It took half an hour but Travis managed to do it. He decimated the fleeing lizardmen while Mira was fighting evenly against the opposing commander. Travis spent another [Thundercloud Slash] during his chase but it was all worth it since he wanted to help Mira as soon as possible.

He watched as Mira's left leg clashed with the lizard's powerful sword. He saw her leg fly off of her body as the strike followed through, creating a small crater on the ground. Travis learned that this leg of hers was a prosthetic just a few days prior but to see his companion lose a limb was still something that he had to get used to.

He jumped forward empowering his legs and sword with his internal energy.

BZZzZZZZZT.

The commander was forced to trade one of his arms for her leg, Travis evened out the playing field. Stalling was no longer an option, the creature in front of them was far too agitated. Though the tables have turned, it was now 2 against 1.

Without enough internal energy for another empowered blow, Travis knew that his help would only be minimal. The lizardman charged at the vulnerable Mira, now incapable of dodging. Travis intercepted the slash, while Mira whacked the lizardman from the top of its head.

In a battle of attrition they now had the upper-hand, it would only take a few more minutes before the lizardman fell. They ended up victorious, with Travis putting the bodies up for trade in the tab. Monsters held a bit of value, especially for those looking for raw materials. The lizardmen in particular sold due to their stomach bile and scales which are used in various forms of medicine and to supplement certain armor.

Travis traded most of the monster corpses that they gathered throughout the week for solar panels and whatever sort of books others had available for martial arts. Their quality of life at the warehouse was now passable or at least better than most other survivors of the new era. With the timer that was refreshing soon, Travis couldn't help himself from checking the rankings once more.

Current Local Rank: 317,827

Merit Points: 655

[Click to check the top 10!]

"The next reward should be at the 100,000. We still have a long way to go."

Travis clicked onto his gift once more, presenting him with three options for his new recruits.

Name: Taeyang Lee

Combat Rating: [Elite Bronze-Grade]

Description: A warrior from a variant of Earth, during the opening of his reality he led a group of survivors and managed to create a small faction of his own. He died just a few months after the initial invasion.

Contract Type: Permanent

Name: A'angaruk

Combat Rating: [Intermediate Silver-Grade]

Description: A mid-tier demon that died at the age of 20. As a young demon he was powerful enough to lay waste to a whole town of humans in his early years, he loves the taste of flesh and is likely to betray a weak master. He comes from the Abyss.

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Contract Type: Renewable [5 days]

Name: Vantak

Combat Rating: [Elite Silver-Grade]

Description: A talented Dark-elf Necromancer from the reality of Amos, he gained notoriety through his experiments on humankind. Seeing humans as nothing more than filth between his shoes, though his personal skills have only peaked at Silver his summons and creations have reached Gold.

Contract Type: Renewable [5 days]

"Mira." He motioned for her to move towards him.

"What is it Master?" She asked, while she could see that he was looking at a notification screen private information on such screens can not be seen by others.

"Can you give me information on these earth variants?" He asked, curious about the origins of the first option.

"Earth variants are worlds that referred to themselves as Earth before the coming of the portals, My local world was also an Earth before the name change about 50 years ago." She was happy to help him, with any of the questions he may have.

"What do you know about the Abyss and a reality known as Amos?"

"The Abyss is where most demons hail from while Amos is an area that is inhabited by questionable races. Some say that Amos can be far more dangerous than the Abyss, they treat their prisoners like lab rats and not a single variant of that reality can be considered safe to inhabit."

All signs were pointing to him saying no to the second and third option. "Next question then, Have you ever had the urge to kill me since I summoned you?"

She paused for a few seconds. "No, not at all." She fiddled with her prosthetic leg, doing her best to make it serviceable.

"There's two options on here that seem volatile." The young man began. "They are both at Silver-Grade."

"One's a demon hailing from the abyss, the other is a Dark-Elf from Amos." He paused to check for a reaction.

Mira's eyes were wide open urging for him to continue.

"If they can't harm us then they would make amazing allies for the coming week."

Weighing his options Travis decided that he needed to see the effects of the other options aside from the safe one. While both of the options were an enemy of mankind, Travis knew that he needed their aid for what he had in mind. "I say fuck it, I'm curious and the ability says that they'll be loyal for the contracted period anyways."

Tall, standing at a height of 6 foot 4. Grey ash-like skin and pointed ears. Carrying a staff with a red orb on top of it, the cloaked necromancer Vantak was summoned. His handsome face held an annoyed expression as he knelt in front of the human swordsman.

'I have to call this rat my master?' The necromancer thought to himself as he gave his bow. "Vantak of the Dark elves, I owe you my return to the living world so I shall do your bidding..."

The dark elf could not force the words out for an existence that he deemed inferior.

With just a glance and the description that was presented to him, Travis already had a plan in mind for this particular recruit. 'If he doesn't want to serve me willingly, then that's fine. He'll get to do what he wants for the next five days. He should be able to help me wrack up some merit points!'

"Greetings Vantak, I already know that it pains you to serve me." The swordsman began. "Which is why for the next five days your task will be very simple."

At the tone of the human's voice, the necromancer was intrigued. He expected the human to treat him like trash due to the hold he had over him yet he had the tone of a fair and just individual.

"Wreak havoc, cause chaos. Kill everything that moves so long as it's not me or Mira over here." Travis decided to give the necromancer what it wanted, the freedom to practice his craft once more. "You can keep the bodies too, I don't really care. Just clear the area for me, you can do what you want with the rest."