We all had managed to escape Oxenfurt with ease. We got as far as we could get away until we had to stop due to exhaustion. Jose managed to spot a small, cozy looking cave for us to camp out at.
"Notarin, I'm going to go grab some firewood. Want to come and help me?", Jose asked.
"Sorry, I don't want to leave Asaho alone. Who knows what could be out here in the wild!", I responded.
Jose looked at me with a frown for half a second before realizing that anything he said would be futile. He turned his back towards me and proceeded to head off to pick out some firewood. Asaho turned towards me and met my eyes with concern.
"Notarin-kun, I think I would be ok. You should be more worried about Jose. This cave is nicely concealed. The country outside is not. Who knows what could attack him!", Asaho explained.
I paused to think, staring deeply into her emerald green eyes.
"Asaho, every time I look at you, you seem so fragile. I'm worried that if I leave you alone, you'll break. I know I shouldn't be this clingy, but I just can't help it. Besides, Jose can handle himself. He's the most powerful out of all of us. I don't know what I'd do if I'd lose you", I told her.
Asaho blushed furiously, stuttering her speech while thinking of a response.
"Ahh… You shouldn't be this clingy! This is an order from your girlfriend! Go now and help Jose-kun. It simply isn't true that he's the strongest out of all of us!", Asaho requested.
I was confused. If Jose was the vessel of the Judgeshroud, why would he not be the most powerful out of all of us? I know that he could amplify my abilities, but that's about it.
"Even if I did have powers, I don't have them now! I'm just a burden to him currently!", I replied.
A look of frustration began to form on Asaho's face.
"Notarin-Kun! Listen to me! There's a reason why he used his powers to amplify your abilities back there! You have more magic potential than him. You're the most likely to get us out of a sticky situation. Even if it's only for my sake, please go look for Jose-kun now!", Asaho demanded.
I was worried for her well-being, but I couldn't find any way to provide a counter argument. If Jose died, then Asaho and I probably wouldn't stand a chance. I simply nodded in agreement with Asaho and made my way outside the cave.
The late evening hours meant that sunlight wouldn't last too much longer. I remained within a close radius to the cave while searching for Jose so I wouldn't get lost, but I could find no sign of him. Did he really have to go far to find firewood? What I thought was going to be a simple task was starting to concern me more and more.
I didn't want to stray far from Asaho, but I was going to have to venture out into the woods. I pulled twigs off of some branches to mark a path so I wouldn't get lost. My search wasn't yielding any results until I heard noises that sounded like that of a beast.
I vaguely remember reading something about monsters in some schoolbooks while I was attending at Oxenfurt Academy. I had hoped that I'd never run into one of these beasts, but tonight could be the night that my luck ran out. Unfortunately, that sound was my only lead, and I would have to follow it.
The louder the noises got, the clearer it became that they were not emitted by anything resembling human. In the distance I could see an inhuman figure, almost like a bat, running after something or someone. It wasn't long until I could see what it was chasing after.
I could see Jose running away in desperation, his clothes torn, covered in dirt and blood. I knew that creature would not spare me if I got in its way, but I couldn't just leave Jose behind. He was clearly struggling. I made a dash in his general direction until his eyes met mine.
"Notarin! What are you doing here? No matter! I shouldn't complain! I'll need your help!", Jose shouted as he continued running from the bat-shaped beast.
I kept up with Jose's pace as the beast was now viciously charging towards both of us. Jose's panting had become clearly audible and because of this it was apparent that he wasn't going to be able to keep this up for much longer.
"What am I supposed to do, Jose? You have more powers than me! How are we going to get out of this?", I asked as I made sure not to slow down.
"I'm sorry Notarin. I'm going to have to lend you my powers, as you can make better use of them than me", Jose responded.
Jose placed his left hand on my shoulder as we continued running. I could feel a foreign energy enter my body, almost like that time back at the apartment. As the transfer of energy completed, I could feel Jose's body slump from my shoulder. I turned and saw that he had fallen flat on his face, with the bat-shaped creature showing no signs of stopping.
I had to think of a way to end this creature's life fast, but there were no weapons in sight to aid me in my battle. I couldn't just kill this thing with my own two hands even with my heightened strength, could I? The beast's skin looked a bit too tough to tear into. Anyhow, I had to think fast or Jose would be torn to shreds.
That's when it hit me. If I didn't have any weapons, I guess I'd have to make do with the next best thing. Maybe my heightened strength could allow me to pull one of the smaller trees out of the ground and use that as a weapon.
I dashed towards a short but sturdy tree that was a several feet away from me. I grabbed onto the tree as hard as I could and began pulling. The bat beast was hurling towards Jose at a breakneck speed. I could feel the trees roots were beginning to loosen as I pulled harder and harder, but things were looking even more grim for Jose.
