"There is a base at the university?" Ava asked in surprise.

"Apparently. But it's not surprising that we missed it. We did get out of there pretty quickly after all."

"You are not wrong... I guess there are a few groups that could establish themselves as leaders quickly enough to organize defenses in time. And with so many people with different Classes, it might not be as optimized as Golden Glades, but it's just a matter of finding the right person for the right job for building up their defenses."

"And with that many young people, there should be a lot more willing and capable of going out to hunt and gather supplies," Harry remarked.

"But, it's definitely good that at least these two are fine, isn't it?" Debby commented.

"So, is the university the next place where we go?" Carl asked.

"Don't forget, we still have two more places to check out. The two of them seem to be safe for now, so there is no need to hurry."

She noticed Harry nodding at her.

Either they are safe there, or they would have come back here already. As much as I want to go there, it wouldn't be fair to everyone else. Besides, the last two places aren't more than a short detour away. But, now that I think about it...

"Actually, would you mind a small detour?" Alice asked the rest of the group.

"For what?" Daniel was the one to ask.

"There is a High school close to here. The last time Ava and I were there, it was occupied by a group of Trolls. I just thought it might be a good idea to check if they are up to anything since they seemed relatively intelligent."

Well, she thought, not quite as intelligent as humans, but more than enough to be dangerous. Also, I could ask Harry how he would go about killing the lot of them.

"They had been collecting a giant pile of human corpses as food, so I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to attack the university group at some point. I just thought notifying them about it might bring us some goodwill and an advantage when dealing with them."

"Eww, politics," Ava complained while looking at her thankfully.

"Oh, and one more thing, once we have checked the remaining locations, maybe we should backtrack far enough to make a report before going to the university. We aren't in range for your mark anymore, right?" Alice asked in Debby's direction, who shook her head in response.

"You know what, let's vote on both. Who is for checking in on the Trolls?"

Everyone lifted their hands, Max and Carl hesitated a little. Carl because he first watched what his wife wanted, and Max, if Alice had to guess because he considered it an unnecessary risk.

"Then, who is for checking in with Michael BEFORE we go to the university group?"

This time, the result was a lot more split. Only Alice herself, Harry, and Max's hands were up.

"Anyone abstaining?"

No hands went up.

"Okay, so we check the next location, then the High school, then our last target, and then we go to the university. Everyone fine with that?"

Six nods were returned.

"Then let's get going."

Locking the door behind her, Alice hid the key to the front door exactly where she had found it. Finally, the group was once again back on the streets.

"This is..." Debby remarked as they left their second-to-last target behind. It had been very clear that no one had been there in a while.

"What?" Daniel prompted her to finish.

"I'm getting a signal. It's... faint?"

"Why so concerned? Wouldn't it be more of a problem if they suddenly appeared in the middle of your range?" Ava asked.

"No, no, no! Distance hasn't been a factor in the strength of the signal I get. That's why I'm not sure what's going on."

"Are they in that direction?" Ava pointed to the front and a bit to the side.

"Yes."

"Then aren't they the Trolls? It's probably faint because the Trolls are barely intelligent to communicate with. That's your Skills detection criterion, isn't it?"

"I see. That makes sense. Do you think I should try and make contact with them?"

"I really don't know. But I honestly think it's not a good idea. You know what, try it. As long as we stay out of sight, they won't know who we are, and I highly doubt that they have anything they have any kind of defenses or some such. Or has anyone an argument against it?"

Some of the others looked unsure, but no one said anything.

"Go wild, I guess. Maybe try to find the most intelligent one?"

"Okay, they are confused, hungry, and horny. That's all I got back, and not in words but in feelings. Hmmm... and a little scared?"

"Scared of you?"

"Yes, but also something else. I think at least."

"Can you ask it what it's scared of?"

It would be nice if we could find out more this way, Alice thought.

"It doesn't understand words."

"Can't you... I don't know, send it the same feeling of fear back? Maybe with curiosity, so it understands it as a question?" Daniel suggested.

"I can try. Hmmm... A circle? Or a ring? And... itself? I'm sorry, I can't tell any more than that."

"Well, it probably thinks it's going crazy, talking to a voice in its head and all. No wonder it's scared of itself. But a ring? The one ring to rule them all, or what?" Daniel wondered.

"No, not that kind of ring. Hmmm... Maybe 'hole' would be a better word? And I don't think it's scared of the thing itself, but what it represents, maybe?"

"Giant sewer snakes! If you get too close to a manhole, they shoot out and drag you into the dark!" Ava theorized excitedly.

"If there actually are sewer snakes, we will hopefully notice them before this turns into a cheap horror movie. Aside from that, we shouldn't be too paranoid, but we can be careful and keep a safe distance from any large holes.

Now, let's be careful from here on out."

Finally, the group rounded the last corner only around two hundred meters down the street from the high school. Thankfully, the street was very straight, allowing them to see immediately what had changed.

"That wasn't there last time," Ava commented as they looked at the large wall of cars standing on their noses, their completely flattened roofs pointing outwards. If not for the large roots coming out of the ground, holding it all together, there would have been no way that kind of construction would hold for any length of time. But as it was, it made for a rather intimidating sight.

