"Haaah…" Zenon sighed as he sank deeper and deeper into the warm natural pool.
Letting his head rest on the rock behind him, Zenon closed his eyes and let the relaxing sensation of the temperature caress his skin and muscles. All the stiffness quickly disappeared, giving way to more pleasant tranquility.
On the opposite side of the rock, Aurea also did the same, feeling how her body temperature slowly matched that of the water. Her fever was in its last stages and would probably disappear in some days anyways.
"I was longing for this… it feels good to relax…" Zenon muttered.
Leviathan and Phoenix, even if they weren't physically tired, also used this moment to take a good relaxing bath. Well, the bird was doing so, since there was a sea serpent swimming at extreme speed around the water.
Looking at the rock, Zenon saw the amount of vines clothing hanging from it, along with a white neck warmer.
'Not like I'll focus on that.'
For two teenagers being inside the same hot spring, naked and so close to each other, they were strangely still. Some people wouldn't even breathe due to the secrets hiding behind the rock.
Luckily for Zenon and Aurea, this past week was beyond torturous and they just wanted to take a break.
"How's the fever?" Zenon asked.
After some seconds of silence, "Improving… fighting for long periods is still too much for me to handle. Apart from that, I can handle myself just fine."
Over the week, their relationship swiftly improved. Not to the point of being considered good friends, but nice companions.
Zenon worked as hard as he could to be a good teammate, even saving Aurea from being bitten twice. Needless to say, he was scratched once by those tentacles and the next day he could feel his body heating up but nothing more.
The void was more than enough to cleanse the poison.
Zenon sat up and asked, "Do you have any idea where we are going?"
"Waves inside these caves are hardly visible, talk less about knowing where they come from. Since your void also remains uneventful, we have no other choice but to randomly take paths."
Both Unseens sighed before submerging again inside the water.
Zenon had sent Leviathan sometimes to scout ahead when they were resting in case he could find any exit. More than once he unknowingly traveled in circles, finding nothing.
The void was completely frozen in place and each Link seemed to grow bigger each time they reached a new… one.
"You noticed the Links' size right?"
"I did… perhaps it's a good idea to base our closeness to an exit using them."
"What if we end up inside a more dangerous zone?" Zenon subconsciously shivered as he said these words.
The Fungi Mothers were already a pain in the ass. The more of them, the more Frenzied Fungi. This is not a problem since they are Second-Ranks, but…
What would happen if they met a Fourth-Rank Fungi Mother? These Frenzied were already extremely dangerous while in groups, forcing Zenon and Aurea to make reckless decisions to survive.
A Third-Rank Frenzied though? He didn't want to think about it.
"If we end up there, there's no other choice but to fight. That's the thrill about the Layers, right? Knowing you could die the moment you turn a corner…" Aurea's voice trailed off as she ended.
"I still can't get to feel that thrill, but if you do… congratulations? At least you are more prepared than me."
Scratching his head, Zenon lowered it into the water and cleaned his hair a bit. He also summoned the Solis Vines to let them get some water.
Ever since they left the canyon, the Vines have been becoming weaker and weaker. Enough to defend Zenon from some scratching but not blunt hits. The white color has turned grayish as well.
Maybe that's what happens when you don't feed them sunlight.
He was genuinely fearing for his dear - gifted - Carapace. After all, it was his only form of protection, and going head-on against a Second-Rank without any armor was not the best of ideas.
Dismissing it, Zenon laid down once again, and said,
"Will you challenge the Second Layer after this?"
Aurea remained quiet for a while. After some time passed, she sighed and said,
"Yeah, I will. But let's not focus on that future right now, expectations will make us weak, you know. I'd rather focus on getting the hell out of here."
"Same here… I hope."
—
[You have slain a Second-Rank Instinctual: Frenzied Fungi]
[You have slain a Sec…]
[...]
Zenon watched as the Sharp Fang its stab in between the Frenzied eyes. shield. With each kill, even if it's a minimal boost, the amount of force needed decreases.
Not only that, but the void augment plays a vital part in his overall strength, as he saved his face from being eaten away thanks to a swift change.
While he had a lot of trouble learning the basics of void weaving with his Void Gloves, he slowly understood more and more of Void Sense interaction with his body.
The most notable change is the speed of travel from point A to point B. If Zenon had a clear image of where he needed the void most, the time to travel said distance would be reduced considerably, around three times as fast.
Not only that but the strength of his attacks is inversely proportional to the surface covered by the void. Meaning, if he were to augment only his knuckles with void he could deliver a far more devastating blow than having his entire hand.
Same with a weapon, if he enhanced the tip of Sharp Fang only, a stab attack would be easier and faster to execute.
'And that took me weeks to realize. I should see how far these augments can go…'
Looking behind him, Aurea was dealing the final blow to a Fungi Mother with her shield. Well… she was pretty much letting the shield feast on the stalk.
Sighing, Zenon began walking toward her.
Two days swiftly went by. Aurea's condition improved completely and could now fight as she usually did, lasting for hours without showing a wisp or tiredness.
"You are really something impossible to understand. Don't you get tired?" Zenon said as he watched the Fungi Mother fall down.
"I do, but I want to leave this shit hole as soon as possible." Aurea looked around the place before dismissing her shield, "And we still haven't found a damned exit…"
They began walking towards the next tunnel which Phoenix already scouted since they weren't going to stop anytime soon.
Leviathan was already searching for any possible threat or Links, since having an unexpected encounter with a filled Link was not the best idea.
Climbing the tunnel, Aurea and Zenon continued their journey through the Fungal Caverns, as the girl called them. Nothing shiny, but it had the job done.
'Hmm?'
Zenon saw a strange fluctuation in the void near one of the walls. It happened for an instant, yet somehow he managed to catch the moving veils.
After staring at it for a while, the void shifted again.
"I think I found something." He said while getting close to the wall.
Aurea stopped in her tracks to look at Zenon giving small taps to the tunnel. Eventually, Zenon managed to hit a loose rock and made a small smile.
Augmenting his arm with the void, he picked up some momentum and bashed himself against the wall. After three tries the wall fell off.
Leaving the path to a bedroom…