For the next few minutes, Myles decided to take Nadine moved through the ruined streets and hunting down the mutated creatures one by one.
Myles took the lead but he let Nadine land the killing blows first. She needed the experience points and he wasn't about to waste his energy on something she had to learn anyway.
Nadine, however, was still hesitant. Her attak were still slow and her grip on the knife was still unsteady. Every time she had to drive her blade into a creature's head she hesitated just a fraction too long. More than once, Myles had to shove her aside to finish the job before a mutated human could retaliate and kill her instead.
"You have to move faster," he muttered after she took too long to stab a fallen creature. "Hesitation will get you killed. Didn't I already told you that?"
"I know! I'm trying!" she snapped back, her breath uneven. "It's not like I've done this before!"
Myles narrowed his eyes. "And if you don't learn fast to kill, you won't get the chance to do it again."
Her hands trembled as she pulled her knife from the creature's skull, the wet squelch making her stomach churn.
She was already exhausted, her arms aching from swinging the weapon again and again. But she gritted her teeth and pressed on, knowing she had no other choice.
Another mutated man lurched toward them with face distorted by horns in a grotesque snarl.
Myles stepped back to let Nadine handle it alone. She raised her knife but the creature moved faster than she expected, swinging a clawed hand at her. She barely managed to dodge and she stumbling as she tried to regain her footing.
Myles sighed then moving. With a sharp kick to the back of the creature's knee, he forced it to collapse onto all fours. "Now, kill it."
She hesitated for half a second before plunging the blade into its skull. The creature twitched then its body going still. Nadine sucked in a shaky breath, staring at her bloodied hands.
[You have successfully defeated a Rank F-Mutated Soul.]
[Gained 20 EXP.]
She exhaled sharply while looking at the notification appeared before her. The system was real, it was something she never knew existed in this world.
Myles watched her reaction carefully. She was still too slow and unsure. It annoyed him but he also understood, this wasn't easy for someone who had never taken a life before. For normal human.
"Again," he said simply, nodding toward another wandering creature.
Nadine clenched her fists, taking another deep breath before stepping forward. She forcing down the fear in her gut. She didn't want to hesitate anymore. She didn't want to be weak.
With a sharp breath, she pushed forward, her grip tightening around the knife.
The mutated human snarled and lunged at her, its deformed arms reaching out to tear her apart. But this time, she was ready and sidestepped the attack, and before the creature could recover, she let out a shout and drove her knife into the side of its skull.
Myles, watching from behind, nodded approvingly. She was still sloppy but she was learning. At least she wouldn't be a burden.
One stab wasn't enough. The creature twitched violently amd still alive.
Nadine's pulse pounded in her ears as she gritted her teeth and stabbed again and again. Blood sprayed onto her face and hands but she didn't stop.
The mutated human let out one final shudder before collapsing in a heap at her feet.
[You have successfully defeated a Rank F-Mutated Soul.]
[Gained 20 EXP.]
[You have leveled up!]
Nadine staggered back with heavy breths. The notification hovered before her. She had done it. She had landed the killing blow on her own. She wasn't powerless anymore.
Myles smirked slightly, crossing his arms.
"Not bad." His voice was neutral but there was a glint of approval in his eyes.
Nadine wiped the blood from her face, steadying her breathing.
Myles smiled a little. He watched Nadine as she steadied herself and wiping the blood from her face with shaking fingers. She was still raw and a little bit uncertain but she was learning fast.
Good.
In his mind, he saw his investment beginning to take root. If she kept improving, she'd become a reliable ally who would have his back when things got worse. And Myles know that they would get worse.
He had saved her life, guided her, and given her the first real steps toward survival. That had to mean something, right? At the very least, she wouldn't abandon him the moment things turned ugly.
And if they ran into another one of those monster too big for him to handle alone, he wouldn't be the only one fighting it.
A sudden shout from behind snapped him from his thoughts.
Both he and Nadine spun around. Three figures were running toward them through the ruined streets. They are young men, barely older than Nadine. High schoolers, judging by their clothes, though dirtied and torn.
"Be ready," Myles muttered. "We don't know if they're friendly or not."
She nodded, still gripping her knife tightly.
The three boys skidded to a stop a few feet away, panting hard. One of them, a lanky kid with glasses cracked along one lens, raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
"Wait, we're don't want any trouble!" he blurted out between gasps. "We saw you fighting back there, and we have good news to tell."
"What is it?" Myles asked.
The tallest of the group, a boy with a torn school jacket, stepped forward. "There's a shelter built by the military. We were going there."
Nadine's eyes widened. "The military?"
The boy nodded quickly. "Yeah. It's not far from here. They're gathering survivors."
For a moment, silence hung between them.
A shelter meant safety and right now, they had nothing else to go on.
He exhaled through his nose, glancing at Nadine. "What do you think?"
"We should go there!" She said.
Myles looked back at the three boys. "Alright. Let's go there."
---