The monsters were fast approaching and Frank could get a better look at them. Five feet tall, bipedal, yet with dog-like heads, their skin was covered with short, gray fur. Focusing on one of them brought up a notification that made Frank swear.

Adolescent Gnoll, level 5

“Fuck me, level fives,” Hank whispered, echoing Frank's thoughts.

“Amy, help Hank, but try to save half your mana,” Frank told her while keeping his eyes on the enemies. Grinding his teeth, he brought up his profile and put three of his four available attribute points into Quickness, bringing it to 5 (+1).

“They are going to surround us,” Bill said in a hoarse voice.

“Just kill as fast as you can and hope reinforcements come in time,” Frank told him.

It was going to be a bad fight. There were several hundred gnolls, approaching them in a wide arc, about five-six monsters deep. Meanwhile, their side only had some thirty people, more still coming to reinforce their stand. Despite the Marshall's warning not to spread out too much, the column still stretched about two hundred yards. It would take time for Kevin to alert them of the ambush, and for them to rush back.

But, there was no time to think, the gnolls were already a few dozen yards away, and as they got even closer, magical attacks began to fly toward them. Several cantaloupe-sized balls of blue light crashed into the monsters, exploding upon impact. There were also some fist-sized fireballs, wooden spikes, similar to Amy's icicles, and even a lightning attack that arced from their side toward the monsters, frying one of them. Most of the hits resulted in kills, but it hardly made a dent in the overall numbers.

The humans stood far enough apart that each of them would have to face two attackers. Frank glanced at his resources in the upper right and lamented the fact he hadn't fully recovered from training. Enough for a single Lightning Bolt and Mana Shield, he thought as he took a deep breath.

HP: 48/48 (60/hour)

Stamina: 28/30 (105/hour)

D Mana: 14/20 (25/hour)

R Mana: 15/20 (30/hour)

The monsters arrived and Frank stepped forward with a slash, the gnoll swung its hatchet to deflect, but Frank's blade had already left a vertical wound on its chest. The monster didn't die though, its ribs keeping the wound shallow. Pushing his body to the limit, Frank immediately pulled back, moving away from the sword of the second gnoll. He lashed out, hitting the monster's sword-arm, the saber blurred, as he slashed through the monster's neck. Frank's body jerked forward, while his feet didn't move, the first gnoll attacked in a wide arc, having bought into the feint, once its weapon whooshed by, Frank lunged forward and stabbed the monster in the neck.

Stepping back, he sucked the air loudly, his lungs working overtime trying to keep his body supplied with oxygen. The whole thing only lasted a few seconds, but Frank's body was trembling, and his stamina gauge was at 24/30, due to the intensity of the movements. Breathing loudly, Frank used the short lull to look to his left and right. On his right, Bill seemed to be doing fine, contending with two enemies. On his left, Hank was slashing widely with his sword to keep attackers away, there was also a dead gnoll on the ground, with an icicle sticking out of its eye socket.

A sword-wielding gnoll leaped over the dead bodies and began to advance. Frank slashed out twice, his weapon coming from the right and left sides, yet to his annoyance both attacks got parried, and another monster, with a spiked mace in its hands, was fast approaching. Frank roared, partly to intimidate the monsters, and partly to hype himself up, and lunged with an overhead slash. Half-way through the attack, he stopped, moving low to the ground he swung at the monster's leg instead. The monster tried to lunge forward with a counter-attack, but its injured leg gave out, and it lost balance, tumbling to Frank's left it crashed into one of the gnolls Hank was facing.

Having recovered his stance, Frank squinted his eyes at the oncoming monster's weapon. A metal shaft, some two feet in length, with a spiked ball on the end. No handguard, Frank noted with a smile. He took a deliberately slow swing, giving the gnoll plenty of time to move its weapon in place to parry. When the weapons met, his blade began to slide along the shaft of the mace. Frank angled it slightly, to avoid the bump of the wider handle, and continued the downward motion, slicing through the gnoll's fingers. The monster cried out in pain as the weapon fell from its grasp. Taking advantage of its momentary lack of defenses, Frank quickly ended the monster's life.

