“Ah, Riza! You’re here,” Tarrek said, coming over from the rest of the hunters. Unusually, Riza had slept in. “Today, Meren will join you,” He continued, pointing towards the unarmoured, familiar form standing awkwardly amongst the hunters. Riza frowned.

With a pat on the back, he was off, shouting at the other hunters that everyone was here and to begin.

Like a rat infestation, everyone hurried off into the forest, invading the established ecosystem.

Riza languidly walked over to Meren, somehow looking even more awkward now alone.

“Hello,” Riza said warily. Change was suspicious.

“Hi. I thought-I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I could join you?”

Riza looked at her for a second or two before sighing.

“Fine.”

Riza’s whole body was tingling as she crouched within the undergrowth. Meren was right close by, making no sound other than her gentle breathing.

Riza could tell Meren was watching her closely, not even bothering to be on the lookout for animals.

What is she up to?

Annoyingly, Riza couldn’t hunt how she normally would; it’d give too much away. Her bow was drawn but felt weird and unfamiliar in her hands.

Squirrels danced across branches and birds soared up ahead, none of them able to act.

“You look tense,” Meren whispered, disguising any emotion in her tone.

“I’m not used to having someone watch,” Riza said, formulating an excuse as she changed her grip on the bow.

Silence dawned upon them once more as neither moved for fear of disturbing the foliage around them.

“It’s quiet,” Meren whispered, slightly startling Riza. She glared at the woman behind her before getting an idea.

“If you see anything, come and lead me to them,” Riza said, simultaneously casting message to a nearby squirrel huddled away in a tree. She was taking a gamble that Meren’s essence wasn’t high enough to visibly see the essence manipulation going on that was innate to skills.

By now, Riza felt she knew enough about Meren to make that call, although she still gave Riza a strange look.

A good minute or so passed before the squirrel returned, Meren managing to spot it as well, high up in the tree ahead.

“There’s a squirrel,” She said, receiving an affirming hum from Riza. “Are you going to kill it?”

Riza shook her head, briefly looking at Meren before gingerly walking closer to the squirrel’s tree.

The little critter scampered across branches overhead as the pair followed slowly, trying to minimise their noise.

Shit. Right in front of them a fair few metres away was a deer. A large one–definitely an adult.

Riza’s shoulders tensed and she looked at Meren, the woman’s eyes big and looking between Riza and the animal.

With a sigh, she straightened her back, raised her bow, and drew back an arrow. Her form was shit–she knew this–but she had an idea.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out with leech at a very low power, almost nothing, feeling the connection click into place. She hid a smile at the familiar feeling.

One. Two. Three.

The arrow released with a twang, the string whipping forward as the projectile sailed through the air and landed in the target’s flank.

As soon as the arrow dug into the deer’s flesh, Riza raised leech to its strongest level, and the deer fell dead. She let out the breath she had been holding.

“Impressive,” Meren commented, her tone steady. “And in the flank, too.”

Riza just nodded as she crept towards the fresh corpse, withdrawing the arrow–which hadn’t penetrated that deep, her bow a low draw weight–and depositing it back in her quiver.

She crouched down low and struggled to get her hands under it and lift it until the weight suddenly lightened as Meren slung the large body over her shoulder with ease.

A flash of embarrassment and admiration passed through Riza before she stood to her feet, quietly thanking Meren.

“It’s nothing,” She replied, adjusting her grip. Her arms were large and thick, the muscle developed after long training sessions well defined in her unarmoured form. All her stat points in power must’ve helped as well.

Riza began walking back to the entrance of the forest but Meren didn’t follow instantly.

“You have levels, don’t you?” She asked, making Riza freeze on her feet and slowly turn around.

“Well, it’s a bit obvious,” Meren began. “Where you shot this thing shouldn’t give it more than a sore arse but it’s dead. Your bow it small and can’t have a large draw weight and you barely seem to know how to use it. You have a strange preference for daggers which are basically useless for hunting but yet, you do so well.

“And, also, when we fought, you were far stronger than you look,” Meren finished with a gesture towards Riza.

She had a point there–short of stature and with slender limbs from subsisting on nothing but essence for weeks, Riza looked anything but physical strong. Especially compared to Meren, who towered over her.

Meren lowered the deer corpse to the ground but stood standing tall. Alert. Riza didn’t know what to say.

“You don’t have to hide it. We would be happy to have more help defending this place. I suppose this means Lefie probably has levels as well but she seems like just a regular girl.”

