That evening:
Seeing that their stars were descending to envelop the world in relative darkness, the group sought a nice place to camp.
In reality though, within the middle layer, day was much shorter and night was much longer. The answer to this uniqueness is simple really.
It was just that the Yellow mountains blocked the stars from shining on both part of the south and north horizons for their normal duration. This shaved off a few hours off of the day and added them onto night.
And so, the group continued until they were able to find a large clearing to rest on. At first glance, it might seem like a bad idea since they would be out in the open, but that was actually the point. Because they were out in the open, so would anyone else that wanted to attack (not really). Whereas, if they hid within the forest, it would be much harder to catch anyone wanting to sneak an attack on them (which would be the same for the opposite side).
They all quickly found a good spot in the center and set up their tents. Some of them went to find some conveniently snapped logs as well as other raw materials and soon, they all sat around a bonfire.
Atop the bonfire was a pot that stood on three legs, runes covering its surface. Actually, it was merely a simple contraption that sucked all the smoke as a blackened dust, collecting it within itself. This not only prevented the eventual suffocation of the group, but also removed the inevitable trace it leaves in the sky.
Curiously though, there was what appeared to be a circular slab that glowed a dim blue on top of the pot.
Ann looked at the pot for a second before looking around her while eating a fish on a stick. Her eyes gazed past her surroundings, and they narrowed.
"Hey, are you sure this will be enough to protect us while we sleep? You know, I could just stay up for the night, I don't mind."
There was silence for a moment until Queenie realized she was being talked to. She quickly scarfed down her food before speaking.
"That won't be necessary. The barrier can even protect us from those who are rank-5. Even if it can't protect us from those who are above it, it'll inevitably alarm us before being destroyed."
Queenie merely looked at the transparent dome-like barrier, which covered them and a fair bit of the clearing itself, for a second before continuing.
"Plus, If we needed you during the day for whatever reason, we would need you at your a-game."
Ann nodded, agreeing with her for a second before being stunned by her remarks. Was this not underestimating her? She snorted at Queenie, seemingly trying to discredit her previous statement.
"Hmph, what do you know? I'm always on my a-game," Ann retorted, clearly unsatisfied. She then flexed her arms with several poses, her trained muscles rippling through her clothing. Obviously, this was to assert dominance.
In reality though, this wasn't for Queenie as much as it was for herself. As it was, she just momentarily felt as if she had been invalidated by Queenie's admittedly rational thought process.
And as a young woman, how could this be!? Clearly, if her ego wasn't stroked, rubbed, or massaged relentlessly day in and out, then how could she go on living? She might as well just die!
Hence, the current scene.
In the end, Queenie could only watch Ann show off as her face grew darker and darker. Eventually, she could no longer take it.
"Alright I get it, I get it!"
Queenie huffed and puffed as her face flushed red.
"Y-you can stop; I was wrong, okay? You were right."
Immediately after speaking, she felt a wave of fatigue wash over her. The conversation had barely started and she already wanted to stop and fall asleep. Was Ann always this fierce and dominating? How come she hadn't noticed until now?
How come she didn't have such an awesome physique? What had she been doing all these years!?
"Hmm… well it's good that you know never to doubt me again. I forgive you."
Ann nodded continuously as she spoke, but the prompt that caused all even of this was already erased from her memory. However, to her, this was not enough; she needed more.
"Isn't that right, Ran?"
Looking to her side where Ran was facing away from her, she saw no reaction.
"Ran?" she called, but there was still no reaction. Then, she realized where the problem came from.
In actuality, because tonight was particularly chilly, Ran went ahead and made use of his pillow—I mean Fluffy since she was cozy. And so, while Ran sat on a log, Fluffy's bigger-than-Rans-body cuddled with him, her face resting flat on his shoulder. Her front legs were dangling over his back.
At the moment, Ran casually rubbed the top of Fluffy's head while, more importantly, checking out a particular stone in his hand. His focus was entirely enraptured by the stone, as if he was trying to uncover some hidden secret, so he didn't hear anything Ann said. And yes, this was the very stone Shirley's toad, Peppy, had thrown up.
However, no matter what, he couldn't figure out what the runic inscriptions entailed. His memory of the known runes didn't come up with anything, and what really frustrated him was that the so called "special" runes didn't respond either. Usually, as soon as he focused on any rune he had encountered, the special runes would respond with their corresponding counterpart as well as their meaning. But no such thing happened here.
Eventually, the involuntary refraining of blinking made his eyes go red until he was forced to blink. Sighing, he could only stop trying to invoke the special runes.
Technically, there was a way to see the function of this stone, though there was no guarantee. Of course, it was to manually activate it using soul juice. Yet, Ran didn't dare to do exactly that. Who knows what kind of boss would be summoned!? It was already a pain merely having possession of this thing, but to find his death so willingly… yeah, no.
Now, all of that was speculation as well. No one knew what would truly happen, if anything at all, if this thing was activated. But, Ran was certainly of the thought that it was not good and certainly dangerous. Unfortunately, there was no escaping at this point and he could only prepare as much as possible.
Although, just as he was going to put it away, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Isn't that right… Ran?"
