The journey back wasn't a very long one. They were only just a few blocks away from the tavern that they had made their base so long ago, and still no other new sleepers had arrived there while Epsilon was gone.
In this whole series of underground caverns, it was just them on this side of the stone door. On the other side though? That could be another story entirely.
There were a few reasons why they hadn't tried to leave this place yet, despite the corrupted creature chasing after them. One was simply that they were exhausted. They had encountered and fought Nightmare creatures nonstop almost everyday, and on the days that they hadn't, it was spent resting their broken bodies, or calming their nerves after encountering something terrifying. Being able to live normally, for even a bit of time was a blessing.
The next reason was because of Gracia. It would be great if she'd be able to fight in an actual body when the time came to leave, nevertheless be able to walk on her own two feet, but it seems like that wouldn't be possible.
Darkness plagued the whole city, making it almost impossible to see. After being down here for 3 days straight, their eyes had adjusted well enough that they were able to see somewhat, to the point that they could spar without fear of hurting each other by accident.
It was even more suffocating for Epsilon whose senses were expanded in the light.
Walking down the cobbled path, they reached the old inn that stood at the edge of the winding road. Its timbers creaked softly in the afternoon breeze, darkness slanted across the cobblestone yard, catching on the worn sign that swayed above the door, its letters too faded to read. Even the nightmare spell couldn't identify them, or maybe they were so unimportant that it didn't even bother.
The windows were completely boarded up, not allowing even a tiny bit of light to escape, and its roof sagged slightly under years of rain and wind, which was strange considering that this whole place was underground.
Perched cross-legged on its tip was Galahad. He breathed in, eyes closed and mind adrift in calm detachment from the city's empty hum. He was meditating.
It was a way to discipline himself from his flaw. Being forced to sit tight while a corrupted tyrant was right beneath him, was a very taxing thing for him to do. Nevertheless, he put himself through that struggle for them.
Noticing everyone starting to gather at the front, he couldn't help but open his eyes and wave at them eagerly, but what should've been just a subtle shift, quickly became a slip of balance. His eyes flew open just as gravity pulled him forward, serenity shattering into a flailing scramble and a startled gasp as the meditative stillness gave way to the sudden, chaotic plunge toward the ground below.
He crashed into the ground, causing a strange popping sound to resonate in the air, but a few moments later, he quickly jumped back up to his feet. Although his arm did seem a little bit limp.
"I'm fine!!"
Epsilon asked, feeling a bit worried,
"I heard you break something."
He gripped his limp arm and pressed it against its joint. A harsh pop echoed through the air, followed by a shuddering sigh of relief as the bone slid back into place.
"I'm fine!!"
Ki Song asked,
"Did you have to do it on the roof..?
"No, but it looked cool."
**
A little while later, they were all gathered around in a dark room, sitting around a wooden table. On top of it was a lantern glowing dimly with a pale red light, with a single plate filled with dried meat strips.
Galahad reached out to grab one, but Ki Song's hand quickly slapped it out of the way.
"Ow."
"Wait for Cassius. We don't need you eating everything before we can even ration it out."
They were running low on food since they hadn't been able to go out and hunt, so this whole time, they'd been surviving on the scraps that they brought back.
Eventually, a pair of footsteps echoed as the floor boards bent, and then from the shadows of the room, a puny looking blonde haired boy with freckles appeared. His right arm was wrapped in a makeshift cast, and his face was covered in old bruises.
"Sorry, I had to take care of something really quick."
Quickly glancing at everyone's faces, he noticed that there was someone missing. Hesitantly, he asked,
"Is Anvil still?"
Ki Song answered,
"Yeah, that guys a weirdo. If he needs something anyway, he'll just come right to us."
From the moment he arrived here with Ki Song and Galahad, he took his own portion of rations before isolating himself in an abandoned workshop. He simply said that if they needed something, they should come to him. Epsilon and Sylas did visit him once, but they were both very quickly chased out once he saw that they were wasting his time.
By then, she started to split the portions equally, leaving everyone with only 3 strands of dried meat each. Epsilon began to chew on one,
Starting their mini meeting off, Ki Song stated,
"We don't have enough supplies to last another 2 days. That tyrant will probably breakthrough by then too."
Then smirking, she added,
"I've been rigging traps around that area using my engraving memory. You remember it don't you? The second that tyrant pops through, it'll eat a face full of firepower."
She looked pretty proud of it too, although it might not even scratch it. At best, it would work to distract and stun it for a moment. With that, they had established a deadline to leave this place though.
Epsilon asked,
"I'd like to go scout out that castle nearby for Bob. It shouldn't take that long."
Ki Song looked at him curiously,
"The castle?"
Finally fed up of having to repeat himself,
"Oh my god, I'm not doing this again."
He had refrained from talking about the castle for a long time now, but since this would probably be the last time that they would get to eat like this again, he'd decided that this would be the last chance he'd get to say something. And as expected, they all didn't remember.
'I've always struggled to remember it too before, but something changed.. is it because I'm connected to Bob?'
He seemed to have a strange immunity to its memory altering effects, so maybe their contract allowed Epsilon to gain that immunity too.
'That contract... after I visit that place, and he lets me use the jin of.. whatever, he'll get a human body back won't he? Our contract will end, and..'
They'll probably help each other get out of this place, but after that, they'll most likely part ways. Whether or not he'll see him again, will be entirely up to fate.
'I'll miss him? No, no, no! That can't be.. he's just an annoying little..'
Snapping him out of his chain of thoughts, Sylas asked,
"That place isn't dangerous right?"
Speaking of, Bob had never really told him what kind of a place it was. But seeing how nothing had crawled out to kill them all yet, it was probably safe. Or maybe nothing could leave in the first place.
He simply said with uncertainty,
"I don't know."
"So if you were to go missing, and we forgot about that castle, we wouldn't know where you went?"
He hadn't even considered that. Nodding he answered,
"I guess that's true."
"Right, Song can go with you then."
Epsilon raised his hand as if he were about to object, but after thinking about it for a moment, he gave in quickly. It was probably for the best, although he would have to consult with Bob later.
Noticing that Galahad had already finished eating all 3 pieces of his rations, Epsilon subtly pushed his last two in his direction. He grinned, before shoving them in his mouth quickly.
"Big bro! Thank you!"
This wasn't the first time he had done this, and every time, Song scolded him harshly for it. This time though, all he got was a menacing glare.
'Although I don't need to eat, I wish we had some water though... since all the moisture was dried out, the others might thirst to death before we even get out of here... I miss Emma.'
Her dormant ability would be really helpful right now.
Sylas continued,
"I need to stay and watch Gracia in case she wakes up. Cassius is... ya know.. and Xing is... ya know?"
Of course, he wasn't going to trust her alone with a sleeper he barely knew, and Galahad wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.
Cassius fidgeted nervously, but being the most helpless one in the room, he didn't say anything. Galahad on the other hand, wasn't even paying attention. His mind seemed to be in another place entirely.
Pausing, Sylas continued,
"Can you two go check with Anvil to investigate that door as well? It would be bad news if there was no way to open it in the first place."
They both nodded. And just like that, their meeting came to an end.
That was until Sylas suddenly glared at Cassius. He then said, in an almost threatening tone,
"So Cassius.. when are you going to stop playing dumb? Or do you think that you can keep lying to everyone here."