-They're telling me they leveled up and got a skill just... just by running?
It was a huge surprise. After that, we kept sharing the information we'd learned on our first day: fighting or escape experiences, skill and experience acquisition. This led us to the conclusion that not only were each person's base stats different, but there was also the possibility of acquiring skills through repeated activity. Something like special training.
That's because both Jess and Kris have the same two skills. What were the odds of something like that? There had to be a factor, and what they share is their experience fleeing and running for hours. The skills were [Short Sprint] and [Stamina Denial], both centered on speed and stamina. Which explained a lot about how they'd managed to hold out for so long.
-It was great talking, but as you can see we're trapped. How are you on food and water?
"I can hold out a bit longer; after all, I'd just filled my canteen with water when I saw you, but what about them?"
Both shrugged with a bit of embarrassment. Kris spoke.
-The truth is we don't have much water left, and food for maybe one more day.
It was expected considering their state, yet I sighed with a bit of disappointment. I'd hoped they might have a bit more water.
-Well don't worry about it, we have a river nearby and well... does anyone know how to cook wolf?
***
After a while we got ready to start planning how to get out of this predicament. In the end we couldn't stay trapped in this cave with it out there forever.
Both Jess and Kris were working on the wolves at their own pace in the room while I had to put the skill theory to the test.
Taking advantage of the length of the cave I started running back and forth until I exhausted my stamina and repeated the process as many times as my body would let me. The pain in my muscles burned like hell by the tenth lap.
"I need this skill, both of them are so fast, I can't fall behind"
Their speed was insane, backed by explosive sprinting and great stamina. In case of escape or some assault, having decent speed to keep up with them was priority.
I wasn't sure how much time or intensity I needed to invest in this task, but I did it with as much diligence as possible and without asking myself too many questions while the kids were still recovering from the fatigue they'd built up.
And so the second night arrived.
I don't know how many times I ran the path during the day, but when I stopped running nothing had happened yet. I was heading to the room where Jess was watching Kris try to light the campfire without much success.
-Hey Levy, how do you light this thing?
I let out a slight laugh.
-Let me tell you it's super complicated to do it the old-fashioned way, but there's no need.
I put my hand on the campfire branches and lit them with [Flame]. I'd saved six magic for this, spending two every so often to use [Pulse] and check the surroundings, keeping one extra to avoid dizziness.
Kris watched the fire with too much enthusiasm.
-Ohhh, let there be light!
Jess pulled out some pieces of what I assume was this morning's wolf on some branches to cook them over the fire.
-That skill is really useful.
As Kris stood up he grabbed my shoulder and added.
-Yeah man, you have three awesome skills. Don't you want to trade them? Huh?
I couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by it; after all, I don't think I'd ever received so many compliments from strangers. It was a good feeling, it made me feel appreciated.
The atmosphere was good, between the laughs and chats by the fire it almost made me think I was at a camp with friends instead of in a cave in an unknown world with a huge monster at the exit...
We talked for a while accompanied by the warmth of the campfire, trivialities and what we did before being here. Apparently both were in class, practicing at their athletics club right when the flash happened, and the reason they think they arrived together was because they were holding hands.
"If I'd held Emily or Julian's hand would they be here with me? Or maybe they're not part of the 100,000,000,000 and if they were and they're already..."
-Hey are you okay? Didn't you like the food?
Jess pulled me out of my thoughts; it seemed like something that happened here or there. Both looked so happy now that they'd rested, full of energy, maybe because they had the luck of seeing a new day, or the joy of being with someone they care about, even if it's here.
-I've had better wolf dishes.
Kris let out a guffaw while Jess seemed a bit embarrassed by my comment. I hope she got the joke.
We finished eating and divided up shifts to rest, and so ended our second day.
***
I took the last shift to stand guard so before both woke up I started my training to try to get one of the two skills they had.
Until suddenly a loud sound started echoing off the cave walls, shaking the walls like an earthquake. The bastard outside had started hitting the cave like the day before, almost like inviting us out.
Eerily a crack was heard that made a high-pitched sound inside the cave. The sound woke Jess and Kris.
-Heeeh what was that?
-Levy... what's happening?
Both expressed some fear and surprise on their faces.
-Your friend is hitting the cave again.
We decided to go see what was happening, only to hear the rumbling of the walls getting more intense, the walls expelling gray dust with each impact and small cracks starting to appear.
The rocky walls seemed like they could hold a bit longer, and in case of collapse there would still be the other exit at the far end, but what if we only had one exit? What if he was at that exit? What could we do?... Die?
A dark thought was planting itself in our minds. The hard walls that protected us weren't going to hold forever, leaving us to our fate once again.
We returned to the room with grim expressions. I didn't need to ask what was going through their minds.
-I think you're thinking the same as me, right? If that entrance is destroyed we're all dead.
Neither of them said a word. There was no need; they'd understood everything perfectly. We didn't have much more time.
Kris was the first to respond with a tone that expressed his doubt and fear.
-But what options do we have? Run again?
With those words Jess's face shuddered into a pale expression. It was clear she was terrified of the idea of going through the same situation again.
The situation had escalated quickly. We had a decent food supply inside thanks to the wolves, which were preserving incredibly well, but the water situation was more complicated.
At first I thought about the possibility of some of us acting as bait so another could go to the river to fill the containers whenever we ran out, but with the possibility of one of the two entrances being destroyed—and not just any, the one to the river—things would get enormously complicated.
Going out would be dangerous even if we waited for that beast to fall asleep. The chances of surviving would be greatly reduced just with that change. That's how fragile our lives were in this new world.
A slight change in plans or a mistake was enough to lose your life. I myself was only alive thanks to luck. But this time luck wasn't going to help us anymore. We had to take action to win... to live.
I opened my mouth and closed it with doubt after seeing both turn to look at me with expectation in their eyes. The weight of responsibility I felt in just this moment was terrifying. What came out of my mouth could be a turning point in our lives.
-What if we kill it?