The world is a happy place at good times, it can get really sad at bad times, though.
Wander's P.O.V.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!"
The trio had taken the opportunity of their new addition to walk around a bit more and see if there was anything good and cheap to buy.
It was a really good moment... until the sound of monsters roaring and people screaming came along to ruin the day.
Like almost everyone else, the two adventurers and the sealed goddess immediately came to the conclusion that they were too weak to get embroiled in the fray.
So, like the properly sane people they were, they sensibly chose to hurry the opposite way from the danger, exiting the marketplace.
Their luck wasn't meant to last, though, and they were soon spotted by a dark-furred gorilla with red muscles, a Berserker Ape.
Strangely enough, and unfortunately enough, though, the monster's rampage came to a close as soon as its eyes glued to the trio, or more specifically, the goddess.
Of curse, the beast's appearance had not stopped the group from running, it was the opposite, as their speed visibly increased.
There was a great disparity in size, however, and as the gorilla loudly announced its hunt for prey, it swiftly closed the distance between them.
Without much time to think, the three were forced to take a turn, ending up in front of a district that would have amazed Verhund with the similarity of the buildings in it.
They couldn't be impressed with the scenery now, however, as the Berserker came crashing into a building, using the construction as a measure to stop its run.
The goddess, already half-stumbling due to the inhuman speed both adventurers of her Household had, was picked up by Kodoni and given a piggyback ride before she actually fell for real.
Entering the Daedalus District, it didn't take long for them to become absolutely lost inside the winding pavement with uncountable detours, the ape hot on their tail.
"Shit! We're screwed!"
Indeed, as Wander and company took another turn at random, the path before them went straight by a few hundred meters before the next turn could come into reach.
"Keep running! I'll see if I can stop it!"
""What!?""
"Just go, I'll do fine if it's just for a moment!"
Finishing saying his piece, Wander slowed down and let the duo without an option other than to run head onwards.
'First, what do I need to do in order to stop it?'
He needed the monster's attention, which meant he had to attack a weak spot while on its sight.
'Second, how do I run?'
The beast was too fast, after becoming the target, he needed to get lost immediately, by cutting the eyes or even the Achilles heels he could stop the chase once and for all.
However.
Wander studied his opponent's frame while it approached from behind.
It was too tall, reaching its head would take too much time. It was running, he would only get kicked if he approached its feet.
'Can I even properly cut it?'
The ape's fur and skin were too hard, not to mention its muscles, it would be good if he could even leave a papercut behind.
It made sense. After all, it came from the dungeon's middle floors.
But that didn't mean it was nice, a slap and he was pancakes, a thousand slashes and it would feel some itching.
Wander and the Beserker approached each other, the ape quickly went on its fours and launched a low punch towards the little adventurer.
Not knowing whether he had great luck or an abysmal lack of it, Wander thanked the thief from earlier as he put his new skill to use.
Jumping on top of a brick fence serving as a random stair's handrail, he proceeded with a wall run to pass over the fist.
Because the primate had lowered its body, Wander was able to somehow reach its head.
He tried to cut its eye blind, but the Berserker was quick to swerve its head sideways, receiving nothing but a nick in the ear.
This was enough to enrage the beast, however, since it immediately stopped and turned with a smash while roaring.
A pity that the damned pest was already running away and barely stumbled due to the tremor caused by the impact.
With an angry growl, the gorilla forced itself to forget the shame and kept on running after its prey.
"Of course it wouldn't work."
Wander sighed in both relief and frustration, thankful that he was not being chased by the beast but worried about his teammates who were undoubtedly being hunted once again.
Thankfully, the parkour skill leveled up after he barely managed to avoid that ferocious punch and even nicked its ear, he was now better at the basics and could have some success in more complicated moves.
'This district was also a great place to practice the skill,' Wander casually remarked in his mind, quickly climbing up a building through windowsills and door garrisons.
The pavement was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side and every building was closely bundled together, meaning that you could move in any direction in 360 degrees without running into a dead end.
The streets were another matter, though, constructed to simulate a maze, the simplistic housing were the walls that constantly confused your sense of direction and closed your path onwards.
And now that Wander was cheating through things, he could occasionally see signs of the ape's destruction not too far and even occasionally spot its head peeking over the buildings.
"Alright, alright! Let's do this!"
Cheering himself up, Wander jumped and vaulted over buildings, using the ape's movement as a guiding beacon to find his teammates.
