Fay found it strangely lucky that he had managed to obtain one of the powerful Chrono Fragments.

He first checked if he was compatible with it, but after a few moments, he gave up.

"How about you, Horin? Do you feel anything from it?"

The girl picked it up again, turning it in her hand, but shook her head.

"Nothing. I don't feel anything while holding it…"

She looked somewhat displeased, likely because it was one of the strongest types of aether they were aware of.

"Well, I'll keep it for now. I think I might know someone who could need it… possibly."

Fay's thoughts drifted to the mysterious girl Maria, the one who had affinities with both sound and light, yet still couldn't summon a creature from either aether core.

Maybe this would help.

They turned their attention back to dismantling the beasts.

The work was a little rushed, since the blood would no doubt attract trouble if they lingered.

"I wonder if Mirage will come soon. She should have been strong enough by now…"

[Strong enough to finish them in mere seconds.]

The voice echoed in his mind, and as he looked up, there she was back in her human form, licking her lips while staring at the prize that lay before her.

"Forgive me, but I will be eating everything. Have your summons retreat before they are also swallowed up," the girl said, speaking like she was the one truly in charge.

Fay mentally recalled his creatures, and Horin did the same.

Then, for the first time in a while, his silver-haired companion began shifting, returning to her true form, the one of the silver-scaled dragon with many spikes throughout her body.

It was beautiful but also looked dangerous.

She wasn't at her largest, but even so, her presence was overwhelming.

In five bites, Mirage finished off the massive elephant.

One more bite was enough for each leopard.

Horin looked the most surprised of them all.

Even Grin and Jolt stayed behind Fay, the only one the dragon had formed a pact with.

As soon as she finished eating, the dragon began to shrink again and turned back to the silver-haired girl, as if nothing had happened.

It was as though she hadn't just devoured three large creatures nearly all at once.

Fay couldn't understand the logic behind it.

Where had the bodies gone? What happened to all that meat, the bones, and everything else?

None of it made sense, especially with how calmly the girl behaved afterward.

"Remember… I am a mind dragon, and reality is but a whim when you have control over it. That, and the power we were given," Mirage said with a yawn before lying down on the ground without a care in the world.

"Now go hunt whatever you're going to take. I'm going to have a good, long nap. I destroyed anything that showed signs of immediate corruption, but I don't think this will be over just yet. I bet there are still sick creatures that ran off before I could find them."

Within seconds, she was already snoring. She looked vulnerable like that, yet completely out of place.

"Should we…" Horin began, but Fay gave her an immediate nod.

The two of them left the dragon to rest and began searching for the creature Fay wanted to hunt next, the large, long-necked lizard whose meat he especially liked.

"The Trunktail? We only hunt those if there's more than one, remember that…" Horin reminded him firmly. She didn't kill indiscriminately and trusted that Fay now understood the importance of balance.

"I know. Let's go, though. I'm starving. We didn't have much this morning, and I promised Mira the best meal today," Fay replied.

Horin nodded and took the lead, guiding him to a spot she knew where the long-necks often gathered.

It was near a patch of their favorite trees. The trees resembled giant baobabs, their wide trunks supporting thick branches heavy with fruit. The Trunktails used their long necks to reach the highest boughs.

"That's why they come here. The fruit's sweet for them. I tried it once, but it's too sour for me," Horin said with a small shiver at the memory.

"I want to try one... if we get the chance. But first, I counted the herd. Eighteen exactly. Is that a large number?"

Fay had never seen so many Trunktails in one place. They moved slowly, feasting peacefully, their long necks lifting toward the treetops. Their faces were small, almost gentle in appearance, clearly not built for fighting.

"It's a good sign," Horin replied. "Maybe they noticed we weren't hunting them as often and came back."

She scanned the group carefully, eyes scanning the savanna carefully. "That one. Good size, but it's limping. Looks like a broken leg. It'll be picked off by predators anyway. We should just hunt it now and end its suffering."

Fay turned his gaze toward the creature she had pointed out. It struggled to lift its body all the way up.

"Yeah… you're right. Let's go for that one."

"It'll die in less than a few weeks. Better we have it to ourselves," Horin said. "Now, you remember how to fight it, right? They're slow, but if we scare them properly, they'll run. That's when we trap one. Their big size makes them helpless once they fall."

She was reminding him of what he already knew: he had hunted a Trunktail before with Nahrin and Kimya. The memory lingered, bringing a wave of sadness.

Those two would never hunt with him again.

"Alright, let's start. You set the trap. I'll have my monsters chase it. I'll go in for the first attack, and if possible, hit the injured leg again so it falls faster," Fay instructed.

He went over the plan in his head: positioning, likely escape routes, and everything they needed to be careful about.

After a few minutes of review, they began to move.

Horin darted ahead as both Grin and Jolt split off, moving to either side of the clearing to start scaring the other creatures away from the target.

Somni remained latched to Fay, ready to act in case anything went wrong.

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