Rem sat atop a tall tree, his back against the bark and his face emotionless- he was going through a lot of things right now but he chose not to show it.
The gnawing feeling that was at the back of his mind was growing more alarming, something was approaching- his eyes turned to Krista who was rather comfortable with sitting on the tree... as expected of a beastkin.
Drew was sitting like him, loosening the strain on his muscles but Rem could see that the man was alarmed as well.
A monster entered the clearing, it's entire figure covered by a glowing blue aura- it looked like a dragon with small wings protruding from it's back and crimson slit on it's orange eyes... it's teeth were menacing and it's head covered by spiky protruding armor plates.
The feeling of restlessness that Rem had- they all came from this monster... the air around them stiffened as the blue aura around the monster vanished.
Rem spared a glance at Drew and saw that the man was visibly trembling - whatever the reason was, it was making him a little nervous as well especially as he could feel the aura of this monster.
'Is it a dungeon monster or an anomaly?' Rem couldn't help but wonder the more his gaze was on the monster- it's aura was something he could sense like the dungeon monsters yet the Soul of the beast was simply not something he could comprehend.
Rem didn't make any move- because the air was thick with bloodlust and malevolence, a single mis-step could result in sudden death.
The Monster passed by quickly and the trio waited tensely atop the trees, unable to move a muscle.
'Damn… why do I keep feeling this?' Rem thought as he clenched his right fist, the feeling of fear had long since been kindled in his heart-
When you survive, you have to fear too- every single day is a test of your will and intelligence because there was no one else to help you, no one to back up your actions… for a good time in his life, Rem stole food that he ate and water that he drank for one reason- Survival.
Yet with the dawn of the Monster Monarch system, that fear quickly died down and was replaced by the excitement but this monster had shown him reality… he was afraid.
The Monster's aura went further and further and then it left Rem's sensing range- the only reason he was able to sense it was the fact that the aura was so powerful it could literally be sensed from a great distance.
"What was that?" Rem asked, throwing an inquiring gaze at Drew.
"It's the Monster called Hellwalker," Drew said, "It's said to roam around in the forest of death at night- and kills anyone that stands in its way,"
"Then we should move," Rem suggested with a tone of urgency, he didn't feel safe in this forest anymore, they needed to make even more distance between themselves and the Hellwalker.
"I wish we could but the girl-"
Even after using the healing potions, the girl wasn't in fit shape for walking a long distance like she did in the afternoon and that was simply because she was really hungry, Drew's limited supplies would be enough to stuff her full for some time but there would not be enough for Rem and Drew to eat.
And Rem was especially against sharing his rations with another person- so they would have to wait to reach the end of the forest before Krista was able to grab any proper rations to fill her beastkin belly.
"I can't believe we wasted healing potions on restoring her injuries, Beastkin have a greater regeneration than humans," Rem complained, "She would have been healed up in a day or two and besides don't you like being a good Samaritan? You could carry her on your back,"
Drew sighed in return.
"Then who'd protect us?" Drew asked.
Rem knew he would perfectly be capable of defending himself in this forest - in reality it wasn't really that tough and if he got into a sticky situation, he could use the Heavenly Crossbow stored within his soul or he could just quickly summon a monster.
But that was when he was by himself- protecting a group was not in Rem's dictionary, life was survival of the fittest and it was only the fittest that survived.
"No one I guess," Rem said as he slumped his back against the tree trunk before leaping off in an instant.
"Where are you going?" Drew asked while watching Rem land on the ground and dash in the direction of the woods.
"I'm going to go check on something, be right back," Rem said as he ran into the thicket of bushes, obscuring himself from Drew's sight.
Now that Rem was away from Drew, he pursed his lips and took in a deep breath. Once again, being the cautious guy that he was- he had to take measures to ensure his own safety.
"Rise," Rem said, his whisper filling the air as the ground turned black and a bright shimmer of green flooded the seeming gateway as an arm shot out of the ground, covered in armor and gleaming.
Rem was thankful for the cold quiet air and the thick bushes, serving their goals to even obscure the light from his Rise… Three goblins emerged from the ground slowly after and kneeled,
"I want you to keep watch of me while I sleep," Rem said and they nodded slowly, "Keep an eye on the burly man sitting on the tree as well but not on the girl- she could still be bait for all we know, instead on the surroundings and tell me if she starts doing anything weird,"
There was a good chance that this girl could still be attracting other bandits to kill them- so Rem had to make sure that she wasn't able to signal any other bandits and they wouldn't be ambushed in their sleep.
"Don't draw on too much MP unless you have to," Rem muttered and smiled, "Scatter,"
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Author's Note:
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