Chapter 19.

The disappointment was immense ! Enora managed to master Attraction quite quickly, and this man 'Nick' had done it even faster, making Rose feel ashamed of her lack of results. She had followed the steps precisely with no mistake, and yet it was not enough apparently. She had a hard time understanding. If she could not do it, did it mean she was just that untalented ?

- Don't worry missy, you just have to be patient and do it your way. Stop comparing yourself to others., told her Enora after noticing her defeated expression.

She softly thanked her for these supporting words and went back to Cultivation. Her process had first been about silently wishing for the Flow to appear, and accept her suggestion at a direction, but clearly, it only worked to a certain extent as the link barely appeared for a second or two sometimes. It made her quite desperate. Then she heard Nick's way and failed to understand how two people reading the same instructions could interpret them in such different manners, and even more how his process worked so well with the changes he brought.

"Maybe it is not really about the precise steps, but about something harder to describe. Maybe the author tried to be as simple as he could, because the way he did it was not appropriate for everyone … meaning I have to find a way that is appropriate to me.", thought the girl. In consequence, she began experimenting. Being forceful, being gentle, even seductress, as much as she knew about that kind of thing. And it worked as well as her initial way, frustrating her even more.

- What am I doing wrong ?, she whispered.

A sumptuous mushroom-based dinner was given to her, which she devoured absent-mindedly. The other two looked at her with sympathy in their eyes, understanding a little bit how she must have been feeling. To her, they did not understand though, because they performed something she failed time and time again to even come close to.

A day passed, and Enora offered Nick to join them. It was a very out-of-the-blue request, surprising even the girl. And even with distrustful eyes, the man still went for it, clearly lost at the tall woman's behaviour. He accepted not out of the goodness of his heart, that was obvious to Rose, but probably for a better shot at surviving this grey hell.

Nick guided them to the wet cave where the mushrooms grew, and the river passed, telling them of his original plan to follow the flowing water and use it as a landmark. It was not a bad idea, adding to the fact that until then the two women had been going quite randomly while drawing their map. They finally shared said map with the man, showing him where they had been to, the danger zones they knew of and the directions they could try. According to the map, from the very first cave, the maze had been explored up to fifty rooms to the east and, when they fled from Arsenio, they went as far west as they could, making many turns to avoid the greatest dangers they encountered.

- In short, we are actually a few dozen caves to the north of Kassander's, which depresses me quite a bit. Feels like I did not move that much …, concluded Nick.

- That's not totally accurate., spoke Enora. You haven't been going in a straight line, avoiding quite a few caves and twisting your way a lot.

- Yeah, it means we know more about the area and can take less risks !, said Rose to cheer him up.

- Thank you for the words. Well, let's just go north as the river seems to head that way., smiled the skinny man.

Rose had noticed how thin Nick was. He was not in a great shape though, very little muscle on those bones, but it was the same for fat. Fat people were quite rare around these parts anyway. At one meter and seventy-five centimetres tall, with shoulder-long light brown hair and the beginning of a beard, as he did not really possess the necessary tools to shave, a simple description could make him sound handsome. Handsome he was not though, with his slightly oversized nose, dark brown eyes and pointy chin. He inspired neither disgust nor attraction to the observer. He was just normal, very ordinary if she had to be blunt about it.

Still, Nick was more or less a new member of their group, and as such Rose had to try and accept his presence. She had a hard time doing so, 'people' meaning 'danger' to her recently. She was very conscious of that fact and knew she would need to adjust, hoping not to annoy him with her insecurities. She also took notice of Enora's attention towards Nick. However, it was not in a great way : she watched him and his every move, carefully analysing his behaviour. She clearly felt uncomfortable and did not try to hide her mistrust.

Rose worried about that a bit, but she did not feel like she could do anything, preferring to focus on reading her yellow booklet while walking. She did not go for anything new in there though, rather choosing to read the first few chapters. What was the point of learning the rest of Cultivation if she could not pass the first step ?

A few hours later, the trio went ahead into a side tunnel, following a wild scent. The tall warrior signalled the others that this musk came from Mutant Hounds, probably three or four holed up in a den. With nodding heads, they went ahead, as silently as they could. They knew they would be detected through their human fragrance at some point, but better later. Rose saw the entrance to the new cave, saw the ground littered with all manners of bones and random objects. Those monsters did not discriminate in terms of food : if no prey were available, they would eat the weak, which was surprisingly something they had in common with Grey Devils. Apparently, it was a law of this maze.

When growling noises mixed with the strongest odour the visitors had smelled yet, the enemy was in sight : four quadruped Mutant Hounds came to view, with many tongues tasting the air and dead eyes staring into nothingness. They used their scales and fur-covered strong limbs to propel themselves towards the new prey, incapable of thinking beyond the mad hunger clouding their minds. Or maybe they did not have minds. Whatever.

Rose saw their fast advance, crazy gallop on filth covered stones while their food took position at the entrance of the cave. The three humans had devised tactics, trying to make the monster's numbers irrelevant through other means, like the terrain. Here, Nick and Enora stood side by side at this two meters wide opening, to force the creatures to funnel themselves into their sharp spikes. It did not mean the fight would be easy, as Rose realised with a horrified expression.

Although it went well at first, Nick stabbing one monster on its shoulder after clumsily dodging a bite and Enora reacting quickly with her own thrust, dealing a deadly blow to this disgusting being, another took its chance. It literally jumped on Enora's large shield, making her crumble on one knee, and allowing a third just enough space to insert its head between the two humans. The seconds slowed down for Rose, three tongues skilfully getting around the protection, spit spewing all around to finally land on the warrior's left arm.

Then reality screamed in acceleration, a dreadful amount of blood spilling everywhere while the tongues removed a chunk of flesh from Enora's body. Not an enormous amount, but enough to make her lose focus, countenance, and everything in between. That was the first time Rose saw her utter a painful yell, some tears and blood wetting her face.

The enemy managed to hit on the space between the spaulder and bracer, around the bicep. She began having trouble raising her shield, not mentioning the fact that the enemy was violently gripping and scratching at it. Rose could already see the nightmare nearing them, not reassured by a new scream : Nick just got bitten on his calf. So much more blood turned the stones crimson, but the two fighters tried to capitalize on that nonetheless.

In harmony they stabbed, aiming for ribcages and skulls, madly going at it with the little grains of reason they still possessed. As they did, Rose slipped against the wall and aimed her dagger at the monster's face still trying to snap Nick's tibia. The weapon ripped twice on a surprisingly hard skin but, before it could retract to the safety of distance, she pierced a dead eye, spurting disgusting juices on her hands and face. It cried a bit, trembling, then relaxed its jaw and died.