Derek watched in a daze as the merwoman slowly and patiently applied some sort of a suspicious dark green goo on his numerous wounds. He hadn’t even noticed her return, but there she was, kneeling beside him with an unexpected gentleness, her long fingers carefully smearing the strange substance over his battered skin.

Up close her features were so jarring that he wouldn't have been able to maintain his cool if not for being dead tired. But hey, whatever she was doing was working for him. The cool sensation of the dark green goo seeped into his wounds. The sharp, stinging pain in his leg and arms dulled slightly under the goo’s touch, replaced by a soothing, tingling sensation.

"What... what is that?" he asked, his voice hoarse, though he was too exhausted to move away or protest. His body had shut down its fight-or-flight response, leaving him too weak to resist whatever she was doing.

The merwoman didn’t answer right away. Her eyes were still cold, and there was a peculiar focus in the way she applied the substance, as though healing him right now was of the utmost importance to her.

"It is a salve," she said at last, her voice as smooth and detached as ever. "An old remedy from the depths. It will help your wounds close faster."

Derek watched her silently as she continued her work. This was the same woman who had coldly watched him fight for his life moments ago, and now she was tending to him like a healer. He could feel the warmth spreading through his limbs, the goo working its magic on his torn muscles and cuts.

As if reading his thoughts, the merwoman’s fingers paused briefly, then resumed with deliberate precision. "The trial was yours to pass, not mine. My interference would have rendered it meaningless."

“I only barely survived it.” Derek let out a sigh of tiredness. He did not have the strength right now to think about what came next.

"You did more than survive," the merwoman continued. "You fought with more resilience than expected. You are stronger than you know, my liege."

The title caught him off guard again. My liege. Despite everything, she still referred to him with such reverence, though it felt hollow in her detached tone.

"Stronger, maybe," Derek said, wincing as she pressed the goo into a particularly deep cut. He did not complain. Whatever she was doing, it was helping him a lot. Unable to keep his eyes open any longer, he closed them to take a short break.

"Rest now," the merwoman said, finishing the last of the wounds with a deft flick of her wrist. "You will need your strength for what lies ahead."

Derek wanted to ask more questions, to demand answers, but his eyelids grew heavy. The soothing properties of the goo and the exhaustion from the battle were pulling him into a deep, unavoidable sleep.

He barely registered the merwoman rising and moving away, her form fading into the shadows of the cave. And then, with a final, soft exhale, he let go, succumbing to the darkness that embraced him.

When Derek woke up again, he was startled to find that his numerous injuries were almost completely healed. The deep gash in his leg was now just a faint scar, and the bruises on his arms and torso had all but disappeared. He blinked, disoriented, as he slowly sat up, feeling the stiffness of his muscles, though the pain was gone.

He glanced around the cave. It was quiet. There was no sign of the merwoman. Did she leave somewhere?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of soft footsteps. Derek turned to see the other four finally walking toward him, their faces filled with a mixture of fear and guilt. They had been hiding further back in the cave, staying out of sight during the whole fight. Even when he was overwhelmed not one of them stepped forward to help him. But now they approached him.

“You are… alive.” The family man said nervously.

Derek nodded. “I guess I am.” He probably should have been angry with them or perhaps resent them for letting him deal with everything by himself but surprisingly he did not. Towards these people, he did not feel any particular hatred or anger. It was not as if they did it on purpose. They were also scared for their lives. They were all in an impossible situation. It was understandable that their instinct was to hide and let someone else deal with all the shit.

One of the others, the young woman with short black hair, knelt next to him. "We... we watched. We couldn’t do anything. I’m sorry." Her words tumbled out in a rush, but Derek could tell the fear that still gripped her. He sighed, pushing himself up from the ground with some difficulty. His muscles felt stiff, but the pain was gone, replaced by a dull ache that reminded him of how close he had come to losing. He met their nervous gazes with a tired smile.

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"I don’t blame you," Derek said, directly addressing the elephant in the room. "This... It's a lot. No one signed up for this."

The family man gave him a grateful nod. The woman nodded meekly and went back to stand beside her boyfriend who continued to look down. "You... you were amazing," The guy stammered, his admiration clear, though it was laced with fear. "I thought... we thought you wouldn’t make it."

Derek ran a hand through his hair, still trying to process everything that had happened. "Yeah, me too. But... somehow, here we are."

