When Rain wakes up, his wounded leg and arm are still sore, but his fatigue is gone. Pushing himself up off the floor of the Labyrinth, he notices that he's just sitting in the Trial's complimentary loincloth.
'Oh...right...'
Glancing around, he quickly gathers and dons the clothes that he left out to dry. Then, he summons Ideal Protection onto his torso once more. Giving the armor a cursory inspection, he notes that the deep scratches that were on it before are almost gone now.
'Good to know...so a full night's sleep is probably enough for this thing to repair itself from minor damage.'
Turning his attention to the day ahead, Rain quickly moves to inspect the trap corridor around the corner. It seems to still be how he left it, so he likely wasn't approached by any more Fel in the night. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he returns to his sleeping spot and takes several long drafts of water to quench the thirst he accumulated while resting.
Glancing at his meat cuts and Ego from the Harbinger, stored under the cold, flowing water nearby, Rain grimaces. He knows that he can technically survive much longer, but he can already feel strong hunger after a full day in the Labyrinth without eating.
'That meat will rot if I leave it much longer...and I don't know when I'll be able to eat again. Fuck me...'
Rain lets out a deep sigh, resigning himself to what he's about to do. Then, he picks up one of the cuts of meat. It's cold and mildly slimy in his hands, and it has an unappetizing light grey coloration. Letting it rinse while he slept helped a lot with the blood and odor, but the smell is still pungent enough that he has to fight waves of nausea just having it near his face.
'Screw it...'
Without giving himself more time to hesitate, Rain quickly tears a large chunk of the flesh off with his teeth and begins chewing frantically. The initial texture is more or less what he imagines raw chicken would feel like. However, as soon as the putrid juices of the meat flow onto his tongue as he bites down, he involuntarily doubles over and vomits the half-chewed pieces back up onto the floor. Fit after fit of nausea and vomiting hit him, until he's just dry heaving on the ground.
After several minutes and some rinsing of his mouth and throat with water, he's finally in control of himself again. Rain glares down at the remaining meat with a grim expression...he knows that vomiting just now left him worse off than if he didn't eat. He also knows that he's got to find a way to eat and digest this meat, or else he won't survive long enough in the Labyrinth to escape. Gritting his teeth, he tries to think of anything that might make the meat more tolerable to eat.
'No way to cook it, no way to dehydrate it into jerky, and no way to season it...how the hell did Aron manage this? I was doing okay with the texture and basic taste, but as soon as the juices hit me...'
Rain's eyes fly open in surprise, and a hopeful smile slowly spreads across his face. He quickly retrieves his bolt weapon and cleans its bladed tip in the water. Then, he begins awkwardly cutting the Fel meat up into small pieces. After he has a pile, he grabs one of the pieces and rinses it in the water once more to remove the juices running out of it. Not giving himself time to reconsider, he pops it into the back of his mouth and swallows the meat without chewing. Instantly, he feels a wave of nausea...but this time it's manageable.
"Gahhh....that's so disgusting...bleh! But....at least I won't starve."
Not wanting to let the nausea build, Rain continues washing and swallowing piece after tiny piece of Fel meat until it feels like his stomach is protesting. Then, he gratefully guzzles several mouthfuls of water to wash out the taste. With his first challenge of the day overcome, he lays back on the floor to think about his travel strategy.
Obviously, jogging again is out of the question. He'll have to walk at a normal pace, scanning meticulously for more traps. It would also probably help to hug one side of the Labyrinth walls, in case traps are more likely to have triggers in the middle of corridors. Other than that, his prior navigation strategy seems to be working just fine. It leaves him hitting lots of dead ends and doubling back a lot, and he has to keep track of all his most recent turns and general orientation. But he's got a good memory, and that strategy gave him some really solid progress yesterday.
As he nods to himself, preparing for his second foray into the Labyrinth, his eye catches the shine of the Ego in the water channel nearby. Remembering that they're supposed to be invaluable to Marked, helping them grow stronger, Rain curiously grabs the Ego and rolls it over in his palm.
'I've heard you're supposed to absorb them, but...how exactly?'
The first thing that comes to his mind is eating it, but despite the object's similarities to a peach, it doesn't look like something he can bite into. Pulling the Ego closer to scrutinize its surface, Rain suddenly feels his Mark heat up. Startled by the unexpected reaction, he jerks away from the Ego. As he does, the heat of his Mark fades. After a moment with a puzzled expression, he smiles in satisfaction.
"Oh?"
Rain dismisses Ideal Protection and pulls aside the neck of his tunic to expose the black, runic Mark on his chest. Glancing back at the Ego, he slowly pulls it towards his Mark, feeling his chest warm more the closer it gets. When the Ego is about to touch his bare skin, it suddenly dissolves into a plume of golden mist, and seems to seep into the Mark on Rain's chest.
As the Ego is absorbed into him, Rain feels his Mark heat up pleasantly, and a tingling sensation perforates his entire body. The tingling slowly begins to fade, but a new, permanent sensation is left in its place. It's as though there's some slightly warmer fluid that he can feel coursing through his veins, concentrating itself near his Mark. With the new sensation, there's a barely perceptible increase in Rain's vigor and strength. As he wonders what change has just come over his body, the Echo whispers in his head.
[Your Bloodline resonates...your Ichor grows more potent.]
'Bloodline? Ichor?'
A little bit of the Echo's message makes sense to Rain. He already knew that absorbing Ego was supposed to make Marked stronger and better at using their godly abilities...Talents. Since Ichor is kind of like the divine energy that Marked draw on to power their Talents and reinforce their bodies, it makes sense that it'd grow more potent as part of that process. If he had to guess, that separate sensation flowing through him after absorbing that Ego is his Ichor.
The other part of the Echo's message, though...he doesn't know much about that.
As far as he knows, Bloodline is just the ranking system for how powerful a Marked's Lineage abilities are. It's supposed to represent the strength of their bond with their patron deity, and their overall potential for growth. He has no idea what it means for his Bloodline to be 'resonating'.....he doesn't even know what his Bloodline is yet.
'Maybe the way absorbing Ego helps you grow stronger is by "resonating" with your patron deity? The more you absorb, the stronger your connection to them becomes, and the more potent your Ichor – divine essence – grows. Curious...'
That's his only working theory at least...he has no idea why the Echo uses the term 'resonate' to describe that process, though. Shrugging off his lingering curiosities, Rain climbs to his feet once more and summons Ideal Protection around his torso. Leaning over to grab his trusty bolt, Rain sighs deeply and casts a glance toward the unexplored direction of the Labyrinth.
"Alright...hopefully today is less exciting than yesterday..."