Chapter 34: The giant porcupines
A few hours later, the sun had shifted from its bright midday glare to a softer glow that filtered lazily through the tall forest canopy. The three of them had been moving nonstop, leaving behind a trail of defeated beasts across the underbrush. Most were small, hardly worth calling monsters, and Renji had complained about that at least twelve tis, possibly more, depending on whether you counted his dramatic groans as separate complaints.
By now, the beasts in their area had thinned out. Their footsteps crackled against dried leaves, and the sll of sap and crushed branches lingered in the air. Renji took a long inhale, stretching his arms overhead as if this stroll through a dangerous forest were nothing more than a morning jog.
"Alright," he said, surveying the increasingly quiet surroundings, "We’ve not seen any monsters for a while now, we need to go deeper."
Kaede imdiately halted, planting her hand against his chest before he could wander farther. Her eyes flashed with irritation, but underneath that, there was apprehension.
"Deeper is far more dangerous," she said sharply. "You know that, don’t you? The monsters in the inner forest aren’t small fry. They’re the real thing."
"Perfect," Renji answered without missing a beat.
Kaede’s jaw tightened. "Perfect for what, exactly? Getting torn to shreds? Because I’m not sacrificing my life for your vanity project."
Renji stopped, shoulders tensing. Aya watched him carefully from behind, her hands loosely clasped, her expression calm but alert. She could feel the shift in Renji’s mood before he even spoke.
"My what?" His voice was low, a hint of temper curling beneath the words. "You think this is vanity?"
Kaede crossed her arms, refusing to back down even though she could sense the heat in his tone. "If you’re dragging us deeper just to prove sothing, then yes."
Renji exhaled slowly, forcing his irritation down. When he spoke again, his voice was steadier. "Kaede... it’s not about showing off. It’s a mission for
to get stronger, and I can’t do that fighting puffball rabbits and chubby lizards all day. If I’m going to protect you two, I need real battles. Real danger."
Kaede blinked, caught off guard by the sincerity.
He continued, eting her gaze squarely. "Besides, I need you alive, Kaede. I need Aya alive too. Do you really think I’d walk us into the deep forest if I thought for a second I couldn’t protect all of us?"
Aya’s expression softened, pride and worry mixing subtly in her gaze. Her fingers brushed lightly against her skirt, a small gesture she often made when trying to keep her emotions contained.
Kaede looked between the two of them, her lips pressed into a tight line. Finally, with a small huff, she lowered her arms.
"Fine," she muttered. "But if you get
killed, I’m haunting you."
Renji grinned, instantly back to his usual energy. "You can haunt
anyti."
Aya sighed, though the fondness in her eyes betrayed her amusent. "I suppose I’ll follow as well."
The three of them continued forward, stepping deeper into the forest. As they advanced, the surroundings began to change. The trees grew thicker, towering even higher overhead, and vines looped across branches like giant serpents. Strange calls echoed through the distance, low and guttural, the kind that made even experienced adventurers pause.
Still, they walked with purpose, dispatching a few smaller beasts along the way. These monsters were slightly stronger than the ones before, but still nowhere near Renji’s standards. He took down one with a single clean slash, muttering afterward that the thing had practically fallen over on its own.
Aya and Kaede exchanged looks, silently agreeing that Renji was in a mood.
After another stretch of hiking, they erged into a clearing. Sunlight poured down in streaks through breaks in the canopy. The air felt strangely still, almost heavy, as if the forest itself were holding its breath.
Aya glanced around. "Sothing’s off. This place is quiet."
"Too quiet," Kaede added. She rested a hand on her sword’s hilt. "This is usually a bad sign."
Before Renji could respond, the silence shattered.
Roars thundered across the clearing, loud enough to make the ground tremble. They weren’t normal animal sounds. They were raw, feral, almost tallic, like a beast roaring through shards of iron.
Renji pivoted on his heel, scanning the surroundings. "What the hell was that?"
Kaede narrowed her eyes. "Definitely one of the deadly ones. Maybe a group. It isn’t too late to turn back."
But Renji had already unsheathed his sword, his eyes gleaming with excitent rather than fear. "Turn back? Now? Kaede, co on. This is exactly what we need to fight"
Aya covered her face with her hand. "I knew he was going to say that."
"This is it," Renji continued, pointing his sword ahead as if giving a dramatic speech. "Ti to get stronger. Ti to power up."
Kaede groaned. "Why are you like this?"
But Renji was already charging deeper into the forest, leaving her no choice but to follow with an irritated, but worried, "Renji, wait!"
Aya hurried after them, mumbling under her breath, "Honestly, one of these days..."
They navigated through dense bushes and tangled vines until they reached a new clearing. This one was darker, the ground uneven, the air thick with the musky scent of beasts. A shadow moved to their left. Then another to their right.
And then they saw them.
Monsters erged from between the trees like nightmares given form. They resembled oversized porcupines, but stretched out on unnervingly long limbs like so horrible hybrid creature. Their claws were hooked and glead with a frightening sharpness. Massive fangs curled from their jaws, and their quills stood tall, jagged and tallic, glinting in the scattered sunlight like hundreds of miniature spears.
Renji stared at them, montarily forgetting how to breathe.
Kaede swallowed hard. "I told you. Deadly."
Renji’s confidence wavered for a split second. Can I really fight these things? The doubt passed through him quickly, but not quickly enough to go unnoticed by Aya.
Before anyone could speak, another roar blasted from behind them. More of the creatures erged, cutting off their retreat.
Kaede drew her sword. "We’re surrounded."
Aya floated slightly off the ground, her eyes glowing faintly. "Prepare yourselves."
Renji steadied his stance, gripping his sword tightly. "Don’t be scared. You two can take the ones on the right. I’ll handle the left."
Kaede threw him an incredulous look. "Are you sure?"
"Completely. I got this."
The beasts charged.
The first one leaped at Renji, jaws snapping with enough force to crack a boulder. He dove to the side, feeling the rush of air as the creature’s fangs scraped the ground where he had stood a second before.
He countered with a fast slash, aiming for its back, but the blade struck the quills and bounced off harmlessly.
"Oh, perfect," he muttered. "Armored hedgehogs. My favorite."
The creature snarled, its quills rattling.
Renji backed up, thinking quickly. He needed a new angle, sothing unprotected. Before he could find it, the monster lunged again. Renji dodged, rolling across the dirt.
Then the creature twisted its body and sothing clicked.
A second later, the quills shot outward in a deadly burst.
Renji’s eyes widened. "Oh, co on!"
He ducked, narrowly avoiding a barrage of needle-like spikes that tore through the bark of a nearby tree as if it were paper. Staying far away was now clearly the worst possible choice.
"Fine," he growled. "Up close it is."
He sprinted forward, weaving through the beast’s snapping jaws and swiping claws. His blade flashed repeatedly, a flurry of controlled strikes ant not to wound but to keep the creature from gaining enough space to launch its quills again.
The monster lunged, jaws opening wide.
Renji saw his opening.
He twisted his body, stepped in close, and swung with a tight, powerful arc.
The blade tore through the beast’s head, nearly cleaving its snout clean off. Blood sprayed across the grass. The creature shrieked, stumbling backward. A few last quills rattled loose, firing weakly into the ground.
Then the beast collapsed, its body hitting the earth with a heavy, final thud.
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