The day slowly passed as the struggle of humans against wolves continued. Aaron White, as the leader of his group, led the first shift defending the land bridge which lasted until late afternoon. By then, the other survivors had started a fire after gathering dried sticks and dead wood from the nearby ruins using flying summons. Zachary had joined in the effort even though the most Blue could carry were twigs. Albeit they were large twigs since the bird was at the Three Paths Novice Rank, but they were still twigs. With the fire, the survivors roasted several wolves so that everyone could eat their fill.

Zachary and Katherine took charge of the next shift which started in the late afternoon and went on deep into the evening. His summons had recovered from their previous injuries by then and were ready for another round. He had also transferred Onkie, Hammer, Oakley, and Arrow into soul orbs.

The procedure was simple. He only had to let a summon drink from a soul orb mixed with his blood. The summon’s anima crystal would move from the summoning card to the orb. This way, they would be able to fight for much longer without needing to be switched out.

As night fell, the wolves surprised the humans by also resting. The entire pack laid down where they stood and went to sleep, content to resume the battle tomorrow. Zachary still had to stay awake and stay at his post in case of a sneak attack. But he took advantage of the lull in action to heal Sable.

When that was done, he followed with soul cultivation for his summons. He was delighted by the results as both Onkie and Arrow were able to reach the Four Paths Novice Rank in a single night. Onkie had already been very close but he had expected Arrow to take a few more days. In addition, he only needed to use a quarter of the anima crystals he had prepared. The efficiency of summoning orbs was simply incomparable to summoning cards.

Zachary and Katherine's shift was over before predawn. Bored and exhausted, the two of them snuggled together on a patch of grass. They were only able get a little bit sleep before everyone was woken up at dawn by wolf howls.

"This sucks," Zachary grumbled.

They had given up on sleep for a breakfast of cold wolf ribs. He threw the bone and watched it disappear into the chasm. He was tired and very wet. The endless mist from the surrounding waterfalls did them no favors. At least it wasn't cold or else it would have been unbearable.

Katherine rubbed his arm, "It will be okay."

"What should we do today?" He asked her.

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "About the thing I mentioned yesterday, I need your help with the monolith."

He glanced at the imposing structure. It loomed over the ruins, immovable and mysterious. He had never been too interested in history. But being in the presence of this mysterious monolith, he felt that he probably should have paid a little more attention.

"What about it?"

"There might be a way inside."

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"How... do you know that?" He asked as a prickling thought of suspicion entered his thoughts.

"It's something known to the Bomoi Civilization, that their cities were relatively unimpressive on the surface. However, there is usually a much bigger city hiding beneath and it is said that the way inside is through the central monolith. If we can get inside the underground city, we can easily escape these wolves. There might even be more interesting things down there."

"Okay," He said slowly, "But how I am supposed to help?"

"Well, it will look suspicious I am the only one looking around the monolith. But if it was the two of us." She laughed and got to her feet, pulling him up with her, "Then it will be two lovers on a casual stroll."

"Fine." He acquiesced with a sigh. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

The pair strolled along the edge of the area until they reached the rear, directly opposite the land bridge. Here, the spray from the waterfalls was even more intense and there were puddles of water everywhere. Katherine pulled him to the base of the construct to begin her examination. She ran her fingers along each crack and rubbed the surface of the dark gray stone. According to her, of the eight sides of the monolith, only one held the doorway. That doorway also could only be activated using special methods. What special methods, he had no idea. And he wasn't sure if he would get a straight answer if he asked.

Zachary stood there for a long time, not sure what he was supposed to do and not sure what she was doing. Eventually, Katherine gave up and led him to the next side. The same process repeated itself as she felt her way across the stone face. Again, there was nothing. They continued with the next side, then another, eventually drawing some attention from the other survivors.

"What are you two doing?" Someone asked.

He ignored the question and continued walking hand-in-hand with his companion.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Shut up!" Another person interjected, "I'm trying to sleep!"

Zachary suppressed a laugh and so did Katherine.

After a short while, the two returned to their original positions, having circled the monolith entirely with no success.

"Eight sides... eight sides..." Katherine muttered to herself, "They should correspond to the eight paths of the soul. In that case..."

She looked up at the sky, trying to find where the sun was and the direction of the shadow. He followed her gaze, staring up at the pillar that pierced the sky. It seemed entirely featureless to him. Each block of stone seemed the same as any other.

"Hey, maybe the hidden doorway is higher up." He said.

"Are you calling me short?"

"What? No, I just meant... it was an idea."

She snorted, "I am not just using my hands. Marble is also helping me. She says there is definitely an open space inside the monolith, meaning it's hollow inside. However, the stones are too thick and she can't get through. There is also some kind of barrier of Eternum that is dulling her senses. The last thing I want her to do is void shift into solid rock and lose her life."

Katherine proceeded to go around the monolith a second time, in the opposite direction. When that produced nothing, she went around it halfway, doubled back, and completed the circle going the other way. That still didn't work.

By now, they had attracted far more attention. Although nobody was shouting like the first idiot, many pairs of eyes were following their actions. One person even copied their actions and began studying the monolith as well.

"It's useless. I'm useless." Katherine said. She leaned her head against the cold stone and muttered, "Blessed Ice Saint, please forgive your servant's incompetence. Please, have mercy on your servant's weak soul."

A look of panic flashed across her face as if she had said something she shouldn't have. She glanced sharply at Zachary but he took no notice. He hadn't been listening to her for a long time. Instead, there was a strange expression on his face. His head was tilted to one side as if he was listening to something.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Shh." He held up a finger to his lips, "I think I found something."