For the next hour, Zen and Maya descended deeper into the zone.
The deeper they went, the darker the neon smog became, clinging to the rusted skyscrapers like a physical weight. They encountered several more packs of low-tier monsters.
Zen let Maya take the lead on the smaller groups. He watched with quiet approval as she grew more comfortable wielding her staff, balancing her natural healing instincts with the predatory pull of the Leech spell. ANd soon she was getting better at draining the cyber-arachnids and lesser Synth-Hounds.
When a larger pack of mutated iron-boars charged them, Zen finally stepped in.
He didn't even draw a weapon. He simply sidestepped the lead boar, coated his knuckles in heavy gold-purple Emperor mana, and punched straight through the beast's reinforced skull.
But as they stepped over the smoking wreckage of the boars, Zen paused. He raised a closed fist.
Maya stopped immediately, her staff humming softly. "What is it? Did I miss one?"
