Everyone fell silent by Kairos’ request.

And at first, there was only silence.

But then, there were these strange, but familiar, bristling sounds. After a few moments, it became quite easy to make out numerous of these sounds coming from almost everywhere around them.

They were quite hard to distinguish, as they didn’t exactly sound like anything recognizable. It made the actual meaning of the sound a little confusing.

Then out of nowhere, there was an abrupt slam that came from above them before a loud screech. It seemed that whatever was above them, knew that they were down there.

Countless more slamming noises resounded as more aggressive screeching rang out.

The ground had begun shaking, and that could be clearly felt by everyone involved. Everyone had fallen silent due to fear, but this prompted Kairos to frown as he felt that it was too late.

This process had continued for over ten minutes, just relentless banging and screaming. However… it eventually died down.

Yet, while those sounds gradually disappeared, the bristling sounds were still there. They were quite hard to make out and extremely muffled, but they were still there.

Kairos spoke quietly.

“Get closer to the center so we can talk without as much noise.”

Whatever was above them didn’t seem to be triggered by that noise. As they shuffled closer, someone ended up banging into someone else, but they only let out a faint grunt. However, they were able to make it to the center.

Kairos spoke softly.

“Now, let’s sit down.”

With a few shuffling sounds, everyone did as told. He then let out a gentle sigh.

“All of us were negligent and forgot the reason why we were here in the first place, to hide.”

The breathing sounds coming from everyone were quite heavy. This paired with the bristling sounds that still came from above them made the atmosphere a little scary.

Kairos pressed his lips together.

“From now on, we need to be quieter. Much quieter.”

Nicole took a slow and deep breath.

“What was that?”

Kairos closed his eyes, which didn’t really change anything considering it was all black. But he recalled that vision he had of those strange monsters with hair on their back.

“Probably a special kind of monster.”

From what he could guess, it was probably just the things from his vision.

Though Kairos wasn’t sure how they had gotten here, he didn’t think that the monsters finding out was life-threatening. At least, not directly.

After all, it seemed that while the monsters were strong, they couldn’t seem to damage the material that the red prism had created.

At this point, given how little energy was left in the red prism, there wasn’t much option for them left. They either had to continue hiding, or get out and fight.

Frankly, Kairos did not believe that they would be able to fight the monsters, especially since they would have to come out one at a time, and immediately be surrounded by whatever they were.

He took in a shaky breath.

“At this point, we have committed to hiding. The only thing that we can hope, is those things think that the sound was just some sort of coincidence.”

Chase seemed a little distraught.

“Though I expect it from other people, I never thought I would be this negligent.”

Kairos massaged his temple with the tip of his finger.

“I imagine it is because all of us felt quite safe in this room, away from all the other things. However, in reality we are not all that safe.”

Tori spoke up with hesitation.

“I still hear that strange sound.”

She was referring to the bristling. Nicole’s voice was shaky as she said her piece.

“Are we going to die?”

Sydney’s breathing had become erratic.

“We were found out.”

Kairos took a deep breath.

“Don’t panic. They might not know just yet.”

He pressed his lips together.

“Let’s just stay silent now.”

With that, the group fell quiet.

However, those bristling sounds indicating the presence of monsters did not go away. Nonetheless, everyone stayed quiet.

Once a few minutes passed, everyone started to get a little anxious.

After twenty minutes, they got even more worried.

And after an hour, a few people were beginning to lose hope.

The bristling sounds were still there.

Tori took in a shaky breath.

“Am I really going to die like this?”

Kairos let out a soft sigh.

“If one of us speaks up too loudly, then probably yes.”

Though he was trying to keep his composure, he was also feeling quite aggrieved as well. The constant bristling sound was beginning to wear him down. It didn’t help that the stench of blood had become revolting and they were in a completely dark environment.

At this point, Chase spoke up softly.

“…We can’t keep going like this. I said before that if we only think about food, we will be mentally drained, but if we stay like this in fear the entire time the result will still be the same.”

Kairos lowered his head.

“Then what should we do?”

Chase seemed to be at a loss for words, however, he spoke up eventually.

“We can very quietly share stories. Get to know each other better.”

Sydney let out a soft groan.

“I don’t think I can get myself in the mood for telling stories right now.”

Chase took a deep breath.

“Then… how about listening?”

Sydney muttered.

“I suppose I don’t have a choice in that matter.”

Chase sighed.

“Let’s just convince ourselves that we are camping, and sharing stories with each other. The reason why we are quiet is because we don’t want to wake the others up from sleeping. As for those sounds, it’s just grass being blown by the wind.”

Tori stammered.

“Th-That sounds much better.”

Chase let out a suppressed chuckle.

“Do you want to start with the story then?”

Tori hummed.

“Why not?”

A few rustling sounds came from her direction, probably because she was repositioning herself.

“Hmm. What kind of story should I tell? Something funny, or maybe my life story?”

Chase seemed to not be as fearful anymore, responding cheerfully.

