Red eyes in the woods

I posted this chapter in a half hurry...

I slowly edited the first half of it, but mid-way through it, my food got ready and I was afraid it would grow cold, so between leaving this for later after eating, I decided to commit and finish it first.

So here I am, I hope you enjoy it!

Bye! I gotta eat!

PS: It's 2K words long.

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/A few minutes later…/

The tremblings slowly weakened until they eventually… Vanished.

Thankfully, the Earthquake didn't last very long, nor did it cause much damage from what Dale could see, but it sure caused one hell of a mess.

/THUD!/

"AH!"

Just when everything seemed to calm down, a heavy metal rod fell on Dale's head with a clear 'dong' noise.

He quickly grabbed his head.

"Shit, guess my luck ended completely after I got those Accessories…"

'This won't become a bump will it?'

But Dale had no time to think as the system was brutal!

[Analysing the age of all Villagers…]

[Analysing the potential of all Villagers…]

[Analysing the Villagers Levels…]

[Level 1-21 -> 13]

[Level 21-41 -> 10]

[Level 41-61 -> 42]

[Level 61-81 ->37]

[Level 81-91 -> 4]

[Level 91-95 -> 1]

[Level 95-99 -> 1]

[Level 99+ -> ?]

[DING!]

[The reassessment of Resko's rating has been complete]

[Resko 4.5-Star -> 6.5-Star]

"Wait a minute!"

'Even Villages have a Star rating? What does that mean?'

'... And these Levels… What is that '?' symbol? Are you kidding me, system? Are you teasing me?'

'Is one of the developers playing around with me? What do they intend to accomplish with that? There's no way there is a Level 99 and above baddass in the Village...'

'Even if you consider whatever is sealed below the Village, they wouldn't count as Villagers...'

Dale was dumbfounded, he couldn't see the Levels of the Villagers, only estimate, so all of this was really novel for him.

Seeing this gave him a completely new view of the Village! He could only complain that it wasn't a bit more precise...

'Those around 1-21 must be the very young kids, and those from 21-41 must include some of the younger teens… And some of the noncombative adults...'

'Even the ones that didn't train during the 2-week growth.'

"I used to think that most Villagers would be about that range, but I was wrong..."

'They really grew...'

'But what took my attention was the rest… Especially the number of people around 61-81.'

'A 10-level increase is high... Very high, especially if they were already around Level 40...'

'A player could take weeks, even for me, my expectations would be to take a few days hunting higher Level monsters... But the people of this world grow much slower since they don't have the luxury of Experience points...'

'But since when and how did it become this high when they only read some books and exercised?!'

/FUOMMM!/

"?!"

Out of nowhere, Dale felt as if his chest had been hit with a hammer!

It was so sudden he took a step back, breathing quickly to recover.

"Ha… Ha… It's one thing… After the other…"

'This is… Primal force?!'

It wasn't his first time having this feeling, during his training with Tina, she would also periodically press him with her Primal Force in order to get him used to it.

Normal people can't feel it, but for those that trained in it, such pressure would be enough to send them unconscious!

But Dale was trained to resist this, so at most, he lost a bit of his breath.

'It's coming from… This direction is…'

'The forest?'

Yet with the same great timing, the system once again interrupted his train of thoughts:

[DING!]

…

From here on, the following messages were played for all confused and euphoric players:

[DING!]

[Announcement for all players current residing within a 10Km radius of Resko:]

[Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Resko's rating has been reevaluated]

[Resko's minimum recommended player Level has been increased from 65 to 95]

[The environment has been modified to cope with the recent changes, now boasting an altered terrain with new areas to explore, new treasures, and opportunities to uncover]

[The Number of Field encounters has increased significantly]

[Two new explorable areas are now available to all that are up for the challenge:]

[A estrange large fissure has opened deep in the desert, draining a large portion of the sand and stopping Resko's desertification… For now]

[The new Field, "Yellow, Hard-Stone Dessert" is open for exploration!]

[The forest grows restless, something lurks within it, destroying its previous millennial harmony, and beasts from deeper sections have started to migrate due to its presence!]

[The entire Southern Field, Southern Horizon Woods is now under the Unique effect, Uprise!]

[Uprise:

Elite Monsters are now the Norm, no more Fodder, and Normal monsters are now a once-in-a-blue-moon rarity.

The likelihood of monsters with Exceptional Ranks spawning has increased massively!

Boss Monsters -> 55% of spawning

Elite Boss Monsters -> 5.5% of spawning

Variant Monsters -> 60% of spawning

Elite Variant Monsters -> 3% of spawning

Unique Monsters -> 25% of spawning

Special Monsters -> 1.25% of spawning

Apex Monsters -> 0.01% of spawning

Superior Species -> Can't spawn under normal circumstances

Extraordinary Ranks -> Unknown

]

As he read through each change, Dale's heart beat faster and faster.

'I… It seems even the world wants me to Level up now!'

He quickly rushed outside, gazing at the forest outside.

"That…"

Even though it was morning, he could see a strong green light coming from deep in the forest…

Perhaps light isn't the proper word to use… Mist? Rising to the sky as if announcing that something was there.

