"Wait, what are you doing here? You should evacuate!" Natalie exclaimed while keeping the monster at bay.
"I'm here to help," Crius said, summoning his spear and charging at the flying dinosaur-like monster.
"Don't just charge in!" Before Natalie could finish, she saw Crius easily stab the monster, causing it to die instantly, leaving her mouth agape.
"How did you do it?" Natalie asked.
"Do what?" Crius questioned.
"How can you easily stab your spear into the monster's skin? Even I have a hard time breaking its defense, even if I use mana. But your stab, I can't feel any mana on it," Natalie said while shooting at other flying monsters.
"It's just a trick of mine. For now, we should hold them off. If we fail, these monsters will come out of here, and a lot of people will be in danger," Crius explained.
"Fine, let's hold them off for now." Before Natalie could finish her words, a lot of flying monsters emerged from the gate. The previous Dimorphodon macronyx-like monster now had about twenty of them, and there was a larger one—a Wyvern. Due to the large and high ceiling of the mall, the floor wasn't crowded, even though there were many flying monsters around.
The smaller flying monsters screamed and flew towards Natalie, but she stood frozen in place with fear in her eyes.
Before she could react, one of the monsters was already in front of her.
"Is this the end?" Natalie said to herself, closing her eyes and accepting her fate. Suddenly, she felt warmth envelop her body.
"How long are you going to close your eye" a warm and soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
Opening her eyes, she saw a black-haired guy with black eyes looking at her while carrying her. Embarrassed, she asked him to put her down.
After he did, she looked at the monster again and realized they were far from where they had been moments ago.
"Crius, are you planning to fight that thing? How are we supposed to fight it?" Natalie asked, realizing the gravity of their situation.
"I know it won't be easy if I only use my spear. Do you have an extra bow with you?" Crius asked casually.
Taken aback by Crius' attitude, Natalie replied, "Yes, I always keep an extra bow and arrows with me in case of emergencies," handing the bow and arrow to Crius.
"Is this enough?" she asked, confused but relaxed.
"I don't need arrows," Crius said, taking just the bow from Natalie's extended hand.
"How can you use a bow without-" Natalie started, but Crius interrupted.
"I don't need arrows, and I think you should move five steps away from me," Crius said, fixing his position to draw the bow.
"Why?" Natalie asked, confused.
"Just do it. The monster is about to attack again," Crius instructed.
"Okay," Natalie said, stepping backwards and observing Crius's perfect bow posture.
"How is this possible?" Natalie muttered to herself.
As Crius pulled back on the bowstring of his arrowless bow, three flaming red arrows appeared, glowing with intense energy. When he released the string, a shockwave erupted, and nine flying monsters dropped to the ground, dead.
Crius aimed the bow again, repeating the process several times. Within three minutes, every flying monster was eliminated—except for the Wyvern. Natalie's mouth hung open in astonishment at what she'd just witnessed.
---
The Wyvern was the only one left. Initially, I'd just planned to support Natalie, but seeing her frozen in front of the monsters, I changed my mind.
These monsters were too powerful for her to handle, and I needed to deal with them quickly to avoid anyone getting hurt.
Natalie could handle the aftermath; I had to focus on taking down the Wyvern.
I took my position, spear in hand, and aimed at the Wyvern. The monster sensed the danger and tried to deflect the incoming attack, but it was too late.
The spear flew through the air, slipping through the Wyvern's defenses. By the time the monster realized the spear was no longer in my hand, it already had a hole in its stomach.
The Wyvern crashed to the ground, motionless.
After killing the Wyvern, I looked at Natalie. She seemed so shocked that her mouth was agape. As I walked toward her, she took a small step back, but I ignored it. I approached her and gently tapped her shoulder.
"I have a favor to ask: can you take care of the aftermath?" I asked.
"Y-yes," Natalie replied, her voice shaking slightly.
"Thank you. And please don't tell anyone that I was the one who dealt with the monsters, alright?" I said, my tone earnest.
"O-okay," Natalie replied with a hint of trembling in her voice.
"Great. I'll take my leave then. See you in class, and remember, don't let anyone know what happened here. Bye!" I said, walking away.
---
'I finally made it to my dormitory. So much has happened today,' I thought, a smile curling across my lips. 'It was so much fun to hang out with my friends again. It's been ages since we had a good time together. The last time was back in high school, but after graduation, everyone got busy with their careers. We still keep in touch, but it's not the same.'
