Victor huffed as he stood over a bloodied monster. The battle was hard fought, but with the help of his Epic Skill; Terrifying Cruelty–he had won.

The glorious stench of copper and iron swirled within his heightened sense of smell as the System messages popped up within his vision.

You defeated a - Level 10 Kobold Warrior

You have levelled up!

| Victor [Rogue] Level 7 -> Victor [Rogue] Level 8

You are being watched.

| Noklern The Monster Slaughterer has sponsored you.

| Grace Coins added.

Victor gazed down at the wound gouged into his chest. Drip. He watched as the long, sharp grass was sprinkled with his own blood. Drip

Crouching down, he dipped his finger into one of the droplets that had gathered on a leaf, and brought it to his tongue.

Hot and metallic. It was a taste he had long become used to, but it was different now that it was his own. Ever since his father had loosed him into the world, he had never received an injury–until now.

He didn’t want to admit it, but he could no longer travel further on his own. It seemed the heightened senses of the higher Levelled monsters made light work of his sneaking Skill–despite it already being level six.

There’s a reason why wild beasts only attack those they are one-hundred percent sure of being able to kill without taking damage. Being wounded in the wild is for prey–a predator–is not so foolish. Victor noted his fathers words.

Forced to take a sip of health potion, Victor debated his next move. Go back and Level at a steady pace further at the shoreline, or group up with the horrid stench of humans and elves. He chose the latter. The wild lands of this world had forced his hand.

It was a good thing he knew where they were. He could smell them.

Victor sheathed his dual-sickles to his lower back and crouched on all fours before sprinting straight for them. He raked the soil with his clawed fingers, the dirt already had masked the stench of blood from behind him.

It wasn’t long before the stench of human, and something else, ruffled the fine hairs in his nose. He grabbed hold of a tree and spun around it, then using the momentum from the swing, flung himself up the tree. Victor perched himself on a branch as he gazed down, only a dozen metres ahead.

The humans were busy fighting a party of some strange humanoid frogs–along with a huge lizard-man. It was the first time he had seen them, but the humans seemed to be having some difficulty with the frogs. Their weapons seemed to be coated in some form of poison.

With a sniff, his theory was correct. It smelt like rotten-eggs.

Although, the strength of the lizard surprised him. Each hit reaped the life of a humanoid frog, either splitting it in two, or flinging it into the distance.

The human clothes were ragged with wounds carved into their bodies. Blood seeped. Oh god, the screeches, the pained howls–he could smell their fear. The aroma tingled the hairs on his nape.

Snapping out of his beastly instincts, his lips curled. It was the perfect opportunity to make himself useful.

Tensing the muscles in his legs in his crouched position, he leapt forward like he had just let go of a spring Victor flew through the air, heading right for the frog creature.

He unsheathed his weapons. One sliced past the wrist of the frog’s webbed hand, the other glided past its throat. Confident in his attack, Victor had already moved onto the next. Efficient. Trained. He killed another with a swoop of his one-handed scythe.

They were all dead–except one.

Part of the pack of humans rushed to a young man that was throthing at the mouth. Victor twitched his nostrils. Poison. They were panicked, but they all kept looking–and talking–to a man that had just finished with the last kill.

“Declan, Peter–Peter is–” A young man with brown hair with freckles dotted around his nose and cheeks stumbled out his words.

The rest of the humans looked at Victor with caution. Their guards were raised, but he didn’t blame them. If they didn’t, his opinion of them would be even lower than it already was.

“Shit!” The man named Declan eyed victor before rushing over to Peter. Victor witnessed hesitation for a second before the young man washed it away. In the next moment, a syringe of clear liquid spawned within the air. Swift as the wind, Declan injected a small amount of it into Peter’s veins.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The man's countenance changed from a pale white, to one with rosy cheeks. He was cured.

Victor’s nose twitched. He could smell life. But it wasn’t from humans. It was faint, but one of the grung twitched its hand. He had discovered the name from his System notification–but it seemed like the humans hadn’t noticed.

He pulled down his quickly upturning lips, afraid the others would find him suspicious. It was another perfect opportunity. An opportunity for trust to be earned.

The grung discreetly peered toward the humans, then, very slowly, crept up–then launched toward the nearest human. It was too fast–too sudden, the humans couldn’t react in time. But Victor did.

Already prepared, Victor blasted forward. He was about to kill it straight away, but he had remembered every word his father had imparted to him.

People need evidence–especially humans. Blood evokes sympathy, and that’s what you need to sway emotions in your favour.

