After the young woman was finished treating Lenny's wounds, she pulled back and looked at silently with a somber expression. Then she turned and looked at the dried blood around them, a swell as the crumbled remains of the Hive creatures.
In the end, she did not say anything.
But she did not need to either, the questions she wanted to ask were quite obvious. Who are you? How did you do that? How did you kill dozens of creatures with your bare hands? How can a Commonality be to kill an Ontological Glitch, especially one that is complicated and dangerous like the Hive?
She must have decided against asking strangers too many questions, instead, she decided to be more grateful. Without Lenny's help, she probably would have died. They were both kneeling in the center of the silent chaos, looking around with contempt and disbelief, when suddenly they heard something...
It sounded like a faint and distant echo of... footsteps. Someone was coming. They were not sure if it was a creature or a human, but they sure hoped it was the latter. For more than one reason really. As much as they would be elated to see another Commonality on the island, encountering a creature in the state they were in...
The footsteps drew closer and closer, until the echoes could be clearly heard inside the spacious hall. They both turned to the direction with guarded expression. The hollow space —one among many, leading into the labyrinth around them — was empty for a short while, then a tall figure emerged from it.
It was another girl, in her teenage years, calm and expressionless. She had long black hair, and a sharp confident build. She held an obsidian horn in her hand, spatted with shimmering azure blood. She looked completely worn out, as if she had been fighting hordes of abominations since arriving. The girl stood motionless for a few long moments, looking at the mess around them.
Understandable.
Lenny studied her too.
'Another surviving Commonality, huh. Well, what do you know.'
The young girl kneeling in front of him meanwhile, failed to contain her excitement.
She stood up and dashed towards the new arrival.
#
Soon after introducing each other, they were silent once more. Lenny did not really feel like talking, and it seemed like Nyx was not fond of socializing either. Sasha meanwhile...
The silence was heavy and suffocating though, and there were a lot of things Lenny wanted to know. So he turned to Sasha and simply asked:
"How exactly did you find yourself running from the Hive? How did you find this place?"
Sasha scratched the back of her neck.
"I do not remember much after someone violently shoved me into a blue portal. The world was still blurry after the vision I had so I was still disoriented. When I woke up, I found myself in the middle of a labyrinth, unable to get out."
She sighed.
"I do not know when the Hive surrounded me, but I found myself in a sticky situation not long after arriving. I ran around in circles, but I knew I would be cornered if I continued running aimlessly, so I used by Ability. "
Lenny raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah. It is to understand, but also complex at the same time. Supposedly, I can see through stuff, or the concept of them at least. I also have not completely grasped the Eye of the Storm yet, but that is what is used to escape the labyrinth. I pierced through the walls and saw a vast empty hallway, but I did not see anyone in it."
'Eye of the Storm...'
Even Nyx, when had been silent for a while seemed interested in the topic. She leaned a little closer and asked:
"So ...you can see through matter?"
Sasha shook her head.
"Like I said, it is a very complex Ability, better not dwell on it too much. It is still limited to my rank, so it is not very exciting. But if I were to become powerful enough, I would probably be to look into fate, the past or the future. Or I could even peer through the concept of existence itself!"
Her smile was so wide and joyful, her very last tooth was exposed.
"Ahh.. but do not mind me. Tell me, where do you come from?"
Now, it was Nyx's turn to answer her questions. She shifted uncomfortably on the floor, and said evenly,
"I woke up near the entrance of this place, near the Skysea. I am well aware that being outside at nightfall in this place is grave mistake, so I set out looking for shelter, then I stumbled into... well this. What exactly happened here?"
Sasha chuckled nervously.
"Well, I managed to escape the labyrinth, and I found Lenny chilling here. Luckily, he was kind enough to leand a hand. Otherwise i would be dead."
Lenny could not help but scoff.
'Lend a hand...'
"I still cannot believe you managed to kill the Hive, this is completely unheard of. You are not really one of the newly awakened Commonalities, are you?"
He slowly shook his head.
"I am a seasoned fighter with two years of battle experience..."
#
The first impact nearly drove the breath out of Luke's lungs.
The Carrion Hound's weight crushed into him, its jaws snapping inches from his throat, hot saliva splattering across his face as he struggled to keep it at bay. Its limbs bent at unnatural angles, twitching and recoiling as it tried to force its head down. Luke gritted his teeth, muscles straining as he shoved against it, his arm trembling under the pressure.
Then something slammed into the creature from the side.
Blue flames erupted again.
The beast was torn away in a violent arc, its body engulfed in azure flames as it shrieked and thrashed, rolling across the cavern floor before going still.
Luke sucked in a sharp breath, barely processing what had just happened before a hand, strong and scorching hot, grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him to his feet.
"Move!" the stranger snapped.
Up close, the young man looked even more unreal. His skin shimmered beneath the fading flames, the unnatural azure glow dimming as the fire began to recede. His four arms still moved in perfect coordination, intercepting attacks with brutal efficiency, one arm crushing a Spine Crawler mid-lunge, another tearing a Carrion Hound off Luke before it could bite again.
But even then
They were losing.
