Avic had chosen the pathway to their left. It was quite narrow and had a circular staircase that descended further underground. Right behind him was the girl he had saved from the Drowned. She watched him carefully, curious to know why he had saved her.
"Hey... Why did you save me back then..?" She asked timidly.
"Sigh... What kind of question is that? Isn't that the human thing to do?"
"Well, I guess so... But not many people are so human these days. Most people only care for themselves. It's even worse among Sicarius so the last thing I had expected was to meet someone as kind as you down here..."
"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call myself a kind person. I only saved you because it just didn't sit right with me to allow you to die when I knew I could have done something to help."
"Isn't that the same thing as being kind though?"
"Not quite. I always learned that kindness stems from helping someone without expecting anything in return. In my case, I simply didn't want to feel the guilt. If I didn't believe that I'd feel guilty for not helping you then there's a good chance that I wouldn't have. So it's more along the lines of doing it for a sense of self-satisfaction than kindness."
"I see..."
"What's your name, by the way?"
"My name's Delilah."
"Delilah, huh? Interesting."
"You know, I'm not very good at fighting monsters or creating Bloodline Arts. Yet still, I enrolled at this school anyway..."
"That's dumb. If you can't do that then why are you trying to become a Sicarius?"
"It might sound a little petty but for the money. Registered Sicarius earn more money than they know what to do with. I need that."
"Now that I look at you, you're that same girl that collapsed after entering the Hemo Capsule yesterday."
"Yeah... That was embarrassing... My Hemo Resistance isn't that great..."
Just then, two small holes appeared on either side of the wall. Avic's eyes broadened as soon as he noticed this. In a split second, he turned around and dived into Delilah's stomach, forcing her to the ground with him. A mere fraction of a second later, two arrows flew above their heads, barely missing them.
Delilah looked up in shock. Avic had saved her yet again. That made it two times now.
"You saved me again..."
"Damn it... This is such a pain. I wouldn't need to save you if you could look out for yourself a little better."
"Sorry..."
"Sigh... It's fine. Just that you're making me use a lot more energy than I had planned to use today. If this keeps up, don't blame me if I fall asleep on you."
"Fall asleep with me..?"
"Huh?"
"Hehe! Just teasing because you haven't gotten off of me as yet."
Calmly, Avic then picked himself up and brushed the dust from his clothes.
"Sigh... Unless you're giving me some good food or a nice place to take a nap, I'm not interested."
"Hehe! Despite your laid-back attitude, you're a pretty fun person to hang around."
"Yeah, well let's go. I think I glimpsed a door just now when we dodged those arrows."
Avic then continued descending the staircase with Delilah quickly following him. A second later, they arrived at a normal wooden door. Carefully, Avic then pushed the door open. This was when they found themselves in another large room.
The room was circular and the size of a gladiator's arena. The walls radiated with a blue glow which illuminated the inside. The floor was also littered with shallow water that caught them up to their ankles. Finally, in the center of the room was a strange blue orb that sat atop a small pedestal. It gave off a strange hum similar to the sound of electricity.
"What is this place? I'm getting more and more confused the further we go... It's like we were thrown into a huge maze without the slightest explanation," murmured Avic.
"That blue orb over there... That's where all that Hemo Energy we've been feeling is coming from!"
"You can tell? I thought you said stuff like this wasn't your forte."
"Oh... Haha! Well, they aren't! But I can still sense Hemo Energy! I mean, who can't, right?"
"Sure... Well, let's go grab that orb. Whatever it is, I doubt it's here just for show."
"Wait! Just like that? Aren't you supposed to check for traps first or try to at least analyze what's going on here?!"
"Thinking about complex situations like these is not my cup of tea. Besides, you have to keep in mind that we're in a race with the other students. I'm not gonna waste my time and energy busting my brain on some random orb."
Avic then moved closer to the orb. The closer he got, the more he could feel the pressure the strange orb exerted. It felt similar to the density of Hemo Energy he had faced in the Hemo Capsule.
Carefully, he then reached out his hand. His fingers brushed against the orb's cold surface. However, as soon as he made contact, an explosion of water sent him flying backward like a bird with clipped wings. Avic bounced across the water's surface like a rock being skipped across a lake.
"Augh! Shit that hurt!"
"Avic, watch out!" Shouted Delilah.
Avic then lifted his eyes to see that a blue veil now covered the orb. It seemed as if it was protecting it. However, that was not all. Looking closer, he noticed that some of the water that surrounded the pedestal was starting to take shape.
A second later, two figures made of pure water quickly came into view. They looked like human knights and stood seven and a half feet tall in water-made armor. In their watery hands were thick water-made lances that looked big enough to kill an elephant in a single blow. They were protecting the orb.