The notification signaling the night's end came out of nowhere, snapping Leo out of his trance. Uo practiy of his visible skills, he decided to use the long hours to try reag out for his soulscape again. Only to be met with plete failure.

  He took Nikra's words to heart and tried replig the same feeling he experienced when she pulled him into the soulscape. Obviously, it didn't work, so Leo decided to get creative. First, he attempted to reato his soul in the same way he did when using skills, but that also turned out to be a dead end.

  , he tried some good old meditating and delving deep into his mind, hoping that maybe this was the first step to gaining access to a soulscape. However, this too failed, and the only thing Leo mao reach was his inner beast, which began to howl with ughter... or at least he thought it was ughter.

  And so, with easuccessful attempt, Leo spent the rest of the night with Nikra's words eg in his head. She was more knowledgeable betweewo of them, so the Old One had to know what she was talking about. Yet, after each time he hit the proverbial wall inside his soul, the fmes of doubt began to slowly ignite.

  At least I tried. Leo grumbled as he stretched his muscles after hours of unuse.

  o him, Tyler followed in his footsteps, a soft crag of joints filling the room. Not the best thing to hear in the m, along with the distant screeg of Voidling, but this was their life now.

  Shaking his head lightly, Leo summoned a rger ball of light into his hand to give the younger man a prht source. Tyler nodded in thanks and approached the couch, shaking the sleeping duo awake.

  What followed was a quick expnation of why Tyler didn't wake Laura to ge the watch. The duo didn't pin — obviously — but going by the frown on the only girl's face, she wasn't too happy that her cousin stayed up the entire night.

  Leo could uand that. Tyler was their frontline, for ck of a better term. If he wasn't at one hundred pert strength during their trek through the city, things could go south really fast.

  Gono keep an eye o all times. Leo reasoned. He had already been pnning to do that, but being even more o couldn't hurt. A long day indeed.

  "A legless monkey with bat's wings?" Dyn ented, ing to a halt beside him. "Bloody hell... I had seen a Collector before, but this is a new one for me."

  Leo hummed. "It's probably best that you haven't seen one before. With stealth, I hide quite well, but even that is a risk with their enhanced senses."

  "Aye, you're most likely right," Dyn nodded, giving him a brief once-over. "Are you ready to go, d? I know you said you don't need sleep, but it's been a few hours sihen."

  "Apart from feeling a bit stiff from sitting like a damn statue, I'm good to go," Leed before motioning to the duo by the couch. "I'm more worried about those two. Tyler only had a couple hours of sleep, and I don't knoell Laura use a bow with that arm of hers."

  Dyn furrowed his brow, his gaze shifting towards the cousins. "Tyler ma for now. We always take a break if need be... However, the girl's arm could pose a problem."

  Without another word, the older man strode forward and gave Tyler a pat on the back. "We should get movin', you two," Dyn said, capturing their attention. "How's your arm holdin' up, Laura?"

  Leo didn't approad just watched as the girl picked up the bow, her brow sched.

  "Better, much better," she muttered, pulling the string even as her arm trembled a bit. "Not perfect, but I shoot."

  And Leo didn't doubt that, but there was no way those shots would be accurate. He had dabbled enough in archery to know this much. Which, in hindsight, wasn't muyway.

  Still, ohe trio gathered up and stopped in front of him, he didn't say a word. No reason to sow unnecessary discord among them while their trust in him was already very limited.

  Instead, Leo just listeo the oldest among them.

  "Normally, a trip from here to the trainyard wouldn't even take an hour... Obviously, we know that ain't gonna work today." Dyn paused, casting a meaningful g his two panions. "We'll stick close to one side of the road, with Tyler leadin' the way, and make our way forward at a steady pace. If any of you get too tired to carry on, just let me know. We've got the whole day ahead of us. o go chargin' in like a bunch of daft idiots."

  The two nodded firmly, showing just who had the and of this group. Dyuro him and frowned, so Leo took pity on the man and spoke up.

  "I'll be moviher through the grass or the roofs, using the Vetilim above. My primary targets will be the stronger Voidlings, but I'll try to eliminate as many as possible regardless," he expined. "Also, if things go south, just scream or use those guns I gave you. That way, I'll know to e."

  "Aye, what the d said," Dyn nodded. "We've got more firepower now, so if need be, use it. Now, let's get a move on."

  Just as the trio moved to the door, Leo raised his hand. "One more thing... That strailim flower is still out there. Don't look in that dire. I'm not sure what it does exactly, but I don't think we want to find out now."

  "Aye, the Crimson Mirage," Dyn muttered. "We're headin' in the opposite dire, so let's 'ope it won't be a problem. And if we e across another one, just avoid lookin' at it."

  With that said, they all finally stepped into the corridor, and as Dyn moved to remove the shelf barrig the door, Leo summoned his job menu. It would be a waste to go out without any active task.

