Zombie Queen transmigration into a book-Chapter 156: Cole, blink if you can hear me

"You’re up. Are you alright?" Julian asked, concerned, as he let go of the tent flap and walked toward her. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Eva shuddered instinctively at the sound of his voice; her body had been through so much to go another round.

Julian, unaware of her fears, leaned in closer and gently caressed her face with a satisfied expression, like a well-fed cat.

"Pah!"

Eva slapped his hand away and gave him a warning glare.

"Don’t even think about it. Help me bring lunch; I’m starving," Eva requested as her stomach growled in response.

"Tsk, I’m not a beast, you know... how can I think about continuing when you’re still weak?" Julian pinched her puffed cheeks in retaliation for her slap.

"Wait a bit, let me whip up something for you to eat," he said, a light laugh escaping his lips as Eva’s expression shifted to annoyance because of his action.

Before she could complain, he slipped out of the tent shouting for her to stay on the bed and wait for him.

⸙⸙⸙⸙

On the other side of the surface, Daniel and the others sat around a campfire, each holding a stick of roasted meat.

"Do you think Adrian will succeed this time? It’s been five days now, and there’s no sign of him connecting to the dungeon near Oasis City," Marvin muttered aloud, his face filled with wariness over these five days of ongoing failure, and his voice lacked hope.

Everyone sighed together and gazed at the dungeon door hanging hovering in the air behind them.

"It’s not a failure, you know, just too weak to create a space tear over such a long distance. What I need now is to boost my power level and try again," Adrian explained, trying to comfort them. He, too, was exhausted from everything that was happening.

Zoey took a bite of her meat and remained silent. She was grateful to be part of such a strong team and didn’t want to say anything that might come across as ungrateful.

"You keep saying this every day... we have been stuck on this mountain peak. Though hunting those monsters wasn’t a waste, I’m tired of the... achoo." Daniel’s words were cut off by his loud sneeze.

Cole looked at Daniel as if he were a rare species.

"What?" Daniel snapped, bothered by his gaze.

"Nothing. But aren’t you a fire user...?" Cole asked, his tone tinged with doubt and disbelief as he gave Daniel a once-over, as if trying to spot what was strange about him. "You catch cold like the rest of us?"

Daniel’s expression cracked, and he quickly grabbed a small stone nearby and threw it at Cole’s irritating face.

The others chuckled, almost choking on their meat from Cole’s remark, while Zoey also had difficulty containing her laughter, her shoulders trembling with amusement.

"I’m bloody human, not a machine with fire! Of course I fall sick, you moron!" Daniel yelled and grabbed a handful of stones, throwing them at the dodging Cole.

"But not cold, though... It’s just weird, you’re fire and supposed to be a nemesis if cold. Are you sure your powers aren’t broken?!" Cole argued, still caught up in his thought process, convinced he was right.

Daniel roared with anger, but his momentum was broken by a wave of sneezing fits that took hold of him.

His eyes watered, and he couldn’t help but activate his power crystal, hoping to warm himself from the inside.

A comfortable sigh escaped his lips, but unfortunately, he couldn’t make this moment last longer.

Activating his power crystal pushed him into a defend-or-attack mode, which was mentally exhausting to maintain for long; otherwise, he wouldn’t have to suffer from the cold.

"Tch. Look who’s talking—you, a healer who couldn’t even cure my regular cold, and you think you’re normal?" Daniel shot back, then sat down and went back to his meal.

"I choose not to heal you, not that I’m unable to." Cole refuted his words with a hint of embarrassment in his tone.

He couldn’t keep healing him from a recurring cold—it was both irritating and exhausting. After all, they were high on the mountain peak, where the air always felt colder.

He pulled his coat tighter, moved closer to Zoey, and asked uncertainly.

"Is what I said wrong? How can a fire user be afraid of cold?"

Zoey’s chewing paused awkwardly; she felt uncomfortable under their subtle stares, prompting her to share her thoughts.

She swallowed with difficulty. "Umm... we power users can’t use our powers for long without rest. It’s taxing on both mind and body." Zoey bit the bullet, voicing the truth everyone was thinking.

Cole stayed quiet for a moment, and Zoey almost panicked, worried she had upset him with her reply.

"Oh, I forgot about that. I had used my powers for a whole week before... hmm, it seems not everyone could do that." Cole thought to himself, unaware he was speaking out loud.

"Damn, are you even okay at this point?" Alex swore.

"No wonder you’re always spaced out, this experience must have affected you up here," Daniel pointed to his head to emphasize.

"Cole, blink if you can hear me. How many fingers am I holding up, man?" Adrian raised three fingers, his expression full of concern.

Zoey’s skewered meat nearly hit the ground, but she grabbed the end of the stick just in time.

She was so shocked that someone could pull off such an incredible feat. ’What situation was he in to stay in a powered-up state for a week?’ This question stayed in her mind, but she wasn’t close enough to ask such a personal question.

Cole glanced at them dryly, feeling that they were overreacting. The situation at that time was nerve-racking and dangerous—he and Grandpa were facing an unranked behemoth of a monster in the dungeon abyss.

A lingering shiver ran through him when he thought of that dreadful experience, which might have traumatized him and caused him to use his healing powers less often.

"It was a hunt with grandpa... don’t ask." He took a bite of his meat, signaling the end of the discussion.

The rest shivered when they heard it was a mission with Grandpa—that man was a maniac when it came to hunting dungeon beasts, and at one point, they wished he could retire and stop dragging them into the dungeon just to bond with his grandchildren.

"Finally, we are on the surface now—one of the great advantages of this place: freedom." Marvin’s words made their eyes light up.

Daniel burst out laughing, with the others joining in, while Zoey looked confused and curious about who could make all five of them show expressions of fear.

They settled into a comfortable silence with playful jabs at each other; after finishing the roasted meat, they lay down to rest for the night.

Tomorrow, they will continue exploring the dungeon to level up and hope Adrain succeeds in creating a spare tear linking to the other dungeon.

⸙⸙⸙⸙

The next morning, the sun shined down on their curled-up sleeping figures. Daniel’s face and nose were flushed; he sniffled and sneezed, and the rest weren’t much better, making their rest uncomfortable.

"Ugh...cough. Adrain, if you fail today, I’ll leave...achoo...behind," Daniel complained, his eyes remaining closed, showing he had been awake for a while and lacked the strength to stand.

The others hummed in agreement, feeling sore and cold.

"I’ll do my best," Adrian muttered uncertainly, unsure if he could succeed this time. He was also exhausted from the constant cold.

Time passed, and the camp grew busier as some folded their tents back into their space rings.

They waited for Adrian to create a space tear so they could go down the peak to find food and wash off at the stream.

Adrian performed well, creating a space tear effortlessly; others hoped he could easily connect to the other dungeon instead.

He ignored their gaze and motioned for everyone to pass through. Once everyone had gone, the space tear disintegrated, and the air returned to normal.