12.

He really didn’t need to help them. The women were like two goddesses of war out on the battlefield, the peak Initiate level monsters and fighters failing to slow them as they massacred their way across the field. Santi watched in rapt appreciation as Chloe split a lizardman in half then spun and bisected a second one, turning the two into four pieces all in one long smooth motion.

Hana was quieter, she didn’t stand in the center of the field like Chloe did, calling all attention to herself. She wove a trail of death across the battle with barely a ripple of her presence. Santi caught glimpses of her as her cloaking ability fell right as she stabbed. She hadn’t mastered holding the cloak while stabbing, but it was coming along better than it had. Santi thought she might do well with a distance weapon, a shortbow, crossbow, or even a javelin. Something to keep her at range and striking invisibly.

It had been awhile since he could just sit back and watch others. It was illuminating. Chloe shifted her weight too much when she struck, her center of balance changing in ways that would be easier to counter. Hana had a habit of only striking from the right back side. Never directly behind or to the left, obviously favoring her strong dominant hand.

Easy things to see with a birds eye view of a larger battlefield, but not quite as easy when one was in the thick of it. He wondered to himself what else he had been missing by being too deep in the middle of things. His musings were cut short by a group of people walking up to him, the fighters pulled back by Frank’s orders.

The first was the fistfighter, Maya, and then behind her was her brother Dillan. The larger man was a walking mountain of muscle, but he trailed his younger looking sister like a hound dog. Now that he was closer he realized that Maya was probably closer in age to the young folks than she was Frank. Late twenties, maybe pushing thirty.

Pugilist lvl. 25

A boxer of some sort, she had the build for it. Long arms, powerful shoulders, a balanced walk with a spring in her step. Her brother was a poor imitation of the restrained violence that Maya projected so casually.

“You’re not down there helping them? Can’t handle the fight?” Maya asked, her voice edged with adrenaline, she was still floating high from her fight and was only now starting to come down. She was looking to push, to start something to keep herself up and going, keeping the engine revved so to speak. Santi took it all in and just leaned back and watched his two friends, or whatever Chloe was now to him, continue to fight for him.

“Naw, blood makes me squeamish and the girls wanted to blow off some steam. Said I’d stay up here and watch out in case anything jumps them.”

“Smartass then. Makes sense your a mage. Wizard types are always snarky in books.”

“You can read?” Santi asked as innocently as he could.

“If it wasn’t for that question mark next to your class I would box your ears,” Maya said with a vicious grin. There was no mistaking the pleasure in her eyes as the two settled down for a verbal spar. Both of them wanted to be out there fighting, but she was outclassed and he couldn’t keep feeding his curse.

“You shouldn’t pick on people smaller than you,” Santi said as he watched Chloe slice the monster Maya had been dueling in circles. The axewoman took two swipes to kill it, dispatching it as easily as she had the Initiate level monsters.

“Guess that means you can pick on anyone?”

“Yup, perks of being small. I’m always the underdog,” Sants said while he watched as the other fighters marched down to the store that Frank was holed up in. Dillan looked at them and then shrugged before heading down himself.

“New world. Size don’t mean shit. Look at my brother, looks like a hill that sprouted legs. Can’t fight for a shit though. Not this new way. Just not fast enough on the uptake.”

“Tell him to put points into intelligence and not just strength and durability.”

“You can tell that from just glancing at him?”

“Close enough. I’m observant. Just like you have a bunch of points into dex, perception, and strength. Good blend of striker and speed with the ability to find weaknesses and hit them. Lower end of the mana and willpower range, not a ton of vitality or durability either. Trust yourself to avoid being hit.”

“You are good. Dillan wanted to be the big guy around here. Help people out, keep them safe, so he needed to be big and tough. It worked for a bit, but he got too lopsided and then the level cap.”

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

“We can help with that.”

“You can break us past the cap?”

“With a few ingredients. It’s not always the most pleasant experience, just to warn ya,” Santi shuddered as he thought of his own evolutions.

“We all want it. More and more of those beasts coming over and their levels are getting close to the thirties. Me, Frank, Dillan, and a few others used to be able to work to get them down. Now, we just have to hide.”

“We can work on that. My sister normally does the evolutions, but she’s a bit backlogged. We can always work out something here when I claim the pillar.”