There were still two more monsters for him to deal with, plus the one he wounded earlier had recovered from its injury and was already advancing toward Frank. An icicle hit it in the neck, stunning it momentarily. Frank lunged forward with an attack, killing the monster and bringing the number of his foes to two.

Seeing the remaining two gnolls stand apprehensively some ten yards away, Frank jumped to his right with a slash. His saber cut into the side of a monster Bill was fighting, a stab from Bill's sword finishing it. Recovering his stance, Frank scowled at the two hesitating monsters. They growled at him in response, and finally began to advance.

The one on the left held a spear, the one on the right a short sword. They approached at the same pace, not giving Frank a chance to strike at one before the other was in range as well. After getting close enough, the one with the spear stepped forward and stabbed at Frank's legs. Frank responded with a defensive low-slash, only to have the gnoll redirect its attack towards his chest. Cursing silently, Frank pushed his body to its limit, barely managing to deflect the spear's point away.

Meanwhile, the sword-wielding monster had moved up and was about to strike. Frank slashed at it while trying to retreat. The gnoll lifted its weapon, blocking his slash, then it grabbed his arm with its left hand, and leaned forward, its maw opened wide. Frank punched at with his left hand, before the monster could bite his hand. But it wasn't enough to disorient it, pulling Frank's arm toward itself, the monster took a step to the side, and sunk its sword into Frank's stomach.

He groaned in pain, and barely managed to move his left arm, the spear piercing through his shoulder instead of his face. He felt the sword leave his body, as the gnoll wielding it scowled at him happily. Suddenly it began to make gurgling sounds, an icicle sticking out of its neck. Taking a step back, Frank's saber slashed through the distracted monster's stomach, cutting it wide open.

Frank stumbled backward, trying to put some distance between himself and the spear-wielding gnoll. The monster halted momentarily, but was unwilling to let him go and lunged at him. His wounds still fresh, Frank slashed at the incoming spear, but the gnoll again redirected its attack trajectory, avoiding Frank's parry. He was about to get pierced through the chest when an icicle stabbed through the gnoll's jaw. It reeled back in pain. A second later another icicle struck it in the chest. It fell to its knees, it's hands pressing into the ground to keep itself upright. Frank stepped forward and slashed at it, his saber slicing half-way through its skull.

“You saved me,” he said facing Amy. Then he looked at his HP 15/48. “And I also need a heal.”

His wounds had mostly recovered, and he was able to quickly move towards Margaret, who stood meditating a bit behind them.

“Margaret, I need a heal, if you can,” he called out to her.

She moved towards him, placing her hand on his chest she cast a spell, instantly restoring him to full HP.

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“Thanks,” he grinned at her. That was a close call, he thought as he ran back to his spot.

There were two monsters in front of Bill, while Hank only faced one, all the dead monsters near him sporting icicles in their bodies. Before he could assist him, Frank watched as Hank lowered his arms and stepped forward, the gnoll he was fighting immediately attacked, burying its axe in his chest. Hank grabbed the gnoll with his left hand, then stabbed it with his sword. The monster reeled in pain, and Hank stabbed it again, killing it. Then he removed the axe, sticking out of his chest, throwing it to the ground. A moment later he also slumped to the ground, huffing loudly. He looked like he was about to die from overexertion.

I guess that's one way to use his high HP, Frank mused. As he flanked the monsters Bill was fighting. With the increased pressure on them, both monsters were quickly dispatched.

“Flank them!” Frank shouted at Bill, pointing for him to hit the monsters from the side.

Frank himself moved to where Hank was and hit the monsters that were attacking their formation from the side. It was like a wedge formation, where you would break through the center, then turn on the sides, except it was just the two of them. Still, as Frank advanced on the attacking monsters from the side, he was able to quickly eliminate several gnolls, freeing up the human that fought next to Hank. Now, the two of them began to flank the monsters.

Their numbers grew, and soon the battle shifted, now it was the humans flanking the gnolls' formation, forcing them to defend from several sides. Their casualties were unclear, but their victory was simply a matter of time. Then, Frank heard a roar.

