The next morning, the group was greeted with an energetic message from Fear Herself. "Good morning, my chosen warriors!" Her voice boomed through their screens, "The first event is finally here! And since all of you have banded together, I have decided to make this a group event."

Cara's screen flickered to life, displaying the new quest. "You will be awarded points for each demon you slay," Fear Herself continued, "The person with the highest number of points will get to make a request from me or a sponsor. And that's not all! The group with the most points will receive a brand new reward - a Group Aspect!" Her voice was filled with excitement and mischief.

Cara gathered her team of warriors and they set out to find demons. They did not have to look long, in the middle of town they saw thousands of demons of various sizes marching. Cara grabbed her sword and pointed toward the nearest group of demons. Jordan, Cara, and Jessica charged forward with Cato and Katie providing backup.

They were able to quickly deal with the front line of imps. But as the group battled through the horde of demons, Cara couldn't help but feel the weight of the battle starting to wear on her team. Despite their efforts, the second layer of sword demons proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated. Jessica and Jordan were starting to falter, their attacks becoming sluggish and uncoordinated.

Cara's attention was drawn to the looming figure of the Pit Fiend, the leader of the demon army. She knew that taking it down would be the key to ending the battle, but the demon was surrounded by a thick wall of sword demons.

Just as she was about to make her move, a sword demon swung towards her, aiming to decapitate her. Cara braced for impact, but at the last second, a spear blocked the blow. She looked up to see a brunet man with a crazed look in his eyes, a fierce determination etched on his face.

The man laughed, "Sorry for the kill steal," he said, his eyes wandering towards the Pit Fiend, "You wanna work on that together?" Cara nodded, impressed by the man's bravery, and he smiled in response. "Names Jared," he said, "Let's kill that thing."

Jared grabbed her hand and jumped over the sword demons and straight to the pit fiend. They began to trade blows with the pit fiend, with Jared shouting advice after each strike.

“Careful it’s really strong, probably a 30 in it’s strength stat,” Strike, “It’s real slow, probably a six in agility,” Jared seemed unnaturally calm, “It has thick skin, but it’s especially weak near its joints,”

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The pit fiend caught Jared off guard as it smacked him back. Cara activated her aspect, copying and causing jagged rocks to erupt all around the pit fiend. Jared’s eyes were glowing with fierce rage as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small vial filled with a crimson liquid. He uncorked it and downed the contents, his body immediately surging with renewed energy. With a powerful roar, he charged forward and plunged his spear deep into the chest of the distracted Pit Fiend.

“Finish it off now!” he shouted, his voice brimming with intensity.

Cara quickly followed suit, running forward and delivering a crushing blow with her sword. The Pit Fiend let out an ear-piercing screech before dissolving into a cloud of dust.

Cara turned to Jared with a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said, "What's your aspect?"

“My aspect is The Soldier,”

Cara stepped back, “The Soldier, your The Soldier,”

“Ah yes, I guess that’s what some people call me,”

Jordan and Katie were the first to rush to Cara, “What’s wrong?” Katie asked hurriedly,

Jared smiled, a wicked smile as he placed his hand on Cara’s shoulder, “I guess you are the leader of this little faction,” He laughed, “I have claimed this land, so you and your faction better not set foot here again,”

Cara's expression hardened as she shrugged off Jared's hand from her shoulder. "We don't recognize your claim," she said firmly, her voice laced with defiance.

Jordan stepped forward, his eyes flashing with anger. "Who are you to claim this land?" he demanded.

Jared's wicked smile grew wider. "I am Jared, The Soldier," he said, his tone mocking. "And I am stronger than all of you combined."

Cara tightened her grip on her sword. "We'll see about that," she said, her voice low and dangerous.

Jared chuckled. "I look forward to it," he said, before turning on his heel and disappearing into the darkness.

When they returned to the base, Cara's eyes were fixed on the screen in front of her. The quest menu had been transformed into a leaderboard, displaying her team's position at third place with a total of 1100 points. However, the team in the first place had named themselves "The Soldier's Army," and they had a staggering 5110 points. Cara checked the individual leaderboard and found herself not even in the top ten with only 335 points. To her dismay, Jared was leading with 5110 points.

Cara's heart sank at the realization that she had much to do to catch up to Jared's level. She stood up immediately and, grabbing her sword, began to leave the base. Katie ran up to her, asking if she could join her.

Cara hesitated for a moment, then replied, "No,"

Without looking back, she left the base, determined to get stronger and climb to the top of the leaderboard.