My fate depends on yours

The four stood in silence as they stared at the food on their plates in disgust, but none of them dared to say anything. 

Seeing this, the man folded his arms again.

"Don't you like it either? Are you insulting me?"

They all felt the pressure of calamity and swallowed saliva as they picked up their cutlery.

Very slowly and with trembling hands, they began to cut the rotten food on their plates. Then they all took a very small piece of meat and looked at it with disgust.

It was preferable not to eat than to eat something like what was in front of them, but no one dared to disobey the man, so at the same time they put the food in their mouths.

Nathan could not describe in words the disgusting, revolting and foul taste that was now on his palate. Not only him, the others had completely sour expressions on their faces.

None of the four of them could swallow, then Nathan looked at the water next to the plate and frowned. It was stale water, obviously undrinkable.

It was then that he felt an aura worse than that of the man in front of him. If Nathan thought the calamity sitting at the end of the table was absurdly strong, then the one who emitted this pressure was much worse.

Nathan even curved his back, feeling as if gravity had suddenly increased.

"Oh! my lord is calling me" 

The calamity looked down as if it could see through the floor.

"Regretfully I will have to leave you, I hope you enjoy your dinner"

The calamity rose from his seat and giving them a final farewell began to walk away, disappearing seconds later down a corridor.

Everyone stood still for a few seconds making sure the calamity had indeed left, then they all spat out the food they were holding in their mouths.

'Agh... damn it'

Nathan spat so many times that his mouth stopped producing saliva, but he still couldn't help but feel the horrible sensation of rotting flesh on his tongue.

Seinor had a sour look on his face, while Herfir and Lynn had vomited the contents of their stomachs on the floor next to them.

Suddenly Nathan noticed that the food on the table had changed again and now it was back to the delicious food from before. But first Nathan took a jug of water for himself and drank it all down, trying to wash his mouth out.

When he finished the jug, fortunately he could no longer taste the bad taste, but the sensation lasted a little longer.

He looked at the food on the table but had lost all appetite.

The others were the same, they had washed out their mouths and were now looking at the food with revulsion.

"Never before had I been grateful that I didn't have a mouth to eat..." said the voice in Nathan's head.

Nathan heard Herfir's long sigh and looked at him.

"So, this is what an upper rift looks like..."

Herfir looked at Seinor.

"Did you feel anything?"

Seinor shook his head silently.

"I see..." Herfir looked at Nathan and Lynn.

"Are you both alright?"

Nathan nodded.

"Miraculously"

Nathan looked at Lynn who had a blank stare and looked quite shocked, but he couldn't blame her. Nathan didn't know what rank this calamity was... but if he had to assume anything, it would be that it was third rank, something that was far beyond his ability.

They had only been saved because the calamity was eccentric... even Nathan doubted whether it was really a special category calamity. After all, calamities could not speak... and certainly not their language.

Nathan rested his head in his hands while he caught his breath.

He had not fought, but he felt more tired than after a full day of training. He had regained a lot of his essence, but his body still felt weak.

Nathan already knew that in comparison to other people he was weak, almost an insect in the eyes of some people. People like Boreas, Dilliard and the generals were incredibly powerful, but Nathan had never seriously confronted one of them. 

But this calamity was different, its very presence was enough to make them obedient puppies. 

Nathan had never before felt so... useless. For the first time in his life since he had awakened his technique and felt the essence for the first time feeling strong, he understood what power really was.

He remembered the blood ogre, which almost killed him and was finally defeated by Syril in a surprise attack from behind. At that time, he thought that he could face calamities stronger and higher ranks than him... but that was only in a certain limit.

He also understood why the upper realms were upper realms. Just getting out of this place alive would be a miracle in itself.

Nathan abruptly stood up from the table and everyone looked at him.

"What are you going to do?" asked Herfir.

Nathan looked at him and then down the hallway where the calamity had gone.

"Get the hell out of this place"

"How are you going to do that?" Herfir stood up too.

Nathan thought for a few seconds.

'Do you think if I give you enough essence you can remember anything about this place' Nathan asked the voice in his head.

It was silent for a couple of seconds.

"It's possible, but I can't say for sure"

Nathan nodded.

'That's enough'

Encountering a calamity as weak as the ghoul was in some ways a blessing. If he had directly encountered calamities like the man who had just left, then Nathan would no longer be alive.

So, knowing that the more floors he went down the worse the calamities he would encounter, he decided to opt for other options.

Somehow, although he wasn't really sure, the consciousness inside the bracelet seemed to know something about this place... even if he couldn't remember it right now.

But it was an advantage that no other person had, as information was a resource equal or more valuable than food and water.

He began to send some essence to the bracelet and quickly began to feel it devouring it hungrily.

In the meantime, Nathan looked around, studying the place. Actually, this floor also had several corridors in all directions, so there should also be hundreds of rooms.

Nathan was reluctant to go too far from the dining room, since food would be his source of essence, but at the same time he remembered the man and wanted to get away as quickly as possible.

It was then that the voice spoke in his head.

"I don't think that being will be back any time soon"

Nathan frowned slightly.

'How can you tell?'

The voice was silent for a couple of seconds.

"I... somehow I know"

Nathan didn't know what to think, then the voice spoke again.

"My fate depends on yours... I wouldn't lie to you" it said with some sadness.

Nathan bit his lips slightly, not knowing what to do. He still didn't really trust the voice, but at the same time he knew that it could help him, so after thinking about it for a while he decided to stay near the dining room and give the bracelet some essence.

Nathan sat back down at the table to the surprised expressions of the others.

'I hope it's worth it...'

The voice took a couple of seconds to respond.

"It will..."  she said with some expectation.