The sunny sky shone down on the dirty, red-stained earth. The battle that marked the battle yesterday had finally dried up. The bodies of the Bestials were long since ravaged by the magots and other pests. These insects burrow into their body and lay their larvae.
But the soldiers were not on the surface. No, for during the night, Stewart had worked day and night to ensure his comrades could rest. Even if their bodies could not be returned to their loved ones. Even if they could not enjoy peace in the proper way. They would be able to get a proper burial, unlike those who died with no one even knowing they died.
A mass of dirt, marked with sticks jabbed into it, was lined up. A total of 35 graves were marked in this forest.
Stewart stood before his comrades, hands clasped, as he muttered and prayed for them. Far from him stood Lone, hands crossed as he watched. His armour, though dirtied by blood and dirt, still shone under the morning dew. In his hands were two spears. In his right was [Slone], and the other was a new spear he had transformed. A axe of some kind with a big, bulky blade, bulky enough you would mistake it for a hammer, yet on its crisp edge was a sharp blade that shone brightly. At the edge was a hook, allowing it to easily grapple things. A temporary tool to use until [Slone] allowed him to finally test its edge.
"Are you done with your prayers," Lone said as he just watched Stewart pray, "the more we wait, the more of those things may come."
Stewart stood there for several moments before unclasping his hands. He grabbed the damaged [Fluttering Maw] and held it in his hand. He turned to Lone and nodded his head before walking past Lone.
Lone stared at the graves for a moment before turning and following Stewart.
.
.
.
The two have travelled for an hour. During their travels, no Bestials had come into their path. Which, by Stewarts' words, was abnormal.
"Are you sure more Bestials will appear?" Lone said as he watched the woods, walking a bit behind Stewart.
"Yes, if that many Bestials somehow got past the Forts, then it means that many more have broken through. Meaning either we have gotten lucky and haven't encountered any in this part of the forest, or they are hiding from us.
Lone listened to Stewart's words, his watch not wavering.
"Lone, if you do not mind me asking. How did you get this strong?" Stewart said as he glanced behind him, his brown eyes staring at Lone's own. Even if they were covered by the helmet of his former comrade. He had known what Lone was wearing were tools his comrades used, but he did not fight him on it. He knew that at this time, whatever they could scrounge for was to ensure that they survived this horrid forest.
"I had a teacher help me", Lone said as he gripped his spear. Seeing this, Stewart thought he had reminded Lone of his dark past, whatever it was. Ready to apologise, Stewart opened his mouth, but stopped when Lone suddenly dashed forward and slashed his weapon at him.
Wide-eyed, Stewart pulled his weapon up in hopes of blocking the strike. But before the weapons could clash, Lone tilted his attack. His strike misses Stewart and strikes to his left.
A beastial cry rang to the left of Stewart as red blood splashed against his face. Stewart's eyes looked to his left, and he could see whose blood splashed on his face.
A Bestial whose body was covered in fur. A pair of bull horns grew from the side of its head, its face nothing but the skull of a canine with white glowing dots as eyes. Its red fur was long, and its tail was even longer than its very own body. Its two four-digit claws reached out for Stewart's throat. Its head was struck by Lone's blade, its body frozen upright as it stood there lifelessly.
Lone yanked his spear free as he watched the beast fall to the ground. He looked at Stewart before saying, "Get ready, more of those things are most likely around."
Stewart quickly got out of his stupor as he gripped [Fluttering Maw] and stared into the forest. His back facing Lone as he steadied his breath, eyes looking forward. Lone walked backwards and had his back touching Stewart's own back.
"Cover your ears", Lone said as he began to quickly inhale. Not knowing why, Stewart obeyed as he dropped [Fluttering Maw] and held his hands tight against his ears. Lone inhaled for a total of five seconds, his chest puffing out and his gut sinking in.
[Warring Howl]
A roar escaped his throat as it shot through the forest. The nearby birds flew away before the entire forest became silent. Lone slammed [Slone] pommel into the dirt floor before tapping the back of Stewart. Getting the sign, Stewart quickly went and grabbed [Fluttering Maw] from the ground and held it tight in both hands once again.
Not a moment later, more beastial cries rang through the forest. The cries are a mix of a wolf's howl and the sound of a crow cawing to others.
Lone turned his head to the right before quickly slashing, his blade severing one of the beasts in half. Its body, the same as the beast before, fell onto the floor. But Lone didn't stop there as he slammed the top flat part of the spear and raised himself high into the air. As he did, two more beasts sprang out from the woods and slashed at the spot where Lone had been standing before.
The two beasts' eyes went wide as they gazed up, only to see the darkness inside the helm looking back. Lone grabbed the shaft with both hands and smashed one of the beasts with the flat side of his spear. The poor beast had its body flung away before it slammed against a tree. A clear cracking sound rang out before the beast fell onto the dirt floor.
