Zalanir erected a panel separating Cokhi from the gray soul. The crocosaurus turned to look him in the eye, but unlike its biggest portion, it showed no signs of rampage or discontent. Good boy.

  “You should’ve said that at the beginning.” He smiled. “Now, what lies beyond that oasis?”

  “You have to promise me first.”

  The panel disappeared right after. With a reaction as fast as a cat spotting a rat, Cokhi swiped and put its hand where its mouth was, while Josef squawked like a madman losing an arm. No, perhaps just a hand. The crocosaurus had held back with the reach of its attack near the end.

  Zalanir reinstalled the original cage. “Your last chance.”

  Josef remained in his spot, no longer screaming. The soul portion Cokhi had torn away mended in an instant, though his size was a bit smaller compared to before. For a while, no one spoke a word.

  “I mean no harm,” the man said, voice returned to a conversational volume, “and I know this is a stupid question, but tell me, are you a good person? I can tell you aren’t totally evil, but at the same time, I have also never met anyone raising soul pets like you.”

  “Partner. Not pet,” Cokhi interrupted.

  Zalanir made no attempt to correct that. Pet or partner, not like it mattered. With the lantern, he held the rein. Sure, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to utilize Cokhi to its full extent, but that would come with time. If push came to shove, he could always borrow the soul lion’s strength. Just like what happened at the cultist lair.

  Are you a good person? The question echoed in his mind.

  He wasn’t sure. Couldn’t say he had never wished anyone harm back on Earth. Couldn’t say he had never sighed in relief when he heard his opponent had pulled out of the tournament, giving him a free pass due to injuries. When he tore his pectoral muscle and had to stay in bed, he had questioned why it happened to him instead of others. And here, in this strange world, he had killed his first human being when he stomped the Red Nose’s face, and since then, he had snuffed out the lives of many cultists. By all means, he was a killer. And a killer wasn’t a good person.

  “Do good people exist?” His thoughts slipped out loud. He didn’t mean to speak this out loud, but it had come out, so he continued. “My hands are stained with enemies’ blood. Allies, too. An accident, but the fact remains. This pair of hands has taken many lives. Among those were parents, colleagues, probably sons and daughters, too. They have families waiting at home, and I have prevented them from returning to their loved ones.”

  He paused. The image of the chef duo laughing and joking while serving customers in their small restaurant flashed in his mind. Yeah, how many Dakruas were in that group of enforcers and hunters having their own Irenes wishing for their returns? The ice mage, the woman with her blade dance whose name he had forgotten, the pair of hunters who joined to help—all of them helped push him toward the summoning altar. But the price for that heroic action was him coming back and killing them like helpless rabbits. That was what they got for risking their lives to help a stranger.

  “And you know what the consequence for my cruel action is? I am called a genius by the System, and I have earned the backing of a powerful woman. Yeah, killing gives me that. Heck, just now, I intended to feed you to Cokhi. You’re asking if I am a good person? Even I don’t know the answer to that question. So, your decision.”

  Dead silence followed. This was inside his mind, but somehow, his skin soothed, as if the wind had just passed by. He was lying on a hill, sniffing the fresh and dampness of the grass and the wind, all the while watching the dark clouds hurried away and the sun about to make its return.

  Even the soul lion remained in one place, perhaps sulking from not getting a meal. Or that it was listening to what was going on here. Either way, it was rare seeing it not constantly growling and slamming into its cage.

  “What do you think of freedom?”

  Zalanir did expect a question to be one of the responses to what he had just said, but not this question. Was the secret Josef teasing related to his freedom? Something to help the man break free of the lantern? If so, that had to be something of immense power.

  Interesting. Now he was even more curious about what lay beyond the Oasis of Misfortune.

  “I will answer this question, but let’s not get sidetracked, shall we? Not sure if you’re buying time or anything, but I won’t tolerate another question or claim. After this, you will either tell me about the secret, or you become food for this guy right here. Got it?

  “So, I believe freedom is everyone’s right, and it’s worth fighting for, even if it costs you your life. Even if it costs the entire nation’s life. You’re free to fight me, or any soul in here. If you win, you get your freedom back, but be prepared to sacrifice anything for the cause.”

  Silence fell onto the place once again. Not just Josef, he was sure the crocosaurus was contemplating as well. As annoying as the soul lion was, the way it kept charging onto the cage had earned his respect. Freedom was probably to it what tennis had been to him back then—too important and precious to ignore. Fighting for it was the best feeling ever, and he would do it again even if it meant going through that injury again.

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  “Hahaha. Very evil of you to say that when trapping me here. Not a bad answer. Flawed, but at least it’s honest.” Josef laughed for the first time since being captured. “What beyond the meahli oasis is my family. I’m asking you to avenge me and get me home. In exchange, I will teach you how to trick the meahlis and make your life easier here.”

  “That’s it? I have killed one meahli myself. Might be tricky for others, but not for me. Don’t you see the red soul over there?” Zalanir pointed to the motionless soul he was still trying to wake up. Soon. It had been absorbing his mana rather quickly lately.

