A silence—more unbearable and awkward than any of the previous ones—lingered stubbornly in the air. Feeling a prickle of guilt, Talio stood up and left her alone without saying a word, giving her time to collect herself.
He walked back toward his group absent-mindedly and deliberately bumped into Ariana, setting his plan into motion.
"Oww, sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going."
Ariana replied with her usual bubbly tone, her posture light despite the tension, and said:
"It's fine, but I felt a sharp sting on my head for some reason."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. How about you?"
Talio briefly glanced toward the short ginger man and let a thought settle in his mind.
"I'm alright," he said, then gestured toward the ginger. "So, what was his story?"
The ginger immediately erupted at the question.
"Don't you dare tell him a word, or else."
A mocking smile tugged at Talio's lips as he raised an eyebrow.
"Or else what?"
The ginger's face flushed deeper as Talio slowly closed the distance between them. When Talio stood right in front of him, the short man craned his neck upward and snarled:
"Don't test my patience."
Talio didn't respond. He stared straight ahead, deliberately not acknowledging him, which only worsened the ginger's fury—as if Talio were dismissing him purely because of the height difference.
"LOOK AT ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU!"
Talio remained facing forward, unbothered by the shouting, and replied calmly:
"Or else?"
That was the breaking point. The ginger's face turned a nasty shade of scarlet as he threw a punch straight at Talio's gut.
But Talio had already reinforced his body with Vis Mundana, anticipating this outcome. The impact barely phased him. The ginger then reached for his short sword, but before his fingers could even brush the hilt—
Both of his arms, severed cleanly up to the elbows, hit the floor and rolled away.
For a few heartbeats, no one understood what had happened. Then a blood-curdling scream tore through the cavern.
The Blonde's group rushed over as Talio's group stared in stunned silence—jaws slack, bodies frozen. All except the masked one, who remained eerily still. The Blonde quickly stepped between Talio and the screaming man, preventing Talio from advancing any further.
"What happened here, Talio?"
Talio looked toward the Blonde—coldly—and walked forward.
"Move… unless you want to die with him."
The Blonde raised an eyebrow, his posture firm.
"I've never seen you act this coldly. Even so, I won't let you kill him."
"And why's that?" Talio replied. "You know he'll become infected now."
"Exactly. We need to observe the infection process. It might help us determine who here already is one—and who isn't."
Talio pretended to contemplate this, staring in the Blonde's direction.
'Alright… I've confirmed it.'
He stepped forward and deliberately bumped into the Blonde, forcing him to stagger slightly to the side.
Talio then found a spot in the corner of the cavern and settled there, finally allowing himself to relax.
'That went better than I expected. It seems the Blonde has definitely caught onto my plan.'
A loud growl echoed from Talio's stomach. He looked around for food, only to realize he had nothing edible on him. His gaze drifted to a small cluster of mushrooms growing near the wall to his right.
'Well… I'm not that hungry yet.'
He glanced at the others and noticed their intense glares as they whispered among themselves.
His stomach growled again. He looked back at the mushrooms.
'Well… he did say they won't kill me.'
Talio grabbed a handful and shoved them into his mouth. He immediately fought the urge to spit them out. The texture was awful—strangely rubbery—and for some reason incredibly chewy. It took him nearly five full minutes of grimacing before he managed to swallow.
'Hmm. The texture sucked… but after a while the taste started getting better.'
The thought made Talio slap his own face.
'Nope. Not happening. I am not developing weird taste buds because of this.'
Suddenly, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but exhaustion dragged him down, pulling him into deep slumber.
'Damn it… I knew those mushrooms were no good.'
A few hours passed. Eventually, everyone went to "bed," though no one except Talio actually slept.
Unfortunately, his deep slumber did not go unnoticed.
The next day—
'Shit. Shit. Shit.'
Talio woke abruptly. As he stretched his arms, a warm trickle slid down his forearm. His eyes snapped open as he quickly pulled his arm back and inspected it. A small cut marked his right palm, blood slowly seeping out.
He immediately applied pressure and circulated Vis Mundana through the wound, forcing it to close at an unnatural speed.
Only after that did Talio truly register how dire the situation was.
And yet—
A slight smile crept onto his face.