After my conversation with Johann was done, I left him to do some more meditation on my quasi-private spot from the day before. It was a good practice that I intended to keep pursuing, but instead of trying to figure out magic, I was just looking forward to relaxing and clearing my mind.

Although how much of it I actually managed to achieve was questionable, since I had a tendency to overanalyze the events of the day. When I felt I had meditated enough, I walked back to the base, while checking the sky clock.

09:43:11

The base was slowly getting ready to hunker down for the night. People eating their last meal of the day and looking comfortable spots to sit and eat. Small groups within the whole were starting to become more apparent. A trio here, a quintet there, they varied in size and composition, but sure enough, they were starting to pop up.

I eventually found my own inner group. Noah, Gabriela and Mrs Aya were sitting together and eating. I grabbed a can of food and made a beeline to join them. We exchange short greetings before the conversation returned to its original subject.

“I don’t think we should worry too much,” Noah said. “Whatever happens, Leo here is going to take care of us, right mate?”

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me like that, I will be there for support. Don’t you worry, eh?’

“I never thanked you for those timely arrows.” I said. “They gave me a breather in the right moment. Thanks.”

He waved my thanks away.

“Don’t mention it, mate.”

“Was he really that crazy?” Gabriela asked. “Me and Aya were stuck inside and we didn’t see much. All we know comes from different people and different stories. I mean, we know he is a monster from what we heard from Francesca and Hannah, but when you put together everything it’s seems a bit… too much.”

“He definitely was too much.” Noah said. “The wanker kept talking about making peace and bringing us a gift, but what he brought was two of the those monster bears. He did ended up killing one of them, but still!”

“Not us, me.” I said. “He said the gift was for me.”

“Right…,” Noah trailed of slightly. “He did seem to have a fixation on you, Leo. You think it might be a sexual thing? Lots of sexual tension going on with that dude.”

“What?” Mrs Aya interjected.

“I think it’s one of Noah’s jokes, Aya. Don’t take it so seriously.” Gabriela placed a hand on Mrs Aya’s arm while giving the stink eye to Noah, who only grinned in response.

“He was gauging us,” I ignored Noah’s joke. “The whole group, but especially me. He obviously knows someone has been consistently placing first on the ranks. After the Korean dude went back to him, he probably wanted to test how strong we were.”

“He doesn’t strike me as the kinda of person who can tolerate not being on top,” I continued. “He wants to be on top, no matter what. He knew about us, but he was probably still getting used to this place. I am sure when he was confident enough, he would make a move on us. The woman, Francesca, only accelerated the inevitable.”

“If he is as smart as he is crazy, he will have figured out that our group is nothing but a weak alliance of desperate people. No one, but you,” I pointed to Noah. “Was willing to lend me a hand against him. I know most people couldn’t keep up with us, but put enough numbers and we could have overwhelmed him. Someone might get hurt in the process, but how many will get hurt now that he is out there? People here are not worried about the well being of the group, not really. As long as they are not the ones getting hurt, they don’t really care. I can’t really fault them for it, although I resent them, but this is something that Maccurach will certainly take advantage of in some way.”

“Expecting him to just die to some wave is wishful thinking. If you stop and think about it, the waves are getting harder, but we are getting exponentially stronger. Especially the ones who are soaking up most of the kills like me, Sarah and Maccurach. While being in a large group means we are facing more enemies, it also means we are soaking up the potential growth of others. Like Gabriela and Mrs Aya.”

“I believe Maccurach was doing the same thing.” I pondered for a while. “Didn’t his group seem weak to you? Compared to him, at least. And that second to last wave? He made crazy amount of points. I have a suspicion he was using the people in his group as bait to attract more creatures so he could get more kills.”

Gabriela shifted uncomfortably on her spot. One hand on her belly trying to find a comfortable spot. Mrs Aya offered her a nearby pillow that Gabriela gladly accepted.

“What do you mean using people as bait?” Noah asked.

“I don’t think I ever told you guys, but when I was alone in the first wave, a large group of creatures passed by me on the way to the auditorium, but a small group of them stayed behind, looking for something. I think they could somehow feel me. But why only a small number and not all of them?”

