The next day, Zion and Fana started their journey early. First, they went to the river where they freshened up, and Fana helped Zion with the redressing of the wound.
Once that was done, the whole day was spent moving forward. Zion was very vigilant today.
Since his Qi was all used up, he was at his weakest right now. Without Qi, he wouldn't even be able to kill a deer, much less a predator who was after his life.
Fana, however, didn't complain, seeing that he was being overly cautious. A trace of respect had formed in her heart for Zion as he had killed a panther yesterday.
In the morning, she wanted to ask him the question again, but decided not to.
'What if he thinks that I'm doubting his ability and becomes angry?' She thought, 'Since he was all alone there, it's obvious that he killed it. Otherwise, why would a panther leave him alive?'
With this, she fully devoted herself to supporting Zion.
If she wanted to stay alive, making sure that Zion did well was her only option.
They rested for half an hour in the afternoon before starting their journey once again. They encountered several small animals and insects, but not one of them posed harm to them, so they continued without problems.
It was their fourth day in this forest, and they had travelled more than thirty-five kilometres during this period, but by the end of it, there was still no end to this forest.
Tired and frustrated, Zion set up the shelter when it was nearing night while Fana collected food.
A while later, the night arrived. Birds stopped chirping, and their place was taken by the constant singing of crickets and other insects.
Zion and Fana had grown used to it by now, but what they couldn't get used to was the heart-palpitating darkness.
Their hands were barely visible to them in the dark, and a constant urge to light a fire always whispered in their ears like the devil's calling.
Lying beside each other, they were out of small talk by now and just stared at the darkness in silence until one of them finally spoke.
"Zion…I'm scared. Will we ever get out of this forest? Does this forest even have an end?" Fana asked in a low voice.
Her hope from last night was gone, and despair started to take root in her heart.
"…"
Zion, too, was feeling down, but feeling the tone of despair in Fana's voice, he tried to lift her up.
"It's too soon to give up now. It's been only four days. So many of ours have ventured in this forest before, and if it were only a matter of four to five days or a week, they would have long returned to the village just to tell us their tales."
"Or they would have all died…" Fana added grimly.
Hearing her, Zion gritted his teeth and said, "At least a month, let's keep our hopes up for a month. I feel we'll start seeing signs of this forest's end by then.
He, too, didn't believe much in what he had just said, but in such situations, it was better to stay hopeful
*A month you say…" Fana smiled bitterly, "...will we even be able to survive until then?"
"We must…" Zion answered. He once again realised how weak he was.
Though he had managed to kill the panther yesterday, if something like that happens once again within this month, then death is the only conclusion.
'I must get stronger by any means necessary,' Zion clenched his fists.
Fana sighed, "Yes…We must,"
Time passed and, they just laid there in stillness after that, troubled with their thoughts.
A yawn escaped Fana's mouth a while later, "I'll sleep then,"
"Alright," Zion said, still immersed in his thoughts.
A few moments later, when Fana's breathing became even, Zion pushed himself up and sat in a meditative position.
'Today I must cross my limits!' With conviction, his eyes glimmered in the darkness, and Zion finally closed his eyes.
In the first four hours, he continued like usual, and a small amount of Qi was being stored inside him, but when he was nearing the next hour, mental exhaustion finally took over him.
'No! If I continue to fold, then it will never improve.' With this thought, Zion clenched his teeth and persevered.
His forehead was filled with beads of sweat, and his robes were fully drenched. Zion ignored that and kept pushing.
His mind felt a stabbing pain as if someone was constantly stabbing his temples, but he still didn't stop.
A thought that he might die today entered his mind, but he killed that thought.
'What of it? What if I die today?! If I don't try this, then it's a given that we won't be able to survive a month here!' Zion exclaimed in his mind and continued to push himself.
BOOM!
Zion felt a sharp pang of pain from inside his head the next moment. It was so strong that he was almost on the verge of losing consciousness. However, before that could happen, his mind suddenly became clear.
To his surprise, his mind felt as fresh as it was five hours back. Surprise and excitement took over him, and he kept his eyes closed and continued absorbing Qi.
'What…?!'
It was just a minimal difference, but how could Zion, who had been involved in this practice for months now, not notice this? His Qi absorption rate had increased!
'We can survive!' A new sense of hope took root in him as he fully got himself involved in the Qi absorption.
"Zion…?" A hand touched Zion's shoulders.
Zion immediately opened his eyes, but the next moment was forced to squint his eyelids. The sun was already up.
'A night passed?...doesn't that mean I cultivated for almost eight hours!" Zion couldn't believe it. He checked his Qi reserves and realised that it had already reached one per cent.
'Amazing…' Zion's eyes widened in surprise. Earlier, it took him a week to collect this much Qi, but now it didn't even take him a whole night!