The minimap easily proved its usefulness for exploring, even when just approaching an already known location. It was like having a GPS system that could be interacted with, but was entirely independent of any other tech or magic. A fact which greatly helped navigate on the small journey. Like the skill text indicated, John could open up a larger version of the map. On it, he could place markers, make notes, and even had a small button that allowed him to create a physical version of the map as long as he had the right materials. There were even multiple map types, although a good few of them were locked at the moment. For now, he could at least open up a height map in addition to the simple terrain map. Excited about the possibilities, he told Orianna what he had discovered, and she had a few choice words in response.

“Your powers are bullshit,” she said, her tone light but not hurtful. They had finally exited the forest surrounding the cabin and headed towards the hilly area that made up the unexplored territory.

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

“I’m not surprised, getting free stuff with so little effort isn’t very common in the Abyss, even for Late Bloomers,” her light tone had turned into a genuine chuckle. 

They continued to venture through the now completely hilly countryside, while engaging in light small talk and looking around everywhere in the hopes of finding their goal. The area was quite a bit more welcoming than expected, but it still hid what they were looking for. No interesting objects were in sight, and they didn’t even spot any animals. Despite not seeing much of importance, John appreciated their time there, the events of yesterday weighed on him. He didn’t wish to destroy his relationship with the only person in the Abyss that was immediately friendly to him, but he didn’t know what to say either. 

“So what did you do before you came here?” John asked, interested in exploring his, at least temporary, companion’s backstory.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” she responded, her tone unusually solemn.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to pry. Just wanted to understand where you’re coming from. Haven’t really had the opportunity to get to know anybody from the Abyss yet.”

“It’s fine… My past brings up some memories I don’t wanna think about. Getting here cost me a lot…” John felt there was something more Orianna wanted to say, but her gaze turned to the distance, and she didn’t continue speaking. They kept walking in silence for a few more minutes before the biomancer broke it, having come back to reality, “anyways, if you think you’re gonna get away with just an apology, you have a nasty surprise coming,” she said, her tone clearly teasing.

“Huh? But you said it was fine...” not being sure what she meant, he was somewhat worried. 

“Yeah, and now I’m gonna return the favor. You wanna talk about what happened yesterday?” she said, her voice serious but her face sporting a huge grin.

“Not really…” John soon replied. It was a subject he wasn’t sure how to handle, and he wasn’t certain he could trust Orianna enough to tell her about Alice. 

“I won't press you on it. No reason to, your business is your own, but if you ever wanna talk, I'm here,” Orianna's tone expressed her honesty. If she had any reaction to John's actions that weren’t understanding, she didn't show it.

After that, they walked without talking once more, both having their issues brought to the surface. The silence was far more than awkward, but neither side wanted to break it. Despite their wishes, that quiet was shattered half an hour later, when they came upon a specific part of the hilly area.

“This is where I lost my powers last time, so be careful,” Orianna informed John. Soon, her words came true, as a popup appeared in John’s view.

Magic dampening field entered: All active skills cannot be used until field is disabled, destroyed or exited

John trying to use Arcane Bolts revealed the popup was indeed correct, he was stuck without magic for the foreseeable future. It didn’t take long before they both agreed to search the area. Hoping what they were looking for would be there. Without magic, John’s location on the minimap had disappeared. A bit lost, they found themselves with no results in the end.

When the sun started going down, Orianna took John back towards the cabin. Checking a few traps she had set earlier, they found two rabbits captured in them. John didn’t have the courage to look at the corpses, but nonetheless he helped the biomancer prepare a meal from them. When they were cooked, they tasted almost like chicken. The ever-present silence continued for the rest of the night, and the atmosphere felt awkward, but they were both ready to check the area again the next day.

They returned to the magic dampening field in about an hour, walking mostly silently once again. Eventually, they found a small outcropping on the other side of the hill they had been looking on before. As they approached it, it became clear it was a cave entrance of sorts. John hoped there was nothing too dangerous to handle there. Deciding together to explore the cave, Orianna pulled her knife out, as if to prepare for some encounter. She presented the knife to John, wanting him to take it.

“You’re going to need a weapon if you don’t have your powers. Don’t worry about me, I have my own. They will still work because they just affect my body,” John agreed and took the knife in his hand. Not sure how to hold it, he put it to his side. Their sound of birds and the wind disappeared as they entered the large and eerily dark cave system that the entrance opened to reveal. Still awkwardly holding the knife, he examined it. It was one made more for hunting than actual combat, he figured, and he was also unfamiliar with it’s design. The handle had a curved shape to it, making it much easier to wield, but also a bit less practical in a real fight. Even then, he still hoped there wouldn’t be one. 

In the time they had started exploring the dank caverns the area contained, John’s minimap had added them. Creating a new cave layer on the map which was currently the most visible. They continued travelling the caverns for some time before anything more happened. Something was quite unusual about these caves, however, something John found of interest.. He thought he could recognize the system. It had been from a long time ago, a school trip to Germany where he had visited a small set of caves near the black forest. That in itself was strange, but could have been just his memory playing tricks on him. When he headed deeper into the cave based on his memory of the layout, he discovered he was wrong. He was able to guide Orianna with hushed words and signs through the cave successfully. Remembering barely enough when to navigate through the cave. Stalagmites filled the ground the deeper in they went, and they had to carefully navigate them.

`If this is that cave in Germany, that would explain some things… Why I recognized some of those berries, for example. Is this Europe? Or some variation of it if humans hadn’t been there? Is untamed evolution the reason why those bat creatures and the like exist?’ he didn’t have a clear answer, but it was a good theory. Though it also made John question why they hadn’t encountered any dangerous beasts yet, given how untamed this ecosystem probably was. .

