(Time-Stilled World, 23 Kilometers from Entry Point, Flatlands Sector)
The team moved in a loose formation across the lifeless plains, boots crunching over ash-coated grass that gave no sound beneath their feet.
Raiden led the way with purposeful strides, his eyes sharp and posture upright, as after every few steps he swept a cautious glance across the horizon, scanning for any imminent signs of danger.
Patricia and Karl remained in the center— Karl hunched, visibly tense, while Patricia moved with the sway of someone who didn't know how to walk without being seen.
To their flanks walked Leo on the right, and Cipher on the left, their steps measured, eyes constantly scanning for threats.
Bob trailed in the rear, silent as ever, his massive shadow stretching further than anyone else's.
Despite being a team, they all kept a cautious distance from one another— not just out of fear of being stabbed in the back, but because they were assassins by trade.
They were used to moving alone, watching their own backs, and trusting it to someone else had never been an option.
Tight formations were a luxury born of trust.
And trust in each other was something they didn't share. Not yet, at least.
As they moved, they all absorbed mana from a medium grade stone that they held in their hand, as the pure mana from the stone diffused into their systems with every breath they took.
The mana stones were essential to their sanity now, as without this stream of clean mana to keep their cores fed, their bodies were bound to start pulling in the corrupted mana of the Time-Stilled World, which would start to taint their minds.
Even Karl, pale and shaken, clutched a mid-grade mana stone like it was his lifeline, his fingers trembling slightly around its edges, as he continuously drew mana from it to ensure that his core remained saturated.
However, if there was one individual in the group who kept acting unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere, it was Patricia, as she kept trying to liven up the mood with her flirty jokes.
Her long ponytail swayed lightly behind her as she closed in on Leo with a mischievous grin.
"So, Skyshard," she murmured, brushing her arm against his for the third time.
"Planning to be the stoic hero this entire trip? Or will you melt eventually?" She asked with a flirty smile, however, Leo chose not to respond.
He just kept walking, absorbing mana from the stone in his hand and scanning the far ridge, as his cold attitude made Patricia pout.
"Tch. Tch. Are you sure you're a man? I'm starting to think your man parts don't work…. I mean, I've been flirting with you non-stop but you don't even have a slight erection." She taunted, as—
"It works just fine." Leo replied without so much as even looking at her, as his voice remained as flat and cold as the ground beneath them.
*Snort*
Patricia snorted, feeling annoyed, before turning to Karl, who had been staring at the exchange like a deer in headlights.
"What about you, rookie?" she teased, slinking up beside him. "Got any wild fantasies about having your way with the sexy assassin girl on this trip?"
As, listening to her sexy voice, Karl immediately turned beet red.
"I-I wouldn't d-dream of—" he began, as Patricia immediately cut him off.
"Relax," she laughed. "Even if I go insane, I'm not fucking you. So keep dreaming, kid."
The color drained from Karl's face as he heard the insult, before surging back, all at once, as he turned beet red and stared at his boots like they might offer an escape route.
He looked like he wanted to vanish into the ash after that burn, as from the back, Bob gave a low snort, while even Cipher chuckled softly under his breath.
—----------
Hours passed, and the terrain around the team remained flat, featureless, and deathly still.
Despite the absolute silence, the team did not feel at peace, as something about this world's silence did not feel calming but rather disturbing.
The silence here felt watchful, as if the air itself was spying on their movements.
As this constant pressure created quite the stressful environment for one's mind to be in.
'Man I hate this silence….. However, I hate how colourless everything around here looks even more' Leo thought, as more than the silence, the lack of bright colors in this world began bothering him.
Ever since they had entered this damn place, Leo had yet to see a shade of anything that looked bright.
The sky was dark, the grass was gray, and even the blood of beasts they slaughtered here was dark and gooey.
For as far as the eye could see, the world appeared muted and dull, with everything just looking like a different shade of gray.
And although it did not sound like a serious problem when spoken out loud, it was in fact psychologically very disturbing, as for a normal mind used to seeing vivid colors, the sudden lack of any bright colors led to a psychological shock.
'I hope the forest of death has more colors, because if not, I might just have to give Karl a slice on his cheeks to see a streak of red' Leo thought, when abruptly, Raiden raised a fist.
Everyone stopped as Raiden crouched near the ground, his fingers brushing along a pair of freshly pressed tracks into the powdery soil.
Leo approached slowly, Cipher beside him.
There, in the dust, were two distinct footprints.
The left leg was a normal booted human print— heel, sole, even a partial shoe pattern.
While the right leg was bare, with long, slightly bent toes, as if the individual leaving this print walked with one shoe half-intact and one completely missing.
However, more striking than the missing shoe print, were the two palm prints just in front of the legs.
"Someone was moving on all fours," Cipher noted quietly.
Raiden nodded. "They passed through here less than twenty minutes ago— and they're headed in the same direction we are."
Patricia's flirtatious edge vanished as she crouched beside the tracks, eyes narrowing.
"You think it's another Serpent?" she asked, as—
"No," Cipher replied, firm and certain.
"Not a serpent for sure. Because according to the journal of psychology, it takes 300 days for a human to fully devolve into a mindless ape beast within a Time Stilled World.
Assuming that whoever entered here, held stable for the first 60 days or so, this print definitely belongs to a human who entered this world at least a year ago.
And since even the earliest Serpents to have entered this world can only be inside this space for a maximum of 200 days at this point when adjusted for time difference, it's safe to assume that these prints belong to a criminal or a rogue warrior that entered this world over a year ago." Cipher analysed, as everyone looked at him with an impressed expression on their faces.
"These prints match the behavior of tainted humans, the ones who've absorbed too much of this world's impure mana.
However, although they're no different than beasts now, it's observed that they're much more dangerous to fight than regular humans, so we should definitely keep our guards up" Cipher added, as everyone took a sharp breath.
"Alright. If that's the case then from here on out we walk with weapons at ready.
From here on out, we assume that danger looms at every corner." Raiden instructed, as he drew his own dagger, with the others quickly following suit.