In the few months Damien had been in the Cloud Plane, Zara had once again been forced to realize how little help she actually was. Sure, she could act as a mount and help him travel, but was that really enough?
Back when they first met in that lonely dungeon she used to call home, they were practically inseparable. Even though she had the ability, she would rarely enter his shadow.
She was his partner, fighting by his side and helping him overcome any obstacle he couldn't handle alone.
Even after they left the dungeon, it was still similar. At least, relatively,
As time went on, she found herself becoming useless. She was becoming nothing more than a typical mount that she saw every random cultivator using.
And this realization hurt her more than she could ever imagine.
She knew very well that Damien had no intention of treating her as such. Whenever he had free time, he would call her out and enjoy her company, telling her about various things. She loved these conversations.
But, it still wasn't enough. When was the last time she was able to properly help him in a fight? When was the last time she could truly show off her power?
It had been years.
Zara had been fretting over this problem for a long time, but she didn't want to burden Damien with her feelings. For this, she slightly disturbed the connection they held and hid some of her crucial thoughts from him.
They signed an equals contract, after all. This was well within her right.
As such, Damien had continued on his journey while being none the wiser.
Naturally, just because she hid her complex emotions from him didn't mean she was content with her current life. She had been fretting over how to change constantly, trying to find a solution to her problem.
But, it was all to no avail. The only way for a beast to gain strength was to kill, eat, and evolve. It was common knowledge.
At least, that's what she thought. Until that day when Tian Yang lectured Damien about the truth behind 3rd and 4th class, that was her belief.
But all the while, she had been watching what went on in the outside world while she stayed within his shadow. Regardless of how useless she felt, she was always prepared to jump in front of Damien in case there was any danger he couldn't handle.
And since she was always watching, she was also able to digest the lecture that Tian Yang had given.
The power of comprehension. A new way to gain strength.
It was a light that shone in the endless darkness Zara had submerged herself in, a path forward. So, she ardently strived towards success.
She sunk deep into her consciousness and put all her effort into gaining a true understanding of her elements. Shadow, ice, the only way she had been using them was the most basic methods allowed to her race.
And slowly but surely, she was starting to see a true improvement as she pondered on these two affinities of hers. She couldn't test anything with her ice while she remained in Damien's shadow, but the shadow element was something she could easily test.
And when she awoke from her meditative state once again, she looked around to grasp the situation, realizing that Damien was in a room alone with the new woman he had been accompanying for the past few months.
Although this was no surprise to her, she soon turned her attention to the rest of the setting, the area beyond the glass in front of Damien.
And that's when she saw it.
A small place marble that seemed inconsequential in appearance, but held an insurmountable power within it.
The second she laid eyes on it, all other thoughts immediately vanished from her head. Even her sanity started to dissipate at a rapid pace, as if her intelligence was devolving.
She felt an unadulterated fear, a burning hatred, and also endless greed that conflicted with the prior two emotions.
She had no idea what was going on inside her own mind. She had no idea why this random object was eliciting such a major reaction from her. But it wasn't under her control.
In fact, she was using every sliver of sanity she had left to hold herself back from jumping through that glass and snatching the black marble she had set her sights on.
Her whole world was crumbling apart, when suddenly, she felt a gentle hand land on her head.
Without her knowledge, she had already left the shadow and was standing next to Damien, who was slowly running his hand through her fur.
And oddly enough, the small action alone was enough to pour a bucket of cold water on her head. As he continued to silently console her, she felt herself regaining control over her body.
And finally, by the time Fairy Lin had finished her rant about the greatness of her Lords, Zara managed to calm down and come back to herself.
"Haa…haa…"
She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths before once again opening them.
"Is everything okay now?" Damien's soothing voice entered her ears.
She nodded lightly in response. It was all thanks to him that she was back to her senses. Once again, he had saved her and once again, she had almost become a burden.
Damien shook his head with a light sigh when he saw her state. With her mind still confused, he was naturally able to read the emotions she had been hiding from him all this time.
He immediately felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He might have been doing his best to not neglect her, but had he ever once considered how she felt this entire time? He had almost forgotten how prideful and battle-hungry the little Zara he once knew was.
"Did something happen?"
He felt obligated to ask. The emotions he was reading were a problem that could be solved at any time. Now that he knew of them, he could make a conscious effort to remedy his past mistakes. What was more important was the outburst she just had.
"I…I don't know." Zara replied meekly. "The second I saw that little black marble, my mind blanked. All I could feel was an indescribable urge to consume that item."
She could've said more, but now that her mind was completely open to him, there was no need. He understood everything she had just gone through.
'The Death Seed is what caused this reaction?'
The Death Seed was still a mystery. Even with all the boasting Fairy Lin had done, the only real effect she had described was the permanent stat increase. As for everything else she said, it was just flowery speech indicating that one would become incredibly powerful after consumption.
It was odd enough that something from the Nox had made Zara react like this, especially since she was born and raised within a dark dungeon that had never come in contact with the alien race.
Or at least, that's what Damien thought until now. The most surprising part of it all was something Zara had only subconsciously realized.
'This reaction…was caused by her bloodline.'
