With Nero and Gabriel's guidance, as well as the fact that most of the larger weapons were too heavy to actually be brought along, Maximilian and Arter quickly selected their new weapons.
Maximilian tried to convince Nero and Gabriel to join them - there was strength in numbers and who knew what other enemies still lay in the fog - yet those two were adamant about wanting to take the injections first so the groups once again divided.
But instead of heading back to the Reeve's office, where Nero had planned on taking these injections, he first went to a random room and flooded it with his blue flames, startling Gabriel.
"What are you doing?" he yelled in alarm, but then realised that the flames never actually touched him.
Nero didn't immediately respond, instead he looked around the room.
"Just making sure we're not being followed," Nero responded. "Minimise the use of Fair Weather and let's go."
This time, Nero moved rather quickly through the hallways. Even though there was a risk of running into an enemy, it was a risk they had to take. But due to the speed at which they were moving, only a couple of minutes later they returned to the Reeve's room, and opened the hidden room on the side, before venturing in and closing the door behind them.
"You suspect Jessie is following us?" Gabriel asked. By now he had already thought of an explanation for Nero's actions.
"We haven't seen a single sign of her this entire time. I suspect she has a very powerful card that allows her to hide from us, or maybe that's her innate ability. Either way, better safe than sorry."
Gabriel nodded, then looked towards the two briefcases. It was a little hard to believe they were about to experience an upgrade in their innate abilities before becoming Initiates. If he hadn't made both Arter and Maximilian take an oath that what they said was real, he might have had doubts about this.
"By the way," Gabriel said, interrupting Nero's thoughts, "I think after this, we should also leave the basement as soon as possible."
Nero was surprised.
"Why? Don't you want to explore the Vault? With Fair Weather we can take our time and really get a lot of benefits."
"It occurred to me that it might be a little too easy," Gabriel said. "Using an unranked card to push back the fog is way too easy a solution. There's no way no one has tried it before. Heck, Sage's wouldn't even need a card to do it as their own Profession abilities would be enough.
Which is why I think Fair Weather is only effective on the fog in the basement since it is being held back by artificial means, rather than the fog that covers the mountains."
Nero took a moment, and realised that Gabriel was right. He had let the allure of the Vault distract his thoughts. It was not a risk with taking.
"In that case, we should get this over with as quickly as possible."
"I'll go first," said Gabriel, and opened up his briefcase. Inside were four injections, and a piece of paper with instructions on how to use them. Though the instructions were written in old Valen, Maximilian had already told them what to expect, so they had no problem simply confirming the information that Maximilian had provided earlier.
Gabriel used the sheath for his dagger as something to bite on as he lay on the ground while Nero got ready to inject him. There was nothing here they could use to strap each other down, so they would have to do without it.
In truth, the only real reason to even strap each other down was so that they would not be able to resist when the next injections were being used.
Once Gabriel gave him the nod, Nero used the first injection. At first nothing happened, but as a few minutes went by Nero noticed that Gabriel's skin was turning red. He thought it might be due to the body heating up, or flow of blood coming to the skin, until he noticed that the colour was too significant. He was turning red like his sand.
Then the discomfort set in. At first he only knew about it because of Gabriel's accidental groan, but as time went by, Gabriel's body began fidgeting and rocking back and forth.
Nero used the second injection, and saw that the effects became more prominent. Gabriels colour slowly returned to normal, but he started rolling back and forth on the ground as he resisted some groans that inevitably escaped.
He started sweating profusely, and as they approached the twelve minute mark, it was the first time Gabriel yelled. He was biting down on the sheath hard, but even so he yelled, and began rolling around like mad. He started to scratch his skin, his nails digging in, but then a moment of clarity would hit him and he would resist, only to start scratching himself a few moments later.
Even if Nero wished, he wouldn't be able to hold Gabriel down, yet the time for the third injection was coming. He readied the injection, and treated it as if he were about to administer poison to a resisting enemy. For some reason, that heightened his sense.
He moved swiftly, put Gabriel in a body lock, and before he could resist he administered the third injection and quickly rolled away.
At that point Gabriel went completely mad, losing all sanity as he yelled as loud as he could and his body trembled on the floor, no longer even rolling around. At this point, a trace of doubt filled Nero's mind. Had Arter and Maximilian found a way to bypass the oath? Were they just trying to kill both of them?
Yet at this point there was not going back. Administering the fourth injection was actually easier than the third, since Gabriel did not have the strength to resist. Yet as soon as he used the final injection, the situation became much better.
Almost instantly his body stopped trembling, and he stopped screaming. He was still fidgeting every now and then, but he was in a much better condition.
Gabriel's eyes flashed open and he suddenly sat up straight. He tried to speak, but in his excitement he forgot he was still biting onto the sheath.
He spit it out and looked at Nero, almost no signs of the severe trauma he had suffered in his eyes.
"Nero, my ability gained a new trait!" he said hoarsely. He tried to summon his ability to show Nero, yet just as Maximilian promised, it was not so easy to use his ability. He would have to relearn it, which would take a short while.
"How was the experience?" Nero asked, worriedly.
"Absolutely the worst thing I've ever felt," he said, while he laughed. "I think the last injection helps your mind and body get over the trauma you experienced. I honestly don't even care that just a few minutes ago I wanted to rip my own throat out so that I would die. It was totally worth it."
Nero smiled weakly, unsure how to feel. It was great that Gabriel wasn't scared… but the thing about wanting to rip his own throat out…
Nero took a deep breath, sat down cross legged on the ground and put his own dagger sheath in his mouth. They didn't have time to waste, and Nero would not let fear of pain, no matter how great it was, prevent him from growing stronger.
He once thought that someone had acted against Nero's brother, but now he suspected his entire family bloodline was being hunted down by unknown enemies. He wanted to be the strongest he could when he faced them. He wanted to burn them all.
Gabriel, who was completely ecstatic about his change, finally paid attention to Nero and stopped experimenting with his ability. Though he was uncharacteristically euphoric, that did not mean his judgement was affected. He knew what was important.
He injected Nero, and took a step back to watch the change happen. Just as Gabriel's skin had turned red, Nero began to turn blue.
Throughout the process, Nero kept his eyes closed and did not make a single sound. The discomfort was beginning to set in, and it was unlike anything Nero had ever experienced before.
The pain was not in his muscles, or his bones, or something like that. It was in his very being, and inside his aether. Nero never knew aether could hurt, but now he knew that the aether in his body was very much a part of him, because he could feel it undergoing a certain change.
The change was putting immense pressure on Nero's body, but as Nero's body had been strengthened recently, his body's ability to support the pressure was also greater.
Gabriel used the second injection, and his pressure increased. At first Nero thought that because he had a stronger body, he would be able to tolerate the pressure better. He was wrong.
Because he had a stronger body, he could tolerate more pressure, and so the pressure that built up inside Nero was far greater than anything Arter and the others had experienced.Then came the pain, and it was so overwhelming that Nero lost all control of his body. He did not know if he was screaming, rolling, scratching, or anything else. All he knew was pain.