Chapter 219: Seriously, this is alone time right?!

A few days earlier in the White House's Oval Office.

"Come in," President Smith said, looking up from his papers at the knock at the door.

"Sir, the woman you asked for is here."

"Ah good, see her in will you."

A moment later, the lycanthrope woman was replaced with another woman. She wore a white mask covering her entire face, two small slits opened for her eyes and two pin-like holes for her to breathe. She also had waist-long raven black hair that draped over her form-fitting black suit.

"Miss Daywell, I'm glad you arrived so quickly. I did not expect you for several more days," Smith greeted.

"The job, you can skip the niceties. I work for money not compliments," Daywell answered curtly.

"Always to the point… You have been in the government's employ for some time even before the monumental change and of course, we are grateful for it. But now we are facing a threat to our great nation like nothing we have seen before," Smith explained a grave expression on his face, "We have already sent one of our best agents as a diplomat but I fear it will not go as planned. You are to move ahead of him and find the man named Drake Wallen. You are to only assess his abilities and the validity of our reports."

Smith motioned his hand in the direction of a stack of papers, "These are the reports and the relevant information we have on the man. He is currently going under the guise of being level 14, but information from reliable sources say he is as high as level 27 if not higher, the lowest speculation is that he is level 22. I advise you to use extreme caution, we have very sparse information on his skills and class. Multiple reports even from people we have interviewed from the town of ReUnite, state that he has been seen using potent magic, unimaginable strength in close combat, as well as other conflicting combat skills."

Miss Daywell, flipped through the papers and folders on the table, a smile slowly forming on her face under the mask.

"Oh, this will be fun, another upstart taking on more than he can chew? We can't have that can we…"

—------------------

Drake grumbled gripping the bow at his side, Sah Ul' walking in tandem with him pulling awkwardly at the hem of her fur coat, her cheeks slightly flushed.

This is going to be interesting…. Drake thought, heaving a sigh.

"So you understand what we are doing Sarah?" he asked, turning to her.

"I believe so, Patriarch. You wish to travel to the town your family is in to map the way for the children while capturing low-level monsters for the low-level dungeon anchor you possess. As well as gathering and spreading any information with anyone we come across," she said, almost reciting a list that she had memorized.

"That's basically the gist, yeah. But we are also going to see how you fight," Drake added, holding up his bow, "We are going to have you be the vanguard while I provide support with a bow. This is going to also make it so anyone that sees or meets with us will think that you are the stronger of our little group while we go around," he explained, jingling his necklace.

[Oliver Queen Level 11]

Drake had changed his identity once again to something lower, only those keeping up with the city lists should be able to understand that he was Drake Wallen. He had tested the effects of the necklace on the list earlier before leaving. Each time he changed, the list would update and change with it.

Natto had assured him that at higher Nobility Ranks that would change and that he would eventually be able to hide his name or change it completely to differ from his actual name on the list. But for now, he was stuck working with just hoping no one put two and two together.

So far through the snow-covered plains they had not encountered many monsters, most likely due to the regular cullings that the adventurers and guards had done. The anchoring of the crystal had also mostly cleared out the nearby monsters.

But once they moved further out, coming to the forest at the end of the plains they began running into monsters.

[Ice Slime Level 17]

Sah Ul' pointed to the white-tinted blob, "Is this what we seek, Patriarch?"

Drake hummed, "Ummmm, I think it's too high of a level for what we want, I guess we have to go further away from the town still, right now we want them to be around level 1 to 10, anything that would require the kids or people to have their first class upgrade are going to be too dangerous at the moment. Take care of it and let's continue."

Sah Ul' nodded, taking a stance with her huge ax, a smile on her face.

Drake looked on expectantly, not having seen her use her new weapon yet.

Sah Ul' took one massive step forward, using both hands to bring down her enormous ax. The blade was covered in a red hue just before it made contact with the slime making Drake raise his brow.

"Oh? You used some sort of enhancement skill only just before the point of impact reducing the expenditure of your status… Making me feel like I'm being sloppy," Drake scoffed, admonishing himself.

Sah Ul's blade easily split the slime in two as well as the ground for several feet. The slime deflated and spread out until its gelatinous body melded with the snow, a small dull core remaining.

She picked up the core with a grin, "I have learned to do so thanks to watching the others during the fighting of the monster calling."

