The forest was dead quiet except for leaves rustling and bodies hitting dirt. Wren moved through the darkness, claws slicing through Niks one after another. The shadow creatures dropped and dissolved into nothing. She wasn't even trying hard, just playing around while they died.
Yenna stared, forgetting her own pain. Wren was way more dangerous than these things. The Niks were supposed to be the hunters here, but now they were getting destroyed.
The remaining creatures finally figured it out and charged at Vell instead. He was still unconscious, completely defenseless. The second Wren saw this, her playful attitude vanished. She became a blur of silver and black, tearing through their ranks and leaving dead Niks everywhere.
"Prrrrr."
A growl rumbled from her chest. Even Yenna felt it. The surviving Niks froze, their shadow forms trembling.
'She's terrifying. What kind of tamer is this guy?' Yenna's respect for the little weasel kept growing.
The Niks tried to run. Wren crouched low, claws digging into dirt. They were fast, but she was faster.
"prr…"
She leaped. Yenna couldn't track her movement, just saw bodies dropping left and right, dissolving into dust. Less than ten seconds later, it was over. Wren slid back to Vell's side as if she had never left. Yenna caught a glimpse of massive glowing claws made of pure mana before they disappeared, shrinking back to normal size.
"What the hell were those things? They looked..." Yenna shook her head, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. 'I should probably try being friendly with her, or I might be the next thing she rips apart.'
Wren's glowing runes dimmed. Yenna started crawling toward her with a gentle but awkward smile. "Uh, hey, thank you for saving—"
Wren stepped back, golden eyes fixed on her with a defensive gaze that said 'stay away from my master.'
"Yep, that was stupid. I should mind my own business." Yenna muttered, crawling back to her spot by the tree. She watched as Wren gave her one last look before snuggling up next to Vell, her fierce protector mode replaced by that of a loyal, sleeping pet.
Morning came, the first rays of sunlight filtering through the trees. Vell finally started to wake up, his body still sore but no longer on the verge of collapse. He pushed himself to a sitting position and scanned the clearing. He saw the piles of dark stones next to him, but Yenna was nowhere in sight.
"Did she run?" he thought, getting up and picking up one of the strange, dark cores. "What the hell is this?"
[That's a core. Think of it as a monster's heart. This is interesting, though. Why is such a rare core here? And not just one, but so many?]
"Hmm, just what happened while I was out?" He looked at Wren, who was still sleeping soundly. He could tell her mana was low. "Did we get attacked by monsters?"
He started walking around, feeling the sting of his muscles and his still-cracked cores. Each step was a struggle, but he needed to know what had happened. Not far from their camp, he saw Yenna returning, her arms full of strange-looking fruits.
When she saw him up and moving, an awkward silence fell between them. She didn't know what to say.
"Oh, hey. So you stayed," he said, his voice rough. It felt like he was about to cough up blood.
"I am so sorry! I'm a terrible person!" She suddenly bowed, dropping the fruits she had gathered. She was so genuine in her apology that he was taken aback.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Huh?" She slowly looked up at him, a confused expression on her face. 'Am I tripping, or did his personality just change drastically?'
She quickly composed herself, putting on a brave smile. "I couldn't leave after what you've done for me."
He shook his head and picked up one of the fruits from the ground, taking a large bite. "I didn't do it for you."
"That may be the case, but I'm still grateful."
"Sure. I still owe you for letting me stay at your house anyway."
[Master, why are you lying to her? Wouldn't it be better if she knew what her friends actually think of her?]
'Look at her,' he thought back, his eyes on her forced smile and trembling hands. 'It's obvious she's on edge. She probably heard from that Section Chief that her friends weren't really her friends, but she still doesn't know if it's true or not. Telling her everything now would just break her. It's for the best. And besides, I don't feel like talking too much. I'm hurt, after all.'
[So you're just saying you're lazy.]
'I will scrap you.'
He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, a simple gesture of comfort. He didn't say anything, just locked eyes with her for a moment, then turned and walked away.
'Was I supposed to understand what that stare meant?' she wondered, picking up the rest of the fruits and following him back to the camp. "Oh, by the way, those cores—where did they come from?"
"Ah, those," he said with a casual shrug. "Let's just say they came from prey."
"Oh, you killed that many monsters? Impressive."
"No. Wren was the hunter."
"What!" 'That explains her low mana levels and why she's still sleeping.' She felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry. I wanted to help, but my body was too weak to move. Even right now, it's taking all I have just to keep standing."
He looked at her smile, then his gaze shifted to her legs. They were shaking. He stared at them for a few seconds, then took some of the fruits from her arms and walked away.
"So, how was she? Her hunting skills?"
Her body tensed at the question. "She was amazing. Efficient with her speed, and she showed no mercy to her enemies, and it scares me."
Her answer annoyed him. It reminded him of someone else, someone who saw power as something to be feared instead of wielded.
'So she is one of those types. Naive. Tsk.'
"Is that so? Well, don't worry. She won't hurt you. I think."
"..."
"So, about the cores," he said, changing the subject. "What can you tell me about them?"
But before she could even answer, he fell to his knees, a violent cough racking his body as he spat up a large amount of blood.