“What’s so important about it anyway?”

“Why are you asking me, you were the one actually down there fighting for it.”

“That was just to stop the skeleton fucks from having it. The kids hopped in and then all the monsters started coming down. Turned into a right clusterfuck,” she emphasized the point by spitting powerfully on the ground.

“The System sent it. That’s all I need to know,” and could say, Santi thought bitterly. While Akthry was helping him, the geas was a damn migraine.

“Oh, that’s a big one. Your girls can kill it?” Maya asked as a new monster announced itself by plowing though a small building, sending materials flying everywhere. Santi took a look at it and fought his instinctive urge to shudder, he didn't like snakes. It was the way they wiggled about that had always made his skin crawl.

Serpentine Explorer lvl. 34

“They should be fine. It’s right in their wheelhouse.” Both of the women were higher level than it, but not by much. The flashing fangs dripped poison, the ground smoking whenever a drop landed. Its gleaming skin was emerald with black markings in diamonds running its length. Its copper colored hood flared as it hissed, two weak talon tipped arms stretching out as Chloe threw herself at it.

Santi watched as she rippled, skin taking on a sheen as the snake spat venom at her. Instead of hitting vulnerable flesh, it splashed harmlessly off of metal, her newest armor skill working well with her affinity. She slashed and her axe split scales, blood rolling out in a wave of steaming crimson as the snake hissed and roared, rising up and wiggling backward.

Right into Hana. The small assassin appeared next to the coils, blade flashing as she rammed it into the side of its face. She twisted and tore, disappearing as the snake jerked to the side, spitting another well of venom at the where the small woman had been. Santi hoped she’d gotten out of the way in time. He didn’t want to tell Daniel his girlfriend had been killed by an overgrown snake while he sat on his haunches.

Maybe he should get up. Just in case.

The thoughts warred in his mind until he got them under control. He loosened his white knuckle grip on his weapon, taking a calming breath as he looked at Maya. She was watching him with an interested look, half torn between excitement and fear.

“You’re strange. Just now, I could swear I was going to die,” she whispered the words but to Santi they were a screaming recrimination.

“Going through something right now. I’ll get better.”

“Your friends just killed that snake.” Maya pointed and Santi looked to see that she was right. The snake had been split down the center while another two deep puncture wounds on its face showed Hana’s work. They had eventually managed to hit something of value and the monster was dead.

The field of battle had emptied as all the monsters were slain. The girls hadn’t interacted with either group right off the bat, instead focusing their work on the monsters and mutated animals, purging them from the region before they went back to the humans.

While they did that the surviving humans had shown remarkable critical thinking and had fled as fast as their legs could carry them. Santi would have to go and hunt down the death cult, but he could wait till after the bloodlust was banished. That or after he had gotten Frank’s crew leveled. He had a feeling Maya and Frank wouldn’t mind dealing with them.

“Wanna see the pillar?” Santi asked as he got up. Maya was another of those people. The fire burnt in her brightly. She had the drive and passion to push her boundaries far enough to glimpse true power. Maybe not a Champion, but a Disciple for sure.

“Damn straight. Spent hours running around fighting for it, want to see what all the fuss was about.”

Santi pushed his way downtown, mindful of keeping Maya close by and not simply sprinting to the pillar. He had never had one before, the power of the pillars kept in the hands of the strongest around. Most Champions had one if not a collection of them.

“Cleared all your lightwork for you, boss” Chloe called out sarcastically, axe slung over her shoulder as she walked over to them. He could feel Hana off to the side, working her way closer but not introducing herself right now. She really had been picking up habits from Daniel.

“Thank you. I’ll be writing up a good performance review for your next evaluation,” Santi smiled at her, letting a peek of his true emotions through. Chloe’s clouded face drained of negativity as she smiled widely back at him.

“Oh, that’s gross,” Maya remarked snidely as she walked past them to look at the Pillar of Civilization.

“It is,” Hana declared as she materialized next to Maya, blocking her from touching the silvery metal of the pillar.

“Glass houses, Hana. Glass houses.” Chloe shot back, but the look of happiness on her face didn’t diminish one iota.

“Alright, let’s see what this baby holds for us,” Santi said, stepping around Maya as he reached up to connect to the Pillar.