"What's Liana still doing inside? We're going to kill demons not dance at a ball."
Cedric complained as he and Nolan stood in their uniforms, in front of their home, waiting for Liana.
"Sorryyyy!" Liana's voice echoed from within as her footsteps could be heard, getting louder as she descended.
She eventually got down and stopped right in front of them, breathing heavily. "Well then, shall we get going?"
The trio left for the ruins where they met with the other five members of their team, which included Alexander, Rum and Maximus.
While Liana tried giving a motivational speech before they started—which she did terribly—Nolan was busy checking on his system.
[User: Nolan Dagmire
• Level: 2
• Exp: 15/200
• Occupation: Pathfinder
• Current Ability Slot (1): Divine Control
• Paths found: 1
• Attributes:
STR - 10
AGI - 15
STA - 10
• Mana: 100
• Unassigned Skill Points: 1]
Forget what Loretta said. All he was here to do was grind exp and get stronger as fast as he could, all because of the threat that was coming. General Kraxus.
That was one of the demons Nolan hated the most, because it took away a lot from him. He personally wanted to face the demon and kill it, like he's done severally.
"...so, let's get… uhh, going. Yes. If you can't handle anything, do not attack until you have made a call."
Liana's final words reached his ears and he looked up.
"You'll get better with time," Cedric said to her with a smile.
Liana nodded, though she was still embarrassed.
They walked into the ruins and soon split up. Nolan knew this place too well and he knew just where the demons were.
A matter of fact, this place was the exact place they were going to come for their second training mission, had this situation not came up.
Though as he moved, he could feel the pressure in the ruins fluctuate. As if there was more to the place than it originally had.
He took an early left turn, separating himself from the team without informing, heading towards his first jackpot.
Nolan weaved through the ruined structures like a mace, before finally coming to a stop in front of a bunch of low-grade demons, who looked as if they had been waiting for him the whole time.
He scanned through them, eyes sharp. "About twenty of them approximately, I suppose," he muttered to himself.
He made sure to plan this one out quickly, before what happened the other day repeat itself.
[Switched Ability!]
[Divine Control > Ice Affinity]
Nolan formed two daggers, and cracked his neck. "The fact that I get just 5 for these things still gets on my nerve, tch. Anyways, add my free point to stamina."
[STA: 11]
The demons suddenly started charging at him and Nolan went in head on to meet them.
… …
Meanwhile...
While Nolan was beginning his solo hunt, the group had already split up in twos. Alexander in particular seemed scared, walking alongside some other Novice-rank.
He was okay with facing demons during the day, but at night? That was just another level of horror he could barely manage.
As the sun finally dipped behind the mountains, letting the darkness and the star filled sky blanket the city, the pressure in the ruins increased drastically.
The road split in two and the other Novice-rank said he was going to check that side out, leaving Alexander to the other.
Walking into an open space, the boy heard some movement behind him and he unsheathed his sword immediately, turning.
"Who's there?" He asked, mustering up all the courage he could as he pointed his sword.
Another came from behind and he spun around again. "Reveal yourself!"
He closed his eyes and breathed, listening closer and just when he started to hear the movement, he traced it to where it stopped and pointed his blade at a pillar, opening his eyes.
As if waiting for him to finally catch it, a low grade demon slowly walked out from behind the pillar, its red eyes glowing in the night.
However, it was not alone.
About five more pair of red eyes appeared from within the shadows and Alexander flinched, taking a step back.
He shook his head. "Argh. What's the difference? It's just day and night. They're still the same low-grades."
Alexander drew his sword back, turning his body as the demons attacked. "Annoying low-grades," he added.
As the first one came close enough, he slashed upward, cutting its arm off and another to slash its neck. The demon fell down almost instantly, unmoving.
Alexander smiled in disbelief, looking at his arm. He didn't think he could actually cut off a demon's arm, but he just did. "Master wasn't just punishing me after all."
… …
Liana was walking through her part of the ruins with no signs of any demons around. "It's sooo boring, walking alone. If only that idiot wouldn't go off without telling anyone, but Cedric says he'll be fine. Well I'm not," she groaned, kicking a pebble on the ground.
"Help!"
A shout echoed through the ruins.
Liana's ears picked up the sound immediately and her expression became grim and focused as she ran back to where she started from, to know where exactly the person followed.
Low-grades wouldn't be trouble for any of them, would it? Unless… a ranked demon had showed up.
While Liana ran towards her started point, she skidded to a halt, seeing the hunched silhouette in front of her with glowing eyes.
She didn't have to think twice before unsheathing her sword and getting ready.
The hunched silhouette walked into the moonlight. It was no different from a low-grade—just taller and it had longer claws.
A D-rank.
GRRR—
It slowly let out a deep gutteral growl as it stared her down.
But Liana was focused, her eyes fixed on its. One of the things Nolan had drilled into her over the past days was: when facing a D-rank demon, never break eye contact when it starts staring you down. Their intelligence was low, but their predatory instinct was sharp; the moment you looked away, they struck.
A sudden growl came from the side… and without thinking, Liana turned. A low-grade demon lunged at her. She swiped a clean arc, cutting off its head.
When she looked back, the D-rank was missing. "No no no," she muttered, looking around when she suddenly felt the hair at the back of her neck raise.
It was behind her, claws coming down.
"Huh?" She managed to mutter with wide eyes.