Zeke knew she was there, watching and waiting. Still, he was a little surprised when the mysterious woman suddenly began firing arrows at the harpies. In his arms, the bear cub squirmed; even now, it wasn’t entirely healed. However, it had recovered enough to regain consciousness, and it used its regained health to attempt an escape from Zeke’s clutches. It didn’t want to run away, though. From the soul bond, Zeke could tell that the ball of fur and half-formed claws trusted him even more than it had trusted its own mother. But it was still an adolescent, and as such, it was curious about its surroundings as well as the waves of monsters. Zeke wasn’t so cavalier that he would let his newfound companion loose, though. It was too dangerous, even considering that the bear cub had gained three levels since Zeke had begun his slaughter.

That was one thing that took him by real surprise. He and the bear shared experience, and while the cub only received a trickle compared to Zeke’s raging river, it had begun at a much lower level. And as such, the pool of experience required to gain a level was much shallower. Even as Zeke crushed another harpy screecher, he wondered how the beast’s stat allocation worked. He could feel the cub growing more powerful, so it was clearly gaining stats. Zeke simply didn’t know if the bear was picking the appropriate ones or not. For all he knew, it was all predetermined.

The archer’s first arrow punched through a harpy’s heart, and the monster fell a split second later, dead before it hit the ground. It was an impressive shot, though Zeke felt confident in his ability to mitigate it, should the archer target him. A moment later, another pair of arrows hit a pair of harpies, but the wounds weren’t fatal. It didn’t seem to matter, though, because in only a second or two, the air was full of the projectiles. Some killed the targets outright, and others merely wounded; however, the volume was so prolific that the effect impressed him. And combined with Zeke’s own efforts, it wasn’t long before the harpies realized that they were fighting a losing battle. Almost as one, the creatures turned and fled without so much as a backwards glance, leaving Zeke alone with the archer.

He stared at her across the square, hoping she wasn’t hostile. His instincts said she wasn’t – after all, she had helped him kill the harpies – but he wasn’t quite willing to implicitly trust his intuition – not when it came to another person. People, unlike monsters, were complicated, and their motivations weren’t always clear. For a long moment, they stared at one another, trying to take each other’s measure. That gave Zeke plenty of time to study her appearance.

From a size perspective, she wasn’t anything special. Average, if Zeke could trust his eyes. Dressed in a mostly browns and greens, she wore leather armor over her torso, sturdy boots, and leather pants. At her hip was a wicked-looking hatchet, and she still held her bow. There was no quiver, so Zeke had no idea where the dozens of arrows had come from.

After a handful of seconds, the mysterious woman broke the standoff and stepped toward him. As she drew closer, the analytical part of Zeke’s mind gave way to more practical concerns. Suddenly, he was very aware that he was wearing little more than a loincloth, and it didn’t take him long to see that the blonde archer was quite attractive, with high cheekbones, luminous, blue eyes, and a delicate bow of a mouth.

Finally, when she was only a few yards away, she said, “You killed all of these yourself, didn’t you?”

“I…yeah,” he croaked. “Why?”

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” she demanded. “And what’s that in your arms?”

Suddenly, the bear cub growled. It wasn’t an overt threat – more that the animal wanted to make itself known.

“This…it’s complicated,” Zeke said. So many questions flowed through his mind. He wanted to know who she was. He wanted to know where they were. He wanted to know about what society might exist in the new world. But he suppressed his curiosity, focusing on the most important query. “What do you want?”

It was a valid question. After all, the woman had clearly waited to help, like she’d been debating whether or not it was worth it. Once she saw that he didn’t actually need the help, she had started shooting. That implied that she wanted something from him.

She narrowed her eyes, then said, “Fine. We’ll skip the pleasantries, then. I’m in trouble. There’s a group of men who have been hunting me for the past two weeks. If you can help me –”

“Why?” he asked, interrupting.

“I can make it worth your while,” she said smoothly. “I’ve got a missive for –”

Again, he interrupted, saying, “No – why are they hunting you?”

“Because…”

The woman trailed off, then sighed. For a moment, Zeke wondered whether or not she was actually going to answer. Then, just as he was about to prompt her further, she started talking. She told him about the missive, mentioning places and things that meant nothing to him. However, he understood enough to recognize how despicable of a character this “Julio” was.

“…And if I can get away, you and I could go to Nightweb Ravine, kill the drachnids, and collect the reward back in Beacon. I’ll split it with you.”

