Having cleared out the wave of parasites, everyone took a few minutes to collect themselves. Pluvia, having turned into her human form again, was sat against the wall of the tunnel. having walked slightly outside of the nest, they weren't surrounded by the disgusting goo and egg sacks anymore. but if they looked down the tunnel they could still see the start of the nest. the leftover corpses and damaged area showed how they had been fighting there only a few minutes ago. sat next to pluvia was Alice, with Sasha on her lap. she was talking to Nicholas about Sasha's condition. even though Alice was only as qualified as Nicholas to assess Sasha, he still sought out her opinion. being the only person with a healing skill, she had become the medic of the team.on the other side of the tunnel, Solomon was sat beside the characters. talking with them, he was learning anything useful from them. lastly, Tony was sat in the middle of the tunnel. standing in front of him, Gareth was shouting at him.

Gareth: what did I teach you before?! Don't you remember?! My orders are absolute! I thought I'd done enough to drill this into your thick skull, but apparently not!

Gareth was angry with Tony for ignoring his orders. Having spent a huge amount of time training him, he was angry seeing one of his most important rules disregarded. As a soldier, he valued people who would follow orders. When Tony ignored his orders, it felt like a personal attack to him. even more than that, Tony's actions were dangerous for the whole team. If they encountered an actually dangerous situation and he did the same thing, he wouldn't just be putting himself at risk. After nearly a minute of uninterrupted speaking, Gareth was running out of breath.

Gareth: why aren't you speaking, haah, got nothing to say for yourself?!

Looking up at Gareth, tony had a tired look on his face. He didn't understand why Gareth was so upset. After assessing the situation, it wouldn't cause any issues for him to join the fight. If anything, it would speed up the fight.

Tony: are you done yet?

As the words left his mouth, Tony instantly regretted them. Hearing Tony, Gareth eyes flooded with rage. as he ground his teeth together, The mist-like energy around his body started writhing wildly. watching the display of Gareth's power, Tony was reminded of his position. Only being a newbie in this guild, he definitely didn't have the right to argue with one of its core members. Having been part of the guild for a short while, his actions had become more natural. So when he was annoyed with Gareth, he spoke his true thoughts. The usual atmosphere of oppression that appears in guilds didn't exist in the wings of freedom. So the uncomfortable feeling that would remind him to be polite was gone. In other words, he had let his guard down. Now feeling the ripples of power coming out from Gareth's body, he was reminded of his weakness.

Solomon: calm down.

As if teleporting, Solomon suddenly appeared beside Gareth. Placing his hand down on Gareth's shoulder, he tried to calm him down. with the appearance of Solomon, The oppressive power coming from Gareth's body had disappeared.

Gareth: sorry, I forgot myself there.

Looking at Solomon, he apologised. His terrifying visage had instantly disappeared, changing into his usual, calm appearance

Solomon: it's alright, go take a breather.

Nodding, Gareth gave Tony a quick glance before walking away.

Solomon: come with me.

Talking to Tony, Solomon walked towards the dimly lit tunnel leading away from the nest. Unable to refuse, Tony followed silently behind him.

Alice: hold on, where are you going?

Standing in front of Solomon, Alice blocked his path. Having seen what just happened, she was worried about his actions. Watching him leading Tony away, she thought about his overreactions in the past, as well as his tendency to take drastic measures. Though she knew he wasn't a bad person, she also knew he would become extremely protective when it came to his teammates.

Solomon: not now Alice, wait here with everyone else.

Brushing of Alice completely, Solomon continued walking past her. Being ignored so easily, Alice was stunned. But recovering herself quickly, Alice turned to block him again. Just as Alice was about to step in front of him again, Pluvia blocked her way.

Pluvia: stop Alice, let them go.

initially, Alice planned on arguing with Pluvia. but after seeing her resolute expression, Alice knew it would be pointless. Pluvia was stubborn at the best of times, looking at her now, there was no way she would reconsider. Looking over Pluvia's head at the now disappearing backs of Tony and Solomon, she prayed that nothing bad would happen.

