Champion

The pain in my collarbone served as fuel to ignite my fury. My right hand arched right away, gathering New Qi. Instinct told me instantly what to do.

Fall back?

Retreat?

Hell no.

Attack.

When surprised or in doubt, I always attacked. [Physical Boost] activated, straining my body. Usually, Qi circulates softly. There were no cooldowns on my skills, only the danger of overusing them. This time, Qi circulated as if it was a rampaging river, stretching my veins to the limit, carrying intense pain. In the past, using [Physical Boost] in a row wouldn't give me much trouble, but it was still too much for this body.

New Qi focused on my arm, turning it into an invisible armored glove, fingers almost sharp as blades.

[Northern Old Earth Army - Hand Demon Style - Spear Hand]

The attack that could penetrate through a Longclaw before. This time, I aimed for the head, my hand thrusting in like an impressive spear, only to be stopped by a suddenly erected and powerful Qi Shield in front of the monster.

The Qi Shield broke. I still hit his head with less power, tilting it back from impact, not enough to kill. With the Berserker Innate skill activated, the Mo'gar didn't take long to react, growling in fury, raising his weapon again to strike.

Damn.

I searched around for an answer, a way out.

Magic?

No.

I couldn't even risk activating MaQi right now after [Defense up] and [Physical Boost] in a row. The strengthening effect was still up. Should I forget about defending, attacking again with my entire power?

It seemed to be the only option, but I wouldn't avoid getting hit. Jiwan and the Class Rep worriedly gazed at me. After I die, this bastard would kill them.

Grinding my teeth, I gathered the remaining of my strength. My master told me to never mix Qi and MaQi unless I was ready for the consequences. As I was about to throw caution to the wind, I felt a powerful surge of New Qi.

"ZEEN!" Jiwan suddenly shouted.

A powerful Qi Wave spread from his [Shout], disorienting the Mo'gar near him and even the one fighting me. Freshness suddenly hit my body, helping Qi circulate and lessening the strain from before. It was not healing, as if it restored some Qi, allowing me to move properly again.

New Qi enveloped Jiwan. His movements became much quicker and sharper. I grinned. That bastard finally opened the Path. I would recognize [Shout] and [Physical Boost] anywhere.

The naïve fighter from before now wielded the spear as if he had trained for many years. Before the Mo'gar snapped out of their dizziness, Jiwan pierced one's head, and struck the other's like a whip, causing substantial damage. He dashed forward, leaving the last one for the Class Rep to deal the finishing blow.

The Strongest Mo'gar roared and grit his teeth again after Jiwan's [Shout] ended. He wanted to finish me, but it was already too late. He struck down, and I dodged the jagged tool, jumping away. Jiwan entered the combat in my stead, attacking with several thrusts of the Lopworm Spear.

"Took you long enough!" I grinned.

"Leave it to me!" Jiwan gave the enemy no rest. Unlike my exhausted self, he was full of New Qi and excited by the newfound power. Besides that, Jiwan was already extremely athletic and talented. By opening the system, he intuitively knew how to use Qi, his skills, and masteries. The Path gave him wings. The spear became his friend. Each thrust carried deadly precision.

The Mo'gar tried to fight back. He might have had a shot if his Qi Shield wasn't gone. His attacks were powerful, but Jiwan could dodge even Longclaws before opening the Path.

Even with the Berserk Innate Skill he could not win, Jiwan finally pierced his head with the Lopworm Spear.

[Enemy Mo'gar Striker died.]

"Whoa, what's this voice?" Jiwan was shocked.

"That's the Path. You will get used to it," after scanning our surroundings for more enemies, I fell to the ground relieved, "... That was close."

"Are you okay, buddy?" Jiwan approached. He couldn't stop grinning.

"Did saving my ass make you that happy?", I smirked, "The wound is nothing, but I used too much Qi. I only need to rest for a bit. Let's check on the others first."

