Emilia slowly flew down and looked around to observe the giant pillars.. No, they were the body of the mushrooms supporting the fake land above, there were some sort of veins pumping something into them, it only added a more disgusting look.
Once Emilia landed on the ground she could feel the ground mushy and sticky as well as a path that seems to go deeper down. Though this place wasnt dark as there were some mushrooms glowing and the red gem that Dawn dropped did a fine job illuminating the surroundings, Emilia turned her head and she saw a transparent plant digesting a mole, poor thing was probably being dissolved alive.
Dawn looked at Emilia to see if she really is alright, vomitting blood just by the smell of this place.. Dragons must have a sensitive nose perhaps.
"We are going to go deeper.. Stay close kay?"
"Got it cap!"
Emilia saluted as she said that. She was trying to get Dawn at a better mood so this way both of them could think clearly after all there were no consequences, 'If we find nothing i can just rewind them back to before they got sick.'
Dawn nodded and started to lead the way, the small passage wasn't big nor was it small, there were some dead tree roots hanging on the ceiling as they went deeper but besides that, everything was normal.
"So where is this Concentrated Nucleos?"
"It should b- I-it must be a little further down!"
"..I see."
Emilia could guess what Dawn was feeling an enormous sense of dread of what might happens to the wolf tribe and the passageway seemed to be nowhere near ending.
"So, how did you meet the werewolf people? It's fine if you don't want to."
Dawn suddenly stopped before continuing to walk, maybe she was recalling how it was..
"I-i met them when i was around 20 years old, at that time i was just wandering aimlessly. I-i found Kyle and Aimish, two members of the wolf tribe there fighting some infected and i helped them out.. They saw that even though i had power my stance was too rought and my swings too heavy, so they helped me while teasing my size.."
"They helped me improve and i stayed with them for a while and we became friends.. I think i stayed there for a year- Maybe two years. At that time Kyle had a kid while Aimish was just being himself, helping people around.. A-and-"
Dawn was shaking and she started to stutter more after each word, Emilia was starting to get worried, perhaps she asked something that brought back bad memories?
"I-i didnt think they would- That they would just be gone- I-i could've helped them, I-"
"Dawn..?"
"W-why didn't i-"
Dread. It's something that every mortal will eventually feel, even more Aura Practicioners. Their memory gets better as they progress a stage, and a Full Aura has a perfect photographic memory. They can remember every single moment, every single face and every single emotion that they felt in every situation perfectly, but even so, the brain tends to lock up terrible memories as a way to protect itself, that happens even more with Full Aura stage practicioners as they are the ones who walked the hardest path to achieve what they have now and a consequence of that path is the eternal torment of those who perished in the past.
Oh, dread. It is a needed emotion, but it is also lethal. Dawn broke into tears, her legs couldn't keep walking and she fell down on her knees, she remembered each one of their faces, how each one of them died in front of her as her body was in a state of shock and she couldn't do anything, she could see it vividly their expressions of despair begging for help, she could see the disfigured faces of the ones she once called friends infront of her, she could almost hear them screaming in pain as they were being disfigured. It hurt her, she felt it all over again as dread washed all her senses.
...
It is happening again, they died once because of her and they will again. She is wortless, she is-
"Dawn!"
"Ah- Chrono..?"
"I-i'm sorry if i made you remember something terrible! But we must go! There are people waiting to be saved by us!"
"I cant-"
"You can! We can! Get up Dawn, even if you feel alone i will always be here, and i will always be at your side to help you out!"
"..."
If Emilia could she would be hugging Dawn but she ddint know if her body weight would actually hurt her, so she only rubbed her face against her to show that she cares about her.
Dawn slowly wiped out her tears and got up.
"I-i'm sorry i just-"
"It's fine! Better let everything out than keeping it to yourself, you can talk to me Dawn, afterall you are my friend!"
"..Yes."
Dawn smiled and kept on walking forward, they have people to save!
After a 10 minutes walk, they could finally see light on the other side! Going through the end of the tunnel, there were mushrooms everywhere, up, down, left, and right. Some glowed while others didnt. There were also some small trees here and there decaying but the most notable thing was the huge glowing golden mushroom about 170 meters from here, Emilia eyes could see it perfectly.
"We will find the Concentrated Nucleos here?"
"No, it should be deeper. But here we will find the first dangers.."
"Dont worry Dawn, im with you so you will definitively not be in danger."
"Hehe, i sure wont!"
Dawn smiled as she began to lead the way once again as something was ignited in the depths of her mind, an old and rusty gate finally started to move.
Thought it didn't looked like it, they actually went 15 meters deeper underground and here was were the parasites started to show themselves..