Too many opponents.
The creatures did not hesitate. They adapted. More poured in from every direction, filling the cavern with a tide of shrieking bodies and snapping jaws. The ground trembled as Burrow Wretches erupted beneath them, forcing both boys to leap back as jagged mouths split open, snapping blindly.
"Stay close!" the stranger barked, his voice strained now.
Luke nodded, barely keeping up. His body reacted on instinct, dodging, striking, pushing back, but it was still not enough. Every second, the pressure increased. Every second, the swarm tightened.
The flames around the stranger flickered.
Then—
They vanished.
Abruptly.
The blue inferno that had cloaked him moments ago snuffed out, leaving behind only faint trails of smoke rising from his skin. The glow dimmed, his form shifting.
The two additional arms retracted.
Not disappearing cleanly, but folding unnaturally back into his torso, like something being forced into a space too small to hold it. His body shuddered slightly as the transformation reversed, his form stabilizing into something closer to human.
But the damage remained.
Two holes could be seen from his torse, blood gushing out immediately. The wounds healed just like the rest of them.
His skin was still scorched in places, faintly glowing, healing in slow pulses.
Luke stared for half a second.
"…What—"
"No time," the boy snapped, grabbing Luke's arm. "We're leaving."
He didn't wait for agreement.
He pulled.
And then they ran.
#
The cavern blurred around them as they sprinted through the darkness, their footsteps echoing sharply against stone. The creatures followed immediately, faster than anything Luke had expected.
Too fast.
Behind them, the shrieks grew louder, closer. The skittering of Spine Crawlers echoed like a storm of blades, while the heavier, thunderous impacts of Burrow Wretches collapsing through stone shook the ground beneath their feet.
"They're gaining," Luke said through clenched teeth.
"I know."
The stranger's grip tightened as he dragged Luke along, his movements efficient despite the obvious strain on his body. Without the flames, without the extra arms, he was faster—but not fast enough.
A Carrion Hound burst from the side, leaping toward them.
The boy twisted mid-run, his foot slamming into the creature's skull with a crack before he kept moving without breaking stride.
But more followed.
Always more.
Luke's mind raced.
This isn't going to work.
They couldn't outrun them.
Not like this.
Not through sheer speed.
Which left only one option.
A terrible one.
"…I can get us out," Luke said suddenly.
The stranger glanced at him, eyes sharp. "Then do it."
Luke hesitated.
His head throbbed just thinking about it.
The last few times he had used his ability, it had nearly dropped him where he stood. The strain wasn't just physical, it felt like forcing his mind to hold something it wasn't meant to understand.
And this..
This would be worse.
"…It's not stable," Luke warned.
"Neither is dying," the boy shot back.
Fair point.
Luke exhaled sharply, forcing himself to focus.
Not movement.
Destination.
He looked ahead, past the darkness, past the twisting tunnels.
He didn't need to see it.
He just needed to decide where they would be.
A place clearer.
Safer.
Away.
The world resisted immediately.
He felt it this time, clearly. Reality pushed back against his will, like a surface refusing to bend. The pressure in his skull spiked instantly, sharp and violent, his vision distorting at the edges.
"…Hold on," Luke muttered.
"To what?" the stranger snapped.
Luke didn't answer.
He stepped.
And forced the world to agree.
#
Everything broke.
Space twisted violently, folding in on itself like paper crumpling under pressure. The cavern stretched into impossible shapes, distances collapsing and expanding at the same time.
For a fraction of a second
They were nowhere.
Then
They were somewhere else.
#
Luke hit the ground hard, his body slamming into rough stone as the world snapped back into place around him. Air rushed into his lungs in a sharp, painful gasp as his vision spun violently.
"aghh!"
His head felt like it was splitting open.
Every nerve in his body screamed in protest, his muscles locking up as the aftershock of forcing reality to bend crashed into him.
For a few seconds,
He couldn't move.
Couldn't think.
Just breathed.
Beside him, the stranger staggered slightly but stayed upright, releasing his grip on Luke as he scanned their surroundings instantly.
"…We made it," he said, his voice low but alert.
Luke forced his eyes open.
The cavern here was different.
Wider.
Quieter.
The oppressive density of creatures was gone. The air felt… clearer. Still heavy, still dangerous, but not immediately lethal.
No shrieks.
No skittering.
No pounding footsteps chasing them.
Just silence.
Luke let out a weak breath, his body finally beginning to respond again.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "We did."
The stranger looked down at him, studying him now with a different kind of intensity.
Not suspicion.
Not hostility.
But recognition.
"…You're a Commonality," he said.
Luke huffed weakly. "Yeah. So are you."
The boy's gaze flickered slightly at that.
"…Not exactly," he replied.
Luke didn't have the energy to question it.
Not yet.
For now,
They were alive.
And the monsters were gone.
But deep in Luke's chest, beneath the exhaustion and pain something stirred, because he knew they were far from safe.
And the stranger seemed to share the same thought.
"We need to leave this place as soon as the sun rises. For now we just need to survive. "
He remained quiet for a short moment.
"I'm Adrian by the way..."