A scream echoed into the area. One Blake instantly recognised. "Shit!" Glancing behind, he could see Cassie on the floor with one of the small six-legged beasts standing before her.
"Shit! I thought I took care of all of them?" He was already in a swinging motion, and he couldn't divert all of a sudden. "Dammit! Not again!" He groaned in his mind. "She can't die! Not in my presence!"
As if hearing his thoughts, a strange mist slowly emerged from his back, transforming into a robed figure. Blake was oblivious to the strange phenomenon that occurred when he saw a figure drop to the ground with a soft thud.
Dropping to the ground, the robed figure stretched out its hands.
The beast with raised claws was suddenly engulfed in a vortex of dark flames. It was burnt to crisp, leaving just a yellow stone behind.
Blake, quite distracted from the ordeal, was struck by the large beast, causing his attack to miss. The blade had left a deep cut on his chest, but that was nothing compared to what he had faced. Activating the invisible Dash skill, he appeared behind the beast and was about swinging down.
The same dark flames engulfed the beast, causing Blake to jump back. The beast was burnt to crisp within seconds, leaving an orange crystal with a tinge of black swirling around it.
Blake eyes widened as he stared at the figure before him. Memories crashing into his head like a tidal wave. This was the figure that had killed the remaining survivors. A figure that had set him ablaze.
'This is going to be a hard fight.' He thought, his mind racing madly. "Will I be able to win?" His eyes darted towards Cassie, who was huddled in the corner with a tearful expression. "Will I be able to make it to her before it attacks?"
Argghh! Dammit! Dashing forward, he suddenly stopped in his tracks as the figure transformed into mist heading right towards his direction.
Thinking it was a sort of attack, Blake was about dodging, yet his body refused to move. He couldn't feel any malicious intent from the strange mist heading towards him and felt as if it was a part of him that had been separated.
"Hope I'm not making a terrible mistake," he muttered with a sigh. The mist swirled around him, entering into the top corner of his back.
"Huh? It entered me?" Blake was a bit confused, but now wasn't the time. Quickly dashing towards Cassie, he swept her off the ground while muttering reassuring words.
"It's okay now. I told you I'm gonna protect you no matter what. Big brother always got your back." Wiping her tears, he put her to the ground. Dropping before her with his back facing towards her, he glanced at her with a smile.
"...Hop in."
A bit hesitant, she finally climbed atop his back, holding him tightly.
Good. Picking the stone dropped by the beasts, he dashed forward. Blake easily covered the distance to the tower, his journey became a lot easier with Cassie on his back.
She appeared happy, feeling the cold wind blowing past her face and all. Her expression was filled with glee.
During the journey, Blake had enough time to think about the robed figure. Summoning the system panel, he was able to go through the class skills carefully before stopping at the last one, which was a lot confusing.
[Undead Summon: 1/3 slot]
Now, it began to make sense to him. The slot was showing one out of three, meaning he had summoned one Undead? When?
Thinking carefully, he tried finding a dot to connect the appearance of the robed figure in both situations that occurred. 'The first I wanted so badly for them to... die.'
"Well, they deserve it," he mumbled under his breath. 'I was so consumed by it and was glad they never made it out.'
"Hmmm. The robed figure was the one that appeared during that moment, burning them to death. In the second case, I didn't want any harm to befall her, and then it showed again."
"It appears to link with my desire?" He muttered with a thoughtful expression. 'How come it's able to stay in my back. But that guy is incredibly strong. Being able to burn them to death with just a flick of its fingers.'
Finally, he came to a stop. He could see the towering structure from his vantage point. The problem was passing through the forest. Checking the map, he could see the forest were filled with red dots.
"The red dots, I think they represent the beasts. Now, how do I go about this. I'm I strong to protect her?"
Then a memory flashed in his head. During his moment in the void, those thoughts he had. Thinking about his previous life and how miserable it was.
But now things are different. Back then, he promised himself he would grow strong and protect those close to him. None of those close to him would ever have to die before him again while he watched powerless.
Yet here he was hesitating. "Dammit! I'll protect her! I'll protect her till the last drop of my blood!" Clenching his fist, he took a step forward. Slowly, he made his way into the forest.
His senses were strained to the maximum. The rustling of the leaves, the gentle fall of the snow. He could hear everything. He had already summoned his daggers wrapping the chain around his fist down to his elbow just leaving a few links loose.
He continued, passing through towering trees and thick shrubs. And then after entering deep into the forest, he encountered his first beast.
It was easily taken care of. Cassie weight didn't affect him in the slightest as he swung the chains down, the daggers slicing the beast into two before it could come close. He felt Cassie tensed for a moment before easing up.
Same, stupid beasts." He mumbled quickly collecting the yellow stone. Along the way, he encountered more but was able to take them down before even coming close to him.
Finally, they made it to the center of the forest. He noticed the atmosphere was heavy. He could feel quick movement behind the thick shrubs. "Hold tight." He muttered softly to Cassie.
He pressed on, pretending not to notice the subtle movements around him. However, he didn't get much further before the figure emerged from the shadows, blocking his path.
"A different beast? Thank goodness. Was getting sick of same beasts over and over again."
"Hey, hope you're more fun than those stinking beasts."
A fierce growl erupted from the beast as it charged forward.
"Come to think of it... you stink also."
Swinging his chained dagger in a circular motion, he calmly waited for the beast to leap forward. The beast this time around, stood on two muscular limbs, attached to its upper body were four arms, two on either side. Swaying at the back was a long spiky tail.
Its face terrible. It appeared to be a mismatch. Were it eyes and nose supposed to be was a large mouth. At the bottom was a single large eye.
"Whatever sculpted you did a terrible work!" Swinging his chains, the daggers travelled effortless through the air and pierce into the beast hand. At the last moment, the beast had raised one of its hands, taking the hit.
"Oh. A strong one. I'll be able to train my daggers and maybe level up the blade art skills..."
"Alright... come at me with everything you've got. I'll go easy... I promise!"