Alex was still riding the high of his level-ups, a warm, electric feeling that hummed beneath his skin. The giddy relief of his colleagues barely registered; while he appreciated the victory, he didn't see it as some grand accomplishment. They were just overgrown rodents. Badgers were rodents, right? Probably not. He moved on. Race: [Human (G) – lvl 1] Class: [Archer – lvl 2] Health Points (HP): 130/130 Mana Points (MP): 120/120 [Forerunner of the New World] He realized he hadn’t opened the window since the very beginning, not even to confirm his class or title. And it had certainly grown. His agility alone had jumped from 8 to 14, nearly doubling with the title and levels combined. Perception, which gained two points per archer level, had increased by a full eight points. He could feel the difference. Sounds were crisper, his vision sharper than it had ever been, even when he wasn't focusing his will into Archer’s Eye. It might have been his imagination, but he felt his senses continuing to sharpen as he stood there, the adrenaline of the fight ebbing away. Either the new stats took time to fully integrate, or his body simply needed a moment to acclimate. Something to experiment with later, he thought with a small, private smile. Stats were a strange phenomenon. During the fight, he had moved with a speed and strength that would have put a peak athlete to shame, yet it had all felt completely natural. He hadn't questioned it for a second. It was almost frightening how easily the mind adapted to such radical changes in the body’s performance. Chalking it up to system-magic, he dismissed the status screen and finally noticed that everyone was staring, their gazes shifting between him and the dead badgers. "Thanks, Emily," Daniel said, gently easing the blushing woman away from him. He turned to the others, his voice carrying a newfound confidence. "Good job, everyone. Especially you, Alex." Daniel seemed to be himself again, the familiar passive smile and the glint in his eye returning. The tension of the battle had finally broken. As a side note, Alex had completely demolished their carefully laid plan by killing half the beasts before the fight had even properly started. The only part of their strategy that remained relevant was what to do with the corpses. They needed a source of food, so… badger meat. Hooray. Figuring out how to transport the carcasses proved to be a hassle. No one was eager to pick up the bloody animals, especially the one Walter and Mark had torn into, which was now little more than a mangled ruin of fur and flesh. In the end, they only took the two Alex had killed at the start, as they were the most intact. Robert, feeling guilty for not contributing to the fight, and Kevin, who just seemed eager to help, volunteered for carrying duty. No one even looked in Alex’s direction or asked him to take a share of the load. He wasn't about to complain. As they pressed onward, still searching for a source of water, Alex checked his quiver. He was down to 54 arrows, having fired six in the battle. Focusing on the quiver, he willed its description to appear. [Enchanted Quiver (Common)] – A quiver enchanted with the ability to conjure [common] quality arrows when injected with mana. Now I just have to figure out how to inject something with mana, he thought to himself. Four seconds later, he had his answer. It was far easier than he’d anticipated. He just had to hold the quiver and… will it. The impulse was almost instinctual. A strange but not unpleasant sensation washed over him as mana flowed from his body into the item. Inside the quiver, he saw the faint outlines of arrows shimmer into existence, seemingly growing from the treated leather. After about half a minute, his stock was back to sixty. When he tried to push more mana into it, nothing happened. A glance at his status showed he was down to 102/120 MP. Three mana per arrow. Got it. Damn, this would have been useful back in the day, he mused, admiring the magical quiver. Then again, he added, I didn't have mana. He had briefly considered retrieving his used arrows, but the reasons not to were compelling. First, they were covered in blood and viscera and would need a thorough cleaning. Second, their penetrative power would be slightly reduced after one use. Third, and most importantly, he could just conjure new ones. If he ever ran low on mana himself, he could probably just have one of the warriors, who had no other use for their mana pools, refill it for him. All that ignored the simple fact that it was far more time-efficient to spend a few seconds conjuring arrows than to go hunting for them in the undergrowth. As they continued their trek, Alex quickly found himself at the front of the formation, walking beside Walter. The big man seemed to be wrestling with something, but he finally worked up the nerve to speak. "Alex… were you in the military? Or maybe you did a lot of hunting?" he asked, his voice low. The question caught Alex off guard. "No to both. I did a lot of archery when I was