About an hour into my increasingly unhinged forest marathon, something twitched against the edge of my perception.
A flicker.
A spark.
A disturbance in the otherwise depressingly empty void of trees and bugs and my rapidly deteriorating mental state.
I skidded to a stop so abruptly I nearly face-planted into a stump.
"There," I whispered. "Finally."
My mana had mostly recovered by now, which meant it was time for something stupid.
Something risky.
Something Belle would absolutely murder me for doing without supervision.
I cracked my fingers.
"Alright, Belle. I'm borrowing this. Just… pretend you didn't see it."
I raised a hand.
Breathed out.
And spoke the word.
"Die."
The air around me shuddered.
Mana rushed toward me like every particle in the atmosphere suddenly developed terrible judgment and decided I was a good investment.