Meren seemed relatively calm but, in Riza, her nerves were electrified. Her hands flexed as sweat beaded up and down her arms, across her forehead. She was struggling to keep her face neutral as her mind whirred like a machine.

Shit shit shit shit. What do I do what do I do? Do I kill her? I don’t want to fucking kill her! Could I even kill her? Of course I can. I bet I can before she even realises it.

Do I kill her? Is she a threat?

“What do you know?”

Meren smiled and crossed her arms, standing straight. She exuded confidence and control.

“Not much; I’ve got no idea what skills you have. You’re about as strong as my father but weaker than anyone I know with levels. Maybe you dabbled a bit and put a few points into power before realising it wasn’t for you? Your stamina is probably higher than your health.”

Fuck. She’s right.

Meren shifted her balance from one foot to the other.

“Oh, that reminds me. The last bit of sparring we did? I used a fair bit more than 100 stamina which means you did too. A bit impossible for someone who didn’t put any points into endurance, I’d say” Meren grinned.

Riza cursed at herself for her incompetence. There was no one to blame but herself.

Judging by how relaxed Meren was, she probably believed she was in no danger, which made sense; she believed Riza was level 5, at most level 7 or 8. They were close enough to Meren’s 5 and after sparring with Riza, Meren must’ve thought she’d win if it came to a confrontation.

In reality, there was only one way to handle this situation.

“Are you going to tell anyone?” Riza asked, still stunned to the spot.

“No, I won’t. It’s not for me to give out. But I do want to know why you’re hiding it. You’d get treated a whole lot better if it was out.

“There’s something about knowing I could kick a person’s head off that garners me a bit of respect.”

“I just want a normal life. For me and Lefie.” Riza sounded tired even to herself.

A tense few seconds passed before Meren spoke.

“I understand.”

Meren was confused.

After confronting Riza in the forest, she expected something to change, which it did, but not what she was expecting.

Dinner with the sisters was a tense affair. For the whole day, and the day before, Lefie had been talkative and normal with Meren–nothing amiss–but the moment Riza sat down for dinner, she clammed up.

Conversations were few and far between were both were around, even with Meren. They’d say a few words, often a greeting, and then that was it. Lefie was clearly upset about something, this quiet and stillness atypical for her, but Riza acted like nothing was wrong.

At some point, Meren pulled Lefie aside and asked what was up, the silent fracture between the sisters too big to ignore.

Somewhat unexpectedly, she said nothing and refused to profess something was wrong between the two of them.

Meren just sighed and let her go, wondering if this was her fault. She had only known both of them for two weeks by now but she had grown a liking for them, even if it was just having another female face here.

“Looks like it’s gonna rain,” Tarrek said, looking up at the grey, cloudy sky. It might not but the possibility was enough for now. “Alright guys,” He said, raising his volume. “We’re calling it off today. Strong sign of a storm. Let’s head back.”

There were token complaints, to be expected, but no one disobeyed to stay behind–storms were serious and it was far safer within the village than out here. Most of the complaints were mere posturing at best, though it was that culture that made the hunters what they were.

As everyone was putting all their gear back in the wagon for it to be hauled back, Tarrek noticed Riza looking more tense than normal. She didn’t say anything, keeping her bow on her back, but she looked at the sky and the village with a worried face.

He didn’t talk to her on the ride back, too busy driving the wagon to converse, and quickly lost sight once they had arrived. The hunters dispersed and Tarrek drove the wagon back to the stables where he requisitioned the horses for each hunt.

He handed off the animals to the stablemaster, making small talk and explaining why he was back early, before rushing off towards the other side of the village.

They’d had a few storms before, none of them that recent, and the demons preferred to arrive from the same direction each time. He suspected it was something to do with the quarry a bit of distance away but couldn’t confirm it.

He wasn’t in that much of a hurry but the rain was already beginning to come down. Gentle at first but it didn’t take long for the downpour to start, forcing him to pull up the hood on his fur cloak, insulating him from the worst of it.

He cursed inwardly as he jogged past the patrol house, stopping momentarily at seeing a somewhat distressed and worried-looking Riza. As soon as she saw him, she can dashing over.

“Do you know where they are?” She asked instantly, gesturing towards the patrol house.

Made sense she’d ask, he thought; Riza knew people who worked here and would likely be worried for them.

“Er, yeah. They should be out there,” He said, pointing towards where he was going, “Setting up the fires.”

Without even an ounce of thanks, the young woman rushed in that direction, her bow bouncing up and down on her back.

Tarrek shook his head and resumed his jog.

Illan was not having a good day.

