?? "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"

General Karnat tramples forward, his eyes directed at a holographic map with sheer anger. The soldiers sitting next to the projection lean away in worry.

?? "Um... er... Sir. It appears they figured out.. how... umm... we keep finding them. Hence, they somehow did this... please don't kill us."

Karnat takes a deep breath.

KARNAT "Fine, for once. I'll this go. ORDER EVERY SOLDIER WE GOT TO SEARCH EVERY INCH OF THAT PLANET!"

The soldiers salute and leave the room to comply with his demand.

The room is now vacant. Karnat snaps his mechanical claws.

Eight robed entities fall from the ceiling and kneel before him.

?? "Yes, my liege."

The group said in unison.

KARNAT "This may be a bit embarrassing of me. But, I think I overdose on Mindredol, and... there are now holes in my memories. I sorta forgot what we planned."

?? "Perhaps, I can ease your concerns. My lord."

KARNAT "Ah, thanks. You're M121 if I remember correctly."

M121 "I'm deeply honored that Sire remembers my number. Or remember me at all for that matter. I'm forever grateful!"

KARNAT "Of course, I couldn't forget you. You are the leader of this group after all. But enough with formalities. I first want to know the info we got from your previous skirmish."

M121 "Very well. Let's start with their weapons. For some odd reason, they bypass the hardness of any object as well as being completely indestructible. As if there is an invisible aura that allows this feat to be plausible. The best example is by that Dave guy who went up against M119. During the match, M119 was wielding a shield made of Tinodium, a material three times stronger than tungsten and has absolute immunity to blunt objects. However, that bastard's bat cracked through the shield with little effort. This spooked M119 so much that he decided to quit this job."

KARNAT "WHAT?! That's cowardice! When you find him, kill him!"

M121 "Yes, Sire. That would be appropriate."

KARNAT "Now back to the weapons. They are troublesome meaning getting too close to them isn't going to help. From now on, only use range weapons against the wielders if possible!"

M121 "Yes, Sire. You also said this before your memories got wiped."

KARNAT "Oh, right! Oops. Forget that. Let's move on! What about their bodies? Is there anything special about them besides being strong and fast?"

M121 "Looking back at the details of previous battles. We can conclude that venom does not affect the wielders meaning they have some kind of immunity. However, we don't know the extent of this immunity like whether or not poison or gas can work on them."

KARNAT ".... interesting. But that doesn't matter. That way of doing things is cowardly anyway! Now! On to the important part! Their powers. I have only a simple understanding of them and would like to know more."

M121 nods and offloads the information about the skills that the wielders have that day. Karnat grins with pride and satisfaction hearing the juicy details.

KARNAT "Excellent! Very useful! But, it is unfortunate that we couldn't get any info from those other four wielders. Especially, that blue-headed guy. He's the most annoying one."

M121 "I agree Sir. So, what will be the plan, my lord?"

KARNAT "We will need to isolate and stall those four wielders. While that is happening, you guys will face off against the wielders best suited to your abilities. Understood!"

ALL "YES SIR!"

KARNAT "Alright. Now I guess, we have to wait. Say. Do any of you guys know how to play UNO?"

________________________________________________________

SPLASH!

Eight humans turn their heads in the direction of the sound.

Sarah "Speaking of the devil, looks like Kanji is here."

Kanji swims towards Azan and Mina, carrying something in his hand. His speed keeps increasing which makes the two anxious. Kanji notices this as he gets closer so he downgrades as speed, and the motion swaps to a slow approach.

Azan "Umm, Kanji what are you doing? What's with the syringe?"

KARNAT "Put out your hand. Trust me, this is going to help you more than it hurts."

Mina "Ok, I'll trust you. It won't be that bad."

Azan looks at Mina, she bravely puts out her hand. He smiles and does the same. Kanji injects them with the chips.

Az/Mina "OUCH!"

They flinch, closing their left eye in response to the pain. The two wielders then look at Kanji.

