Hunting V

Lucius sat quietly among the gathered troops, waiting for the dinner to be served. The crackling fire and scent of the roasted boar filled the air, but his mind was elsewhere, burdened by recent events. Zara, who had stayed momentarily to offer her company, placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder before stepping away. "Don't let their gazes trouble you, Lucius. Simply eat when the meal is served," she said softly, offering him a brief, understanding smile before returning to her duties.

Lucius lowered his gaze, his thoughts swirling in the quiet moments. As the cooks tended to the food, he became aware of a sharp, lingering stare. Slowly, he looked up, only to find a girl standing a short distance away—a force wielder he vaguely recognized from the earlier hunting operation. She had striking pink hair, styled in pigtails, and narrow green eyes that burned with intensity. Clad in shorts and a dark singlet, her arms were crossed, and her gaze fixed on him like a challenge.

He remained composed, though his eyes briefly flickered to her bruised arms, a subtle testament to her own battles. He thought to look away, to ignore the weight of her stare, but she stepped forward, her posture rigid as she stormed toward him with purpose.

"You," she began sharply, her voice tinged with accusation. "You were with Harriet during the hunting operation."

Lucius blinked, confused by the sudden confrontation. "I'm sorry?" he replied, his brow furrowing slightly as he tried to make sense of her stern approach.

The girl sat beside Lucius with an air of defiance, her eyes never leaving him. "I'm Nai," she said bluntly, her voice carrying a sharp edge. "And I don't like you. Because of you, my teacher has been left in a coma." Her words were laced with accusation, though Lucius's confusion remained palpable.

He offered no response, only a flicker of bewilderment crossing his face. Nai, undeterred, turned toward him fully. "I've heard you're one of the dead corpses," she continued, her tone more curious now, though still guarded. "I've got a lot of questions, man..."

Lucius clenched his jaw, trying to ignore her persistent gaze and confrontational words. He turned his attention forward, where the meal was now being served. Bowls were handed out one by one, and both he and Nai received their portions in due course.

Nai, clearly unsatisfied with his silence, scoffed before taking a large bite of her food. "What's with the silent treatment? They didn't tell me you were mute," she remarked, her words muffled slightly by her hurried eating, her frustration simmering beneath her casual demeanor.

Nai, growing impatient with Lucius's silence, let out a sigh of exasperation. "Are you antisocial or something?" she inquired, her gaze lingering on him, hoping to provoke a response.

Lucius's voice came as a low murmur, almost lost in the quiet din of the room. "There was another force wielder out there... coming after me."

Nai's frustration ignited once more, her voice rising as she snapped, "And that's exactly why I'm blaming you! If it weren't for you, Harriet wouldn't be lying there, gravely injured!"

Lucius's fist clenched tightly, trembling with pent-up frustration. "Do you think I'm unaware of that?" he retorted, his voice strained. "Why are you even talking to me? What's the point?"

Nai glared at him, then sighed heavily, her irritation softening slightly. "Alright, alright, I didn't mean to rile you up," she muttered, her tone begrudging as she set her bowl aside. "I was just—" she trailed off, groaning in resignation.

Before the tension between them could escalate further, Yu Xuan appeared, unceremoniously sitting beside Lucius. Without a word, he began eating, his presence abrupt yet strangely calm. Lucius blinked in surprise, his frustrations momentarily subdued, while Nai's eyes widened in disbelief as both of them stared at Yu Xuan.

"What are you staring at, huh?" Yu Xuan asked between bites, his eyes narrowing as he continued to eat.

Lucius averted his gaze and resumed eating in silence, while Nai chuckled from across the table. "Shouldn't you be with Orson?" she teased.

With an annoyed hiss, Yu Xuan replied, "I'm fine now, thanks to his force. But seriously, why does this boar have so much fat?" His voice carried a tone of complaint, which only irritated Nai further.

"Hey! I'm the one who caught that boar, and you think it's an easy job?" she snapped.

Unfazed, Yu Xuan continued, "Maybe you should've done a better job, then."

Lucius, who had been quietly enduring their bickering, finally snapped, scratching his head in frustration. "Agh! You two are too loud. Can't you argue somewhere else?"

Nai and Yu Xuan immediately turned toward him, their voices in unison as they shouted, "You shut up!"

Lucius was left flabbergasted, staring at them both as the trio continued their petty argument, despite barely knowing one another.

Nearby, several of the other soldiers glanced over, watching the chaotic scene unfold.

"Should we stop them?" one whispered.

"Let them be," another replied quietly, shaking his head.

As the shouting died down, and the three of them grew weary from the exchange, they began settling into silence. Nai lay on the cold concrete floor, groaning in exhaustion, while Yu Xuan finally turned toward Lucius, his tone more serious.

"How did you… save us?" he asked, his voice quieter now, the edge of irritation gone.

