Adriel and Amara walked calmly, following their memory of where the area to use the system was located.
With each step, they heard branches crackling under their feet. As they advanced, everything grew darker, but disturbingly, it wasn't because of the trees; rather, the weather was about to play a nasty trick on them.
As they walked, Adriel slowed down a little to stay behind Amara. From his point of view, it was better that way, because if she was behind him, there was a chance he wouldn't notice if she was attacked until it was too late.
In addition, he had long since developed the peculiar habit of copying the gait of others. Normally, when he was walking down the street with his friends or family, he would copy their rhythm and pace. Not even he knew how this strange habit had begun.
Along the way, Adriel picked up some pieces of wood. Anxiety was weighing heavily on them, and they were both nervous because when they turned left, they saw the sunset, the end of the day, and the beginning of night.
After a long walk, Adriel felt uncomfortable. He thought about summoning the system, and sure enough, it was there. "Tell me, what item do I need to buy?" His tone revealed the nervousness created by the time of day, seeping through every word.
Amara was a little surprised, then she opened the system and found it. "Go to the store, it's the third item in the second row. It's on page 2." Amara was calmer than Adriel, as she had not experienced firsthand what this world can offer .
Adriel followed her instructions and found a lightning rod. After seeing it, he felt that it was really useful, especially because the description said, "Any lightning that is about to strike within a radius of 1 kilometer will be attracted and neutralized."
Since it made sense to Adriel that this object could save their lives, he bought it for 7 coins, leaving him with 4.
"Well... I think it's time to go." Adriel held the new object in his hand as he looked at the path they had taken to get there. It was dark and scary.
"Yes," Amara took the first step forward, so Adriel followed her.
As they walked, Adriel thought about how to use the lightning rod and also watched his step, trying to be as quiet as possible.
At some point along the way, Adriel saw a blue flash and quickly reacted, holding a piece of wood with both hands, which struck a woman's neck. "Another succubus."
That thought flashed through Adriel's mind.
He kicked the succubus hard in the abdomen, but she did not back away. Instead, she moved closer to him, hugging him and trying to press their bodies together more than was comfortable.
Adriel began to feel intense despair. Adrenaline was rushing through his head, filling him with a rage that dispelled all fear.
In a rage, he opened his mouth and bit the succubus's jugular vein, causing her to scream in pain. Her blood began to fall on Adriel's leather, who hit her on the head and tried to push her away.
But because of the bite, the succubus tried to get back at him, her mouth threateningly approaching Adriel's neck, which he tried to hit to push her away, although to no avail.
Suddenly, the succubus stopped moving her head, which was grabbed by Amara. She grabbed the succubus's neck with her forearm and began to choke her hard.
Adriel took advantage of the fact that the succubus couldn't bite him to put the piece of wood in her mouth, quickly suffocating her.
Shortly after, the succubus stopped moving. Despite his intense fear, Adriel touched the succubus's chest to make sure she was dead. Then he pushed her away to get the corpse off him.
When he stood up, he saw the succubus. Her "clothes" had disappeared at the moment of her death, so she was completely naked. Her hair was navy blue, and her blue eyes were very likely to be bright, but only when she was alive.
When he relaxed, he felt bile filling his throat. Not only had he killed a woman-like monster, but he had also bitten her and her blood covered him. He turned to some bushes and vomited all the food he had previously consumed.
"You have killed a succubus. Phase: Initial, Category: A. You have received 5 coins." "So... she bled to death," Adriel thought quickly as he calmed down.
Adriel's whole body was shaking, but he summoned his courage. He grabbed the lightning rod hesitantly, its sharp tip helping him cut through the succubus's skin, allowing him to reach her rib cage, where he cut away the flesh from the center until he could see and extract the beautiful blue ball.
"Object: scythe, phase: initial, category: B. A one-meter-long scythe with a 40-centimeter tip."
Adriel held that ball tightly and simulated the feeling of expelling something, causing the scythe to appear in his hand. Then, fearfully, he simulated the feeling of swallowing something, causing the scythe to be stored inside him somehow.
"Will you tell the others?" Amara asked with absurd calm.
"I think..." Adriel looked her straight in the eye. "I think the best option will be to return to the safe zone and come down tomorrow morning." Without waiting for a response, the boy began to retrace his steps, returning to the area where the system was in use.
Amara realized that, even though Adriel's voice was asking for her opinion, he wasn't going to take it.
The boy sat down, leaning against a rock. The girl leaned against a tree in front of the rock.
Both closed their eyes. "No matter how hard I try... I can't sleep." That small but powerful thought crossed the minds of both young people.
Soon they both opened their eyes and found each other in the horrendous darkness created by the night. They looked at each other.
"I have to be honest, today, after nap time, I found Elena seducing Steven, but he didn't resist like you did," Amara confessed in the darkness.
"There's nothing we can do... let's hope he survives tonight..."
After that, the conversation died completely. They both knew they were awake, but they still didn't talk anymore because there was nothing normal to talk about.
...
In the cloak of the dark night, Elena's figure rose above Steven's sleeping body. She woke him with a gentle touch, without making a sound.
"What do you want?" Steven asked sleepily, but without moving, even though Elena was sitting on top of him.
"Tonight is beautiful, isn't it? Perfect... for us to be together." Elena lay down on top of Steven, sliding her arms under his and holding his head.
Elena kissed Steven fiercely, feeling intense pain run through every part of her body. The pain made her almost bite Steven's mouth, but luckily, he responded to her kiss, taking away the pain in her body.