"Argh… What happened…"

A groan escaped from over the corner of a dark underground small chamber. Slowly as the resident's consciousness returned to his body, the figure's eyelids began to flutter and slowly peel apart, revealing a set of golden irises glowing in the lightless room.

"Wh- Where am I?" The figure muttered, mostly to himself as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position and began to look around. He wasn't scared, he calmly began to assess his surroundings both with his senses and by sending out invisible pulses of energy.

Glancing over the map as it was slowly built up, he couldn't help but frown at the image that was displayed.

'What is this? Some cave maybe?' He pondered as the image of a long, slithering, maze-like tunnel system was slowly being drawn up.

'No… This is too expansive to be inside a hill…' He looked up, squinting his eyes he glanced at the ceiling above him, seeing as it was the same texture as the walls and the ground, his frown retaining on his face with the newfound thought. 'Underground?'

He grumbled with annoyance as he came to this realization. Shifting his attention up from the System's interface, he looked towards the only exit from his current accommodation. A grated, metal door barred his path. Even without testing it, he was fairly certain that it was locked.

Noticing that in his immediate vicinity there were no life signs present, he sighed, recalling his sent-out energy and turning his attention towards his system interface once more.

"I'm still pretty weak. Just as I feel it, my condition is at 20%, with my [Soul Power] tanked at 300… I need to rest some more, though I will meditate instead."

He muttered under his breath, closing his eyes in the next moment and exhaling a large gasp of used-up air. As he inhaled in the next intake, he made sure to regulate his breathing according to the Meditation he was taught by his master, Number 3, and slowly entered into the [Enlightened State] once more.

His body slowly glowed with a faint, golden luster as the center of his soul turned into a metaphorical whirlpool, greedily sucking in the essences lingering in the air around him.

Though he wasn't sure what happened, or if how much time might have passed, he wasn't too bothered. Through the connection they shared, he could feel that his two beloved little girls were fine, albeit seemingly in an agitated state.

Though he could have made contact, he first wanted to be ready before those that brought him to this place would come back for him… After all, the system displayed them with the rarely seen orange color, meaning they weren't enemies yet, but they weren't entirely neutral in their stance with him either…

As Aiden kept meditating, he was unaware that the sword-like marking on his chest, Ryg's icon was also glowing, slowly flashing with its own light as it joined in the cultivation session with his master.

—

*Meanwhile, some time ago back at the southern parts of the 'Battlegrounds'…*

"What should we do now? Should we just leave the team and go towards brother?" After a bit of silence, Lily asked, blurting out the question weighing down her sorrowful heart.

Although she wanted nothing more than to do what her big sister was suggesting, Galina ultimately shook her head.

"No, we shouldn't. He wouldn't want that. We have others that care about him just like we do, Lily. We can't just leave them. Besides…" Galina turned around, looking in the direction of their temporary camp. "…we don't know what dangers are out there. Young Master was very far away, we could be walking for days, maybe for weeks without reaching him… We need the full team's help if we want to get to his position."

Lily frowned at the words of her newly accepted little sister. Though she was aware that she was right, Lily couldn't accept the thought of her beloved brother being in danger. He needed help, he needed her, them! How could she possibly stay put then?!

"N-no. We need to… W-we need to…" Lily mumbled, wanting to argue, but realized that she couldn't find the right words to contend with Galina. She was right, after all, the rest of their team, their friends were also worried about the state of her brother. It would be unfair leaving them in the dark and ditching them.

Also, the mercenaries that they were joined with, weren't that bad either. On the contrary, there were several girls that they have started befriending already.

In the end, she sighed defeatedly, and could only nod with a bitter look on her face.

Galina as she looked at her sweet big sister, couldn't help but reveal a warm smile as she walked closer and gently hugged her.

"Don't worry big sister. I know what you are worried about, but you shouldn't. I will tell you a secret. Though we have lost connection, I know that he is alright. Even if I can't explain to you how I know this, but please rest assured that your brother is still alive."

*Sniff* *Sniff* "…mfouf mfofvefh…" Little muttered with a muffled sniffing tone as her face was pushed into the bosom of her little sis.

"Sorry, I didn't catch it sis?" Galina asked peeling the blond, platinum head free from her clutches.

Looking up, with a pouting look on her face, Lily took a breath as she repeated her words from before.

"…I said, Our brother. Not mine. We have already told you to stop calling him 'Young Master'…"

Hearing her words, Galina suddenly burst into a cheery giggle. Her bell-like laughter caused Lily's agitated heart to slowly calm down as well. Though she didn't join in, a small, barely perceptible smile slowly began to showcase itself at the edges of her lips.

"Y-yes, I'm sorry big sis. It's… just a habit that I find hard to overcome." She said, amidst her chuckles.

A while later, as she finally calmed down, she turned towards the camp once again.

"Anyway… We have spent enough time. I think it's time we report back to the captain and listen to the others."

"Uhm." Lily nodded, her gaze still looking slightly empty as she stole glances behind them, towards the distance to the northeast.

"You know, big sis…" Noticing her gaze, Galina smiled warmly, as she offered. "…once we get back, we should somehow think of a way to convince the team to focus on that direction instead of setting up our camp here…"

"Huh?" Her words, though at first went past by her, it perked her ears towards the middle.

"Yes!" Lily propped up with newfound vigor as she processed Galina's words. Immediately, she turned around and began to pull her. "Come, we need to get back and tell Captain Don that we need to go there!"

---

AN: Hey there Readers!

Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading (although I wholeheartedly thank you if you are reading and enjoying the story through Webnovel), you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

For you, sailors of the seventh sea (non-WN readers), be a bro/gal and throw me a cup of joe, show your appreciation!

Links:

http://discord.link/TheLastPrimal

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