They quickly climbed the hill and ran through the forest. They ran without looking back, with fear in our hearts that the abyssal would have rapidly killed Beirut and was running behind us.

We ran to almost a day and finally stopped.

We didn’t stop because we wanted to, but because Lana collapsed on the ground. She was suppressing the wounds from the battle with her ki, but there was a limit to everything. The attack from the abyssal had nasty energy that clung to the person and didn’t disappear over time. I could get rid of my wounds because I had a basic understanding of the concept of space, but Lana didn’t have it.

I quickly realized what had happened to her and projected my origin energy to get rid of it. Lily used some water techniques to stabilize the wounds while I took the energy out of them. We stood in place for 2 hours and completed Lana’s healing. She stood up as if nothing had happened, even though she had a pale face and continued to walk.

***

The forest was endless, and the red light coming from the sun was contributing to the gloomy mood.

The team was running without stopping for almost four days now. We only stopped some times to eat something or to quickly catch our breaths. Even Lily was persisting this time, it is evident that her body was in shambles, but even so, she continued. The atmosphere was not one of the best. We only ran and stopped to identify if there was any other danger around.

We had evaded their enemy’s sight. Beirut’s sacrifice earned them enough time to accomplish that. The Abyssal that attacked us was not a tracker and had to wait for the army to arrive and attack with them. This fact, together with the abyssal being stalled, gave us enough room to get out of there. We insisted on not stopping because there could still be scouts in search of us. It was better to be safe them sorry.

I had to use my origin energy to expel the energy left in my wounds to heal them. I used my soul force to feel the concept of space left in his energy, and even had a breakthrough, bringing my concept of space to the peak of the mortal level. This breakthrough was minor but helped me in fortifying my concept of destruction.

Everyone was having a hard time, and even I was a bit tired after so much running. The sun was setting on the horizon, and we finally decided to stop and rest for the night. We made a camp and prepared an animal that we luckily found while running around. The meat was cooking over the fire, and the delicious smell was all over the place. The succulent juices dripped on the ground, making the meat even more alluring. Even though this sight was before us, no one was in the mood to be excited about it, even resting now seemed dull without Beirut.

He was a lively man and always waited for the food to be ready with excitement in his eyes. We all laughed at his antics during the meals. Being seated beside this bonfire, without having him with us was depressing. Lana got up from her seat and stood before the fire, the extended her hand and picked one of the barbecues.

“Beirut was a happy man, and he cheered everyone up, do you think he would like to see us this sad during a meal? Let’s eat with gusto, and remember him as the good man he was.” She took a big bite and began to eat the meat quickly. Everyone nodded their heads and began to eat. Even though the situation was awkward, it was better after what Lana said. We should live and escape from this hell hole in memory of what Beirut did for us.

This was the first time that I lost someone close to me, the first time a friend had died. I cried while eating the meat and silently swore to be powerful enough to destroy the abyssal that killed him.

The night passed, and I only took a quick nap. Everyone could barely sleep this night, after all, the threat of death was still hovering above us. The light from the sun rose, and I opened my eyes. I realized that I couldn’t sleep and meditated that night. Enhancing my soul force and origin energy made my body became revitalized, I got up and stretched my body, feeling all the energy circulating through me.

Everyone was already getting up and organizing their things. There was almost nothing to do because we were ready to run any time, the essentials were always left packed and ready to go.

The group was soon walking through the forest again, and looking to the horizon. They were just running without aim these last few days, getting away from the abyssal’s was the priority now.

The group finally relaxed a bit after so long, but the relaxation was only physical, not mental. Our minds were running like a wild horse running from its predator.

The days passed, and the group finally settled quietly after some time. There was no signal of being followed by the abyssal’s, and the abyssal energy was becoming thinner compared to these last weeks.

The Abyssal invasion was finally ending.

Without the boost of abyssal energy, the most powerful ones would return to the lower floors, and the weaker would populate the higher floors. The situation was pretty much as we predicted, surviving the first weeks would be hell, but afterward, it was only a matter of waiting.

I practiced and trained every day. Lana trained sword with me, and I meditated on the concepts at night. There was not much to do.

