Theodore was much faster than the girls, and even Kaiden was outpaced despite his sprinting ability; thus, the distance between pursuer and pursued only grew with each passing second despite their best efforts.
<Rabid Forest Rat - Level 3>
Four of such creatures attacked him from the sides all of a sudden. Their fur was the color of the forest, and they were as big as a medium-sized dog. One of the dumb beasts jumped in front of him, getting blown away by his charge ability just as its duration ended. The monster was sent flying a good distance, swatted away by pure mass and velocity alone.
’I don’t have time for this!’ Kaiden yelled inwardly as he readied his weapon. "[Doom Strike]!"
He was much more clinical in his approach than he was with the warthog. Back then, that creature was a curious enemy to study and slay, but now, these rats were just annoying obstacles in his path.
Despite them being higher level, they were inferior to the pig when it came to defense because the warthog’s sturdy natural exterior protected it as if it were armor. Kaiden swung his axe in a horizontal arc, injuring two in the process. Instead of bleeding red, the liquid leaving their body was a vile, putrid green that hissed and smoked as it hit the ground.
"[Fiery Burst]!" he intoned at the rats writhing around on the ground in pain. The one who wasn’t hit by his strike managed to dodge to the side, but the two injured ones were burned alive.
[You’ve slain Rabid Forest Rat (Level 3). You’ve gained 100 XP.]
[You’ve slain Rabid Forest Rat (Level 3). You’ve gained 100 XP.]
"Kai, don’t move! [Lunar Arc]!" Aria shouted as she finally managed to catch up. The third rat was hit by her projectile and finished off by Nyx’s dagger. Kaiden quickly beheaded the last one.
He glanced at Theodore’s shrinking form in the far distance and cursed furiously. His Agility stat was simply too low to keep up, but he refused to give up.
- Princeless Princess: I already called the association! They should be on the way!
- Kaiden’s Wife: Kai, you should remain where you are and wait for the association! It’s too dangerous to continue!
- Failed Writer: Bro this shit is straight-up better than a Hollywood movie. This can’t be scripted, right?
- Weasel: I’m sure it’s scripted. Though the kidnapper’s acting is very good, he should get an Oscar for managing to display such a truly disturbed man so perfectly.
The stream was gaining momentum as more and more people tuned in, however, Kaiden wasn’t in the mood to care about viewer numbers right now. His girl had been taken away from him by a lunatic. Her life was in danger.
They were a good ten minutes from the dungeon’s entrance, meaning it was likely going to take some time for help to arrive, and that’s assuming the association wouldn’t wait to ascertain the validity of the callers and their statements, thinking them to be trolls.
Furthermore, the association might not mobilize the guards who are standing just outside the gate to rush after the kidnapper instead of securing the exit, for example. It might be a while until help arrives.
"I’m going to go after Luna. We don’t know how long it’ll take for help to get here."
"I’m coming with you!"
"So am I!"
Neither of the girls wished to remain behind.
Kaiden nodded his acceptance before resuming the chase. He couldn’t afford to keep wasting time.
"The farther we go from the dungeon’s entrance, the stronger the enemies...!" Nyx reminded them while panting heavily. She was the least fit of the three, so she was getting left behind by Aria and Kaiden, who could sprint well. Her medium armor also wasn’t doing her any favors.
The trio continued as such for another few minutes, during which they were ambushed by low-level monsters twice. Then, Kaiden abruptly stopped. "Let’s take a breather," he said while reaching for his backpack and handing each of them a bottle of water. The two Valkyries were looking at him with confusion.
Seeing their perplexed gazes, Kaiden explained his thoughts. "We can’t keep going like this—we’ll just get ourselves killed. Theodore is facing more monsters than we are because he is in the front. We can track him using the trail of corpses he leaves behind."
"I see. Doing so will also allow us to try leveling up before the clash," Nyx noted her observations.
Kaiden nodded. "Exactly. Theodore will become tired soon enough. Let’s continue the pursuit at our own pace, conserving our stamina."
"I’m proud of you, Kai! You kept your emotions in check despite the severity of the situation," Aria stated with a tender smile while stroking Kaiden’s arm tenderly.
"If it was just me, I probably would’ve rushed after them until my legs fell off, but I have to protect you two, too."
Nyx had a dejected look on her beautiful face. "I’m sorry, guys... If only I took better care of my body, I wouldn’t drag you two down."
"The two of us were getting outran too. Don’t blame yourself for no reason," Kaiden replied.
Despite his comforting words, the pink-haired beauty wasn’t keen to take the easy way out. Her downcast eyes transformed into determined ones. "I’ll take my body’s battle readiness seriously from now on! Princess, please help me when we get out of this situation." As a trainer, Aria was as good a candidate as any to help Nyx bolster her fitness.
When one leveled up, their stats would increase; thus, their basic stats mattered less and less the higher leveled they became. However, in Nyx’s opinion, every single stat point was a priceless gem for combatants. As such, she steeled her resolve to improve her base stats even if doing so would be a difficult undertaking—she was not a big fan of salads and sweating.
"Sure!" Her request was accepted with utmost joy evident in Aria’s features.
Kaiden glanced at his status window and saw he had 897 XP out of the 1000 needed to reach level 2. "How are you girls with XP?"
"I need a little over 300 XP to level up."
"Me too. The issue is that my mana reserves are dwindling..."
"It’s okay. Try to be conservative with your mana, I’ll act as frontline. You two should wait for the perfect moment to launch your attacks."
Aria and Nyx nodded in understanding, and they resumed their tense journey to save Luna from her mentally deranged brother.
It did not take long for the trio to reach the edge of the forest. It was a dungeon set in a forest biome, after all. Only the starting area was in the open fields.
"Finding his trail will take even more time and effort now..." Kaiden grumbled, but such a turn of events was within his expectations.
*Grrrrrr!* After a single minute of trekking through the dense forest foliage, a deep, guttural growl sounded.
<Silverback Mauler - Level 5>
Kaiden only had a moment to read the monster’s information before a large bear-like creature pounced on him from the bushes with so much speed that he couldn’t even react in time.