"Phew… Although it took a while, I finally managed to reach the edge of this blasted forest."
The journey itself hadn't been difficult. With his new physique, distance barely meant anything anymore.
What had taken much of the time was absorbing
At the suggestion of his assistant system, he'd taken full advantage of the trip—absorbing a few rabbits, a wild boar, even a massive moose he'd caught mid-charge.
Although, the process still wasn't pleasant.
And somewhere along the way, he'd figured out thermal vision.
That was cool.
Seeing heat signatures through brush and trees made hunting almost unfair.
Free real estate, am I right?
Now, he stood at the edge of the forest staring at the village ahead.
And he couldn't help but feel that something about it felt… off.
"The place is oddly quiet," he muttered, squinting.
Even with his enhanced hearing, he could barely pick up on a sound coming from inside.
It was as if—
"…Maybe it's abandoned."
Still, he walked forward.
The houses were made from wattle and daub. Nothing impressive, but sturdy enough to live in.
He walked in.
Every door was shut. Every window closed tight. The streets were so devoid of life could have sworn he saw a tumble weed.
The silence wasn't just quiet.
It was tense.
What the hell is happening?
He continued journeying down the streets and it wasn't before long he found signs of life.
"Good afternoon! Could I—Oooh!"
!!!
Mid sentence, Seth sucked in a cold breath as the whole group turned their attention towards him.
"A human?"
"HISSS?"
Seth paused in his steps and looked speechlessly at the five individuals in front of him.
A man, woman and three monsters.
The man was dressed in the default commoner attire, rags, so he didn't really earn more than a glance from Seth.
What did though were the other four. Three monsters in shorts, each with dark skin, arms longer than a human with the typical aesthetic—pointed teeth and talons.
The woman though, unlike the fuglies that surrounded her, was striking.
A thin woman with light blonde hair stood calmly, clad in a fitted white outfit reinforced with metal shoulder guards.
A massive sword thicker than her arms, lay on her back. A claymore.
She was surrounded on all four sides.
Gargoyles? Are these the monsters of the anime? And that woman…
With his memory recall skill, images of the anime edits and such began appearing in his eyes—nearly all of them having this woman taking center stage.
Seth slowed his steps slightly, eyes narrowing.
"…Well," he muttered under his breath. "Guess it's not abandoned after all."
The air felt heavier now.
He had just walked straight into whatever was about to happen.
"What's this? What terrible luck you have—"
At speeds Seth could barely follow, the human looking man, who Seth assumed was in cahoots with the gargoyles was cut off as, the woman drew her sword and beheaded him.
The man's head hadn't even hit the ground before any of them could react.
"GYAA!"
"You…"
The monsters' expressions twisted from shock to fury in an instant.
They lunged and swung their claws at her together
Though they were fast,
She was faster.
The blonde woman pivoted smoothly, her massive claymore already creating a beautiful arc.
It cleaved right through the nearest monster in a single, clean slash.
It didn't even have time to scream before it split apart and collapsed.
Seth stood, his mouth gaping.
"…Fast!"
He could barely see her moves, let alone the monsters who didn't know what happened until one dropped.
As she was about to attack another, something flashed from above catching her off guard.
"Watch out!"
CLANG!
Thanks to the heads up from Seth, she managed to bring her sword up in time.
Even though she had blocked the strike to her neck, the force knocked her backward several steps as she stabbed her sword into the dirt to bring herself to a halt.
It was another one. So that meant there were 5 enemies from the start.
Maybe it was an ambush.
Unlike the others, it had wings which added another level of difficulty.
The winged creature flapped upward, preparing for another dive.
The other two got ready to rush in as well.
Seth's expression shifted.
Since their backs were turned to him and their attention solely on the girl—
He took the opportunity to join.
CRACK!
He lunged at full speed.
!!!
His hands morphed mid-motion, black biomass exploding outward into long, razor-sharp claws.
By the time the grounded monsters realized he'd moved—
It was already too late.
They were both sliced up.
The creature froze for half a second before separating and collapsing in pieces.
The winged one shrieked midair.
The blonde woman's eyes widened slightly. Just slightly.
Seth didn't stop.
He crouched and launched upward, claws gleaming—
The winged monster panicked and shot higher into the sky, trying to flee.
He had slightly miscalculated.
"Come on!" Seth whined as he missed and watched the monsters getting away.
But then a blur of white blew past him.
The woman had already recovered.
With no hesitation, she gripped her claymore by the hilt and hurled it like a javelin.
The massive blade pierced through the air impaling the creature through its torso, before it fell towards the ground.
Seth landed lightly, claws retracting back into normal hands as if nothing had happened.
The woman stepped forward calmly, retrieved her sword from the corpse, and swung it once to clear the blade.
Then she turned.
Their eyes met.
Hers showed neither fear nor gratitude.
Just sharp assessment.
Seth gave a small, awkward wave
"…Uh. Hi. Nice to meet y—"
SLASH
"WOAH—HEY!"
He barely reacted in time.
The blade still caught him though, opening up a large cut across his chest. Even his bones were broken.
Blood splattered the dirt.
He stumbled back, clutching it.
She aimed for my neck!
"Oi! What's the deal!?"
She didn't respond. She was already on him again.
Another slash.
He ducked—too slow. It opened his shoulder.
Then another.
This one tore into his thigh bones.
She was insanely fast. Like, blink-and-you're-missing-limbs fast.
It was only thanks to his durability that his limbs were still on his body.
He tried creating distance but she kept closing the gap, her sword flashing. Not a motion wasted. No hesitation.
It's clear who had the upper hand in speed and skills.
One swing nearly took his arm off.
For a split second, his forearm bent in a way it absolutely shouldn't.
Then—
Black biomass pulsed under his skin.
Muscle reconnected. Bone slid back into place. Skin sealed over like it had never been cut.
She paused at this.
He used that half-second to hop back again, hands up.
"WAIT! Wait, wait, wait! I'm not with them!"
She advanced one more step anyway, sword coming to rest right at his throat.
He froze.
"Heeeee!"
The sword's tip pressed lightly against his skin.
Her eyes narrowed coldly at him.
"…What are you? You're clearly not a yoma."
Her voice was calm.
He swallowed.
"I'm human—human, I tell you," he said quickly. "…Well, somewhat, I guess."
Her gaze flicked to his torso. The cuts were already gone. Not even scars left. His shirt was slowly knitting itself back together too.
She definitely noticed that.
The sword pressed deeper into his neck.
"Then what are you?" she asked.
"…That," he said, glancing down at himself, "is a really good question."
Chapter 4 end.
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I'm not great at writing fight scenes or writing in general. I don't even know when to properly use "…" and "—"