Rock Fist Bart stopped his squad with a raised hand when he saw the crocodilian monsters, taking another couple of cautious steps before noticing the other Awakened ahead. He frowned at the sight of Eik but quickly directed his attention back to the two monsters between them. He locked eyes with the robed man who had led Eik’s side through the trees and they exchanged looks before they began to circle around and away from the beach to meet in the middle.

The two crocodilians, coal black bodies resembling big, scaly cats, hissed and flailed their heads but never actually made any moves to attack the much larger group. Their paws were massive, with heavy tails that seemed appropriately sized to act as counterweight for their powerful heads.

Eik’s eyes never left the beefy close-combat fighter, even while the beasts snapped and snarled at the human’s movements. The muscle-brained bastard had slung not so subtle threats his way in a far more public setting than this, so there was no way he wasn’t going to try something with a golden opportunity served on a silver platter like this. That Bonehead Sr. had beaten some sense into him since was not likely, given how childishly he had acted during Atla’s first visit.

As the two groups merged, Rock Fist Bart stepped to the front and assumed a position implying leadership. He gave Eik a look and nodded in greeting, unable to completely hide a crooked grin. “Long time no see, pharmacist,” he said snarkily, drawing the attention of the rest of the Awakened, most of whom were clearly oblivious to the feud between the two.

A few looked uncomfortably informed, including Rock Fist Bart’s two permanent henchmen who had accompanied him during his initial visit to Eik’s Excellent Elixirs and every encounter since.

“I already told you I’m an apothecary.”

“And I already told you there’s no difference between the two titles,” Rock Fist Bart argued.

With a glance back at his friends, Eik bit back what would no doubt have been a seething and intelligent response. Instead he turned away. “Just shut up, Bart," he said, dismissing Rock Fist Bart.

“You little shi—” Bart took a threatening step toward Eik, his face redder than a tomato, but the robed man who had led the last party Eik’s group had joined up with gripped the Rock Fist by the shoulder. Eik didn’t know the man, but if he felt confident enough to do that to a pompous moron like Sock Fist Bart, then he probably wasn’t someone to look down on.

Bart stared at the hand on his shoulder for a couple of seconds before he righted himself and brushed his clothes with a hand. “We’ll continue this later,” he said calmly. The dark, ireful expression on his face didn’t match his words.

“Why is that guy always so sensitive?” Eik muttered. Gestures by the robed man told them that Rock Fist Bart was being briefed on the monster horde they had fled from.

“You should really learn to keep your mouth shut too, you know.”

Eik ignored that. “How are you feeling, Heathy?”

“Better…” Heath muttered as he unslung the mighty tower shield and drew the thick blade from its sheath. The way he handled the weighty equipment made it obvious that the ravage wreaked by the Profound Toxin addled his body significantly. They couldn’t rely on him as if he was healthy.

Eik swallowed another clump of the home mixed poison, feeling the effects of his Noxious Invigoration pumping him full of energy. While Resistance: Toxin was the ability that allowed Noxious Invigoration to even exist in the first place, it also forcefully cleansed weaker poisons like the clump from his body so quickly that he constantly had to ingest more to keep power from fading. Unfortunately, while anything stronger would certainly remain active in his system for longer, it would also be significantly more dangerous and potentially weaken him in other ways.

Immediately, a woman raising a clump of earth from the soft forest floor was practically bisected. Eik was able to see the leap as it went for her but knew he could not have done more than flinch before it was too late had he been in her place. A D-rank monster was simply too far beyond him at his current stage.

The robed man had it by its jet black tail in the blink of an eye and hurled it over his head, away from his allies. Its vice-like jaw never loosened, carrying the unfortunate woman lifelessly away as it sailed through the air. It spun agilely and landed on its feet, swallowing a leg of the woman before dumping the rest of her body by its feet. Two of her agitated teammates broke into tears at the sight but didn’t dare to break away from the group.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Meanwhile, Rock Fist Bart had charged in to meet the second one, his expertly crafted gauntlets clanging as they struck the earth where the monster had been. The resulting explosion and crater convinced Eik that the beefy man hadn’t put his full power into the barbaric assault on his walnut counter.

Spinning nimbly on the balls of his feet, he slapped away the beast’s jaw as it tried to bite his arm and pivoted to slam a left hook into its snout in the same movement. Momentarily stunned, it couldn’t react in time to avoid the follow-up to the top of the skull that sent it to the ground, nor the crushing heel that forced its entire head halfway into the soil.

