Chapter 10: Running for your life
After a few painful hours, Eric finally managed to sleep, only to be awakened soon by a gentle touch on his face.
"The sun is up. Let's go," Aria said softly. She looked quite different after waking up—her hair was a little messy, and her face was slightly drowsy… it was kind of cute.
With a grunt, Eric stood up. "All right. Did you manage to get some sleep?"
"I slept like a baby," Olivia replied without hesitation. "Looking at your eyes, I guess you had some trouble."
'Little trouble is an understatement,' Eric thought.
"I know you must be exhausted, but we have to go. How much essence do you have left?"
Eric shifted his gaze to the corner of his vision, and his face darkened for a moment.
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[Current Essence: 196]
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"196," he replied. "We really have to hurry."
Aria nodded and opened the map in front of the squad.
The map showed that they were supposed to be at the top of a mountain, but they were currently in a forest with no mountains in sight.
"The map in this area hasn't been updated in a long time, so it's unreadable," Olivia muttered.
"Yes," Aria agreed. "If a change as big as a mountain moving has happened, it must mean the area has been influenced by a strong monster nearby, possibly Grade-5 or higher."
Olivia grimaced at the news. The two of them were masters, so their power was supposed to be enough to defeat a Grade-4. But even if they worked together, taking down a Grade-5 was out of the question.
"Then we'll just have to be more careful," Eric interjected, standing up and beginning to walk in the direction of the cathedral.
"He's right, I guess," Olivia muttered as she followed him, Aria not far behind.
The forest was dense, so visibility was poor, but it also meant they would be hard to spot by a potential enemy.
"So how does a person evolve in this world?" Eric asked, getting bored with the constant scenery.
"Well, first you have normal humans. They don't have systems and are considered powerless against the corruption," Aria replied.
"When a human is gifted a system by the gods, they're considered Awakened. With time, they're supposed to be equal to a Grade-3 monster.
"Then, after a lot of training, your soul gets stronger. Once it's strong enough, you enter a grandmaster's cathedral. If the cathedral and its god deem you worthy, you become a master, and a pillar is magically created in the cathedral, increasing its effectiveness."
"So you two have a pillar somewhere in a cathedral?" Eric asked.
"Yes. When you were summoned, you might remember there were a few pillars in the cathedral. All of them represent masters bound to it," Aria answered.
"But after this comes the hard part," Olivia interjected. "If you want to evolve even further, you have to locate a corrupted cathedral and liberate it by cleansing it with your soul."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"If your soul turns out to be too weak to cleanse it, you get corrupted instead—and become a monster."
"So, it's possible to die trying to cleanse the cathedral?" Eric asked, turning to Aria.
She smiled faintly before replying.
"Yes, there's a chance. But we're considered two of the strongest masters of our era. If we can't do it, no one can, and humanity is basically doomed."
'So, basically, she's saying she wouldn't lose to the corruption, huh,' Eric thought. 'The amount of confidence she shows in her abilities—that's probably why she isn't afraid to traverse the death zone with only two other people.'
After pondering for a moment, he asked,
"What about a saint? How do you become one, and is there anything beyond that?"
"We… aren't sure," Aria admitted. "Do you remember the castle where we held that vote? That was the saint's property. It seems to be some kind of higher holy place that connects everything. But we're just masters, so we don't have access to that information."
"I haven't heard anything about what comes after being a saint, so I can't comment on that," Olivia added, and Aria nodded in agreement.
With the conversation over, Eric found himself bored again.
'So, a saint has the same power as a Grade-6 monster? I wonder how strong that is. Would my soul flame be able to kill it, I wonder?'
As he wandered through his thoughts, a sudden realization popped into his mind.
'We… haven't seen anything dangerous for a while now. Even if we're hidden in a forest… is that normal?'
*****
Walking behind Eric, Aria was preoccupied with her own thoughts.
'He doesn't seem afraid. Usually, the strongest is supposed to be at the front, yet he's moving forward without a care in the world.'
Suddenly, Eric stopped in his tracks, startling Aria for a moment. She hadn't sensed anything dangerous nearby. Could he have noticed something?
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
Eric turned to her, his face pale as a ghost.
"A star," he muttered.
His unexpected comment made Aria blush involuntarily, but she pushed her embarrassment aside and asked,
"A star?"
"My Punching Up trait… it's glowing like a star," he explained, trying to keep his voice as low as possible, afraid something might hear him.
Upon hearing this, Aria and Olivia immediately opened their statuses. To their alarm, their trait were glowing too.
This trait was supposed to activate only against enemies stronger than them. The realization hit hard.
The three of them looked upward in unison.
Through the thick branches, they saw it: a flying human head with empty eye sockets, blood pouring from them like a fountain.
The head was staring directly at them, its mouth curled into a grotesque smile.
The moment it realized it had been discovered, the smile widened as it opened its mouth to speak.
"Hello."
But the greeting fell on deaf ears.
The three were already running, sprinting through the forest as fast as their legs could carry them, driven by a singular, chilling thought:
"If I stop, I die."