ch12- Rising Stakes

Walking down the familiar yet chaotic street, Alex shot Danny a sideways glance, rolling his eyes. "This game isn't going to be easy. Let's see if you're still laughing in a few days."

Despite his words, Alex couldn't deny the thrill. With the R-grade Blessing coursing through him, the feeling of having overwhelming power at his disposal was addictive. But this power was temporary—once the effect of the Blessing Stone wore off tomorrow, there was no telling what level of Blessing he'd awaken to.

Even if he was lucky enough to retain his R-grade Blessing, the monster-weakening effect from the **Prologue Quest** would only last for a week. After that, Alex doubted even an R-grade Blessing would allow him to cut through enemies as easily as now. In reality, humanity's current strength was fleeting; facing the monsters head-on would only grow more challenging.

Danny, however, wasn't thinking that far ahead. After witnessing Alex's dominance, he was just hoping he could be lucky enough to awaken an R-grade Blessing tomorrow. "If I can get an R-grade, I'd want the game to be even tougher!" he quipped, clearly unbothered.

"Focus, you two!" Tina snapped from behind them, still looking shaken but regaining her composure. The rest of the group, Max and the other boys, with Tina at the center, were all on alert. The earlier battle had rattled them, but now they were determined.

Jason, always quick to read the mood, was about to crack a joke to ease the tension when his eyes narrowed. "Watch out! Monsters ahead!" he shouted, pointing forward.

The group instantly turned to see two blue scythe creatures emerging from a noodle shop across the street. 

"Not too many. Stay together, pull them over here, and keep an eye out for more nearby," Max, who had taken charge of the group, gave his orders with the confidence of a seasoned leader, drawing from his experience in basketball team management and online games. His directions flowed naturally as he assessed the situation.

However, the rest of the group hesitated. The two other squads, not as quick on their feet, didn't immediately know how to lure the creatures over. In contrast, their classmate, Brian, wasted no time. He grabbed a few rocks from the ground and flung them at the monsters without a second thought.

Jason's earlier shout had already caught the attention of the scythe creatures, and Brian's stones sealed the deal. With a screech, the two monsters charged straight at them, scythes gleaming.

"Alex, you stay back for now! Second squad, move in!" Max barked, stopping Alex just as he was about to leap into action. Instead, he signaled the second group to engage.

For a brief moment, the second squad froze, unsure of how to proceed. With the monsters closing in fast, Max's face reddened with frustration as he yelled, "Get in there!"

Finally snapping out of it, the second squad's leader, a muscular man, let out a battle cry and charged at the creatures, his friends close behind. These gym trainers were familiar with each other, and though nervous, they followed the lead, engaging the monsters.

Despite outnumbering the creatures five to two, the initial clash was rough. Two of their members were knocked back almost immediately, leaving only four to face off against the blue monsters. The situation turned dire quickly.

Seeing this, Alex tightened his grip on his blade. Without hesitation, he stepped in, blocking one monster's scythe with his weapon and delivering a brutal slash in return. "Take care of the other one!" he shouted to the remaining squad members as he split the creatures apart.

With Alex handling one, the second squad regrouped and savagely took down the remaining scythe creature, adrenaline pushing them through their fear. 

The battle was short but intense, leaving everyone but Alex shaken. Working together, they could bring down the monsters quickly, but it was clear—if they were caught off-guard or outnumbered, the creatures would cut them down just as easily.

Max, his face still flushed, tried to steady his shaking hands. After a deep breath, he spoke again. "From now on, we'll have squads two and three take turns engaging smaller groups of monsters."

There was a brief pause before the squad leaders nodded in agreement. With Alex providing support, the risk was manageable, and defeating monsters came with rewards.

Max's focus was on building coordination. As vanguard squads, they needed to learn how to work together, even with limited time.

The earlier commotion caused some stir in the rear of the larger group, but once the monsters were dealt with, things quickly settled down. The convenience store wasn't far from the school, and most of the surrounding monsters had already been cleared. Over the next ten minutes, they encountered a few more small groups of creatures, easily dispatching them as they progressed.

But as they rounded the final corner, approaching the store, they ran into a much bigger problem. Gathered around the monster spawn point were dozens of creatures. 

Carefully surveying the area, Alex counted over thirty monsters within sight—too many for their group to handle easily. Even if they managed to kill all the creatures, there was a high chance they'd suffer casualties.

While squad two went back to report the situation, Alex and his team began discussing their options.

"There are too many of them. If we could pull a few at a time, that'd be ideal," said Danny, his bravado from earlier giving way to nervousness at the sight of so many monsters. Though confident in their strength, this was a much larger group than before. If the monsters swarmed them, the consequences would be disastrous.

Max nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, we'll need to lure them in batches. The question is, how many will follow at once?"

As they deliberated, Jason, who had been keeping watch, came running over, his face grim. "We need to act fast!"