Azan "So, what does this-

A black and white window opens up. He jumps back, startled by this appearing object.

Azan "So this is a portable inventory. Huh. How interesting, this technology would have been very useful for my father. Perhaps, we can have some sort of trade deal. After the journey ends, of course."

Kanji "Yeah, I have no problem with that."

Azan puts his suitcase and the mechanical soap into the inventory. He then looks to Mina, her eyes fixed on her inventory in bewilderment.

Mina "This... is... AWESOME!"

Then, she too puts her stuff in there. As she's doing that, a question pops up in her mind.

Mina "Hey, Kanji! How many things can you put in here?!"

KARNAT "Well, you can store 50 different objects in total. However, the quantity of each item may vary since the dimension is limited."

Two more splashes are heard.

It's Claire and Gwen. They swim toward the group, positioning themselves next to Kanji.

Dave "Yo! Where were you three doing, man? Did you guys have a thre-

Sarah and Diana hit him on the back of his head before he could finish his sentence. Dave then laughs it off.

Dave "Hahaha. Sorry, forget the last part! For real though bro, what did you do?"

Kanji "Errr, ok? I was just clearing my thoughts, Dave. Though, I should be asking that question. I'm curious about that headwear of yours."

Everyone laughs. Dave takes off the dunce hat and tosses it aside.

Dave "What dunce hat, dude?! You guys must be drunk lol."

Diana "Yeah, suuuure. Icarus. By the way, what is our next plan of action, boss?"

Kanji "It would probably be to upgrade our powers. You know as in searching for the anomaly crystals. However, we need to contact AN for that information. Speaking of this subject, everyone I have a question. Does your skill window show the words "!ERROR!" ?"

They all nod confirming his suspicion.

Kanji "Damn it all. I guess we can only wait and hope that AN resolves the issue on their side. Luckily, we have plenty of time before the enemy could find us."

Diana "What do you mean, boss? How is that possible to have any time at all?!"

Kanji "Let's just say that Gwen did a great job in countering their searching devices."

Amelia "That's jolly good news! More days to relax, the better!"

Sarah "I second that."

Noah "I third that." "LOL."

Everyone then looks, their faces seem frustrated like they are wanting something from him.

Kanji "Hah! Fine! No training, I guess a few days wouldn't hurt."

Dave "Heck yeah, brother!"

Adrian "That's awesome! What does everyone want to do now?"

Kanji "I think we should just discuss different topics. I won't mind."

Mina "Oh! Maybe we can talk about our parents. We never discussed that before!"

Dave "Yo, but we already a lot about yours lol."

Mina "You guys only know them as celebrities. But do you have any idea what they are like as parents?"

Sarah "Let me take a wild guess. They take you to learn and travel to many places around the world during your childhood which exposed you to things a child your age shouldn't have."

Mina "Yes, but it's even worse than that! Especially when they brought me to dangerous places."

Kanji "Interesting, what kind of places?"

Mina "They took me to climb MOUNT EVEREST at the age of six. Despite the fact that it earned me the Guinness world record. It was the worst experience of my entire life! I still remember how my tiny little fingers were so cold that if I were to hit them against a rock with any pressure, they would snap off."

Amelia "Oh dear! That sounds horrible! No one knew of this! This is straight-up child abuse!"

Mina "I wouldn't go that far. They did nurse me back to health afterward. To this day, my feelings towards my parent are somewhat neutral."

She looks at Azan.

Mina "What are your parents like Azzy?"

Azan "Oh, Ummm... it's actually just a parent. My mother died after giving birth to me."

Mina "Oh, I... I have no idea. I'm sorry."

Azan "It's ok. Now I have time to tell everyone how great of a person she was. She was someone who truly admired my father and everything he fought for, even to the bitter end. The best part is that she wasn't even African, but of British royalty."

Amelia "Wait, British royalty! No.... she can't possibly be her. Right? Right?!"

