« Mmh… »
The sun gently hit Victor's still-sleeping face, making him groan in annoyance.
If there was one thing he hated, it was waking up before his internal clock rang.
The events of the previous day quickly came back to him, making him jerk his eyes open violently.
He sat up abruptly, scanning the room cautiously.
Fortunately, the only person in the room was the girl with that strange mix of blonde and black hair—already awake.
« Wow, that's quite a way to wake up. »
« Yeah… it's not like we could have been eaten by a monster or two in our sleep, right? »
Victor stretched and, to his relief, realized he felt no soreness from yesterday's 'workout'.
« By the way, nothing unusual last night? »
Lucie, staring absentmindedly at the city through the window, felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead.
« No, no, nothing at all. Complete silence. »
Victor, who hadn't been looking at her, suddenly turned his attention toward her.
« Oh yeah? »
He moved closer.
« What are you thinking of doing? »
Lucie faced him, brows furrowed in an amused displeasure.
« It's weird… your heart is racing over such a simple question. »
She swallowed audibly—or at least loudly enough for Victor to hear.
« So… are you going to tell me what happened last night, or am I going to have to find out myself?»
Victor said it with amusement, and Lucie knew it well.
But seeing Victor's disfigured face added a genuine chill to her spine, making a flicker of fear cross her expression—something Victor didn't miss, thanks to his now-superhuman perception.
He let go of his playful act. The desire to toy around vanished in an instant.
He returned to his cold, expressionless face.
How tiring it was… He had already removed his leather mask and thought he could do the same with the second one.
Apparently, he was mistaken. At least, for now.
« So… are you going to tell me or not? »
Lucie spoke quickly.
« I… fell asleep. »
Victor raised an eyebrow, clearly uninterested.
« Oh. Alright then. Get ready, we're leaving soon. »
The girl bit her lower lip, hesitant.
« You… you're not going to scold me? »
Stretching, Victor replied,
« Why? For not keeping watch properly and almost getting both of us killed? »
Lucie was clearly not satisfied with the phrasing, but she restrained herself, nodding silently.
« Well, the main reason is… if I had died last night because of your negligence, I would have been dead. If I survived, I'd wake up for another sunrise and talk to you just like now. That's really all there is to it. »
That was only part of why he didn't scold her. The most important reason was that he would rather die than become like his mother.
She had reprimanded him so harshly that, if he were ever to do the same to someone, he'd think he had become her.
Crossing that line of honesty was a step away from commiting suicide.
There could certainly not be another person like her in the world. He would never allow it.
Lucie honestly didn't know how to respond. Didn't this boy care about his own life? Or did he have a few screws loose?
« We don't have time to philosophize, Lucie. Let's go. »
The distinct crack of a bone snapping echoed in one of the first-floor classrooms. Victor held a fallen by the scruff of its neck with one hand.
« My strength has really become extraordinary. »
Victor now had thirty-three points in Strength. Considering ten was roughly average for an adult male, he was now over three times stronger than a normal human.
The sensation of effortlessly crushing his enemies was intoxicating.
Lucie was still fighting another creature, a small smile playing on her lips as she toyed with the Lovecraftian horror before her.
She was no longer the adolescent from yesterday; she almost seemed to enjoy herself.
Her speed was impressive. Though Victor could follow her movements thanks to his perception, he knew there was no way he could match her in speed.
« Need some help? »
Victor knew these things no longer posed a threat to Lucie. She could have taken them out long ago, but for some reason, she was prolonging the fun—like a cat playing with a mouse before devouring it alive.
The smile on the blonde's face widened. She stopped abruptly and turned to Victor, frozen in place.
Victor's eyes widened slightly as he saw the creature's long gray arm reaching for Lucie's chest.
But he didn't move. Something resembling a smile formed on his mutilated lips. Arms crossed, impassive.
He knew the game she was playing, and he wasn't about to cooperate.
Seeing this, Lucie furrowed her brows in a pout of displeasure.
Then, without warning, she vanished, leaving Victor and the creature frozen in place.
A fraction of a second later, Victor felt an abnormal breeze brush against his skin. He spun violently, coming face-to-face with the girl who had been right in front of him less than a second ago — their faces just centimeters apart.
