Hesitating to leave, it merely takes a couple minutes for said reinforcements to arrive. I'm already noticing a small horde rush in my direction. A bit much? Even worse, when they are close enough, I see a blue metallic emblem on their clothes. It doesn't remind me of anything, but I know what these usually stand for.

Good old guilds...

This one must be with the law enforcements or something. Before I was sent to that hellhole, superhumans were kind of ruling the world. Societies were barely standing as a whole, often crumbling like a house of cards.

For those that did survive, they often only did so as a façade. Even if a president of some country was awakened as well, unless they were the literal peak of dominance stats wise, they stood no chance against thousands of others at the very least.

Understandably, laws did not mean much at the time. The true laws were enforced by guilds and random superhumans, ruling certain regions. However, contrary to me being kidnapped at the time, it was indeed at this moment that societies began to reform, often replaced by monstrous awakened holding leadership positions.

This whole shift in authority did not just happen recently. I'm pretty sure it happened whenever a large fraction of power in society's upper echelon died all at once.

So, in a sense, I don't particularly feel surprised to see this.

In another sense though, I don't particularly feel good about this.

I just still can't believe all this mess to have come from me drinking water... Did the world regress after three years? How come all this shit is even happening in the first place?! I drank water! Water! WATER!!!

Fucking get a grip! What is even the benefit of all this?! There has to be a reason!

"Come on now guys, let's all calm down and-"

"Arrest him!"

"Get on the god damn ground!"

Never mind.

Watching these men and women shout as they ran toward me only gave me a massive rush of adrenaline. My hairs stood on end, my eyes watered a little, forcing a blink, before time slowed ever so slightly.

My field of view changed, sometimes blurring here and there, as I clenched my fists and pressed my toes against my soles.

With a long breath escaping my mouth, I peeked at the front runners' statuses.

Most were below F-Rank, making me sigh in relief. As for the two behind, I had yet to check. However, seemingly uninterested, their crossed arms didn't endanger me for now.

Finished with the peeks, a fair fist flew at my face. "Slow..." Strangely, compared with the shadow, this young girl's stats should have been much more impressive. Yet, her actual impact seemed lacking. And so severely.

A simple side step to the right was more than enough to evade it, casually sending one of my own. Her right fist missed, while my own left one collided within moments. Her face flushed, her white and lime gowns fluttering one way before being forced another. Her momentum reversed as my knuckles crashed and pushed against her chin.

Slipping, my punch ended up into her throat soon after, not that I intended it. Knowing of her stats, I'm not surprised to see her fly off into her friends who catch her limp body.

"One down."

"Huss!" My eyes dart to my left, where a blur comes to life. A tower of a man, clad in a mat metallic cuirass, with his arms high up into the air. My eyes trace and follow, seeing a giant claymore suddenly fall down on me.

Narrowing my eyes, I scoff at the poor movement full of openings, and almost burst out laughing at the stats I'm seeing. Much worse than the girl previously, I don't stand on ceremony and flick my left arm.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

When my fist lightly taps the armor, it caves in before a shockwave spreads outward. I can visibly see the giant dent growing before the man widen his eyes in horror. Jason was much stronger... How can you cry after one hit... I must admit it. Even with the chains, Jason's resilience was miles beyond this runt. But who am I to say? Jason used to be B-Rank in endurance. As for this old looking kid, he's only H-Rank.

My thoughts over, the man flies out like a cannonball, smashing back first into an innocent house. "Sorry..." I wave my hand by reflex, but my apology can only amount to so much.

Fleeting are their resolves, realizing that the target of the day might not be a pushover. But mob mentality doesn't help. A young woman rush at me with a sharp dagger, herself covered in brown hoods and leather. I feel hot just watching her in this weather. Must be suffocating. Even that idiot on the left didn't have chainmail or gambison.

Meanwhile, flashes of bright light burst forth behind her. A bright red and eerie blue light.

The red only grows with shades of orange, a massive fireball launched in my direction. It makes an arc above her head, coming straight at me. As for the blue light, it shines with a white core, drowning the woman in ethereal lights.

