'What should I do next? Walk blindly?'
With his perception of energy—and considering that the entire area was flat and desolate—Nova could walk calmly without tripping. Doing so would shorten the journey significantly.
However, that led to the most chilling question of all.
'I might be fine if I walk blindly, but… how long will the night last?'
The smaller sun takes approximately forty-two hours to rise, while the larger one would take much longer. Maybe double that, or triple. Nova hadn't had the chance to calculate that part.
'The night will last almost two days…'
He frowned, growing a bit impatient.
'Are there nocturnal Aberrations?'
It was a simple idea, one that sounded chilling and distant—but not impossible.
'That would be a huge problem. Should I leave? Should I stay and rest?'
Stay or move forward. Once again, the dilemma presented itself. If Nova stayed, there was a chance an Aberration like the previous one—or a completely new one—would appear. He had already been extremely lucky over the past few days that another strange Sand Octopus hadn't shown up.
Even if he moved forward, the odds were the same, but at least the journey would be shorter.
The best decision was already clear.
'I don't even know why I'm overthinking this. Screw it—I'm out of here!'
He stood up. With some difficulty, he equipped his belongings and grabbed the staff tightly.
'If something shows up, I'll beat it to death with this stick! I've got seeds too! I'll blow them up like I did with the other monster!'
With courage, stupidity, or perhaps enough calmness, Nova walked into the darkness.
The journey was harder this time. The boy thought he wouldn't trip over anything, but he quickly discovered that the sand was malleable at the surface, and that a wrong step could send you face-first into the ground.
He learned the hard way—after four falls—that he had to learn how to walk blindly. He kept that in mind in the moments that followed.
Hours passed without anything unusual happening. At times, Nova stopped to catch his breath before moving on. The cold of the night wasn't an issue either. In fact, the climate was mild—neither cold nor hot.
That was certainly strange, but from then on, the journey remained calm and silent.
'I wish I had someone with me.'
A very selfish thought, but a necessary one. Not having gone insane yet was quite an achievement, though not much time had passed to truly consider that possibility. Having someone around would've been nice. At least talking about anything would've been comforting for anyone.
How many hours had passed already? Ten? Nova checked his communicator. A little over twelve hours had passed since he decided to move forward. The darkness was still absolute.
'Is there still a long way to go?'
There was… a long way to go.
At times, Nova smiled softly while looking at the image displayed on the glass screen of the communicator. It was a photograph of Adelaide, Viktor, and himself as a child, holding a green egg the size of his head.
He stared at the image in silence as he walked. The deathly silence of this place was far too depressing when there was no one around making noise.
That was when he realized how much, deep down, he missed his home. Even if he wasn't capable of feeling like others, Nova still had a heart.
'Will I be able to go back?'
His eyes grew empty as they reflected the light and the image. However, the faint glow illuminating his face caused something to stare at him from the darkness.
Nova didn't notice at first. He turned off his communicator and kept walking, but when he heard a growl behind him, he immediately turned around and sharpened his senses.
'I knew it. It was too good to be true.'
Scrape… Scrape…
Something was moving around him. The sand shifted beneath the light movements of four limbs constantly brushing against the ground.
Nova raised his guard. The carapace covered his back, and the staff protected his face. He was fine for now—but what kind of Aberration wanted to attack him? Its footsteps didn't sound like those of a large, heavy monster.
He waited for a few seconds, maintaining his stance. Then it happened.
Rraaagh!
Something lunged at him and slammed him hard into the sand. As he shielded himself with the staff, his back hit the ground, knocking the air out of his lungs for a moment. It took him a second to realize that the beast lying on top of him was trying to bite his face—its growls and gnashing teeth were far too close to his eyes.
The Aberration wasn't very heavy, but it had enough strength to force the boy to defend himself with everything he had.
'Damn it… it's really strong!'
With no other option, he activated his Spectrum. A yellow aura—almost golden—covered his entire body. His strength increased, as did the abilities of his Spectrum, granting him the power to defend himself.
Taking advantage of the temporary buff, Nova shoved the staff upward with all his strength. The Aberration seemed to recoil into the darkness, falling onto the sand and letting out a pained whimper upon impact.
Seizing that brief window, Nova pulled out his communicator and illuminated the scene.
What he saw made him lose all hope.
'Oh, man…'
It wasn't just one. Or two. There were nearly fifty damn quadrupedal beasts with dark fur!
They looked like dogs—but they weren't. Each had four legs, yet their bodies were composed of black mist that blurred under the communicator's light. Twisted horns curled over their heads, with sharp black teeth lining their elongated snouts. They had no eyes, yet somehow, they could see.
All the beasts growled and stared straight at Nova. They weren't very big—as he had already confirmed—barely half the height of an average man, but there were so many of them!
'I think there's only one thing I can do in moments like this…'
They all seemed to think the same.
"I'm getting the hell out of here!"
He ran in the opposite direction with all his strength. Sand filled his boots with every step, but that hardly mattered when fifty hungry monsters were chasing him from behind.
It took him a moment to realize that the pack of Aberrations was running at the same speed as him. When he lit the area with his communicator, there were only a few meters between them.
'Damn it! Why couldn't they have sent me another killer octopus instead?!'
This night was going to be very long.