Azan "Yes, her original name was hard to remember but I think it started with "Rose" and ends with "Windsor". Anyway, upon hearing my father's speech on the internet, she was charmed by his undying will, courage, and determination. She abandoned her name and all she had, just to go to meet him. Their relationship at first was quite rough, as my father saw it as nothing more than a crazy fangirl. Luckily, they both love each other after a while and got married years later. During that time, she changed her name to Andra Abara. My father once said to me that she was like a moral pillar that further holds up his ambitions."

Amelia "I also heard, there wasn't much controversy surrounding the whole ordeal since she couldn't inherit the throne. There was a rumor floating about that the sovereign cheated and made an illegitimate child who everyone at that time assumed to be Rose. Nonetheless, I feel happy for that lass. Good for her!"

Dave "Yo, that sounds like a story I heard before, bro. But I can't really remember! Man, I miss Chat. I bet they would know!"

Gwen "Don't worry, Dave. I ordered a new recording drone. It will be here in around 12 hours. At least, I hope it will be."

Dave "Aw, Sweet!"

Gwen and Dave high fives. Azan coughs and continues talking.

Azan "Ok about my father. Is there anything you're curious about him?"

Sarah raises her hand.

Sarah "Did he build that entire city by himself? Also, how did he keep the city's existence a secret?"

Azan "He actually did create the city by himself in secret through terraforming technology and AI. Furthermore, no one knew about it because he got help from a very sketchy organization. But don't worry he said that he betrayed them and they no longer exist."

Kanji "What is this organization called?"

Azan "Crypto-grimalogy Coin Industries. Or CCI for shor-

Claire "WHAT?!"

Claire stands up, her eyes are filled with anger.

Gwen "Are you ok?"

She sits down, her mood quickly switches to sadness. Claire covers her eyes and a stream of tears pours. Kanji and Gwen hold her in an attempt to comfort the sad girl.

Kanji "Woah! Woah! It's ok, what's wrong?"

Claire "They... they... they killed my parents."

Kanji "They what! When did this happen?!"

Claire "When I was... When I was 5. I... I... I didn't know better. I remember mom and dad pleading with a strange man in a business suit. The man without reason shot my parents! Fortunately for me, my aunt was there. She grabbed me and ran away."

Gwen "Oh... it must have been traumatizing. You seek revenge, don't you?"

Claire "No, not anymore. It turns out that they all got killed or arrested and the group stopped existing. I was sad, really sad. Thinking about it still haunts me to this day. But I was a lucky girl, you see. Thanks to my aunty's affection and love, I was able to grow up a normal happy kid and I learned to cope with my sadness over the years."

Kanji "Claire... I have no idea."

Kanji and Gwen give her a hug, and she smiles. The tears begin to stop.

Sarah "Sorry to interrupt the moment. I have some information regarding that organization you were talking about. I know plenty since cult activities are like my specialty. On to the main point, those people were apparently a group who was overly obsessed with the progression of Cryptocurrency and NFTs. At one point, they were on top of the world. Until someone exposed them for what they are, a corrupt and evil company. After that, everything unfolded for them and they lost all their influence."

Azan "I guess my father was the one who exposed them. Ha! Serve them right!"

Kanji "That's good to know. So, who like to go next?"

Sarah "I'll go since my parents are pretty normal. Well, I shouldn't say "normal". They did flee their country because of something illegal."

Kanji "What exactly did they do?"

Sarah "My parents never specifically told me the actual reason but sometimes when I was little, I always heard them argue. It was something about money or something called "The Golden Head". Another group I thought. However, after years of research, "The Golden Head" was impossible to find. As if like it was wiped or never existed, to begin with. Yeah, that is all I can tell you about them"

Dave "Yo, that's two for whose parents got fucked over by some weird-ass organization. Let's brighten things up and talk about my parents, dude. They are hyper-talented DJs and owned about 10 nightclubs."

Azan "Do you go to those nightclubs? If so, tell me what it's like. I'm quite curious since I never went to one before."