Walking silently behind Solomon, Tony had a sinking feeling in his gut. As if the world around him was going to collapse in on itself. Walking back down the tunnel, they had made their way out of the others earshot. As they continued in silence, Tony became more and more nervous. As the possibilities ran through his head, one particular worry stood out more than the others. Having heard about the practice of before, he speculated that Solomon was taking him away from the others in order to kill him. it wasn't unusual for people to go"mysteriously" missing if they caused problems, especially if those people were unranked.

When Solomon suddenly stopped in front of him, the already afraid Tony panicked. without thinking he grabbed for his sword, he was completely terrified of Solomon at this point.

Solomon: calm down, I didn't bring you here to kill you.

Still facing away from Tony, he spoke. naturally, Solomon understood the worries of Tony. but he had no way to convince Tony of that. so, for now, he decided to just continue speaking. looking at his exposed back, Tony considering charging Solomon. But in the end, he gave up on it. Having seen the powers that Solomon had, Tony knew he had no chance against him. His life was truly in Solomon's hands right now.

Tony: why did you bring me out here if not to kill me?

Letting his arms fall limply at his side, tony gave up any thought of resisting. if Solomon had turned around now he would have been faced with Tony's despairing face. he was convinced he would die here.

Solomon: I want you to explain to me, where does your insane bloodlust come from?

Turning to face him, Solomon expression was one of complete seriousness.

Tony: I, I don't know what you mean.

Faced with this question, Tony was shocked. stammering out an answer, he tried to think of how Solomon had figured it out. up until now he had hidden a secret about himself. one that was heavily tied in with his overly vicious bloodlust. It was quite usual for people to have bloodlust in Domain, so normally it was overlooked when he went berserk. having not been immediately questioned after that last battle, he thought it was overlooked like usual. But unexpectedly, Solomon had seen picked up on it. Nevertheless, he didn't intend to give away his greatest secret.

Solomon: so you're not going to tell me?

Tony: I don't know what you want me to tell you.

Playing the fool, Tony hoped he would drop the subject.

Solomon: then I'm afraid we'll have to part ways here. If you can't tell me why your bloodlust is unnaturally huge, then I can't risk having you on the team.

From Solomon's point of view, he didn't know why Tony would suddenly be overcome by bloodlust. though he had tried to hide it, In that last battle, he was uncontrollably shaking because of it. whatever was causing him to overflow with that could be extremely dangerous if it was turned towards the rest of the team. Solomon just couldn't afford to have such a risk on his team.

Tony: wait, if you leave me here alone I'll die.

Looking at the disappointed expression on Solomon's face, Tony was both happy and afraid. Though he was happy he'd not been taken here to be killed, he feared being left behind. If he was abandoned by the team, he had no confidence in surviving on his own. when his bloodlust flared up, he wouldn't be able to control his urge to fight. In that state, if he rushed into a group of 100 parasites like before, he'd be signing his own death certificate. Even a group half of that size could kill him easily. In this scenario, being left behind was the same as being killed.

Solomon: it's unfortunate, but I can't risk the lives of everyone else to look out for you. Good luck.

With an apathetic look on his face, Solomon walked straight past Tony. With every step he took, a dull echo would sound out. as Tony listened to these dull thuds, it was like a hammer was striking his heart. The sound echoed throughout his body like bell tolls foretelling his death.

Tony: WAIT! I'll tell you!

When Solomon was about to disappear into the tunnel, Tony gave in. The incessant pounding of his heart was too much for him to bear. With no other choice, he gave up on hiding his secret.

Solomon: haaaah, finally! I thought you weren't gonna give in for a second there.

Turning around, Solomon had a broad smile on his face. the previously serious and apathetic expressions on his face were nowhere to be seen. As if they had only been dust in the wind. In his head, he was happy that his plan had worked. When he was walking here, he was running through several scenarios in his head. But no matter what he thought of, he couldn't think of a way to ensure Tony's cooperation. he didn't have enough information to make a surefire plan. so in the end, he settled for this his current method. The only thing that made his idea uncertain was not knowing how precious this secret was to Tony. If it was worth more than his life, then the current tactic wouldn't have worked. In that case, he really would have left Tony behind.

Tony; huh? You knew I'd give in?

