Ashen side-eyed Sharkteeth. "You have something against the Cordex Mortus?"
Sharkteeth wore a deadpan expression. "I can't tell if you're being serious or not. Who in their right mind would choose the Cordex Mortus of all pathways?"
It wasn't that Ashen didn't know why they were all shocked at his choice; he just preferred to act oblivious and see where it took him from there.
Smart chimed in:
"I'm guessing you know picking a pathway means you get abilities from the Cordex. Well, for the Cordex of Mortus, while it's the same, you're subjected to many other things, like being enslaved by the Cordex guardians or being thrown into hell for as long as you're not freed. People who choose that pathway are often nothing but psychopaths. But they're always extremely strong."
"Is that so?" Ashen went back to eating his meat.
Soon after, the others began to introduce themselves to him.
Ashen didn't pay attention to their names; it was irrelevant, but he learned the Cordex each of them had tried to gain a pathway from.
And they had all chosen the same Cordex, Aeon, except for the timid dude, who went for Cordex Veritas, which stood for knowledge.
Seeing how shy and silent he was, he pretty much fit the stereotype of nerdy, intelligent people—
Even more than Smart himself.
After a while of discussing amongst themselves, the sun finally set, and nighttime was drawing near.
Once the group noticed this, they began preparing to head out, grabbing their weapons and bags filled with necessities.
Their once relaxed expressions had slithered away, giving way to a small, serious, and menacing aura.
Ashen knew why, and he intended to join them as well.
The Abyss is known to be a separate part of the world where the twelve powerful gods once battled.
It was said that during their battle, several of their powers caused a massive change in the rift of space, giving birth to monsters that soon evolved with time.
Some of these monsters often manage to sneak out of these worlds and into the real world.
As such, the Cordex Guardians used this as a means of pest control by sending failed Awakeners to battle these monsters in exchange for power, powers that they had come to seek in the first place.
There were many regions in the Abyss, and each region had something called a Finite Orb, a round oval orb that generates corrupted essence that these monsters feed on until they are strong enough to cross into other worlds.
Destroying this would grant you your freedom from this world, including artifacts to match the work you put into it.
The other way was to kill as many monsters as possible until the world was satisfied. Only a fool would choose this route.
You could kill a thousand monsters and still never leave this forsaken world.
In other words, Ashen was fully prepared to do what it takes.
He still needed to return to the real world and pay his parents back for what they did to him.
Suddenly, they all turned to look at Ashen, the newcomer.
"Hate to break it to you, but once we step out of this cave, there's no niceness or empathy stretched too thin. You need to be fast on your feet, or you'll be left behind," the muscular man said.
Ashen got the message loud and clear: Our kindness ends here; don't hold us back.
"I understand; you don't have to worry about me."
Such confident words coming from a short individual with no weapon.
"Here, hold this…"
Sharkteeth threw a small dagger toward Ashen.
Catching it, Ashen gripped the hilt tightly, feeling how light it was—almost like he wasn't holding anything.
"Use that to defend yourself, or at least try."
Ashen nodded.
Before they headed out, they all stood in a circle to discuss their plan with the newcomer.
The more they were, the more effective their chances of survival were, at least individually.
Just make sure you're faster than the last person, and you'll be safe, should be the best explanation here.
The plan went as follows:
They were currently in the southeast of the forest, where the monsters were limited, especially at night, unlike in the afternoon.
Their destination was the heart of the forest, where the Finite Orb was located.
In order to get there, they would need to fight their way through some Nightcrawlers and then cross the sea, where the sea monsters' habitat was.
For a bunch of Threadless, this was going to be a life-or-death journey.
Which was why a plan was set in place before they made their way out of the cave.
One of them would scan the land from the tree above, alerting the rest if there were monsters in their path or not.
Once a safe path had been found, another person would climb the next tree and do the same, while the first person rejoined the team.
It was stressful, but also a sure way to survive in this harsh forest.
Of course, everyone played their part, and everything was going exceptionally well. Soon, it was time for Timid to mount the trees and direct the team.
Mounted on the tree branch, the group waited at the bottom to hear feedback from Timid, while Ashen, who had just gotten down from his own tree, was making his way back to the group.
Arriving there, he suddenly heard Timid speak.
"That way, to the left, there are no monsters there."
Everyone turned their gaze to the left, observing as the moon was slowly rising again.
"At this rate, we might actually make it to the river before nightfall," the muscular man said, a smile on his face.
"Hehe, glad I ran into smarty pants over here; I would have died before I even saw another breathing person." Sharkteeth rubbed Smart on the head.
Smart didn't enjoy that, so he moved his head away. "You're still an Awakened; you should be able to handle yourself in combat."
"Yeah, yeah, I'd rather not risk it." Sharkteeth looked up at Timid. "We're moving now—twenty footsteps forward, and you'll jump down, okay?"
"R-Roger!"
Timid yelled back.
That done, they all began to advance, heading toward the left route.
Ashen followed behind them, keeping his distance as far and near as he could manage.
Since he was last in line, he was potentially safe; any monster that attacked would probably come from Timid's side, so he would already be alerted.
If the monster attacked from the front, he still had time to run before it got to him.
The sides were a different issue, and that was still doable as long as he was always on his toes.
As if testing him, the group suddenly heard a loud scream that sent shivers running down their spines.
Shrrrrk!
It was loud—almost deafening.
It came from the side, somewhere among the dense bushes and tall trees.
A monster was approaching.