Advika dismounted the dead lizard, her Beast emerging from the blade and resuming its combat form beside her. Together, they began butchering the second lizard.
Christopher watched as she extracted the core, unfazed by the blood. She tossed it to him, and he caught it deftly.
"That's your share of the deal. You're free to leave," she said flatly, resuming her work on the lizard while Vicki assisted with the other.
"Thank you, Chris," Sylvia said with a bow.
"Is she always ?" he asked, gesturing towards Advika.
"Uh? Like how?" Sylvia replied, confused.
"Never mind." he said, shaking his head.
His face flushed with embarrassment. There was no way Sylvia hadn't heard his stomach rumble.
"Fufufufu..." Sylvia chuckled, then turned to her sister. "Advika, why don't we finish this quickly and head home to eat?"
"Are you hungry?" Advika asked, her gaze fixed on butchering the lizard.
"Yes." Sylvia nodded, winking at Christopher.
"Give me five minutes," Advika said.
"How old is she?" Christopher asked, frowning slightly.
"Advika is turning 20 this year, and I'm 16."
Frowns appeared on his and Sylvia's faces as they heard the distant sound of heavy footsteps.
Advika quickly stood up and turned her head to the north. Their Beasts were also fully alert.
"Whatever is coming is huge! We need to get out of here! Rhino, grab that dead dog. Night Cat, help Vicki with one of the lizards... We're leaving the last one for whatever beast is coming!!"
"What are you saying?!" Advika turned around, frowning.
"There's no time to argue! We're leaving one behind!!"
THUD!! THUD!! THUD!! THUD!!
"Sister, he's right. We'll leave one behind. While it's occupied, we'll run."
Advika stared at the beasts' carcasses, then turned to her sister. "But you know how important this is for us... For me."
Sylvia walked up to her sister and gave her a tight hug.
"I know, sis, but our lives are more important."
Christopher, who was busy arranging the cores in his jacket, looked up at them:
With that, he started walking. Rhino was busy dragging the dog behind him.
Christopher turned around to face Advika, who walked up to him, frowning.
"Are you blind? Look at the blood trail you're leaving on the ground."
Christopher looked at the blood with a dumb expression, then turned to her.
"What about it?" Advika was stunned by his reply.
Christopher sighed and explained, "Look at that pool of blood. The beast had already bled out... After a few kilometers, you won't see any more blood on the ground. Or is your house that close?"
They all turned to the north, seeing the trees shaking violently.
"Fine! Let's get out of here!"
Advika grabbed her sister's hand and ran.
"Oh? Run and leave your savior?"
Christopher rolled his eyes and quickly followed the sisters, their Beasts dragging the two carcasses behind them.
After another hour of running and dragging, they finally reached the residential area beyond the suburbs of the capital. Luckily, the beasts' carcasses had stopped bleeding.
Christopher looked at the street and recognized the way to Murphy's store, but decided to go to the girls' home instead.
The exurb wasn't a huge town or city, but rather a small neighborhood located some miles beyond the suburbs. As such, only poor and homeless people, or those on vacation or out for leisure, could be seen there.
Christopher and the girls calmly traversed the quiet and empty street, their three Beasts dragging the carcasses behind them, no one bothered with them, it was a common sight.
After another ten minutes of silence, they finally reached a small building.
Sylvia quickly rushed towards the house, knocking on the door.
"Mum! Dad! We got a core today!"
Christopher silently stood beside Advika, watching as the door opened and a man in his late 30s appeared.
The moment he saw Sylvia, a smile settled on his face. Christopher observed the man with a slight frown. He was thin, had dark circles under his eyes, and was clearly weak. But the two girls were the exact opposite of his appearance, which confused him.
"Sylvia, you guys are back!"
Sylvia took his hand, smiling. "We got two beasts and a core. Come."
Sylvia helped him out of the house and slowly led him to the beasts and her sister.
"How are you doing, Father? I hope you took your medicine."
