There was a little bit of tension after we'd let the moth-boy go, surprisingly because the people didn't know what I wanted in return. I figured they expected me to be some kind of tyrant that was going to start running the place, except it was the complete opposite and I wanted to be out of there as soon as possible.

So I just told Vivatti to let them know I had done my part and all I wanted to do was pass and be on my way.

A nice little bonus was that Don’s two goons apparently were not interested in getting revenge against me in the slightest. Oh on the contraire, they were actually overjoyed and relieved.

And understandably as well, when one of them confessed they had been planning to 'off' Don after he sexually assaulted his new girlfriend he'd fallen for.

Love conquers all huh.

None of the four twats from the bridge returned, but Siya mentioned she had faintly heard three distinct voices screaming, separately.

Which I didn't notice, but she had exceptional senses so.. fair enough.

And as for the fourth? Who knows. Probably will turn up super jacked one day looking for revenge…

Ha, if real life was an anime perhaps.

The guy was most certainly already dead.

Just went quietly I bet.

Vivatti didn't try to stop me or convince me to stay. The whole thing had felt pretty strange, but the people seemed relieved once everything was squared away and Don had been buried.

Kind of like when that one dickhead turns up at the party then finally leaves after getting into a fight they lose, or taken away by the police.

We did, however, get invited to a delicious sounding meal and some food for the road and the offer to stay for the night, but I declined it all.

Only an absolute idiot would trust these people that much, and besides, they need that stuff more than us.

Instead, some of us, mainly English speakers, had ended up spending time around a nice warm fire and the conversation topics were as to be expected; if we knew what was going on and what we knew and had we seen.

But there was a fair amount discussed on what I recommended they should do to increase their chances of survival.

As if I have any clue what I’m doing...

I just laid it out as plain and in the simplest words as I could muster.

Work in teams always, bring healers, protect them or choose regeneration skills, practice tactics whenever you can and never exclude anyone, then go out and get stronger.

But most importantly, help everyone you can and never leave anyone behind.

They already had a few healers which would give them a good chance if they worked together.

They thought we were barking mad, wanting to leave as it was getting dark.

And we let them think that, not giving away that the dark would not hinder us at all. The plan was to leave without saying goodbye to avoid anyone following us.

Yet, as we snuck off down the road, Vivatti came running up, calling for me to wait for him so I reluctantly stopped and let him catch up.

He was running full tilt and his feet slapped the ground as he came to a stop.

"Haah-haah-you-heading-off-already?" He was out of breath which was surprising, considering what his attributes should be.

"Yeah, you good?" I said.

"Damn. Phew. I ran all over, even the opposite way first, trying to find you. Nobody saw you leaving this way." He grinned at me as he recovered.

That's because we snuck off…actually how can you even see us-

"Ah sorry, we didn't want to risk anyone following. Anyways, is everything okay?" I stayed polite.

"With it being this dark? I don't know how you both can navigate..but I understand. I wanted to give you these. For helping us. The group has already decided we're going to decide things by vote and getting stronger is our priority. Tomorrow the strongest team will go out and start looking for a place that's suitable whilst looking for others. But thanks. I feel like things are going to get better for us now." He held out a pack which I took, as it was probably the quickest way to end this conversation and keep going.

Not that I dislike the chap, but I got places to be.

"Thanks, I appreciate the gesture but you didn't have to.."

I opened the bag and stopped, staring at what was inside.

Goddammit. That generous bastard…now I feel like a right shit.

"Vivatti! Hold on! How the hell did you get these?...Bah here, take my hand a second, I can't now leave you empty handed..but listen! I'm trusting you not to turn into a monster with this." I grinned and extended my hand, which he took.

"That's a secret but..what do you mean-OH BY THE HOLY-" he exclaimed.

Shared I NEC and I VoMP successfully.

"This is.. thank you. Truly. I will not waste these precious gifts." He gave me a serious look.

"Ha good to hear it, I hope they help you and yours out. And I won't pry, but hopefully we’re square now. I'm sorry though, we really have to get going. Vivatti, you take care of yourselves alright?" Keeping it short I nodded at him.

"Truly, I am very grateful for this and everything else you have done for a group of people you barely know. I hope my gifts help you on your journey. You take care too Godu. Farewell." He turned around and left.

