There were some changes after Lea was visited by the two people from the Awakeners Association.
The biggest change was that Lea could leave her hospital room unsupervised on the condition that she must inform a nurse of her whereabouts. Even so, Lea only walked around the hall outside her hospital room and occasionally chatted with the nurses about their favourite soap operas.
The thought of leaving the Special Care ward never crossed her mind.
Nurse Kim noticed this so she tempted Lea with a bubble milk tea if she would follow her somewhere.
With the offer of a sugary drink, Lea couldn't refuse.
When they walked out of the Special Care ward, Lea linked her arm with Nurse Kim as she was being led to the terrace garden on the tenth floor.
"Not many patients know about this place, so you can relax here comfortably."
As Nurse Kim said, there was literally no one else in the terrace garden except the two of them.
"I'll come back when the milk tea arrives. If something happens, please don't forget to use the pendant."
Lea touched the pendant hanging around her neck.
She was told to wear it all the time since her movement restriction was lifted. The pendant basically worked as a wireless distress button with a location tracker. Additionally, the pendant changes colour depending on the wearer's health condition. As long as the pendant wasn't tinged in red, Lea was in good health.
Left alone, Lea sat under the shade of the pavilion and stared at the open blue sky for the first time since forever.
The wind blew occasionally, carrying the scent of seasonal flowers planted on the terrace.
Lea found comfort in the solitary open space more than when she was stuck in the hospital room for months.
It was quiet, peacefully quiet.
She unconsciously glanced at her side and suddenly found herself disappointed.
'Disappointed?'
Lea wondered as she stared at the unoccupied space beside her.
'What was I expecting?'
No matter how hard, how long she stared, she couldn't figure it out. Cause this wasn't the first time this happened.
'But…'
"It's familiar."
She didn't know how to explain it. Just that, it felt natural, like a habit she frequently did over a long period that it now became an unconscious action.
A strong wind whooshed her thoughts away as if it were done on purpose.
Lea looked up to the sky.
"If there's no answer, just let it be."
Lea took out a portable audiobook player from her pocket. It belonged to her dad which explained the wired earphones connected to the device. As long as it still worked, Lea was not picky about tech.
She listened to an audiobook while enjoying the scenery until Nurse Kim came back with the promised bubble milk tea.
.
.
.
At an undisclosed location in the desert, ROAR Guild sent in their teams inside the orange-lit rift, and the rift terrain became an immediate challenge to the Awakeners.
It was a swamp forest but that wasn't the challenging part. Everything and everywhere inside the rift was ginormous in size.
Snakes as large as anacondas and alligators with more aggressive personalities were constantly engaging in fights with whoever entered its turfs in the brown, murky river.
"Finally! I'm here!"
Spencer stood facing the river and announced himself fervently.
"Spencer, you can't go off on your own and wrestle every alligator you see."
"You promised the big boss you'll only pick the biggest and most troublesome opponent to bring back as your victory trophy."
During the strategy meeting, Spencer very enthusiastically volunteered to handle the rift creatures. Naturally, that meant the Awakeners on Spencer's team were also dragged into it.
While Spencer's team was busy keeping their overzealous team leader from wandering off on his own, the Awakeners in Team O which was the team led by Alan were given a separate mission.
For twenty straight days, Team O trekked through the swamp forest by moving on top of the trees and prioritised evasion whenever they spotted a snake coiling on a tree branch. As a result, they reached the deepest part of the rift in half the time it would normally take if they weren't so pressed for time.
When a person covered in all-black attire suddenly jumped out of the shadow of the newest and youngest member of Team O, he alone mutely shrieked in surprise.
"That's your most funniest reaction, Patch!"
Mateo, an older Awakener whom Patch was paired with, laughed with pleasure instead of showing wariness.
"Sapphi! Khali!"
Mateo called over the pair of female Awakeners not far ahead of them in between laughter.
"You're back, Won."
Sapphi, the slightly taller of the pair, was carrying an overly stuffed backpack on her back with ease and greeted the fair-faced Awakener in all-black attire.
Khali, a dark-skinned woman with two swords strapped on her back, stood behind Sapphi. As part of her training, Khali always wore a blindfold over her eyes to sharpen her other senses.
"Did you find it already?"
Sapphi went straight to the point.
"Ahead, there are thick vines. On the ground and trees, everywhere," Won responded in his usual monotonous tone.
"Alternative route?"
"The vines are tightly encircling the centre. Came back to report."
"That's troubling," Mateo commented as he stroked his chin.
Before they made their next move, Sapphi used her skill to call back their team leader.
On the other hand, Patch recovered from his shock and bawled, "Why me every single time?!"
Won remained unresponsive to the youngest's complaint.
A minute later, Alan leapt down from the highest branch and without delay, Won reported what he saw during his recon.
At the same time, Khali sensed a change in the atmosphere. Though her sight was blocked, her ears were sharper than the rest of her team members. She focused on the sound around them, but there was none.
