LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe

Chapter 243: Sudden interference

Lyerin's training of the tribe members became grueling and relentless.

Day after day, he drilled them, his voice a constant roar of commands that echoed through the ruined city streets.

Every hesitation, every moment of doubt, was met with sharp, cutting words.

"Move!"

Lyerin barked at a young woman who hesitated when faced with a grotesque, multi-limbed creature covered in oozing black sores. Its appearance was enough to freeze her in place.

"It's weak! Do not falter just because it looks terrifying. You're hesitating over nothing!"

Her hands trembled as she raised her weapon, but with a sharp inhale, she followed his command.

With one swing, the beast collapsed, crumbling to the ground like a pile of rotten flesh.

She stared in shock as it disintegrated at her feet, the tension in her muscles finally releasing.

"See?" Lyerin spat, shaking his head in disappointment. "You waste time fearing what's already dead."

The tribe, though exhausted, was beginning to learn.

Their fear, ever-present from the start, began to morph into something else—determination.

They were no longer running away at the first sight of danger.

They began to trust in Lyerin's sharp assessments, even though their fear lingered just beneath the surface.

Suddenly, Lyerin ordered them to advance as they approached a beast that seemed to be more of a nuisance than a threat—an odd-looking creature with small, almost comical features.

Its body was round and pudgy, like a grotesque balloon, and it hobbled toward them with tiny legs.

The group laughed, their confidence building from the previous easy kill.

But Lyerin's eyes narrowed.

"Stop laughing!" he shouted, his tone harsher than before.

"You think this one is harmless? You fool yourselves!"

Just as he spoke, the creature's body pulsed, expanding suddenly with a sickening squelch.

The round form inflated rapidly, and before anyone could react, long, thin tentacles burst out of its body, lashing out in every direction with terrifying speed.

The laughter died instantly as panic set in.

One of the tribe members barely dodged as a tentacle whipped past his face, slicing the air with a sharp crack.

"Strike now, before it kills you all!" Lyerin commanded, his eyes burning with intensity.

The tribe members scrambled to attack the creature, their confidence shattered.

They swung their weapons wildly, some managing to land blows on the writhing tentacles, but not without taking injuries of their own.

One by one, they began to understand—Lyerin's warnings weren't just to scare them; they were lessons on survival.

They had to stop relying on appearances and start thinking strategically.

The battle with the tentacled creature was hard-fought, but in the end, they managed to bring it down.

The group stood panting, their bodies bruised and bloodied, but they had learned another critical lesson under Lyerin's harsh tutelage: nothing is as it seems in this twisted world.

Lyerin's voice boomed again.

"That's what you get for letting your guard down!"

He crossed his arms, watching them with a mixture of disdain and satisfaction.

"You think every weak-looking creature is weak? You'll die if you keep thinking that way!"

As the training continued, Lyerin became more relentless.

He pushed them harder, challenging them to confront more grotesque and dangerous beasts. But despite his harshness, they began to change.

They moved with more confidence, their strikes more precise, their teamwork improving with each passing battle.

And then, as the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the apocalyptic cityscape, a sudden shift in the atmosphere caught everyone's attention.

Lyerin's senses, honed from countless battles, picked up on it immediately, but he said nothing at first, curious to see how his tribe would respond.

A shadow moved in the distance, swift and silent, darting between the ruins of broken buildings.

At first, the tribe members barely noticed, too focused on their training and recovery. But when the shadow moved closer, a few of them stopped, their bodies tensing as their adrenaline surged.

"Lyerin!" one of them called out, a man named Roderick, his eyes wide with alertness. "Something's coming!"

Lyerin turned, his expression calm but focused.

He had felt the presence too—a subtle, dangerous aura lurking just beyond the edge of their awareness.

He watched silently as the shadow moved again, this time closer, darting toward him at an alarming speed.

But before the shadow could reach him, one of the human tribe members, his nerves already taut from the intense training Lyerin had given, reacted instinctively.

With a sudden burst of speed, he swung his weapon toward the shadow, forcing it to halt its advance.

The others quickly followed suit, forming a defensive line around Lyerin, their weapons raised and ready.

The shadow recoiled, retreating several steps as it realized it had been discovered. But what surprised the group the most wasn't the creature's retreat—it was the fact that the shadow was not a beast at all.

As the figure stepped into the dim light, its features became clear.

"It's... it's human?" one of the tribe members whispered, astonished.

Indeed, the figure that had attacked was a human—a man, dressed in dark, tattered clothes, his eyes wild with a mixture of fear and desperation.

He glared at them from under a hood, his breathing ragged, as if he had been running for hours.

Lyerin's expression didn't change, though his eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the man. He stepped forward, his voice calm but commanding.

"Who are you?" he asked, his words cutting through the tension.

The man said nothing at first, his eyes darting between Lyerin and the tribe members who still had their weapons raised.

Finally, he spoke, his voice hoarse and strained.

"I... I didn't mean to attack," he muttered, stepping back cautiously. "I was trying to... escape."

Lyerin's lips twisted into a slight smirk. "Escape from what?"

The man hesitated, his face contorting in fear. "The beasts. The abyssal beasts that emerge from the unknown abyss... they're everywhere. I thought... I thought you were with them."

Lyerin chuckled, a low, dark sound that sent a shiver through the tribe. "Do I look like one of their beasts to you?"

The man swallowed hard, his fear evident. He shook his head slowly. "N-no... but... you're different."

"Different?" Lyerin repeated, his smirk growing. "That's one way to put it."

The tribe members, still on edge, lowered their weapons slightly, though they kept their guard up.

They exchanged uneasy glances, unsure of what to make of this new arrival.

Lyerin turned to the group, his eyes gleaming with something unreadable.

"Looks like we've got ourselves an unexpected guest." He looked back at the man, his expression cold. "Tell me... are you going to be useful, or will I have to deal with you like I do with the beasts?"

The man's eyes widened in terror, but before he could respond, Lyerin turned away, his attention already shifting back to the rest of the tribe.

"Enough distractions!" Lyerin shouted, his voice sharp once more. "Get back to training! There are far more dangerous things out here than this one, and I won't have any more weakness in my tribe!"

As the tribe members reluctantly resumed their training, the man pretended to stand frozen in place, like he was unsure of his fate.

Suddenly, his eyes glinted.