"So how do you want to do this?" I muttered, looking down at what appeared to be a group of towering centipedes, moving with almost fluid grace as they poured over the rocks at the base of the mountain range we found ourselves on.
"I don't care," Amelia said tersely. "As long as we finish them off, I'm fine if you lead the attack."
Eyeing her, I couldn't help but feel a little put off by her attitude, but I didn't comment as I redirected my attention to the creatures below.
This wasn't going to be easy.
Shifting toward Henry, I was about to ask for his opinion, only to find him bickering with Ella.
"That sounds stupid," Ella whispered.
"Oh come on," Henry muttered. "You know Chitinous Titan is a good name."
"I could think of several better ones."
"But… don't you remember? You said I could name the next one," Henry reminded her.
Scoffing, Ella turned away, only to notice me staring at them.
"What?" she asked.
"What happened to listening to the plan?" I stressed.
She waved a hand dismissively. "Like I said, hit between the carapace and you'll be fine."
Scoffing, I turned away. "Why do I even bother?"
"Hey, I was listening," Henry said. "Anyway, I think we've had enough planning."
"I agree. Let's begin," Amelia finished before stepping out from cover and moving over the ridge.
Rubbing my nose, I let out a long breath before activating Lightning Enhancement.
Guess it's about time.
Rounding the corner, I eyed the monsters, busy devouring their prey.
A blade manifested in my right hand, and right on cue, Henry's voice rang through the clearing like a dinner bell.
"Oy, ugly bastards! Over here!"
At the sound, the group of Chitinous Titans turned as one, their many eyes locking onto the newcomer with brief confusion. But it only lasted a moment before the first of them surged forward, moving with unnatural speed. Their countless legs carried them over the rocky terrain almost effortlessly.
Bolting away, Henry looked back with growing panic as he realized they were gaining on him at insane speeds.
"Any time!" he screamed.
Smirking, I began charging an ability I'd recently learned, the air around me thickening with the current building within it.
Too bad. I wanted to watch him scramble a little longer.
Sighing, I relented.
Oh well.
Letting the current go, a chain of lightning burst from my outstretched hands and struck the first of the monstrosities, causing it to spasm. When the next one slammed into it, the chain of energy leapt from one body to the other as they collapsed into a pile of twitching limbs.
Then, right on cue, the mountain range began to rumble as tons of stone tumbled down the mountainside from the cascade Amelia had thrown from the ridge.
Seeing the collapse, the Titans tried to move out of the way, but they might as well have been moving in slow motion, compared to the rubble that consumed them in a matter of moments.
Seeing them buried, a part of me wondered if that might be it.
But if there was anything this world had taught me, it was that nothing was ever that simple.
From within the depths, the rubble began to shudder, and a moment later, one of the bigger ones shot forward, seemingly uninterested in Henry now as it broke free and barreled toward me.
Well crap—
Dodging to the side, I barely managed to avoid its snapping mandibles before twisting and striking its flank with a heavy gauntlet. The sound of cracking carapace echoed through the expanse, sending it skidding a few paces away.
Ha. I can break its armor.
But before I could celebrate any further, another Titan came at me from behind, barely giving me enough time to react before its massive body coiled around me. It's dozens of legs digging painfully into my skin, before it began to tighten its grip.
The pressure mounted, crushing my chest, forcing the air from my lungs with every passing second.
Too tight, I wheezed, desperation guiding my next move as I unleashed a surge of electricity through my body. The Titan spasmed, its grip loosening before it fell to the ground.
However, it recovered far quicker than I would have thought, driving its armored head into my chest. The blow sent me flying across the ground, tumbling through dirt and stone before skidding to a stop.
Oh, this plan is going great, I cursed, having to dodge the next moment when the Titan came down on me like an avalanche, its many, many legs acting like spears that pierced the ground all around me.
I rolled frantically from side to side, staying just ahead of its stabbing limbs until I slipped beneath its massive body. My gauntlets reshaped into a blade, and I slashed upward, only to find that the edge scraped across its segmented plates, cutting little more than a shallow line.
