Meanwhile, Cowl had managed to hold both of the remaining Gorants at bay. Neither the Hunter nor the monsters had managed to get any significant progress in the fight, but Angel could see that Cowl’s movements had started to slow. The Hunter was stronger than the creatures individually, but he didn’t have a window to attack when fighting two of them. On top of that, their armor was a perfect counter to his sword.

Angel fitted his third spell into his arm and charged towards the fight. When he grew close enough, the larger of the creatures turned to glance in his direction. With a smirk, he slammed his hand against the ground.

A canister flew out of his arm and the ground beneath the smaller Gorant rippled. A thick spike of stone erupted from beneath it, its sharpened point driving straight up into the creature’s backside. It pierced clean through the hairy armor and the monster let out a scream of pain.

Cowl blurred forward, his blade lighting up with bright blue energy. He reared back, taking advantage of the monster’s pain to line up a strike, and thrust the blade straight into one of its eyes.

The massive sword stopped against the Gorant’s face for a moment. Then Cowl snarled, shoving the blade deeper. It slid forward with a crunch, knocking the monster’s head back from the force of the thrust.

Cowl ripped his blade free and hopped back, avoiding the large Gorant as it charged towards him. It trampled the corpse of its fellow monster, crushing it underfoot and lunging for the Hunter.

He spun out of the way, lashing out with his blade. It rang off the beast’s hair in a shower of sparks and Cowl beat a hasty retreat, his wings whirring to life as he flew to land beside Angel.

“I’m not sure that trick will work twice,” Cowl said.

“That’s why I’ve got more than one,” Angel replied, fitting another cannister into his arm. The Gorant leaned forward, putting its weight on all four of its limbs.

It charged towards them, saliva frothing at its mouth. A blast of lightning tore out of Angel’s arm, dancing across the floor and slamming clean into the creature’s face. It screamed, staggering as the bright light blinded it.

The smell of burnt hair rose up into the air and the monster’s nostrils flared. It turned back towards Angel, a growl escaping its mouth as it lumbered towards him. The Seeker didn’t move. He confidently loaded another canister into his arm. With a hiss, the old one ejected and he kicked it before it could land.

It flew a few feet to the side and hit the ground with a rattle. The monster spun, lashing out towards the noise. Angel raised his arm and the grappling barb shot out of his palm, sailing through the air and latching onto the monster’s back.

He jerked forward, taking a few running steps on the ground before he sailed up and into the air. The Gorant spun to where Angel had been standing, swinging blindly and striking nothing but air.

The Seeker kept his body flat until he was behind the monster, then tucked into a tight roll. The cord from his hand creaked and tightened as he spun in a circle, yanking the Gorant’s limbs together with the strong wire.

He grew faster and faster as he spun around the creature, wrapping it with more and more cord that spooled out from the center of his palm. Angel gritted his teeth against the growing forces assaulting his body.

Muscles bulged on the Gorant’s body as it desperately tried to free itself from the tight bindings. It let out a furious roar as Cowl thrust his sword into the monster’s foot with all of his strength. The strike punched through the armor covering it and pinned the beast to the floor.

Angel swung himself onto the creature’s back and wrapped his arms around its head before it could throw him off. He pressed his palm against the monster’s eye and braced himself as yellow sparks arced down his arm.

A blast of violent lightning exploded into the Gorant’s eye, shooting down through its body. Black smoke puffed out of the creature’s mouth and nose as it abruptly ceased its struggles. Angel leapt off it, running in circles around the beast to gather up the cord that was still connected to his palm.

He unraveled everything and yanked the barb free just as the massive Gorant pitched forward and crashed to the ground.

“And there you go,” Angel said, trying to disguise his heavy breathing. “Not a speck of difficulty.”

“Not bad,” Cowl said.

Angel brushed the dirt off his shoulder and waved to Vanessa. “It should be safe now. You can come over.”

Vanessa did as he suggested, peering at the corpses of the monsters warily. “They’re dead, right?”

Even as she spoke, massive streamers of blue light rose up from the fallen Gorants. They flowed into Angel and Cowl – although more entered the former than the latter. Angel drew in a sharp breath, nearly doubling over as the energy slammed into him like a tsunami. His eyepiece let out a small ding, but he barely even noticed it.

Race: Human

Name: Angel

Level: 31 [14%]

Status: Forei- Healthy

Information accuracy: 100%

Strength: 12 [+1]

Intelligence: 23 [+4]

Nimbleness: 20 [+3]

Toughness: 5

Comparative Rating: Minor Threat

Weak point(s): Heart, Neck, Arteries… (100/100)

Element(s): Steel, [Unknown]

Magicore: None (42% Attunement)

Installing new module: 10% complete.

“Buried gods,” Angel said, shuddering as the chilly magical energy shot through his veins, biting at his skin from the inside. “Haven’t gotten that much energy at once in a long time.”

“You get used to it,” Cowl said. “Just don’t turn into a junkie. I’ve known too many Hunters that kill themselves seeking out more and more energy, only to take on something they can’t handle.”

“It’s not like I haven’t fought monsters before,” Angel said dryly. “It’s nice, but not worth dying over. The benefits are great, but leveling up a lot isn’t too common for Seekers. Monsters past level fifty become too dangerous for most of us to handle.”

“I’ve always wanted to get a system artifact,” Vanessa said, nodding at Angel's eyepiece. “Mom wouldn’t let me. She said it encouraged taking risks.”

“It does,” Cowl said. “But it’s not like you need it to take the risks. You get magical energy from killing monsters regardless of if you have a System artifact or not. The artifact just puts numbers to your growth.”

Vanessa shrugged. “Tell that to my mom.”

“With all due respect, after the absolute debacle this quest has been so far, I’ve got no plans of getting anywhere next to your mother in the near future,” Cowl said, taking the disk off his sword and watching it shrink back to its normal size. He put the weapon away and shook his head.

“Do you think you could teach me?” Vanessa asked.

“Teach you what? How to fight?”

“Yeah,” Vanessa said. “I’m hiding in the corner whenever monsters show up. If I can’t defend myself, what happens when they inevitably go for me? One of you will get distracted trying to save me and we’ll eventually all get killed.”

“I’ve trained for years to get to this level,” Cowl said. “There’s no possible way you could learn enough to be of any use with the short amount of time we have.”

“The best time to plant a tree is fifteen years ago,” Angel said, putting on exaggerated wise airs. “The second best time is now.”

“There aren’t any trees in the Barren,” Cowl said.

“You know what I meant. She might not be of any use, but who knows how long we’ll be stuck in here,” Angel replied. “She’s not going to be a master anytime soon, but I know for a fact that there are numerous ways that she could be useful even without getting up close. That being said, you’re much better at fighting than I am. We’d all be better off if you did the teaching.”