Chapter 51: Theory
The increasing number of intelligent Spike Beasts was of great concern for every awakened, regardless of their affiliation.
Teamed up with Norm’s group, Rohan and the others also encountered other Awakened while they searched for any viable waystone, who either had no idea about anything that had been happening over the past few hours or didn’t feel like joining up with Rohan, Elane and Norm’s group.
In a situation like this, strength could definitely be found in numbers, though much of their time spent while searching was on breaks, so that those with injuries could rest for a little bit before they kept going. Gerty and Liam in particular had injuries to their legs, so Elane was much better off than them. They were the biggest burden everyone had to shoulder at the moment, but nobody saw it that way.
A few days had already passed since they received their injuries, and if all went well, in a few more they would almost be fully healed. Their injuries weren’t too serious, only a few deep cuts and bruised muscles here and there, but these being inflicted on their legs and feet made their mobility suffer.
"How much more of this do we have to take..."
Complaints were starting to pop up every couple of kilometres they travelled.
"All the waystones we’ve encountered so far were destroyed. What choice do we have but to keep moving? We won’t find any solutions to our problems if we sit and sulk in the same spot the whole time."
Norm argued back against the resenting voices, and those of his group had no choice but to concede, knowing he was right. Truthfully, nobody meant to cause any arguments; this was just a way for them to vent their frustrations.
They were all in the same boat, and bottling all of their emotions up would become unhealthy in the long run.
Eventually, the group of eight came to a stop once they reached a cliff edge that they definitely wouldn’t be able to scale down, prompting everyone to choose this place as their camp for the night.
There was no day and night cycle in this place, as the sky was a permanent fixture of black skies littered with stars and the faint aurora providing most of the light on the surface below. Choosing when to camp it out mostly just depended on everyone’s level of fatigue and natural circadian rhythms.
Rohan and Elane chose to follow along with Norm’s group’s way of doing things, despite neither of them being tired themselves. They hadn’t been there for a single day yet, while Norm and the others were coming up on their eighth day in this dreaded place, so they’d already got used to their own schedule.
"So where do you suppose we go from here?"
While Rohan and Elane sat around the makeshift fire the group had crafted, relaxing under the serene night sky, Norm approached and sat beside them.
"I propose that after everyone’s had their rest, we should switch up our plan. Right now, all we’ve done is confirm our earlier suspicions about something going around destroying all the waystones and that the Spike Beast’s increasing intelligence wasn’t just an isolated incident."
Rohan munched on a piece of dried jerky while he chatted. Elane had her own assortment of snacks that she’d brought along, while Norm declined to eat, saying he wasn’t in the mood for that right now.
"What do you suggest we do then?"
Rohan swallowed his food, then answered.
"I have a theory about the weird way those Spike Beasts have been acting recently, though you’re not going to like it."
Rohan’s tone sounded rather nonchalant and relaxed, but his face suggested otherwise.
"And?"
"Well, on our last trip to the Origin Realm, Elane and I happened to encounter an Elite E Rank ant-type beast that could control the actions and movements of other ant-type beasts weaker than itself. I’m not suggesting that’s what’s going on here, but it’s probably something similar."
Bringing up the memories of his encounter with that Elite E Rank left a sour feeling in Rohan’s mouth, putting him off from finishing the rest of his jerky. Elane also put away her snacks, no longer in the mood for them, choosing to sip on some water instead.
Norm’s brows rose at Rohan’s theory, finding it quite unbelievable that Rohan so casually talked about an encounter with an Elite E Rank. From earlier conversations with the two, he already knew that Rohan and Elane were fresh Awakened, having just returned from their first outing in the Origin Realm, so to have such an experience on their first time was rather extraordinary.
But his face soon scrunched upon realising the implications behind Rohan’s words.
"But this is an F rank Gate. Its impossible to find an E rank beast in here, let alone an Elite one?"
Rohan nodded in agreement.
"That’s why I said that it’s most likely something similar, not the same type of situation. But we can only confirm that once we find the boss of this place. Where is it anyway? I didn’t hear anything related to the Elite before entering the gate, and I still don’t know much about it other than it existing."
Norm shrugged.
"It’s at the centre of this place, but the government blocked off every entrance to its lair with reinforced E rank materials, so even if we found it, we wouldn’t be able to do anything once we get there."
He silently sighed, thinking their situation was growing more hopeless by the minute. With no waystones, there was no way of returning other than taking the boss down, taking the entire gate and dimension with it. But with no way to actually reach the boss, they were essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Rohan glanced over at his own backpack, looking at the resources he’d packed inside. Elane and Norm did the same, all coming to the same realisation.
"How much food and water did you guys pack?" Norm asked. They should have been in a better situation than his group as they’d just entered.
"I only put in about 7 days worth."
Elane replied first. But her expression wasn’t good either. Despite having enough for another week, she packed foods that were more snacks to consume while on the move instead of meals that would provide her all the nutrients she’d need.
"...Five day’s worth."
Rohan was next, and his expression was sour.
The only food he packed was beef jerky...
Neither of them expected to spend a long time in the gate when they first made this plan, perhaps two or three days at most, only packing this much for cases of emergency – like their current situation.
’Thank god I considered that...’
"You guys are better off than us. We planned to spend a week in this place originally but packed 10 days’ worth of food for each of us."
Norm’s posture slumped, becoming silent for a bit.
Their planned week had already passed, leaving them with only three days left before they ran out. Rohan could tell that things were getting dire and quickly.
"Then we should definitely head over to the Elite’s location first thing tomorrow. The sooner we can find out what’s happening, the sooner we can think up a solution and escape this dead world."