The moment the archer had explained the situation, Zeke had already decided to help. However, he wasn’t averse to getting a reward, even if he didn’t quite understand what it was for. His experiences in the caves had taught him not to turn his nose up at anything. Still, he was curious, so he asked, “These fruits – what are they for?”

She blinked in confusion. “What? You don’t know?” she asked. “I thought…I thought everyone knew about the Fruits of Nascent Zeal. They’re grown on the slopes of –”

“I don’t care where they’re grown,” he said. “What do they do?”

“Rude,” she muttered under her breath, but with Zeke’s improved senses, he heard it clearly. Perhaps he should stop interrupting. However, two years alone had scraped most of his social graces clean. Then, looking extremely proud of herself, she explained, “They’re to evolve your race to. One fruit is enough to improve your body by an entire grade."

“Huh,” Zeke said, scratching his chin. They did sound useful, but he had a feeling that, with him having already evolved his race, they would be less so for him. Perhaps they'd allow him to reach even higher to whatever the next grade was for him, though. He'd have to ask about that later.

That clearly wasn’t the reaction the woman had expected. “I don’t know where you came from, but I don’t think you understand how unique of an opportunity this is,” she said. “There aren’t that many ways to evolve your race, and it’s necessary to get past the bottleneck.”

“That…won’t be a problem,” Zeke said. “I'm not sure if I have a use for these fruits, but I’ll still help you. Where are these –”

“Well, well, well,” came a new voice. Zeke looked up to see a tall, slim man standing only twenty yards away. He was flanked by four other men who looked like nothing so much as disreputable bandits. “What do we have here? Cheating on me, Abby?” The man clutched at his chest. “I’m hurt. Truly wounded.”

“Go to hell, Julio,” the archer spat.

Zeke glanced at his new ally, asking, “This the guy?”

She nodded, saying, “He’s dangerous, though. He’s level nineteen, and –”

Julio’s laugh cut her off, and Zeke heard Abby mutter about “lack of manners” and “interruptions”. But anything else was lost when the tall man said, “You came to this poor idiot for help? Didn’t you learn your lesson with the big Russian? Fine. If you want to lose another ally, I’ll certainly oblige.”

Julio gestured, and a mass of rainbow-colored mana smashed into Zeke’s chest. Then, with a wide grin, the man snapped his fingers. A split second later, it felt like every cell in Zeke’s body had erupted into agony. However, it wasn’t nearly on the level of what he’d felt when he’d combined the blue-spotted mushrooms and the mana water. Or the pain he’d been forced to endure while unraveling the curses cast by the troll shamans. Or any number of other instances where he’d been subjected to unrelenting pain. By comparison, it was little more than a twinge.

Zeke didn’t say anything. Instead, he spat out a mouthful of blood, then set the bear cub down. Mentally, he commanded it to stay there. Finally, after straightening back to his full height, he turned to Abby and asked, “You want me to kill him?”

“P-please,” she said.

Julio clearly hadn’t expected his attack to be so ineffectual, and surprise was etched across his face. He pulled his sword, saying, “Now, listen here –”

Zeke didn’t let him finish before he charged. With a roar, he hefted his mace and, in an instant, he’d closed the ground. In that time, Julio had yanked his single-edged blade from the scabbard at his waist. He slapped it against his metal bracer, and a wave of weaponized sound slammed into Zeke like a crashing wave.

He grunted. It wasn’t much different than the harpies’ screeches. Maybe a little stronger, but not so potent that it could stop his charge. After all, he’d spent the past couple of days being inundated by the harpies’ aural attacks, and while they still hurt, he’d grown accustomed to them.

To Julio’s credit, he managed to raise his sword to block Zeke’s rapidly descending mace. It was just enough to shift the blow from Julio’s head to his left shoulder, which shattered beneath the attack. But Julio still possessed stats commensurate with his level, which a quick inspection had put at level nineteen, and while he obviously hadn’t invested much into endurance, the man had still fought his way to his current power. He rolled with the attack, lessening some of the force, and then hopped back.

“Attack!” he bellowed, and his men reacted accordingly. Before Zeke knew what was happening, the four thugs had closed in on him. They attacked with a variety of skills, including one man whose spear was wreathed in flames, and for a moment, Zeke found himself on his back foot.

However, Zeke hadn’t spent the past two years idly strolling through his new life. He’d had to fight every step of the way, normally against superior numbers. So, being surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies felt like nothing so much as coming home. Using his impressive constitution, Zeke dodged and blocked all but one of the attacks. He wasn’t quick enough to evade them all, though, and he took a shallow cut along his ribs from a dagger-wielding villain. Instantly, it began to burn like someone had poured acid on an open wound.