He began his day rolling off the bed in his sleep and waking up to an aching back and thudding headache.

After that, he noticed his breeches had a long hole going down on leg that he had somehow missed so he spent the rest of his morning freezing his legs off, dressed only in his underthings, patching up the hole.

This, of course, made him late to collect lunch, having to eat it by himself, and then, to top it all off, the sky started crying on ‘im!

So, here he was, hauling ass in a pair of ill-fitting trousers trying to look calm and collected as he ran with a large jug filled with the everlight oil they slathered over everything. It was a pain in the arse to wash off and he just knew that’d be his task.

Being a patrolman involved a whole lot less fighting than he expected when he signed up.

He was huffing as he set the large pot down beside a few men who were quickly assembling a wooden fence to coat in the everlight.

It wouldn’t hurt the demons but would direct and funnel them, minimising damage and making them easier to deal with.

He didn’t want to waste time just standing around and so began running back to the village when, all of a sudden, his legs gave out under him, dropping him face first into the mud.

He cursed his lack of dexterity before realising the ground was physically shifting beneath him, vibrating him to the bone.

Hurrying to his feet, as best as he could, he looked back at the fence, hearing shouts of panic from his fellow patrolmen.

A few of them started running wildly towards him, towards the village, and he took a few seconds to realise why.

And when he did, he shit himself.

Grass was being upturned, clumps of dirt and earth turning inward and disappearing. The fence buckled, broke apart, and fell backwards, sinking into the earth.

His mate Daven, who had been painting the fence only moments earlier, cried out for help as he tumbled over and backwards, disappearing from sight.

The rumbled earth rushed forwards like a shockwave, a ripple of grass forming and then deflating, sliding back and disappearing like everything else.

Illan couldn’t bring himself to move as he saw what was happening, as he saw a hole gradually forming right in front of him.

The gaping jaw opened wider, dirt and rocks tumbling into it like a creature hungry for food.

The hole grew larger and larger as it swallowed more and more of the plains outside the village, eating the fence hole, the jar he placed not long ago, his friends as they cried out in fear, and inevitably, himself.

It deepened and grew, the fall into it growing from small to majorly injurious.

And, at the centre of this ever-growing pit of despair, a pinprick hole formed, likewise increasing in size.

It was a different colour from the earthen browns and rough greys beside it but that quickly changed as a gaseous, white mist began to billow out.

The aperture enlarged, the miasmas flowing out more and more rapidly as realisation dawned on what was happening to Illan.

He had heard about these craters. These bottomless pits that knew only demons.

And it had come to them.

The precipice stretched, reaching out slower and slower until it finally drew to a halt, having reached its final size. Right at Illan’s feet.

Face contorted with a ghastly expression, sweat soaking his clothes and urine his breeches, his feet finally decided it was time to move.

He fell flat on his ass even though the shaking of the ground had stopped and scrambled back onto his feet.

A low, guttural cry called out from the crater, followed by what sounded like tens to hundreds more.

His legs ran into overdrive as he crawled and scrambled and ran away from the hole, not bothering to look back.

He could see the village in front of him, the slack-jawed and shaken patrolmen (and women), the terrified villagers, and one other person, running towards him.

Rain was all Illan could hear, his mind blocking out all over noise. Even his own heartbeat was silent, though the powerful beating in his chest was hard to ignore.

Limbs burning with virulent energy, he ran as hard as he could, mind frozen into panicked action.

A loose clump of earth, half-buried stick, stubborn stone. Whatever it was, Illan’s foot caught it and sent him barrelling to the ground in an inelegant display, eating a mouthful of grass and soil as the rain splattered against him.

Finally, he looked behind him.

Impossible, he thought. His mind must’ve been betraying him. It was all just a feverish hallucination.

Not one demon. Not two. Not even ten.

It was a literal flood of them, popping up and out of the crater like water from a compressed waterskin–never-ending.

This was it. This was how he would die. Tears clogged his eyes, blocking his vision, as he failed to move.

They were running with abandon towards the village, and most of the people who could defend them were dead, fallen into the hole. They had no hope. Everyone would die.

The first wave was nearly there. Just a few more seconds and he would be dead.

Illan watched the one that would most likely kill him. Large and wolf-like, it would’ve been the first demon he had seen since becoming a patrolman. He hadn’t thought it’d be like this.

It’s jaw was oversized, legs huge and muscular, as it sprinted towards him. Eyeless and terrifying, but he couldn’t close his eyes. Something compelled him to watch.

The moment it got within reach, he knew it was over. This was it.

