Both of them stared at the creatures on top of each other. Zenon gave a confused look while Aurea remained quiet and still while analyzing Zenon's Familiar.
Aurea's Familiar, however... it was strange to say. He had studied some species back in the shelter but he had no idea of what bird was in front of him.
It was as small as a parrot but had an immeasurable amount of feathers that seemingly floated a little bit over its body. But the most strange yet beautiful feature was that it was completely white, even its beak.
Even when he saw it at the shelter he couldn't find any information about him.
The bird noticed the intensity behind Zenon's eyes and replied with an "Eeeeee!" which almost pierced through Zenon's ears.
Aurea opened her mouth, "Yeah... uhm, I think it's better to say the name of the species. Mine's a Phoenix."
'A Phoenix?!' Zenon darted his eyes between Aurea and his Familiar, not daring to believe that she possessed an actual Phoenix. But…
"Aren't Phoenixes related to Fire? How come you have one?"
Aurea looked at Zenon for a few seconds and said, "I have a theory but I'll explain it later. Long story."
Composing himself, Zenon said,
"Alright. This, uhh... mine's a Leviathan."
The second he mentioned Leviathan, Aurea jumped from the ground and instantly approached him, not breaking visual contact with his Familiar.
Leviathan even got scared for a moment and thought of screeching at the girl but Zenon calmed him down.
She then analyzed him up close and said, "Now I see it..." She peeked at her Familiar, "See, I told you it wasn't an ordinary sea serpent."
"Eeeee!" Phoenix replied.
Zenon blinked and asked, "Can you understand your familiar?"
Aurea tilted her head and replied,
"Everyone can, what are you talking about?" She then chuckled and said, "Don't tell me you got scared when he talked to you."
Zenon lowered his head in embarrassment, earning some laughs from Aurea. To ease that feeling, Zenon asked,
"And what does he transform into?"
"Well, it seems like he needs to consume a weapon to do so. I'll search for a proper weapon and that will be it."
'At least I'm not the only one without a Familiar Weapon…'
After some seconds, Aurea approached the burnt campfire and picked some meat from it, cleaning it from the ashes and wood.
Zenon did the same and Leviathan just went toward the campfire and ate directly from it. Exactly like Phoenix.
Why would Familiars eat, however? Isn't it just a waste of food? Well, this way they could use their own strength to fight instead of using their respective host's Soul.
It wasn't an enormous boost, but it was noticeable enough to give it a chance.
This time the meat was actually decent and didn't produce any sort of upset stomach that required the intervention of an unknown element to solve.
Then, Aurea brought that neck warmer down and Zenon could finally see her entire face for the first time since they met.
And to say the least, she wasn't half bad. It wasn't something precious that would make his mind short-circuit like in those over-exaggerated novels, but it was rather average.
She had thin lips, a medium-sized nose with some freckles, high cheekbones... Yeah, pretty much average even though having the neck warmer made her look older.
'I shouldn't say that out loud least I want a beating... Even though I suppose she is eighteen, having Awakened this year.'
After some minutes of silently eating, Aurea lifted her neck warmer to cover her mouth and asked,
"Where did you get that wound?" She then pointed at his left shoulder.
Zenon looked at it and replied honestly,
"Uhm... got bit by the Tarantula."
Suddenly, Aurea stopped eating and looked at Zenon's shoulder, then at him as if he was some sort of monster. She slowly ate the remainings of her chunk of meat and when she finished,
"You lived through that? Do you have the slightest idea of how much venom one of those Tarantulas carries?"
"I don't."
She supported her chin with her fist and muttered, "Enough to kill fifteen Unseens... probably. You need something strong to neutralize that poison." Aurea dangerously looked at Zenon while opening her free hand.
Knowing what was about to happen, Zenon quickly intervened by saying, "The void can also help me with that. Is an overall enhancement to my body, both for strength and to neutralize some toxins... I suppose."
Aurea was still wary about it, but knowing that she just couldn't act based on suppositions... Well, she actually could as the Layers are entirely uncommunicated with Earth.
It would leave her with a bad taste in her mouth though.
But there was something that still bothered her. And naturally, she didn't hold back.
