After gathering enough rations to last a few days, Diven left his hideout and started following the river. It only took him a few dozen minutes to reach farther into the valley than he ever had before.
The further he advanced, the sparser the vegetation became. The giant pine trees, whose canopies once covered the sky, gave way to smaller, more modest trees.
[They’re following us.]
Div quickly noticed signs that several groups of faceless were on their trail. He wasn’t sure how many there were, they always seemed to keep their distance.
(At least, they are not in front of us. As long as we keep moving, we’ll be fine.)
[Yes, I can’t be bothered to hunt them down.]
Perhaps Div and En were becoming overconfident.
But, so far, the faceless had not proved strong enough to warrant their attention. The only issue was their number, but even then the largest group they had encountered was half a dozen strong; not enough to worry them.
After walking for several hours, they decided to take a short break With no idea how long the journey to the exit would be, they were in the mind to be conservative of their energy.
They ate some fish they had dried in preparation for the trip and filled their water gourd.
Not even ten minutes after sitting down on a rock, a group of five faceless appeared from over a small hill behind them.
Diven stood up and grasped his spear.
(Why are they doing that? We have killed so many of them already. Do they not realize they can’t take us on?)
[They’re rift monsters, not exactly a high standard of intelligence.]
(Still, they should have some survival instinct.)
[Swarmlings don’t.]
(True, but they’re not behaving like swarmling either. That’s weird.)
They dispatched their attackers with ease. Their training hadn't been in vain; this level of attack was no longer a threat.
With the corpses lying in the snow, they didn’t feel like staying and resumed their travel down the river.
Beyond leveling up skills, there were two major ways to enhance one's body. First, raising a skill to the next rank, something Diven hadn’t managed yet. Second, completing a facet. For his age, this was one of Diven’s biggest accomplishments. He hadn’t heard of anyone completing so many in less than half a year.
Some particularly talented children managed to evolve a skill in a few months, but completing facets didn’t rely on talent. It was a matter of work, perseverance, overcoming danger, and if Diven was honest with himself, being in the right place at the right time.
All of this to say, Diven was physically strong. Much, much stronger than he was a few months ago. Adding his skill to that, he was quite the menace for Basic Rank monsters.
Thankfully, they hadn’t met an Evolved Rank monster.
[Actually, I’m curious to see if we could handle a weaker Evolved Rank.]
(That’s the worst idea you’ve ever had.)
[I don’t know… I’m sure we could win against someone with an Evolved Rank pottery skill.]
(Monsters tend to not learn pottery. Unfortunately.)
[Fine, maybe we can’t beat an Evolved Rank monster just yet. But at least we are stronger than all the others our age in Kheiron!]
(You think so?)
[Of course! Look—Alexios, was it? I’m sure he jumped on a sun magic facet. These take so long to complete. Cassandra was so dedicated to her Facet of the Mind Mage and it still took months.]
(I don’t know, the clan has many sun mages who can teach him.)
[Still! It’s the same with Zoe.]
(Don’t you think Philon could match us? His bloodline is tailored for fighting.)
[Bah, there’s no way he fought as much as we did.]
En was skeptical, but he let Div have his opinion. It was fine for his other half to think they were strong. As long as he was there to convince him not to throw his life away.
A few hours later, they reached a waterfall. It was the first real obstacle along the river. So far, they had been able to simply walk along the shore without too many difficulties. But now, faced with a vertical cliff they couldn’t scale down, they would have to find another way.
(The view is nice.)
From atop the waterfall, they could see further into the distance. The river continued toward the horizon. Below the cliff, the forest gave way to the tundra. It was too far to see correctly, but trees had been replaced with low bushes.
[It looks quite dense. I hope it's not hard to walk over there]Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
(Let’s take a break before we find our way down.)
[Good idea. I don’t know how we’re going to find a path…]
The cliff was too steep to descend. The only option was to take the long way around. But they didn’t know in which direction.
They sat on the edge, careful not to fall over, and inspected the landscape. The roar of the waterfall filled their ears. Awed by nature’s power, Div and En couldn’t help but stare at the shimmering mist in the basin.
It was beautiful.
After taking in the view, they stood up and started walking along the cliff, looking for a way down.
They didn’t make it far before they encountered a new problem.
[Those faceless are everywhere.]
In front of them, blocking the way was a group of ten faceless. If they had eyes, they would be staring at Diven.
(They know we’re here.)
[We can take them.]
(Ten is a bit much, let’s try the other direction.)
They turned around and made their way back to the fall to check out the other side of the river. If they could find a path without fighting, it would be for the best.
(That’s concerning.)
