Sweet Vitamins.

"Mr. A-Aiden, I think, the mole's stomach acids dissolved the book because I can't find It," Jonathan said with a voice that could barely pass as a whisper.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Aiden heard him clearly, and in that moment his brows furrowed in annoyance.

Gulping at Aiden's gaze, Jonathan cleaned his blood-stained hands on the beast's fur and proceeded to clean Mai's blade as well.

Letting out a sigh Aiden asked, "Are there any more books back at camp?"

"No," Jonathan replied, before hurriedly adding, "but I can get you all the books on Detritus inscribing once we get to the shelter."

Suppressing the urge to growl, Aiden asked, "Can you get me to the shelter in two days?"

There was a strange silence in the cave, with Aiden glaring at Jonathan and Mai just observing like it was none of her business.

After a while, Aiden muttered, "Let's get out of here."

Saying this Aiden's arms suddenly began changing in color as dark shadows seeped out of his pores, before solidifying on his skin.

Because of Aiden's ripped coverall, one would notice that his veins had darkened, as menacing steam seemed out of his being shrouding his person in an aura of mystique.

Mai who had only just witnessed this transformation for the first time opened her eyes in shock as she struggled to suppress a gasp.

Jonathan on the other hand took a step back as he observed this transformation with visible interest.

Ignoring the emotions of his companions, Aiden picked up the rope on the floor and hung it on his shoulder.

In the next moment, he leaped as high as he could, but just as gravity was about to judge him, his claws dug into the cave walls.

"Clang!"

A long scratching sound could be heard as Aiden slid down the rocky walls of the caves, sparks flying as his fingers dug deeper until he was finally stopped by friction.

After, regaining his footing, Aiden leaped again his fingers digging into the walls as he made another leap.

Pretty soon, Aiden had emerged from the hole and noticed that he currently stood at another cave.

Meanwhile down below Jonathan and Mai looked above them as Aiden climbed the 15-meter-long hole.

Turning towards Mai, Jonathan asked, "Does he know we can't do that? Or..."

As Jonathan spoke to Mai, Aiden had long since regained his bearings.

Ignore his surroundings for now, Aiden unsummoned his soul armor as he couldn't bear to use it for extended periods.

Unraveling the rope on his shoulder, he threw an end into the hole, while grabbing the other end with a strong grip.

Soon, Aiden felt a strong pull on the rope so he reeled, hoisting the rope until he had dragged a person out of the hole, it was Jonathan, and by the relieved expression on his face, he was happy about escaping.

Repeating the process, Aiden pulled Mai up as well, and with that, he wiped the perspiration off his forehead.

"Thank goodness," Jonathan exclaimed, his voice more energetic than before.

Folding his arms, Aiden suddenly said, "Enough excitement Jonathan, get us out of here as soon as possible."

"Yes sir," Jonathan exclaimed as he marched, towards the front, his shoulders raised as he moved with large strides.

Exchanging a glance with Mai, Aiden followed behind Jonathan prompting her to follow him as well.

The air was cool and musty, carrying with it the faint scent of damp earth, this scent pleased Aiden, as the presence of life slowly became apparent.

Jonathan on the other hand continued to lead the way his smile widening by the second, emerging from the mouth of the cave, he blinked in the sudden brightness of the outside world.

His eyes took a moment to adjust, but when they did, they fell upon a magnificent sight, a colossal pink bird, perched majestically atop its nest, as it warmed its eggs.

"Fuck," Jonathan cursed as he took a step back, bumping into Aiden who seemed to have noticed the bird as well.

"Caw!"

The bird, as large as a child of eight years, turned its gaze towards the group and emitted a single, piercing caw before returning its attention to the task of warming its precious eggs.

Feeling exasperated by Jonathan's jumpy behavior, Aiden overtook him.

Stepping cautiously past the nesting bird, Aiden's gaze swept over the landscape before him.

To his astonishment, he stood at the edge of a sheer cliff, its jagged face plunging into a vast chasm below. Stretching as far as the eye could see, a network of cracks and crevices crisscrossed the landscape, resembling the veins of some colossal creature.

Millions of caves dotted the cliffsides, their dark mouths gaping like hungry maws. From these caverns, a flurry of pink birds swooped and darted, their graceful movements painting the sky with splashes of color.

Aiden felt a shiver of unease creep down his spine as he looked into the dark and unending depth of the world below him, a fall from this high world most certainly meant death.

With trepidation, he began to ascend the cliff face, with Mai and Jonathan following behind, their movements were smooth and slow, they didn't dare to rush in the slightest.

The distant cries of the pink birds echoed through the air, their watchful eyes scanning the cliffs for any intruders.

Heart pounding, the group pressed on, their breath coming in ragged gasps as they climbed ever higher.

Miraculously, the birds seemed to pay them little heed, their attention drawn elsewhere as the group made their ascent.

At long last, they reached the summit, the warmth of the sun enveloping them like a comforting embrace. Looking back at the expanse he had traversed, Aiden couldn't help but marvel at the danger of this strange, otherworldly landscape.

"Ahh, sweet vitamins, come sun, give me all your vitamins," Jonathan exclaimed as he spread out his arms.

Watching Jonathan show such an enthusiastic display of happiness, Mai couldn't help but smile too.

Aiden on the other hand wasn't in a good mood, the only thought in his mind right now was how he was to complete his mandatory mission.

