Chapter 2: The wall

There was nothing Yusciel loathed more than climbing steep sides of mountains. Lies, terrible lies they told—her feet planted on the uneven stone wall, the hook’s string taut as it slowly pulled her and Leo upward. The view of the stone face was unending—terrible lies they told themselves—there was nothing exciting about seeing this same view for the last ten minutes.

Her right arm trembled as she felt her muscles stretching and growing sore. “I can’t… continue,” she muttered unconsciously.

“What?” Leo panicked at her words, his body shifting in front.

“Stay still, midget!” Yusciel snapped.

“Ah, sorry!” Leo replied, tightening his grip around her.

Yusciel turned her head, but her view was obstructed by blocks of protruding rocks. Suddenly, a flying beast emerged on the distant horizon—a Makbeast with a thin, long neck, large skinned wings, and an elongated beak. She clicked her tongue and shouted, “Hold on tight! We’re making a run for it!”

“What!?” came the startled reply.

Without further explanation, Yusciel leaped from the wall, pulling herself towards the locked hook above. Midair, she released it, letting momentum carry them forward. Her feet touched the wall briefly, attempting to launch them further—but her body felt unusually heavy, pushing her away instead. Adapting quickly, Yusciel activated her grappling hook, aiming further along the wall. It struck with a piercing sound, the vibration traveling through the strings, and into her numbed skin.

As the strings tightened, halting Yusciel’s fall as she swung back, her feet collided with the wall, sending a paralyzing jolt through her leg. Gasping for breath, she continued running sideways, desperate to escape the notice of the flying beast—the sounds of the air ripping hastened, as if it had caught sight of her.

Ahead, a small curve revealed a dent leading to a cave. Summoning the last shreds of strength in her legs, she tightened her grip on her arms and held her breath. The bird’s screeching cry echoed behind her, accompanied by the thunderous flapping of its wings.

A shadow loomed over their own—growing closer, prompting Yusciel to act swiftly. Timing it perfectly, she retrieved her grappling hook to her gear, leaped off the wall, and narrowly avoided the landing spot of the beast. In that split second, Yusciel allowed herself a fleeting smile. ‘Stupid beast.’

Suddenly, the beast twisted its neck, its long beak desperately trying to catch them. It snagged Yusciel’s left hand, dragging her towards the ground. The beast’s grip tightened, crushing her forearm and the metal plates of her armor creaking and denting under the pressure.

“Miss!” Leo cried out in panic.

Yusciel raised her right hand, gesturing with her fist, hurriedly opening and closing it twice. The grappling gear vibrated as if registering a command. She pulled herself near the beast, planting her feet around its neck. It thrashed clumsily, trying to break free from Yusciel’s muscular legs.

The Makbeast flapped its wings and took flight, still shaking its head in confusion. Despite the chaos, Yusciel remained focused, delivering a powerful blow to the beast’s head with a sickening crack. The disoriented beast crashed into the wall, throwing both Yusciel and the child against it. As they collided, the beast’s beak released Yusciel’s arm, screeching loudly.

Amidst the turmoil, the child’s fingers slipped from Yusciel’s, sending him into the abyss. Acting swiftly, Yusciel pushed off the wall, reaching out to catch Leo's hands and secure him in her arms. In a fluid motion, she flicked her right hand, sending a hook flying towards gray walls. It latched on, abruptly halting their fall with a loud reverberating twang as the line reached its limit, her right forearm felt as if it were being torn from her body.

The sudden stop swung Yusciel back towards the wall. She braced herself, attempting to plant her feet firmly, but slipped. Her knees collided with the unforgiving surface, the impact draining her strength. Paralyzed and trembling, Yusciel struggled to breathe, teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.

“Miss! Miss!” Leo exclaimed, tugging on Yusciel’s shoulder.

Yusciel shot him a glare as she tried to steady herself on a stone ledge, her feet trembling. “What?”

“I spotted a cave further to the upper left,” Leo said, pointing and gesturing to the right of Yusciel.

