“I’m out,” Claire screamed. She had sniped a good deal of the higher-Level monsters, keeping them out of the fight. Which, in part, allowed them to survive this long, but now that she was out of ammo, they would no longer have that layer of safety. The more powerful monsters would be free to influence the battle with their pseudo-Skills.

Though, like before, at the intelligent squirrel’s command, the more powerful monsters waited at the edges of the fight, biding their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

His electric wheelchair beeped, a low power warning popping up. He had at best thirty minutes of battery life left. Great, just what I needed right now. It felt like the world was conspiring against him, trying to make the situation as terrible as possible. He wouldn’t be surprised if the sky opened and started raining raw eggs on him. It was that type of day.

“I’m almost out of Stamina. Does anyone have any bright ideas?” Jeb said.

Clover glanced around the fight, searching for a way to win. Jeb continued whacking monsters with [Strike], but he was slowing. A combination of exhaustion and injuries dragged him down. Ron looked worse for wear, rushing around using [Healing Touch] while occasionally chucking things into the battle. He must have gained a Skill for it with how hard he was throwing the assorted collection of electronics. Paul and Claire weren’t doing any better than the rest. There was no easy advantage to be seized.

Even his golems were worse for wear. [Thornmail]’s duration had run out, leaving Bob the Elephant without its extra layer of protection. Cracked and damaged - the elephant-golem continued to fight, but there was only so much it could do. Mr. Cat, the Second, was similarly injured but still in good fighting condition.

As long as the boss monster could freely pelt them with acid-covered rocks, there was no realistic way to win without incurring heavy casualties. To make matters worse, he didn’t have a whole lot of time to think. They had to finish this quickly before they ran out of Stamina and Mana Points - before they ran out of options.

His head hurt as his mind raced, searching for a solution. However, his train of thought was broken as a pair of snakes attached to the back of a Scaled Squirrel stretched like rubber, elongating as they slithered through the air toward Clover.

Clover roughly operated the control joystick, reversing out of the attack's range. He fought the urge to close his eyes in fear as the danger neared. Luckily, the snakes stopped their rapid growth 5 feet in front of him, and then they jerked backward, returning to their original size with an elastic snap.

Congratulations! Driving has reached Level 5.

In the distance, Clover heard a bell tower faintly toll. His neck tingled, and at that moment, he came to a realization: only the intelligent Scaled Squirrel mattered. If he managed to eliminate that monster, everything would come crashing down - in a good way, of course. Any semblance of strategy would fade, and the monsters would return to a normal animal level of intelligence. While they were less organized, Clover’s group should have a chance to escape. At least a better chance than what they had right now.

All that was easier said than done. The Level 13 Scaled Squirrel was hidden behind dozens of its compatriots. It would be difficult to get anywhere near it, but he didn’t have any other options. If Clover didn’t manage to swing the momentum of the fight, they would surely lose.

Clover commanded his elephant-golem forward, hoping to carve an open path to the monster. However, his plan was quickly dashed. The boss monster squeaked twice at a sharp pitch, and a group of monsters swarmed Bob the Elephant, rebuffing his charge with the sheer weight of their bodies. Of course, Clover didn’t give up so easily.

He fired [Mana Bolt]s into the crowd, giving his golem room to work. A ball of fire, courtesy of Claire, exploded, dangerously heating the elephant-golem's skin while also pushing back the monsters.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt has reached Level 23.

Congratulations! Class: [Blank] has reached Level 13. +5 Stat Points.

Still, it wasn’t enough. After goring a few low-Level monsters, a Level 7 Scaled Squirrel stepped in to stop his advance. A snake made of stone knocked the golem back, cracking its exterior and further damaging it. Bob the Elephant had made it only halfway before being rebuked.

