Chapter 402 - Unreachable

The sounds of leaves rustling periodically--each time a subtle shake of foliage was heard, it came from a different direction. 

If it wasn't the evergreen that made noise, then it was the wildlife that inhabited the dense territory; chirps, howls, and growls--most of which were unrecognizable to him. 

"...I think we'll have to make-do with whatever wood we can find," he muttered, trying to keep quiet. 

"Yeah…" Aiko nodded her head. 

He faced towards a relatively dry tree, running his hand along the rough, ashen bark before gripping his sword with both hands. 

"Watch my back," he said to the girl in a half whisper, "this is...going to back some noise." 

"Got it," Aiko nodded. 

With his back secured, he coated the sharp edge of Belus in potent reinforcement, taking in a breath through his lungs before swinging his sword directly against the hip of the gray-skinned cedar. 

As expected, the impact echoed through the quiet forest shrouded in a permanent night, making him fall still as he realized just how far that sound likely carried. 

...Okay. Just one more swing; I underestimated how much reinforcement to use, but it's alright, he thought. 

Rearing his sword back, he swung once more as it carved completely through the body of the tree, causing it to croak as it slowly fell over to the side. 

The resounding thud of the fallen tree might as well have sounded like a bomb going off in a small box--it felt as if he had just awakened the entire forest with that single swing. 

"Ren?" Aiko called his name worriedly. 

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here," he huffed. 

He only intended to bring a small portion of the tree's wood back, but not wanting to wait around for whatever nightly fiends prowled the forest, he sent another slice through the cedar, picking up a sizable log before following Aiko back towards the way they came. 

A howl traversed the nightly wind, sending a shiver against his back as he picked up the pace, though encumbered by the hefty corpse of the tree. 

--Then another. And another. An orchestra of spine-chilling howls cascaded, all feeling as if they were aimed directly at his back; though the silver-lining being that he found himself no longer focusing on the harshness of the bark against his neck, nor the weight of it as he sprinted full force. 

"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea!" Aiko called out. 

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Aiko! Just keep moving!" He returned while running behind her. 

After a minute of running at full-sprint, it began to occur to him that it didn't really make much sense. 

Just how far did we go?! He thought. 

"Aiko!" He yelled to the beige-haired girl in front of him. 

"--Yeah?!" She called back. 

"Are we going the right way?!" He asked in a yell, expelling it in a huff. 

His words brought the girl to a screeching halt as she turned back to him with wide eyes that made her amethyst irises stand out like glistening jewels. 

"Urr...I...I--I...urr…" She stammered out. 

"...You just ran without a second thought, didn't you?" He sighed, dropping the log down on the forest floor. 

Aiko blushed out of sheer embarrassment before barking back, "Y-you followed me!"

"That's because you were supposed to keep watch, idiot!" He replied sharply. 

To reprimand his junior, he bestowed a flick to her forehead that caused her to release a small 'Ough' sound from her lips as she caressed the small, reddened spot of affliction on her head. 

"I'm sorry…" She apologized meekly. 

Being looked at with a classic case of puppy dog eyes, he let out a small sigh before patting the girl on the head. 

"Don't worry about it. We'll figure this out," he assured her. 

Although the monstrous howls that sounded closer than ever chipped away at whatever bolstering words he could provide. 

Great. Another mess on the second day here...how the hell are we going to survive a month like this? He thought. 

The only consolation was the very thing that entrapped them in their predicament: the dense, endless swarm of white-leaved trees and boundless foliage. Playing the stealth game seemed like the optimal choice with such an environment, but even that idea was shaken from his head. 

No...if it's monsters, or better yet, Purgatory monsters, then just relying on a lack of vision on their end won't do it. Forget just them sniffing us out with their noses, they can probably track mana signatures as well, he deciphered. 

"Ren?" She tugged on his sable coat. 

"Yeah, I'm working on it," he shrugged off her words while he continued his thoughts. 

There's no point in trying to make a run for it, either. We have no clue where we are, and I'd rather move once I'm able to take my time and think without worrying about something nipping at my heels. 

It might be best to stand here and fight--, he thought. 

"--Ren," she tugged on his coat a bit harder. 

"I heard you, Aiko. What is it?--"

As he turned around to look at the purple-eyed girl, he found his answer as waiting in the enigmatic darkness inhabiting the treeline, was the presence of something malicious. 

Oh, shit, he thought. 

Even as they hid in the veil of the surrounding darkness, their glowing, blood-red eyes stood out as if signalling their bloodlust. 

They were completely surrounded; no two-ways about it. By the low growls that resounded like a melody of savagery, he surmised what was dealing with would only stop once his flesh was in their stomachs, or his steel was through theirs. 

"Aiko," he quietly called her name as they were back-to-back. 

"I can do it. I've got your back," she assured him. 

If I'm being honest...I have my doubts. As harsh as it may sound, Aiko is the weakest of our group. It's no fault of her own--she's the youngest, of course. But, that's even more reason why I'm hesitant. 

It will cost me more mana than I'd be comfortable with, but I could probably take these all on by myself, barring the reality that these things really are just next level. 

Still, she can't grow if I coddle her, right? He thought. 

"Be careful," he advised her with a small smile, "I don't want to imagine what type of headache I'd have to endure from Macheo if you got hurt." 

"You have nothing to worry about!" Aiko proclaimed, "He's got no room to talk, anyway!"

It seemed bringing up the prince's name lit a fire under her--an intended result that he was delighted worked so well. 

Holding his entrusted broadsword in his right hand, and the black-crystalline dagger in his left, he tightened his silver gloves as he lowered his stance, slowly sliding the soles of his boots against the slick grass. 

"Unreachable," it was the name of the stance drilled into him by Sora. Although the boisterous man himself didn't use it, it was a perfect fit for someone of a smaller frame such as himself. 

Relying on minimum reinforcement to enhance myself, I have to get creative. Keep your feet sealed against the floor like a statue, your body condensed and locked--allow your stance to become so natural that all of your brain power is lent to your eyes, ears, and nose--detect any shift in the area around you. 

React before anything else: unreachable, he thought. 

Even in the midst of such an unsavory situation, he steadied his breathing to a faint whisper as his eyes steadied. 

Against his ears, he listened to the subtle, but audible sounds of leaves and twigs crunching beneath the feet of the prowling, growling fiends in the shadows. 

--A shift in the heavy, huffing breaths around.