Chapter 58: Monsters
A pair had just recently arrived at a destroyed village on top of an organic creature.
"We're here…" Will stopped Adaline in her tracks as they saw the chaos that was before their very eyes.
"Oh my god." Sandra covered her mouth. Shock and horror could be seen in her eyes. There laid corpses of men, some were crushed, burned, or impaled by several house objects.
She couldn't help but want to throw up at the sight of the corpses lying around. Most of them were either torched, crushed, or covered in sheets so people wouldn't be able to see them.
"How are you okay with this?" Sandra asked after composing herself.
"I guess I got used to it." Will was affected by just a tiny bit, but then got over it.
This just made Sandra feel even worse. What kind of painful experience did Will go through that barely made him faze at the sight of corpses?
Everybody reacts differently to seeing a corpse. Some can't handle the sight, others can, it depends.
There were still some survivors, but most of them were in serious conditions.
"Will!" Jasmine flew towards them.
"Your leg." Will noticed Jasmine's leg had been burned.
"I'm fine. Please tell me you brought the healing potions!"
"Did you really think I would come all the way here if I didn't?"
"Um… good point." Jasmine felt dumb to ask.
Will took out an iron chest. Inside the chest were various pills/potions.
"I only brought healing potions. Nothing else." Will lied, He had food, clothes, and other useful items to spare, but it wasn't for them. The amount of potions was no more than 40. He'd hoped that this was enough.
It's not like Will didn't like to help people. Even back in his world, when he used to play mmorpg games like WoW, or something similar, and if people asked for a little bit of money, Will would give them just a little bit but not too much. Honestly, the one thing he hates most in online games are beggars, but if he could spare a few coins if could, he didn't see why not.
But, after living in this world, he had started to become cold and didn't care to offer people a hand, except this one time and that's already a huge stretch.
"Thank you so much!" Jasmine's worries were gone when Will brought them those potions, it meant that nobody else had to die anymore.
"Yeah, yeah. Oh, this is my… Sandra?" Will was about to introduce Jasmine to his ex, but Sandra was gone.
At first Sandra wanted to go somewhere to avoid seeing those corpses and not throw up, but there was a group of people surrounding a collapsed building. Then she noticed that the group of people were trying to help a man that was stuck in the rubble.
"We can't get it off of him!" Various people, men and women worked together to get the man underneath the rubble. If they attempted to destroy the rubble that was on top of the man, there was a small chance it could very well lead to his death. The safest bet is to pull the rubble carefully.
There was so much rubble on top of the man they couldn't even see him, but hear him.
"It's okay. I'm fine. I was never going to live a full, meaningful, productive and happy life anyways, so might as well just die here. Can someone just pass me a gun so I can have a quick and painless death?" The man underneath the rubble said. He had already accepted his death.
"Don't say that! You're not dying on us!"
"Yeah, Ryan! You're gonna be okay!"
"You still owe me 2 silver pieces! Don't you dare die before you pay me back!"
"Are you fucking serious? Now? Get the fuck outta here!" People kicked the one person who soured the mood.
"Any way I can help?" Sandra said.
"No, red haired lady. This man has a crushed leg. And heavy rubble is sitting on top of him, luckily the rubble is leaning against each other and not crushing him directly."
"Wait, doesn't she look familiar?" Someone pointed to Sandra. A few of them had already recognized her at a glance.
"Okay, everybody give me some space." Sandra said.
Sandra grabbed a huge, heavy stone, and carried it away and threw it where there weren't any people.
"I got this!" Sandra said and carefully carried the rubble out, and made sure that none of the other rubble crushed him to death.
"Miss, are you a hero?" Several people watched in amazement. It's their first time actually meeting a hero in person.
There is only one being they could think of that can carry heavy objects like that without relying on items, the heroes. And also Sandra is the only hero in this time that has red hair, so she stood out from the rest.
"Yup. Now please move. I need to save this man."
"You heard the hero! Make way for her! If you're not helping, you're not needed here. Shoo!" A grown man said loudly.
Will stood from the side, watching.
"Will… she's a hero. Will?" Jasmine was indeed shocked, but it's not the first time she's seen a hero.
