Sanctuary Of Heroes

I stood over the dead wolves, chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. 

Sweat dripped from my forehead, mixing with spatters of wolf blood on my leather armor. My blade arm ached from the extended fight, these wolves had been tougher than anything I'd faced before.

Rei was cowering behind the jagged rock.

"Are they dead?" it whispered, not daring to look. "Are you sure they're dead?"

"Very dead," I panted, wiping blood from a shallow scratch on my cheek.

[DING!] [DING!]

The familiar sound of notifications rang in my ears.

[Level Up!] [Level Up!]

My status window materialized in front of my eyes, displaying updated information.

STATUS WINDOW

Name: Kaito Kurokawa
Level: 35
Health: 780/780
Mana: 100/420

Stats:
STR: 42
AGI: 50 
VIT: 35 
LUK: 30 
INT: 35
Free Stat Points: 0

Class: Tethered
Sub-Class: Skirmisher

Abilities:
Active: Dash, Evasion, Quick Strike, Slash, Guard Breaker, Reaper's Step, Cleave
Passive: Death Echo, Mirror Step

Rei (Echo 1): 

Level: 15
STR: 22 
AGI: 25
VIT: 20
LUK: 18
INT: 23
Energy: 46/56

Abilities: 

Active: Shade dart, Shadow step

Passive: Tremor Sense

Wrath (Echo 2)

Level: 32
STR: 42
AGI: 35
VIT: 30
LUK: 28
INT: 25
Energy: 5/80 (Dormant)

Abilities:

Active: Reckless Charge, Slash, Backstab, Twin Cut

Passive: Immune to charm and mind control

Available Slots: 5

I stared at the window for a moment longer before dismissing it and crouched down beside the nearest wolf carcass.

Then I pulled out the skinning knife I'd picked up during my week of guild work. The blade was sharp enough, and I'd learned the basics of harvesting monster parts from other adventurers.

'Wolf pelts should fetch decent money. And the claws... those might be useful for crafting.'

I started with the largest wolf, carefully working the knife under the skin near the shoulder. The work was messy and methodical, requiring focus to avoid damaging the valuable parts.

Rei finally peeked out from behind the rock. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure we didn't fight them for nothing," I replied, not looking up from my work. "These pelts are worth money and wasting them is stupid."

The forest around us was growing darker as I worked, but I kept going. After everything that had happened today, the betrayal, the death, waking up in an unknown forest, at least this felt like something I could control.

Rei spoke again, "Hurry up! It's getting dark, and I don't like being out here when we can't see properly."

I glanced up from where I was carefully separating a claw from the wolf's paw. "Then help me. This'll go faster with two people working."

Rei looked at the bloody carcasses and immediately shivered, pressing itself back against the stone. "Do it yourself! I'm not touching those... those things."

Tch!

I clicked my tongue in irritation. "Useless."

"I'm not useless!" Rei protested, though it made no move to come closer to the dead wolves.

"Then help," I said flatly, not looking up from my work.

Rei crossed its translucent arms and huffed. "Meany."

I ignored the childish response and continued working. 

The shadows were definitely getting longer, and Rei wasn't wrong about needing to find shelter soon. But I wasn't about to waste valuable materials just because my echo had a weak stomach.

'Besides, it's not like it actually has a stomach to be weak.'

I carefully bundled the pelts and claws in my makeshift bag, using my cloak as a wrap. The weight was manageable.

"Come on," I said, shouldering the bundle. "We need to find shelter before it gets completely dark."

"Wait!" Rei screamed as I started walking. "Don't leave me!"

It ran after me, its translucent form flickering slightly as it moved. In its panic to catch up, it accidentally stepped right through one of the wolf corpses.

"AAAAHHH!" It wailed loudly, the sound echoing through the darkening forest, though only I was the only one who could hear it, I suppose.

 "I touched it! I touched the dead thing!"

It bolted toward me in complete hysteria and leaped onto my back, wrapping its arms around my neck in a death grip.

The sudden impact sent me stumbling forward. 

I nearly dropped my bundle of pelts.

"Get off!" I shouted, trying to shake it loose.

"I'm scared! I won't go down!" Echo 1 gripped my neck even tighter, its panic making the hold almost suffocating.

I could barely breathe. "At least let me take a breath!"

Then it loosened its grip slightly, but didn't let go entirely. I could feel its translucent form trembling against my back.

Tch!

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Was I really this much of a coward?"

The question hung in the air as I started walking again, Rei still clinging to my back like a terrified child. The irony wasn't lost on me, asking if I was a coward while carrying a ghost created from my own death.

The forest grew darker around us. I could barely make out the trees directly in front of me, let alone find any kind of path. Every step felt like I might walk straight into a branch or trip over unseen roots.

"Take left from here," Rei muttered against my ear.

It could see better than I can.

I adjusted course, trusting its directions even though I couldn't see whatever it was guiding me toward. The bundle of pelts grew heavier with each step, and my shoulders ached from Echo 1's continued grip around my neck.

We walked for what felt like hours, stumbling through undergrowth and around massive tree trunks. Just when I was starting to think we'd be wandering all night, Echo 1 spoke up again.

