Nero's POV:
Nero laid Kōri's sleeping body against a mushroom tree, then turned his head toward Merlin.
"Wizard, how much Aura do you have left? Because I know that wand and its light need that energy."
Merlin tilted his head toward Nero, showing clear agreement. Then, somewhat sheepishly, he said:
"Actually, I have quite a lot left, about 63 points of Aura. But I know it's not infinite, so we should create another light source, maybe a campfire, right?"
Nero nodded and then tore off a piece of the mushroom tree. Of course, he didn't use his hands, but a poker card he'd created specifically for the mission of cutting off a piece of mushroom tree. Apparently, those mushrooms were thick and firm, with a strength that none of the group—except Lux—could break.
Having figured that out, Nero turned to Sunday, Lux, and Merlin, and then began to give orders:
"Does anyone know how to make a campfire?"
Sunday nodded:
"I also know how to make makeshift shelters, weapons like stone knives, and how to make a bed out of leaves."
Nero nodded, smiling.
"Sunday will make the campfire, Lux will chop off the thickest and thinnest parts of the mushroom trees, and Merlin and I will transport the 'wood.' We have to do this quickly, and we should also build a shelter. Sunday will keep the wand, while Lux will use her night vision to search for the mushrooms."
Everyone agreed and began working diligently.
Sunday settled down a little closer to Kōri, about two meters away, while Merlin's wand flickered between her fingers.
Lux activated his Aura and began to pull up some long mushroom stalks, which had lost their color, turning a pale gray. Then, with some effort, he started to pull up larger, thicker pieces, though he sometimes alternated between smaller branches.
Merlin and Nero used the dry gray grass on the ground beneath a mushroom tree as tinder, and then pulled up clumps of it, breaking the roots into irregular shapes.
Gathering the thick stalks, the thinner ones, and the tinder where Sunday was, Sunday began his performance.
He smiled with amusement and said excitedly,
"Guys, do you want to see something exciting?"
Nero shrugged and sat down next to the still-sleeping Kōri. Lux nodded enthusiastically, looking forward to a great show. Meanwhile, Merlin completely disliked seeing his "precious" and, at the same time, "cursed" wand.
Sunday gathered the thick sticks and some smaller ones, though he kept most of them.
He sighed heavily and gripped the tinder firmly, placing all of it in one hand and the other on top.
"I'll activate it," he murmured under his breath.
Suddenly, small, flickering blue lightning bolts shot down from Sunday's hands, touching the tinder with reverence and igniting it with bright red, mischievous flames. Then, swiftly, he placed the tinder on the bundled sticks, which burst into flames immediately, as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Then, Merlin extinguished his wand, his dark eyes fixed on Sunday with clear surprise and admiration.
"Wow... you used your lightning to ignite that tinder, that's incredible, though, you look pale and sweat is trickling down your forehead."
Lux muttered a series of incredulous words under his breath, while Nero simply muttered to himself, "Interesting... that ability is and will continue to be very useful... although it seems the Aura expenditure and effort required are excessive."
Sunday wiped the sweat from his brow, trying to lie down on the ground, but stopped when he felt a pain in his back.
Nero realized something very important: those mushrooms caught fire very quickly.
"Hmm... it seems that 'wood' is very sensitive to fire. That's a very important detail! Or was its rapid combustion due to Sunday's thunder?... Those are questions for later"
The fire rose in the forest like an army of wrath, moving like the waves of the great sea. Its vigor mirrored the grayness of the mushroom world, making it appear not only more terrifying, but also more powerful and dangerous.
The blessed and sacred fire danced, reflected in Lux's pale, yellow eyes, which gazed upon it with a gratitude almost comparable to that given to a god. This gratitude stemmed from Lux's deep fear of the dark, for even though he possessed the ability of night vision, the fear remained.
Sunday smiled, gazing into the fire.
"Do you know the divine Adran?"
Nero almost blurted out, "Who?!" but stopped himself and asked,
"Who?"
Lux stared at Nero, stunned.
"What?! You don't know the Principle Adran?!" His face turned to the fire, then he clasped his hands together. "He is the Principle of Sacred Fire. In their religious texts, his fire is described as this: like an army raging in fury, and like the calm and peace of the tide."