I felt that the conclusion of the abyssal invasion was lacking. I wanted to kill the abyssal that killed Beirut and throw his head at the abyssal fortress. However, somethings didn’t happen as we expected. In the end, I only had third-tier origin energy and fifth-tier soul force. I still had much to grow. I knew that even if my concepts all evolved to the domain level, and my origin energy was at the fifth-tier, I still couldn’t kill that Abyssal. He had the concept of space at the earth level, much more powerful than I could even imagine.

He was even restricted to the fourth-tier of his cultivation to come here….

I got these thoughts out of my head and concentrated on what I was doing. There was another problem… The concepts of space and time were advancing pretty well, but the concept of darkness stopped at the peak of the mortal level. It didn’t matter what I did. I couldn’t get it to the domain level. But at least I could use my battle techniques much more smoothly now. Lana taught me how to apply some techniques that I learned, and now they were used almost as a reflex.

The time quickly passed, and we could finally leave the fourth floor. I looked at the red sun above us, and at the dense forest in our surrounds. I was getting used to the strange flora. Even this place had its beauty. However, some memories of this place would never disappear.

We could finally see the dimensional stairs in the distance. Many divers were coming to kill and harvest materials from the abyssal’s. Some even had a powerful presence that was here to “clean” the mess left by the abyssal’s.

I talked with silver, and he told me that divers from lower floors had the agreement to no attack the abyssal city. Some old monsters could undoubtedly destroy the city with one strike, but these powerhouses were so rare that something like that happening was unlikely, and there was also the matter that the abyssal city was used to cultivate more powerful divers.

I didn’t agree with many things, but there was nothing I could do with my actual power.

We approached the stairs, and I gave a last look at the fourth floor. I didn’t know when I was going to be back here, but it would surely take some time until I came back.

I entered the stairs and felt the space distorting around me.

***

I left the shower and changed into a set of clean clothes. It has been a long time since I last took a proper shower and slept on a real bed. I laid on the bed and felt the soft sheets beneath my back.

It was like I was laying on heaven, and the fluffy clouds in the sky were my bed.

I woke up and felt rested like I wasn’t in a long time. Sleeping was good but unnecessary. I was often having dreams of destruction and slaughters. In those dreams, I was always the killer, and nothing stood on my path. They began just sometime after Beirut was killed, and I thought these were the consequences of my suppressed rage.

One day I will surely come back and kill that abyssal.

I left the bed and did my morning necessities. After that, I got into a new set of clothes and left the hotel. I went toward a restaurant where I would meet my friends.

I walked through the crowded streets and saw many people on it. I looked toward a balcony and saw a woman attending a customer. Remembering about Hannah and imagined what she was going through right now. She was on my mind most of the time. While I was on the abyss, I remembered the tenderness of her lips and wanted to taste them at least a last time before I died. And I truly believed that I would die down there some times.

I arrived in front of a tavern and entered it. The place was made entirely of wood, a strange contrast to the big rock buildings surrounding it. I entered through the door and saw that despite it being morning, there were already some customers. I looked around and found the three of them in the corner of the tavern. There were already big cups of ale on the wooden table, and they were talking when I arrived. Silver, being attentive as always, noticed my arrival and waved to me. I walked to them and sat at one of the empty chairs.

“Hey Ullach, we were discussing where we could go next.” Said Lily, while having some written options on an open notebook. I looked over them and looked at the possibilities.

Many were about places where monsters usually appeared in big quantities, and others were about big cities that were about to go to war. The second ones were pretty dangerous options in my opinion. Fighting against the same race was ofter much harder than going against a monster. I wished I could stay in the abyss fortress for longer, but the whole team agreed that we needed some time out of this place, mainly after what happened in there.

One of the options was going to the north…. I remembered about Hannah and how much I wanted to see her. I was also missing my master’s, but our relationships were different. The bond I developed with Hannah was unique, and I had nothing like that in my whole life.

“I am more inclined to go to the north,” I said after looking over the options. One of the missions we could do in the north was to help one of the local powers in a fight. They were recruiting adventurers that could help in the battle against the other faction. At least that was written on Lily’s notebook.

The group looked at me, and everyone considered for a moment.

“The north is a good option, even though it might be dangerous; war is where adventurers grow the most,” Lana said after pondering for a while.

I was excited after seeing that Lana agreed to my proposition, of course, we would have to pick sides and prepare as best as we could before departing. But having her consent almost guarantee that we would go to the north.

We finished the discussion, and by the end, we decided that we would go to the north!