Not any less so when Alice noticed the Trolls that were looking over the construction every few meters, making it pretty much impossible to get to the wall without getting spotted.

"I had been thinking of having you take a look around in their base. But not like this," Alice said to Ava, referring both to the wall and the bloodlust the girl was radiating again.

"This is dangerous," Harry commented.

"What is?"

"They can, supposedly, barely communicate but still create something like this. Being able to use tools is one thing, but they changed the terrain to their advantage and even posted guards. It would be very dangerous to underestimate these creatures' intelligence," the old man explained.

"You are right. Let's get out of here before the Trolls decide they don't like us watching them. We have one more stop, and then we can go and warn the people at the university."

Considering how smooth their mission had been going until now, at least in regards to ending up in unexpected, highly dangerous situations, Alice wasn't much surprised by their current situation. After all, sooner or later, their luck just had to run out.

"Max, Debby, you two deal with the monkeys. Carl, Ava, and Daniel, take care of the Trolls, be careful. We still don't know what kind of abilities they have. Harry, help me out with the Goliath. Hits in the body don't bother it much, so try to get a headshot!

GO!"

Immediately, Alice's team members jumped to their jobs.

Thanks to Debby, they had known from the beginning that the three Trolls had been following them at some distance. However, they had made the mistake of assuming that those were there just to keep an eye on them.

It was after they entered the street they were currently in, just when the next crossroad came into range of Alice Soul sense, that the Goliath came around the corner, blocking them off.

Then, caught between the Trolls and the Goliath, they had decided to break through the sides.

However, as soon as they tried to get down from the road and make their way through the backyards to the next street over, the Monkeys occupying the properties began to gather up, blocking their last escape route.

"RAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!" Alice did her best impression of a Goliath's roar, reinforcing the challenge with the Monkey's taunt Skill. The one thing she didn't want to risk was the Goliath trying to use its magic on one of her team members while they were dealing with a different enemy.

Behind her, Alice could hear the first shots falling and the crackle of a lightning bolt.

Shield covering her body, Alice charged at the giant, her magically enhanced legs giving her incredible speed and power.

Having been challenged audaciously by the weird shiny creature, the Goliath punched its large fist into the ground. However, things didn't go quite as it had expected. Instead of running headfirst into the rock-pillar it had conjured up, the little thing suddenly sped up.

Having realized that the Goliath would try to cut off her charge with its magic, Alice had decided to trick it. Not immediately accelerating to full speed but waiting for the Goliath to punch the ground, she had planned to outrun its magic and tackle it with her full speed and weight.

However, it turned out that she wasn't quite as fast as she had thought. Instead of shooting up behind her, Alice suddenly felt pressure from below as the pillar came up from right under her, shooting her into the air.

Unable to change her momentum in time, Alice changed her approach, timing it as best as she could and jumping off from the pillar with all her strength, the power of her legs amplified by more than six times by her Stats.

Slowly, the pressure reduced as she reached the highest point of her jump over seven meters in the air, giving Alice back her ability to think. Immediately, she noticed the large hand coming in her direction.

Until now, Alice hadn't taken to jumping at or over her enemies, despite having become capable of doing so. The reason for that was simple. Just like now, while suspended in midair, she wouldn't be able to dodge whatever her opponent managed to throw at her. However, she wasn't alone.

Just in time, Alice heard the bark of a shotgun going off, followed by a second explosion just as loud.

The Goliath roared in pain, wavering as it pulled back its hand. It was just a moment, but that was enough for it to miss Alice.

With a pained groan, Alice landed in a crouch behind the monster, immediately absorbing two soul energy to alleviate the pain in her joints.

Lightning hit all three of the Trolls. Electricity crackled over their skin, signaling that they would be stunned and unable to move for about a second. But that was more than enough time.

Ava and Carl shot towards the Trolls on the left and right. Carl's movement stopped right in front of his opponent, his fist equally stopping in front of its face without ever touching it. However, for the man, that was enough, his Skill allowing him to punch a hole right in his opponent's brain.

Meanwhile, Ava turned into a shadowy blur, rushing by the side of her enemy, leaving a metal spike behind in its side. Her movement stopped, and she took two more steps to slow down, only to dive forward into a roll, the sound of rushing wind having her warned of the small tree being swung at the back of her head.

In a roll, she came back to her feet, luckily unharmed.

"Sorry, they seem resistant to my Skill," Daniel's voice apologized in her head.

Ava turned around, keeping a good distance from her opponent while she considered how to kill it. Meanwhile, she could see how Carl caught the tree the last Troll was swinging at him, giving Daniel the chance to touch the creature, producing an explosion-like crack and the smell of ozone as who knew how many volts of electricity flowed through its body.

Meanwhile, Ava was limited to being fast, her small body even stopping her from reaching her opponent's head. She was frustrated and angry. The Troll flinched.

She herself had a hard time feeling it, but according to her girlfriend, Ava had been exuding a sort of killing intent ever since she had her first breakdown when she realized that her brother had died. Not always, but sometimes when she got especially angry. Thinking about it, it had been one of these bastards who did it. The thought made her even angrier.