Not even the frogs' daily croaking battle.
Alarmed, Khali gripped the handle of her sword. Her sudden movement didn't go unnoticed by the others since they too had never let their guard down.
…sh…swish!
"Spread out!" Khali shouted and unsheathed her sword.
Patch quickly jumped on Won's back and the two instantly disappeared into the shadows.
Alan grabbed Sapphi and effortlessly leapt upward to the nearest branch despite the added weight of her overstuffed backpack.
Mateo, however, didn't go very far. He only jumped a couple of metres backwards. Just in time as dozens of vines slithered where they stood. Even though he luckily managed to evade the sudden attack, a single vine still managed to sneak under his foot and tighten around his ankle. Khali was currently busy dealing with the vines from going after Alan and Sapphi, so she was unable to help him.
However, Mateo smirked despite the predicament he was in.
"Oho, big mistake. You should've tied up my hands instead."
With only one strike, Mateo cut himself free with an axe.
He didn't stop there and threw a vial of liquid towards the vines.
The vines disintegrated at a rapid speed, leaving behind a foul odour. Unbothered by the smell, Mateo threw a couple more of the same vials, causing the rest of the vines to stop attacking altogether and retreat.
"Clear!"
Only after Khali confirmed the attack was over did everyone regroup. Patch and Won jumped out from the shadows behind Mateo and immediately covered their noses.
"Whoa! What stinks?"
Patch curiously looked over Mateo's shoulder and saw the disgusting mush of disintegrated vines.
"Don't stop on the liquid if you don't want to lose a flesh."
Mateo casually warned before he plopped down and chopped a withering vine within arm's reach.
Patch and Won exchanged glances and took several steps back from Mateo.
"Should we get down from the trees?"
Mateo suggested that since their position was found out.
"The anacondas might come after us next," Sapphi reminded him.
"The river is no good because of the alligators, the ground is no good because of the snakes and anacondas. Now, we also have to avoid being strangled by vines. It's a wonder if we find any signs of civilisation at all in this rift."
Mateo shook his head and raised both his hands in the air in frustration together with his axe.
As the team leader, Alan appeared unaffected by the newly added obstruction and gestured Won over to his side.
"Do you think you can penetrate through?"
Won understood without further explanation and responded, "Not by myself. The vines I saw were thicker than the vines that just attacked."
After hearing that, Alan formulated a couple of plans in his head with the potential of succeeding within the limited days they had left, but nothing clicked in the way he wanted it to. At the corner of his eyes, he saw the broken vials and had a lightbulb moment.
"Mateo! Do you have more of those vials?"
"Come on, leader. You know my pockets are never empty."
Mateo reacted as though he was offended that Alan asked such a question.
Alan ran a simulation in his head. Only when he was satisfied with it did he relay new instructions to the team awaiting to make their next move.
"Won, take Patch and Mateo as close as you can and assist them with locating the core."
Then, Alan looked at the pair he just named.
"You two, make an opening."
Mateo shot up on his feet with renewed enthusiasm.
"How big of an opening, leader?"
"Big enough for an arrow to pass through."
Mateo and Patch's eyes dazzled with excitement and began to murmur amongst themselves. Seeing them like that, Alan was about to regret his decision. The combination of Patch and Mateo; the always-eager-to-perform youngest, and the axe-loving enthusiastic oldest member of the team, was bound to be flashy and noisy.
"Make sure they don't go too overboard," Alan spoke quietly to Won as he was the most reliable person in restraining those two.
Despite his taciturn personality, this fair-faced guy can be terrifying when angered.
After receiving his order, Won grabbed Patch and Mateo on both sides and they sank into the shadows.
With the change of plan, Team O was now split in half.
Khali remained vigilant with their surroundings while Sapphi dreaded what might happen after this. But, since the team has had high success mission rates under Alan's leadership, she kept her mouth closed and waited for her turn.
"Sapphi, can you contact Team A2?"
At their leader's query, Sapphi momentarily closed her eyes then opened them again and said, "They're within range. What's your plan, leader?"
Alan shared his plan with Sapphi under hushed tones.
"Do you think it's going to hit at that distance?"
Sapphi expressed her doubt after listening to another one of their leader's improvised plans.
Given how long they worked together, she should have been used to his unconventional ways of problem-solving by now but sadly, it never did.
"That's not my problem."
"Please have a bit more consideration when using someone outside of our team."
When Alan shrugged his shoulders irresponsibly, Sapphi admonished him while massaging her temple. Then, she took out a small sketchbook and chalk from her backpack and began sketching.
"Tell their archer to get ready at the signal. That's the most important part," Alam emphasised.
The success of the plan depended on a long-range specialist with perfect aim.
While Sapphi was occupied with the four-panel drawing of the new improvised plan, Alan checked the countdown timer on his x-watch.
5 days 17 hours 45 minutes 32 seconds…
…left to close the rift.