Once he finished explaining, he had a smug look on his face, from being such a knowledgeable and helpful guy, before a look of shock covered his face.
"Wait, you've already mastered your ability? When did you do that? How did you do that?"
Rowan let a smirk cross his face at Gid's surprise.
"When I was fighting the spider, I had a fatal injury, and there was no other option but to master it. If I hadn't, I would be dead."
Gid fell silent for a few seconds, throwing a curious glance at Rowan before speaking.
"What does it... Feel like?"
"I can feel my aether moving inside me more clearly. Before, it was like a buzz inside me, but now I can actually feel the aether moving through me. It's actually kind of hard to describe the feeling of aether, because its just... Aether.
The feeling of moving it on purpose is unique as well, it's like trying to tense muscles that aren't there."
Gid appeared to be making mental notes, nodding his head as Rowan described the feeling of moving his aether. They continued on the road with Rowan carrying Bea, as Gid repeatedly activated and deactivated his ability.
On the way, they saw a few Hells, though they were all tier 1's. They were also frozen in place, so they weren't a big concern to the pair as they travelled.
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"Um, can you put me down?"
Rowan was startled by the sudden voice in his ear, and almost dropped her immediately. Luckily he was able to react in time, and drop Bea to the ground safely. She wobbled as her legs adjusted to the feeling of walking again, after being filled with the toxin for so long.
Gid came rushing over, and helped stabilise her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Bea! Are you alright?"
She nodded her head briefly, though she still had a dazed expression on her face.
"Yeah, I'm a bit sore, but it's nothing I can't handle... Um, where are we? Where's Nick and Alice?"
Gid was silent, and Rowan watched as Bea's face turned to one of horror, then of sorrow. Rowan was standing off to the side now, wanting to give them some time to catch up.
"They... didn't make it. We almost didn't make it, too. Rowan here managed to save us by slaying a huge spider, but we were too late to save the others. I'm sorry."
Bea began crying, and it seemed that was the breaking point for Gid as well. They both held each other as they sobbed, grieving the loss of their teammates, and likely their friends.
'It seems like they were a lot closer than we had been in our Hell. As far as I remember, neither Nadia nor Aoife cried over Avery. I guess I hadn't either, but I had only just met him a couple of weeks before.'
This continued for several awkward minutes, as Rowan stood off to the side, standing guard. He wasn't really sure what to do in this situation. Was he supposed to say something? Give them space?
His peril was ended by Gid leaving the embrace and wiping away his tears.
"Alright, now that you're up we should continue on our way to Cork. I think we should be at least halfway there, right?"
Rowan nodded in response, unsure of how casually he should speak. Thankfully, the nod was enough, as Gid and Bea both returned it. The trip was a lot easier now that Bea didn't have to be carried, and both Gid and Rowan could walk normally.
Behind him, Rowan heard them talking about the events of their Hell, which had sounded as though it had something to do with rot, or decay. The conversation was interesting enough to listen to, but not enough to really pay attention to.
Eventually, they moved on to the topic of abilities.
"Have you checked what you got yet? I've got mass shifting, and Rowan has regeneration. That's how he was able to survive the spider, he could fight against its toxin."
Bea's eyes glazed over for a second, before they started reading her private screen.
"Apparently, I have enhanced hearing, I can hear things really far away using aether."
'That seems like a rather useful scouting ability, that'll be very useful both in Hells and the wilds, though it could likely be a weakness against sonic attacks of any kind.'
The journey continued with Gid and Bea chatting about their abilities, with occasional questions for Rowan about his ability to control aether and how it felt. In the times when he wasn't being spoken to, Rowan was scanning the horizon, checking for Hells, beasts, or people.
'We're this close to Cork, surely we should have seen someone by now. Guards or patrols, anything.'
It was less than an hour later that Rowan caught sight of something, though it was after Bea had raised the alarm that something was approaching. It turned out to be multiple somethings, a pack of what Rowan recognised as Earthwulf's. There were half a dozen, and they were making a steady line towards the trio on the road, coming from a field to their right.
"Shit, I don't know if we can fight those things, none of us have artefacts."
Rowan's prior experience with the Earthwulf told him that his sword wouldn't be able to make any kind of dent in the Earthwulf, and none of them had any offensive abilities. They were still far away, maybe half a kilometre if Rowan had to guess, but there was no way for them to escape. Outrunning those beasts would be impossible, even with their aether-infused bodies.
But they barely had time to react, as a shape rushed towards the beasts from the direction they had been travelling. And whatever it was, it was fast. It crashed into the side of the pack, a blade whipping through them like a tempest.
And moments after, all that remained was clumps of rock-hard fur, with a broad-shouldered man standing in the place of the pack. It was Gid who spoke next, calling out to the fighter with a warm tone.
"Uncle!"