The night was mostly peaceful after the unexpected visit. In the end, only Megan, the twins’ mother, was infected. The father, Thomas, didn’t want to witness the slow and painful process his family would go through, so he returned home until they woke up. He looked scared, and I couldn’t blame him.

The family’s pet, on the other hand, was transferred to the laboratory for further investigation on carrier animals. Dr. Blake guaranteed the cat would be safe, and that they would return it to the family should they be willing to take it back once they got enough data.

Concerning the mysterious intruders Anna claimed to have heard, the rangers were unable to find any trace of their presence. Reaching the conclusion that it was a false alarm, they announced that it was safe to return to our normal activities the next day. Anna wasn’t satisfied, but she couldn’t ask them to keep working overtime based on a hunch.

Our group decreased in number as the night progressed. I envied them a little. Unlike me, they were able to sleep with ease. I wasn’t tired. It even felt as if the darkness of the night gave me new energy to continue. I entered my room, not bothering to turn the switch on. The lack of light was not a problem. I could see clearly with the small amount that peeked through the curtains.

The first thing I did there was wish my family a goodnight. It wasn’t a good idea to break that promise again, even if we talked earlier today. Mary had also replied to my message. Needless to say, she was eager to meet the new faces, particularly Rex, who had been our partner for a long time in Danath Online.

Once I was done with my social media, I decided it was time to sleep. I thought about reading some stories before going to bed, but I chose not to do it in fear of getting hooked on them. Instead, I merely tucked myself in my bed and hoped the lack of activity did the trick.

I spent hours absentmindedly staring at the covered window. It wasn’t until around two or three in the morning when I finally drifted into sleep. This, in turn, led me into waking up even later than before, and I ended up rushing to the cafeteria again. Anna, Lily, and Dr. Blake were already gone by the time I reached the table.

“Good evening,” mocked Rex as I slowed down to a more sedate pace towards them.

“Sorry, were you waiting for me?” My legs were not impressed with the exercise. Demons were clearly not fit for long distance running. It felt like the only reason I was not breathing heavily was my increased lung capacity.

“We are done eating if that's what you're worried about, little one,” Allison replied. “You should hurry and get your food, though.”

I nodded and went to grab a tray at a more sedate pace. The food warmers were almost completely empty, so I had to make do with scraps of whatever I could find. My plate looked weird, but beggars can’t be choosers. It was that or nothing at all. It wasn’t like the food was bad, anyway.

Allison patiently waited for me to take my seat before she spoke to me again. “Is something bothering you, Nora?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“You’re showing up to breakfast later each time. Have you been sleeping properly?”

“Oh, that.” I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I just don’t feel tired until it gets really late.” It was true that I had a few concerns regarding our safety, but I didn’t think they had anything to do with my problem.

Alex gave an amused hum as he drank from an odd-looking thermos. The redness of his lips when he removed the object from his face made its contents very clear to me. Oddly enough, the scene didn’t make me wince like it clearly did to the others.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” he finally said after licking the improvised lipstick clean. “I had the same problem before our escape. Your circadian rhythm is changing, that’s all. It can be fixed over time if you put some effort into it, but if you’re like me, it will feel wrong to do so.”

“Huh, guess that solves the mystery,” I commented, hoping his explanation was the truth. Seeing him take another sip of blood, I asked, “Are you fine drinking that?”

“Does that mask of yours seem out of place to you when you look at your reflection?” Alex asked back.

It didn’t. Shortly after my transformation was completed, my body didn’t seem foreign like before. It didn’t make my wings any less annoying when looking for a sleeping position, but everything felt completely natural.

I chuckled. “Yeah, dumb question.”

“There you go. I can only see blood as a tasty drink now. If anything, drinking from this thing is what feels wrong. It’s as if I tried eating soup with a knife.”

