“I’m sorry to see you guys go, but I understand.”

Kur and Row shook and held each other's hands for a moment, neither willing to end the goodbye.

“Us too,” Kur said. “I really hope we can meet again.”

“Outside, or at least, somewhere closer to that damned exit!” Row said.

Kur and Row laughed and nodded at each other.

It was early. The deadline was still a bit less than two hours away, and the vast majority of the Climbers were still asleep.

The warm air was still in those early hours, broken only by the moans of the wounded, or the sleep talk and cries of nightmares that broke out here and there.

The lights on the other side of the chasm had been turned off at some point, forever obscuring their way back, and even the lights above their heads had been dimmed, to give the Climbers an easier respite.

Tun and Jaz had woken up to see them off, and were now chatting to the side, with Gad and Tuk respectfully. The others had said their goodbyes after their long meeting, which had lasted well into the late hours. Most in Kur’s party had still been awake by then, even though they had laid down to try and sleep hours before.

Nar stifled a yawn.

Was that even an hour’s sleep? he wondered, with a heavy mind.

He had tossed and turned, but sleep had been elusive after the bridge crossing. His dad, the cannibals, Viy, Tuk, Cen, the Sentry, the bridge, the bolts, the Crystal… Everything and anything had made an appearance, his thoughts rushing from one end of his mind to another, morphing, changing into different thoughts mid-way, multiplying into many splinter thoughts, only to reform into a single, completely new and different one.

The last thing he remembered thinking about before he fell asleep, was the way the priest had looked at him when he had walked out of the Most Sacred Place.

No change. Continue as you are.

The priest had spoken those words, not as encouragement, like Kur had done, but as a reproach. A warning.

Nar sighed and rubbed his forehead. That part must have definitely been a dream.

“Alright,” Kur said, breaking off first from Row. “We should get going.”

“Are you sure you’re rested enough? You guys barely slept,” she asked, frowning.

Kur half smiled, half grimaced. “Ah! We’ll be fine. We’ll have an early day. Right now, we just want to get some distance into the path.”

“And away from this lot,” Row said, casting a glance at the sleeping Climbers.

Kur hung his head, but he said nothing to deny the statement.

“It’s okay,” Row said. “One day, I hope you come to trust others again. Until then, may the Light of the Crystal guide you, to freedom and forgiveness.”

“You too. May the Crystal’s path shine true and lead you outside, free and forgiven.”

She squeezed Kur’s shoulder, and they traded a smile, one manager brat to another.

“Alright, guys,” Kur said, stepping away from her. “Let’s hit the path.”

With a last round of goodbyes, and waving as they walked, Kur led them to the closest exit. He had decided that they had no way of knowing which one was best, so might as well just take the closest one and leave quietly, without alerting any of the other Climbers.

With the light fading behind him, Nar felt as though he could breathe a little better once more.

Some of the tension on his shoulders, jaw and forehead uncoiled. With every step he took into the darkness, the easier he felt.

Row’s party had been incredibly nice, but their previous experience with Climbers would not be so easily forgotten. It was better out here, in the darkness, on their own.

Soon, the light and the occasional noise fell behind them. Once more, they were in the deep, silent darkness of the corridors of the B-Nex.

Minutes turned to hours, and hours into days, and two weeks soon passed.

They met guardians, but they were far between, and easily dispatched. There were no levels gained, and although Mul started grumbling about it by the end of the first week, the others, including Nar, were happy to enjoy the rest. That bridge, and the weeks leading up to it, had taken their toll, both physically, and mentally.

Sometimes they would face poisoners, and Nar would step up to protect the party from their deadly bolts.

His gains and accumulated experience now made it much easier for him to stop those bolts. He still missed the odd one out, but for the most part, his sword caught each and every one of them, gliding through the air in an almost effortless way.

At some point, Gad had even suggested he try it with his eyes closed, to see if it would help him better understand and rely on his [Instinct].

“That-that’s crazy!” he had told her, unsure if she was messing with him.

“Is it?” she asked, frowning. “Didn’t you do it back then, after the tutorial safe room? When your eyes were injured?”

Nar opened his mouth to reply, but left it hanging, no words coming out.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” Gad asked him.

“I… Yes. I did,” he said, hanging his head. Somehow, Gad always managed to make him feel like a little kid, being chastised for doing something wrong. To be fair, she was never really wrong. “But still, that was… I had no choice back then. I can’t ignore my eyes. I even have [Sight]!”

“I’m not saying to ignore your eyes completely, or your [Hearing], for that matter” she said. “Only that you should gain a better understanding of your [Instinct]. It’s an incredible attribute, and one that you barely understand. You have no idea what it can do. Or what it can’t. So why not use this chance, and these easy fights, to try and learn some more? Why not do the best you can do, and see what possibilities it can bring to your path?”

There had really been nothing that Nar could say to that. She was right. She was absolutely right. And the next fight they had, with a poisoner present, Nar had given her suggestion a try.

After several fights, Nar had discovered a lot more about his [Instinct] than he had first realized was there.

By focusing on his [Instinct], he had uncovered nuances to the alerts and warnings given by his [Instinct]. It was all still very vague and directional, such as “danger behind you”, or “above your head”. But when he really focused on it, he started grasping at something more. Numbers. Distances. Precisions. It all slipped from his mind when he tried to hold on to it, but if simply reacted to it, sometimes he could predict with such clarity that it was almost scary.

His [Instinct] was still pretty much centered on himself, or even his immediate surroundings, a far cry from Jul’s much more encompassing and far-reaching [Instinct], something for which no one had an explanation as of yet.

He wasn’t sure whether that meant he was doing something wrong, needed more practice, or that he simply did not have enough points in [Instinct] yet.

