[Safe Zone]
"Marcus... are you sure we should be here? We have no idea what kind of monsters are lurking around," said Dorian, his voice filled with worry. He was a tall, skinny man, clearly anxious.
"Tch! Stop being a coward, Dorian. That masked bastard went out there alone, didn't he? And remember, we're not alone. You, me, and Kael make three. We will be fine." Marcus replied sharply, glancing at Dorian and now named Kael, before gripping his dagger and twirling it aroundwith a grin, lost in thought.
The two men looked at each other with a concerned look and sighed. Marcus has always been a bullheaded man. And even in such a dangerous situation, where people were dying left and right, the man refused to let go of his nature.
Sigh
Dorian rubbed his forehead, clearly annoyed. "Fine. But we're coming back the moment something dangerous happ—! Hm? Kael? What's wrong?"
Marcus also turned and looked up at the burly, tanned man, raising an eyebrow at Kael's shocked expression. "What is it, Kael?" he asked, frowning.
Kael, who was seemingly too shocked to make a coherent sentence, simply pointing ahead with wide eyes and whispered, "O-Over there!"
Grrr...
Well, the other two didn't have to look in the direction to realise what was wrong.
Marcus slowly turned to look at the piercing red eyes of the growling predator. And the worst part. The number of eyes seem to be increasing.
"S-Shit! G-Get back!" Marcus shouted, his voice shaking with fear. He raised his dagger and pointed it at the advancing pack, trying to mask his terror with false confidence.
"D-Damnit! There are so many of them!" Kael, overwhelmed by the sight, stumbled backward and lost his balance and crashed to the ground.
"Get up, Kael! Get up now!" Marcus shouted, his voice thick with fear.
And obviously, just like how life liked to bend people over, the same happened here.
Before Kael could get back on his feet, a wolf lunged at him, sinking its fangs deep into his throat, tearing it apart in a heartbeat.
Squelch
That was it. One life was gone. Without a fight. Without as much as a scream for help. He didn't even get the chance, afterall.
Marcus froze, his hands trembling as he watched his friend die, blood splattering onto the ground. Just like that, he's gone, Marcus thought in shock, unable to tear his gaze away, from the bloody mess and severed head of his friend and the wolf, who was now chewing on the said head.
He could hear gasps of horror filling the air around him, as the other survivors saw the brutal attack.
Yet none of that mattered to him.
'Kael? Why isn't he getting up?' He thought, staring at the scene with wide, blank eyes.
Marcus' fist clenched, as he stared at the pack of wolves tearing into his friend with frenzy. And at this point, the screams of the humans around him all but seemed to annoy him more and more.
"S-shit!"
"There are so many of them!"
"Godamnit man! I don't wanna do this anymore!"
"Oh god..." Lucius whispered, watching the chaos around him.
The wolf attack was so sudden, he couldn't even get a glimpse of them before the first man fell.
"Tch, this is bad." Lucius looked back and yelled for the group to get into position. "Warriors in the front, mages in the middle, thieves stay in the back and fini-!" But before he could finish, Marcus interrupted, his voice shaking with barely contained fury.
"No! NO! Kael!" Marcus's bloodshot eyes locked onto the pack of wolves. "You filthy mutt!" He yelled in anger.
Without thinking, Marcus dashed toward the nearest wolf, that was chewing on to his friend's bones and stabbed his dagger into its skull, feeling the blade sink into flesh and bone.
Awoo!
The wolf screamed in surprise and agony, as it flailed around tried to get away from the attacker.
Marcus, on the other hand pushed his dagger down harder, pinning the wolf down. He then pulled his dagger back and stabbed it back, again and again.
"Hah...hah..." He finally pulled back, and wiped the blood off of his face with an emotionless look and looked ahead at the wolf pack, who was too stunned to see the human suddenly attack them.
[Title: The First Hunter acquired]
[Effect: All stats +5% when fighting against monsters.]
Marcus barely even glanced at the notification, before he looked at the now stunned pack and growled in anger. He slowly began making his way towards them.
"Damnit! Marcus! Get back here! Don't be reckless!" Lucius yelled, staring at the scene with wide eyes. This was the last thing he wanted to happen, the group not fighting collectively.
"Shut up!" Marcus growled, too lost in his rage. He completely ignored him and jumped into the horde and slashed his dagger down at the nearest wolf, "I'll kill every last one of you fuckers!" He whispered menacingly.
Lucius grimaced, shaking his head. "Don't be reckless like that fool!" he shouted to the others. "Hold the line!" He drew his own sword, muttering under his breath, "I didn't sign up for this shit..."
Lucius gripped his sword tighter, feeling the weight of the fight bearing down on him. Around him, men and women, some barely more than teenagers, were locked in a desperate struggle against the encroaching wolves.
The pack was relentless, red eyes gleaming with primal hunger. Lucius stepped forward to meet them, swinging his blade in a wide arc that caught a wolf across the muzzle. Blood spattered across his face as the beast fell, and he forced himself not to flinch. This was survival. There was no room for fear.
Ahead of him, Marcus was a wild storm of rage and desperation. His dagger slashed and stabbed with reckless intensity, each blow driven more by anger than skill. The wolves, sensing his fury, circled him warily, waiting for a moment to strike.
But Marcus barely noticed. With a savage snarl, he lunged at one of the wolves, bringing his dagger down hard. The blade struck true, sinking deep into the wolf's skull. He twisted the knife with a furious, almost unhinged gleam in his eyes. Blood poured from the wound, and the wolf crumpled to the ground.
