Edward being finally prepared, Caspian and him headed toward the forest, leaving the village behind them, as the sun was only beginning to rise.

“How can you be so energized straight from the morning with only this much sleep?” Edward complained.

“It’s not me who is an early riser, it’s you who is lazy. And what do you mean by this much sleep only? Do you think you are still an ordinary citizen? You are already an awaken, how much sleep do you need? Didn’t you notice that your body needed less sleep as you grew up in level?” Caspian berated him.

What?! No way, does this mean the more powerful you become, the more you have to work? I don’t want to give up my sleep. Edward thought, not realizing that the more powerful you became, the more you made people work for you instead. In this case, less sleep didn’t mean more work, but rather more free time.

Seeing his disappointed face, Caspian burst out laughing. “It’s the first time I’m meeting someone who is sad to reach the awaken stage because he will get less sleep. If it can reassure you, and if you don’t have noticed already, the further you increase in rank, the sturdier your body becomes. It is said in legends that at high levels people can go for months without even a drop of water nor any food.”

My body did get more resilient. Tasks that were prior exhausting to me can now be done without breaking a sweat. I didn’t notice the food part until now though. “That’s good to know,” Edward answered, still a little vexed by being deprived of his rightful sleep.

Once they entered the forest, they stopped talking and grew more focused. It would be surprising to encounter a monster on the forest path, even a Bloodmaw, as they were still quite far from the ruins, but it wasn't a reason to relax. Just as Edward has done on the way to the village, they both settled on a jogging pace. Their body could take it, and if they didn’t want to spend a night camping in the forest, they had no time to lose.

****

Caspian was the first one to notice movement. They both had their aura perception in use but Caspian’s reach extended past Edward’s one.

“Monster incoming from the left!” Caspian shouted, realizing that the monster had already noticed them and was coming towards them. Since they were on the path, they had no cover and were particularly visible.

The monster was soon within reach of Edward’s aura perception too. “It’s a Bloodmaw. Be careful, they are tough and they pack quite a punch.” He warned Caspian.

“Acknowledged. Go figure, a monster attacking us while we are in the path in broad daylight. That’s not something the monsters around here tend to do.”

“Yes, but we are still some distance away from the ruins. I didn’t expect to encounter one of them so far from Oshle Tirion.” Edward answered him.

The Bloodmaw left the cover of the trees, its frightening appearance in full view. It was a red-purple beef-sized beast. The second thing one noticed after its size and color, was its gaping maw, full of teeth where its face should be. Around the maw, a circle of small beady eyes was watching them with hunger.

“Not the prettiest one I met,” Caspian said laconically, drawing his sword while Edward was taking out his daggers.

The Bloodmaw charged at them, its forearms bulging with muscles. Caspian didn’t stay put, his own form suddenly bulging with muscles too, his arms and legs almost doubling in volume while Edward was gaping in shock at the change. Caspian raised his sword in front of him to block the beast, taking the full brunt of the charge. He slid for a few meters, leaving shallow trenches in the soil.

However, the Bloodmaw was stopped in its tracks. Even the monster itself seemed to have been shocked by what had happened, needing some time to process the information. It was the first time in its short existence that it met something able to stop it. I have my strong points. You don’t say. Edward thought.

Caspian was standing in front of it with a big feral grin on his face. He rose his sword in a two-handed stance, his aura surrounding the blade, before striking at the beast with a large downward swing. A dark splash of blood was projected on the ground, while a large gash appeared on the Bloodmaw’s left forearm. Before the beast had the chance to regain its bearing, Edward who was located behind Caspian, jumped and teleported on top of the beast, effectively riding it astride. He hit several times with his daggers, using his aura around the blades to help them to pierce through the thick hide of the monster. He inflicted a first wound, the blade creating a narrow but deep cut into the monster.

As he was drawing the blade back, the runes on the surface of it glowed in blue, he felt a stream of energy go inside of him, time slowing down around him. Just like the first time he managed to wound a Bloodmaw, everything was moving in slow motion, him included.

