Draven was welcomed with a familiar cold, seeping through the soles of his boots and penetrating through the soft skin beneath.
With a yelp, his gaze shifted toward his feet. Instantly, a sense of overwhelming dread had encompassed him — the black stone, the piercing cold.
Somehow, impossibly, he'd ended up right back in the Crimson Wasteland.
Desperately searching for something, anything he could recognize apart from the twisted hellscape. Draven's eyes darted across the desolate topography, his heart pounding as anxiety began to seep into his mind.
Thankfully, both Eris, Atreus, and the three other groups who'd come through the Rift with them were there. Scattered about the Wasteland, they seemed to be searching for any possible clues for the location of this biome's rift, though such endeavors were pointless.
There were, of course, signs of where a Rift was. Primarily the amount of beasts in the area would be significantly concentrated, as if the creatures were awaiting for the chance to pass through.
But the chances of the exit and entrance Rifts being that close to one another were slim. Thus, it was better to try and set up some semblance of a camp before they succumbed to the quickly worsening cold.
It seemed Atreus had been thinking the same way, as he was the first of the group to break the silence.
"Do any of you possess some control of flames? Even a minor ability is fine."
For a moment, the students glanced at one another before making way for a young man.
He wasn't quite as attractive as Atreus, but his looks were nothing to scoff at. Auburn hair was tied neatly into a small bun at his scalp, whereas loose locks flowed at the side of his head. His eyes were filled with a subtle naivety, yet simultaneously carried with them a spark of determination.
"I-I can make sparks by flicking my fingers…if that helps…"
His trembling voice was soft. If they weren't in such an unfamiliar location, it wouldn't be preposterous to say it'd be almost calming.
Atreus nodded.
"Good. The rest of you take off whatever you can. Pile it up for fuel."
Turning toward Eris and Draven, he scowled. Nevertheless, Atreus was the most knowledgeable of anyone else here. Despite Draven's beliefs, if anyone could set aside differences in favor of survival, it was him.
"You two are with me. We're going to scout out and search for any clues as to the location of the Rift."
He paused for a moment, taking another glance around the warped wasteland. The large protrusions coming from the ground created a vast shade over the area — hiding it from the Sun which had risen above.
But based on its movement and position, it wouldn't be long before even the Sun had lowered.
And there was no telling how cold it'd be by then.
Sighing, Atreus unsheathed his sword and began to move forward.
"Make sure to look out for, and if possible hunt down any beasts you see. We don't know how long we'll be here for."
Eris shrugged and followed suit. The shadows beneath her figure warped and contorted, before a black, translucent hand formed from the abyss produced by her body. In its grasp was a massive scythe which she took no time in grasping.
"To be honest, I quite like the cold. But if you're all too pathetic to handle it I suppose there's nothing I can do but help…"
Draven scoffed. He didn't like the idea of Atreus leading everyone. And while not necessarily bad, the concept of working with Eris was unfamiliar and thereby disconcerting.
But if he wanted a chance at getting out of here alive, then he had no choice but to concede.
"Fine. But don't go treating me like your slave or something, got it?"
Atreus didn't even turn to face him, but Draven could just feel the grin creeping across the boy's visage. Mockingly, he retorted.
"Please, you're not even competent enough to keep as a pet. Let alone a slave."
Eris snickered, but made sure to speak up before Draven.
"Alright, alright. Let's just get this over with, yeah? I may not hate the cold but I'm not keen on spending a ton of time in the middle of a rock desert either."
Spinning her scythe, she set the weapon on her shoulder. Prompting both Atreus and Draven to follow while the other groups prepared the camp.
***
'Blast it, blast it, blast it!'
At the moment, Draven was dealing with a creature he could only describe as hellspawn.
The beast was massive, only just barely shorter than the black structures while hunched over. Resembling a humanoid porcupine, large spikes protruded from its exposed spine. Whereas in place of its head was a grotesque, distorted human skeleton scaled to its figure.
Eris and Atreus flanked the beast at its sides, hoping to prevent the foul creature from launching another barrage of spikes in their direction. Draven, grasped the side of his torso, knowing just how devastating it'd be if another attack like that happened.
Swallowing his saliva, he rolled across the ground and evaded another furious swipe of the creature's contorted claw. Its wretched limbs were bent and deformed. As if it'd been born a mess of bones and flesh.
"What should we do?!"
Draven turned to face the white-haired swordsman, who was currently slashing at the creature's thigh. Nevertheless, his blade failed to penetrate its rock-like skin, bouncing off harmlessly.
"There's not much we can do, idiot! Just hold it off until we get an opening to escape!"
Lunging, Eris rotated her scythe around her body. The strange weapon instantly swung downward once she'd reached an effective distance, piercing its shadow.
Instantly, the beast let out an ear-piercing wail. Its body forced itself in the direction of Eris. Like a hunting predator, it lowered its form, curling into a spike ball for launching forward.
The unbreakable stone of the wasteland tore like paper against its razor-sharp spikes. Creating deep fissures wherever it went, blindly chasing after the girl.
"Little help?!"
