Evelyn fitfully twisted and turned in her sleep. Though the wounds across her back had already healed, they still emanated pangs of soreness. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead as recent memories unwelcomely surged through her subconsciousness in the form of dreams.

Various bits and pieces of different scenes flashed through her mind. Of the first days of the Apocalypse, where her entire life was instantly turned upside down. How she had only gotten lucky by being away from the center of the city. Going to her family’s home to try and find out if her parents were somehow okay, only to find a pair of Skeletons trapped under the rubble.

She’d been alone for a while after that. Just barely able to dance on the thin line of gaining Experience without eventually becoming just another name on the long list of casualties. But then Evelyn reached an event where she didn’t have to just to survive on her own. Because she had come across a group of other people and joined them to face the Apocalypse’s horrors together. Of that group, she eventually became friends with two others and turned into something of a leader of their smaller team.

Her dream quickly flashed through the good times. Of them quickly growing stronger, and Evelyn able to take more risks now that there were people watching her back. They got past the teens and into their 20s for their Levels. And it even looked like they would all hit 30 and get their Class Evolutions at effectively the same time. Or at least, that’s how it was supposed to go.

Then just recently, she had been the first to hit that critical threshold. Yet she hadn’t been able to enjoy the boost for long before something happened. When Evelyn needed to take a quick nap, she suddenly woke up to a blade being plunged straight toward her heart.

She only just barely managed to avoid being killed on the spot, but still took a grave injury. The people she believed to be both her friends and comrades in arms had just tried to kill her.

Everything after that was a blood, chaotic mess as they quickly tried to finish the job. In no condition to fight while hurt and outnumbered even with her superior Stats, she was forced to flee. And so she ran while they pursued throughout the maze of the ruined city. It was only thanks to an emergency Potion of Healing that she always kept close that she was even still alive.

Until today, when she finally managed to get out of the city’s boundaries. Evelyn’s already messy dreams were even more of a hazy mess for the last day’s events. By this point she’d been running and fighting for so long that she could hardly have discerned up from down. All she could even recall was that right before everything went dark, there was a blurry figure in front of her. One that almost seemed to be that of a man.

Evelyn’s eyes snapped open. But the moment the redhead’s vision focused, her heart immediately began to race. She was absolutely certain that she’d been outside just a moment ago. So why the Hell was there a ceiling right above her?!

Her survival instincts instantly kicked into full gear upon finding herself waking up in an unfamiliar location. She sat up and got off the bed with a start. Evelyn looked around the room, and her gaze met those of another's. Just as she had gotten up, a man with strange-looking armor had walked in.

The memories of being randomly attacked in her sleep still fresh on her mind, the Warrior’s body instantly went into fight or flight. There was a flash of light as she’d activated her new Ability as a Flashblade Blitzer. She rapidly crossed the room and closed space between them. And then threw a glowing punch aimed straight for the man’s throat.

Unlike most Warriors, Agility was her primary Stats. And that was also the main reason why she’d chosen a Class Evolution focused around utilizing that Stat.

Yet despite throwing a punch that most around her Level likely couldn’t even react to, her strike didn’t meet her target’s neck. She instead watched as his eyes seemed to perfectly track her incoming fist. And before Evelyn realized what was going to happen and change course, he quickly reached out and caught her fist with one hand.

Even with her full momentum behind the attack, it only managed to push him back by a couple inches at most. She might as well have just punched a touch wall with how he seemingly barely even felt it.

Evelyn blinked with surprise. Both at what just happened and then even more so at what came after. Because instead of retaliating, the man just as quickly released his grip. She immediately jumped back to create a gap between them.

What the fuck?! Just how strong is this guy?! Wondering what the Hell kind of person she was dealing with, Evelyn hurriedly tried to find out.

Druid (Hell-Touched Human)

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Evolved (True Shifter)

Level: 40

Upon seeing the golden screen, her eyes nearly popped straight out of their sockets. In an instant, her already confused mind was only thrown into even further chaos. What was up with it saying this guy was a Hell-Touched Human? Was he born human or some kind of new monster? And if not, how did one even change their listed Species?

But despite all those things being completely absurd, there was one part even more so than the rest. And that was his frankly ridiculously high Level at fucking 40.

“It’s even higher than L-,” she swallowed, suddenly remembering herself. “-Than any Level I’ve ever seen before. Just how many things did you even kill to get it up so high?” Evelyn asked as she warily backed up by several steps.

