Chapter XI: Away From Kenneth

Unlike Kenneth and Tyrone who were teleported to the top of a high-rise building, Lena and Lucas were in a more… crowded spot. 

Let us turn back time to when Kenneth and Tyrone had first woken up. 

In a dark forest, the figures of Lena and Lucas could both be seen. In a clearing where the overgrown trees and plants had somehow not yet taken over, the sun was shining through the large hole in the wall. 

The two of them were sprawled out on the grass, sleeping peacefully. 

But this moment of tranquility was soon crushed as the two siblings both awoke to the sound of growls in the distance. 

"Ngh… where are we?" Lucas, the first to wake up from his slumber, groaned tiredly. 

"All my energy feels like it's been sucked away. Were simulations ever this stressful?" Shifting his strength to his lower body, Lucas forced himself to get up. 

Still dazed, he slowly brushed off the dirt that had stuck to his clothes. 

Hyper-realism. The virtual world inside of the V.T.G was so identical to the original world that when it was first tried out, even its creators were shocked by how close it was to real life.

Looking to his right, Lucas noticed Lena, who was still fast asleep. He had thought about waking her up immediately, but decided against it upon seeing how peaceful she looked. 

Lena had a content expression on her face, and was mumbling something about Kenneth. His name would often slip out from her mouth even when the toddler wasn't there, so Lucas had just chalked it up to her being overprotective of their little brother. 

After all, he was their little brother. 

"No… stop it! You can stop this, right? Get me out of… here!" 

The silent atmosphere was immediately shattered as Lena began to twist and turn in her sleep.

Alongside Kenneth's name, she was muttering something about "stopping it." 

Lucas gulped in shock. This was the first time the bright Lena had shown any sort of distress. And it looked dangerous. 

He thought back to what Kenneth had told him earlier. How he wasn't strong enough to control his power. How he had possibly hurt Lena deeply.

Lucas hadn't thought much of it the first time. He, too, had once seen Lena lose control of her powers. The damages resulting from them could be catastrophic, as he had seen from news on the internet covering these supposed "mana overloads."

Lucas didn't dare to imagine what chaos might ensue if a Mental Magic user was to go crazy. 

It was also one of the reasons as to why he vowed to use mana as sparingly as possible. Lucas believed that physical strength, when trained properly could be on par with the power of mana. 

Looking back to Lena, who was still shifting positions every few seconds, Lucas did what he had originally planned to do earlier and shook her awake.

"Wake up!" 

"Hu… huh? Lucas?!" Lena's eyes slowly opened, only to suddenly shake once she saw Lucas. 

"You were having a bad dream. You okay?" Helping his sister up to her feet, he assisted her in brushing off the dirt the same way he did.

This was mostly on the legs and back though. Lucas did his best to avoid inappropriate places as much as possible, and left Lena to do it herself. 

Once she had fully regained her focus, Lena quickly scanned the area they were in. 

It was only at this time that she realized something. Kenneth was nowhere near them. Lena rapidly turned her head from Lucas to the surrounding trees and back again. 

Moments of silence resulted, with the two siblings staring at each other, unsure of what the other was thinking. 

"Where's little brother? He can't fight alone!" 

Grabbing Lucas' shoulders, Lena stared at her clueless older sibling. 

Finally understanding, Lucas swiped off Lena's hands away from his clothes and explained. 

"He has Tyrone with him, you know. And even if he was alone, we'll only need to get within the range of his Link."

"Still! It's only him there!" As if the first part of Lucas' sentence didn't reach her, Lena continued to show a worried expression. 

"Shut up, will you? I'm not here to babysit BOTH of my siblings. We'll meet him when we meet him. Control that temper of yours, and who knows, we might even be able to clear this simulation faster." 

"You're right… I'm sorry." Taking deep breaths, Lena soon calmed herself down. 

"As long as you know. I was peeking at the screen earlier when Kenneth was fiddling with it, and I saw the main objective." 

"What was it? Little brother didn't tell us." 

"The main objective should be to defeat a certain number of magical beasts. Don't know how much, but from how Kenneth was laughing to himself, then I'd guess it has to be something big."

"That little… fine. Let's focus on getting out of this forest first. Once we do, we'll hunt down any beasts we find. Is that okay with you, Lucas?" 

"Yeah." 

Not another word was uttered between the two, and soon the siblings had left their original spot and were now looking for ways to escape the forest.

"By the way, did you hear that growl earlier, or was that just me?" 

The bottom part of the forest floor was almost completely covered with overgrown leaves, thus leaving the siblings no other choice but to leap from tree to tree.

"I think I was asleep then. Why? Where did you hear it from?" Slowing down her pace to match Lucas, the two began conversing while moving.

"The direction we're heading in should be where I heard it. I just thought I'd tell you that." 

"Hmph. Who do you take me for, Lucas? A few growls aren't enough to scare me." 

"And Kenneth is? I'm sorry, that was a bit out of hand." Quickly realizing the mistake he made in trying to crack a joke, he apologized profusely. 

"Wrrah!" 

As they got closer to the source of the sound, the two siblings slowed down their speed and instead began moving a bit quieter. 

"There it is." 

Pointing to the forest clearing in front of them, the two caught sight of a beast at least three times Lucas' size. 

Its figure resembled that of a wolf, except it possessed a more deathly appearance. 

Its fur was deep black, and the claws on its feet were each the size of a small kitchen knife.