“Oh, by the way, Nora.” I turned to look at Allison as I had a mouthful of food. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Anna wanted us to tell you that the boat she mentioned arrived earlier today. She wants you to give it a try in the afternoon, so make sure that you don’t tire yourself before then.”

It’s a bit late for that...

“Got it. Thanks, Allison.”

After breakfast, I went back to my room to get ready for the day. Taking into account that I would probably fall into the lake a few times while learning, I put on a blue swimdress that Mom thankfully added to my luggage. Given the design, the only thing she needed to alter in it was a hole for my tail to go through. Once I had it on, I grabbed a simple white blouse and a new pair of white sandals.

---<>----------<>----------<>---

When we got to the forest, everyone split to work on their respective goals. Rex was the first to do so, pretty much locking himself in the storage shack to ‘evaluate’ the armoury. Allison decided to meditate right next to me, as usual, and Sylvia kept a more reasonable distance to read her book.

Finally, Alex resumed his attempts at recreating my freezing magic without success. Every time he attempted something, he’d write it down on a notepad.

Maybe it’s something only demons can do?

It sure was easy enough for me to do it, so the fact that no one else had achieved the same pointed that way.

Could it be because of the two variants of the virus?

That had to do something, right?

Somewhat motivated by the thought of being special, I dedicated my training session to find out the limitations of my newfound power. The magic I discovered had proven to be only capable of cooling things, but how could I make that work during an emergency?

Freezing anything the size of a person wasn’t something I felt capable of doing. If I was correct, the hawk had already been big enough that it caused me pain to do so. I needed an alternative. Rex and Allison’s previous suggestions flashed through my mind. Could I really create a wall of ice or shoot ice spikes?

It was definitely worth trying. The only problem was that I didn’t know where to start. My first attempt at it was rather direct. I already knew from experience that, except for the first time, thoughts alone were of no help when using my magic. It all depended on my knowledge and ability to visualise the outcome. With that in mind, I extended my arm with my palm facing up and closed my eyes to avoid distractions.

To confirm this theory, I sent mana to my arm and imagined a small ball of ice forming over my hand. Nothing felt different. My eyes opened, and I smiled humorously at the expected, yet disappointing, outcome. Creating matter was, indeed, not within my reach. If I wanted ice, I needed water.

Another idea came to me then. Gathering water from the surroundings was something authors often used to explain ice and water magic in their work. The concept was fine for fiction, but I couldn’t imagine there being enough moisture in the air to use in such a way. Even if there was, there had to be a negative consequence to drying the air itself. Another key element to consider for such an action was the manipulation of water itself. There was a huge difference between moving water molecules and freezing them. In fact, they were opposites, considering how heat works. I chuckled lightly and shook my head at the sudden thought of actually trying it. As the laughter stopped, I stared at my hand once more.

There’s no way it will work, right?

“It will.”

I whipped my head around, trying to spot whoever said that. Only Sylvia and Allison were close enough. “Did you say something?” I asked them both.

They stopped what they were doing and looked at each other, then back at me, both shaking their heads.

“Oh, never mind then.”

They nodded and went back to their business. I looked around once more before giving up. I could have sworn I heard someone just then. A reply to my own doubts. Perhaps I was going crazy. Maybe Alex was right, and the virus was slowly driving us mad. My mind was definitely altered, so the theory had merit. I pursed my lips at the thought.

Not being able to do anything about it, I chose to ignore it unless it happened again. I closed my eyes and went back to my experiment. I visualised hundreds of tiny liquid particles quickly flowing through the air and forming a ball over my open palm. To my surprise, I felt the mana draining from my hand, just like when I froze something.

I gasped, feeling goosebumps rise on my arms. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know what happened. I could feel the moisture that fell into my hand the moment I lost focus. Repeating the process with full visibility was so thrilling I couldn’t help yelling with excitement at the result. All eyes were suddenly on me.

“Is everything alright, little one?” Allison asked with genuine concern.

“Couldn’t be better!” I answered with a grin. “I can manipulate water!”