Seeing that a frontal attack wouldn’t work, he stretched the limits of his control. Clover maneuvered Mr. Cat through the metal aisles, stealthy initiating a sneak attack. The golem crept forward, growing closer. At the same time, he retreated the elephant to a safer location and had it assist Jeb. Even from afar, the elephant-golem acted as a distraction, drawing the boss monster's attention.

Congratulations! Golem Control has reached Level 8.

Congratulations! Golem Control has reached Level 9.

Unseen by the intelligent squirrel, Mr. Cat entered pouncing range. However, before he could initiate the movement, one of the monsters guarding his target made a noise, alerting the boss monster to the threat. It spun around and launched a rock at the golem, forcing it to jump away to safety.

Clover almost growled in frustration. The dog-golem had done heavy damage to the monster, but because of that, the three-tailed squirrel recognized the lumps of white clay as a major threat to its life. The boss monster paid an inordinate amount of attention to golems, diverting a large portion of its forces to counteract them.

They were running out of time; it seemed like no one had a plan.

Paul launched a cluster of curving [Mana Bolt]s, giving Mr. Cat room to escape. In return, the monster fired off a rapid-fire trio of rocks, interrupting Paul’s control of the blue bolts. As he dove behind their designated hiding spot - the cart full of semi-melted chicken, he adjusted the flight path of his attack one last time.

Most missed, the monster able to weave out of the way. Only one landed, but it did major damage, impacting the monster’s already injured leg, making it howl in pain.

“I only have enough Mana for a couple more [Mana Bolt]s,” he said with a groan of pain from his rough landing.

More monsters streamed in, replacing their ranks; it felt never-ending. Though Clover was certain they had reduced their numbers a bit. Just not enough to matter. The only thing going for them was the mass of monster corpses on the ground, slowing the advance of the others.

The boss monster responsible for all their problems was only 30 feet away, but it felt like an uncrossable distance. With all the Scaled Squirrels guarding the distance in between, it might as well have been.

His lungs prickled as fiery dots burnt in his chest. At the edge of despair, an idea occurred to him.

“Ron, catch!” Clover said. The cat-golem hopped into his arms with its claw retracted.

Ron stared at the golem in confusion. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Throw it,” Paul said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Clover nodded as the monsters crept closer. Ron entered a pitching stance as if he was about to throw a baseball. He hesitated. “I don’t know if I can do this. Just because I have [Throw] doesn’t mean I’m good at throwing things.”

“Just do it. I don’t want to be squirrel food,” Jeb screamed.

Clover used [Mana Bolt: Barrage], bringing his Mana reserves low but distracting the three-tailed squirrel.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt has reached Level 24.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt: Barrage has reached Level 7.

“Fine.” With a heave, Ron threw Mr. Cat as hard as he could.

Time seemed to slow as they watched the golem majestically fly over the hoards of Scaled Squirrels.

In that moment, everyone prepared their strongest attacks. Claire summoned one last sparking ball of fire. Paul reshaped a [Mana Bolt], bending it into a more dangerous shape. Clover prepared to fire off a barrage. And lastly, and probably least, Jeb picked up a steaming hunk of chicken from the cart, about to send the dangerous acid back to its creator.

The clay cat landed heavily on the intelligent monster’s snout. Its claws extended, and it made good use of the opportunity, slashing the Scaled Squirell's eyes multiple times.

“Kill it,” Clover yelled. They launched their attacks, holding nothing back. With the cat still clawing its face, the monster stumbled around blindly, unable to escape the crash of magic coming it's way.

In a crackling explosion of Mana and fire, the three-tailed monster was torn to shreds.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt has reached Level 25.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt: Barrage has reached Level 8.

Congratulations! Class: [Blank] has reached Level 14. +5 Stat Points.

Without their leader, the remaining monster’s stood stock still, stuck between listening to the System’s command of nonaggression during the day for the first week or following their previous orders.

Clover panted, hesitant to move a muscle. After a moment of the monsters not trying to eat them, he grew slightly bolder. “Let’s make like a chicken and get out this pickle,” Clover whispered, nerves hampering his ability to form a normal sentence.

