CHAPTER 35: SURVIVING THE NIGHT (1)

With the sun down it felt like something was bound to be lurking in the shadows. I’d even wage that it’s more than one monster that’s lurking about.

"Don’t worry about it." Velia says while continuing to walk.

Don’t worry about the monsters lurking around us? That just sounds stupid in my opinion but maybe there’s something she knows that I don’t.

Monsters won’t just ignore us out here so that’s why I’m left confused about the reason she said that.

"Why wouldn’t we worry?" Ghost asks quietly.

"The ones lurking around us can sense the strength of each of us. They know it’ll be deadly for them to engage." Velia answers without any hesitation whatsoever.

She really does seem to have the answers and it didn’t even seem like she struggled to come up with it. I can be confident about some things but I’m not always able to do it.

We continue to follow behind her while ignoring the monsters presence, even with it getting closer and closer. Velia seemed to be worry free about it so why should we be focused on it.

It’s definitely been a couple of hours since we started following her and we’ve got some time before the sun comes up.

"Stop." Velia says out of nowhere.

"What’s wrong?" I question while taking a few quick glances.

She draws her sword without saying a single word back, almost as if she was completely focused on the monsters around us.

"Lurkers are all around us. I’ll handle them quickly." Velia answers before disappearing.

Within a flash of bright blue light I could see Velia swinging her sword across the monster she called a lurker. They resembled wolves in a way except their heads were deformed in a number of ways with these strange bones pertruding out of the sides of the skull.

They also seem to have claws with a razor like appearance to them, something capable of slicing without a problem. Dark black fur and if those are eyes... They are pure red, like blood red.

FLASH! FLASH! Each swing I saw was another flash of blue light and yet another whimper from one of those lurkers. It was only then that I realized her sword was the thing emitting this light.

It was glowing bright blue with something radiating off of it as well... I couldn’t quite tell what it is but I know that it seems strong.

"Shouldn’t we help?" Ghost asks while watching everything before us.

"She seems to be holding her own just fine." Lilly answers with a bit of an irritated tone.

Holding her own for now, that doesn’t mean she can’t be overwhelmed at some point in time. We don’t even know how many of these lurkers there are.

I just didn’t expect them to attack with what Velia said about them knowing it was deadly before. Maybe they figured with more numbers that they could hunt us down.

For a moment I caught a glimpse of her face and all I could see was a bit, creepy smile on it as she slaughtered them with no issue. (Also to add, she’s definitely the shortest one here at a height of 5’1.)

Blood was on her face from the lurkers but I couldn’t understand how she had such an expression. Was it really that fun for her to be slaughtering them like she is?

Lilly seemed excited to be killing monsters before too so maybe I’m missing out on something here. I’ve also noticed that Lilly is a bit out of it since we’ve met this Velia girl earlier.

"Helping her would be the right thing to do." I speak up while looking down at my fist.

Standing around doing nothing won’t help me learn how to use my power better so it’s probably best to get some more combat experience. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone ever again so this is something I have to do.

Even if she doesn’t need help I feel weird just sitting here watching.

Without wasting another second I charged in myself, letting my instincts kick in. The change in my speed was the indication that my power was active.

Before me I saw a lurker about to slash across Velia and I took the chance to attack. Bringing my arm up and putting just a bit of force into my hand right before it connects with the monsters face.

CRACK!! I can feel its skull break right before it goes flying across the ashy landscape. Tumbling onto the ground in the distance as I notice Velia isn’t swinging her sword anymore.

"Seems that is all of them for the time being." Velia says while wiping the blood off of her sword.

One punch for these monsters seems understandable if they are low ranks but I don’t even know what they are ranked at. I’m glad I didn’t have to push myself at all for this since it was over pretty quickly.

"Why’d this happen all of a sudden anyway?" I question.

"Numbers, some assumed that even one hit off on any of us could be enough to get them a meal." Velia responds before sheathing her sword.

If they could sense our strength then they should’ve known that it wasn’t worth the fight. That’s the only thing throwing me off about this whole ordeal.

"Either way it’s time we continue on our way towards the tower." Velia says before walking past me yet again.

She needed to lead the way regardless but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure everyone else is good before moving on.

I looked over at Ghost and Lilly, both seemed to be fine but Lilly still had an irritated look on her face. Something about this girl is definitely getting under her skin and I want to know what it is.

Ghost seemed about the same as usual, her concern was there but it wasn’t showing as much lately. Maybe after seeing me fight a few times it died down.

I’ll have to talk to them both when we get to the tower about some stuff. I also think we all could use some upgrades after we investigate this tower.

All of us seem to have pretty tattered clothing so it would probably be best.