After Yils explicitly told Stanis and his benefactor that she was not inclined to lend out her articles of clothing through a string of coarse words, Stanis had to settle for the worn out ones. Not that he minded in the least though as they were better than nothing and also surprisingly comfy. His benefactor, whose name he learnt to be Zelgard, seated him in the hall, before walking away into another room to get drinks. Stanis was now left all alone with Yils…

Stanis didn't know whether Zelgard was truly special in the head or whether this was some kind of cruel joke. Why else would he leave him with such a strong, nasty being? How did he know they were strong? Well, Yils's glare was a great starter and the fact that they were Human but apparently living a leisurely life up on the mountain, seemingly apathetic about the apocalypse, also helped his judgement.

Yils was engrossed by her book and showed no interest towards Stanis, and thus he was able to take many quick glances at her. She wore a red top and leather shorts, both fitting tightly around her skin. Her figure was curvaceous and athletic, her arms more toned that Zelgard's. Her skin was tanned light brown with a hint of orange. As for her face, it was simply without blemish as if an artist had sculpted it as their magnum opus, her eyes deathly grey and a full head of fiery, flowing hair. She had her hair loose and thus the strands rested on her shoulders, her expression pensive as she read the book. Calling her beautiful would be an understatement, although Stanis was fine keeping his precious life and thus didn't bother her, instead opting to twiddle his thumbs nervously.

The silence comforted him, his memories from the prison popping up: no screams, no shouts, no cries, nothing! It calmed him to the point that his nervousness eventually faded away.

"Ahh, here yoouu gooo!" shouted Zelgard as he walked in, three glasses within his hands. He was clearly in a jovial mood as he hummed as he walked, neither of his interruptions managing to disturb Yils's focus. Zelgard placed one glass by Yils, before briskly walking and handing the other to Stanis.

Stanis's hands instantly chilled as he held the glass. He peered into it, only to notice the mana fluctuations coming off it. He then looked towards Zelgard's glass and found that the slim man was basically drinking solidified mana, the fluctuations so strong that it was a surprise that Zelgard was still alive. If he had needed any more proof to believe that these two were incredibly strong, this was far more than enough. He dropped the thought and drank, the cool liquid burning up his insides as he drank it.

It was not to the stage of melting his insides, but it was high enough that he almost dropped the glass in response, his whole face cringing as he fought down the urge to cry out. Zelgard had long finished his own glass and was watching Stanis, not at all hiding his expressions as he began laughing out loud. Stanis was close to spitting his insides out as he heard this, although he was saved the effort as a flying book knocked the noisy man off his chair and onto the floor.

Not wanting to seem rude, Stanis gulped down the rest of his glass, almost earning him another giggle. Despite the public humiliation he had to go through, the drink was clearly special as he could feel it having an effect straight away, his physical fatigue quickly melting away. Before silence could once again fill the room, Zelgard pulled his chair in front of Stanis's and asked,

"So, why were you climbing the mountain?"

"Umm, I was injured in a fight and was being chased. I thought they wouldn't be able to find me high up the mountain" responded Stanis. His expression changed the next second as he stood up and bowed to both Zelgard and Yils in turn.

"I'm as thankful as can be for you saving my life. I was sure I was in Heaven as I woke up.", his mood was sombre and tone heartfelt as he said this.

"Well, it is kinda like Heaven up here I guess. It's peaceful and I have Yils by my side, although I do sometimes get bored" replied Zelgard. He forgot to mention or tactfully forgot to mention that he had only helped him because Stanis had won him his bet.

"We have all day, why don't you recount your story to me?" asked Zelgard, his expression almost pleading as if he could see Stanis declining. Yils sat a few steps away, disinterested in the story as she peacefully drank her drink.

Stanis guessed he was asking about how he got into such a situation but was a bit lost at where to start.

"There's a Human Village just down the mountain. I wasn't quite the level to get a class yet and so I chose to do a raid on the Zelts who live in this mountain."

"Oh, they're cuties" interrupted Zelgard. Stanis's heart lurched as he thought of this. Zelgard, catching his expression, added, "Don't worry. They won't dare chase you up here. Haha haha."

Not knowing how to respond to this man but his gratitude winning over, Stanis carried on.

"I was caught and they put me in a room. They tortured me for some time, but I escaped recently. I then destroyed their teleporter on the way and ran up the mountain." Stanis's face blanched as he recalled the events, skipping out on most of the details.

