She continued looking forward as she spoke, “Mars.”

“Ma-Mars!”

When Oliver asked, he thought it was some distant planet, only accessible through teleportation. He never imagined it would be the most populated planet closest to Earth.

“Wow!” the boy whistled softly, thinking about the red planet. Although there were already plans to colonize Mars before the first wave, it was just science fiction at the time. He had seen that some planets had small colonies, but knowing that entire families and cities existed was on another level.

“One day, I hope to visit Mars,” Oliver said, letting his inner child speak a little.

“Sure. When you visit, just call me, and I'll give you a tour,” the girl responded cheerfully. It wasn’t every day that someone was excited about her planet. Of course, Mars was an industrial powerhouse, but it wasn’t viewed with the same glamour as Earth or Luna. Katherine felt a twinge of pride for her family after seeing the excitement in the boy’s eyes.

The silence between them no longer lingered. Possibly, having gone through a near-death experience made people more open to each other, forging bonds that wouldn’t exist in different circumstances. As they continued chatting about more mundane matters than the Grand Houses, they finally reached the top of the hill.

In the distance, they saw what might be their way back home. The river split into two, with a piece of land between the streams.

“Maybe we can cross there?” the girl asked, not really expecting an answer.

She approached one of the river’s branches, and when she stepped into the water, she noticed the current wasn’t strong enough to sweep her away. Besides, the stream wasn’t as deep as it was at the bottom of the hill; it still reached above her knee, so each step had to be taken carefully.

The two spent a few minutes crossing from one bank to the other. When they finally reached the piece of land surrounded by rivers, they could see the second part and the shore they needed to get to.

Katherine smiled, excited to finally see their goal ahead. She glanced at Oliver, who didn’t seem as enthusiastic as she was.

There was a small detail Katherine hadn’t noticed, but Oliver, with his sharp eyes, had. Along the strip of land were dozens of skeletons, likely of Crabits. If the army hadn’t caused this destruction, then some monster had.

He began signaling with one hand for the girl to come closer. Still unsure of what was happening, she took two steps to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the boy, and for the first time, she noticed he was a bit shorter than her.

Oliver pointed to his own eyes and then gestured ahead, indicating the Crabit carcasses in the distance. Finally, Katherine got it.

“Do you see something? A creature?” Katherine whispered, covering her mouth with one hand.

“Besides the carcasses, no. But there must be some monster around.” Oliver replied.

Both crouched down and continued moving toward the second river split. But it didn’t take long to find the owner of those remains. In the other stream, a massive creature was drinking water. The beast resembled a lizard but with some differences. It was the size of a car, with eight legs on each side, and its back was covered in spikes. The creature was so massive that each step it took shook the ground.

Katherine grabbed the boy’s shoulder and pulled him back.

“It’s a Basilisk. They can be either Pawns or Knights.” Katherine explained.

Oliver nodded.

[Observation] Oliver cast his boon, but no information appeared.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

[Observation] The boy cast again, but still nothing.

‘There’s only one reason.’ He thought.

“The creature must be a Knight level; my boon didn’t work on him,” Oliver whispered close to the girl.

She didn’t need to ask further to understand. Many boons had the weakness of only working on opponents of the same level.

“From the book I studied, they are very territorial. We won’t be able to advance without confronting it. It doesn’t have good smell or hearing, but it has sharp vision,” Katherine began, pointing out the creature's characteristics.

“It’s strong, at least for our level. We especially need to avoid the paralyzing venom in its bite. Besides the spikes on its back, its tail can be used for long-distance attacks. Its weak points are its belly and inside its mouth, but they’re hard to reach.” Katherine continued to explain.

“How’s the skin? Can gunfire damage it?” Oliver’s main concern was being useless, as his boon wouldn’t work. He needed another option.

“I can’t say for sure; I don’t remember. But it doesn’t seem impossible to damage.” For the first time, Katherine was so close to Oliver that he finally noticed she had gray eyes and that, beneath the dirt from the past few days, she had a few freckles on her face.

"The best way to start the fight would be to launch a surprise attack, at least while he hasn't noticed us in his territory," Oliver commented.

“Yeah. Does your boon only depend on the opponent’s level?” Katherine decided to be direct. They needed to speed up the planning if they wanted to take advantage of the Basilisk, which was still being focused on drinking.

“Yes, it lets me analyze opponents’ movement patterns. But only for those at the same or lower level than mine.” Oliver explained while Katherine nodded. It wouldn’t be helpful now, but it was an interesting combat boon.

Oliver preferred to keep his Insight ability to himself. He had developed a bond and level of trust with her, but even he didn’t fully understand how this boon worked. It was better not to risk it.

“I think you’ve seen mine already. It consumes part of my blood to create crystals. They can spread over any surface I touch. But the stronger or further away the target is, the more blood it requires.” Katherine explained.

‘That’s why she avoids using it so much.’ Oliver finally understood how it worked, though he didn’t expect it to involve using blood.

“We don’t need to defeat it; we just need to cross the river. Here’s the plan: I’ll distract it while you shoot at its legs. If we disable them, we can get across.” Katherine explained.

Oliver nodded. He wasn’t confident they could take down the massive monster. However, if he could hit its legs, it would be enough for both of them to escape safely.

Both activated their armor and, weapons in hand, began to approach the creature. Once again, Oliver noticed that Katherine’s armor seemed slightly different, lighter, and less complex.

‘I’ll have to remember to ask her about it.’ Oliver made a mental note.

“SLUP! SLUP! SLUP!” They could hear the Basilisk still drinking water at the river’s edge.

Oliver gripped his pistol with both hands, focusing on shooting quickly but ensuring every shot counted. On the other side of the creature, Katherine crouched, sword in hand, ready to strike.

“ SLUP! HUMPH!”

The Basilisk quickly raised its head and looked around, locking eyes with Oliver. There was no way he hadn’t been seen.

“ROAR!”

The monster let out a thunderous roar before starting to charge at the boy.

Realizing their plan hadn’t worked, Katherine rushed toward the creature’s rear. Now that she was so close, they could fully grasp the monster’s size. Even standing on its 16 legs, it still reached Oliver’s abdomen.

The girl jumped, thrusting her arm to stab one of the back legs. As her rapier struck, a trail of green blood gushed out. The monster turned, spotting its second target.

Oliver didn’t wait for the creature to recover. With his pistol aimed, he began shooting at the Basilisk’s front legs.

“PHEW! THUMP!”

“PHEW! THUMP!”

“PHEW! THUMP!”

Each shot hit one of its legs, but the Basilisk’s skin seemed far more resistant than a Crabit’s. Even after three shots, there was no visible damage to the monster.

‘I’ll have to increase the energy input, even if it reduces my number of shots.’ Oliver thought.

The Basilisk found itself surrounded by opponents on both sides. It could either charge at the boy, shooting at its legs, or the girl still stabbing its back and rear legs. The monster wasn’t intelligent, but that didn’t mean it lacked instincts.

Between the two, the girl was the one currently causing more trouble. Without hesitation, the Basilisk decided to focus on her. Without moving, it raised its long tail, which had been still until now, and in a whip-like motion, lashed out at Katherine.

She was confident she could dodge, especially since the tail wasn’t long. But before she could move, the tail zigzagged, appearing right where she was trying to escape. The Basilisk managed to hit her in the ribs, throwing her against the ground.

“Katherine!”