Kabanata 7

The burning wind brushed on him. The sun was in its utmost high, fervor heat was cast all over the goddamn land and Keenan couldn't help but huff in this burning sensation. He was dripping wet, layers of sweat covered his skin, it was icky and awful for him. He wanted to bathe right now! He smelled his body and he easily guessed that he was secreting a foul odor. The scent was lingering, especially in his armpits. 

"Heugh!"

Keenan reacted as he coughed in his own smell. His clothes were tattered and destroyed but he kept using them. And yeah, they were wet right now and had a terrible scent. Keenan sighed and continued moving, he won't get something if he stayed here in this wasteland. To overcome this problem, he had to move his feet and find his friends.

"Hhaaaa hhaaa."

He already experienced staying here in one night, it was horrible and he didn't want to do it again. The gleaming eyes of the Nightmares as they bit him, it was dreadful and traumatic. Shivers sent down his spine as he recalled the tragic sensation he felt. He recalled how his flesh was torn apart and all he had to do was to kept stabbing and snapping his fingers, it was an odd combination, I tell you. 

"I don't want to stay here any longer. My past life my have helped me, but overall, I'm just a young teenage guy. I still don't like pain."

The memories he had were a part of him, but it didn't mean that he was a full-grown man who experienced hellish life. Keenan is Keenan, a young man who wanted to become a strong Nightbreaker. His present life was the most that affected his way of thinking. He may become a cold-blooded man but he still had his empathy, well not for these creatures of the night.

"Phew, I want ice cream."

As time passed, his survival would be diminished. The Netherworld was not a happy place. Powerful creatures were living here and they could eat him. He unhurriedly took an N-core in his pocket, put the crystal in his mouth, and slowly chew it. Vitality rose up and his body regained the power to move. He already ate 3 N-cores earlier. The heat was too much for him which led him to use the N-cores to fight the heat and continue walking. He wanted to save these crystals and spare them, use them frugally. But because of the heat, he didn't have a choice but to eat them. 

As an Arma, he could survive in this wilderness without water as long as he had N-cores. The crystals could be compensated for water and food. Although it had limitations, if Keenan didn't find any food and drinkable water for five days(at worst), he would lose his strength, and the built-up toxic in his body would react and kill him. It was an inevitable fate, that's why Keenan was eager to leave this place as soon as possible. He didn't spare the loots he got from the earlier battle and ate them with frustration. 

He was filled with the thoughts of survival. In his past life, he accepted death because he knew that his life was already on its last stand. He didn't have any regrets, but this time it was different. Keenan believed that he had a mission to do here and he didn't want to die without completing it. 

"Huff."

His feet trudged on the ground, the sun was showering him with hate by toasting him alive. He didn't have any cap to hide his face in the rays and his eyes were always narrowed. Sometimes, when he felt like he was seeing a hallucination, Keenan would immediately understand that he needed another N-core. The burning sun and his anxiety caused him to hallucinate and he fought it by eating N-core. 

Keenan stopped, his eyes looked ahead. He thought perhaps he was hallucinating again but he realized that what he was seeing was real.

"No no, no way… Man, I'm just a Class-C Katana-type Arma. I'm on the average one, even my talent is average. Don't give me this crap."

Keenan understood that the creature he was seeing was not a hallucination since he just ate N-core. A Veloce was in front of him. A child-like creature with protracted arms was in front of him. The Veloce was eating a creature on the ground, it gobbled its food with great vigor. It was crouching, devouring the dead body of a Zviera. 

[Veloce: speed-type nightmares, their average size is one meter, have sharp claws which used to kill their enemies. ]

Keenan remained still, he didn't want to disturb the happily eating Veloce, it was bad behavior. Disturbing someone when they were eating was unmanner. 

Keenan slightly moved his foot, he wanted to detour since it would be another bloodshed if he fought this one. And perhaps he would be the one who would shed it. 

'Veloce is hard to face, they are fast and their claws can slice an arm with a swing. Based on this creature's size, it's a Class-B, one class higher than me. But the hardest and most damn about them is that they always play with their prey. They will slowly wound the prey, they let it run but they will follow with close proximity and keep wounding. The prey will die because of blood loss or by losing their hopes.'

Keenan precisely moved and he didn't create any sound, he knew how to move without any noise because he was used to it in his past life. He crouched and strictly detour, his face was sweating bucket. Uncertainty filled him as he walked quietly...

However, it seems like fate hated him, a gust of wind blew and hit the feasting Veloce. The creature twitched and looked at his surroundings. The gollum-like monster with long arms raised his head and saw that someone was crouching and trying to detour.

"Shit…"

Keenan cursed. 

"Grrraaahhh!!"

The Veloce turned frantic. Its eyes widened in surprise and dashed at him. The monster found fresh food, and this one was a high grade! A human! The monster rushed and extended its hands towards him. This Veloce only ate humans twice, and there was one thing that struck it, human meat was fucking good! Especially when it saw them running for their lives as it clawed their backs, that was the best side dish it could get. When it bit them as they were half-conscious, Veloce saw the fear in their eyes that sent excitement deep in its core. How fruitful for it to meet tasty meat here in this wilderness!?

"Ah, fuck this."

Keenan stopped his escape since his retreat failed. He decided to face the monster head-on. It would be detrimental for him if he ran. He won't see the figure of the Veloce and won't have a chance to defend. 

"In this situation, the best way is to face it head-on."

Keenan didn't bow down to the monster and run, he did the opposite. How could he give his enemy free entertainment? Of course, he won't. He would confront the monster to get wounded but wounded it in the process. This was his plan, the one who fell first would be the loser and die.