"This is atrocious!"

Amelia began wiping off all the green blood on herself with her hands.

"Why haven't we brought towels in case this would happen?"

Karteira was in a better position, as her plates protected her skin and clothes from being covered by the gooey texture. Only her head and hair were full of it, which, in reality, wasn't much better.

"I couldn't have expected fighting in such a large room. The tunnels were supposed to be where we would fight. Karteira, haven't you fought in such rooms before?"

Orion had his pants covered in blood because he kept kicking the insects away. His upper body was a bit cleaner because Amelia received most of the falling blood on her back.

"I've never explored much; typically it was fighting off the ones near the entrance to avoid the seal from breaking. I've moved inside, yes, but I've never walked into rooms like this one. I'd already be dead if I was alone at the time, don't you think?"

The trio had retreated closer to the entrance to take a break from the onslaught of giant bugs. They took the chance to rehydrate and evaluate what happened.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, simply enjoying a slight moment of peace, before returning to the search.

Orion was the first to break the silence after five minutes had passed.

"Maybe it's time to review what happened, what we saw, and what we should do."

Amelia and Karteira, now done removing most of the goo from their bodies, approached him.

"There's something we have to prepare for."

Now that Orion had a moment of peace to think about, the situation was simple to understand.

"The other insects we saw at the entrance but not in that room?"

Pointing out the obvious, Amelia answered him.

"Yes. There were all kinds of deformed insects, but ultimately, there were three specific species."

Amelia began to name them.

"There were the ants, the grasshoppers, and the hornets, right? Only these three appeared during the fight."

Karteira also gave her thoughts after hearing Amelia.

"Does that mean the other rooms we might find could be the nests of other types of insects? Isn't it bad?"

Orion agreed.

"It is indeed dangerous. The fact that the same tactics cannot be applied means we have to progress further and change the way we fight them in each new encounter."

"Huh? But how do we even change tactics? There's not much we can do with the way we're currently fighting, isn't it?"

Amelia couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

"If there are flying insects in there, and I'm sure there will be further in, the only one that can hit them is me. How do I do that with you on my back?"

With a shrug, he explained it to her.

"You have to protect Amelia, though; how are you going to do that if you're attacking?"

Karteira, too, was missing his point. Orion looked at Amelia intently, and that one idea pierced her mind.

"You don't think? You're crazy; this is not going to work, and you know it!"

He smiled and moved a few steps ahead of them. He stopped and turned around.

"Are you ready to tame a wild beast?"

...

In the next room, they stumbled upon.

Like Orion speculated, this was a den of flying insects. Once again, three species seemed to inhabit the area.

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Flies, mosquitoes, and moths were flying around the cave. Another trio of disgustingly shaped insects.

Alcyone was in Orion's hands, meaning he had to retrieve Dawn from Amelia, leaving her with only Dusk to attack.

These insects were effortless to kill, and it was faster to clean up hostile life in the room.

There wasn't as much blood in the bugs as the ones from the room before, and the arrows only pierced instead of cutting, only pilling corpses around them.

"This is impossible! Don't move so erratically! Karteira, stop!"

"I can't stop! If I stop, we're dead!"

The problem was Amelia and Karteira. It wasn't a life-threatening concern, but since this was the duo's first collaboration, they were struggling.

Amelia was thrown left and right by Karteira. Her movements were wilder than those of Orion, and no amount of training she did with him could have prepared her for such a shift in speed.

Karteira was certainly slower than Orion, even with the speed enhancements, but there were many things causing issues right now.

After cleaning the room of every insect, the group walked back into the tunnels, and Amelia hurriedly left Karteira's back.

"That was awful. Oh~ I'm going to hurl!"

"What do you mean by that? It was awful for me too! I can't fight while I have you on my back."

The two began to vent their frustrations at each other. Orion observed their bickering while drinking some water and eating a simple sandwich.

'I've eaten many sandwiches recently. Maybe I should look for another type of easy-to-carry meal.'

He entirely ignored their bickering. His priorities were elsewhere.

