Soon Keiran and Concordia were deep into the Jungle.
"There could be enemies lurking around. What do we do now?" Keiran asked.
Although Keiran was adept in matters relating to the Elemental Balance, Concordia had more Field Experience as the Guardian Of The Dream Realm's Border Wall. Keiran knew that.
"From now on, we resort to Zone Control. We've got to send out Scout Units of our own omnidirectionally utilizing our current positions as the Focal Point. If any adversaries venture into the Field Of Vision of our Scout Units, we will be alerted" Concordia said.
"Then I suggest you utilize Kraken Andromeda's Dust and Wind Forms. They don't leave a trail" Keiran suggested.
"You're right" Concordia agreed.
She activated Kraken Andromeda's Dust Form circulating about particles of Wind and sent them out omnidirectionally. She now had Field Awareness Of The Forest Terrain. With her Field Awareness, she directed Keiran as they headed deeper and deeper into the Forest. As they headed onwards, a predator broke into one of her Dust Fields.
"Keiran…we've got to find a source of Water immediately" Concordia whispered sharply as more figures came into her Field Of View.
"Why?" Keiran asked.
"It's because we're being tracked by Bloodhounds" Concordia said.
"Of all the creatures we could be hunted by…why those?!" Keiran thought in alarm as he and Concordia doubled their pace.
Bloodhounds were wolf-like creatures native to the Realm Of Nightmares that had the ability to smell fear by detecting the heartbeat rate of a person. Once they discovered a person's fear, they'd hunt them down relentlessly.
Concordia noticed the Bloodhounds pursuing Keiran and herself. Soon, Keiran and Concordia arrived at a moderately shallow stream. Concordia looked around and found some bamboo trees. She cut two branches and hollowed them out with Kraken Andromeda.
"Take this, you can use it to breathe while underwater" she handed it to Keiran.
Keiran obeyed her and the two dived into the Stream. The only thing breaking the surface of the stream were the hollowed out bamboo branches which Keiran and Concordia had placed in their mouths and were now breathing through while underwater. Concordia noticed the Bloodhounds stop moving. They stared around in confusion and began to roam the area in circles sniffing out the surroundings and after about ten minutes of painful waiting, they left. Keiran and Concordia surfaced and took in deep breaths.
"That was close!" Concordia sighed deeply.
"I see…those Bloodhounds are capable of tracking foes by scent and Heartbeat Rate. By submerging our entire bodies within the Stream, we completely masked our scents and muffled the sound of our heartbeats" Keiran realized.
"Exactly right. I'm still monitoring the Bloodhounds. They don't seem to have caught unto our scent just yet but we should probably progress along this stream in case they do" Concordia suggested.
So Keiran and Concordia followed the stream through the Jungle.
"Should we head downstream towards the Sea or upstream towards the Mountains?" Keiran asked.
"Well, the Weaver Of Calamity typically loves to play his cards downstream so let's head upstream. At least that way we can secure for ourselves a Water Source" Concordia suggested.
"You're absolutely right. The Older Dream Knights have always made it clear that things get more dangerous the further away one is from a Water Source and if this Stream protected us from the Bloodhounds, there's no telling what might happen if we secure its Source" Keiran realized.
So Keiran and Concordia followed the Stream to the Highlands. Eventually, they discovered the Mountain from which the Stream flowed.
"Congratulations Keiran, Concordia. To secure a good Water Source in Enemy Territory is equivalent to capturing the Enemy's Flag. Your Trial is officially over" my Dad's voice said.
"I don't get it" Concordia said.
"Remember the first thing we did when we began the game?" Keiran asked.
"Yeah, we secured a Water Source for ourselves" Concordia realized.
"Everything began from there. To secure a good Water Source in enemy territory equips you to survive or begin to set up measures for Survival regardless of the hostility of the land" Keiran explained.
"I see…makes a weird sort of sense" Concordia admitted.