The wardrobe jumped at them and they shattered. The sheer bulk of the monster could smash them, and the monster was using it to its advantage as it smacked into Alex and sent him reeling back.

Alex was pushed beside the bed where the remaining bedsheets rose and covered him. Now he had to fight his way out of the monster cloth, and his skill wasn’t available for him as his hands were bound as well.

The cloth covered his head and started to slowly strangle him. Quickly, he removed all the essence from his body and directed it to his head, where the cloth recoiled and left him alone.

Still, the bed wasn’t done with Alex. The two pillows rose and grew legs and arms. One pillow took the other and slammed it into Alex’s stomach.

It was as if it was a stone hitting him as the force lifted him and jerked him back. Alex groaned. It was a mistake on his part because he hadn’t returned the essence he gathered at his head and now his unprotected stomach was hurting.

He lay there on the floor, trying his best not to focus on his stomach and instead gave his full focus to his mind because it was the mind that would direct the flow of essence.

He returned his essence to the rest of his body and started connecting his skill, and when the pillow came to smack him on the head, he was ready for them.

Lightning cracked between them, blue and white. It resonated through his hand, and when it hit the pillow meant for his head, it tore through it like paper.

The second pillow tried to run, but he was quickly back on his feet, and his sword cut it in two. Alex growled angrily; he couldn’t believe he let his guard down enough that the monsters managed to hit him. And they brought him down too! 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He turned to the others to see if they saw him, but they were still busy with the wardrobe. The thing had grown hands the size of heads and was slapping them around.

Fire didn’t work on the thing, and Catena’s strength was gone with the rest of his rocks. Stallus had no skill to use anyway, and their weapons were useless against the bulky frame of it.

Azaroth clenched his teeth as he tried again, slashing his sword on it, but the monster remained unmoved. The monster turned from him to focus on Stallus and Catena.

Azaroth jumped at the opportunity it provided him. He darted forward and used his hand to slam into the right hand, quickly activating fire force that blew a big chunk out of the monster’s right hand.

But Azaroth was too close, and the monster was too fast for something that big. It turned quickly and punched Azaroth with its left hand.

The blow connected with his hand and nearly tore his sword away from him as he flew backward. He landed close to the bed and Alex, who was touching his bruised stomach.

Alex smiled smugly. "I bet my skill can hit that."

Azaroth stood and straightened. He ignored the pain from his hand and looked at Alex flatly. "You don’t say. Why are you not doing so then?"

But Azaroth was already shot forward with a push of his legs covered by essence. He quickly brought out his thread and covered his sword with it.

He slashed down as he passed the monster, and his sword bit deep into it, cutting parts of it off. Azaroth landed in front of Catena and Stallus; the two had been battered well by the monster, and the only thing keeping them from getting crushed was their essence-covered bodies.

Azaroth looked at his sword. The thread had finished covering it, and there was even a bit of it left hanging at the end, which gave his sword an extended reach.

He flicked the invisible thread at the end, and it cracked horribly with the monster, making it stumble back. Azaroth looked at it. He could probably finish the monster from his place, but he risked revealing his chaos core then.

He would have to go in. He checked his fire core. It would only sustain him for cloaking himself with essence and nothing more. Azaroth ran forward then. The monster tried to punch him, and that was exactly what Azaroth was waiting for.

As the monster brought its hand close, Azaroth slashed it, and with his chaos thread around his sword, he cut cleanly through. He turned before the monster fully understood what he had done and stabbed it.

His sword was through, but Azaroth would never know if it worked because it was then that Alex chose to use his skill. Alex had been sneaking on the monster, and with it fully distracted by Azaroth, he jumped it.

He jumped behind the creature and released all the essence that was in his core through his skill. The lightning sound was loud, and the monster collapsed forward, almost falling on Azaroth.

The creature smelled of burnt wood and blood.

Azaroth withdrew his chaos thread as Alex stood atop the fallen monster. "Yes! I saved you all today. Keep the thanks coming. More! More!"

Everyone ignored him. They had all been wounded by the monsters. Azaroth looked at the wreckage around him and his throbbing hand. He understood fully now why this was good training for them. For him.

Azaroth shook his head and started looking around for anything he could pick up. Anything from a crypt is always better than those outside.

In the end, what he took was knives. They weren’t monsters, just normal metal. The black knives looked suspiciously like their weapons. It wouldn’t surprise Azaroth if it was the same material.

"I need crystals," Stallus said. Her eyes were hard and flat. She did not like how useless she was in this fight. After all, Awakeners are Awakeners because they could use skills.