Anvil bluntly stated,
"We can't keep going down that path."
He and Sylas had been navigating and marking down several of caverns different networks. But the more they explored, the more complicated the entire place seemed to get. It was only a matter of time until they encountered something far more dangerous than the dark wraith.
Even if Epsilon and the others were with them now, that just meant they'd last longer until they encountered something they couldn't handle.
There was even a possibility that they might run into the Chimera Queen somewhere down here.
"Silon, what have you guys seen the other way? Song told me about that city you lot stayed in for a bit."
"There were a bunch of sleeping nightmare creatures that only reacted to light, but it seems one of them woke up somehow."
He didn't believe that the rest had awakened too, otherwise a tide of them would've flooded the caverns and killed them all.
"There is also that massive stone door. We haven't tried opening it out of safety, but that might be a way out too. And then there's—"
He suddenly paused, as if he was about to say something but then it slipped right off of his tongue. He struggled for a few moments trying to recall what it was, but then it suddenly snapped right back into place.
"Oh yeah, and then there's a castle. I have to go back and check it out as well for Bob."
"Bob?"
Song looked at him perplexed.
"Castle?"
Epsilon quickly gave him a short explanation about where Bob came from, and who he might've been all while Anvil listened with a faint curiosity. He also explained to everyone about the contract he had made, and that he needed to go back to the castle if he wanted to avoid whatever kind of punishment would occur.
"And where is this Bob person right now?"
Epsilon shrugged his shoulders,
"I don't know. I can see what direction he's in, but I can't tell where he is in general or what he's doing."
Then, looking at Ki Song, he said with some hesitancy.
"Song, Is this a prank? You've seen the castle too?"
Still muddled, she just shook her head. Looking at Gracia, it seemed that she had no clue what he was talking about too.
"You forgot too? C'mon, you literally scouted the place!?"
"I really didn't see any castle. Maybe you were hallucinating?"
Ki Song slyly commented,
"You look young on the outside, but maybe you're still old on the inside?"
"..."
Anvil summoned a tiny notebook memory and began to write in it while silently observing. Everyone saw but thought nothing of it.
Anyhow, it was obvious that whatever chance they had of escaping by coming this way was futile. They had to turn around and head straight for the ruined city.
"We're not done. There's still one last thing we need to talk about."
He rose, his posture sharp and unmoving. His eyes locked onto Gracia with a piercing stillness, unblinking and hard.
"Can you even use a gateway while looking like that?"
"Of course I can. What kind of a question is that?"
Sylas paused for a moment.
"Do you know for certain? Because I don't believe you do."
Honestly, Epsilon had never considered that himself. Not because he was worried, but it just simply wasn't a possibility in his mind. Like, did it make sense that a curse capable of granting supernatural powers, struggle with something such as physical contact?
But then he remembered something that happened only a day or two ago. Back when he, Ki Song, Galahad and Gracia had killed an awakened monster. Immediately after, Gracia and Galahad got into a fight that he struggled to stop before it became serious, but a little bit after that, Gracia asked him to do something odd.
She said she would give something to him, and told him to hold her by her swords handle. Nothing happened, so he thought nothing of it too.
'What was supposed to happen anyway? Did she want to transfer a memory to me?'
If such a basic function of the spell didn't work simply because she had no hands, then how on earth would she be able to use a gateway?
'Oh no.'
If she couldn't use a gateway without a body, then how would she escape the dream realm? Nevertheless.. if they even considered going back down to get it, how would they get past that harrowing thing guarding it.
'Oh no no no no no no.'
The panic was written all over his face. It was so obvious, that everybody noticed it.
"Silon. If you know something, then say it."
Sylas's gaze cut into him like a knife, dissecting every inch of his face to read his thoughts. It was easy to see that Epsilon knew or at least reached a similar conclusion as his own, but the issue was he might've known even more.
His face suddenly turned all cheery,
"C'mon, aren't we friends? You can tell me anything!"
'It doesn't look that way at all!!"
He nervously looked back at Gracia for help, but all he could feel was her threatening gaze. Despite the lack of a face, he could tell that if he said anything she'd kill him later.
'I'm going to die.'
But did that choice have to be his own? Sometimes it was better to just close your eyes at a time like this, and pray to [Judgement]. And right now, it was telling him to speak the truth.
But even doing that, was simply too hard! He muttered as quietly as he could,
"Well.. um.. ya seee. There is this... a..wa.. error...."
Sylas still with that forced smile on his face, said with far too much enthusiasm.
"Please speak up before I throw you over that cliff!"
"She left her body near an Awakened Terror."
Ki Song already knew, so she didn't really feel too much, but hearing it again did make her shake. Anvil's very stern expression finally broke into one of surprise, and then perplexity, before fading back into his usual self. Galahad who hadn't been paying much attention, reacted the moment he heard the nightmare creature being mentioned.
"An Awakened Terror? Where?"
"...."
Sighing, Sylas calmed down. Sitting back down, he asked Gracia in an almost disappointed tone,
"Can we speak in private later?"
She silently nodded.
Epsilon on the other hand, had his own questions he wanted to ask.
'There was something else we needed to talk about too.'
It was concerning Sylas's Aspect. He was strong even amongst the sleepers in the academy, but his speed was truly something else. It was something not even an exceptional Sleeper should've had.
'But I don't think everyone's ready to talk about that yet. If another fight, nevertheless a barrage of questions like this were to happen again, it could negatively effect the cohort.'
**
'Everyone looks sad.'
Except for Anvil. He looked as expressionless as ever.
'He's boring.... I'm bored. I'm boredddddddddd.'
Galahad was contemplating while looking at the burning fire. Normally he didn't think about much. He just patiently waited for the next fight, while wondering what kind of opponent he would fight next.
The Awakened Terror did make him excited, but this time, something else was occupying his mind.
'Fighting will be annoying if everyone's angry.. what to do.. what to do...'
Their foul mood might infect him. If they were upset, then he would simply need to make them happy. But how would he do that? Then suddenly, he remembered something his father had said to him once upon a time.
"Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind."
He thought about it for a long while.
'So in other words, I just need to make them forget why they're angry at each other?'
He needed to do something so flashy, so shocking that they'll all forget about the hatred they still had.
'Something more flashy than an awakened terror.... I have just the thing!'
Standing up, he began to summon a memory from his Soul Sea.