Nice going, Hessien!

  The woman bit down on her lip as the finger threading through Hessien's leg trembled with anger. “You little... brat!”

  “Hey, hey! You can’t harm me or—“ Hessien's words choked off, replaced by a sharp, agonized scream.

  She quickened the pace, stitching his leg more roughly as she ranted. “Perhaps you should’ve asked those flowmans for a healing item. Maybe you should've taken the risk of it being poisoned? Hmm? Hmmmmmm?!”

  “Oh, come on! That should’ve been obvious to you. How the hell can you be a demon wannabe if you're tricked so easily?” Hessien hissed at the pain.

  She swung her finger back, severing the shapeshifted thread. “I am not a demon! I told you before what I am. Although, I am categorized as an ‘evil manifestation.’ My kind are called despatamors—I wasn’t lying about that. Nor was it a trick.”

  Really...? I was curious about that and asked, “So, by default, you’re evil? And why is that?”

  Hessien added, “Yeah, didn’t you also say you were made out of pure skill energy?”

  Oh. I didn’t know that. I guess it was believable for her not to be a demon. But a skill that created demons could exist...

  That was a scary thought. Creating one is unsettling enough, but if someone could create thousands like her? I didn’t even want to imagine the chaos and destruction they could cause, especially if they could possess powerful political or social figures.

  She answered, “First of all, before we get into the details, let me introduce myself. Tanya. I would ask for your names, but I couldn't care less.”

  What an asshole.

  She continued. “To answer your question, blonde girl, no. My kind isn’t inherently evil. We’re called evil manifestations because of our abilities: possession, binding, and manipulation of negative skill energy. These powers can only inflict harm on others, so we’re categorized as evil by default. And, of course, I’d be lying if I said our personalities didn’t play a role. Since we possess these abilities, we use them. We cause harm.”

  She then floated above Hessien, folding her legs. “I did say I was made out of pure skill energy because I am—all alignment manifestations are.”

  Vacinay jumped into the conversation. “Wait, wait, wait. We don’t know much about the world, but since you’re giving us a lore lesson, we’ll need chairs.”

  Tanya looked at her, surprised. “You can’t stand...?”

  “Yes, but I’m very interested. I need a chair to focus on everything.”

  With that, Vacinay dashed off to fetch some chairs.

  While we waited, Tanya tapped her leg. “I’m curious, blonde girl. Is it true that you have a time manipulation skill card?”

  I answered cautiously, “What about it?”

  “I’m just incredibly surprised... especially since your card appeared yellow. Not to mention those other white cards you showed off. I thought you were an illusionist.”

  Huh. Illusionist… I was surprised that none of us had such a valuable skill.

  I shook my head. “No. We’re reality defenders. Basically, chosen ones sent to save this world from mutants, or something along those lines.”

  She blinked a couple of times. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking behind her blank stare. Then, finally, she said, “Interesting.”

  Hm. I frowned and asked, “You don’t believe me? Not that I’d blame you if you don't.”

  “Not exactly. It explains why my coward partner here has a heavier existence than mine. I was also thinking back on some blurry memory of mine, but it’s not important.”

  “Oh right! You know a lot of stuff, right?”

  “Depends on the topic.”

  “Do skill cards have a secret trade-off?”

  “A secret, you say?” She thought for a moment. “Perhaps. They trade your future.”

  What?

  I was too stunned to ask what she meant. I tried to process what it could mean. Did she mean that because I have the time manipulation skill card, I’ll trade my future? Or was she talking about skill cards in general?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Ghomas asked, “What do you mean by that?”

  “Have you ever seen a reflective old skill user? If you have, they were someone who rarely used their skills or didn’t develop them much. The ones who developed their skills are basically husks of their former selves. I suppose instead of 'future,' I should say 'brain,' but it’s connected. To put it simply, your brain slowly deteriorates, and the damage only shows with age. You won’t remember your past, and without your past, you’ve basically died. After all, your memories make you.”

  Damn… If what she’s saying is true, I guess that’s why using energy points feels so mentally draining.

  Hessien snorted. “Well, then the solution is simple—don’t get old.”

  Ghomas laughed. “I was about to make that joke. But it feels a bit too serious for it.”

  “I’m not joking,” Hessien clarified.

  Ghomas raised an eyebrow. “You want to seek immortality like a cultivator?”

  “No. It’s not urgent, anyway. But... it’ll be something we need to get, eventually. Well, except for Lumine, probably. She could just reverse time on herself constantly while we grow old and forget about her.”

  He smiled.

  I folded my arms. “I doubt it’d be that easy—“

  Tanya interrupted. “It is, for you. I’ve heard of a time manipulator in the past. They said she lived for tens of thousands of years—she was the oldest skill user.”

  I see…

  Yet that sounded too perfect. Maybe I was just paranoid?

  I needed to think about it.

  Using skills causes minor mind damage. To prevent complete mind deterioration, I’d have to reverse time on my brain. But using that kind of skill would cause damage—so the cycle would be endless until I make a mistake and reverse too much, effectively reverting myself to a child.