Buffs and a fireball...

None of them have a stat past F-Rank, so I'm really not worried. And it shows, letting the fireball hit me. Once the flames and smoke clear up, they are shaken, watching me unscathed. Voicing their surprise, I thank this system upgrade for its incredible help. Now I can even choose which attack to dodge.

As I'm done praising, the woman clad in dim blue lights stabs my shirt. Or tries to, my right hand grabbing hold of her wrist. How could I let her...

Wait a minute... didn't I let the fireball... Gazing down, my mouth turns agape.

"My shirt! My shorts too!"

They all burned away down to my underwear!

Meaning, now I'm almost naked in the middle of the plaza.

Annoyed, my left fist remains blind, hammering down onto her lowered head. I hear and feel a crack, before her caught wrist turns limp. Looking down, she's lying unconscious onto the shattered pavement, her dangling left arm still within my grasp. But not for long, as I let go of it. Before I can rush toward the mage, a black hand pushes against his shoulder. "Stand back." The bald black man, of an unknown build underneath his grey sweater and glasses, crack his knuckles. Behind him stands a tall tanned man with bleached hair. Contrary to the dark skinned man and blending with all the others, the taller man is covered from neck to toe in blue and silver armor.

I notice the rustling of chainmail and the thickness of a gambison from his extremities.

This guy's the real deal.

As for the other one, the lean black man, he doesn't seem like a pushover either.

Worse, after verifying, their statues are full of question marks.

Shit.

The bald black man adjust his glasses before pulling out armored, silver gloves out of a flickering purple lightshow. Inventory? Magical bag maybe?

Doing something similar, the tanned man reaches for his back, a blue light this time, soon forming a hilt. As his arm descends forward, the blade keeps growing from the light.

It doesn't take long for a thick and thinning grey blade spanning my entire height to form.

To add onto the fire, their statuses suddenly shift into a message.

[Prove your worth, victory unneeded.]

At least it's not asking me to win. But how am I supposed to prove my worth? I already know I'm about to be blasted out of existence if I fight back.

Is it actually asking me to fight them both?! You're just asking me to die! Aren't you!

As they walk toward me, the bald man exclaims. "Don't even try. I'm B-Rank, he's A-Rank."

No shit!

My teeth almost shred my lips, stressing myself out. This isn't good...

At least give me something! Anything! Well, not anything, but anything useful...

[Will you redeem your rewards?]

I blink a few times. Rewards... rewards? Since when did I do anything granting rewards?

[You have completed multiple quests within Preparations.]

That? It gave stuff? Why didn't I know until now?!

"Yes!" Of course I'll redeem them. Can't be anything too bad, right?

My shout does make the two opponents raise a brow. Especially with how enthusiastic I sounded.

"Alright, then put your hands up."

Guess they misinterpreted.

[You have received : Martial Boost Pill x4]

Holding one, the brown pill look very unappetizing.

Martial Boost Pill (??)

>An esoteric pill of a brown shade. It contains the essence of mortal martial arts from an Immortal alongside complex technology. Increases one's martial proficiency by one increment each time.

>Can be used by anyone.

Popping one into my mouth, I read the description. But can only scratch my head about it. Martial proficiency? Is it really that great? I mean, the rank is higher than anything I've been allowed to see with this new status, as a lot of things were, so it must be very good. The werewolf thingy was E-Rank after all. Meaning this can only be higher.

Guess I'll trust.

Shrugging, I swallow them all after a few seconds as the two idiots over there slowly march. A strangely sharp and brutal surge of relief comes from my stomach and up to my head. My vision blurs before recovering.

I wobble and suddenly shift postures.

[Congratulations. Your martial proficiency reached Third Rate.]

Third rate..? Like that puppet I beat up?

Would that truly help? However, it showed almost instantaneously. My eyes were fixated on the two approaching men, my muscles tensing and relaxing in different areas.

My instincts told me where they would most likely hit first. It was like suddenly feeling everyone else to be worse. I could suddenly notice every little mistake they made in each insignificant movement.

Were the puppets I defeated that good?