What is it now? The thought made him grimace, as he turned to look in the direction of the sound. A small group of about ten gnolls was running toward them. However, among that group was a large gnoll. Six feet tall and with bulging muscles, it's fur was jet black, and in its hands, it held a long, two-handed sword. Focusing on its figure brought up a notification that Frank expected.

Adolescent Gnoll Leader, level 10

At least I have D mana now, Frank thought. Looking around, he saw many others looking at the approaching monsters. Might as well take charge, he thought upon seeing no one giving out orders.

“Five of you and a healer with me, the rest of you keep flanking them!” He shouted, and began to move toward the approaching group.

Six people followed him, and soon the two groups were facing each other. The gnolls were bunched up, while the humans spread into a loose line, about five yards between them, their healers standing some distance away. The Gnoll Leader barked something, and the smaller ones rushed the humans in pairs, meanwhile, the Leader advanced toward Frank.

It slashed at him with its two-handed sword, quickly recovering when the attack missed and slashing again. Step after step, Frank was forced to retreat, unable to find an opening in the large monster's offensive. Blocking an attack is a bad idea, even if my saber holds, I'll be thrown off balance enough that a quick counter-attack would be impossible. Damn this thing, how can it be this fast? Frank wondered as he continued to retreat.

He feinted lunging forward, the gnoll responding with a slash. Despite the feint, the monster was fast enough that it could recover and strike again before Frank could score a hit. This time, however, he had something else in mind. He pointed his left hand, and a Lightning Bolt smacked the monster in the chest. Its body shook for a second, as the electricity coursed through it. Frank used this opening to advance diagonally, his saber swooshed and severed the monster's right hand. It roared in pain, and slashed at him, holding the sword with its left hand. However, the power was now half of what it was before. Frank lifted his weapon, blocking the strike. Pushing the large sword away, and pressing his momentum, slashing at the large gnoll again and again.

The monster growled in pain and anger, but it couldn't muster enough power with just its left hand to threaten Frank. Soon, its body was covered in wounds. Its right hand had begun to regenerate, but apparently regenerating whole body parts took much longer than recovering from normal wounds. The process was slowed down even further by its need to recover from the slashes and stabs that were constantly inflicted upon it.

Finally, the monster had enough, it tossed away its sword, and rushed Frank head-on. However, Frank had already experienced a gnoll grabbing his arm and trying to bite it, this time he was prepared. The palm of his left hand turned to face the sky, as he cast Mana Shield, the translucent, light-blue bubble surrounding him. The gnoll reached forward, but its hand was stopped by the bubble. There was a slight give, but not enough for it to get to Frank. The monster wasn't expecting this, and hesitated for a moment, giving Frank the perfect opportunity to stab it through the neck. He twisted his blade, enlarging the wound, he made sure to cut through even more flesh as he pulled the blade back. The monster fell to its knees, clutching at its neck. It glared at Frank with anger and hatred. With an overhead slash, Frank finished it off.

He turned around and took in the battlefield. There were still some sounds of fighting, as the humans cleaned up the remaining gnolls. The five people who fought alongside him seemed fine, though the fact that two of them were near the healer pointed to their fights being rather tough.

“Good job everyone,” Frank said, feeling that he had to say something.

“You are pretty good yourself, to beat the monster by yourself. It was... unexpected,” said the healer, a pudgy man in his fifties, who wore thick-rimmed glasses.

“Got lucky. If it wasn't for the magic I would lose,” Frank waved his hand dismissively. “Well, everyone should return to their group, in case we get attacked again,” he added.

Looking around, the only one from his group he could find was Hank, who was sitting in the same spot where he collapsed. Figuring the others will return soon, Frank made his way over to him.

“How you feeling, big guy?” He asked, stopping a few feet away and looking at Hank's red face.

“I feel like... I died, got brought back to life, then... died again,” the man huffed, “I really need some... fucking Endurance.”

“All in due time. You survived, that's what matters,” Frank sought to reassure him.