At the same time, Stewart had turned around and slashed at the other beast's chest. Blood splurted out as the beast growled as it jumped backwards. It moved its hand to cover its wound as it glared daggers at him. But as it jumped, Stewart quickly reached his arm out and gripped his free hand into a fist. Shortly after, blood began to bubble from the Bestial's chest.
The beast cried out in pain as it glanced at its chest and watched as the bubble grew and grew. Once the bubble reached the size of a fist, it finally popped. Blood gushed out from the wound, and shortly after, the beast fell down.
Lone landed onto the ground as he gazed at Stewart, "was that your ability?"
"... I don't know", Stewart said as he looked at his hand in shock. His hand was quivering beneath the metal glove.
"Don't know? Did he use a skill on pure instinct?" Lone thought, but quickly brushed aside as he heard the sound of feet slamming into the dirt floor. It wasn't just one, but it sounded as though a swarm was upon them.
"Better figure out how to use it, more are coming", Lone said as he opened his window and tapped on a button.
_______________
[Banes Wish]- A hammer forged for a champion. Months went into its creation, but it failed. As a failure, it was tossed away, and it wept. But a lone warrior heard its weeping and wielded it when no one else would. But it is now transformed into a spear, the wandering knight would use to carve a path. Skill: [Weepers Burden]- A skill that allows the weapon to grow heavier with each swing, yet appear the same as if nothing changed on the outside.
_______________
This was Lone's new "spear." If you could even call that a spear. A tool originally meant to be a hammer, but failed and became a mix between an axe and a hammer. But now became a spear thanks to his skill, [Man of Arms]. Yet calling this a spear was an insult to the word.
But Lone didn't care about that, as he quickly gripped [Bane's Wish] with two hands and slashed at a Bestial who had lunged at him and tried bite his neck with its maw. The top half of its head flying off as the rest of it flew past him.
Lone felt the weight of [Bane's Wish] increase with that single swing. The change in weight was very obvious. From just that swing alone, it felt as though the weight had gained five more pounds.
Lone used the momentum of the swing to go in a circle before slashing at a Bestial who had snuck behind Stewart. The blade's curve was firmly impaled into the beast's back, and it cried out in pain as it quickly moved its arm back. Its shoulder popped and tore as it did so.
The sight made Lone's eyes widen a bit before he quickly decided to toss the beast away. He pulled his blade away, dragging the beast with it, before slashing it forward. The beast's body flung away as though it were just a small paper ball being flicked.
As it flew, it extended one of its arms out and grabbed a tree, with a cracking noise and the sound of flesh tearing following after. It then let go and fell onto the ground, landing on its feet. It slowly got up as it roared its beastial cry.
"Do they not feel pain" Stewart said as he slashed the hand off one of the Bestials. It gripped its hand tight as it took a couple of steps back, but the steped forward and roared at him. He then slashed its maw in half, but the Bestial only staggered before charging at him once again.
"They do, it's just they don't care", Lone said as he quickly dashed at the Bestial he just flung, his spear raised high. The Bestial slashed at Lone's stomach as a counter, but was a second short as half of its body was cut clean, and the other half turned to paste under the weight of his spear.
"Try to kill them in one blow or cripple them so you can kill them later", Lone said as he jumped away and swung his spear behind him. His spear slashed the legs off a Bestial, who fell onto the floor. Lone then gripped his spear as he slammed the flat part of it onto the beast's head, making it pop like red paint.
Without missing a beat, Stewart held [Fluttering Maw] in one hand as he lowered its shaft until he was holding it as though it were a sword. He then dashed forward and slashed at the chests of five Bestials. The beasts staggered as they turned around to face him. He just glanced at them.
Of the five, three of them had bubbles forming from the chests and could only watch as they popped and more of their blood poured out. The other two quickly dashed at him, but were met by the sight of [Bane's Wish] flat side smashing against their face.
"I almost got it", Stewart said as he slammed the pommel of his spear against the open maw of a Bestial behind him. The beast choked for a second before the back of its head was slammed against the ground, as Stewart then slashed at another Bestial in front of him.
Lone slashed at the pinned Bestial, cutting its body from its waist. The spear slammed then against the dirt floor. Lone tried pull it out, but he could feel it lodged deep inside the ground.
"Damn it", Lone said as he inhaled quickly, his chest puffed out once again.
[Warring Howl]
A roar escaped his throat once again, causing both Stewart and the Bestials to pause for a second. That second was all he needed to yank his spear free and slash at a frozen Bestial.
Seeing the blood, the battle resumed, but both Stewart and the Bestials were moving more slowly than before. Though the Bestials seemed to be the ones moving far slower than Stewart.
"This spear sucks", was all that Lone said as he charged at the swarm.