40: Time Passing

During the week that followed their arrival at the new camp, Grey spent most of his time lying down, resting. Sara had insisted that he not move or try to fight; she would take care of cooking and, if necessary, go out hunting to get more monster meat.

Reluctantly, Grey had accepted her order and stayed on the rock most of the time. More than once, he tried to join her hunts, but Sara firmly stopped him.

There were no setbacks that week, allowing Grey's wounds to fully heal, leaving him in optimal condition to continue their journey.

As planned, they resumed their route south, camping in elevated places that kept them safe from the waves of the black sea. Their treks through the labyrinth were arduous and filled with confrontations, but both were strong enough to defend themselves and kill groups of awakened beasts without much difficulty.

Sara's new armor proved to be a blessing. The fights had become easier, as she could now fight alongside Grey, back to back, facing the beasts together.

They both also noticed that their cores were gradually filling up, Grey's at a much faster rate than other sleepers. As they advanced, Grey realized how many soul fragments he obtained from each creature.

The awakened beasts, which they hunted most often, gave him eight fragments in total, while the awakened monster they had defeated alongside Sara weeks ago had given him sixteen fragments. He guessed latent beasts would give him four fragments, while a fall, theoretically, would grant him sixteen.

He deduced that the number of cores in a creature multiplied the amount of fragments he could get, which made his growth faster than he had anticipated.

And that would be why an awakened monster would give him the same amount as a fallen beast; the awakened monster, which had two cores, doubled the 8 fragments it would give from a beast, making it sixteen, the same amount as a fall, which would increase by eight fragments without the multiplication of a second core.

At that moment, Sara was cutting the meat of several awakened beasts they had encountered on the way, extracting their cores with precision.

Grey was watching the surroundings, alert for any unexpected creatures. However, to his frustration, he had not obtained any new memories after killing the awakened steel spider weeks ago.

"It's a shame. I thought I could have gotten one or two memories," he thought as he looked at Sara.

"Any new memories?" he asked aloud.

Sara shook her head while pulling the core out of the chest of a humanoid beast and crushing it in her hand, turning it into dust.

"Are you done? You managed to take about ten cores today, right?"

Sara smiled as she looked at the sky and then turned her gaze to Grey. In a cheerful voice, which always managed to lift his spirits, she said:

"Yes! My core is filling up quickly. Seriously, killing so many awakened beasts while still being sleepers... People would think we're crazy if we told them."

Grey placed his spear on his shoulder and approached her.

"Do you think? I'm sure there's someone else out there who has done the same as us."

He looked at the sun, which was starting to set, and frowned.

"We should hurry, the sun won't last much longer."

Sara also looked toward the sun and nodded.

"Alright, we're not too far off anyway."

They both resumed their march, leaving behind a grotesque scene: five awakened beasts of various shapes and sizes, cut, crushed, or simply shattered into pieces.

They had reached incredible strength in the two months they had spent in the labyrinth. No awakened beast seemed to be a worthy opponent for the duo of sleepers. A truly extraordinary feat.

As Grey cut the webs that blocked the winding path through the crimson labyrinth, the shadows lengthened by the sun enveloped their surroundings. That's when Sara, in a more serious tone than usual, broke the silence.

"Do you think it's possible to find a human citadel here?"

Grey stopped for a moment but quickly resumed his movement while replying in an equally serious tone.

"I... don't know. But according to what I learned from my teacher, the spell always sends people to places where there's a citadel that can be conquered or is already in human hands."

Sara remained silent for a few moments before speaking again.

"But you've noticed it too, right? This place... doesn't look like anywhere humans have conquered. I don't remember any citadel in a place like this."

Grey paused for a second to clear the path, carefully removing a tangle of webs.

"I know. I realized it the first day we got here. This place has probably never been conquered by humans, and it's very possible that we're the first—or the last—to be sent here by the spell."

Silence enveloped them for a moment before Grey spoke again, his voice filled with determination.

"And if no one has conquered a citadel here, then we will be the first. We will return to our world one way or another."

With a firm slash, he cut through a large amount of webs that fell to the ground tangled, and looked at Sara.

"No matter what it costs, we will return."

Sara observed him. The silver glow in his pupils made him seem more imposing, almost beautiful, under the fading light of the sun.

She smiled and nodded confidently.

"I know. We'll do it, together."

...

When they reached their new campsite, both, without saying a word or looking at each other, began climbing at the same time, their movements instinctively synchronized.

They had improved a lot in those two months. Climbing was almost second nature to them, and in just ten minutes, they managed to reach the elevated platform.

Upon reaching the top, Grey and Sara placed their hands on the edge at the same time, pushing themselves up with a fluid motion until they stood completely upright.

What they found before their eyes was something surreal. The horizon stretched out with sharp, pointed rock fangs jutting out from the earth, as if trying to pierce the very sky.

Grey stared at the scene in shock. After a few seconds, he turned his gaze to Sara, who was equally stunned, her eyes wide, unable to look away from the landscape before them.

When Grey spoke, his voice came out hesitant, barely audible.

"Don't tell me... those peaks are..."

"Yes." Sara interrupted him, her tone serious, contrasting with her usual enthusiasm. "They are the hollow mountains."

---

Note: FINALLY, I made it this far! It was really hard to write up to this point in the fic, I kept running out of ideas for chapters and how to get here.

What did you think of the journey to this point? Good, moderate, normal, or bad fanfic? Personally, I like how I wrote it hahaha

Spoiler: exciting stuff coming up with the main cohort 🤭