Not hearing Untou's chaotic thoughts troubled me greatly as I realize his absence. I was alone in my mind now and it felt rather lonely. Feels like when I was still a simple sprout, using my thoughts to distract myself from the boring monotony of day to day by imagining the cosmos with me drifting in it. It was blissful that time but now its meaning has changed and I can't fully comprehend why. Well... It's not like he was talking directly to me anymore; he forced me scout his inner thoughts whenever I needed answers and it was getting bothersome to decipher over all the chaotic ramblings he spat out like bullet fire.

More pressingly, the pain in my core is unbearable. The injury I had sustained had been more severe than I initially realized and only seems to worsen as time passed. I had to put all my focus on dulling the pain as I moved and I could see my vision shifting rapidly from this reality and the next disorienting my movements now that I'm not able to force it under control.

Stephany: "Look it came back!"

I hear Stephany say as I approach their position. They must've noticed my damaged core since their expressions changed moments after they saw me. Stephany's more than Victor who simply looked exhausted compared to Stephany who looked at least somewhat concerned for my wellbeing.

Victor: "The Swarm took heavy damage, knew my assumption was correct"

Stephany: "Look at that poor thing, its core is all cracked it must be in so much pain."

I could hear Victor sigh as he raised his wand towards me.

Victor: "Don't worry I'll put it down, we can't repair a core that damaged anyway"

Stephany: "No! No no no, it has helped us and showed its loyalty by sacrificing itself for us and not working with that other monster. Who could've killed us might I add."

Victor: "Then what do you want to do with it? Looks like it's in pain when it moves and it can barely keep itself straight." I could hear annoyance mixed with a tiredness when he said that. As if he wanted to get me out of the way as soon as possible.

Stephany: "I know but...."

I saw Stephany look at me with sympathetic eyes and I too looked back with pain. The alternate reality showed her as a long, thinly stretched figure with charcoal black skin and big pearly white eyes devoid of any emotion I'd consider to be positive. So clearly distinct from the human in front of me and yet she seems to be my only supporter. Her previous abandonment of me to that beast can be forgiven if she'll prevent my death in here, we share a mutual goal after all. A desire to escape.

Victor: "Listen I know you like the little thing but unless it pulls some magical healing skill out of its ass then it'll only be slowing us down when time is of the essence."

I could see Stephany was conflicted but I believe Victor provided me a solution. It was so obvious that I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. I felt a wave of energy course through my roots and explode from my core as I made a wish feeling my entire supply of extra blood drain.

"Minor passive skill: Core Regeneration has been obtained.... Admin requesting Curse from Great One... Curse granted"

"Skill Curse: Core Regeneration deactivates when body is damaged by Vulnerability"

I could feel my core start to mend itself as they watched. It was slow but nonetheless, I was becoming healthier.... What's with this curse? I thought that Admin stopped interfering with me. And who is this Great One? Why would they limit me like this... No matter, I won't get my answers with thinking alone. Plus it doesn't change much in hindsight, only gives me more of a reason to avoid acid.

Victor: "Well I'll be...." I could see the amused expression that crossed his unknowing face.

Stephany: "Well damn... I mean, look it's regenerating! Now we have no reason to leave it behind!"

Victor: "You've gotten far too attached to this monster. Come on, we're almost at the elevator."

I believe I earned a bit of respect from him, though that could just be my delusion due to not detecting any hesitance in his words. We assumed the same formation as before and continued along the hallway. We had to sneak past other monsters of various making, large red salamanders to human looking automatons alike were prowling these halls presumably looking for the same escape I was. We also encountered a few other humans being strung to the ceiling by some large white spider demon with a human face; though Victor and Stephany decided not to aid them as to not make themselves targets of the spider demon which, while a calculated move, their willingness to go along with that suggestion made me question how much loyalty they had for their fellow humans. With my core healing, I could now focus less on dulling the pain and more on keeping myself in this reality. It was still a challenge as I still had to keep dulling the pain somewhat due to how slow my core was healing but now I could keep myself consistently away from that moon world.

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Stephany: "Couldn't we have taken one of the Elevators back at the last department? I'm sure one of them leads to one of the higher layers and I don't remember any of the elevators here leading anywhere but a single layer up."

Victor: "Yea but the one we're going to is a straight shot to the surface. Fortification has a feature only usable by mages so no-one outside of our department knows about these, more of an insider secret to keep people from asking us for free rides out of the facility."

That begged me to ask a question of why they needed to go to the surface if all he wanted to do was call that monster elimination team. I had little time to wonder about that since we had arrived to a pair of sliding doors that opened into a small boxed room which I assumed to be the elevator. I went in and saw Victor wave his wand at the control panel and the entire thing glowed a faint blue as the doors closed. The ground shifted under me, pushing me downwards as the elevator began to move. I think this startled me without realizing as Stephany began petting my roots in a strange attempt at comforting me, which worked as my roots relaxed instantly at her touch. The room inside the elevator was rather featureless, it had a window to the side which briefly displayed the various different environments of the departments but most of what was outside was dirt and earth. I believe I saw a glowing white figure walking around one of the containment hallways... No, it was two white figures, just in different places. One shorter than the other but I felt like both were staring at me. I could sense a certain Malice from the short one that I didn't feel for that taller figure. This makes me question what exactly this facility was and why it was so deep underground. Both of which I had no answers for and when I tried to use Earth Control on the earth outside the mirror the elevator moved so fast that I had to re-establish my control at new parts so constantly that I didn't have time to write anything so I eventually gave up.

It took almost 30 minutes until the elevator came to a halt and the sliding doors opened. Outside I could see the sun shining down on the dense woodlands around us. This place seemed to be fairly remote since I couldn't see any buildings or other signs of human civilization. We were in a large empty space much more like a small field surrounded by trees. I saw Victor and Stephany get out the elevator with haste as they look around with their weapons close to themselves. I was disappointed however, my core had not healed as much as I hoped in that time, I could still feel the cracks within it.

Victor: "See anyone?"

Stephany: "It's all clear on this side"

Victor: "Good"

They gave each other short nods as Victor took out a small square device from his pocket and began tapping his fingers on it. It was a curious machine, the various memories in my Posy called it a phone or cellular device that apparently can be used for long distance communication and a variety of other activities. It was one of the few things that truly marveled me this entire escape.... Well I'm free now. My time is done, I extend my roots under the grass around me comfortably. The lively soil dwarfs the worked dirt from in that facility and I felt how comfortable it was to once more to stretch my roots.

Stephany: "You got a signal? I lost mine while cleaning the dragon's den so...."

Victor simply nods as he raises the phone to his ear tapping his foot into the grass in a hurried gesture. It didn't matter much to me however, it was time I got away from this place but before I could... I heard a voice echo from the elevator shaft. Two voices in fact, two very familiar yet distinct voices. They called to me with different tones, one angry and upset while the other loving and soft. It was odd and I didn't know what it was all about until I heard Stephany and Victor yell as I felt my core shatter into pieces. I felt like I could've taken what had hit me if my core had been healthier, but none of that matters now I guess.

My consciousness didn't fade however, I simply felt as though I was separated from my body. The sky quickly drained into darkness as the moon rose and the sun fell. I could finally see it, the moon, it was just as I had imagined but what truly caught me off guard were the two glowing figures standing in the grassy field under the moonlight.