Volume 1: Path – [Full Awakening Arc]
Chapter 45: Misfortune
The water, which is flowing by attaching itself to the roof of the cave, is slowly coming down to where Caelus and Aiv are. To be precise, as they walked into the cave, as time passed and the distance they both walked increased, they noticed that the cave was getting smaller and smaller for them to walk because the water flow filling up the roof of the cave was swelling downward in heavy, rolling waves.
What had once been a high, distant stream now sagged so low it nearly brushed their heads when they were walking, so they had to bow their heads down to the ground and walk, and eventually they had to crawl forward, Caelus in the front and Aiv in the back with his leg working a bit properly right now; he could at least crawl, and this place has wet ground, so it is not hard, and it doesn't hurt them due to the ground they are crawling on.
"Aiv, are you good?" Caelus crawled a bit and looked back, where Aiv was crawling more slowly than Caelus.
Despite his leg having healed a bit, it is still hard to crawl or walk with that leg that is partially healed.
"I am good; don't worry about me, Caelus. You go forward and wait for me; I will come slowly."
"Why don't you use Leym energy to make it easy for you?"
"My reserves are low, right? Didn't you realize we are not getting any energy back, even though it's been so many hours since we came here?"
Leym energy can be restored automatically or absorbed from the air; it naturally takes a long time, but absorbing the energy from the air to restore it doesn't take that much time.
But ever since they were in this Abyss, they didn't get their energy reserves back; Caelus's energy reserves are still at 0, and Aiv's is 10% of his middle-stage rank 1 energy.
'Now that he says it is indeed true, I didn't care about it since I was focused on getting out of here with Aiv and taking care of him until he got healed.'
"Well, I just realized it now. This is so strange because Leym energy, according to books and what teachers said, exists everywhere, whether in a small hole or a big hole."
"Caelus, why did you have to mention holes? Didn't you get any other example to use? Well, anyway, because there is no way to restore the energy, I haven't used it, and if something were to happen, like any monster, beast, or demon were to come, I am going to preserve these little reserves. And also, you go forward; don't mind me. I will follow you back. Despite having an injured leg, I can still crawl right now, so you go."
"Then, be careful. I will wait for you. Shout out if anything is a problem; I will be there to help you."
"Sure."
As Caelus said, he crawled faster than before; before, he crawled slowly due to Aiv, but now he is going to go first and check the situation at the front.
After ten minutes of crawling straight, his gut already felt empty, and his mouth was so dry that he couldn't even open his mouth.
He felt his mind buggy; he didn't even have the energy to think with his mind.
For some reason, his mind is remembering the scenes where Aiv spoke about misfortune and bad luck.
Caelus felt depressed about it and was thinking that it all happened because of him.
He didn't even talk to himself in his mind because he was too exhausted to do that. Right now, he looks like a butterfly that was flying freely but then suddenly got caught by someone, only to struggle but can't get out of the hand, in the end giving up its life knowing it can't escape.
Just like how Caelus had a life of happiness only to get caught up in huge misfortune, causing him to struggle in his life and be on the verge of giving up again.
In a few minutes, he saw the water level touching the ground despite his being on the ground, crawling, but Caelus saw a light on the opposite side; the water speed here is not fast.
Just before entering, he felt a warm feeling coming out of his nose, and he realized it was his blood because that is the only thing that can make him feel warm.
He knew why it was coming out; it was because of his illness. After becoming half-awakened, Caelus realized the illness didn't come out.
But now he realized why: 'It is because, as a Half-awakened, my body is changing into something and that has stopped the illness for some time, but then due to me pushing to my limits and doing things that surpass my limits, the illness is coming out again.'
'So, in the end, I am fated to die from the beginning to the end. I mean, it is a good thing for the people around me, but for now, until I help Aiv get out of this place, I will not die, after helping him get out of this place then I can die peacefully.' With that in his mind, he didn't care about rubbing the blood out of the way because it was a waste of stamina; he was already low in it right now, and if he were to do any moves, then it would go super low.
Caelus crawled into the mist water by holding his breath and closing his eyes and mouth.
He can't see anything right now. The crystal leaf box was given to Aiv back there, so it could be helpful to him; since the path is straight, it is not a problem to Caelus. And also since Mist Water is required to drink through mouth or any part, then Caelus is not gonna be in danger until he opens his mouth in the middle of travel.
Caelus moved forward relentlessly, even with blood flowing out of his nose increasing, and now it even started coming out of his ears.
Caelus can hold his breath for a maximum of 15 seconds, and already 10 seconds have passed, but he doesn't know where he is. He moved fast; he got up on his feet and ran fast, but water can make running slower, but that is better than crawling on the ground faster.
The 15 seconds were over, but Caelus didn't reach it yet, but he was near it. He held on for five more seconds; he came out of the water as he fell on the ground with his clothes being wet and his skin becoming pale. There is no blood on his face since the water washed away the blood.
But blood started pouring out from both ears and eyes.
Caelus struggled to get up from the ground his face facing the ground, and blood puring out onto the ground, he couldn't get up, his whole body is stacked up with problems right now.
Thirsty, Illness, body pains, low stamina, and broken mind.
Just then, he heard Aiv's voice, "Caelus." Aiv used his 5% leym energy reserves to quickly come towards Caelus, who had fallen down.
Caelus only heard Aiv's voice like a whisper; he couldn't hear much, as his ears are bleeding and damaged due to the illness he has, and he can't even look back to look at Aiv; he is in pain right now.
Caelus is groaning as his face is buried in the ground, "agh." The pain is more intense than in previous times.
He crawled forward; he didn't know where he was moving. In his eyes, in front of him, there is a huge smoke coming from something, and that is spread in this whole place, and some is flowing into the caves that are all around this place.
He is hearing a faint voice calling him, and he can't trace where it is coming from; the voice is filled with desperate worry.
From Aiv's perspective, the moment he came to the inner cave where mist water is coming from, he saw mist everywhere flowing through different caves, and in the middle, where fog is coming out, there is a huge crystal sphere ball in a grey-white color inside that sphere.
Caelus is on the ground, and with his condition, he can't see anything but Aiv, who saw it and has a face of shock, but he immediately calmed down and ran towards Caelus. As he came to Caelus, he called out to him, "Caelus... Caelus, are you good?"
"I... I..." Caelus's voice is not coming out of his mouth; consciousness is slipping out.
"Just stay like this; I am going to search for something here. If only we had good luck instead of this misfortune, we would have gotten some water bottles to drink by now."
Caelus heard the words that Aiv just said right now because Aiv said those words when he was near Caelus's ears.
"Isn't it, Caelus? If you had died from the beginning, there wouldn't have been a problem for me; I would have gotten some luck, and I would have gotten out of this shithole by now." Those words echoed right inside Caelus's ears; those last words were said and heard much more clearly than the previous sentence.
[End Of Chapter 45]