"Just who might you be?", asked Mark, a curious feeling emanating from his voice. That was new even for him, who had some knowledge from manga and novels.

"Who I am is not important, what matters is that you were going to break something. You have no idea just how delicate the system is."

The voice kept going on and on about technical details, yet Mark’s patience was running against a grinding stone, that stone being the horde of monsters.

"Ok, listen here, system voice, I have no need of a lecture, but rather I want as much help as possible." I need an assistant, someone to spend my points for me in an optimal way, all while I take care of the fighting. I won’t take no for an answer."

The voice took a while to respond, perhaps pondering that very request of his.

"Very well, I shall do it for you. I have permission from the higher ups, so things should be well for a while."

Mark breathed out slowly, like a heavy load had been lifted off his back.

"Great. Now, one more question."

Having done his research, Mark jumped his way down, which felt a lot more comfortable now that his stats have increased. In the middle of the road he went, slowly coming face to face with what looked like the Orc Chieftain or something. He stood in front of the army, calling shots and yelling at everyone to stay in position. His weapon of choice, a giant mace, made the whole picture even stranger. The orc wore a set of polished armor, and looking at it more, Mark noticed some other orcs wearing something similar. Whoever was behind those guys was up to no good, and they also had the resources needed to create such a unit.

"Halt!", came the order of the orc. The entire army behind him stopped, except for some goblins who kept jumping around.

"This is the force the humans of this world sent after us? A puny human half my size? Ha ha!"

Laughter erupted among their ranks, down to the last skeleton.

Just how can skeletons laugh? Never mind that.

Mark stared the Chieftain in the eye, not budging.

"Well, I am sorry if you feel disrespected, but perhaps no more than myself is needed to take care of you."

There was more laughter, to the point at which some of the goblins were rolling on the ground, and even one armored orc seemed to have a hard time catching its breath.

The Chieftain wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye, going back to his composed self.

"I like you, human. Who knew that you could have such a sense of humor? Most of the humans I’ve met before were too busy pleading for their lives. I’ll propose something: you grovel on the ground, and I might make your death painless. What do you say?"

Mark watched as the mace danced in the air, going left and right, up and down. He smiled, pulling out a simple longsword—one that was in better shape than his first one.

"Guess this is where we end the conversation, then. I’ll show you why only one human is needed."

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Without skipping a beat, Mark launched himself forward, going past the orc all the way back to the weaker monsters. Dropping in the middle of them all, he started swinging and cutting down everything that stood in his path. No humans around meant no worries about cutting the wrong thing. Slashing, whacking, hell came down upon the monsters faster than lightning. From the front, the orcs were crushing and pounding their own soldiers, all to reach that one puny human.

"Let’s see how you like this."

Still swinging, Mark lifted his hand up in an arching motion, aiming for the closest orc. A large, stone-shaped spike popped out of the ground, killing the monster in one strike.

"Great! Mana seems to be working well."

The beeping noise started going off again, to Mark’s annoyance.

"I told you to stop that sound."

"Give me a minute; spending your points while also doing these things is no easy job, you know?"

He had to take that as an answer since arguing would be pointless. He glanced around, noticing that everyone was slowly trying to create space between them. Once again, wildly cutting away at whatever his sword touched, he ran in the middle of the crowd. Few were those who managed to fight back, and even then, after the sound of iron touching iron died out, the sound of dripping blood took its place.

The Chieftain seemed to have disappeared, which put Mark on high alert. No matter; a few more levels, and he’s down.

The battle quickly turned into a one-sided massacre, with one man in the eye of the storm, causing the ruckus around him. Bodies would drop, bones would turn to dust, and the other orcs could just watch, afraid to approach him.

"Come on, come at me! What, are you afraid of a "puny human"!?"

They exchanged glances among themselves, and one light nod was enough to mark the start of their offensive. All nine of them, without their leader, rushed Mark at once.

"Fools...", came his whisper, followed by a gentle movement of his hand. The same technique, yet the spike was larger this time. This method consumes more mana while causing me less headache.

In a matter of minutes, he had clashed their campaign. He glanced around at the sea of corpses, looking for the big fish.

Out of nowhere, a heavily armored giant appeared, a slight aura surrounding his body.

"I had to make sure to make your death as painful as possible. Come at me!"

Above its head, the number 75 was written. Mark checked his own level: 45.

Before he could glance back again, the sound of wind crushing against metal met his ears, yelling at him to dodge. He jumped back, watching as the spot he sat on turned into dust.

"What, not so tough anymore, huh!?"

The orc kept trying to taunt him, yet words were nothing but a way to fool idiots. He was no idiot, at least not in that moment.

"You see, chieftain or whatever you might be, there’s a slight difference that I had to check beforehand, to make sure my plan could work."

He remembered his question, the one he had asked before starting the fight.

"Does the level represent one’s true strength?"

"No, it doesn’t,", came the answer in the same soothing voice that could put even a bear to sleep. "Levels are more of a way to track one’s own progress and a way to make sure that one’s body can hold a certain amount of power. Stats can be increased by doing stat-related activities, yet levels allow for a boosted start. A level 20 warrior can be stronger than a level 40 warrior, yet the amount of training required to reach such a feat is inhuman."

Mark stared blankly for a while, considering his options.

"Do you think I could take down that orc?"

His sought-after answer came sooner than expected.

"From what I’ve seen you try in such a short time after getting access to powers, I guess you could, just don’t become too full of yourself, otherwise the fall will hurt... bad!"

Mark stared at the chieftain with empty eyes, yet inside that emptyness, a flame burning brighter than the sun was devouring the darkness.

"Come at me, chief! I’ll show you just how weak you are."