A heavy breath left Aina's lips.
The cold breeze of the damp tunnels nipped at her body, making the portions of her skin exposed to the elements ripple with goosebumps.
Though she wore the very same black military uniform covered with many pockets, it had been torn in several places due to her battle. Had it not been for her ability, she might very well have been crippled of movement by now.
'So cold…'
Aina's petite body trembled slightly, but she grit her teeth and pressed onward.
Without a choice, she was forced to put her ax away. Using such a large weapon in an enclosed space might cost her her life. So, she pulled out a sword instead.
The blade's edge gleamed within the darkness. In her left hand, she clutched the vial of red and the other, she clutched the hilt of her sword.
She didn't really think much about her weapon. She had just happened to pick it up within the Variant Zone. However, she wasn't very fond of light weapons, she felt less secure behind such a small weapon.
Aina shook her head, willing these useless thoughts away.
'Hopefully these tunnels run deep so they won't be able to find me easily. I'll find a place to rest and heal my injuries.'
Aina had no idea what kind of danger zone she was entering. She thought that this place was no different from any normal array of underground tunnels. The only reason she was being semi-cautious was because she wouldn't be naive enough to believe that there were no dangers at all before her.
Not only were beasts far more advanced on Fourth Dimensional worlds, but Invalids were several levels more dangeorus as well. In fact, there were even instances of Invalids creating and manning civilizations of their own.
Of course, such a 'civilization' could hardly be called as such. After all, the vast majority of Invalids were mindless zombies. However, Variant Invalids were impossibly dangerous foes. There was a chance, albeit a small one, that there might be Invalids up ahead.
Luckily, nothing obstructed her path forward. She managed to find several branching paths. After picking one, she chose an area with multiple escape routes and sat down in meditation.
Her chest heaved, her eyelashes trembling slightly. It was only after she sat that she felt the exhaustion take hold of her body.
It had already been several months since the last time she slept. Even Leonel, who had such an overwhelmingly strong spirit, couldn't do such a thing.
All this time, she had relied on her ability to accomplish this feat. Whenever she felt overwhelming fatigue, she would activate her self-heal and wash it all away. But, she had been gaining diminishing returns for a long time already.
Aina sighed. 'If he was here…'
Aina suddenly shook her head furiously.
During their time together within the Joan Zone, Aina had gotten used to relying on Leonel's sleep meditation ability. He had always been the perfect scout. But now, there was only herself.
'Focus, Aina. The moment you decided to take your mask off, you left that life behind.'
Aina snapped her eyes open, willing her fatigue away. She bit down on her lip hard. There was no doubt that if Leonel was here, he would have asked her to treat them better than she was now.
She looked down at the red vial in her hand. This vial was the top treasure of the Variant Zone. According to what she understood, it was the blood of a beast known as the Abyss Panther.
The Abyss Panther was a Fifth Dimensional beast that would be born on Terrain within the next thousand years. This meant that in all of current existence, the only instance of its existence was currently in Aina's palm. This was the magic of Variant Zones.
Every world would birth mystical and powerful beasts of its own after every evolution. Earth would likely have some of its own very soon.
Among those evolved beasts, some would grow powerful enough to make a name for itself within the whole universe. Only then would its name ring sonorously within the ears of all.
However, the Abyss Panther wasn't of this level. In fact, it might never be. There was even a chance it would never be born at all and its 'future' lineage would end in Aina's hands right here and now.
Aina hesitated.
With this vial in hand, no beast would dare approach her. She basically gained a ring of protection around her. However, if she ingested it now, it would likely bring a huge boost to her strength and smoothly allow her to enter the Fourth Dimension within a few months.
If others heard Aina's thoughts, they would think that she was insane.
The universe had countless magic systems. One that involved ingesting the blood of powerful beasts, of course, existed. However, this situation was completely different.
For one, this was blood from a Fifth Dimensional beast while Aina was still within the Third Dimension. There were a full two watershed moments between her and this beast.
In addition, the ingestion of blood was considered to be an unorthodox path. It would always leave behind latent dangers and injuries. Even in the rare instances that it didn't, it would chain a person to a certain level of strength. As such, ingesting blood should never be taken lightly.
Yet, by Aina's demeanor, it seemed that she wasn't worried about any of this. And… this most definitely wasn't due to ignorance.
Aina had reason to be confident.
Her ability fell under the healing type, yet she wasn't able to heal anyone else but herself. This seemed like a limited and useless ability, however it was actually the exact opposite.
Aina's Gene Assessment listed her as a Five Star Health Professional. Her ability was related to self-healing. Each was related to the other.
The reason Aina was so confident was because her ability allowed her almost limitless control over her own body.
Any benefit she could gain with her body would be multiplied several times over compared to a normal person. She could manipulate the small portions of her body with absolute control.
If she ingested this blood, not only could she ensure that there wouldn't be any lingering issues, but she would benefit far more than anyone else who ingested the same blood.
However… this was only part of the reason she dared to do this.