So that had been a mistake. Looking back on it now, Ethan realized perhaps he had gotten a little carried away. Once the group had pushed ahead and he had been left to face a literal horde of monkeys, he had done the only sensible thing to do when dealing with a pack. Take out the strongest.
Turns out, that had angered the remaining few thousand monsters quite a lot. So he did what most people without a death wish would do.
He ran.
That’s not to say he completely regretted things, though. He had gained a level from the encounter and even managed to advance sword mastery. Which really made the situation a win.
But, well, let’s just say he wasn’t too keen to head back into that forest, and he secretly hoped the monkeys were scared of the dark. Otherwise, they were all fucked.
Now, he looked around as the torchlight illuminated their path. They had slipped quite low underground, though [Steadfast] had allowed Ethan’s descent to be a lot more pleasant than it could have been. He was currently surrounded by wet rock, the sound of water dripping down the walls mixed with the odd wail from the monkeys above.
Seb, the healer, walked in front of him. The man had almost a hop to his step as he followed close behind Leah, who was leading the way. Not for the first time, Ethan was jealous of one of her skills. [Wayfinder] was something that seemed to have incredible multipurpose use. Even now, the time it would cut from having to search the whole island made Ethan glad he had offered to bring her along. Seb moved up, talking to Leah about how far they were.
Ethan knew she couldn’t answer that. She had no idea, though she would know when she reached her destination. He almost felt bad. The old man was eager as ever. Hopefully, the skill would lead the way and not to the edge of the island.
“How sure are we about following this skill?” Striker asked from behind.
“This is the only direction we can head anyway,” Ethan said with a shrug.
“I never heard of any cave, is all,” he answered.
“Perhaps it happened when the island shattered?”
“Perhaps.”
“What about the forest? Did you know about that and the monkeys?”
“I did,” Striker answered. “I did warn everyone that the forest was monkey territory.” He paused for a moment. “Admittedly, I didn’t expect there to be so many.”
Ethan snorted. “True enough.”
The other two rounded a small bend and came to a stop. Ethan’s senses spread out on instinct, but he got no response other than wet earth and the smell of some kind of fungus.
“What is it?” he asked, walking up beside them.
Seb rushed forward without answering, dropping to his knees and grabbing for something.
Ethan’s stomach dropped, and he looked to Leah, expecting to see her in distress. However, she had a slight look of satisfaction in her gaze. Ethan looked back toward Seb and directed his firelight into the area.
A small campsite was laid bare.
A fire pit sat in the center, little more than a ring of blackened stones surrounding a bed of ash. Beside it lay the remains of a crude shelter, a canvas sheet stretched between two lengths of timber that had collapsed, with nothing else in his immediate vision.
Seb was on his knees. His hands trembled as they reached toward the ashes.
“No…”
The word barely escaped his lips. He dug through the remains with frantic movements, uncaring that soot stained his hands black. Every few seconds, he’d pause, staring at some insignificant object before throwing it aside and continuing the search.
Then he stopped. Ethan could hear his breath catch. Slowly, almost reverently, he lifted something from the ground.
It was a small stitched rabbit attached to a keychain. It was frayed and one ear had ripped clean off, but Ethan immediately recognized it for what it was.
A keepsake.
Seb’s shoulders began to shake. “I—I made this.”
Nobody answered him, though Striker stepped forward, examining the area. The old healer ran a thumb across the worn fabric before pulling it tightly against his chest.
“I made this for her.” His voice cracked. “This is Bonnie’s.”
Joy flooded the old man’s face so quickly Ethan almost looked away.
Leah smiled quietly to herself.
“I told you.”
Seb looked up at her, eyes red.
“You did.”
Ethan stepped past them, raising his torch.
He looked over the camp, taking in the fire pit, the bedding, and the scattered supplies.
He crouched beside the ashes, pressing two fingers into them before rubbing the soot together.
It was cold. Dead cold, without a scrap of heat. His gaze shifted toward the collapsed shelter, looking for blood or signs of struggle.
He couldn’t see anything. Even the supplies left behind were mundane things. No food or water.
“She left.”
Seb looked up immediately.
“What?”
Ethan pointed the torch toward the tunnel disappearing into darkness.
“The camp wasn’t abandoned in a hurry.” He stood, studying the ground. “The fire was put out, and there are no supplies here.”
He looked to Leah. “What direction is your skill telling you to go?”
Leah closed her eyes for a moment, then released a breath and opened them. “We need to keep heading that way,” she said, gesturing down the cavern, the same direction they were heading.
Ethan nodded. “I guess that confirms one thing.”
“And what’s that?” Seb asked.
“They survived the dungeon break.”
“So she’s alive,” Seb stated.
Ethan didn’t answer immediately. He’d learned long ago not to promise certainty where there wasn’t any.
Instead, he gave the old healer the only answer he honestly could.
“She was alive. Let’s go find out.”
“Wait,” Striker said, holding out a hand.
“What is it?” Leah asked, already stepping forward to follow her skill.
“Something’s not right…”
Ethan felt it then. [Keen Sense] went haywire. He looked around, his vision failing to pierce the darkness.
“Hide!” he whisper-shouted.
It seemed the others didn’t need to be told twice. Leah slipped into a crevice in the rock, while Seb and Striker took shelter under the fallen camp cover. Ethan looked around before pushing himself against the wall.