“I already saw it. Just give me a moment to regain my strength,” she replied, peering down at the dark forest below, shrouded in shadows. It seemed that the beast had either fled or had lost consciousness. “Can you move your arms and grab a Cousagastrics?”

“A what?” Leo asked, bewildered.

A strong gust of wind blew, causing Yusciel to groan and take a deep breath as a cold wind created violent whistling sounds that shifted her short black hair. She adjusted her position slightly, pressing herself more firmly against the wall. “In my bag—in front of you. Open it and find a thin can—show it to me after.”

Listening closely to her instructions, Leo unzipped the bag and rummaged around, pulling out a long, thin cylinder metal can roughly painted in a gray mix of red. Holding it up to Yusciel, he asked, “This one?”

“Yes, that one. Take off the cap and spray it on us,” she instructed.

Leo complied, twisting off the cap to reveal a spray button on top. He began to shake the can, only to have Yusciel shout in his ears. “What the hell are you doing? You don’t need to shake it, we’ll fall!”

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“S-Sorry,” Leo stammered before hurriedly spraying them; a cold yet stinky smell assaulted their senses, making it hard to breath and causing nausea. Leo coughed, on the verge of throwing up but managed to swallow.

“Calm down!” Yusciel pulled him close, clicking her tongue. “Let me handle it. Pass it to my hand.” She tapped his shoulder.

Leo quickly passed it to her, pulling his collar up his nose to cover the smell as Yusciel continued to spray it on them. In a small voice, Leo asked, “Urgh, what is that? The smell is so bad.”

“Couasagastrics…” Yusciel replied, holding her breath as tears collected in her eyes. “It’s a smell that most beasts don’t like to be near—You’ll get used to it soon.”

By the time Yusciel had covered them with the spray, the scent had vanished—as if their senses had died. Yusciel handed the thin can back to Leo, who secured it with its cap and placed it back inside her bag. She peered into the abyss once more—the Makbeast was still nowhere to be seen. Gulping, she tightened her grip around him, then flipped her body until her feet were firmly planted on the wall. Ignoring the aching pain, slowly, she began ascending, following the taut strings of her grappling hook that bore their weight.

In silence, she thought, ‘If there are any more beasts in that cave, Leo could be in danger… He could die… I could too—but I will return to that place—my home.’

Puzzled by her own thoughts, Yusciel contemplated the risk she was taking for the child. It was his choice that led them here, and without her intervention, he might have already perished. ‘Humans are so fragile,’ she mused, biting her lip. ‘traitorous thoughts—but I don’t want to return to that place. As long as I don’t die, I won’t be reborn there again.’

Yusciel swallowed, her throat parched, sweat dripping uncomfortably from her skin as it began to dry. Her hands throbbed with pain, but she found it bearable. After enduring for a few minutes, she finally reached a wall indentation where the cave curved inward. A stream of water echoed within, its trails disappearing into the cracks where moss was born. With a swing of her body to build momentum, Yusciel released the hook and landed inside the cave.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, her knees gave out and she immediately slipped to her side. She pushed the kid aside and leaned against the wall, taking off the tall bag behind her.

“Hey, miss?” Leo wondered. “Are you okay?”

“That’s Yusciel for you.” She replied, taking a deep breath as she tried to relax her numb legs. “Let me rest for a bit.”

He nodded at her words, “Um… Thanks, Miss Yusciel.”

“You better be,” she replied, shifting her attention to her grappling gear. She slid the front panel to the side, revealing a glass display showing only three Gen Crystals remained glowing out of ten. She grimaced, thinking, ‘Empowered Fists really did deplete a lot of Mana from Gen Crystals.’

Hurriedly, she took out her portable Gen Crystals Storage and replaced them one by one, ignoring both the exhaustion seducing her to stop and the boy’s wondering gaze. Once the refill was done and the portable storage stowed away, Yusciel inspected her hook—the piercing arrowhead was dented. Biting her lip, she thought, ‘Damn… We’re lucky it held before completely destroying itself.’

