A deafening explosion followed right after, like the air itself got split apart.
Shockwaves slammed into Clare, forcing her a few paces back, shielding their faces as strong winds blasted through the trees, branches snapping and scattering everywhere.
Raki, who was closely behind her though, wasn't nearly as fortunate as stumbled back, falling to the floor.
"W-what the hell was that!?"
Clare didn't answer.
Her silver eyes were locked on the area Seth was standing as the effects died down.
She glanced around the once dense forest of trees, her eyes widened as she recalled it hadn't been this desolate days ago.
"Did…did he cause this…?"
"…Ha…hahahaaa!"
"Huh?"
Clare's head snapped back to the figure standing—Seth—standing amidst the rubbles laughing wildly, his sword resting on his shoulders casually.
He looked way too relaxed for someone who is in his position.
Clare's brows furrowed immediately as she rushed forward grabbing his shoulders, her voice sharp.
"What did you do?"
Seth glanced over his shoulders and saw her frown.
"Don't worry too much." He then gestured in front. "Just doing some casual experimentation."
"Experiments…?"
Clare didn't get to finish her sentence as her gaze followed his fingers.
Her eyes widened
Stretching out before them was a massive crevice, nearly sixty meters long and ten
The ground had been split open by the force generated by Seth's sword swing with the trees scattered on both sides.
It was a sight to behold and for the first time since she met him, Clare was genuinely stunned speechless.
She could only stare.
Although she knew Seth was abnormal from their initial meeting and their time traveling together, she never knew to what extent or degree of said abnormality.
It was simply unreal.
Behind them, Raki got up and dusted himself and quickly made his way over to the two before being stunned as well.
"No way…"
Seth was completely unfazed before he inspected his sword.
It had multiple fractures running all over its blade.
With the amount of energy that had been infused inside it and the amount of work it's been put through, it's a wonder how it's still in one piece and hasn't fallen apart yet.
With its current state, if he swung one more time with regular enhancement, it'll probably evaporate.
'Though…'
His right index finger merged with the handle and since it's made from his biomass, the sword's fractures quickly mend themselves back together to make it whole again.
He glanced back at the large incision he carved into the ground.
"That one attack nearly used up all my reserves," he muttered under his breath. "I'll probably only use it during emergencies. It takes too long to activate."
"You…did this…with a sword?"
Clare finally averted her eyes back to Seth. She then caught glance of his sword that had cracks before and her brows furrowed in question.
"Yea, pretty cool right? Took a while to come up with—the Emo Vertical Slash."
"So cool!"
"Keep the praise coming!"
Seth smirked, puffing out his chest as Raki's eyes shone with light.
Clare wasn't as positive as they were though. No, it could go as far as to say she became concerned.
"Seth," She called for his attention.
"Hm? What's up?"
"Before, I sensed a large quantity of yoki. It spiked numerous times." She said, gazing up into his face with a serious expression.
"That was you, wasn't it?"
The two of them stared at each other with equally serious faces for a moment as the silence stretched between them.
Before it was broken by Seth's sigh as he began,
"That's right. Look, I didn't know how to tell you before. I—"
Before he couldn't go on to explain the reasons as to how he could use yoki, Clare suddenly cut him off.
"We need to leave immediately."
Seth paused.
"…Huh? Why?"
"If you don't want to die," she continued flatly, "We need to move. We've already wasted enough time. Grab Raki."
"Wait, what—"
She didn't let him finish. She turned and started moving back towards their earlier camp to grab the rest of her armor.
"Oi—wait—what do you mean—?" Seth called out, but she didn't slow down.
Behind him, Raki looked between the two, still shaken.
"What's going on!?"
"I have no idea," Seth muttered, before he picked up Raki under his arm. "Just run."
The three of them took off through the forest, Clare leading at the front at full speed.
Seth frowned as he kept pace, glancing back once at the destruction he left behind.
Can somebody explain to me what's going on!?
The question lingered in his mind.
Because Clare didn't seem like the type to overly react for nothing.
So whatever she was afraid of… It definitely wasn't normal.
***
By the time they stopped, the sun was already high up.
They had been running for a while.
Through trees, over hills, not even slowing down once. Clare only stopped when she finally felt it was far enough.
"…We put enough distance between us. Let's stop here," she said as she stabbed her sword into the ground and removed her armor.
PLOP
Seth simply dropped Raki onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Achk! Couldn't you put me down nicely!?"
Raki rubbed his ass as he shook off the dizzy feeling, clearly not built for getting carried at high speed in such an awkward position.
Seth glanced around.
A river stream seemed to be flowing nearby. Trees surrounded the area, but not too dense. Pretty nice spot for camping.
"Yeah…this works," he muttered.
He went ahead and gathered some sticks, setting up a small fire like it was nothing.
Soon, the three of them were settled in nicely by the riverbank.
Raki sat off to the side, quiet, occasionally shooting Seth looks like he wanted to say something but held it in.
Clare sat across the fire, fully suited up now, calm as always—but definitely more alert than before.
Seth leaned back against a rock, fiddling with his sword,staring at her for a bit before speaking.
"Alright…You gonna tell me what that was about now? You seemed pretty certain something was gonna happen back there."
Clare stayed quiet for a second. Then—
"That amount of yoki I sensed before…wasn't normal."
"Yeah, I figured."
Clare shook her head.
"No. I don't think you understand."
Her eyes locked onto his.
"I've explained earlier this morning, the threshold on the amount of yoki we can release at once?"
Seth nodded.
She did mention something like that. Moreover, releasing more than the 'limit' can cause a claymore to involuntarily transform into a monster.
"With such large quantities of yoki being released in such short bursts—which is far more than the average warrior, it usually signifies one of us becoming an awakened."
I see… Seth looked down in thought. He quickly put two and two together.
So my small training might've sent signals that a monster was in the area… a miscalculation on my part.
"And what would've happened if we stayed?"
"If with my yoki sensing abilities which are far inferior to theirs could sense it, it's no question that the organization's already picked up on it and dispatched a squad to take care of it."
"…Damn."
Seth went quiet for a second, letting her words sink in.
A whole squad of Claymores would've pulled up. And since they were sent to take down monsters, Seth didn't think they were the "questions first, kill later" type.
Subsequently, they would have to fight and with his immortality, losing was out of the question.
Though, he wouldn't necessarily win either…
"…Yeah, okay… that would've been a problem," he muttered.
"Guess I owe you one," he said, looking at Clare.
She didn't respond.
Chapter 16 end.
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Been watching another anime and withing this is getting boring ngl so I don't know the future of this thing.