Paul nodded sagely.

“What does that even mean?” Claire whispered back.

“I don’t know; I just thought it sounded cool.”

“Enough of that. Let’s just go,” Ron said.

Shirtless, Clover followed the others as they made their way out of the building, careful to not attract undue attention. As they made it to the front door, the monsters collectively unfroze. With crazed twitching motions, they went on a rampage, destroying everything in sight. Some lashed out, eating random objects in the store, and some even fought amongst themselves.

It was chaos.

At some unseen signal, a series of wild squeaks thundered through the monster’s ranks. Without warning, they madly sprinted towards Clover’s group. It was clear they were on the hunt for blood. Clover wanted no part of it.

“Don’t just stand there; run,” Ron said. He glanced at the wheelchair before dashing away. “Or, roll. I don’t know. The specifics don’t matter,” he said while running.

Before the Scaled Squirrels could reach them, they loaded into the van. With the monsters hot on their heels, they pulled out of the parking lot. Putting the pedal to the metal, they bounced around inside the van as they put distance between them and the monsters.

After a tense moment, the car erupted into laughs, the danger far behind them. Compliments were given out, and the group exchanged stories as they barreled down the road at a more reasonable speed.

“That was awesome,” Paul said. “You were like BOOM, and then you threw the cat to Ron. I never would have thought of doing that. And your elephant was like Moo-Moo and grew a bunch of spikes - it was pretty cool.”

The golem didn’t respond because it was a lifeless chunk of clay. Quite self-explanatory. Clover, on the other hand, responded by saying a simple thank you. “Well, I can’t take all the credit. Ron was the one who actually threw it. Plus, what you said last night gave me the idea.”

“Back in school, I was always good at dodgeball. Really, it’s the modern education system we should be thanking for this victory. Without all those boring gym classes, I wouldn't have been able to make the shot.”

Clover chuckled, and another round of stories passed around the van.

“I’m just happy I didn’t die,” Jeb said while driving, much less enthusiastic about almost getting eaten than the others.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier. If I ever do something like this again, I want you on my team,” Ron said after a moment of silence. “Here, I brought a spare.” Ron handed Clover a shirt as an apology.

“You brought an extra shirt?” Claire asked.

“Well, yes. You never know when you could use an extra.”

Everyone laughed.

Clover smiled; this was nice - hanging out with other people. Cracking jokes and smiling - it was like one of his favorite sitcoms - something he’d always wanted.

Clover froze, the moment ruined, as he heard a vast amount of ice cracking. “Do you hear that? His blood ran cold as he searched out the window, looking for the source of the sound. It sounded like a glacier was slowly collapsing in on itself. It couldn’t be far away, and whatever was making the sound was sure to be dangerous. His heart rate accelerated; it could be a new type of monster.

“No, I don’t hear anything,” Jeb said. The sound of ice cracking intensified.

Clover’s eyebrows scrunched up. A pair of pigeons hung in the air, completely still above a house stranded far out in the field of grass. Their wings didn’t budge an inch, yet they didn’t fall.

“Birds frozen in the air normally don’t make any noise,” Paul stroked his chin.

Claire followed his gaze. “Excellent observation.”

“Ya, let’s go in the opposite direction of that,” Jeb said.

They took a slight detour, putting extra distance between them and the phenomenon. With their Resource Pools taxed and on the verge of being empty, it would have been stupid to go closer.

As if nothing happened, the pigeons unfroze and continued their flight.

“Ya, that’s not normal,” Claire said.

“Excellent observation,” Paul said sarcastically, like a petulant child.

In the end, Clover was the only one who could hear the crackling ice. He wasn’t sure if he had imagined it or, if he was losing his mind. But, he was certain something important had happened within that house isolated in the field of flowers.

After a short and uneventful drive, they returned to the factory with a van filled with supplies.