Jason slew another orc as blood spilled on the ground. A window opened up, announcing his swordsmanship increased by another level.

Intermediate Swordsmanship level up to level 6

It’s been a while since this one appears.

A welcoming notification. He smiled, while those around him were fighting to their utmost ability. Every Inuits in his party were fighting alone to their very best. There were no more team-fight as the journey they went through was riddled with intense fights.

Like they always said, difficult adversity built one’s character, but for Awakened, they grew in strength and prowess. Arrluk bashed a single orc with heavy slaps of his metal rod. The grandson, Nuniq, fought like he always did. His claws shredded an orc into pieces as his Druid Warrior class shined during battle. A little Scan let Jason knew of what he was, and it also included the sister.

Jason watched Tapeesa dodged the heavy attacks of the orc as she timed her attack.

“Frost Orb,” a ball of chilling coldness emerged from her hand as it struck the orc by the torso. A chilling breeze spread from the orc’s bulging stomach as it turned bluish purple. It froze on its track as the coldness spread throughout its body, and it wasn’t the end.

“Icicle Spear,” a spear made out of ice floated above her with her arm outstretched to the sky. She threw the Icicle Spear with every might that she had. It pierced right through the orc’s belly as it flopped to the ground to its death.

Cryogenist, a class that can easily correlate to an Ice-based mage. Looking at her skills can really put one’s emotion down, their numbers…. Huh, who cares. I’ve already chosen Assassin, and I might as well hope for a future class advancement or something.

Since turning into an Awakened, Jason had felt too much regret. Tilting his head, Jason shrugged those fleeting regrets as he knew what matters.

“Let’s go. We need to cover more ground.” Jason glanced at his watch as the time was well past afternoon. He had been traversing through Oshawa’s land since morning, and it was more difficult to navigate with the surroundings no longer bore the same as before disasters struck.

The land was no longer flat as the earthquake changed everything. Like a rocky mountain path with roads hidden by the debris and dirt, and buildings broken to the point of not resembling buildings.

“For once, let me catch my breath,” said Nuniq as he was on his knees. Tapeesa too was squatting down as her eyes were a bit of a daze. Arrluk gulped down a mouthful of water as he stood back up, readied to depart.

“Stop whining. What Mr.Park said is right. We need to get a move on before the sky turns dark,” said Arrluk.

Nuniq complained in his whispers, and Tapeesa got up with her eyes still a bit dazed. The four continued their journey. Jason didn’t have any problem climbing and jumping around as his status was adequate for harsh environments. He even had the leisure to killed any orcs that he encountered with just a swing of his swords.

Those who trailed behind weren’t fazed by Jason’s feat. After many times of seeing it, they just accepted that this Jason was even more of a freak than their grandpa. But Jason wasn’t liking it as seeing these many orcs surviving the disasters wasn’t a good sign. He hoped his initial assumption was wrong, but the detest answer was becoming clearer and clearer.

Another four hours of trekking through the harsh road and there, Jason stood. The rest of them lagged behind as Jason stared down the black abyss. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he glanced left and right. It was the same scene.

“Shit, they really did it.”

He couldn’t believe it, but the plan from the military came to a realization. What he saw in front was a real-life fact. A long ravine, splitting the earth from one end of his sight to the other. He couldn’t see the end of it, but at least the approaching danger was stopped for a while. Jason stared at the deep abyss as the ground was nowhere in sight.

Even if those orcs survive, I doubt they can climb up with this height.

It would be best if the Orc Chief was also down there, but deep down, he hoped that bastard pig was still walking around here as he had a debt to be paid.

“Wow,” an exclamation from two siblings. At times like this, their sibling unity came to life. Arrluk watched in silence as he didn’t have much to say.

“For a bunch of soldiers, they really outdid themselves,” said Nuniq.

“So, what are you going to do?” Arrluk posed a question.

“I found that the plan succeeded, but there’s still a…” at the corner of his eyes, he saw something. His eyes went wide as he kicked Arrluk back on the path that they trailed.

Nuniq and Tapeesa were shocked seeing what they just saw. They didn’t expect betrayal from a person that fought together with them. With their teenage mindset, Nuniq blew over his top, prepared to fight to the death with Jason, and his sister was the same. Even if she had a crush on Jason, she still prioritized her family more than some bad boy from nowhere. An icy gaze directed at Jason as her hands became chilly.

But the wrath of the siblings, dialed back down to nothingness, as the man who kicked their grandparents got hit by a huge black club.

The siblings stared as Jason’s whole body was off the ground heading into the air above the deep ravine. Everything happened in just a second. The heavy club dropped as gravity took charge. The club pushed Jason into the deep ravine as a man tried to escape his impending doom.

Yet the siblings watched in stupefaction as they couldn’t grasp what was going on. Realization struck Tapeesa by the second as she shouted and screamed for his name.

“Jason!!!”

Even if it was for a second, her belated realization cast a cloud of sorrow to her heart. She blamed her crush, yet the truth unveiled in an instant. He did it to saved the grandfather.

“Tapeesa!” Arrluk roared, calling to his granddaughter. Yet his eyes were focused on a single entity. The grip on his metal rod tightened as his pupils were quivering in rage.

“There’s time for grief, but not now!” Arrluk shouted. Nuniq, who paid heed to his grandfather, saw the walking monstrosity with a bulging stomach.

“Tapeesa! Stand together! It’s time we fight!”

To his grandfather’s words, Tapeesa turned and stared at the hulking monster that was plodding towards them. She faced her body at the new enemy as her gaze was fierce as she knew who was the one responsible for what had happened. Then a teenage girl bellowed to the top of her lung.

“I’m going to kill you!”