The ground beneath Edric trembled, at first faintly, then stronger with each passing second, until it became a tremor that could throw anyone unprepared off their feet.
His heartbeat quickened as he raised his blade, ready for the crawlers. The tremor's origin shifted, circling around them in unreadable intervals, making it almost impossible to predict from where they'd attack.
A crack in the earth. "Be careful!" Vale screamed.
Bursting out of the ground, right behind Edric, an eight-limbed beast lunged claws outstretched.
Spinning on his heel, Edric quickly slid backwards, just barely avoiding a fatal blow. Using the momentum, he swung his sword at the crawler - however it caught the blade mid-swing, its clawed hand locking around the old steel. The impact wrenched Edric off balance.
Withered gray flesh. A faint blue shimmer where its eyes should have been. And a stench-rotten, foul, overwhelmingly disgusting. It was deadly thin, with only skin stretched tight over its bones.
Vale dashed forward without hesitation, ignoring the pain in his leg. Spear in hand he went for the kill, but again the crawler dodged, letting go of Edric's blade and slipping away with ease.
But Edric didn't hesitate. Taking a resolute step forward, he raised his blade and brought it down on the crawler. This time the beast's luck had run out, as Edric severed one of its left limbs clean off.
The crawler screeched, spitting out thick, black slimy liquid. But instead of growing cautious or retreating, it only grew more frenzied-angrier, more bloodthirsty than before.
A fireball burst from the princess palm, aimed straight at the crawler. The beast, however, stepped aside with eerie precision, avoiding her attack entirely.
Unless Edric and Vale could pin it down, the princess had no shot at landing a hit.
The crawler was unnaturally quick and disturbingly flexible, its reflexes went far beyond that of an ordinary human. On top of that, its skin seemed exceptionally hard, making it even more dangerous.
No, Edric thought.
He had cut off one of its limbs with relative ease, it was only that particular limb that was hard. The one in place of where a humans left arm would've been. He suspected that the one on the right shared the same quality. Or at least, that's what his instincts told him.
"Cecilia, stay back. You won't be able to land a clean hit on it," Edric instructed. "Vale, don't let it breathe, attack!"
The two of them dashed forwad, launching a barrage of thrusts and slashes at the crawler. But the creature twisted and writhed itself out of even the most dire situations, deflecting the strikes it couldn't dodge with its hardened limbs- proving Edric's theory right.
Noticing his hesitation the beast engaged, using its hardened limb it unleashed a fury of strikes, hammering down on Edric as it constantly darted around him, attacking from every side.
Anyone else who was not yet a mage probably would have been long dead by now - but it would take more than that to bring down a seasoned fighter like Edric.
And the battle wasn't as one-sided as it appeared. While the beast still furiously attacked, Edric noticed that it was keeping a sliver of distance. It was definitely weary of his blade, and adapting to his fighting style.
The crawler possessed at least some form of intelligence, making it more dangerous than monsters that far surpassed it in strength. But to someone who had hunted monsters like that for as long as he can remember, it was also a weakness that he could exploit.
Vale's strike finally landed, cutting into the creature's side as it swung down its limbs on Edric. Screaming it tumbled back, pressing one of its limbs against the wound. For the first time it hesitated; its eyes flickering between the two with something Edric could only describe as uncertainty.
This is it. Now's my chance, Edric thought.
"Vale," he said, voice low and firm, "act like you can't move anymore."
Without looking back to see if his companion followed his instruction Edric was on the advance. His blade met the crawler's strengthend limbs with a clash of steel and bone. His sword never reached any of the beast's weak points, but he forced it back step by step.
He was swinging his sword with more force than was reasonable, and enough that it would tire him out in a matter of seconds. For each slash and thrust, he perfectly used the momentum of his body to create as much force as possible.
It was a gamble, but one that had never let him down.
And then, the crawler's limb connected, hitting Edric's left leg. Moaning in pain he fell to his knee, guard down. Or at least that was what he wanted the beast to think.
The crawler lunged, desperately wanting to seize the opening and bring down its most dangerous foe. However, now entirely in the air, it had nowhere to run. In a single, decisive slash, Edric cut the beast in half, just below its abdomen.
Split apart the upper and lower body, both still moved, trying to escape. But without its great mobility, it didn't get too far. The upper body was soon engulfed in the princess' fire, while the lower body had been pierced by Vale's spear.
The fight was over, they had won. However Edric couldn't find much joy in it. If it took this much to kill just one of those crawlers, how were they meant to take on an entire horde, if they ever were unfortunate enough to meet it?
He shook his head. There was no point in thinking that over now. They had won, and they had survived, for now that was all that mattered.
"That was really impressive," Vale said as he approached Edric. "Where'd you learn to fight like that."
Edric glanced at his newfound comrade. "As I said, I was a soldier before coming here. Hunting mana beasts is nothing new to me."
"Good to hear, anyway this is yours." Vale extended his hand, holding out a dark-gray sphere. It was the crawler's mana core.
"I haven't found my runestone yet, so I have no mana core. Give it to Cecilia."
Edric had seen many mana cores in his time, however they were essentially useless to him. It was common knowledge that they could only be absorbed by mages. While he hoped to become one in due time, as of right now it was more important to strengthen their group than to hoard mana cores for himself.
Vale looked at him with a confused expression. "Edric, my friend, you don't need to find a runestone to awaken. You just need to absorb enough mana to naturally form a core."
Edric's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. What did he mean, naturally form a core? He had never heard of that, if that was even possible surely his people would've long noticed that, wouldn't they?
"I've never heard of that," Edric said.
Vale rose a brow. "Hasn't Cecilia awakened that way? I've only seen her cast elemental magic until now, not any power that a runestone would grant."
