"First you said that you didn't know the other Contractors. So in preparation for this whole mining event, you and Blood Pact went through the trouble of contacting this unknown organization, and even got some humans involved? It didn't make sense that you would bring the energy-transferring mark if you didn't know that the crystals weren't mature enough."
Saying this Aiden paused a bit before asking, "My first question is, why didn't you bring more energy transferring Detritus Mark's, and my second question is concerning your offer actually, how can I trust you? How do I know that you won't sell me out?"
At the dawn of Aiden's words, Jonathan suddenly fell silent, but after thinking for a moment he said, "The reason you can trust me is because I have something to hide, and so do you if the Silence discovered this place, it's only a matter of time before they discover the people involved."
After saying this Jonathan suddenly walked a bit closer to Aiden, "The reason we had that Detritus Mark is because it's a necessary item for illegal crystals mining, there's always a possibility of the crystals being premature, that's the reason we got involved with the organization in the first place, you can't just find illegal Detritus Mark's meant for stuff like this in any store now can you? Please, I really don't want to die, all we have to do is abandon this cave and never come back, and we'll be fine."
The two men stood close to one another staring bravely into each other's eyes, this went on for a while until Aiden finally spoke. "Fine, I accept your offer, but I still don't trust you."
Saying this he walked out of the tent with Jonathan's book, only to see Mai on her feet doing some light stretching.
Seeing Mai, Jonathan was the first to say, "It seems you're doing better now."
"I'm fully recovered," Mai exclaimed calmly before adding, "Thanks for the shot, do you have any more?"
Shaking his head, Jonathan said with a saddened voice, "If you knew how much that shot cost, you wouldn't be asking such a question."
Upon hearing Jonathan's answer, Mai nodded her head and resumed stretching, the duo stared at Mai for a while, waiting until she got used to moving again.
"This place reeks of Blood," Mai suddenly said as she gazed at all the dead bodies on the ground before turning to Aiden, "can we go now?" She asked.
Hearing Mai's words, Jonathan hurriedly said, "Wait I gotta pack up," before rushing into the tent.
Watching Jonathan rush into the tent, Mai suddenly frowned and turned to Aiden, "Wanna tell me what you and he discussed?"
Sensing the caution in Mai's tone, Aiden scoffed, "Ohh so now you're being cautious, you didn't seem all that cautious when you were spilling the details of our journey to him."
"That was because I thought you were going to kill him, you don't seem to have a problem with that," Mai muttered, shocking Aiden.
Shaking his head, Aiden began explaining the details of his conversation with Jonathan to Mai, and by the time he was done, Jonathan had walked out of the tent with a backpack.
The next thing he did was quite odd, he walked up to Surge and took out a syringe, taking some of his blood before storing it.
Seeing Jonathan perform his odd experiment, Aiden walked up to one of the dead bodies and picked up a blade.
"Catch!"
He said as he threw the blade to Mai, who caught it with ease.
After some preparation, the three of them walked out of the open cave with Jonathan in front, Mai in the middle, and Aiden behind.
But Just as Aiden was about to walk into the opening that led to the other side of these maze-like tunnels he suddenly paused strangely and turned around.
"Strange," he muttered with furrowed brows, before continuing on his journey, leaving behind an empty space.
Unbeknownst to Aiden, something happened as soon as he left.
At the ceiling of the cave, one could find a small crack, Indistinguishable from the others around it.
In this crack, a pair of blue smiling eyes with no pupils opened up staring at the entrance of the tunnels that Aiden and Mai had just walked into before closing once again.
Meanwhile, Aiden, unaware of what had just happened at the cave, continued following Jonathan with an expressionless face.
Aiden's walk through the tunnels wasn't eventful in the slightest, instead, it was rather boring, with Aiden reading the book on Detritus Marks and everyone else staying silent.
"Hmm," Aiden hummed before saying in his mind, "Landon, I want to observe my abilities please."
As soon as he thought of this, an ancient-looking book appeared out of thin air, turning a few pages before stopping at a particular one, it read:
Name: Aiden
Race: Human (Mutated)
Level: Second Gate (0%)
Strength: 1
Speed: 6
Stamina: 10
Agility: 13
Consciousness: 1
Soul energy: 1 (100%)
Temporary points: (Stealth: 2) (Berserker Rage: 2)
Innate skills:
(Semi Immortality)
(Soulless)
(Soul body)
(Soul gaze: Second Gate)
(Soul armor: Second Gate: 4%) (cooldown :1 hour)
(Unknown)
(Unknown)
(Soul control: Second gate)
(Soul Grace)
(Infect: 1/ 2)
(Soul command)
(Soul storage 33/50)
Skills: (Dagger mastery: Advanced)
(Blade mastery: Novice)
(Crafting: Terrible)
(Adaptive combat: proficient)
Frowning, Aiden flipped to the next page as he read its content.
Mandatory mission-become a scholar:
read one book a week, failure to complete this task will result in strict penalties that may lead to death.
(remaining time: 58 hours, 14 minutes, 9 seconds.)
"It seems my stamina has increased, my soul armor is also on cooldown," Aiden thought as he closed the book of souls and continued reading the book on Detritus inscribing.
