Chapter 43: Frenzied Monsters
"We’re going to die, aren’t we?" Fred’s voice came low and grim, a bitter chuckle escaping his pale lips.
He stood behind Tevin and Nero, the weight of dread heavy in his eyes as he gripped his bat with trembling hands.
"Tell me, why should we risk our lives to protect them?" Fred added, gesturing with a sharp nod toward the students.
They ran in a frightened cluster, herded along by Professor David’s hoarse commands. Some stumbled in their panic, falling hard on the cracked asphalt, but David was there, one-armed, weary, but still lifting them up, still pushing them forward.
Merek’s head turned slowly, his gaze falling on Fred with the weight of cold steel. "Tell me, Fred..." his voice was low. "Why should I risk my life to protect you?" His lips curled in a humorless smirk, his eyes narrowing. "You think that coward’s heart of yours will do anything when death is at your doorstep?"
As he spoke, Merek subtly invoked his skill—Incite. The invisible force of it coiled around Fred’s mind like a spark to dry wood.
Fred’s face twisted in a mix of anger and fear, the veins in his forehead pulsing as his grip tightened on his weapon.
"You said what?!" he barked, stepping forward as if his fury alone could shield him.
And yet, Merek could see it, Fred’s body tensed, but his feet rooted. Even in that moment, he wasn’t ready to charge the beasts. His spirit buckled beneath his bluster.
’Wrong job,’ Merek thought, a flicker of scorn passing through him. Whatever class Fred had gotten from the system, it was combat-based, perhaps some form of warrior but the man lacked the heart for it. A warrior without the will was as good as dead.
The ground trembled beneath them.