After I enrolled in the Sword Academy to test my skills, I encountered Joshua, the bully from my class. We took the same tests—the writing test, the physical ability test, and the mana aptitude test. He scored much higher than me, and I barely even passed. That's when the bullying started. But I don't care about them anymore. Today was a good day, despite everything.
Thinking about what happened at the mall, I remembered Natalie's state. I wondered if she was really going to keep quiet about what I told her. Maybe I should talk to her in class, but for now I should get some sleep.
---
Meanwhile, in District 2, in an apartment owned by Bow Clan, Natalie was lying on her bed in her black nightwear, looking up at the ceiling, replaying the day's events. About 15 seconds after Crius Raven left, around 300 Awakened from the nearby buildings rushed into the upper floor of the mall to subjugate the monster breakout. When they arrived, all they found was a girl standing amidst monster corpses.
As they crowded around her, asking if she was alright, a group of people interrupted them. Natalie recognized them as members of the Bow Clan.
"Why are you bombarding her with questions instead of letting her rest and heal?" asked the leader of the Bow Clan group.
"And who are you? Our guild is in charge here; why are you just barging in?" replied the leader of the other group.
"We're Squad 9 of the Bow Clan, and I'm Xiaoyu Li, the leader. We received a notice that our young lady is here, so we came to secure her safety. If you want to be enemies of the Bow Clan, keep blocking our way," Xiaoyu Li said with authority.
Natalie was escorted by Squad 9 to the closest hospital, also owned by the Bow Clan. After receiving treatment and some rest, someone knocked on her door. When she opened it, Xiaoyu Li entered.
"Young lady, what really happened in the mall? Our investigation revealed that all the monsters had the same cause of death: arrows, except for the Wyvern, which had large wounds. But we couldn't find any arrows. What happened, lady Natalie?" Xiaoyu Li asked in a calm manner.
"Umm..." Natalie hesitated, remembering what Crius had told her. She wasn't sure what to say. She explained how she shot at the flying monsters, and someone helped her with the Wyvern. After she finished explaining, Xiaoyu Li bowed more respectfully than before and left.
Her mother then called, asking if she was okay. The doctor informed her that she was free to leave, so she returned to her apartment. She turned on the TV to watch the news about the mall incident and saw Xiaoyu Li being interviewed. She explained that their young lady had displayed incredible bowmanship, defeating all those D-rank flying monsters, though in a much more exaggerated way. Annoyed, Natalie turned off the TV in protest, then went to take a shower. Afterward, she put on her revealing nightwear and processed everything that happened. While her phone she leave in her dressroom keep Vibrating Now, she lay in bed, still trying to understand the events of the day.
---
After evacuating the civilians, Grace felt anxious about Natalie. 'I need to help her as soon as possible,' she thought, ready to run back inside the mall. But someone blocked the entrance.
"Please don't come any closer. It's dangerous inside," said the security guard, holding up a hand. "Let the local guild handle the monsters."
"But my friend is in there! She's fighting to give me time to evacuate the civilians. How can you let someone fight alone? I have to go in!" Grace argued, clearly annoyed. She tried to push past him, but a group of people rushed into the mall. They were from the guild tasked with handling the monster breakout. Grace attempted to sneak in with them, but her bodyguards—two women her father had hired to keep her safe—grabbed her by the arms.
"Why are you stopping me? Natalie is still inside!" Grace exclaimed, fuming.
"Young miss, our orders are to keep you from entering dangerous places and to protect you. We're not responsible for Miss Natalie. Besides, you don't need to worry. Look," one of her guards replied, pointing to a group wearing black Hanfu uniform entering the mall. "That's the Bow Clan Squad. They're well-equipped to handle this."
Grace wasn't fully convinced. "I can't just leave without seeing Natalie with my own eyes," she said, struggling against her guards' hold. At that moment, she noticed someone jumping out of the entrance. It was a guy from her class—the lowest-ranked student. Grace ignored him and focused on the mall entrance, hoping to see any sign of Natalie.
A few minutes later, she saw Natalie being escorted by the Bow Clan Squad. Relief washed over Grace, easing her tension. Her guards, noticing her calmer demeanor, escorted her to the car.
"I'll just have to message her and ask if she's okay," Grace said. She sent a message to Natalie, but five hours passed with no response. Her worry crept back in, along with a twinge of guilt for not being able to help. "I hope she's okay," Grace said, staring at her phone screen. It showed that her messages hadn't even been read yet. She sighed, wishing she'd been able to go back in time to help her friend.