She pulled a knife from the sheath locked behind her shoulder bag. Her right hand gripped the hook while she cut the strings with her left. Despite being sharp, the knife didn’t manage to cut the strings in one go, instead shredding them until they snapped. Immediately, the strings began to fade. She sheathed the knife and stored the hook in one of her bag’s pockets.

“Hmmm,” Leo hummed softly, positioning himself closer to Yusciel as she shifted her bag.

She caught his glance. “Do you need something?”

“Um, no…” Leo’s voice faded to a whisper, “I just… wondered why you saved me. You could’ve… left me there. I wouldn’t mind—or really, no one would really care.”

Yusciel’s eyes twitched. “Do you know Alvitar?”

As she spoke, she untied her bag, flipping open the cover to reveal the front open compartment. An array of hooks and tools lay secured to the straps, barely visible through the mesh-like cover with a zipper.

“Alvitar? That guy who’s always asks where the brothels in the red district?” Leo murmured.

She chuckled, unzipping the front compartment. “Yeah. Him.” She retrieved a head hook. “He mentioned that I should save you—perhaps that’s the reason why,” she added, her tone uncertain.

“Hmmm,” Leo mused, then perked up. “Hey, what are you doing?”

Yusciel drew closer to her gear, carefully inserting the base of the hook through a hole. “I’m reattaching my hook—the one that broke off earlier.”

“Ohhh,” Leo exclaimed, his black eyes widened. “Those things break? I never knew…”

With a dry click, the hook locked into place. Strings began materializing at the chamber, connecting with the internal latch before it rotated with a screech, generating more strings inside. Once it stopped, Yusciel tested it with a gesture. The hook shot upward, latching onto the cave ceiling with a piercing thud.

“Whoa!” Leo jolted.

She detached it with another gesture and returned it to her gear. Inspecting the hook once more—still fixed and brand new. Yusciel smiled, thinking, ‘Yeah… This is definitely worth my money.’

She then glanced at the boy sitting on the ground nearby, noticing his bare forearm. “Where’s your gear?” she asked.

“Um, I dropped it—” he said, eyes darting nervously. “It wasn’t working, so I had to drop it to run faster.”

Yusciel nodded without further comment. She shifted her attention, examining the damage the beast had inflicted; some metal plates of her armor were missing. She clenched, both fists—sore and numb—and inspected her arms. Her left arm wasn’t bleeding despite being bitten, but the metal was dented.

‘Worth the money—but then again, those Makbeast don’t have teeth,’ Yusciel thought. She pulled back her long black sleeves, working through the belts that kept the armor tight on her left arm until the fabric stacked on her elbow. Her forearm bore red marks, with three thin black lines circling below her elbow. ‘If I lost my left hand, it would be impossible to transfer to my other stored bodies…’

“Whoa!” Leo exclaimed, moving closer. “Are those Antelies Sigils? Three sigils—are those bodies?”

‘He saw?’ Yusciel’s brow furrowed as she glared, her voice cold and low. “How do you know this?”

“Ah, uhm,” the boy panicked, “I remembered a shaman from before—he took four of my friends before the guardsmen captured him. That’s when I heard about people trying to get bodies.”

Yusciel nodded, pulling her sleeves down to hide the black lines. “Don’t tell anyone about this, alright?” she clenched her fist—the groaning loud and clear.

“Ye-yeah! I won’t!”

Yusciel clicked her tongue. “You should know that these sigils aren’t banned in many countries. Unlike Yhelmen, other places are more accepting of them.”

“Yeah, I know that!” Leo’s words tumbled out in a rush. “I’ve heard it from treasure hunters before. They said having those sigils is necessary for treasure hunting and exploring the outside world. There are proper, legal ways of getting bodies too. I’ve heard all about it.”

“Good…” Yusciel nodded. “I’ll trust you’ll keep your word about this.”