It pounced on him, snapping jaw barely missing his head as its large foot clawed right through his chest.

The pain was paralysing, his head whipping back and hitting the ground with a hard thud.

One moment, the beast was right on top of him. The next, it was on its side, a spear pierced through its head and a small pair of arms were wrapped around his torso, desperately pulling him back.

Meren. He vaguely recognised the woman, having seen her around the patrol house. She was armoured up and held her spear up and pointing towards the demons. The next closest one had picked her as its target and charged, experiencing a few swift thrusts to its head and torso, stumbling it but not quite taking it down.

Illan was being dragged away, he faintly realised, as he watched the woman keeping the demon at bay.

Another one closed in, forcing her to alternate her attacks and sweeps, unable to deal a killing blow.

Someone was talking. He didn’t know who nor what they were saying. The next thing he knew, a young woman was crouched down before him, hair as white as clouds.

She looked serious, eyes passing between him, his wound, and someone else. It wasn’t long before she placed her palm down upon him, pain in his chest blossoming momentarily before disappearing all together.

Clarity was returning to his mind as he looked down. The blood didn’t disappear, staining his clothes, but he could feel his wounds healing up. The flesh was stitching itself back together, his energy being restored and his mental faculties returning.

By the time the woman lifted her hand away, his mental fog was gone, and he realised what had just happened.

Meren had watched this with rapt interest but couldn’t spare a word about it, forced to head off the now group of three demons clawing to get at him.

“You, you-” The words stumbled out of Illan’s mouth as he realised who this was.

The woman stood up, face serious, and looked at the person who had dragged Illan away.

“How much essence do you have?” She asked.

“About 4300.”

Illan could hear the undisguised joy in the response, somewhat offsetting his gape of surprise at the high number. He was of right-enough mind to know whoever they were, they were far, far higher level than him.

The woman nodded before turning around and looking at the three demons Meren was desperately batting away with her spear.

One-by-one, just like that, they fell to the ground before her, dead. She hadn’t attacked them. There were no signs of wounds. All it took was barely more than a click of his fingers.

“Keep near the village and pick off any that I miss,” The woman said towards her friend. “I’ll head up towards the hole and see if I can stem the source.”

Meren was watching this entire exchange, clearly as surprised as Illan was. Who were these people?

“Okay. Be careful.”

“I can’t die, Lefie. I’ll send a message if I need help.”

Those were her final words spoken, the woman turning and walking away.

The first few demons close by fell down suddenly, much like the ones Meren was fighting.

Then more, and then more. Demons further and further away were dying instantly, without even fighting anyone.

And then it dawned on Illan. The scariest thought imaginable. They were fighting someone.

“Can you stand?” Lefie asked from behind him, voice soft and gentle.

“Er, yeah. Yes,” He quickly answered, realising his was healthy again, and got to his feet.

Illan only had a brief time to marvel at his intact chest before Lefie gave another order.

“Meren, um-guy, go back to the village. Tell everyone to hide or direct any demons to me, okay?” Her tone was as if it was a question but based on her stats, Illan believed it was anything but.

He quickly nodded his head, too stunned to speak.

“What’s going on?” Meren asked, anxiously looking over her shoulder at the young woman who was walking straight towards the hole. Demons were dying left and right with nothing but a look.

Such frightening power.

“I’ll explain later, but you have to trust me. Me and Riza.”

Lefie’s eyes darted to the side. She sidestepped quickly and raised her arm, fingers pointing at a demon the woman must’ve missed.

A flash of light bloomed from her fingertip, closely followed by a strikingly bright bolt that shot from her hand and impacted the body of the demon, bringing it to a permanent stop.

One hit. That was all it took to kill it with what Illan realised was a lighting bolt. A 0th tier essence skill.

“I trust you,” Meren nodded, stunned into obedience by that display of power, much like Illan.

It was never ending. Demon after demon was spawning from the crater, much like the one she first encountered, with no end in sight. When she had just gotten there, she was worried for Lefie and quickly found her with the help of a message.

After that, she realised Lefie was right. The demons would overrun the village and kill everyone in it if they had the chance. Litchendorf lacked defences.

So, she reached out with her mind and set [Leech] to 500 damage, pushing the front of the wave of demons back until it grew more manageable for Lefie to deal with.

After that, [Leech] was decreased to a mere 110 damage per second, a sustainable amount for Riza’s regeneration. This slowed down her advance massively and limited her scope to just a direct line in front of her to the whole rather than the whole field but it allowed her to kill everything before it reached her and to regenerate just that little bit more.

