Freon was exhausted. Double casting spells in that situation drained him of his mental energy. Even that simple fireball spell he used for illumination was too much for him, as the entire tunnel descended into darkness again. Although it was unknown whether their surroundings were truly safe, he could not cast another spell until he rested. And assuming he could cast another spell, he did not have much Magic Energy left. If those bugs came back, he would have to run for his life, or risk using World Energy. Either way, there was a high chance he would die. He sighed. He grossly underestimated the difficulty of these caves. Thankfully, there was some air, albeit stale. The problem was food and water. And, of course, medicine. He felt the scratches and bruises on his body. There was nothing serious, but the wounds built up. They really needed to find a way out of here, and quickly.
He asked Elizabeth what they should do next, but the girl said nothing. She might have been thinking, so he patiently waited. Only after several minutes of silence did he realize something was wrong. Freon pulled himself over to Elizabeth and listened for her breathing. He relaxed. She must have fallen unconscious, the second they were safe. Well, it was expected. Her condition was a lot worse than his. She pushed herself too hard, especially with that last spell. Freon smiled. It was fine to let her sleep for a while. He would keep watch. Dividing his concentration, he used his Magic Perception to check where everybody was. Previously, Benedict was above them somewhere, Yuna was below, and the six remaining Arcane Knights were scattered about. Now, they were significantly further away. The good news was that everyone was moving. Nobody was incapacitated. He remained hopeful that Nassandra was out there somewhere too.
Just then, a thunderous roar tore through the caverns, filled with fury! It was so incredibly loud that the entire world shook, prompting Freon to clutch his ears in pain. It felt like his head was about to explode! He almost went crazy from the sound. There was no mistaking it. It was the roar of those Rank 2 Beast Lords! Elizabeth crumpled in agony after being forced awake. The roar faded out and left Elizabeth and Freon pale. Fear was seen on their faces. Elizabeth grabbed her rapier, Freon his wand, and they stood next to each other. Were the Rank 2 Beast Lords coming? Or were the insects going to attack again? Neither could see anything, yet the knowledge that they were standing together somehow made the tension manageable.
"Nothing's coming," Freon hissed.
"Looks like it," Elizabeth sighed. "How long was I asleep?"
"I think five minutes. It's hard to gauge time here."
"That's good."
He raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay? Do you still need to rest?"
"I'd rather get out of these caves first."
"I agree. What should we do next? We're both out of Magic Energy."
Elizabeth explained, "I told Lord Fredrick and Elder Unvo that if we don't return by dawn, then they should inform the Zino Kingdom and Protector Avin about our situation."
"But that will take them days to arrive."
"I know. I'm thinking."
"From how I see it, we can either wait for rescue or try our luck again. I checked with my Magic Perception, and we've moved further away from our allies. We might need to backtrack, which means fighting against those bugs." Freon lamented, "It would have been better if Benedict or Shirley were here, since their Martial Energy recovers faster than our Magic Energy. We could've broken through with their help."
"Martial Energy…" Elizabeth muttered. She came to a realization, "Why don't we-"
"Use Martial Energy ourselves?"
"We had the same idea."
"It makes sense. We're out of Magic Energy, but we still have our Martial Energy. However, you're leaving out one important thing… We don't know how to use Martial Energy, or any martial techniques. Not to mention, if we try to fight in close range with our experience, we'll only get killed."
"I know it sounds crazy."
"Because it is," Freon stated.
"We don't need to fight. We just need to outrun them."
"You're sounding more like Shirley. Let's figure out where we are first."
"Can you cast a spell? I can't see anything like this." All along, they were talking in the dark.
"I can, though I'd prefer we light a torch instead…" He was about to cast a fireball when Elizabeth stopped him.
"Shh. Can you hear that?" she whispered.
Freon paused. "This… sounds like water? Why is there water here?"
Not too long ago, a person was lying on a soft web, unconscious. His plate armor was covered in soot and dirt, his skin was marred with wounds, his sword had chips running along the edge, and his face was stretched in pain. He looked like he was having a terrible nightmare. In his dreams, he remembered the final moments of the cavern battle. Everyone was out of energy, the insect army swarmed in the thousands, and a second Rank 2 Beast Lord showed up. It was truly despair-inducing! Every time Benedict recalled it, he would involuntarily twitch. That sensation of helplessness… He thought he had matured from it, since he became a Perception Realm and the Sword King's disciple; however, that sensation reared its ugly head again in this battle. It was like Elder Unvo said. They had gotten far too arrogant, celebrating their minor successes. The real world was much scarier! He felt like he was falling, falling into the darkness. Falling… No, wait, he belated realized. He was actually falling in real life!
His eyes snapped open, as he started sliding forward. He screamed, and panickily grabbed the ground around him, which did little to help, because the entire 'ground' was falling with him. Benedict thought quickly. Using all the strength in his body, he flipped around to step off the ground and scale up. Unfortunately, the webbing absorbed the force of his kick and dispersed it. He could not get the required leverage! The weightlessness was growing. He was mere seconds away from going vertical! This made him curse wildly. All of his Martial Energy was consumed in the battle, so his body was left very weak. Martial Energy was connected to stamina, after all. Even his thinking speed was reduced. He plunged into the endless darkness. His arms and legs flailed wildly, trying to grab a hold of anything. As the wind brushed against his face, he wondered if he was going to die here. To splatter into a meat puddle… It might be one of the worst ways to die! At least, it would be instantaneous though. Hopefully.
Despite his morbid thoughts, his hand caught another silk web, which he held on for dear life. The webbing bobbed and sagged, making him believe it would fall apart too, but it was surprisingly strong. It carried his full weight and only sank a tiny amount. Relief flooded his face. When he regained enough energy, he pulled himself up. It was startling to see a person do that with a heavy suit of plate armor, a shield, and a sword, especially with such ease. The total weight could tear someone's arm from its socket. Yet, Benedict could do it. Perception Realm. It signified that his body had undergone a complete transformation. He had thoroughly surpassed human limits!
Regardless, Benedict groaned as he laid there on the webbing. His body was a total wreck. He needed to catch his breath. A question pressed on his mind. What about Elizabeth, Shirley, and Freon? Elizabeth and Freon should be fine. They were nearby when the floor fell, and they had some Magic Energy. They could manage, but what about Shirley? She disappeared after her last attack. There was no guarantee she was safe.
He clenched his fist. The recovery of his Martial Energy was not going well. In the first place, Martial Energy was not created from nothingness. Food, water, and proper rest… The body could not survive with any of these three things missing. They were the foundation of a healthy body, and only a healthy body could produce Martial Energy. A person could not run without food, after all. As expected, Benedict's stomach growled. A heavy pang of hunger hit him. His lips and throat were dry too. They came into the caves thinking they would rescue Nassandra and leave quickly. Nobody thought about bringing supplies. Forget about Martial Energy, he could barely recover his mobility. Cloud Sea Style: Sipping Cloud! He tried to use his recovery method only to cough violently. It was not going to be that easy.