"Monster calling?" Drake asked.

"Yes, the time which the crystal called for the monsters in the world, we have named it such. The other humans I have watched are not as strong as I. Yet, their usage of skills is very well thought out and I wish to improve further to protect the tribe. I must always get stronger…" she said trailing off.

"Why? I mean I get wanting to protect things important to you, don't get me wrong but you seem to have a particularly strong sense of responsibility for your tribe Sarah," Drake asked, picking up on her intensity as she gripped the monster core.

"During our trial… The tutorial as you call it. My mother, like many others, were still with us. The tribe was strong, but not strong enough…. Our warriors could not adapt to the environment and the onslaught of beats swiftly enough to defend everyone. Even my father, one of the greatest warriors of our tribe's history lacked the strength to protect everyone."

Sah Ul' looked further into the forest, her expression steely and tense as she seemed to be remembering an unpleasant memory.

"The first days of the trial were the worst. I was not prepared as a warrior. I was soft, weak. The monsters came in the night when the warriors were recovering. My mother died defending me and the children of the Rahk. Kalik's mother too, was among them…"

She turned to Drake, looking him in the eyes with her own reddening gaze, "I do not wish to ever experience that type of weakness again. From that day onward I have never known defeat, not to monster, not to warrior. Until I met you."

Drake scratched the side of his cheek.

The feelings of wanting to comfort her battled with his responsibility and obligation to Claire. His own morals dissuaded him from getting too close to Sah Ul' but he already knew his own feelings were beginning to grow into something else for her with every passing day. How could they not with everything going on and how earnest she was toward protecting everyone and everything? Drake's mind was sent into turmoil with how to solve the situation.

"Yeah, I am pretty strong," he joked, "But don't worry. I'm the leader of the town now and I'll keep my word. I'll keep everyone safe…" he said trailing off, not sure how to continue the conversation.

Thankfully another monster came into view, stopping the conversation in its tracks for now.

"Looks like you're up again."

Sah Ul' turned to the monster pulling her ax upwards into a striking stance again.

After dealing with the new monster their journey continued like this for the next few hours as they moved through the forest, the tension from their earlier conversation only getting more and more oppressive in the air.

Drake tried to distract himself by thinking back on the monsters they had seen as well as the ones he had defeated during the time the crystal was anchoring.

Most of the monsters are variations of animals that were native to this area in the old world. Rabbits, coyotes, types of felines, and even some of the more exotic ones can even be explained as animals from the zoos getting loose. But then there are some others I have no idea got here. Maybe they're from the other merged worlds like Theodore mentioned?

Rubbing his head in frustration he let out a groan.

"Okay, I've had enough just watching!" Drake growled.

Sah Ul' was still fighting a group of monsters they came across, not because she could not handle them but because they came in a large pack of 50, and more were coming by the minute.

[Mana Rabbit Level 12]

The monsters were quick on their feet just like they were before the infusion of magic and apparently just as hump happy.

Drake placed an empty hand on the bowstring conjuring several magic circles as he pulled back on the bow.

"Elemental Arrow Barrage," he muttered, letting the string loose.

Arrows of ice, lightning, fire, earth, and dripping lava flew forward piercing and skewering several Rabbits at a time.

Each and every unfortunate Mana Rabbit that was hit felt the full force of Drake's mental and more importantly emotional frustration with each manifested magic arrow.

Sah Ul' continued to swing in large arcs, bisecting Rabbits in bloody swaths painting the snow red as they both went to town on the pack.

Drake continued to conjure arrows as if it was normal for an archer class to have such a large mana pool at his level.

Only after the monsters ceased to gather did they also halt their assault. After nearly 20 minutes of, kinda, somewhat, holding back. Did the endless stream of monsters finish.

"Ahhhh I feel better!" Drake sighed in relief, "I should definitely grab a few of them if we find more for the dungeon. I wonder if that was a monster horde? Or do they naturally come in such large packs…" he wondered.

Sah Ul' interrupted him in his moment of thinking turning her head in the direction of a shout they both heard.

"Oh? Canon event? Haven't had one of these in a while," Drake chuckled wryly.

"Who is Canon?" Sah Ul' asked confused, "It sounds that someone is in need of assistance, Patriarch. But it may also be a trap, shall we go?"

