"Ferrer?" Val whispered.
"Mmm?" She didn't open her eyes.
"Something is watching us."
"I know," she mumbled. "Three of them. To your left. Up on the ridge."
Val snapped his head to the left.
At first, he saw nothing. Then, the shadows shifted.
Three creatures crawled over the lip of the canyon. They looked like a cross between a hyena and a lizard, but stripped of skin. Their bodies were raw, red muscle and bone, with exposed ribs and elongated skulls. Their eyes were empty sockets glowing with a faint green light.
[System Analysis]
Species: Corpse Stalker (Level 12)
Threat: Low
Status: Hungry
The text floated in Val's vision for a split second before vanishing.
"Level 12?" Val hissed. "Is that high? I'm Level 1!"
"Levels are just numbers for the System to organize energy," Ferrer said, finally opening her eyes. She didn't look worried. She looked bored. "Put me down."
Val gently set her on her feet. She stretched, her back arching, her curves highlighted by the tight leather of her outfit. The monsters on the ridge hissed, drool dripping from their skeletal jaws.
"Are you going to blast them?" Val asked, stepping behind her.
Ferrer turned to him and smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was the smile of a teacher about to give a pop quiz.
"No," she said. "You are."
"Me?!" Val pointed at the raw-meat dogs. "I don't know how to fight! I was an accountant two hours ago!"
"You have ten percent of the World Eater's strength," Ferrer said, crossing her arms under her chest. "If you can't handle three scavengers, then I chose the wrong Master. And if I chose the wrong Master..."
Her eyes glowed.
"...I might as well eat you and go back to sleep."
The Corpse Stalkers didn't wait for the pep talk to finish. With a collective shriek, they scrambled down the canyon wall, moving with terrifying speed.
The first one leaped, its jaws opening wide enough to fit Val's head inside.
Val didn't think. He didn't have time to plan. He just reacted.
The world seemed to slow down. He could see the individual strings of saliva flying from the monster's mouth. He could see the rot on its teeth.
It's so slow, Val thought.
He instinctively stepped to the side. The monster sailed past him, missing by inches.
As it passed, Val swung his arm. It was a clumsy, flailing haymaker, a punch thrown in panic.
His fist connected with the monster's ribcage.
CRACK.
There was a sound like a wet balloon popping.
The Corpse Stalker didn't just fly away. It disintegrated. Val's fist punched straight through its body, shattering the spine and exploding the chest cavity in a shower of black blood and bone shards.
The two halves of the monster tumbled across the ground.
Silence.
Val stood there, his arm covered in gore, his eyes wide. He looked at his hand. It didn't even hurt.
The other two Corpse Stalkers skidded to a halt. They looked at their dead packmate. Then they looked at Val.
They hissed, but this time, they took a step back.
"Don't just stand there posing," Ferrer called out from behind him, leaning against a rock and checking her nails. "Finish them. You're losing your adrenaline spike."
Val swallowed the bile rising in his throat. Kill or be killed.
He looked at the remaining two monsters. The fear was gone, replaced by a cold, thrumming power in his veins.
"Right," Val said.
He kicked off the ground.
The rock beneath his foot cracked from the force. He launched forward like a cannonball, closing the distance instantly.
The second Stalker tried to bite him. Val backhanded it across the face. The monster's head snapped backward with a sickening crunch, its neck broken instantly.
The third one turned to run.
Val grabbed it by its long, bony tail. He planted his feet and swung.
With a grunt of effort, he whipped the monster around like a wet towel and slammed it into the canyon wall.
SPLAT.
Dust and rocks rained down. When the dust cleared, there was nothing left but a stain on the wall.
Val stood in the center of the carnage, his chest heaving. Not from exertion, but from the sheer shock of what he had just done.
[System Alert]
Combat Ended.
Experience Gained.
Level Up! (Level 1 -> Level 3)
"Sloppy," Ferrer's voice came from behind him.
Val turned around. She was walking toward him, stepping delicately over a pool of black blood.
"Your form is terrible," she critiqued. "You wasted too much movement on the second kill. And you hesitated on the first."
She stopped in front of him. She took a handkerchief from... somewhere... and reached out, wiping a splatter of blood from his cheek.
Her touch was cool and soft.
"But," she purred, her golden eyes gleaming with genuine approval. "You have good instincts. Violent instincts."
She licked her lips, looking at the destruction he had caused.
"I think I'm going to enjoy training you, Master."
Val looked at the dead monsters, then at the beautiful, terrifying woman wiping his face.
"So," Val managed to say, his voice steadying. "We're eating lizard tonight?"
Ferrer laughed, a rich, musical sound. "Please. I don't eat trash. We keep moving. There is a settlement three days from here. If you carry me well... I might even let you sleep inside when we get there."
She held up her arms, waiting to be picked up again.
Val shook his head, a small smile forming on his face. He scooped her up.
"You're bossy for a pet," he said.
"And you're strong for a human," she retorted, resting her head on his shoulder. "Now march, Master. I'm bored."