Cuhlun stepped through the portal slowly, hand in hand with Mind Eater.
Holding hands was critical—doing so ensured they'd emerge from the portal at the same point.
Luckily, this one opened at ground level rather than in the air, sparing them the common fate of tumbling from a great height—a mistake many portal travelers had made before.
When Cuhlun stepped out, he found himself inside a cave. There was no light, no strange energy—just an ordinary, damp cavern.
SleepWalker spoke first."You don't have any kind of light, do you?"
Mind Eater turned toward him, her emerald-green eyes glowing faintly in the dark."Why would I?"
SleepWalker sighed."It's just… useful to have in situations like this. Not a dumb question."
Mind Eater didn't take that well."If that's how you see it, then you should've brought one. A lighter's just dead weight in the middle of a fight."
SleepWalker turned in her direction—or at least he thought he did; it was too dark to be sure—and spoke calmly."Pointless argument, isn't it? Either way, neither of us has a light source. So we should stay together and find a way out. If we split up now, we might never find each other again."
Mind Eater could have kept arguing, but the will to continue faded. Talking more would be meaningless. So she reached out and took his hand again. The two continued forward, step by step, into the black.
Though SleepWalker whispered, his voice echoed through the silent cavern like a small explosion."Divine Voice, can you tell me what ability I earned from the last game?"
A whisper answered only in his ear—audible to no one else.
"Cuhlun—also known as SleepWalker. The ability you obtained from the last game is called Set's Way. Specifically, the path of the god of evil, Set. It's an active ability.
When activated, a fog covers everything within a one-kilometer radius—but only the ground, never rising above it. Every intelligent being caught in the mist loses their sense of identity. They can't distinguish friend from foe, and all memories they have of one another vanish. The effect lasts thirty-five seconds.
You'll know it's ending when the mist begins to thin and fade."
SleepWalker pondered that for a moment but stayed silent. The cave swallowed his thoughts.
Then he heard Mind Eater's voice."Divine Voice, reveal the ability I gained."
Cuhlun walked a bit farther, waiting, but heard nothing in response. He couldn't help wondering what she'd gotten.
After several more minutes without reaching anywhere, SleepWalker finally spoke."Hope you don't mind me asking, but… what did you get? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. Fair trade?"
Mind Eater hesitated, then shrugged."Why not."
SleepWalker sat down on the damp stone floor. His long cloak soaked up water, but he didn't seem to care.
"Since I'm the one asking, I'll go first," he said. "My ability creates a fog within one kilometer around me. Inside it, people experience hallucinations—but I don't control what kind they see."
Of course, that was a lie. He was deliberately misleading her—for later, if he ever needed to. Trust wasn't something he handed out lightly.
Then Mind Eater spoke."I see. Well, since you shared yours… mine lets me release a sleep gas around me—just one meter wide. It lasts five seconds, but it's strong enough to knock someone out almost instantly."
That caught SleepWalker's interest. Her ability paired well with his; after all, his power only worked while he was asleep.
Though she couldn't see it, he smiled faintly in the dark."That'll come in handy. You know my ability only triggers when I'm sleeping. I've learned to fall asleep fast, but this could cut that time to seconds. Not bad at all."
Mind Eater didn't sound convinced."Kind of strange, isn't it? We were fighting just days ago, and now you trust me this easily? Hiding something?"
SleepWalker chuckled softly as they kept walking."So we're similar in more than just abilities. No, I'm not hiding anything. But if you did betray that trust, you'd already know I'd come back for revenge. …Or didn't you?"
Mind Eater didn't reply. The silence stretched.
SleepWalker filled it."Doesn't really matter. You told me your ability; that means you trust me too. If either of us breaks that trust, we'll just end up fighting again. And I think neither of us wants that, right?"
He heard a quiet yawn somewhere in the dark. Then a lazy, "Mm-hmm."
No more words followed.
They continued for hours, their steps echoing faintly against wet, uneven stone. Glowing moss here and there lit their way just enough to walk without stumbling.
After what felt like two hours, they finally found something different—a small pool of water.
But unlike the other puddles they'd passed, this one wasn't still or lifeless. Beneath its surface lay a narrow tunnel leading deeper underground, illuminated by a faint light rising through the water. The glow gave the space a rare, fragile brightness.
Still, entering an underwater tunnel without knowing if there was air beyond it would be suicide.
So they sat down to rest.
SleepWalker lay back and drifted off—not using Mind Eater's new ability, just falling asleep naturally.
Meanwhile, Avenor—that was Mind Eater's true name—activated her own power and peered into her memories.
After the portal… after they wandered the dark cave…
Even if all she saw around her was black, maybe some creature, an insect, or an animal was moving in the shadows—something she could enter. That was her idea, at least.
She reached again and again into the unseen. Like a gamer still clicking the mouse after the monitor's gone dark.
For two hours she scanned the endless dark, searching for a living host. Finally, she found one.
But it wasn't what she expected.
The small pool beside them—the one leading to the glowing channel—was alive.