Two survivors laboured towards the tranquil river ahead after enduring a day consumed by chaos.
Verily, only one of them still moved with purpose, shielding the unconscious figure upon the slab and countless times warding death from reaching her.
The protector was a striking young man with blonde hair that hung loose in strands. A dark, long cloak draped over him, its fabric roughened by mud, and his face bore the grime of exhaustion.
Beneath that weariness, however, his skin remained flawless.
The unconscious figure was a grey-haired woman, a beauty of her kind. She wore a white sweatshirt and trousers, her form unblemished, smooth as unspun silk. No soil or stain marred her, owing entirely to the vigilance and toil of the man who guarded her path.
Once the sky had fully brightened, Kyle and Na-Ri were the first to recognise the girl on the wooden slab.
"…Adela?" Na-Ri stammered, lowering her blade.
Kyle blinked hard, rubbed his eyes, and fixed his gaze on the figure, half-convinced the beautiful stranger was either playing tricks or had slipped from reality.
Yet, he had seen the same thing she had. Hearing Na-Ri speak the name aloud only made it harder to accept.
After his fourth double-take, he could no longer deny it — the unconscious girl really was Adela.
But how had she…? Oh.
Both of them lifted their eyes to the faltering figure behind the slab, realising it was Orion, recklessly putting his life on the line to drag her forward.
Kyle found the whole thing rather idiotic. He had never known anyone to risk their life for another, especially not for what looked like dead weight.
'Well… at least he didn't run off just to save his own skin. He actually went for Adela when he disappeared…'
He finally accepted that the young man had not acted as he himself would have done merely to preserve his own life. The thought forced him to question who truly merited the title of clown.
From their vantage, they discerned a blade lying beside the girl, a clear indication that the grey-haired beauty had at some point regained consciousness.
She may well have collapsed again after an extended struggle, leaving Orion to watch over her despite his own exhaustion from battle.
Na-Ri descended the hill without delay or hesitation, and Kyle followed after a brief pause.
His opinion held no weight in what appeared a flawless reunion of companions.
"Orion! Orion!"
At the sound of his name carried by Na-Ri's familiar voice, he stopped and turned in surprise, his gaze falling upon the two figures hurrying towards him.
"You both survived?" Orion asked with a weary smile, his eyes shifting from Na-Ri to Kyle before returning with relief to the unconscious grey-haired beauty.
In a hushed tone, he murmured:
"...They are here. I told you Lee would be safe, and Kyle has come as well."
***
They managed at last to cross the river. Kyle, though hesitant, agreed to bear Adela upon his back, since Orion was too weakened and Na-Ri remained the most capable fighter, brimming still with strength and endurance.
Reason persuaded him to act as necessity demanded, and he handed his rib weapon to Orion in exchange.
The slab was abandoned by the water's edge, and they advanced by stepping across the stones that lay in sequence through the river like a narrow bridge.
'Damn… is she truly this light, or is it only me?' Kyle cast a glance at the girl's head resting upon his shoulder as they emerged into a vast field of dead flowers, their path illuminated by the glow of the sky.
It dawned on him that the weight upon his back scarcely hindered his movements. She felt no heavier than a pillow pressed against him.
Such unnatural lightness was among the marks of advancement into a higher stage or tier, when the body became unnaturally unburdened, granting its bearer the agility to move beyond ordinary human constraint.
By that same logic, his breakthrough granted greater strength, which explained why he perceived her as so light even while fatigue pressed upon him. An ordinary human would still have struggled to carry her steadily, regardless of how little she weighed.
The three companions, with Adela upon Kyle's back, walked side by side through the vast field of withered flowers. A gentle breeze swept over them as they moved with caution, fortunate that no creature had yet crossed their path.
For the moment, fortune seemed to linger at their side in this realm where chaos thrived in the lowest depths.
"Did Adela truly awaken? I thought you said her core was damaged," the beautiful stranger asked, her doubtful gaze resting upon the young man.
He rubbed the back of his head, smiling first at Kyle and then at Adela, before answering with solemn reluctance after a drawn-out pause:
"You see... I believed something was wrong with her core, but I was mistaken. It merely took time for her to absorb the Vitara Pill. She awoke only a few hours ago and soon after drifted back into slumber. I placed her into rest once more because her body required it."
"She refused to rest, did she? All the same, you did well. Let us only hope she does not bite you when she wakes. I am at least glad both of you remain alive," Na-Ri replied, dismissing her blade.
A broader grin spread across Orion's face as he nudged Kyle with his shoulder. He spoke no word, and both fixed their gaze on the path ahead.
Kyle scoffed inwardly. The clown had returned to form, though he could not deny the faint spark of relief that rose within him, the same he had felt upon seeing Na-Ri.
As for Adela, she was no longer insensible and thus no longer the dead weight he had first imagined.
Even so, he anticipated the storm awaiting them once she awoke. Orion had forced her into unconsciousness to shoulder the battle himself, rather than her having endured an unbroken fight.
Her temper, witnessed before at the Settlement when they had shared that brief secret concerning the Trial Zone, had left its mark on him. He knew well the fury that would ignite the moment her eyes opened.
Kyle's thoughts also turned to Orion's element.
From the shadowed trails he had glimpsed during the teleportation, he concluded it was Darkness, a force greater in potency than Ice.
'So he carries both a handsome face and a powerful element… while I am cursed with mediocrity. Fate does enjoy its little jokes.'
The radiant sky cast its light across the land, shaping their path into a filtered passage towards danger. The four pressed on in search of food and shelter, and, if Kyle's prayers were answered, certainly not more survivors.
The only reason he had not already withdrawn lay in Na-Ri's presence, for she was no weakling, and Orion himself was far from a novice. Their party appeared competent, though trust still divided him from them.
Ahead stretched their next destination: the Valley of Monsters. Turning back was not an option.