Dave "Aw, dude. It's like fucking sick, man! Maybe after the journey, I'll show you a couple of hot spots. My treat!"

Diana "Pfft! DJs are nothing! My parents are detectives and I bet if they were to investigate those nightclubs. They would be down by the weekend."

Dave "Yeah, right! I bet as soon as they enter the place, the sound will be so loud that they'll walk out lol."

Diana and Dave begin to punch each other.

Kanji "ENOUGH!"

Dave/Diana "Ok, boss."

Kanji "Good, you guys are on time-out. Go over there next to the waterfall. Mina. Azan. Please watch these two to make sure they don't maul each other."

Azan/Mina "Yes, sir."

They swim away, leaving the remaining seven. They stare at Noah with interest.

Noah "What... oh... my turn... huh."

Adrian "Yes and then me. Wait, have Gwen or Kanji gone yet?"

Gwen "No need to talk about my parents. They were just rich bank owners who rarely came home to spend time with their only daughter. But I didn't mind it that much. Now that I'm done, Noah may you tell us your parents. Or maybe Kanji you can go."

Kanji "I don't really know father. My parents got divorced when I was an infant. I only lived with my mother."

Gwen "Is she an ordinary mother?"

Kanji nods his head to answer her question.

Gwen "That's quite neat. Lucky you... Ok, Noah. Your turn!"

Noah "Alright... I'll be quick. My dad is a lumberjack... a hunter... and a maple farmer." "He is also super cool, loving, down-to-earth, and a wonderful father. But I can't say that sadly."

Claire "How about your mom?"

Claire sees his head tilts down slightly.

Noah "My.... mom. She's... I don't want... to talk about it." "Mom..."

Sarah puts her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Sarah "Hey, it's ok. You can show your emotions. It's alright in this case."

Streams of blue liquid drip from his chin.

Noah "She... she's dead. My dad told me she died when I was a baby. And every time... I... asked him about it. He always looked at me... and said "Don't make deals with a magician"."

Adrian "Ok, that is dark. But at least everyone had parents. I however was raised my whole life by a robot. My parents left no clues or traces of them at all. This basically means I'm an orphan, but a happy one. Even though he was not my parent, I still see him as one. He taught me everything I know and was more like another human being than a machine. Oh, how I missed his numerous pranks. May he rest in peace."

Sarah "Well, that's everyone. What should we talk about next?"

Kanji "Right, let's call those four back. HEY! YOU GUYS CAN COME BACK NOW!"

They swim from the waterfall and meet back with Kanji and the others.

Diana "What's up, boss?"

Kanji "I'm curious about something. I want to test to see if we can still create skills despite the error shown on the skill window. Perhaps it's just a visual glitch. I will go first."

Kanji tries to imagine a new skill, but then

|Attempt skill generation failed... Unused skill points detected... Alternative auto-generation.|

Kanji "What is this?!"

|Progress complete. The user now has (10. Umbral Cape)|

Kanji "A new skill? I didn't create this. The skill window truly is broken! Also, what is this skill's purpose?"

|Umbral Cape: Allow the user to summon a cape that auto absorbs all forms of energy that come into contact with it and convert that energy into the user's own.|

Kanji "Wow, that's actually very useful. Can I create another skill?"

He tries another attempt but all that pops up is !ERROR!.

Kanji "I see perhaps the system remembers the unspent skill points from before and was able to convert them into a random skill. Well for my case at least, for Mina it is like an adaptive type deal."

Dave "Yo, it is like opening a chest in a roguelike, bro. I wonder what I get. Here I go!"

|Attempt skill generation failed... Unused skill points detected... Alternative auto-generation. Progress complete. The user now has (10. Uno)|

Dave "Uno? Da fuc?! What hell does that even mean dude?"

|UNoah Allow the user to collapse two objects of similar forms. It requires the user to hold both objects in each hand, the objects will gravitate toward each other and crush each other out of existence. Anything that comes in the way will also be destroyed.|

Dave "No... fucking... way!"

