The group paused their trip through hell as they waited for Daveon to finish his business with his stomach.
The oppressive heat of the barren lands seemed to grow heavier with every passing second as Damon, Anaya, Daveon, and Ex-General Leana remained in the open terrain.
Soon, Daveon was done with eating and their journey resumed.
“If only you’d eaten when everyone else was eating.” Damon clicked his tongue, patting h friend’s shoulder whilst shaking his head like an empathetic old man.
“My bad.” Daveon lowered his head in apology to the others.
“Don’t sweat the details and let’s move on.” Damon grinned, trying to cheer up Daveon rather than make him feel bad for the delay.
The desolate expanse stretched endlessly, the occasional jagged rock or skeletal remains of a long-dead mana beast the only breaks in the horizon.
Noticing the anxiety that troubled them, Leana decided to lighten the mood as they continued their search for demons.
Turning her head slightly, she called back to the group, “Let me ask you all something. How young were you when you had your first kill—whether it was a demon or a mana beast?”
Anaya was the first to respond, her voice steady but tinged with curiosity. “Mine was a mana beast. It was a few months into the academy. One of the instructors guided us through a training exercise that required us to kill one in the academy.”
Daveon nodded in agreement. “Same here. We were still learning the basics, so we had to rely on the instructor a lot. But by the end of it, we managed to take down a Grade Seven mana beast individually.”
Both of them chuckled at the shared memory, but their laughter faded when they noticed Damon walking silently, his gaze fixed ahead. Anaya frowned, tilting her head as she looked at him.
“Damon,” she asked, “your first kill was during that same training session, right?”
Damon shook his head, his expression unreadable. “No. My first known and recorded kill was then, but my real first kill happened months earlier.”
His words brought their steps to a halt. Even Leana stopped, her curiosity piqued. “Really?” she asked, folding her arms. “Care to share how that came to be?”
Damon exhaled deeply, his eyes scanning the distant horizon as if the memory itself lay somewhere out there.
“I was sent away from my family,” Damon began, his tone calm but carrying a hint of bitterness. “The Terrace family has a different way of doing things. I was sent to make my own way to the academy when I awakened my essence core.”
“What?” Anaya said, her voice sharp with disbelief. “Alone? Why?”
Damon waved off her question. “That part doesn’t matter. What matters is that I spent three months making my way to the academy by myself. I didn’t have the skills or the knowledge to survive at first, so I was pretty much prey for anything with mana essence.”
He paused, glancing at the others. “But I adapted. I learned how to recognize threats, how to run when I needed to, and when I couldn’t run, how to fight.”
Leana’s expression grew serious but a smile remained on her lips. “So, you killed to survive?”
Damon nodded. “Living plants, mostly. Those things are vicious when they think they’ve found an easy meal. I took down about twenty of them before I encountered my first real mana beast. It was very low-ranked, but even then, it was tough. I managed to kill it, and then three more after that.”
Anaya stared at him, her mouth slightly open. “You… you never told me any of this.”
“It didn’t seem important,” Damon said with a shrug. “By the time I got to the academy, it felt like a different life.”
Daveon let out a low whistle. “Twenty living plants and four mana beasts before the academy? You’re something else, Damon. No wonder you topped the test then.”
“Why didn’t your family help you?” Anaya pressed.
Damon shook his head again, his tone dismissive. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I made it. I survived.”
Sensing the shift in tone, Leana stepped in to redirect the conversation. “Alright, Damon,” she said with a smirk, “since you’re in a storytelling mood, why don’t you ask me a question for a change?”
Damon’s lips quirked into a faint smile. “Alright. When was your first kill, Miss Leana?”
Leana opened her mouth to respond but suddenly froze, her sharp eyes narrowing as she focused on the horizon.
“Hold that thought,” she said, her tone shifting to one of urgency.
Damon’s heightened senses kicked in, and his gaze darted to the same point. Far in the distance, dark shapes were rapidly approaching, moving with a predatory grace.
“Figures,” Damon muttered, his hand moving to the hilt of his weapon strapped to his waist. “We’ve got company.”
Anaya and Daveon tensed, their hands instinctively reaching for their own weapons as they scanned the horizon.
“Seven demons,” Leana said, her voice calm but firm. “They’re all Grade Six. Nothing you can’t handle if you stay sharp.”
She turned to face her wards, a mischievous smirk tugging at her lips. “Here’s the plan. I’ll keep four of them busy. The three of you will take on the other three. Once you’ve dealt with your first targets, you’ll each pick another. Whoever takes down their second target the fastest gets to finish off the last one—and I’ll give them a reward.”
Anaya’s eyes lit up. “A reward?”
“You’ll just have to win to find out what it is,” Leana said with a wink.
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Daveon grinned, his competitive side kicking in. “Alright. Let’s see who’s the best demon slayer.”
Damon rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide the faint smirk on his face. “Make sure you don’t lose, or I’ll have to mock you for the rest of the trip.”
Leana unsheathed her weapon, a gleaming blade that caught the light as she moved toward the incoming demons. “Remember,” she called back to her wards, “work together and stay focused. Don’t die yet.”
As the demons drew closer, their grotesque forms becoming clearer, Damon, Anaya, and Daveon fell into formation. The oppressive heat seemed to fade into the background as adrenaline surged through their veins.