“More than I can count. But honestly, I only needed one kill to get the last few Levels. If you’ve ever had to worry about hiding from the Minotaur, that won’t be a concern anymore. But may I know your name?” the Druid calmly replied.

The redhead’s eyes widened even further at that. On any other day with anyone else, she would have called that as total bullshit. She’d never been able to even see the Minotaur’s Level, much less even dreamed of that monster being killable. But as far as an explanation went for this man’s Level, that normally impossible claim now seemed to very likely be the truth.

“...It’s Evelyn,” she said while glancing around the room. The doorway was on the other side of the high Level man, but worst comes to worst, she could always just bust through the wall.

“Alright, Evelyn, I’m Jaco. I hope you don’t mind this. But now that you’re awake, I was hoping you might answer a few questions for me. It’s not everyday that you come across someone who’s reached a Class Evolution, after all. Much less one that’s outside the city and passing out from exhaustion,” the man apparently called Jaco said.

The Flashblade Blitzer’s eyes narrowed slightly as she took another half-step back. She didn’t immediately respond, and so the Druid continued.

“But I’m just curious about a few things. Like who are and how you’ve survived the Apocalypse so far. And if you did so by yourself, or if perhaps you’re a member of… a group?” he asked. There was a shift in tone in his last words. It was only a slight difference, but definitely notable.

A few seconds passed as Evelyn looked at him. Finally, she decided that not saying a word would only hurt her. “I was with a team for a while. We… we had a falling out. Made me run for my life, and that’s how I ended up here.”

“Would you be able to tell me more about your team? Or what led up to what happened between you?”

The redhead felt a twinge of irritation. There was an old saying about trusting people who only asked more and more questions. Especially if they didn’t give many answers of their own in return.

“I was betrayed. Which is already pretty personal to tell someone I met all of five seconds ago. But now I have a question of my own. What are we doing here, like why would someone so high in Level even bother helping me?” she asked in turn.

“You collapsed right in front of me and seemed to be in distress. How could I not help out and at least take you somewhere safe?” he said after just a moment of thought.

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Sorry, but I know when something sounds too good to be true. It’s a dog eat dog world these days, where you can’t turn your back to anyone. So what’s the real story, huh? Did you just want to toy with me before killing me off, is that it?” she practically spat out.

“Of course not. If I had wanted to do anything, wouldn’t I have at least tried to restrain you? Or taken away your weapon, if nothing else? I know the world’s a harsh place, even more so since the Apocalypse. But is it really that hard to believe that I just wanted to do the right thing?” Jaco countered.

The redhead stared at him. Even without looking down to double check, she could indeed feel the weight of her blade at her side. Yet something about his words pressed a nerve.

You know what? Thanks! Now if you’re happy, I’ll be on my way. Because I think I’d rather deal with this Hellhole on my own.” With that, Evelyn stomped her way toward the door. The Druid, for his part, took a few steps back and gave a wide berth.

Yet as Evelyn only reached in the middle of the hallway, she stumbled from a sudden wave of vertigo. Pain flared toward the side of her torso, making her lose her breath. But as she started to collapse, a helping hand came from behind to catch her.

“Fucking damn it,” Evelyn cursed under her breath. The Potion of Healing must have not done as much as she’d hoped. While there didn’t appear to be any external damage, it seemed to be a bit of a different story internally. Perhaps not enough to be life threatening, but she was still in no condition to move around too much.

As she stood back up, the Druid let her go and took a respectable step away. The redhead glanced at the man and met his gaze. After a second passed for their staring contest, he sighed.

“Look, you’re clearly injured. And I really just don’t have it in me to walk away from someone that could use my help. I understand if you don’t want it. But until you’re fixed up, I’d argue that it’s something you need. At least for the time being, alright?” Jaco offered, putting his foot down.

Evelyn took a deep breath. She tried to force her frazzled brain to calm down and clearly assess the current situation. If the Level 40 monster before standing in front of her had wanted to try something, he could have easily done so by now.

Someone that was overwhelmingly more powerful had no need to lie or be deceitful, logically. She was painfully well aware that they could still be deceitful, just for the sake of it. But that logically didn’t seem to apply to what was happening now. Eventually, she released the breath as a heavy sigh.

“Alright then.”