Noah frowned with his arms crossed at my question but presented no answer.

“I think,” I spoke in a hushed tone. “Whatever is responsible for this place makes sure that you can’t go by unchallenged. Even if you hide, a number of creatures will lock in on you and find you, no matter how well you hide yourself.”

“That’s a terrifying assumption.” Gabriela said.

“It’s a good thing we have all the non combatants here, then.” Noah said to Gabriela while nodding.

“I can’t be sure, but it’s something I have been thinking about for a while.” I said as I went back to eating my canned meal.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. After a somber moment of silence, Noah cracked a few jokes and we moved past the subject. He left with Gabriela and Mrs Aya excused herself to go check on the people still resting on the improvised Medical Ward.

She had really found something she could do to help, and I was happy for her. I knew she wasn’t the same person that I had first met when I arrived, but at least she didn’t seem to be paralyzed by her loss. I don’t know if I could have done the same thing if I was in her place.

Losing someone you have spent decades together and having no time to grief or process the loss must be heart wrenching. Despite all that, she still managed to worry about others and smile, even if most of them were empty, some weren’t and those were the ones that counted.

The next morning came and with it, another challenge. I sat down in a meditative instance on the alleyway I usually fought in, although I hadn’t fought here in the last two waves. My relaxing trance was soon interrupted by approaching steps coming from the other side of the alleyway. Nonetheless, I continued with my eyes closed as they got closer.

“Aren’t you being a little too cocky?” I heard Sarah’s voice. “Don’t even try to tell you could tell it was us by our footsteps or some Kung Fu shit like that.”

“Nothing like that,” I chuckled as I opened my eyes and saw both Sarah and Ani standing two steps in from of me. “I just figured if it was someone trying to do me any harm, they wouldn’t be so blatantly loud as they approached.”

“That… Is quite a sensible answer.”

Ani chuckled lightly.

“I know,” I said while standing up. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Leo.”

“G’DAY!” Noah’s voice came from behind me. “Oh, I feel much safer now!”

Sarah raised a doubting eye brow at him, but eventually just smiled and laughed as he approached as with a mouthful of food and two extra protein bars which he offered to Sarah and Ani.

“Nothing for me?” I asked with feigned sadness.

“Piss off, you can get one yourself, Mr Big Shot.”

We enjoyed a few short lived moments of casualness, until Sarah pointed out the sky clock.

00:07:49

Ani had told us that this wave would be as straight forward as the first ones. They would go reinforce the other sides, since she believe we had this one handled. If the girl who can see the future says I had it handled, I wasn’t going to doubt her. Regardless, I knew they would have our backs if something went awry. This alley was a great choke point that Noah and I had been doing well fighting in it.

Sarah guided us through some quick warming exercises that didn’t take us more than five minutes. Afterwards they left and it was just me and my archer friend. He assumed his position on his improvised perch while I assumed my position on the only defensive barricade present.

After some discussion, we had decided to forego the triple barricade design and go with only one. Since he would be stationary and in the other end of the alley, the triple layer was more trouble than it was worth it. The risk of me fumbling and falling when attempting to vault over it was real, albeit unlikely.

The sky clock ticked its last seconds away and the usual wave of dense magical energy befell us. I tried to concentrate and fell it happened, but failed to grasp anything but a muted sense of nausea. Ani had told me to try and feel it during the start of the wave, and agreed it was worth a shot, but without a proper meditative state, I had little hopes for it.

We didn’t wait long before we could hear the creatures coming. These ones had a disturbingly high pitched screech, it was almost painful to the ear even from a distance. Their forms soon turned on to the other end of the alley and I could see what fucked up thing this place had thrown at us this time.

Four scraggy and spindly arms onto a trunk like body with a disproportionate large mouth filled with teeth. The creatures had hollow black holes for eyes and their skin was almost like bark. Their stump legs carried them in a jumpy sprint almost comically. They bounced off each other, constantly crashing against one another as they advanced in their unbalanced gait.

“Oy, Leo,” Noah called out. “Don’t these fuckers look like trees? Look that one in front has a leaf sticking out of its head!”