The Earth After Rebirth

Chapter 19: The Damned

"We're never gonna catch a break are we," Hiro said solemnly.

The ghoul walked in a weird manner, it's side was to them and it was getting closer by the second.

"Hey, Hiro. Let's do how we did it in the Labyrinth. Let's show these monsters they aren't anything special." Kiro whispered to him confidently, he nodded.

He used speed to gain in on the ghoul, it took a mere 2 seconds to reach it, yet it saw through that and blocked his staff with it's shabby club. Its eyes were as dark as the forest it lived in.

He quickly withdrew behind Hiro, at that Hiro put up his shield to take the attack of the ghoul head-on.

Clank—

The sound reverberated through out the entire surroundings. The moment the club met the shield, Kiro quickly stepped forward and activated Staff Wielder. It connected! The ghoul stumbled back, he didn't take the risk though, so he quickly went to hide behind Hiro.

The ghoul was a nasty one, it changed directions and appeared behind them at frightening speeds, Kiro didn't lose, he also could speed up, as he blinked to the opposite direction.

"Turn!" He yelled to Hiro, who didn't question him and did as he was told.

No matter which direction the ghoul saw itself, Kiro would also use his speed and directed his friend to turn left or right.

They fought the ghoul with this strategy. They were weaker than it, so they had to be smart. Never once did they get impatient and charge in recklessly, they knew this was a long game, a test of stamina much like the last monster.

It took 30 long minutes to finally finish the ghoul off with their cowardly strategy.

The strategy came as something unexpected for the ghoul. It had fought before but not quite like this. That's why it couldn't do much, its brain was confused.

Ding!

[Congratulations on defeating a level 20 monster, the ghoul. You're awarded 10 000 EXP each]

[You're the first to discover and kill a ghoul, 50 EXP]

To top it all of, it dropped 2 skill books and 10 000 coins. One skill book had to do with dexterity, the other had to do with strength.

They each took the skill that suited them. They split the coins 50/50.

Ding!

[You've consumed a dexterity skill book, dex stat permanently increases by 10]

Kiro's eyes lit up at the permanent increase. That was amazing, because it was extremely rare to have a book that increased stats.

As they were walking further into the forest, they saw a clean river, the moon reflected on the water quite beautifully. They decided to stop there, and eat the plain bread Wilace had given them, and drink the river water with it.

The forest was still eerily creepy. Neither of them could put their finger on why. There were no insects or butterflies. Which was strange because there were flowers and trees. They decided to stay away from the flowers, lest they had mouths and razor sharp teeth.

Even with his past knowledge, he couldn't know anything about this forest. Simply because he was too lazy to watch a beginner's quest.

None of the beginner quests were interesting in any way, so Kiro assumed this one was one of those boring ones. Though he did read about it in passing.

They sat by the river, eating and chatting. They chatted because the silence was louder, to not even hear crickets at night was peculiar.

"Really glad you convinced me to get this game."

"You'll be more glad in two weeks."

"Why? what's happening in two weeks?"

Ding!

[Warning. Your shadow has been attacked by a Strangler, you will choke to death]

-50

-30

-20

Kiro was tapping his shoulder trying to get his friends attention. But Hiro was rambling staring at the river, mesmerised by the moon and occasional ripples.

Kiro had tried everything to get it to stop, touching his neck, trying everything he could to get ahold of this bastard. He instinctively used palm crashing and cracked the ground where they sat. Only then did he get Hiro's attention.

He turned, horrified to see his best friend struggling for his avatar's life. He panicked, as he got up and asked, "what to do, what to do? What's happening?"

"Strangler—water—go."

"Huh?"

When he turned he saw something in the river. A body of a pale bony woman, with darker hair than the night.

He was confused about how he didn't notice her before. Without another seconds hesitation Hiro jumped high to get a better view of the river then threw his axe in.

Kiro stifled a laugh seeing a Dwarf jump that high was a sight to see, but was jolted back to reality by pain on his neck, that was squeezing the life out of him. It reminded him of how serious the situation truly was.

The moment the axe hit the water, the strangling ceased. Kiro got up, like a man possessed retreated far from the river, so did Hiro.

"How do we get my axe ba—"

He was interrupted, because the Strangler threw the axe right back at a very frightening speed. It embedded itself into the closest tree. Missing them by a breath's hair.

It took Hiro 3 panicky minutes to get his axe free from the tree trunk. They bolted out of there. Stranglers were level 50 water monsters. Two mere level 19s stood no chance at all. What could they possibly do other than getting killed?

'What's with me and water monsters?' Kiro wondered.

His HP had drained to the 50s. But it was regenerating 1 HP per second. They hoped to not run into any monsters until it was full. He didn't want to waste his potions, they still had true blooded folks to fight.

They walked away from the river, further and further into the dimly lit forest. If something were to happen right now they'd both be doomed. Kiro's HP was still recovering slowly but surely and Hiro could only block so much!

"What the hell was that?"

"It's called a Strangler, its a level 50 water monster. No idea how it's even in the beginner's village. It attacks your shadow, after it's done with you, you'll die of strangulation. Really, a terrible monster."

"What are the devs thinking putting a level 50 monster where level 10s roam? Are they trying to kill us on purpose!"

They chatted like this, while ranting, and taking out their frustrations on the forest around them. Moreover they couldn't help but feel strange about the whole forest. The air was weird, everything just seemed, off. His HP had climbed to the 300s and then they saw it, a werewolf!

It howled upon seeing them, as if they intruded in its territory. It's skin was charcoal, and too close to it's bones, which made it look skeletal.

"Wouldn't be a full-moon without a werewolf huh," Kiro joked.

"At least it's not a pack."

"Hey, don't jinx it!"

"How good is our luck?" Hiro lamented.

"It's not called the forest of the damned for show." Kiro retorted.

They didn't have time to waste, it was a level 25. Its HP was 9 000. This was the fight to use vibrations and blink!