Myles sat in the classroom after he finished explaining what he was about to do. He explained it with a calm voice but the weight of what he was saying lingered in the air like a dark cloud. The five soldiers surrounding him listened in silence, their expressions ranging from wary to grim.
Nadine stood near the back of the room with arms crossed, her sharp eyes flickering toward Lilian every so often. She didn’t trust her because she knows that she wasn’t a human and just looks... evil in her eyes.
Lilian, however, seemed entirely unbothered. She sat beside Myles with one leg crossed over the other, her posture relaxed, almost lazy. Gone were her regal eerie garments of black gown — now she wore something far more human.
A tight black T-shirt clung to her chest, showing her generous chest curves and a pair of snug jeans hugged her legs. She looked almost normal. Almost.
But there was something about her that kept the room on edge.
The soldier with short brown hair finally broke the silence. His name is Bryan, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "You want us to go into the abandoned sector, track down this... Vilegnaw... thing, and kill it after you said that this creature that gets stronger every time it eats?"
Myles nodded. "That’s exactly what I’m saying. Its a B-Rank monster."
Bryan scoffed. "B-rank or not, that thing sounds like a nightmare. What’s in it for us?"
Lilian’s crimson eyes flicked toward him. "Survival. Believe me, as I said before. I already saw that monster when running to this shelter. That thing must be stopped."
Myles glanced at Lilian. Lilian winked at him. It was the lie they already prepared.
The room went still.
"She’s not wrong," Myles said. "If we don’t stop it now, it’ll just keep evolving. We wait too long and it won’t be a B-rank problem anymore, it’ll be a city-wide disaster. That thing will come for us."
Bryan let out a dry chuckle. "Tch. This is some crazy shit. But fine. If this thing really is as dangerous as you say, I think we need to handle it before it gets worse." He then look at Ryan who was their Captain.
Nia, a woman with long black hair tied back into ponytail, remained silent with arms crossed. Her sharp eyes flickered between Myles and Lilian. She didn’t trust easily and right now, she was deciding whether this mission was worth the risk.
The others exchanged glances. Some were hesitant, but none of them said no immediately.
The other two soldiers sighed, glancing at each other with hesitant expressions. Elias, a lean man with dark stubble lining his jaw, muttering under his breath. "Shit... we were just getting used to dealing with people that changed and now we’re supposed to fight a damn monster?"
Beside him, Marcus, a broader man with a shaved head, grunted in agreement. His gaze flicked toward Myles. "You sure we’re ready for this?"
Myles met his stare with unwavering eyes. "Doesn’t matter if we are or not," he said. "If we don’t go after it now, it’ll come after us. And by then, it might not be something we can kill."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Ryan had been quiet up until now. He was the oldest among them and Myles knew that he was able to make necessary decisions, but even he wasn’t immune to hesitation about this matter.
He leaned back against the desk near the front of the room. He said, "This thing... It’s stronger every time it feeds, huh?"
Myles nodded.
Ryan sighed slowly, his fingers tapping against his bicep. "Then we don’t have a choice." He glanced at the others. "We have to hit it first."
The weight of his words settled over them like a final verdict.
The other soldiers nodded at their captain’s words, though hesitation lingered in their eyes. None of them were particularly eager to fight something like the Vilegnaw monster but in their minds, they had a duty to protect the civilians trapped in this shelter.
But Myles felt none of that sense of duty. He wasn’t doing this to play hero or to protect the weak. If anything, he never cared for that role.
He was doing this to help Lilian. Because in return, she would help him.
"We need to get a little bit more stronger first," Myles said. "I say we spend tomorrow hunting weaker monsters to gain some EXP, level up, and then take it on."
"Not a bad idea," Ryan said.
---
The next morning, the group set out from the campus building and stepped into the ruined city.
Ryan led the way while the others fanned out, their dagger at the ready. It’s better than using firearms that can attract more hordes to them.
Lilian moved alongside him, her pace lazy, her lips curled in an amused smile. She didn’t look the least bit concerned. She didn’t need to level up. This was all just an act.
Nadine kept herself close to the group but made sure to stay as far from Lilian as possible.
It didn’t take long before they found their first targets.
"Spread out. Be careful," Ryan ordered.
The hunt began.
Lilian drifted away from the group. No one noticed as she slipped into the ruins of a nearby building.
Unlike the others, she didn’t need to fight. She merely looked at her targets and they crumpled into lifeless heaps.
By the time the sun dipped behind the ruined skyline, they had spent the entire day killing those creatures.
Each of them had managed to level up five times. Myles checked his stats, feeling the weight of his progress settle in. He was now level 12. Stronger, faster. But was it enough?
Ryan exhaled, wiping sweat from his brow. "That’s all we can do for today. We’re heading back."
No one argued. They were tired.
Tomorrow they will need to start fighting the monster, or it will become stronger for them too handle.
---