Chapter 37 - Heading to the Corrupted Veil
The trio was walking through alleys, realizing that night was approaching, and it would be difficult to navigate the area in the dark.
"A search party is unlikely to come looking for us if they find a chance to escape this place. It's very likely that in a few days this area will become as infested with monster hordes as inside the Veil. A search party won't waste time looking for survivors when they have the possibility of getting home within their reach. The kingdom might come at some point, but if we wait, we'll be dead," Alice said.
Luke had to admit that this time it was a thought they all agreed on.
"I just hope more people are alive and well... if it's just a few... we won't be in a good situation," Anna said.
Luke just listened.
"I understand, and even if there's only one person alive down there, we'll still need more people if we want to claim a Bonfire or... get lucky enough to find a Captain who can show us a route to civilization," he said.
The trio of Deviants had two alternatives. The first was to escape by finding a bonfire or trying their luck navigating the Oblique World. Either way, they needed a Captain for both options. They weren't powerful enough to challenge a Bonfire Guardian, nor did they know the direction to civilization to decide on a journey. A Captain could help claim a Bonfire or guide them on a path thanks to his special compass.
Alice agreed with what he said and added, "The sewers won't be an easy place, and it's probably the den of a dangerous creature; we'll need to be careful where we tread. I hope there are humans alive, but if the kingdom hasn't appeared by now... it means that if there are humans, they haven't claimed a Bonfire yet. We'll have to count on the luck of finding people down there and, among those people, a Captain. Whether to guide us on a route to civilization or to join forces to claim a Bonfire; if none of that happens..."
Luke sighed. "I can't believe I'm putting my hopes in someone else..." he muttered.
"We need to mentally prepare for the worst-case scenario," she said.
Anna listened and remained silent, looking down.
Alice and I are different from Anna. She's more normal...
'Crash'
The trio looked at each other and drew their weapons. Something had been broken in a nearby house.
"Could it be humans?" he asked.
"Part of me hopes it is," Anna replied, raising her bow.
They walked around, looking for someone... or something. Luke peered inside the houses, part of him fearing it was a creature and another hoping it was another human.
Preferably a Captain...
'Crash'
A sound was heard, followed by a grunt.
I don't think a human would make that sound.
The trio stopped, each looking in a different direction.
"It's a monster... and it's in our path. If it follows us... it'll be complicated," she said.
The house with the noise was between them and the direction they needed to enter the Veil.
"We can bypass this house and go further from where we enter the Veil," Anna said.
Alice took out the map.
"We can't... This is the limit, and beyond here is a labyrinth of houses and structures. Unlike Luke, we don't walk through walls..." she murmured. "We'll have to kill this monster or find somewhere to wait until it's safe to move."
I just hope it's nothing too dangerous.
"All the monsters on this side are low-level. We'll have to deal with it. There are three of us, and I know we can handle it," Luke said.
I don't want to enter an unknown place with a monster following us and screaming. They said the Veil is a place where you shouldn't make noise, so we'll have to kill whatever is inside that house.
The two agreed with him, and the trio started walking towards the house. Luke had his hammer in hand as he walked slowly, trying not to make noise. Part of him was trying to put into practice what he had learned from Anna and Alice about prana. An Emitter or Transmitter could strengthen the weapon they held, but the difference is that the Transmitter could also strengthen their body. The weakness of Emitters is that they don't reinforce their body much, but besides reinforcing their weapon, they can throw it while keeping the prana reinforced. Luke was praying internally that he would awaken his Aspect soon.
The three moved silently and entered through one of the house's windows. The noise was coming from upstairs, but they didn't lower their guard. Alice took the lead, holding her silver sword. Luke knew the girl was probably using her Transmitter power. They walked through the place, paying attention to see if there were more enemies.
Climbing the stairs of the stone house, they reached the second floor. The noise was coming from the end of one of the rooms, and they prepared to check it out.
"Luke, let me go first," Anna whispered.
"No, it's fine. I'll go. You stay here and aim your bow at us," he said.
What am I doing? Putting myself in danger… I have to think of myself first. But why do I feel so compelled to help?
It must be because I need them to return to Earth…
Luke followed Alice, always sticking to the wall as he walked. He noticed this was becoming a habit: whenever he entered a closed space, he sought to stay close to the wall.
'AAARGH!'
Luke was quickly pulled from his thoughts by a scream. A monster was coming. It seemed to have four bent legs and moved that way. Its face resembled a dog's.
"Get ready!" Alice shouted, pointing her sword. "It's a Sinister Peculiar!"
Sinister Peculiar!
The monster ran, throwing itself against the walls, surprising them, and jumped, spitting a fire beam.
Gods!
Alice was hit as the monster spat, pushing her back with great force, and she fell backward.
"An Emitter that spits a fire beam?" he looked at the creature incredulously.
Alice fell back as the monster spat fire, but she stopped it when she used all her strength to try to crush its throat. Luke hit the monster's face with his hammer, pushing it back a bit, and the girl kicked it away.
An arrow flew, hitting the monster.
"Are you okay?" Luke asked.
"Don't worry, I reinforced myself with prana in time."
"Watch out!" Anna warned them.
The monster started running towards them. He saw the girl try to make sparks run through her body but stopped, only reinforcing herself with prana.
If she uses it, she'll be exhausted, and we don't know if more threats will come after…
Throwing itself against the wall, it exited the room and circled the floor. The creature ran towards Alice, and she tried to cut the monster with her sword.
The quadrupedal monster was wounded and leaped back but was caught off guard by a hammer strike. As the blow landed, the monster cried out in pain and was flung forward, almost hitting Alice.
Oops!
"It's all right!" She kicked the monster away, and Luke saw a gash in the creature as it tumbled into a room, writhing.
Alice's sword was bloodied. She had injured the creature during the impact.
He approached her. "I think I might've messed up..." he tried to explain.
Anna joined them.
What was that strength? I didn't expect my hit to throw the monster forward like that. Could it have something to do with prana?
"You were just a bit too forceful, but I managed to take advantage of it and strike the creature. Luckily, I can take a few hits," she said reassuringly.
The advantages of being a Transmitter...
They entered the room where the monster lay on the floor, having broken a wooden chair. Alice inspected it and confirmed that it had just died.
"The notice appeared. It's dead," she said.
Luke looked at his hands.
"I think I unconsciously used prana to reinforce my hammer," he said.
Anna approached him. "Maybe your Aspect is starting to awaken. The closer you get to monsters, the more your prana channels will resonate with them."
Luke had learned about resonating prana to sense monsters. It was an exercise where a Deviant's prana channels acted like sonar to identify a creature's rank. Being a Dissident, his channels were defective and almost nonexistent. Luke needed to resonate whenever possible to force his channels to grow, similar to tree roots expanding.
Alice cut into the creature and extracted a prana crystal from it.
"Can I try to resonate with the crystal? I feel prana emanating from it," he asked.
"It won't help," Anna said. "The monster was a Sinister Peculiar. It's too weak to accelerate your prana channels, especially trying to resonate with its crystal that stops generating energy once the monster dies."
So, I'll have to do this slowly... I'm not keen on risking it with a bigger creature.
The trio finished checking the house.
"Did you get any cards?" Anna asked Alice.
"None. I was hoping for something to help protect us. We're just in regular clothes, and I'm using what's left of my armor," she replied.
The trio headed down the stairs.
"Let's go! We need to enter the Veil," Alice said.