It took Rek a few minutes to gather his bearings after that display. It’d been a long, long while since he’d been so helpless in the face of absolute power. He’d gotten too used to being at the top of the totem pole, and in time, he’d forgotten what it meant to be a small fish in a very large pond.

Rek swallowed thickly. The reminder had been a splash of ice-cold water, but a much needed one. He sucked in a breath, settled himself before turning back towards the door. He now knew what he was placed against, or rather, what he would do everything in his power to not face. Not yet. Mayhaps one day, when the power differential was more agreeable.

Stepping out into the corridor, Rek saw that it was all clear. Likely, every monster in the local area had scattered as soon as they’d felt that thing arrive.

The next nearest room proved to be a classroom like all the rest. The second was much the same, save that it had two level one [Nerds] surrounding a table scattered with books. Rek scoffed amusedly at the image. The creatures were built to represent their stereotype to the tee, with large bulging heads bound to a thinner frame. What looked like naturally-formed glasses ensconced their eyes, and their dark fur was neatly combed back down their heads.

They had no obvious weapons at hand, but he couldn’t discount the presence of skills and spells. The creatures were yellow-named, which meant that weren’t overtly hostile but the risk was always there.

He was fine with that. Rek flexed his fingers. The encounter with the [Hall Monitor] had awakened something in him. He needed to test himself, he knew.

He needed to grow. Caution was wise in a dungeon, but that was no excuse to avoid conflict.

Only a slower death laid down that path.

The two creatures were busy chattering to each other, their words spoken so quickly that they blended together into a singular soup of incomprehensible noise.

Approaching them was easy given how distracted they were. Dipping from behind the cover of desk to desk, Rek closed in on them until he was just a few meters away before he mustered his magic, bringing an Earth Bolt to the ready in one hand even as he conjured a few Dancing Lights in the other.

Dual wielding spells was tough on his diminished self, and he needed to weaken the Earth Bolt to make sure it worked, but experience carried where power failed, and he managed to hold onto both the spells with some effort. Waiting until he was close enough, Rek took careful aim and then unleashed the lights.

A barrage of five wisp like balls fluttered into the face of one of the [Nerds]. The creature shrieked shrilly, its arms flailing about as if it was being burnt in acid. The other was a step slower, its massive eyes wide with confusion for a bare second before it turned towards him.

Just in time to greet an Earth Bolt to the face. The shard of stone sent the creature flying back. Rek was quick to divert to the other, his ruler-sword striking out with practiced ease into the creature’s mouth. Blinded as it was, the creature was defenceless.

The wood pierced through the soft flesh of its mouth with grisly ease, bright red blood spurting out the back of its head like a macabre fountain. The monster gurgled with shock, its hands impotently grabbing at the sword hoping to save itself.

They grew still a second later. Rek withdrew the sword and turned to finish off the last one when he was struck by something with the force of a punch to the cheek. He grimaced as a spear of sound pierced into his ears, funneling mind-numbing chatter into his brain like a conveyor-belt of incoherent madness.

He stumbled back, his teeth grit and his fists clenched as the assault rattled his thoughts. Ahead, the second [Nerd] was on its feet, blood trickling down its mouth even as it babbled in his direction. A sound-based attack skill. Rek steadied himself.

At this low level, those were easy enough to deal with it.

He threw his sword like a javelin straight at the monster’s head. The [Nerd] screeched, desperately diving out of the way of the flying projectile. Its attack sputtered out, and Rek was immediately on the move.

No sooner had the creature landed on the ground and turned to face him again did he descend on it with the fury of a warrior possessed. His fist slammed against its cheek; spittle flecked with blood spraying off to the side. It fell back, and Rek followed up with a stab with his trusty pocket pencil.

The creature shrieked as the make-do weapon dug deep into its chest.

The monster attempted to fight back, but he would give it no time to arm its sound against him. As it was, it was all the creature could do to fold its arms against its face and defend against the onslaught.

Eventually, Rek managed to land a debilitating strike against its head, knocking it unconscious. After that, killing it was just a matter of picking up his sword and spearing it through the head.

Rek stood panting over the corpse, a trail of sweat snaking down his side. After a moment spent clearing the rest of the room of any danger, he returned to the two corpses. They’d fought hard, he would admit. Simple dungeon monsters though they were, they’d made him earn his victory. More so, they’d punished him for his carelessness, which was a lesson he’d carved into his heart. Falling to his knees, he conducted a more thorough ritual than his usual for the two creatures.

They deserved that much, at least. It was part-way through the process that he sensed one of their spirits depart. The wispy figure of the monster rose from its fleshy shell, ephemeral and wide-eyed. It looked to him, eyes wide. He smiled and nodded.

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It stared for a long moment before it nodded back. The ritual took care of the rest, and within seconds, the soul was gone to a better place.

[ Level Earned! 2 >> 3 ]

With his class work done, Rek turned towards the rest of the room with a mind to scavenge for more goodies. Unfortunately, he found nothing of particular interest and after double-checking the map, Rek made towards the exit. He was almost out the door when he heard a commotion from the other side of the room. Pressing up against a nearby desk, Rek watched with narrowed eyes as a door was thrown open and a figure dove into the room.

It was a human.

A young woman.

[ Human Lvl. 1 ]

He judged her as being in her early twenties, maybe, and clearly in a great deal of trouble.

His eyes wide, he studied the mythical creature as she scrambled away from the door. Two creatures erupted into the space close behind her. Another tried, but a long, billowy arm grabbed it by the face a mere step from the safety of the classroom.

