Murray eventually found his way into the cavern, looking completely untouched by mud or water. But even he could not escape being examined by the older Transcenders. After being released, he casually walked up to Mir, doing his best not to show any concern over the fact that Mir looked like he had crawled out of a rockslide. The trainee deacons nearby only saw them as acquaintances on good terms currently, and neither brother wanted to let their misconception be broken.
Mir was sitting near the 'pond' where most of the Skin-leeches had been placed for the time being. Skin-leeches weren't edible as mutant creatures, so almost nobody in the cavern had any interest in them except for the Transcenders who were digging them out of the bodies of the victims. The woman who had operated on him was resting right beside the tiny pond, her focus fixed on the wriggling mass of worms in the water. Murray hovered over it for a few seconds before turning to Mir.
"How many of these came out of you?"
"Nine." Mir became a little surprised to see how concerned Murray looked at the answer. "They didn't get much from me. I was the first to be treated, thanks to this wonderful lady here," he added. It forced a chuckle out of her.
"Even so, nine is too many!" Murray knelt down, eyes running over Mir's mutilated skin. "You need to get out of here and seek immediate medical treatment. These wounds won't do well against the hostile environment of a taboo zone. Come on, I'll take you back."
Mir raised a hand to stop him. "You don't recognize this creature, do you?"
"...Am I supposed to? This taboo zone wasn't even supposed to contain any mutant creatures, right? I didn't even know that something so serious was happening here before I reached this place." Murray took one more look at the Skin-leeches in the pond, clearly trying to recall any memories of them.
"We learned about Skin-leeches in the seventh-year," Mir said, exasperated. Murray slowly nodded as if his mind wasn't yet getting to that part of his memories. In the end, he just admitted defeat.
"I was away from studies for a whole year. And we had to memorize 50 mutant creatures in every year of school. How am I supposed to remember all of them?"
"If you did, you'd know that Skin-leeches aren't capable of causing any harm to their prey within a short period. It takes days, or even weeks for the victim to be stripped of their cellular nutrition. You might end up with damaged nerves if you're unlucky, but even that takes a long time."
"Still, nine of them... Are you sure you're fine?"
"She is, and I haven't yet found any evidence to the contrary," Mir said, pointing at the woman again, who didn't look as pleased this time around because Murray immediately shot her the question, "How certain are you that he's gonna be fine?"
"From the Church of Sunbreaker, eh?" she muttered, taking her eyes off the pond and giving Murray a slow once-over. "You people do have the right to act so cocky here, but I'll advise you to tone down that aggression a little. Not every sacred ground you visit is gonna be controlled by your Church."
"It isn't aggression," Murray said, glancing around them to see if anyone was close enough to eavesdrop. "That's my little brother. I have the right to be concerned."
The woman's countenance softened visibly at that reply. Looking at their faces a couple of times deeply, she nodded almost imperceptibly, as if noticing the similarities in their features.
"I have a mutant ability named Lifeseeker," she said after the pause. "You've probably heard of it; it's a popular one for professional Transcenders who explore sacred grounds and newly discovered taboo zones. The ability enables me to detect life-forms nearby. Many of us have it, or something similar to it." She gestured at her companions in the distance, who were still in the process of examining the newcomers for Skin-leeches.
Murray visibly relaxed upon hearing her explanation. "Oh, I know about that one! My trainer advised me to go for it for my first mutation!"
"But you didn't, from the sound of it. Why, if I may ask?" the woman said.
"I wanted something more..." Murray began to scratch his head, looking uncertain.
"Cool?" Mir suggested. The woman laughed. "I remember looking for 'cool' mutant abilities when I was your age," she said, fingers crooked to display air-quotes for that adjective. "One day, my old group-leader said something that made me reconsider my choices. He told me– Cool abilities get you out of trouble, but good abilities don't let you get into trouble to begin with."
Both brothers fell silent, contemplating how reasonable the quote was. Mir personally felt the quote had some truth to it, but Murray was on a completely different wavelength. He began to snicker, and upon receiving a pair of puzzled looks, he explained, "That quote was definitely ripped off an old movie that I watched when I was a kid. The original was about a grandma advising her granddaughter about choosing which boy to flirt with, kekekekkkhh!"
"...." Seeing him clutching his stomach and laughing like that, Mir was lost for words. And judging by the dumbfounded look on the woman's face, she was too. Knowing her temperament by now, he had a feeling that her speechlessness would quickly turn into displeasure. So he glared at Murray and changed the topic, asking her, "what are you planning to do with all these Skin-leeches?"
Wrenched back from the stupor, she stared at his face for a second before turning to the tiny pond. "Since they've appeared alongside the flash flood, researchers back at the station will be able to figure out where the flood is from once the other explorers in the tunnels bring out more clues. The standard regulation for these types of anomalous incidents is to take some sample creatures and find a way to contain the rest into specific parts of the taboo zone. Skin-leeches have very little value as mutant creatures. So they won't make an impact on the market of this sacred ground."
Murray wasn't even looking at her as she spoke. All of his focus was on Mir, who was staring back at him meaningfully while asking her, "Can I... uh, take some of them, then? Off the record, if you don't mind?"