Sine's curly hair puddled against the white pillow, his pale face shone against the beating sunlight crawling through the curtains.
'm~Bah! That stupid light!'
Sine sat up and looked at the window with disdain.
Bang bang!
Someone was knocking on his door.
Sine got up and stretched, and yawned as he dragged his feet over to the door.
"We got an hour before we leave, get ready and meet in the lobby." Remi was at his door, his tall stature and chiseled face greeting him tiredly.
"Gotcha."
Sine took a shower and ate a quick breakfast before going to sit in the lobby, about half an hour to spare.
He rested on one of the armchairs that were spread out, and looked around. Only a few people have gathered, though they all left an impression.
Ariet, the tall one that threw a large ball of fire at Remi was standing in a corner and inspecting a claymore, his fiery blue streaks of hair seemed to glimmer against the reflection of the blade.
A woman of tall stature stood close to Ariet, she had green hair and an eyepatch over her left eye. She wore a black coat and baggy combat-pants. She also had... an excellent figure.
Sine could also tell, using (Pointless) on the Vanguard of Cystine, that she was much stronger than Sine. Maybe a high-Pestilent One?
She gave a little stronger of a presence than even Remi who was a Pestilent One, so who knows.
Her purple eyes met his gaze, and her stare slightly narrowed.
Sine quickly looked away.
'Wow what nice flooring they have here!'
Footsteps approached him, and Sine looked to his left. Ash sat down next to him and sighed, eyebags under her eyes, and rested on his armrest, closing her eyes and muttering
"How early did they have to get us up? I read way to late and now look at me."
Sine was surprised, he had never really been tired before, no matter how much sleep he got, after about a few minutes of being awake he didn't feel tired at all. It was especially surprising to see a Nightmare One be tired, he didn't know much about them, but he thought they were kinda immune, or at least could stay awake for a few days.
"Huh."
Sine leaned next to Ash, and as they waited, a couple more people showed up. A young man with brown hair and freckles on his face walked in, a sword at his side and a metallic breastplate attached to his torso.
Another woman entered, she had short golden hair, and pristine golden eyes. Also had a generous figure. Sine caught himself staring at Ash's bust and laughing inwardly at her.
Sensing his gaze, Ash turned to him.
"What? Got a problem?"
Sine was holding back a laugh before calming himself.
"I happened to notice how small your titties were when-"
Sine swore he saw the pearly gates flash before his eyes, luckily for him, on the verge of death, someone spoke up.
"Alright people, we're going to be going into the 3rd layer of the Undergrowth below the Sinlands, I believe everyone is ready here, but I want to emphasize this is an exploration unit, not an army or vanguard. Try to avoid fights and avoid being noticed, there are things in there that can kill us in an instant, so be quick and quiet on your toes."
Sine studied the man with interest.
He was about Ariet's height, and exuded an aura of responsibility and straightforwardness. He had simple, tied back dark hair, and a lean, wiry build. Also, he had a black collar shirt that had a pattern painted on the back of it from which Sine could partially see as well.
"So we have Remi, Ariet, Pastel (golden hair), Me, Farren, and..."
He turned toward the two figures on the armchairs.
"Oh uh, I'm Sine." Sine erratically said.
"I'm Ash. We're Nightmare Ones." Ash curtly said, waving him off.
Sine could see the man's eye twitch. With a smile, he responded.
"My name is Kale, the leader of this exploration unit that works for the Capital of Sting."
"N-Nice to meet you." Sine bowed awkwardly. Man he hated being put on the spot! He is not a people person!
Except for with Ash for some reason.
Kale smiled, his gaze flickering at Ash for a moment before walking through the doors.
"Let's head out shall we?"
**
The cohort was travelling into the Sinlands, making a bunch of noise. Terrors from deep in the forest were attacking them from all around, yet none of them reached Sine or Ash. But why...
Why were we the porters!?
A massive bag was placed on both Ash and Sine, and they travelled in the middle of the group while everyone else defended them from the harrowing creatures.
To be honest, Sine was sort of glad that he didn't have to fight the creatures that emerged from the darkness, some he didn't recognize at all, though he could see, using (Pointless), that they were around the strength of a wolf.
And with the strength of a Nightmare One, which surpassed that of even the strongest (in terms of raw power) regular human, they could easily carry the bags with little difficulty.
It was a beautiful sight though.
Different abilities were clashing against the horrors of the forest, most notable being the three Pestilent Ones, Kale, Remi, and Farren.
Remi was like a whirlwind, wielding a wavy sword that seemed to move the wind itself, air cutting and ripping through hides and flesh.
Farren wielded a massive maul, its terrifying destructive power flattening any enemy that came her way. Leaves fluttered from under her feet, and using her ability that made her lighter than a leaf, disappeared against the hordes of beasts, to simply appear above them, and shift her weight to that of a mountain, a net of cracks spreading through the earth as her hammer slammed down.
And Kale, was perhaps the most terrifying of them all.
Like a rushing river, he flowed through the masses with unparalleled skill, a dark blade annihilating each and every monster that dared approach him. It was as if he could predict the movements of his enemies, and coordinate himself to perfectly counter them.
Sine was watching the absolute cacophony of battle.
And his platinum eyes didn't miss a drop of it.
The endless cadence of battle only satiated his hunger to grow stronger.
'Ah, I want to fight.'
Unfortunately for Sine, he didn't realize that his future opponents would be much stronger than the ones the cohort was currently facing.
The air seemed to become colder and more stagnant as they approached their destination.
'What the...'
A massive crack in the ground that looked like an endless ravine spanned across dozens of kilometers. The smell was strange, it smelled old.
"Rules change starting from now."
Kale's face was grim.
"We approach the third layer."
'...What? Wouldn't this be the first layer? Or at least the second?
Why third?'
A chill ran down Sine's spine as the cohort jumped into the bottomless hole, seemingly being sucked into its depths with no way of crawling back out.
And when he fell into the bottomless abyss, the (Visionary) ability resounded within his mind.
{The Undergrowth: Third Layer}
'Huh so it notifies me where I'm at? Why didn't it tell me that I was in the Sinlands?
This world is full of so many mysteries.'
As everyone plummeted, the bottom came into view. Normally, it wouldn't be visible due to the lack of light, but small particles of dim light stayed stagnant in the air, and were placed just about everywhere.
Everyone had their own way of slowing down a fall, Remi just slowed his descent with wind, Ariet had a liquid flame equipped to his shoes, Ash used platforms of soot and snow, Pastel (golden hair) equipped a strange Resonator that resembled a black feather that made her landing smooth, and Farren simply controlled her gravity to way nothing.
Sine and Kale just crashed into the ground, though they both did it with making little noise.
"Alright, everyone, come here." Kale whispered in a hush voice.
A map made of golden string suddenly formed in front of Kale.
"This is the map we have made so far. We, as in Ariet, Remi, Farren, Pastel and me, have gone around the edges of the Undergrowth, and have detailed information about it using this map."
A grim expression was painted on his face.
"The Undergrowth is about the size of a continent, and various biomes have already been explored around the edges. This is the dangerous part, however."
He pointed to the large blank spot right in the middle of the map.
"We don't know what is here, and from our experience down here, the most dangerous creatures reside in the center."