Mai groaned as she woke up that morning, enjoying the luxury of a day off from work. Her body ached, and her head felt heavy.
Turning on the TV, she found a panel discussing various S-class individuals worldwide, ranking and categorizing them without the involvement of the five gods.
"Liam should be at the top."
"I agree. Despite his youth, becoming a general showcases his strength."
The ranking list appeared on the screen, revealing a handsome guy with blue eyes and blond hair, Liam, ranked 5th in the world. Mai had never been interested in the rankings; they all looked the same to her. Two women were in the top 10, while the rest were men. They were all stunning, resembling celebrities, and held the highest individual income globally, after the government and the Spirit Temple.
Looking out the window, Mai saw the sun shining, warming up her living room.
"Maybe I should take a walk in the park on such a beautiful day. The sun doesn't come out every day."
In the early afternoon, she headed towards Vigerslev Park, just a few streets away from her apartment complex. It was a popular spot for dog owners, and it was Kenta's daily route.
Mai had barely reached the first street when she noticed a large crowd heading towards the park. She furrowed her brows; it was evident that a Wave was approaching. How on earth could they predict when Waves would occur when no unique radar had been created for it yet?
Curiously, she approached the last person in the group, a woman with medium-length blond hair whom she could only see from the back. Walking alongside her, without making direct eye contact, Mai feigned interest in the Wave.
"Excuse me, but how do people know when a Wave is coming?"
"All A+ classes can sense it with their rich Essence. You must be lower-rank since you didn't know."
Mai coughed lightly. "We haven't been blessed with equality."
"In fact, we're short one person in our group as someone dropped out a little while ago."
As Mai was about to decline, it began.
*Crack. Crack. Crack*
A black rift suddenly formed in the sky over the park at the end of the residential area.
"Fuck," she muttered under her breath, audible only to herself.
She sighed, realizing she had no choice.
"Okay, but my healing isn't very good." she added, withdrawing the statement as she looked at the woman's face.
The woman's medium-length blonde hair, the white rabbit teeth, and her pale skin with freckles all over her face reminded Mai so much of someone from elementary school.
"Sophie?"
When the woman heard the name, she looked at Mai and suddenly raised her eyebrows.
"Do we know each other?"
Mai recalled that she didn't look like her elementary self, which worked in her favor at the moment. She shook her head and quickly changed the subject. She was swiftly introduced to the group, consisting of Mads 1, Mads 2, Frederik, David, and Sophie. She introduced herself as Mia, hoping Sophie still hadn't recognized her.
*Vroom*
A dome covered the area, locking everyone inside the park. The streets were cleared, and all the children were quickly escorted back to their homes. Everyone had Essence, but only those over 16 years old gained magical powers.
They reached the park and looked up at the sky. A horde of gigantic spiders, several meters in size, crawled out with swift movements.
Mai felt a tingling sensation, and she swallowed hard.
"I haven't seen them before." she mumbled.
She had studied all the different types of creatures that emerged from the waves, knowing them all. Unfortunately, no one else shared her concerns, but on the contrary, they were all ecstatic.
"Heh. New creatures have better drops."
"Damn, lucky I called in sick to work today."
"I skipped school."
Mai furrowed her brows. Why was everyone always so happy about lousy drops? Everyone was after them, and the weakest had no chance. Therefore, she had found herself a regular job. She felt different, not part of humanity, living as a normal person while everyone else focused on hunting monsters. She looked at her right hand. What were powers exactly?
She quickly glanced at the large group and assessed that there wasn't a single S rank, but there were several A ranks present, and she spotted an M. An M was easy to spot as they had an orange glowing aura around their bodies, visible even to the weakest C rank.
*Boom*
The ground shook violently, resonating through the area.
The first spider landed on the grass, resembling a bird spider on a bit too much steroids. It had twelve red eyes, ten legs, and its long legs were thick and hairy, resembling fur. Its chubby body was black with red markings that looked like a zigzag, easily mistaken for scars. On its back, there was a red ring with a round spot in the middle. It had sharp black pointed fangs, and something thick and tar-like dripped from its mouth, falling to the ground.
*Hiss*
Upon touching the grass, it was instantly corroded, and a nauseating smell of burnt something filled the air.
