After walking hurriedly on invisible blocks of matter between the inverted castle and the town of Vanagir, they reached the other side of the region.
Aren let go of Elias's wrist, then looked into Soryn's eyes.
"How are we supposed to deal with the time disruption outside?" Aren asked.
Soryn responded in a calm voice, "Do you mean time distortion? It's only in certain regions, but it can affect people with no Infracta too."
Aren raised his brow, unaware of this.
'I don't have any kind of Infracta… but I can't tell him. If he knows, maybe he'll take advantage of it. Would my Aberration Blessing work in the Quantum Verge?'
He stayed quiet for a few moments, thinking about the matter carefully.
'I'll just need to try. I can't tell him I have such a flaw.' He thought, confirming his decision.
Aren nodded, then he took the lead and walked toward The Grey Fog, where he had first come to Vanagir with Xander.
'Not to mention, there'll be many kinds of beasts awaiting. I don't even know what kind of trap Faye and I fell into. However, since Faye isn't here, I'll deal with it using my chains easily.'
The Grey Fog in front of them spiraled abruptly, until finally revealing a wide gap for them to enter through as if it had sensed them coming.
On the other side, there was a vast, gloomy expanse of grassy land shrouded in mist and secrets.
Seeing this, Aren walked inside, aware of the risks that could follow from being present there.
First, the abductions by Equinox. Faye was abducted by them, according to Xander, by manipulating the third branch of Infracta, Frequency.
While not knowing much about Frequency, he knew it wasn't a big problem for him, since he had made it out last time.
'Wait… how would the old man know if it was Equinox? Did he sense the Frequency? But, he didn't do anything to help, even though he said that he practically worships her.'
He clicked his tongue, remembering Soryn and his group's perspective of the Deeps Association.
'I should've known not to trust him… How am I even gonna find Faye now?!'
He took a deep breath of the cold air inside the fog, then relaxed his head. If anything, he was definitely going to come back to Vanagir and deal with the Deeps just for how they had lied to him.
Or, at least, when he gets his Shade back. In the meantime, he had to focus on his surroundings.
Secondly, the main problem in The Grey Fog was how easily one could get lost inside. Therefore, they had to be close at all times.
'How did Soryn and the others even manage to get in without using this path?'
The question suddenly raised in Aren's head, though he chose to keep it to himself, as it must've been some boring method.
Though if they hadn't chosen this foggy path, then they must've branched from somewhere else.
After walking for a few minutes, shockingly safer than what Aren had expected, they reached the end, where the fog spiraled once more and opened up a gap.
This time, however, the gap was covered with bright light, which blocked the view of the other side of The Grey Fog.
Elias spoke from behind, "This gives many different possibilities to where it could lead us, since it doesn't show the other side. A known side effect of The Grey Fog."
Aren looked back, "So, do we cross?"
Elias turned his eyes. "What do you think?"
Aren furrowed his brows slightly, seeing how Elias was mocking him.
Though he couldn't hide it, he felt slightly bad for Elias's separation from Leonardo.
He couldn't help but ask, "What about Leonardo?"
Soryn answered instead of Elias, "He'll make it."
Aren moved, first stepping forward into the bright gap, which illuminated the area.
In a moment, his vision was intensely blurred by a weird golden hue, forcing him to put his hand in front of his eyes.
The wind blew at him, then he finally opened his eyes.
In front of him was a very large expanse that extended farther than the eye could see.
There were many spots in the expanse where it had seemed like the aftermath of a battle, seeing the unusual terrain and weirdly huge swords engraved into the earth.
Despite everything else, however, the main thing that took Aren by surprise was the glowing orb in the sky.
An object he'd only seen in drawings, but barely the real thing.
He felt unusually sentimental, a feeling he wasn't used to, as he continued to gaze into its captivating but bright sight.
"That's… the Sun?"
His eyes were widened, shocked by the view in front of him.
In the Primal World, Aren's world, he was never used to the sight of the Sun, as the Long Night would usually take its place.
Normally, he was amazed. But, he wasn't complaining. The sight was very captivating just to stare at.
Soryn stood next to Aren, "Elias? Where are we?"
Elias had already walked out of the gap, then stood next to Soryn.
His golden hair flowed as the wind blew, shaking his dark cloak. He looked closely,
"We're still in the Solnar continent. Thankfully, we didn't end up somewhere else."
Aren's curiosity raised, 'Does that mean the Verge has different continents? Faye and I ended up in a completely different part. But, at least the Order of Helmond won't be on my tail now.'
Soryn asked in a calm voice, "So, if my predictions are correct, the Sacred City is towards the north?"
Elias nodded, "Yes, Sir Fourth. Equinox is to the west, the Evernight Temple to the east, and our base of operations is also towards the north; it'll take at most a day before we get there. But the Whisper Creatures might make it a perilous journey."
Aren shook his head, unable to understand a word.
Seeing this, Soryn said, "Those are cities, Descender. On the other hand, Whisper Creatures are wild beasts that cause havoc. Some of them are friendly, though."
'What a weird name… I guess their kind exists in every universe.'
Soryn continued, "But, we'll need to be wary until we reach our base. Remember, we're still being persecuted."
Aren and Elias nodded simultaneously.
While Elias and Soryn were rather enthusiastic, Aren was frozen like a statue. Equinox seemed so trivial now that he learned there were so many different things to discover.
Soryn faced Elias, "How is your Essence, now? Could your Characteristic be damaged?"
Elias shook his head as he put a hand over his chest, "I'll be fine. It was because I used a Trait from my Palace to put the soldiers to sleep, and it needs a lot of energy unlike other Traits."
Aren overheard the conversation, though he didn't understand much, however he was going to keep it in mind.
The sun was shining while the clouds gathered and blocked its light. Elias and Soryn were conversing, and Aren remained lost in thought, stiffening his position.
He was reminded of the past failures he had suffered during his exile, as well as with Faye.
He carried those memories with him like a knife stuck to his neck.
He hoped that this journey would not bring him pain, unlike all his previous journeys filled with blood, betrayal, sadness, and terrible memories.