After that, he left the building in silence, sticking close to the walls while watching both sides. The streets now looked like the perfect transit route for a giant serpent. They even produced a strange sense of claustrophobia, along with a faint smell of charcoal.
'Damn it… I'm trapped.'
The exterior was a complicated labyrinth; the interior, a silent city where any sound could be heard.
It was a death trap.
Nova would have preferred staying behind to fight the Sand Octopus one-on-one rather than dealing with that horrifying thing. Judging by the massive size of the building's entrance in the plaza, the reptile's head alone was enormous, which meant its body was likely even larger.
'I need to get out of here—and fast.'
Determination surged through his system. He had already faced death twice. A third time hardly mattered. Though he had once been a city kid who had never known real hardship, today he would learn that life could be just as cruel as any Aberration.
He continued moving between the houses.
To escape, the best option was to follow the energy signature. If there was also an asteroid with Calem energy in this place, then portals should be opening constantly. In that case, there was a way out.
All he had to do was survive the giant serpent.
Minutes passed with every step. The monotonous silence was terrifying—but even more terrifying were the constant hisses echoing from the tunnels.
Nova, of course, wasn't afraid.
'Lately, my emotions shut down more often. That hasn't happened in years.'
Used to living by imitating emotions until he learned how to feel, he didn't truly understand how emotions worked. Whenever his feelings were about to rise past a certain point, his brain automatically shut them down.
As always, Serenity saved him from his own mind.
Curse or not, this time Serenity was a great help. Keeping a cool, emotionless mind was perfect for survival.
'But it's also very useful.'
The journey continued without complications.
The energy still felt like a gentle breeze in the distance, but it was no longer that far away. It was only a matter of time before he found the real thing.
***
He followed the tunnels, hoping to reach the end.
The hissing remained constant and ominous, but it was still fairly distant. The real danger was when he heard the Aberration dragging itself along the ground. That was when Nova had to hide.
With the glowing stone in his hand, he could explore the area much more effectively. The path was clearer now, making it easier to move without crashing into sharp rocks.
'How much farther? The energy keeps growing stronger…'
Like a heart beating in the darkness, the source of that energy sent pulses into the world. It was something that had happened on ancient Earth as well. At first, those pulses caused humans to become infected with the mysterious Psychological Virus. Today, those same pulses served to keep the planet alive.
Hours passed without anything new happening. It was a boring path, but survival wasn't always fun, exciting, or filled with battles against unreal monsters. Walking had already become a habit for him, and he would keep walking until he reached his destination.
When the hissing seemed to stop—too distant to be heard—Nova sat down to rest.
He stared at the glowing stone in silence.
Everything around him was so lonely. The dark stone, the sepulchral silence left behind when the Aberration moved away, the constant thoughts about the danger lurking in the darkness, the faint charcoal smell seeping from the walls.
When he stopped, Nova realized just how alone he was, and he couldn't help having the kind of discouraging thoughts anyone in his situation would have.
'Will I have to do this for the rest of my life?'
Run. Fight. Survive.
'That would be really boring.'
He closed his eye. He imagined his world again.
'It wouldn't be so boring if they were here.'
A team of four friends, exploring and fighting monsters together. It sounded fun—fantastical and amazing.
'If I manage to return, I'm definitely taking a vacation. I want to rest. I'm really tired.'
Deciding to end the brief rest—and the heavy thoughts and memories of the past—he stood up and continued forward. However, as he did, the hissing returned.
This time, it was very close.
Nova immediately pressed himself against the wall.
'Why?! It wasn't this close before!'
Run? Stay? Damn it, this question came up far too often.
He stayed silent and waited. The dragging sound grew closer. The ground trembled, dust fell. He looked up. The sound was coming from one of the tunnels above…
Seconds later, everything fell silent.
'Damn it. I need to hurry.'
Knowing the danger had moved a bit farther away, he walked faster to close the distance.
With the path mostly straight, sometimes the hissing echoed, sending shivers through his bones. At other times, the beast dragging itself made the walls tremble. In the end, silence always clung to the area.
Nova tried not to think too much about it. If he got distracted and made noise, he would definitely be killed. Of course, he didn't know if the monster could hear—but it was better not to take risks.
He walked. He walked again and again. He didn't stop—and maybe never would. The silence around him was stressful, but the monster stalking him turned that stress into a suffocating sensation, tying knots in his throat and making his body tremble in resonance with the heavy scraping sound.
All of this made Nova start asking himself the same questions as he moved forward: When will it appear? When will it leave? How far is it? Can it hear me? Can it smell me? Does it sense the fear I'm incapable of feeling?
These were questions Nova had never asked himself about Aberrations before. In fact, his thoughts had never carried this strange sense of fear and paranoia—something completely unnatural to his personality.
The farther he went, the heavier his breathing became. Sweat ran down his forehead. At every small sound, his entire body went on high alert. His eye wandered through the darkness of the tunnels, as if he expected the Aberration to appear at any moment.
Once again, the serpent appeared, moving through the upper section of the tunnels. The ground trembled, and Nova lifted his gaze to the ceiling.
He had reached an intersection between four tunnels. He looked in every possible direction, hoping the serpent wouldn't suddenly emerge.
'Are you coming this way? Which path will you take?'
The constant questions began to make him paranoid. Every time his body overreacted to the slightest stimulus—sensory or otherwise—it felt as if he were scared all the time.
This time, however, it would be worse than all the others.
The ground shook. The hissing echoed. Nova felt a chill and tried to predict where the beast would come from. A strong charcoal smell seeped from the walls, growing more and more suffocating by the second.