Lucius glanced briefly at Yu Xuan before looking up at the ceiling. "Who knows? I'm still asking myself that same question."

Yu Xuan leaned back against the cold wall of the shelter, his face softened in the dim light as the crackling fire cast flickering shadows across his expression. "You know I don't trust you," he sighed, staring off into the distance as though lost in thought.

Lucius didn't flinch at the words. He had grown used to the skepticism, the wary looks from his so-called comrades. "I know," he replied quietly, his voice barely audible above the fire.

For a moment, the silence between them stretched, filled only by the faint sounds of the other survivors murmuring in the background. Yu Xuan's eyes seemed to gloss over as he fixed his gaze on nothing in particular, his brow furrowing as if old memories were beginning to resurface.

"You ever wonder how people survive this hell?" Yu Xuan said suddenly, his voice a shade darker. "How some of us are still standing when everything out there wants us dead?"

Lucius glanced at him but said nothing, sensing that Yu Xuan was about to reveal more than he had before.

"I wasn't always like this," Yu Xuan continued, his tone quieter, almost distant. "Before the walls, before all this chaos... I lived in a place not so different from this, with people I thought I could rely on." He paused, the firelight flickering in his eyes.

"But when the monsters came... none of that mattered. You know what happens when you' re surrounded by beasts? You run. You run until your lungs are burning, until the world around you blurs... but the screams.. they don't blur."

Lucius listened in silence, hearing the weight of regret in Yu Xuan's voice.

"I was with a group. A family, you could call them, though none of us were related by blood. We'd found a quiet place to stay, figured we could outlast whatever was happening outside." Yu Xuan's voice broke slightly, and he clenched his fists.

"But the monsters found us. Giant things... claws, teeth, everything we had nightmares about. One by one, they tore through everyone. I was lucky-no, cursed. The monsters took me, but they didn't kill me. Not immediately."

Lucius glanced at Yu Xuan, surprised. "What happened?"

"I became a toy for them," Yu Xuan said bitterly. "Something to torment. I'd hide in the ruins, crawling through the debris like a rat, barely able to breathe, praying for the end. Days passed like that, maybe weeks. I stopped counting. But then... one day, I heard something. It wasn'ta monster's growl, or someone's scream. It was music."

Lucius furrowed his brow, unsure what to make of the sudden shift in Yu Xuan's story.

"A melody," Yu Xuan continued, his eyes distant. "I thought I was losing my mind at first, hearing things that weren't there. But the more I focused on it, the more it felt... real. Then I realized it wasn't just in my head-it was my force. Sound manipulation. I didn't even know what it was at the time. But it became my weapon. The next time the monsters came for me... I fought back. I played the sounds that tore through their minds, that broke their bones, that made them suffer the way they made us suffer."

His voice grew colder, more detached. "I survived. But survival doesn't mean you win."

Lucius, for once, had no words. He felt the gravity of Yu Xuan's past, the pain laced within every sentence.

Yu Xuan leaned forward, his eyes sharp again. "So no, I don't trust you, Lucius. Because I' ve seen what happens when you put your trust in people-they either die or they leave you behind."

The two sat in silence once more, the air heavy with the weight of Yu Xuan's confession.

Suddenly, there was a faint scratching sound, faint but unmistakable. Lucius turned his head sharply, his senses heightening.

"You hear that?" he asked, his voice low.

Yu Xuan stood up slowly, his eyes narrowing as he looked around the shelter. The murmurs of the survivors died down, replaced by an eerie quiet. The scratching grew louder, more frantic, as if something-or many things were crawling toward them.

Then the first scream erupted from the far side of the shelter.

Lucius and Yu Xuan turned just in time to see the walls of the shelter start to crack, black shadows slipping through the cracks. And then they saw them- disgusting, insect-like creatures, their segmented bodies glistening in the dim firelight. Their mandibles clicked and hissed as they swarmed forward, some already leaping onto the closest survivors.

"Get away from the walls!" Yu Xuan shouted, grabbing Lucius by the arm as the creatures poured in from every direction.

Chaos erupted as people scrambled to their feet, but the insects were too fast. One by one, they pounced, their jagged legs slicing through skin, their sharp mandibles tearing flesh. Screams filled the air as blood splattered across the floor.

Lucius watched in horror as the swarm grew, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel the weight of the impending fight, his body tensing, but something inside him stirred-a familiar, dark rage.

"They' re everywhere!" someone screamed from across the shelter as the insects began climbing the walls, their numbers seemingly endless.

Yu Xuan unsheathed his weapon, his face determined. "Stay close, Lucius. This isn't over yet."

Lucius clenched his fists, feeling the surge of something dark and powerful within him, something ready to break free as the horde descended upon them.

Then, the firelight flickered out, leaving only the sound of the creatures' hissing and the survivors' desperate cries in the darkness.

To be continued -