POV -----> Azur
Pulling out the map from my pocket at the same time as the Anastasia figure behind me I clearly saw something that wasn't initially there.
It was a well-defined route from our exact location to what could only be an exit.
Clearly, mine was much harder than the other.
Stein wanted to be some kind of better form of nature by brewing nature's products in his own way to yield much more favorable results.
Since nature is unkind but fair to all he is trying to out-do that.
The dragon girl has already had good opportunities to develop while I have not, so he adjusted this phase just to keep the aspect of fairness.
I was starting to be unsure of the reason why Anastasia was trembling, whether it was because of the sheer force emanating from my route that could leave normal people suffocating and gasping for breath or because she was scared of her own route.
The former could be a more plausible answer.
I could feel my own knees knocking together and my tail, that was mostly stationary for some time now, began to flail about showing its own version of freight as I stepped into my corridor.
I had begun trying to Maximize the amount of energy that flowed into me and Minimize the amount of energy that flowed out.
I knew it could possibly be risky due to the fact I wouldn't be able to anticipate enemy locations and thereby proceed with caution.
but I knew that in this case it wouldn't matter much because with the level of blood lust that the 'Things' in my corridor were constantly letting out then The Words in my thoughts would most likely scream out to me before I get to them.
At least I understood that much about The Recurring Words.
While venturing out cautiously into my route, after getting to a pretty far checkpoint without encountering anything I couldn't help but fall into my habit of wondering once more.
"Why the hell weren't we equipped with weapons?" I thought to myself.
before I could even finish delving deep into the thoughts that plagued me the Recurring Words screamed out once more.
-{DANGEROUS HOSTILITY!!}
-{DEATH HIGHLY FEASIBLE!}
This was the first time I saw it explaining how possible my "Un-aliving" was with an attached adverb.
As soon as I finished assimilating the text, a being which I could have sworn wasn't there seemed to be right before my face.
So close that there were only a few inches separating our noses from each other.
The being had a singular wing which had gray feathers on his right shoulder, the wing seemingly folded unto itself and was tucked in a way that it was either outspread or not and there were strange line markings under and above its eyes which were of a particularly weird light red hue.
His head was covered in simple black hair that was growing all over the place and wasn't styled in any way at all.
He wore a white robe with a red waist sash and to be honest he looked like the essence of nightmares, the markings under his eyes aligned with the two fangs that were revealed when he grinned.
He was so close that I was uncomfortable and I was too frightened to even think of flinching a muscle and the Recurring words were just spamming me with warnings from all directions.
"The hell are you doing here!? I thought I was spewing all the killing intent I could muster. Why didn't you tuck your tail between your legs and dip!?"
The being before me talked rather leisurely and in quite a vulgar manner.
Honestly not what I had expected, it almost made me feel at ease.
Until I faltered and looked right into its light red eyes.
It felt like I was thrown into a dark, horrible and murky swamp, I saw corpses of what seemed to be felled warriors holding prestigious weapons and wearing beautiful and spotless armor.
I kept on sinking through the swamp like my body was more than a thousand tons and the pressure within the swamp knew no relent, it pressed upon my body to the point that a few of my blood vessels felt like they had popped and blood filled my eyes.
The corpses seemed to be increasing in number the deeper I went, most had no skulls, shattered bones and the like.
At some point the corpses even began to stack on and on, I knew I was approaching the bottom and I felt a few of my ribs bend inward and poke my lungs.
At the moment my lungs reached their capacity and I was forced to breathe out, the swamp liquid with a dark color and thick texture flooded into my mouth and threatened to bloat me even while the pressure acting upon me would pop me in the most horrid way.
Thankfully before that happened I returned to reality and I found myself on the floor.
Wheezing, coughing and retching out what seemed to be a mixture of my blood and the dark liquid I was just recently immersed in.
Each retch was followed by blood and the dark liquid, then ultimately ending with me gasping for breath.
Trying to hold onto life for just a bit longer, blood was already dripping out of my eyes trying to substitute my tears.
Looking up I found the being I had just encountered walking away from me and vanishing into the distant shadows even after he left I could hear what seemed to be his voice.
Giving me a stern warning, which truly felt uncalled for in this situation.
"Best you contemplate your life choices, since I started this stuff, no one has survived. Even when they do they get permanent physical and mental trauma."
I could barely even feel my heart beating as I laid there on the floor, my body feeling unnaturally weak and the energy dissipating from my body.
He didn't even touch me.
I saw no movements.
I felt no attacks.
But I fell, I FELL!
I wondered, if Stein was capable of having beings this powerful in his arsenal why the hell was he looking for others.
Meeting that guy made me feel like everything was pointless.
It was like losing the courage to climb a mountain just because I stubbed my toe on a rock.
I realized that I had basically not even begun to scratch the surface of what I was capable of doing with the energy.
I barely even understood what sorcery was, I established my will to learn this from the Recurring Words but since then it hadn't even touched on the topic.
But how was I still wondering about things like this when I was put through something that in normal circumstances should have made my mind collapse in on itself.
Then I saw it, the Recurring Words blinking in the distance of my psyche.
It seemed no matter how far I wanted to run I couldn't even reduce the distance but I could still relatively read it.
-{PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE HAS BEEN REDUCED}
-{SUBJECT; AZUR WILL REMAIN UNFAZED}
These words in the distance gave me unknown hope.
I instantly understood not only what the Recurring words were trying to convey but I got a new theory pertaining to why I hadn't seen words pertaining to Energy Optimization and efficient use.