I immediately moved my hand to show her the fruit of my work, only for the small droplet to fall on my palm as I did.

“I don’t know. Are you sure that’s not just sweat?” Alex asked, walking closer to take a look.

“Hold on,” I replied, “I’ll show you.”

This time, instead of pulling more moisture from the air, my efforts went into gathering what already covered my hand to form a new tiny water sphere. Despite its minuscule size, I could feel my mana depleting steadily as it floated.

Alex slowly rubbed his chin in disbelief. “Not one, but two new different kinds of magic. Did you also do this just by thinking about it?”

I didn’t want to look arrogant, so I merely nodded, suppressing the grin that kept forcing its way.

“Which means I won’t be able to replicate this one either…”

“You won’t know unless you try it,” Allison replied as she patted my head.

“True,” he said before focusing on me once more, “but I think she’s just gifted. There’s no other explanation.”

“There is,” Rex interjected as he walked to us. “Perhaps it’s a racial affinity, just like how you learn psychic magic so easily when I can’t even use any.”

Alex snorted. “This isn’t a video game, Rex.”

“Says mister ‘vampires are gifted with mind control’.” The dwarf shrugged without looking away from me. “Could you try to reshape and freeze it?”

“Okay.” I lifted my hand with the liquid near my face. I focused on regathering and elongating it into a thin needle. When it formed, I froze it. The familiar sensation of mana insufficiency made itself present after that, and it made me drop the frozen object on my open palm.

Rex smiled and grabbed the object from my hand, only for it to melt almost instantly. “Well, there you go. Proper ice magic, don’t you think? All you have to do now is test other types of magic and find out whether you are a genius or simply have a racial affinity.”

“I think both are equally amazing, if you ask me.” Anna had somehow arrived and got behind me when I wasn’t paying attention. “I’d certainly love to find out, but I’m afraid it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Feeling lightheaded, are we, Nora?”

It’s scary how easily she can read me sometimes.

“Just a little. I stopped just in time,” I replied. “That won’t ruin my flight training, right?”

“Don’t worry, I believe you’ll recover in time. Your training will still take place as intended.”

---<>----------<>----------<>---

Everything was ready by the time we arrived at the lake. The place was unexpectedly crowded for what I thought would be a lot of diving and clumsy gliding, considering it was my very first time. I could even see some members from the cooking and cleaning staff present for the show. Surprisingly, Lily had gathered enough courage to venture outside of the building for the first time since I learned how to use freezing magic. It was a bit embarrassing to be the focus of so many people, but I understood they were simply curious. Seeing someone achieve one of humanity’s greatest dreams was definitely something few would miss.

I was no longer human, though.

The boat meant for my training was bigger than I imagined, too. With an estimated ten metres in length, the expensive-looking vehicle could definitely carry a decent amount of people. That said, almost half of it consisted of the flat platform positioned at the back. It was painted with a beautiful crimson at the sides, while the roof and platform were a shade of turquoise to make it harder to spot from above.

Our crew consisted of five people, myself included. Since he apparently had some experience, Dr. Blake would be the pilot, and Gary sat next to him to help. Anna was in charge of the towing cable and lifeguarding along with Alex, who offered to help. It was odd to see the doctor wearing a red tropical shirt instead of his usual laboratory outfit. Anna, too, had changed into something better suited for a boat trip, although her green swimdress was hard to see under the bright yellow life vest she wore on top.

Two additional assistants would follow us using a pair of water scooters. Their main purpose was to film me with the action cameras they had attached to the small boats, but they were also there in case of an accident.

After shedding my extra clothing, I walked towards the boat, where Anna received me with a harness and an inflatable life vest in her hands. She helped me put it on after placing my stuff next to her.

“I’m glad it fits,” she commented. “This is the smallest automatic vest we could get. It’s rigged to activate the moment it’s submerged, so you don’t have to worry about doing anything. However, if by any chance it doesn’t inflate, you can always pull this lever over here or use this straw to inflate it yourself. Don’t worry, your lung capacity is good enough that you won’t have trouble doing it as long as you don’t panic.”

