They rested in silence after the battle.
Not because there was nothing to say, but because exhaustion had hollowed both of them out too deeply for unnecessary words. The cavern was quiet again now, the corpses of the Gravetongues scattered across the uneven stone floor, their malformed bodies slowly stiffening in death. The faint metallic scent of blood still lingered in the air, the stench making Luke wince from time to time.
He sat against a stone pillar, breathing slowly as the adrenaline faded from his body. Now that the danger had passed, the pain returned in full. His side burned where the Carrion Hound had torn through him earlier, while bruises darkened across his ribs and shoulders from repeated impacts.
But worse than the wounds, was the exhaustion. It lived inside him now like lead.
Every use of Ontokinesis had drained something deeper than stamina. His head still throbbed faintly, and occasionally the world around him distorted for the briefest moment, distances seeming subtly wrong before correcting themselves again.
Reality itself did not appreciate being bent.
Across from him, Adrian crouched beside one of the cavern walls, flexing his fingers slowly. Without warning, he extended a hand toward Luke.
"Come here."
Luke frowned faintly. "Why?"
"You wanted training, right?" Adrian muttered. "First lesson: stop asking unnecessary questions."
Luke sighed quietly but moved closer anyway. The moment Adrian's hand touched his shoulder, Luke felt something strange spread through him. Warmth. Not heat, something smoother —gentler.
Thin streams of faint azure light moved beneath Adrian's skin for a moment before spreading across Luke's wounds. The torn flesh along his side tightened immediately, pain dulling as damaged tissue slowly repaired itself before his eyes.
Luke stared.
"...Huh, so that's what your Ability looks like."
Adrian nodded once. "Yeah, pretty much. It changed after that one battle with the Remnant, though. But it's still mostly the same."
The glow faded slowly as the injuries closed.
Luke flexed experimentally, surprised at how much easier it felt to move now.
"What more can you heal?"
"Physical wounds only," Adrian replied. "Not exhaustion, not mental damage, and definitely not whatever's wrong with your ability either."
Luke huffed quietly. "Helpful."
Adrian snorted faintly.
For a while they remained there, recovering slowly while the cavern breathed around them. Eventually, Luke glanced toward Adrian again.
"So the monster thing…"
Adrian's expression drastically changed. So much that Luke trembled slightly under his demented gaze. Even though Luke had knew very well what had happened to him, it was so unbelievable and inconceivable that his mind refused to process it.
The four armed monster with azure skin... Luke knew exactly what that was. He knew exactly what that meant as well, but given his current situation, staying around a part–human part–creature entity was his best shot at surviving.
He did not really have any other choice.
#
Luke had been certain that Adrian was a Chaos Creature — or at least a Corrupted one from the moment they first met. Unnaturally smooth azure skin, four arms, the blue flames that engulfed his beastial fugure... It was all too familiar. Until he sensed it...
All awakened can sense each other, an instinctual ability that only grows in potency along with the individual. But they can also sense Chaos Creatures as well, and vise versa. Even awakened had the Noise, which drove Chaos Creatures insane, driving them into a frenzy. They kill humans to feed, grow, but most importantly, in the attempt to silence the Noise..
Humans can sense abominations just as how they can sense humans too. Luke did perceive dozens of abominations engaged in a fierce battle with a single Commonality, which was what threw him off. But when he was alone with Adrian for the past few hours, the feeling did not dissipate.
His hairs still stood on one end. His survival instincts were screaming at him, telling him to run, but logic... logic was against that. And Luke knew that following logic in a place — and situation that did not follow logic was a huge mistake. But still...
He could not help but feel attached to the stranger. Not because he had helped him several times, and saved his ass from going insane on multiple occasions, but also because Luke saw himself on the beast lying dormant inside Adrian. Not the mask he was constantly putting on for the world. The broken, angry, twisted, hurt, lonely... young man from the ungodly side of life.
The real him.
The scent of Chaos still lingered on Adrian, longer than it should have. He looked dangerous, but for some reason that made Luke trust him even more. For some reason, he was drawn to him even more. Because all he saw was another broken man, changed and twisted by circumstances he could not control.
Just like him.
He suspected that Adrian had become Corrupted as some point, but that did not make any sense. But it also made too much sense... in a way. It could also be some kind of dark Affinity, so rare that it was completely unknown across the Sacred Sanctuary. The possibilities were endless, so Luke did not jump to conclusions.
Not just yet, at least.
The way he became defensive about that form of his was also suspicious as well, but... Luke suddenly flinched, realizing he had spent too much time overthinking matters that did not really concern him. Adrian was a stranger to him, and Luke had no business asking about his secrets.
But still...
#
They resumed traveling shortly afterward.
The deeper caverns gradually gave way to wider stone pathways that sloped upward through the mountainside. The oppressive darkness from before had weakened significantly now, replaced by dim natural light filtering faintly through cracks far above.
As they walked, Adrian spoke more. Not casually this time, more deliberately and precisely. He was teaching Luke about what he needed to know about combat before the actual training commenced. His tone and gaze were much softer now, but still sharp, aware and focused.
