I opened my eyes, welcoming the white fog which wasn't a pleasant experience to begin with. I was hungry, cold, and thirsty. I was surprised even managed to sleep through everything that I felt.
After the adrenaline came down, the only thing my body needed was rest. Once I was sure of my safety for the meantime, I found myself a small space between some rocks and closed my eyes to sleep. I expected to be attacked by something while I was resting, but thanks to the [Nexus Blessing], I remained protected from anything while asleep.
I was slowly getting used to this world and my body itself. The stench of death hadn't left the air yet. But I was used to it now. Up here, the air was thin and dry.
My lungs felt like they were on fire each time I gasped for air. Well. At least I could breathe.
Sitting up, I picked up my bone spear and resumed my journey. The black mountains were still as strange as the wasteland before it. The huge difference being that this part of Nether showed signs of life. There were flora growing between the cracks of some rocks. Most of them were inedible.
Through the mountains, I learned more and more about this world as I searched for a soul to merge with.
The fog was too thick to see through, but with the help of my spear and squinting my eyes, I was able to navigate through it and find paths.
"Dear Fog, don't hurt me…"
"Dear fog, be my guide."
"Dear fog, don't hurt me."
I recited, trying to keep myself sane after moving for over three hours without stopping. The burden of having not having anyone to talk to was playing with my mind. Who knew being lonely was such a drag?
"I guess it's human nature," I muttered to myself while crossing the fog.
Suddenly, I sensed something odd moving in the white expanse and stopped once my mind was alerted. Then, I heard a gentle hiss that forced my entire body into movement.
Out of instinct, I crouched down and saw something fly right above my head seconds after. I didn't see it, of course. But I saw something move again in the fog, this time approaching me.
In a heartbeat, I didn't hesitate to put my spear forward and block whatever had come down at me.
Clack!
My weapon cracked when it blocked the edge of what looked like a silver blade. Surprised, I pushed back my opponent as I immediately recognized the magic sword.
I staggered a little and my attacker used the opportunity to slide at my legs. My body hit the ground, miserably with an intense thud.
And forced me to curse at the pain.
With a hiss, I looked up and froze right away. A blade was already pointing at my face, inches away from cutting me.
I could vaguely see the face of my attacker.
But when he saw mine. "Astrid?" he spoke with doubt and familiarity. He must've thought I was a ghost or something paranormal.
"In the flesh," I responded, wincing like a defeated dog.
When the haze in my eyes cleared I finally got to see the face of my friendly attacker. It was Nico, another test subject from Bloodhaul. He had spiky gunmetal-colored hair—which was always messy. A cream complexion and deep green eyes underneath a pair of circular metal-wired glasses to aid his vision.
"Well be damned." He chuckled a little as he dismissed his sword and rushed to help me out. "I didn't expect to find someone alive in this part of the Death Mountains."
"Death mountains?" I gave him a confused look.
He cleared his throat. "Yes, it's what I call them. Not a good name…but… it's all I could come up with. Anyway, when did you get here?"
"Not sure," I answered while shaking my head. All these kids came before me, like a day before I was sent here. A day on Beta 3 could be a week here.
Nico brushed his hand on my shoulder and smiled, catching me off guard when he brought his face closer to mine and pulled me into a passionate embrace that even surprised even more.
Immediately, his cool demeanor vanished and I started to hear a few sniffs coming from him.
"I'm so glad you're alive. The others…" he shivered. "Most of the others are dead. I fought as much as I could but our enemy was too strong."
Just then, as I was still hugging him, I felt something wet on his clothes. My eyes went wide with shock when I realized my hands were now painted red. Nico was covered in fresh blood.
"Nico….you're covered in blood." I panicked and pulled away from him.
The boy looked at me with a painful gaze. "We were attacked by something. Me, Rick, Nancy, and Baal. It…it came out of nowhere. I thought we could take it down since we all had magic weapons in our inventory." As he spoke, tears started pouring down his face. His calm demeanor now completely shattered like fine glass he cried like a terrified child.
