Being devoid of the natural, heavenly firmament above, the passage of time wasn't easy to tell. Still, nature, as the saying also says, will always find a way.

The luminescent moss and mushroom found all over this underground world glowed increasingly brighter the later the time progressed, going brightest as the day turned into the evening before it slowly began to lose its passion, its luster as the evening traversed into the night. Going truly dark by the height of midnight.

Sitting in his 'room', the spacious cave in the rebel's base, Aiden was sitting at the center of his room, meditating, processing all that recently had been happening to him.

Ever since his arrival and situation coming to this place, this strange world, Aiden was swept away by the tide, doing his best to keep his head above the surface and not to drown.

Finding himself amidst this strange community of skinks, soon making his way into the center of their struggle.. even finding himself a daughter that somewhat reminded him of his dear sister, Lily.

*Sigh*

He sighed, all the events weighing heavily on his mind, he found it impossible to be able to meditate tonight.

'Enya.. Is what I am doing truly the right thing? Am I not just a monster? A heartless beast?' He lamented, casting his gaze towards the rocky ceiling.

'[Do not wallow in doubt, Aiden.]' The familiar mature tone of his System Guide rang in his mind in the next second. '[They need a leader, someone that could guide them towards a better future. This person is you, they see you as their light. You have a responsibility to protect them now. Even the system acknowledges this fact, they are already visible on your Management interface.]'

Enya's reminder only made Aiden flinch and frown even more.

'How do I even do that?! Ever since I was thrown here, I lost my ability to connect with Haven and the boys. I can't hear them.. I can't feel or sense them.. The only information I have is that their statistics, their character pages are still available!' Aiden exclaimed, his worry showing through.

'If I can't even protect them, how could I do the same for these poor souls trapped here? I.. I feel.."

'[Aiden, how can you still not notice it? Do you really not see it?]' Interrupting his self-pity monologue, Enya suddenly chimed in.

'Master.. you should focus a bit more. Focus and listen.' Ryg the so-far silent artifact blade's spirit's girlish tone could be heard, she too decided to join in on the mental conversation.

'What do you guys mean? Hear what? Listen to what?!' Aiden asked not understanding what they meant.

'[Aiden.. The fact that the system has information about them means that the connection is not broken. The system is merely an extension of your own soul. If it managed to reach out..]'

'..then so can you, Master! You just need to clear your head, calm down and focus. You can already connect with that black-haired priestess, proving that nothing is truly bad, you just need to focus and modify the route of your connection. You are in a different world, a different realm, Master.' Spoke Ryg, finishing Enya's words.

Aiden was once again stunned by their words. Though first, he wanted to argue, as he thought about it, he slowly realized the truth in their words.

He couldn't even connect with Galina at the start, yet after some time and continued efforts from probably both sides, they were successful in the end. They could freely reach out to one another, no matter the distance they shared between themselves.

He knew what they were already through, learned of their ordeals, the challenges, the threats they faced. She even told him the grand battle Naybeah has been through just to bring a 'pleasing' trophy, a monument for her desire to love and be loved back.

He was informed about the strange but powerful and aggressive abominations that have been attacking them. These unholy fusions of insect and beast were nothing but fuel for nightmares to come. Their supernatural strength, their ferocity were not something they could easily face. Every clash, every fight took them a great deal of effort just to survive, much less to win.

—-

After hours of discussion, the team had eventually agreed to take their course towards the north. Though the swampy marshlands to the west could also be promising, the vibes, the feeling they were getting ultimately made them decide against it.

There was something ominous, something eerie in that place. Whatever it was, it wasn't worth the risk, they have already been through a lot, suffered heavily. Whilst the water was sparse, it wasn't impossible to find using the techniques and tricks of their homeworld.

Yet, their medical supplies were limited and had no means of how to gather more for the moment. Their first campsite was in the midst of a desert, a land with nothing but hot grains of sand wherever their eyes could take them..

In the end, they decided to go with the golden 'middle-ground' and picked the northern path. The vast green and yellowish plains stretching out ahead of them was undoubtedly a welcome change for them all.

As the night had slowly fallen on them, and the light blue sky turned into a darker shade, the group have set up camp at the base of a small hill. Though it was by far not the best, at least this way one side would still be protected, easing up on the pressure like they would be facing if they would have decided to settle right in the open.

Even though they met no soul, saw no other group ever since arriving, neither of them was truly relaxed, truly calm.

A sense of unease kept on growing inside their hearts the more they pushed towards the central plains. The more they felt that something just wasn't right.

"Huah.." A soft sigh escaped from Galina's closed lips as she finally opened up her eyes and ended her session of meditation. Immediately before her eyes could fully open up and her vision turned from the blurry mix into something clearer, two soft hands grabbed each of her shoulders and shook her.

"What did you two talk about! Come on, tell me, sis! Quick!" The worried, agitated tone of Galina's Master, the Young Master's sister rang in her ears. Flashing a soft smile, Galina sighed and grabbed the shaking hands of the worried Lily, and gently lifted them off.

"Don't worry big sis! He is fine. Like us, he also had his fair share of troubles, but as he explained to us the last couple of days, he is doing much better now. He is now leading a group of people."

"And what about the little girl? What about Tolliah?!" Lily asked, her tone carrying even more of that previous worry.

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>>>Check out my latest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<

It's an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated ('Banished') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!

Planned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!historical

Links:

/shaele