CHAPTER 545: ON HER OWN

They had scavenged what they could from the remains of Mina’s kitchen like the cans of beans, a few packets of dried noodles, and a half-melted block of cheese from the fridge that would not last the day.

Mina tucked it all into her small pack while Clyde gave the place one last glance.

When they stepped outside the air still carried that strange, fragile calm. The sky was a bright blue with dimension cracked in the middle. The streets cracked and broken, littered with scraps of things that had once been ordinary life and of course, blood and corpses of both human and monsters.

As they walked, Clyde’s thoughts wandered.

In his previous life, probably around this point in time, he had met another group of survivors.

They had banded together, fought side by side, and eventually made it to the Sivagadh Fortress after long hard journey. The Fortress that later he know as the strongholds of resistance against the Higher Beings’ cruelty.

These fragments of memory pressed into him like old scars.

He wondered if they were still alive, if the fortress still stood. Or had Sivagadh already fallen like so many other places. But he didn’t think so. Because the last time he knew, that place was still well hidden. And after the devastating hit the Higher Beings’ suffered from him, he was certain they wouldn’t bother to search for the Fortress.

He forced the thought away. It was pointless to dwell on what he could not reach for now. He was far from the fortress and there was no clear path to it yet.

First, he needed to raise his level. Without strength, no place would matter.

The problem was the road ahead. Should he take a path which was become a Follower of the Higher Beings and rise within their ranks and destroy them from inside?

Or remain independent and carve his own way like before?

The first option promised faster and more certain results because he can destroy them from inside. But it came with chains. The second gave freedom, but the storm would be faced alone.

Unless he could catch the Resistance’s attention here, draw them to him to pick him up like before.

He must have been frowning deep, because Mina spoke up. "What’s with that face? You’re thinking about something."

"I’m just thinking about our next step. Where to go from here," Clyde said.

"Do you know a better way to get more Exp and skill?" she asked.

He looked ahead, thinking, then answered, "We could look for a boss monster if you want."

"Boss monster? what is that?" Mina asked because Clyde had not explained this to her yet.

"It’s the strongest monster in the area," he said. "They are dangerous, but worth a lot of experience if we kill them."

Mina didn’t flinch. Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Then we should find it."

He studied her for a moment. The girl who had been trembling on the floor yesterday now spoke of hunting the deadliest creature nearby without a hint of fear. The trauma she felt definitely became a catalyst for her to move bolder.

A faint, approving smile tugged at his lips. She reminded him of Asqa. The way she changed from a scared little girl into a fierce warrior.

They resumed their walk.

They had barely gone two blocks before the first figures slipped from the shadows between the ruined buildings.

At first, Mina froze with hesitation in her heart. The shapes were different yet familiar. Thin bodies, small frames, faces that might once have belonged to children, or neighbors she had passed on the street.

Their skin was grey and cracked, eyes glowing faintly with sickly light, jaws slack and twitching.

Her grip on the dagger faltered for a second. The faint tremor in her stance showing the hesitation clawing at her mind and heart. This were her neighbors.

Then her eyes hardened. The faint waver vanished. With a sharp inhale, she stepped forward. Not away from them and cowering in fear again, but toward.

Her feet hit the cracked pavement in quick determined strides, and then she was running.

The first mutant lunged at her, but she slid her body low with expertise and cutting across its calf with a swift slice.

The mutated human stumbled, snarling, and Mina rose in one motion again then driving the dagger into the hollow of its throat.

She ripped it free with a shout and spun toward the next monsters.

Her attacks were close and vicious now. She sent short jabs at weak points, slashes across tendons, stabbing for eyes and throats.

She moved with the raw, unpolished ferocity of someone who refused to be prey. The last night’s sight really did change her.

Clyde didn’t rush to overtake her. He had his own fight as three larger figures emerged from the mouth of a side street.

It was a mutated humans with broad, hunched body, and with long, dragging arms that ended in claws more like bone than nails.

They charged with guttural shrieks. Clyde stepped into their path, spear ready.

The first swipe came fast, but his spear shaft intercepted it with a loud crack.

He twisted, pulling the weapon close, and drove the spearpoint into the creature’s chest.

It collapsed, but the next monsterr was already on him from different side.

He ducked under its swing, pivoting to sweep its legs. As it fell to the ground, he impaled it clean through the skull.

The third came from his right. He didn’t bother to block. He just sidestepped easily and, in the same movement, thrust the spear upward through the soft underside of its jaw, the tip of the spear bursting from the top of its head.

When he glanced back, Mina had already dropped another mutated human.

Her movements were harsher now, her breathing quick, face streaked with blood that wasn’t her own.

She yanked the dagger free from a corpse’s neck, turned, and didn’t hesitate before sprinting toward the next shadow that moved.

Clyde’s smile was faint, almost invisible, but it was there. The girl wasn’t just surviving anymore. She was hunting on her own and it was a good thing.

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