  Sigh. Either way, I’m young. I don’t need to think about such things right now.

  Vacinay finally came back with a single chair…

  I stared at her. She straight-up ignored me, acting as though she hadn’t said she was going for chairs.

  With her hands clasped, Vacinay leaned forward with a serious expression. “Heard about the mind stuff—cool stuff—but I don’t plan to get old. Now! The alignment manifestations, what exactly are they?”

  Tanya’s eyes twitched, suppressing her irritation. “It’s pretty damn obvious. Good, bad, gray manifestations.”

  “Ooooo! Gray too! Okay, okay. Hm. I don’t get it, really. You say your ‘kind,’ as if you belong to a species, yet you’re made of skill energy.”

  “Arrogant bug... I am made of pure skill energy, not manifested from a skill.”

  I asked, “Can you explain that?”

  “Actually, no! Just know that I’m better than every single person here!”

  Vacinay shouted angrily, “Hessien, make her answer us!”

  “I can’t force her to do anything.”

  Vacinay shot him a disgusted look. “Oh, suddenly you’re a gentleman? Trying to get in her pants, are you?”

  “I’m not pretending, nor am I trying to get in her pants. I literally can’t force her to do anything. That much should be obvious since she attacked all of you today! What, do you think I stabbed my own leg for fun?”

  Tanya smirked smugly at the mention of her failed attack.

  Vacinay opened her mouth to respond but stopped herself. “Right… I forgot. Sorry.”

  “Shove that sorry up your ass.”

  “My feeeelings!” Vacinay dramatically fell to the ground, lifting her hands to the sky. After a beat, she awkwardly pushed herself toward him, and he stared at her in disdain.

  “Forgive me,” she demanded, locking eyes with him.

  “Just get off the damn floor.”

  “Say, ‘I forgive you, Vacinay, and I’ll stop glaring at you so angrily.’”

  “No.”

  “Doooooooo iiiiiiiiiiit.”

  “No.”

  “I beg—”

  “No. You sound dumb.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Vacinay said with an air of confidence.

  In a flash, she transformed into a small cat. I averted my eyes just in time, narrowly avoiding witnessing the disturbing transformation.

  As a cat, she meowed incessantly.

  Hessien rolled his eyes and sighed. “Alright, alright. I forgive you.”

  Tanya glared at Vacinay with utter disgust. “Prideless child.”

  Without a word, she turned back into a human. “Shut up, freedom-less one.”

  That struck a nerve. Tanya’s fingers trembled with fury before morphing into claws. But then, the same white chain appeared, wrapping around her and restraining her movements.

  She grimaced in pain before reverting her hand back to normal. “I’m already starting to hate this…”

  So it could detect intentions and didn't need to wait for an attack to occur. Interesting.

  With that, I saw no reason to stay awake any longer.

  “Since she can’t hurt us, I’m heading to the bedroom for a nap. Gotta preserve the brain as much as possible.”

  Everyone agreed, except for Tanya, who was gnawing on her fingers while the white chain appeared and vanished randomly around her.

  She was definitely thinking of ways to kill us without breaking her contract.

  Vacinay, now fully dressed, lifted Hessien onto her back and ran toward the bedroom. "Chuu Chuu. Make way suckers!"

  We gave them space.

  Back on Earth, she was fairly strong. We always worked out with Hessien and Ghomas.

  I remembered how she used to be afraid of becoming too muscular. But after she started working out with them—thanks to Hessien’s encouragement—she’d complain about not gaining as much mass as him.

  Knowing her personality, though, if she ever gained enough upper body muscle to look even slightly muscular instead of just toned, she’d stop working out altogether.

  I recalled a random conversation we had:

  Vacinay had been inspecting herself in the mirror, complaining, “Damn, if I gain any more muscle, I’ll start looking like a guy… I need a three-month gym break.”

  She didn’t even have that much muscle mass.

  “You know, the only women who look like guys are the ones on steroids. You won’t gain that much muscle naturally,” I said, sipping some water.

  I wasn’t interested in anything but cardio. I wanted more endurance, that was all.

  She glared at me. “Yeah, but if I wanted to, I could easily.”

  “Not gonna happen. Not enough testosterone. Unless you mean fat for mass, maybe?”

  She clenched her fist. “You know what? I change my mind. I’m gonna work out for strength, just so when someone pisses me off—like you just did—I can choke them out.”

  We reached the bedroom. I immediately claimed the top of the bed, while Ghomas took the bottom. Vacinay tossed Hessien in the middle and lay beside him.

  The bed felt so good… I wanted to hug and kiss it. There was no way having a boyfriend could feel better than this. If I was alone, I would have humped it.

  I ground my head into the mattress, completely obsessed with its texture. Who loves you? I do!

  “I suppose I’ll rest too,” Tanya suddenly spoke, snapping me out of my bed-induced reverie.

  She transformed into white energy and shot into Hessien’s mouth, entering him.

  Everyone stared at him in silence.

  No way…

  A laugh slipped from my lips as I asked, “She sleeps in you?”