Gritting my teeth, I remembered Ella's advice and spotted the slight gap between two segments.
I stabbed again, this time driving the blade deep into the exposed flesh. The creature convulsed above me as I planted my feet and tore downward, ripping a long, wet gash through its underbelly.
A gush of hot blood poured out in a crimson wave, forcing me to roll clear as its insides spilled across the space I had occupied moments before, followed by its massive body collapsing behind me with a shuddering crash.
"Okay, between the armor. Got it," I noted, now eyeing the one chasing Henry as he darted around the rocky terrain, waiting for his poison to take effect.
Only for the thing to keep gaining on him with every second.
"Henry, watch out!" I shouted, hurling a bolt of lightning.
Striking true, the Titan spasmed and buried its face into the ground, allowing Henry just enough time to gain some distance.
But I didn't wait.
Rushing in, a knife materialized in my hand right as I slashed at its exposed midsection. The gap I cut into let the blade slide along its side, the carapace guiding the strike deeper as I tore through flesh before dismissing the knife and leaping back when the creature lurched for me.
Only for its own body to betray it.
The wound I had opened suddenly tore wider with a grotesque cracking sound. Flesh split, plates ground together, and something near its spine snapped, causing the creature to abruptly go still from whatever it had broken.
"I had it," Henry complained, though his words were drowned out by the sound of Amelia finishing off one of the last Titans.
Stone rose from the ground, forming two massive pillars that slammed together like a sideways hydraulic press with one of the bugs trapped in the middle. Its carapace held for all of half a second before it gave way with a sickening crunch, the creature splattering across the ground like a rotten tomato.
"Wow," Henry grimaced, staring at the scattered mess. "I guess that's one way to do it."
Nodding, I looked around at the destruction surrounding us.
The bodies of the Chitinous Titans lay in tangled heaps, many of them killed by Amelia, their bodies impaled on long stone spikes that gave the battlefield a grim, almost haunted feel.
Then there were the scorched, gutted remains of the two I had finished off.
I had to admit, it went pretty well.
And then I took a step forward—
The moment my foot touched the ground, something stirred from its previously limp position and shot forward, its massive mandibles sinking deep into my leg.
Letting out a pained cry, I stumbled back, trying to wrench myself free, but its grip was like iron, far stronger than something with its guts trailing behind it should have been.
Yet it only tightened.
Pain shot through my leg as the pressure built, like at any moment the bone might snap in half.
Cursing, I summoned a gauntlet and slammed my fist down onto its head, crushing it.
But in the process, I learned just how unprepared I was for fighting monsters.
Even with its brain pulverized, the Titan's mandibles only clamped down harder, while the force of my strike carried its body downward with my leg still trapped in its jaws, shredding through skin and flesh all the way to the ground before its head finally exploded on impact.
A moment later, I crumpled to the ground, letting loose a string of curses that had Benjamin looking mildly impressed as he began the process of bandaging up the wound with a smile.
"What are you smiling at?" I hissed.
Broadening his smirk, he tightened the bandage a little more, causing me to wince. "Never took you for the type to curse like that."
Scoffing, I leaned back and tried to ignore the pain. "Well, I've had all sorts of injuries before, but never had the entire skin of my calf ripped off."
"I can't say I've experienced that myself, but I have seen a man with his entire fac—"
"I don't want to hear it," I cut him off, already in too much pain to think about it.
"Alright, that's fair," he admitted, and with one final pull, he finished the bandage. "Can you stand?"
Testing the leg, I winced a little, but it would hold. "Ya, I'll make it."
"Good," Amelia added. "Let's just hope it stays that way so we can reach that flat expanse I noticed. With what daylight we have left, it won't be long before nightfall."
Giving her a weak thumbs up, I let her handle the rest while I turned inward, noticing I'd gained another level-up. Before, half-heartedly dumping all my points into Intelligence.
To be fair, it wouldn't hurt to have my lightning hit harder.
Pulse when I summoned it again, the air around me felt like it had grown more conductive, allowing for easier control.
