Epilogue

I was spending a sleepless night, thinking about what had happened in the last day. While it didn’t sit right with me, we’d had no other choice but to run away. Or so I was trying to convince myself.

I hate this! Running from monsters!? Maybe it was the only way to survive, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. If all we do is prioritize our survival, then we’ll eventually come across a situation where we have no chance of survival.

There has to be a way to grow. A way to surpass the dangers we’re currently facing. If we always act out of fear, then there will be no future.

Status

Race: Human

Archetype: Warrior

Age: 22

State: Healthy

Titles: Razor's Edge, Way of the Warrior, Conqueror of Trials, Murderer,

Rank: C

Skills

Normal Skills: Analyze, Survival Instinct, Sword Aura Rank F,

Special Skills: Skanda Rank E,

Authorities: Insight,

Equipment: Scaleblade Armor, Metal Helm, Moray Gauntlets, Soldier’s Pants, Moray Boots, Warrior’s Bracelet

I hadn’t grown all that much. Ever since I’d left the labyrinth, my growth had stalled. This was unacceptable. I hated running, I hated losing. If I was to survive, then I needed to be able to fight armies of monsters by myself. I needed the strength to crush any opposition. I didn’t care if others were horrified by what I’d become, all that mattered was survival.

I needed to stop caring about other things. My sole objective was to acquire power. I’d do whatever it took, so long as it helped me. I’d even give up my humanity.

If Alicia and Cameron agreed with me, then they were more than welcome to come with me. But I didn’t need anyone who wasn’t devoted to becoming stronger. They’d just hold me back otherwise.

I silently crept out of the house we were taking shelter in. Once I’d gotten a distance away, I began to focus. The only sure-fire way I knew to grow was to hunt. So I needed monsters, many, many, many monsters.

“Grrr"

It seemed like I’d found a Wolf pack. Perfect.

“Just what I was looking for, victims.”

The wolves lunged for me, their eyes alive with malice. I cut the first one down, and used the momentum of my slash to move out the way of the others, cutting another’s back legs off.

I didn’t give them any time to recover, jumping closer and killing two more wolves. From there, it was a complete rout. The wolves lost any sense of teamwork as I killed them one-by-one, my sword cutting through flesh easily.

By the time I was done killing, I was covered in blood, but my breathing was still steady. No, this isn’t enough. I need challenges. I need battle, to fight actual threats. Not these lackluster beasts.

With Sword Aura active, my blade could cut through weaklings like butter. If I wanted to kill any monster that came my way, I’d need opponents that could push me to my limits.

“GRRRRRRR"

Looking towards the newest interloper, I was met with a familiar sight. Glowing red eyes stuck out of the darkness, surrounding me on all sides. Shadow Wolves.

“Well, at least you’ll be a challenge.”

[Alicia’s POV]

Michael was missing. Well not missing. He had left a note, but it was morning and he hadn’t turned up.

“Lass, calm yourself. The lad's strong. I’m sure he can take care of himself.”

“He’s never been missing like this. He may be stronger than us, but that doesn’t make him invincible! He even told me that he wouldn’t pick fights he couldn’t win!”

She knew she was becoming hysterical, but it wasn’t easy to keep her emotions in check. Michael was the only reason they were alive. If something happened to him, they wouldn’t last long on their own. And that wasn’t even considering that Alicia liked him as a person. Though he can be a bit of an ass.

Just then, the front door opened and Michael came into the room. He looked okay except that he was covered in blood, though it didn’t appear to be his own. His armor was damaged in some places, and he was cleaning more blood off of his sword. The relief she felt at seeing him was quickly replaced with rage.

“Where the hell were you!?”

[Protag’s POV]

I had barely walked into the house, when Alicia nearly bit my head off.

“Where the hell were you!?”

Wha!? Why is she yelling at me? I mean sure, I did get caught off-guard by those Shadow Wolves, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

The Shadow Wolves had led me further into the forest and used groups of weaker wolves to harass me. Dealing with all of them had been quite the ordeal. I’d only just managed to return, but I was already being yelled at. This is rather unfair.

“Calm down lass. Let him talk.” I threw a grateful look to Cameron, since he’d gotten Alicia to back off.

“I just went out for a walk, but got attacked by a massive pack of wolves. I couldn’t leave them, since there were Shadow Wolves. I’ve fought them before and they’re not the kind of monster I want wandering around.” That seemed to appease her, as she visibly deflated.

“W-well I was just worried. You’ve never been missing like that. I thought you abandoned us.”

Jeez, she can be a little paranoid. I’m not planning on just ditching them. Not yet at least.

“I just got preoccupied. Dealing with those wolves took far too long. Still, it is pretty nice that you’re worried about me.” Ah, she blushed from that.

“So what now lad? We’ve got no shelter or anywhere to go. We don’t even know how bad the current situation is.”

“Well, I know what I’m going to do.”

“Let me guess. You’re going to run around like a maniac, while killing any monsters you see.” How… how does she know?

“Uh…. no?”

“Why is that a question!?”

“So we’re decided? Are you two sure? This isn’t going to be easy. There’s a good chance we’ll just get ourselves killed.”

I’d proposed a plan to go around hunting monsters in order to get stronger. Rather than try and find somewhere safe, we were going to throw ourselves into danger. Needless to say, this wasn’t the smartest idea I’d had.

“Aye lad. After seeing what happened here, I don’t think this is contained to one area. It’s probably spread further than we know.

“Mhmn, even if we do find somewhere safe, what’s to keep this from happening again? I think the safest way to protect ourselves is to protect ourselves. If that means hunting tons of monsters, then so be it.”

These two. They were people I could trust. Most would have turned away from wanting to help me after what we’d seen, but they were undeterred. They were even willing to join me on my mad quest for power.

I could feel a grin stretching my face.

“Well then. If you’re going to go that far, then we might as well slaughter every monster we see! There will be no prisoners taken, no mercy given, nothing will stand in out way!” I was getting way too excited.

“Heh. It’s good that you’re getting fired up lad. We’ll be counting on you in the coming days.”

“Ugh, I should’ve seen this coming. Can’t we calm him down before he gets carried away?”

This was only the start. I didn’t know what the future held for us, but I knew that if we stuck together, we could overcome anything.