The forest was no longer the same after what had happened, for the path opened by Strax’s flames remained a living scar cutting through the vegetation, with charred trees and the still-warm ground slowly breathing thin vapors that rose like silent ghosts.

Strax walked slowly along that trail of destruction, not out of caution, but because his mind was too occupied analyzing something far more interesting than any external threat that might arise at that moment.

The small silver creature followed beside him, its light steps contrasting with the weight of his presence, as if it existed at a different pace from the rest of the world, something that was beginning to subtly disturb his logic.

Albedo followed closely behind, attentively observing every small movement of the creature, while Shura circled further away, keeping her senses sharp like a natural sentinel who still didn’t fully trust it.

"Let’s sort this out," Strax finally said, breaking the silence as he stopped and turned to face the small creature directly, his dark eyes carrying a genuine interest that rarely appeared.

The creature also stopped.

And looked at him.

Always looking.

"You’re not an ordinary demon," he continued, slowly crossing his arms as he analyzed every detail of its small, seemingly harmless body, trying to fit it into some known category.

The creature blinked.

No reaction beyond that.

"You don’t have a stable infernal signature, but you’re not divine either, you don’t react like a common magical beast, and you’re clearly not a traditional summoning."

Albedo nodded slightly at that, but kept his gaze fixed on the creature, as if waiting for any minimal change that would confirm some still incomplete theory.

Strax tilted his head.

"Then let’s start with the basics."

He pointed to the creature.

"Origin."

Silence.

The creature tilted its head back, mimicking his gesture almost perfectly, as if learning from every movement it observed.

Shura let out a small snort in the background.

"She’s copying you."

Strax ignored the comment.

"Did you come from the underworld?"

The creature blinked.

No clear answer.

"Were you born there?"

Nothing.

"Were you raised there?"

A slight twitch of the ears.

But nothing definitive.

Strax narrowed his eyes.

"Okay... then let’s try another way."

He crouched slowly, getting to the same height as the creature, closing the physical distance as if dealing with something that required more precision than strength.

The creature didn’t back down.

Not a step.

That in itself was an answer.

"You were trapped," he said calmly.

Her ears twitched.

A small sign.

"Chains. Seals. Restraint."

This time, there was a reaction.

Very slight.

But there was one.

The creature looked away for a brief moment.

Strax noticed.

Albedo too.

Shura immediately became more alert.

Strax rested his chin on his hand.

"So that’s a yes."

The creature didn’t confirm.

But it didn’t deny it either.

The silence stretched for a few seconds, until Strax decided to move forward.

"You escaped."

This time, she looked back at him.

Directly.

Without hesitation.

Confirmation.

"And something followed you."

He pointed to the destroyed trail in the forest.

"Demon dogs."

The creature blinked.

Nodded.

Slight movement. "But of course."

Strax let out a small sigh.

"So far, everything makes sense."

He then tilted his head slightly.

"Now comes the part that doesn’t."

The creature remained motionless.

Waiting.

He pointed to himself.

"Why me?"

Silence.

The forest seemed to hold its breath along with them.

The small creature looked at him for a few seconds.

Long seconds.

As if thinking.

Processing.

Or... choosing.

Then it did what it always did when it couldn’t explain with words.

It raised its paw.

And drew in the air again.

This time, faster.

More steadily.

Albedo immediately activated his perception and waved his hand through the air again.

The symbols appeared.

Clearer now.

More stable.

Three again.

But different.

Strax approached.

Observed attentively.

His gaze shifted slightly.

It was no longer just curiosity.

It was deep analysis.

"Interesting..."

He pointed to the first symbol.

"You."

The creature nodded.

He pointed to the second.

"Me."

Another nod.

He looked at the third.

More complex.

More... heavy.

Strax was silent for a few seconds.

Then he asked:

"Is this... a connection?"

The creature hesitated.

But nodded.

Albedo crossed its arms.

"That doesn’t explain why."

Strax didn’t take his eyes off the symbol.

"It partially explains it."

He pointed to the creature. "You didn’t choose randomly."

Then he pointed to himself.

"You found me."

He narrowed his eyes.

"...or was brought to me."

The small creature blinked.

But this time it didn’t nod.

Nor did it deny.

And that was even stranger.

Shura spoke for the first time in a while.

"She doesn’t know?"

Strax replied calmly:

"Or she can’t explain."

He stood up again.

His gaze still fixed on her.

"But there’s more."

Albedo raised an eyebrow slightly.

"More?"

Strax nodded.

"There’s something you haven’t noticed yet."

She crossed her arms.

"And what would that be?"

Strax looked at the creature again.

His gaze now sharper.

More attentive.

"She’s not just reacting." Albedo frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Strax replied:

"She’s learning."

Silence fell again.

Shura observed the creature more closely.

And then he noticed.

The movements.

The way she tilted her head.

How she mimicked small gestures.

How she responded faster now than before.

Albedo noticed too.

"...She’s adapting."

Strax nodded slowly.

"Exactly."

He crossed his arms again.

"And too fast."

The small creature just watched them.

In silence.

But there was something new there.

Something that hadn’t been present before.

A spark.

Understanding.

And perhaps...

Something far more dangerous than any of them had yet realized.

Later, when the sun had already shifted position and the forest began to plunge into longer, denser shadows, the group had stopped near a less devastated area, where the sound of a small stream brought a false sense of normalcy to the environment.

Strax sat on a rock, resting his elbows on his knees as he observed the silver creature with an almost clinical intensity, as if he were disassembling and reassembling every detail of it in his own mind.

The creature sat in front of him.

Watching back.

Always back.