The grung had already pierced its spear forward, it was about to hit the nearest human–an archer with vicious eyes.

Victor intercepted the hit, taking it to his shoulder.

He felt an extra heat from the wound that shouldn’t be there. He was poisoned. Victor snarled and whipped his blade through the air, lopping the head from the frog’s shoulders.

Stumbling back, Victor held the wound that had been poked from the monster's weapon. Blood dripped. It was the second time he had become injured.

“Shit–” The archer took a breath and regained his composure. “You saved us. You need an anti poison, let me.”

“There’s no need. It’s the least I can do as a half-breed.” Victor spoke a lie as he purchased his own anti-poison and used it on himself. It was quite expensive, but investments usually were.

“Half breed?” Jake noted the use of the antipoison as he half shook his head.

“Ha.” Victor let out a breath as he sheathed his weapons. There were no other monsters in the vicinity, and all the others had already died. He could smell it. “I was adopted by humans, my mother would kill me if I didn’t lend a hand to someone in need.”

Victor placed his hand forward as he nodded at the archer in greeting.

“Victor.”

Jake nodded and grasped his hand. “Jake.” He then pointed to Declan. “That’s Declan, Cai, Chloe, and Thraz.”

They took turns to shake his hand, until it was the lizardmans turn. Grasping his scaled hand, he could feel the incredible strength within.

Declan spoke. “I really appreciate the help. If you hadn’t arrived–”

“No problem.” Victor waved his hands. “But, is it okay if I join your group? I’ve been on my own ever since the beginning, it’s starting to take its toll. It’s difficult to sleep with one eye open.” Victor stretched his neck, feigning exhaustion.

“Of course, It’d be a great help having you with us.”

“More the merrier,” Chloe added.

“You remind me of someone,” Thraz said.

Victor was tall, yet the lizardman called Thraz still looked down at him. His great-axe reflected the light into his eyes. He stepped to the side.

Does he know of my intentions? Impossible. Victor thought.

“Someone good, I hope?” Victor's response elicited a short chuckle from the others.

“He is,” Thraz nodded as if it was a matter of fact.

“Good?” Jake grit his teeth, his fingers brushed over the scar on his hand.

“Oh, I don’t mean to pry–but there seems to be something amiss?” Victor noted Jake’s discomfort. He could smell his favourite aroma. Fear. It made him curious.

“Someone we met before, he almost crippled my fucking hand.” Jake spat, scorn was clearly written on his face. But it wasn’t entirely aimed at the mysterious person. Victor saw a hint of maliciousness towards Declan. Their leader. “Even now, it hurts to pull back my damned string.”

“Oh? Who?”

“Noah, and the next time I see him, I’ll riddle his body with arrows. If he’s not dead already being on his own.” Jake fumed. Victor smelled something interesting this time. There was fear, but something else now. Yes, the smell was the intent to kill. The need to take a life. It was an emotion he all but wished to savour himself. The taste of the glorious hunt.

“You will not.” Thraz stepped forward, flexing his muscles.

“You’re going to defend him even though he abandoned you?”

“He didn’t abandon me,” Thraz corrected Jake, before releasing a forlorn sigh. “I betrayed him. I realise that now.”

“I see,” Victor said. From the sounds of it, the man had bested one of the strongest in the group, while solo. He had most likely done it in front of the group based on everyones reactions. It was–interesting, but annoying. How could this Noah survive on his own, yet he couldn't? He could feel his blood boil. “We should–”

Just as Victor was about to say something, a sudden crack of lightning caused the hairs all over his body to stand to attention. His shoulders snapped back as his body instinctively entered a fighting pose.

Jake, Cai, Thraz, Chloe, and Declan all acted appropriately to the situation. They had prepared their weapons without falling to the ground. The others, however, were noticeably less trained. Some dropped their weapons at the sudden boom, while others simply fell to the ground.

It was loud. The blue and white lightning was different. It remained in its spot. A peculiar sight, that was for certain.

Straining his eyes, a black object spawned at the top of the lightning bolt, and descended at a slow pace.

An anomaly has occurred. A Rare drop has been birthed into existence. Be the first to reach the item drop. Become the victor.

| Time Remaining until drop: 9 minutes 57 seconds.

| Reward: Equipment cache with a chance of a rare piece.

A rare piece of equipment. Victor tightened his grasp around his weapons. He hadn’t even gained an armour piece. He was still using the Common grade weapons he had gained from the Grace Shop.

It was about time he upgraded it.

His gaze landed on the humans. They had the same idea.

I’ll become the victor. Victor licked his lips.