Everyone furrowed their brows, looking nervously at each other and then at the M-rank, a middle-aged man.
He had clear muscles, a bare upper body with a nice dark brown color. He wore an orange short-sleeved cloak, and his bald head made him resemble a monk. He had a pair of red leather gauntlets, and on his red belt, there was a logo of a white cloud belonging to the Misty Cloud Guild. It was a Swedish guild, so Mai wondered why on earth he was here in Denmark when there were Waves in Sweden too.
*Boom. Boom. Boom*
The ground resonated repeatedly, resembling an earthquake. In an instant, the entire park was filled with countless large spiders, several meters high and wide.
Mai had a serious fear of spiders and was suddenly overwhelmed by emotions, breaking into a cold sweat.
The Swedish man clenched his fists and struck them together, creating sparks that flew to the sides.
"Attack!" he shouted, and everyone threw themselves at the spiders as best as they could.
Spells were cast, and weapons clashed against the sharp claws of the spiders.
*Crack*
The blade of a sword snapped in half.
"Damn, their claws are sharp. Be careful!"
"What about their teeth?"
"Watch out for their teeth."
But it was too late.
*Sizzle*
The tar landed on a man's head who was too slow to react. It went straight through his hair to the skin, and a nauseating smell of burnt flesh spread within the dome. He screamed in pain, writhing on the ground, touching his head, but it only made it worse. It spread to his hands, and before anyone could react, the acid had spread to his entire body. The flesh corroded away, leaving only bones. As someone tried to bend down to the man, his bones suddenly shook.
*Poof*
With that, they transformed into white dust that disappeared into the air.
The person who had tried to bend down to check on the man quickly backed away, hiding behind a healer with fear in his eyes.
Everyone started to argue loudly while defending themselves against the spiders.
"Damn it. Swap places with us, healer. You have buffs, so you can survive." shouted a man who also ran towards the group of healers, positioned at the very back as they were considered the most important members of the group.
*Sizzle*
Another person was hit, and it happened quickly. Shortly after, the large group that had arrived at the park had been halved, and it didn't stop there.
Mai had found the rearmost spot, right up against the dome, but she couldn't touch it as it would rebound her towards the center. This was torture. She covered her mouth and pretended to cast heals here and there, but in reality, she was trying to keep her head cool. If she died now, she would haunt Sophie.
People were panicking, striking the spiders in nervousness and fear. There was no "leader," and they were not trained soldiers but amateurs, just ordinary people. This was the moment everyone needed someone with combat spirit, but unfortunately, no one would listen to her because of her rank and class.
She glanced at the Swede who was bravely battling five spiders. What puzzled her was that the main monster hadn't made its entrance yet.
"Where is the boss?" She looked at the black crack and squinted.
Suddenly, she spotted a pair of large purple eyes that quickly multiplied.
"20 eyes?" She thought she had miscounted and counted again.
Spiders didn't have 20 eyes unless there were multiple bosses inside. She felt a pit in her stomach and bent down, digging a bit into the ground by the dome. To her disappointment, the barrier extended all the way into the ground.
One by one, people fell, and panic rose. They had all grouped around the Swede, who was their last hope. He was striking at the spiders, but not at specific spots.
Mai had once read that hitting animals on the nose or eyes would shock them. Why the heck wasn't he an experienced M-rank if he was in the Misty Cloud?
'"Hit its eyes!" she shouted.
Everyone shot her a sharp look and began to criticize her advice.
"Who do you think you are?"
"Yeah, who do you think you are? An expert?"
"Why should we listen to you?"
Mai bit her lip, and when she saw that only 17 people were left, she had had enough.
"I couldn't care less about your opinion. I'm talking to him, the Swede." She pointed at the man.
"I'm not Swedish." the man sounded irritated but not angry.
He pounded the ground with his fists.
*Bang*
The impact shot him into the air, and he landed on top of a spider, striking its eyes.
*Bang. Bang. Bang*
It happened quickly, and the spider fell to the ground.
*Boom*
The ground shook, and the Swede jumped to the next spider, repeating the same method. To everyone's surprise, it worked, but no one apologized to Mai, who had now ignored them.
Sophie looked at her and smiled. "You're not so useless after all, Mai."