Light spilled into the hut as Haiko pulled the shade open, and he looked up from the cube. The remnants of the previous day’s interaction lingered in the back of his mind, making it difficult to keep looking at her for long. Instead, he lifted the cube as if to show it to her.

“This is still alive,” August said.

“You said you retrieved it from an Efkini, like Ladybug here?” Haiko said, glancing down at the cube in question. “How are you able to determine that it’s alive?”

Ladybug trilled at the sound of her name and then hopped forward to stand in the doorway. The noise drew Haiko’s attention down the creature, and he winced at the sudden shift of movement.

“I used a skill on the cube to try and gather information on it,” August said in explanation, “It came up with the same menu that appears when I use it on a monster—I’m attempting to tame it right now.”

“Interesting,” Haiko said, “How long does the process take?”

This time when she turned back to him, he was ready for the movement and able to brace himself for it.

“A couple of hours?” August offered, not quite in a state to try and figure out the exact time. “Are the others awake?”

“Not as of yet,” Haiko admitted, watching him. “I will keep you company while you work.”

Haiko stepped fully into the hut, and he stilled at the sudden overwhelming movement, mind trying to place catch up to so much sensation raking across his mind. Haiko bent her legs, twisting her centre mass downwards, and caught her weight with two of her hand—he closed his eyes, focusing all of his attention on the cube in his hand and surprisingly, it helped.

“Does it take much concentration?” Haiko asked once she’d settled herself down.

He considered the question for a moment—she hadn’t been here when he’d tamed Neptune, nor any of the other conversations about the topic. She had seen the creatures in the aftermath, though, so she was aware of the outcome at least.

“No, but it does take a lot of mana, way more than I have inside of me,” August said, trying to ignore the way her fingers linked together. “I actually have to wait for it to regenerate a bunch of times; that’s why it takes so long.”

“The Children of Gaia had a similar issue, in that their natural capacity for mana varied greatly,” Haiko said curiously. “Their methods of overcoming it were many—some underwent surgery to artificially increase their internal capacity, while others relied on external batteries.”

He kept them focused on the cube as best he could manage as she spoke.

“Runes?” August guessed, thinking about the ones he already knew.

“Yes, it was quite common,” Haiko nodded, “Some had the runes placed directly on their bodies, while others prefered objects they carried with them—the PDI eventually came to integrate a battery system, although it was limited in size.”

“I was thinking about doing something similar,” August admitted, “But I’m not exactly sure about how runes work yet—that and I’ve been distracted with other things.”

“Understandable,” Haiko said, “This isn’t exactly an environment conducive for rediscovering the runic language with no form of instruction.”

“Maybe,” August said. “Are you hungry?”

“Oh,” Haiko said at the non-sequitur. “I suppose I am, yes.”

August removed a few handfuls of Sad Apples and placed them on the ground between them. He took one for himself and took a bite; the sour mess of a fruit was almost enough to overshadow the sensation of Haiko reaching forward to take one of her own—maybe they had some uses after all.

“You have a strange reaction every time I move,” Haiko said after taking a bite. “You were acting strange last night as well.”

“I put one of my points in a new skill last night,” August said after a moment. “I’m currently regretting it.”

“What was the skill?” Haiko asked, slowly bringing the fruit up to her mouth again.

The sluggish movement might have been her attempt to judge his reaction, but it only served to lengthen the pull on his mind.

“It’s connected to the skill that gives me information about things, only this one gave it a passive effect,” August said, forcing himself to take another bite. “Anytime something living starts moving near me, it jams it into my head—I’m hoping that I’ll get used to it, but right now, it’s a mess.”

“That’s why you slept in here,” Haiko said in understanding. “How bad is it?”

“One person is hard enough to deal with; three made me dizzy,” August said, staring at the sad apple and trying to gather the courage needed for another bite. “Too many fingers, arms, and bodies moving at once.”

“Would you like me to leave?” Haiko asked.

“No,” August said, shaking his head. “I’ll need to get used to this eventually, and I can deal with one person at least.”

“If my presence does become too much to handle,” Haiko said, “Please send me away—I assure you I will not be offended.”

August took another bite to avoid acknowledging the comment directly.

“[Tame],” August said after he’d swallowed.

He watched the progress bar rise again, and then something pressed against his palm. He frowned at the sensation before biting into the Sad Apple to free up his other hand. He turned the cube over and found a small patch of black material had grown where his hand had been previous.

“August?” Haiko said, leaning forward to see what he was looking at.

He took another bite as he removed the apple from his mouth and then swallowed it before responding.

“When Ladybug killed this one originally, it was full of this black material,” August said, indicating the raised and discoloured patch. “The inside of the shell is made of it as well.”

“You’ve been using mana on it,” Haiko said, tilting her head. “You also mentioned that one of the lines of runes was responsible for drawing in ambient mana and storing it inside—is there a connection there?”

“It’s taking the mana I’m using on it to regenerate its body,” August said, nodding at her deduction. “It might actually be able to manage that without my interference, though, provided it’s got a source of mana nearby to draw from.”

He’d had it stashed away in his inventory all this time, either in stasis or without a source of mana to draw on. So even destroying their shell wasn’t necessarily enough to render them permanently dead, was it? You’d have to go the extra step and destroy the cube itself.