"Fucking hell," Eric cursed under his breath as he continued dragging his body while his lower limbs followed uselessly, broken bones jutting out of his torn flesh. "I'm not killing a dying mage...like a coward. To hell with the awakening."
The system's notification stayed floating before him, blinking ominously as if trying to grab his attention no matter what.
Eric wanted to pretend he couldn't understand what the new quest was all about, but he didn't last for long. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed a little stump in the ground and he was finally a few inches away from Winter. The sounds of steel blades against the tough, metallic hide of the beast rang in the air, each clang came with a whooshing sound made from the blades cutting through air before hitting the target. Bux and Summer grunted as they fought the monstrosity, straining their limits even though they didn't seem to be making a lot of damage to the beast.
Eric felt useless...and guilty. The beast was probably here because of him. It might count as a coincidence that the beast screeched at about the same time the system announced the massive reduction in his LUCK stat point, but he knew it was so much one. Now, these brave men stand a chance at death should the fight go any longer without the beast's death.
Even Winter, the one who was supposed to handle this better was knocked out, probably on the brink of losing her life.
'And all I have to deal with is a System informing me to kill a struggling mage to consume her mana...and awaken.'
'Can you fucking read the room?'
[It's a jungle, not a room]
Eric sighed. He reached his hand towards the closest thing he could touch on Winter—her hair. It felt very warm, like there was a heater installed under her scalp. It must be the effect of being able to control fire. He nudged her slowly, moving her head which was half buried with her face down into the soft ground.
There was no satisfactory response aside a deep groan that sounded like it was born from her deepest core. She was really in pain, although there was no facial reveal to prove that, she laid perfectly still.
"Win...ter," his voice cracked as he felt that lingering coppery tang at the back of his throat.
'What am I to do?' he dragged his limp legs closer with his hands. At that moment, his hand brushed past the sharp edge of Winter's soul weapon, the blade that looked like a farming sickle. Though a slight touch, it sliced through the flesh of three of his fingers, drawing blood in its wake. The pain shot through him, piercing at first, then spreading all over his arms till it took over his chest in a burning sensation. It was like a flame torch was lit in his chest, purposely to burn him in torture. It was indeed the Soul weapon belonging to a Fire Mage.
Immediately, the screen came on.
*Chime!*
[HOST HAS MADE DIRECT CONTACT WITH A SOUL WEAPON]
[HOST'S FUSION WITH SOUL WEAPON: 100% COMPLETE]
[The sickle is now yours to control. Grab it to confirm the connection you now have with a soul weapon]
Eagerly, Eric grabbed the sickle by the handle, turning it to take a better look as the reflection of the weird, orange moon shone on it.
Instantly, he felt a tremor run from his hand down the rest of his body. His body jolted like he was being tased. He closed his eyes, enjoying the oddly satisfying feeling.
"I can feel it. Such a wave of pleasure. Ha!"
But he remembered the sickle has a twin, since he had seen it faintly when Winter pulled them out of an invisible space when the red-bellied hounds were stalking them. In his books, the weapon wasn't going to appear cool if it was a single one.
'Where did she drop it?' He searched round with his eyes, squinting to notice a glow on the dark ground, but he saw nothing. Only Summer's longsword occasionally caught the light as he swung it powerfully against the resistant monster.
'She must have fallen on it.'
'Wait, did she...'
"Winter!" he screamed as he immediately pushed her by the shoulder, turning her unresponsive body over so she wasn't lying on her belly anymore. The soft earth took the shape of her body, digging down a few inches.
Her pale face, stained with the dark earth pointed up at the trees with her eyes calmly closed, like she was enjoying a peaceful nap. Eric traced his gaze over to her belly, worried that she might have impaled herself with her soul weapon after she fell. But he was relieved when he saw that there was no wound, or no thick red coating her already red clothes.
Instead, he found the second sickle on the patched ground where she was rolled away by him.
'No, I wasn't worried about her...'
'It's just the sickle. Yes, I only feared she'd swallowed the sickle...'
[Indeed, host. Indeed.]
Winter stirred a little, opening her mouth slightly to let our a soft groan that bore testament to her anguish. She was still unresponsive even after Eric tapped her lightly, quite comforted that she might make it through after all.
WHOOSH! CLANG!
"Aaaaaaaarrgh!" Summer yelled in pain, as his longsword snapped in the middle, causing a reverberating sound rippling through the jungle upon his last impact with the beast. He stumbled out of its attack range, grabbing his thigh as blood gushed out of the large wound where the beast's natural blade had seared him. Bux remained, facing the beast while swinging his mallet-like weapon. He stood his ground, circling it round, and again set for another face-off.
Summer's slow cry of anguish created a background track, while Bux swung the hammer, making a whooshing sound that sounded in tune.
'They will all die. They are dying already.'
[Well, won't you help?]
'How? I'm healing very slowly. I can't even stand on my own.'
[Ugh! I hate that you can't do some basic calculations on your own...]
[You have the soul weapon! You can definitely control it from where you lay uselessly. I mean, why do you think it's called a soul weapon? Because it gives you a jolt when you hold it? C'mon]
"Don't scold me like you're my parent. How do I control it?"
[You only have to think of it. You already have a strong hold on the sickle. Lift it with your mind and play it like a game]