Night Watch

Solara stood against a tree, resting as she looked up at the forest canopy.

She was lost in her thoughts.

'Quiet night huh.' The words echoed through her head.

She glanced over at Abraham, then back up again.

'Can't believe this…'

She sighed and slid her back against the tree, into a sitting position.

'This clown? Holding the mantle of war? Unbelievable.'

Crickets chirped in the background.

She decided to open up her runes.

[Name: Solara]

[Age: 22]

[Pulse: 15]

[Attribute: Sorcery]

[Trait: ???]

[Titles: —]

[Equipment: Murderous Frog]

'Murderous Frog, my beloved.'

She further inspected the Murderous Frog

[Murderous Frog: "They say when it croaks, someone dies. Doesn't matter where you are."]

She returns back to the previous screen and stares at her pulse count.

'Fifteen.' She groaned. 'He's already past forty. He kills a few dogs and drinks shady juice.' She kicked a stone in frustration, hitting Abraham's head. 'I killed my first monster at fifteen, and I'm still not even an ignited.'

'God, I sound like a brat. But still — fifteen. What kind of joke is that?'

She scowled and then in one swift motion, landed a punch onto Abraham's head, forcing him awake.

"Wakey wakey, sunshine. It's your turn to stand on night watch."

Abraham groaned while rubbing his head, "what was that for? Bastard."

Solara shrugged, "Just thought that would wake you up faster."

Abraham stood up and sat beside the fire, still massaging his head.

Solara soon fell asleep, leaving Abraham to go on a mini adventure.

'She should be fine, she's a witch afterall…'

Abraham decided to climb a big tree.

'This one's perfect.' He thought to himself, rubbing his hands together.

He grabbed onto the rough bark and began climbing up higher and higher.

After some time, Abraham's head poked through the leaves at the top and he looked around carefully.

'Hell yeah, this view is amazing.' He let out a small smirk.

Suddenly, he noticed something that caused his heart to freeze in place.

A massive black serpent appeared in front of him. Its scales shimmered under the moonlight and its eyes were red and empty.

"Uh, hey there you pretty little thi—" Abraham was cut off by its sudden attack.

Its teeth lashed out and almost bit into his arm. Abraham barely dodged it as he summoned Daylight.

[Debuff Activated: Daylight's capability is reduced under Night's Embrace]

'I'm sorry what the actual fuck? When were debuffs a thing??'

The snake lashed out again, this time toward his thigh, which he just barely blocked out of reflex rather than skill.

'I am NOT trying to die to a black noodle in a tree.'

Abraham decided to take the offensive and attack, however he tripped over a small branch overlapping over the branch he used to walk on and landed face first into the large branch, wide open for attack.

The snake lunged again, leaving Abraham no choice but to literally roll off of the tree. He fell through the branches and landed directly on top of his sleeping bag with the grace of a dying pigeon, cushioning his fall.

The snake-thing coiled around the tree and slowly moved down.

Solara was still sound asleep.

'Look how relaxed she looks while I'm fighting for my life.'

The snake appeared by the tree now, this time staring at Solara.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me—"

'Hey maybe this is my chance… I could run away right now and survive.'

Abraham hesitated slightly and took a step back.

He turned to look at Solara as she slept peacefully. The snake drew closer to her slowly.

Abraham turned around to run, but then his face contorted in disgust.

'Am I really doing this…'

He turned around and stared at Solara again.

'Ahh fuck why do I even care? I met her only a few hours ago.'

The snake finally reached Solara and opened its mouth, its teeth dripping with matte black venom.

It lunged. Straight for her head.

Blood hits the grass nearby.

The snake's head fell to the ground.

"Tsk, the things I do for you… you owe me one." He muttered to himself.

[+5]

'Guess this was somewhat worth it.'

[New Item Obtained: Venomous Infliction]

The sun began to creep over the horizon.

'Finally.' He thought to himself.

With that, he picked up a bucket of water and dumped it over Solara's head.

She sat up immediately, stunned by the sudden feeling of cold.

She looked at him as if he had just reaped her soul.

"Day time already?" She asked, hiding her fury of being soaked.

Abraham laughed, "Yeah, let's go."