Drake shrugged, "I don't see why not, if it's a monster we kill it, if it's a person we could use the information they probably have. Lead on," he motioned, putting the bow around his chest like a veteran archer.

Sah Ul' nodded shouldering her massive ax and sprinting forward, kicking up snow and dirt with each step.

Drake smiled unused to having a companion who had such enthusiasm for fighting as well as stats that could keep up with him if only somewhat.

"Off we go I guess…" he muttered his hair changing to a light green.

A few seconds later he arrived behind Sah Ul', but she was already in motion as Drake instantly took in the scene.

Three men and women were surrounded by monsters not unlike they were earlier. These monsters were however Deer instead of Rabbits.

[Mana Doe Level 15]

[Mana Buck Level 18]

It's differentiating between males and females of the species now? Or is it just because they have such opposing features? Drake thought, stepping once more and appearing in front of the three people.

"Hello," Drake greeted.

"Ah! What the fuck is going on?!"

Drake poked his ear with his pinky, "No need to shout… I'm with my friend, she's going to take care of the pesky deer, or well deers? Is deers plural for deer? What's a group of deer called…? A herd right or is it something weird like a murder of crows or a conspiracy of lemurs…?"

"Will you shut up! What is wrong with you?!"

"Several things I've been told but here I bring gifts," Drake smiled pacifying the three with red potions.

"Health potions?! H-how did you get so many of these? How did you take them out, aren't you in combat like the rest of us?!"

Drake ignored them looking at the battle Sah Ul' was in.

She was handling herself well against the horde. She kept her distance enough that her ax could reach the monsters while never losing her footing and vision of the mysteriously larger bucks that filled the group.

The bucks seemed to have been supercharged by the magic and mana, their antlers growing several times larger along with their bodies. But they also have not seemed to attack yet, content with watching the Does do the work for now.

Drake continued to send his aura out, using his Ocular skills in tandem with his aura to freeze monsters momentarily for Sah Ul' to strike them down. While also using his aura to roughly count the number of monsters until he saw several unmoving bodies on the ground underneath the towering Deer.

He looked back at the people, "How many people are in your party?"

"W-we had six with us, but the vanguard fell when more monsters came!"

Drake growled his hair shimmering from the light green to a vibrant yellow that crackled with power.

With a few quick steps, Drake weaved through the herd of deer, picking up the people left underneath them. Arriving back at the three in an instant with three bodies in his arms he let down gently to the ground. Only one of them was breathing, a man in shoddy plate armor.

Drake looked at one of the others who was still holding a red vial in their hands, their mouth agape at Drake's movement.

"Give that here, thanks," Drake said, snatching the vial before they could protest.

Placing the vial to the man's lips he dribbled the potion into his mouth, a few coughs pausing the process until he was breathing more regularly and color returned to his pale face.

"Good now it's time to clean this up," Drake said standing up.

"B-but you're only level 11!"

Drake clicked his tongue.

Shit, I already forgot that I put myself at such a low level… I guess I'll just have to wait until Sah Ul' can finish most of the monsters. Drake thought only to be brought back to the present when he heard a guttural roar of battle.

Snapping back to reality, Drake saw Sah Ul' shout a battle cry, holding a buck in her left hand, her massive ax in the other. She threw the buck into the herd of deer, the incredibly large body crushing many of its allies undertow as she shot forward with more speed than before.

She swung her ax with ease, her eyes and body glowing red.

"Is she ramping up like Bjorn does? Maybe that's why she lost so fast, she didn't have time to reach the full duration her skill needed earlier when we fought. I never did ask her class and skills so that might be accurate…" Drake wondered aloud in a soft voice.

Sah Ul' controlled the field within a minute of Drake observing.

"Guess I won't have to do anything…" he scoffed, the head of a buck landing at his feet, startling the three people they had saved, "She's really a menace…" Drake laughed wearily as he kept his eyes on her.

Sah Ul's body had become drenched in blood, painting her once white and black coat complete deep crimson, specs of red tracing her face and bare skin in certain places as she jumped, charged, and trampled through the herd with an emotionless face of a practiced fighter.

Drake looked on mesmerized at the efficiency, the practiced movement, and the positioning she displayed. Unable to keep a smile creasing his lips as he continued to watch he couldn't help a thought passing his mind.

We would make a good couple, huh….