Turning back, he spotted the look on Ann's face; her eyes were narrowed and she had a strange smile. That combined with the vice-like grip she had on his shoulder, he knew something must have gone terribly wrong!
Indeed, seeing the almost purple face Queenie had, he could already guess what could have happened. Many memories flipped through his mind like pages, and every single one had people with this kind of face.
After her formative years, and especially when she awakened early, her personality and self-esteem stood firmly above the rest. Almost like his father, she was quite stubborn and not only was no not in her vocabulary, but it wasn't in any other person so long as they were in her immediate vicinity.
So, whenever a situation happened where there was a falling out, one way or another the other person would be the only one embarrassed to the point of suffocation. And if somehow Ann was the one in the wrong, her thick ass… skin would pretty much repel any embarrassment or better yet, responsibility. With this, no matter the predicament, she would always seem to be the one on top, leaving any other person involved frustrated and unable to vent.
To Ran, the number of times Ann ended up embarrassed could be counted on his fingers. One such event happened when Ann had first started learning how to cook; she cooked the food to a bloody crisp that was darker than charcoal. Facing such an accident sent young Ann crying all the way to the bakery shop, stuffing her face with pastries like raspberry pie.
Thus, all this culmination of knowledge led Ran to give the most appropriate response.
"Yes."
Indeed, there was no winning, so why not cut your losses instead?
Ann was already familiar with where Ran was coming from, considering this was anything but new, so she chose not to pursue it any further.
Finally content, Ann finished her meal and was the first to retire to her tent, ironically enough. It's almost as if it was purposefully injected for no other reason than to introduce more context that is highly irrelevant to any real part of this story. It's almost like… filler. That's right, I dared to say it, what are you gonna do about it?
This was followed by Queenie, who spent no time sleeping considering the sheer effort it took to not vent out her frustration, especially after seeing Ann finish first.
Of course, Bob didn't bother sleeping in some artificial resting abode like a tent—he didn't own one anyway. He merely kept his bum on the hard wood as he felt the warmth of the fire wash over him with his eyes closed.
Ran tried to convince him to sleep normally while holding Fluffy like a fur scarf, but was unsuccessful. However, being completely aware that Bob was like this and was just outside, he still felt terrible. Only after Fluffy comforted him with a few licks and gave her beany paws to play with did he reluctantly fall asleep.
…
With darkness surrounding him completely, Ran suddenly felt a warmth envelop him. He relaxed and breathed in deeply, only to discover a fluid entering his nostrils and filling his lungs. With the burning sensation assaulting his chest, he coughed violently as his eyes popped open.
Only then did he realize that he was obviously underwater and accidentally inhaled a lung-full of water.
Looking around himself, he instantly ce to realize he was back to the so-called Pis' Patria!
Expelling the water within his lungs, he then covered himself with a layer of soul juice, giving him the energy needed to sustain himself.
Currently, like before, he reemerged exactly where he left, with this being the cave that overlooked a forest of seaweed. Yet, clearly, this place seemed to be missing something, but Ran couldn't quite put his finger on it. That was, until several fingers gripped onto his shoulder.
"What do you think you're doing here?"
The voice was familiar to Ran, but it carried a dangerous overtone. Some bloody red fluid even flowed from behind him, scaring the wits out of him; it was so intense that it almost sent him unconscious like last time.
"Uh… Granny?"
There was silence.
Eventually, Ran could no longer take it and tried to explain himself.
"You know I can't choose when to come back… right?"
There was still silence, but it didn't last. Soon, the hand that almost shattered his shoulder bone let go, along with the malicious intent.
There was a sigh, and then the person behind him spoke.
"Indeed, for the great will of Pis' Patria only seeks to empower her people. Only when it is safe would she be willing to open her doors."
Only then did Ran dare to turn around to see this seemingly ancient coelacanth.
"However, you still made me wait for days on end! So…"
"So…" Ran repeated, scared he might be punished for something he had no control over.
"So… Do you remember that skill I taught you?"
"Yes."
"Good. Do it for me."
"What!?"
"You heard me! You better have not been slacking."
At the moment, Ran was sweating bullets, but no one noticed. Slacking? The last time he tried the skill, he was interrupted by the sudden introduction of bloodthirsty piranhas. Not to mention that after what happened when he fought his clone, he now took skills much more seriously.
Especially the failing part. His clone's lower jaw literally blew up when he tried it. Of course, it being the first time, this was understandable. But, Ran didn't want to go through the pain of having his insides exploding when he finally tried this skill that was meant to blend him into the environment. While he had already practiced a week back then, he now felt it still wasn't enough.
However, he knew he wouldn't be able to get away from this. Plus, if successful, this skill could prove immensely useful.
So, looking into this fish's black eyes, he resolved himself to do away with his life—I mean achieve the unthinkable! Yeah, that's what I meant.
Thereafter, floating against the wall, he built up the skill according to his memory.
Once he finished, he cast one last glance at Granny, over dramatizing this moment, before willing for the activation of the skill.
Immediately, blood welled up in his throat, causing him to cough it up.
Yet, right at that moment, a resounding crack echoed across this cave. Following it was waves of a rank-6 aura that was sent out for almost two dozen meters.
Yet, there was no celebration.
Only silence.
Ran was unconscious.