"Ok Jonathan, which direction are we moving for?" Aiden asked, before adding, "We have a long walk ahead of us."

Hearing Aiden's remark, Jonathan suddenly smiled, as he said, "Who told you we are walking?"

Saying this he hurriedly took off his backpack and rummaged through it, soon he brought out what seemed to be a phone.

"You had a phone all this while?" Mai suddenly asked, her eyebrows raised as she added, "I could've used it to keep myself busy."

"How so?" Aiden asked out of curiosity, he didn't understand how a mobile phone would help them out in a situation like this, last time he checked it was impossible for a mobile phone to get any signal in a place like this.

Seeing Aiden's expression, Mai muttered, "I mean mobile games."

Upon hearing this Aiden's gaze turned a bit weird, "Why would you want to be playing mobile games in a life-and-death situation?" Saying this he turned to Jonathan and asked, "So what is that, is it a mobile phone or what?"

Furrowing his brows, Jonathan was quiet for a bit as he fiddled with the device, he did this for a few seconds before answering Aiden's question, "This is something like a remote, I'm using it to locate our ride, you didn't expect us to walk all the way to the seventh shelter now did you?"

"You have a ride?" Aiden and Mai asked simultaneously, clearly surprised by Jonathan's words.

Seeing Jonathan nod his head Aiden suddenly chuckled, a bit before saying, "Suddenly I don't regret not killing you, with a car we should be able to get to the shelter in two days."

Smiling dryly at Aiden's comment, Jonathan walked forward, leading the way once again.

As they walked through the dry and rocky terrain of the abysmal enclave, Aiden remembered something, "hey Jonathan, you were saying something about us being suicide recruits, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Ohh, it means exactly what it sounds like," Jonathan said without turning back.

Upon hearing the topic being discussed, Mai also looked interested, without a word, her ears perked up as she listened in.

Taking a small pause Jonathan pressed his lips together as he filtered his next words, "Usually, before crossing the abysmal enclave, the candidates are given a map, which is called an assigned route, by taking this route the candidates are safer."

"Why are they safer?" Mai asked, her curiosity evident in her tone.

Sending Mai a small smile, Jonathan said, "Because they were monitored, by higher-level Contractors, these Contractors would take care of the stronger demons up front, and leave behind demons that the newbies could barely handle."

Saying this Jonathan paused not willing to say anymore, but Aiden and Mai had long since gotten the message.

Stroking his chin, Aiden muttered, "So in our case, we weren't monitored, we were given no maps, and instead of just one batch of contestants there are multiple batches,"

"But why?" Mai asked, "Why did the Silence choose to make things so difficult for us?"

"I don't know," Jonathan exclaimed, before adding, "Rumors are going around that the Silence is short on manpower so they can't supervise the event, but we both know that's not true when it all comes down to it, no one really knows why the Silence does what it does, it's the same for all original families."

The group discussed different things, during their discourse, Aiden noticed that Jonathan didn't want to expand on most topics sensitive to the world of Contractors.

His reasoning for this was that they would get to know eventually.

Soon the sun went down, shrouding the enclave in a world of darkness, but Aiden found the darkness quite pleasing.

Looking up, one could see a visible blue glow, like a barrier shielding them from the onslaughts of demonic attacks, "how were these barriers even created?" Aiden suddenly asked.

"Why would you even ask that? You know the stories, it's common knowledge that it was made by The Primordial Covenant Keeper," Mai replied.

Smiling Jonathan darted in, "I think I understand where Aiden is coming from, even as a Contractor the story doesn't change, the barrier was indeed created by His Majesty, The Primordial Covenant Keeper."

Upon hearing this Aiden sighed. The Primordial Covenant Keeper was the title of the first Contractor, the one who figured out how to make Contracts with demons, although he was like a godly figure to the people of the shelters, no one knew his real name, or appearance, in fact, the domes and original families were the only proof of his existence.

"Found it," Jonathan's voice sounded out, breaking Aiden's trance.

They were currently in a large field of dry and desolate soil, a soil that was littered with cracks not much different from the terrain so far.

Looking forward Aiden discovered a dirt-colored truck that seemed big enough to accommodate all of them.

Although the soul was the the same, there was something that stood out about this place and that was the fact that it was filled with giant rocks here and there, the truck that he was looking at was hidden under the shadow of one of these rocks making it difficult to notice at first.

Seeing this truck seemed to improve Aiden's mood, raising his hopes of getting to the shelter in time to complete his mandatory mission.

Mai also seemed happy, as a smile formed on her lips, but as they neared the vehicle, the group discovered something that made their elevated moods drop.

"That bitch!"

Mai couldn't help but curse, her anger visible through her furrowed brows and clenched fists.

Aiden was also frowning, his gaze narrowing at the punctured tires of the truck. It didn't take a Guinness to put the pieces together as one would easily be able to discern that these punctured tires were the handy work of Binder, the masked woman.

Just as Aiden was about to say something, Jonathan spoke, "Fortunately, I'm still alive, although she took into account the fact that you'll never be able to open the truck, she would never have guessed that we'd end up working together."

Saying this, Jonathan started operating his phone-like device, pushing a few icons as he muttered to himself.

"Pi!"

The honk of the truck suddenly sounded out as it was remotely unlocked.

Turning to Aiden, Jonathan said, "Can you help me out? We have some tools and spare tires in the truck."