15 (XV) Awakeners

Ichiko ran through the streets, chasing after the thug boss. He dipped through the alleyways and into destroyed buildings as he ran away. She struggled to keep up with him; having never been in the city, she was at a disadvantage. 

Nevertheless, she pursued him, blinded by her own rage, and he was the only thing to release this anger in her mind. Despite his advantage, it was not enough, and she steadily gained ground on him, shortening the distance between them. 

The thug boss rounded a corner, vanishing from her sight, and she gritted her teeth, pushing her body to move faster as she passed the exit of the building and entered the middle of the street; she stopped in her tracks. 

The thug boss was nowhere to be seen; instead, she saw a grotesque scene before her. Hulking monsters nearly twice her size were crunching on the deceased bodies littering the street. 

Long curved tusks protruded from their mouths, and their elongated heads had pointed ears nearly as big as their heads, with various primitive hairstyles, mohawks, shaved sides, braids, and dredlocks falling down their long backs.

Their lanky arms reached down to their ankles, their legs almost as long. They wore tattered and primitive animal skins that hardly covered their bodies and the bones of animals as adornments and jewelry. 

Ichiko's eyes widened as she quickly scanned around, 'Where are you, you rat bastard?!?'

Suddenly, a half-eaten body soared through the air toward her, bringing her back to the situation at hand. She quickly sidestepped, noticing a monstrous troll looking at her. 

It raised its massive club, unleashing a mighty roar as saliva and blood spat from its mouth, drawing the attention of the remaining half dozen trolls. 

"Tch!" Ichiko clicked her tongue, "Today is just not my day..." 

She twirled her uchigatana around, taking a defensive position as she stared down the monsters as they all picked up their humongous weapons. 

Another body zoomed through the air toward her, prompting her to dash forward. A massive club soared at her, missing as she leaped into the air, crashing into the ground and destroying the asphalt. 

Ichiko bounded off a wall, slashing across the troll's chest, leaving a massive wound and knocking the monster stumbling backward. She smirked as she glared at the beast, unphased by the grievous injury. 

Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock as the wound started to release white steam, the flowing blood stopping as it closed upon itself. She glanced up at the menacing grin from the troll as it began laughing. 

She quickly avoided the devastating blow from another troll, dashing forward as she unleashed a blinding volley of slashes, cutting across the monster's entire body. 

She flipped through the air, kicking it in the chest and launching herself backward, creating distance between her and the beasts. Similarly to the previous troll, white steam started to rise from the wounds as each simultaneously healed. 

"What the..?" She muttered to herself as the group of trolls all broke into laughter, pointing at her and talking amongst themselves in their own tongue. 

Her anger flared as she spun her katana around, flicking the troll's blood from her blade before twirling it around again, sheathing it, and taking an Iaijutsu stanch as she pressed her thumb against the brim of her hilt, cutting the koiguchi. 

One of the trolls threw their arms out, stopping the advance of the entire group, saying something she couldn't understand but knew the meaning and smirked to herself. 

The troll broke out into a run, using its free arm to advance as it raised its massive club. As it drew closer, Ichiko vanished from her position, reappearing behind the monster with her uchigatana drawn. 

The troll slowed, standing on its hind legs as it stumbled forward. It turned to look at the woman behind her as she stood, spinning her katana around and sheathing it as the monster fell to its knees, collapsing as its head rolled along the ground. 

The remaining trolls screeched, unleashing numerous overlapping howls as the deceased body vanished into smoke and a large crystal clanked against the ground. 

Ichiko turned at the sound, thinking it was her prey, but was disappointed as she only saw the Beast Core. She walked over to it, kneeling as she picked it up, rolling it in her palm as it unleashed a powerful torrent of wind. 

She stood as she held the crystal as it shone brightly; the young woman smiled down at it, feeling invigorated by the energy and stronger than ever.

She turned and glared at the trolls, causing them to flinch and turn around to flee. In the blink of an eye, she unsheathed her katana, unleashing a volley of slashes before resheathing her blade as dozens of wind blades were launched toward the monsters. 

The remaining trolls collapsed into dozens of pieces before each one vanished into black smoke, and their Beast Cores fell to the ground. She approached the crystals and knelt, picking one up as she inspected it, muttering, "What are you..?"

***

Samael walked out of the portal, a similar disorientated feeling overwhelming his body whenever anyone entered or exited a Dungeon. 

He panicked when the twins were not in front of him as he exited, quickly looking around and noticing them kneeling beside a young blonde woman. 

He stepped forward, realization washing over him as he called out, "Cami...?" 

Confused, the young woman looked up as she tilted her head, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" 

His rage started to build inside him, recalling the harsh treatment at her hands in his past life. He gritted his teeth, struggling to hide his emotions on his face. 

"Ah..." He said after a long pause, slowly approaching as he forced a smile, "I thought that was you!" 

"Do we know each other..?" She asked, adjusting her dress as she sat up. 

"You can say we've known each other for a long time!" He replied, kneeling next to her as he patted Kaitlyn on the head, much to her chagrin. 

"It's Sam!" The young man explained with a smile, extending his hand as he lied, "We went to elementary school together, don't you remember?" 

"Oh..." Cami frowned, looking down, taking his hand and shaking it, "I'm sorry, I don't remember you..." 

"That's alright!" He said, shrugging his shoulders, "It was a long time ago! Are you hurt? Can you walk?" 

"I'm doing much better now, thanks to these two..." She said, smiling at the twins before turning back to Samael, "I might not remember you, but I'm glad you survived..." 

"Me too..." Sam replied softly, staring into her eyes, his own starting to betray him, "My mom is hiding in a nearby underground shelter; that's where we were going... Want to come with us?"

"Sure! Anywhere is better than here..." She said as Sam took her hand, helping her to her feet as she asked, "By the way... Do you have powers just like that big guy and these kids?"

"Yeah." Samael nodded, reaching into the bag hanging from his back, and pulled out a large Beast Core he had received from the Grand Lich. He rolled it around his palm, lost in thought for a while before he asked, a sly grin spreading across his face, "Do you want powers of your own..?"