Levi was sitting on the snow, his back laid against the trunk of a tree as he gazed ahead with an absent mind.
Saranda was laying on the ground, her head settled on Mattie's lap, who was also sleeping soundly as she rested her back against the tree.
The former was now safe, her injuries had been healed by the bunny, who turned out to be a magical creature of higher ladders, which they could not detect.
Seeing their condition had put Levi in a bad mood, if he could have broken out that mental attack sooner, perhaps she wouldn't have suffered such grave injuries.
As for the monster, the deal he had made with the voice had somehow lulled it into sleep, allowing Mattie to decapitate it. If they could lull a ladder four to sleep, then they must have been strong.
He did not even know if they were a human or not, just that they were intelligent enough to strike a deal with him.
But the encounter with that voice clearly taught him something, he needed to improve his mind magic. It was powerful if it was used right.
'Can't even rest for a moment…' he muttered, spotting three ladder-one wolves creeping closer through the snow.
He got up, pulling out his spear out of the ground, then turned towards the wolves.
***
For the first time in two weeks, the suns shone through the gaps between the clouds.
The campfire Levi had lit up made crackling sounds. During those moments, Saranda opened her eyes, her eyes drifted hazily over the trees and firelight until the world came into focus. Once she regained her focus, she sat up with a pained sigh, then looked towards Levi, who was sitting behind the campfire, cooking some meat.
'We did not have any fish left though...'
She noticed some dead wolves away from them, then turned back to the campfire.
'Is he cooking those wolves..?'
Sensing her gaze, Levi turned his attention to her and gave a small smile.
"Good morning."
"M-morning..."
Saranda then had a sudden realization, she looked down at her body with a panicked hurry. However when she noticed that there were no injuries on her body, she was both confused and relieved. Her gaze swept back towards Levi, she was about to ask him, but he beat her to it.
"That bunny is a magical creature, not a hostile one it seems. It healed your wounds."
"I see..." Saranda felt like she had slept well. Almost like she had slept on a bed that had soft pillows. "Anyways, where did you get pillows...-"
She immediately shut her mouth when she looked down to where she had laid her head onto.
Saranda immediately shot Levi a glare as she noticed he was grinning. "Forget anything I said."
"Yes ma'am."
They waited for Mattie to wake up, and once she did they all began to eat the wolf meat Levi had cooked for all of them. It was not so different from chicken food, although it could use a bit of salt.
Unfortunately, Levi did not know how to gather salt from the nature, and neither did the girls.
After letting Mattie absorb the mana of the ladder four creature, and harvesting its core, they continued their journey.
Along the way, they encountered several groups of ladder-one wolves.
They no longer posed much of a threat, their movements were predictable, their snarls familiar, and each clash ended before it even truly began.
It was strange how natural fighting had become.
Only two weeks had passed since they set out from the safe house. The feeling was weird, it felt as if they had been fighting all their lives. But they had only been in a limited number of them.
Still, none of them let their guard down.
After the encounter with the bat-like monster, Saranda had become increasingly wary of her surroundings. Levi had also noticed she was now putting a lot of effort into defending and dodging, not wanting to experience the pain she had felt a few days ago.
The bag Levi was carrying was getting heavier too. In one of the guidebooks, The Traveler had mentioned that mana cores could be sold in exchange of money. So they had been collecting them out of the corpses of the infected.
The first and second ladder's cores were nothing special. Their shape was of a purple star that had four point, the latter being slightly being bigger than the former. As for the fourth ladder core, it was rather weird. Stripped from any color, the core had a circular shape, but it was empty in the middle, metal like flower petals surrounded it.
It did not look pretty. Rather it looked like a withered flower.
The surroundings around them were beginning to change too.
The snow beneath their boots was beginning to melt, the once-frozen ground turning into a mix of slush and soft earth. The air had grown warmer too, carrying the faint scent of wet bark and moss. It almost felt as if the world itself was waking from a long, cold sleep.
Then, a strange sound echoed through the trees, a distant, rhythmic noise that wavered between a chuckle and a howl.
"huhu-haha!!"
Levi stopped walking, his spear lowering slightly as his eyes narrowed.
Mattie tilted her head, frowning. "Monkeys?" she asked, half in disbelief.
Levi didn't answer. He simply stood still, scanning the line of trees ahead of them. The forest had gone quiet, unnaturally so.
Saranda looked around too, her hand resting on the hilt of her saber. "Do monkeys even live in this kind of climate?"
No one replied. The silence stretched between them for a few uneasy seconds before the sound came again, drifting from deeper within the woods. It was louder this time, and there was something unnatural about it, a kind of distortion, like a laugh forced through the throat of something that didn't know how to laugh at all.
And then they saw it.
Three creatures heading their way, leaping from tree to tree.
These creatures resembled a beastlike humanoid, something between a monstrous ape and a demonic predator. Its entire body is covered in thick, snow-white fur, except for patches of exposed skin across the chest, shoulders, and face, where the flesh is a pale, brownish tone.