"I don't think it has noticed us yet. Alright Lucas, listen. We're going to sneak up on it and kill it in one hit- Lucas?" 

Looking to her side, Lena was surprised to find out that Lucas was no longer in his place beside her earlier. 

"Hah! Take this, you mutt!" 

Instead, he was now face to face with the wolf, and was exchanging hits with it. 

'I'm not even going to assist. He didn't even bother listening to me.' Lena thought to herself. 

Propping herself against the tree's hard surface, Lena watched as Lucas effortlessly blocked the many swipes the wolf threw at him. 

Lucas' main weapon was otherwise known as gauntlets. The thin, yet sturdy metal wrapped around his bulky forearms, allowing him to block and even deflect the wolf's attacks. 

"You're gonna leave a scratch on my gauntlets, goddammit!" 

The wolf wasted no energy and would relentlessly strike at Lucas with a combination of slashes and bites. Its large stature did not match the speed at which the attacks were reaching Lucas, which just went to show how much stronger magical beasts were than normal beasts. 

Yet Lucas knew this wasn't even its full power. Besides their already deadly weapons located all over their bodies, they possessed a deadly array of spells, just like any other magician. 

The wolf didn't even look like it was trying. By the looks of it, it was playing with him. 

Eventually Lucas was unable to keep up with the flurry of attacks and had carelessly allowed a single slash to get through his defense. 

Blood had spurted from the wound inflicted on his right shoulder. Yet it was merely a flesh wound. The cut was not as deep as Lucas had expected it to be. 

Until Lucas noticed that the neverending attacks had somehow started slowing down. The wolf's arms moved more sluggishly, and its swipes did not carry the same force it had before. 

Yet Lucas knew this was merely an act. Most magical beasts were worthy of calling at least a mid-ranked adventurer to take care of. If the wolf really was getting tired, then maybe it was never one in the first place. 

"Shit!" Looking at the wolf, Lucas' worries were confirmed to be true. Instead of it being tired, it had actually retreated back. The blood from the freshly applied wound hung lowly on the tips of its claws. 

It dripped ever so slowly, akin to a faulty sink tap. 

Bringing the edge of the claw to its mouth, the wolf extended its long tongue out and licked off the blood. 

The whole process was very unpleasant for Lucas. As the wolf ran its mouth across the entire length of its claw, Lucas felt a stinging sensation on his right arm. 

It was where the wound was inflicted. 

"That was barely a paper cut. The fuck is this!?" Lucas groaned in pain.

But the worst had yet to come. The moment the wolf howled, Lucas slowly felt his control over his right arm slowly weakening. 

With what little feeling he still had over his limb, Lucas could feel it slowly hardening. Using his other hand, he gently touched the surface of his now rock-like skin. 

"Shit. Help me out here, Lena!" Lucas turned to his sister, who was watching the whole scene with an amused look on face.

"You didn't listen to me!!! Have fun on your own!" Lena replied, yelling out the first half of her sentence rather loudly to get her point through. 

Seeing that his sister wasn't going to be of any help, Lucas felt that his arm was no longer operable. The more strength he tried to use, the more he felt like his arm would fall off. 

Normally, someone in this situation would already be looking for a way out, while having a grim look on their face. 

Lucas was different. Donning a grin that stretched from one end of his face to the other, he said provocatively, 

"Well, it doesn't matter. Let's see how it's like fighting with a handicap. Come on!" Taunting the wolf, Lucas struck a pose. 

With his left hand, he motioned to the wolf slowly, as if saying "come get me!" 

And his taunt worked. The wolf was surprised that even with one arm petrified, Lucas still had a cocky smirk on his face. 

This time the wolf shot towards Lucas at a speed faster than earlier. He didn't miss this though, as he caught the slash with his gauntlet. 

Twirling his arm around the wolf's hand, Lucas began to pull the rabid canine to his direction.  

The wolf, who was still surprised that Lucas had managed to block its first attack, recovered quickly and did the same.

Soon it became a tug of war match between Lucas and the wolf. 

With their strengths almost equal, this battle would inevitably turn into an endurance round if Lucas did not end it quickly. 

Taking advantage of the fact that the wolf was using a lot of its strength to pull its arm back, Lucas swiftly kicked one of its legs down. 

The wolf was unprepared for such an attack and lost its balance almost immediately, allowing for Lucas to reel it in.

But it wasn't out yet. Even if Lucas had seized its arm, the wolf had other weapons. 

Utilizing its sharp blade-like teeth, the wolf bent its body and lunged at the thing preventing it from moving, which was Lucas' arm. 

Lucas did not miss this, and purposely let go of the wolf's arm, leaving it to fall to the grass. 

An opportunity to further injure the wolf had arisen. Lucas shot over to it whimpering on the floor.

"You know, that cry might've worked on me if you didn't try to kill me in the first place." 

Raising his foot over the wolf's body, Lucas repeatedly began stomping on it until it was dead. 

Once the system had confirmed the successful slaying of the wolf, the corpse just magically started disappearing into the world. 

"Ah! It's back, finally." Now that the wolf was gone, Lucas had finally regained control of his right arm, and could now move it easily. 

After taking a few practice swings, Lucas went over to Lena, who had sat there and watched the whole thing. 

"Good job, Lucas. Looks like you can actually do something, for once." 

"What's that supposed to mean?!"