Still, that brief moment of peace didn't last long.
Amelia pushed us onward through the ever-changing terrain as the uneven ground slowly shifted into something strangely uniform, much like the flat ridge we had spotted earlier.
But now that I was actually here, it felt almost too consistent to be natural.
Yet the further we moved through this strange expanse, the weirder everything seemed. The land was sectioned in layers, flat plains rising at different levels where plants flourished in every shade.
Climbing another one of the strangely uniform ledges, I couldn't help but think the stones lining this part looked almost like bricks, only worn down by time and erosion, with some sections collapsed completely.
But then all suspicion fled my mind as I pulled myself over the edge and spotted what looked to be the remnants of an ancient wall, or what was left of one, its broken silhouette casting crooked shadows in the late sunlight.
Then, like someone possessed, Ella threw caution to the wind and bolted toward the ruins.
I couldn't blame her. I wanted to do the same.
After all this time, actually seeing remnants of whatever used to live here made my heart quicken with excitement.
However, when I actually reached the wall, it was so weathered that the bricks making up the structure seemed to have fused together, to the point that it was hard to tell whether it had truly been handmade.
Yet something in my mind refused to believe this was natural. The walls were too level, the proportions too precise, and the way the stones were stacked made it seem as though they had once been placed by hand.
Reaching out, I let my fingers brush against the stone, feeling the coolness beneath my fingertips and the age worn into its surface—
And for the briefest moment, I heard it.
A child's laugh.
Soft and distant, but full of life, like it had been carried on the wind from someplace long gone. An echo, barely there, fading almost as soon as it reached me.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Light. Quick. The patter of small feet skipping across stone.
I turned sharply, scanning the ruins behind me.
Nothing.
Just Ella, marveling aloud at the architecture, completely unaware of anything but the sights before her, as I shook my head, letting out a quiet breath.
Must've been her.
"Look at this!" Ella called out, standing at the edge of a collapsed section. Her voice was awash with awe as she peered into what had once been the interior of a building. The roof was long gone, but fragments of the second story still clung to the crumbling walls like stubborn memories refusing to let go.
She turned to us, eyes wide. "If this exists… then there was a civilization here."
She wasn't entirely wrong, though, with how old these structures seemed; the idea of that civilization still being out there wasn't nearly as promising as it once felt.
And yet, that thought still wasn't enough to smother the hope building within all of us.
With the signal… and now this…
There was actual hope that we might find intelligent life.
"You know," Henry said, "this is concrete…"
He paused, giving me a sideways glance.
"…evidence that we're not alone."
I stared at him.
"Get it? Concrete?"
I groaned. "Please tell me that was the last one for the day."
"No promises," he said, then added with a smirk, "I'm just laying the foundation."
"Please stop…" I groaned.
He chuckled. "Oh, I'm just getting started."
As twilight deepened, I was finally able to get away from Henry's insufferable jokes by helping Amelia prepare the meat we had scavenged from the Chitinous Titans, while she got to work shaping the stone skewers we would use to roast the meat over the fire.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group began settling in for the night, with Benjamin taking to a nearby flat stone, sketching silently in his journal.
Intrigued, I slowly repositioned myself to watch the masterpiece take shape, with its sweeping landscape, jagged ruins, and a hint of stars peeking above.
"That's some serious talent," I muttered, eyeing how every detail seemed to flow off the page as if it had a life of its own.
"Lots of practice, that's all," Benjamin replied with a casual shrug, only for his mood to sour a moment later when he noticed his dwindling supply of graphite. "Although, it is a shame I'll run out before long. Not easy rationing pencils when Ella's chewing through my stash like a starved artist."
From her spot nearby, Ella scoffed and sat up straighter. "The journals are important, thank you very much."
"I never said they weren't," Benjamin corrected. "But maybe ease up on the pressure. Every pencil you touch ends up looking like it lost a fight with a wood chipper."
Ella narrowed her eyes. "Whatever, old man."
I grinned. "Old man? Ben, you're just going to let that slide?"
