Kael caught sight of what was happening in the corner of his eye and let out a small breath of relief as he saw Thalia successfully shoot down one of the five monsters.
"Nice, just four left over there," he thought, shifting his focus back to the five monsters before him.
If Thalia couldn't handle the remaining four, or at the very least avoid their attacks, then she didn't deserve to be among the Awakened he once knew in his past life.
With swift movements, he lunged at one of the monsters, thrusting his katana into its chest before quickly pulling it back out.
Then he rolled between the legs of a second monster, climbed onto its back, and drove his katana into its chest from its shoulder before flipping backward, landing a few feet away.
He touched down near the other two newly emerged monsters and rushed toward one of them.
The monster swung its claw at his head, but he dodged, grabbed the creature's arm, lifted himself up, and stabbed his sword into its chest.
He yanked his blade free and jumped back down, turning to face the last monster.
The final beast let out a roar instead of attacking. Kael simply stared at it and spoke. "You won't defeat me."
The monster charged at him, but Kael ducked behind it and climbed onto its back.
He perched on the monster's shoulders while it flailed, swiping its claws wildly to reach him. He quickly slid down behind it.
Gripping its neck tightly, he plunged his blade into its chest, then kicked off its stomach as a stepping point before dropping to the ground.
Now that all the monsters were dead, he casually sheathed his katana and collected the mana shards.
"Five shards. At least it's enough to raise our level a bit," he muttered.
The mana cores of both him and Thalia were still light gray, meaning their cores were still halfway dormant, holding only a small amount of magical energy.
They could only use it for basic abilities, such as sharpening their eyesight.
From what he remembered, leveling up a mana core required at least 1000 mana shards for someone who had never used their mana for combat or any other purpose.
Kael pocketed all the mana shards and turned his attention to Thalia's fight with the remaining four monsters.
***
After the first monster from the batch that wrecked the cabin, she quickly grabbed an arrow from her quiver and aimed at the creatures.
They roared almost in unison, making her ears ring as their foul stench filled the air.
"Disgusting monsters," she muttered, nocking her arrow and aiming at them.
One by one, they leaped toward her, and she released an arrow into the nearest monster's chest.
But one of them had already closed in, forcing her to sprint, pulling another arrow from her quiver.
As the beast lunged at her, she dropped to the ground and twisted, firing an arrow straight into its chest at close range.
The monster crashed forward, and she scrambled to her feet, rolling to the side.
"Two more," she whispered, breathing heavily while drawing another arrow and immediately shooting at the last monster at the back of the group.
"One more to go…" she murmured, steadying herself as she dashed toward the cabin and grabbed another arrow.
She ran, bowstring pulled, aiming at the last creature as it turned around—then she let the arrow fly.
The final monster collapsed.
She stood still, gasping for breath, her face pale as she stared at the creatures she had managed to kill.
Then her gaze shifted to Kael, who remained calm as he casually collected the mana shards that had emerged from the beasts' chests.
He didn't say anything and stepped closer to Thalia, handing her all the mana shards. She took them with a blank stare, looking down at the shards in her hands.
Then he pulled out one more mana shard from his pocket and placed it in her hand.
"These are all yours," he said before heading toward the wrecked cabin to search for supplies—his backpack and whatever food they could take with them.
She kept staring at the mana shards, then shifted her gaze toward Kael.
She wanted to ask why he hadn't helped her once he had finished off the monsters, or why he was giving her more mana shards than she had earned.
But she held her tongue, slipping the shards into her sling bag before helping him gather food.
Kael had always been quiet, but now his silence felt even heavier, carrying an aura that made it impossible to question him.
"We need to get out of here," he said, carrying a backpack and their salvaged food toward the pickup truck he had parked a little farther from the cabin.
Thalia followed, holding onto the food they had saved. "Where are we going?" she asked.
Placing his backpack between the passenger seats, he replied, "We're heading to Lindenburgh. We're going to the subway there."
Lindenburgh was a much bigger city than Kael's hometown—a place called Ozark, which was more of a small town than a city.
In his past life, the Lindenburgh subway had been the gathering point for the first survivors and Awakened after the apocalypse began.
And Kael knew they had to get there before the third gate opened.
Thalia simply stared at him, waiting for her late best friend's older brother to explain further. But no more words came from him.
She watched him climb into the driver's seat, then, without saying anything, she got in and sat beside him.
Kael started the truck and drove them out of the forest in silence.
Once they reached the paved road, she suddenly asked, "Why do we have to go to the subway in Lidenburgh? Why not head to a military base for shelter?"
Kael glanced at her through the rearview mirror, then turned his eyes back to the road.
"Do you think the military base is still standing? That it hasn't been overrun by those monsters?"
Her lips parted, ready to fire back a response, but she stopped herself. She turned her gaze outside, staring at the empty road through the truck's glassless windows.
Kael glanced at her, noticing the small pout on her face as she stared outside.
"We're going to meet other survivors," he said.