We did the same.

I looked back down at the contents of the bag and smiled with a touch of insanity.

Label: Black Greaves

Notes: Made of an exotic material, these modernised Greaves will provide protection up to just above the knee. Self repairs and self cleans using MP. Compatible with Null Claw Armaments.

I had acted as cool as possible, but inside I was freaking out.

How? Was this a coincidence? Or was this meant to happen? What the hell? This is incredible. Does he know what he gave me?

My claw armaments skill had an upgrade that required this kind of footwear and suddenly I had a pair of them…that cannot be a simple coincidence…

#Siya# Are you troubled Godu?

#Godu# Always..I mean nah don't worry I'm okay. Let's find somewhere to sleep and eat and I'll explain everything on the way.

I equipped my new boots straight away.

…

..

.

We travelled for another hour, in what would have been the pitch black night, passing creepy overgrown brush and wildland, but it was not long before exhaustion started to weigh heavily on me and I longed for rest.

We had been keeping an eye out for somewhere to sleep, and sometime later we spotted a large two storey building that upon further inspection, was residential but it ideally had roof access which I was a big fan of, nice quick way to escape, and it was on a main road close to the E45 so we would lose little time getting back on track in the morning. Perfect.

Instead of Slipfolding with such low energy, I somewhat awkwardly surge-jumped and then glided onto the roof, woah! that was harder than I expected! with Siya leaping up with a thrust of her wings , then drifting over elegantly making it look far too easy, but I took egoistical comfort in it being my first time, and we entered from the roor stairwell and headed down.

#Godu# Do you think anything is here Siya?

We walked into a corridor that was open to the elements on either end like a shared porch and I kept my eyes peeled around my colour faded surroundings. Even with such incredible night vision, it was still unsettling walking around in the pitch black, considering monsters roamed the same lands.

#Siya# I sense no presence. It appears empty but I can smell food.

#Godu# Really?

I sniffed deeply but couldn't smell anything, but Siya had never been wrong before.

#Godu# Let's go check it out, lead the way.

We moved down the corridor and stopped at the second door.

Siya froze, her antennae ears twitching slightly and swivelled slowly like a radar.

#Siya# This one.

I nodded then knocked on the door gently.

"Hello, is anyone home?" I called out through the letterbox and listened for a response.

None came, so I tried again and started weighing up the options.

Go in and possibly risk a fight with little reward, or check other flats for an empty one and sleep peacefully..

#Godu# Screw it. Let's leave and find an unlocked one.

#Siya# Okay.

There were 6 in total and the first 3 were locked, but the fourth opened with a creak and after a quick peek inside and seeing it look actually tidy and clear we hurried in and locked the door.

#Godu# Wow, it's surprisingly tidy and clean here. Smells fresh too. Let's check the other rooms then see if there's anything edible left.

The entrance went into a large living room and there was a door on the right and the left held another door. I went towards the left door and Siya went to the right.

#Siya# Food room.

She got the kitchen.

#Godu# Nice. This will probably be the bedrooms then.

I opened the door and sure enough there was a large bedroom with another door which I presumed was the ensuite.

Something was off though, the room felt warm and the bed covers were messed up and what is that haze-

I froze as something pressed against the side of my neck.

"Se ti muovi, ti taglio la testa.." A female Italian voice inches away from my face whispered. Italian.

Balls.

I froze, contemplating if I could move quicker or Slipfold before she could kill me.

Probably not. I didn’t even notice her near me.

Balls.

"I'm sorry but I don't speak Italian. I'm English. Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here. We can go if you-"

"English?" She paused, the blade against my neck moved ever so slightly away.

"Che diavolo ci fai qui e come sei sopravvissuto così a lungo.." she muttered something Italian and I suppressed my urge to groan.

Really kinda wish I got that bloody language skill..

"Listen, I really can't speak Italian, but me and my friend don't want any trouble or want to take anything from you. She's in the kitchen right now and she might get upset if you have a knife to my neck. Please, we'll leave and find somewhere else."

"I no English. No speak English." She said, sounding annoyed.

Mega balls. How the hell are we going to do this then-

"SKRAAAAAAAAAGH!"