Seeing the immediate change of Solomon's face, Tony was amazed. One second ago he was acting completely serious, and now he smiling dumbly at him.

Solomon: I didn't know for sure that you would, but I had my suspicions. Anyway, this has made me really curious. What kind of secret is so important that you'd be willing to go so far to keep it?

To Solomon, even his own secrets weren’t worth this much to keep hidden. So what could be so important that Tony was only willing to tell him after being pushed this far?

Tony: the reason I have this bloodlust, is because. I'm a gene cheater.

Speaking with a huge amount of seriousness, Tony revealed his secret. The weight in his voice clearly showed the importance of this secret to him. Unfortunately, Solomon's reaction wasn't what he'd expected.

Solomon: A Gene cheater!!! What's that?

As if an anvil had landed on his head, Tony fell face first into the floor. Once again, Solomon was showing his inexperience. If Tony had said this to someone back in Domain, they'd act as if he'd just slapped their mother.

Tony: HAHAHAHA, how ironic is this?! You make so much of an issue out of this, and then when I finally tell you, you don't even understand! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

As insane laughter echoed throughout the tunnel, the built up tension in Tony's body escaped him. Having only just been in a high-stress fight, followed by a pressuring situation like this straight afterwards, Tony was feeling a lot of tension. Having let it build up, he was ready to burst.

Solomon: you're done now?

Looking at the collapsed body of Tony on the floor, Solomon had an exasperated look on his face. Only after a good minute of solid laughter had Tony finally calmed down.

Tony: sorry, haah, I'm done.

Getting back to his feet, Tony was more a lot relaxed now. Even comparing to his state before the mission, he seemed to be a lot less tense.

Solomon: so, what's this gene cheater thing?

Tony: well, it's not an easy thing to sum up in a few words. To put it simply, I'm the child of a participant from Domain.

Nodding his head, Solomon was following along.

Solomon: the child?

Tony: yeah, but not of anyone special. My father was only a weak G ranker. anyway, that's what makes someone a gene cheater.

Solomon: okay, so I get that's what makes someone a gene cheater. but what does that actually do?

Though Solomon had already guessed, he wanted Tony's confirmation.

Tony: this is going to take a while to explain, but let's start with the basics.

taking a few steps back, Tony reached the wall. sitting down against it, he prepared to explain everything he knew to Solomon. Having already decided to give p his secret, he had no reason to hide any of the small details.

Solomon: try to make it as short as you can. it's best that we don't stay here too long.

looking back down the tunnel from where they came, Solomon thought about how risky it was to have everyone gathered near the bugs nest.

Tony: I'll do my best. so, there is one main thing that sets gene cheaters apart from most participants in Domain. We all have an inheritance from our parents.

Solomon: inheritance? so you get their abilities?

having his earlier speculation confirmed, Solomon's thought about the possibilities of these Gene cheaters

Tony: it's not as simple as that. though some children may get the same enhancement as their parent, most don't. it's far more usual to get a degraded version of it. for example, if your dad was an F rank vampire you would probably be born as a G rank vampire.

Solomon: so you normally get a lower ranked version? but what if both of your parents have enhancements?

thinking about it, Solomon had found an issue. if you had two equally ranked parents, whose enhancement would you inherit?

Tony: like I said, it's complicated. for gene cheaters, there are two main types. pure bloods and half bloods. pure bloods are people who have two enhanced parents. they usually inherit one enhancement from one parent, and another from the other. as for half bloods, they only have one parent who was enhanced. like for me, my mother was only an unranked.

as he spoke about his own parents, Tony's voice was detached. as if his parents were strangers to him. though Solomon heard this, he decided to ignore it for now.

Solomon: okay, so what enhancements do half bloods get?

spurred on by curiosity, Solomon asked about these half bloods.

Tony: usually it's a weaker version of their parent's powers. but there isn't a rule to it. for some people, they might not inherit anything, but others might get the same enhancements as their parents.

knowing there was variety between the circumstances of gene cheaters, Solomon made a mental note to not judge them by that title.

Solomon: so what about you? do you already have powers?

hearing so much about these gene cheaters inheritance, Solomon was curious as to what powers Tony had.

