[Carapace: Divisible Spore
Rank: Tier-III Mindful
Description: Inside these infested caves, the path to freedom is glowing with darkness.
Attributes: Silent Waves
Silent Waves Description: No matter in what conditions, the spore refuses to alert his enemy.]
Zenon carefully read each set of Runes regarding his new Carapace.
As always, the description had nothing to do with the Carapace itself, which was slowly confirming one of Zenon's hypotheses.
Perhaps they were just used to tell a story or give clues?
At least that was what Solis Vines' Runes are all about. The description mainly focuses on the story of the seed of the stars, also known as the Solis seed.
Luckily, the Attribute was more straightforward.
'Silent Waves… meaning that this Carapace has a way to nullify its sound? What the hell it's this…'
Since there wasn't any other important Rune to take into account, Zenon decided to summon it. Then in his hand, purple particles began concentrating until they formed…
… a mere mushroom.
Blinking twice, Zenon turned the Divisible Spore around and around, analyzing it. It was a medium-sized mushroom, with blue and black dots all over its cap.
And that was all, there was genuinely no other important feature. It was such a ridiculous Carapace that he couldn't believe a Tier-III dropped it.
"Is it safe to assume that I got scammed?" He said while wiggling the mushroom.
Aurea looked at him, containing her laughter but still letting some chuckles out. She was having some serious fun watching him sink deeper into that meaningless despair.
Zenon sighed loudly and threw the Carapace as hard as he could to the ground to vent some frustration.
Though the moment he did so, both Aurea's and Phoenix's bodies became stiff. The next second, Aurea shouted,
"Cover your ears!"
Zenon's eyes widened as he watched Aurea covering her ears while turning around. Due to the unexpected order, he was a tad too slow to protect himself.
The mushroom exploded into tiny blue ones which then-
*BANG!*
Exploded into several sonorous shockwaves.
Zenon managed to cover his ears just after the closest shockwave reached him, which sent his entire mind into a sharp pain mixed with severe dizziness.
His hearing was reduced to a mere constant acute sound. As he watched Aurea slowly uncover her ears, only to run towards Zenon and kneel beside him.
The void quickly moved towards Zenon's eardrums, which acted as a regenerative layer that slowly took that pain away. Mixed with Phoenix's healing, he regained some hearing after five seconds or so.
"Fucking… hell. These aren't silent." Zenon mumbled.
He was still gritting his teeth, the remnants of the shockwave still bouncing inside his brain. Aurea on the other hand just sighed in relief and sat down.
After remaining silent for some seconds, she chuckled and said,
"I don't think that's a scam. The vast amount of waves that gathered around it was too frightening. Though, I didn't expect it to blow up and send them everywhere."
"Neither did I, if I were to read the description out loud you'd be dying from laughter. What a joke."
Caressing his ears, Zenon got up and began walking towards the little campfire and took a piece of meat.
They calmly ate their… dinner? Lunch? Like they knew what time of the day or night it was. They just ate the chunks of meat and prepared for another night of sleep.
Before Aurea put the campfire out, she looked at Zenoin and said,
"Can you tell me the description? Maybe it's another clue."
Zenon sighed and said, "Inside these infested caves, the path to freedom is glowing with darkness.
Says nothing. I'm starting to get sick of this place."
"Just endure it for a bit longer…" Aurea extinguished the fire and continued, "Phoenix says we are closing on the surface, give it some days."
"I hope he's right then."
Clicking his tongue, Zenon tried getting comfortable on the wet and sticky ground. Every day following the same routine was making him crazy already, and seeing the Solis Vines becoming gray wasn't helping.
Ignoring those thoughts, Zenon closed his eyes.
—
5 days later…
"Throw it, now!" Aurea shouted.
Turning around, Zenon summoned the Divisible Spore and threw it with all his might toward Aurea.
Her Wyvern's Fate scales were tight shut, not letting even moisture get through. When the mushroom was centimeters from her, all the scales suddenly became loose and bashed the Frenzied Shield against the mushroom.
The Carapace was sent flying at high speed, hitting a Fungi Mother between the eyes and then…
*BANG!*
Exploded in several shockwaves.
Aurea and Zenon both covered their ears, nullifying the second usage of the Carapace. All the Frenzied and Mothers inside the Link remained stunned for a long time, even dropping to the ground in pain.
Both Unseens used this chance to execute them with swift moves. In less than ten seconds, all the Layer Beasts inside were dead.
Distributing the void all over his body, Zenon got up from the ground and looked around the Link. This was, by far, the largest one they'd encountered.
Filled with enormous roots and vines, they signaled just how close to the surface they were. For once, Zenon was having some expectations of something good happening.
Sighing, he summoned his personal Runes.
[Void Sacrifices: 389/1500]
'Slowly reaching the amount which I'm supposed to be fighting Second-Ranks… how ironic. At least their skin is becoming easier to pierce.'
Aurea dismissed her shield after checking that every mushroom was indeed dead. As always, she lowered her - tinted with red - neck warmer and spat some blood.
"We are continuously going up. And I can even sense the waves from the river as well. There's a slim chance of getting out of here today."
"Well…" Zenon looked at her, "That's some good news. How far do you estimate?"
"Don't know. I'll tell you once I get more information about the sound waves."
Shrugging, Aurea began walking towards the tunnel in front of her, followed by Zenon.
Leviathan transformed back into his Familiar form and began crawling alongside Zenon. His transformation was surely something to behold.
He went from a mere serpent the size of his forearm to a massive dragon-like snake the size of his entire body. He could even match his height with Zenon if he wished to.
Not only that, he was slowly becoming more and more powerful, and Zenon knew that soon he would be fighting alongside him. At the expense of his Void Gloves, of course!
'Look at you… you grew so much! I'm so proud of you little boy.' Zenon thought while patting Leviathan's head.
*Smack!*
"Agh! What the hell! Can't you stand the little affection I already give you?!"
Of course - being the proud creature he was - Leviathan didn't hesitate to smack Zenon with his tail on the back of his head, almost making him trip.
Aurea turned around, chuckling at their interaction. Even Phoenix moved his head in amusement.
And to say the least, the healing bird also grew in size. Just not as much as his dear friend Leviathan.
While some weeks ago he was as small as a parrot, he now reached his maximum size. Probably around the same size as an eagle, gaining also more speed while flying.
They were unrecognizable, compared to some weeks ago.
Some hours later, Zenon and Aurea reached a… particular scenario.
First of all, it wasn't the usual Link they were used to. Instead, it was a straight line that both Unseens instantly recognized. It was a ravine.
The difference was the lack of sunlight and the river. Looking at the ceiling, Zenon could see droplets of water falling down periodically, filling the floor with water.
"Please tell me this is something good." Zenon muttered as he eyed Aurea.
The girl made a weird mixture of nodding and shaking as she said, "I can certainly sense the river's waves up there… but I can also sense something coming from there."
She pointed at another ravine that intersected with the one they were currently. Aurea quickly ran to hide behind two rocks, followed by Zenon and both waited for whatever was hidden to appear.
Leviathan even got inside the void and began scouting ahead.
Just as he managed to get in front of the ravine and analyze it, Zenon's eyes widened as cold sweat began to pour down his forehead.
His heart raced uncontrollably as he felt a sense of dread wash over him. His very own existence was gripped with terror and felt as small as an ant. It felt like drowning in your own breaths.
Zenon blinked as he lifted his head,
"Fucking hell…"