Situation

"Let's move," Ethan stated as he peered out of the window of the stone house he, RageHeart, and Mia had taken shelter in for the night.

The stone house was devoid of any furnishings and completely empty.

The sole feature of the stone house was its own structure.

The window and door of the stone house could simply be described as holes in the building's structure, as there was nothing that could be used to open and close them.

They could be considered gaps in the building because they were always open.

However, this had no relevance to Ethan and the others.

They merely sought a place to escape the dark atmosphere and rest, instead of staying outside, so any form of shelter sufficed.

Fortunately for them, even given the condition of the stone house, nothing came to bother them.

As a result, Ethan, RageHeart, and Mia could enjoy a peaceful rest and recover their energy.

Hearing Ethan's words, RageHeart didn't need him to speak again, slowly rising from the stone floor and beginning to stretch.

RageHeart felt a bit stiff due to not moving much, but at least he didn't feel like he would succumb to exhaustion as he had a few hours ago.

All three shared the same sentiment—well, perhaps two, since only Ethan and RageHeart were awake.

Mia was still sleeping.

While Mia hadn't participated in any fights like the other two, this didn't mean she wasn't exhausted as well.

The previous day could be described as the most adventurous for Ethan, RageHeart, and Mia, and the fact that they had managed to survive it was worthy of praise.

Mia hadn't fought anything, but she had tried hard to simply stay alive.

"I'll wake her up," Ethan stated to RageHeart, who replied with a simple nod.

Without saying anything more, Ethan started to go towards Mia.

Ethan walked up to Mia and knelt down to match heads with hers.

Mia was presently seated on the ground, her back resting on the stone wall of the house.

On Mia's face was a peaceful expression that Ethan just saw for the first time.

Ethan was momentarily distracted before regaining his senses.

Ethan put his hand on Mia's left shoulder and shook her body to wake her up, shaking his head a little and silently complimenting her inner beauty.

Fortunately, Mia's awakening from Ethan's action didn't take long.

"Ugh," Mia moaned, her eyes slowly opening due to the relentless shaking.

When Mia's eyes fully opened and adjusted to her surroundings, she noticed Ethan and RageHeart staring at her.

Mia quickly became aware that she had slept off.

Mia hastily got to her feet in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," Mia apologised as soon as she stood up.

Mia kept her head down and hoped RageHeart and Ethan weren't too upset by the situation because, among other things, she was weak and nothing more than a burden to those she followed, and now she even dared to sleep.

"It's alright. There's no need to apologise," Ethan said, stretching slightly.

RageHeart, on the other hand, simply nodded to convey his agreement with Ethan.

Despite his ongoing frustration with Mia's apparent uselessness, RageHeart was unaware that he had grown accustomed to her presence, and protecting her alongside Ethan had become almost a subconscious instinct.

Seeing that neither Ethan nor RageHeart appeared to mind her sleeping, a faint smile gradually formed on Mia's face.

Mia swiftly moved to join Ethan and RageHeart, who were already on their way out of the stone house.

Once outside, they took a moment to survey their surroundings.

Expectedly, the landscape was unchanged from the previous night.

The key difference was the brightness of the atmosphere.

While the sky remained obscured by sombre clouds, there was enough light to see, a welcome contrast to the darkness of the previous night.

Ethan and his companions didn't linger in the area for long.

They promptly resumed their journey toward the temple atop the hill.

While the distance to the temple and its golden light didn't seem as daunting as the day before, it still represented a considerable journey.

Ethan remained uncertain how much time it would take to finally reach their destination.

As long as they could keep living of course.

*******

With a swift swing of his sword, Ethan effortlessly separated the head of the undead knight from its body.

Before Ethan could even catch his breath, another undead knight lunged at him with a sword aimed squarely at his head.

Ethan quickly ducked to evade the attack, then turned to confront the undead knight.

Ethan then smashed a mana ball into the creature's face, obliterating it in the process.

Ethan's battle was far from over, as an undead wolf suddenly appeared by his side.

With a nimble sidestep, Ethan easily evaded the wolf's clawing attack and, in one fluid motion, severed the creature's head with another swing of his sword.

"Fighting with a sword is still the best," Ethan muttered between heavy breaths as he stared at the bone sword in his hand.

"Looting feels so nice. It's just unfortunate there's nothing to loot here," Ethan added with a shake of his head, recalling the moment the sword had materialised in his hands after using the loot skill on the forest wolf's corpse the previous night.