"You don't actually have an Unseen Soul, right? I know that you need something far better than such a low Tier to survive through that."
Zenon's entire body became stiff, and so did Leviathan's. His eyes widened for a moment while looking at the ground, clearly exposing his lie.
On the other hand, Aurea seemed to be rather amused. After all, she didn't care about a person's Soul Tier or Familiar as long as they were useful and handled them correctly.
As surprising as it may sound, an Unseen with an Unseen Soul and Familiar which he practiced with and mastered almost every day could easily beat an Unseen with a Supreme Soul and Familiar that did nothing but slack off.
Zenon slowly raised his gaze and met Aurea's eyes and was surprised by the smirk she had. She pulled her neck warmer up again and re-assured him,
"Don't worry, won't tell anyone. After all, I don't have a Visionary Soul either."
Once again, his eyes widened even more. Not only did he lie on his register by making it write an incorrect Tier, but Aurea also did the same?!
"Then what Soul Tier do you have?"
"Well, I won't tell you, naturally. It's unwise to reveal your tricks to anyone that may take advantage of them. But, since we both don't know about our Soul's Tier, let's do something." She leaned and said,
"In case we encounter other people, let's keep a facade up. Let them believe that you are insanely weak and that I'm immensely strong in terms of Tier, and that way we'll be safe in the long run."
Zenon blinked, not knowing what Aurea meant, and asked, "What kind of… How exactly will we be safe?"
"Trust me, we'll be."
They both stared at each other for some time, until Zenon sighed.
He was thinking of Aurea's personality back in the shelter. She seemed indifferent to everything. She was always alone while reading books, writing in her notebook, or training, ignoring everyone by putting on a pair of earsets.
The few times they bumped into each other, they would just ignore their existence. Sometimes a quick stand-off would occur before they minded their own business.
But this Aurea... it was a complete turn.
She was way more talkative than before. Not only that, but it felt like some sort of... acceptance of each other was starting to occur, despite all the confrontations they had for the prior month.
It's not that they hated each other, but rather couldn't stand the personality of the other party.
Yet, there was something that genuinely scared the shit out of Zenon, even if he doesn't explicitly express it.
When she asked him to trust her- no, when she said to keep up the facade.
The look in her eyes completely changed for an instant as well as her tone. And Zenon heard and saw this situation multiple times living back in that shitty neighborhood. The people that made this kind of expression, well...
Let's just say they became a problem.
The only difference between them and Aurea is that while in the outskirts that look never disappeared, Aurea only showed them for a quick moment before suppressing it.
'I won't make any assumptions before that situation occurs... but I should beware of her.'
"Now that I think about it."
Zenon tilted his head and Aurea said,
"Do you have clothes under those vines?"
Uh... what kind of question...?
Zenon quickly replied by saying, "I lost them after going inside the Rift. It would have been embarrassing to die while naked..."
Aurea looked at him and just began chuckling while saying, "Well, at least I'm not the only one. I pray for whoever appears here while naked without any Carapace."
Being the teenager he was, Zenon's brain disconnected the second Aurea said "not the only one". He unconsciously peeked at her armor and his mind went full creative mode, wondering what secrets could be hidden behind tho-
'No! Zenon... fucking hell! All day with the same damned thoughts...'
To quickly disregard any impure thoughts remaining in his still young and innocent mind, he asked,
"I know it's about your Soul, but is there a logical reason for putting the neck warmer up when you talk?"
"Well, if I don't we may get into some problems. It... never mind, there's no point in explaining it. I'll show you once we get the chance."
The Familiars already finished devouring the last pieces of meat, making Aurea get up from the cold ground, followed by Zenon. Now being both of them like this, Aurea said,
"Damn... just noticed you are really short. Is it cold down there?"
"How about I break your ankles to let you know how cold it is?"
Aurea chuckled as she left the little cave while saying, "I bet your condition wasn't the best in that shitty place. Malnourishment perhaps?"
"Not really." Zenon left the cave as well, "I managed to steal enough food to properly develop so I guess this is all I'm getting."
"Well, being so small like that, you'll easily outrun any Layer Beast we come across."
Zenon stared at Aurea, sighed, and said,
"I'm only some centimeters smaller. Now, shut up and let's get going."