  No, no, no. Definitely no. Leo mumbled internally, searg through the ever-growing list of avaible tasks. Alright, this looks perfect for today. Might even finish it in one go.

  ExterminatiohSy 15 level 7 her Voidlings. issioned by: System. Time Limit: 2 Earth days.Rewards:3 Ether Fres, Free honing token.Do you wish to accept?

  Yes. Leo firmed, and the menu faded away. If this token works on repairs, then I won't o waste Ether on Valron Ce... Quite nice.

  "It looks like we've got ourselves a welin' ittee," Dyn called out, stepping away from the newly operance. "Nothin' be bloody easy these days, it?"

  Indeed, even without stepping oreet, Leo had already noticed at least half a dozen normies. Two of them were even walking toward their group.

  Wonders of not having good stealth ability, I guess. Leo tsked, remembering well how a Voidling still spotted him even with the basic Stealth up. That was fug annoying...

  Identify.

  Cursed Human (Voidling) | Rank: F | LVL: 6 | Type: Surfaormal

  Both are level six... Could have been worse. Leo noted as they all spilled out of the building. Just like Dyn said, Tyler took the front while the other two stood on the sides a few steps behind the warrior.

  Already Tyler had his sword at the ready, while Dyn's finger sparked with lightning. Hell, even Laura had nocked one of her remaining arrows while the other was held loosely in her hand.

  Left standing alone on the porch, Leo quickly sed the rest of the street. On the far left, there was anroup of Voidlings, but that one didn't seem to care. And so, overall, they barely had seves standing in their way, one already engaged with Tyler and another on the ground, thanks to Dyn's teique.

  Leo cracked his wide neck, bdes lengthening with naught but a thought. Time to join the fray. Wanna help?

  At once, his inner beast growled, bloodlust surging forward. Once more, they became one, and Leo couldn't hide his grin as he strode forward, his pace quiing with each step.

  "e, little sheep." A snarl left his mouth as the beast and former human sailed above the downed Voidling and barrelled straight into another. Cws and a bde stabbed deep into its torso, and Leo followed with his other arm, slig through flesh like it wasn't even there.

  Blood erupted like a fountain from the now headless monster, yet Leo paid it no mind. Guided by the call of his ow, he spun around, his tails spping away another normie that attempted to get close.

  The Cursed Human never had a ce to recover as Leo pounced, swiftly separating its head from its body. However, the fight was far from over when two more normies rushed straight at him, their lengthened fingernails ready to tear through his flesh.

  Leo could have easily dodged, rolled out of the way. But he didn't, not when this situation provided a perfect opportunity to test his bdes further…

  The moment the two Cursed Humans closed the remaining distance, Leo raised his arms, halting the offending limbs. Or at least he thought that would be the extent of what happened.

  Instead, just when the beasts' fingers came in tact with the bdes, Leo's eyes widened as the digits fell to the ground. Apparently, his bdes possessed more cutting power than he expected…

  Thankfully before he could go on aa, the roar of his inner beast instantly snapped him back to reality. Leo grinned, and together, they swiftly dispatched the now defenseless monsters as they screeched in pain.

  Alright, enough for now. He anded, sighing as the bloodlust retreated, the urge to tear everything to pieces leaving his mind. It defiook a toll, but when Leo and the inner beast bined, he instantly uood so much more about his nature. Already, the three tails seemed a bit more manageable than a few minutes before.

  Slow, but the progress is there. Leo noted, retrag his bdes. In the er of his visioiced the rest of his group finishing their own fight.

  Good, that gives me a moment.

  Turning to the four fresh corpses, Leo closed his eyes and focused on a vivid image inside his head. With it firmly in mind, a small pulse escaped his body, swiftly enveloping the lifeless Voidlings.

  It works. Nice. He nodded, approag the sed Cursed Human he had sin. His cws desded upon the body, dev every bit of Essence left there.

  Only dust remained, Leo crouched and reached into the pile, his smile widening when his cws clicked against something hard. He grabbed the objed pulled it out, his hand bathed in the ruby glow of Crystallized Essence…

  For an objeportant, Leo had been w how other survivors were ever supposed to know that Voidlings could leave it behind. Drain made that discovery simple for him, but others didn't have such a shortcut.

  But apparently, you sehe crystal ihem... Makes it a bit easier. Thought the fact remaihat people first had to know that Voidlings even carried those.

  Maybe it was mentioned somewhere, and I just missed it? Not like I hat kind of info.

  It could be either that or other survivors had to be fortunate enough to stumble upon Crystallized Essence the Voidlings turo dust on their own. Not sure how long that takes, though.

  Leed, turning to face his group. Ah, whatever. Maybe the presence of a crystal speeds up the process?

  Chaos65