Zuri woke up and went straight to work, as usual. His dream of having his own library was about to come true in a few days. He just does the usual farmer stuff in the morning and then spends the rest of his day helping the stonemason. Zuri really doesn't need to do all of that, but he is eager to help, it has been his personal goal for a while, after all.
While Zuri works hard, Alex rests. She had spent the whole night just walking, looking for a village to protect or somewhere with good equipment. It was the purpose she gave herself. Using her shirt to block the sunlight and the bees as white noise, Alex sleeps like a rock.
As night falls, Zuri goes back to his house to rest. The man lives like a king, since he is the most capable in the whole village. He doesn't have to work so hard, but he is always happy to help, so the villagers reward him with the best that they can bestow.
Zuri goes back inside, bathes and sits down to eat, then he hears villagers in distress outside. He opens the door, then something flies in front of him, almost hitting his face. Zuri loses his balance for a second, while villagers run past his front door. He works up the courage to get out a bit and look for what had launched the projectile. He looks to the right carefully and sees a humanoid silhouette standing still at the end of the street. The figure barely even moves, it looks dead.
Another projectile comes from the figure.
This time, the projectile hits Zuri's left arm, leaving him in almost unbearable pain. He doesn't know how to react, he just runs. He trips down the stairs and his glasses fall.
No one knows what was going on. The village hadn't been attacked by anything hostile other than small slimes for years, so the villagers never worried about having an iron golem. There isn't a plan, just pure, primal fear and the need to survive.
Alex wakes up just as the bees go to sleep, she puts her shirt on and goes back to her journey. Following the sunset and eating some bread that she got from one of the previous villages. A long night awaits her. Her goal this time isn't to kill as many monsters as possible, she just wants to find a village and restock. She wants food and maybe some more materials.
As usual, monsters appear, but nothing as overwhelming as last time. The monsters are giving Alex a lot of room to walk and keep going as she kills them. Alex's plan is to find another village, kill some monsters and ask for some food or perhaps something that she could trade with other villagers.
Last time she tried it, she forgot to claim anything other than the helmet the armourer gave her. She was too tired to remember anything and was just thankful that she survived the night and that no one died. She was also too shy to ask for anything more than what the villagers had already given her.
Zuri keeps holding his arm, running into walls, running into people, trying to help whoever he can. He isn't able to see too much but still tries. He tries his best to use the torches as reference to navigate around.
Yellow blurs disappearing in the distance and stones in his way; gravel, mud, and planks under his feet; desperate voices and a metallic taste in his mouth, that was all Zuri is able to feel at the moment. He eventually runs into another entity of the same type as the previous one. It's just bones, drapes, mud and a rancid odour. The creature feels like a malnourished person with skin made of faeces.
Zuri feels around the creature and locates a bow that's drawn. The creature turns 90 degrees to the left, Zuri feels the tip of the arrow brush against his left cheek, it burns. In less than a second, the man pushes the thing's arms up and crouches before the arrow is fired, he begins to run. In a panic, he hits a wall. Another arrow is shot, but missed because Zuri fainted from the impact.
Alex is actually having a blast, revising her plans for future nights and testing out her new diamond sword with other creatures. She stops dead in her tracks when she sees some lights in the distance.
A village! Alex wasn't expecting to find one that soon, she really wants it to be fully clear of monsters; not because of the villagers' safety, but because she really wants to rest.
Well, as she gets closer, she can notice that it is awfully quiet. Usually villages aren't that silent unless they are dead or abandoned villages.
Alex approaches the place and almost gets hurt when her foot is sunk in mud. She is thankful for choosing to wear boots, she had never seen a village in a swamp before. She has to find out what is going on in that village.
After walking around for a bit, Alex sees a big building, probably still in progress. She also sees a couple of skeletons and slimes around that building and she knows something is wrong.
Alex knows that threat well and used to avoid them at all costs.
After getting to the roof of a house, she gets her equipment. Alex has enough milk to cure two people and has to be decisive and agile with her every move. Every movement has to be calculated and efficient so as to not waste energy or time to think. Everyone and everything has to be intact by the end of the battle.
The plan is ready, a lit torch is everything necessary for it to begin.
Alex lights up a torch and throws it to her right, revealing that the ground is composed of gravel. The light also gets the attention of the bogged, who start shooting their arrows, which gives Alex the signal to fire back. Alex kills one by one while strafing left as they approach, she then runs back to her right and jumps from the roof, not noticing an arrow on the ground and landing on top of it. One mistake has been made, she can't afford to miss any of her next moves. She then shoots her crossbow around the corner of one of the house's walls, finishing off another bogged. Weak footsteps are heard coming from behind, Alex quickly looks back and kicks the bogged's arms behind her back, finally delivering the final hit with her sword.
She then grabs her torch and goes over to the building, and sure enough, there are villagers in it. They freeze for a couple of seconds, but then the cleric approaches Alex and thanks her for her bravery. The other villagers follow her lead and they all come out, celebrating.
One of the villagers goes up to Alex with his child, who had been hit by an arrow and is now terribly injured. She gives him milk to negate the effects and tells him to give him food.
The village's farmer approaches Alex in despair and grabs her, taking her deeper into the village. She doesn't understand the whole thing, but complies. They look around with her torch, everything is quiet and dark, it's like the torches had been turned off on purpose. After looking around more, they both find what the farmer was looking for. A tall, humanoid figure emerges from the shadows, staggering around, lost. Alex is two metres tall, and yet, the figure manages to reach her height and frighten her for a couple of seconds. The silhouette limps towards them, almost like a dead person, following the yellow blur from Alex's torch.
Alex is ready to grab her sword, but then realises that she was looking at another human, who then collapses into her arms.