He gets out of the lake and picks up two nearby rocks with a similar shape. Dave activates |10. Uno|, the two rocks fly toward each other and crumble away.

Diana "That is so unfair!"

Dave "You gonna cry about it."

Kanji "Now. Now. This is good for the team. Also, Dave. Get back in here!"

Dave complies and goes back to the waters near Amelia.

Dave "Your turn, Amby."

Amelia "Wha?! Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I spaced out."

|Attempt skill generation failed... Unused skill points detected... Alternative auto-generation. Progress complete. The user now has (10. Mentaltomisis)|

Amelia "Huh?! Is this even a bloody word?"

|Mentaltomisis: Complete and utter control over the user's mind and perspective, granting immunity against outside influences. Can be used with (4. Connect) to grant other users the effect.|

Amelia "So immunity to mind control or illusions. Huh, neat!"

Gwen "Ummm, guys? I don't want to alarm you... but this is..."

Everyone turns at Gwen and becomes shocked. Her shoulder is now made of dark purple sparks.

Kanji "Ok, remain calm! We don't know what the Aspect of Destruction does. Dammit. What is happening on AN's side?!"

________________________________________________________

?? "Dang it! WHY WON'T IT WORK?!"

?? "Woah! Calm down! What's wrong, AN?"

AN "I tried everything! Shaking and hitting the panels and the pedestal didn't do anything. I even tried to pull out the relic, but it's now glued shut to the pedestal. The panels keep showing that stupid "!ERROR!"."

?? "Why are you in such a rush? It has only been 4 hours."

AN "Because my friends might be in danger!"

?? "Oh, right! We don't want our only hope of victory to die."

AN "That tone of voice. Wait... are you jealous?"

?? "Huh! No! Of course not, you idiot!"

AN "Yep, definitely jealous. But now is not the time for this! Do you have any suggestions?"

?? "Maybe try activating the last aspect. Seeing that the structure changes every time a new wielder awakens, we can assume that the system may also be repaired.

AN "Oh my god! You're a genius!"

AN goes to the pedestal and spins the relic.

A symbol of a disfigured and fractured hand glows a vicious purple.

The panel right of Kanji's panel lights up but it shows nothing but the skill tab. All the panels do.

AN "What the hell?! Only the skills tabs are shown!... wait, what's this?"

They click on a "!" symbol on the upper right corner of the panel, it can also be referred to as an alert symbol. Another tab opens up showing a list of things that need fixing.

AN "Damn. It says here that all communication, viewing, and other functions except for skill generation suffered minimal damage. The skill generation requires the machine to be level 2. Which is if I have a wild guess, it has to do something with the anomaly crystals."

?? "What about the other functions? What do they need?"

AN "They require 10 electromagnetic lithium conversion cores."

?? "Whew! We have plenty of those! However, the main problem is how do we get them to you?"

AN "Right, how are the current surroundings? Are there any guards or surveillance around the crater?"

?? "Guards, yes. There are a lot of them patrolling the outskirts of the crater. Fortunately, they are busy managing all riots that are happening around the area. They probably won't spot you if you walk 50 meters from the grotto since the crater is so large. As for surveillance, they were a lot of them earlier but they are all gone now."

AN "Why? Did something happen?"

?? "Something huge! Very huge! An Ascender has returned from the first Sun."

AN "Holy moly! That is super good for us rebels! Have you guys started trying to convince him or her to join us?"

?? "Yep! I think we are making good progress. Only time will tell if he is willing to join us."

AN "I see. Thinking about my current situation, I do have a plan."

?? "Oh. What is it?"

AN "I'll go underground and dig. Where are you dropping those cores?"

?? "We will be putting them to the closest outpost which will be the one north of where you are."

AN "Ok, I got it. Thank you so much!"

?? "No problem, AN."

AN lets go of their antennae, but then they realize something.