Rek swallowed thickly, that familiar chill crawling up his spine as he laid eyes on the [Hall Monitor]. The monster maintained its eerie, unmoving smile as it dragged the writhing, pitiable creature towards its embrace. There was a soft crack, and then the creature fell still. The [Hall Monitor] studied the trio before it, a single finger raised towards its mouth in a simple demand for silence. The door then shut, and the terrifying monster was gone.

The three remained still, either from exhaustion or shock, he wasn’t sure. What Rek did know was that the woman looked weak. Tired from no small amount of running. Her chest heaved with her every breath, and her eyes were half-lidded with fatigue. She stared at the two creatures around her.

The two were both invaders, a level two [Enthiran] and a level one [Diminitun]. Both were creatures foreign to him, though the looks of bristling hostility they bore were familiar enough.

Slowly, they rose, their gazes dancing over each other before refocusing onto the woman. The weakest link amongst the three. Even alien, their thought pattern was obvious. Rek was on the move before they cemented their choice.

The invaders erupted with violence; their weapons brought to bear against the woman. One cast a spell, something of a sensory nature given the way the woman immediately started to stumble about, as if drunk. The other took the opportunity to rush in, a vicious snarl on its lips as it tackled her to the ground.

The woman did a valiant job of resisting, her war cry echoing around the room as she tried to fend off the monster’s bites and snaps. It was a losing war, however, and he was sure that she only had seconds left before it managed to get at her throat.

Seconds was all he needed.

Rek had neared the caster by then, an Earth Bolt readied in case it sensed his approach.

It did not, not even as he struck his sword through its neck and wrenched the blade out in a shower of viscera. The other invader heard the squelch of its death-throes and turned to eye Rek. The opportunity was all the woman needed to unleash a wicked jab at its head.

The creature cried as it was sent reeling away. Its cries were quickly silenced by an Earth Bolt to the face. It was a sturdy thing though, and the spell hadn’t been enough to outright knock it out. His sword did the job better, sending it on its way to the spirit world with his prayers echoing in its wake.

Rek dropped the corpse and turned to the woman. She was slowly trying to rise. Trying being the operative word. It was obvious that she was running on fumes. Three attempts later and she still hadn’t managed to climb back to her feet. Eventually she sagged back, face flush and her breath haggard. Still, she was a spirited one. Her eyes never left him, her stare daring him to try something.

Until they rolled back into her head and she collapsed, unconscious.

Rek snorted. He studied the woman.

This wasn’t how he’d imagined his first interaction with a human would go down after so many years. Frankly, it hadn’t been as bad as it could’ve been, all things considered. Rek smiled as he grabbed the woman and dragged her to a more covered part of the room.

Grabbing some supplies from his backpack, he did his best to tend to her wounds. Fortunately, aside from a few bruises, her most crippling ailment seemed to be fatigue. He dribbled some water into her mouth from a bottle before setting her back down.

It would be the best he could do for her until she awoke again.

Hopefully, she’d be in a less murderous mood by then.

o.o.o.o.o.o

Rek put his unexpected reprieve from exploration to good use in training his mana and practicing his rituals. His magical skill was still a pathetic shadow of what he’d once wielded, but every moment of practice was another brick plastered back into the wall.

Once he tired of that, he turned to basking in the tunes from his music player. He’d need to find a charger for it eventually, though for now, it had the juice to keep running for a while yet.

It was three hours before the woman stirred again. Rek was immediately on his feet, his sword put away and his posture as diplomatic as he could manage. He put some distance between them and then waited for her to rise.

Her eyes fluttered open and for a moment, she did nothing. Her gaze was fixed onto the roof above them, her focus lost to something beyond his understanding. Was she confused, he wondered, or maybe still not fully awake.

It was a minute before she finally shifted up to a seated position. Her gaze immediately found him stood a short distance away. To his relief, she did not jump up in fright. She didn’t even flinch. Her silver-eyed stare was far keener, almost clinical, as it ranged up and down his body.

Rek was impressed. He recognized the fear in her posture. It was evident in the tenseness in her limbs, or how tightly her fists were clenched. The way the slightest of tremors crawled down her spine. But the fear was controlled, an animal caged by her admirable will.

It was the kind of spine not often seen in those unbaptized by the way of violence. He hadn’t expected it in what looked like a common suburban woman.

He was intrigued.

Rek raised his palms to show that he meant no harm.

“My name... is Rek.” he said. The words came out slow. Sluggish. Time had left his English rusty despite his best attempts at practice over the years. Still, it was tenable, and the woman seemed to understand. Her eyes went wide for a scarce moment before she regained control.

“You speak English?”

“No. I speak my tongue. Translated into yours by my magic." It was a lie. The System allowed for seamless communication between its minions and them, but not between invaders and locals, barring spells or skills that they might've naturally possessed. All the better to ensure conflict, he supposed. Still, he'd rather she believe that then try to figure out why an other-worldly goblin knew her language.

The woman seemed to take a moment to digest the revelation before she spoke again.

“Alissa. That’s my name.”

He smiled and nodded. “Good name. You and me, allies?”

She stared at him. She said nothing for a second, thoughts aflutter across her eyes. Then she spoke. “Why?”

Not a rejection. Not even suspicion, but a desire for understanding? Very interesting. This woman was something different.

“Because I... love humans.”

She blinked. “Oh.”