"You freeloader!" Sunny's voice pierced the air, causing Asher to pause mid-swing with his sword.
Asher furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?" he asked innocently, as if he hadn't just been caught red-handed.
"I'm paying Nephis all the soul shards I get just so she could teach me!" Sunny's face was flushed with righteous indignation.
Asher shrugged nonchalantly, resuming his sword strikes. "And?"
Sunny practically erupted like a volcano. "You eavesdrop on Nephis' explanations and do the same training routine as me! So basically, Nephis is teaching you for free!"
A light bulb seemed to flicker on in Asher's mind. "Yeah?" he said, tilting his head in mock confusion.
"You're not paying her, while I am!" Sunny practically spat the words out.
"I am though." It was Sunny's turn to tilt his head in confusion. "With your soul shards."
Sunny stood there, mouth agape. Then he shouted, "Bastard!"
In truth, Sunny didn't care much if someone piggybacked off his efforts. As long as he got stronger, whatever. But this guy—this smug, infuriating man-child—was a different matter entirely.
After training, the squad ate up the last of our crab meat and slept while taking turns to watch.
When the morning came and the dark sea retreated, they prepared to leave the giant statue. Nephis was the first one to climb down. Before that, she had a few words to say:
"Today will be different from before. There will be many more scavengers roaming in the labyrinth. We might not be able to create an ambush or avoid fighting several of them at once."
She looked at Sunny:
"If anything happens, your job is to bring Cassie away. We can retreat by using passages that are too narrow for the scavengers. If we get separated, proceed to the high point by yourselves. Don't wait for me. Do you understand?"
With a somber expression, he gave her a nod. Nephis returned it.
She then looked at Asher:
"Can you fight?" She asked as she assessed his injuries she still hadn't healed. Asher simply smiled as he replied, "I think I can, but don't be too confident with your student. I barely know the sword." Just then, a scavenger sparked into existence behind him as he continued, "I should be able to help though."
Sunny clicked his tongue while Nephis simply nodded.
"Good. Time is of the essence, so let's go," Nephis said as she began to climb down.
"Oh yeah, one more thing," Asher added with a thoughtful expression. "A few of the crabs that chased me two days ago are still down there, in the sand."
That brought the squad to a halt. Nephis paused, her hand resting on the stone edge. Sunny cursed under his breath. Cassie paled.
"No monsters though," Asher added quickly. "But I can sense four scavengers nearby. One of them's missing an arm, I think—based on the shape of its aura."
Nephis took that in, her voice calm and resolute. "We can handle it."
Sunny muttered something under his breath but nodded. Cassie said nothing, her face pale as she clutched her staff a little tighter.
Then, without another word, they began the descent—into the waiting maze of coral.
As they made their descent down the rope, Sunny suddenly turned to look at Asher.
"Wait… how did you even detect those scavengers?"
"…"
It had slipped through everyone's mind sheerly due to the amount of absurdity he spewed the day before. Asher chuckled awkwardly, "Hehe, I forgot to tell about my innate ability..." everyone stopped going down the rope for a second, looking at Asher, well, besides Cassie.
"Who forgets such a important thing?" Sunny was the first to speak. Asher sighed, "My bad! Ok?" He paused as everyone continued climbing down. "Anyway, I can feel the weight of other creatures within 5 km around me."
No one responded.
It was like that till they got all the way down.
He looked around him and immediately put his hand on his nose. Since about 30 crabs followed him. After he escaped by the rope, the monster crabs undoubtedly massacred almost all of the crabs. The lucky few that escaped the wrath of the monsters were hiding below the ground.
"Holy shit, it smells here," Sunny said while the rest of the squad nodded in agreement.
Asher summoned his echo as he looked around him. The area was painted in azure blood with random legs and pincers lying all around. The crab corpses were already starting to decay, and the stench was unbearable to Asher.
He held his urge to vomit as his echo began collecting the soul shards. "where are they?" Sunny frowned. He couldn't detect them when they were under ground.
Asher summoned the azure blade, enhancing it with gravity. Then, without warning, he hurled it into the earth with a sharp flick of his wrist. The impact shook the ground, cracking the surface and sending a tremor through the sand, causing Sunny to immediately take a few steps back by instinct.
.
.
.
"FOOL! YOU SCARED ME!" he yelled
Cassie yelped as well and tripped backward, landing on her rear with a soft oof. Nephis didn't flinch—but her frown deepened ever so slightly.
Asher raised both hands in mock surrender. "Come on, I'm sorry! I had a good reason!"
Sunny opened his mouth to argue—but didn't get the chance. Two scavengers suddenly burst from the ground, right where the blade had struck.
Asher gave a satisfied smirk and glanced back. "See?"
Sunny clicked his tongue, already drawing his weapon. "Whatever…"
Nephis turned to him. Sunny nodded once, and together, they surged forward.
His echo lunged at a wounded scavenger—its missing pincer leaving it wide open. Asher immediately augmented the creature with gravity, increasing its weight. Since the echo's body was sheathed in chitin rather than flesh, he could push the limit without shattering it. The added mass made its strikes heavier, more devastating—while only slightly slowing it down. The sturdy limbs could bear the load.
Meanwhile, Asher clambered up a jagged coral outcrop, preparing to hurl the azure blade at a third scavenger. But something felt wrong.
His eyes widened.
'Wait.'
His instincts screamed—he jerked his arm back and threw the azure blade away in panic
Sunny, with Neph covering for him, screamed, "Asher! Get Cassie!"
He didn't need to scream twice.
Sprinting forward, Asher reached Cassie and tackled her out of the way, wrapping an arm around her as they hit the ground together.
A moment later, the air split with a thunderous crash.
A massive pincer slammed into the ground where they'd just stood, exploding coral and stone, leaving behind a crater large enough to bury them both.
Asher's heart pounded, breath shallow. He looked down at Cassie—her clothes were streaked with azure blood, a few bruises blooming on her arms. He wasn't in better shape, but they were alive.
He pushed himself up, not gently, and pulled Cassie behind the thick shell of a fallen carapace. Then he turned to face the new threat.
And froze.
The scavenger before him was entirely unscathed.
Asher's gaze narrowed on its core. The soul essence inside was pulsing—growing—threatiening to spill out with violent potential.
His stomach dropped.
"It's close to evolve into a monster," he whispered, voice tight.
Behind him, Cassie trembled, curled behind cover.
Asher sighed
There was no way out of this one. He couldn't run and abandon Cassie.
Asher summoned the stone blade into his hand, tightening his grip.
The scavenger charged.
And Asher stepped forward to meet it.