"There's something ahead. Lights."

I squinted into the darkness and finally made out faint glows flickering between the trees. As we got closer, the shapes resolved into buildings, maybe two or three small houses clustered together in a tiny clearing.

But something about the scene made my stomach clench with unease. 

Gulp!

I swallowed hard. 

This was reminding me of those horror movies I used to watch. You know, the ones where travelers find some remote village and everyone's either dead or wants to kill them.

Rei's grip tightened around my neck. "It's scary," it whispered, voice trembling. "We should leave. We should leave right now and find somewhere else."

Still, I moved a few steps closer to the settlement, trying to get a better look at the buildings. But then decided against. I was just about to turn away and take my chances in the forest when one of the doors creaked open.

An old woman peeked out, her weathered face catching the dim light. When she spotted me, she opened the door fully and stepped outside.

"You lost, kid?" she called out, her voice carrying genuine concern.

Panic clawed its way up from my stomach. 

Every fiber of my being wanted to run, but I found myself nodding despite the warning bells going off in my head.

The woman's expression softened immediately. "Poor thing. You look exhausted. Come on, you can stay at my place for the night. Get some proper rest."

Cold sweat began forming on my neck and back. Rei's grip around my neck tightened to an almost painful degree.

"This is it, we're dead!" it whispered frantically in my ear. "She's gonna catch us and eat us, just like she's done with all the other poor unfortunate souls who became her prey! There's still time to run! We can still get away!"

The echo's panic was infectious, but I was too tired to think clearly. Too lost, too confused by everything that had happened today.

"Thank you," I bowed my head politely.

"NO!" Rei screamed directly into my ear. "Don't do it! Turn around and run!"

But I was already following the old woman toward her house, Echo 1's continued protests fading into background noise.

'Doesn't matter anyway,' I thought grimly. 

'It's not like I'm going to die permanently. Though I'd not like getting killed by some ghost, even if I am carrying one.'

The woman led me into a small, dimly lit room with a narrow bed and a wooden chair. The walls were bare except for some faded cloth hangings, and everything smelled faintly of herbs and old wood.

"Are you hungry, dear?" she asked, her voice gentle.

"No, I'm fine," I started to say, but my stomach chose that exact moment to growl loudly enough to echo in the small space.

She chuckled softly. "I'll bring you something to eat."

Rei immediately scurried to the far corner of the room, wrapping its translucent arms around itself and rocking slightly.

"This is bad, this is so bad," it whispered. "Why did we come here?"

A few minutes later, the woman returned with a wooden bowl and a chunk of dark bread. The porridge was simple but smelled decent enough.

"Sorry, this is all I have right now," she said, setting the food on the chair. "You'll have to make do with it."

I nodded, picking up the wooden spoon. "Do you live here alone?"

"Oh no, I have a husband and daughter. They're at the capital right now, some business with the collectors. And there are a few other families scattered around here too." She smiled warmly. 

"You don't need to worry about anything. This isn't the first time someone's gotten lost in the forest and stayed here for the night. There have been others before you."

Both Rei and I went rigid at those words.

'Others before me.' The way she said it, with that sweet smile, made my skin crawl.

"Aren't you scared though?" I asked, trying to keep my voice casual while taking a small bite of the porridge. 

"Living out here in the forest, with just you alone? What if someone-?"

Before I could finish the thought, she cut me off with that same sweet smile, but something cold flickered behind her eyes.

"Oh, if someone had weird ideas," she said softly, "they could definitely try."

Then she left the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

I sat there holding the spoon, staring at the door. Echo 1 was hyperventilating in the corner.

"What did she mean by that?" I muttered. "And what happened to all those 'others' she mentioned?"

Outside, I could hear her moving around, but the sounds were muffled and impossible to identify.

'This was definitely a mistake.' 

I set the empty bowl down on the chair, the simple porridge having filled the most of my hunger despite my lingering unease about the old woman's words.

As I moved to lie down on the narrow bed, Wrath suddenly materialized beside me.

"So you're back?" I said, settling onto the thin mattress.

He just nodded, moving to sit on the wooden chair.

I had figured that my echoes can materialize again once they recover twenty percent of their energy after their dormant state.

Outside, the sounds of the old woman moving around had stopped completely. The sudden silence was more unsettling than the noise had been.

Rei immediately tensed. "She stopped moving. That's not good, right? That's definitely not good."

"Could be sleeping," I said, though I didn't believe it myself.

Wrath leaned forward in the chair. "Or sharpening her knives. We should take shifts keeping watch."

"Agreed. Rei, you're up first since you're too wired to sleep anyway."

"I'm not good at this," Rei protested weakly, but its translucent form was already positioned facing the door. 

"What if I miss something? What if she comes in and I don't notice until it's too late?"

"You'll be fine," I said, settling back on the thin mattress. "Just wake me if anything feels off."

Wrath snorted from the chair. "Like everything about this place doesn't already feel off."

I ignored the comment and closed my eyes, though sleep felt impossible with the day's events still churning in my mind. 

'What a fucking day.'

My muscles ached from the fight and the mental strain of everything that had happened was catching up to me.

Outside, the silence stretched on. 

And I let myself drift into deep slumber.