“The Horror was using intent?” Quyon shot up and looked over at Ilon.

“Hmm, calling it intent might be a bit too much. If it was actually intent, then I wouldn’t have been able to override it. If I had to call it something, it would be an imitation of intent.” Ilon explained. He would have rather had this conversation later, when he wasn’t dead tired, but he had a feeling Quyon’s interest was peaked now.

“An imitation? That means that it must have seen someone using intent, right?” Quyon’s question sort of stumped him. He hadn’t really thought about that.

“I guess so, cause it surely wouldn’t figure it out on it’s own.” Ilon replied. “Also, don’t you think the Horror was a bit too intelligent for it’s tier, even if it was a control type?”

“You think it was using the brain Horror’s intelligence?” Maymun asked.

“If it was controlling it, it might be possible. But, I’ve never heard of a Horror controlling another Horror.” Quyon had done a lot of research over the years. There wasn’t a lot about Horrors and most of the stuff noted was treated as old wives tales or fabricated tales for the drunk to howl and har about, but of the credible stuff she had seen there was nothing like that.

“Well, it was definitely controlling it.” Ilon said as he looked down at the ninth tier core in his hand. “And Quyon, your guess was right on the mark.” He said as he handed the core to her.

“Not like it mattered that much.” She said, disappointed. Even if her guess was correct it didn’t change the fact that she had almost gotten them all killed. “Here, take them both. You’re only an eighth tier core away from advancing right? You can use the ninth tier one after.” Quyon said as she handed the both of them to Ilon.

A Cursed could only absorb a core that was one tier above them at maximum. Should they try to absorb higher than that, it could lead to an imbalance in their power and cause them to explode. That’s why she told him to take the tier eight core and advance, then take the tier nine.

“I’ll take the tier eight. Give the tier nine to Maymun if you don’t want it.” Ilon said as he grabbed the tier eight core. “Besides, you know the Master’s rules. We have to accustom ourselves to our power first.”

Seeing Quyon lower her head and not respond he sighed and decided to take the time to advance now. Violet ephemeral jaws appeared like a mask on his face and opened. He tilted his head back and dropped the core into them. The feeling of it melting into liquid and being absorbed into him was something that he would never get used to.

He felt his violet energy engulf the energy of the core, fusing and tuning it to his own. Once the energy shifted and changed to match his own signature it coursed through his body as he infused it with his will. The process took close to half an hour but he wasn’t worried that anything would be able to disrupt him as Maymun and Quyon were there. He finished up and felt his body be revitalized. The exhaustion from using intent had mostly disappeared.

As Ilon got up to stretch he looked over and saw Quyon standing guard over him and Maymun. Maymun was currently sitting on the ground with her staff in her lap, her hands cupped around the center of the staff. Ilon could tell that they had used the core they had just got on her staff. It didn’t go up another tier, but it was one step closer to it.

“You didn’t take it?” Ilon asked. She was technically the leader of their little party, neither Maymun nor him would have complained if she took it for herself. Despite the doubts she had herself, it was true that she made the correct call in killing the Horror as fast as they could.

“It was Maymun’s turn. She deserves it anyways.” Quyon said with a light smile. “No point getting into an argument every time we kill a Horror.”

“That’s true. I still have yet to thank her for saving my life. Speaking of, thank you Quyon.” Ilon said sincerely, to which he got a nod of her head.

“Jeez, don’t bother.” Ilon heard Maymun say as he felt the energy around her calm down. “I’ll accept it this once, but it’ll be annoying if I have to thank you or receive thanks every time we save each other's ass’. We’ll probably be together for a little while after all.”

“Let’s get out of here then, shall we? I’m sick and tired of the darkness. I don’t want to be here for a second longer than we have to.” Ilon said as he finished up stretching.

“Umm, we might have a problem then.” Quyon said in a higher pitch than usual.

“What?” Ilon said as he turned to look at Quyon. He wished he didn’t. Quyon was currently holding up the cord of thread that they had been using to keep track of their position so they didn’t get lost when returning. The thread was currently being limply held up by Quyon with the rest of it being dragged on the ground.

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“It must have gotten snapped or cut during the swarm.” Quyon said.

“Even if it’s cut, we can still follow it back, right?” Maymun asked.

“The problem I’m worried about is that it might have gotten shifted during the swarm, which could lead us to somewhere completely different than when we started out.” Quyon’s words dug into Ilon’s brain like parasites.

“Then what do we do?” Ilon asked in desperation. He was the type that was bad with directions without a map and was sure that if he was alone and got lost in here, he would never find the way out.

“We can just follow along. I’ll be able to tell if we start going off our original path.” Maymun was there to save the day once again.

As they trailed the cord, it seemed like fortune was in their favour as there wasn’t too much deviation. As they walked they could hear the forest come to life again. Monsters roaring, birds chirping, life was exuberant.

After walking for what Ilon estimated to be around two hours they reached a point where far in the distance they could see a couple rays of sunlight peeking through the thick canopy.

