Dreu quickly finished his meal before he stood up.

  “Where are you headed?” asked Ragellon.

  “The mountain path.”

  For the last three months, everyone trained tirelessly in the various facilities. Physically, Dreu was confident he was better, especially with the maze pushing his limits with each new puzzle. The young man also made progress with the shadow creatures as he slowly got the hang of sensing and hitting them with his sheath. While he had yet to successfully hit all of them in one go, he was still proud of the progress he made. The other facilities also improved him in other areas, albeit to a much lesser degree. Yet, there was something about being cooped up in facilities that didn’t feel right for him. He knew that, with the greater demon primate still terrorizing the edge of the forest, they couldn’t exactly venture out in that direction.

  I do hope Ragellon is right about the primate eventually losing interest because we have no way of defeating that monster.

  When the group first arrived, they climbed down a mountain path to reach the metropolis. According to Ragellon, there were weak demonic creatures on this side of the mountain and they were well suited to scaling the difficult terrain. These creatures might give Dreu a hard time but, against the flying creatures like Zog and Keth, they no longer possessed an advantage. The creatures also had sharp instincts so they were unlikely to stick around and fight Dreu's group.

  Feel weird not being the weakest for once.

  While the mountain was situated along one side of the city, the forest where the greater demon primate was situated on the opposite side. On the third side, the forest and the mountain overlapped, creating an impassable terrain for those who traveled on foot. The last side of the metropolis faced a great swamp that stretched further than Dreu could see. Due to the dangerous creatures that called the swamp their home, any land creature would think twice before venturing in or even near it. The demonic girl emphasized that even boats would do little to protect them against the swamp’s denizens. She also admitted that she didn't know where the swamp ended and what was on the other side. She only suspected that the metropolis was built with the swamp serving as a natural barrier against dangerous demonic creatures.

  “Let us come along then,” said Ragellon. “I can set up magic dummies at the base of the mountain.”

  “Aren’t any of you tired?” asked Dreu as he was curious how the demonic children were faring with all the facility training.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Demons have much better stamina than humans, especially when it comes to casting spells. We only needed a brief break. Like you, we cannot afford to stay idle while time is ticking down.”

  The group walked through the empty metropolis. Dreu and Ragellon took the lead while Ror and Dar covered the rear. The other demonic children found themselves surrounded by the rest of Dreu’s companions. Their attempts to hug the two furry demonic creatures failed as the two were too agile to be caught. Eventually, they gave up and were content with just staring. Meanwhile, Zog and Keth complained to Dreu about their lack of attention. In response, the young man allowed them to perch on his shoulders.

  Even demon worms lack the cuteness of those two demonic creature. I hope they get used to it.

  An hour later, the demonic children and Zog resumed their training with magic dummies. Dreu resummoned Xig so he, Xig, Keth and Dar traveled up the mountain path in search of demonic creatures to defeat. The young man also wanted to see if there were any secrets hidden atop the mountain. Ilveroz and Aggich agreed to stay behind to protect the children and Ror. Dreu checked with Dar if she was fine with Ror being left behind.

  She’s all healed up. My job is done.

  During the hike, Dreu could hear the greater demon primate’s roar. Given the distance, it didn’t have the same impact and could almost be ignored as noise in the distance. He was also more focused on the rugged terrain that made his progress slow. Xig, Keth and Dar had an easy time flying over the terrain and had to stop repeatedly for Dreu to catch up. Dreu found himself still needing to catch his breath as he headed higher and higher up the mountain path. However, their slow progress was largely due to him stopping to admire the view. If there wasn’t a greater demon primate in the distance, the scene would be picturesque as it had forest, swamp and a metropolis in it.

  Imagine if the city was filled with demons going about their lives? To think that we humans were the monsters on the continent.

  The climb had been uneventful as not a single demonic creature was seen. His companions could take to the skies but they failed to spot any of the demonic creatures Ragellon claimed to live on the mountain. It wasn’t until they reached a plateau did they find an unexpected welcoming party.

  And I thought Ragellon said only weak and cowardly creatures roam these mountains. Guess she can be wrong at times too.

  A pack of wolf-like creatures spread out to form a concave around the group. Dreu could make out a carcass of some creature behind them. Given how skinny the creatures looked, he suspected that they wouldn’t hesitate to chomp on him too. Following a growl from one of the creatures, Xig dashed towards it with killer intent. Trusting Keth and Dar to have his back, Dreu charged the nearest wolf with his blade drawn. The wolf froze in its tracks when Dreu charged at it and it barely dodged the blade.

  Was I always this fast?

  Dreu, noticing the wolf was off balance from its dodge, pivoted to stab at it before it could get back its footing. In his peripheral vision, he noticed another wolf moving to his flank. Before the wolf could lunge, Keth bashed it with his horn, sending it flying. With no immediate threats to his safety, Dreu thrust his blade into his target’s head.