Finally, she grabbed the tip of the towing cable, hooked it to my harness and handed me a small bracelet with a red button which I put on my left wrist.

“We’ll begin by getting you used to the speed of the boat and we’ll gradually increase the length of the cable. Since it’s your first time, we won’t release more than five metres. The motor can be a bit loud so, if at any point you feel there’s something wrong or you want to stop, push the button on that bracelet, and we’ll immediately pull you back, okay?”

I gave her a thumbs up in reply.

“Good.” She untied the boat from the docks and looked behind her. “We’re ready to start, Dad!”

At her signal, Dr. Blake started the vehicle, and we were off. Just like she explained previously, the first thing I did was spread my wings and feel the breeze running along them. After a few minutes, we went fast enough that I could no longer remain on my feet. It was at that moment that the training had officially begun.

My first impression about flying was that it came naturally to me, just like how Lily did in the past. Sure, both Anna and Alex were holding my hands, and the boat’s speed meant I didn’t have to focus on beating my wings. Disregarding those factors, it felt as if my body acted on instinct to keep me stable. My transparent eyelids had automatically closed at some point, preventing the air from drying my eyes.

“We’re going to let go now, get ready!”

My heart sank when I heard Anna yell those words. Giving me little time to react, they nodded to each other and freed my hands, leaving me with the cable attached to my harness as my only source of security. Thankfully, my distance to the boat remained the same. If we stopped, I would probably still fall on the platform.

This distance lasted for a couple of minutes before they decided I was stable enough to jump to the next stage. In mere minutes, I had nothing below me other than the white foam the vehicle left in its wake. The height had increased as well, although not enough for me to judge whether my acrophobia would affect me mid-flight or not.

Once they realised my wings kept me safe regardless of how nervous I was, the cable slowly elongated until I found myself a few metres above the lake’s surface. That was a height I was already familiar with, thanks to Allison, although it was my first time having my eyes open.

Surprisingly, I was not afraid. I was thrilled, wanting to go higher. I tried using my hands to tell Anna to extend the cable further, only to have my request shut down with her arms crossed into an ‘X’. Giving up on that idea, I spent the rest of the time admiring the view. The crystal lake below me was much more beautiful from above, and the forest all around was not far behind. I kept observing the surrounding nature as we circled the entire lake.

Something I noticed while soaring was that my sight had somehow improved and allowed me to see certain things slightly closer than they really were. The boat and everyone on board hadn’t changed at all, but I could spot wildlife near the shore with relative ease. I got the feeling my google-like eyelids had something to do with it, even though Anna never mentioned them providing a magnifying ability.

My thoughts about it were interrupted when I caught something in the corner of my eye. A silver flash that was gone by the time I turned to get a better look. I had seen plenty of animals by then, and many of those had similar fur, yet there was something about it that felt different and oddly familiar.

By the time the aerial show ended, most of the staff had returned to their work, and I was reeled in slowly before the boat reached the docks. Anna and Alex took my hands and pulled me onto the platform at the end.

“So?” Dr. Blake asked after turning off the motor. “What do you think of your first real flight training session?”

I smiled at him. “It was amazing! Everything looked so beautiful, and I felt so free! It was much easier than I thought, too! I know this was basically gliding, but I don’t think it will be hard to make the transition.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he replied with a chuckle.

Anna handed me my blouse and shoes. “Anything else worth mentioning?” Having observed me the entire time, she must have noticed I saw something out of place.

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly, putting my blouse back on. “I did see something in the woods that caught my attention. I think it was just an animal, but I can’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t.”

“We need to call Clark!” She grasped both of my shoulders and lowered herself to my eye level. She shook me a little while asking, “Where did you see it?”

“Stop it!”

