Chapter 26. Where Questions Asked

Finding an 'indoor' space in the wilderness was a rarity, and the two researchers were pretty shaken by the unexpected danger, so they ended up staying in that cave for a few days.

From the research point of view, it was also a good thing to test how long could the device manage to operate non-stop. And rather than kept on walking non-stop as they did on the second day, it was better for the researchers to distract their minds by compiling data and conducting experiments instead. There were lots of transformed vegetation that could fill their schedule for years. Not to mention the remnants of the Earth and Wood Specter that they had never seen before.

It was another weird thing that Zein had never considered; a base inside of the Deathzone. A base so good they could even shower. He had a feeling that rather than the thought of experimentation, the researchers cheered up better with the thought of being able to finally douse their bodies in fresh, purified water.

After getting rid of the two Specters, the cave had become the most secure place. But Bassena spent a lot of time around the hole made by the wood Specter. He had sent his 'kids' to follow the trail, but it ended with an underground water channel.

"This Specter...they formed when a large number of miasma got mixed with dense elemental energy?" he asked Ron while they stared at the hole. The three attackers—plus Zein—were hanging around the small chasm.

"Yes," the scout narrowed his eyes to peer into the darkness below. "We encounter them from time to time when the miasma's activity is the highest. But the one that roamed the jungle's periphery wasn't this big or this strong."

"They don't usually use conceal too..."

"Well, perhaps the ones in the deeper area are of higher rank?"

"That's a given, but..." Bassena crouched down to touch the remnant of burning vines. "Were they strong from the start, or get strong as time went by?"

"Is there any significance in knowing that?" Zein tilted his head.

Bassena picked up one of the black vines. It was burnt, but the deepest part of the vine was still sturdy. "Initially, I thought Specter was a corrupted elemental," he peeled the burnt part of the vine. "But they had no cores, and were shaped differently from the corrupted elementals in the dungeon."

Zein tilted his head even more. That didn't answer his question, did it? But Bassena was not done with his explanation yet, so he listened further. "Elemental formed when a large quantity of attribute magic condensed into one. And they become corrupted if they touched miasma 'after' they formed into elementals."

"Hmm...so Specter is what happened when the miasma touched the area where dense attribute magic gather 'before' they turned into Elementals?"

"Yes, most likely," Bassena blew the remaining ash from the vine and cut the part that only contained the rigid wood attribute. "But it's weird isn't it?" he turned his head to look at Zein, a deep smile etched on his face. "In the first place, elemental mana should not be present in a place rich with miasma, since they eroded each other."

"Hmm?!" Ron widened his eyes when he finally realized what the younger esper was trying to say.

"If there's a place that is rich in elemental mana inside a contaminated place like this, the miasma would instantly devour it, which probably give birth to the regular Specter you met around the jungle's edge," placing the vine inside a container labeled for research, Bassena continued with a gleam in his eyes. "It's nothing really worth thinking about if the Specter just getting strong gradually, but if they are strong from the start..."

"It means there's a place here with a rich enough elemental mana that persisted until the miasma took over..." Ron muttered quietly. But they were in a cave, so they all could hear him.

"And where there is elemental mana," Bassena narrowed his eyes toward the small chasm—to be exact, to the underground water channel—and muttered; "there will be life."

* * *

There was a different atmosphere during the dinner of their second night there, especially between the executives and the researchers. Ron and Zein caught up quickly that it might have something to do with what Bassena said during their investigation.

A life inside of the Deathzone.

Of course, all of these moving beasts and scary vegetation could be called living beings. But they never refer to things that were corrupted by miasma as something 'alive'. Those creatures were only driven by instinct to destroy, to devour.

What they refer to as 'life' were something that was purer, something that wasn't contaminated. Like a safe zone; drinkable water, trees that bore fruit, sentient beings that could converse and think.

That possibility was as absurd as it could be.

The Deathzone was called the Deathzone not just because going inside would most likely result in death, but also because it was impossible for any semblance of 'life' to persist through the encroaching miasma.

So, if there really was a form of living space here, and they managed to find it, it would be a grand discovery.

Which was probably why the researchers had a bright expression on their faces.

"Are you thinking of going down?" Zein found Bassena near the small chasm again when he woke up on the fifth day. Again, it was just the two of them, since the esper stayed awake all night as usual.

This time, Zein brought the coffee to the esper, with a payment of Bassena's hidden stash of sugar.

"Mm," the esper hummed as he sipped on the morning coffee. "If we want to discover that source, we need to follow the root—where the vines came from."

