It began to get dark outside.
Both of them walked through the forest; the cat sat on the slayer's head. Luna was eating the food that Isabella had in her bag.
"You are a terrible cook, you know?" She chewed on the meat, which was not cooked enough, still raw and rubbery on the inside.
"It's not easy to cook as a wooden doll, you know?" She pouted, unhappy about getting criticized like that.
"Why would a wooden doll need food anyway? It's not like you can eat." Even though the food was the worst she ever ate, she didn't stop. She was just too hungry to care about the taste.
Isabelle hissed with a low tone, "None of your business..." The topic was clearly not something she would want to talk about.
The slayer just shrugged it off, continuing her walk.
After a while they could see something shining. Thinking it was the exit, the witch jumped to the ground and ran its way.
"Stop!" Luna shouted, but the witch didn't listen.
"Shut up! My crimson eye requires sunlight!" She laughed in a very exaggerated way.
"It's not the exit! It's a trap!" Unluckily, the slayer wasn't fast enough, seeing Isabella getting caught in the grasp of a giant monkey with a big bulb on its forehead.
'It's so big! How far away from home are we to see this?' She dashed towards the beast, catching up in an instant, surprising herself and the cat.
'Huh? What just happened? She gave a strong kick to the monster in front of her, breaking its jaw with one strike and making it run away.
"What was that!? You didn't tell me that you were a demon king!" The cat stared at her in a confused way and made weird sounds with her mouth. "No... my crimson eye doesn't pick up anything weird."
"What exactly was inside the cat before I absorbed it?" Luna's hand trembled from confusion and excitement. Her heartbeat rising in anticipation.
"Nothing big." She jumped back on top of Luna's head. "It was the soul of a young dragon." Isabella almost fell off as the girl under her made a sudden movement. "What's wrong with you!"
"A dragon? Like a real tier six dragon?" In the entire fort, no one has come even close to ever hunting a dragon. Yet she just absorbed powers of one.
"Yes. The meaningless lizard was a catalyst allowing me to use part of my full power." She explained.
Then looked down. "Thank you for saving me earlier..."
"No problem, I can't let you die before you teach me how to control my mental space better." Luna rubbed Isabella behind her ears, and they were back on their way.
For the next few days they kept walking, trying to get out of the forest. The only time they stopped was to eat before going to sleep.
During one of the meals, a question crossed Luna's mind.
"Why did you even kidnap those children, Iz?" She asked away, thinking she would get an answer. But instead she was met with the serious expression and Isabella dodging the question.
"I told you not to call me that!" She jumped off of Luna's head and hissed. "And don't think that just because I'm spending time with you it means I'm obliged to tell you this." She went to the complete other side of the fireplace, going to sleep.
Luna was visibly annoyed; she thought they had gotten closer the past few days. 'I guess it was only me.'
The slayer sat with her legs crossed and her arms in the air.
One thing that she had learned from the stupid cat was that meditation lessens the strain inside the mental space.
After closing her eyes, she found herself in front of the wall again.
Luna was able to read the text now thanks to training her mind every day since they made the deal to help each other.
Level 20
Strength - B tier
Agility - A tier
Stamina - B tier
Magic: None
Abilities:
[Processing... 1.5%] [Processing... 2.1%] [Processing 61.7%] [Bear coat lvl 1] [Thunder step lvl 1]
Passives:
[Regeneration]
Luna opened her eyes. 'That's the first time I was able to see all of them.' She clenched her fist and raised it up in victory.
"Iz, we are going now." She grabbed the sleeping cat by the neck, determined to get out of this forest.
Isabella wasn't too happy about that but didn't object, going back to sleep in the girl's grasp.
Without any more accidents during their travel, they found a village. Reaching it by the time the sun just got up.
"We are finally here. Thank you for everything." Luna threw the cat to the ground. "But if I ever see you doing something messed up again, I will make sure to kill you myself."
"Same goes for you!" The cat hissed and ran off into the town.
After making sure that Isabella wasn't following her, she went towards the local tavern.
All the villagers were staring at her while she was walking.
'They must not be used to new faces around here.' She didn't want to be rude, unsure what the customs of this town are.
She opened the doors to the tavern, shifting the attention of everyone inside onto herself.
Luna quickly sat down and called for the barman. "Two, please." She planned to ask for information the same way as before, by giving one of them a mug in exchange for intel.
All of the people in the tavern, drunk or sober, stared at her pale skin, contrasting their own cream one.
"We don't want your kind here." A tall, bulky man walked up to her. Without any other words, he threw a punch, sending her through the tavern wall.
The damage was mitigated by the quick activation of her bear coat, but it for sure wasn't an average person she was up against.
Even though moments ago the streets were bustling with people, there was now not one soul in sight.
All the houses had their doors and windows closed shut.
"Oh, looks like you are a durable one!" The huge man walked through the hole in the wall, leaving an even bigger one behind. He was built like a tank, muscular and enormous.
"Heinz, call for backup. It seems that there are still some cockroaches left." A screwy guy in glasses behind him obliged and ran outside the village.
"Is that how you welcome people over," Luna thundered towards him, "HERE?" She hit him with everything she had, sending the man back inside the tavern and leaving a hole on the other side.
But he easily walked it off. "Around level twenty-five, I would say." A giant bruise was left on his stomach.
'If this turns into a battle of endurance, I have a chance.' She went at him again.
The tall man grabbed her by the collar and punched her right in the face, but instead of being thrown away, she clutched onto him and hit him back.
A grotesque trade of blows ensued. With each one, the ground under them turned into a blue-red puddle.
But while the muscular man was looking worse and worse, Luna was still the same as at the start. All of her injuries were being healed at the cost of her stamina.
"Captain Morgan! I report for duty with the backup!" The scrawny man stood with a small force of soldiers behind him. Outnumbering the slayer a hundred to one.
This just got a lot trickier. A few medics ran up to their commander and began healing him with their skills.
"Everyone, surround this filthy thing in front of me! But don't attack until I say so!" He stood up with newfound energy.
"It seems he is going on a power trip again." One of the soldiers whispered to the other. But they all complied, scared of repercussions.
Morgan dashed towards her. Without using any abilities. His physical prowess combined with a few enhancement spells cast by the mages almost doubled his strength.
BOOM!
His punch was so strong that it created a sonic boom. It was right in front of Luna, sending her flying through walls of the houses nearby.
The attack was so strong that her bare coat felt like a sheet of paper, and her entire body screamed in pain.
'That's not good. I need to run away. But how? I'm surrounded!' She started biting her thumb until it bled.
"HAHAHA!" Loud laughing echoed throughout the entire town. "It's fine now. Why? Because I am here!" Isabella stood on top of the tavern, shifting everyone's focus (including Luna's) to herself, a powerless stray cat.