BANG!
The harpoon was pulled out of the Fiend of Darkness, and Nick fell to the ground inside the Containment Unit.
Aria looked at Nick with shock and interest, but Nick just lay on the ground.
"Everything okay?" Aria asked.
Nick released a deep breath and took another one.
For five seconds, he didn't say anything.
Then, he slowly stood up, his steps uncertain.
He seemed genuinely shaken.
Of course, it wasn't difficult for Nick to act like this.
After all, he just needed to remember what he had gone through in there.
The journey towards the Nightmare had filled him with genuine madness.
Back then, he had turned into something he couldn't recognize.
He had been a machine, essentially.
Remembering that moment filled Nick with dread.
It was like he had completely lost himself.
"I'm fine," Nick said after a while. "How long was I in there?"
"Three and a half hours," Aria said with surprise. "I've only seen one person survive that long in there, and that person had trained for years before entering."
'Just as expected,' Nick thought.
"Did you get your ability?" Aria asked.
Nick slowly shook his head. "I tried to get close to the Nightmare on a mental level since walking away from the harpoon would be suicide. I believed that it would be possible to attain some kind of connection to it in this way."
Nick sighed. "But alas…"
Aria nodded. "If it were possible, we would have already found a way. Yet, I am genuinely surprised at how long you managed to hold out in there. And to think that you're only a Veteran. I guess there's a reason why Dark Dream didn't collapse yet."
Aria didn't just say these things.
After all, she wasn't even sure if she could survive that long under the Nightmare's influence.
Being able to resist the worst torture imaginable for a couple of hours without losing consciousness spoke volumes of Nick's mental stability and his willpower.
"What about your ability?" Aria asked.
"I think I'll take the Fiend of Darkness. It's a good fit for me," Nick said.
Aria furrowed her brows.
She wouldn't have an issue with that if their relationship with Nick didn't need to be kept secret.
However, since she couldn't announce that Nick was here, she needed to work with the Fiend of Darkness herself to produce Zephyx for Nick.
Naturally, she didn't look forward to it.
Nevertheless, Aria had been an Extractor for over a hundred years, and she was used to working with horrible Specters.
"How long do you need for your Zephyx Synchronizer to advance?" she asked.
"Since the Fiend of Darkness is a Fanatic, it shouldn't take that long. I believe two minutes is more than enough," Nick said.
"Two minutes, huh," Aria repeated as she looked at the Fiend of Darkness.
For a while, she remained silent.
Then, she pointed her fingers at the Fiend of Darkness.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Several spikes of light shot into the Fiend of Darkness, and they surprisingly didn't vanish as soon as they touched it.
Instead, they pinned the Fiend of Darkness to the wall.
"Just sit down in the middle of the room and focus on your advancement. Do not do anything stupid," Aria said with a threatening voice.
Nick understood what she meant and nodded. "I understand. Thank you."
Next, Nick sat down in the middle of the room and turned to the Fiend of Darkness.
"You can begin," he said.
Aria took a deep breath.
Heroes obviously didn't need to breathe, but taking a deep breath still helped in calming her mind.
Being under the Nightmare's influence for two minutes was a lot, even for her.
The next moment, she jumped into the Fiend of Darkness.
Compared to Nick, she didn't need a harpoon.
She could just hover at the edge since she could fly.
As long as she was inside, the Fiend of Darkness would produce Zephyx.
It didn't matter if she was a kilometer away from it or just ten centimeters.
She had warned Nick not to do anything stupid, but that wasn't because of her safety but because of his.
Since she was hovering just beside the Fiend of Darkness' other exit, she could feel if it moved, and with her superior speed, she would be able to immediately jump back.
However, the Fiend of Darkness would naturally immediately capture and consume Nick, dumping him in a random location somewhere in the darkness.
Aria wouldn't be able to get him back if that happened.
Of course, her warning actually wasn't necessary since Nick didn't plan on doing anything stupid anyway.
The Fiend of Darkness produced a significant amount of Zephyx, and Nick absorbed as much of it as he could.
Of course, since his Zephyx Synchronizer had already mutated, it couldn't mutate again in the near future, but he still wanted to absorb as much Zephyx as possible to advance.
Additionally, if Aria somehow noticed that Nick hadn't absorbed any Zephyx, she might grow suspicious.
While the Zephyx was pouring into the room, Nick focused on the Shell of his Zephyx Synchronizer and pulled as much Zephyx into it as possible.
In Nick's mental image of his Zephyx Synchronizer, the rhombus sped up more and more, and Nick felt his muscles starting to strain and tremble.
He was absorbing more Zephyx than his body could handle.
That was if he remained a Peak Veteran.
As Nick absorbed more Zephyx, he felt some sort of barrier shackling his body.
He focused on this barrier and used all his willpower to push through it.
BANG!
It was like some kind of barrier broke, and Nick felt endless amounts of Zephyx flowing into his body.
His surroundings became clearer, but at the same time, there seemed to be some kind of white sheen to them.
It was a contradicting feeling.
It was like two pictures were overlapping.
One of them was an extremely clear picture of the world around him, and the other was the Zephyx in the surroundings.
Nick's senses had improved a lot, and he could also see Zephyx much better now.
But most importantly, he had finally done it.
He had now reached the level in which Albert had been back when Nick met him for the first time.
Nick was an Expert!