My blood went ice cold as a soul piercing cry vibrated the walls.

#Siya# Corrupted! It is inside the building!

"Dannazione! Gli afflitti!! Trion!" She whispered in horror.

#Godu# Can you tell how many?

#Siya# There's -

*SMASH*

There was a loud crashing from one of the locked apartments and in response a young voice screamed.

With a gasp, the women ran towards the wall and..ghosted right through it.

A kid??

Seconds later she came back through, holding a small sobbing child, possibly even a toddler but froze as she realised I was still here.

She stared at me with bright glowing green eyes, probably wishing she'd cut my head off straight away.

"Go go!" I hissed as I moved out the way and pointed to the doorway. She only hesitated for a second before dashing past and heading to the living room.

#Godu# Siya, there's a woman here, she's got a kid but she's also got sharp knives, careful. How many corrupted?

#Siya# Just one. What shall we do?

#Godu# Let's get the hell out of here!

Siya padded silently into the room making the woman yelp and she shifted protectively over the child she was carrying and held up a knife towards Siya.

"Stop! Stop! Friend, she's my friend!!" I hissed at the woman who looked at me like I was insane, so I moved in-between them and placed my hands up to symbolise it was okay.

"SCREEEEEE"

Oh no. That was a different voice.

#Siya# There are two!

"SCRRIIIIIIIII"

#Siya# Three!!

"ROOOOOIGH"

"RAAGH"

"RUUUUGGHH"

A chorus of guttural roars and bellows filled the hallway and my heart started pounding.

Oh this is just plain shit.

My mind raced with thoughts, struggling to find the safest way to get out of this mess.

Should I just Slipfold? Slipfold was usually the answer, but is this mom going to huddle close to a stranger and a winged moth girl who speaks zero Italian?

I heavily doubt it.

And can I even take more than one person? Now is not the best time to test that out.

We weren't that high up so maybe we could go out the window, but if we jump down and there's more outside they are dead. I doubt she can run faster than them carrying the child and I don't know how many walls she can run through.

There's just so many bloody variables that would be solved if I could communicate!

Or can I?..

I put my hand out to the woman and pointed to her hand then to mine.

"I know you don't understand me. But, take my hand, please. I want to try and share my abilities with you." I tried to be as quiet as possible.

She held her dagger up and just looked at my hand then to me with a frantic type of confused look that said 'are you fucking serious? You want to shake hands when there are invulnerable monsters outside the door?'

*CRASH*

A corrupted walked through the wall, only this time it was in the literal sense, sending debris and dust everywhere. The small child wailed out in fear, but the corrupted didn't bat an eye and mercilessly charged at the woman.

In a blur, she turned her back to it and the corrupted ran straight through her and like a cartoon character, left a humanoid outline as they smashed through the outer wall and disappeared down, whilst the woman stumbled to the ground into her knees, breathing ragged, seemingly drained after using her ghost ability; but she still clutched the terrified child.

New screeches and roars filled the air and sounds of crashing came from below. All the noise had attracted the local wildlife and the place had turned into a warzone.

#Godu# Siya can you make it out by yourself? I'm going to try and take them up to the roof and then the main road.

#Siya# Yes. I'll wait for you first.

She spun around and shot out her wing, smashing the hole clear of hanging debris, moving over and standing by near her exit waiting for me to make my move.

I stepped over to the woman and held out a hand. We didn't have much time before the building was going to be turned to rubble, so either she trusted me now or I would leave and they would die.

She stared at my hand, then at my face and I saw a strange mix of desperation, defeat all at the same time. It only took her two seconds before she took my hand, seemingly accepting that either I wasn't a threat or that she had no choice with the chaos outside.

"Per favore, non fare del male a mio figlio. Fai quello che vuoi di me, ma per favore risparmiargli ogni sofferenza..." She was shaking like a leaf as she stood up, the boy's face buried into her neck, hiding.

The sounds of crashing and fighting reached new levels of frenzy and I could hear that many unidentifiable monsters had reached the corridor and another flat.

Even though I didn't understand the words, I knew it would be something about keeping the child safe, so I just nodded.

