"Are you sure you don't want to come back with us? You would make a good agent, you know?"

"I really would."

Drake smiled smugly, making Anna's eyes twitch in annoyance. Facing death had a way of bringing people together, and they both acted like they were old friends.

"However, I don't like the idea of being bound to one kingdom. I wish to go everywhere, and help those I can. But if you ever need me, don't hesitate to call."

He patted Kniivar as he said that, and the Ifere purred happily. It pushed it's body against Drake's arms, asking for more scratches. Frainer wasn't to be outdone, and clung to his arm, making him feel like he was taking care of two children. Anna and Alex laughed heartily when they saw his exasperation.

"I will hold onto that. Good luck."

"Good luck to you too, Nulls."

Riding his Yscalent, Drake waved to the two Secret Service agents, and then turned to the road. He didn't go back to Park after capturing Scarred Jack. Instead, he told Anna to say goodbye to Tom for him, and continued his journey from Saint Rouge.

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The two agents watched as Drake left without looking back. After a while, Alex sighed. Who would have guessed that a person they didn't even know a few days ago would be the whole reason as to how they completed their mission? They both felt like Drake was someone special, although they couldn't point out why. The fact that he made Spirit Contracts with two Iferes already, one of them being a Kniivar, was impressive in and of itself. It was a known fact that both parties were hesitant to sign a contract with someone or something that already was bound to someone else, since that indirectly meant they too had signed two contracts.

"Do you think we will see him again?"

"Yep. Unless he dies, of course. But I don't think he will. He reminds me of our leader."

"Are you complimenting or cursing him?"

"Shut up."

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Once more on the road, Drake couldn't help but feel refreshed. He had been very tense these past few days, for various and obvious reasons. Now, with the cold breeze flowing through the trees, the sun shining on his face, and the sounds of the forest, he only wanted to travel calmly. While he was anxious to get to Sapphire City, he knew that he couldn't hurry, otherwise it would all be for naught.

"Tututu...?"

Frainer floated curiously in front of him, his three eyes swirling around in a way other people would call creepy, but Drake could only think of as cute. He could feel his partner was asking what he was thinking.

"I'm not sure what we are going to do next. Any ideas? What about you, Kniivar?"

The Ifere looked at him, tilting it's head to the side as if it was having trouble to understand. However, after a few seconds, it's expression lit up, the purple tongue appearing on the side of it's mouth. The two twigs intertwined with it's horns grew a few leaves, and it jumped down from the Yscalent.

"Oh?"

Like any good biologist, Drake had studied the behavior of Kniivars - they were a rare species, after all. However, he had never known anyone who made a Spirit Contract with one, so he wasn't sure if they would change their actions because of it.

Still, seeing as Kniivar wanted him to follow it, Drake pulled the reins of his mount, and changed course. He wasn't in a hurry, and Spirit Contracts were a two-way road. While humans might seen like the superior party, that wasn't the case. They were equal, and Iferes weren't pets, but companions.

The forest started to get denser as they followed Kniivar, the trees closer and closer together, to the point where they blocked the sun. Just when Drake was starting to question if they really should advance so far into the forest, they got to their objective.

It was a huge clearing, with a pond in the middle. A decent-sized waterfall was on the opposite side of it. Drake could see that the rocks on top of the waterfall created a natural barrier, enlarging it more than the small river that ended in the pond could. The water was clear, and Drake could see white sand and pebbles at the bottom.

Ricianides of all sizes surrounded the pond, and many more were inside it. They looked like coagulated portions of water floating in the pond. Rummaging the grass on the clearing were many other kinds of Iferes. When Drake, Kniivar, and Frainer got closer, they looked at them warily.

Most wild Iferes knew from the moment that they were born that they should fear humans. However, this human in particular had a Son... Daughter of Gods accompanying him.

After hesitating for a long while, the terrestrial Iferes retreated to the forest, while the Ricianides went to the furthest part of the pond. Kniivar let out a cry as a greeting to no one and everyone, and gestured for Drake to follow it.

The little thing was uneasy, Drake could feel. It's steps were shaky, and it's emotions were in turmoil. Kneeling, he grabbed Kniivar and stroked it. Whatever happened to it before, they were now together. He would do anything to make the Ifere happy. If he had to describe the feeling, it was something almost paternal. He knew he was being influenced by the Spirit Contract, but he didn't care.