"Of course you can't fight! What do you think Orion does when I'm on his back?"

"I didn't think it was this bad! I thought it was still possible to attack, but I was wrong."

The intensity kept increasing as they began to get closer.

"My hand keeps slipping from your armor, your tail bumps on my back, and you almost caused my brain to explode from how fast you turn! I don't want to-"

"You're hindering my movements; you're heavy, and you kept crying like a baby! I don't want you on my back a-"

Then, Orion finally stepped in.

"That's enough for now. Calm your nerves and think about the situation before saying things you'll regret eventually."

Orion stuffed a sandwich in each of their mouths, stopping the conversation immediately.

"What did you two expect? That the first time would be natural? Did you think a wonderful cooperation between you two would blossom right away?"

They looked at him with surprise at the sudden lecture. They grabbed the sandwich and began to eat it while looking at each other.

After finishing the food in a matter of seconds, they received a water bottle from Orion.

After a moment of silence, Karteira opened her bottle and drank half of it.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. My urge to fight spoke for me the whole time."

She closed her bottle and gave it back to Orion.

"Thank you. Without you, it would have ended badly."

Amelia realized Karteira was going to walk away, and she feared she could lose her new friend just like that.

"Ah- I'm sorry, too!"

"Huh?"

"Heh?!"

The two looked at each other with question marks in their eyes.

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who got angry. I wasn't expecting a sudden apology."

Amelia had a look of disbelief on her face.

'Did she forget I shouted at her the whole time? Did she just delete that scene from her mind?'

But contrary to her thoughts, Karteira still remembered it just fine. She simply didn't mind at all, as she was used to the other fairies shouting at her.

It was still a big deal for Amelia, so she finished her apology nonetheless.

"I've been rude to you while I compared you to Orion. I was expecting the same thing from you, which was wrong of me. I should have known how hard it was to have me on your back."

Satisfied by the situation, Orion approached both of them again.

"Time will help improve your duo. In case other flying bugs appear, I hope you won't find yourself shouting at each other again."

"I don't mind it, as it is healthy to vent your frustrations occasionally, but as I said, you can easily hurt one another. Try to avoid that next time."

They both looked at him in a new light.

'Did he seriously just intervene to avoid us breaking our friendship? Was he always this caring? I know he cares a lot about me, but I didn't expect it toward Karteira.'

Those were Amelia's thoughts. Karteira's were slightly different.

'He's strong, caring, and protective. I should strive to be like him, even if I'm like this. I should work on my bad temper first, I suppose.'

She now had a new goal in mind. It wasn't to find a strong opponent or to support her realm. It was a simple wish. To become like the man in front of her.

"Amelia, when this is done, I want to train with you. Not only that piggyback thing, but I also want to fight you seriously. There's a lot I have to work on."

Surprised, she repeated that sentence in her mind.

'She wishes to fight me? Not Orion? Did I do something? No, she said she had to work on something, so it should relate to that.'

With a nod, she agreed to her request.

"I don't mind, but please go easy on me. I'm not as tough as Orion."

She feared for her safety for a split second.

'It would be great to have her as an opponent, since she already helped me with Dana and Aura's proficiency. Perhaps she can help me with the other elements too.'

The two had new plans after this mission. Escaping this place in one piece had to become a reality. They had to give it their all.

Everything was fine now, as Orion defused a bad situation.

They had eaten and rested well enough, and now it was time to search for another room full of insects to dispatch.

At that moment, a breeze caught their attention, coming from the room they had freed from corrupt insects.

Two glowing brown eyes glowed in the tunnel in front of them.

'I guess it was time to encounter one of them?'

Orion hurriedly instructed them to move.

"You two, back away from the tunnel! Fast!"

They hurriedly followed his order and ran closer to the entrance of the room.

A giant shadow followed them into the room, releasing a powerful gust of wind that launched the corpses behind the group.

The first corrupted leader, known as 'Corrupted Lords', appeared in front of them, blocking their path.

'Here comes the fun part.'

Another challenging enemy stood in their way out.