"If this doesn't work, I'm sorry." I whispered and quickly pulled her to me tightly, wrapping my arms around them both and squeezing a yelp from her.

Several corrupted smashed through the walls scattering debris and dust everywhere, and beelined for us.

And then I Slipfolded.

The next thing I knew I was being punched painfully in the chest.

"Stupido molestatore inglese! Che cazzo stai facendo, piccolo stupratore di cazzi! So di aver detto che puoi avere qualsiasi cosa, ma questo non significa davanti a mio figlio in questo momento! BASTARDO MALATO! Prova a strofinarmi di nuovo contro e... io... il tuo... cosa? Dove siamo-" she trailed off as she stared around and lowered her knife.

To my immense relief, it worked flawlessly and we dropped a few centimetres onto the concrete roof. She had immediately ripped herself free and was throwing an angry tirade at me, which was a bit weird considering we had company that I pointed to, and she quickly shut up.

Hunched over their meals, there were two corrupted at the far end, tearing into a pile of corpses.

They both sloppily snapped their heads around and stared at us, a long bloody chunk of meat slipped out of the gaping mouth of one of them, slapping down onto the floor. Their glowing eyes, terrifying and abnormal, and their skin looked charred, covered in gore and drenched in blood.

I was already frantically placing an anchor on the main road and beckoning the woman.

"Hurry the hell up woman! Come here!" I hissed at her and reached out.

The two corrupted lurched forward and from out of nowhere several more crawled over from the roof edge and scrambled forward.

But she was too slow.

I watched with a jolt of ice cold shock as she was tackled to the ground and the boy was sent flying and tumbling onto the floor. The corrupted completely ignored the child, instead gunning straight for the woman. The thing immediately opened its mouth, clearly having one thing in mind, but she slammed her dagger knife into its jaws, not doing any damage but slowing it down and most certainly losing the fight of strength as its face steadily got within centimetres to hers.

Knowing it was probably going to be futile, I dodged the second one and phased to the one that was on top of her and grabbed its shoulders but it did not move a single millimetre.

To my complete surprise however, I managed to get a solid grip and null surged forward, dragging the insanely heavy cunt off to the edge of the roof.

#Siya# Godu!

Siya screeched, swooped in, and burst through them with her shield wing outstretched and to my astonishment, managed to knock the other four over, head over heels backwards.

But they recovered almost immediately and were already charging directly at me.

The woman moved like a bolt of lightning to the child and my eyes could not keep up with her until she slammed into me, unconscious boy underarm and cried out.

"VAI TI PREGO! VAI!" Italian.

My brain went into overdrive as time slowed to a crawl with sounds becoming disjointed to my vision, like an out of sync video.

The first corrupted had reached out for her head so at an excruciatingly slow speed, I shifted her out of the way so its hand just brushed past her ear, slicing it open with a sharp nail. Slipfold was activating and I watched in fascination as I saw a thin shimmering line form in the air and the watery folds peel apart and shift around us - pulling us? Or did we pull it? - it was impossible to tell as I didn't feel any movement, yet we moved through and slowly appeared on the main road.

Time stayed slow as I released the woman and child and slowly spun around, shields were already deploying into Config:Prime as two corrupted were writhing and jerking around trying to pull themselves through the shrinking watery fold of space.

They received a fast series of stabs and blunt attacks from my shields and they started attacking each other in desperation as the hole rapidly shrank, squeezing them painfully tight together.

What happened next I could not fully comprehend.

One minute I blinked, and then the next I was back at the start, with the corrupted reaching out slowly. Then time and sounds came crashing back into normal speed, yet the exact same series of events played out precisely the same, until it was back to me punching and smashing at the two squeezed heads of the frenzied corrupted struggling to get out of the fold until finally their heads were severed with a wet shlorp.

I dismissed my shields and fell onto my butt breathing heavily. The Slipfold didn't cost much usually, but whenever they held it open, my resources dropped horrendously fast.

Siya streaked through the night sky and landed with a soft thud, fussing over me, checking for any wounds.

"I-I'm okay Siya! We need to check the boy!" Starting to raise my voice, I stopped myself and gave her an apologetic thin smile at her concern but gestured to the sobbing woman clutching the limp body of the child.