But, Will had already walked away to inspect the dragon's body.
"Best guess is that this is a dragon on the second layer, it seems about the same size as that other dragon that Josh sold to me. I have got to stop talking to myself… ah, who gives a damn anymore." Will said to himself.
Josh sold him various dragon corpses all on the third layer. But sold him one dragon at the second layer, but that dragon was badly damaged on the inside and outside. He'd been meaning to use its body to create weapons, armor, tools, like in RL craft, but hasn't had the time yet to do so.
"It's in better condition than the other dragon, so I don't see why I can't take it."
Will extended his hand to place the dragon inside his bracelet, he also carried a ring that carried the other dragons because he had no other place to put them into. Placing them inside of his chests is not possible as they don't even have the space to carry a single dragon on the third layer.
But, nothing happened. The dragon corpse was still there.
"What's wrong?" Will checked his bracelet to check why it wouldn't store the dragon's corpse.
"Either it's broken… or it ran out of space. Damn." Will frowned. It seemed logical. It was a wonder how a ring was carrying 10 dragon corpses but not the bracelet, it only means that the bracelet can't carry as much as the ring could.
The bracelet he got it from sparing the life of Radix. As for the ring he got it when Josh gave it to him during their trade. He got the ring basically for free since he stole it from them, but they didn't even notice.
After failing to attempt to successfully store the dragon corpse, Will decided it was best to leave it there.
"Welp, that's unfortunate. I'll just take the scales and whatever else." Will took out a gold, enchanted knife, the same knife he used to carve the last dragon corpse. For some reason he really liked using this knife.
If he can't take the whole body, he'll be taking whatever he can, scales, heart, wings. In the end the rest was just useless meat which he had tons of.
Will came to this village for a few reasons, a small part of it was because Jack asked him to help Jasmine, but the main reason was this dragon. He wanted to make more cursed power stations to enchant his items, especially bullets.
While it seems he was doing the people a favor, in reality he just wanted the dragon all to himself.
This dragon body was his payment for delivering the healing potions.
"Wait, what are you doing?" A fat, grown man interrupted Will's process of skinning the dragon corpse.
All of the villagers hated the dragon who destroyed everything they loved, but they could use the corpse to sell it and hopefully restore their village.
"What does it look like?" Asked Will.
"Looks like you're trying to take the dragon."
"Oh! A dragon!" Will feigned being scared and pointed behind the man.
"WHERE?! AAAAAHHHH!" He ran back to the bunker afraid for his life.
"I can't believe that worked… Adaline!" Will shouted to Adaline.
Adaline, who was camouflaged, appeared before Will.
"Help me with this. Yank the scales out but try not to damage them as best as you can."
Will resumed carving the dragon on the side where nobody could see him. It was a rather large dragon so Will nor Adaline couldn't be seen by the villagers.
"Everybody, my friend managed to bring us some potions." Jasmine carried the heavy chest to the villagers and distributed the potions fairly.
"YAY!" The villagers cheered in joy.
Jasmine took one healing potion for herself. The dragon managed to burn her leg.
"Looks like you need some help." Sandra said to Jasmine, looking at her burned leg she needed more than just a healing potion.
"I'm fine, hero… wait, hero?" Jasmine didn't think of it until now, but Will brought her here on such short notice. Did that mean that they were actually friends? And did that mean that her suspicions of Will being the 100th lost hero were actually true?
"I got some water. But it's not enough." Sandra held the leather water bottle in her hand.
"It's fine. Just… peel it off and it will heal immediately with the potion." Jasmine sat down and bit down on her robes.
The skin on her leg fused with the robe that was also burned. If she were to take the healing potion right now the robe would remain inside her leg.
She couldn't ask the villagers for help because they were all having their own little problems right now.
"Um… that seems like it would hurt."
"Yeah, I know. Just do it, please."
The worst part is that there were several pieces of fabric on her leg. Meaning that Sandra can't peel it all in one attempt.
Sandra was now focused. She peeled the biggest fabric off her burned leg.
"HMPFT!" Jasmine wanted to scream, but she endured it as best she could by biting on her robe.
