Beta used the time while the others were still searching for the entrance to insert runes inside the room that was dug out. This was the solution he had come up with as a precaution before night time and also as their temporary base if they have to stay more than a day. Below the ground, no one would be able to break in or surprise them from the sides and the shadows wouldn't be able to spot them too due to the room being hidden by the use of several runes. It should work judging by the state of their headmaster too. Since the whole building he was in was riddled with runes, it remained spotless and undamaged by the shadows. It seemed like the shadows weren't able to see through the barrier or sense anything within the room confined with runes.

It took him until dusk to finish his work of creating a safehouse. It was almost a replica of the underground base he had built in Saland but of course without the operating tables. After all, the main goal of the underground base was for hiding and protecting his fellow friends and teammates, rather than him conducting his favorite pastime.

In the evening, everyone came back to reconvene but since they were pressed for time, they had to go into the hole right away. Beta didn't even ask what they have discovered before. The sun was already setting and he definitely didn't want to risk anything. As soon as everyone was in the saferoom, Harald sealed the entrance by filling up the entrance hole. Several runes emitted bright light, so they were still able to see everyone together.

"This is the solution I've thought about. I'm pretty sure they won't find us down here, so there shouldn't be any problem. So, what did you find out?", Beta asked, looking at everyone expectantly.

"We found a basement in one of the houses, but I don't think that there's anything else. I'm pretty sure that it was used for some illegal stuff.", Brian reported.

"I see. I'll take a look anyway. Even if there's nothing about the entrance, I could still try to figure out what illegal stuff was done there.", Beta said.

"We found an underground cave. I think there was a door in it, but I don't know how we would get into the cave itself. It may have a connection to the river though.", Johann reported excitedly.

He had found what seemed to be the most important part of their quest, so he was quite happy with what he found. Though he wasn't really quite sure if he was right, he still hoped that Beta will praise him for his discovery. But then again, the underground cave really did seem like it so he wanted to report it right away.

Ever since knowing that he was the first to know about Beta's secrets, he was actually feeling competitive against Brian and Domian to gain Beta's attention. So, knowing that Brian only found a basement, he felt proud and couldn't help but be too enthusiastic as he reported to Beta. Brian, on the other hand, understood Johann's reaction which only made him chuckle. It reminded him of the kids in the slums and he finds it adorable. "Seems like our group of three is going to get bigger..", thought Brian.

"That's great! Good job!", Beta exclaimed happily while slightly patting Johann's shoulder.

He was glad about the thought that they don't have to spend more days searching the ruins. He was prepared for it to be a challenge but luckily, the person who hid the key must've thought that nobody will bother to hunt for the key after spending a night in the ruins. Tricky but careless, that's what Beta thought. Well, it was a good thing for him, plus, he really did not expect to find the entrance on the first day.

Johann who was being patted and praised by Beta, couldn't help but feel proud as he raised his chin up high. Brian and Domian saw his face and they both somehow came upon a wicked idea. They crowded Johann and also started to pat his back and arms while saying, "Oh! How awesome! You did great! Haha! such a dutiful member! You did really good.. hehe". The impact of their pats was quite strong so Johann was wincing every hit but was still trying to keep his composure. He wanted to prove to them that it was nothing and that he's very manly, so a few hits here and there wasn't something for him to cry about.

Beta noticed the weird expression on Johann's face which seemed like he was going to cry any second. He then realized what was happening. He understood his close brothers very well and he could tell that their target of teasing was Johann. "Seems like they noticed I like this kid so they're warming up to get closer. Well, it's indeed better this way, but I need to stop these two before Johann gives in and starts crying.", thought Beta while shaking his head at the two. He then stopped their silliness while giving Johann an apologetic look. The others watched this scene while trying hard not to laugh.

"We found the entrance to the cave! It's in the river!", Sophie interrupted Beta before he could say more.

She also didn't want to lose out with those three brutes so she interrupted the warm scene with a haughty way of reporting. She was very pleased with what she found too and even thought that she would get the most merit here today, but now, she found out that Johann found the door itself and not just the pathway to a cave that could possibly have the door in it. She really missed the chance of being patted and praised but still, she insisted on reporting what they discovered.

As expected, Beta simply nodded at her and said, "Well done. I bet it was hard to find it in the harsh currents of the river. Luckily, we won't need it. Going through the river would be too much of a hassle, so we will just dig down to the door to find it. Like this, we won't have to fight an endless stream of fish or anything like that. If we really were forced to go through the river, we would've probably needed to build a dam and lead it somewhere else to access the path. I'm really glad we don't have to do it this way."

Obviously, Sophie was a bit crestfallen hearing that, but she just shook her head and didn't think about it anymore. Today, luck wasn't on her side, but tomorrow it could be very different. That thought cheered her up a bit and became even more determined to prove herself in any way she can.

"Tomorrow we will survey the spot where it's the easiest to access the cave from and dig down. Since we will need a lot of energy, we should all rest now.", Beta added shortly.

The whole squad agreed as they were already rather tired from the harsh search they went through. And yet, they didn't dare to sleep directly. Every one of them waited a bit to confirm that the shadows definitely weren't able to find them and only once they made sure the runes worked fine would they finally feel safe. Just as Beta expected, none of the shadows noticed them. Neither did they also notice the shadows. Their group was hidden so deep that they couldn't even hear the shadows walking over them.

The night passed by silently and everyone, including Beta, slept through it. He had not slept for a long time due to his habit of staying up late to conduct his research or training. So, once he awoke, he felt much better, refreshed, and clearheaded. He noticed his team members still sleeping soundly and just let them rest a bit more. As he waited for everyone to wake up, he took that opportunity to cultivate.

He flew into the soul river and went through his usual process of being torn by an endless amount of souls. He stood inside of the river as still as a boulder and didn't show any emotions even when his souls' arms got torn away. After going through this training process over and over again, he knew this pain all too well and slowly got used to it. But this time, he noticed a difference.

The souls flowing around in the river paid more attention to him than usual, especially so, on his eyes. The souls seemed to focus on them more and more as time progressed and as if they couldn't hold back anymore, they slowly ripped them out. Beta didn't expect them to specifically target his eyes so he braced himself against the incoming pain.

Even if Beta got used to the pain of his body being torn, the eyes were a different matter. He clenched his teeth to try to alleviate the pain. Slowly losing one's eyes and feeling the nerve attached to it stretched for a long time, only to slump down on one's face, it being the only connection between the eyes and the body, was a feeling which was a torture in itself.

Just when Beta thought that this would be the end, more souls pulled on his eyes and finally, the nerves snapped and he lost his eyesight. Beta swallowed the scream of pain that he was about to let out and tried to get a hold of his sanity. He didn't have the time to panic because he knew it wasn't over. So, he waited until even the nerves were torn away and just let the souls attack his body again before he decided to slowly emerge from the river.

His head was filled with pain but he knew that it would definitely be worth it. As usual, his body was reconstructed with the soulpower that the souls left in him, making him even stronger. He also felt a breakthrough with his cultivation. Beta finally reached the first Intermediate Elementalist level. However, that was not all he gained from that excruciating session of training. After his eyes were ripped off and reconstructed, the orb that the old man within the Void World had left in him, suddenly let out a stream of energy which filled his mind. At the same time that he gained his eyes back, he also got a new technique - Death's Gaze.