The monster that had been thrown by the robed man avoided projectiles from Rock Fist Bart’s archer lackey while three others rushed in to engage it before it could steal away another low-ranker. Rock Fist Bart was flanked by two allies as they cornered his opponent.

Eik’s team and two others, including the one whose teammate has just been eaten, broke off and prepared to meet the stream that should be arriving soon. Hoping to stay hidden from clear view behind the copse of trees for as long as possible, they waited with weapons at the ready, flinching whenever the crocodilian monsters came a little too close for comfort.

After only a short wait the first couple of monsters broke through, their relaxed, exploratory pace immediately shifting into a full sprint once they caught sight of the humans. Those first two resembled flightless birds with a bulbous torso held up by long, spindly legs ending in wicked claws. Long necks bore heads that were entirely too human-like.

Before they even clashed once, more species were already starting to appear, rushing in to join the fight. With the arrival of so many different monsters at a time, it was impossible to estimate their power with any kind of accuracy. If a D-rank or a C-rank mingled with the mottled flow of fiends, it could be on top of them before they ever noticed its strength. A B-rank or above would be… over before they ever laid eyes on it.

But C-rank would probably be the worst that could be expected from the ones subordinate to the gigantic lake serpent. In the past, whenever a particularly powerful being gathered a following of lessers they would all be considerably weaker than the leader.

The commonly acknowledged conclusion was that their naturally aggressive dispositions made them submit only to extreme superiority. If the lake serpent was A-rank then it would likely have C-ranks under its command. The thought was frightening.

Eyes on stalks, Eik slashed at a many-legged, many-eyes abomination. Meeting the thing that had nearly killed him during the second wave was a strange experience. Back then he had been powerless to do anything but run until eventually trapping it on a ladder to drip Profound Toxin into its mouth.

To his own surprise, he was now running circles around the bastard without it being able to do much in retaliation. With conservative movements the injured Heath kept two more at bay, focusing only on defense and refraining from attacking except to draw the ire to himself.

Three of Sonja’s long arrows protruded from the hindquarters of one, immobilizing it almost completely, while Michael stuck dutifully to Heath’s back, recasting the barrier ability Single Protection on the tank whenever the cooldown allowed and spamming Bind with impressively good timing.

Eik momentarily activated Movement Boost as the ugly thing lunged, side stepping as he sliced Viper Fang across its ribs and belly with a streak of luminescent blue. Eagerly, the poison entered the wound, sprouting sick, purple veins around the site. Before it could turn back to face him, he had already leapt forward and buried his wicked knife to the hilt in its neck. Profound Toxin invaded its body unnecessarily.

Popping another clump of poison and feeling the energy rush through him, Eik sped toward his friends, appearing behind the uninjured monster in a blur. With a grunt he cut three deep, glowing gashes along its legs and back, eliciting a yelp of pain as the monster flinched away. He followed and kept up the assault until he managed to sever the tendons in its hind legs.

The carnage was exhilarating.

With Profound Toxin seeping from wounds all over its body, he left it to die and went to help Sonja, Heath, and Michael. As a Hectona-4—one of the serpentine fracture monsters whose venom Eik had specialized in counteracting—approached their team, Heath stepped forth and crushed the skull of the last many-eyed vermin with a well-placed Unerring Strike—the skill that allowed a single attack to be executed properly regardless of physical instability or bad positioning.

Eik triggered Movement Boost to get between his friends and the Hectona-4. He could take the envenomation as easily as a glass of cold milk for breakfast, but Heath couldn’t. Especially not in his current state.

Without warning one of the coal-black D-ranked crocodilians sailed right past his head, jaw snapping furiously, and crashed into the ground to his right. Before he could register it properly, Rock Fist Bart was suddenly in front of him, blocking the path to his friends.

Rather than focusing on the monster, the man’s gaze was locked on Eik’s with a sickening grin plastered on his face.

“A disorderly fray such as this is just so difficult to navigate, wouldn’t you agree, pharmacist?” the pompous windbag said as he studied his gauntlets nonchalantly. “Even just knowing friend from foe can be a real challenge.”

With a tight jaw and a pit in his stomach, Eik responded with a wide-eyed shake of the head. “Couldn’t agree less. In fact, I don’t think my foes have ever stood out quite so vividly as they seem to do today.” He wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t dare. There were people here to witness it. He stood to gain nothing from it aside from the pretty satisfaction of a personal grudge.

Rock Fist Bart raised a hand and tightened it into a fist, the gentle clinking of his gauntlet reduced to near inaudibility by the clamor of battle around them. As he wound up his grin only grew wider and more vile.

“Oops,” he sang as his fist descended.