"You seem shocked? What’s the problem?" Zakar said as he caught up with his breath. He fixed his eyes on Myia who stared at him in shock.
"This is the first kill our group has made. I don’t seem to understand why Justin and Sera haven’t made a kill since then. They ought to have slayed some Ash Imps by now." Myia said staring at the body of the Ash Imp withering like ashes that faded away under light wind.
"Still, why wasn’t their kills registered by the system? There got to be a reason why this kill counted." Zakar said and winced a little and stared at his hand a few meters from him.
"Are you feeling OK? Let me heal your wounds. Aren’t you feeling the pain? I am so sorry I couldn’t save you." Myia apologised politely as she drew closer to him.
"You don’t have to apologise. I was supposed to fend for myself and not be a responsibility."
’Moreover I could have done so only if was strong enough to harness my true abilities. I need to grow my body strong enough to hold my power.’ Zakar thought and clenched his right hand in anger.
"As for my feelings, I don’t think I have again. I just want to end this. At this rate I may not survive more missions."
Myia turned to look at him. She could see the flames and fear in his eyes. Then she smiled.
"Let me heal your wounds. I’m only a D rank healer so I may not heal it good enough." she put up but Zakar didn’t respond.
He stared around the vicinity and tried to access the surroundings. He watched other players slaying Ash Imps.
He watched as the bodies fell down to the ground and sundered but the shock on their faces showed their dissatisfaction.
’They also have the same problem. Not sure if anyone has scaled through this hurdle. Wonder what we have to do to put these damn things dead for good... Wait...’
"Myia!" Zakar exclaimed as he felt his nervous organs respond to his call.
"What is the problem? Just wait for me to arrange my system settings." Myia said without looking at him.
Zakar smiled and then smirked widely.
"I think I’ve figured out why these damn system isn’t registering our kills of these things." Zakar blurted out and she turned to him instantly.
Zakar smiled.
"It’s simple. Look at those there." Zakar said and pointed at a corner and Myia’s eyes followed his finger.
Two players charged at an Ash Imp with extreme speed. One holding sword and the other holding a long gun.
The swordsman slashed his sword through its body and it divided neatly. But that wasn’t enough as so they thought. The second player shot sporadically at the Ash Imp bursting its limbs and leaving it helpless.
"..."
"What?" Myia muttered to herself.
"That’s not it. Watch on." Zakar reprimanded and Myia continued to watch.
The two players advanced forward and continued to replay the same motions again. And as the players had gone far enough the bodies of the fallen Ash Imps began to grow back from where they had been cut or shot.
They formed new limbs from a large chunk of their fallen parts. Those who had their bodies just sliced stitched their body together.
"..." Myia gasped in shock. Zakar stared on.
"What!? How is—" Myia was interrupted by Zakar.
"— This brings me to a hypothesis. Now look at my kill." Zakar said and Myia turned backwards to look at Zakar’s kill. Shock etched on her face.
"How..."
Before her was nothing but dark print of the once existing Ash Imp that lay there. Smoke oozed out and the steam made its way up.
"My hypothesis is simple. The Ash Imps can regenerate and as such they have regenerative spots."
"Well. It should also have a spot that does not regenerate. That said, I do not know where it is." Zakar said and turned back to look at the Ash Imps on the other side.
"Then what are you saying we do?"
"We kill by making sure that spot is also destroyed. The only way to do that is by rash killing." Zakar said and turned back to her.
"What?!"
"I mean something similar to what I did. To kill them that same way." Zakar muttered.
"So what? Let’s get to it. We kill the damn things and get done with it!" Myia said and looked at Zakar’s arm.
"Come on let me heal that up."
Zakar turned to look at her. His eyes met hers and he could feel goose pimples on his body. His face flushed red.
"No. I don’t need that. We barely have time. I wonder what would happen to us if we fail to accomplish the system mission. Don’t know if they will kill us or what. This place has been a living hell of a mystery. General Lemon killed that guy like he was nothing. There would be no hesitation if we fail." Zakar reasoned. Myia stared at him.
"Yeah. I agree with you. I have my own doubts." Myia said to herself.
"For now let’s focus on completing the mission before the time elapses." Zakar said and Myia nodded her head.
"How much time is remaining?" Zakar asked frankly and tore his cloth and began to tie it around his left chopped arm with the help of his teeth and other hand.
"Fifty two minutes, thirty four seconds. That’s barely enough time." Myia muttered.
Zakar grinned and tied his arm tight.
"Yeah. Let’s go."