Chapter 237: A Soundless Void

Sora Brontarion

There was no sound.

I couldn’t warn the student, so I lunged forward and pushed the student out of the way of the attack.

I waved my lightning-charged hands, trying to pinpoint the behemoth’s location so I could quickly come up with a plan.

But fear flooded through me. The overwhelming sensation paralyzed me, locking my legs in place.

“Sora, we need more light!” Nerena said through our mental connection.

I wanted to produce more light, but everyone’s fear was making my electricity unstable. If I pushed it any further, I could lose control and electrocute everyone.

“This is all I can do safely”

Then something wet and slimy glided across the back of my neck.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I slapped the back of my neck, sending a jolt of electricity through whatever was there.

Something splattered.

I pulled my sparking hand to my face and saw the remains of a small insect, long and lined with dozens of legs.

“Does anyone else have a way to make light?” I asked, frantically slapping different parts of my body.

“I do; I just have to find it; give me a sec,” Simon said.

“Kuru status!” Stravos commanded.

“I'm doing my best keeping these centipedes off of us, but they just keep coming.”

“Wait, you can see Kuru?” I asked, as things began to crawl over my body.

“I’m a Shademaul; of course I can see in the dark.”

Then I felt a gust of wind blow past me.

It had to be Kuru.

Desperation trailed after him.

I had to do something.

I released a quick burst of electricity, forcing the current to arc around my body.

For a split second, things got a bit brighter. Stravos’s breathing was labored, his body surprisingly sluggish as he was getting buried by a mountain of behemoths, and Kuru was darting all around us, trying to keep the rest of the swarm at bay.

We were surrounded, and more of the crazed insect-like behemoths were filing in.

Damn it.

Then an idea popped into my mind.

“Does everyone remember the blindfold midterm?”

“Yes!” several choppy voices answered in unison. Then I felt something splatter onto me.

“Alright, I’m gonna shoot a ball of lightning into the air. When I do, everyone gather around me, and Kuru will lead us out.”

I felt a few more splatters on my body.

Then our tether link went silent.

Based on the indecisive emotions I felt, I knew they were at least communicating with themselves.

“What’s taking you so long to agree? Kuru can’t keep going forever!”

Then I got this weird feeling. It was as if my thought had never been sent.

This isn’t good.

I went along with my plan, created a ball of lightning in my hand, and I saw Jossie’s concordant passed out on the ground, behemoths inching closer, looking for a meal.

I quickly scanned the area. Stravos was no longer buried under behemoths; instead, he violently swung his blade, cutting down behemoths; Kuru was aiding Ida. While everyone else desperately threw kicks and punches at whatever they felt touch them.

We can’t do this with just one concordant.

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I dropped my plan and dashed over towards the passed-out concordant.

Then a bright lime-green, concave disk floated through the pitch-black jungle, rising like a lantern as it spun and grew larger, illuminating the area for a couple hundred feet.

Yes Simon!

The light provided the much-needed vision as I made my way to where the concordant lay.

A couple of small beetle-like behemoths jumped out at me. I didn’t hesitate to cut them down, as my lightning-charged hand arced through the air.

I turned my attention to the concordant, who was low on cosmic energy, and zapped them multiple times, trying to wake them.

Seconds that felt like a lifetime went by before their eyes flickered open.

I charged them again, imbuing them with haste.

They stood and reconnected the tether link that had been lost when they passed out.

Stravos' thoughts poured into my mind.

“Circle up, Kuru, get in the middle and recover. My titan will take point.”

Everyone did as he instructed.

The fear in our group began to subside now that we could all see each other, but I knew not to get overconfident by something like this.

We had a light source, but we could still only see what stepped out from the protection of the dark, and a couple dozen behemoths currently surrounded us.

Just as we all formed a circle, Stravos and his titan lunged out into the mob of behemoths.

His cosmic energy surged as his titanic force punched holes through the creatures.

I used my abilities to electrocute a few of the creatures coming our way, while Kuru called out their positions from behind us, since he could see farther into the dark forest. But my attention kept drifting towards Stravos as we defended ourselves against the ambush.

The silence of this radiation zone made one thing very apparent.

His combat skills were beautiful. He mowed through behemoths with minimal effort, and the synergy he had with his titan showed me just how far behind I was.

I never thought the gap was that big, and after the joint house exercise, I only considered three people who might have been slightly better than me at the academy: Stravos, Bogdan, and Cyrus. I always thought with someone like Stravos, the difference would just be raw power. I was mistaken.

It was clear as day why Professor Thorne made him the leader. He was forged for this, and apparently I was not.

Wait.

Sure, Stravos's martial prowess was impressive, but I never once doubted that I could lead.

So why…

I realized the display had also made the other students insecure, and their feelings were magnifying my own. The tether made it much harder to control.

I needed to be careful.

It took Stravos only a couple of minutes to dwindle the swarm.

“Simon, can you control that contraption?” Stravos asked.

He looked at me.

Is he asking me for permission to respond?

I shook my head for him to answer.

“Yes, I can. I call it the Halo. I can control it using this remote, but this thing doesn’t have the longest battery life.” Simon said.

“Then we better move fast.”

Stravos commanded Kuru to lead us south, following the path our truth seekers had laid out.

As we sprinted through the jungle, Simon’s Halo was like a homing beacon for more behemoths to attack us.

We continued with Stravos’s previous attack plan: to bob and weave and not let anyone stay on a behemoth for too long.

“Nerena, are we getting close?” I asked as we jumped over a high-arching root, escaping the attack of another behemoth.

“We should be getting to the nest very soon. But we should be wary of our footing; this path can turn into a large swamp at any moment.”

“Gotcha.”

I scanned our surroundings, remembering the last time we were in the swamp. Our ability to move as a group would be drastically hindered if we had to go through it to reach the nest.

“I think we should transition to higher ground, since we are getting closer to the swamp,” I said to everyone using the tether link.

“Are you the leader? No. So unless Stravos gives the order, we stay put.” Ida said.

“That’s actually a good idea. Not all of us are equipped for the water, and only a few of these behemoths seem to be capable of flying.” Jossie shot back, her mental voice becoming firm.

“I second Sora’s idea. If you guys thought for yourselves, instead of having your heads in Stravos’s butt, maybe you would realize that.” She continued.

Her words almost made me trip over a stump, while intense feelings washed over me.

This tether link might really be the death of me.

“How dare you–”

“Ida, cool it. We are staying on the ground; traveling high up in the trees will make it harder for us to stick together in this dark jungle. One false step, and you are separated, and no one will be able to find you quickly. My final answer. It’s not like you all have to exert yourself fending off the behemoths while I'm here anyways.”

I gritted my teeth, and we pressed on for about another half a mile until Kuru stopped us.

As we came to a halt, I heard the chirping of crickets, the rustling of leaves, gusts of wind swooping down, and lastly, a soft plop, slapping a wet surface.

“Thank the pantheon I can finally hear! I never thought I would miss the murderous sounds of behemoths.” Voen said.

There was deadpan silence from the rest of the group, as everyone stared out at what was in front of them.

It was the swamp.

Stravos walked up towards Kuru; they exchanged a couple of looks, most likely communicating through their tether link.

Then Stravos turned to us.

“The nest is on the other side of this swamp. I command Sora’s cluster to scout and find a safe path for us to take.”