Lopped head

[In front of you is a pack of six brown Wolves, led by a Goblin Shaman. Leave none standing to pass this trial.

The Goblin Shaman is worth more experience than the Wolves.]

Stanis, Xiu, and Lucas stood in half-stupor as they took in the meaning behind the message. However, the Wolves were not going to let such an opportunity go, they didn't even need urging from the Goblin as all six of them began sprinting at the Humans.

At the same time, Jayesh also began charging at them, roaring louder than all of the Wolves combined in an attempt to wake the others up.

"ARRRGGGGHHH!"

They clashed in the middle, Jayesh using his large, wooden shield to bash the faces of two Wolves at once. Simultaneously he used his menacing club to whack a leaping Wolf across its ribs. Having stopped three Wolves by himself, he gave the others enough time to prepare as they too engaged the remaining three.

Lucas bolted forwards before swinging his sword across the Wolf's muzzle. The Wolf tilted its head in order to dodge but was only half successful as it was cut lightly anyway. It ignored the pain to leap at Lucas, who merely sidestepped to the left while using the face of his shield to whack the Wolf to the right.

He then followed this up by leaning forward, before lightly slashing the Wolf's back. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Lucas was talented at fighting.

On his side was Stanis, who had reacted a bit slower, but had still managed to meet the Wolf's charge with one of his own. He too had used his shield to block the Wolf's open maws but was faced with less success than Lucas, since he had underestimated the force behind the charge.

His forearm buckled inwards as the Wolf jumped onto his chest before pushing him over. However, Stanis had learnt from his experience with the Chimpanzee, and so he immediately leapt back to his feet, before re-engaging the Wolf.

Xiu was the least confident at fighting and had decided to not charge at all. This turned out to be a mistake as the Wolf simply overpowered her during their clash, throwing her violently onto the floor. It then hopped onto the downed Xiu before attempting to bite her face off.

In shock, Xiu bashed her small shield against its snout, before using her knife to stab it. This caused the Wolf to jump off in pain as Xiu got back up, tears now running down her dainty face. She was in shock and was thus struggling.

The whole battle seemed quite even at the moment. That wouldn't be the case for much longer… The moment the Wolves had begun their charge, the Goblin Shaman had already begun chanting. And now its chant came to a close.

"… rack wooshaw MAAAAR!"

It banged its stave onto the ground as it screamed out the chant. Straight afterwards, it began its next chant.

Jayesh, who had been managing against three Wolves all at once, suddenly found that two of the Wolves began darting at him faster, clashing him with far more power than before.

Their increase in explosiveness was so high that when two of them charged him at once, despite using his shield to block them, the force behind their attack still forced the bulky man onto the ground. The last wolf came in for the kill as it leapt up, although it was blocked by a weak backhand club strike to its head.

"ARRRGGHH"

Jayesh roared once more before rising to his feet. He used his shield and club to force the two strengthened Wolves to his side. At the same time, he bellowed out to Lucas.

"LUCAS. TAKE ONE OF THE WOLVES. I CAN'T HANDLE ALL THREE AT ONCE!"

Lucas felt his spirits dampen as he heard this. He could talk the talk and also walk the walk. After all his fighting skill was most likely above Jayesh's. But it was another matter of actually doing it, of actually putting himself into the face of danger…

Half-reluctantly, he used the edge of his shield to uppercut the Wolf he was still fighting. He then ran the short distance to reach the stray Wolf Jayesh wanted him to take. He slashed it in order to get its aggression, before running back to his first Wolf. Now both of them directed their anger and jaws towards him.

It was during this time that Stanis aimed his axe, before propelling it through the air at his Wolf. Due to his lack of skill, the axe wouldn't cause any serious damage even if it did hit. However, the Wolf had no way of knowing this in the moment as it instead leapt to the side in order to dodge the axe.

It was met with a large fist to the snout from Stanis, who had sprinted after throwing the axe. After being hit in its sensitive spot, it staggered disorientated. Not one to let such a chance escape, Stanis held his shield with both hands before smashing its edge onto the Wolf's head.

This caused the Wolf to get stunned as it momentarily fell to the floor, unconscious. Stanis quickly grabbed his axe from the ground before chopping the head off the downed Wolf. He had won his fight! Looking around, he saw that Xiu was struggling the most, and was just about to run and help her when he heard Jayesh.

"GO AND KILL THAT FUCKING GREEN SHIT. IT'S HEALING THE WOLVES!"

Stanis looked over to the Wolves that Jayesh was fighting, not only were they more ferocious than the others, their bodies were also suspiciously flawless despite all this fighting. And so he began sprinting towards the Goblin Shaman.

Lucas, who was barely dealing with two Wolves, suddenly remembered what the message had said. <The Goblin Shaman gives more experience than the Wolves>

He didn't know how much more, but he was almost certain that only by levelling up could you thrive in this hell-hole. And so he pushed his abilities to the limit the second he saw a chance: smacking the shield against one of the Wolves before dodging the other, only to cut its neck while it was still in flight…

"ARR ARRGGHH".