"Oh, that would explain why that Zelt looked like you had killed his mother. No wonder, you destroyed their teleporter." said Zelgard impassively.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Yils perked up, adding "No wonder you're like a frightened rabbit." Her voice wasn't filled with as much blade as usual, almost as if her view of Stanis had slightly changed.

Stanis didn't know how to respond but was saved as Zelgard asked him another question.

"So, what did you get for breaking their teleporter? They're like medium tier or something, aren't they?" to which Yils nodded.

Stanis was lost for words as he realised he hadn't checked any of his system messages yet. They had come while he had been crawling up the mountain and thus he had merely ignored them at the time.

Well done to all those who are still alive. You have been recorded as having contributed to the destruction of a teleporter of the Invader species "Zelt". Below are the top ten people with the most points contributed.

Stanis

Caleb

Orena

David

Alyona

Ji-Yeon

Tanya

Oogwagway

Rai

Jayesh

It seemed destroying the teleporter itself earned you a lot of points. He was also pleasantly surprised to see Orena and Jayesh on the list, as well as Tanya who he had warmed up to during the raid. Inside of him, however, a part of his mind was crying out how none of them had helped him when he had been knocked out. If they were still alive now, it meant they must have at least had enough energy to run all the way out of the tunnels after he had been knocked out. And yet they had still decided to leave him to the Zelts, allowing them full reign over his body…

Stanis dropped this thought, it was a matter for another time.

You have 83 points for a medium difficulty teleporter. A large number of allies were involved in the destruction and stayed alive during the hunting duration. Your reward has been lowered to:

20 extra attribute points

5 levels equivalent experience.

A spell suited for you.

It was largely the same as last time, although that seemed to be because only 5 people had been alive at the end of the Goblin camp raid. A skill scroll appeared in his hands as Stanis checked his status.

Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Mana capacity: 33 (regeneration is capacity/4 per hour)

Level 26 (Progress to the next level is 31%)

Unallocated points: 34

Strength: 23 [26]

Dexterity: 23 [26]

Constitution: 24[25]

Intelligence: 23[17]

Wisdom: 20[16]

Tenacity: 38[21]

Skills: Layman's Rush, Scout and Sense, Light Healing, Destructive Mana Recharge

It had been a long time since he had looked at his Status and it showed as he stared at his tenacity. It had naturally gone up by 17 points, the source of such an improvement clear as day to him. It had not been worth it… Tears started leaking down his eyes as he thought up ways to use his attribute points. Not wanting his benefactors to see his emotional state, he turned to his side and cleared his eyes using the sleeve of his shirt.

He had 34 unallocated points. Stanis decided to evenly spread his points.

"Seven points in Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence and Six points into Wisdom."

Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Mana capacity: 44 (regeneration is capacity/4 per hour)

Level 26 (Progress to the next level is 31%)

Strength: 30 [26]

Dexterity: 30 [26]

Constitution: 31[25]

Intelligence: 30[17]

Wisdom: 26[16]

Tenacity: 38[21]

Skills: Layman's Rush, Scout and Sense, Light Healing, Destructive Mana Recharge

He was now well above the average Human at this stage of the apocalypse, and yet his lips couldn't curl up into a smile. It hadn't been worth it, his mind was now haunted by ghastly memories, the experiences leaving him a shell of what he was before. Not at all worth it…

Stanis broke out of his thoughts as he realised he was still in his benefactors' company. He turned around and saw that Zelgard had pulled up his chair beside Yils and was whispering into her ear, all the while pointing and staring at Stanis. He seemed flustered at being caught and acted innocent, while Yils stayed dead-pan the whole time, almost as if she wasn't even involved in this. It was unbeknownst to Stanis that his flood-barriers had broken a long time ago, hot tears dripping down his face as he got up and presented his skill scroll to the two.

"I don't have much to thank you for saving my life, but I just got this now. Please take it as part of my gratitude."

He was on his knees as he said this, the scroll held out in front of him. Yils remained emotionless, whereas Zelgard opened the scroll and threw it back to Stanis. Yils had a knowing expression on her face as he whispered into her ear once more.

It was Yils that talked, "No need to thank me, I didn't go out of my way at all… But if you really want to thank Zelgard, why don't you stay as a guest for a bit longer?" Her voice was sharp but Zelgard seemed not to notice as he bashfully nudged her, as if she had just asked Stanis on a date on his behalf. He then gave a toothy smile as he noticed Stanis's perplexed face, all his teeth shining brightly…