younger, though. Still practice when I visit my parents. Why do you ask?" He was genuinely confused. He thought he’d done decently in the fight, but nothing extraordinary. "It's just… you handled yourself so well back there. That’s all," Walter said, not pressing the issue. The answer, however, clearly didn't satisfy him. Alex just nodded and turned his attention forward, scanning the dense foliage. One thing he’d noticed was the complete lack of smaller life. No insects buzzed in the air, no grubs writhed in the dirt. Even the birds flitting between the canopy branches were all roughly pigeon-sized or larger. No insects was a blessing, he decided. If normal animals had mutated into these monstrous versions of themselves, he could only imagine what a swarm of mutated mosquitoes or a venomous spider could do. They could wipe out the entire group before anyone knew what hit them. The forest was a suffocating labyrinth of rolling hills, fallen logs, and giant bushes that made seeing more than ten meters ahead an impossible task. Their pace slowed to a crawl. After several more minutes of careful progress, Alex caught a flicker of movement to his left. He instantly jabbed Walter in the side and pointed with his chin. Walter followed his gaze to a rustling bush and silently raised a hand, signaling the group to halt. Alex slipped the bow from his shoulder, drew an arrow, and nocked it, his body tense and ready. A few moments later, the rustling stopped. Silence descended upon the forest once more. Alex could feel the others begin to relax, but his own intuition screamed that something was still there. He focused his vision, activating Archer's Eye and peering intently at the bush. Between the leaves, he caught the faint glint of light reflecting off something wet. Without a second's hesitation, he released the arrow. A high-pitched shriek tore through the air. A small Boar, no higher than their knees, stumbled out from the foliage. It took a few frantic steps before collapsing, Alex’s arrow protruding from its left eye socket. You have slain [Boar-Beast – lvl 1] – Experience earned. 1 TP earned The clearing fell silent again as everyone stared at the dead piglet. Daniel opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a far more terrifying sound. A deafening squeal of pure rage echoed through the trees, followed by a rhythmic stomping that made the very ground vibrate. Someone screamed, "Run! Hide!" Alex didn't know who it was, and he didn't care. He was already moving, sprinting back towards the relative cover of a large, thick-trunked tree. Without hesitation, he pulled his knife and another arrow from his quiver, slamming them into the bark hard enough to serve as handholds. As he began to climb, he registered the rest of the group scattering, all of them scrambling for cover behind trees. Only Walter stood his ground, holding the rear, his shield raised defensively towards the direction of the thunderous approach. Alex was making rapid progress up the trunk when the bush the piglet had emerged from was violently torn apart. A massive Boar, taller at the shoulder than even Walter, burst into the clearing. It completely ignored the others, its bloodshot eyes locked on the tree Alex was climbing. It charged, smashing into the trunk tusk-first with the force of a battering ram. The entire tree shuddered violently, the impact jarring Alex's grip. He lost his hold on the arrow but managed to cling to the hilt of his knife, narrowly avoiding a fatal fall. As Alex stabilized himself, plunging another arrow into the wood for a fresh hold, he saw the rest of the group huddled behind a nearby tree, gawking at the immense beast. Finally, Daniel shook himself from his stupor. "Casters! Chris! Fire!" The Boar, however, was still fixated on its singular target, ignoring the nine other humans preparing to attack. It slammed its head into the tree again and again, squealing in fury. It was a costly mistake, giving the others the opening they needed. Three bolts of crackling mana and a single arrow slammed into the Boar's flank. The mana bolts exploded on impact, leaving small, smoking craters in its thick hide. Chris's arrow, however, seemed to bounce off harmlessly. The pain finally drew the beast's attention. With new, more accessible targets in sight, the massive Boar began to stomp towards the group. Not even Walter had any intention of meeting that charge head-on. They scattered, darting between the trees. The tactic worked. The dense woods prevented the beast from building up speed, its size making tight turns impossible. It charged clumsily, trying in vain to gore anyone who came close, while the humans used the terrain to their advantage. This bought Alex the time he needed to haul himself onto a thick branch and find a secure foothold. From his new vantage point, he began loosing arrows. Unlike Chris’s, Alex’s shafts punched through the Boar’s tough hide, embedding themselves deep in its flesh. The beast roared and charged the tree again, but it was a futile gesture, ending only with