Karla flashed her flashlight into it, and froze.
Her heart trembled as the realization slammed into her.
Everything suddenly made sense. Why the Tendrix were using this building. Why this cake was here. What their plan was.
'I have to warn the Ninth Vein.'
Karla had barely turned when a voice reached her ears.
The grip on her dagger tightened as her heart sank. She turned, and her gaze landed on the figure of a man.
Pitch black hair. Tanned brown skin. A ripped and bulky frame.
But above all, it was the man's aura that made Karla freeze.
'A Synergy-stage evolver!' she thought in dread.
The man regarded Karla for a second, frowning when he got no answer.
"Are you deaf?" he said.
Karla crouched lower, gripping her dagger tighter. Her cold eyes made her seem like a viper about to erupt.
But the scene only made the man chuckle.
"All right then. I guess there'll be enough time to ask questions."
Karla barely reacted as a heavy blow struck the back of her neck. Her vision began to darken.
And the last thing that flashed through her mind was the image of a fourteen year old boy, eyes cold as death, before everything went black.
It took some minutes to calm Grunde down.
The big man had visited him in his room, sat on his bed, only to burst into tears. Malakai would have never imagined he'd get to see such a massive hunk of man weep like a little girl. It was shocking. Utterly shocking.
Eventually, and after many attempts, Grunde had calmed down and stopped crying.
"Now," Malakai said after a few seconds of silence. "Start from the beginning."
Grunde sniffled and began speaking. Malakai listened silently. When Grunde finished a few moments later, Malakai fell into his thoughts.
'Looks like it really is just a lover's situation.'
As it turned out, Luna had broken things off with Grunde out of fear, afraid that he might end up leading others to their settlement.
Lira, or as Grunde fondly called her, the wicked witch, the same girl Malakai had fought against in the forest, was Luna's sister.
Throughout their relationship, she had been warning Luna not to trust Grunde or any of his "people." According to Grunde, she convinced Luna that he had betrayed her and had knowingly allowed someone to follow him into the forest.
Grunde had protested, but it had fallen on deaf ears. Luna had cut off all communication with him and said they would never meet again.
Malakai gazed at the pitiful Grunde. He could feel the man's distress. He knew what happened to Grunde was his fault, but there was no helping it now.
What baffled him more was the fact that Grunde didn't seem to bear any grudge against him, even though he had basically caused all of this.
"Tell me how you met her," Malakai suddenly said.
A smile seemed to appear on Grunde's face as he began recounting their first meeting.
Because of the lack of missions for their squad, Grunde wandered a lot. He had once visited the Murkroot Hollow and found himself drawn to the natural ambiance, and the fact that it was mostly deserted.
Stumbling into the Gor'Mekhai forest had been pure luck. As soon as he entered, he had felt the high density of mana saturating the forest.
He'd made it his private training ground, and on one of those nights, during a random wandering, he had run into Luna.
And according to Grunde, it had been love at first sight.
Malakai let the silence stretch. The smile remained on Grunde's face.
"Do you know their settlement?" Malakai asked.
Grunde's expression darkened, and he shook his head firmly. "Grunde will never betray Luna's friends!" he said.
'So he knows the way?' Malakai's eyes glinted.
"I'm not asking you to betray them," he said, raising a hand. "I just want to know what you plan on doing next."
Grunde seemed to deflate. "Grunde doesn't know."
"Alright. Don't think too hard about it. You need some rest. Head to your room, we'll talk when you're well rested."
Grunde nodded reluctantly. "You're an amazing person, little bro. Just like big bro."
Grunde soon left the room, unaware of the storm of emotions he had stirred inside Malakai's mind.
'Big brother, huh…' Malakai thought.
He knew who Grunde was talking about, his father. But unfortunately, Malakai hadn't been doing all this out of the goodness of his heart.
The days passed quickly, and Malakai had been able to speak with Grunde once more about his issues with Luna.
Unfortunately, they had been unable to come up with any solutions. Luna still refused to see Grunde.
Their only method of communication had been leaving letters in their secret passage, but Luna hadn't shown up there in days.
Malakai had smartly suggested they head to the Gor'Mekhai settlement to see her in person, since she was refusing to meet him.
But Grunde had vehemently refused, stating that he had already promised never to go there again.
Malakai hadn't said anything after that. But he could still remember the call of the life essence, how it had echoed in his mind, as though it promised him great power. He would find a way to that settlement, even if it was the last thing he did.
In the days that followed, he trained with Renlo and kept himself fit by jogging around the base. Their alternate house was almost complete, and they would be moving in soon.
One evening, Malakai made his way up to his room and sat on his bed. He took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, feeling the blood circulate through his veins.
"Bloodflow," Malakai muttered, and the blood in his body responded.
He felt it surge through him, enhancing his strength and ability to an extraordinary degree.
It had been more than three months since he evolved, and Malakai was making steady progress with his blood manipulation.