Ellen's fever got only worse and Arthur didn't know what to do. After resting for a bit, Arthur carried her on his back and headed deeper into the tunnel. He had to keep her warm so fire surrounded them both.
He traveled away from the desert as he used his detection rune. Like a normal awakener, also known as superhumans, Ellen started recovering after a while. Her breathing became more stable as her fever subsided.
As he was walking and replenishing his mana, Arthur felt his skin itch. He realized that it has been a day already since he used the artifact. Taking it from his subspace, Arthur poured mana into it and his face was back as Alexie Linan.
As his foot left marks on the frozen rocks, Arthur pondered what he should do. The Ender's minion has fled and the guardian of Rayxin knows of his identity. However, that left with a certain doubt.
Didn't master Ronin know of the guardian's ability? Why didn't he warn Arthur? Did he believe that Arthur wouldn't meet the guardian or did he believe in the guardian itself?
As the walls around them began to get warmer, Arthur felt Ellen shift on his back. Arthur stopped and placed her on the ground. Her eyelashes trembled before she began waking up.
"Where am I?" Her voice was weak as she whispered. Still wearing his disguise, Arthur lit a fire on his finger to illuminate the dark cave.
"We're underground. We've managed to flee from the worm, although I doubt it cared much about us, to begin with."
"What are you going to do with me?" She asked, frightened. Arthur could see her tighten her grip on her shoulder as she looked at him wearily.
"Nothing, calm down," Arthur said, although he admired how on guard she was. He would have ended up in better situations if he didn't trust people easily in the past. "I'm simply carrying you until we find an exit. After that, it's on you."
Ellen went quiet like usual as she looked at Arthur, examining his face. On the other hand, Arthur had prepared some meat from earlier to give to her in his pouch and handed it over.
"Eat. You'll get better faster if you do."
"… It can be poisoned."
"And I could have killed you while you're asleep. Heck, I could've just thrown you to the worm. You think I want to harm you after all that?"
His point was made and Ellen nodded her head, taking the meat from his hand. She started chewing it like a hamster would do as Arthur lied on the other side of the cave, replenishing his mana.
His mana breathing technique, which wasn't much, to begin with, was discarded after he learned his Art of Creation. Using his art, he can replenish his mana depending on 'existence' in the dimension he was.
The last bit was important because Arthur had realized earlier that it was harder to recover in this unstable pocket dimension than the outside world.
If he used the same logic, he could assume that he would get stronger if the two worlds remerged. It seems that would also be the case for everyone, so why did Jizo want them to keep living as two entities?
It didn't take a lot of time to answer, Jizo was afraid of something else that would be strengthened by the stabilized dimension. That thing, probably related to the Enders, has caused the betrayal of the seven guardians.
Jizo has told him that five guardians tried to betray their people and the other two kept neutral, not helping in the calamity the world was facing. However, he never mentioned what they betrayed, how, or why. Those were questions he would need to find the answer for.
"Ho…" Ellen tried to stand up on her own before she weakly fell back down. Arthur sighed and stood up to help her. "Leave me alone, I can stand by myself."
"You can also freeze to death here. It's a lot faster if I carry you."
"I refuse. I can't die here anyway."
"You're okay with failing this test?" Arthur raised his brow.
"…" Ellen assumed her signature silence. Arthur walked toward her and she stiffened.
"You have every right to doubt people, it's best for your survival. But at this moment, what options do you have but to rely on me?"
"There are fates worse than death," Ellen said with wary eyes. Arthur was taken aback by her words and stared at her for a while, wondering what made her say that.
"That's true." At long last, Arthur sighed. "Staying weak is the worst of them." His words left another silence before Ellen nodded her head.
Arthur crouched with his back to her and she slid her arms around his neck. He then carried her on his back as he began traveling across the tunnel again.
"What happened between you and the spearman?" Arthur asked, trying to glean information about the Enders. "Why did you fight?"
"I was trying to get a crystal from a fog spirit, but he snatched it. I think that crystal is the key to leaving this place."
"You're right, it is." Arthur nodded. "I think it's used to create boats that can carry us across the acidic sea."
"I've seen it as well, but I didn't see the goal."
"It's on the other side of this island," Arthur said and there was another silence before he continued. "Did you notice anything strange about the spearman? His behavior or skills?"
Ellen didn't answer until they were out of the ice desert. However, they were met with a dead-end on their way. Arthur sighed and used his detection to find another cave. He found a nearby one but he would have to dig through the rocks for it.
"He felt dangerous, that's all I can remember."
Arthur nodded at her words and attributed this to the Ender's energy he felt on his body. He placed Ellen on the ground and placed his hand on the cave's wall.
It then began to disintegrate as Arthur created a path to the other cave. However, the path was oblique and he doubted Ellen can slide into it without hurting her shoulder.
Arthur carried her between his arms and hugged her tightly. Like a scared mouse, Ellen grew frustrated as she tried to push him away.
"W-what are you doing? Unhand me!" She said in a weak protest and Arthur didn't want to make her any more afraid.
"We need to take down this path," He said as he stepped toward the path. "Just bear with it, please." Ellen stopped fighting and Arthur slid down the path and landed on the other side safely.
"Thank you," She said quietly and Arthur simply smiled. He carried her between his arms for the rest of the way where they emerged at the end of the desert.
Arthur placed Ellen beside a tree as he looked around. This was the beginning of the forest he met Rae at so he was wary he would meet her again. However, she had probably already passed by now since the announcement said that more than ninety people have passed already.
"What do you want to do now?" Arthur asked Ellen and watched as she used the tree to stand. This time, she didn't fall and simply looked at Arthur through her black bangs.
"Thank you, Sir."
"It's Alexie, Alexie Linan. You're welcome."
"Oh, my name is Ellen Dervo." She bowed slightly. "I don't know how to repay you, but I'll make sure that I do so in the future. Now, I need to find one of those crystals."
She was about to walk away when Arthur called out for her. She turned toward him with confusion and Arthur scratched his nose awkwardly.
He remembered what she told him back in his house when they were over for food. She said that she would do anything to reach her goal. That was before he 'died' and lost all contact with her as Arthur Silvera, but that didn't mean he couldn't help her now.
"I know the location of some crystals. However, you'd need a team to get them. They are surrounded by ancient knights."
"What are you suggesting?" She looked at him with well-hidden interest. Arthur smiled and replied.
"We can work with a few others to get those crystals. The Ancient Knights are mostly mid-tier with a few high-tier ones. If we can create a distraction, we can steal those crystals."
Although he wanted to hunt monsters and get stronger, he still remembered how Ellen helped him without being asked to when he was still learning about runes. She was also one of the few people who never judged him for how clueless he was at first regarding runes.
This might hinder him a bit from getting stronger, but what was the point of getting stronger if he didn't use that strength to help his friends?
"Alright. Let's find a few more then." Ellen smiled at him for the first time.