another dull thud against the unyielding wood. It was doing more damage to itself than to anyone else. What followed felt like an eternity. Alex systematically rained arrows down upon the Boar while the casters fired mana bolts whenever they had a clear shot. Below, the warriors kept the beast's attention, shouting and waving their swords to draw its rage. Their strategy seemed to be working, until a sudden yelp cut through the chaos. Alex looked down and saw that Susan had tripped. She was lying prone on the forest floor, just meters from the Boar, looking completely dazed from the fall. The Boar may have been stupid, but it recognized vulnerable prey. It instantly shifted its attention, its massive form turning towards her. Walter charged forward without a thought, but he was too far away, too slow. The beast thundered towards Susan. It didn't even bother with its tusks. It simply ran her over, its massive hooves pounding the earth. A wet, snapping sound echoed through the clearing, followed by a piercing scream of agony from Susan. Before the Boar could turn for another pass, Walter reached it, plunging his sword nearly a third of its length into the beast’s side. The Boar bellowed, its focus immediately shifting from the screaming woman on the ground. With a vicious sweep of its head, it slammed its tusks into the heavy warrior, sending him flying into a tree with a sickening crunch. His sword remained lodged in the Boar's flank. The desperate move, however, gave Kevin the chance to rush in and drag Susan to the relative safety of a tree. From his perch, Alex saw it all. Nothing I can do about it, he thought, his face a mask of concentration as he kept up the assault. Might as well use the opening her mistake created. The Boar was beginning to look like a porcupine, and with every mana bolt that seared its flesh, its movements grew more sluggish. It huffed, bloodshot eyes now fixed on Kevin, who was covered in Susan's blood. Before it could launch another charge, an arrow from Alex struck it squarely in its remaining good eye. He reached back for another shaft, only to find his quiver empty. At the same moment, the Boar, blind and enraged, slammed into his tree one last time. Blood was pooling on the forest floor, and the beast itself looked as though it had been dipped in a vat of red paint. Two more mana bolts struck its hindquarters, and Chris was still firing his largely ineffective arrows. The beast was on its last legs. Seeing their chance, the warriors finally felt confident enough to close in. They swarmed it, stabbing with their swords. Only Walter remained on the ground, conscious but struggling to rise. A few more deep thrusts from the warriors, combined with the continuous blood loss, was enough. With a final, shuddering groan, the great beast collapsed. You have slain [Razorback Boar – lvl 10] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. Experience split with the rest of your party. 302 TP earned ’DING!’ Class: [Archer] has reached level 3 – Stat points allocated, +1 free point Alex felt the familiar warm glow of a level-up, but he ignored the notifications for now. He leaped down from his branch and rushed to where Susan lay. Emily was already there, her hands glowing with healing magic. As he drew closer, he felt a brief wave of relief that she was still alive, a feeling that evaporated the moment he saw her lower body. One of her legs was a mangled ruin of shattered bone and flesh. The other was simply gone from the knee down, crushed into an unrecognizable paste by the Boar’s immense weight. "Use the healing potions, too!" Robert yelled, pulling one of his own and handing it to Kevin, who was cradling Susan's head. Kevin quickly uncorked it and poured the red liquid into her mouth. The effect was instantaneous. The mangled leg began to rapidly knit itself back together. Mark quickly grabbed it and forced it into a proper position, ignoring Susan's pained shrieks. The limb healed, but the other was a far grimmer sight. The potion sealed the wound, but no new leg grew to replace the one she had lost. Walter limped over, an empty potion bottle in his own hand, his pained expression evidence of its use. Susan had mercifully lost consciousness. The mood was even more somber than after their first fight. There was no celebration this time. "We need to move. This much blood will attract something," Robert said, his voice heavy. Kevin and Mark took Susan by the shoulders, preparing to carry her between them. The two badger corpses had been dropped during the panicked retreat and were likely trampled into oblivion by the jeep-sized Boar. No one felt like looking for them. As the group began to move, Alex took his quiver and started conjuring new arrows. A setback like this couldn’t stop them. There was still daylight left. He had just willed four new arrows into existence when Daniel and Emily slowed their pace to walk beside him. He looked at them, confused, until Daniel stopped and met his gaze. "…Why did you do that?"

Chapter 5: The Hum of Power