AN "Shit! How do I get there underground? Wait a minute!"

AN looks at the panels to see if there are anything new features. They find that under the alert symbol that there's now a "B" icon.

AN "What's this?"

They click on it, a short description pops up.

|Congrats on awakening 11 aspects. You now unlocked the ability to inherit one skill and one item from the wielders along with having the same passive as the wielders. Choose carefully as you can only change them once every day.|

AN "This is perfect. I remember Sarah has a shovel in her inventory so that's a no-brainer. But what about the ability? Which one will be the best in this scenario?"

AN thinks about it for a couple of minutes and then an idea pops up in their head.

AN "I got it! I'll choose this one!"

AN makes their choice and turns to the exit of the room. They are nervous, but it must be done.

AN slip out and shut the door tight. Looking around, there's but the smell of burnt dirt and ash everywhere. AN can still feel the heat that the blast left behind.

They put their hands on their antennae and move them forward and back to the center. The antennae then move on their own in a certain direction.

AN "Ok. So that's north."

AN grabs a couple of bright green berries from their sachet. They then eat the berries quickly without chewing.

AN "Nice, everything is so much brighter now. Thank you light berries!"

Light berries are common berries found on Caverrin soil and many Castastrians always hold them on hand as they can be very useful during the night. They have the miraculous ability to increase the capability of a creature's light receptors tenfold, allowing them to see in the dark.

AN begins digging and notices something amusing.

AN "Wait, this is so easy! It's like I'm scooping through jelly!"

AN easily digs through a couple of meters into the group. They then cover the entrance to ensure no one finds the hole.

AN "Ok, I'm going north! Just hope I won't run into any dangerous critters."

20 minutes in.

So far, there's nothing but dirt and a couple of rocks.

An keeps digging but then something crawls out of the dirt.

It is a worm-like creature. Two more of its kind emerge in sequence.

These little guys are small blobby blue larvae that have 10 ten little legs on each side and their bodies covered with a sulfuric and slimy substance. They are roughly the size of a croissant and are the first stage of the Bromt fly's life cycle. The larvae are harmless and their slime can induce a sort of calming but hallucinogenic effect on Castastrians when eaten.

AN glad that they aren't the adults who are pretty aggressive and only the most experienced Bromt fly wranglers can tame or even handle them for that matter. Once tamed, they are like cattle and the Bromt fly's feces can be used as super fertilizers.

Bromt flies are large, the size of a rhino, and their appearances are similar. They have heavily armored carapaces all over except their underbelly and they also have a shovel-shaped horn between their eyes to cut prey and dig through the terrain.

AN goes toward the little guys and flips them over. AN then tickled their underside causing them to shake and all the slime to fall off. AN then collects the substance in a jar and puts the container in their sachet.

An flips them back upright, and they burrow into the ground. The digging continues.

40 mins in.

Another encounter, this time is a very dangerous threat. AN's eyes widen and carefully they back away.

They have never seen this creature before but have only seen its appearance in the rebel's creature database. Other than that, not much is known about this creature. However, what's shocking is that AN didn't expect this creature to still be alive since many Castastrians believe that it went extinct.

Everyone calls the creature a "Clock worm".

Looking at its appearances, it's similar to Earth's mealworm but larger and has black rings along the sides of its wriggling yellow body. It also has a pair of small brown compound eyes on its front and near its rear. Along the back of the creature are segments of spikes, each segment has two spikes that look a lot like the arms of a clock. Furthermore, there are like red vein-like mass that wraps around the spikes. According to the encyclopedia, these masses are believed to be nerves that allow the creature's spikes to be ultra-sensitive to touch. AN looks at the creature's front part, It has a mouth the shape of a long tube and it seems to be slurping on something.

AN slowly steps toward and takes a better look. It's sap! A sap of an Acar tree, infamously known to produce very poisonous globs of sap on its root. However, it seems to not affect the creature.