“That’s the beauty of it, you can do whatever you want. Just make sure to be quiet so you don’t wake up the others.”

Tori seemed encouraged by this.

“Then I will just say whatever comes to mind.”

She already seemed to forget the situation they were in.

“My dad owns a dojo, though I never really knew why. He always complained that it was so much work and hardly got any money, but whenever the topic of selling it or giving it away was brought up, he would ignore it.”

Tori sounded a little exasperated.

“But it wasn’t enough for him to just manage to dojo by himself, he would always bring me along. Because of that, I spent almost all of my childhood just in the dojo, swinging around a wooden katana.”

Kairos raised an eyebrow.

“So that’s why you can swing that thing so easily.”

Tori seemed a little embarrassed.

“Haha, I’m still nowhere close compared to the better people at swordsmanship. Though I did practice nearly everyday, so I’m still not too bad.”

Nicole let out a faint gasp of amazement.

“Wow, I bet you had a lot to talk about with your friends.”

For some reason Tori didn’t respond for a while.

Nicole sensed this awkward tension.

“Um, I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”

Tori let out a suppressed giggle.

“I, um. Never had any friends.”

Sydney seemed quite surprised.

“Eh? Not even one friend? There must’ve been at least one person, right?”

Tori let out a soft grumble.

“N-No. Apparently I was known as the weird girl.”

Sydney didn’t seem to believe this.

“Maybe not in school, but surely you met others in the dojo?”

A few rustling sounds came from Tori’s direction.

“The only people that came for lessons were guys. They did try to talk to me at first, but after I lost a spar with my dad pretty badly, none of them really talked to me anymore.”

Kairos blinked a few times.

“Why would losing a spar make them stop talking to you?”

Tori began rubbing the tip of her finger against the ground, making a barely audible rubbing sound.

“Um, he said that nobody should be as weak as a girl, so they needed to be at least at my standard. And um, if anybody lost a spar to me, then they would be expelled.”

Sydney seemed quite offended.

“How could your own father do that?”

Chase interrupted the conversation.

“Remember we don’t want to wake the others up, it’s the middle of night after all.”

Sydney apologized.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Tori let out a grumble.

“I don’t think my dad had any bad intentions. He’s usually really nice, but I think he wanted to encourage the others. Nobody sparred with me unless my father forced them to.”

She sighed.

“And each time, they wouldn’t hold back in the slightest, even using dirty tactics if they needed to win.”

Kairos tilted his head to the side.

“Ah. That’s why you wanted to join a team so badly.”

Tori seemed confused.

“Eh? How is that related?”

Kairos blinked a few times, wondering if he should really say it.

“I guess it just sounds like you were lonely.”

Tori stammered.

“We-Well… only a little bit.”

Sydney reached out and patted her on the back.

“You may not have had friends then, but you have them now. All of us are here now.”

Tori sounded embarrassed.

“A-Ah. Yeah.”

She seemed to cheer up quite a bit.

“What about you guys? Do you have any stories to share?”

There were a few moments of silence. Just before it got too awkward, Chase spoke up.

“I suppose I can go next. There was a time when I did not know much about archery…”

He suddenly trailed off.

With his future vision, Kairos could tell Tori was going to ask why, so he dashed forth and covered her mouth tightly with his hand. He could feel Tori struggle, but did not relent.

Muffled voices came from above.

“They aren’t here, second disciple. What do you have to say about your failure today?”

“Priest. I. Am. Sorry.”

Kairos couldn’t help but furrow his brows. As for Tori, she seemed to understand the situation and stopped struggling.

The voices continued to speak.

“And how is sorry supposed to help?”

A loud smack resounded.

“What kind of performance is this? The church of evolution’s ultimate goal is the pursuit of perfection, yet you can’t even succeed in your mission? How are you supposed to be perfect this way?”

“I. Will. Not. Make. Same. Mistake.”

There was the sound of a deep sigh.

“There better not be. Do not forget that I did not have to give my blessings to you. Someone else can receive them on your behalf, and become the new second disciple.”

“Understood.”

Although things were a little too close, Kairos still felt a sense of relief.

They did not find them.

Unfortunately, that didn’t stay for long.

“Keep the minions stationed here! Until we find a method to retrieve the holy stone, nobody may set their foot on the ground created by the blessed prism!”

He muttered the last part.

“Even if the ones that created it were heathens…”

There were very faint sounds of footsteps leaving, however, the strange bristling sound remained this entire time. Kairos had almost deluded himself into thinking that it was just the wind blowing by grass.

But it definitely wasn’t that.

Everybody sat there in silence for a while. Kairos slowly removed his hand away from Tori’s mouth, and couldn’t help but feel a little aggrieved.

Sydney whispered as softly as she could.

“Are we safe now?”

Kairos clenched his fist.

“They are guarding this place. If we leave now, we will get captured by them.”

It seemed that their stay underground wasn’t over just yet.