As much as the young man thought about it he didn't find himself making any progress. He decided to

  throw it to the back of his mind, only to think about it when he had more information.

  As the group continued navigating the path filled with humanoid corpses, a sudden high-pitched noise

  penetrated their ears into their skulls, as they all turned toward the source a grey lanky figure was reflected

  in their eyes, this figure had cyan neon veins pulsating beneath its skin as it screamed while covering its

  face and flailing its limbs and body around as if throwing a tantrum.

  What kind of monster is this? The young man laughed to himself like some kind of deranged individual

  As if hearing his thoughts the monster suddenly stopped its movements as it abruptly turned its head

  towards the group. As the group was reflected in its eyes the leader's face contorted as he screamed in a

  panic contradicting his usual demeanor: "RUN!" As he turned his head to look in front of him a grey lanky

  figure was reflected in his eyes ,he looked down at its bald head, and as he moved his eyes he saw a

  head with two mismatched eyes and a head with a long brown beard dangling off it. Followed by

  waterfalls of red and blue liquids."Oh," The leader thought to himself before the world gradually darkened.

  The young man looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief, the whole squad stood there silently as if

  offering their lives to the approaching monster. As he turned his head to look at the elder he found his face

  contorted and his lips mumbling at times and opening as if attempting to scream at other times, the young

  man suddenly had a theory.

  Are they daydreaming? Is this the power of the monster? He's able to alter their perception as if in a

  dream akin to sleepwalking. I haven't been pulled in, but I have no time to question the reason, I can't use

  this opportunity to escape either this environment is too dangerous, now I know they say never wake up a

  sleepwalker but I'm pretty sure their lives are more important than any side effect they might suffer, I need

  to wake them up.

  As he finished that thought he turned around and looked at the mysterious blonde woman, to him she who

  had been tasked with defending the back rank unarmed looked more powerful than the elder holding a

  first aid box. As he approached her he spoke to her, shook her body, and even pinched her but to no avail.

  All the while the monster kept approaching them slowly his gaze distant as if he was daydreaming.

  Suddenly he had another idea, he looked at the necklace on her chest and he was reminded of its

  mystical properties, earlier she used it to communicate with her companions for backup when she

  encountered him. As he held it in his hand, he muttered a few words, almost instantly he heard a sharp

  ringing voice in his head. Shortly after, the mysterious woman's eyes became clear, she began to slowly

  regain her mobility as she looked at the young man holding her necklace.

  The young man let go of it as he looked around noticing that the people around him were no longer

  immobile.

  If I knew it would be this effective I would've been a little gentler, joked the young man internally.

  "Take battle formation! It won't be able to do the same trick for a while" Shouted the leader

  As he spoke the young man heard a clap coming from behind him and the monster was suddenly set on

  fire, the archers started pulling on their bowstrings as sharp metallic arrows formed. The monster was

  soon riddled with 2 holes in his stomach, yet the arrows were nowhere to be found. Despite its gruesome state the monster instantly jumped the distance that separated them and arrived before the squad as he

  threw his 4-meter arms aggressively in an attempt to swipe them. To its surprise the giant held both of its

  arms, rendering it immobile , he instantly followed with a shoulder bash knocking it away, almost instantly

  the leader retracted his body and threw his armed hand in an attempt to slash at the humanoid figure's

  throat, an attempt that was dodged by a hair's breadth. This was shortly followed by his two flanks

  dodging another similar attempt as if they had foreseen it and slashing his shoulders. As the monster

  realized its disadvantage ,it decided to turn around and jump away from the sticky situation.As he was in

  midair, two more holes were dug open in its back. It was the result of another 2 metallic arrows that

  Stolen novel; please report.

  magically disintegrated.

  A sharp screech echoed on the battlefield as his body landed in an abandoned building's first floor.

  As the black-bearded man and his partner got ready to follow they were stopped by a deep voice exuding

  authority: "Don't follow him. His fighting style implies that he has some intelligence, we may get

  ambushed."

  "Let's use this chance to escape into our previous camp" The leader ordered

  They instantly started following the corpses again until they found a building with a half-collapsed roof

  leaning on a concrete wall.

  "We're here," said the elder as he looked at the young man

  As the squad squeezed through the gap between the half-collapsed roof and the cement wall, the young

  man didn't get any relief, he instead became more tense than ever. After all, he just revealed an

  abnormality that even he didn't understand about himself.

  Suddenly the young man felt a hand rapping around him, as he looked to the side he saw the man with

  the mismatched eyes looking at him with an amused smile as he said half-mockingly:" It seems you my

  friend are more special than I thought-"

  As the man with the raven black hair laughed at his own joke like a maniac, he saw a small stone flying

  towards him.

  "ouch" he yelled in exaggeration

  "That isn't any way to talk to your savior" blurted the mysterious woman holding another small stone in

  her hand.

  As he backed away from the young man with a provocative smile an oppressive voice resounded in the

  building:" That monster wasn't supposed to be there"

  "Indeed" affirmed the elder"This information was confirmed by many expeditions done by different

  members, for an aimless monster with only some combat intelligence to change its pattern. Something

  must have attracted it to such a place. An abnormality that didn't exist here before"As he said that his

  eyes darted towards the young man but he didn't add anything else.

  "We will have to warn the next explorers to add members of the soul and spirit domain to assure their

  safety," said the leader as he looked at the young man gauging his reaction

  As the young man listened to their conversation his face was painted with a hint of astonishment and

  confusion. After all most of the things he heard there were things he would only have seen in novels,

  games, and other fictional works so why wouldn't he reveal his reaction when it is convenient to do so.

  This is a skill he learned from his past daily life, a life where the average person didn't experience war but

  where social warfare was an everyday occurrence.

  The leader sighed and spoke once more addressing the young man: "Whatever the case, you were a big

  help today even not considering your uniqueness you used your observational skills to make the most out

  of the situation, I wouldn't have done it better"

  As the young man listened to their conversation his mind churned with thoughts once more.

  The way they're acting doesn't make it seem as if they know this body's owner. This is very clear but it

  only makes me more confident in my decision to escape. Whatever is happening here I don't want to be a

  part of it.

  While the group rested and strategized, the young man recalled the fight against the monster.

  The first thing that happened after the team escaped the monster's control was that clapping sound

  followed by the monster being set on fire, if I remember correctly it came from behind me.

  The young man shifted his gaze towards the woman with the gothic dress.

  Many of the corpses that littered the path we took had charred marks. Was that all her doing? The young

  man almost shuddered.

  The archers were capable of generating sharp metallic arrows out of thin air.

  The leader not only had superhuman strength but he almost decapitated the monster single-handedly.

  Those two men with the rapiers fought as if they knew their opponent's intentions, their execution was

  sharp and precise.

  With my current state, it's gonna be near impossible to escape unless they were preoccupied with an

  were preoccupied with an extreme threat.

  As the young man scrutinized the people around him, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

  If I remember correctly this team had 7 members. one front line, two flanks, two archers, one pyromaniac,

  and an old man.

  Looking around he found only one cloaked person armed with a bow, an ominous feeling quickly penetrated his soul.