AN "Interesting. That's something to add to the encyclopedia. This is a discovery of a lifetime! Though, if this creature is immune to poison that would also mean..."

AN sees that the creature has noticed them, its head expands like a balloon. It's preparing an attack.

AN "... Shit!"

A stream of purple liquid jets from its tube toward AN. It misses and hits a nearby rock causing the object to dissolve almost instantly.

AN "That creature is acidic too! I need a way to get through!"

AN retreats out of the creature's sight.

A few seconds pass, and AN takes a peep at the creature. It returns to sucking the sap until there is no more.

AN "The thing likes its food more than attacking potential predators. Maybe... this can work!"

AN uses (Amelia) 4. Double. A fake sap appears on the other side of the wall, the clock worm eagerly goes towards it.

AN "Now!"

AN runs past the creature. Success! AN looks back and sees the creature is still trying to eat the sap.

AN "So, it doesn't have a sense of smell and has minor intelligence. I have to note this down."

AN grabs a piece of paper from their sachet and begins writing down the info.

AN "... there! All done! Now, let's keep digging."

60 minutes in.

AN digs into a large open space with many burrows along the walls. Their openings are outlined with a sticking yellow paste that smells like a combination of rose and tar.

AN's heart sinks. This place is

AN "A Bowlosis beetle's nest."

The place shakes as three fully grown beetles rush in.

They are the size of small cars and are pretty agile. Their carapace is a shiny brown color and their faces are similar to a dung beetle. On their backs are four small volcano-like structures made from their own exoskeleton and nerves. These parts are called "Pulgols".

Seeing AN as an intruder, Their pulgols produce a fleshy red ball. The beetle then grabs these balls and covers them with nearby terrain. AN prepare their shovel for combat.

AN "ARGH!"

One of the balls made of rocks and twigs accelerated and hit AN right in the stomach. They slam into the wall. AN can feel that some of their bones are broken. AN looks upward, their vision is blurry but they can see that their antennae are a bit bent.

AN "I need to run! Think AN think!"

Without a second thought, AN conjures up a fake tunnel on the floor. The three beetle becomes curious and attempts to enter it. They end up bumping into each other and they become furious.

A royal rumble of ball throwing begins, AN digs into the wall with all their strength to avoid contact with the dangerous objects.

AN digs and digs until they can't do anymore. They fainted.

90 mins in.

AN wakes up. Thanks to Castastrian biology, their bones regenerated. AN grabs the shovel, dig left, and direct their way north.

Eventually, AN runs into a steel wall.

AN "This is it!"

AN digs diagonally upward to the surface. They step on the beautiful bluegrass, it's the plains. The atmosphere is so refreshing compared to the crater AN was in.

They turn to the right and look at are at the giant gates of the camp. But for some reason, it is wide open. Alarmed by this, AN slowly enters and sees that the place is very deserted.

There was no one in the tents. No one in the small buildings. Not a single soul.

AN tries to be optimistic and moves toward the main building. The building is just like almost every other building on the planet, it looks like an anthill but is made of concrete and has a wooden door at its foot. AN heads into the first floor, both the floor and ceiling are circular and constructed with fine Acar wood which is commonly used in building these structures.

The room is very empty with the exception of small blinking lights in the corner. AN goes toward and sees that the lights are actually the cores they needed.

AN "Yes, got them!"

AN puts the cores into their sachet. They rearrange their antennae and call their friend.

AN "Hey, I got the cores. Thank you!"

?? "AN, RUN!!! GET AWAY FROM THERE!"

AN "Wha-

A large shadow looms over AN, and they slowly turn. To be greeted by a sinister smile, this person looks like he's about to bite AN's head off.

?? "Well. Well. Would you look at that? That smart ass was fucking dang right!"

AN snaps out of fear and stomps on the guy's foot before running out of the building.

?? "OUCH! WHY YOU LITTLE?!"

AN "Shit! Why is the second general here?!"

AN manages to find the hole and jump in. The second general follows after them.

