The notification signaling the night's end came out of nowhere, snapping Leo out of his trance. Unable to practice any of his visible skills, he decided to use the long hours to try reaching out for his soulscape again. Only to be met with complete failure.

He took Nikra's words to heart and tried replicating the same feeling he experienced when she pulled him into the soulscape. Obviously, it didn't work, so Leo decided to get creative. First, he attempted to reach into his soul in the same way he did when using skills, but that also turned out to be a dead end.

Next, he tried some good old meditating and delving deep into his mind, hoping that maybe this was the first step to gaining access to a soulscape. However, this too failed, and the only thing Leo managed to reach was his inner beast, which began to howl with laughter... or at least he thought it was laughter.

And so, with each unsuccessful attempt, Leo spent the rest of the night with Nikra's words echoing in his head. She was more knowledgeable between the two of them, so the Old One had to know what she was talking about. Yet, after each time he hit the proverbial wall inside his soul, the flames of doubt began to slowly ignite.

At least I tried. Leo grumbled as he stretched his muscles after hours of unuse.

Next to him, Tyler followed in his footsteps, a soft crackling of joints filling the room. Not the best thing to hear in the morning, along with the distant screeching of Voidling, but this was their life now.

Shaking his head lightly, Leo summoned a larger ball of light into his hand to give the younger man a proper light source. Tyler nodded in thanks and approached the couch, shaking the sleeping duo awake.

What followed was a quick explanation of why Tyler didn't wake Laura to change the watch. The duo didn't complain — obviously — but going by the frown on the only girl's face, she wasn't too happy that her cousin stayed up the entire night.

Leo could understand that. Tyler was their frontline, for lack of a better term. If he wasn't at one hundred percent strength during their trek through the city, things could go south really fast.

Gonna need to keep an eye on them at all times. Leo reasoned. He had already been planning to do that, but being even more on alert couldn't hurt. A long day indeed.

"A legless monkey with bat's wings?" Dylan commented, coming to a halt beside him. "Bloody hell... I had seen a Collector before, but this is a new one for me."

Leo hummed. "It's probably best that you haven't seen one before. With stealth, I can hide quite well, but even that is a risk with their enhanced senses."

"Aye, you're most likely right," Dylan nodded, giving him a brief once-over. "Are you ready to go, lad? I know you said you don't need sleep, but it's been a few hours since then."

"Apart from feeling a bit stiff from sitting like a damn statue, I'm good to go," Leo shrugged before motioning to the duo by the couch. "I'm more worried about those two. Tyler only had a couple hours of sleep, and I don't know how well Laura can use a bow with that arm of hers."

Dylan furrowed his brow, his gaze shifting towards the cousins. "Tyler can manage it for now. We can always take a break if need be... However, the girl's arm could pose a problem."

Without another word, the older man strode forward and gave Tyler a pat on the back. "We should get movin', you two," Dylan said, capturing their attention. "How's your arm holdin' up, Laura?"

Leo didn't approach and just watched as the girl picked up the bow, her brow scrunched.

"Better, much better," she muttered, pulling the string even as her arm trembled a bit. "Not perfect, but I can shoot."

And Leo didn't doubt that, but there was no way those shots would be accurate. He had dabbled enough in archery to know this much. Which, in hindsight, wasn't much anyway.

Still, once the trio gathered up and stopped in front of him, he didn't say a word. No reason to sow unnecessary discord among them while their trust in him was already very limited.

Instead, Leo just listened to the oldest among them.

"Normally, a trip from here to the trainyard wouldn't even take an hour... Obviously, we know that ain't gonna work today." Dylan paused, casting a meaningful glance at his two companions. "We'll stick close to one side of the road, with Tyler leadin' the way, and make our way forward at a steady pace. If any of you get too tired to carry on, just let me know. We've got the whole day ahead of us. No need to go chargin' in like a bunch of daft idiots."

The two nodded firmly, showing just who had the command of this group. Dylan then turned to him and frowned, so Leo took pity on the man and spoke up.

"I'll be moving either through the grass or the roofs, using the Vetilim above. My primary targets will be the stronger Voidlings, but I'll try to eliminate as many as possible regardless," he explained. "Also, if things go south, just scream or use those guns I gave you. That way, I'll know to come."

"Aye, what the lad said," Dylan nodded. "We've got more firepower now, so if need be, use it. Now, let's get a move on."

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Just as the trio moved to the door, Leo raised his hand. "One more thing... That strange Vetilim flower is still out there. Don't look in that direction. I'm not sure what it does exactly, but I don't think we want to find out now."

"Aye, the Crimson Mirage," Dylan muttered. "We're headin' in the opposite direction, so let's 'ope it won't be a problem. And if we come across another one, just avoid lookin' at it."