His head hurt like hell but it was worth it. He could see Stanis running a few metres in front of him and the Goblin Shaman retreating on its squat legs. And so he began bolting towards it, despite his growing headache.

It was no surprise that he outpaced Stanis, who was wearing four layers over his chest, by far. In fact, within five seconds he had already outrun Stanis and was just a few metres away from the Goblin.

Stanis, knowing that he was no match for Lucas, turned around only to see the Wolf Lucas let go join the assault on Xiu. He began running back, just as Lucas reached the Goblin. The Goblin turned around, before using its stave to do an overhead strike.

But it was too slow.

Lucas merely dodged it before stabbing his sword into the Goblin's head, a clean strike. And so the Goblin fell, dead in a single attack.

On the other side, Jayesh had already killed one Wolf and was nearly finished with the second one. Soon he knocked the second one off its legs, before smashing its brains out in a rage-filled strike. He was smouldering with fury.

Stanis just reached the final two Wolves. One was incapable of moving very well as it lay on the floor, severely injured and bleeding to death. Stanis, like Jayesh, fumed inside when he saw Xiu's state. The other Wolf wasn't in for much luck as Stanis pelted it across the head, before smashing his axe down. It hurt his arm like hell, but it meant nothing as he raged onwards.

Xiu was lying on the ground, writhing in agony as most of her internal organs lay open to the sky. The area around her was exclusively red. Her face had been clawed off, all you could hear were moans of suffering.

Stanis walked forwards, before looking backwards. Jayesh caught him with a firm glare, before nodding. The axe sang as it shot downwards. A small, lonely head hit the ground.

Stanis could feel himself trembling. This wasn't due to the fact that he had just executed a human, no, instead it was due to the source of her death.

In fact, before he even got the chance to act, he could hear a furious roar behind him. He merely sat down next to headless body as he watched the scene; he trusted Jayesh would win.

Jayesh shot towards Lucas, who was still dizzy due to his headache. It hadn't helped that the battlefield was filled with load roars and cries. Perhaps his loss in battle skill didn't mean much against the Goblin Shaman, but it sure meant a damn lot when facing a monster like Jayesh.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING JAYESH?!"

He hoped Jayesh would listen to reason, but Jayesh deafened his ears as he clashed with Lucas. Lucas was skilled with the sword, that was for sure, but it meant little when a man mountain knocked the sword out of your hand with their shield. What followed was Jayesh pushing Lucas over before getting on top of him.

Distraught and desperate, Lucas shrieked out to Stanis. "STANIS PLEASE HELP. THIS BASTARD'S FUCKING INSANE!"

But Stanis just turned a blind eye as a flurry of punches pummelled Lucas's face.

"ARRGGHH"

"ARRGGGGGGGGGHHH"

"ARGG---"

"grrgggag"

The screams quickly turned to gurgles as the punches continued. A short while later, Jayesh got back up, with blood dripping off his iron-fists.

Stanis was sure he would do the same if he had the ability. He and Jayesh didn't know Xiu for long, nor did they know her very well. What they did know was that she was a genuine and sincere person who was trapped in this ordeal with them. A fellow human with similar feelings, just trying her best to survive.

And she had been let down by a fellow human, who had left his own position just for greed. Just for a bit of extra fucking experience.

It was a few minutes later that both Stanis and Jayesh calmed down. They then realised that both of their actions had been too rash…

[Well done, you have survived another trial. Since there are only two left, both of you will get double the experience and double the points from your level up.

Level Up!

Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Level 5 (Progress to the next level is 42%)

Unallocated Stat points: 4

Strength: 13 [13]

Dexterity: 17 [12]

Constitution: 14[13]

Intelligence: 12[11]

Wisdom: 12[9 ->10]

Tenacity: 14[13]]

Stanis allocated all his points to strength. So far he hadn't much use for Wisdom or Intelligence. He genuinely hadn't been hurt much and so didn't need a very high Constitution. And his Tenacity and Dexterity were both enough for the time being.

[Strength increased from 13 to 17.

As a reward for passing the level 5 mark, you are awarded a skill matching your battle style.

You have passed trials and people you couldn't normally by bending under the pressure. You are awarded the skill "Layman's Rush".

Layman's Rush - For a limited time, have all your abilities heightened to their maximum state, despite any fatigue/pain you may be in. Best used when in a serious situation to rapidly turn the tables.

Effect time is currently: 5 seconds. Costs 6 mana to use and has 1 hour cooldown time.

Having unlocked your first ability, you have unlocked mana. Your mana is equal to intelligence + ½ wisdom. Your current mana is 18.]

[Here is your status:

Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Mana capacity: 18 (regeneration is capacity/4 per hour)

Level 5 (Progress to the next level is 42%)

Unallocated Stat points: 0

Strength: 17 [13 ->14]

Dexterity: 17 [12 ->13]

Constitution: 14[13]

Intelligence: 12[11]

Wisdom: 12[9 ->10]

Tenacity: 14[13].

Skills: Layman's Rush]

[You have only one more trial to complete before you can return to your planet. This trial will be the hardest so far, and thus you have two hours to prepare in. Good luck!]