Anna was suddenly yanked away from me, only to be replaced by Sylvia, who stood between us with a firm grip on the elf’s wrist. Her furious expression and what seemed an attempt at growling lasted mere seconds before it changed to regret.

“I-I’m sorry,” she muttered, letting go of Anna. “I don’t know what happened.”

Anna seemed unaffected by it. She rubbed her wrist and replied, “No, it’s fine. I guess I deserved that. Although it’s interesting that you act like a demon when you are still so far from completing your transformation.”

Sylvia bit her lip. “You mean that’s normal?”

“Well, more or less,” Dr. Blake replied as he got off the boat. “The growling is a common sign of displeasure. Demons are rarely aggressive, but given how you acted right now, my hypothesis is that they might be very protective of their young. This instinct could be enhanced by your current state.”

Sylvia winced and slowly got back to her wheelchair. She rubbed her legs shortly after sitting. The sudden movement had taken its toll, although it didn’t look too bad. She seemed more concerned about her behaviour.

“Anyway, sorry about that, Nora,” Anna said after confirming Sylvia was mostly fine.

“No problem.” I then turned around and pointed to where I remembered seeing that blur. “I saw it over there, by the way.”

Anna pulled out her phone from her pocket. “Thanks. I’ll call Clark and tell him to send people there.”

“Just to verify,” Dr. Blake added. “We’re doing it because we can’t take any risks. If they find nothing, that’s it. We can’t keep wasting their time on something you keep obsessing over.”

The rangers found nothing as expected.

---<>----------<>----------<>---

Once we were done with lunch, we went back to the training grounds, where we all resumed our activities. Well, everyone except for Rex, who wanted to discuss something with Dr. Blake regarding the recreational area, and Lily, who decided it had been enough time outside. Anna joined us with her archery training instead.

In my case, after nearing mana exhaustion from my experiment, I decided I needed to rest. Instead, I made sure Allison would continue her meditation in hopes that she finally reached the first milestone. When I confronted her about it, she admitted getting distracted with ease at first, but insisted that she had gotten serious by the time we met Sylvia. Anna had confirmed that giants did possess a mana core like any other victim of the MAV, and, while it was smaller in proportion to any other race, that didn’t explain why it took so long for her to even feel the tingling.

I kept observing Allison’s meditation, when I heard a heavy sigh from Sylvia, who had been silently reading her book up to that point.

I looked up at her. “Is something wrong? Did the pain get worse?”

Sylvia shook her head and pointed to an empty spot of the training grounds, far from everyone else. We moved there, and once I made sure that Allison was back to meditating, and that Anna couldn’t hear us, hopefully, I sat down and waited for her to speak.

“It’s about what happened at the lake,” She said after another sigh.

“You mean the growling?” I asked, cocking my head to one side.

Sylvia nodded. “Have you done it?”

“A few times, yeah. The first time I even bit the one who caused it.”

She gasped and covered her mouth.

I snorted at her reaction. “Hey, the guy deserved it! He was trying to hurt Lily.” Then I looked away. “I growled at my mom too, though. It wasn’t pleasant.”

“I can imagine… Is everything okay between you two?”

“Yeah, we made up later that day. Neither of us can stay mad at someone for too long. Anyway, don’t worry about it. You heard Anna. We won’t hurt someone unless it’s necessary.”

“How can you tell for sure?”

“I trust her. She’s normally right.”

Sylvia hummed and observed the elf. “Do you think the intruders are real then?”

It was my turn to sigh. I thought for a moment before giving my answer. “Like I said, I trust her. Anna’s no liar. She may tease me and keep most things to herself, but that’s just her personality. If she says she heard something, then she did, even if it was only in her head. It worries me how obsessed she’s become with it, though.”

“Hey!” Anna suddenly shouted.

Oh, come on!

How did she hear that!?

She hadn’t. She was too busy staring into the forest, aiming at something with her bow. “I know you’re there. Show yourself or I’ll shoot!”