That question took a step back once an army of bat-like creatures screeching at a frequency that shook John’s brain flew out of the cave. Both Orianna and him were paralyzed for a few seconds, though once they recovered nothing had changed about the cave. John looked over and noticed Orianna had killed a few of the bats during their flight. She picked up their corpses, stuffed them inside her pocket space, and continued to advance into the cave.

Light became sparse as they entered the deeper parts of the cave slowly but surely. Orianna had been prepared for this eventuality and she soon pulled a torch out of the air behind her. It didn’t take long before she took her flint and steel and lit the torch, which allowed them to continue onwards under the cover of its light. As they continued, John found himself wondering how much that pocket space could store, seemingly holding some untold number of useful tools and supplies. That was a question for another day, perhaps.

Ever present silence accompanied their tense journey deeper into the cave, but that silence became useful as they heard a sound from somewhere further in. Counter to the usual reaction, Orianna’s determination to advance only became more concrete, and she increased her pace to a brisk run through the dark cave. The sound was one of howling. Howling that John was soon able to see the source of.

A mass of eyes gathered just beyond the light cast by their torch. They weaved in and out of the edge of its light, clearly examining the pair standing before them.

’Wolves,’ John figured. It was quite obvious when he saw them, that they weren’t quite the canines he was familiar with. The few he was able to get a decent look at were bigger than normal and had significantly thicker fur that was much more black than the usual grey.

It didn’t take long for the wolves to encircle them, the pack inching closer step by step. Orianna made the first move, pushing John strongly through a hole in the circle she herself created with a strong sweep of her legs. She pushed him towards the only other thing of interest in the room, a large marble arch.

“Leave them to me,” the biomancer told him, and his own task was all but spoken. It was immediately obvious to him what the arch was. Another gate, and very likely their goal. Figuring out why it wasn’t open or how to open it in total darkness was another problem. One which was soon solved when Orianna threw the torch over the wolves to John. Rushing straight into the pack in a split second with no concern for her own safety. John blocked out the sounds coming from the obvious scene of battle and picked up the torch. There was no likely way to outrun or beat the wolves without magic, and even if there was he was not willing to bet their lives on it. He ended up with only one option, the gate in front of him. One he hoped he could exploit.

As he approached it, he noticed carvings on the gate’s body, ones he hadn’t seen on the other gates. Despite them being completely indecipherable to John, they did tell him one small detail, there was something more in the room than just the arch. The carvings continued onto the wall and towards a small alcove tucked in the side of the cavern. What John found there was quite a bit more discernible than the carvings. It was a drawing, one of energy flowing into the gate and activating the runes placed on it. Soon enough something distracted him from continuing to examine the drawing, however.

Even through his attempts to block out the sounds of battle, he did hear a couple of things. There were some howls of pain, a single short scream, and the sound of bone striking against bone. A single sound of feet swiftly striking against the hard rock of the cavern was also heard. One that approached John in his alcove within seconds. The young man was scared beyond belief, just the thought of a living creature trying to kill him made him both sick to his stomach and utterly devoid of will. Every fibre of his being screamed for him to run, and his mind did just the same, but he knew that there was nowhere to go and that if he ran he would leave Orianna to her death. 

Seeing no other option, the Gamer turned around to face it, drawing the knife to the ready as his last line of defense, and the thing quickly lunged at him. It ignored the torch completely and knocked it out of his hand, but John managed to stab it once in its head as it lunged. John wasn’t sure where exactly he hit, but huge amounts of blood gushed out. The giant wolf was on him in seconds, its jaw wide open and pointed at his throat. He was barely able to hold it off, grabbing its head to stop the wolf from biting him. Banging his head against John’s hand it constantly tried to free itself, and his hand almost slipped off multiple times. For a while all he cared about was keeping the wolf there, hoping that his focus would be enough. During the struggle he had been pinned on the ground, which made the wolf’s attempts even more deadly. That was until he had a flash of clarity. His knife was still in hand. Without even thinking he stabbed the creature with the knife. Repeatedly and frantically, while still holding the jaws of the beast at bay. As he stabbed it more and more blood began pooling on his clothes and on the ground. But the wolf, feeling its life seep away, only became more ferocious, biting the hand that John grabbed its jaw with.

Damage taken: 15 HP lost

It almost succeeded, taking a large chunk of John’s skin in its dying throes. Luckily, it quickly began regenerating, and he rushed to throw the beast off his body. The pain in his hand didn't feel real, as if his mind was working to keep him as far away from the situation as possible. Smelling the stench of blood and death was worse, making him wish he could be anywhere else, and he felt a deep pit in his stomach, he had killed a living being. He wanted to puke, but there was no time. 

Shaking his hand to ensure it was still ok, he began heading towards the gate. If it needed energy in order to activate, he would provide it. Touching the arch, he focused slowly on his Mana leaving his body and entering the gate itself. Initially that was met with resistance, as if from the air around him, but eventually it succeeded. The carvings lit up suddenly in a purple glow, and the indigo he had seen before appeared inside the portal.

“Orianna! Are you still there?” He soon shouted. They needed to make their escape quickly.

Her form slowly appeared under the light of the torch, staggering, a couple more figures trailing behind her. She soon leapt at John, her legs glowing slightly with the familiar gold tinted green, and pushed him and herself into the arch. In the final moments before his vision turned to black he noticed the severe injuries she had taken. Her top was torn up in multiple spots, revealing deep gashes and bite marks, and her right leg was even worse, John saw muscle.

“Took you long enough…” She said, her voice weakening as they flew into the gate.