"What… Just happened…"

Soren's knees finally buckled as he collapsed to the floor from exhaustion. His frantic breathing echoed off the thick cobblestone walls… Both hands clung to the floor tightly for support.

Myrin, who had collapsed beside him, was doing the same. The pair looked at each other—both in confusion and in awe…

They… had survived?

Why?

It was a question that played in their minds endlessly, and yet, regardless of whether or not it would ever be answered, this was the reality of the situation. There was no changing it.

They had indeed survived. The lumps of utter fear stuck in their throats were evident of that.

"Bless the Maiden… Bless the Maiden…" His elven companion mumbled to himself as cold sweat rolled down his cheek.

They both sat there, huddling to each corner of the narrow hallway in silence. An hour or so passed before either of them spoke:

"Back there, when you told me to run away…" Myrin whispered, "You said that because you did something to alert them to our presence, right?

"Why did you do that?..."

Soren looked up from his knees—eyes locking with Myrin's. Indeed, he expected this question to come up.

"I saw an opportunity."

"An opportunity?" Myrin frowned. Soren nodded back, "Yes, an opportunity. To advance the influence of my Abstract Rune. Forbidden knowledge and information that is difficult to obtain accelerates my rune fragment growth… And, I believe I have succeeded."

"You risked our lives for such a thing?" The salt could be felt with every word. And, rightfully so. From Myrin's perspective, what Soren had done was extremely selfish. He had risked both of their lives without even giving an ounce of thought to his opinion on the matter.

Peering silently into Myrin's questioning gaze, Soren couldn't help but sigh.

"Yeah, you're right. It was extremely foolish of me—I apologize."

"Apologies aren't enough, Soren." He crossed his arms. "You seem to have forgotten the core tenet of being a dungeon explorer. That trust between members of a group is more important than a million relics found within these tombs.

"I can somewhat excuse it this time—there was hardly any way for us to communicate effectively under those bizarre circumstances. And with all the pressure mounting, you rushed to form a decision and committed to it.

"However, that still doesn't excuse you for what you did… Does my opinion mean that little to you?"

Soren gathered his thoughts as he stared deeply into the ceiling. The silence between them gripped him by the neck—it was growing more and more suffocating.

"We are companions inside an ancient dungeon that dates back to the First Age of Fantasia—if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have brought you with me. And that same logic applies back to you, right?"

Myrin nodded silently.

"My actions this time were extremely rash—I didn't factor in that even though my prying was targeted towards the Floor Guardian, his opponent was still able to detect it… However, I might as well say it here:

"The coming journey will have us acting independently a lot more often. Our decisions cannot always be shared, even if the danger those decisions pose is immediate. Maybe in Star Fate Guild, such actions weren't warranted—the explorations you had to undergo with the others in the Avalon Ruins a month ago were never this dangerous, right?"

Myrin's frown only deepened, but he nodded along anyway. "Yes, the Avalon Ruins was dangerous, but with Tina and me, nothing really posed much threat to us. Our divinations also managed to lead us into less dangerous areas overall so we were never fully at risk of triggering any hazardous traps. The only time I felt truly afraid for my life was when we discovered traces of the dungeon's core…"

Hearing this, Soren sighed. "Then why is it now that you're exploring it with me, everything has gone really wrong… We were just gripped by the shackles of death a moment ago. A truly insidious force that seems to have control over that damned Nameless Mist… Even the divinations you speak of failed—the path they lead us to were far more dangerous than normal."

Myrin thought about it for a few moments, then, his lips couldn't help but curl up as he pressed his palm against his forehead…

"It's because I am with you…"

Soren chuckled, "Indeed… Did you think I was lying when I said I was a trouble magnet? Fate has been fully against me since my arrival in this damned world."

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Hearing this, Myrin couldn't help but lean back against the wall. His thoughts in disarray. "I have to say, Soren, you're really good at arguing."

Soren didn't answer—he simply smiled under the flickering torchlight.

"I guess you're right… With the enemies we are facing, it's going to get even more difficult… I'll have to trust you even when you make rash decisions."

"And the same goes for me," Soren replied. "The feeling is mutual. If we can't handle that, then we might as well go our separate ways."

"Indeed…"

In a way, Myrin was more astonished by Soren's growth than anything. He had entered this argument expecting Soren to admit that he didn't trust to hear his opinions on his decision making, and yet, only the opposite had happened…

Not only did Soren trust him—he trusted him so deeply that he hadn't even anticipated being questioned that much in the first place. Just two months ago, he would not have been able to come up with such an answer even if his life depended on it…

Did Cassia really change him that much? It was truly a strange thing to witness, and yet, he needed to accept it. That he was now the one lacking in trust—not the other way around. And, he was missing a more concrete perspective as well. This journey… He cannot treat it like any other expedition.

