The two of them rushed towards Ashton, who didn't know how to respond to the concerned look on their faces. Not because he was surprised or anything, but because he knew, all they saw in him was a tool. An expensive one, but just a tool.
They were worried for his safety alright, but for their own greed. Well, who was Ashton to make a comment on it, after all, he saw the same thing in them.
Mera stopped to take a look at him. At the same time, Jonathan stood on the lookout for the inevitable trouble coming their way. Well, trouble that they would rather have not dealt with if they had a choice.
Getting inside the base wasn't as easy as they thought. Their blood-stained attire and swords were the proof of that.
Unlike Ashton who was directly teleported within the former human base, they had to fight their way through countless monsters and undead beings to get there. They were hopeful that the doors leading inside the base would still be functioning or at least they prayed for that.
But their prayers were not answered. The doors didn't budge even with the two of them trying their best. Instead, they had to blow it up, which in turn gathered a lot of creatures who were gradually making their way towards them.
"You good kid?" Jonathan asked Ashton.
"I've been better… but I'm good."
Ashton politely replied all the while Mera was intently looking at him for any injuries. Ashton's armour had blood on it as well, but surprisingly there wasn't a single wound on his body.
"Good. Can you still use weapons?"
Ashton nodded, but Mera butted in, "He must have been through hell here alone, and you're still planning on making him fight?"
"Yeah. He's a soldier and a soldier should never back down from a fight until and unless his limbs and head were severed off. Now, get ready for trouble." Jonathan retorted and turned his gaze towards the hole Ashton had made in the wall, "Here they come…"
The atmosphere suddenly got tensed. Ashton looked at the people who were there to 'save' him, and both of them were frowning hard. Since they were much stronger than him, he could only wonder what could make them worried.
The gravel scattered all over the floors started jumping on their place as the ground began to shake. The noise of over a hundred footsteps slowly got louder and louder and the ground began to shake more vigorously. The creatures were rapidly getting closer to them.
"You brought a horde in here, didn't you?" Ashton sighed but prepared himself for the fight ahead of him.
"You indeed have developed a sharp tongue," Mera growled and a moment later, both she and Jonathan transformed into full-fledged werewolves, "I just hope someday your brain gets sharp as well."
The scene in front of Ashton's eyes was breath-taking. Not one, but two werewolves changed forms right in front of his eyes.
But he knew what was to follow next so he jumped back. Mera had a weird transformation-related ability, an ability that could drive any human or werewolf in her vicinity to become a slave to her will. It was the same skill she used during the ceremony of turning Ashton into one of her kind.
Even with the distance between them, Ashton felt a strange attraction towards her, which he quickly broke away from by not looking at her. Her silvery fur was not getting close to him or his general who was alert like never before. Not in a hundred years.
But what about Jonathan? He should get affected by Mera's innate skill, right?
Ashton turned to look towards Jonathan who was right next to Mera but for some unknown reason, he was seemingly unaffected by her skill. Also, his transformation looked more fierce and strong than Mera's.
His burgundy fur wasn't anything especial unlike Mera's, but he had sharp bones popped out of his shoulders and fists, which gave him a menacing look. Not to mention his weirdly curved foot-claws that could easily rip off any form of flesh with minimal effort.
'Maybe I should try to transform as much as I can as well?'
But before he could do so, Mera stopped him and threw hers and Jonathan's daggers towards him.
"We'll sever their limbs, at least of as many as we can." She instructed without turning towards him, "You just deal the finishing blows, alright?"
"That's… not a lot of work."
"If I was in your place, I wouldn't complain. After all, you're being offered a ton of free exp." Jonathan chimed in with a smile, "Just think of it as our way of making it up to you for failing to protect you before."
Little did they know, getting absurd amounts of exp was poison for Ashton. At least eight dozen monsters were approaching them. Killing all of them would have usually made Ashton happy. But getting the exp could also upset the genetic balance within him which he couldn't afford.
'Three levels… that's the highest I can level up to without losing my shit.' He thought to himself as the horde of enemies got closer and closer to them.
The next moment, countless monsters burst through the small hole. At the same time, Mera and Jonathan jumped into the horde, hacking and slashing them relentlessly. It was almost impossible to be accurate 100% of the time.
They ended up killing more monsters than their limbs. Upon witnessing it, Ashton had a look of relief on his face. He jumped in as well, killing his first target among the horde of monsters. As he did, his relief got solidified further.
'Looks like I was getting worried for nothing!'
The exp those monsters were giving him were not even enough to level him up twice, let alone cause any imbalance in his genes.. That was the only thing Ashton had to know before he joined Jonathan and Mera in hacking those beasts for real.