t stop.

  With a violent jerk, the creature shifted, its eyes locking onto a new target—Ren.

  “Shit—!” Al cursed.

  Ren’s breath hitched as the monster bolted toward him, limbs twitching unnaturally, its jagged mouth unhinging with a sickening crack. The snow beneath its feet melted from the sheer heat of its presence, blackened sludge sizzling where it landed.

  It was too fast.

  Too close.

  Ren’s body already at its limit as he run. His breath burned in his throat, his legs sluggish against the snow. The cold bit at his skin, but the real terror came from behind—the Eret was closing in.

  Too fast.

  Al was too far. Too damn far.

  Ren could hear the thing gaining on him, the wet, unnatural crack of its joints as it lurched forward. The heat of its breath ghosted against his back, its claws stretching toward him—

  He wasn’t going to make It.

  The moment stretched. Slowed.

  The Eret’s fangs parted, ready to clamp down—

  Then—

  He felt it first, the weight that he hadn’t noticed on his head vanished. Something small and warm—something he’d barely registered in his panic—was suddenly gone. Then he heard the soft flutter of wings.

  His entire body flickered—

  That second he flicker back, a hand grabbed the back of his collar, yanking him violently off the ground. Ren’s vision blurred, but he saw a blue light from the man's hand. Then he was airborne. The world spun as Al swung him in a sharp, brutal arc, his muscles tightening with effortless strength.

  The motion wasn’t graceful—it was forceful, like throwing a sack of grain. Ren barely had time to yelp before his body was flung across the snow, crashing against the frozen earth and rolling to a rough stop.

  For a moment, the world felt distant. His body ached from the impact, but something else caught his attention.

  Something tumbled with him, bouncing against the snow—

  Thud. Thud. Thud.

  The potato.

  It rolled ahead of him, stopping just a few inches from his outstretched fingers, as if mocking him.

  For a long moment, he just lay there, dazed, watching the stupid thing settle into the snow.