Albedo remained standing, slightly apart, but still close enough to intervene if something happened, while Shura rested partially lying down, though her eyes never fully closed.

"Have you noticed anything curious?" said Strax, without taking his eyes off the creature.

Albedo replied:

"You’ll tell me anyway."

He ignored the tone.

"It hasn’t shown any signs of hunger."

Silence.

Shura opened one eye.

Albedo frowned.

"...True."

Strax continued:

"It didn’t drink."

"It didn’t hunt."

"It didn’t truly rest."

He tilted his head slightly.

"But it also doesn’t show any signs of wear and tear."

The creature blinked.

As if keeping up.

"That eliminates some possibilities," he continued.

Albedo crossed his arms.

"How?"

Strax replied:

"It’s not an ordinary organism."

He made a small gesture with his hand.

"Even demons need to consume energy somehow."

Shura murmured:

"And it didn’t."

Strax nodded.

"Exactly."

He looked directly at the creature.

"Then the question changes."

Silence.

"Where does your energy come from?"

The creature tilted its head.

But this time...

It didn’t draw.

It didn’t answer.

It just looked.

Strax narrowed his eyes slightly.

"...Or rather."

He lightly touched his own chest.

"Where does our connection come from?"

The air seemed heavy again.

Albedo immediately became more attentive.

Shura stood up completely.

The creature... didn’t move.

But its eyes shone slightly.

And for the first time...

A small wave of energy passed.

Subtle.

Almost invisible.

But real.

Strax felt it.

Clearly.

His eyes narrowed.

"...Ah."

Albedo took a step forward.

"You felt it?"

Strax answered without looking away:

"I felt it."

He let out a small smile.

Not of amusement.

But of discovery.

"Now we’re getting somewhere."

The little creature remained there.

In silence.

But now...

It didn’t just seem curious.

It seemed...

Connected.

The silence that formed after that small wave of energy wasn’t comfortable, nor natural, but it also didn’t carry an immediate threat, being something much closer to a discovery that hadn’t yet been fully understood.

Strax remained motionless for a few seconds, his eyes fixed on the creature as his perception deepened, not outward, but inward, like someone trying to pinpoint an extremely subtle change in something that had always been there.

The sensation was still present.

Weak.

Almost imperceptible.

But undeniably real.

It was like an echo.

No... not exactly.

It was more like a presence that hadn’t been there before, but now existed discreetly, nestled in some spot he couldn’t yet fully define.

Albedo watched intently, and this time she wasn’t just analyzing the creature, but Strax himself, her golden eyes following every micro-expression, every slight alteration in his posture.

"What exactly did you feel?" she asked, in a more serious tone than before, making it clear that this had gone beyond the level of ordinary curiosity.

Strax didn’t answer immediately.

He slowly raised his hand, looking at his own fingers as if expecting to see something different, but there was nothing visible, just the same skin, the same presence as always.

"It’s not invasive," he finally said, still analyzing.

Shura tilted her head, completely attentive now.

"Then it’s not an attack."

Strax nodded slightly.

"No."

He lowered his hand.

"It’s not drainage either."

Albedo frowned.

"Are you sure?"

Strax replied with absolute tranquility:

"If it were, I would know."

This wasn’t arrogance.

It was a fact.

He looked back at the creature.

"It’s... a passive connection."

The term hung in the air.

Albedo crossed his arms.

"Explain better."

Strax breathed slowly before continuing, organizing his own conclusions as he spoke.

"It’s not pulling energy."

"It’s not pushing energy."

"But it is... synchronizing something."

Silence fell again.

Shura narrowed his eyes.

"Synchronizing?"

Strax nodded.

"As if it were... aligning frequencies."

Albedo immediately looked at the creature.

"...This isn’t natural."

Strax gave a small, wry smile.

"We’re past that point."

The small creature remained seated, looking at him with the same calm as before, as if all of this were completely normal from its point of view.

Then it moved again.

Slowly.

Without any hesitation.

It approached once more.

This time, however, it didn’t touch immediately.

It stopped very close.

Observing. As if it were waiting.

Strax didn’t back down.

On the contrary.

He leaned slightly forward.

"Do you want to do that again?" he asked, in a curious, almost provocative tone.

The creature blinked.

And then...

It raised its paw.

But before touching, it did something different.

It looked at Albedo.

Then at Shura.

And then back at Strax.

As if it were... checking.

Permission?

Or perhaps an understanding of the environment.

That, in itself, was enough to make Albedo even more alert.

"...She’s taking us into consideration now," she murmured.

Shura replied in a low tone:

"She’s learning the rules."

Strax watched this with renewed interest.

"...Interesting."

Then he nodded slightly to the creature.

"You can continue."

The response was immediate.

The creature placed its paw on his chest again.

This time...

Strax didn’t just feel it.

He saw it.

Not with ordinary eyes.

But with perception.

Lines.

Extremely thin.

Almost impossible to detect.

Extending from the creature to him.

And not only that.

There was a return.

A two-way connection.

Subtle.

But existing.

His eyes narrowed immediately.

"...So that’s it."

Albedo took another step forward.

"What did you see?"

Strax didn’t answer immediately.

He continued observing.

Analyzing those invisible lines that connected the two.

They weren’t chains.

They weren’t forced bonds.

And they definitely weren’t like demonic pacts.

And that was the most worrying thing.

"It’s not a traditional bond," he finally said.

"It’s not contract magic."

"It’s not marking."

He looked directly at the creature.

"...It’s something more primitive."

Albedo frowned.

"Primitive how?"

Strax answered slowly:

"As if it wasn’t created."

"As if it were... natural."

Silence fell again.

Shura murmured:

"That’s worse."

Strax agreed.

"Yes."