Dairen cursed, gripping his hand with frustration. “Is there no other solution?”

“Rest.” The cleric said with a definite answer. “A Lot of it.” 

“I’ll make sure of that.” 

The cleric nodded, she turned around and left the two of them alone. 

Dairen came over, pulling up a chair. He sighed deeply, frowning at Snow as he spoke, “You idiot. Take better care of yourself.” With a brush of his fingers, he pushed away her hair. He leaned forward, gently kissing her on the forehead.  

Snow was out cold, sleeping deeply from exhaustion. She didn’t feel his light kisses on her forehead. Dairen got up and headed towards the exit. He stopped for a moment, his eyes gleamed over with seriousness as he stepped out, leaving Snow alone. 

For the next day, Snow was bedridden. Rolling around in bed with a high fever that wouldn’t break. Her mind was fuzzy, unable to comprehend what was going on. She hadn't felt this drained or sick for a long time, mainly because she wasn’t the type to catch the flu quickly. 

Every day, she would see or hear the concerned voices of familiar people that came and went as the days went by. 

Her dreams became wild and chaotic, twisting and turning her into a pretzel as it carried her into dark memories of her past. From her childhood days to her teenage years, but just as quickly as it came, it went away, leaving her alone in the darkness of her mind. 

A loud tapping sound was heard when Snow opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to figure out where she was. Everything was hazy, making her confused about what was going on. There were times when she thought she was back at her old apartment, but the wooden bed was uncomfortable. 

Snow was in simple pajama-like pants and a t-shirt. Her long white hair was spread out messily on the bed. 

She moved, trying to lessen her stiff body that didn’t seem to want to listen as well as she wanted. There were strange grunting and yelling sounds from outside. Her weak hand searched for anything she could use as a weapon but found nothing. 

Willing her magic, she tried to summon up her armor, but for some reason, her magic didn’t want to listen, leaving her bare and vulnerable. She had never felt this pathetically weak before it felt as if she was cursed to become a magicless being. Fear gripped her heart, but she quickly stamped it down, knowing that it would do her no good. 

Closing her eyes, once again, she searched inside her body. Sensing for any minuscule energy that she had and found her magic still present. She tugged, hoping that she could force it to listen to her, but it still did not budge. With a disgruntled frown, she bite her lower lips. Waking her up even further. 

Luckily, she still had her magical power, but the control to will it out wasn’t present. The only thing she could do was find a different way to move about without magic. Pulling her leg over, she placed her feet on the ground. It took a moment for her to push off the bed. 

Standing up, she breathed in once, lettingthe fresh air washed through her. It took an effort to move one step. She stumbled. Her hand caught the chair that was next to the bed. 

Snow didn’t give up; she took another step and another. The energy that she lost was coming back to her, allowing her to take a bit more positive steps than before. Eventually, she came to the flap of her tent. Her hand reached out, pushing it open, the bright light blinded her. 

Her hand automatically raised up, blocking out the annoying sun. It took a moment to adjust. Shouts of angry people ran past her in a hurry, magic flurried through the air, causing an unusual tingle on her body. 

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Snow turned towards the direction. Her eyes focused. 

Chaos was apparent before her. People were fighting head-on with the monster that invaded the camp. They were raptors like monsters that reminded Snow of a dinosaur. Their feathered head with multi-colored bands and bodies were eye-catching as they hunted in packs. There were always two together, overpowering a single person whenever they got a chance too. 

Some slinked through the tents, screams of pain and anguish could be heard as the raptor tore through the hidden and the weak bodies. 

Everywhere she looked, an ugly array of carnage was present. She stiffened, realizing what she had stumbled upon. Her instincts flared to life, her blood pumped with excitement. Scanning through the chaos, she found a short sword on the ground next to a dead body. 

Quickly, without a second thought, she moved as fast as her leg would allow, she came upon the body to take the short sword off the ground. 

Her fingers fumbled at first, cursing at her weakness. Using both hands, she lifted the sword. The weight was heavy, making her muscles ache. 