-----------------------------

Kniivar clearly remembered most moments of her short life. She had been just born when a terrifying creature attacked her mother. In the fight, they had both perished. She spent a long time trying to wake up her mother before giving up. She was still too young to use Tree of Life, her most powerful skill, so there was nothing she could do.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she saw another creature she had never seen before. It walked on two legs, and put her in a cage. For days she tried to escape her prison, but was unable to do anything other than hurt herself.

She changed hands many times, always in the cage, and always unable to do anything. Powerless. Until she met Drake. From the moment he picked her up, Kniivar knew he was the one. He was the first to show her kindness. He even tried to make her understand the severity of the contract, but she already knew it. It was in her blood.

Be it coincidence or something else, they were now close to the place where her mother had died. Kniivar looked at Drake, and bit his clothes slightly, pulling him. She wanted to say goodbye before adventuring with him.

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Drake looked at his companion. Kniivar seemed to be feeling a lot of sadness, which made him feel sad too. Then, the Ifere bit his pants, trying to get him to follow it, which he gladly did. Scratching Frainer so he wouldn't feel left out, he walked with large steps towards the waterfall.

He had already noticed that there was a cave behind it. It was a round, dark shadow against the billowing water. Caves weren't that uncommon. The erosion caused by the water created quite a few of them, mostly small. One as big as this one, however, was quite rare.

He stepped inside the pond, being careful not to spook the Ricianides. While outside the water these Iferes were pretty easy to deal with, when they had access to a big source of the liquid, they became deadly. One of their two skills, Engulf, would do exactly what the name said. The more water they had to use, the more difficult it would be to escape and not drown.

Luckily for him, these water-type Iferes were calm by nature. Or maybe it was because he had a Daughter of Gods with him. Either way, they reached the cave safely. As soon as he passed through the thin waterfall - soaking himself in the process - the stench hit him.

It was putrid and rancid. The smell of something that had been dead for many, many days. Instinctively, Drake knew he couldn't let Kniivar see what was inside the cave. He grabbed the Ifere, deaf to it's protests, passed through the waterfall again, and put it on the rocks outside.

"Wait for me here, okay?"

Kniivar groaned weakly, to tell him that it wanted to go in too, but Drake was adamant. He already had a clue as to why the Ifere wanted to go there, and, if he was right, it was best he took care of something first.

Although complaining, Kniivar did as it was told, and sat down, scratching it's horns with it's hind legs. Drake grinned, and went back into the pond, and through the waterfall.

The cave was big, as he had expected, but it wasn't dark. Glowing moss filled the walls and the ceiling, and even grew in the stalagmites - many of which were broken. There were signs of a fierce battle having unfolded there. Huge patches of moss were dead, and when Drake touched them, they just became dust.

"Death-type skill... Frainer, go ahead, and be careful. Tell me if you see anything unusual."

"Tutu!"

As the Ifere flew ahead, Drake bypassed the huge wooden spears protruding from the ground and walls. Some of them were corroded by what appeared to be a powerful acid. There were puddles of a black substance on the ground, which Drake, having dealt with a Moontrit before, recognized as the blood of a death-type monster. No living being would willingly touch it.

As he walked through the surprisingly long cave, Drake's thoughts started to wander. Death-type Iferes had a bad reputation, which he had learned to fight against during his time at university. No creature was inherently good or bad - apart, maybe, from humans. Iferes just evolved differently, but all had the same objective: survival.

Death-type Iferes seemed vile, that's for sure, but so did most of the other creatures, before you knew what they could do for you. Drake firmly believed that the reason why humans insisted on classifying Iferes between helpful or dangerous was that they simply didn't understand the creatures. And, what mankind didn't understand, they feared and destroyed.

Stopping his mind from going through this enraging line of thought, Drake focused on what laid ahead. He had had his share of philosophical debates in the university. Deep down, like any person, he aspired to change the world. However, changing millions of years of culture at once was impossible. He would travel, learn more about any kind of Ifere that he could find, and show those along the way that there was beauty in each and every one of them.

But those ideas were for later. Now, he had to deal with the problem at hand, which was figuring out how to show Kniivar the decomposing body of it's mother without making it even sadder than it already was.