"I'll do this quickly. Like ripping a band-aid." Sandra hesitatingly pulled another fabric piece, then another, then another.
Jasmine could feel the intense pain on her leg. The small fabric pieces hurt the most.
"Finished. How are you feeling?"
After what felt like an eternity, Sandra was finally done. Jasmine was breathing heavily, the pain was too much to bear that she couldn't even get up from the ground.
"Really?" Jasmine said slowly and painfully, as if it wasn't obvious how she was feeling right now.
"You're right, that is a stupid quesiton."
"Here, take the potion." Sandra gently placed the pill in Jasmine's mouth, and it immediately disappeared like a puff of smoke.
Jasmine's leg was immediately healed and restored.
"Thanks, hero." Jasmine was grateful to Sandra, but the painful sensation was still there.
"Woo-hoo! Hero!"
"YOU ARE AWESOME!"
"Can I have some money?"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE YOU BEGGAR!"
The surviving villagers were all huddled around Jasmine and Sandra. They've been watching them for some time now.
'Seriously? Not one of you even tried to help?' Sandra thought that was the most logical thing to do, instead of standing there like mere spectators.
"Hero, what should we do now?" A villager asked. They don't really have anyone to lead them, as it was an independent village with no chief. Each village is different.
"Um…" Sandra felt all of their eyes on her. She looked around for Will but was nowhere to be found.
"I think what we need to do now is head to the nearest village and take shelter there. Now that all of us are healed, we can move freely." Jasmine saw that Sandra didn't know what to do so she threw in her own idea.
"Sshh! Let the hero talk." People looked at Jasmine
"..." Jasmine.
"I think she's right. Let's head to the nearest village."
"Great idea, hero."
"Heroes are indeed amazing!"
"And wise, don't forget wise."
"..." Jasmine.
"..." Sandra.
Sandra now got a better understanding as to why Will hid all this time.
"Wait, but we still have a lot of stuff here." Someone voiced their own opinion.
"And we should at least bury our families and friends, before something comes and eats them. They at least deserve that much for fighting for this village."
The people's opinions swayed easily. And quickly and swiftly they took care of their remaining belongings, as well as burying the people who died.
"Will, what do you think you're doing?" Jasmine asked. She looked around for him and found him beside the dragon.
Most of the dragon's scales were already peeled by Will and Adaline. It's wings were missing now, as well as its heart. That was all he could fit for the time being until he made more space in his ring and bracelet.
He also tried to stuff it in his inventory, but it was too big to carry, which was unfortunate.
"Collecting my payment. Thanks, girl." Will patted Adaline's head and fed her a part of the dragon's meat, which she seemed to enjoy.
"But… never mind. We're leaving soon." Jasmine said.
"Oh good. Well, see ya later."
"Wait, you're leaving?" Jasmine asked.
"Yeah. I mean, I brought what you asked me for, and I collected my payment. I don't see any reason to stick around any longer." Will was being honest, he had no plans to help others especially for free.
"But, you're a hero, the missing hero. Shouldn't you be helping them? Like how you killed Taker, saved those children."
"That was a… oh, so you know." Will was a bit surprised that Jasmine figured out his identity, but thinking about it, it was obvious.
"It was pretty obvious. I'd have to be pretty stupid to miss it." Jasmine said.
"You're not gonna…"
"I won't tell. Does Jack know?"
"Yes, he does."
"Figures."
"We should go. This dragon corpse is starting to smell like rotten fish. Eugh." Will couldn't stand the smell of a dragon.
"Yeah, it smells bad." Jasmine has been trying her best to hold in her breath for the longest time.
"Say, wouldn't this smell attract nearby monsters?" Will asked.
"Um… now that you mention it…"
*Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp*
What could only be described as a stampede, seemed to be getting closer to them, and louder by the minute. There weren't any trees in this area as they had been cut down by the villagers to expand their village. But, in the far area where there was a thick, large forest, the trees could be seen being pushed down by something, and it was leaving a path straight towards tem.
"Hiss!" Adaline sensed it coming too late, as she was too entranced eating dragon meat to notice it.