“Only, thanks to Amy,” he shook his head, “maybe I should become a mage,” he added.

“Up to you, we could use another mage, right now it's just Amy, since Margaret put most of her points toward healing,” Frank offered with a shrug. He heard someone approach, lifting his gaze, it was Kevin.

“Looks like we won on this end as well,” he said. “Is everyone in our group alive?”

“I think so. And what do you mean on this end?” Frank asked, his eyebrows raised.

“There was an attack at the front as well, so I could only get half the people to return with me,” Kevin explained.

“A real ambush then, one designed to split up our forces. Are the monsters getting smarter? Damn, that would be a real problem if they are,” Frank couldn't help but frown.

The three of them continued to talk about the battle. Soon they were joined by the other three members of their group. Having reunited, they began to loot the weapons from the monsters. It was the same common quality junk that the goblins used, but having more weapons was always good. As the one to defeat it, Frank also got to loot the Gnoll Leader, and to his surprise, there was another item in addition to the sword.

Leader's Training Sword: +2 Strength

Bracer of Lesser Speed: +2 Quickness

The names of both items appeared in green, which Frank figured was a tier below rare quality. He wasn't sure what to do with the sword, however, the bracer would serve him nicely. It appeared to be made out of tough leather, reinforced with some metal plates on the outside. He was worried it wouldn't fit his, somewhat frail, forearms. But when he put it on the bracer seemed to adjust its size, fitting him perfectly. Marveling at the usefulness of the System, Frank followed his group, as they continued to loot the monsters. After about ten minutes, the bodies of the dead gnolls started to turn into purple mist, which was slowly absorbed by the ground. Upon asking, he was told that the same thing happened to the goblins previously. Apparently, anything that wasn't looted would turn into mist as well. While taking possession of something would prevent it from disappearing, even if it was a monster part. It was strange, but no one seemed to care, people simply accepting that it worked that way.

After a while, the rest of the people arrived, including the Marshall. Miraculously, it turned out that no one died in this battle, a testament to the power of healers. With all the weapons gathered, the humans continued toward their destination. This time though they kept in a tight group, even if it meant slowing down to Hank's pace. They've also sent out several fast groups, as scouts, just in case of another ambush.

These precautions proved without merit, as the group arrived at the side of a river without further incidents. After designating a few lookouts, the rest of the people rushed toward the water. Drinking and splashing it onto their faces, cleaning up the blood and sweat they were covered in.

Belatedly, Frank realized that he looked like a total mess. His button-up shirt was torn in several places, not to mention soaked in blood, his own and his enemies. His pants were covered in blood stains as well. Shaking his head, he took off his sneakers before entering the river to drink some water and clean up. I wonder if there is a spell to clean up the blood and gore from clothes, as well as one to purify water. Although can we even get sick from normal illnesses and bacteria anymore? With a high Constitution and Vitality that should be impossible, right? He thought absentmindedly as he splashed around in the cold water.

After a while, most people were done, and the Marshall called for everyone to gather.

“It has been about two hours after the goblins' attack, that the gnolls attacked us. If it continues like that, we'll get attacked in two hours again. Worse yet, the level of monsters went from one to five, and their leaders from five to ten. Assuming the same rate of increase, we'll be attacked by level ten monsters, with level fifteen leaders,” he paused briefly, letting his words sink in. “Although no one died during the last attack, I am not sure if we can defend against level ten monsters in an open field. They have a lot of HP compared to level five ones. As such, I propose we make a base here. We won't be able to build a full defense in just two hours, but something would be better than nothing.”

He lifted his hand calling for silence, as people started to express their thoughts on the matter. After everyone quieted down, the Marshall continued.

“I am aware that many of you are getting hungry, and that we have no food. If we decide to make our base here, I'll send several groups to forage in the forest. Who knows if the System has made any changes to the flora and fauna of Earth. It saw it prudent to save us from crashing into the ocean due to loss of power. Surely sending us to a place with no food wouldn't make sense,” he explained.

“Now, is anyone against us making a base here? Speak up and tell us why.”