She had covered more than five meters in a fraction of a second.
It was a whole new speed threshold, even for Victor with his high stats.
« How… »
Lucie didn't let him finish, placing her index finger on his lips.
« A magician never reveals his secrets. »
It was unpleasant.
He hated physical contact, especially when someone touched his face.
It triggered emotions he didn't like — disgust, hatred, and above all, fear.
A fear engraved in him since childhood.
He thought he had matured enough to overcome it… but no.
His teeth clenched as he gently but quickly pushed Lucie's hand away.
« A skill? »
He tried not to show his disgust, but judging by Lucie's raised eyebrow, he hadn't succeeded as well as he thought.
« …Yeah. Actually, I've had it from the start, but my stats weren't high enough to use it without repercussions. »
Victor, immersed in his thoughts, realized he had greatly neglect his own skill.
Though it didn't seem impressive at first glance, he knew better than anyone how useful — and destructive — it could be.
Just imagining a gigantic swarm moving from country to country, devouring all experience in its path was enough to give him wet dreams.
Without breaking his train of thought, Victor tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding the creature's arm, which hadn't forgotten its target.
Lucie reacted instantly, bending her body backward at a ninety-degree angle — a feat nearly impossible for her before. She rolled backward, regained her footing, and lunged at the monster in under a second, catching it off guard.
She grabbed the fire axe from Victor's hands and swung it savagely at the creature's shoulder, cleanly separating its arm from its body.
She repeated the process multiple times, turning the horror into a pitiful heap of meat, powerless to resist.
With a small smirk, she finished it off, crushing its throat with her newly blackened sneakers.
« I have the strange feeling you're starting to enjoy this. »
It wasn't a good sign. No one could change that quickly and remain stable.
A drastic personality shift — good or bad — could only be caused by mental instability. Something Victor knew all too well.
« We can take a break if you want… »
It was partly his fault. He had been the one pushing her to kill more and more things that most people would only see in their worst nightmares.
He felt a bit guilty.
Just a bit.
But Lucie answered with a soft smile.
« What are you talking about, Victor? I've never felt better! »
She stretched her arms above her head, like someone waking from a short nap — not like a human who had just massacred dozens of monstrosities.
Yeah… something was definitely off about this girl. Or maybe that was her true personality—without the mask society had forced onto her face.
He had no idea, he wasn't really good at reading human emotions.
Even if he could now detect some lies from heartbeats, that was it.
After all, to understand humans, you have to be around them.
And the only thing Victor really spent time with… was a monster.
He also saw his sister sometimes, but they didn't talk much — just a simple hello and goodbye. Her early departures and late returns didn't help.
Victor pushed the question aside for later; he wasn't a psychologist and didn't care enough to analyze her deeply.
« Let's move. You know where the trash room is? »
Lucie raised an eyebrow, dubious.
« Yes… but why would you want to go there, Vic? »
«Vic? Seriously? Haa… nevermind. Take me there. »
The girl crossed her arms in disapproval.
« No. »
« Why not? »
« Be more polite when addressing a lady. »
« A lady? You look more like a little girl covered in blood—Hey! »
Lucie grabbed his ear, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
« Apologize. »
She had been acting strangely since this morning. Maybe she had been possessed overnight ?
For some reason, Victor decided to play along, resisting the disgusting contact on his ear.
« Sorry. Can we go now? »
« Not good enough. »
« My apologies, my lady. »
« Come on… I know you can do better than that. »
Victor sighed in despair.
« O noble lady, have mercy on your faithful servant for having offended you. I beg for your grace, on my knees, to forgive my blasphemous words against your divine person. »
Lucie was momentarily speechless. She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.
« Hehe… Very well, very well. I forgive you. As a reward for your noble words, I'll even guide you to the place you want! »
Her personality had truly done a 180-degree turn.
What Victor didn't know was that this was simply how Lucie behaved with people she liked or felt close to.
Though they had only known each other for less than two days, facing death together forged friendships and bonds surprisingly quickly.
Bonds that are almost unbreakable.
Even by death.