Nico stood up a moment later and patted some of the dust and grime off his knees.
He threw the strange occurrence with his arrogant teammate to the side and sent his mind into the dimensional tether.
Right now, his priority was to deal with the ever-increasing cold. Summoning the appropriate articles of clothing from the dimensional space, the brown-haired boy cleaned the mess that the arachnids had splattered all over his armour before quickly getting dressed.
'Ah, much better.'
Nico breathed a content sigh now that he had worn another layer on top of his compression shirt. He also donned a pair of gloves to stop his fingers from turning blue.
Rubbing his hands together to warm them up, Nico then shifted his gaze toward where his teammate walked ahead. He frowned, the brief battle they had just shared flashing through his mind.
The seed of unease within his chest grew bigger.
'Again? What is this feeling?'
Having experienced it once before during the latter stages of the Training Camp, Nico knew that nothing good would come out of its fruition. The problem, however, was that he had no tidbits or pieces of information with which he could use to prevent something untoward from happening.
Worse still, if that unfavourable outcome centred around his cloaked teammate, the brown-haired boy wasn't completely sure he could stop him. The way his peer had wielded the two sickles, as well as the rock-hard sensation his feet felt when striking his gut… all of it told a tale of an experienced combatant.
'How can that be? He should be around my age. What has he gone through to get so much skill?'
Nico clenched his fist, a sense of powerlessness filling his heart. The same helplessness that had coursed through his veins when the White Cobras had arrived.
'Blast it! Too many things are dependent on me being able to form a core. I can't fail.'
If the worst-case scenario that his mind conjured did end up happening, he'd do everything in his power to stop it. For that to happen, however, he would have to claw at every chance to increase his combat sense.
'I can't be passive any longer. I must be proactive.'
…And the only method in his disposal was to fight.
Based on his recent clash with the Frozen Spiders, Nico surmised that the real danger lay with the creatures' ability to call for backup. As long as he was one-on-one with an arachnid, he was confident that he could defeat it… provided there were no interruptions and a chance to fight with abandon.
Unfortunately, with his luck, that was probably never bound to happen. So, to prevent the recurrence of being chased by a horde of bloodthirsty demonic spiders again, the brown-haired boy could not give the abomination a single moment to breathe, should he ever encounter one by himself again.
Nico released a silent sigh and hurried to catch up with his unruly teammate.
This road of his… it was certainly sure to be a tough one.
***
A while later, after walking in silence, broken only by the periodic rumbling and shaking of the Labyrinth, the duo of the cloaked figure and Nico came to a halt. The former was a couple of paces ahead, while the latter kept some distance.
Nico didn't want to antagonise his teammate again. For some strange reason, it seemed that his presence alone was enough to set his peer off.
…Which was extremely bizarre.
Nico was positive he had done nothing to warrant such an extreme reaction. Furthermore, he was also somewhat sure he had never met the hooded individual before. So, what reason could there possibly be for such hostility?
The boy sighed and then shook his head. There was no use wasting energy thinking about a question he would never receive an answer to. Instead, there was something much more pressing at hand.
A peek at his metallic bracelet displayed three nearby dots close to their position. The proximity with which they shared suggested that they had met up and were travelling within the hazy gloom together.
During the few times the Dungeon shifted after he and his teammate had fought, Nico was worried that they would only end up further away from the rest of the team. At the start of the erratic shifting that seemed to be the case… however, with the last rumble, they had luckily been transported near the others.
The only problem, though…
…was the demonic creature with a round carapace of ice barring their path.
Embers of madness flickered and burgeoned in its eyes, heralding a never-ending cycle of animosity and venom.
Standing behind the cloaked figure, Nico made no move to intervene.
The brown-haired boy wanted to see how his peer would handle the situation. This way, he could glean some crucial information on how he fought, to prepare in case something went very awry at the end of the Ceremony, but also to see how he could adapt his combat style to that of the hooded figure, bolstering the combined might of their team.
As he watched with a mixture of anticipation and tension, the strange individual whose facial features seemed to be shrouded under some sort of tenebrous void, calmly stepped forward. His relaxed posture and utter disregard for the bloodthirsty abomination barring his path belied confidence and belief that he was unmatched.
Something, which intrigued Nico even though he was not a big fan of his peer's attitude.
The boy observed the arachnid's chelicerae twitch. In the next second, a blanket of silk shot out of its underbelly.
Nico noticed a glint in the dim light in response before a flurry of movement exploded forth from the cloaked figure.
Within an instant, two reap hooks headed in the spider's direction. The Demon scuttled back, shooting intermittent bursts of silk out of its underbelly. Nico easily discerned this as a tactic to stall its approaching foe.
Unfortunately for the Frozen Spider, however, its opponent wasn't just any normal foe. He was among the upper percentile of all youths scattered within this icy hell.
And so with a little adjustment, the cloaked figure evaded the threads of fibre with ease. He barely broke stride, and in the next moment, launched a lethal barrage of cold, calculating blows.
Having distinguished the areas where the abomination's ice was thinnest, the pair of scythes in the ill-tempered youth's possession cried gleefully, inflicting more and more wounds with every passing moment.
Numerous cracks spread along the frosty armour protecting the creature's legs until eventually the ice shattered.
The Demon shrieked, the sound coming out as something akin to a distorted high-pitch gurgle.
Nico winced, covering his ears slightly.
'Looks like it's not mute, after all.' he chuckled to himself, staring at the brutal form of his teammate savagely slicing the spider apart.
His speed and the effortless way he used the reap hooks gave the Demon no time to breathe, never mind counter-attacking.
This… this is what Nico aimed to be.
The boy bit the inside of his cheek, fully understanding that the current him was no match for his hooded peer.
Soon, fetid black blood sprayed through the air as Nico's teammate sliced the skull of the abomination open in one swift, fluid move. The spider's body slowly fell to the ground, the thump synchronising with the cloaked figure's action of turning around to stare at Nico.
The brown-haired boy's heart skipped a beat.
His forehead suddenly became very sweaty.
Gritting his teeth, Nico refused to let his peer have the satisfaction of sensing his fear. He calmly walked forward, striding past the remains of the pitiful spider. He schooled his face into an impassive expression, ignoring the insanely strong youth.
Nico then had a peek at his bracelet, an excited spark igniting within his eyes.
It was time to reunite with Leon… and meet the other two members of his team.
He inwardly prayed that at least one of them would turn out to be good-natured.