Aiden wasn't surprised that his soul armor required a cooldown time, although his Soul armor didn't consume any soul energy, it was still hard to maintain, even before his breakthrough he couldn't maintain his soul armor for extended periods as it caused strain to his arms.
The effects of his soul armor at the second gate were even more straining causing exhaustion and pain, even now Aiden's body still felt a little sore, and this was a soreness that his soul energy couldn't heal.
After walking for a few minutes, Aiden suddenly heard an exclamation, from Jonathan.
Closing the book, Aiden looked up and discovered that they had somehow ended up at a dead end.
But that didn't seem to be the reason why Jonathan had exclaimed.
In front of them, was a wooden platform, connected to some rope and metal. The problem was that this platform seemed to have been destroyed and the ropes that held it in place had been cut.
Looking around, Aiden discovered that there was a way up, so it wasn't a total dead end.
"It was Binder for sure, that bitch trapped us here," Jonathan exclaimed.
"It was a smart choice if you ask me," Mai's voice suddenly sounded out, her eyebrows raised as she turned towards Aiden, "what do we do now?" She asked.
Frowning a bit, Aiden looked up, weighing his options carefully before saying, "The rocks are too smooth to climb, we have to wait for an hour."
At the sound of Aiden's voice, Mai raised a brow, her curiosity palpable as she said, "Why an hour?"
"Grugru!"
Jonathan was about to comment as well, but the sound of violent rumbles interrupted him, prompting him to look behind himself in shock.
Aiden and Mai on the other hand glanced at each other, their brows deeply furrowed.
After the rumbling subsided, a colossal mole emerged into view, its massive claws digging into the earth as it paused, sensing something amiss.
Upon seeing this mole Jonathan stood frozen in fear, his eyes wide with terror, as his heartbeat quickened.
At that moment, Mai seemed to realize something, her face scrunched up in displeasure as she whispered to Aiden, "Is this the ugly mole you fed me before?"
Aiden's reply was innocent yet chilling, his eyes smiling as he said, "I think it was bigger than this one?"
"ROAR!!!"
As if responding to Aiden's taunt, the mole roared, its deafening cry reverberating through the tunnels, causing Jonathan to snap out of his trance.
It only took a moment for his survival instincts to stamp in as Jonathan's eyes scanned his surroundings for a weapon, with trembling hands, he snatched the closest thing, which was Aiden's book, and hurled it at the creature's gaping maw.
"Wait!"
Aiden, shocked by Jonathan's sudden movement yelled as he shot Jonathan a deathly glare, the intensity of his gaze sending shivers down Jonathan's spine.
"ROARR!"
The colossal mole roared as it swallowed the book, its gaping maw revealing rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth that gleamed ominously in the dim light of the tunnels.
Each tooth was twisted and malformed, resembling jagged daggers jutting out at irregular angles.
The teeth were stained with the blood of its victims, their edges serrated and uneven, capable of tearing through flesh and bone with ease.
Some teeth were so large they looked more like gnarled spikes, while others were smaller but no less menacing, each one a testament to the creature's ferocity.
A ferocity that was amplified by the awful smell emanating from its being.
As the mole lunged forward, its teeth gnashed together in a grotesque display of hunger and aggression, the sound of their grinding echoed through the tunnels like the ominous churning of a stone mill.
Each tooth seemed to pulsate with a malevolent energy, promising pain, and destruction to any unfortunate enough to find themselves caught in its path.
To Jonathan, staring into the gaping abyss of the mole's mouth, the sight of those monstrous teeth filled him with a primal fear unlike anything he had ever experienced. He could only imagine the devastation they were capable of inflicting, and the thought sent a chill down his spine as he braced himself for the inevitable clash that lay ahead.
Time suddenly slowed to a crawl as Aiden used his special ability, noticing Jonathan's frozen demeanor Aiden's anger subsided a little as he understood the meaning behind his actions.
Without a word, Aiden leaped into action, his movements fluid and precise.
With a swift motion, Aiden's razor-sharp tail sliced through the air, aiming for the mole's vulnerable spots.
"Slash!"
"Awwww!"
The creature howled in pain as Aiden's tail struck its eye socket, prompting Aiden to stop using his ability, as time returned to normal.
That wasn't all though As soon as time resumed, Aiden curved the tip of his tail, piercing the beast's innards even more, he did this to create a makeshift hook, and in the next moment, he flung his tail to the side with all the force he could muster.
"Bang!"
A collision sounded out as the mole was flung to the side, violently hitting the tunnel walls as it whimpered upon impact. It shivered a bit clinging to life with all it had, but it ultimately lost in the end as it stopped moving.
"You're down to 13% of your total soul energy," Landon notified Aiden, but Aiden didn't worry, instead he stored the beast's soul in his soul storage before summoning it again directly in his mouth, this way he could avoid the odd sight of eating air.
In the midst of all this, Mai remained composed, her calm demeanor a stark contrast to the chaos unfolding before her.
She seemed genuinely unbothered at how quickly the battle ended.
Letting out a heavy breath, Aiden turned to Jonathan, his expression unreadable, as he said.
"You are going to dissect that beast, and then you are going to get me my book back."