Chapter 3
They didn't rest for long.
Hawk gave them just enough time to catch their breath and restablize their energy before they continued pushing forward. His eyes had scanned the clearing twice already, something was off, and everyone could feel it.
Even the fog seemed thicker now, pressing down on them like wet cloth. The squad moved forward, everyone was at high alert, expecting the worst.
Kaizen stayed behind the group, still ignored. His head throbbed from the hit earlier, but he didn't complain. He never did. Complaining didn't stop the bleeding, and it sure as hell didn't make him more useful.
"Keep formation," Hawk said, raising a hand.
The red-haired fire user scoffed under his breath. "Would help if everyone here was actually worth placing in a formation."
Kaizen heard him. They all did. But no one said a word. Not even Hawk this time.
Ten minutes in, the quiet shattered.
A roar exploded from their left flank, followed by the crack of splintering trees. A monstrous beast far larger than anything they'd encountered bursted through the underbrush. It wasn't just big. It was armored. Covered in thick, bone-like plates, and fast too. Like real damn fast.
"Shit—!" one of the C-ranks shouted as they scattered. If they had been any second late, the beast would have swept them all off the ground.
The beast ignored the fire blasts shot towards it and charged into their formation like a truck plowing through paper. The redhead guy was too slow. It knocked him straight into a rock wall with a loud crack. His scream cut short as he hit the ground, unmoving.
"Rael!" the ice-user shouted.
But the beast wasn't done. It turned on him, ready to finish the job.
Kaizen didn't think. It was like his body just moved on its own, He just ran.
Dagger already drawn, heart hammering in his chest. The others were too far, still regaining footing, yelling something he couldn't make out. All he saw was the beast lifting a claw the size of a grown man to tear Rael in half.
Kaizen slid between them just in time, his dagger clashed with claw, and he felt the impact vibrate up his entire arm, nearly shattering the bones. His feet dug into the dirt, sliding back from the sheer force. His knees buckled, but he didn't fall.
The beast roared.
Kaizen slashed its leg with no hesitation, just instinct. It flinched. Not a deep wound, but enough to throw it off-balance.
"MOVE, DAMMIT!" Kaizen yelled without looking back.
Rael groaned, alive, barely. Blood poured from his side.
Kaizen yanked his body out of the beast's range just as a spear of ice shot past him, piercing the monster's eye.
It shrieked. Flamed followed. Water blades next. The squad had recovered and were now lunging multiple attacks at the beast.
Kaizen backed away, panting, still shielding Rael as the beast finally fell in a flaming, frozen, water-sliced mess.
There was Silence.
Then—
"...Did he just save Rael?" someone whispered.
No one answered.
Rael was barely conscious, blinking up at Kaizen like he couldn't believe what just happened.
Kaizen looked down at him. "Still think I'm just dead weight?"
Rael stared at him for a moment, bloody, dazed...then let out a breath that might've been a laugh. Or maybe just exhaustion.
Kaizen stood and turned away, limping back toward the rest.
Hawk walked toward him, brows furrowed. "That was reckless."
Kaizen shrugged. "Wasn't thinking."
"Good," Hawk said. "Means you didn't have time to get yourself killed for no reason. I'll take that over hesitation."
Kaizen blinked.
That... might've been a compliment, he wasn't used to getting one so it gave him a warm feeling, making his lips curve slightly into what looked like a smirk.
Rael was still being treated by Lara, who for once didn't complain. She was focused, her hands glowing faint green as she healed his ribs.
When her eyes flicked to Kaizen, there wasn't the usual disgust. Just... something unreadable.
"Yo," came a raspy voice.
Kaizen turned.
Rael was lying on his back, still half-dead, but conscious enough to talk. "Thanks…for that."
Kaizen nodded. "Don't mention it."
"No, seriously," Rael muttered. "Could've let me die. And, uh... I've said some dumb shit. Guess I didn't really think you'd… y'know."
"Neither did I," Kaizen said with a small, tired smile.
Rael huffed a small laugh. "Guess we're both full of surprises."
Kaizen didn't reply, but his shoulders loosened just a bit.
The atmosphere was different now. Not friendly, but no longer hostile. The silence wasn't as heavy. The glances weren't as sharp.
But Hawk wasn't relaxed.
He stood at the edge of the group, arms folded, staring deeper into the forest. "That wasn't normal. That beast was at least C-rank, maybe higher. This is a D-rank portal. Something's wrong."
Everyone went quiet again.
Kaizen reached down, picked up his dagger, and sheathed it with steady hands.
"That gem doesn't look like something we would get from a D rank beast. I'm afraid Hawk's right." Someone chipped in.
"How many gems have we recovered so far?" Hawk asked, turning to face the rest.
"Fourteen, four of which are from F rank beasts, four are from E rank beasts, six from D rank, and then this huge one which we suspect is from a C rank beast. And we haven't even found found the hound stone yet." Kira, the D rank earth realm user in charge of collecting the gems explained to Hawk.
The hound stone was another name for the portal switch. It was like a switch they needed to find, which was actually a rock with a little gem stone on top of it which needed to be pressed down to finally close the portal. It gets harder to find the higher the rank of the portal is.
"And how long have we spent in here?" Hawk asked with a raised brow....
"Three hours, fourteen minutes and twelve seconds." Kaizen replied at once. Somehow, he always had an accurate sense of time.. everyone already knew this so no one ever questioned his answer. Some people called him, the time freak.