Chapter 22- Newcomers (Part 2)

The moment Talon activated the skill, his whole body felt different. It was as if some kind of unknown force had taken over him.

It was weird but also a very pleasant feeling so he didn't question it and instead focused on his enemies. The monsters had already reached him and were about to attack him. With a calm mind, Talon let his body just move naturally and the result was simply mind-blowing.

*Swish*

In a split second, he slashed with the spear, cutting down multiple monsters as he suddenly dashed forward, taking everyone by surprise. Avoiding the arms of a few of them, he leaped in the air and descended down on one of the bigger ones as he stabbed its head powerfully.

[Ding!]

[You have killed a level 5 Dimension Walker.]

[Ding!]

[You have leveled up to level 8. +2 free points.]

A series of notifications appeared that Talon ignored before he used the monster's body as a way to jump back. The Dimension Walkers didn't let him breathe as they quickly tried to surround him.

"Talon!" Acrypha called him with clear urgency since he found himself in a very sticky situation. If anything touched him, he was done for.

Talon's eyes moved quickly as he identified the closest ones. Then, he quickly changed his grip on the spear to his two hands instead of only one. After that, he suddenly started spinning around quickly. The blade of the spear swung around as it sliced through the enemies.

"What…" Acrypha blinked in surprise. 'Where did he even come up with that idea?' 

Spinning around while swinging the spear created an invisible barrier around Talon. Any monster who wanted to pass that barrier would be sliced by the blade of the spear. It was a smart idea to defend against the swarm of enemies.

Then, when Talon was able to push most of them away, his spinning stopped as his hand landed on the ground and his legs bounced forward as he dashed through the small path back to the gate that was about to close.

In the darkness of the night, he appeared like a ghost moving through the swarm of enemies that tried to catch him. He dodged, sidestepped, and ducked any hand that wanted to grab him while slicing through any monster in his way without mercy.

[Ding!]

[Your spearmanship skill has leveled up.]

[Your passive spearmanship has improved.]

Even when his skill leveled up again, Talon didn't really care at all. His sole focus was to get back to the warehouse. His mind was in a zone state where it only perceived what was around it with no unnecessary thoughts.

'I'm feeling it… This is too much fun!' He thought to himself. 'More… More… More!!' For a moment, Talon's eyes flashed with a crazed look. He felt a thrill far better than anything else.

To be this close to death and yet still survive. To face such a dangerous situation and yet still show how much you improved. It was euphoric to a terrifying degree.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, the man and the two women watched Talon with complete shock in their eyes. Never in their lives did they see someone so strong. He almost looked like some kind of invincible demon that couldn't be defeated.

*Swish*

At the gate nearing the end, Talon emerged from the sea of monsters and jumped inside right before it closed as the waves of Dimension Walkers smashed against it.

Looking back, Talon wiped the sweat off his face and exhaled a long breath. "That was a little too close."

"A little?" Suddenly, he heard an angry tone coming from above him. 

"What?"

"You were almost killed there." She said.

"Hahaha, it was exciting. Did you see how I did that move with the spear? I never even thought it could be possible but I still did it!" Talon exclaimed with excitement clear in his eyes.

Acrypha was taken aback by his enthralled mood. She didn't see fear or hesitation in his eyes as he talked about what he did.

For a second, Acrypha didn't know what to say. She didn't want to break his excitement. But, in the end, she sighed.

"You did well. But, don't underestimate your opponents, Talon. Even the weakest Dimension Walker could be the reason for your death."

"I know, I know. I wasn't going to jump in there if I wasn't confident and ready to face them." He replied with a shrug.

"You don't under-"

"A-Are you ok, sir?!" Before Acrypha could speak, she was cut off by the man who called for Talon.

"I'm good. You guys were really lucky that you were close by." Talon said.

"Yeah, thank you so much for helping us! We owe you a lot!" The man nodded his head with a grateful look. "I'm Ryan Seok. And that's An Sook, my wife, little Ryan Jung, my son and Eum Eun, our neighbor and a friend of the family." The man named Ryan Seok introduced himself and the people with him.

"I'm Talon. Nice to meet you all."

"What's going on here?" 

At that time, Chin-Hwa suddenly emerged from the warehouse with a frown on his face. When he saw the strangers, he squinted his eyes. "Who are they?"

"Just random people that were running from monsters and ended up here," Talon explained.

Chin-Hwa nodded his head briefly before he looked at them. The group instinctively flinched from his strong gaze.

"If you want to stay here, you will have to follow our rules or we will kick you out." He finally spoke with a cold tone.

"I-I'm sorry, rules?" Ryan Seok was confused.

"Yes, rules. You've heard of those, right? We control this place so anyone who wants to be accepted and sheltered needs to follow what we say." 

"Oi, Chin-Hwa. This isn't the time for this kind of conversation. Let them rest first, they have been running for hours. We can establish rules later." Talon approached Chin-Hwa and spoke to him in a tone that the others couldn't hear.

"They're strangers, who knows what they can do? We need to make things clear."

"They have a damn kid, man. Let them get inside first and get warm and then we can talk, ok?" Talon added as he signaled briefly with his head.

The cold prince was about to retort when Talon turned around. "You can come in for now. The outside is really cold."

"You heard him. Thank you so much, sir! You are really kind! Thank you!" Tears welled up in Ryan Seok's eyes as he bowed deeply to Talon.

The two women and the child looked at him before they bowed too. "Thank you, good sir. We would've not made it without you."

After that, they made their way inside the warehouse while Talon stood outside watching them. He had a complicated expression on his face.

This was the first time in his life that he experienced such a feeling. To see people bowing in tears and thanking him deeply for his help… It felt good. 

"Hey, Acrypha." He murmured.

"What?"

"Saving people… Has it always been this good of a feeling?" He asked. 

However, Acrypha didn't reply as she simply floated around Talon knowing well that he already knew the answer to that.

Closing his eyes for a second, Talon smiled slightly. "I'm not a hero… But I damn well like helping people in need." He said.

After that, he walked inside the warehouse again. There, he found Shin-Il and Soomin had already woken up and were talking to the new group.

Chin-Hwa was standing nearby, staring at them with hawk-like eyes, clearly dissatisfied with what was happening.

Talon simply walked to a nearby place and sat down as he watched the group casually. He was resting after the training so he didn't have anything to do for now. However, as he watched them, he noticed something weird.

"Hm?"

One of the women, precisely Eum Eun whom Ryan Seok identified as their neighbor seemed to act rather odd. While Ryan Seok and his wife were talking to the others, she seemed to look around with uneasy eyes.

Her hands kept rubbing against each other and she seemed to want to do something but then refrained from doing it at the last moment.

"What's wrong with her?" Talon murmured to himself with a confused look.

That continued for a while until her eyes finally met his. The two stared at each other for a while before Eum Eun finally opened her mouth and whispered something that Talon didn't understand.

"Huh?"