Rhian trusted Nia's words. If she said it, then it was fact to him. Whether it was good news or bad, he accepted it without question.
So when that first Spine Crawler came out of the bush, Rhian was already tightening his grip on his twin short blades.
Then came another.
And another.
Until the ground itself seemed to shake under the rising tide of bone-legged monsters pouring out of the forest.
"Here they come!" Ash laughed like he was at a festival.
Rhian didn't laugh. He stepped forward beside Nia. She moved with calm aggression, sword already drawn, stance wide.
Ash, being unpredictable, stepped backward, his body shifting with that strange elasticity only a cursed could have.
His legs got thick.
His arms elongated. When he stomped down, the ground actually vibrated from the sheer weight of his transformed leg.
The first monster that lunged at him was crushed underfoot without resistance. Bones snapped like twigs. Ash just grinned. "Weak."
But Rhian didn't have time to admire it. The swarm was coming at them from every direction.
"Stay close! Don't get surrounded!" Nia called out sharply.
Aras remained near the back, watching everything with a cool, unreadable gaze. His hand lifted slightly, and the ground near Iris trembled.
Spine Crawlers that tried to ambush her from the side suddenly crumpled under an unseen force. Gravity pressed down like an invisible hammer, smashing their fragile bodies into the dirt.
Rhian was already moving.
His blades gleamed as he spun through the first wave. He didn't have Nia's overwhelming strength or Iris' inhuman speed, but what he had was his own blend, controlled, relentless, stubborn.
One monster lunged at his side. Rhian stepped inside its bite, his shoulder smashing against its head, forcing it off balance before driving one blade into its jaw and ripping upward.
The second blade caught another in the throat without breaking his motion.
Green blood splattered across his arms.
He felt alive.
Nia, beside him, moved like a wall that hit back. Where Rhian ducked and shifted, Nia planted herself like iron. Every swing of her sword either cleaved a Spine Crawler in half or sent it flying back, limbs broken.
"Watch your left, Rhian!" Nia barked.
Without thinking, Rhian shifted, his footwork clean. A monster lunged at empty air where his neck had been.
Iris was a ghost.
She flowed through the battlefield, never in one place long enough for the monsters to track her.
Her movements were snake-like, weaving between attacks with a grace that almost looked unnatural. When she struck, it was fast and final.
A quick pierce to a weak point, back of the head, under the jaw, into the throat, then gone again.
Ash cackled as he stomped down another, his large form moving with reckless ease. "You guys should keep up! They die easy!"
Aras hadn't moved from his position, but every few seconds, when the swarm pressed too hard near Nia or Iris, his hand lifted, and gravity pulsed outward. Monsters caught in the radius either collapsed or staggered long enough for his teammates to finish them.
But Rhian was lost in the fight.
Blades in hand, feet steady, his body moved sharper, cleaner with every second.
Predator Instinct and Ragnarok Physique were working together, feeding him information, adjusting his balance, letting him feel the danger before it reached him.
Another monster came straight at him.
He ducked low, cutting both legs from underneath it before pivoting into a full slash across its neck. Blood hit his cheek.
More came.
More fell.
He felt Nia beside him. Felt Iris dart around him. Felt Ash laugh in the back like a demon. Felt Aras watching silently, his calm pressure covering them when needed.
This was their first true fight together.
And they were winning.
Rhian noticed it as he moved. The more he fought, the clearer it became. These things were blind. Just like the Hollow Rats back home, they didn't rely on sight.
They moved through sound and maybe even smell. But where the Hollow Rats were sloppy and wild, these things were faster, harder, and smarter.
It wasn't just instinct. They moved together. Covered each other. Surrounded from angles most monsters never thought about. That only meant they were communicating somehow.
Still, Rhian didn't stop moving. He was in the zone now. Focused. The thrill of fighting, of testing himself, made his body move sharper and faster. The way they lunged. The way they circled him. He could see it now.
But that same focus started to blind him.
He didn't hear the one closing in from behind. Moving with patience, unlike the others.
It pounced.
Rhian caught the shadow last second, too late to dodge.
A hand grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him back hard. A flash of metal passed in front of him. Nia's sword tore through the crawler mid-air, splitting its skull clean open.
The body slammed onto the ground where Rhian had been standing.
"Don't lose your head," Nia said flatly, eyes still watching the fight, ready to move again.
Rhian blinked. He exhaled, realizing just how deep into it he had gone.
'Right... I'm not alone.'
With that reminder still fresh in his mind, Rhian shook it off and jumped back into the fight.
He shifted closer to Nia. It wasn't even planned, it just felt natural. She was already cutting through the swarm without hesitation, her sword swinging with a weight that made every strike brutal.
But it wasn't just the sword. She didn't hesitate to punch them either, sometimes catching a crawler mid-lunge with her bare fist before finishing it off.
Rhian could feel it now, standing beside her. The raw force in her movements. In their spars, she held back big time, controlled herself more than he thought.
But right now, she was letting loose, every swing of her arm, or step forward shook the small monsters off balance.
One crawler lunged low toward Rhian's leg. He didn't even look. His blade swept down sharply, cutting through its neck before stepping in line with Nia as another pair rushed them.
Nia moved first, taking the left. Rhian went right.
She smashed hers with her sword, shattering bone armor with pure strength. Rhian ducked under his, stepped to the side, and drove both blades into its ribs before yanking outward, splitting it open.
Another came from the side. They both reacted.
Nia kicked it square in the body, sending it flying back with a dull crunch.
Rhian moved in front of her, spinning his blades and catching two that tried to close the gap between them.
Their movements weren't clean like trained partners.
But they were effective.
They fought like people who knew what the other was willing to do, not perfect, but dangerous together.