He had finally found them, stuck in a dead end with fear-stricken faces.
Kodoni had already let Hestia down.
Wander descended from the buildings beside them and looked around, a wry smile occupying his countenance.
"What do we do..."
"Hey, guys..."
"Wander! You're here!"
"Looks like we cannot run anymore, the Berserker Ape is also coming here..."
"Sigh. And I can't even find a way to let Hestia run away."
"You're talking as if you'd stay behind?"
"If need b-"
"Shut it!"
Indeed, there was no way out.
Wander could climb up the buildings just fine and Kodori could probably do it too somehow since he had superhuman strength.
Hestia, however, definitely couldn't do it. And none of the other two could make it while carrying her.
In fact, it would take too long even if they could do it, as the monster's footsteps were already within hearing range, stomping fear deep into their hearts.
"No choice other than to fight it, eh?" Wander sighed.
"Let's pray someone save us." Kodoni gave a small chuckle.
"Oh! Wander, I'm going to give you my blessing, take out your shirt!"
"Understood!"
The situation was far too serious for anyone to have any kinds of stray thoughts. Since Hestia said she was giving her blessing, Wander could only think that, perhaps, he could get strong enough to actually cut muscle this time.
A finger pressed against his back as the Berserker appeared into view, the monster seemed to understand that its prey was cornered and snorted, taking its time to walk over.
Wander could feel the comforting heat entering and traveling throughout his body, stimulating his cells and granting them strengthening magical properties. Meanwhile, the Berserker joined them in the dead end, occupying a fourth of the circular space.
Kodoni ran towards the colossal primate while a starry light filled Wander's back, producing tattoos in the form of letters and numbers nestled inside of the Household's crest.
"Great! You have a skill that will help in cutting flesh! Have at it!"
Kodoni had just jumped sideways to avoid a smash and fell down because of the tremor when Wander came in running, sword drawn.
It wasn't much, but his body was slightly stronger and faster. His reaction time was slightly better too, along with an increase to the precision of his movements.
The Berserker was about to swipe at Kodoni - who was off balance - when it saw Wander approaching.
It still seemed to remember him, seeing as it instantly ignored the fallen victim by its feet in favor of bashing at its previous offender.
Wander once again wall ran over the punch, and the giant followed with a shoulder strike.
Thankfully, Wander had decided to use his enemy's arm as a stepping stone to reach the gorilla's head for the second time.
When he attacked, he managed to leave an ugly scar in its eye. He had also cut open a vein on its forehead, judging by the amount of blood falling on its right eye.
The beast went into a frenzy, erratically swiping and punching at its surroundings while trying to find the pest that had hurt it for the second time today.
It was then that it felt great pain coming from the Achilles heel of its left foot, Kodori had cut it apart with a dagger.
Kodoni had a skill of his own, it targeted weak points in the enemy's body and dealt damage relative to their vitality.
The Berserker's reaction to the injury, however, was worrying. It moved its leg towards the origin of the wound, hitting Kodoni even though he had already stepped away.
The adventurer was sent flying to the far end of the "arena", grunting loudly as he felt some of his bones straining under the pressure of what could barely be considered an attack.
Meanwhile, Wander was scaling the Berserker's bent back, hunched as the monster now used its arms to keep standing up.
He reached its left armpit and slashed at it, aiming to completely disarm the side that could still see.
He couldn't do much, though, as the ape abruptly pushed itself to the side and moved its back, throwing Wander off its back and onto a building.
Wander grabbed the construction's windowsill, but the force of the throw hurt both his arms and legs.
The bad news didn't stop there, though, as the Berserker Ape gave its loudest roar yet while lifting both arms.
The gigantic logs that were those arms blasted onto the ground... and disaster ensued.
The pavement gave under the absolute strength and split open, creating a crater dozens of centimeters deep and spitting stone splinters everywhere.
Kodoni was close enough to Hestia to protect her with his own body and Wander - who was too close to the impact for comfort - suffered dearly under the debris bombardment.
What none of them could take on, however, was the soundwave caused by the impact, the blaring boom akin to a mini-volcano erupting and digging into the eardrums of everyone present.
All three of them were stunned, and Wander's consciousness went black for an instant. When he looked up, vision blurry and ears ringing, he could make out the Berserker's silhouette.
The monster was looking down at him, raising its hammer-like arm as if to announce the death penalty.
A spear descending from the heavens - no, the buildings - and impaling the Berserker's head was the last thing he saw before completely losing conscious.