Eris attempted to take advantage of the beast's lack of sight, constantly altering her position as her scythe flowed like water behind her. Despite her anxiety, it was clear that she had not lost her cool, still maneuvering about the battlefield like a professional.
'How the hell is this thing tracking us…?'
Draven could only sit and think as Atreus went to stall the creature.
The beast lacked eyes, and nothing suggested it had some sort of magical sight considering its attacks were often too broad and obvious — making it easier to dodge at certain points.
That factor was likely how they'd manage to survive even this long.
But if the beast wasn't using sight, then what exactly was it that allowed it to track their movements?
"It somehow manages to see us even when curled up. Its attacks are slightly off, despite still being aimed in our general direction…could it be?!"
Draven's eyes lit up, a thought processing itself in his mind. He wasn't exactly certain whether or not his hypothesis was right — but he'd be damned if he sat here helplessly while the other two fought for their lives.
Letting go of the shallow scratch on his torso, Draven rushed towards the massive creature. Prompting its spikes to shiver. As though made aware of his presence.
'That's definitely it, then!'
Inhaling deeply, he shouted toward the duo.
"Eris, Atreus. Move as much as you possibly can! Shake the ground, kick some rocks, whatever!"
The two looked at him with weary expressions, but knew they didn't have much choice but to trust him at this point.
Immediately, they began shifting more weight into their steps. Atreus even slowed down a little while his steps became much more impactful, as if he'd gained more weight in the middle of his sprint.
Eris, on the other hand, simply dragged her scythe against the ground as she continued to dash away from the creature.
Meanwhile, Draven shot toward the beast. Flanking around its right side as it began to uncurl, once again reaching its previously massive height.
Instead of allowing this to hinder him, however, Draven continued moving toward Eris.
"I need you to throw me at that thing!"
"What?!"
"Just do it! Trust me!"
Eris groaned but nonetheless complied. Furiously lifting her scythe, she allowed Draven to jump on its flat face.
As soon as he landed, her muscles tensed, springing forth with a sudden and powerful burst of strength. Launching Draven directly toward the beast's head.
Once he got close enough, Draven reached deep into the beast's eye sockets. It was just an assumption, but based on how the creature moved and its ability to navigate even when curled up — he believed the beast was using a sort of seismic sense to track the group.
In other words, once something disrupts that sense, it'd be completely helpless.
Coincidentally, the beast was dealing with that exact scenario. With his hands deeply lodged into its sockets, Draven reeled back…and began bashing his head against the creature's own skull.
'Hurts…hurts! This hurts, damn it!'
Again and again, the sound of bones clashing against bones resonated throughout the wasteland. Draven's enhanced skull didn't shatter at the impact, but he could tell that wouldn't be the case for long.
Beasts were classified as such: Whelps, Fiends, Leviathans, Archons, Elders and Transcendents. Based on the creature's strength, Draven guessed it was at least a Fiend…hopefully.
During this point, the creature was completely incapable of sensing the shockwaves around it. Not with the main ones from Draven drowning out anything else.
Immediately understanding Draven's actions, the other two went into action. With their weapons at their sides, Eris and Atreus simultaneously slashed at the creature's soft underbelly. He wasn't exactly sure of their quality, but the two blades easily slashed through. Launching crimson liquid and innards across the black stone.
Still, the beast wasn't completely dead. Albeit it was very much at the threshold.
Reeling his head back once more, Draven rammed his forehead into the beast's. All of his weight and power shifted to that singular point, creating a resounding crash that could be heard throughout the wasteland.
At first, it only made a crack. But soon, the crack began to spread, finally causing the creature's skull to crumble to dust.
Immediately after, its limp body fell to the ground. Shaking the surface as it fell.
"That…sucked!"
Falling right on the creature's soft corpse, Draven let out an exhausted sigh. The other two simply shook their heads, albeit a hint of a grin could be seen on their faces.
[You have slain 'Curling Rock']
[Distributing Rewards…]
Soon, Draven's face formed a grin of its own.
Atreus hadn't even been stalled by the luminescent words in front of him. Instead choosing to begin dissecting the corpse of the poor Beast as he attempted to locate the creature's 'Lock'.
The mass of chi was hidden deep within its torso, but thankfully due to Eris and his disembowelment of the foul creature; most of the innards which made traversing its body difficult had long since fallen out.
Draven couldn't even gag at the sight of a bloodied Atreus stepping out of the corpse, holding an orb the size of a basketball in his palm. In fact, he felt…hungry?
Shaking his head, Draven turned towards Eris.
"That should be everything, right?"
She shrugged, placing her scythe on the ground. Allowing the weapon to sink deep into the darkness from whence it came.
"I'd say we should venture a bit further out, but there's no telling what else is out there. Best not to tempt fate."
Atreus nodded, placing the Lock into a bag he'd brought into the Rift alongside his blade.
With the mutual agreement of their trek coming to an end. The group all headed back to the camp, hoping to at least form some semblance of understanding about their surroundings, and possibly even a way out.
Of course, there was no telling whether that exit would be easy to access.
Or even if they'd all return alive.