Excursion [8]

[Levi's Pov]

Will hurriedly approached us in sync with the boss monster running away, now wearing a hesitant smile on his face.

However, I could still not accept it

"Why... are you here, Will?"

I had no idea why I even asked that question in the first place when the answer was obvious.

"I was... Haaa... I'm here because I thought you might need help."

Despite him thinking about telling some white lie to smooth things over, he decided to just be honest, probably thinking that I wouldn't believe him anyway.

Which was true. I already knew why he came. No matter what kind of emotions he felt toward the one who had warned us, Will knew that Aarick wouldn't say something like that without a reason.

And... I also knew that.

That's why I got even more frustrated, even more upset when thinking of how I had actively ignored his warning without any real reason.

"...just go back."

"Levi?"

"Just go back to your team, Will! Celina, Gerald, Astor, we are going back to camp!"

"Levi, please wa..."

"I'll talk to you after the excursion, Will. Goodbye."

I knew I was being petty, childish even, but I couldn't help it. Even though I was struggling to walk straight after having gotten hit by the monster, I didn't want to stay any longer and be forced to accept reality.

The reality that Aarick was once again right. And even worse than that, accept the emotion that still lingered in the back of my head.

That I was disappointed that Aarick wasn't the one who showed up.

****

[Aarick's Pov]

"Why is he taking so long?! Damnit, we can't even start a fire without him!"

Both of the women in my group were now noticeably worried after having spent a long time in the cave, only able to illuminate the dark with a couple of flashlights.

"Please calm down, Jessica. He is probably on..."

"Who said that you are allowed to call me by my first name?! From what I've heard, you're just from some no-name family. Don't get ahead of yourself!"

'Hmm? Did she always have that kind of personality?'

It was weird to see Jessica suddenly turning into what I could only call a haughty...

"What did you say, bitch?!"

Lydia now rose from the ground, not taking the sudden insults that Jessica had spouted lying down.

Despite her having been relatively calm lately, I could still remember how she had chased Peter down the hall during our first day, so I wasn't all too surprised.

"I'll go for a walk."

However, seeing the two women get all riled up, I decided to stop leaning against the rocky wall and make a swift escape.

Or at least, that was what my plan was.

"NO!"

"You can't leave!"

The two women suddenly dashed in front of me, holding their arms out to block me from exiting the cave.

In the end, it wasn't hard to assume that the main reason why they had acted out earlier was because of unease. An unease that was created by a combination of our leader being absent, as well as the darkness around us.

Therefore it also wasn't too weird that both of the women were now wearing very anxious faces when I said I was going to leave them by themselves.

Unfortunately for them, I had some business that I needed to attend to, and I honestly didn't care much about their feelings.

With a slight kick to the ground, assisted by using my ability to reduce gravity, I simply jumped over the pair and continued on my way.

"I'll be back in a bit."

Once again I was met by the comfort of the night, with the moon's gentle greeting falling onto my pale skin. But now, I was too hungry to fully enjoy it, after having spent most of the day hunting monsters.

In that regard, I wasn't that different from humans. The more I moved, and the more I used my abilities, the hungrier I got. It wasn't to the point where I felt like I would suddenly lose control, but it did create a scenario that if I didn't consume any blood in the near future, things could get a bit... unpredictable.

Due to this, I hurriedly made my way to the same spot that I had used yesterday night and brought out yet another bag of blood.

'So good...'

Despite me having now fully accepted the absolute bliss that I felt when consuming the red liquid of life, I still wasn't comfortable using my fangs to drink it, a part of me afraid that it might be hard to go back from it.

Suddenly, I could sense a large body quickly moving through the forest, running in the direction where our base was located. Scratching my head, I had a good feeling that this was the same monster that I had sensed when I tried to warn Astor's group, which sadly meant that I didn't believe that the repel powder would work to keep it away from the cave.

What was weird about this was that in the case of Levi's group getting wiped out, a teacher would have jumped in and gotten rid of it. This meant that they had managed to come out unscathed, therefore making me assume that Will had managed to get there in time.

"Man... didn't he finish it off? Did the two geniuses really let it go just like that?"

Naturally, as I didn't know the specifics of what had happened over there, it was hard for me to say anything, but I still felt a bit disappointed in the two people who were hailed as prodigies, one-in-a-million talents that was destined to become the leaders of mankind.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Despite my not caring all too much about the rankings, I didn't want to lose the chance to spend a few more days out here in the comfort of the wastelands. For me, this was more of a vacation than anything, as it was a lot less exhausting than spending my time in the academy.

Thus, I dashed forward through the forest, feeling more than slightly annoyed at how things turned out.

****

[Lydia's Pov]

'He actually just left us...'

Even though Jessica had said some pretty rude stuff to me, to which I had retorted in an equally aggressive manner, we had now together made our way deeper into the cave, not quite trusting the repel powder that I had spread out again.

No matter how comfortable I was with being in a forest, the wastelands weren't a place where I believed anyone could feel that way.

"Those guys... I can't believe both of them just left us!"

"Yeah..."

Truth be told, I was a lot less surprised to see Aarick going off on his own again, as I was still sure that he was up to something. Will running off, however, and the fact that he somehow believed Aarick's words was extremely surprising.

Stretching her body a bit, showing off her womanly form underneath the gray leather armor, Jessica wasn't all too good at hiding her nervousness. And to be honest, I didn't feel that much different about this.

And I also knew that it was because of how dark it was inside the cave.

Humans weren't made to spend their time in the dark, as no matter how strong you were physically, your mind would still start spinning and bring with it a lot of bad thoughts.

Which made our white-haired group member even weirder, as he didn't seem to mind the dark even in the slightest. In fact, I almost got the feeling that he preferred it. Following this, I couldn't stop myself from remembering what had happened yesterday.

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't scared of him, but at the same time, I was to some extent aware that he wouldn't do anything as long as I left him alone. That's what his actions yesterday told me, that he was simply warning me to back off.

*Awooo!*

Out of nowhere, a loud howl suddenly echoed through the cave, making us both rise to our feet and ready our weapons in an instant, while pointing the flashlights on the ground towards the exit. Neither of us dared to speak, unsure whether or not the monster outside of the cave would be able to hear us.

And then, we waited. Yet, no more sounds were made. Until we could hear the familiar voice of the one who had left us earlier.

"Hmm? What's up?"

Then, as he stepped forward we got to see a face that was more terrifying than any monster.

A pale face adorned with red eyes that glowed in response to the flashlight that illuminated him, grotesquely painted with fresh blood. So, it couldn't be helped that when he approached us, tilting his head in confusion...

"KYAAAA!"