“Who the hell are you?” The fierce-looking woman asked, breathing heavily as the younger woman tended to the large gashes that covered her entire body.
Xavier could not just sit back and watch the humans die. Hence, he decided to lend a helping hand. Using Air Bullets to attack the Kobolds behind their back was sneaky, but he was not here to play fair. Aiming at his targets accurately, he saw their bodies fall to the ground with a heavy thud as all his Air Bullets hit the Kobolds individually. Within a matter of minutes, he changed the tide of the battle. Now, the ground was littered with enemy corpses, a sight he preferred overseeing human dead bodies.
He was about to answer the woman, but he sensed movement from the corner of his eye. Xavier’s lips parted, but before he could say anything, he heard someone call out his name in a shrill voice.
“Xavier! Is that really you?!?”
Xavier turned his head to see a familiar face. It was a young man around his age. He had sharp facial features, deep brown eyes, and short dark hair. Despite the young man looking roughed up and wearing clothes that were torn and tattered in several areas, smeared with dirt, and drenched in blood, Xavier had no issues identifying him.
“Frankie. You’re alive,” Xavier smiled lightly.
That’s surprising. He’s the last I expected to survive.
Even if Xavier didn’t like thinking about the death of his friends and acquaintances, it was a fact that most of them were probably dead by now. That was the dark side of the new world. Countless people died, and many more would follow suit shortly.
Six Card Holders with decently high Foundation died in the battle against the Kobolds, and they were fortunate that the number didn’t increase.
“So your name is Xavier?” The fierce-looking woman asked, ignoring Frank, who approached the others, “And you know that asshole? That doesn’t really give me a good impression of you, you know?”
The young woman, tending to her wounds, chuckled lightly, but Xavier merely shrugged.
“We were classmates a few years ago. As for my first impression…shouldn’t you thank me for saving your ass?”
The fierce-looking woman’s right eyebrow rose slightly, but Xavier was not yet done. “Furthermore, it would be great if you could also introduce yourself. Otherwise, I will have to call you Mrs. Masochist or something along those lines.”
Xavier shuddered, recalling the fierce-looking woman’s expression after one of the onyx blades pierced through her stomach. That was too much, even for Xavier, who was already considered a little maniac back in Haven.
A corner of the fierce woman’s mouth tilted upward, but Frank answered him instead.
He appeared next to Xavier and patted his shoulder like they had been best friends for years.
“The little cutey is Linsey Savian. I never saw her in Logwood before, but she appeared with Miss Crazy, aka Pauline Fisker, when we created our first base outside Logwood.”
Pauline Fisker smacked Frank, who could only groan and back off, “Shut your mouth, or I’ll be the first to sew your lips!”
Xavier raised an eyebrow, his gaze darting to the human corpses now and then. One of the other survivors retrieved the deceased’s Card Decks and their weapons before returning to the rest.
“It doesn’t seem to be the first time that you guys lost someone in your group,” Xavier remarked. He briefly contemplated something before adding, “And I doubt this is your base. Are there more survivors?”
Pauline Fisker narrowed her eyes, staring at him pointedly, but Linsey spoke up before Pauline could speak again.
“We don’t have that many casualties under normal circumstances. Nobody expected such a large group of Kobolds to find us. That took us by surprise. And you are right. This is not our base. It’s a small hideout where we installed traps to fight the Kobolds. We had never imagined getting ambushed by the War Kobolds. They appeared a few days ago, and their numbers seem to increase rapidly.”
Xavier sighed in relief. It was good to hear that there were more survivors.
Pauline stared daggers at Linsey, who could only shrug.
“Do you really think that he wants to harm us after saving us?” Linsey asked straightforwardly.
“You never know, Lindsey. He is alone, and we don’t know what he wants,” Pauline whispered in return, only for Xavier to comment.
“You guys do realize that I can hear you, right? If you don’t want me to hear you, use Communication Cards or create an isolation dome with energy,” Xavier hinted, earning him a scowl from Pauline.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Meanwhile, Linsey gave him an amused smile.
But something was off about her smile. It felt forced. Xavier found Linsey glancing at the corpses nervously and the corner of her lips twitching.
Ten weeks is not long enough to get used to this fucked up world. They must have thought they adapted to this world, only to be surprised again.
Xavier thought of offering some words of comfort to Linsey but then decided to focus on Pauline. She looked like the leader of the group. Plus, nothing would prepare Linsey better for life than seeing reality with her own eyes.