What is going on? It feels just like the first time in the ruins when I discovered the teleportation fresco. I absorbed something from the Bloodmaw thanks to my blade and time slowed down dramatically. Is it one of their powers? Am I absorbing their power? Just like I managed to get the teleportation power from the Teleportcrows? But somehow, I don’t feel like this energy is making me stronger. I didn’t feel it feed my body. And the Bloodmaw themselves don’t seem to have extraordinary reflexes either. They are fast and strong, and they can take a beating but they are not that nimble. I don’t think they are seeing the world in slow motion. Something else is at play here.

The effect didn’t last as long as the first time, but each time Edward was plunging and withdrawing his blades, absorbing energy from the monster, the slow-down effect took place. Uggh, this is disgusting. Normally when you are injuring a monster it is supposed to look cool. But I’m just watching my blades piercing it again and again in slow motion. It feels like trying to cut an especially robust piece of meat, except with blood flowing out of it.

The advantage of the slow-down time was that it gave more time for Edward to notice anything going on in the fight. That’s how he realized that the monster was shifting his muscles, probably preparing for a big move. He teleported farther away before the Bloodmaw could throw him out of the way.

The monster shook vigorously trying to shake off Edward, before realizing that he was already gone. He then roared in pain and anger. Caspian and Edward looked at each other.

“We have no time. Let’s finish it and run away from this spot. We can’t let him attract other monsters.” Caspian told Edward, the latter replying with a head nod. The Bloodmaw was visibly shaken, not expecting the two puny mammals in front of him to be so tough and to seriously injure it on top of that. He charged once more at them, furious and determined to trample them both.

This time, Caspian took a side step, avoiding the charge and slicing at the beast’s flank while it was passing by. Edward teleported behind it, but the monster was already out of reach before he could deal a blow against it. The monster turned to face them and aimed another charge at them, it had left a blood trail on its passage. The Bloodmaw was already severely wounded, bleeding from a long gash on one of its arms, one on its right flank, and from several stabs on its back. However, it was still not done yet, even with all of those injuries, it was still ready to fight.

“This shit is resilient. If we had time, we could bleed it to death. But with its friends probably coming, we will have to take some risks. It’s able to tank our blows thanks to its size, we should aim for a weak point. Try to target the head if you can.” Caspian advised Edward.

He is right. With those levels of injuries, a dark wolf would already be left for dead, and a Teleportcrow would have died before even getting this much damage. Attacking its head should be the fastest way to kill it.

This time, Edward didn’t wait for the monster to charge and he teleported proactively on its blade bones, just above its arms. Once in place, he swiftly jabbed at the monster’s head before it could react. The blades penetrated deeply into the monster’s skull, killing it for good. Edward felt a massive gush of energy rush in his body from the blade. Time slow down once again, on this occasion he felt that some of the energy went into his body to enhance it, but he was still unable to track down the vast majority of it, not knowing where it went.

The monster corpse didn’t dissipate into dust like the Teleportcrows, instead, it stayed there, bleeding massively from all of its injuries. Edward could sense that there was still a lot of energy left inside the corpse.

Caspian looked at all the blood seeping into the ground. “What a waste, usually this would have been a massive trove, but we don’t have the time to harvest all the blood. It’s a shame with such a huge beast it would have been enough for several people.”

I’m lucky that my daggers can absorb their blood without me having to do anything. “We should go into the forest, we can’t stay on the path, we would be visible and it’s not enough to stop the Bloodmaws.” He told Caspian.

“Yes, you are right. It doesn’t please me but we have to venture into the woods. It is still daytime so it should be okay. We won’t be able to reach the ruins with the situation as it is now. We should come back to the village. Anyway, I have already achieved what I wanted. I wanted to assess the threats of those monsters, and let’s just say that’s the most dangerous situation the village is since I moved there. Those monsters are tough. If they attack the village, the guards won’t be able to kill them, they will only stall them at best. And since those monsters are already this far from the ruins, it’s only a matter of time before they spread in the whole forest and spot the village. This is even worse than I thought.”

Both Caspian and Edward solemnly left the path and entered the woods, gradually disappearing under the shade of the trees.