As they headed for the spot, Ashen suddenly stopped. Braun and Seraphine turned around, looking at him questioningly.
"Why did you stop?" Braun asked.
"An ideal spot like this… finding it empty is too good to be true, isn't it?" Ashen replied, his voice low.
"You have a point," Braun agreed, his tone serious.
"So, what do we do now?" Seraphine asked nervously.
"Let's circle the spot first. We should scout it without getting too close," Ashen suggested.
After agreeing on this course of action, they went on to survey the area more closely. Ashen noticed something hanging from a tree at the back of the cave.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be some kind of monster.
It resembled a massive sloth, but its arms were grotesquely large and muscular. Sharp claws, drenched in old blood, extended from its fingers, evidence of its repeated hunts.
Ashen signaled to his companions, and they carefully backed away. The beast seemed to be asleep, its body swaying slightly as it hung from the tree.
Braun's face was pale as he whispered, "That beast… it's different from the others. It looks more intimidating. If it's strong enough to roam alone in this place, I bet it's not weak."
"Should we look for another place?" Seraphine suggested hesitantly.
Silence hung around the trio for a moment before it was broken by a firm voice.
"No," Ashen declared.
Two sets of anxious eyes settled on him.
Seeing the concern on their faces, he elaborated, "The sun is already going down. We've spent almost the entire day finding this spot. I doubt we'll find anything better before dark."
Gesturing toward the left of the cave. "Look, there's even a river nearby. We won't have to roam the forest every time we're thirsty."
"B-but what about that beast? It doesn't look simple," Seraphine said, her voice trembling.
Ash's gaze hardened. "No choice but to get rid of it."
Braun let out a dry chuckle. "Going up against that thing isn't much worse than wandering this forest at night, is it?"
Ashen smirked faintly. "Exactly. If we keep running from everything, sooner or later, we'll end up in a situation where we can't run anymore. It's better to fight on our terms while we have the advantage."
Braun nodded reluctantly. Seraphine seemed nervous but eventually agreed. "You're right… Let's just be careful."
"But we probably need some kind of plan, right?" Braun asked while scrunching his brows.
Both of them nodded, acknowledging the need for some sort of strategy, at least.
Ashen closed his eyes, replaying his earlier observations of the beast.
'Okay, focus. It looks like a sloth, so let's start there.'
With that, he went over what he knew about sloths.
'Normal sloths are herbivores, but this one doesn't strike me as vegetarian—that's obvious from the blood.'
The arms were the next thing that caught his attention.
'Its arms are its strongest weapons, and those claws… yeah, no thanks.'
There must be some kind of weakness…
'It didn't wake up earlier when we made noise. That means it might have poor hearing. Sloths are also nearsighted, so maybe this one is too. If we plan around that, we might stand a chance.'
Ashen opened his eyes and shared his thoughts. "That thing's hearing and sight might be weak, but it'll definitely smell us if we get too close."
"Then we need to hide our scent," Braun said, glancing at the mud nearby.
"Getting dirty is one option," Ashen agreed.
"I also noticed flowers nearby with a strong smell," Seraphine added. "If we rub them on ourselves, it might mask our scent."
Ashen nodded. "Good. Once we mask our scent, we need a weapon. These sticks alone won't do much."
At this, Seraphine began fidgeting awkwardly. Ashen raised an eyebrow. "Seraphine? Are you okay? Do you need to pee? Or did the poison relapse?"
Flustered, Seraphine pulled a small folding knife from her back pocket. "I-it's this!"
Ashen and Braun stared at the knife, dumbfounded. Braun recovered first. "Lass, couldn't you… I don't know, have shown this earlier?"
"I kept it for self-defense," Seraphine said defensively. "And then so much happened that I forgot about it. Sorry…"
Ash chuckled. "Seraphine, are you an airhead?"
"I'm not!" she protested.
Ashen, amused, decided not to press her further. "Right. Well, this knife came at the perfect time. You're our lucky star, Seraphine."
Seraphine's face lit up at the compliment. "Hehe~~"
Shaking his head, Ashen got back onto the topic, " So now that we have our weapon, we need a plan on how to attack it."
"With the monster's weaknesses, getting closer and landing a solid hit won't be hard but I don't think that will be enough to kill it." Braun remarked, and silence settled among the trio as they seemed to run out of ideas.
Ashen thought for a moment and then had a rather dangerous idea and decided to share his thoughts.
"Once we hit it, that thing's going to lose its mind and go straight for the first person it sees," He explained, tone steady. "Every beast we've encountered so far has been driven purely by instinct—wild and irrational. I'm betting this one is the same."
Pausing for a moment, he continued with a more confident tone. "We just need to set up a bait and ambush it."
"And who's the bait…?" Seraphine muttered hesitantly, though she already had a sinking feeling about the answer.
"Me," Ashen said after a moment of thought.
His voice carried no trace of bravado; it was just a process of elimination.
"I'm the fastest out of the three of us. Seraphine, you're lighter on your feet, but I won't risk it. Braun, you've got the strength, but you're slower—no offense." He shot a glance at Braun, who nodded begrudgingly in agreement.
"It makes the most sense for me to do it."
Seraphine pursed her lips, her unease written all over her face. "But it's too dangerous…"
Ashen let out a wry chuckle, his lips curling into a sardonic smile. "Dangerous? Seraphine, everything here is dangerous. Facing that thing is, standing here is, hell, breathing this cursed air might be. Pick your poison."
Braun couldn't help but agree, though the idea of Ashen putting himself in harm's way still didn't sit right with him. "Even so," Braun said, his voice gruff, "if that thing's claws catch you wrong, you're done for."
"I've thought about that too," Ashen admitted. "But it's called a sloth for a reason, right? They're supposed to be slow. I'll take my chances."
Braun sighed heavily, the kind of sigh that spoke of reluctant acceptance. "If you're dead set on this, then fine. We'll do it your way."
Ashen turned to Seraphine, waiting for her verdict.
She met his gaze for a long moment before nodding with a conflicted expression.
She didn't like it, but she wasn't going to argue with him when his mind was already made up.
Now that they had a plan—flimsy as it was—the trio moved quickly, gathering materials and sharpening sticks into crude weapons.
The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the forest in hues of amber and shadow.
Ashen gripped his makeshift spear, his knuckles white.
'A day ago, I was running from reality, he thought, a bitter laugh caught in his throat. Now I'm running toward death. Funny how priorities shift when survival's on the line.'