Finn clawed at the ground.
But he had nothing to hold on to.
His long, pale fingers scratched the dirt until they bled. In his mouth was his brush, gritted between his two rows of white teeth. His eyes were shut tight to keep the dirt away as the violent winds continuously pulled him into the monster's gaping maw.
"SIR FIIINN!!!" Deon cried.
He stretched his arm toward the combat Almagi, struggling not to get sucked with him.
The moment that he grasped Finn's bloody hand, Deon shouted at the top of his lungs, "SIR!!!"
But his desperate cry was not aimed at Finn.
Mikael immediately understood Deon's intention. There was only one way out of this situation—Literally.
"Got it!" Mikael swooped inside Deon's body.
The Host's left eye flashed pale green.
Ping!
Kaede briefly closed his heterochromic eyes.
The two souls within him could only hope that they were right. Ever since that dangerous, life-risking experiment they had with the boulder, Deon and Mikael had a nagging suspicion that their skills were not as simple as they seemed.
'If we could teleport objects with us, would it be possible to bring other people as well?' they wondered.
With the skill description not explicitly stating these limits, they could only hope that this time as well, their Ascension System would help them out.
"Dame Nora! Hold my hand!" Kaede turned to the Dame who looked at him quizzically.
"Just do it!" he insisted.
Nora reached for his hand and braced herself for whatever he planned to do.
A sensation of passing through a wall of icy water engulfed the group.
In an instant, they were transported three meters away from their original position—right behind the largest replete and close to the cave entrance.
Finn and Nora's eyes widened in shock!
It was their first time with teleportation and the experience was truly mind-blowing!
It felt like all the nerves in their body froze along with time and space. Like they were plucked out of the reality, only to pop back in an instant.
"Sir! Dame! RUUN!!!" Kaede jolted them out of their daze and the group ran out, leaving the repletes, with their heavy inflated abdomen, behind.
They ran…
And ran…
And ran…
Until they were back to where they started—The Midden, the only safe place in the entire colony.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
They all gasped for breath.
Finn clutched his aching chest, feeling it burn as his lungs screamed for air while Deon held his knees. He had not run that desperately since Mikael's test of courage.
Meanwhile, Dame Nora sat on the graveyard floor, eyeing Deon and Finn with a complicated expression.
"You… What are you?" she asked as if it was only now that she recognized the weirdness of her companions. Or perhaps she had just reached the limit of weirdness that she could take with Deon's last stunt.
"What? Are you including me?" Finn pointed to himself, brows raised, "I'm normal. Ask HIM. I've also been wondering about him since the beginning." He then pointed the accusing finger to Deon.
Dame Nora grimaced when Finn claimed he was 'normal'.
As far as she was concerned, Finn was also very much abnormal. What with all those unorthodox spells that he kept casting in group fights.
But she also understood where his claim came from.
Indeed, when compared to the strange spearman in their group, Finn really was STILL within the realm of normalcy.
"Uhmm…" when seated in the hot seat, Deon awkwardly averted his gaze.
He and Mikael had canceled the partial integration while on the run and now, Deon secretly wished Mikael would take over his body and deal with the situation in his place.
But he knew that was just his cowardice speaking.
If he truly wanted to change, he must learn to step out of everyone's protective shadow.
"How exactly did you get us out of there, Sir Deon?" Dame Nora persistently asked.
"Te-Teleportation…" Deon mumbled, "It's just a special ability that I have. I-I can't really explain how to do it. I just can."
Mikael shook his head at his partner's lame answer.
He thought that they really should get their story straight sooner rather than later because situations like this would surely arise frequently in the future.
It has been a while since he advised Deon since he wanted the young prince to learn as much as he could from this hunting experience.
He figured that this would hasten Deon's emotional and mental growth.
For now, Mikael's job was to provide their group with as much assistance as he could and protect his partner from any danger.
Seeing the pleading look in Deon's hazel brown eyes that peeked beneath the iron helmet made Nora and Finn feel slightly guilty for questioning the innocent young man.
After all, Deon had saved them and there was no reason to unearth someone's secrets if it didn't harm them in any way.
"What do we do now? If all those people are still alive, then we must save them!" Deon appealed to change the topic.
"I agree. We need as many people as possible to increase the success of this operation." Nora nodded to Deon.
To their surprise, Finn opposed the idea.
Arms crossed with an imposing aura, Finn boldly asked, "Why?"
Dame Nora and Deon exchanged a questioning gaze and simultaneously said, "What do you mean 'Why'?"
"I mean, it's not like we are obliged to help. Might I remind you that this is a hunting COMPETITION, and WE are competing against THEM. If we save all those people, not only will our profits decrease drastically but we also cannot guarantee whether they would be any help at all." Finn reasoned, "I am not a saint nor do I have any plans of becoming a hero. So, I don't see why I must use my precious blood ink to save them when there's nothing in it for me."
Mikael nodded in appreciation, 'Now here's someone who knows his trade well.'
BUT!
Mikael swooped beside Deon and whispered, "Kid! Tell him you're the prince! Promise him a reward or whatever. We NEED to save those people!"
Deon almost teared up at his partner's noble heart.
He did not expect Mikael to tell him to save others.
If anything, Deon had expected him to agree with Finn and tell him not to butt his nose in dangerous matters and to leave them alone.
"Sir…" He looked in Mikael's direction with big puppy eyes.
What he did not know was that Mikael's reason was far from noble. He only wanted to save people to rack up good Karma.
'With hundreds of people to save, I'll be sure to get lots of positive Karma points!' Mikael rubbed his palms together in anticipation, 'Indeed…. The more, the merrier!"
--Chapter end--