Icard stumbled back from the window, as he collided with Matt who nearly toppled over from the sheer force of the lightning bolt.
'Damn it! I completely forgot this guy showed up at the start--and it was a disaster!' Icard realized, a wave of frustration hitting him.
"What was that?" Matt asked.
"A lightning strike, I think" Icard said, composing himself instantly, still looking out the window as the dust cleared where the bolt had landed.
Little by little, he could make out a white furry creature from the dispersing dust cloud.
'It's him! Katar!'
Erwalds came in numbers after the first plague and they came in different forms, each with different characters.
And this was Katar, a paranoid cat. In his first turn, Icard had seen the instruction -
[Do Not Approach In Numbers]
But then, he wondered just what a small cat would do. Since the panel didn't explain what an Erwald was, they eventually learnt the hard way.
"What was that?" Reya asked, rushing toward the window, ready for another spawn wave.
"Wait. It's not--" Icard tried to dissuade their interests but Alia had already slipped behind him.
"Is that a cat?!" She said, her tone pitched with pure delight as she quickly left them and bolted for the door.
"A cat?" Reya asked.
"No! Alia. It's not a cat!" Icard yelled, following her. "Alia, wait, don't go there!"
"Why not? I love cats!" she yelled back, hands on the door knob.
Icard threw himself in front of the door just in time, chest heaving.
Alia skidded to a halt, blinking in confusion. "What are you doing?"
"Look," he panted, mind racing for an excuse. "My Keeper warned me--anything that arrives by lightning is bad news. Really bad."
[Lol]
Icard ignored the message.
"We shouldn't go out there together" he said, forcing calm into his voice. "Trust me. It's the best way to handle this"
"Why?" Eric piped up, leaning in with that dangerous curiosity Icard remembered all too well. The guy had nearly lost an eye charging at Katar last time.
"It's called an Erwald" Icard said. "And it's not a housecat--they're very much different"
Confused stares from everyone. But it didn't matter, as long as he got to do it right this time.
"Is it like--those things?" Reya asked, cracking her knuckles.
"Uhh. Not really" Icard said. Unlike spawns, Erwalds weren't even creatures of the apocalypse.
"Calm down, everyone. I'll explain it later, just let me handle it" he said before leaving them pretty much confused.
Icard slipped outside alone, circling to the backyard garden. The air still crackled with residual static.
There, in the middle of the scorched grass, sat Katar--larger than any cat had a right to be, fur like fresh powder, eyes narrowed into icy slits.
He looked at Icard and hissed.
Icard forced a tense grin, hands raised in surrender. "Easy. Just me. Solo approach, see?"
The rest observed like hawks from the window upstairs.
"What's wrong with him?" Alia whispered. "Why is he walking up to a cat like that?"
Icard slowly advanced as the cat dryly watched him for some time before taking its gaze off him.
Still, Icard cautiously approached and when he got close enough, another notification panel appeared.
[Personal Quest]
[Convince The Erwald To Join Your Group]
[Reward: An F Rank Title]
'Alyxara' Icard thought, slapped his forehead at the thought that she was really messing with him there.
Just after reading the notification, Katar's tail lashed once. Twice. Then, as if bored, he turned and began padding away.
"Hey! Hey, hey" Icard jolted forward, gradually closing his distance from it.
'I can't let him know that I know about them already' Icard thought to himself.
He followed the cat closely.
"Come on, big guy. I just wanna say hi."
But the snow cat continued walking off the garden with Icard following closely behind.
"Hey, don't go. Don't go" he continued pestering it.
In his past life, snow cats were infamous for being the hardest Erwalds to recruit. Get too eager, and they'd fry you without hesitation. They were fast. They were strong.
And Erwalds like Katar, they hated being crowded, especially by strangers.
"Hey," Icard tried again, softer. "We could be friends, you know. My group's solid. No loud idiots--well, mostly. For now"
The snow cat then stopped and looked back at him with an annoyed expression for a few seconds before literally clicking his tongue and walking out.
'Damn it. How hard is this?' Icard thought to himself in frustration.
'It would be much easier to just capture him but he made a mess of us last time. And even if I fight him with stronger skills, I doubt I'll be able to bring him down. He might just escape and never return'
He shook the thought off his head and kept following the cat. By now, it was already headed to the front yard. Icard could already see the streets from there.
'I'll just follow him till he speaks, at least. I can do this. Just gently and slowly' Icard assured himself as he tailed the cat.
But just then--disaster.
The front door burst open.
"Kitty!" Alia squealed, sprinting straight past Icard with the rest of the group scrambling after her. "Here, kitty kitty!"
"Alia!" Reya yelled at her. Obviously, they had tried to keep her at bay but failed.
Icard's face paled then.
'Oh crap'
The snow cat on seeing a number of humans rush at him suddenly, growled loudly as it arched its back defensively, puffing out fur.
Then, it turned blue and the space around it crackled, as small bolts of lightning shot out from its body.
Icard rushed in.
[Third Floor Access Confirmed]
[Skill Activation: Ice Yard]
Icard lunged forward then thrust his arm into the ground.
A tidal wave of frost surged at them, freezing them lightly, just before a blinding lattice of lightning exploded from Katar, racing to meet them head-on.
*BOOM!*
The shock was great, blasting Katar's target away and scattering Icard's ice.
They all remained still, except for Eric who coughed as he pushed himself up.
He touched his head as he recovered from the blast.
"What--what was that?" Eric muttered, dust shrouding his vision. Then he looked before him, and there was Icard.
'Did he just save us from that?' Eric asked in his mind.
Then he looked around and before him, Reya, Alia and Matt lay motionless on the ground, as they had been struck heavily, despite Icard's ice shield.
"Ehh?"
Icard glanced at them behind him.
'Damn it. I misjudged his output' Icard thought but remained calm. 'I just hope they're okay'
Then he faced Katar, the snow cat who was now fully blue now, glowing and pulsing with plasma energy all over it clearly aimed at destroying them.
It won't leave them without dealing serious damage to them. That's if, they don't end up dying from its attack.
"Damn it" he muttered. "I just remembered our early life after the apocalypse began was just one bizarre thing straight after another. And this guy was just the highlight"
The erwald hissed then, crouching as it prepared to attack.
"I don't want to hurt you" he said. "I'm quite different from others" Icard warned.
The pulsing electric cat clicked his tongue again.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Katar finally spoke up.
Icard was not one bit taken aback. In the face of the threat Katar posed, he had to be focused and careful.
And for a good reason too as he could definitely feel the fatigue--from excessive mana consumption.
Something was wrong. The skill he had just used consumed so much mana than Icard could have possibly expected, putting him at a serious disadvantage.
He had to hide it but it didn't make it make any sense to him at that point. He just knew he was in a dire situation there.
'I don't know what happened but I can't let this drag out or I'll definitely lose'
"So, it can talk" someone said somberly from behind, interrupting Icard's mental plot. Then, the sound of flames erupting.
Eric walked to Icard's side, both of his hands enflamed.
Icard looked at him and he could tell at once that Eric was quite upset.
"Eric" Icard muttered.
"I knew it was one of them but this one looks strong" Eric said, eyes full of malice directed at Katar. "
"I love cats too--like Alia. But this one?"
His flames flared. "I'm killing it"