Derek immediately tensed, his senses on high alert. The sound was unmistakable—it was the same scuttling noises that had signaled the arrival of the crab-like creatures he had barely survived fighting earlier.

Derek turned to the others, his face serious. "Get ready," he whispered. "It sounds like we have company again."

Jonathan, Elise, Liam, and Garrent exchanged nervous glances, but they quickly readied themselves. All of them had fashioned multiple makeshift weapons from the crab shells they had salvaged from the earlier fight. The large crab shell formed a shield and the jagged pincers some sort of clubs or staves.

Derek thought about it and in the end, decided to simply stick with his fists. It was not like had experience in hand to hand combat before this but this sort of raw pummeling with his own fists felt natural to him. The method clicked with him and he decided to stick to it for now.

The scuttling grew louder, the creatures closing in fast. Derek clenched his fists, his heart pounding. "Stay calm," he whispered. "We’ve done this before. We can handle it." Suddenly, the creatures emerged from the shadows, their red eyes glowing menacingly as they rushed forward with startling speed.

There were less of them this time—six—and they looked even more aggressive than the last batch. Derek rushed forward, wanting to finish this off while the number was still manageable. What if more joined the fight halfway through? That would be disastrous.

He focused on the nearest crab, a vicious-looking creature with jagged pincers snapping in his direction. Without hesitation, he threw a powerful punch aimed at the center of its shell. His fist connected with a crack, sending the crab skittering back, but it quickly recovered and lunged again.

Derek was able to react well this time and he landed his punches and kicks with good aim, only taking a scratch in return. In the blink of an eye, the first crab was down. Behind him, the others had engaged a couple of crabs leaving him three more to take care of.

Derek quickly took stock of the situation and decided to go in for the kill. He had two charges of his Water Fist in total. Saving one for later, he activated the skill and felt the familiar surge of mana coalesce around his fist.

The shimmering water swirled, adding weight and momentum to his strike. He aimed at the nearest crab, which was scuttling toward him with its pincers raised high. With a powerful thrust, Derek's water-imbued fist connected with the crab's shell.

The impact was explosive, sending a shockwave of force through the creature. Its shell cracked, and it was hurled backward, slamming into the cave wall with a loud crunch. The crab twitched once, then went still.

[Ding! You have gained experience points.]

But it did not end there, the attack had also tossed the other two crabs in disarray, some of their limbs cracked and broken. Before they could regain their wits, Derek landed a couple of punches and finished them off.

[Ding! You have gained experience points.]

[Ding! You have gained experience points.]

Unexpectedly, the fight this time was a lot easier for him. The two levels he had gained from the previous fight and the increased stats made a lot of difference. The same couldn’t be said for the others. While Derek was currently at level 7, the others were just starting out and couldn’t handle the crabs that well.

Jonathan, still holding his makeshift shield, was locked in a tense struggle with the crab. He barely managed to block its strikes as the crab relentlessly attacked, its pincers scraping against his shield. He already had a few nasty scratches on his right leg. “Help! Help!” he shouted.

Derek sprinted toward him. "On it!" He reached Jonathan just as the crab was about to clamp down on his shield. With a quick leap, Derek slammed his foot down onto the crab's exposed back, crushing its shell with a sickening crunch. The creature let out a final screech before going limp.

[Ding! You have gained experience points.]

Derek quickly turned to deal with the last crab but the remaining three of them somehow managed to finish it off on their own. The crab staggered before collapsing under the weight of their combined attacks.

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The cave fell silent once more, save for the heavy breathing of the group. Jonathan was clutching his shield tightly, his face pale and his breathing ragged. "Thanks," he gasped, looking up at Derek with a mixture of relief and exhaustion. "I thought that was it for me."

Derek nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "No problem. We're all still learning." He glanced around at the others, who were slowly gathering themselves after the fight. "Everyone okay?" The group nodded in response. Derek could only sigh at that. Clearly, they were not. Everyone else but him was riddled with numerous cuts and scrapes. Some of the wounds were particularly nasty and hadn’t stopped bleeding yet.

“My liege.” Derek turned sharply at the sound of the familiar voice. The merwoman stood at the edge of the shadows, her icy gaze fixed on him. Her sudden appearance sent a shiver down his spine.

"My liege," she repeated, her tone unwavering. “Allow me to apply some medicine on your arm.” She pointed to the small cut on his right arm. Derek hesitated for a moment before responding, “You don’t need to worry about me. It’s just a small scratch. Can you help them instead?”