For a moment, it was quiet. But he could smell the stench of wet fur and muck. He put his torch out, looking awkwardly to the one remaining by the fire. Leah followed his gaze. He shook his head in denial, but she darted forward anyway, burying the flame in the ash. For a moment, Ethan thought it wasn’t going to go out. But just as Leah returned to her hiding spot and the cave turned to an unnatural darkness, a pair of glowing eyes rounded the bend.
Ethan felt his fighting spirit ignite. His senses were telling him this was a worthy fight. Even though he couldn’t make out what he was seeing, he knew this monster was far more powerful than anything he had fought before. Even the colossus, though that had admittedly been rather easy considering he knew its only weak point.
The creature moved forward, its feet not making a sound as it traveled through the darkness. The silhouette of something on two feet entered his vision, its arms dangling down beside it.
The monster twisted its head, looking around with intelligence. Ethan felt his aura beg to be let loose. It refused to hide in the shadows. He called it back, forcing it into obedience. From the feel he could get, he knew aura alone wouldn’t be enough. He would need his mana as well. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option right now. So all he could do was hope the beast was slightly blind in the darkness as well.
The canvas sheet rippled with movement. The monster’s head snapped in its direction. Ethan brought his hand slowly up to the hilt of his blade, adrenaline pumping through his body.
It took a few steps in Seb and Striker’s direction. Ethan was ready to act when a screech tore through the cave. Once again, the monster’s head locked onto the direction of the noise. Another screech echoed, and the monster bounded down the cave the way they had come.
Ethan still couldn’t hear its movements, even as its silhouette disappeared once again. After a moment, he moved off the wall. Leah and the others stepped out of their hiding spots.
“What the fuck was that?” Leah whispered.
“Let’s get out of here before it comes back,” Ethan said, not having an answer for her.
He didn’t wait to see if anyone listened and started moving. It wasn’t long until he could hear the sound of fighting and monkeys dying. They picked up their pace, stumbling through the darkness as Striker took the lead, navigating the cave with skill.
After a moment, Ethan noticed light at the end of the tunnel. They ran out of the opening, the group panting as they regained their breath.
“We need to keep moving,” Ethan said, looking at Leah. “Lead the way.”
She sucked in a breath and nodded. Ethan noted her leg was bleeding. It looked like she had scraped it on a rock. Unfortunately, there was no time to worry about that right now.
She took off at a slight jog. Ethan let the other two move in front of him as he took up the rear. If the monster followed them, he needed to be the first point of contact.
The landscape of scattered trees and vines blurred past them as they put distance between themselves and the powerful monster. Ethan could see a large cliff face that the cave had exited from. Along the top were large trees lining the ridge. Home of the monkeys and his enemies.
He looked ahead as he heard the sound of running water. Soon, a stream came into view. They slowed down before Leah came to a stop at a split in the river. The currents bashed against the bank, Ethan watched it for a moment and frowned. If they needed to cross, they couldn’t do it there.
Ethan paused, looking around as [Keen Sense] expanded.
He pulled out his water purifier and handed it to Seb.
“Let’s have a quick break. Leah, are we carrying on downstream?”
She nodded, taking the purifier from Seb. “Yes.”
“Good. Striker, I know this isn’t normal, and I don’t normally do this, but I need you to give me a hint about your powers.”
The man huffed, looking back toward the cliff.
“What the hell was that thing?”
“I don’t know,” Ethan said. “But it was powerful. Extremely so.”
“It was the dungeon boss,” Seb said.
Ethan and the others turned to him.
He shrugged. “I have an inspection skill. Comes in handy when I need to heal someone.”
Ethan’s eyes slightly widened. “Did you inspect it?” he asked hurriedly.
“I did…”
“Fuck. Striker, come on. What is it? Some binding ability?” Ethan hoped it was.
The man sighed before pulling his hat off. The shadow, however, stayed on his face. It looked weird, but Ethan immediately clicked. Originally, he had assumed the hat was an enchanted item obscuring his identity. Now he realized Striker was doing that on his own.
“Shadow,” Ethan and Striker said at the same time.
“Can you bind things?” Ethan asked immediately. It wasn’t common, but he had seen someone use a shadow affinity like that before.
The man shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “It holds for about a second.”
Ethan sighed. He had hoped for more, but it made sense. Especially if Striker really hadn’t awakened his core yet.
Surprisingly, Striker also let the shadow over his face fall away.
“What the hell,” Leah said. “You’re a child?”
“Not right now,” Ethan said, cutting in. Though it was obvious Striker was likely younger than his own physical body.
Striker rubbed his neck and shrugged again.
“Let’s go. Seb, did you get a read on the monster’s title?” Ethan asked, gesturing for Leah to lead the way again.
They all began moving as Seb called out.
“All it had for a name was Windigo. I couldn’t see its level.”
Ethan closed his eyes for a moment and let out a breath.
“Why does it matter that I inspected it?” Seb asked.
“It might not. But when you’re powerful enough, you can feel when someone has used the skill on you. Hopefully, I’m wrong.”
Just as he uttered those words, [Keen Sense] flared with danger. Ethan threw himself to the side as long, pale claws passed through the direction he had just been running.
He hit the ground, coming into a roll as he threw his blade over his head. The others came to a stop.
“Ethan!” Leah called out.
The Windigo turned its head with a click, two long antlers protruding from its pale skull.
Its long arms dropped onto the ground, claws digging into the earth before it launched straight at Leah.
Ethan’s mana exploded from his core before he could think about the pain it would bring. His body shuddered from the decision. But [Mana Infusion] activated, and he blurred forward. His sword came around as his perception narrowed.
Though one thing entered his mind.
He wasn’t going to make it in time.