“Mother, sister!” Sooyeon teared up.
She saw it as a bad sign, but to me it was proof they might still be alive. As long as there were traces to follow, we would have hope of them being alive.
“We don’t know if it’s them. Let’s go!”
I took point again, monitoring the sobbing girl so she wouldn’t do anything crazy. The moment things were going badly, I would bring her with me, whether or not she wanted it. If we could find her family, it would be for the best, but if not…
We followed the trail as the blood got thinner.
“That’s a good thing, right? It means the person stopped bleeding,” Jiwan said.
I pretended I didn’t hear it, giving the impression his reasoning was right so as not to make things worse. The problem was not the bleeding itself, but what caused it.
Losing blood was not the only worry from a wound given by a Longclaw. The claws, because of the unknown substances in their bodies, were akin to poison. A minor wound would lead to death in most cases. The blood lessened, which meant some kind of first aid was applied, and there were no nearby bodies, pointing that either the person was still alive or someone carried the body.
Longclaws wouldn’t bother, and most people wouldn’t drag a body with them, so the chances of them living would be the highest. But, because they might have been poisoned, that wasn’t anything to be happy about yet.
We kept going ahead until something caught my attention, and I stopped.
“What is it?”
“Shh!” I focused my senses, hearing increasing noises. Combat sounds, most likely Longclaws, fighting something. There was no screaming, and whoever fought them still held out, “Follow me, but stay out of sight!”
The sounds get louder. I saw a big, burly man in social clothing and with very short black hair, engaged in a fistfight against three Longclaws. The man’s shirt was slashed and dirty, but he seemed not to have any wounds.
He moved quickly, dodging the attacks while aiming for an opening. When it came, he made a huge swing, like a heavyweight boxer’s punch, almost too big for my eyes to believe.
That would never work agai-
*THUD*
*CRASH*
The swing hit one Longclaw straight in the chest. I almost saw the fist enter its body, lifting that thing in the air as if it were a punching bag, sending it flying into a wall.
Such power!
“Who is that?!” Jiwan shouted.
A normal human, even someone as big and burly as him, shouldn’t have so much power. It probably meant he was already much deeper into the system’s awakening, or even possessed an [innate] ability.
Exchanging blows with three Longclaws was a death sentence. The tiniest of wounds would sap his Qi and poison the body. He was an asset.
I needed him. Not only for surviving right now, but for the rebuild that would come after this hell. With classes or jobs, and getting stronger with time, people were our biggest assets. Rare classes and innate abilities were bonuses. In the past, I have heard of classes capable of building entire fortresses overnight.
Then why didn’t I try to save more people before?
I knew my limits. Better than stretching too far and risking everything. I would rather take shorter steps and fewer risks. But this guy was worth risking my life for if he was already that strong even before opening the system.
“Open some distance!”
I shouted while running to help. He reacted quickly, jumping into open space without doubting my words. His instincts warned he would die soon at that rate.
Two of the Longclaws stayed on him. One of them turned to me, “Jiwan, you take this one!”
“WHAT? ME?!” Jiwan taken aback.
“Don’t get hit. Keep it occupied!”
I knew his reflexes were much above average. As long as he kept his cool, everything would work out. I dodged the upcoming claws with a slide, bumping into the enemy as I passed by, giving Jiwan time to approach. As expected, the monster switched targets to my buddy, leaving me open to help the burly guy.
One of the other Longclaws pressed on the attack, the other one switched to me. With less pressure, the burly dude regained his breath, going on the offensive again, launching furious strikes with his bare fists. His power was truly something unbelievable. Anything other than a Longclaw would already lay dead on the ground, but, unfortunately, strikes were no good against them, even at this level.
I dodged the claws coming at me, changing the arm’s trajectory with my palm, searching for an opening. Jiwan was doing a fine job dodging by himself, but it felt as if he would make a mistake soon. I needed to hurry.
I forced my hand to create an opening, stepping into the enemy’s deadliest range. The sharp claw scratched my right arm. Shit. A slight wound, but that wasn’t the problem. I might have to cut my arm off to survive.
Without time to worry about it, and before Jiwan got hurt, I set up a shoulder throw, using one Longclaw to hit the other with my entire strength, making Jiwan’s life much easier.
“Hey, throw him, forget strikes!”
I shouted to the burly dude, hoping he had some skills and the courage to go with it. As expected from someone capable enough to face three Longclaws, he didn’t disappoint me. My throw was by technique. His throw carried incomparable raw power and brutality. The three Longclaws hit each other in a mess, taking damage, as they were not immune to their own bodies.
“Burly Dude, Run!”
By this point, my crew reacted. Everyone was already running away to safety. The Longclaws didn’t get up in time to pursue, and their mindless self already sought other, easier targets. We escaped again. We reached a spot that seemed safe, and everyone caught their breaths.
Everyone was a lot more tired than they should be, almost reaching their limits. The Qi was even heavier after the moon shattered. Running around and fighting might strengthen us faster, but also bring premature death because of exhaustion.
“Thanks,” the burly dude said while panting.
“You’re crazy, you know? Who goes toe-to-toe with three fucking Longclaws?” I facepalm.
He had an embarrassed face, “It’s not like I had a choice, haha. I had to lead them away after they ambushed our group.”
“Your group? Was there a mother and daughter pair with them?” I asked. Sooyeon’s eyes glinted with hope.
He thought a bit, “Oh, you mean Mrs. Yeon?”
“That’s Mother!” Sooyeon felt hopeful.
The man’s face darkened for a second, and I could tell he avoided saying something more. If I had to guess, the blood we found was Ms. Yeon’s. I shouted before Sooyeon realized something was wrong, “Lead the way!”
The burly dude caught my hint and said nothing else about Ms. Yeon.
“Follow me!”
He shouted, leading the way. Jiwan still looks fine somehow, but the Class Rep and Sooyeon still breathed heavily with sluggish movements. We couldn’t rest anymore.
Dead or alive, we had to find them. And get the fuck out of this mess.