“It’s poison!” came Abby’s shout from behind. Then, an arrow smashed into the man’s eye, killing him instantly. Truly, the woman’s arrows packed quite a punch.

Zeke activated [Leech Strike] to counteract the poison, then went on the offensive. The bandits weren’t the most skilled opponents Zeke had ever faced, but after fighting nearly mindless monsters for so long, it was a bit of a shock when they displayed something more than animalistic cunning. Still, there was a significant difference in stats that no amount of strategy could overcome, and that was saying nothing of Zeke’s well-honed battle instincts. Soon, the four men were lying on the ground, dead or dying.

Julio looked on with horror, his sword held in a loose, one-handed grip. His collarbone had been crushed, and he was in obvious pain. However, the man’s shock had overwhelmed the agony of his shattered shoulder.

“W-who are you?” he muttered.

Zeke didn’t bother answering. Instead, he shot toward the man with murderous intent. Julio attempted to run, but he only got a couple of feet before an arrow slammed into his upper back. Then another sprouted from his kidney. And another glanced off his skull, sending him stumbling. By then, Zeke had closed the ground between them, and with finality, swung his mace in a baseball swing. The familiar motion was powered by every ounce of Zeke’s considerable might; in front of that, Julio’s meager endurance couldn’t stand, and it caved in the man’s entire torso.

Still, Julio wasn’t dead. Mortally wounded, perhaps, but in a world where such injuries could heal incredibly quickly, nothing was certain. Zeke stood over the man, wondering what he should do. Certainly, he’d become a killer, and by necessity, he had made peace with that fact. But that was with monsters. Killing another human being, even one as vile as Julio, was something else altogether – especially when it was done in cold blood.

Luckily, Zeke didn’t have to think about it much, because a mere instant later, Abby was beside him.

“Abby, please –”

The woman didn’t hesitate before she brought her foot down with a vicious stomp, right on the man’s neck. It didn’t kill him outright, but it didn’t matter because Abby kept stomping. Over and over, all the while screaming, “That’s for Vlad, you piece of shit!”

Finally, after a full thirty seconds, Julio’s entire head had been reduced to mush. Zeke just shook his head, then turned around to see that his bear companion hadn’t remained idle. Instead, utilizing its sharp claws, it had already dispatched the wounded members of Julio’s band of miscreants.

Zeke shook his head, then glanced back at Abby, who still stood over Julio, her chest heaving. Finally, she seemed to come back to herself, and she looked up, saying, “He…he killed someone important to me. And he used his power to take advantage of…girls…back in Beacon. He deserved it.”

“I’m sure he did,” Zeke said, kneeling beside one of the thugs. He shooed the bear cub away.

“What are you doing?” Abby asked.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but…I’m kind of…well, I need some clothes,” he said, suddenly very aware of his near nudity. “This guy’s close to my size.”

“Gross,” she muttered, but even as Zeke started undressing the corpse, Abby began to pick through the bandits’ equipment. She took their weapons, Julio’s bracers, and a couple of rings the man had worn on his fingers. Finally, once they’d finished, she said, “What about the beast cores?”

“The what?” Zeke asked.

“Beast cores,” she repeated. “You know, all the harpies. Some of these are evolved, too. And even with the lesser cores, there are so many that this is still worth a fortune.”

Zeke’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Show me.”

Over the next couple of hours, Abby showed Zeke how to harvest the beast cores. Even though it was gory work to retrieve the cores from within the creatures’ rib cages, it wasn’t difficult. However, it was time consuming, and before they’d even finished half of them, the sun had begun to set.

“We should make camp somewhere,” Abby said. “There are a lot of nocturnal monsters around here, but I have a skill that can make things easier.”

Zeke snorted, saying, “I’ve got it covered.”

Then, with a gesture, he summoned his hut. Doing so crushed a few harpy corpses, but otherwise, there was plenty of room in the square.

“W-what is that?”

“It’s…a skill,” Zeke said, unwilling to elaborate further. He and Abby had become allies, of a sort, but that didn’t mean he trusted her. It was better to be cautious. “It keeps monsters away.”

To that, Abby just laughed. Then, she said, “Makes my skill seem ridiculously underpowered, I guess. But whatever. This just makes things easier.”

Then, she went into the hut. It only took her a moment before she said, “Wait – you’ve got fresh water in here, too? Jesus…”

Zeke could only grin. Perhaps his rewards had been even more unique than he originally thought.