Book 5: Chapter 18 (2/2)

Ingwer sighed. “Some minor demons were expelled from my body, but I’m all better now.”

Helden grimaced. “Forget about our situation,” he said. “Where did the target go?”

“The target hasn’t moved,” Blau said and furrowed her brow. “She fidgeted occasionally, but she never left the area.”

“She stayed at the same campsite for a whole day?” Helden asked. “What is she doing?”

“Maybe she had food poisoning too,” Forster said. She exhaled and let herself fall face first onto her bed. Her head turned to the side, exposing her mouth to the air. “If she did move, were we really going to follow her in our condition?”

“Forget it,” Helden said and shook his head. He sat down and sank into his bed. “It’s getting dark soon. I don’t think she’ll be going anywhere. We should get some rest and recover from this unfortunate incident.”

“I agree,” Ingwer said. She glanced at Blau. “Are you going to stay up again?”

Blau waved her hand, dismissing Ingwer’s concerns. “During my cram sessions, it wouldn’t be uncommon to stay up for four days at a time. However, if I stay up any longer than that, the shadow people will come for me.”

“The shadow people?” Forster asked. “Who are they?”

“You don’t have to worry about them even though they’re always around us,” Blau said and shook her head. “When you’re low on mana and when your mental energy is exhausted, you’ll be able to see them—usually from the corners of your eyes. It’s only a problem if you don’t go to sleep after seeing them.”

Ingwer frowned. “What happens if you stay up?”

“They take your sanity,” Blau said and shrugged.

“Enough,” Helden said before anyone else could say anything. “Let’s get some sleep.” He slipped inside of his blankets and lay down. A moment later, he frowned. “Why is my bed wet?”

“My bed is wet too,” Forster said and frowned.

Ingwer pressed down on her pillow. “It’s wet here as well.”

Blau blinked when her three companions turned to stare at her. “Don’t look at me,” she said. “I didn’t do anything.”

Helden got up and touched Blau’s pillow. “Hers is wet too. Is someone messing with us?”

“Let’s get a different room,” Forster said and snorted.

Blau’s brow furrowed, and she climbed to her feet. She walked to the side of her bed but couldn’t see anything off about it. Her hand pressed against her pillow, but it just felt like a normal pillow to her. What was going on?