Nova dragged her weak body out of the forest. Luckily, it was early in the day and the sun was high.
Meow
The cat followed her closely behind. Nova did not have the heart to abandon it, so she pretended it was not there.
She traveled a long way to her house, however, nothing remained. The horrifying battle between her father and Alder remained evident through the state of the surroundings.
Although Nova searched everywhere, she could not find her father's remains.
"If that old bastard took father's body, I'll kill him a thousand times more," she spat out harshly.
Her hunger started to become unbearable. Fortunately…
"I'm a good hunter, so you'll eat well," Nova chuckled while she looked at the cat.
***
Several hours later the sun already set, and Nova still had not caught any game. She dragged herself sluggishly back to the flattened house empty-handed. Nova cursed under her breath.
'I spent most of my time dodging monsters in the woods rather than catching food!'
"Why are there so many monsters around?" Nova exploded in anger quietly. She wasted her energy and gained nothing in return.
Meow
Oddly enough, the cat perfectly knew when to stay quiet and keep their distance.
"Hey, I'm the one who suffered the most," she responded annoyed.
Nova fell into deep thought. 'Those monsters were not normal. They were way too strong.'
"Not once in my 16 years living here, have I found monsters that strong!" She brushed it off as bad luck and sighed loudly.
Meow
The cat suddenly stopped and whipped its head toward the dense forest. Nova noticed and immediately looked for something wrong. The area had a lot of trees, so it was hard to see far away. However, since Nova didn't sense anything, she continued to walk away, but the cat did not move.
"Come on I need rest," Nova whined. She needed to find new shelter. However, the cat still did not move.
"Fine, I don't need you. Why would I care about a cat I met only a few hours ago," she rolled her eyes and turned away.
WHOOSH
A strong breeze threatened to knock Nova over.
'What the hell. That scared me.'
SLAM
A strong push on her back sent Nova flying forward.
BOOM
An explosion echoed through the forest. Laying on the ground, Nova looked over frozen in fear.
The cat growled at something in the dark. She looked back at the place stood and saw the ground caved in.
'If I didn't move, I would have died!'
She looked up slowly in fear and saw a grotesque creature that stood on two legs hovering over her.
***
The monster was the worst abomination she had ever seen. Dozens of different animal skin and parts are stuck together through thick sewing threads.
The creature was easily over 2 meters (~6ft 6 in) tall. Although it stood on two legs like a human, nothing was human-like. It had a head of a spider with around 100 fiery red eyes. Each arm had massive biceps bigger than Nova's head, and razor-sharp claws as hands. Dark fur covered the monster's chest, but it couldn't hide the massive muscles underneath.
Nova immediately knew she had no chance. She was starved and tired. For a creature like this, she would need her full strength and a bunch of luck.
She calculated her chances of survival at 0%.
Within a moment she gather her remaining Est. She gambled her entire reserves on escaping. With all the Est concentrated in her feet, she swooped up the cat and ran. She madly dashed back through the forest, weaving through trees. She didn't spare a glance backward in fear of slowing down. Curses and fear filled her mind.
'Why can't I hear anything?' A monster of that size would definitely make noise chasing her. Deep down she felt like the monster was at ease.
Her Est level dropped dangerously low.
'If I can't fight, or run forever, I have to hide!'
She was not confident in her concealing abilities, so she didn't dare just jump into any tree. 'I need to shake off the monster and hide in a cave or something.'
But…
"How am I supposed to do that," she internally screamed. The monster chased right after her with ease.
HEHEHE
A cold shiver ran down her spine. The monster tried to laugh, but its voice was low and disoriented.
Adrenaline pumped through Nova's body, squeezing her Est carriers completely dry. She ran painfully slow now that she had less Est.
WHOOSH
Nova sensed a projectile incoming. She turned around and saw a massive tree trunk covering her vision. It barreled toward her at an impossible speed.
'What the-' Nova froze in shock. She couldn't dodge it at all. She raised her arms ready to launch the cat in another direction.
SLASH
A bright light lit up the entire dark forest. The bullet tree broke into numerous pieces and fell.
BOOM
A cloaked figure clashed with the monster. Nova's jaw fell open as she watched the monster losing a battle of strength to the tiny figure, A heavy groan escaped its mouth.
The figure jumped back and turned toward Nova. It was a young girl with brilliant golden hair and light green eyes, which both strikingly resembled her father.
The girl frowned and gave Nova a look of contempt, but she turned back around quickly. A bright green essence enveloped her body. Nova noticed her sword was extremely thin.
'A wind Affinity and a rapier! How did she push that monster with such a fragile-looking sword?' Nova was puzzled.
BOOM
Before the girl could attack again, the monster's body was thrown to the side by another sneak attack.
"Lady Claudia, you can't disappear from my sight." A tall muscular man stepped out of the trees. He had dark brown hair and similar brown eyes.
The girl, Claudia, clicked her teeth before she put her sword away.
"I was not running away. This girl was distressed. I had to save her," she calmly replied.
For some reason, her words agitated Nova.
"I was doing just fine," Nova replied and smiled. Claudia stared at Nova and turned around.
"Then go kill it. We are leaving," she smirked arrogantly.