Steadily, she advanced. Every now and then, a slightly tankier demon would get within reach and take a few swipes at her but nothing she couldn’t easily heal up.

Notifications of level ups appeared before her as she instantly dismissed them, focussing on the fight at hand.

Eventually, the spawning slowed down and eventually, to a complete halt. Demons were still abound on the field but, from what she could see, no more were leaving the hole.

Is this everything? Did the demons send out all their demons or just a portion.

Regardless, she was invigorated with curiosity and pushed forwards, gradually closing in on the massive sinkhole.

And then, as she got within mere metres of it, a giant, white paw suddenly sprouted up and crashed down on the precipice. It alone was twice her size and quickly followed by another, claws as long as a femur.

They dug into the earth like machines, pulling the hulking, great body upwards and over the cusp of the hole. A slim, long snout came into view first, mouth large but narrow and painted white.

Its eyeless head reminded Riza of a swordfish as the rest of its body emerged: slender, almost unhealthily thin body with proportionally twig-like legs, all culminating in a greyhound that was twice as long as it should’ve been and the height of a small building.

Riza was taking rapidly steps back as soon as it came into view, switching up [Leech] to max power and refocusing it on this thing. Her mind was telling her it was a greater demon, far stronger than any she had encountered before.

Her essence was full thankfully, her conservative use proving smart, but upfront damage against a healthy creature was far from her speciality.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. She was counting them off as it accumulated damage. By the time it had all four, lupine feet on solid ground, five seconds had passed.

Its eyeless face settled on Riza and, with barely a moment to react, it was upon her.

She threw herself to the side, [Leech] able to maintain itself without needing constant line of sight. It missed by a narrow margin and Riza quickly got to her feet again.

She momentarily cursed not being able to shove [Leech] above 700 damage per second but had to make do, running away from both the village and the crater.

Within seconds, the greater demon gave chase. She had barely made any distance before the great, big snout came crashing into her, propelling her sideways and bouncing off the ground with heavy thuds and slams.

Blackness filled Riza’s vision for only a second until a rush of air filled her lungs and an ungodly amount of pain subsumed her body.

She screamed out unhinged for the second or two it took to gather her mind and [Heal] herself up to full.

20 Health. Fuck! That’s a parasite gone.

Riza scrambled around on the floor to see the demon again before standing back up, prioritising [Leech].

The fight was like a dance. A badly choreographed dance. The demon was humongous, it’s gigantic strides able to cover the entire village in less than a minute and yet, here Riza was trying to outrun it.

She suffered bites threatening to rip off her limbs, claws that dug to her bone, and enough concussions she would’ve forgotten who she was by now.

Her only saving grace was the demon’s apparent desire to leave her intact.

And then, finally, after who knew how long had passed, [Leech] cut out and the demon’s spindly legs froze, followed by its dipping head crashing into the ground, body tumbling down alongside it and rolling into the crater, sliding down like a coin in a spiralling collecting machine.

[Level Cap] increased to 29

With a massive gasp of air, Riza fell onto her back, not even bothering to check for other demons.

She wasn’t attacked for the next minute that passed as she caught her breath

What the fuck was that thing?

She had no answer.

Demons grow stronger just by leaving. It was clearly bestial in nature, its original form likely that of a dog or wolf, but yet, it was titanically large and with more health than anything she had fought before. More health than even the humanoid demons.

Then again, with how the damage reduction systems worked, she no longer thought she could accurately calculate the health of something.

Was it just a greater demon that had lived longer so it was larger and stronger? Or was it something different? A ‘greatest demon’ perhaps?

Riza let out a deformed chuckle at the thought, her lungs momentarily gasping in pain after her exertion. Her stamina was dangerously low by now, only her boosts from [Essential Leech] being what had prevented her from collapsing mid-fight.

Another few minutes passed by which time Riza was confident no more demons were alive. Arms spread out in the grass, she looked up at the cloudy sky, rain pouring down on her like there was no tomorrow. Each droplet that impacted on her felt visceral.

A smattering of footsteps closing in, followed closely by the flying form of Lefie, abruptly latching herself around Riza and crushing her in an embrace.

“Thank you thank you thank you…” She was muttering like a girl possessed under her breath.

Her hair stuck to her face, her clothes thoroughly soaked through, but Riza could feel the warmth of her gratitude as her own arms closed around her.

Lying there, in the grass, with her level cap newly increased and feeling the power course through her, Riza almost forgot about why she wanted to keep this all hidden.