The afternoon sun was high up in the sky, watching the battle that had yet to unfold. In a small town in the northern part of the country, the streets were filled with people who went about their day, unaware of the upcoming battle.

The entire team spread out, ready to tackle the portal from multiple angles. Alex, Xandra, and Darius stood together in one part of the town center, while Sebas and Charlotte were on the opposite side.

"Is this where the portal will open?" asked Sebas, tying his hair in a bun.

"This is what the system said; it’s up to us to see if this really is the place."

The clock ticked, but nothing happened.

"Come on, man, are you shitting me?"

Darius was quite impatient, almost enough to take out his axe and start randomly swinging.

"Chill, my guy. We still have time."

Alex was enjoying himself, just chilling in the sun’s shade. Xandra stood next to him, taking some photos of the two of them. Alex started posing, lazily, but just enough to look good.

"Something is happening..."

He suddenly tensed up, watching from afar as a ripple started forming. It only grew larger, creating a hole big enough for an army of monsters to come in through. It didn’t take long for the people to panic and run away—the gate’s slow opening allowed them to get out unscathed most of the time.

"Time to go."

They all made way for the portal, readying their weapons. As they got closer, however, they suddenly came to the realization that rushing in was not the best choice. Instead of the usual monsters, some hybrids came out, lashing their tentacles like one would a whip. The same size as an average human, which they looked like, except for the lizard eyes and tentacles instead of their left arm.

"What the hell are these things?" questioned Sebas, his sword aimed right at them.

"It doesn’t matter. Act with caution, and we should be fine."

Their numbers rose exponentially, with more and more tentacle-twisted humanoids popping in. Darius went in first, swinging his axe with all his might, cutting through their ranks like butter. Alex came from behind, hitting with a fury of blows.

"Not too bad, not too bad."

Xandra used her magic, supporting them from behind, but her sword could not rest, for those who managed to sneak past the two at the front fell at her blade.

Their initial momentum was strong, but the huge number started slowing them down. Darius went for a large attack, which used up his stamina rapidly, while Alex was swarmed, finding himself unable to swing as fast as needed.

"Shit! We need a better strategy!"

Tentacles kept hitting them, striking fast, cutting like a blade would. Alex and Darius found themselves backing away, covered in cuts all over their bodies.

Alex let out a loud sigh, while Darius kept trying to catch his breath.

"These guys don’t pack a punch, but they sure as hell do pack some speed in there."

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Xandra burned them to a crisp, almost burning Alex in the process as well.

"New strategy? Simple! Burn them till nothing remains."

Xandra came to this conclusion in a straight-forward manner: through trial and error. Fire seemed to do the most damage, meaning that she could use arson almost as freely as she wished to.

"Fire, you say? Xandra, remember the trick we pulled when Mark trained us? Do the same for both me and Darius."

An orange light covered her palm, the light dying out the moment she finished casting her spell. The fire reflected in their eyes; the two of them were laughing like children.

"Fire! Let’s go!"

Darius started swinging again, his vitality flourishing out of the blue. Alex did not back up either, swinging like crazy. Surprisingly enough, the enemies burned faster than expected. They still got burned by a last-ditch attack from some monsters, but it didn’t matter. They were drowning in the battle.

Charlotte and Sebas came in from the other side, easily cutting their way through. A red blade moved frantically, cutting the monstrosities. Sebas followed from behind, fighting them head-on—something that did not exactly fit an assassin, but he really wanted the smoke.

No words were said, each one of them moved independently. No monster could get past them, and no monster tried—these guys were their supposed prey. The portal had closed, but not before a large number of these creatures came in.

The rest of the fight was nothing impressive, with each of them fighting to their heart’s content, while taking care of their comrades. In one hour, the swarm was reduced to nothing but dead bodies.

"I wonder why these bastards were the only ones to attack. There was nothing impressive about them."

Alex spoke with disappointment, yearning for a difficult fight.

"These guys are nothing more than cannon fooders. If they cause chaos, it’s good enough for the enemy."

Darius looked at his level, enjoying his new levels. He rose to level 24, while Alex reached level 26.

"Ha! Got you, Darius!"

Xandra smirked at both of them.

"Noobs, I’m level 29."

Burning a lot of enemies seemed like a good way to level up.

"Damn, we were outdone."

Sebas and Charlotte came as well, checking as well.

"Barely enough experience for half a level. Still have a long way to go."

"Heh, I’m now level 42."

Xandra, Darius, and Alex stared at them in disbelief.

"LEVEL WHAT? Ok, Charlotte being high level I understand, but you motherfucker, how?"

Sebas laughed it off.

"Mark killed a dragon by using me as bait, so I got my share of XP for contributing to the battle. Charlotte also leveled up quite a lot from that, and Mark also reached level 90 or something."

Charlotte couldn’t help but smile after seeing the faces the three of them made. Alex hyped himself up to keep leveling like a pro, while Darius said he’d do the same. Sebas kept taunting them by flailing his level.

Alex tried to cut Sebas just because, only to get slapped.

"Now that Mark is not here, I’m gonna slap yo dumbass until he wakes up."

Darius, feeling left out, smacked Alex as well.

"Yes, Alex, we’re gonna smack you too."

Alex turned to Darius, shouting angrily.

"Just who the fuck are you going to slap?"

And the two of them started slapping each other, with Sebas rushing in as well. The girls watched, saying nothing.

"Just how stupid can guys be?"

Charlotte watched in silence, her eyes squinting.

"They sure do know how to be stupid, and the worst thing is, they have no shame for that."

It was up to the two of them to slap them unconscious and take them home.