The merwoman stepped forward, her movements as fluid as ever, ignoring his words. "Your strength does not make you invulnerable, my liege," she said softly, her tone almost reverent. "Let me tend to you."

She took his arm and applied the same dark green goo she had used before. The cool sensation spread quickly across his skin, numbing the stinging pain of the cut. Derek glanced over at Jonathan, Elise, Liam, and Garrent, each of them nursing their own wounds, looking worse for wear. Was she going to help them too?

He immediately got his answer when the merwoman silently slipped away into the shadows despite his attempts to reason with her. Jonathan was still panting, barely keeping himself upright. Elise and Liam leaned against each other, their makeshift weapons at their sides, exhaustion clear in their faces. Garrent, though stoic, was gripping a wound on his side, his jaw set in pain.

"She’s not coming back, is she?" Garrent asked, his voice tinged with bitterness as he glanced toward the direction the merwoman had disappeared.

Derek shook his head. "No, she’s not."

Garrent let out a low growl, struggling to stand. "We’re on our own, then. No use crying about it. We patch ourselves up and move." It looked like Elise had some experience with bandaging and she started helping the others clean up themselves. Derek also helped out.

Working together, they began tearing strips of fabric from their shirts and using water from a small, stagnant pool nearby to clean the blood from their wounds. It wasn’t ideal, but it was all they had. It took a few minutes but no one was mortally wounded so they managed to stabilize their injuries. The group sat in exhausted silence, their breaths heavy and their bodies sore.

After a few minutes, Derek suddenly stood up. He looked at the group and then did what he had to do. “I am sorry. I cannot wait here with you. I need to keep going forward.”

Even before the fight began he had a feeling that he might have to do something like this and now this was only further confirmed. In this world, it was difficult to catch up if you didn't keep moving, keep fighting, and keep improving. Derek had leveled up quickly, but he knew his advantage could slip away if he didn't push ahead. The others, still exhausted and injured, wouldn't be able to move as fast or fight as efficiently just yet.

Jonathan, Elise, Liam, and Garrent looked up at him in a mixture of surprise and disbelief. “You’re leaving us here?” Liam blurted out.

Derek shook his head. “I’m not abandoning you. I’m just scouting ahead. I’ll come back. But if we stay here, those crabs, or something worse, will keep coming for us. We need to be prepared, and I need to know what’s further down this cave."

“But what if you don’t come back? What if something happens to you?” Elise bit her lips.

Derek met her gaze steadily. “If I don’t come back, you’ll know this place isn’t safe. But I will come back. I promise.” He looked at each of them. “You need to rest, heal, and stay quiet. Don’t draw attention to yourselves.” Elise was about to say something when Garrent interrupted her. “Good luck mate. Stay safe out there. I wish we could have been of more use.”

Derek nodded at Garrent’s words, appreciating the sentiment. "We’ve all been through hell, and we’re still standing. That’s what matters right now. Just focus on getting better. We’ll figure this out together."

Without further hesitation, Derek turned toward the deeper part of the cave and started walking. He barely walked a few steps when a slithering sound started accompanying him. “You are quite ruthless, my liege.” He stopped in his tracks, the slithering sound growing louder behind him. He didn’t need to turn to know who it was. The merwoman had returned, her voice sounding quite pleased this time around.

"Ruthless?" Derek repeated. "I'm doing what I have to do. They need rest. I don’t."

The merwoman's figure emerged from the shadows, her scales glistening faintly. She moved with an eerie grace, her piercing eyes locking onto his. "You leave them behind, wounded and afraid. You move forward without looking back. That is the mark of a leader, but also the mark of someone willing to sacrifice."

"I'm not sacrificing anyone. I’m coming back for them." Derek clenched his fists.

The merwoman's lips curled into a faint smile, though there was no warmth in it. "Perhaps. But know this: the path ahead is filled with trials that will demand even greater sacrifices, and not all will make it."

Derek sighed. There she goes again. There was no point in continuing this conversation. He walked forward in silence, his fists ready for the next fight. If he was not wrong then the next wave of monsters should also be crabs.

His hunch was not wrong. A couple of minutes later, more scuttling sounds echoed through the cave, growing louder with every step. Derek's muscles tensed, and he prepared himself for another confrontation. His eyes scanned the dimly lit cavern ahead, and sure enough, he spotted the familiar red glow of the crabs' eyes. This time there were ten crabs.