NOVEL NEXT Chapter 296 - Days in the Jungle
Days in the jungle blurred past in a haze of rain, mud, glowing flora and beast fights, as well as long treks through dense, soaked foliage accompanied by the calls of hidden birds in the canopy, and of distant cries of beasts. Sometimes they even heard the sounds of battle from afar, though they didn't have any reason to seek out any of the other almost five hundred apprentices currently making their way through the Jungle Tops.
Time under that rain and vegetation either hung slow and humid over their heads, seemingly having fallen asleep, or, on the other side of the spectrum, time would just rush by whenever one wasn't paying attention to it, and morning blinked into the deepest night.
And so, in the next five days, which were spent gathering and exploring under the rain, it felt as though Nar woke up, fought, trained, blinked and went to sleep. And he was asleep as soon as his head hit his foam pillow, sapped by the delve, the rain, and the emotions that he had to work hard to keep pressed deep within him, lest they bubble to the surface and overflow in unexpected ways...
At some point in his training, he had even considered removing the shimmering, hexagonal patterned cloth that he had tied around his sword. Made from a strip from one the shirts that his dad had sacrificed so that Nar didn't find himself naked on the Climb, he had tied it around the bottom of the weapon's grip in the safe room at the end of the tutorial.
He had meant for it to be a reminder of what he still needed to achieve, and to never allow himself to rest or give up, no matter what he faced or had to do, until he had rescued the man who had given everything for him. The cloth had even been upgraded by the hunger AUC he had earned defending the cubeplant that had failed its quota, and now, it was all that remained of his past life.
However, never, ever, did his fingers made to actually undo the cloth, if that was even possible given that it had been upgraded alongside the weapon, and instead, his heart clenched silently within him, every time he beheld that reminder of his failure, and he let none of that out. Thankfully, he was always exhausted by the time he went to bed, so at least he had no trouble falling asleep. As to the nightmares that awaited him there, that was another story…
Thus, the days passed, and as predicted, they had begun hunting uncommon in increasing numbers, providing Nar with a bit more of that much needed challenge, as well as hope for continued great gains. But everyone knew that a big fight was coming sooner or later, and they waited in giddy anticipation for it, while they continued canvassing the jungle to fulfill their requirements, as well as to fill up their storages in hopes of that future payday.
Each day competed with the last to show them even crazier and more awe-inspiring sights than the previous one, and nobody could complain of boredom.
There was a plant that grew from a large, bulbous and almost flesh-like base. It was almost as large as Tuk was long, and its "meat" was bright orange and the aethermancers delighted in carving it up and eating it for dessert and snacks.
Another plant had tendril-like fingers around its flowers, as though clutching it in hopes of safeguarding the precious, bright pink, delicate petals. However, when an insect zipped around the protective fingers and made for the sweet, heavy aromatic nectar within the flowers, the fingers would snap shut and trap it within, digesting the poor creature alive. When the plant snatched its prey, it sounded freakishly similar to a person snapping their fingers, and walking through an area filled with both buzzing and that eerie snapping had proved to be an experience that not all had found as entertaining as Tuk and Jaz had, who happened to be with Nar that day.
Another plant was similar to the bulbous one, except this one grew with a squat hard, segmented shell around it. Its inside was also fleshy, but it was white, and when cut, it oozed a soapy like liquid that was valuable for its antibacterial properties. That one had not been on the list, but Sej had instructed them that it was valuable enough to be worth taking, so they had gathered the whole lot of them.
And so on continued the endless procession of weird plants, fruits, berries, barks and roots. On one of the days, Nar even spent the day picking up slow, fat looking beetles, whose carapace was of the deepest, most shimmering blue that he had ever seen, and the bugs lived in a commune of thousands of slow-moving critters. They devoured every leaf they encountered, and their hardy bodies and mandibles seemed adept at destroying even those plants that made a living by eating insects. All in all, it had been a very interesting experience, even fun and somewhat cathartic.
Similarly, they also collect pound after pound of beast meat, furs, pelts, a huge array of organs, eggs, bones and so forth.
As for the deep dark nights of the Brightnight, they spent it huddled down in their camp, practicing, treating their harvested and gathered materials, or training nearby under Sej's watchful senses. And increasingly, Jul's and Jaz's as well, as they absorbed the lessons imparted by their guide and continued to make bountiful gains in their sense attributes.
They also discovered that the aethermancers needed some aura free nights in order to properly refill their reservoirs. While their [Absorption] skills connected them to the infinite springs of aether that were their contracted spirits through space and time, no matter where they were in existence, it also allowed them to absorb compatible ambient aether from the environment, and this greatly sped up their recovery process. And while they seemed to just absorb aether by just being, there were specific instances that allowed them to recover a lot faster.