But Marcus didn't stop. Another wolf leapt at him, and he spun, dodging the beast by a hair's breadth. His foot caught on a loose rock, and he stumbled, barely managing to bring his dagger up in time to block the wolf's snapping jaws. Teeth clamped down around his arm, tearing through fabric and skin. Marcus cried out, but his rage outweighed the pain. With a roar, he jammed the dagger into the wolf's throat, pulling it out and striking again until the beast lay lifeless at his feet.
Lucius took in the scene, a mix of admiration and horror filling him.
"Damnit! He's running on pure adrenaline..." Lucius muttered, as he fend off the wolf's slash and cut it down.
Yet even with his ferocity, Marcus was sloppy, leaving himself open with every swing. If they survived this, Lucius knew it would be pure luck.
But there was no time to dwell on it; another wolf darted forward, its claws scraping across Lucius's shirt as he swung his sword in a desperate counterattack.
To his left, he saw a warrior, who had been in the middle of fending off another wolf, stumbled back as the beast lunged at him, jaws snapping inches from his face.
He tried to raise his sword in time, but his hands were shaking. Lucius saw the fear in man's eyes as the wolf closed in, teeth gleaming. Then, with a horrifying crunch, the wolf's jaws clamped down around Kael's throat, silencing him in a heartbeat. Blood splattered, and the man's sword clattered to the ground, lifeless.
Lucius's heart sank, rage mixing with despair. He clenched his teeth and drove his sword forward, cleaving through the wolf that had claimed Kael's life. The beast fell, but his victory felt hollow. Around him, others were suffering the same fate. A woman to his right shrieked as she was pulled to the ground, wolves tearing into her with merciless efficiency. The frontlines were beginning to falter, bodies piling up, the scent of blood saturating the air.
In the midst of it all, a young girl's voice cut through the chaos. "S-Sister! Help!" Lucius's head whipped around. She was backed against a tree, eyes wide with terror as a wolf slunk toward her with a menacing growl.
"No...no no no! Get away you damn dogs!" Lucius yelled, and lunged forward, prepared to fight his way through the horde of wolves, when a spear suddenly whistled through the air, impaling the wolf just as it lunged.
Lucius halted, staring at the figure that had joined them. A woman with striking red hair darted into the melee, her eyes fierce and determined. She yanked the spear from the dead wolf's body, then drew a sword from her belt, wielding both weapons with unbelievable skills.
He watched, as the wolves hesitated, wary of the rather terrifying woman, but the said woman seemed unfazed and...angry.
She twirled the spear and looked back at the little with a smile, "Go close the Safe Zone and wait for your sister, okay?"
"O-Okay. Stay safe, Tess!" The girl nodded fearlfully, and clenched her staff tightly and immediately rushed to the backlines.
Once Tess was sure that her sister was safe, her expression changed immediately and she stared at the pack emotionlessly. She crouched down and jumped into the pack, her spear flashing in quick, brutal jabs, her sword slicing with ruthless efficiency.
One wolf leapt at her from the side, but she sidestepped, driving her spear into its side before spinning to cleave her sword into the neck of another wolf approaching from behind. Blood splattered across her face, but she didn't so much as flinch.
Lucius watched, almost in awe of the raw power and focus she displayed. 'H-Holy crap! Who is this woman?' he thought, both amazed and somewhat unnerved.
He shook himself from his reverie, remembering the girl's scream. The child was huddled behind a fallen tree, trembling but alive. Satisfied, he redirected his focus to the fight.
Gradually, the chaotic battle began to settle as the humans found some semblance of coordination. Mages gathered in a loose formation, casting mana bolts with greater accuracy. Each fiery missile struck with purpose, felling wolves one by one. Warriors who had initially been scattered pulled together, forming a more solid line that kept the wolves from advancing too deeply. Thieves moved nimbly between the chaos, catching wolves off guard with quick, deadly strikes to their vulnerable flanks.
But for all their newfound organization, the human side was far from perfect. The wolves continued to breach their defenses, dragging people down whenever an opening appeared. Lucius fought with grim determination, forcing himself not to look too closely at the faces of the fallen. He was exhausted, each swing of his sword slower than the last, yet he couldn't afford to stop. They all knew that stopping meant death.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last wolf fell. Silence descended over the field, broken only by the ragged breathing of the survivors. Lucius stumbled back, his legs barely supporting him, and collapsed to his knees. His sword slipped from his hand, and he looked around, taking in the scene with a growing sense of dread.
Bodies lay scattered across the ground, blood pooling around them, staining the earth. Survivors knelt beside fallen friends, some weeping openly, others in silent shock.
Lucius's gaze fell on a woman clutching the body of a man, her hands shaking as she whispered, "B-Baby? Get up! Open your eyes...stop messing around…" Her voice broke, and she shook the man again, refusing to accept that her lover was gone.
Lucius's chest tightened. All around him, others were locked in their own grief, the reality of their losses settling in. He clenched his fists, the hilt of his sword biting into his palm as he struggled to process the carnage. 'What... kind of hell is this?' he thought, staring at the massacre with wide, haunted eyes.
A loud [Ding!] rang out suddenly, piercing the mournful silence. The survivors looked up in confusion as a booming voice echoed around them.
[Congratulations on surviving the first task! The achievement list will now be released. The system shop will now be active. You can use the achievement points to buys items from the system shop.]
The voice felt mocking, almost callous in the face of the loss they had just endured. Lucius too, looked up at the massive screen hovering in the sky, names displayed on its glowing surface. His own name stood out among the top, but he barely registered it, still dazed from the fight.
[Achievement Rankings:
5) Marcus - 120
4) Archer Kane - 145
3) Tess Anvil - 150
2) Lucius Draymore -200
1) Gawain Alaric - 1000]
Lucius blinked, confusion filling him as he read through the list. He was stunned that his name was so high up, but another thought gnawed at him, refusing to let him feel any pride.
'Someone killed more monsters than me?'
_____