NOVEL NEXT Chapter 58: Source
Later that day, the four agreed to split into pairs. Orion resisted the idea at first when Na-Ri proposed it, considering it reckless to wander a hostile island in twos after they had already drawn the attention of the zealots.
To him, splitting meant halving their fighting strength and multiplying the risk of being cornered without support. He weighed the danger of ambush against the benefit of staying together. As a single unit, they had a stronger front, fewer blind spots, and the ability to respond at once if violence broke out.
But as he thought it through the flaw in such a formation became clear. Four moving together created too large a footprint, impossible to conceal, easy to track, and far slower to manoeuvre. If the zealots had scouts in the woods, which he was certain they did, then the group might as well parade with torches raised above their heads.
Two smaller pairs could travel quieter, cover more ground, and branch off in different directions, making it harder for enemies to anticipate their movements. If one pair ran into danger, the other could circle back, strike from another angle, or retreat without all of them being caught in the same net.
It was an uncomfortable trade-off, but one that couldn't be denied. The efficiency of reconnaissance outweighed the risk of reduced numbers, provided everyone accepted the dangers and moved with precision.
After his initial hesitation, Orion gave a slow nod, conceding to Na-Ri's logic. It wasn't about agreeing with the plan, but recognising that in a place like this, survival depended on calculated risk.
Na-Ri had, by then, taken command. Her stance was clear: there could be no hesitation in the face of threat. It was kill or be killed, and only those willing to act without pause would live through it. The weight of striking down another human was not something to dismiss, yet in the crucible of danger the result would reveal itself.
When the split was decided, Kyle ended up with Orion.
Kyle had angled for Na-Ri from the beginning, seeking the stronger fighter, but after his repeated attempts were turned down he was left with no choice. In the end, the two girls had left him behind, and Orion became his reluctant partner.
And truthfully, it wasn't the worst outcome. Orion had a Qi-infused weapon, command over Darkness, and both a shadow scout and shadow form at his disposal. Following the pretty boy was hardly the poorest choice to make.
***
Kyle and Orion were currently traversing through the forest's undergrowth, keeping themselves low and out of the light to avoid being spotted while also marking trees and rocks so they would not get lost when finding their way back.
After scarring a nearby tree's bark with his rope-blade, a cut so small it would only be noticed if looked at carefully, Orion turned to Kyle with a smirk.
"This island is so boring, right? We only almost died once while battling the Demon. Well, you died and came back to life." He shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head.
Kyle grimaced and looked away.
Naturally, he knew everyone would still dwell on his resurrection and that Orion still did not believe his excuse, so perhaps it was normal.
"Wait. How was life after death, Kyle?"
"What?" Kyle looked at him with squinted eyes, sorting through the odd but strangely curious question.
Yes, everyone was always curious about how it was after death. In reality, it was never death itself that gnawed at people but the suspicion of what followed, punishment, judgement, or the hollow stretch of nothing.
That uncertainty was the leash that kept most clinging to life. The ones who ended their own didn't care for the mystery. They had already walked through their share of hell while breathing, had already measured pain against silence and found silence preferable.
For them, death was an answer to all their pains, just as it had been in Kyle's past when he lost someone dear...
It was a truth most ignored because it cut too close. Fear never belonged to the dead, it belonged to the living who couldn't bear to imagine more life beyond this one.
Kyle had seen life after death and knew there was no such thing as hell or heaven. Those mountains had fallen ever since the gods died. What remained was a vast dark sea of nothingness, known as the Sea of Lifeless.
Marking a fresh stone with his rope-blade while waiting for Kyle's reply, Orion watched him closely.
Kyle finally answered after his silence:
"It's just a sea of nothingness, I guess. Hollow, not even cold. The only sound there was silence."
Orion turned his gaze to him and, after a long look, laughed.
"My theory was right, then. So there's no such thing as heaven or hell, and humans are not bound to any punishment for sins committed? Well, what more is there to expect."
They carried on with their talk, Orion leading most of it while Kyle kept silent. Much of what the pretty boy said drifted into abstractions he had no patience for, words dressed with meanings Kyle had no interest in unravelling.
It reminded him of the Black Swan back at the Valley.
Even so, the two made steady progress. Orion's shadow scout kept sweeping the path ahead before they advanced. After some time, they stopped behind a tree that overlooked a cliff where faint movement stirred in the distance.
Unable to catch a clear view, Orion sent his shadow again, this time with more care. He kept it at a distance, far enough to avoid suspicion but close enough to see.
The memory of the Demon still pressed at him. They had been caught unprepared, not from recklessness but from lack of caution. Since then, he had learned never to cast his shadow scout without restraint, knowing there might always be sharp eyes waiting to notice it.
At that moment, the shadow scout caught sight of a beast. For the first time in the two days since their arrival, they finally saw one of the creatures roaming the island.
Orion's grin widened as he described the sight to Kyle, who crouched low beside him.
"It's a Madorana… a Cursed-rank mutated creature," he whispered, nodding toward the cliff.
A Madorana was highly a Brute-type creature, but in a Trial Zone easy judgement could not be made by sight. Kyle remembered the two Cimmerian Sandworms he had fought in the desert. One was Elemental-type with Venom present, and the other was only a Venom-type, so it was possible this one also combined two traits.
However, he was not certain. The Cimmerian Sandworms and this creature were the same rank, and both possessed a bit of intelligence even if not up to a human.
The creature loomed with two vast dark wings that folded and flexed like those of a bat, its body rising to the size of a tiger. Long canine fangs jutted from its maw, and thick white scales grew in uneven patches across its frame, covering it in a layer that made it difficult for any weapon not infused with Qi to pierce. Yet a bone from a higher-ranked creature, if shaped into a weapon like the rib Kyle had torn from the Glacial Skyscander, could slice through without effort.
That rib had been able to pierce a Demon, and so it would do the same here.
Behind the mutant, seven tails lashed, each tipped with a cluster of spikes that scraped and clattered against the ground.
"Hehe, here is a good thing," Orion muttered, casting a glance at Kyle.
The only matter now was who would strike first, and whether they could hope to bring it down with a single blow, which in truth was near impossible.
***
Somewhere else on the island, at a distance from the other two positions, Adela and Na-Ri sat on a cliff overlooking a long river that stretched across the land, its flow clear and bright like the sea they had crossed.
A glimmer of happiness lit Adela's eyes as she watched the water run, while beside her Na-Ri kept her usual composure.
"You did say there would be a source of water. We only had to search deep."