"Yes, dear. I hope you didn't risk your life out there to get the cores? I told you, you should only hunt ordinary stage beasts."
"I know, Father, but things got out of hand, and we had to fight perfect stage beasts..." Advika shifted her gaze to Christopher.
Their father followed her gaze and settled his eyes on the brown-haired young man. "Who is this?"
"Dad, this is Chris. He's the master of that Rhino and Cat." Sylvia answered with a smile, adding, "He also helped us against the perfect stage beasts."
The man nodded and turned back to Christopher. The young man in front of him might be thin, but he had helped his daughters, and that was all that mattered.
"Thank you so much, young man. My name is Evander... Hmm... Chris, do you live around here?"
"Oh, no. I live in the capital."
"Capital?" The three were stunned. The girls stared at him in surprise. During their walk from the forest to their home, none of them had asked each other anything, so they were practically strangers.
Before their father could ask another question, Advika asked: "Dad? Where's Mum?"
The man sighed, took his daughter's wrist, and pulled her to the side, whispering.
"There's nothing in the house, so your mum went out to ask if someone could help us with some food."
Advika frowned darkly. "Why did you let her go, Dad?! Where is she?"
"Miss Alana's store. That's where she told me she was going."
"How long has she been gone?" Advika asked again.
"Twenty minutes now," the man answered in a low voice. "Cough! Cough!"
"Dad! You should rest. Sylvia, please help Dad inside... I'll go and bring Mum back..."
She turned to Christopher, then back to her father. "I'll be back."
With that, she walked towards Christopher, held out his hand, and placed the bag containing her core on it.
She turned around and walked away without a word. Christopher turned his head to Sylvia, who smiled at him and helped her father inside the house.
"Okay, guys, you know what to do. Tear it into pieces," he instructed his Beasts.
The Rhino and Cat nodded and began tearing apart the meat with their mouths and claws.
Christopher's gaze fell on the house and the way Sylvia and her family lived. Their mum even had to beg for food. He had heard everything the two had discussed.
He removed his jacket, took out five cores from his 26, added them to Advika's one core in the bag, and tied it up.
After a few minutes of helping them arrange the meat, he called out.
"Sylvia, it's all done."
Within seconds, the door opened, and a confused Sylvia came out.
Her words trailed off as she saw the meat already butchered into sizes, even the skins removed and placed aside.
"You... You did all this?" she asked, mildly disbelieving.
"You should give these three some credit. They helped." Christopher gestured to the Beasts.
Sylvia smiled, and seeing his bloody hands, she rushed inside, confusing Christopher. He watched as she returned with a bowl and a glass of clean water on a tray.
"I'm sorry, we don't have anything to give you. I thought there was--"
"--Shhh," Christopher shushed her and placed his hands in the bowl, slowly washing the blood off.
"I've also experienced hunger, suffering, and poverty. So you don't have to worry about it. Nothing remains permanent."
He removed his hands from the bowl, took the glass of water, and gulped it down.
"I'll get going now."
"Huh?" Sylvia was stunned.
"This is your sister's core. See you later."
He placed the bag on the tray, rubbed his ring, recalling his Beasts.
Sylvia stared at Christopher with a mix of emotions as he walked away, his jacket still wrapped around his neck. She sighed and went back inside.
[Half an hour later.]
Hearing the knock, Sylvia stood up from the only couch in the house, walked to the door, and opened it. Seeing the two people outside, she smiled brightly.
"Advika. Mum, are you okay?!"
"Yes, dear," The middle-aged woman in plain clothing said. "It's just that your sister angered Mrs Alana. I don't think she will help us again."
"Come on, Mum! You know that woman always makes you do one disgusting job after another before lending you money. Thank goodness Sister taught her a lesson, right?"
Sylvia turned to Advika, who was scanning the room. She then turned back to her sister, frowning.
"Where is Chris? And... The beasts' carcasses?"