Until now, she had always tried to suppress it when she noticed it. After all, it was pretty counterproductive when she was trying to be stealthy. But now, for the first time, she did the opposite. Stoking her anger, driving it to heights she had never felt before, and focusing it all on the disgusting thing in front her of.

Deceptively calm, Ava walked up to it. Forming the shadow inside her hand into a long, thin spike, she solidified it with the help of her newest Skill and rammed it right into the monster's chest where its heart had to be. The monster couldn't react, frozen stiff in fear.

To Ava's disappointment, the thing didn't die, only falling to its knees as it woke up from its fear-induced daze. However, that didn't matter, because now that it was on its knees, it was on her height. Solidifying a second shadow spike, she rammed it into the monster's eye, slipping it through the small opening in the skull where the optic nerves connected the eyes with the brain and wiggled her weapon around until its brain was turned into mush.

"What?!" she asked, noticing the looks Carl and Daniel were giving her.

Alice wiggled around her ax, freeing it from the Goliaths skull.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Level Up!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Level Up!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The fight had been fruitful, and not just in terms of level-ups. Just a quick look around showed Alice a scene of carnage. To the side, Ava and Carl were just finishing off the last of the Monkeys, while Daniel was guarding Debby, who got a small wound on her arm healed by Max.

"Everyone fine?"

"In a minute, let me finish here, and we can get going," their healer was the first to answer, followed by a groan from his patient.

"And you, Ava? I felt..."

"Yes! I'm fine!" the girl answered, a little irritated.

We definitely have to talk about that, Alice thought, but it can wait until we get back... Did I just jinx it? Still, in the middle of this kind of mission isn't the right time for that kind of thing.

"Okay, time for level-ups until Max is done!"

Alice immediately went to it, not wanting to waste any time. Having planned it beforehand, she invested both level-ups in the Soul-binding Skill, elevating it to level five and allowing her to bind two more souls permanently.

First, she tried to bind the Goliath's soul, but just as she had expected, her Mana dropped to zero while the soul dispersed, completely destroyed. Alice wasn't quite sure how, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't work.

Spending five soul energy, her Mana went right back to full, giving her another chance. There were still more than enough souls around, after all. While Alice was tempted to just bind another two Monkey souls and call it a day since that was just how useful they were, there were still the Troll souls, and who knew what they could give her.

Walking over, she tried her luck, and just as her feeling had told her, it worked, albeit barely, considering her Mana dropped down to one.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Buff:

Troll soul:

Muscle-density +2

Vitality +2

Bodyreformation +5

Monstrous strength +1

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Aside from the fact that she somehow felt better on a fundamental level, the first thing Alice noticed was that she got more bang for her buck. Instead of two Stats and one Skill bonus, she got a third Stat. And not just that, but one was even in a secondary stat she actually had.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Vitality (B) 0+2

Increase your natural Vitality.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Confirming that this was where that feeling probably came from, albeit she had no idea what the Stat would actually do, she also came to another realization. Until now, aside from the one that came with the Class, all the secondary stats they had gotten had had an upper limit and been trainable. Considering that this was a Buff Stat, she wasn't able to tell if it was trainable. However, more important was the fact that it had seemingly no upper limit.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Monstrous strength Lv 0+1

Increase the effect of Muscle-density by 10%.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Looking at it, the effect was simple but very effective.

Making her decision, she immediately refilled her Mana and bound a second Troll soul, even if for no other reason that those were significantly harder to come by. Recharging her Mana and Stamina one last time, Alice quickly went about absorbing all the souls in the area before she took a look at her Stats.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Name: Alice Liddell

Level: 20 (20)

Class-primary: Necromancer 75,3%

Class-secondary: Warrior 80,5%

Resources:

Stamina: 21/21

Mana: 14/15

Soul energy: 20/20

Primary Stats:

Muscle-density: 30+5+20%

Stamina: 20+1

Mana: 15

Magic power: 15+4

Secondary Stats:

Soul energy: 20

Vitality (B): 0+4

Bodyreformation (T) 4+10/100

Mana regeneration (T) 16/100

Leg strength (B) 10+10/100

Skills:

Soul collection Lv 1

Soul sense Lv 3

Undead constitution Lv 1

Flesh grafting Lv 1

Soul absorption Lv 3

Soul-binding Lv 5

Taunt (B) Lv 0+2

Pack mentality (B) Lv 0+1

Monstrous strength (B) Lv 0+2

Buffs:

Monkey soul: (2)

Magic power +4

Leg strength +10

Taunt +2

Raptor soul:

Muscle-density +1

Stamina +1

Pack mentality +1

Troll soul: (2)

Muscle-density +4

Vitality +4

Bodyreformation +10

Monstrous strength +2

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A quick question to the system told Alice that her total Muscle-density was 42. Considering the way it was written, it hadn't been entirely clear, but Alice was happy to see that even the extra points from the Buff got multiplied by the Skill, which came also came from the Buff.

Happy with what she saw, Alice focused back on what was going on. Everyone was ready.

"Okay, let's go!"