As they ventured into the Plaza and met the first Spawn that was wandering around, they couldn't help but get an unsettling feeling. There was something strange about the Spawn. From the outside, it looked as usual, but it was stronger and faster than the ones on the streets were... Actually, even those have been a bit stronger than usual.
'It was just hard to notice, since I haven't fought one after my awakening, but now that I think about it, they were definitely a bit more robust than the ones I fought before.' Remarked Zane, while a somber expression seemed to find its way on his face.
In any case, the Spawn still didn't provide any meaningful resistance for them, and they easily defeated it.
As they entered the forsaken place through the broken revolving door, they quickly noticed just how much it has deteriorated over the past two years. The creamy beige coloured tiles of the floor were cracked, the benches and decorations were either broken or fallen all over the place. Most stores used to have glass separating them from the outside, which were mostly broken. There were even a few that had their shutters halfway rolled down.
Another thing Zane noted when they stepped foot in the desolate Plaza, was that it wasn't just large from the outside, but also from within as well. He thought that if you placed him randomly somewhere away from an exit, it would be hard for him to find his way out. Actually, it was so large, than within the three floors, there were different lines, on which the stores could be found side-by-side, and each of these lines had street names.
Thankfully, there was a map picturing the layout of the floors. The first floor had four lines, which crossed each other in a single point in the middle. Currently, they were on Emerald street. Zane began to ponder on how much time it would take for them to explore the whole thing.
After inspecting the map, Arni remained silent for a second, then said:
"Alright, we'll start from the beginning as planned, and slowly explore the stores one by one."
The others nodded, then he gazed towards the Cinema, which was right in front of them. Hoping for the best, they began their scavenge.
As they got closer the Cinema, the tiles on the ground and the ceiling became checked, and there were still ripped posters on the wall of the most popular movie at the time. Approaching the counter, they noticed how mangled and marred it was. The popcorn machines were wrecked and they could even notices some bones littering the ground, the flesh was either already eaten or decomposed from it.
They shuddered as they walked past the counters and up the few steps of stairs, which led to a small circular room. There were five doors in there, leading to five different movie halls.
They glanced at each other. Zane could see an unnerved expression on both of Sera's and Covan's face, since they couldn't see in the dark. That's why, they decided to explore the room in two groups, Zane went with Sera, and Arni with Covan. The basis of that was the Valiants' ability to channel their internal energy to their eyes, which made them more susceptible to see internal energy.
They called this skill Probing. It was one of the skills Zane practiced yesterday, knowing how useful it can be in ruined buildings, with no lighting. This way, they didn't have to have light sources to see their surroundings, because the internal energy in the air took up the shape of the objects, and if it came to a Struggler or an artifact, they would emit more internal energy, plus they would see their cores too.
They decided to start in order, from the first one. As they stepped foot in the hall, nothing jumped at them from the darkness... yet. When you walked in to the room, there was a wall on your right, while to your left, there were the seats in a rising. The top rows at the back of the hall were about 3-4 meters above them, meaning if a Struggler was waiting for them up there, it could jump on their necks the moment they walked in.
'But there's no way a Struggler has been sitting there for the past two years, waiting... right?'
In any case, this room seemed to be empty of Strugglers. Zane's duo started searching from the top, while Arni's started from the bottom. They rummaged through the rows and seats, but all they could find was litter. There weren't even the human remnants in here, which they got used to seeing everywhere.
As they met in the middle, Zane shook his head, as to signal he didn't find anything, then realised they couldn't see him, so he simply said:
"We've found nothing."
Arni answered in an even-tone:
"Neither did we."
He paused for a moment, then continued,
"Let's go for the next one."
...
The second one proved to be just as bare as the first one. However, the third one was different.
Even whilst they were walking on the short corridor leading to the movie hall, the two Valiants noticed some perplexing energy, which they weren't used to. Signalling to the two non-awakened, they carefully advanced forward into the quaint room.
Shivers went down their spines as they stepped foot in the room, especially for Sera and Covan, since they could barely see. Immediately, the two Valiants scouted what they could see from the cover of the structure under the rising seats.
'Can't see anything...'
However, they forgot about looking up. In the next moment two crimson eyes lit up in the darkness above them. Sensing that there is something wrong, Zane got primed, however, he was a second too late. He only heard the monster's ferocious grunt once it was already plunging on them.
Quickly turning, he saw glittering a yellow core and the internal energy silhouetting the monster's body. It was a Warden.
"Above you!"
He shouted desperately, while he had his crimson dagger in hand already. Arni also had his sword summoned, which glistened lightly in the darkness. This made it possible for the two behind to react just in time to not die instantly.
The vigorous attack of the monster was aimed at Sera, the weakest member of the cohort. The slash bit into her, and three sharp talons of the monster carved three deep incisions down from her shoulder, all the way to her hand.
A muffled yelp escaped from her lips.
As the vile zombie touched the ground, Arni already reached it and began an unfaltering assault on the Warden. They thought it's gonna be over from that one attack, but to their surprise, the monster's body was robust enough to block with one of its forearms, and stop the sword with a small gash. A terrifying blow came right back at Arni as he finished the strike, which he could barely block with his blade. It made him stagger back a few meters.
Their eyes widened. Zane could defeat one after awakening without a ton of effort, and now, Arni was struggling against it. Something's not right.
Zane quickly got alert and ready to attack, when Covan stroke his mace at the zombie, with even less success. But at least it was a distraction. Zane's dagger came from the side. Lashing out, he tried to severe the zombie's arm, which was raised to defend against Covan's mace.
The last time he completely cut off the Warden's arm, surely he could do it now too. Well... wrong, he couldn't. He cut halfway into the arm of the terrific fiend.
'What the hell?'
Before being able to finish that thought, the zombie already blocked Covan's attack, and now turned to Zane. There was another trick up his sleeve tho. He conjured the monster's gushing blood with his free hand, and created a short javelin, the other skill he practiced yesterday.
He thrusted it forward, straight into beast's eyes. It tried to guard it with its palm, however it pierced straight through it, into its eyes and across its brain, exiting through the back of its head.
Still, they couldn't rest, knowing very well that it would die from this much.