Encounter (pt 2)

'Strong'.

'They are too strong.'

Those phrases repeated themselves over and over again inside Alex's head, tumbling over each other and exhausting her mentally. Her blades moved rhythmically, each stroke dealing as much damage as she possibly could to the green bodies and bones that piled up in front of her, while her mind was tumultuous, her sword was clear and decisive.

"JUN! WINT! FALL BACK!!" Alex shouted in between breaths. The horde of monsters was increasing in number faster than she and her companions could take them down.

The two E-rank adventurers retreated quickly. All E-ranks have faced goblins before, yet a monster horde of this quality couldn't have been prepared for even by D or C ranks. Normally, even a horde of this size would be cleared without any issues. Alex might've taken some damage yet she was sure that it wouldn't've harmed her to anywhere near this degree.

However, this was not the case.

Each Goblin that she sliced moved with greater speed and strength than a normal one, as she slew one, another with greater power took its place. Even skeletons, the lowest of the low in terms of strength, managed to knick her arms a few times.

Jun and Wint were now behind Alex, the youngest was gripping his staff for dear life, his fingertips white from the pressure.

"Haa.... ahh..." Jun tried to catch his breath, his body had been pushed to its absolute limit, the middle-aged man wanted to jump back into the fight and help that annoying newbie, but his body wouldn't comply. His fash was awashed with fatigue, a downpour of his sweat was staining the dungeon floor.

'This kid... who is she?' Jun thought, staring at Alex's seemingly undeterred gaze, slaying monsters left and right with just a flick of her wrist. The footwork she displayed when dodging and the swordsmanship shown with each swing was that of a master, unfit for somebody of her age. Jun had survived this long with his lackluster talents only by trusting his gut and intuition; his senses were screaming at him that this woman was an important figure outside the dungeon walls.

Wint and the magician, Davey, were in even worse conditions. Wint's experience and Jun's were nowhere near comparable, Wint was barely 17 and lived with his parents at their inn; his childlike dream of an adventurer's glamorous life was shattering at this very moment. Wint had stabbed a goblin with his dagger and didn't manage to retrieve it, now with only a giant shield in his possession, Wint's waning confidence dried up.

Alex was doing her best to block the monsters from advancing to her team as well as to create a plan which would save as many lives as possible, she had already inferred that escaping from this situation unharmed would be nothing short of a pipe-dream.

Davey, Wint, and Jun all looked at Alex's figure dance from goblin to skeleton, each movement skillfully slicing tendons and important muscles, she had been fatigued to the point where slicing through a goblin would be difficult so she opted for damaging them beyond the point of healing instead. They were scared beyond their wits but none could hide the awe they saw from her skill, no E-rank they knew was even close to touching her level of skill.

*SHKEEK* Alex's bright shortsword cleanly cut the throat of a goblin, making it tumble back into it's companions.

She took this advantage and jumped back, swiftly unzipping a hidden pocket within her clothes and popping a small pill inside her mouth, her throat was dry from fighting yet she forced it down.

The others had placed all their hopes on Alex, they believed that perhaps she could take care of the rest while they sat away from the danger, Jun however, knew otherwise.

Alex's body was slightly shaking and her grip on the two swords was loosening, no amount of pills or medicine could remedy this level of fatigue. Moreover, her class wasn't that of a lone damage dealer, she had hoped to rely on Wint's defense and Jun's spears while attacking yet after witnessing first-hand how ineffective they were, she ordered them to retreat.

Alex had gone through every viable option. She even toyed with the idea of sacrificing one of their teammates to the horde as a means of survival, perhaps Jun, yet she knew that once they were dead, the horde would once again rampage upon their team.

'The only solution is to prevent the horde from attacking, eliminating them is an impossibility.' she frowned and looked back at her "useless" teammates.

'If I leave Jun behind... they'll simply kill him quickly and attack us once again, that too isn't an option.' Alex erased the thought from her head, she wasn't fond of sending a comrade to their death, but besides her, Jun was the only one capable of putting up a fight.

'To minimise the number of casualties, we must prevent them from attacking us...' the cogs in Alex's mind turned.

'And the only one who can stop them...' and clicked into place.

'...'

"Phoo..." Alex heaved a sigh and took a breath for the first time since being attacked. She had come up with all her tactics and plans on the spot in a flash, and her newest one caused her much despair. She suppressed it as much as she could and turned her head to her team, her swords ready in case the goblins re-launch their attack.

"Jun. Take the others and go." Alex's voice shook slightly, but she snapped her head forwards to face the horde and dived back into the fight. There was no time for goodbyes.

"n-no... Alex you have to come with us..." Davey, who had been gripping his staff, had now lost his voice and spoke in a whisper, Alex didn't hear him. Davey crumpled to his knees and tears dropped from his eyes, as the youngest, his behaviour was understandable.

