Everything happened too fast for Neo to comprehend much less react.
With a flash in the shape of what seemed to be a bolt of lightning, something zoomed through the air straight at the beast and crashed into its temple, blasting its skull into hundreds of broken pieces and a rain of brain matter!
Just like that, in a single fraction of a second, the horror was mercilessly killed, its blood splattering on Neo's body in great amounts whereas its body fell rigidly into the snow, no longer moving!
'What... Was that?'
Feeling both alarmed and aghast, Neo shifted his head toward the direction from where the ambush appeared. However, except for the now calm and empty forest and the swirling darkness in the distance, he saw no one.
It was almost as if the nightmare had been slain by a ghost that vanished the very moment it claimed the life of its prey!
'No... It was no ghost. It was...'
Neo shifted his attention to the small but sharp arrow that was now impaled deep into the ground beside the carcass, only to get alarmed the next moment as the darkness in the far began to swirl with more frenzy than usual before something stepped through it.
First, it was just a leg which soon enough was followed by the whole body. It was...
'A human.' Neo thought silently.
That's right.
The figure that appeared was a human, a young woman to be more precise. She wore thick fur clothes with a small quiver attached to her waist while her hand, which was covered in leather gloves, held a large bow, one that looked rather heavy to use for someone as small as her for some reason.
Her hair, which was as dark as the swirling darkness behind her back, if not darker, was tied into a ponytail that reached her slim waist. As for her eyes, they were sharp and filled with both caution and coldness, showing she was someone who saw and experienced quite a few things throughout her seemingly short yet long life.
However, despite that weirdness, what made Neo feel more perplexed was her eyes. They were crimson, as deep as the beast's flowing blood before his feet in the snow!
...Or at least it seemed to be crimson.
While it was true that he couldn't discern colors with his Legacy, after walking for several days straight without facing any trouble, luckily, he was able to learn how to differentiate colors from one another.
After all, every color had its own shade, even if one perceived all of them as gray!
And because of that, he was almost 100% sure the woman in front of him had deep crimson eyes, something that was not normal at all, not if the one in question was a human!
'I mean, blasting that terrifying beast's skull into bits with a single arrow was not normal either, so...'
Thinking about that, Neo swallowed nervously before deciding to speak;
"Umm... Thanks for killing it, truly."
However, even after saying that, the woman just stood still and silent, staring at him with a deep frown on her fairly beautiful face.
'The hell is her problem?' Neo frowned when suddenly his face paled and took a step backward.
Before him, the woman suddenly raised her weapon, giving him a feeling of distress.
'She doesn't plan to fight me... Right?'
However, to his relief, the woman didn't plan to start a battle or kill him. She just simply attached the bow behind her back, that is.
"Calm down. I mean no harm."
'Huh? She understood what I said?' was the very first thought Neo had when he heard the woman speak, only to shake his head the next moment.
'No, this is not what matters right now. Stay focused.'
With that, Neo cleared his throat and with a bittersweet smile spoke;
"I-Is that so? That is a relief then... I guess. How can I call you?"
The woman, now only a few meters away from him, halted her steps and after looking at the beast's carcass for a few seconds she shifted her crimson eyes at him, especially at his Bone Cleaver.
A hint of confusion flashed in her cold eyes before she became nonchalant once again and replied.
"Stella, that is my name. Yours?"
"Stella... I see. It is a pleasure to meet you, indeed. You can just call me Neo." Neo nodded, lowering his weapon.
"Will you really trust her just like that? Even though you have only met her?" Zen asked, visible annoyance in his voice.
'Huh? Why shouldn't I? She saved my life just now.'
"That doesn't mean you must trust her! I would even bet the next one who she will kill be you!"
Neo rolled his eyes.
'And here comes your overly suspicious nature again. Why would she save me just to kill me later? Makes no sense."
"Or you are just too naive, idiot. If I were you, I wouldn't trust her at all, no matter what she had done for me. In fact, I would try and kill her right here and now, at least her stuff would come in handy."
Neo wished to reply to that statement, however, just before he could have done so a blood-chilling howl swept through the forest, causing him to flinch and shift his attention to the side.
"W-What was that just now?"
"The leader of the pack. It seems it had caught the smell of the blood of its kin. We should get going, it is no longer safe out here."
"Eh? W-What? Where?"
Seeing as Stella turned around and began to walk away, Neo asked and quickly ran after her. Of course, he made sure to keep a safe distance just in case.
"To my Clan's Shelter. It's on the east, about a few hours of travel from here. We should arrive there at noon."
Neo's eyes lit up hearing the word 'Shelter' as that meant he could finally take some rest end very likely fill his stomach with food, warm food at that, something that he carved for the most at the moment!
After all, if he considered his life spent in both worlds, it had been almost a whole week since he had last eaten. He was literally dying to fill his stomach!
"Cool! Though, what about the carcass?" Neo asked as he glanced behind, wondering if the beast's body kept any Core within or not.
...Or more importantly, whether eating its flesh would give him any Legacy or not!
Stella looked back also over her shoulder before she shook her head.
"Leave it. Taking the Core with us will only draw the pack to the Shelter. Ice-Claw Panthers have a keen sense of smell, they would follow us with ease."
"I-I see." Neo nodded and without any hesitation followed after the huntress.
As for Zen, he just sighed helplessly in his head.
"You are walking right into your demise..."