The three of them keep on hiding and shut their mouth as they don't want the monster will hear them. They were hiding behind the big trashcan when Hero noticed a boy behind the tree carrying three bags of food causing him to raise his eyebrows. The boy was sitting and trembling in fear, based on his physical appearance he is two years younger than Peitho.
Hero tried to sense the surroundings and he sensed the Smokevine was still walking towards their location. "Can you look at the back of the building, Simon? If there were no monsters around, walk gently towards there with Peitho. I'll save that kid," Hero speaks as he looks at the kid who is still closing his eyes, covering his mouth.
"I thought you didn't want to help people again?" Simon asked, but Hero simply glared at him. "Fine, do whatever you want." He held Peitho's hands while assisting her, ensuring that Peitho would not be separated from him.
"Be careful, brother." Hero nods his head prepares his dagger in his hand and tries to find a perfect time to go to the kid in front of him. Simon and Peitho are now walking away as both of them try to find a place to hide.
Hero prepare himself to run and quickly head towards the kid using his abilities and in just a snap, he is now in front of him causing the kid to shock and was about to scream but Hero immediately covered his mouth. "Follow me," Hero whispered and then he nodded his head in response.
Hero takes a look at the smokevine turning its head around to find something, and when it sees nothing, he slowly walks away to head back to the forest. The steps of the monster were making a huge sound causing the kid at Hero's back to feel nervous.
Both of them immediately ran as fast as they could but still gently and carefully so they would not make a loud noise. Hero was holding his two bags of food and looking around when they reached the back of the building. Peitho throws a rock at Hero causing him to catch it and sees them in a room, with a woman with orange long hair causing Hero's eyes to widen. "Albino!" the woman shouted making the two immediately cover her mouth and tell her to shut up.
Hero looks at the kid called Albino and speaks. "You know her?" He nodded in response. Both of them immediately walk and climb the stairs going towards the room where they were now hiding. Peitho and Simon were lucky to find stairs that led to a room. When they tried to open the door, they saw a woman hiding under the desk, trembling in fear looking at them which caused Peitho to smile at her.
Hero and Albino are now finally inside the room and they immediately close the door. "Why did you go outside alone!? Didn't I tell you to stay here? I promised Grandpa to protect you at all costs!" The woman with orange hair speaks in a whisper and reprimands Albino.
"I can't bear seeing you hungry, sis. Here, I took this from the store outside," Albino speaks and turns to look at the three. "Thank you for saving me," he added. They all just smiled at him and Simon gave him a thumbs up with a grin on his face.
"We are lucky to find you miss Reyana, my brother was the one who insisted on going here to find you," Peitho speaks standing beside Reyana causing the lady to look at Hero who is now looking for something.
Reyana was surprised to know that Peitho had a brother as she didn't really hear news about him. Peitho was known for her intelligence in academics in their city and Reyana already knew her when they met at the Festival a few months ago. "Thank you for taking Albino here but what is your business with me?" Reyana asks still looking at Hero who is busy looking for something.
"We can continue to talk things later, I need a paper to cover the glass window or maybe some curtain?" Hero asks her causing Reyana to look at the cabinet near the door. She immediately went there and took different kinds of curtains.
"Here," Reyana says, giving him the curtains. Hero immediately gave orders to each of them and explained the purpose. Covering the glass windows will make it difficult for Smokevine to see them. Smokevine always rely on their sense of hearing so they should continue to move quietly and gently in order to avoid attracting them.
All of them started eating their food quietly and no one tried to break the silence. "I will get straight to the point. Your grandfather used to forge sharp things, am I right? And he passes his knowledge to you. I know this sounds crazy but I need your help," Hero whispers as he looks Reyana in the eyes causing the lady to blush a bit.
"Help from what?" she asks, her gaze remaining fixed on him. Reyana could not deny Hero's attractiveness. He was staring at his eyes, which were also staring at hers, and she felt butterflies in her stomach.
"Forged me weapons using these," Hero replied and dropped the shining red gems causing them to be amazed. "I need this to be inside of my weapons to easily kill monsters from D rank to A rank monsters. In exchange, you can use this one bag of orange gems I took from B-rank monsters and I will give you the knowledge I know about monsters invading our world. Is this deal great to you?"
Hero was waiting for Reyana's response as she just kept on staring at him. She shook her head and spoke. "How could I forge you a weapon with that? Also, Grandpa's working house is far away from here. I don't know if I can do that," Reyana answered.
"We will help you get out of here and protect you from monsters outside," Hero answered her. Reyana bit her lower lip and looked at Albino who was also looking at her.
This is a great deal to them and a big opportunity as they have been stuck in the room for days already. Leaving this hellish place is much more important to them right now as they know to themselves that they can't escape from the monsters in the university.
"I don't know what are you talking about but I will help you. I will forge you a weapon however, we can't escape here easily. Maybe you are all just lucky to be able to get here safe but we never know what will happen to us once we go outside," Reyana speaks staring at Hero.
"I know that. I have something in mind so we could get out of here safely but it is not a hundred percent safe. We will get out of here this afternoon once the sun is about to set, with that Smokevine monsters will head towards their territory to sleep at night, however, our big problem here is monsters outside the university. There a lot of monsters whom we cannot kill instantly with just normal weapons, I can use my abilities but it is not enough to fight them all as there were a lot of A-rank monsters lurking around in this place," Hero speaks causing all of them to listen to him.
"So, what are we gonna do? I know for sure I can't use my sniping skills here as this is only good in the distance," Simon speaks as he keeps on eating biscuits looking at Hero.
"There is a shortcut I know to get in there but we need to go inside of the forest, behind this building," Reyana speaks. "If we walk from here, it will only take thirty minutes," she added.
"If we go to the forest, I doubt that monsters there can be easily killed. Forest monsters can be killed with just normal weapons alone, we just need to kill them where their body is weak. You can lead the way, Reyana," Hero speaks still staring at Reyana's eyes. She just nods in response.
It's now time for them to get out of the school premises. However, they stopped when ten smokevine appeared out of nowhere lurking around and trying to look at the room one by one. "They're searching every room, how can we escape? Do these monsters have some sort of intelligence? They are breaking the walls to search for a human to eat," Simon whispered, looking at Hero.
The sound of breaking walls caused by the smokevine monsters can be heard, which concerns them. And some humans' agonizing screams cause even more fear in their bodies.
"Find a place to hide, now!" All of them scattered trying to find a place to hide. Hero takes the two women to the comfort room and closes the door leaving the three men outside and trying to find a place. "The two of you hide in the cabinet."
"But what about you, Sir?" Albino asks him with his worried eyes looking at him. Hero just smiled at him.
"Worry yourself, I can find a place to hide. Now go," he said and Simon quickly grabbed Albino's hand and the two hid in the cabinet.
"Hush yourself, they won't be able to see us. Just keep quiet," Simon told Albino and he nodded in response.
While the banging and breaking of walls can be heard, Hero immediately heads towards the desk pushing it towards the wall, and decides to hide under it. Hero prepares his dagger, ready for an attack if ever the monster will be able to sense him. "Things are getting harder now," he murmured as he stared at the wall, waiting for the monster to appear in front of him.