“Finally, the sun!” Maymun cheered at the sight before them.

“It’s still day? How long were we in there exactly?” Ilon asked. Neither Maymun or Quyon gave an answer as they both had no clue either.

“Whatever, let’s just get going.” Quyon said as she started forth. As they were approaching the exit they saw a light coming closer and closer to them. On their trek back, they had seen many lights but none of them attempted to approach them, instead running away if the three of them approached.

They prepared half-heartedly considering it was just one light, likely to be an animal or weak monster. Their guess was correct when a familiar looking figure emerged into sight. An ocelot appeared in front of them.

No longer was a portion of the left side of it’s face like a void, yet the missing left eye didn’t return. They hadn’t thought about it before but a realization overtook them.

“Will all the monsters and animals affected be missing their left eyes still?” Ilon asked even though he knew the answer. He watched as Maymun clenched her fist, her nails biting her flesh.

“Horror’s are a scourge on Nyana. Some just kill people while others leave long lasting scars. There was a place in Duhnovo once known as Springtime paradise that was known for its extreme beauty. After a Horror infected it, it became known as Springtime’s embrace.” Quyon said as she watched the ocelot disappear away into the darkness.

“What happened to it?” Ilon curiously asked.

“I heard that when all the flowers bloomed it used to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Now it’s one of the most terrifying. The flowers have been corrupted and unleash extremely deadly pollen. They say that if you want to embrace death then go there during Spring. The worst thing is that the Shamans can probably purify, but instead leave it so they can try to weaponize it. Who knows how long it will take for it to return to normal by itself.”

“Hopefully the forest can return to normal in time.” Maymun said as they reached they exited the threshold. They weren’t too far off from where they originally entered, making Ilon praise and envy Maymun’s excellent sense of direction.

“That’s why we need to continue killing Horrors and getting stronger, right? That way we can fight the next rank up, in order to prevent the permanent damage that they cause.” Ilon said as he stepped into the sunlight. He hadn’t thought about how much he enjoyed something trivial like the sunlight, but as he stood there bathing in it, he felt a sense of belonging to the world. “It’s our duty after all, isn’t it? To protect the world and the people of it.”

“That’s how you see it huh? To me, I just love fighting and the thrill of death.” Maymun said with a feral smile on her face.

“You truly are crazy, you know that?” Quyon said as she looped her arm around Maymun’s.

“Isn’t that what you love about me though?”

“I do, and some other things. Maybe I should rescind that one week punishment.” Quyon said as she tapped her chin with her pointer finger. Ilon could see Maymun get visibly excited, trying to hold herself back from saying anything. As he watched her, he felt an itch sparking up from the inside of himself. He knew it was a bad idea, but he just couldn’t help himself.

“Really? You’re just going to let her get away with flipping you over the tub like a dead fish?” Ilon said mockingly. He really just could not help himself. In an instant Maymun went from a bubbly child, excited to get a present to frozen in sheer shock at the betrayal that had just occurred.

That instant way truly worth the hurt he knew he would have to endure the next time they sparred. The next instant though, the signature Maymun glare that could kill, was not as worth it.

“Hmm. I suppose you're right Ilon.” Quyon said as a sadistic smile built a way onto her face. “We’ll discuss it once we reach our room, alright?”

Maymun could only agree and turn her ire to Ilon. The Maymun glare turned into a soul piercing stare of vengeance that ate at Ilon.

Not my best idea. He admitted to himself. But sometimes I just can’t hold back. I’m too weak of will. He chastised himself.

As they made their way through the outskirts of the forest, Quyon walked with a slight prance in her step, Maymun had her head down and would sometimes shoot glares at Ilon, and Ilon was enjoying the on and off rays of sun while thinking of ways to get out of sparring with Maymun later.

“I just noticed something.” Ilon stopped as he looked at the sky. The canopy had thinned out to the point that the sky was mostly visible.

“What?” Quyon asked.

“Look where the sun is.” He said as he pointed towards the east. If it was in the late day like they thought it was, there was no way for the sun to be in that position.

“We’ve been in there for almost an entire day?” Maymun said in astonishment. “It felt like half a day at most.”

“We should hurry up and get back then. I’m worried that something might have happened in the past day.” Quyon said as she looked at Maymun and Ilon.

“You think it’s safe enough to go back?” Ilon asked. Going back was a huge potential risk. They had the supplies and survival knowledge to make it to their next destination just fine. “Do you want to help them somehow?”

“I’ve thought about it a lot. I don’t think we can outright solve the problem, but if something similar happens like before then I would like for us to be there in order to save as many people as we can.” Quyon responded. “What do you two think?”

“Of course we’ll go back.” Maymun confidently responded. She was probably one of the ones who wanted to go back the most.

“I’m fine with it if the two of you are.” Ilon said with a light smile. Even if it meant risking his life, he couldn’t let them go alone. They were a team now and that meant supporting each other. They danced with death all the time, what was so different about this?

“Then let’s go.” Quyon said with a big smile. “If we up our pace we should be able to make it in time for lunch.”