The older man, who had been quiet until now, also spoke up. His grizzled face was lined with weariness, but there was a hint of something like respect in his eyes as he looked at Derek. "What happens now?" he asked gruffly. "That... creature... she’s not done with us, is she?"

Derek shook his head slowly but he did not say anything. He looked around again to see that no one was there. He still decided to speak with caution. “I am also equally in the dark about some things. It's best to not think or talk about that stuff. But one thing is for sure. We need to become stronger. The world has changed and we cannot survive here without putting in effort.”

He turned to look at the dark path ahead of them. “There are more monsters in there. I think. We can kill them and become stronger. It's okay that you did not help me in the last fight but here afterwards things have to change.”

The group stared at him in silence for a moment, his words hanging in the air. The suggestion of facing more monsters, willingly this time, filled them with dread. They had barely survived the last encounter, and the thought of throwing themselves into the jaws of danger again seemed unbearable.

The young woman spoke first, her voice trembling slightly. "You really think... fighting those things will make us stronger?"

Derek nodded, his gaze still fixed on the dark path ahead. "It's the only way. Sitting around and waiting will get us killed. If I hadn't killed a bunch of fish before I would have been torn apart in seconds by those vicious crabs. I am sure there are even more dangerous monsters around us." He threw a look to the entrance where the merwoman had disappeared. "We need to be ready for whatever comes next. If we don’t do something, we won’t survive in this new world."

The family man, still pale from the ordeal, took a deep breath and straightened his back. "If that's the only way, then... I’ll fight too. I don’t know how, but I’ll learn. I have to." The older man grunted, his lips tightening into a thin line. "No one ever got stronger by hiding. If fighting’s the only way out of this, then count me in." His voice held a grim resolve. They were scared, but they were willing to do what was necessary.

Derek looked at them, nodding in approval. While he did not mind them not fighting the first time, he wasn't ready to carry all of them on his shoulders if they refused to even try. "Good. We stick together, and we fight together. The more we fight, the better we get, and the more chances we have to survive. Did everyone select a class before?”

The group then quickly exchanged information. The family man, Jonathan had picked up a Guardian class which seemed like a misfit considering his stick thin frame. Next was Elise, she had chosen the mage class.

Coincidentally, her boyfriend Liam had also chosen the mage class. The older man Garrent had chosen a hunter class. He was an ex-soldier and had picked the class banking on his military background to help him adapt to this new role.

Derek nodded at the mix of classes. It wasn’t a perfect balance, but it gave them some versatility. He also gave them some more information about what he had personally discovered so far. He did not hold back and even shared the method he used to obtain mana sense skill and the fact that mana particles liked to coalesce around the abdomen.

After he talked a bit about it, the other four became curious and quickly tried to do the same. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy for them to grasp as Derek had hoped. They closed their eyes and tried to focus, mimicking what Derek had described, but none of them could feel the mana in the same way he had.

Jonathan sighed in frustration after several minutes. "I don’t feel anything. Am I doing it wrong?"

Derek shook his head. "It takes practice. I had to try for a long time before I could feel it clearly. Don’t worry, you’ll get it." He did not know what else to tell them.

He was hoping at least one of them could quickly catch on. Otherwise, things were going to be difficult. He was at level 5 when he faced the crabs and it was touch and go for him despite having many skills. These people, on the other hand, were just starting out. It would be very difficult for them to directly face something like the crabs. It would have been better if they too started with fish and progressed to stronger creatures. However, the current situation did not permit that.

Everyone kept going at it for a few more hours. Derek continued to rest during this time. Even though his body was fully healed, he was still mentally drained so he did not mind the waiting. But at the same time, they couldn’t wait indefinitely. They needed to keep moving.

While resting and learning how to sense mana was important, time was of the essence. Every moment they spent here was another moment they did not spend fighting and leveling up.

After a few more minutes of quiet focus, Derek finally stood up, stretching his stiff limbs. He felt much better now. "Alright, we’ve done what we can for now. Let’s get moving.” The others opened their eyes and stood up slowly, clearly hesitant in their movements.

However, no one spoke up. They silently followed behind Derek. He led the way, stepping cautiously into the dark tunnel ahead. They had barely taken a few steps when once again scuttling sounds echoed through the cave, causing everyone to freeze in their tracks.