Benjamin finally looked up from his sketchpad, a familiar mischievous glint in his eyes. "Oh, I don't mind the nickname," he said, setting the pad aside. "But since we're talking about Ella's artistic prowess…"
He reached into his bag, casually rummaging until he pulled out a worn, folded piece of paper. "I've got something from her early collection."
Ella immediately choked on her water. "Benjamin, no!" she gasped. "You can't show them that!"
"Oh, now I have to see it," I chuckled, watching Benjamin unfold the page with the exaggerated care of someone unveiling an ancient relic.
Only to nearly burst out laughing when he held it up for me to see.
On the page was a crude, cartoonish creature with a body shaped like a lumpy potato, wildly disproportionate limbs, and awkwardly scribbled fingers. While at the top, proudly labeled in bold lettering, sat the name:
QuadraSimian.
Seeing me struggle to hold in my laughter, Ella's face turned a brilliant shade of red as she groaned and covered her face like she wanted to disappear from the world.
"I drew that at night! In the dark!"
Henry sidled up beside me, arms crossed as he studied the drawing with mock seriousness. "Hey now, don't sell yourself short. It's got… character."
"Yeah," I said, finally bursting into laughter, "character like a melted beanbag with arms."
Ella glared at me. "You're all terrible."
I grinned. "Well, I guess lesson learned. Don't call Benjamin 'old man'."
Amelia, who had been watching the chaos unfold, shook her head in amusement. Even Emily wandered over, her curiosity piqued.
Peering over Benjamin's shoulder, she tilted her head slightly. "At least you captured its essence," she said with a teasing smile. "Sort of."
Ella let out a defeated sigh and buried her face in her hands. "I'm never drawing again."
"You say that every time," Benjamin said, carefully folding the drawing and tucking it away. "And yet, the masterpieces keep coming…"
Some days later, we found ourselves trudging up a gravel trail where every step slid just a little, forcing us to fight for balance as we climbed. The path wound upward in loose, uneven coils, the ground shaped as if something massive had once carved its way through the hillside and years of weather had worn that old scar even thinner, leaving only a faint suggestion of a route beneath the shifting stones.
"Ughhh, why are we doing this?" Emily groaned behind me, dragging her feet loud enough to announce her misery with every uneven step. "This is like hiking uphill through a quarry."
"Because Amelia said so," Ella muttered, not hiding her own fatigue. "And you know how she gets when she's in 'mission mode.'"
"I heard that," Amelia called from farther up the line.
She stopped a few steps ahead and turned toward us, arms crossed casually, like the incline wasn't bothering her at all. "We're doing this because elevation gives us perspective. And once we've got that perspective, we'll be able to see if anything is out there. Buildings, signs of life, anything that might connect to the radio signal."
As she spoke, I lifted my eyes toward the climb ahead, where the distant peaks blazed beneath the midday sun, their thin coating of snow releasing faint puffs into the air whenever the wind swept across them.
Yet even now, that chill felt oddly distant, like my body had slowly adjusted to protect itself from the cold's biting embrace. It was enough for me to shed my makeshift coat and relish the feeling of the climb, the cool wind nipping at my skin as we continued ascending the heights.
Eventually, the incline began to level out, and we reached a wide ledge framed by a jutting outcrop of stone. The air here was colder, accompanied by a constant tug of wind that seeped through our clothing without much trouble.
Though after the climb we had just endured, those without cores didn't seem to care. Everyone settled down for a quick break.
Yet even the exhaustion was forgotten when Henry spoke up.
"Uh… guys," he muttered. "Look."
He raised a hand and pointed into the distance, and one by one, we turned to follow his gaze.
At first, I didn't see it. Just fog and haze rolling in long bands across the valley below. Then my eyes adjusted, catching faint shapes through the drifting gray. Tall shapes, etched into the distance like ghostly silhouettes.
Something was out there, half-lost in mist and distance.
Towering structures stretched toward the sky like the fingers of something colossal reaching for the heavens.
And between us and whatever it was lay a forest that seemed to have no end.