Edric's gaze swept to Cecilia. She had definitely absorbed a runestone, which meant… She was hiding her true powers. But for what reason? He didn't want to expose her in front of Vale, however he'd confront her about it.
"No," Cecilia said, somewhat hesitating. "I haven't shown the power I received from the runestone. Simply because I couldn't until now."
She walked over to the crawlers remains, the upper half scorched and blackened by her flames, the lower pierced clean through by Vale's spear. Raising both hands, she held them above each part, palms open.
The charred limbs curled inward. The torso jerked once, then again, and slowly dragged itself toward its other half. Within seconds, the body knit itself back together, skin and bone shifting with ease. The crawler stood, whole once more, its many legs shifting in sync as if it had never died.
Silence followed.
Edric started at the risen crawler, his throat dry. His hand twitched, pointing his blade forwards once more, not out of fear but instinct. The thing stood still, its body stitched together and devoid of any wound the group had inflicted on it. There was no hunger or fury in its eyes, just emptiness. Hollow obedience.
Her powers were terrifying, sending a chill down his spine.
He had faced monsters that wanted to tear him apart, and kill him in the most gruesome of ways. However, this was something else entirely. What kind of power was this even supposed to be? That little stone gave her the power to defy death?
Vale didn't react, his brows drawn together in quiet disbelief. He had never seen anything like this before. But it was a welcome surprise.
"That's good," he said. "Raises our chances of survival."
Yeah, that's for sure, Edric thought.
"I didn't want to tell you both," Cecilia said, "because I wasn't sure it would work. And I didn't want to raise your hopes in case it wouldn't."
How much else isn't she telling us…
"Regardless, next time a warning would be appreciated, or I might just accidentally cut down your toy," Edric said, then turned to Vale. "Come on then, we don't got all day."
More wary of their surroundings than before, they continued forward through the barren wasteland. Every step was careful, their eyes scanning the landscape. Surprisingly enough, from there on out, their journey went smoothly. Given Vale's words that the crawlers traveled in a large horde, they had expected more battles - but none came.
The one they had encountered must've somehow slipped away. Not that one of them would complain.
Hours stretched into one another, the monotony of the barren plains pressing down on them. By now, nearly half a day had passed as dusk began to settle over them.
When the last light of day faded into the horizon, the air grew colder, the land darker. Before them, a large body of water reflected the weak light of the stars that penetrated the heavy clouds.
They had finally made it to the lake.
The water's surface was still and smooth, and no sounds hinted a possible wildlife around them. The world around them felt serene, untouched by the chaos that had consumed the land.
There was even grass growing along the edges of the lake, soft tufts of green that seemed out of place. It swayed gently in the cool evening breeze. Ever since they entered the trial, neither the princess or Edric had felt this at peace.
But alas they couldn't rest and enjoy it.
Vale grabbed his empty waterskin and quickly filled it with the lakes water, his movements efficent, not wasting any moment. Swiftly, he drank and, once satisfied, gave the waterskin to the princess, who took a long sip before handing it to Edric.
The lake's water was cool, refreshing. It had the weird aftertaste of dirty water, though as thirsty as he was Edric didn't care. He drank greedily, the cold liquid erasing the dryness that had nurtured for within him for hours.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glanced at Vale who was fidgeting. The closer they got, the more nervous he seemed to get, afraid of what he might find in the farm. Edric couldn't blame him.
Edric quickly filled the waterskin again, and handed it to Vale who stashed it in his backpack.
Hm?
Looking past Vale, Edric saw a dark silhouette not to far from them. His hand immediately grabbed the hilt of his blade as his eyes narrowed, scanning the figure.
Vale summoned his spear with a practiced motion, the weapon almost instantly appearing in his hand. He turned, his posture tense, ready for battle.
Cecilia, calm, ordered her resurrected crawler to stand before them. Without hesitation, the grotesque mockery of life, obeyed her orders.
"Wait," Edric said, walking past the two of them.
Cecilia's crawler shifted in stance, its hollow eyes tracking Edric's movement as he stepped forward, yet Cecilia didn't let it intervene.
Vale, still on edge, didn't stop Edric either. He had seen him fight, and knew he wouldn't act without reason.
Edric steadily approached the silhouette, that soon turned out to be another crawler. It sat by the lake, motionless, watching. All off its limbs had been torn off, save for those that would have been a human's legs and arms.
When it noticed the Edric, the creature turned its head slowly, its hollow eyes locking onto his. Yet, despite its unsettling form, it made no motion to attack. It simply sat there unmoving, looking at him with an almost sorrowful expression.
"It doesn't behave like the other," Cecilia, who had just walked to Edric's side, mused loudly.
"Does it matter?" Vale asked, his tone sharp. "Let's kill it and be done with it."
"We could study it," Cecilia suggested, her voice carrying a hint of curiosity.
The creature turned fully, glancing at Edric's blade.
It's almost as if…
Edric unsheathed his blade, ignoring the bickering of Vale and Cecilia. With a swift motion, he unsheathed his sword and, in one clean slash, sliced off the crawler's head. The creature didn't resist, its body collapsing onto the ground in a lifeless heap, the head rolling a short distance away.
"Why'd you do that?" Cecilia asked.
Though he ignored her question. He wiped his blade clean on the crawler's body. His eyes lingered on the headless form of the crawler. Just for a short moment, disregarding its appearance, it looked human.
"It could've been a threat, now it's not," Vale said.
"Let's just go." Edric turned to continue their march.
A faint stream of gray light suddenly began to emanate from the creature's lifeless body. It swirled in the air, and with eerie precision, it flowed toward Edric's right forearm. A weird sensation shot through his body.
What the hell is this?