25. Nothing Ever Comes Easy.
'We have about two more hours until the Suns set. We may want to find a place to camp soon.' Vixen warned Lance. She didn't want to get caught out in the dark after that pack of wolves attacked them. Nighttime creatures could easily catch them off guard, and she didn't want to think about what kinds of creatures they were.
'You might be right. But we really should try to cover as much ground as possible'. Lance wasn't ready to stop. The quicker he got back, the sooner he could finish the quests and collect his spoils. His eyes were set on that God status Vixen told him about. And he wanted a fast track to that level of power.
"How much longer?" Like an impatient child, Sharna whined. She was able to keep up a little better than before, but she was still falling behind.
"As long as we keep going, we will make it back by tomorrow afternoon". He wasn't wrong. If they didn't stop for the night, they would make it by the afternoon. He looked up to the Suns getting lower in the sky and let out a sigh. He stops and turned to Sharna, "We'll stop here for now." Even though he didn't want to stop, he was getting hungry.
Sharna had a huge smile when she heard that. She jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "Yay!" She looked around for a place to sit. She spotted a sturdy tree and decided to lean against it.
Lance shook his head and sat against a tree opposite her. He pulled out some rations and watched the sky. He didn't want to waste too much time here. As he sat there, Lance began to think of some plans. He didn't know how long the training would be, but he thought about where to go next. He knew he could go for mage, technician, and brawler on this planet, and he felt his skills as a squire were adequate, and with the class, he didn't need to worry so much when he decided to change to something else.
"Hey, so, I wanna know. How did you get so strong so quickly?" Sharna was eating some rations too, but she paused from eating. To her, Lance was an odd one. The man sitting across from her looked no older than herself but was immensely stronger.
"That's kinda hard to explain. The best way I can put it, is I just learn very fast." It wasn't exactly a lie. He could learn fast. Even with an abysmal intelligence stat. With the help of Vixen and the weird system, he was able to grow and learn quickly.
"Are you a mage, or a scholar or something? I've only ever heard of quick learning abilities with people who study one of those". She would take a bite of her food now and then, but never looked away from Lance. As she sat there looking at him, she felt her heart speeding up.
Lance shot her a puzzled look. 'Doesn't she have the scholar sub-class?' He shook his head, "No, it's just something I was born with." Again, not a lie, but not the full truth. He contemplated telling her about the system, but he thought it would confuse her or even make her see him more strangely.
Vixen was paying attention to the whole conversation. She admired the fact that Lance wasn't telling the whole truth, but not exactly lying. 'We should get moving soon.' She kept an eye on Lance and smiled as she opened the map to lead the group out of the forest.
Lance quickly finished his food and got back on his feet. He dusted his ass off and check his surroundings quickly before starting to walk again.
When Sharna saw that, she quickly stuffed the rest of her food in her mouth and stood up as well.
"We still have a lot of ground to cover, and not a whole lot of time. Can I count on you to keep up?" Lance extended his fist.
With a bright smile, Sharna hits her fist against his, "Yes!"
*
Back at the corpses of the wolves, the ground shook. Loud Thumping could be heard coming from the trees nearby. A few trees cracked and fell to the ground with a thundering sound. The corpses of the wolves vibrated against the ground each time the earth shook.
From behind the trees, a gigantic figure materialized. The seer scale of the monster was immeasurable, and in the darkness of the night, only the outline of a canine could be seen. It approached the corpses one by one and started to sniff them. It went from wolf to wolf, sniffing each one. Then, like it caught a new scent, it walked over to a tree and started sniffing it.
"HHHOOOOOWWWLLLL"
Whatever it found, it got its scent. The big beast started heading in the direction of this new smell. It began as a light jog, then broke into a full-on sprint, the speed of which made the passing trees seem like a blur to it.
*
Their small group walked for a couple of hours and the Suns were beginning to set. Lance made sure to keep an eye on them as Vixen lead them back.
'We covered just under twenty-five kilometers. As long as we don't face a group of monsters, we should make it back in time for lunch'. Vixen smiled at Lance.
"Do you think we should find a place to set up camp?" Sharna was growing fatigued. She felt they must have walked several hundred miles and she wanted to take a break.
"Not yet, we covered good ground today, but I wanna get further out of the forest first." Even though he couldn't see anything, he had a bad feeling. He couldn't help but think of the pack they fought not too long ago. Just yesterday he found a pack with an Alpha, and it was much smaller. This pack he felt must have had an Alpha as well, and it had to be strong. The thought made him shudder and anxious to get back as quickly as possible.
'Lance, What's wrong?' Vixen could feel Lance's worry.
'I was thinking about this not too long ago. Do you remember that pack of wolves?' They did discuss it a bit on their walk. But she thought he put it behind them.
'Yeah, you were wondering where their Alpha was. I thought I told you we should count ourselves lucky the Alpha never showed.' Vixen wasn't nearly as concerned. If that pack had an alpha, they would've shown up by now.
'Even if it hadn't shown, we should be careful. An alpha is nothing to scoff at. As we found out the hard way.' No matter what, Lance was going to stay alert. If there was anything he learned from his games back him, it was to never let your guard down, even for a second.
'Yeah, but I don't think....' Vixen didn't even have the chance to finish her thought.
"Hoooooowwwwllll!"
Off in the distance, they heard the telltale sound of a wolf's howling. It was faint, and far away, but they still heard it nonetheless.
Lance stops dead in his tracks and turns 180. 'That's the direction of the pack, ain't it?'
'Yes!' With Lance proven to be right, Vixen shuddered. Panic started to rise within her and she started to pant.
Sharna heard the howl too and stopped in front of Lance, "Wha..!"
"RUN!" Lance rushed over and picks Sharna up, turns, and runs in the direction of the city once again, this time at full speed. Wanting to keep the lead they had, he wasn't leaving anything to chance.
"P-p-put me d-down!" Lance suddenly picking her up startled Sharna. The howl of the wolf was the furthest thing from her mind right now.
'Lance, it's pretty far away, I don't think we need to rush' Vixen can't imagine the Alpha being able to catch up to them.
"RENE! Put me down!" Sharna was shaking and hitting Lance's back.
"Can both of you shut the fuck up!" Lance tried to focus on getting as much distance as possible, but the two girls yelling and screaming weren't helping matters.
Sharna and Vixen were shocked. Neither of them said a word after, but Sharna was completely puzzled.
"Hhhooooowwwwwlll"
Vixen's eyes shot wide, the sound was much closer. The beast was following them and it was gaining ground.
Lance quickly opened his interface and added points to max out Rush. 'Rush!', All he could think about was putting as much distance as he could. Just in case though, he wasn't gonna expend all his stamina.
"Hooowwwwwlllll"
'Vix, How close are we?' Lance was focused on getting back to town. With the Suns down, there should be more sentries posted. At least he hoped.
'We have over 20 kilometers left. We won't make it!' Vixen was watching behind them. Waiting for whatever is chasing them to appear.
'Rush!' Lance was focused on saving them. 'Rush!' With every use, he seems to go farther and farther.
"HOOOOWWWWWLLLLL!"
'I Can See It!' Trees were being broken down as the beast pushed through them to chase the group. A faint outline started to appear. 'Hurry Lance!' Vixen started to panic, whatever it was that was chasing them, it was gigantic.