"What is that?"

"Problem." Someone said behind him

Dale immediately recognized the voice, he turned around and asked:

"What kind of problem?"

"..."

Tina, crossing her arms with a frown on her face said:

"The kind that is better taken care of."

"Can we do it?"

She became silent.

But after a while, she said:

"Do we have a choice?... For now, come with me." She said as she turned around

She gave him no choice, but regardless, Dale had no other plans.

So he followed her while the players discussed and whispered with each other…

…

/Not long after… Outside the Village/

/Dum… Dum…/

Heavy steps echoed in the silent forest…

A tall creature, humanoid, holding a large cleaver made its way across the leaves and branches as if they weren't there, to begin with.

Standing at a mighty 5M tall with bulging muscles and primal clothes, it placed its left hand on a tree, making the bulky tree bend slightly.

"..."

It observed the people beyond the forest, hunting or mostly… Fleeing from the many small 'critters' that lived in the tall grass.

At least, this was what those 'small' insects were, critters, harmless like a mosquito… But just as annoying.

These giant flying spiders the size of a person's head were nothing but inconveniences for it.

Hidden beneath an intricately crafted wooden mask, its eyes red eyes suddenly changed targets.

They moved from person to person, as if looking for something…

'Not this… Not that one… Much less that one…' This was what the creature thought as it observed the players hunt

Weak, too weak to even bother remembering it, pathetically weak, that was what it thought.

'Perhaps those are children?' It thought as it scratched it's head in confusion as it looked at a heavily armored man swinging a heavy claymore

It came here with a purpose, a message, and a goal to be accomplished.

And these beings… Humans were in the way.

"..."

But it didn't move, it knew how to deal with them… At least, it was told how.

"... %$#$^." It said in an unknown language

Its eyes were gazing upon a wall not so far away, a few minutes on foot at most, half a minute running at best.

What would take 20-30 minutes walking for Humans could be covered in half a minute for this creature.

'No need to rush.' It thought as it took a step back

But then, it stopped.

Did it really have time to waste? When out there…

"%$%^." It grumbled with some sorrow

'They are waiting for me.'

So the creature took a step out of the dark forest and into the clear fields.

…

/Back at Resko…/

[Your quest has been updated]

[The Unknow Devil

Requirements: Pass the Shard of a Greater Devil to Tina 1/1

Wait for her to inspect it 0/1

]

"I see, so there were signs." Tina said as she inspected the shard with a sharp gaze

It had been a few minutes since they arrived at Tina's home.

Dale immediately gave her the Shard, he was curious about what she had to say about what had just happened and the strange light from the forest, but this came first.

Tina observed the shard for a few good minutes, her expression turning darker and darker the longer she spent gazing at it.

And after a while, she finally closed her eyes, saying that line…

For Dale, what she said had completely altered his understanding of the situation…

It seemed everything was connected from the start!

"Signs? Did I just commit a blunder by not showing this before?" He asked awkwardly

"No child, you made no mistakes, regardless of it being shown to me now or before, nothing would've changed, this only confirms some of my worries."

Dale dropped his head, saying:

"I am dumb, please enlighten my mind."

"Look at you, joking even in this situation… It seems my training wasn't enough to make you realize your situation." She said sharply

"..."

Seeing his expression become serious, Tina let out a sigh as she dropped the shard on the table.

She smiled with a rare tender gaze...

"I would like to be in the mood to play around like you, being relaxed is okay, and I'm not reprimanding you for it."

"At first, I thought the presence of Devils so close to the Village was simply due to the many years of mismanagement of their population and the fact the Wall had long started to lose its effects…"

"But that may not be entirely the case."

"It seems the unrest in the forest is connected with this matter… Rather, the source for the unrest may have come from this Devil's presence…"

"A Greater Devil has made its way beyond the wall…"

Her tone was heavy, whatever that was, it was certainly something that made even the confident and straightforward Tina change her tone.

"Of course, this shard could be from a Devil that already lived in the forest, but from all of my years living in this place, I know very well what sort of Devils prowl these woods."

"If you know where to look, their trails will be everywhere, like fireflies in the dark sky."

"And this shard… It's definitely from one I'm unfamiliar with, and its very existence proves one thing…"

"That it got hurt."

[Your quest has been updated]

[Forest Hierarchy

Requirements:

Find out what is happening at the center of the forest near Resko 1/1

*It seems that the source of all of the chaos within the forest is the presence of a foreign Great Devil from beyond the Southern Wall!

*There is a great likelihood that the Great Devil is seriously injured after clashing with the rulers of the Great Forest!

Investigate further by traveling deeper into the forest 0/1

Eliminate/solve the source of the problem 0/1

??? 0/1

]

Dale's focus was between her words and the notification, making his expression goofy…

"By your expression, I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about…" She said with a small smile

"Well, that is to be expected, I didn't teach you about the rankings between Devils… I thought it was too soon to fill your head with that."

"But the situation calls for a change, and as such, pay attention to what I have to say."

However, despite everything she said, she smiled… And he knew that smile…

Dale gulped, why did it seem like the words she said before she threw him in the forest half naked?

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Notes