"Parla con me, mio ​​piccolo supereroe. Per favore! La mamma è qui! Adesso va tutto bene, per favore! Oh mi dispiace, mi dispiace tanto! Mio dolce ragazzino.." She was whispering and carefully checking him over but he was unresponsive.

Siya moved over to the boy but flinched as the mother covered him with herself and growled. "Stai lontano da lui! Fottuti mostri! Voi.." the rage drained from her face as she looked up at Siya flinching.

She looked down at the child and then back up and gestured to Siya to look.

"S-sono... mi dispiace, per favore aiuta mio figlio. So che siete brave persone. Per favore, non lasciarlo morire. Lui è tutto ciò che mi è rimasto in questo mondo..." Tears streamed down her face as Siya listened to his chest and touched his head with her's.

#Siya# Alive. Mind damaged. Needs healing fast.

Fucking hell..phew.

Good thing we were gifted with a few healing tonics from Vivatti then.

I scrabbled into the pack and grabbed one of the water bottles. Showing it to the woman and then opening it, I drank a sip and pointed at the boy.

"Ok, vuoi che lo beva mio figlio? Ok." She nodded and lifted his head and held his jaw.

I poured a very small amount into his mouth and doused a bit on his head. The liquid reacted instantly and the boy's veins started to glow with small lights of gold and purple that flowed around all his visible skin before gathering around his forehead and eyes.

A few tense moments passed with only the distant sound of monsters tearing each other apart in the background, until finally the boy spluttered and coughed, eyes darting around in the dark as he croaked out a single word.

"Mommi.."

"Sono qui Piccola! Oh bravo ragazzo! La mamma è qui, io sono proprio qui!" She carefully pulled him up and showered him in gentle kisses, rocking him back and forth.

"Grazie. Mille grazie. Non capite quanto vi devo entrambi. Non lo dimenticherò mai." I still didn't speak Italian, but it didn't take much to guess she was grateful.

I passed her the bottle with a smile and gestured for her to drink, she'd surely taken some damage as well so she needed it.

And I don’t since all I need to do is cut some limbs off and then Majik does the rest…speaking of.

I turned around and was painlessly gloop-slopped in the face by the sickly EXP shimmer crap from the corrupted.

Ugh fucking gross..still, that's going to be another MAGN increase. I can already feel the hunger for food…and a shower..gods I would kill for a warm shower or bath..

A concerned trill sounded out as I saw Siya palming up some EXP but that wasn't what I was concerned about, we'd already determined that corrupted EXP only affected your own race, a bit like cannibalism and I've got a gross EXP cannibalism licence.

But her concern was because a trail of EXP was snaking towards the woman who hadn't noticed.

It was too late to warn her, and she immediately jerked up.

"No! NO! Merda!" She looked at us as she started twitching and slightly convulsing.

In one swift motion, she had carefully put down the boy and put her weapons down next to him and started to back away.

"Per favore. Porta mio figlio in un posto sicuro. Non voglio fargli del male. So che siete brave persone." She put her hands together and begged, she had a very weird scary blank look with her glowing eyes darting about.

"Sono-UGHH-I AGH. Devi... AHH... scappare." Her body periodically convulsed like she was being electroshocked and she started moving towards the edge of the road. There was at least a 20 meter drop to the floor so you didn't need to be a genius to figure out what she had planned.

"Don't know what you are saying lady but you can’t give up just yet.." I muttered and Slipfolded behind her and grabbed her arm. She was about to fight back but froze as she got the message.

Share request sent for I NEC.

She whimpered in pain as her eyes teared up and she dropped to her knees.

Accepted.

"I'm sorry for this, but you need to unlock the skill right away. Hope you got enough points." I patted her shoulder with a surge charge yet it only stunned her

Fucking shit…that’s so uncool..

So I had to awkwardly Majik-taze her twice more before she mercifully closed her eyes.

We hurried off, away from the ongoing brawl which had quietened down but some small fights were still going on. Both carrying an unconscious passenger, we jogged off down the road to look for another place to take shelter.

The extra weight felt like nothing but out of curiosity and to kill the time, I observed my stamina actually going down slightly faster than normal, but it was minimal, the difference being like 1% every 30 minutes, to 2% every 30 minutes.