General2 "Where are you going little rat?! COME HERE!"

The general leap and prepare to strike AN with some sort of scythe. Its entire handle is made of bone and the blade is made of volcanic rocks. The scythe's heel that connects the two parts, is made of flesh and is the shape of flowers. Four of them have eyes and are arranged like a diamond formation. The center of the diamond is a yellow translucent orb that pulses at random intervals emitting a wave of heat.

AN "Fuck!" "That thing's dangerous! I can't let it hit me."

The swing comes but it phases through the rebel. AN was able to make a fake copy of themself and escape.

General2 "Shit! What is this trickery?!" "Shit! Shit! Ya dangling shit! I need to stop this scythe before it hits the ground!"

The general, with both his two muscular legs, he pushes against the floor to stop the scythe. Luckily, he succeeds and it stops half away toward the floor.

General2 "Whew! Man, I'm an idiot! Using this darn weapon in here is stupid. Well, I guess I'll go with number two."

AN manages to reach the Bowlosis beetle nest, they are now sleeping. It appears that all the fighting caused them to tire out. AN takes this opportunity and tiptoe in silence passing the creatures and back through the hole AN first dug from.

The general enters the nest.

General2 "Where are you?! YOU LITTLE-

He looks at the beetles, they seem pissed that their naps are disturbed.

General2 "What are YOU LOOKING AT?!"

The general creates a massive roar.

It paralyzed the creatures in fear. SPLAT. AN hears the noise echoing toward them, followed by rapidly approaching footsteps.

AN "Shit! How did he defeat those beetles so fast?!"

AN sees the clock worm up ahead, it is still trying to suck the fake sap. A chance! AN removes that fake one and turns around.

AN "Hey! Take this!"

General2 "What are you thinking- Huh?! What is this?!"

The general is shocked to find that Acar tree sap has appeared on his chest. AN begins retreating further. The general tries to follow but is stopped by the clock worm.

General2 "Wait... what the hell are you?! After years of hunting, I have seen a darn creature like you before."

The general becomes excited and unequips his second weapon.

General2 "Come on! COME AT ME! This once-in-a-lifetime deal! I can't let this go to waste."

The clock worm springs forth and spews out a stream of acid.

General2 "Acid. Huh. No big deal."

He flawlessly dodges it and goes in for a claw strike. The worm weaves around his right arm with blinding speed.

General2 "WHAT?! IT DODGED IT! THIS FUCKING SPEED!"

He tries to rip off the creature with his left claw but it reacts faster than he could think. The worm coils some of the lengths to wrap his left arm as well. They are now tied up.

General2 "WHAT KIND OF FUCKING BULL FUCKITY REFLEX SHIT DOES THIS THING HAVE?!"

He screamed in his mind in anger as he hopelessly watch the worm stab its tube into his chest, eating his insides.

Meanwhile, after a couple of minutes pass. AN is almost at their destination.

Seeing the spot where AN buried the entrance, they prepare the shovel.

AN "Great! Then this nightmare will finally be over!"

Up and up, they go!

AN reaches the surface.

AN "Finally!"

AN grabs the doorknob-something grabs their foot.

General2 "Where... do... you... think... you're going?"

AN sees the general holding on to their foot. He looks exhausted and many of his muscles spasming out of control. AN sees the worm's corpse wrapped around his neck and notices the general's feet appear to be bloody.

AN "You monster."

General2 "Damn... fucking... right." "Dammit! I can barely hold on to this weakling! What kind of venom is this?!"

AN gives him a middle finger and reaches for something in their sachet.

General2 "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST-

Something went into his mouth.

It tastes sweet and for some odd reason, his anger mellows out and his vision becomes wacky.

General2 "Woah!... I.... wha... this darn.... shiiit..."

He falls and collapses back into a hole. AN smiles and opens the rusty door. They then close it shut and breathe a sigh of relief.

AN hope to never leave this place again.

(To be continued)