After I was sure that whatever it was that was in this building with us was behind the shelf I pierced forward with my sword without holding back. The sword went through the shelf as if it were a hot knife through butter. I was surprised however that whatever it was had actually managed to evade my attack, which gave me a hint that whatever it was had some impeccable instincts so wasting time wasn't going to be an option.
So without pause I brought up my right leg and kicked forward as hard and as fast as I could. To my satisfaction the shelf tipped over just as easily. I waited and took a bite out of my piece of meat as I watched how things played out.
I saw the shelf tip over and fall to the other side and was surprised when I saw the back of what appeared to be a human being before they had their leg crashed under the shelf. At that point I decided to move. I moved around the shelf and stopped right in front of the person. It was a woman and she seemed to have lost focus for a moment so I took the chance to point my sword at her. I had the advantage but humans were a cunning species and were even more deadly when they were pushed into the corner.
I took another bite as I studied the woman in front of me. She looked older than Rina so maybe she was in her late twenties. She had black hair that was messed up and when she finally looked up at me I noticed her face. She was a beauty that was for sure and she was matured too but the black eye that she had seemed to ruin the perfect picture.
"Who are you?" I asked but instead of answering my question she actually sobbed out loud. At this point I was dumbstruck. I didn't know what to do at this point.
Just when I thought things couldn't get more complicated, the girls ran over to me.
"Hey what's going on?" Lydia asked and gave me a small accusatory eye.
"Who is this?" Rina asked as she looked at the woman with some pity in her eyes.
"Ah…I thought she was an enemy" I said. "But she started crying"
"Of course she'd cry can't you see that she also had a rough time on her own!" Lydia said as she slammed her fist into my shoulder.
"Ow" I said and winced and tried to move away but Lydia caught my ear between her fingers and pulled.
"How can you bully a poor woman like this huh" she scolded
"Ow…I sorry okay"
Jordan came over at that point and when he saw the torment I was getting the bastard actually smiled and mouthed
'You deserve it'
While I was eating an earful from Lydia, Rina had approached the woman.
"I am so sorry for my barbaric friend there" she whispered and gave Jordan the instruction to lift the shelf off her which wasn't that difficult for Jordan given his strength had also grown a lot.
'Barbaric?!' I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry. I felt Lydia pull on my ear a bit more. Yeah I was definitely going to cry
…
Minutes later we all sat around the fire including the new comer who was given some meat. I still received some hateful glares from Lydia but I decided to look away for fear of having my ears pulled off. Rina didn't speak to me again after the incident and she even used her lesser heal on the newcomer instead of healing me. I mean I would probably need a day to fully heal thanks to the extra health stats that I was receiving from the meat.
I sighed helplessly and I looked at the new comer. It was then that I noticed that her left eye was slightly swollen and that her lips had been cut. It made me wonder what actually happened to her because I doubted if those wounds had been caused by me. In the first place my initial sword strike never even touched her and the shelf had obviously affected her foot and nothing more.
The black haired beauty caught me looking and for a moment I contemplated looking away but when I stared at her caramel colored eyes, I found myself slightly drawn to them.
"Um. I know we didn't start off on the right foot but my name is Huey Coleman" I said before turning towards Jordan. "This guy who is all muscle and no brain is Jordan Murrey and I believe you're already acquainted with the two lovely ladies"
The woman nodded but said nothing.
"And…I'm sorry I attacked you earlier it wasn't on purpose. I actually thought that there was something lurking in here especially given the current situation" I said again.
There was silence for a time and then I saw her open her mouth.
"It okay. I understand its just that I'm surprised to see such young people like yourself travelling out here on your own. And you also seem strong but I must warn you that there are even stronger people out there who are drunk on power and are taking advantage of the lawlessness of society" she said and her glance turned towards the two girls at her side. I immediately understood where she was going with this.
"Is that what happened to you?" I asked. She stayed silent for a moment before she eventually nodded before she spoke:
"Although I managed to escape I got this swollen eye and cut lip but I also took the bastard's eye before I left"
I looked at the woman in front of me with some respect. How many women in her position would have succumbed to their fate No how many women in this new world had already succumbed to their fate at the hands of more powerful men? The answer was obviously a lot. Another reminder for me to find mom as quickly as I could.
The atmosphere turned gloomy and I could tell that every one was worried even more now. Well maybe not everyone. I gave Lydia a subtle glance before focusing on the woman once again.
"So what do we call you?" I asked.
"Call me Candice" she said and I nodded.
"When do you plan on forming your mana core?" Lydia asked and immediately I noticed that I had been missing something about the Candice. She had the aura of a First star order existence but at the same time she didn't. Now that I thought about it more clearly it meant she was at level 5, the threshold of officially evolving.
Candice looked down at her hands.
"I didn't have the time and I was also worried about my safety" she said. We all understood what she was talking about. Say she was somewhere out there meditating and creating her mana core and in that moment she was attacked by either a mutant beast or a human. That would be the end of her.
"Well now you can make your mana core and we will protect you" Lydia suggested.
Candice looked at us doubtfully for a moment
"We only just met why would I trust you?" she finally said. I smiled slightly as my respect for the woman continued to grow.
"You don't really have a choice really. If you continue to hesitate at the opportunities thrown your way in this new world then you will end up being left behind" Jordan was the one who spoke this time. His words were surprising wise.
"He's right and besides you know that for you to continue growing stronger you have to form your mana core otherwise whatever happened to you will eventually happen to you again" Rina said and she rubbed Candice's back.
Candice stayed silent as she thought. She knew we were right and if she didn't make a decision soon then things would also get harder for her. She was a beauty, Candice knew that and she had been told she was beautiful since before the apocalypse but now that the apocalypse had descended, it was more than clear that the rules of society had been cast aside and right now the law of the jungle was all there was.
After almost ten minutes of silence Candice decided to shift from her sitting position on the ground. She moved a short distance away from the fire and sat with her legs crossed. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on the top of both her knees. I could hear her breathing slow down as she entered a meditative state.
At this point she didn't need to say anything. We all knew that she had decided to place her faith in us. I nodded to myself and raised my guard. I had given her my word that I would keep her safe while she meditated so that was what I would do.
I felt the mana in the building shift and move towards the black haired beauty who sat with her legs crossed. Candice had finally began to form her mana core and it was a novel feeling as always. The mana entered her body through her skin and nose and diffused in to her blood before the circulated through out her body. It carried with it her impurities it pushed the impurities out through the pore of her skin and I could now feel the faint aura of a First Star order existence surround her body and it continued to soar and rise at a visible pace.
"Wow" Lydia was the first one to comment as we all watched the phenomenon.
Candice's hair danced back and forth as if it were floating in a body of water and for a moment moles of light fell onto her skin. At the point of contact, the light seemed to wash away the black impurities as magically as they appeared.
And then her eyelids opened ever so slowly to reveal bright golden eyes that seemed to embody the very definition of purity itself.
Candice let out a breath as she stood up from the ground. Candice had officially stepped onto the path of evolution.