Inhuman. But very much appreciated.

After a few hours we came across a huge warehouse that had a couple of study looking metal small office buildings outside and I was able to Slipfold into one via looking through the grated window.

Inside there were a bunch of rooms and the first ones were a kitchen area and a recreation room. Both had sofas so I placed the woman in the rec room and put the draining cuffs on her, with Siya placing the boy in the kitchen. We closed both doors and then checked the rest of the place out to secure it better.

We ended up finding the keys for the rooms and the main entrance so we locked the kitchen and rec room for our safety, for obvious reasons. She hadn't shown any signs of what I would expect to happen when you become corrupted, but for that exact reason it was hard to predict what to look for.

For all I know, you could be fine one minute then suddenly your teeth turn to razors and your nose falls off…

Only her being awake will be a good indication she activated the nullify EXP corruption skill.

Choosing an office room, we decided to take turns getting a couple of hours sleep each with Siya offering to stay up first but overall, sticking close and watching over each other.

Yet after maybe 20 minutes when I'd just managed to drift off, a loud rapid banging could be heard and it sounded like it was emanating from the rec room.

Ughhhh crap. Time to see if she's herself or..hm, not.

Hope it's okay. Really not sure if we can take the kid with us but, let's just see.

I hopped up and nodded at Siya.

"Let's go see."

The door was banging repeatedly as I approached and it sounded frantic.

Oh man..

I walked up to the door and knocked.

"Hello?" I called out.

The knocking stopped and we were smothered in silence.

Shit..

I heard some scraping and shuffling then more silence.

"E-english?" A muffled voice finally responded.

Oh lordy! She's okay!

"Hah yes! I'm unlocking the door!"

Opening the door she was standing back with her dark wavy hair dishevelled from her ponytail, sticking to her face slightly.

She looked like she had been swimming.

"Hey! Glad you're okay. Let me take those off." I gestured to the cuffs and she raised her hands.

"Hallo. Bambino? Trion?" She was smiling hopefully as I approached and I assumed that meant something about the child so I nodded and gestured to the next door.

"Yes all okay, he's in there, come." We moved out and I caught the woman waving at Siya and smiling at her, which Siya returned a bit awkwardly.

The boy was sleeping, we'd found a big coat that we placed on him.

The woman went over to him and checked him over. After a few moments she smiled a wide smile and came over to us all teary eyed, wrapping us both in a surprise hug.

Good thing I briefed Siya about greetings, such as hugs..

"Grazie a entrambi dal profondo del mio cuore. In verità, c'è ancora un bel po' di splendore in questo mondo e voi due siete le luci più brillanti nell'oscurità che abbia visto da molto tempo." She said something which sounded heartfelt and even though I didn't know what it was, it felt warm and good.

We did bloody good tonight. These kinds of things are important. I can just feel it.

Okay, even though we might have led those monsters to them..but there's no way of knowing that so I'll just sweep that under the rug.

#Godu# Well done Siya, we’ve done a really good thing tonight.

I heard her quietly trill.

"Thanks for the hug but it's a shame we can't understand each other." I sighed.

She paused for a second and held out her hand for a handshake.

When I took it, I saw a message.

Mya wants to share I Hand Speak. Accept?

Accepted.

I experienced a brief headrush, like I'd stood up too quickly and then afterwards I had knowledge of a basic universal sign language.

She beamed and, using a few small gestures, communicated to me.

Mya: Hello. Name is Mya. I owe you and her. Everything. Thank you from heart.

Godu: Hello. Name is Godu. She, Siya. No worry. Happy you both safe. We should rest. Here should be safe. Need anything?

We continued to sign, pausing briefly to share the skill with Siya after she asked if we were both okay as we'd gone silent and were just flapping hands at each other. But we quickly settled down and even found a stash of instant soups and noodles which we gleefully heated up with some tea candles, although at that point I was ready to eat the noodles dry.

We ate in companionable silence and afterwards they took the kitchen area and we took the rec room with the two sofas and the ecstasy laying on the soft cushions made me sigh and grin widely, immense relief now we were finally able to rest.

With how exhausted I was, it took seconds before I was drooling, deep asleep.

…

..

.