"Combat isn't about survival," he said while leading Luke across a narrow stone ridge overlooking a deep abyss below.
Luke frowned faintly. "Pretty sure it is."
"No," Adrian replied immediately. "Survival is the bare minimum. Creatures survive. Prey survives."
His gaze remained forward.
"Victory matters more."
Luke stayed silent.
Adrian continued.
"If your only goal is staying alive, eventually you'll hesitate. You'll retreat. You'll wait for opportunities instead of creating them."
They descended carefully down another jagged slope before Adrian spoke again.
"On the Sacred Sanctuary, weakness is unforgivable."
The words were a calm matter-of-fact, not cruel — just true. Luke listened quietly.
"Every creature here hunts weakness," Adrian continued. "Fear, hesitation, exhaustion, injury... the moment you show it, something stronger decides you deserve to die."
Luke thought about the Gravetongues. The way they had immediately targeted him once they sensed weakness.
Adrian glanced back briefly.
"You're too cautious."
Luke frowned. "Caution kept me alive."
"Barely."
That irritated him slightly.
"I'm still here."
"For now."
Luke clenched his jaw faintly but didn't argue. Not because he had nothing to say, but because part of him knew Adrian was right. Ontokinesis was powerful, terrifyingly powerful, maybe. But Luke himself was frail and fragile. If his ability failed at the wrong moment, he died.
Simple as that.
"You rely on your gift too much," Adrian said later while climbing across another rocky incline. "Abilities are tools, not foundations."
Luke looked at him.
"You fight like someone who expects his ability to save him," Adrian continued. "That's dangerous."
"…And you fight like you want to die."
Adrian laughed softly at that.
"Fair."
#
Hours passed, and the cave system slowly brightened. The air changed too. It was much fresher and cooler now. Then finally, they saw light. Real light. Luke slowed instinctively as the cavern mouth appeared ahead of them, vast and uneven, framed by towering black stone.
For a moment, neither spoke. Then they stepped outside. And Luke stopped completely, and turned to look behind him. Then his gaze slowly shifted up towards the sky, and far beyond that..
Familiar, massive jagged mountains stretched endlessly into the distance, their sharp peaks piercing through seas of drifting silver mist. Ancient stone cliffs rose like the remains of dead titans, scarred by time and violence alike. The terrain was wild and untamed, filled with colossal rock formations and steep ridges disappearing into cloud-covered depths below.
And above it all, the sky. The vast, impossible and inconceivable sky...
Luke's breath caught faintly.
The sun was rising.
Golden light spilled slowly across the horizon, staining the clouds in shades of amber, crimson, and molten gold. The mountains caught the light unevenly, their dark surfaces glowing faintly at the edges while vast shadows still stretched across the valleys beneath them.
It was beautiful, violently so. The kind of beauty that made him feel small. Vibrant green grass danced slightly at his feet, making him feel strangely peaceful. But he knew deep down that peace on the Skysea Island was not ideal. A few hours — or days, probably months even, he had regained his senses in the familiar landscape. He had no time to appreciate the scenery though, given his situation...
When he thought about that, something tightened in his chest. The more he thought about the fact that he had no idea how long he had been asleep, he felt deeply uncomfortable. A lot could've happened in that amount of time. Even though abominations could not really sense him because of his [Noiseless] Attribute, something could have stumbled upon his defenseless body...
He sighed and shifted his focus to the scenery.
A vast distance from the mountains, hidden beneath drifting layers of mist, Luke heard it. A distant roar. Soft, endless and distorted. He turned and beheld the majestic Skysea, the reverse waterfall known to all of humanity. The waterfall of legends.
Tranquil murmurs echoed upward through the mountains as impossible rivers flowed into the heavens themselves, vanishing into the vast sky above like streams returning to some unseen ocean beyond reality.
Luke stared silently.
"…This place is insane," he whispered.
Adrian stood beside him quietly, the rising sunlight illuminating faint traces of azure veins beneath his skin, only to dissappear a split second later. Luke saw and said nothing.
"…Yeah," he said softly.
For a brief moment, despite the danger, despite the monsters, despite everything... Luke felt something unfamiliar stir in his chest. Wonder. Real wonder.
Then Adrian started moving again.
And reality returned. The mountains were not safe. Far from it, actually.
As they scaled the jagged terrain carefully, Luke began noticing movement hidden among the cliffs and valleys below. Massive winged silhouettes circled distant skies. Enormous creatures crawled slowly across mountain faces far away, blending almost perfectly into stone.
Some things they avoided instinctively.
Others... Adrian avoided without even explaining why. And that alone terrified Luke more than any warning could have. So they climbed quietly and carefully. Two Commonalities crossing the endless mountains of Skysea Island beneath the first sunrise Luke had seen since waking from the dream.
Unaware that far behind the Skysea, something was happening... Deep within the twisted labyrinth, something out of the ordinary was occurring.