Wint didn't have to be told twice.

Wint's hulking body and expensive armor took off with the boy, he left behind his shield to decrease his weight but didn't say a word to the others.

Jun said nothing. His expression was simply that of a tired old man, his wrinkles and deep-set eyes were hot with sweat, aging him beyond his years. As the eldest, Jun felt resposible for the two that remained, he wanted to dive in alongside Alex, a teammate he had cursed for her cocky attitude at the start, and help her.

But he knew he was lacking.

Jun trained for years as a mercenary, his short stature, and weak frame prevented the effort he put into his job from being paid back with strength. He had joined the Black Bear Guild later than most but his journey to strength wasn't that unlike Cal's. However, unlike Cal, Jun had neither an ounce of talent nor family members he could rely on.

Jun was a brave, arrogant, and lonely weakling.

He cursed his fate and pleaded the gods to forgive him.

Jun turned from Alex's fight and threw Davey over his shoulder, not respondings to Davey's weak protests. Davey had dropped his staff and was flimsily smacking Jun's back, asking him to go back and help Alex, Jun closed his heart and put his effort into running. The defeated thuds of his feet slamming into the dungeon walls echoed through to Alex's ears.

'Please come back safe brat... I'm sorry...' Jun's depressed thoughts washed over him.

Alex paid no mind to their struggle, as far as she's concerned, they got off easy.

She had no clue whether surviving this horde was a possibility or not, however, allowing the rest to escape would both ensure their safety and allow Alex to fight unimpeded without the burden of protecting them or hiding her true power. Alex no longer acted as a wall to protect, she was now a weapon who would kill.

'Deva system, activate skill Moon's mist."

*SHWEEK*

*CLUNK*

*CLINK*

Goblins and skeletons fell one after the other, she dived into the horde herself, her swords were now wrapped in a thick white mist, shrouding the vision of her enemies and sharpening her already potent blades.

The pill had given her energy, for the time being. She needed to use whatever was left to demolish the horde that was now no longer growing in number.

Her lips stretched into a small smile. A glimmer of hope danced in her heart.

'Deva system, active skill Link' she commanded internally.

*SHCLEEK, SCHLEEK!*

One swing of her sword produced two slices, simply moving her blade was enough to gash any of those who defied her. This was Alex's most prized innate skill, any attack she employed during the time this was active, had twice the effect.

One fireball would become two. Three thrusts of her sword would become six. Two blades acted as four.

Alex had kept these hidden for as long as possible, refusing to show them to those she had just come across, finally fighting with all her might felt freeing.

Link and Moon's mist acted in unison, creating ghostly shadows of blades that ripped apart the chests of monsters that dared to get close.

Within 30 minutes, the once thick horde had been thinned out.

*SHHCLLKKEE* her sword embedded itself within the final skeleton that remained.

*CLINK CLANKLE!* its bones, no longer held together, fell onto the floor.

Alex's upright and regal figure looked over the small mountain of corpses that littered the dungeon floors, she carefully slipped her swords back into their scabbards and let herself relax.

"ahh... hooh... bahhh..." fatigue crashed into her body like a rogue wave and brought her to her knees, her body was wild cuts and gashes all over but she was no longer in danger of dying, relief allowed her to crack a smile.

Through her ragged breaths, she willed the Deva system to show her state.

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[STATE]

• Health: 64/675

• Ki: 102/644

• Mana: 7/7

• Wisdom: 89

• Agility: 967

• Constitution: 474

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Alex wore a satisfied smile, 64 remaining health was a comfortable amount.

Leaving all of these goblins and their cores was a waste but Alex felt like any more time in the dungeon would surely drive her insane. The lone adventurer took stock of herself and turned to face the exit pathway.

*DING*

Alex rocketed her head back and stared at the screen in shock.

[Innate skill: Danger sense has been activated]

*Schwing, Schwing*

Alex took out both her sword and rapidly turned around, her mind was buzzing with the sense that something of great power was lying in wait. She had no saliva left in her throat but she gulped anyway, facing another horde would surely kill her.

Two red eyes shined in the darkness.

Eyes that Alex immediately recognised from her teacher's warnings.

"Fuck." Alex allowed herself to curse.

'Deva system, activate Moon's Mist, Link, Breakthrough, and Hardened body.' she quickly commanded the system and relaxed her shaking hands, keeping her eyes on the creature, she reached into a pocket and grabbed a fistful of pills, each of varying shapes and colours, before throwing them into her mouth and chewing.

*cru-Crun-crunch!*

The pills tasted like shit, every instinct in her body commanded her to throw up, but she kept it down through sheer will, consuming pills in this way would surely increase their potency and make them activate quicker, and against a Gnoll, Alex needed all the help she could get.