Chapter 50 - …the climb

Whether you like it or not, the next morning will always come, to replace the night. It's a never-ending cycle. This is the same in the pocket world that was artificially created through mastery of various space, time, and most like other magic laws.

Although to be fair, talking about day and night at this place would be a bit of an exaggeration, there's not much difference. The sky is still red, just a shade lighter than a few hours ago.

As usual Lily was the first to wake up. Yawning cutely and as quietly as possible not to disturb her still sleeping brother, she got up and stretched her limbs while walking towards the still crackling fire. One positive about this place is that the wood here can fuel a fire for much longer than on the outside. She added a new piece of wood to make sure that the flickering flames can go on their crackling rampage, so she could cook a filling breakfast.

As she usually does, she picked up two small slices of meat that they prepared the previous night and skewered it with the same twig she used during dinner. Sadly, since they have no spices here, and all the vegetation they tried were god-awful, she was simply roasting the meat to give them that crispy feel that they both liked. She knew that Aiden would probably wake up in the next half hour, which was the perfect timeframe to get everything ready.

While the food was getting ready, she picked up the last bits of the berries and created two equal portions for both of them. However, when she portioned both, she realized that it would be better to leave some of it for the road as they are quick to eat, and they provide their bodies with a lot of energy.

'Hmmm… Yeah, I should leave half of it for the road, who knows how long it would take and if we could get something along the way? Yes… let's half it down.' With that, she halved both portions and saved it for the road that awaited them today. Returning to the fire, she started humming the familiar song while making sure all sides of their breakfast was cooked.

A short time later the boy at the opposite side of the fire started moving, showing signs of returning from the land of dreams. His eyelids slightly trembling, he was currently checking the system map for any new blips that the system might have marked during the night. Satisfied that they were safe, he slowly opened up his eyelids, revealing those mesmerizing golden irises that not even Lily could easily escape.

Sitting up, he yawned while stretching his arms. Then, he looked at her already busy-bee sister, and with a small smile creeping up at the corner of his lips, he greeted her.

"Good morning big sis! Is breakfast ready?"

Struggling to fake to be upset about the question, she 'angrily' snapped back

"Shameless little brother! Is that your first question to your dear sister? Nothing about if my sleep was peaceful, or what I dreamt about?!"

Not moved by the slightest, he didn't reply but kept staring at her. This was, by now, another routine, that Lily played every now and then, so he got used to it over the course of time.

Seeing that her attempt didn't gain the response she was hoping for, she quickly caved in, and with a cheeky smile and with the tip of her tongue pushed out and visible at the right corner of her closed mouth, she replied.

"Blee! You could at least play along with me just once, stupid brother! Breakfast should be ready soon. I saved half of the berries for the road, who knows if we will have any chance to sit down and eat along the way?"

"Yes, that's true. Nicely done sis! Hmm... We should cook an extra portion of the meat along the road. It wouldn't be as good as if we were to cook it fresh, but as you just said, we might not have the chance to sit down and relax once we start to ascend the mountain. Do we have any left?"

Checking her bag, she pulled out the last piece of meat they had prepared a few days ago.

"Yeah, one more. I'll cook it after these 2 are finished."

Looking up at the mountain behind them, she couldn't see much, as after around a thousand meters thick dark red clouds were raging and hurling their reddish bolts of lightning non-stop.

"Do you have any idea what might await us? Or better, how will we get across that storm? We have been waiting for a week now, and that storm never ceased, it's the same as it was a week ago. I have a feeling that might be the first part of the test… It's definitely not a natural phenomenon." she said.

Aiden chuckled at her words a bit, and while looking at the clouds himself, he said.

"Can anything be natural at this place? But yes, I agree with you, that is most likely the first hurdle we will have to cross. As for how, so far I have no idea, but as we get closer, we will be able to see if the lightning could hurt anything at all. We are too far away to make any deductions. Worst of all, we will descend and look for a solution after we learned a bit more about it."

Lily nodded her head to the plan, and then as she looked at the skewered meat, she motioned for him to come closer.

"Sure let's do that. But now come, let's eat breakfast while it's hot."

Soon only the sounds of crunching and slurping could be heard as they both devoured the contents of their plate.

---

"So what do you think little brother? We could just climb, that's probably faster, or use the narrow ledge as it seems to go up all the way along the ridge. It's probably a lot longer, but less exhausting and we might be able to rest along the way." Lily asked when they arrived at the foot of the mountain. After finishing breakfast, she cooked the last portion of the meat and packed everything up while pouring some water to douse the flames. Even if they couldn't do any real damage by leaving the fire as it is, it still was a better practice to put it out, when they are done.

"Hmmm I would really like to finish and get back, but let's not be too hasty. Using the path is safer and I have a feeling it was created for us. It would be a waste if we would miss out on all the fun Master and Granny prepared. Come, let's go!"

Seeing her brother leisurely step on the path and begin their last adventure, she sighed, and while shaking her head, she quietly mumbled.

'There we go, again you calling that woman master… We still don't know who her so-called Grandmaster really is or what was the plan for her to come to us… I just hope she won't betray the love and trust you already gave her.'

Looking at the back of her brother, she sighed and followed along. She also liked that woman, and over the years, she felt as if she was her new 'mother'-like figure in her life, but there were still some questions that remained unanswered even after all these years. Like what was the point of her coming to their hut and watching them? What changed that she showed herself? What is the plan of her boss now? Is she loyal to that group, or is she with them? So many questions with little to no answers.

While Lily was deep in thought and was mindlessly following along, Aiden was busy focusing on the environment and pumping extra power to his [Dark Sense] ability, and keeping it running at maximum efficiency. It still puzzled him what this skill truly is, as for some reason it was never listed under his skill on the status screen, but he still had access to it. When he asked Enya, she said that this skill was integrated into the system, and as such, it is a function of the system now, and not a part of his skillset. This came with the benefit of not needing to keep any attention to it, as the system can use it freely, and as he was medium, the system still drained a tiny bit of his Soul Power to keep it active.

At first, it was slightly distracting to keep attention to it, but as the years went by, he got used to it completely, it had become another sense to him, like smell is for others.

Suddenly, far ahead a red blip appeared on his system map. He halted his steps and also signaled for Lily to focus up. She moved closer, and while readying her bow and pulling out an arrow from her quiver, she quietly whispered.

"What is it, brother? Is there something ahead?" She was already used to such actions, her brother could spot enemies from away, even before they had a chance to spot them. It was a miraculous ability, and something they relied on heavily.

Aiden nodded and signaled with his hand using the signals they created over the years. He showed "one" with his pointing finger and waved it three times towards the direction the blip appeared.

'So 1 potential enemy around 1500 meters ahead.' She replied with a silent nod and ran behind a nearby rock for cover while peeking out and keeping the bow ready, so she could aim and fire at a moment's notice.

Aiden stood in the middle of the road, looking at the distance while getting in his regular attack poise. He had this smile on his face, he loved this part. The moment, the rising tension just before the battle. His body, his blood craved for this, it thrived in the carnage...