Tony: unluckily I don't have any. as my father only had one G rank enhancement, it was already unlikely that I'd inherit it. for me, I inherited something else.

Solomon: something else?

having been drawn into the conversation, Solomon was very interested in Tony's inheritance.

Tony: that's right. I myself have received two benefits from the system itself. the first was a reduction in an enhancements cost. As my father had the chimaera enhancement, I can buy the same G rank enhancement without paying points. and for every rank after that, I only need to pay half the price.

Solomon: A reduction! isn't that too op!?

Just for the average G rank enhancement, the cost is around 200 points. you could increase your stats by 200 with that. thinking about the benefits later on when saving thousands on the cost of enhancements, Solomon felt extremely bitter.

Tony: it's not as amazing as it sounds. like I said, I'm only a weak G ranks half blood child. the benefits for those with higher ranked parents would undoubtedly be better.

being praised by Solomon, Tony spoke with a self-deprecating tone. though he knew that he was better of than most, he was still a small ant in the whole scheme of things.

Solomon: don't be so negative, compared to me, you're way better off, right?

Pointing to himself, Solomon smiled brightly at Tony. in his mind Tony truly was a special existence. having only been born as a normal human, he was impressed by Tony's tiny inheritance.

Tony: I guess that's so. but I just can't help but compare myself to others. anyway, that isn't the only benefit I have.

Solomon right, you still haven't explained your overwhelming bloodlust.

Being the reason they were having this conversation in the first place, Solomon was still waiting to hear about it from Tony. but only now at the end of his explanation was he getting to it

Tony: that's right. as I already told you, my father was a chimaera. because of that, I inherited a trait of the chimaera bloodline. their unsatiable bloodlust.

as he explained his circumstances, Tony's expression grew darker and darker. to him, this inheritance was more like a curse.

Tony: As full chimaeras consume strong enemies to grow, they have a natural instinct to fight. Having taken on this part of them, I also have this instinct. Because of that, the closer I come to an enemy, the greater my bloodlust grows. by the time I'm within a meter of them, the urge to attack is unstoppable. but it's not all bad. As part of the instinct to fight, I have a natural talent for combat. if I didn't have this inheritance, I wouldn't be half as strong as I am now.

Solomon: so it's a double-edged sword. while it may force you into dangerous situations, it makes you stronger overall.

Summing it up, Though he may be safer overall, he would always be walking the line between life and death. After hearing all of this, Solomon was still confused about one thing.

Solomon: I get that it's a huge bonus to be a gene cheater, but why were you so reluctant to tell us?

hearing the all too innocent question of Solomon, Tony was reminded of how ignorant Solomon was.

Tony: you're still too naïve. Think about how most people would react if they heard that someone got the same results as them with only half the effort.

Nodding, Solomon saw the logic behind his actions. For most people in Domain, who fought tooth and nail to just survive, seeing someone flourish without much effort would be infuriating. thinking about this, Solomon chuckled to himself. he found it funny that even in Domain, the land of opportunity, people were still unequal.

Tony: even as bad as that is, it's the not the only issue we face. guilds will often force gene cheaters to join them. As they can just give them a few Tokens and instantly have another strong member.

as he spoke about the ways in which gene cheaters were exploited, Tony showed a pained expression.

Solomon: okay, I understand why you didn't tell us the truth. I would do the same in your situation. but in the end, I don't care if you're a gene cheater. As I've said before, my only concern is my team. As long as you give your loyalty to the team, then we won't have any problems. you could be a 3 eyed ostrich and I still wouldn't care. anyway, it's we've been away for a long time now. we should head back soon. Looking back down the tunnel, Solomon's eyes were a little uneasy. separating from everyone for so long made him a little uncomfortable.

