Departing the Cave

Sheils smiled at Zane when he agreed to help them. Putting his hand on Zane's shoulder, he continued. "You don't need to do much. You and the kid just need to distract the knights when the time is right." He scanned Zane from top to bottom while his hand rested on his chin. "Say brother, I don't mean to be rude but can I ask you about your <Ability>?"

"Huh? <Ability>?" Zane looked at him in confusion. As he was a relatively new rogue seeker, he did not have much experience in the world of rogue seekers. In fact, the first rogue seeker he met other than himself was Slem. As Slem also lived all of his life in the cult's captivity, he also did not know the rules and etiquettes of rogue seekers.

In the world of rogue seekers, it was an unspoken rule that they wouldn't divulge about their <Ability> to other rogue seekers unless absolutely necessary. Even then, they would only divulge about the usage of their powers and not the names. This was because the names of the <Ability> could carry substantial amount of [Knowledge of the Unknown].

Confusing Zane's confusion for hesitation, Sheils quickly blurted out, "Yes your <Arcane> or <Physical> ability. Of course if you cannot divulge your <Ability> name due to the knowledge it contains, you can just tell me about the usage of your powers." Looking even more confused, Zane muttered. "Knowledge?"

Sheils looked at him weird. "Yes, the [Knowledge of the Unknown]. You do know about that right?" Zane turned to look at Slem, who shrugged his shoulders. Looking back towards Sheils, Zane gave a shy smile, his hand scratching the back of his head. "I just recently became a seeker." Sheils nodded his head. "Then have you spoken your <Ability> to anyone before?"

Shaking his head, Zane answered Sheils. "No, I haven't told anyone my <Ability> till now. But Zaros knew about it already." Thinking back, Zane now remembered his talks with Szal. He had told him not to divulge his <Arcane> name, <Shadow> to anyone carelessly. Sheils began thinking with his hand on his chin. "Hmm.. Zaros... He was on the level of transcendence so it's not strange for him to know." He glanced at Zane. "So you haven't told any other seeker your <Ability>. So you wouldn't know the effects it has." Zane just kept staring at him with confusion in his eyes.

Sighing, Sheils began explaining. "It's alright. I'll explain it to you, just be careful not to speak your <Arcane> casually to others if you don't know about this." He continued. "[Knowledge of the Unknown] is the knowledge we get after we initiate seeking. I'm sure you've experienced the influx of various knowledge about your <Ability> after you became a seeker."

Zane remembered that when he woke up after consuming the heart of the Shadowbane Beast, his brain was filled with new knowledge about <Shadow> and about Seeking. But some of his new knowledge was blurry. He would know it was there but the moment he tried to focus on the knowledge, it would escape his mind. He looked towards Sheils and nodded his head.

"Yes. The name of our <Ability> contains these knowledge. This is very rare, but sometimes, when we speak the name of our <Ability>, the knowledge it contains seeps out which can be too much for people or low level seekers to handle. When we speak our <Ability> carelessly, the seeker listening can go mad, fall into lunacy or in some cases, they die instantly." Sheils explained.

"So unless you're confident that your <Ability> doesn't contain any knowledge which could harm the listener, you should only explain what your <Ability> can do. You can do so for now, I don't want to take any chances." Sheils looked at Zane. Nodding his head, Zane started explaining what he could do with his <Shadow>. Even though he was at the peak of heart core, as he hadn't created any spells, he could only use his shadow in a basic manner like changing it's form and elasticity. He also looked towards Slem and explained what he could do based on what he had seen till now.

"Alright." Sheils smiled. "Since you have shown your trust in me, I'll also trust you." He check his surroundings before speaking in a whisper. "My ability is <Seafarer>." He began explaining. "To be honest, my only useful spells right now are Aqua Manipulation and Saltwater Infusion." He said with a coy smile. "Well, you can guess what Aqua Manipulation does. Let me tell you about Saltwater Infusion. I can enhance any objects or weapons by infusing the essence of the sea into them."

Zane nodded his head. "Can you use Saltwater Infusion to enhance other's <Arcane>?" Sheils contemplated for a moment. "I don't know, why don't we try it right now?" He signaled Zane to use his <Arcane>. Focusing, Zane turned the right hand of his shadow into a tentacle like whip. "Ohh!" Sheils was impressed by the whip. He then flicked his fingers towards the whip, which made salt like particles sprinkle on it. After he was done, the shadow whip began glowing in a tint of light blue. "It worked!" Sheils' eyes glowed, while Zane was smiling.

"Good. We will discuss the <Ability> of other seekers later. Let's get ready for now." Zane released his shadow and headed towards his tent to dismantle it. "Sure brother. Then I'll be counting on you!" Sheils went back to the group of rogue seekers to tell them the good news.

---

After they were done taking out the tents and packing everything up, the commanders gathered everyone to depart from the cave formation. The knights departed with solemn looks on their faces. Towards the end, Edana, Roe and Lonz were tasked to watch over the rogue seekers along with Vine.

Before departing, Zane turned to take one last look at the cult's town and church. He clenched his fists. 'I'll definitely find you Szal.. Just wait...' He turned back and began following the Sacred Order. He walked with fierce eyes, holding Slem's hand. Turning his head towards the innocent looking kid, he sighed.

"Slem.." He called out, making Slem turn his head towards him immediately. Zane spoke in a tiny whisper which only Slem could hear. "Slem, I'm going to help the rogue seekers escape, but I'm not going to escape myself." He spoke with resolute eyes. "What will you do? Will you escape with them or come with me?" Zane knew that asking Slem to come with him was selfish, but he wanted Slem by his side because of his useful <Ability>. Also, staying with him for what felt like so long, he had grown quite fond of the kid.

Slem whispered back without an ounce of hesitation. "Of course I'll come with you brother." Zane widened his eyes as he was not expecting him to answer so easily. He was prepared to let Slem go if he chose to. "Why? Don't you want to be free? If you come with me, we'll be locked up by the Sacred Order again." Zane couldn't understand how Slem could come to a decision so easily. "No, I'm fine with you." Slem said nonchalantly and continued walking.

Flabbergasted, Zane could only keep on walking with him. After walking for some time along the tunnels, they finally exited and reached the destroyed town.