He nodded, still grinning. This bastard. A few moments ago, he was in despair, thinking I would die, but now he can't stop grinning like a fool.

The human prisoners were still lost from everything that happened. To them, these fights were something out of fantasy, with mystic powers and abilities facing deadly monsters. Most of them looked like civilians, and one wore a soldier's uniform. The Class Rep and Jiwan cut their bindings, while I approached the cute-looking species to do the same.

"I Thank you, warrior," one of them said after I freed him.

"You can speak our language?!" Jiwan shouted in surprise.

"It's the Path, fool," I pointed to the Class Rep. She hadn't understood a single word. "Many species have a common language translation through the Path now. Don't ask me how. And not all of them do, though, like the demons. Some we have to learn."

"Uh? So, he opened the Path too?" Jiwan focused on the cute-looking species, but he could barely feel New Qi flowing.

"It's more complicated than that. Most species from other worlds don't need to open the Path, only advance it to become stronger. Those little things opened it from the time they were born, but they don't seem to have strong Qi, so they're probably not fighters."

The Class Rep sighed, looking down. She clearly felt frustrated being the only one out of us that hadn't opened the Path yet. But it wasn't like I had a solution besides effort and luck.

"Oh, you! You helped us at the bridge before!" A lovely yet strong voice called out to me.

I turned to the speaker, a soldier, ragged and hurt. The one from the group of soldiers on the bridge.

"You were under the Sergeant… What are you doing here? Where is he?" The brave and dutiful Sergeant came to mind right away.

Her face darkened instantly, "Those things ambushed us on our way to the Fort. Some of the others fought and tried to lead them away, while we ran, but they caught up…"

"The Sergeant?"

She shook her head and looked away, "There were too many. Either captured, or…"

I wasn't surprised. Trying to reach the Fort was a foolish idea from the beginning. My fist tightened. Maybe if I tried harder to persuade them...

"Hey, look at this" the Class Rep interrupted, reaching into the fiber-like very well-crafted bags in the medieval-looking cart. "Is this food?"

"That's…!" Suddenly, this risky adventure proved to be lucky for us. The medium-sized, multicolor fruit-like things seemed very familiar. The NOEA used them as military rations during expeditions, "Yeah, those are edible. And tasty, too. I didn't expect to see them here."

"See them here?" The Class Rep glanced at another one of my slips of the tongue.

"Ipagettafira," the cute creature said, catching our attention, "They are from our village. The violent ones took them from us."

"!" I looked at him with great interest. Those fruits grew on the NOEA grounds and other common human spots in my past life. As they were very nutritious, tasty, and beneficial to humans, they quickly became a favorite snack, "Is your place close?"

He decided for a bit whether he should tell me or not, "I'm not sure. We were on our way to a neighboring village, then suddenly everything became dark, and the sun shattered. Even the ground changed. We hurried back, but those things killed our escorts and caught us. Without the sun… I don't know where our village is."

Since I had seen those fruits before, it means they spread somehow, even if those cute-looking things disappeared. They were easy to plant, resilient, and with fast growth.

If we got our hands on good seeds, it would be nothing short of amazing. We could save many lives from starvation on this Timeless First Day.

On an expedition before, I heard about a fallen village where those fruits grew. It wasn't in my area of activity, but in a friend's. Of course, back then we didn't know they were called Ipagettafira.

The fallen village should be his village. From the First Sanctuary, before reaching Sonis City, then heading east…

"There. There's a good chance you will find your village if you go that way," I pointed with confidence.

"Really?! How would warrior know that?" the creature asked in doubt.

"An innate ability. Call it intuition."

"Warrior also has an ability?" The cute-looking species' clear eyes shone.

"You too?"

"Yes. I can do this," he softly touched my arm. I felt New Qi flow into me from the world, refreshing and healing my wounds from the inside. My left shoulder wound closed completely. The pain was gone.

Healing!