Tony: well, I've told you most of what I know. let's head back then.

agreeing with Solomon, Tony rose to his feet. as an experienced fighter, he also felt off leaving everyone outside the parasites base.

back down the dingy tunnel, the rest of the team were waiting at the edge of the bugs nest. Having been waiting for so long, everyone had grown impatient. Gareth was pacing back and forth in the middle of the tunnel. looking at the downturned expression on his face, you could see that he wasn't happy staying by the nest. Sitting at the side of the tunnel, Alice was chatting with Nicholas. laying Sasha on her lap, she was gently stroking her hair. looking at the peaceful expression on Sasha's face right then, Nicholas felt relaxed. compared to her deathly pale and sickly look from earlier, she was now shining with a healthy light. the awkwardly twisted ankle from before had already set back into place. It wouldn't be long before she woke back up. at the opposite side of the tunnel, the characters had gathered. Rob was currently trying his best to keep them calm. ever since Solomon had left, they had been uneasy. as Solomon was the leader of the group, he had become a pillar of support for them. now lacking that pillar, they became afraid. but before they freaked out completely, Rob had taken up Solomons role. Still holding onto the rifle from before, he used his convincing words to become their unofficial leader. As for pluvia, she was sat a dozen meters away from everyone else. being in between them and the way Solomon had gone, she was preventing them from following him. though they had tried to convince her several times, it was like talking to a brick wall. looking out into the murky tunnel, Pluvia had been staring at the darkness since Solomon left. for some reason, she had complete confidence in him right now. the few times Gareth or Alice had wanted to go look for Solomon, she's didn't hesitate to stop them. she was truly living up to her title of stubbornness.

twitching her ears, she suddenly perked up. Looking out into the pitch black abyss of the tunnel, she called out to everyone behind her.

Pluvia: they're back!

Hearing her, they all looked over at the darkness. under the illumination of their lights, two distinct figures appeared. On any normal day, the appearance of these two-meter tall giants would have been odd. but right now, it was what they had all been waiting for. Seeing that Tony was with Solomon, Alice let out a relieved sigh. ever since they left, she had worried that Solomon would take drastic measures. But looking at the friendly expression on them both, she was convinced otherwise. like wisps of smoke, her concerns disappeared.

Solomon: sorry we took so long, it's completely my fault.

having arrived back to the scene of everyone waiting impatiently, Solomon was happy in his heart. he was slightly worried something would go wrong while he was gone. but luckily, nothing had happened.

Nicholas: so have you two sorted everything out?

Holding onto his sister, Nicholas hoped that they wouldn't need to do this again. While they were gone, the whole team was at risk. If something unexpected happened, he didn't think they'd survive it without Solomon. so to him, Solomon was his saviour. having already shown that he'd put himself at risk for him and his sister, Nicholas felt uneasy without Solomon being around.

Solomon: yeah, we've sorted everything. but before we get going, Tony has some things to explain to you all.

having already discussed it with Solomon, Tony agreed to share his secret with the whole team. after telling Solomon, he didn't have much to lose by telling the others. so quickly telling them a condensed version of what he told Solomon, his secret was completely revealed.

having the secret of Tony explained to them, everyone was musing over this new information. Unsurprisingly, Nicholas and pluvia had heard of gene cheater before. even then, they'd not known many of the details.

Gareth: so that's why you acted strangely before. I've got to apologise. I blamed you for ignoring me when you couldn't help it. Please forgive me.

Now understanding the previous actions of Tony, Gareth felt very guilty. Having taken it as a personal insult before, he'd been very rude to Tony. Now understanding the reasons behind his actions, Gareth regretted his cruel words. bowing his head to Tony, he apologised profusely.

Tony: it's fine, I didn't take it personally. I'm also sorry for not explaining this before.it's really my fault in the first place.

accepting Gareth's sincere apology, Tony also felt a little guilty. if he had explained this sooner, the earlier situation could have been avoided.

Solomon: all right then, that's that issue cleared up. now that everyone's had a good rest, shall we take a deeper look at this nest?

Looking down the disgusting, goo filled tunnel, Solomon felt a shiver travel down his spine. the walls and floor being covered in egg sacks gave the dead silent, cave-like tunnel, a heavy atmosphere. But the longer they stared at these disgusting sights, the more they seemed like rivers of silver and pots of Gold. knowing that the creatures who created this grotesque scene were worth so many points, while still being extremely weak, they longed to hunt them down. turning back to look at everyone, they all nodded. a resolute desire to earn points burning in their eyes.

Solomon: into the nest we go then.

trudging into the gunk filled tunnel, Solomon led everyone forward into the nest.