As the three wake up from their long sleep, the sound of a stomach rumbling rings out inside the cave.
Cleo and Diamond turn their heads towards Aranold; the latter lowers his head in shame; he cannot believe that he just did that.
"You hungry, bro?" Cleo is confused. It is not that hard for people like them to abstain from eating for a couple of days because they can just use the energy they store inside their cells. Of course, this is greatly discouraged since those who have had gene enhancement need a lot of energy to fuel their bodies.
It was not that long before they had eaten all of the food that they brought after realising just what kind of place Nightmare Valley truly is.
The amount of energy that they had stored should keep them going for a week or two, if they are lucky.
"Let me check your body." He then approaches his friend and starts touching his shoulder, back, and chest, checking for something.
"So that is the case." After a couple of minutes, it seems that he had discovered the root of the problem.
It was not him that had discovered the problem, but the system, which told him about Aranold's current condition.
"Your bloodline might have amplified your current strength to a massive degree, but it seems that your gene enhancement is not enough to fully support your energy consumption; your bloodline is basically burning your energy at an incredibly fast rate."
Hearing this, Aranold's expression becomes ugly. In this place, there is almost nothing that they can eat. If he wants to continue training in this place, he needs to find another alternative to obtain energy.
"Amazing, you managed to find the problem in just a couple of minutes just by observing and physically touching him," Diamond says with admiration.
Cleo rubs his nose. He is embarrassed that someone like Diamond would look at him with such admiration. He coughs and decides to change the subject.
"The only place that I can think of where we can find food is that strange forest, but with that monster there, we are unable to even get close to the place." The two agree with this.
Aranold sighs; his stomach only continues to complain, making him unable to think straight. He can't help but complain.
"The only creatures nearby are those living dead; their rotting flesh will not be able to satisfy me even if I force myself to eat them!"
Cleo shakes his head. He will not force his friend to eat the rotting flesh of the undead; they need to find another alternative.
"How about we go find those dark elves and ask them about this place? Looking at their appearance, it seems that they are quite familiar with this place," Diamond suddenly says.
Cleo shakes his head. Actually, he also wants to do this, but he had noticed during their last encounter that the dark elves are overly protective of the location of the piles of living flesh.
"I also wish to ask them about some information regarding Nightmare Valley, but it seems that the other dark elves are not too keen on keeping us near that location; we cannot risk a conflict against them."
Aranold agrees with his words, even with his rumbling stomach. He still remembers the vigilance that the dark elves emit; their eyes are full of hostility when they look at their group.
"So what should we do?" Diamond quietly asked.
"It seems that the only thing we can do is go outside; besides, the appointment between us and room XZ14 is getting closer," Cleo states, full of disappointment.
"What about the yin stones that the two of you had been talking about? According to your words, they are very important to you guys."
"There is nothing we can do but ask Lilith for a couple of them; hopefully she will not charge us that much." Cleo sighs after saying this.
Diamond shakes her head.
"Considering her nature, you guys better be ready to be scammed. She might look like someone who only thinks about sex, but she is actually a very successful merchant; she is known not only to suck people dry for their essence but also for their treasure."
Upon hearing this, the two look at each other and smile bitterly. It seems that they are going to be scammed.
Aranold quickly asks.
"What about the other members of her race? They might have your attribute items that they want to sell."
His eyes are shining full of hope; he needs the yin stones to function properly; he does not want to return to his old ways.
Cleo disagrees with his thoughts.
"No! We must directly deal with her; her members are definitely working under her or her rival; either way, dealing with them will only displease her. I know that I am sounding very cowardly right now, but I still think that angering an age will only make it troublesome for us."
The two agree with him, Diamond even says.
"That is not cowardly; that is called being smart. The succubus might not be one of the strongest races in the academy, but they are incredibly resourceful. Together with their beauty and nature, they hold a considerable amount of authority in the academy, not to mention that, alongside elves, humans, and aphrixian, the demon race has the most number of teachers in the academy; their branch, the succubus, had the greatest number of individuals in their race."
Cleo and Aranold take a deep breath after hearing such news; they did not know that this was the case. No wonder the succubus are the owners of the Red Moon establishment; it is because of the authority they hold.
"Unfortunately, it is not that easy befriending Lilith compared to brother Pure; she is too cunning, and she only seeks to obtain benefits from me." Cleo outwardly states that he is not afraid that Diamond can hear about his thoughts regarding Pure.