The villagers, and Sandra heard it. At first she thought that it was a mini earthquake, but in this world, for whatever reason, there aren't any earthquakes. Although there was one hero that could cause tremors, it was far from being able to cause a natural disaster like Whitebeard in One piece.
"Run! It's a monster horde!" Jasmine shouted. It was better if they ran before the monsters arrived.
"TO THE BUNKERS! HURRY!" Someone shouted.
"NONONONONONONONO!"
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS VILLAGE! WHY DID I MOVE HERE TODAY OF ALL DAYS?!?!"
Due to the still lingering fear of the recent dragon attack, the villagers dashed to the bunkers not caring if they step or push down other people, as long as they get to safety.
Will stood still. He wasn't afraid of dying, but Adaline was there and so was Sandra. He took out his modified handgun that had the infinite ammo enchantment.
Jasmine stood still as well, fear crept up on her heart. It wasn't long ago that she almost died and survived a dragon attack, now there was another raid coming, and it sounded like it was more than one.
"Will!" Sandra ran up to Will. She too was afraid for her life. It's the first time she's encountered a monster.
"You two should get to the bunkers." Will said.
"And leave you here? By yourself? Why would I do that?" Sandra said heartfully. She also took out her giant sniper rifle that she had on her back. She's not an expert, but it was the only weapon she felt comfortable with, most likely because it allowed her to fight from a distance.
"Hiss." Adaline nudged Sandra from the back as if she was telling her ''what am I, a mushroom?''
"Um, sorceress here..." Jasmine said.
"Oh, yeah." Sandra completely forgot about them.
*Stomp* *STOMP* *STOMP!!!*
The heavy footsteps got louder. They could see that the monsters were nearby as they were knocking down the trees and were getting closer, the smell of a dead dragon enticed them so much.
"Not waiting for them to come out of the woods." Will aimed him gun at the forest and started to shoot with his infinity weapon.
*ROAR* *REEE!*
The monsters cried in pain and anger. As they tried to rush out of the forest, the trees bent themselves to completely trap the monsters within the forest. That was thanks to Adaline.
"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU'RE AIMING?!" Jasmine yelled because the infinity gun created a loud noise.
"NO BUT IT'S WORKING!" Will replied back in a shout.
Sandra started shooting randomly at the forest in hopes that it would hit something.
Jasmine was left without a weapon. She was observing the forest, what kind of monsters were there.
Then, like a sixth sense, she sensed something terrible, and so did Adaline.
"GET DOWN!" Jasmine pushed Will and Sandra down, while Adaline created a thick wall of veins around them.
As they did so, a couple of deadly lasers easily cut through the forest and also just beside them.
The monsters came out, it was none other than a group of cyclops, no less than 10.
"We need to run!" Jasmine was very afraid now.
"10 cyclops? Are you kidding me?" Will knew that cyclops were formidable monsters even on the third level. They are formidable because of their laser eyes that can cut through even steel. They're slow, but intelligent. Fighting one cyclops on the third layer is easy for a sorcerer, but 10 at the same time, is way too much, even for a hero.
Thanks to Adaline, and the rubble nearby them, it made it difficult for the cyclops to see them.
"Hold still, don't move." Sandra held Jasmine's and Will's hands tightly, she had a plan in mind.
Then a white mist appeared out of nowhere and started to cloud the entire area. It was like a giant smokescreen, in a matter of seconds they couldn't even see each other.
"Is this you, Sandra?" Asked Will.
"I thought that it'd help if I did this." Sandra was glad that her useless power was useful, but even so, she couldn't see past the thick fog. She was as good as blind as the rest.
"No, it helps, it definitely helps."
"Fall back. This'll only slow them down." Jasmine warned them.
As she said that, the cyclops literally pulled some trees from the ground using their brute strength with ease. They started clearing the smoke with the trees like a fan.
"Hiss!" Adaline ran towards the cyclops as she knew what they were doing, and she was going to stop them.
"NO! ADALINE!" Will tried to stop her, but the smoke embedded his vision and he lost sight of her.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DemonGodHiatus
DemonGodHiatus I don't usually end chapters like this, but I literally have a very important exam to take in less than 10 hours. I need to pass it and I need to be prepared for it. Wish me luck.
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