Soul Digger-Chapter 70: SURVIVORS POV PT 2

About ten to fifteen minutes passed, or so I think. The fifteen Indulgers of the Stunted Lesion heard my explanation, dwindling between disbelief and belief.

"Let’s say we believe your story. Do you have any proof you’re rookies of the Eerie Gothel?" the man who tossed me the ID inquired. "Surely your faction couldn’t have sent you here without some sort of identification."

He was right. "I don’t have any form of ID on me."

"So why should we believe you?"

I stretched out my hand and opened my palm. "Just because I don’t have an ID doesn’t mean I can’t prove my faction. Try and clasp my palm." The confidence I exuded spoke volumes.

Reginald came to my front, pushed Herdrick back, and stretched his palm as well. Before our skin could make contact, the sharp point of a small glowing pin pierced through my flesh, sending a jolt towards him.

He recoiled, gripping his hand with a pained face. His colleagues circled me immediately, each on the verge of ending my life.

"Stop!" he commanded.

They paused in the nick of time. Nothing happened, but within my chest, a slamming pain struck repeatedly. Sweat ran down my cheek; if it weren’t for Reginald’s actions, I’d have been a corpse in half a second.

I gulped and stretched a faint smirk. "Thanks for that."

Reginald looked at me, his brow hanging low. "No problem."

He cleared his throat. "So you’re telling me the Eerie Gothel sent its freshmen to a place like this as a... trial?" His question was simple, but something more intricate lingered within it.

I took occasional glimpses of the other Indulgers present; all of them seemed either confused or bewildered, which made me uncomfortable. Truly, was investigating the spike of Wavelength all we came for? Questions such as that bubbled up within me.

"Yes," I answered.

Herdrick gasped for a second, then wore a composed look right after, shifting his gaze to Reginald; they communicated through stares.

"Where are the rest of your team?"

I was slightly reluctant to answer Reginald’s question; revealing the location of my sleeping teammates was a reckless action. However...

"They’re resting in a house somewhere around here. Like I explained before, both of us here are lost."

Reginald scratched his temples, frustration marking his face under the poor lighting of the glowing moon. "Not just you. Some of our faction members separated from us, and now we’re separated."

"Before that happened, we heard a strange clicking sound. I don’t know how, but a strong blizzard hit us and we separated. The few you see here are only half our manpower," he explained.

"How many members of the Stunted Lesion faction are present here?"

"Thirty in total," Herdrick answered.

I could feel my jaw stinging from within my cheeks, as though the cold kept slapping me repeatedly. No, it wasn’t the cold, but rather the disturbing feeling I got trying to comprehend just what was going on and what actually lurked beneath the trial.

"Are you Awakened yet?" Reginald questioned.

"No, unfortunately. Neither is my colleague."

"Another thing..." His gaze fell below me. "Why did you think it was a smart decision to wear high heels on a snow expedition?"

"Various reasons, but now they’re all kinda meaningless." I scratched my head with an embarrassed expression.

Reginald shrugged and walked towards the remnants of where they camped, while Herdrick kept a monitoring glare on me.

"Uhmm... if I may ask, who was the Indulger responsible for my teammate’s condition?" I asked politely; I couldn’t risk stirring up my situation further.

"That would be me." One of the Indulgers behind me pulled off their hood. A redhead with sort of charming features and a straight jawline.

He was a decent feast for my eyes. "If you don’t mind, can you tell me what you did to him? He’s not moving."

He spoke with a serious expression as he smoothed his silky hair. "It’s just my ability. He’ll be fine. Give him a few minutes."

"Oh, okay."

’I’m kind of curious what that ability is anyway.’

"So what now?" Herdrick’s thick voice vibrated in my ears.

"You guys should undo the forcefield so we can meet the rest of our teammates."

"Forcefield?" He looked puzzled by the words, as though I spat out gibberish. "What forcefield? There’s no forcefield placed here."

I widened my eyes, the words a heavy burden pressing against my sanity.

"None of us here are capable of creating force fields or barriers. The Stunted Lesion Indulgers are mainly Disease and Biology oriented," he further defined. "For example, your friend was hit with Simon’s ’Closed Progress’ ability."

"Once his spiritual doors slam against a living thing, it can inflict any illness and amplify it as much as possible. By the looks of it, your colleague has amplified asthma and gout. Am I right, Simon?"

