New Foe

Morning arrived and the birds sang their classic rhythms, strong warriors moving under them.

Everyone was up and already on the move. Most stood alone, away and enjoying the solitude while Jason and Hugo were talking to each other.

They trekked for hours straight, barely taking any breaks along the way. Although they wouldn't need to. All of them not only had agility that far transcended human limitations but stamina. A break was virtually nonessential. It would only waste their precious time to find Salvador.

Other than twigs snapping and the chatter of two friends, the forest was silent. The only concern was how noiseless it was.

Beforehand there was usually wildlife running about. Commonly deer and other tiny prey couldn't defend themselves in the wild. Birds would chirp and fly, but ever since reaching this part of the forest, it was completely void of wildlife. Even the trees and grass grew pale, crunchy, and dead.

Everyone caught wind of this as they now equipped their weapons. None of them possessed anything out of the ordinary. Swords, daggers, and axes. Basic weaponry in the apocalypse.

What was odd was that Jason hadn't seen one single firearm since the beginning of the apocalypse. "Hey, I have a question." He suddenly spoke out.

Sebastian. The man who chose to keep his stats secret stopped and turned his head, "What is it?" The rest stopped with him, the girls taking out their water bottles to drink.

"Where are the firearms? I'm sure they would be effective." Everyone had looked at one another, confused expressions on their faces, turning to one another before to Jason. "Do you live under a-" Hugo suddenly cut William off, explaining it to Jason.

"All firearms ceased to exist once the apocalypse began. No one knows what the fuck happened! They just poofed out of existence," Hugo did a hand gesture to exaggerate that earned a chuckle from everyone.

"That's why everyone has been using swords and shit like that. I'm surprised no one told you, you were in a coma for a month or so." William apologized. He was unaware that Jason was in a coma and literally thought he had been holed up in his house the entire apocalypse.

"Aha, It's fine."

The group continued in silence. Jason caught the blonde girl sending glances to the teen, looking away before Jason could talk to her.

"So Jason, since you're the newest here and no one knows you besides Hugo, why don't you tell us something about yourself?" Jax asked, a smirk visible on his face that Jason could only see from the back.

He was assured that Jax was up to something. Jax was a sly and dangerous man. Even before the apocalypse, he was strong. Looking at Jax's stats, it was easy to acknowledge he was the strongest one in the party.

"I mean, there isn't anything different about me. I went to some schools run by delinquents. Played soccer, read a lot." Jason said. Jax knew he was targeting him when he spoke of the school.

"I guess I'm like every other teenager." He simply said, not indulging in his backstory or such like that. He felt like this was all he needed to say.

"So a horndog teenage boy?" Shereen commented in a fit of laughter along with the others. Jason himself couldn't stop but giggle at her foolish remark.

[Enemy Wildlife Detected: 100 Meters]

Jason's head flicked around, trying to detect the wildlife with his eyesight but to no avail.

"What's wrong?" Hugo asked, stopping in his tracks with worry visible on his face. 'He's like this again... Is it a skill?' Hugo knew something was up, the last time his friend acted like this they fought.

"Guy's, there's something." Jason silently stated, alert and sharing the mutual worry with Hugo.

"What do you mean?" Jax asked, discarding his sunglasses to relieve his vision of any obscurities. "It detected an enemy. It hasn't moved yet, but it's 100 meters away."

Everyone rose their guard in a flash, standing in an uneven circle that covered every direction. "Well?" Jason kept his eyes peeled at the notification. It wasn't changing or alerting him of it moving. "It's not moving... It's stalking us I think."

"Fuck... Is it a Suljar?" The blonde woman, Erin, spoke. "That's impossible. Why the hell would it stalk us!" Christian exclaimed. He was the wariest of all. The sweat of panic dripped down the sides of his head as he extended his arms out, preparing to launch one of his spells at a word's notice.

[Enemy exited range.]

"I-it's gone," Jason said.

Even Jason himself was significantly worried. Back when he killed all the shrimp, they were already evolved. It's been a month since, it wouldn't be stupid of him to think that every animal has evolved, similar to humans. "It's gone? Are you sure!" Shereen shouted.

"Yes! At least 101 meters from us!"

"That's not very fucking reassuring!"

The group immediately began moving on their planned path, eventually bursting into a full sprint. Unfortunately, Christian was stuck in the back. Amidst the running, the older blond man who Jason presumed to be his father stopped. He turned around, eyes searching the forest behind him.

"Where..." He murmured, just low enough for Jason to hear him. "Where's Christian..." Jason stopped and so did the others.

Jax was the first to speak, "Did Christian trip or something? Even if he has the lowest agility he should've been able to keep up with us to a degree.

[Alert: Christian Darke]

[Status: Unknown]

A hammer dropped on everyone's hearts excluding Jason's. Although he wouldn't lie, he too felt sad. However, it paled in comparison to the others. They all bonded together, fought together, and survived together. All of them considered each other best friends, partying every night and enjoying the peaceful moments of their lives.

But they were never prepared to lose one of their own. Not this early.

"No. No!" Sebastian dashed forward, retracing the path they took. This forced the party to follow him or leave him be. Obviously, as friends, they followed him.

"Sebastian! Calm down!" Hugo roared, closing in on the man at a slow pace. "NO!!!"

[Enemy Wildlife Detected: 100 Meters.]

Notifications rushed into his vision, the distance decreasing with every notification. "IT'S CLOSE!"

A pole manifested in Sebastian's hands. It was simple in design, wooden with a metal cap at the top.

[Enemy Visible.]

Fortunately, It wasn't a Suljar. But to make one of their player's status change to "Unknown" Proved its dangerousness.

They weren't sure what it was. It only appeared to be an evolved cat. But after coming closer, they realized it was more than that. It had large glowing violet eyes, and drool dribbled down his mouth with flesh in between its teeth. It growled as it neared, its steps radiating fear into the party.

The most ominous thing was its purple teeth. "This is new," Jax said, pulling his own axe to his hip.

[DANGER!]

[Evolved Animal Detected - Suljar Breeded]

[Mission: Defeat or Survive!]

[Clear Rewards: Instant Level up!]

[Failure: Death]

"S-Suljar breed?"

Instantly, the familiar holographic screen appeared in his vision.

[Wasn't expecting this to happen this early.]

[Good luck Jason.]