For instance, Era slept for her aether, enhancing her connection to her spirit and also absorbing the sleep aether than apparently emanated from her party members, while Mach, the feathered vanore absorbed aether from the very air itself, though wind worked best, and even the seldom stirs in the air that they got within that stifling jungle boosted his recovery rate.
As for Medis and Eum, both contracted to combat and hunting driven spirits, the siblings absorbed blood, death and other corporal related aether from their slaughtered enemies. And Leon and Calli, both of them contracted to holy spirits, absorbed aether from light itself.
It was no wonder that Cen had been left aghast at the realization that the aethermancers could just replenish themselves as easily, and passively, as that.
"We don't even need to do anything other than use our aether, and honor our spirits in order to get upgrades on our aetheric passives!" Leon had told her.
"But-but… How is that fucking fair?" Cen had raged, to the endless delight and laughter of the paladin.
It was as though the three parties had been delving for years together, rather than weeks, and even Leon's party was now so well integrated with them, that it was hard to find an instance where a group of people contained only members of their original party. It was only their separate aetheric and aura needs, as well as the barriers between aura and aether tech that separated them.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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Nar emerged from the jungle drenched in rain and sweat.
It was their thirteenth day in the Brightnight, and the jungle was slowly awakening around him, plants regaining their colorful glow, and many even expanding and stretching outwards after the pitch-black darkness of night.
"How did it go?"
Nar exhaled heavily. "Getting there."
"Slowly," Leon said. "These sorts of things take time."
"Yeah…"
And without another word, he stepped beside Leon and Teb and dropped into the same stretch.
Divested of his metal armor, Leon's body had revealed itself to be quite similar to Nar's. It was a lot more muscular, granted, but structurally wise, there wasn't that much difference between the two of them, not even in height.
It had been a surprise, in all honesty. All the tanks Nar had met or seen thus far had, if not tall, at least bulky frames, such as Gad, or Tun, or even Raf and Kur. But Leon almost seemed built for a speedy, agile path, just like Nar was, and, indeed for the most part, Leon was quite light of his feet. Just like Nar…
"You're doing it a little better," Leon said, stretching towards his left foot. "But Teb is still better than you."
"I have to be better at something!" the green-red eyed quam muttered. "Every time we spar, I get trashed!"
Nar grimaced, but he couldn't help smiling. The melee had all begun sparring matches in between them, to the great entertainment of the ranged, casters, healers and guides, and Nar secretly harbored a little pride at the fact that thus far, he remained unbeaten amongst the auramancers. It was a different story against Leon and Eum however. The two aethermancers were strong, and like Nar held back a lot of its full might, he had the distinctive feeling that they were doing the same.
"Want me to go easy next time?" Nar asked.
"... No," Teb grumbled, eliciting a burst of laughter from Leon.
"Gods we are similar!" Leon said, eyeing Nar. "That stretch… You even struggle in the same way I once did!"
"And you remember that?" Nar asked, frowning at him as changed positions, relief flooding his muscles.
Leon winced. "There's no way I would forget it… My teacher at the time was merciless."
Nar sighed. "I think we can all empathize with that."
"Crystal, yes," Teb grunted, as he reached his four arms back behind him.
"Have to give it to Eum though, all this sparring has been great," Leon said. "You guys fight like you're possessed!"
But his laughter died as he was met with blank looks.
"Possessed?" Leon asked, and Nar and Teb shook their heads. "Ah, it's like… Uh, how do I even explain this? Imagine that when you die, your soul does not move into the Great Beyond, and instead it stays to haunt Creation."
"What in the Pile… That can't be real!" Teb said.
"It is, we call it a ghost! It's rare, and most times is just something that can be easily explained, but it does happen," Leon said, grinning wickedly. "And these ghosts can even possess, as in inhabit and take control of people, if they don't have a high enough [Steadfastness]. Or [Ego], I guess."
"And then what?" Nar asked. "You die?"
"No, you're stuck in there, helpless to do anything while the ghost controls you," Leon said, reaching for his right foot. "People eventually notice something has gone weird and a Priest of the Gray One is summoned to perform an exorcism. Uh, that's to kick out the ghost and send it to be judged before the Great Beyond."
"Fucking Pile… Just when I think things can't get any crazier," Teb said.
They quickly wrapped up on their stretching session, and headed inside the large, white tent.
The morning was already abuzz in a frenzy of activity as they prepared to lift up camp to move deeper into the Jungle Tops once more, their requirements for the area fulfilled.