“I came here to search for survivors. We have more-or-less a settlement and want to gather all survivors to protect everyone, gain more strength, and reclaim more of the land snatched from us by the monsters,” He said while using Whispering Energy to make sure his words reached everyone.
[You can consider me a Scout if you want. I don’t want to harm anyone. All I want is to protect my family. We need more people to create an invincible fortress.]
Using Whispering Energy was more of a test and a little demonstration of his Cards than anything else.
Pauline was still unconvinced of his intentions and stared skeptically at him, but Linsey’s curiosity was piqued. Even Frank, aka Frankie, seemed curious.
“You guys don’t have a Monster Gate?” Pauline asked.
“We…solved that issue before it became permanent,” Xavier answered with a shrug, but that was enough to attract Pauline’s interest. He saw the way her body language changed. Now, he had her undivided attention.
Her eyes widened, “You guys managed to close the Monster Gate before it stabilized?!”
Xavier gave her a curt nod and was about to elaborate further when his ears suddenly twitched. He spun around and activated both Eye of Evolution and Judgment.
21x War Kobolds – 291 to 384 – Strength
49x Kobold Warriors – 209–299 – Strength
4x Kobold Shamans – 401 to 452 – Energy
…
“I don’t think you guys can handle 100 Kobolds right now, right?” Xavier asked, his grip tightening on the hilt of his blades before adding, “Including four Kobold Shamans, three Swordmasters, a few Berserkers, and so forth.”
The others paled and glanced at Pauline, who shook her head.
“That’s too much.”
Knowing that a large horde of Kobolds was heading towards them might be better than the surprise attack earlier, but that didn’t mean they could simultaneously deal with so many enemies. There were only seven Card Holders, including Xavier.
“If you can handle them, you can go for it,” Pauline remarked, giving him a quick once-over before adding, “But I think you’re in an even worse condition than me. You must have had some fierce fights to reach Logwood.”
Xavier didn’t respond to that, but he guessed it was unnecessary. He was covered in dried blood, bruises, and fresh cuts, and his clothes were drenched in blood and sweat on top of the dried blood. Xavier had no idea how bad he must smell, but he imagined it to be bad…like really bad.
“So… we run?” Xavier asked, putting on his best smile.
Pauline gave him a curt nod and gestured to her people. It was time to run.
“If you’re uncomfortable about bringing me to your base, I can leave and meet up later. You don’t seem to trust me ye—...”
“It’s fine. Just follow me.”
Xavier did not need to be told twice. All of them began running as fast as their legs could carry them, rushing into the deeper areas of the forest. While the group ran through the thicket, one used a Card to cover their tracks to throw the monsters off the track. Xavier hoped the young man was not a rookie because he was unsure if they would survive such a large monster wave. Thankfully, his worry was needless. The Card’s effect hid them very well as if somebody had used a magic wand to shroud them in camouflage and destroy their traces.
The Kobolds reached the battlefield and looked around in confusion, but they could not find anything except for blood and corpses. The Kobold warriors let out a growl while the Shamans kicked at the few corpses, annoyed that their prey had escaped.
Pauline and the others felt bad about leaving the corpses of their comrades who deserved a proper burial, but there was nothing they could do about it now. They were in a rush, and Pauline had to ensure the survival of the living rather than paying respect to the dead.
The group did not stop and continued running toward their hideout, a cave deep inside the dense forest. Xavier saw the cave entrance and was about to step toward it, but Linsey shook her head and signaled him to follow her.
He nodded as the group began walking around the cave’s front, or what he supposed was the front side. It was dark, but thankfully, another Card user made small circles light up along the path, guiding them to another well-hidden and hidden entrance.
Interesting!
The others made way for the Card Holder, who stepped up before the large stone wall and muttered, “Open for twenty seconds.”
Following that, the wall, or the door, began to move. The vast stone door made a slight grinding noise as it slowly opened to reveal the inside of the cave.
The group hurried in quickly, and Xavier noticed more people inside, around fifty or so, hiding in the cave. Some of the survivors were wounded, while others had that terrified look in their eyes he had gotten used to.
They all did not move or twitch until everybody was in. When the last survivor stepped in, Xavier saw a few women begin to sob while an elderly man cried bitterly.
Xavier did not take long to figure out they were expecting their loved ones to show up, but they had not returned with the small group. Pauline and the others tried to console the crying survivors as Xavier stood by the side awkwardly.
Again, he had no idea how to comfort them or if they needed a stranger’s compassion. He could only offer his silence and let them grieve quietly.
The new world was cruel.