[We should fight.]
Back at the waterfall, they found another group of faceless waiting for them. At least, they were on the other side of the river so they didn’t engage in combat directly.
(There are fifteen of them. We can’t fight that!)
[How did they get so numerous?]
(It’s weird. With so many of them, you’d think we’d have noticed them before we found Cassandra’s cave.)
[Doesn’t matter, what do we do now?]
(Maybe we can avoid…)
En interrupted his thought when he noticed a third group approaching from upstream. They were surrounded. On one side, a large number of faceless, on the other the waterfall’s cliff.
[We can take them, En. Don’t worry.]
(I guess we don’t have a choice now.)
Diven’s two minds’ shifted their focus to combat as the teenager moved toward the closest group of faceless. There were too many to count.
With ruthless efficiency, his spear plunged into the body of his enemies. The Fifth Direction allowed him to dodge most attacks, as long as he wasn’t surrounded. Furthermore, it made it hard for the monsters to react to Diven’s attacks
Still, the number of faceless was concerning. The ones on the other side of the river had swam across the water, uncaring for their safety. So close to the edge of the cliff, Diven could swear a few of them were swept away by the current, tumbling over the waterfall.
While their incompetence was a good thing, their determination to reach him was concerning.
After each strike, a faceless fell, and another took its place. The tide was endless. Diven was up against a real army. In the distance, he could see new bodies coming to reinforce their ranks.
(How are there so many?!)
[Don’t know. Focus!]
One more kill, and another, and another. Diven wasn’t even taking any hits.
[It’s like they aren’t even trying.]
(Really? With how many they throw at us, it’s hard to believe.)
[It’s just that, they have no tactic. They just get close to us and die.]
But even with the lack of power behind the faceless horde, Diven only had so much energy to spare. Even with his newfound strength, he was still human—and he couldn't fight forever.
His movements slowed, his muscles ached, and his mind fogged with exhaustion.
(We need a solution.)
[You’re right. There are just too many of them.]
But what solution?
On one side, a seemingly endless amount of faceless. On the other, a cliff. There was no solution.
Visualizing the fifth direction was starting to take a toll on Div and En’s minds. Soon, their matchless agility was replaced by a battle of position. They stood their ground, slashing their bone spear at the attackers.
(If only we still had our shield…)
With each passing moment, they were being pushed back toward the fall.
[We’re not going to make it.]
(I can see that, Div. Focus on fighting instead of demoralizing us.)
[No. I mean, we’re going to be pushed over the edge.]
(I. Know.)
[So… How about we jump by ourselves.]
(...)
[En?]
(Have you lost it?)
[If we’re going to fall down the cliff, I’d rather land in the water. I don’t know how deep the basin below is, but maybe…]
(Oh…)
It was their only chance. Staying rooted in place had allowed some faceless to scratch them with their claws. Diven’s arms were bleeding and he kept receiving more injuries.
In a last bid to survive, Div and En pushed themselves to process The Fifth Direction and find the quickest way toward the water. It was hard, but each level in that skill allowed them to see further along the mystical direction.
It was only five steps to the river’s edge.
A swipe of their spear took down three faceless blocking the way.
One.
With their left shoulder, they pushed aside a faceless jumping onto them.
Two.
A falling faceless grabbed onto their leg. They shook it off, but its claws had pierced their calf.
Three.
Wincing in pain, they stabbed their spear into the head of the last faceless blocking their way to the river.
Four.
A faceless claw furrowed deep into their back, carving trenches into their skin.
Five.
They let themselves fall into the water, the current carrying them toward the edge of the cliff.
Behind them, the horde of faceless threw themselves in the river in a bid to catch up to Diven.
Before either Div or En could register it, they were falling.
There was water everywhere—but they were falling through air. Water pelted them from every direction, disorienting them. All they could think about was to clutch their spear. They couldn’t afford to lose it.
Their feet hit the basin first, then their body plunged into the water. They couldn’t even register the pain. They were deep, they had to swim up.
Yet, as soon as they tried to pull themselves upward, a faceless fell upon them, and countless more were falling underwater in a rain of bodies.
Diven swam away from where he’d fallen, finally able to raise his head outside. He took a deep breath and kept swimming toward the shore. He couldn’t afford to linger. Some faceless hadn’t survived the fall—but many had, and they were coming for him.
[I’m switching to Echoes of the Rot Heart. We need to close those wounds.]
(Sure, I’m not going to enjoy that disgusting pus the skill is creating. But we need to.)
[Maybe it’ll scare the faceless away. If they’re after a meal, they may not want to eat rotten food.]