"The creature leaped out of the fog, snatching one by one and consuming them in the worst possible ways. Nancy lost her limbs before losing her head to its one of its mouths. Rick…was Rick was…"
"Rick was what?"
"Torn in half. Both of his halves were taken in opposite directions. Baal ran off into the fog and I ran in opposite direction. I don't know where he is, I just want to get off this mountain alive."
'So there is a monster ahead. Should I get to higher ground?' I asked myself while I tried to search around. To my sore luck, I couldn't find anywhere to climb onto and seek higher ground.
My only way out of this was unfortunately through the path I was already on—the one Nico had taken while escaping the creature.
Going back meant death because of the chasm and the ash. Moving forward was the only choice I had at the moment.
'Wait…since I know there is something ahead, can't I move around it?'
Nico could lead me there.
I faced Nico and said blankly. "We can't leave the mountains. The path collapsed on my way here. Also, we can't capture a soul if we intend to cower and hide. Don't you want to become a citizen of Beta 3 and Join the Republic of Hunters?"
Nico stared at me, confusion evident on his face. His brows frowned before his expression softened. "What? Is that all you're thinking about? How do you think we will survive this…?"
"Just show me the direction you came from. I am not joining you, I already chose to die in this world." I scoffed.
I probably sounded like I was insane, most people would run away or use a different path because they wanted to live. But I had already made up my mind, I was going to see this through till something manages to kill me off.
After hearing what I had to say, Nico stepped back and kissed his teeth loudly. He was silent for a brief while as he gathered his thoughts. Death was expected in Nether. No one was to blame here aside from fate itself.
As I waited, I made a silent prayer to the constellations. In hopes that they judge Nancy and the other dead fairly. Even though we were created from laboratories, we still had souls and personalities that made us human.
"Sigh. Fine. Do you have any weapon in your inventory?"
I shook my head in response.
"I see." He sighed even louder. "Give me your hand. Do you know how to access the Nexus system?"
"Yes." I nodded nervously as I slowly placed my hand on his rough hand. I was surprised by how warm and scarred it was. His palm was hard with rough texture compared to mine. As expected from one who could use a sword.
"I am going to give you some items from my inventory." He stated as he closed his eyes.
I felt a jolt of electricity that made my feet squeeze and my body convulsed as I sensed a foreign energy enter my body. Shortly after that feeling, I heard the system's monotone voice make an announcement.
[You have received two new items]
Before I could check my inventory, Nico explained what he had just transferred to me. One item was a weapon known as [Trusted Dagger] which was weapon that always returned to its user and could appear with a single thought. The magic item had not been created by the Nexus itself, though.
The second item was a tool called [Mind Walker]. It was capable of creating clones.
I quickly summoned the Mind Walker first and a small silver necklace appeared in my hand. I immediately put it on and tried using its enchantment for the first time. Unlike magic weapons, magic tools worked on a different set of rules that revolved around focus and purpose. To use a magic tool, one need to be completely focused to use its ability and the user had to know its purpose in order to bring out its full potential. Oh. They all needed Star essence to activate and summon and enchantments. This energy was excursively found in the carriers of the Nexus system and was the source of all magic in the universe.
I focused and a strange feeling suddenly possessed me. The feeling of having my being splitting in two.
When this feeling stopped and I gasped for some air, I almost jumped when I saw a version of myself, staring back at me.
It looked just like me with short silver hair, colder grey eyes, and a procaine-like skin tone. She was even the same clothes as I was.
'Impressive.' I nodded in approval as I began to study the magical clone.
"How many can this thing create exactly and how far do the clones go in copying?"
"Six perfect copies," Nico replied. He was looking at my clone with a strange but curious look. "The perfect copies should have your abilities too. Beyond six…I can't guarantee full control. It's impressive you can even create one and you're still standing. I made one recently for scouting purposes and passed out immediately."
'Really? Then I might just have a bigger pool of essence than I expected.'
It was unfortunate that we were still dormant and couldn't exactly replicate our abilities. However, that didn't make it useless. The gears in my head started to move as a crazy idea crossed my mind.
"I know a way we can cross and get off this mountain."