Zein peered into the chasm that he almost fell into last time. It was large enough for even Balduz holding two researchers on each arm to pass through. But without his goggle, Zein couldn't see how deep it was.

"Careful," a hand circled Zein's waist, and only then that the guide realized he'd been leaning too far toward the gaping hole. "It's not too far down, around a two-story building, I think..."

Zein turned his head to give the esper a dubious look. "What kind of building are you using for measurement?"

"The one in the green-zone?" the esper grinned. "Will twelve meters sound better?"

"What kind of ridiculous house are you living in?"

"You can come to my house and check it for yourself," Bassena smirked with a raised brow, and the blue eyes narrowed even more. "I'll throw in complementary fruits and sweets as a welcome gift."

Bassena chuckled at the guide's squinting eyes. Surprisingly though, Zein didn't give him swift rejection like before. "I'll think about it," the guide said instead before standing up, leaving Bassena stunned for a full minute by himself beside the small chasm.

"Really?" it was only after Zein arrived at the center of the camp to help Balduz and Sierra prepared for breakfast that Bassena caught up and asked him.

With a hand grabbing Zein's arm, there was an eagerness inside the sparkling amber eyes that felt strangely innocent and made Zein quite dumbfounded. Honestly, he didn't really mean anything when he said he'd think about it. Zein just found out the idea of leaving the borderland wasn't as absurd as before, so he just made a reply following his subconscious thought.

He didn't expect Bassena would treat it this seriously though.

"...maybe," he had wanted to say he wasn't meant it, but the look on Bassena's face, that innocent eagerness, made him reluctant to voice it out.

Not to mention the smile—the obviously joyful smile that the esper made after hearing his ambiguous reply.

Zein could only curse inside about how weak he had become these past few days.

"Keep thinking about it, and reach some good conclusions," the esper said with an easy smile and warmth inside the amber eyes.

"Good for whom?"

Bassena laughed softly, prompting Balduz and Sierra to look up with widened eyes and open mouths. "For me, hopefully," the esper whispered, and Zein had to swallow his sigh.

He shouldn't have said that. Now it was like a door had been opened for Bassena to continuously attempted to recruit him.

"Ugh—first thing in the morning..." Han Shin staggered out of his tent, grumbling at the sweet smile on Bassena's face.

But Bassena was in too good of a mood that he even ignored the healer's usual whining. He gathered all the other members and announced their next movement, which was to go down the hole made by the vines.

"So we're going to reach the source by following the route taken by the vines?" Ron asked carefully.

"We might as well, since there's an underground river down there," Bassena looked at the box containing the vine in Anise's hand. "There's a possibility that the wood specter resides near its birthplace."

"...huh?" Han Shin belatedly snapped from his morning toast. "Isn't the wood specter already dead?"

"No, that one is just an offshoot," Bassena smirked. "The real body is where we're going to go from now on."

* * *

With Bassena's friendly note, they descended into the chasm where everything seemed to grow darker, even with the esper's night vision skill.

It wasn't much different though, down there. They still walked following the river, with the same formation as before. Only that there were no trees here, and their vision was filled with earthen walls and boulders. Rather than trees, they occasionally came across thick roots hanging off the ceiling.

Since they were underground, there were fewer creatures that needed to be taken care of. Unfortunately, they were greeted by Han Shin's archenemies—the worm-like monster.

They were mostly burrowed beneath the ground, and would suddenly break into the surface once they sense enemies nearby. Just like how Bassena's [child of darkness] couldn't deal with underwater creatures, it couldn't eliminate the one hiding beneath the ground too.

So they had to proceed with Han Shin's screams and shrieks along the way. After the third sudden encounter, the healer has permanently glued himself on Zein, clutching the guide so hard that Bassena didn't even hide the displeasure on his face.

Zein's attention, however, was on the body of water rather than the nasty beasts. Perhaps because he always visualized mana core as bodies of water, he was sensitive to the state of the water.

As the other espers were busy dispatching the beasts and the researchers including Han Shin were busy screaming in disgust, Zein stood on the river bank and peered inside. He did it every time, and after the fourth observation, he concluded that there was something different with the water.

When he was contemplating it, a small hand tapped on his shoulder. "Did you notice it too?" the female researcher, Anise, asked with her usual flat and soft tone.

"That the water is lighter?"

Anise nodded. "We use the sensor earlier, and the water in this point is definitely less corroded."

"But the ground is the same..."

"Yes," she looked at the underground river, following the direction from which it flowed. "But water is flowing, unlike the ground. So there's a possibility that the source of water is indeed less polluted, or even..."