  Josef flew toward the meahli’s soul on his right, stopping at the edge of his own cage. “You killed one on your own? Doesn’t mean much, considering it’s likely a rogue running loose from the herd. The fact that you are here in this garbage dump, holding interests in what’s beyond the oasis, means you aren’t confident in taking more than one at the same time.”

  “You’re correct, but why would I want that? Remember, you’re the one who wants to return home, not me, so if you want my help, better show more gratitude. And I don’t mean emotion alone. I have no need for that at the moment.”

  “I can ask the chief to reward you. Trust me. I have some influence there.”

  “Chief? Influence? Didn’t you say it’s empty beyond the oasis?”

  “You will know when we get there,” Josef sighed. “Now, go to the meahli oasis and find a spot where you see three mounds form a line with two palm trees in-between. It’s right on the border; won’t be hard to find.”

  “A secret path?” Zalanir asked.

  “Kind of. And you will become a meahli.”

  Zalanir spent the next couple of hours digging through other heaps, but only found a fading pangolin’s soul. Would be quite a find if he hadn’t caught the meahli’s and Josef’s already, which meant Ioviann’s information was on point. Though with his current situation, he just fed it to the meahli to speed up the recovering process.

  He couldn’t trust Josef 100% yet, considering he would be led into a trap, but he just had an inkling that the man was sincere. Besides, if he burned through everything, he believed he could at least escape.

  “Found what you’re looking for?” Wanyi asked when he came back to the group.

  “Yeah…” he said, though his mind was still at the crossroads of how to approach this.

  “What’s wrong?” This time, it was Shinnya who questioned him.

  He didn’t want to lie, but the existence of the lantern was his biggest secret. After they had taken him in as a groupmate, telling these three he wanted to part ways now would be selfish. But there was no better way. He didn’t want to spend months here replicating what happened in the bat cave.

  “Okay, there are circumstances involved that I can’t fully explain, but I think I will remain here for a while. I want to have a look at the Oasis of Misfortune.” Only Shinnya was startled, while Wanyi remained indifferent. “I can’t go there without a light source, so I want to borrow some from you. I can trade my share of our harvest here for it. I need a large supply, and I need them to work on their own as well. Let me know what you guys think?” Even after choosing this approach, he still wasn’t sure. But this was the best he could do.

  “So the oasis is your target from the beginning? Looks like there’s more than meets the eye with you.” Seseguri stood up, left the wall he was resting on, and came over.

  “I came here for this place—the Bone Hill, not the oasis. But.. yeah, the situation has changed.”

  “I assume it’s related to what you have found here. A map, or a relic of some kind pointing to the oasis?” Wanyi asked.

  Sharp. Really close to the truth here.

  “I can only confirm this much, but yeah.”

  “And you want to do this alone, hoarding the secret for yourself? Must be something big, huh?” Seseguri mocked.

  “Not like that, but even I am not sure if I can cross the oasis. It’s my first time there, so… lots of testing. Would be best if I go alone.”

  “In other words, you deem us to be dead weights.” Seseguri was at it again.

  “Hey, I’m being considerate here. You know better than a newcomer like me how treacherous these meahlis are.”

  “Yeah, so dangerous that you can kill one on your own without any help. First time my ass!”

  “Hey, you two. Drop it!” Wanyi inserted herself, both physically and conversationally.

  “Not from me.” Seseguri shrugged. “I’m just a loser who couldn’t even win against Mr. Secret here.”

  “You’re still salty about that? Come. Here. Let’s do a rematch!” The man had gained three levels since then, but he had net eight. Not to mention he had Cokhi as a wildcard. Even with no initiation like last time, he would still win.

  Wanyi slammed her shield on the ground, which released an outburst of golden light and pushed him away. No damage, though.

  “As I said, enough already! Ses, you be quiet, else I will knock you out myself.” Then Wanyi whipped her head 180 degrees toward him. “I’m not sure what you have found, but this is disappointing. I really thought that we are a good team, but looks like we’re just being used here.”

  Zalanir wanted to correct that, but she didn’t let him and continued on by herself. “Considering the fair market price, your share of one core would equal four light talismans. I have three old ones, so here’s two more silver coins. Catch them!”

  He sighed, took the three yellow talismans with edges that curled inward, and threw back the two silver coins. “Thanks for these. They’re more than enough for me already.”

  His ears registered a snicker among all the background noises of rat chitters and objects being dug up and tossed away, but he ignored it. No need to stir up the muddy puddle.

  “Take this.” Shinnya, who had remained muted since the beginning, tossed a fireball his way. Not an attack, but a flame burning around a black spherical object that he didn’t know the name of. “It could burn for eighteen hours. Enough for you to reach the oasis at a medium pace. Head that way and hug the right wall.” She pointed to the direction of the far-right archway.

  The ball of fire burned gently in his hand, illuminating an area that stopped just short of reaching Shinnya. Just about a pinky short, but as she turned away and snuffed out her own fire, there was only darkness between him and her.

  Within this area called the Bone Hill, a ballad of rattling rat paws and gratings of teeth meeting outer surfaces played to no end.