Its build is not that tall and broad-shouldered, with long, muscular arms that nearly reach the ground, ending in clawed hands large enough to crush a man's head. The claws themselves appear black and jagged, almost crystalline, as if they've been hardened by something unnatural.
The creature's head carries simian features twisted into aggression: a protruding jaw, sharp fangs, and glowing eyes set deep beneath a heavy brow. Two horn-like tufts of fur curve upward from the sides of its head, giving it a vaguely demonic silhouette.
A golden emblem or medallion rested against their chests, faintly contrasting with the otherwise savage appearance, suggesting some sense of intelligence.
And they were all second tier.
Usually the infected that are the same ladder as their human opponent are stronger. However they could quickly become fodder if the opponent is experienced and skilled.
In this case, perhaps the infected had the advantage.
"Prepare for engagement. Outrunning them should be impossible, they are way too agile." Saranda said sternly, taking out her longsword which she immediately coated with hot, salty water.
Mattie and Levi prepared too, throwing their bags away and reading their stances. It was not long before they collided with the monkeys.
The first one lunged from the trees, claws outstretched, aiming to drive its fangs into his skull. However instead of engaging in a fight with it, Levi dashed past it.
Right at the moment the monkey landed on the ground, a saber adorned in a faint yellow light swung against it. The monkey shrieked loudly as it brought up its spiky forearm to block, however to no avail, it was severed off.
Levi clashed with the second monkey, blocking a move that resembled a drop kick with the shaft of his spear. He let out a grunt as the force of the blow pushed him backwards, the monkey took the chance and slashed its fangs towards him.
But, it was met with no resistance as Levi pushed himself the other way. For a split second his right eye was set ablaze in a blue fire. He had activated the fae-cloak for a short moment to evade the attack.
Using the racial skill for reduced amount of time consumed less mana, making it useable, but not for many shots as it still consumed a lot.
Activating the cloak once again for a split second, he thrusted his spear two times in a quick succession. The first one was evaded, however the second one parted the flesh on the ugly bastard's side, drawing blood and making it let out an ugly scream.
Saranda on the other hand, was already engaged in a fight with her own opponent. The sounds of steel clashing echoed through the forest as she traded blows, each swing of her sword parrying the harrowing fangs of the abomination.
It was not even a second before she finally broke through the defenses of the monkey, her longsword cut through the air as it finally collided with the flesh of the monkey, cutting a long wound across its chest. The hot and salty quality of the sword make the monkey scream in pain, blood gushing down its wound.
It could continue fighting, but the monkey seemed to be more intelligent. Because the moment it was wounded, it turned away and ran away.
At least it tried.
"Oh no you don't!" Saranda claimed coldly as her sword swung down with no mercy, severing the leg of the screaming beast. As it toppled and fell down, Saranda loomed over the monkey, staring down at it.
Without any hesitation, she raised her sword and plunged it down on the head of the monkey, killing it on spot. The ugly beast was left dead with its mouth wide open.
Only when she was done, did she realize she was out of breath. Letting out a sigh, she turned to check on the others.
Mattie had slayed her own opponent before Saranda did. Its head cleanly cut off, with several more slashes along its body.
Levi on the other hand, was about to finish up.
Or not...
Because the monkey was running away after suffering several injuries, and seeing its friends die. Gritting his teeth, Levi stepped forward and held the spear over his shoulder. His right eye was set ablaze with blue fire once again.
The lean muscles under the clothes stretched as he prepared to throw the spear. When he did, combined with the empowerment of the fae cloak, the spear whistled through the air at high speeds.
As if sensing the change in the air, the monkey looked back to see if it was being followed. However it never really registered what was behind it.
Because the spear had impaled its head, killing its puny brain.
"Well, that was fast." Mattie commented, the time the fight had concluded had indeed been fast compared to the time when they had fought a second ladder for the first time.
"Perhaps wolves are stronger than these monkeys?" Saranda said as she swung her sword in the air, the blood on it splattering on the snow.
"Oh... that was badass! Teach me how to do it!"
Mattie's and Saranda's voices faded into the background. Their laughter echoed between the trees, soft and alive, a rare sound in this cold, uncaring world.
Levi watched them for a while, his spear resting against his shoulder as he retrieved it. Snowflakes drifted down from the trees and melted against the blood-stained ground.
It was not that visible at first, not when they were still at the beginning of their journey. But lately, Levi recognized the truth.
In terms of strength, he was lagging behind.
Mattie's growth was rapid, her god blood pushed her past every limit she met. Saranda, too, was adapting faster, her magic sharper, her movements cleaner with each fight.
Levi, on the other hand, was plateauing. His physical control was good, his technique solid, but it wasn't enough. The only thing he had going on for him was his mental resilience.
It was not jealousy. Perhaps it was.
But Levi did not want to accept that he was jealous of people he was supposed to be companions with, so he did his best to suppress that feeling. It was an immature thought.
Levi exhaled slowly, his breath forming a faint mist in the air. His reflection stared back at him in the bloodied metal of his spearhead, cold, silent, non-human.
Currently, he was the weakest out of the three of them.