"Please stop revealing my ability’s mechanics."

"My bad." Fredrick burst into an awkward laugh.

The more I interacted with them, the less confidence I had. During my two years of Indulger training, this was the first time I felt so terrified within yet forced myself to hide it; something dense was eating me up inside.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Reginald furrowed his brows in intensity. "It’s back."

My knuckles shuddered, legs quaking, but I wore a prepared aura around me; the angry scowl I drew was a deceiving mask to the others. Herdrick and the others readied an attack stance. Simon pressed his hand beneath the snow and focused.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

The increasing sound was like a ticking time bomb, plunging fear deeper into my heart. I wasn’t ready to die, not after I got so far. Such a clear, bright road awaited me as an Indulger; I couldn’t give that up to become wasted in a freezing place like this! So many regrets, questions, and thoughts swept through my mind at once. I could feel my brain slamming against my skull like a headache.

"Haaaaa..." I exhaled, the air escaping my lips warm.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK.

It ceased.

But we didn’t drop our guard for an instant. Reginald was still at their camp spot. Carefully, he tiptoed through the snow, heading towards the rest of the group.

I heard the air split, accompanied by a quick merge of a crunching and squishing sound. Reginald froze in place, a shocked expression boldly displayed on his face. Slowly, his body and head tilted in opposite directions, spraying out a fountain of blood like a final cry.

The ground drowned in Reginald’s red fluids, tainting the snow.

"Reginald!" Herdrick shrieked.

The brief moment he dropped his composure, his body split clean in two; a sharp crunch and squish from his ripping flesh were his final goodbyes.

I’m not sure why, but I swung my fist in the opposite direction, and by a stroke of good luck, my knuckles slammed against something.

BANG!

The wind cried as the air swayed from the impact of my blow.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a strong burst of heavy snow sprang from beneath our feet. The force tore us apart; white snow blurred my vision as I felt the heavy snow crushing my skin, the frost like being pierced repeatedly by long needles.

THUD!

I crashed my head against the gathered snow that somewhat cushioned my fall. Sore, dry coughs poured out of my throat; the area was covered by the powdery white snow like a blanket.

"DAMN IT!"

"AGGGH!"

"NO!"

"AHHHH!"

Various cries and screams polluted the previously peaceful environment. I covered my ears, trying to block out the traumatizing noises; only white dust filled my vision. "It’s over..." I whispered to myself.

"What the hell is going on..."

I heard a familiar voice I had grown close to in a short time—it was Martin’s! He groaned and moaned weakly, but I couldn’t find him. ’He must just be recovering!’

I turned back to see if maybe he was behind me. Instead of his usual build, I saw a being completely different: the cause of all the calamity occurring and possibly the orchestrator of the North Pole’s misfortune.

My eyes were stuck in place. The creature glowed with a red and white energy that wrapped its seemingly formless body, holding a large blade triple my body size, and a dark, featureless face adorned by visible Wavelength in the form of a Christmas cap pattern. The snowflakes danced to its presence’s whims.

If anything, it resembled a highly evolved Soul Drainer—a humanoid one, to be exact—but its Wavelength and power were levels I could hardly comprehend. On top of that, I was Unawakened. No matter what way I chose to look at it, I was screwed.

’To make matters worse, it picked me out of the others, meaning it was aware I was the weakest Indulger present aside from the barely conscious Martin.’

Death looked inevitable, though if I was going to die in a lonely place like this, I would go out in a furious blaze, giving it all I had. I set an attack stance, releasing the Wavelength from my body; compared to his, it was like a mighty giant facing off against an ant.

In a battle of supernatural abilities, I’d easily get instantly killed; thus, my plan was simple. I took a single step, pressed my feet against the ground, and launched towards it. The Soul Drainer tactically stepped back and swung its huge blade towards my ribs.

In mid-air, I coiled like a twisted wire and dodged. The cold metal grazed my uniform; the Wavelength felt like electric sparks on my skin. Landing on the snow, I wasted no time going forward. A faint blue aura hugged my fist as I fired a heavy punch that connected to its chest.

CLANG!

RIIIIIING!

My Wavelength swirled and dispersed into luminant orange fragments on impact, sending it flying several feet back. The Soul Drainer dug its sword into the snow to apply friction and reduce the distance.

