Fleet-Footed

Beneath the Gray Fog, everything was cold and lifeless. For millions of years, only death and madness had been eternal themes in this world.

The sudden appearance of all those new things had changed nothing.

Night was already falling. By tomorrow, there would be even more death and decay across this land.

But just as that moment arrived, something unexpected seemed to happen.

In a world that had lain lifeless for who knew how long, and would likely remain so for who knew how much longer, tiny points of light had appeared.

From scattered specks to sparse clusters, then to a sky full of stars, it seemed that the entire transformation had taken less than fifteen minutes.

Some lights were swallowed by darkness soon after they appeared, but then more and more lights rose from the gloom.

They weren't dazzling, but they were burning.

Colin held up the Hurricane Lamp, its glass filled with bright red light. After closing the Parchment, he looked at the two Servants. "It's time to improve you two as well."

There were two ways to improve a Servant. One was to raise their personal level; the other was to use materials to create a specialized unit.

The former usually only cost Mist Points and was easy to do. All it took was a single tap.

In return, this type of improvement wouldn't grant a Servant any special skills. It only provided a boost to their attributes.

The latter required a blueprint, along with the corresponding items and materials. It could produce specialized units such as archers, warriors, cavalry, or even mages.

That method was much more troublesome, but Colin had a huge advantage in that regard.

As long as he knew what kind of specialized unit someone else had created, he could make one himself if he wanted to.

For now, Colin was going with the first option, simply raising the Servants' personal levels.

Each upgrade cost about five Mist Points.

"Tha—"

The two Servants had just begun to thank him when Colin stopped them. He pointed toward the door, signaling them to keep quiet.

Then Colin opened their Personal Panels and spent five Mist Points on each of them, upgrading them both.

A moment later, Colin watched as the two slight Servants, each barely over five feet tall, changed before his eyes.

The change was visible. The muscles in their torsos and limbs swelled noticeably, as if they'd undergone a period of proper training.

They also grew a little taller, reaching about five feet three.

[Servant No. 2]

Identity: A Servant belonging exclusively to Colin.

Status: "Inspired," "Mild Mental Damage," "Excited."

Fullness: 37

Level: Level 1 (Max: 5)

Strength: 1.5

Endurance: 1.4

Stamina: 1.3

Reason: 0.9

Not bad. Colin nodded to himself. Every attribute had increased by 0.2, and all their base attributes were now above 1.2.

With buffs like Inspired added, several of their key attributes were now at or near 1.5.

Servant One in particular had broken 2.0 in Strength, Endurance, and Stamina—twice that of an ordinary person.

But he wouldn't have those stats when they ran later.

After all, they'd have to take the wheels off.

"Good. Get used to it. We'll be moving soon."

Colin fought down his reluctance and gave them his approval.

According to the prompt, this improvement could be achieved through normal training.

It would probably take a week or two, though, and what Colin lacked most right now was time. He had no choice.

"Yes, Lord." The two subordinates began stretching, feeling out their newly acquired strength.

Colin turned his gaze from them to the Hurricane Lamp in his hand. He felt the light it gave off, his mind settling into a kind of calm as he waited for things to unfold as he expected.

There were a thousand Survivors in each region.

Colin didn't know how large a region was, but it couldn't be boundless. Otherwise, he wouldn't have encountered another Survivor so soon.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes... ten minutes passed.

There was no sound outside.

Twenty minutes.

There was no sound outside.

Thirty minutes.

There was still no sound outside.

"Was this plan too much of a gamble?"

Colin felt himself growing restless. Even breathing had begun to feel strangely difficult, and an indescribable unease took hold of him.

There were less than twenty-seven minutes until nightfall.

That was the cutoff. Every second after that would make getting home much harder.

"One more minute. Just one more minute."

Cold sweat had unknowingly covered Colin's forehead, and his body trembled ever so slightly. The countdown in his mind felt like a countdown to his death, leaving him caught between calm and agitation.

Most importantly, thirty minutes had passed, and there was still nothing outside.

Just then, Colin felt someone tap his shoulder. His body tensed, then relaxed again.

"Lord! The monster just left!" Servant One said excitedly.

"Good!"

Colin let out a low shout, feeling another surge of strength course through his limbs. His cheeks grew warm.

After a brief pause, he asked, his voice tinged with excitement, "Which way did it go?"

"The opposite direction from us," Servant No. 2 answered.

They knew what Colin wanted to ask, though they didn't understand how their lord had known the monster would leave.

"Should we move now?"

"No."

Colin quickly calculated the monster's speed. "We'll move in three minutes. For now, you can lower the gate."

Neither subordinate objected.

Before long, the three minutes were up. Almost as soon as the third minute began, the Church's main doors were pulled open just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Three figures ran out one after another.

The sky had grown dim, and Colin could clearly feel that he could see a shorter distance beyond the lamp's glow.

He could also sense that something bad was about to happen to this world.

Without dwelling on it, Colin looked toward the path he'd taken to get there. He narrowed his eyes, and the route he'd committed to memory came back to him.

Together with the first prompt, the route formed a rough map in Colin's mind.

After pausing for less than three seconds, Colin gripped an axe in his right hand, held up the lamp with his left, and charged in the direction he'd come from, toward the Withered Forest.

The two Servants followed close behind.

It took only about ten minutes to get from the Church to the edge of the forest.

At a full sprint, that time would be cut almost in half.

Once they were out of the forest, if the road stayed clear, Colin figured it would take only about ten minutes to reach the Wooden Cabin.

After all, when he'd gone out to explore that morning, he'd walked instead of running.

But just as Colin emerged from the forest, he felt the ground tremble faintly.

The next second, all three of them, Colin included, felt a chilling gaze fall upon them from behind and to the side!

The monster had caught up!

"Damn it, we've only been running for two minutes! How is it so fast?!"

Colin cursed inwardly. More importantly, he had no idea whether the monster would leave the forest.

"Keep up!"

The moment he spoke, the two Servants felt their lord's presence change abruptly. He seemed like a cold, ruthless predator.

The next second, they saw Colin run as if he were flying!

"Hunting Moment"!