"Where're your teammates? It's not wise to be wandering around by yourself." I said to Wang Jin.
"Ah, about that… I lost them."
Lost them? Like they died, or something?
Death wasn't uncommon here. The Academy only accepted the strongest of the strongest. It was even considered to be a blessing to be able to participate in the exam and die here.
If you were to lose your life here, it only meant that you were weak. Cadets entered this knowing full well the things that could happen.
"How'd they die?"
"Die? What are you talking about?" Wang Jin tilted his head. Did he really get confused by a question as simple as this?
"I thought you lost them."
"I did. I went out to take a piss, and when I came back to camp they were gone. I wandered the city until I got here."
Huh? This guy is bad with directions? I guess that makes sense as to how he ended up here.
He does look a bit thin and blemished. I wonder if he's eaten yet.
"That reminds me. You have some food, or something? I haven't eaten once today. I could go for a bowl of ramen right now…."
"Oh, don't worry." He continued. "I can pay you back by joining you temporarily. You've seen me fight: I'm pretty goddamn strong." Wang Jin began flexing his muscles in front of me.
This guy seems really confident in his strength. I mean, I saw him in battle and was quite frankly impressed, but we're not a charity.
"Come on… please? I'm saying please!"
This seems like a situation that I can't refuse. I guess we can spare the food if it means having someone to help us for a day or so.
"Alright. Come with me, I'll lead you to our camp."
"Seriously!? Damn, I'd kiss you if I could!"
"Just… thanks is fine."
I better be careful not to let my guard down when around him. Who knows what sort of weird stuff goes on through his head.
I brought Wang Jin back to the first floor and headed straight for the storage room, where we made our camp.
The fire we lit up seemed to have lost its light. We happened to gather a good amount of firewood while outside, so we used that as kindling.
Alter seemed to be sleeping as well. Her soft snores completely filled the silent room.
"Shh."
"Whoa, you have a girl with you? Is she your girlfriend?" He whispered to me.
"No. And I don't intend for that to happen."
"Damn. Can I have her then?"
"You're welcome to try. By the way, you wanted food, right? Here."
I tossed a can of sardines and a bottle of water over to Wang Jin, who caught them effortlessly.
"Heat it up on the fire."
"In the meantime, keep a lookout. And make sure you don't leave this room. You can wake me up in a few hours."
My next words didn't even reach Wang Jin's ears. He was already gobbling up the food I gave him.
Oh, well. At least we have someone to stand guard. I'll try to get as much sleep as I can.
My eyes soon started to close and my consciousness began to fade.
***
"*huff* Mister Rokas… I don't think I can keep going any longer."
How many imps have we killed? I must have lost count after the first hundred. Even then, it seemed like their numbers wouldn't go down no matter what we did.
"Please try to hold on for a few more minutes, Percivale. I will make a way for us and we will retreat into that building." I pointed to the hospital at the end of the street.
"I will try…"
I looked at my holographic screen. In this fight alone, I felt my Defense and Attack stats increasing rapidly. The countless numbers of imps we slayed gave way to an increase in my attack power.
But both I and Mister Percivale soon got tired. If this kept up, we would be swallowed by the horde of imps. Now was the time to make an escape.
I activated my skill, Overdrive.
Instantly, I felt my body burst with power. Just a few seconds ago, I could barely swing my sword, but now I could slash down twice in a single second.
My skill Overdrive allowed me to receive a large boost in power for a short duration. It was a powerful skill when used in small bursts, but the pain I felt with each use would only grow.
"Gyaaa!" The imps around us began to rally.
I didn't have time to hesitate. With my sword and my shield in hand, I would clear a path to the building, if it meant injuring myself.
"Now, Percivale! Charge!" I shot forward in a burst, my shield in front of me.
The strength inside me was still rapidly growing. I could feel it continuing to rise.
With my shield in hand, I pushed forward, launching the imps out of the way.
Mister Percivale was right behind me, using his Spatial Magic to redirect enemy attacks to their friends.
Argh!
I felt a sharp pain in my right leg. An imp had somehow managed to get past my defenses and struck my limb.
I slashed down with my sword, cleanly severing its head from the rest of its body.
Even with the added pain from Overdrive, I continued pushing. If I were to stop here, both of us would die.
"Graaagh!!!" With my remaining strength, I pushed through the horde of imps.
I felt the wall of demons in front of me disappear. We were successful in making it through!
I looked to my side and saw Mister Percivale. He seemed to have made it as well.
"Keep running, Percivale!"
The hospital was right in front of us. If we were to get inside, we would finally be able to take a breather.
***
I managed to sleep for a few hours. I looked at the window and noticed that it was still quite dark out.
I looked at my phone. It was currently two hours past midnight, a well-known time for monsters to reach their full strengths.
To my side, I found Wang Jin, who seemed to have dozed off. He seemed to fall asleep while sitting, as evident by his body lying against the wall.
Maybe I should've been the one on the lookout. Wang Jin seemed to be just as tired as me.
Hmm? Where's Alter?
I looked to where Alter was supposed to be sleeping. Her signature white hair wasn't there anymore. Did she head out to go to the bathroom?
Ah, come to think of it, I'm quite hungry. My stomach was growling and my throat felt inexplicably dry.
I reached out to the bag that contained our food and brought out a tuna sandwich. I grabbed my half-empty water bottle and started my early breakfast. Or I guess you could call it a midnight snack.
*sniff* *sniff*
Hmm? Are those sniffing sounds I hear?
"Food? Do I smell food!?"
Suddenly, Wang Jin woke up from his sleep and shouted. He looked at me and at the sandwich in my hands.
"You have any more of that, Digni?" He asked.
"I… do. Here." I tossed him an egg sandwich and another bottle of water.
Even with how much food we were consuming in a single day, we still had well over a week and a half of provisions left.
"Sweet! Thanks." Wang Jin grabbed the items I threw and began devouring them immediately.
For a while, it was just both of us eating. The fire from earlier was now on its last legs in regards to the fuel supplying it, so I fed it more firewood.
I broke the silence and asked Wang Jin a question.
"By the way, did you see Alter head out?"
"Oh? That's her name, huh? Alter. It's a nice name." He replied, still eating his sandwich.
"Did she go somewhere?"
"I only saw her walk out. Was too tired to call out to her, even if she was so hot."
"I see. Then when was this?" I questioned.
"About half an hour ago? I don't remember."
Half an hour? That's a bit long for a bathroom break. Maybe she went out to do something. I just hope she didn't stray too far.
*thud*
I turned my head in the direction of the noise. It wasn't from Wang Jin, so it had to be from outside.
"Finish your food quickly. We'll go check out the source of the sound."
"Mphf… alright. I'm done!" Wang Jin stuffed the remainder of the sandwich inside his mouth and got up.
I didn't forget to bring Dainsleif with me. We pushed open the storage room door and headed to the lobby, where the sound came from.