My fist was bruised, but at least I inflicted damage. At the same time, my vision began to weaken, and my stamina slumped greatly until I careened near the snow. The damage I thought I inflicted was nothing more than sizzling smoke that didn’t even leave a scratch.

I chuckled disappointingly at myself. "That’s all I have." My eyes drained of life.

The creature took its time closing the distance between us with a mocking gait. ’I exhausted too much Wavelength on that one blow. At least I confirmed it has a physical body... but what’s the use of that information now?’

The Soul Drainer reached me, looking down on me physically and figuratively. Forget withstanding a single one of its blows; my body was a victim of the blowing cold. One strike would easily make my remains a painting on the snowy canvas.

I couldn’t do anything but accept my fate.

"Velonica!" Martin’s voice called to me from the blanket of snow.

Simon aided him to stand as they escaped the powdery snow. Without a moment’s hesitation, a door appeared at the Soul Drainer’s torso and shut.

Immediately, the creature stumbled down, using its huge blade as a crutch. Martin let go of Simon and rushed towards me before embracing me in a tight hug.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?!" he asked in a panicked and worried voice, hyperventilating at the same time.

Something glittered in my eyes as I responded softly, "I should be asking you the same."

"Now’s not the time!" Simon yelled. "Get out of there now!"

Martin and I threw ourselves to the farther side. Using both fingers, Simon conjured a giant sliding door above the Soul Drainer.

"Spiritual Abnormality!"

’Even if you somehow survive this or respawn, your Wavelength, body, and soul will never attain full health or functionality. If I can’t kill you, I’ll have to subdue that transcendent potential of yours!’

The door slid shut like an executioner’s axe; the collision forced the cold air and thick snow to implode as a result. Martin and I could barely survive being tossed away by the wind, our bodies too exhausted to withstand the pressure.

Two minutes passed, and the explosion settled down. Simon was partly obscured by the snow. He knelt down, his body a compilation of dry bone and maggots. A heart-wrenching sight; we hadn’t known each other for even an hour, yet he sacrificed himself to stop the Soul Drainer and save us.

"This is what it means to be an Indulger," I muttered. The previous disdain I felt for our leader being incompetent was redirected to myself.

More ironically, the frail sun rose from beneath the horizon, barely illuminating our appearance. From the snow, another creature leaped out in an attempt to ambush us.

Martin swung a heavy backhand and swiped the thing away; the creature rolled and dug back into the snow. It was then that a spike of different Wavelengths started to linger in the air, stronger than it was before.

"Velonica... If you have any strength left, run!"

My legs could carry me to a reasonable distance, but I wasn’t going to abandon Martin. I lied to him, saying I was too weak to move a muscle; instead, I forced myself up.

"We’re going to have to fight together," I blurted out the words hanging in my chest.

Martin was skeptical but gave in eventually. "Just be careful. You’re too beautiful to die."

"And you have a long life ahead of you to throw it away here," I replied.

The snowy dust settled, exposing hundreds... no, thousands of dwarf-like man-eaters, each with various weapons. Their appearance was similar to the first, except for their short height and pointed ears. To me, they resembled a demonic version of elves from the Christmas stories I heard as a child.

Martin stood in front of me with a sturdy stance. "I changed my mind. I’ll hold them off; just run and warn the others." The breeze toyed with his features.

"But..."

"No buts. Someone has to warn the others. One of us has to go. You’re too weak to fend them off; I’ll use what little strength I have to buy as much time."

"What about you?" The words felt heavy, weighing on my heart and mind.

"I’ll keep fighting them off. If you run quickly, there’s a chance reinforcements will come and help me. So run and don’t waste time, please." He smiled. "You’re too beautiful to die in a place like this."

I grit my teeth and dug my fingernails into the snow; he was too damn right. I turned with pained movements and forced myself to dash through the snow. My bones ached greatly, and carrying my body was a burden, yet I pushed forward for the sake of his request.

SIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

A splitting sound reverberated in my ear.

"Velonica...!"

A sharp edge with glistening light glimpsed my eyes. Everything slowed down. I couldn’t see what it was exactly, but I knew it was a slicing blade headed towards my neck. Within milliseconds, it was only an inch away from cutting my head in half. The Wavelength felt like sparks as a teardrop ran down my cheek.

SNAP!

BOOM!