Myrin stood up and dusted his clothes, "So tell me then, genius. Did risking our lives today grant you anything good?"

Hearing that question, Soren's lips inadvertently curled up. "Let me check…" He glanced down at his ancient tome and ordered its pages to be flipped.

Event Log

New Entry Recorded: [Apostle of Forbidden Blood] (Malevolent Hex)

New Entry Failed: [Shepherd of the Nameless Fold] (???)

New Skill Unlocked: [Cards of Insight] (Tier 1)

Reading the words, Soren couldn't help but feel a bit shocked… He already knew that accumulating rune fragments would result in his Soul Weapon obtaining more skills from the Abstract Rune he was merged with, but seeing it unfold before his eyes for the first time still excited him greatly.

There was also the fact that even though his prying failed against the woman, he was still able to obtain a name for Her.

Shepherd of the Nameless Fold… I wonder what her goals are… In the end, even with his abilities, Soren was left completely clueless. The fact that a being like that was being kept inside the Avalon Ruins for so long without anyone ever discovering Her terrified him greatly. It made him wonder about what other secrets could still be buried deep within these ancient halls…

We're going to have to return to the safe zone soon to explain what happened… Not a conversation he was looking forward to at all, but one that needed to happen. Knowing what they know about Her, She was likely an entity in the Ascended Grade at least—possibly a Saint or Monarch. The threat She poses with Her army of Soul Skinners was extremely severe…

But for now, he was much more excited about the new skill he had unlocked. Ordering his Soul Weapon to flip its pages once again, Soren glanced at his new Status Page more keenly:

Skills: [Record], [Eyes of the Fairy], [Cards of Insight], [The Faerie Court]

Rune Collection: [Fairy Witness] (1 Expression, 1 Insight)

I was able to gain two insight fragments from the knowledge I absorbed? He wasn't expecting it to be that valuable, but then again, the gamble he made just to obtain it was certainly anything but regular…

"So what is it?" Myrin said as he leaned in over his shoulder to look at wording in his Soul Weapon. Since it was written in English, he had no way of understanding it.

Soren sent another order to his Soul Weapon which expanded the skill's information:

[Cards of Insight] (Rank 1): Pass on the information around you.

Pass on? The description confused him a little… He decided to explain it to Myrin.

"Interesting…" The Elven Songster leaned back against the wall. "I think I get it a little."

"You get it?" Soren crossed his arms in thought. "I personally don't. Passing on the information around me—don't I already do that? I can explain the things I [Record] fairly easily to others."

"But explaining things is different from directly passing that information over," Myrin replied. "Your [Record], it allows you to chronicle anything and everything and store the memory of it indefinitely. [Eyes of the Fairy] allows you to absorb that knowledge using the Beyond. So logically, this new ability likely follows that same pattern…"

Soren thought for a moment, then his eyes widened. "You don't mean…" He glanced back down at his Soul Weapon and frowned. "I think it's best if we give it a try…"

He immediately focused his thoughts on the words themselves. Pass over… Pass over… Information…

Then, he gave it a target—Myrin who was sitting beside him.

Moments later, The Records began to glow with a golden hue—its pages flickering once again like flames. Then, one by one, those pages disintegrated—transforming into tiny golden butterflies that swirled upward before merging back together into a strange, radiant plaque. Hovering in the air above his book was a strange card, etched with the same mysterious symbols he would see across the Fairy Court.

He hesitated for a moment, then reached his hand and grabbed it, pulling it close. Beside him, Myrin watched the spectacle unfolding curiously then nodded. "Let's see if we're right about this…"

Soren nodded back, "Here…" He handed the golden card to his elven friend. The moment it touched his hand, the card quickly disintegrated, as if it was absorbed into his body.

At first, Myrin didn't react. He didn't feel anything at all. But just when he was about to voice his doubts, a searing pain engulfed his mind…

"Ugh!" He held his head tightly—it felt as if it was about to explode… Soren rushed to grab him.

"Are you alright?!" There was nothing he could do at that moment aside from waiting. Myrin struggled for a while longer before the pain finally ceased. He leaned back against the wall from exhaustion—breathing heavily.

After a few more minutes, he finally smiled and glanced over at Soren:

"So this is called a plane in your world? How fascinating… Something made of steel is able to fly like that without magecraft…"

Soren smiled back, "The experiment was successful…"

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