With that said, they all finally stepped into the corridor, and as Dylan moved to remove the shelf barricading the door, Leo summoned his job menu. It would be a waste to go out without any active task.

No, no, no. Definitely no. Leo mumbled internally, searching through the ever-growing list of available tasks. Alright, this looks perfect for today. Might even finish it in one go.

Extermination: Earth

Slay 15 level 7 or higher Voidlings. Commissioned by: System. Time Limit: 2 Earth days.

Rewards:

3 Ether Flares, Free honing token.

Do you wish to accept?

Yes. Leo confirmed, and the menu faded away. If this token works on repairs, then I won't need to waste Ether on Valron Coverage... Quite nice.

"It looks like we've got ourselves a welcomin' committee," Dylan called out, stepping away from the newly opened entrance. "Nothin' can be bloody easy these days, can it?"

Indeed, even without stepping on the street, Leo had already noticed at least half a dozen normies. Two of them were even walking toward their group.

Wonders of not having good stealth ability, I guess. Leo tsked, remembering well how a Voidling still spotted him even with the basic Stealth up. That was fucking annoying...

Identify.

Cursed Human (Voidling) | Rank: F | LVL: 6 | Type: Surface, Normal

Both are level six... Could have been worse. Leo noted as they all spilled out of the building. Just like Dylan said, Tyler took the front while the other two stood on the sides a few steps behind the warrior.

Already Tyler had his sword at the ready, while Dylan's finger sparked with lightning. Hell, even Laura had nocked one of her remaining arrows while the other was held loosely in her hand.

Left standing alone on the porch, Leo quickly scanned the rest of the street. On the far left, there was another group of Voidlings, but that one didn't seem to care. And so, overall, they barely had seven beasts standing in their way, one already engaged with Tyler and another on the ground, thanks to Dylan's technique.

Leo cracked his wide neck, blades lengthening with naught but a thought. Time to join the fray. Wanna help?

At once, his inner beast growled, bloodlust surging forward. Once more, they became one, and Leo couldn't hide his grin as he strode forward, his pace quickening with each step.

"Come, little sheep." A snarl left his mouth as the beast and former human sailed above the downed Voidling and barrelled straight into another. Claws and a blade stabbed deep into its torso, and Leo followed with his other arm, slicing through flesh like it wasn't even there.

Blood erupted like a fountain from the now headless monster, yet Leo paid it no mind. Guided by the call of his own beast, he spun around, his tails slapping away another normie that attempted to get close.

The Cursed Human never had a chance to recover as Leo pounced, swiftly separating its head from its body. However, the fight was far from over when two more normies rushed straight at him, their lengthened fingernails ready to tear through his flesh.

Leo could have easily dodged, rolled out of the way. But he didn't, not when this situation provided a perfect opportunity to test his blades further…

The moment the two Cursed Humans closed the remaining distance, Leo raised his arms, halting the offending limbs. Or at least he thought that would be the extent of what happened.

Instead, just when the beasts' fingers came in contact with the blades, Leo's eyes widened as the digits fell to the ground. Apparently, his blades possessed more cutting power than he expected…

Thankfully before he could go on another tangent, the roar of his inner beast instantly snapped him back to reality. Leo grinned, and together, they swiftly dispatched the now defenseless monsters as they screeched in pain.

Alright, enough for now. He commanded, sighing as the bloodlust retreated, the urge to tear everything to pieces leaving his mind. It definitely took a toll, but when Leo and the inner beast combined, he instantly understood so much more about his nature. Already, the three tails seemed a bit more manageable than a few minutes before.

Slow, but the progress is there. Leo noted, retracing his blades. In the corner of his vision, he noticed the rest of his group finishing their own fight.

Good, that gives me a moment.

Turning to the four fresh corpses, Leo closed his eyes and focused on a vivid image inside his head. With it firmly in mind, a small pulse escaped his body, swiftly enveloping the lifeless Voidlings.

It works. Nice. He nodded, approaching the second Cursed Human he had slain. His claws descended upon the body, devouring every bit of Essence left there.

Once only dust remained, Leo crouched and reached into the pile, his smile widening when his claws clicked against something hard. He grabbed the object and pulled it out, his hand bathed in the ruby glow of Crystallized Essence…

For an object so important, Leo had been wondering how other survivors were ever supposed to know that Voidlings could leave it behind. Drain made that discovery simple for him, but others didn't have such a shortcut.

But apparently, you can sense the crystal inside them... Makes it a bit easier. Thought the fact remained that people first had to know that Voidlings even carried those.

Maybe it was mentioned somewhere, and I just missed it? Not like I needed that kind of info.

It could be either that or other survivors had to be fortunate enough to stumble upon Crystallized Essence once the Voidlings turned to dust on their own. Not sure how long that takes, though.

Leo shrugged, turning to face his group. Ah, whatever. Maybe the presence of a crystal speeds up the process?