Silver followed her gaze. Several creatures wandered around the entrance.

Humanoid-type scavengers. They were the most common beast on this side of the green zones. They were small, almost four feet seven, pale grey and their long elongated limbs ended in sharp claws. Their eyes glowed faintly yellow.

They were tier one. Individually they were weak but dangerous in numbers. The creatures hadn’t noticed them yet.

Silver studied the entrance, then looked toward Ravenna.

"Want to go around?"

She immediately shook her head.

"No."

"I figured."

The answer hadn’t surprised him. The scavengers represented easy practice, money, and cores. There was no reason to avoid them.

They approached carefully. The first scavenger noticed them almost instantly. Its head snapped upward and a low hiss escaped its mouth. This caused the others to turn. The entire group charged, fast. They were much faster than ordinary humans.

Silver moved first. His pistol appeared.

[Phantom Draw Lv3 Activated]

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three bullets pierced through three running scavengers. Unlike the four-legged ones, this one was a larger moving target. The scavengers collapsed before reaching them.

The remaining creatures continued charging anyway. Ravenna moved. Silver watched her closely, curious about her fighting style.

She drew her sword in one smooth motion and slashed. The blade flashed, and one scavenger lost its head. A second collapsed moments later. The entire exchange lasted seconds.

Then, silence returned. Silver’s eyes widened.

"..."

Ravenna turned to him while cleaning her blade.

"What?"

"You’re good."

She stared at him for a moment then looked away. A tiny smile appeared right after.

"Thank you."

Silver wasn’t exaggerating. Her movements lacked the polish of trained contractors but she understood combat. She knew the perfect positioning, timing, and distance. Those things couldn’t be faked, she’d earned them.

The two moved among the corpses. This time Silver crouched beside one, examining the body then dug into its chest. The feeling of his fingers wiggling inside warm flesh was still as disgusting as the first time he’d done it.

A few moments later he extracted a small crystal. The core gleamed faintly under the morning sun.

Ravenna watched carefully noticing his poorly concealed disgust.

"You must really hate doing that."

Silver glanced at her then shrugged.

"I’ll get used to it eventually."

"Yeah, it’s disgusting alright."

Silver nodded. In the military, they mainly dressed wounds which was normal but digging into a body was never part of the training. But he knew he was already adapting, learning practical skills came naturally.

Soon they had gathered every usable core. Nothing was wasted, money was money, especially for Ravenna. Silver quietly handed her several of the cores he’d collected.

She frowned.

"You killed those."

"I know."

"You should keep them."

Silver shrugged.

"You need them more."

Ravenna looked like she wanted to argue then stopped. After a moment, she simply accepted them without protest or pride getting in the way.

Silver respected that, many people would have refused. Ravenna understood reality.

The mall entrance loomed before them. It was dark, silent, and foreboding. Both of them stared at it for several seconds, then Ravenna turned to Silver.

"This seems like a terrible idea."

Silver nodded.

"Absolutely," he said while reloading his gun.

Ravenna smiled and turned back to the entrance that seemed to be calling them.

"We’re going in anyway."

"Obviously."

Together they stepped inside. The interior felt eerily quiet, and dust covered everything. Storefronts lined both sides of the corridor, broken signs hung from ceilings and broken escalators stood frozen in place. The skeleton of the previous civilization.

Silver’s footsteps echoed softly, even when he tried to distribute his weight, while Ravenna’s did not, which showed how skillful and agile she was.

"This place looks haunted, " she whispered.

Silver nodded but didn’t respond. His gaze and senses were sweeping across the first floor. Silver knew it wasn’t empty but he couldn’t exactly point out where they were.

A few minutes later, movement appeared. Several scavengers lurking inside abandoned stores, the beasts immediately attacked.

The fights came frequently afterward. It was in small groups of two, three, or five. They were never enough to threaten them but enough to keep them alert and provide practice.

Silver deliberately began using more than his firearm. He placed his gun back in its holster and pulled out his sword.

He needed experience if he wanted to grow his skills.

A scavenger lunged and Silver stepped forward. The blade swept upward.

[Beginner Swordsmanship Active]

The scavenger’s arm separated from its body. A second strike followed, and the creature collapsed its head rolling on the floor.

[Sword Proficiency Increased]

{Minor Progress Detected}

Silver smiled. That was exactly what he wanted. The deeper they moved, the more comfortable their conversation became. Sometimes discussing beasts, other times sanctuaries, and just completely random topics.

"What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?"

Ravenna looked horrified.

"Why would you ask that?"

Silver grinned.

"Answer."

She sighed.

"Mutated rabbit."

"That’s normal."

"It had six legs and was half-cooked."

Silver visibly cringed.

"Fair enough... I can’t take the picture out of my mind."

A few minutes later she retaliated.

"What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?"

Silver thought for a moment then laughed.

"That’s dangerous."

"Answer."

"I fought a Tier 5 giant ape and almost died."

She paused a little, realisation sinking in then continued walking, matching his pace.

"Recently?"

"Very recently."

"That’s definitely stupid."

He couldn’t even argue. It was stupid, but worth it.

Eventually, they reached the second floor, and the atmosphere changed immediately which they both noticed.

The silence felt different, heavier almost predatory. Both their expressions sharpened. The casual joking and distractions were pushed to the back of their minds.

Something lived on the second floor. As if answering their thoughts a deep and low growl came from the darkness. Several pairs of eyes appeared between abandoned storefronts.

Silver counted quickly. There were almost ten pairs of eyes, maybe more but he wasn’t even sure.

Ravenna drew her sword. Silver also drew his own. The creatures stepped forward. They were large canine beasts, nearly the size of normal wolves.

They had dark fur, red eyes, and powerful shoulders. It was clear they were pack hunters.

Silver gauged their strength... Tier Two.

"Dusk Hounds."

Ravenna identified them immediately. Silver nodded.

The beasts spread outward, trying to surround them, classic pack behavior. They were smart.

The lead hound snarled and then charged. The others followed its lead. The second floor erupted into violence at that moment.