• Heading North

In the morning, Spheris woke up feeling rejuvenated and energetic. The brightness of dawn had disrupted his [Perception] but still he felt mighty.

And it wasn't the first time.

It seemed that every night after he slept, he awoke feeling like a god. Like the day and the sun had drained all the energy from him, then the night and the moon revitalized him.

Cerene was already awake as well, she had made a fire and managed to prepare breakfast — which was just a re-roasting of the already half burnt carapace meat.

She didn't speak to him, and he as well refused to speak to her. But after sitting around a boring crackling fire and listening to Linne snore like a slumbering beast, the two eventually decided to speak to each other.

They spoke about which route to go first. Rising Rain or Frozen Sands. However, in their conversations, they acknowledged that there was a slight chance that one of their remaining teammates has or will be checkpointed in Falling Grass or Floating Rocks.

There were five of them, which meant that one of them would have checkpointed in the exact location as another.

But in high hopes, they agreed to travel for Frozen Sands and after that, they would head for Rising Rain.

"I never asked, why did you want to travel north earlier? It seems you were right anyhow. Frozen Sands is north."

Cerene puckered her lips before saying; "On a Darkest Night I saw a streak of a whitish blue light reaching to the sky from far far away."

"What was it?"

"Nero," she replied gravely. "I'm certain of it. It was a blue icy light, the same kind that emanates whenever he conjures his powers. I don't know what would have happened to cause him to generate that much power. But I do know that it's him."

"That's why you're worried."

She raised her eyes to him. "It is."

Spheris's own eyes studied her for a moment. 'Friends.' And then he nodded. "I'm sure he is fine. Like you said, the Celestials are with him."

He managed a small warm smile for her.

Cerene nodded resolutely. "Same way as they are with us."

The smile vanished that instant. Spheris wasn't really a fan of that last part.

"Aw, look at that. You two lovebirds have made up."

The duo turned to Linne who had just stirred up from sleep with a comedic grin on her face.

"Is there something to eat?"

Saying nothing, Cerene took what was left on the fire and tossed it to her. "Oh." Linne's grin turned to a disappointed frown. "Scorvulcan carcass."

"I took the ones you hid so it would be enough for everyone." Cerene said, then she unhooked one of her flagons from her belt and handed it to her. "Don't let it get empty."

"Why not?" Linne asked, grabbing the flask.

"That way I can refill it," Cerene responded. "As long as there's enough water inside, I can make more of it."

"Good Heavens! I am so glad that you two are on my side now."

The Bearers exchanged a silent glance and then Spheris slowly got on his feet, picking his companion from the floor and placing him on his shoulder.

"We're heading for Frozen Sands first. Cerene suspects that that is where Nero is."

Linne shook her head, glancing up at him as she spoke. "You say that like I know who this Nero is."

"He's much like you actually."

"Really?" Her brows squeezed. "How so?"

Before Spheris could speak, Cerene interjected, wanting to end the inevitably pointless conversation before it had the chance to even begin. "Is there anything you'd like to tell us? Anything concerning the north?"

Linne thought for a moment and shrugged. "The north is cold?"

"Yes, but are there any dangers? Anything to look out for?"

"The cold is dangerous."

Seeing that Cerene was not amused in the slightest, Linne gulped down her last chunk of the morsel and turned serious. "The Devourers are the main threat, I guess."

Spheris narrowed his eyes at the information. "Lysarthian Devourers?"

"Yes, the Night Beasts. They're extremely rare, but extremely powerful and deadly."

Another glance was exchanged between the two Bearers. This one was more sedate.

"You don't have to worry though. They're called Night Beasts for a reason, they only come out at night and even then, the chances of running into one are quite low. They're probably the rarest beasts in The Abyss."

"We'll have to move quickly." Cerene announced. "Take advantage of the kind morning sun before it gets hotter and before dark comes."

Spheris nodded, unable to disagree with that notion.

If they managed to cover enough ground during the day, they could find a nice enough cave such as this one and stay the night before continuing tomorrow.

It was an obvious yet smart enough strategy that could only be blemished by one thing — a Lysarthian Devourer.

Spheris had learnt only a little about the coal-black reptilian beast, but even that knowledge was enough to tell him that he wasn't ready to face one, even though the ardent part of him wanted him to.

He had to remind himself. He was only an Adept Bearer, the Lysarthian Devourer was Legendary ranked.

"Apart from the Devourer, are there any other dangers in the path to the north?"

"None I can think of." Linne answered, rising up to her feet.

"Alright then," he nodded to Cerene. "We head north."

Linne smiled excitedly. "We head North!"

☯

The large serrated sun with its long crimson yellow spikes was slowly actualising out of the bright red clouds. There was a lot of wind and the sun was not scorching hot yet, so the small party used this to their advantage.

They ambled forward. Cerene in front, Linne in center, and Spheris at the back.

Of course Linne was the one to suggest this formation. She was the only person without powers and she deemed herself the most valuable, since she was the one with the knowledge of what they were after.

Hence, her life was the one that needed to be protected. Cerene at her front, Spheris at her back.

However, the shadow bender was not paying any concentration to her life at the moment. He was gazing down at his digger knife while he toyed with it.

His trusted weapon and ever-helpful tool.

The marshalls had ransacked his safe pockets when he first died... fainted?... who knows what happened at this point.

They had taken his key breaking tools and everything else that he had stored in the pockets. He'd expected that they would have taken the digger knife as well.

But they did not. Under Lord Bellunder's commands no less.

Spheris conjured the dark force and watched as the umbrage slowly covered the blade, pulsing around it.

'If I had known this was with me when I faced the Queen Scorvulcan or those Lavadrakes, I would have defeated them much easier.' He slowly fell into his thoughts.

'The Dreadwingers were ranked higher than both beasts, but I dispatched them with ease. Granted, Cerene's knowledge of their weak points helped me out but... I can not deny that there aren't some obvious advantages to having a weapon.'

He sighed.

'Which is why I must Craft faster, this digger knife can only do as much damage. Sooner or later, I'm going to run into a Gehennarac or maybe even a Moltenviper. This blade will be useless then. I'll need a real Weapon.'

Shortly, his thoughts vanished, abruptly interrupted by his shadow sensing abilities. There was... something.

"Wait." Spheris said calmly yet with some urgency.

The girls obeyed. Cerene — ever diligent — had already begun to summon water out of her flagons.

Linne looked lost, she darted her eyes at the two Bearers, already scared to the brim.

Spheris slowly approached forward, his eyes set against the small horde of rocks in front of them. They all stayed silent and waited as he had asked.

Then they stayed quiet for a little longer.

And then a little longer.

Spheris narrowed his gaze at the rocks.

"What is it?" Linne whispered.

He remained still, not removing his eyes from the rocks. "There's a... shadow."

"A shadow?"

"Does it belong to a person?" Cerene asked.

"No... I don't recognise it."

He clenched his fist around the digger knife and the dark force was conjured, pulsing around his fist and the blade with anticipation.

The shadow he was sensing wasn't familiar at all. It didn't belong to any beast he had earlier faced, which only meant one thing.

Accepting that it had been discovered, the shadow finally moved.

Spheris braced himself. Cerene mirrored his anxious anticipation, and Linne hid behind both of them with jittering teeth.

Then, the head of a massive black Lysarthian Devourer arose from behind the pile of rocks, and greeted them with predatory eyes.