She didn't continue, but Zein understood enough.

There was a possibility that their conjecture about a form of 'life' was to be proven true.

"But...Mister Zein, how do you notice it? Not even the espers realized it without the sensor..."

Anise looked at Zein with genuine curiosity. She had noticed how the guide always observed the water every time the team stopped to fight. Even though his expression couldn't be seen from the mask and the goggle covering his face, it was clear from the man's gesture that he was making a keen observation.

It wasn't that espers couldn't sense the different levels of miasma at all. But with a river, the changes were happening gradually, at a level that couldn't be felt easily. As they walked along these changes, it became more difficult to notice anything different. Just how it was difficult to notice a person's growth when we meet them daily.

So how exactly could Zein notice the change without any device?

"I just...feel it," Zein pressed his lips. Even he felt that his answer was flimsy. But it was the truth—Zein himself wouldn't be able to give any concrete answer.

He just felt—sensed—it.

"Ah...is it because you're a guide? I supposed you're also sensitive to the miasma within the environment?"

Not really—Zein wanted to say. But he also had no better explanation, so he decided to just roll with it. "I guess so..." he muttered, and she seemed to accept it as a logical explanation.

When the researcher left him, however, Zein moved his hand toward his nape.

He did feel there was something strange with the water, but he only started to examine it because his nape was tingling. To be precise, it was the stigma that was there.

It had started to pulse the moment they descended underground, and only got stronger the further they went, especially when Zein got close to the water.

Zein frowned under his goggle, rubbing the mark once more before walking towards the group again.

'It never acted like this before...'

It would sometimes pulse when Zein drew a large amount of corrosion at once, or used a large quantity of magic energy stored there, like when he shattered the Specter's concealment before.

But other than those two kinds of occasions, it never got this active without Zein even doing anything.

'There was something...'

There was something at the end of this tunnel...at the source of the water. Something that somehow related to this mark on his nape.

Related to him.

"Zein?" Han Shin peered at him, already clutching his arm again. "What are you thinking about?"

"...just how much longer until we reached the source," Zein answered truthfully.

"Ugh—I know, right?" Han Shin lamented in genuine frustration. "I want to change location quickly!"

"What happened to 'bulldoze through anything in the name of knowledge' that you said before coming here?" a sneering voice could be heard from the front.

"You shut up before I throw you some ra—aaahht!" the healer screamed again as something grazed his legs. Fortunately, it wasn't another worm beast, but a wriggling darkness. "This bastard—you think I can't play the game? Huh?"

Glaring at the smirking vanguard, Han Shin tugged on the guide's arm and leaned his head to whisper in Zein's ear. "Do you know that Bas is afraid of rats—"

Zein blinked as he felt a pair of hands covering his ears suddenly, yanking him away from Han Shin's clutch. "Don't listen to him!" Bassena hissed behind him, with a slight tremble in his low voice.

"Ha! Too la—what the hell? Why are you taking my shield away?!"

Again, Zein just blinked. Without having any say about it, he was teleported to the front of the formation. Ignoring the protesting healer, Bassena took Zein's hand and continue to walk further.

"Hey, you're breaking the formation, Captain!"

Bassena flipped his hand and replied shortly. "This is the safest place."

"Ugh—Just wait until you need medical assistance!" Han Shin grumbled, and Zein suddenly found himself getting dragged into the vanguard.

Although it was also the truth that staying with the strongest person was the safest.

"Is that true?" Zein glanced at the esper, and saw the usually calm and confident face scrunched up. "But...aren't you the 'snake'?"

"Ugh..." Bassena let out a small groan, just enough for Zein to hear, and the hand grabbing the guide's wrist tightened slightly.

"Ha...ha ha..." Zein, for the first time since forever, let out a free laugh. Not something strained or soft, but the sound of a continuous ringing bell.

And just like the time when he was shouting emotionally before, the laughter was enough for the other to pause and stared in astonishment. It was like a nice breeze flew through the suffocating air; a sound so melodious they felt like attending a temple's choir. And it strangely had the same effect too, as they felt the heaviness in their body from the pressuring miasma lifted for a little bit.

And perhaps, Ron spotted something glowing on the guide's nape, peeking from the edge of his jacket, although he kept it to himself.

Unfortunately, the laughter had a short duration. But just that few seconds of bliss was enough for Bassena to feel like getting ratted out—literally—by his friend was worth it.

Alright—perhaps he wouldn't tattle on the healer's cowardice to his fiancée . Yet.