CHAPTER 35: YETI

Silva and Stacy got to the cafe, they got a cup of coffee together. Silva sat looking outside the window, a distant look in his eyes.

She sipped her coffee, her gaze lingering on the figure in front of her, unable to start a conversation. She took a slow deep breath.

"I guess none of us saw it coming?" she said.

"Huh? What’s that?" he responded, the same lackluster voice. He couldn’t be bothered. She felt her chest tighten.

"The attack in the gate," she said.

"Yeah, none of us could have seen that coming. Everyone died, and now we live with that memory," he said.

"Yeah," she muttered in a low tone and returned to her coffee. It was another minute of silence before she looked up again. "I’m sorry," she said.

Silva turned his head. He looked her in the eyes. "About what?" he asked.

"Everything, especially the past. You and I grew up together, we were childhood friends, but I allowed my desires and selfishness to destroy what we had.

I didn’t stand by you during your toughest times." She chuckled, a pained one. "Honestly, looking back at it, I was a terrible person," she added.

Silva looked at her. He picked up his cup, took a sip, then spoke. "The past is in the past. I can’t fault you for leaving back then. You did what you felt was right for you." He got up, moved away from the table, looked at her, and said one more thing.

"I have no grudge against you, and honestly, I still remember the fun times I had with you," he said.

"So does that mean we can—"

"Highly unlikely, Stacy," he cut her short. "Right now, my priority lies in getting stronger to protect and give Ella a better life, not to rebuild burnt bridges. I don’t have the time and resources for that," he said and walked away.

’Beyond that, I don’t want to trust you anymore. You may see it as a simple betrayal, but you singlehandedly twisted my ability to trust someone,’ he thought as he walked out the door.

Stacy sat there, the cup still in her hands. She took a deep breath. "I guess I blew my friendship forever," she muttered. "But that doesn’t mean I can’t build a new one with him," she said, a resolute look on her face.

Silva came down from the taxi. It was already getting to noon, and it was time he finally grinded for level ten. He had come to a D-ranked gate in town.

This was the first time that he would be facing a D-ranked gate alone. Even in the past, he had only entered a few D-ranked gates with parties.

He walked up to the guard, showed his guild card, and was allowed in. He walked through the gate and right off the bat, he was assaulted with a crippling cold.

The freezing wind blew across his face, his hairs stood on edge, his teeth already clattering. His feet sunk into a foot-deep layer of snow.

He looked around and all he saw was snow. He took a deep breath, put on his gauntlet, and started braving the snow.

There were other awakened around this point, parties being formed, strategies being made. He, on the other hand, started walking deeper into the snow. He made it a few tens of meters away and then finally spotted his first monster.

A yeti.

A tall, seven-foot monster with white fur, a black hard face, and hands with thick chunky claws. It had a humanoid form, and its eyes glowed red.

Seeing this creature, Silva couldn’t help but smile. He rushed forward, pushing himself hard through the snow. The yeti let out a thunderous roar and rushed at Silva.

It attacked first with a powerful slash. Silva dodged and attacked its leg with a claw strike. The arcs tore through the legs and blood splattered on the snow.

Sadly, it wasn’t enough to take it down due to the very thick skin and fur that it had. The yeti growled, it slammed both hands into the ground, blasting snow all around. Silva backed up quick to get his bearings, but the savage beast was already hot on his trail, rushing toward him like a bull.

Silva released one claw strike and then a second. Both cut into its shoulder and chest, yet it kept rushing at Silva, ignoring the pain.

Without choice, he dove out of the way at the last moment, but the yeti grabbed him by his leg, swinging him hard and slamming him into the ground.

Silva felt everything inside him shake, his entire body screamed in pain, his eyes went hazy for a moment, it was as if he would pass out. The yeti, looking at its prey down there, leaped into the air, wanting to stomp on Silva.

Silva rolled, the feet slammed into the ground and dug deep into the snow. Silva pushed himself up, he got on his feet. The yeti turned to face him but was met with a face full of snow.

Using that opportunity, Silva rushed to the back of the yeti, he sent a powerful kick to the back of its knee, sending it down, and then he released a barrage of claw strikes into the back of the yeti.

The back was mangled up badly, the yeti roared in pain and collapsed to the ground. Silva then got over it and plunged his fist right through the back, shattering the thick ribs and pulling out the massive heart, killing the yeti there.

He dropped the heart and staggered away from the yeti, exhausted.

[You have gained 100 EXP, 20 demonic energy]

The reward for the tough fight was worth it. He got up, cracked the skull of the yeti, pulled out the core. After cleaning his blood-covered gauntlet in the snow, he continued in, searching for his next target.

After a while, he spotted two yetis together in the snow.