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Chapter 31: Eclipse Part 2

"This is not the same, cryptids about my same level will most likely sense my presence and will try to hunt me down. Even though you\'re ascended you\'re still too weak and even your bodies haven\'t fully developed." Miss Dragonfang explained.

"What do you mean? My body is well developed, thank you very much." Medusa said cupping her breasts over the light armor, completely calm in the face of impending danger.

"We don\'t have time for games." Said miss Dragonfang rubbing off her temple as if she was suffering from a headache. "But the fact that you can joke around makes you perfect to become team leader in my absence. Remember the first building you raided? Not the gas station, the other one."

"Yes, I think we can go back there in less than five minutes." Medusa replied with a decisive nod.

"Head down there and lay low until the darkness passes, even if you have to spend the night. An event like this will most likely draw the attention of other hunters too, but do not approach them unless strictly necessary." Miss Dragonfang commanded, but then gave a last warning: "Do not huddle together, you can either hide by yourselves on the building or in couples except for Atomic. Sorry kid, your trait is too strong for an ascended, you\'re the most likely to attract unwanted attention."

Although scared, the geeky student didn\'t seem surprised. Uriel had heard a couple times how they treated him with respect despite all of them being on the same rank, but now it made sense. There was a lot of difference between traits and some of them were just in the boundaries of the next rank, but not quite there yet. That was the main reason why the army allowed anyone to get their traits tested more than once, just in case someone\'s trait reached the point where it could jump up to the next rank.

This was, most likely, Atomic\'s case. He was tagged as an ascended, but it seemed like he was the closest to the Heavenly rank among the group.

The realization that traits can somehow become stronger filled Uriel with hope, but at the same time with questions.

\'If there\'s a way to become stronger, how come I\'ve never heard about it?\'

"I\'ll contact you as soon as possible, so keep watching your cellphones. Now hurry up!"

Miss Dragonfang commanded snapping Uriel out of his reverie and they quickly took off. Once again, he was struggling to keep up the pace with the rest of the group. The only difference was now instead of simply lagging behind for a while, he might actually end up in the belly of a beast.

As the young students ran across the streets, daylight grew dimmer by the second. It was barely noticeable, but as time passed they were starting to have trouble dodging the debris and trash that was lying on the ground. Thanks to Sam\'s trait, though, they were able to remain on track and didn\'t get lost in the vast, intricate, city.

Their formation consisted on Sam in the front position leading the way, Luna and atomic followed closely watching the sides while in the rear Medusa was dragging Uriel like a kite.

"Don\'t run so fast, you\'ll tear my hand off!" Uriel complained.

"Don\'t be a crybaby and run faster!" Medusa replied without even turning her head.

His wrist hurt under the tight grip of Medusa\'s hand, but it was indeed better than the alternative. By the time they finally came at a block\'s distance from the building, it was as dark as during the night. Without a clear line of sight, they were forced to slow down their race to avoid accidentally stumbling into a cryptid like it happened with the black dog Miss Dragonfang had previously killed. Uriel took this chance to let go of Medusa, softly rubbing his wrist to ease the pain.

Little by little, small red dots were starting to appear in their surroundings through windows on the tall buildings nearby or lurking in the distance behind the cover of the shadows, threatening them with all the possible horrors their imagination allowed. Thankfully for them, cryptids were still far and scarce, filling them with hopes of being able to reach the safety of the commercial building before getting swarmed by enemies.

Still, the amount of eyes lurking in the distance were increasing at an alarming rate, sometimes in pairs and others at unsettling odd numbers. The obstacles on their way could be considered the same as landmines as a single noise could mean the end of them. All it took for them to draw the attention of the hungry inhabitants of the lost city was to kick a tin can or trip over a piece of rubble.

Right before taking the turn that would lead them to what they hoped was safety, Sam leaned on the corner to take a small peek before advancing, and when he came back to his original position his face was pale and ghostly. Unlike the rest of his companions, he was able to perfectly see all the beastly abominations lurking in the shadows.

"We can\'t go all at the same time. You go first Lightbringer, we\'ll follow one by one separated by a few seconds." Said Medusa, who could somewhat see better than the rest of his team thanks to the glimmer in her eyes, after noticing Sam\'s horrified expression.

Although that didn\'t bode well for any of them but Sam, especially for Uriel who was last in line, they all had to agree that it was, indeed, safer to walk at a distance from each other.

Sam walked steadily and silently towards the building, after a few seconds Atomic followed suit. It wasn\'t that he wanted to go second, it just turned out that he was right behind Sam. Then it was Luna\'s turn, then Medusa, and lastly, Uriel who by that time was completely by himself.

Step by step he blindly, stiffly, walked leaning on the wall knowing that if anything happened, he would be completely exposed and defenseless. He could feel the rough texture of the bricks, the concrete, the small bumps caused by the door frames as his hand slid across the surface of the buildings. He did his best to keep focusing on such details to prevent himself from thinking on what surrounded him.

Strange, rustling sounds could be heard in the distance, louder and closer by the second making his heart race, the sound of his heartbeat so strong it overshadowed the one coming from his own footsteps, without realizing it, Uriel had been holding on his breath for too long and was starting to feel dizzy.

Then, just a fraction of a second after he noticed the emptiness on his side that announced the presence of an opened door, a hand pulled him swiftly inside the building. Afraid to make a noise, Uriel let out a mute gasp and let himself be dragged inside without a struggle.