The tree finally made its way into my hands and was ready to be used as a weapon. When I looked, in the direction of Jose, my heart stopped. It seemed as if I was too late. The bat creature appeared to be sucking Jose's blood. No matter what, I had to stop this thing, even if it was too late for Jose.
I charged towards the creature yelling at the top of my lungs, using the tree as a battering ram. My force seemed to approximate that of a large truck speeding towards an unsuspecting pedestrian. Before the creature could react, I could see it flying back from the impact of the tree. The creature smashed against a few trees, knocking them down in the process. It looked like a blow that strong should've killed it, but I needed to go over and make sure it didn't get back up again. My hopes turned out to be false, unfortunately.
The bat creature hissed at me as it got back on its feet once more. I could see pure rage burn inside its eyes as it started charging towards me faster than I expected. Fortunately, the strength I had acquired from Jose allowed me to react with enough speed. I swung the trunk of the tree like a baseball bat, hitting the creature right in the face.
I could still hear it making eerie screeching noises. My job was not yet done. I continued to slam the tree trunk down on the bat creature until I knew it went completely silent. I could only imagine how disfigured the creature must look by now, so I decided to just drop the tree trunk on the creature so I wouldn't have to see its nasty corpse.
I dashed over to Jose in the hopes that he was still alive. He hadn't yet gotten up from the ground, leaving me worried about what condition he was in. Thankfully, it soon became apparent to me that Jose was still breathing.
"Goddamn Fleder… it managed to make a dent in me…", Jose said in a weak voice.
"Fleder, is that what that creature was?", I asked.
"Yes, Fleders are a type of lesser vampire. That thing just got a bit of my blood…", Jose explained.
"Vampires? Don't tell me…", I began to speak until Jose interrupted me.
"Don't worry Notarin. Vampires in this world are nothing like the tales you hear back in our worlds. Vampires here are born, not made. You don't have to worry about me becoming some bloodsucking monstrosity tomorrow morning just because I lost some blood to one lesser vampire. There is something about this that is concerning though…", Jose clarified.
"What do you mean, 'concerning'? What's wrong?", I asked.
"What's wrong is that I struggled with fighting a lesser vampire, Notarin. A month or two ago something like this wouldn't be anywhere near a challenge for me. The Judgeshroud itself is growing weaker and weaker because the natural balance of this world has almost been restored. This is why I needed your help. Only you can make the most of the remaining Judgeshroud power, Notarin. What we fought was only a lesser vampire and not even an agent of the Undershroud. This has reminded me that our mission is very time sensitive, and if we don't track down the leader of this cult soon, we'll be done for", Jose explained.
"I'm nothing but an average Japanese high school student though. I know I have some sort of magic potential that you mentioned before, but I have no experience! How can someone like me hope to defeat the Agents of the Undershroud? Even with my enhanced strength, pulling that tree out of the ground proved to be a real challenge! Why aren't we just focusing on a way to get out of this world? It's clearly gone to shit! There's no hope for it!", I responded.
"Notarin, please…", Jose said as he failed to get my attention.
"The only reason I even try in this world is because of Asaho! Without her this world means nothing to me! Nothing! Why should I care what happens to it? I just want to go back home and see my friends once more! I'm sick and tired of a life where misery fills the streets and survival isn't guaranteed! Back where I was from, life wasn't shit! I could go on a normal date with Asaho-chan in a nice café, free of any death or suffering surrounding us!", I shouted in a sudden rage.
"How do you know that you weren't surrounded by death and suffering back in your world? Do you think the lives of the people living here are worth less than the ones of those living in yours? See, our modern world does a much more efficient job at covering up the undesirable parts of society. It is undeniable that living conditions in our home worlds are certainly safer and more comfortable than the ones of this era, but that does not mean suffering does not occur. In fact, we like to hide the suffering away, because we've all become pathetic cowards. There's still people in this era that value and enjoy their life, despite the hardships", Jose responded.
"What are you going on about?", I asked.
"I used to be in a similar position as you, Notarin. You know this. When you live comfortably, you tend to forget about those suffering. This is unfortunately just natural. It's only when someone experiences suffering of their own that they wake up to the fact that the world is meaner than they once thought. It's an inherently disgusting part of humanity, but I think everyone is capable of confronting it. You're acting incredibly selfish and giving into nihilistic thought", Jose explained.
"I'm sorry, I just got worked up", I said.
"Don't say you're sorry, just act. If you are truly sorry, then we must continue on our journey to destroy this evil while we still have the chance. Are you still in?", Jose asked.
"Yes. We should really be getting back to Asaho right now though. We can talk more later. She's probably worried sick. Let's grab some wood and get back as soon as possible!", I instructed.
Jose nodded in response.
"Oh, and Notarin? One more thing…", Jose said before he paused in an uncomfortable silence.
"Yes?", I asked, hoping to get things moving faster.
"If… If anything happens to me… Please promise that you will take care of Kyle".