Leon headed over to the spare tent the auramancers had been given for his party to share, and Nar joined Mul and Sej as they packed up one of theirs, Teb heading for the toilets instead.
"Can't believe we still have three and a half months of this," Mul was grumbling to himself, his growing, dark silver hair already matted with sweat.
Wolfie yapped at him, but from the excited swishing of his tail it was hard to understand if he was in agreement with the brawler or not.
"It's not that bad, is it?" Sej asked, as she unlocked the fittings on her side of the tent, while Nar did the same on the front of the structure.
"It's not? It's been raining non-stop," the brawler said, his suppressor triggering.
"It stops sometimes…" Sej said, smiling to herself.
"Yeah. For like half an hour here and there," Mul said, and his red neon stare was suppressed. "And if you're not wet out there, you're fucking drowning in sweat in here. I haven't even seen the sky in days. Just trees, plants, and poisonous shit."
"Oh, so grumpy," Calli said in passing. "Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the inflatable mattress?"
Mul shot her a look devoid of any emotion, but the meaning was clear as day and Calli rushed away laughing, with Wolfie darting after her, tail wagging fast enough to almost lift him off the tent's floor.
"Traitor," Mul told his bond. "Don't come to me for food later."
"Oh, don't listen to him, you little cutie! I'll feed you!" Calli said, bending down to scoop up the wolf cub.
Nar shook his head at their antics, though it did put a light smile on his lips. The jungle was tough and merciless, and more than once one of them had been downed by a fever, or in a bad spot with an invasive insect, just like what had happened to Tuk on their very first day in the Brightnight, plus, the fights with increasingly greater numbers of uncommon beasts were starting to toughen things up again, but all in all, Nar couldn't say that he wasn't having a good time of it, and the camaraderie between them all was a big part of that.
"Do you enjoy being in here?" Nar asked the guide.
The blue woman looked up, and by the way her yellow eyes sparkled he found his answer.
"I love it. I. Love. It!" she said, grinning from ear to ear. "This camp here? This is more my home than my place in town."
"You live in that town? You mean the one by the dungeon entrances?" Nar asked, surprised.
She nodded, and standing up, she motioned for Mul to help her lay down the tent.
"I do. While we delve in other dungeons nearby, the Brightnight is mine and Sarke's main assignment, so it made sense for us to have our base here," Sej explained.
Oh? So, do they live together then? Nar wondered.
"My little, shitty flat is more of a storehouse than a home to be honest," the guide continued, pulling out one of the thin, collapsible metal weights that held the tent up. "It's just a place for me to crash in-between delves and to dump my crap into before I get the time to ship it off. But, this?"
She looked up at the frenzy of unpacking, and of people shouting and laughing, and of Wolfie darting around the place to add to the general chaos, and smiled.
"This is my real home. And I'll never get tired of it…"
"Well, I'm happy for you. I really am," Mul grumbled, a hint of emotion returning to his voice. "But I miss a real shower and not waking up in a pool of my own sweat. And fucking real food. Crystal dammit. I'm sick of eating this crap."
Nar chuckled as Mul's tone was quickly suppressed again, but he fully agreed with Mul. Crystal! What he wouldn't do for a night in his comfy bed, and in their perfectly well acclimated bedroom.
"It's not for everyone," Sej said with an easy nod. "But it is for me… Alright, enough chit-chat! Let's get going before the morning runs out on us!"
Nar glanced outside through the heavy duty plastic, slim rectangles that served as their eyes to the outside. Their mornings were as dark as a bright night in the Labyrinth, and a rainbow of clashing colors was quickly becoming more and more intense as far as he could see.
I miss the sky too, he thought, remembering the bright, towering clouds of the Labyrinth, stretching on for what seemed like forever sometimes. Or the moment of twilight, when everything became painted in deep, deep hues of blue, or even the reverse, when light returned to the Labyrinth, bringing with it the dawn of a new day.
Their first dungeon had also given them plenty of distant horizons to marvel at, and he missed that openness around him. To see nothing but underbrush around him, and giant tree trunks towering over him, with nothing above his head but dark, dense canopy, with the occasional glimpse of a giant, glowing mushroom's underbelly far, far above even the trees themselves… It was undeniably a bit claustrophobic. And the heat and the rain only made it worse.
But those sprawling vistas he saw every day from aboard the Scimitar?
Yes… I really miss that a lot, he thought, grimacing at the surprising pang of nostalgia in his heart.
Hopefully, his next dungeon would be a lot more open than the Brightnight.