That could explain why Jul’s [Instinct] was so much stronger than his. He hadn’t actually asked the scout about it, but he assumed she had several more points in the attribute than he did, given how much earlier and more strongly she had manifested her [Instinct].

However, there was also the chance that it could simply be that her [Instinct] manifested in a different way.

Was that possible? No one knew, but it didn’t seem too far-fetched.

Mul, Tuk and Viy, all had skills that enhanced them, similar to his own [Quickening]. But each skill worked in a slightly different way.

Mul had his [Brawler's Rage], which allowed him to explode into bursts of quick, heavy punches. The veins on his neck thickened, when he activated the skill, and his face grew dark with the effort. From what Mul had described, his [Speed] and [Strength] were enhanced by the skill.

Viy, on the other hand, had her [Finesse]. It made her faster, her movements smoother, and her spear turned into a blur in her hands. Her feet barely touched the floor, lending her a dizzying speed, and granting her jumps that she couldn’t normally manage. Her [Finesse] skill increased her [Speed] and [Agility], and, to a much lesser degree, her [Strength]. And lastly, Tuk’s [Focused Fire], which allowed him to shoot his rings at a much greater rate of fire, affected his [Speed], [Agility] and, similarly to Nar, a yet to be discovered [???] unknown attribute.

All this meant was that even if they had the same attributes, and even very similar skills, it all worked out for them in different ways. Ways that were tweaked to match their paths and fighting styles. Point in case, both Tuk and Cen now used [Aura], but did so in very different ways. Cen used it directly, as a caster, while Tuk, as ring tosser, coated his rings with it instead.

Therefore, it was not entirely implausible that Jul’s [Instinct] worked differently from his, given how she had a scout class, a class that was inherently much more attuned to one’s senses. By comparison, Nar’s was a heavy, frontline, melee focused combat class where he was constantly exposed to damage... It made sense that his [Instinct] was much more focused on keeping him alive.

Granted, he still didn’t really know why he had unlocked [Instinct], or such high sense attributes for that matter, given how he was not a scout, nor had any such inclinations. But he didn’t dwell much on that.

What mattered was that he knew his [Instinct] was capable of more, possibly a whole lot more. He still felt blind fighting with his eyes closed, but maybe that was just for now. Like Gad had suggested, maybe there was much more he had yet to discover about his [Instinct]. Perhaps one day it would even become his main sense. A world of dangers and alerts.

I wonder how that would feel… Wait. Hold on!

The haloed icon of Nar, Who Is One With the Wind, popped in his mind. In particular, the blindfold that covered her eyes.

Does that mean she uses [Instinct] as well? he wondered.

If it did, it meant that not only did she have such a powerful [Instinct], that she had entirely foregone the use of her eyes, but that she had also done it as a Named Few!

And she also uses a sword like me, he realized, excitement bubbling at the implications. Maybe, I’ve fallen into a path like hers. A path that will lead me to becoming a Named Few as well!

Of course, he knew he was being ridiculous. He knew nothing about Nar, the woman that shared his name. But still, he couldn’t help the grin that took over his face. Perhaps, he was exactly on the path he needed. If he could continue to develop his [Instinct], as well as his [Reflex] and movement attributes, and if he managed to find a way to boost his lacking DPS, maybe, just maybe, there really was something there. Something that would help him return, by himself, against hordes of guardians and cannibals, and rescue his dad.

Maybe.

He could only hope.

But that meant he had to work harder on his [Instinct]. On understanding it, and realizing the depths within it, yet to be discovered.

And speaking of [Instinct], it suddenly flared behind him.

Move forward! It seemed to shout at him. The feelings, or sensations, were always translated into some sort of meaning or instruction in his mind. This one was very simple. And yet, there was no time for Nar to do anything.

The corridor lit up, and he only had time to see Jul’s eyes widening, shining bright with the light they reflected. She had been sitting with him, talking about [Instinct], and the two of them had lapsed into a comfortable silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Now, the Nexus exploded with the brilliant gray light he saw reflected in her eyes and face. The shockwave blasted him from his seated position, slamming into his back. He hit the floor and Jul hard, half landing on top of her.

Ringing deafened him, and the ceiling swam above his head, blurry and obscured by the after images of the explosion. His back and head pulsed painfully.

“Is everyone okay?” he heard, probably Kur.

“Yes,” he said, hearing the others reply as well.

He sat up, slowly, getting off Jul’s legs. He searched around him, moving his head carefully. His [Instinct] did not alert him to any more danger, and for some reason, he did not feel concerned about any subsequent attacks. He didn’t understand why, though. His mind was like jell-o.

Cen breathed hard and was propped on all fours. In front of her, a familiar dark puddle glistened in the yellow light.

“Cen?” he heard himself calling her name. “Are you ok?”

Hearing her name made her look back, and she squinted to see who it was.

“Nar? Is that you? Are you okay?” she asked, and pursed her lips tightly, shutting her eyes closed.

“I’m okay,” he said. “I think. You?”

He ran a quick check of his HP.

24 points down?

His head swam, and he leaned a hand against the wall to steady himself.

Ugh… Crystal!” Cen said. “I’m so so…”

A jet of vomit erupted past her lips, and she faced down, expelling more dark liquid.

“What happened?” Kur shouted.

Nar blinked. His eyes were having trouble focusing, for some reason. He didn’t even have a [Dazed] status effect, so he had no idea what was wrong with him. 20 points of damage shouldn’t have affected him like that.

He rubbed his chest, not realizing he was doing it. All his brain power was focused on something that seemed very obvious. Something that was right there, at the tip of his tongue.

Bright gray light. From behind him. Cen puking. Cen behind him.

Puking.

Puking blood…

Puking blood!

“Holy Crystal!” he shouted, despite himself. “Cen, that was you!”