Not too far away, a raptor saw her pick up a sword. It cackled and pounded its clawed feet, excited at easy prey. With a mouth gaping with rows of sharp teeth, it rushed over towards Snow. 

Alarmed at the danger that was coming ahead, her instinct screamed to move. Her body at first, didn’t respond as quickly as she wanted. Barely brushing past the monster's jaw, her shoulder was nicked by his teeth as she dodged out of harm's way. 

She swung her sword upwards towards where she intended to cut the neck, but instead, it flailed and hit the raptor on the side of its body. It bounced off its skin, causing Snow to lurch backward. 

Once again, annoyed that the raptor missed its meal, it swiveled its head. Snapping in quick succession, trying to take a chunk out of her shoulder. 

Snow gritted her teeth. She ducked underneath as her leg seemed to cave under her. With a grunt, she pushed herself to punch the raptor under its chin with the butt of the sword. A sickening crack could be heard as the lower jaw of the monster hung loosely, unable to bite anymore. 

With another step, she felt the energy that she lost come back slowly but surely. 

Snow had already calculated the safest path for her to move her sword. It twisted and turned, making her form a bit strenuous to her body as the movement was irregular. The ground was decorated with corpses, making the ground pool with blue blood. But Snow didn’t bat an eye on the terrible scene before her. 

Her sword struck true. Stabbing into the right eye, she twisted it in viciously. The raptor bulked, falling forward as it fell onto the ground dead. 

Relieved that she was out of harm’s way, she reached down and pulled out her short sword. It let out a squelching sound that would make anyone hurl. 

Not too far away, she heard a rapid shot of gunfire. Snow snapped her head towards the direction. 

Jack and his group of cronies were shooting their guns at the raiding Raptors that cackled and screamed when the bullets entered their bodies. Even still, it wasn’t enough to stop the swarm circling around them like prey being hunted. 

“Get your asses in gear! These monsters should be easy to kill!” Jack shouted wildly, he was shooting off a rifle at the nearest raptor. Luckily for him, he fell three more, but the other two bulldozed their way through. 

The first raptor took the one protecting Jack on the left, while the second took the other one behind him, leaving him exposed. Jack fired his gun at the raptors before him, even with his men entangled in their mouth. Both of them died as well as the monsters, leaving him breathing heavily. 

Snow was appalled at the way Jack handled his people and the monster. She didn’t want to be entangled in his fight or be anywhere near him. An ugly feeling of disgust was bubbling in her mind as she turned around, leaving Jack in a pool of death around him. 

Snow searched through the area, trying to find someone familiar. So far, only the people from Jack’s army and a handful of people were present, trying to keep the monsters from overwhelming them. She wondered where all the top-level players and hunters had gone in such a crisis. 

A few people, who were hiding behind a barrel saw her walking by. In excitement, they got up and trailed a reasonable distance behind her, hoping that her “blessing” would rub off on them to stay alive. 

Snow didn’t mind or care at this moment of the growing number of unfamiliar people following behind. She was too busy, trying to stay alive as she battled against another raptor that almost overpowered her. Luckily for her, her skills had kept her alive. Leaving her with heavy breath. 

She needed to find someone. 

Eventually, her feet took her to the main tent, where she dropped off Jack when she knocked him out. It was ravaged with fire, burnt to crisp, leaving nothing but burnt bodies that stank foully.

What was truly going on?

Snow came over, trying to find any clues. The intensity of the fights became louder, but she could see that they were still a little away from where she stood, so for now, she was safe. She felt useless, unable to do much. Then in the corner of her eye, she saw something glisten underneath the ragtag tent. Her foot pushed it aside, and she found a black metallic ball. 

Slowly, she reached down to pick it up. 

“Saintess!” One of the people that were following her yelled with a hoarse voice. He knew that he would bring attention, but he needed to stop Snow. 

Snow snapped towards the direction where the voice came from and noticed a young man with bluish gold hair, waving his hand above. 

“Saintess!” 

Snow tilted her head, she turned back towards the ball. 

“It’s a bomb!” 

Snow froze, a few centimeters away.