My Trash Talent Is Actually OP!

Zain looked at Asher again. "As said before, liches are like necromancers… but darker. We don't just raise the dead, we become part of death itself. Our souls are tied to something beyond the body."

Asher nodded slowly. "A phylactery."

Zain's smile returned. "Correct."

Tay looked confused. "A what now?"

"A phylactery," Nova said quietly. "It's an object that holds our soul. As long as it's intact… we can't die."

Tay blinked. "That's terrifying."

Zain shrugged. "It's freedom. Power. A curse and also a blessing."

The fire crackled softly as silence fell again. In the distance, an owl hooted.

Asher stared into the flames. "So if someone finds your phylactery…"

Zain finished for him. "They can destroy me. But they'd have to survive long enough to try."

Asher scoffed, "I could destroy it if I wanted to."

As he said that, both Zain and Nova tensed up, their gazes turning dark. If he made the wrong move, two arrows would go right into his skull without hesitation. But he just chuckled softly and tucked his hands into his pockets.

"You both don't even trust your own master. How fair is that?"

Nova averted her gaze slowly. "We don't trust you because we both know you already have access to our phylactery."

Zain exhaled. "It's just in the palm of your hands. One mistake, and our souls could be destroyed," he said, his fearsome demeanor dropping to something sad. But Asher smiled warmly.

"You both should relax and trust me with this. I wouldn't kill you for no reason, not even by mistake. Nova's like family, and you… well, you're her family too. So technically, my family."

"I guess," Zain uttered slowly, shifting his gaze to Nova, who stared at Asher with wet eyes, like she was about to cry. He wanted to say something but just smiled. "We are honored, master."

Nova bowed slightly as well. "Me too."

"Great," Asher exclaimed, "Now Nova, go back with Tay and get some rest, while my soldier here trains me, as much as I very much hate it."

Zain shrugged. "You hated every single thing since you got admitted. That's not a new thing… master."

Asher rolled his eyes and pointed at Zain's arrows. "Use the red ones."

"I'm afraid I cannot, because one hit is enough to kill you."

"Sinnett is here. He knows everything and has solutions for everything, so..."

Nova moved to sit quietly near the camp, the heat of the fire brushing her skin as she leaned back against the tree.

Her bow lay beside her, untouched, her form now fully human, though her eyes still glimmered faintly in the firelight.

The trauma of earlier hadn't faded. Zain's strike, cold and precise, lingered in her memory, echoing in her chest like an invisible bruise.

Tay had noticed. He handed her another chunk of roasted meat before muttering, "You're eating like you haven't touched food in days." Nova gave a small grunt in response, biting into it silently.

Tay chuckled. "I'll go get more. You're gonna burn through all our rations if I don't hunt something."

"Okay," she muttered with a mouth full, which got Tay laughing at her stuffed face.

With a wave and his knives in hand, he disappeared into the trees.

As soon as his footsteps faded, the tent flap nearby rustled, and Cinder stumbled out, clearly still recovering from whatever Sinnett had put her through.

Her pink hair was a mess, and she looked tired, but not sleepy. She spotted Nova and made her way over, rubbing her hickey-stained neck.

Nova narrowed her eyes as Cinder approached and instinctively reached for her weapon, but she didn't grab it. Cinder also caught the movement but said nothing.

Instead, she sat beside the fire, just a few feet from Nova, curling her legs beneath her.

"How would you let that bastard keep doing this to you?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "Doing what?"

"Using you for satisfaction, of course."

Cinder smiled warmly. "I wouldn't say it's use. Sinnett is not like that. He might be heartless, but definitely not like that."

"He forced you last—"

"No, he didn't. If he did, that would mean I put up a fight," she averted her gaze as her cheeks suddenly heated up.

"Truth is, the day he showed me my poison couldn't hurt him, and the fact his is stronger than mine… kinda felt nice. Especially when he made sure I was safe. And even though he didn't really slow down much, he didn't let it hurt... so it wasn't forced."

"I was eager, as well as curious, to know if someone could actually touch me and not get sick or die."

Nova frowned, utterly disgusted. "You disgust me, Cinder. For someone who has been hated..." Her voice lowered. "You actually do have a soft side… that I might as well take advantage of soon."

Cinder smiled again. "I think I'm in love with him."

Nova froze, then held her hands up to her mouth to stop herself from throwing up. "You've got to be kidding me." In fact, Cinder wasn't, and that made Nova's stomach hurt. "He's a man-whore. You can't be in love with someone like that… he's worse than an Incubus."

"At least he didn't use me and toss me away."

Nova stared for a while, then sighed and patted her side. "As much as I hate you, we are of the same race, and well… in the same group, so come closer."

"You sure? I don't really want you to strangle me or attack me," Cinder replied, raising her hand as she laughed nervously, but Nova exhaled and shifted to her side.

"See, I'm not that scary."

"I'm not scared of you... I'm scared of the one that wouldn't think before stabbing an arrow into my skull through my jaw."

"You remember that?"

"It wasn't exactly a long time ago, and you nearly killed me before escaping."

Nova exhaled loudly. "It wasn't my fault anyway. It was yours for approaching an unarmed girl at midnight."

"I was ordered to. I just didn't want to keep up, because killing you would mean I'd have to face that..."

She pointed at Zain, who was busy yelling and laughing at Asher, while Asher laughed and mocked him in return.

Nova nodded. "That's true... Did you ever really want all of us dead?"

Cinder didn't answer at first.

She watched Asher for a moment, still training with Zain in the clearing, dodging magical arrows and correcting his posture mid-step.

Zain barked commands with the ease of a teacher used to molding warriors.

Cinder smiled softly. "I did, humans and other races too, because they only used me. Dragons weren't different anyway. At least he," she gestured at Asher, "he would have killed me and raised the soul as his soldier. But then… I wouldn't call it pity, or maybe because he was leaving me for Sinnett. I'd say he gave a second chance..."

"...like he did to Naomi."