The pain that hit me felt ten times worse than the pain I felt when the spear had pierced through me. On instinct I found myself slapping a hand over the now visible wound but that seemed to only add more fire to the fuel.
I sent a gaze to the one who was the cause of this entire mess but he only just shrugged as though nothing mattered at all.
"We need to get out here first" Jordan said the girls nodded and I could refute him.
Sure, he caused me a truckload of pain by ripping the spear out, it was actually helpful given that with how high my health stat currently was it would heal up faster than before. In fact I could already feel the smaller tissues reconnecting and the bleeding had already stopped. That didn't mean that I had super healing abilities or anything like that, but my cell regeneration was currently at a point that this injury wouldn't be as detrimental as it should have been.
Yes, it slowed down my movements now but I had a feeling that if I was given just five minutes as rest, I would be able to at least display maybe about 60% of my capabilities and as more time passed the scale would rise little by little, that is if I grit my teeth and endured the pain that any movement would cause.
Luckily the injury was located on my left shoulder so I could still wield the sword to an acceptable level with my right arm.
We moved.
Running around the mouth of the crater and heading towards the area where the Ape and his pack of 11 apes were waiting.
Now that the panthers and the bears had lost their alphas, they were now going berserk and tearing at each other including the pack of apes. But they stayed clear of the Bone Ape. Likewise, the Bone Ape didn't pay them any attention at all.
It was entirely focused on us.
Bone spears rained from above, crushing into the ground behind us as we rushed to cross the distance. The ground shuddered with each impact and I could almost how craters formed with each impact. The Bome Ape made its way towards us at the same time. Its body brimming with an intense vitality and strength. It was tall but not to an exaggerated degree.
It stood with its back slouched 2 meters from the ground. Its arms thick and filled with muscles, its knuckles, elbows, face, shoulders, face and knees covered by a protective layer of white bone.
Everyone stopped five meters away from the beast and as though on agreement the Bone Ape stopped throwing bone spears as well.
Slowly it walked forward. Its eyes, hidden deep in the sockets of its bone mask, reflected unbridled arrogance and overflowing confidence.
"Huey, you need to stay out of this fight and heal up as much as you can. Lydia, Candice and I will handle that ape" Jordan said as he came to a stop just as we all did. His eyes were locked onto the Bone Ape.
"What are you crazy!? That thing is in the Second Order!" I shouted, the action causing me to wince as the wound in my shoulder ached. It felt itchy and uncomfortable especially with the cells regenerating and reconnecting at such a rapid pace. It almost felt as though hundreds of ants were crawling around in there.
"I know. Thats why it has to be us" Jordan replied his voice cool and firm. A far cry from the usual playful tone that he normally had.
"He's right" Lydia suddenly said to my right.
I whipped my head in her direction, my eyes wide. I was shocked. I was sure Lydia was smart enough to know how outmatched they were? Without me joining the battle they would have a really difficult time and by the time they won they would be extremely exhausted- the outcome that I had chosen to avoid when I decided to lure the Fiery Panther and the Alpha Bear into clashing with each other.
Whatever the case they would definitely need my help. I was just about to argue when she spoke once again.
"You have been doing almost everything on your own ever since we left the school. You took down a gang, raised up reliable help and helped everyone grow stronger, you even fought a beast in the Second Star Order on your own… honestly sometimes it makes us feel useless as though all our only purpose is to forever remain in your shadow.
"I know how much you worry for us but we need to get stronger on our own too without having to rely on you and this will be the very first step towards that goal." Lydia said, the air around her shifted around her and her feet rising a few inches off the ground.
There was something about her voice in this moment. It still felt as soft and sweet as it always was but something about it felt firm. And I could tell these words were coming right from the bottom of her heart.
I looked towards Candice and she simply shrugged and said: "Just rest a bit alright. We'll take care of this"
I hesitated- not knowing which words to use to convince these guys that they were being reckless. Too reckless in fact.
Didn't they understand just how dangerous this all was? How there was a possibility that they could die? How worried I was at this moment?
Candice, Lydia and Jordan had stepped forward. Their backs now in front of me.
I wanted to raise my hands. To stop them. To call them back.
However, my body didn't move. My voice remained in my throat, refusing to come out. Their backs moved further away now and I could only steel my heart and watch as they approached the Bone Ape.
What right did I have to stop them from moving forward, from trying to gain more strength than they had right now. Wasn't that what I had been doing this entire time as well? What made me right to stop them from risking their lives in gaining benefits from the system too?
I took a shaky breath.
Air filled my lungs. I held it in for a moment then I released a breath.
'Alright then. You guys go as wild as you can. I'll step in if the situation calls for it'
With that thought, I sat on the ground and silently crossed my legs.
[Murderous intent] flowed from my body and surrounded the immediate area around me. For a split moment it encompassed the entire area within a 3 meters radius but it only took a moment of focus for the three meter radius to become 1 meter.
Like this no weak beasts would dare come closer to me.
For a moment least, I would be safe. I closed my mind off to everything around me. I had to have faith in my friends. I had to believe in them, so for the moment I switched my attention toward my stat screen. With a thought familiar strings of green letters flashed within my retina and I focused on them.