Nero was taken aback by all the information, but quickly recovered.
"So... he's one of the great Principles... like Zephyr?"
Merlin nodded and turned to Nero.
"But of course, those two deities you just mentioned are part of the glorious 20 Principles of the world. Although, as far as I know, Adran is the husband of the Principle Gaia."
"Blasphemer!"
Sudnay's face twisted with anger, forgetting the pain caused by using those mini-rays.
"The religious books of fire and moon clearly describe Adran and Azure as husband and wife!"
Merlin glared at him.
"First of all, lower your voice, young man, and second... what the hell are you talking about?!"
"Don't you dare use such language against me."
"I will do it and I will continue to do it, and you are the damned Blasphemer... Blasphemer!"
The two began an intense and lengthy religious battle, each trying to prove they were right.
They were both watched by Lux, who was observing intently, and Nero, who was deep in thought, a smile playing on his lips.
"Ha... I love it... this is like a big-budget action movie, it's so exciting!" Then, his smile vanished, replaced by a grimace of self-pity. "Damn... I know almost nothing about religion. What if someone asked me something basic and I didn't know the answer?... That would be like suicide... Besides, I don't even know what a Principle is"
"Should I ask?... no, but what a stupid thought I just had... for example, if a child of... I don't know... 5 or 6 years old, knows what a Principle is, and I, a young adult, don't know... it would be very suspicious, even I myself would think that his memory had been erased or worse... that he is in a sect and denies the gods "
Feeling a chill run through him, Nero turned to Lux, trying to formulate a clever question:
"Lux, for you, which is the most powerful Principle?"
Lux looked genuinely uncertain and began to think for a long time. Later, after almost three minutes of deep thought, he replied:
"Uh... if I'm not mistaken, and I hope I'm not, the most powerful among the great 20 Principles is Nacht, divine Principle of darkness and shadows, and leader of the holy church of shadows."
Nero nodded.
"And, which is your favorite?"
"Well, that's easy, because he's the Principle I follow, the divine Principle of light, brother of Nacht and leader of the holy church of light... the divine Licht."
After Lux's answer, Nero, like a jackfruit lying on the ground, asked:
"For you, what is a Principle?"
Lux smiled nonchalantly.
"Why do you ask that?"
Nero shrugged.
"I've met several people with very different concepts of 'Principles,' that's why I'm asking. Everyone has a different way of thinking and reasoning."
"A Principle is..." Lux pointed to the fire, then to the ground, then to the mushroom trees, and finally into the darkness. "They are the universal laws of our world, those that bear the weight of concepts as enormous as life itself."
Lux sighed contentedly and turned to Nero.
"What's your favorite Principle?"
Nero's mind tried to formulate a lie as quickly as possible.
"Well... umm... having grown up in the East Zone my whole life, I've only been able to worship one god, Zephyr."
"Thank you Lux, thank you so much! You just saved my life... Nacht and Licht... Principles, huh... What's the difference between principles and gods? Don't they do the same thing?"
Later, after Merlin and Sunday calmed down—though neither won the argument—the four young people continued working.
Sunday hammered four mushroom sticks—about 3 meters long—into the ground next to the campfire, forming a square around it. Then, he placed more horizontally, creating a frame. Nero, meanwhile, activated his Aura and created a pin and some thread, which he used to join the caps of the largest mushrooms Lux could bring, resulting in a thick fabric over 7 meters long.
To finish the shelter, Merlin and Sunday placed the fabric on top of the frame.
Afterward, they began making the beds. This was going to be difficult; after all, they didn't have good materials.
Improvising and guided by Sunday, the group began. They removed the insides of five mushroom trees and placed a pile of each one on the ground beneath the mushroom frame. Each of them took charge of a different bed, and Sunday got the last one.
The creation process was as follows:
The dough was spread on the floor, creating a rectangle or something similar, and then mushroom cloth was placed on top of the dough for comfort.
Simple, right, dear readers?
After the shelter and the beds, the group moved all the materials such as: the leftover tinder, the thick and not-so-thick wood, the mushroom cloth and the mass from inside the mushroom trees, and put each one in order and near the campfire.
After a few hours of rest, Kōri woke up, a startled expression on her face. She quickly approached the others and said,
"I just... I had a vision."