Gideon was stunned for a moment before he finally understood what she meant. He laughed and broke into a jog after her, quickly catching up.
He grabbed her hand and said, "You think I'm going to stop there? I'm the man here, you know."
"Hmph," Summer snorted. "Then be man enough to say it to my mom's face when you take my virginity."
Even though half her face was covered by the mask, Gideon knew she was blushing.
He leaned closer and whispered into her ear, "I'll say it when I get you pregnant."
Summer gasped and stopped in her tracks. "Are you serious?! Ugh. I mean, I do want a kid, but… never mind."
"Why?" Gideon asked. "Are you scared they won't live happily?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Look at this world. It's nothing but sand."
"We drink water taken from monsters that feed on human flesh. There have to be side effects. I read somewhere that cannibals have the possibility of having kuru disease."
Gideon smiled and messed up her hair gently. "You don't need to worry about that. If we ever have kids, I won't let them eat or drink that kind of thing."
"Hmph. We'll see." Summer crossed her arms lightly. "My mom says all men do is lie."
"That's not fair," Gideon laughed. "You shouldn't generalize us like that."
She didn't answer, but her mood clearly lifted. She hummed softly as they walked, her hand still holding onto his. Side by side, they made their way toward the ruined city where Gideon first met Freya.
"This is the Deliric Desert, right?" Gideon asked. "Freya said it's a Free Faction area. What does that mean?"
"Oh, so you really don't know anything," Summer said.
She led him toward one of the skyscrapers. The windows were shattered, and they slipped inside, walking through a hallway that somehow still held together.
"Factions are basically groups trying to act like governments," she explained. "People band together to survive, make rules, control land. This part of the desert doesn't belong to anyone. No faction claims it."
Gideon nodded. He understood the basics. He would ask later when they came out of this building alive…
The lower they went, the more damaged everything looked. He trusted Summer, but the thought of a collapsing skyscraper worried him far more than anything else.
Some sections of the building had already been swallowed by sand, forcing them to take a different route. Crawling through the narrow passage was far from easy.
Gideon quickly realized that his body had grown larger and more muscular since arriving in this world.
It was probably the system's doing, maybe meant to make him look more appealing to women, but right now it was nothing but a disadvantage. He kept getting stuck.
"Damn," Summer muttered behind him. "I know how sexy your muscles are, but I really wish you could shrink them in situations like this."
By the time they reached the end of the cramped passage, Gideon was properly wedged in. Summer had to grab him and pull with all her strength before he finally slid free.
"Sorry about that," Gideon said as he straightened up and looked around.
The space they had entered was enormous. Thick tendrils covered the ceiling and walls, spreading like veins, and from them bloomed flower-like growths that glowed softly, lighting the entire area.
"Wow," Gideon breathed. "What is this place?"
"This is a Rootpod nest," Summer explained as they walked forward.
"The meat tastes great, and the core sells for a lot. They like places far from sunlight, and they're the reason this building is still standing like this."
She grinned. "I found it while exploring. Since you're here, this should be easy."
"Hm," Gideon murmured, his gaze drifting upward.
He lifted his hand, curious, about to touch one of the glowing flowers. Summer slapped his hand away immediately.
"Don't touch that," she hissed. "It'll alert the Rootpod. You do not want it attacking us in a space like this. Just follow me."
They kept wandering and stopped in front of a door and pushed it open. Gideon froze.
The room beyond was gone, the floor having collapsed completely. Below them was another level, and right there sat the Aberrant.
It was massive. It reminded him of the carnivorous pitcher plants he had seen before, but this one had a rounder and fat body and a mouth as wide as a car.
When it opened, it looked like it could swallow an elephant whole. Smaller Rootpods clustered around it, and the lower level had turned into a twisted forest of bushes and thick plant life.
Gideon slowly turned to look at Summer, who was grinning like this was the best thing she had seen all day.
"Are you insane?"
"What?" Summer said casually. "It has a weakness. We just shoot it, as long as someone is willing to act as bait." She look at him full of meaning.
Gideon let out a dry laugh. "Oh. So I'm the bait."
"Exactly," Summer said. "You can summon stuff from nowhere, right? Like that blue cat from that anime I watched." She shrugged. "You can get eaten on purpose and come back alive, can't you?"
He stared at her. "Is that really how you see me?"
"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "You already summon doors out of thin air. You just need a pocket in your stomach like that blue cat."
Before he could respond, Summer grabbed his hand and looked up at him with exaggerated puppy eyes.
"Please," she pleaded. "We can get a ton of ammo if we sell the core. You just need to make it open its mouth wide. I'll shoot the sac hanging at the top. That's its weak spot."
Gideon opened his mouth to argue.
Before he could say a word, the Aberrant suddenly moved. A tendril snapped out, grabbed something from another room, and in the blink of an eye, the creature opened its mouth and swallowed it whole.
"Holy shit," Gideon muttered. "I can't even see what it was eaten."
If that thing caught him, his body would be reduced to bones by the acid long before Summer could even pull the trigger.