???

Kaden did not care too much for the title. It was a bottom-rank one and pretty much everyone had it. What he cared about was the other four in the cave. Letting the savior's body drop to the ground, he turned towards the thin guy.

Garrus swung his sword in a wide arc, aiming to intercept Kaden, but Kaden darted to the side with lightning reflexes, avoiding the blade. This was all going to end right here and now. He reached the thin guy in a couple of steps.

Kaden's eyes narrowed, his spear still stained with the savior's blood as he faced the thin man—Blake—who stood frozen in shock. Kaden's appearance was beyond his wildest calculations and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Please, hear me-"

Kaden did not let him finish. He indifferently impaled the guy with his spear. A sword came at him from behind and he quickly swung around to block it. Two down and three more to go. 

He charged at Garrus the guy he suspected had the most fighting experience in the group. He needed to be careful with this one. His intuition told him. Perhaps in a couple of months, this person would have become someone formidable. However, Kaden was already ahead of him.

Killing them was going overboard. He could have tried to intimidate them or scare them away. But after the last meeting, he knew that would only come back later and bite him in the ass. Everything needed to end here. His broken spear went straight for the guy's neck.

But unexpectedly he missed his mark.

Rumble Rumble

Kaden's eyes widened in shock as he felt the ground underneath him tremble. The spear in his hand dropped onto the ground and seeing the look on Garrus's face, it was clear that he was not the cause of this.

What the hell? What was going on here?

Answering his question the ground fissured and something vile and disgusting blasted out. Swaying in front of him the next second was a giant snake. A giant green snake with several pustules covering its decaying scaly skin.

It raised its head, hissing a sound that reverberated through the cavern, sending chills down Kaden's spine. He couldn't even see the level of the damned thing. 

There were only three question marks hanging ominously over its head and Kaden knew exactly what it meant. This was a beast of the next rank. A beast that had already formed at least a quasi-mana core.

But what was a beast like this doing on this side of the protective barrier?

The protective barrier should be in place for another ten days. He was still on day one damn it. What was going on here?

Kaden couldn't wrap his mind around it. Maybe because he was underground at the moment or maybe it was because of this mysterious egg sac. No matter what the reason was, there was no point in trying to figure it out.

He simply cannot fight a quasi-core beast. That was that. Now he needed to run!

The snake's head darted forward, faster than any creature of its size should have been able to move. Kaden barely managed to throw himself to the side, the beast's maw snapping shut on empty air. 

The shockwave from the force of its bite rippled through the cavern, sending shards of rock flying in all directions. A jagged piece grazed his cheek, drawing blood, but he couldn't stop to check the wound. He scrambled to his feet, snatching up his broken spear in one fluid motion.

He then tossed one of the men who stood frozen like a statue at the damned snake.

The guy didn't even have time to scream. Kaden shoved him forward with all the force he could muster, and the snake's unblinking eyes locked onto its new prey. 

The cavern echoed with the sickening crunch of bone and the wet squelch of flesh as the beast snapped its jaws around the unfortunate man, chewing him and spitting him out onto the pile of corpses.

Kaden's eyes went wide. He now understood how the pile of bodies came to be. He did not want to be the next body on that pile. He continued sprinting toward the narrow crevice at the far end of the cavern, his heart pounding in his ears. 

The broken spear felt like dead weight in his hand, but he clung to it. It wasn't much, but it was all he had, and the sharp edge might buy him a second or two if things went south. Who was he kidding? If the snake decided to chase after him, he was a goner.

'Go for the other guys. Go for the other guys.' He screamed mentally and continued running. Unfortunately for him the snake was not a mind reader. Judging from the explosive sounds behind his back, he was definitely its chosen prey.