Adam wasn't unscathed. His armor was shattered, and half of his cloak had been torn off. Cracks spread across his blade, and it was clear that he had just barely managed to escape.
"Adam," Julian called out again. "Just what the hell happened up there?"
After a brief pause, Adam sheathed his sword and sat down before finally replying,
"The woman didn't see reason, and she lashed out at me. I fought her off, but I just barely managed to escape with my life."
"Well, she seems really damn strong for someone who's—"
Adam raised a hand, cutting him off.
"She can use Soul Essence. That's why there was so much destruction."
Julian's eyes widened.
"You're saying she's Awakened? How?"
If anything, Julian was more surprised that Adam was able to fight against an Awakened and survive. After all, the difference between a Dormant human and an Awakened human is like night and day.
Even so, an innocent chuckle escaped Adam's lips.
"How should I know? I remember she was the one who took me in when I first arrived here, but she disappeared out of nowhere. She was gone for quite a lot of years, and she only returned two years ago."
"..."
Julian rubbed his chin.
"So you're saying that she found the exit and... she came back?"
"Again, I don't know," Adam replied. "But that's the one thing that makes the most sense."
Silence hung in the armory for a while as neither of them spoke.
Julian processed his thoughts, as well as what happened just before he was dragged away.
Virion had seen him. He had definitely seen him survive an attack through the heart and then fully regenerate.
As much as he wanted to get rid of Virion, he knew that by the time the two met, he would have already spread this rumor among everyone who survived.
Julian sighed.
'What a shitty day.'
Adam coughed out a mouthful of blood, then lay down.
"Can you start digging us out of here? I need a little rest," he said. "We can take turns, but..."
He trailed off, his speech becoming slurry. And before long, snores resounded through the armory.
"..."
'So he dragged us here without a plan. Nice. It's only a matter of time before we run out of oxygen and suffocate.'
Still, with so many weapons in the armory, he was sure one would get the job done.
Right...?
***
(Several days later...)
THWACK!
Julian smashed at the boulder, shaving off a piece. Just then, the curved sword he was holding broke. Turning to the side, he realized that he only had two pickaxes left.
Ideally, he wanted to at least make some progress before using those pickaxes, but he had only managed to dig five meters or so. There was still four times that before he could get some fresh air.
And by now, the air inside the armory was growing dense.
But just as Julian was planning to go back to mining again, he spotted Adam, who had suddenly risen to his feet, alarmed.
Yet when he realized that it was safe and only Julian was present, he calmed down.
"How long was I out for?" Adam asked, cracking his neck.
Julian rolled his shoulders. "A few days, probably. Hard to track time when there's nothing but darkness, you know?"
Narrowing his eyes, he continued,
"Though look at you, a week was all it took for you to heal from those injuries. You're really a piece of work, aren't you?"
Adam stared at him for a few moments, then shrugged.
"I heal faster when I sleep."
"I see..."
'I asked just in case, but it really seems like he didn't see what happened,' Julian thought.
Before he was grabbed, he had worried that Adam had seen his regeneration speed too. But since he wasn't mentioning it, it was probably safe to assume he didn't know anything.
Adam stepped toward the exit of the cave and placed his hand on the boulder.
"Hmm... you've made it 1/50th of the way there. Congrats."
Julian furrowed his brows.
"I was digging the side, not straight out."
Adam tapped the boulder.
"Yes, I can see that. At this rate, we'll die."
Julian pretended to gasp.
"Seriously? It's almost like the one who got us into this mess has slept for the last couple of days, leaving a frail guy such as myself to do all the heavy lifting."
"Hmm..." Adam raised a brow. "Building muscle is good. The evil spirits won't be able to pierce your skin so easily."
A vein appeared on Julian's forehead, and right as he was about to snap, Adam suddenly picked up a pickaxe from the side and raised it overhead.
"Hey, that's not a good—"
Before Julian could voice his opinion, Adam slammed the pickaxe down, shattering the steel.
For a second, nothing happened. Then a deep rumble spread through the armory.
Cracks snaked across the boulder, starting from where the pickaxe struck. The sound grew louder until the entire rock split straight down the middle.
Dust once again rushed inside, but it was followed by a faint stream of air.
Julian's eyes widened.
'Did he seriously just...'
"Looks good to me," Adam said, dusting himself off and tossing the pickaxe into the heap of weapons.
After that, he approached the split boulder and climbed along its edge toward where the gust of air came from.
Julian rushed toward him and followed along. As they climbed the split boulder, they soon saw light and more wind. Eventually, when they reached the very top of the boulder, they peeked their heads through the gap and spotted the vast tundra like before.
Since the opening was a bit too narrow, Adam wedged his sword, and to Julian's genuine surprise, he managed to push the boulder slightly apart. Then, he climbed to the top and waited for Julian to climb up as well.
Retrieving his sword and causing the boulder to once again settle back in place, he let out a sigh. He overlooked the destruction of the camp with a heavy heart, but by now, most of the corpses had long since been frozen, and the fires had died down.
After taking a moment to compose himself, Adam turned back to Julian and flashed a slight smile.
"Let's head back to camp. I believe I owe you an explanation..."