“Daily ranking?” Several murmurs rose from the crowd.

Only I knew what the daily ranking was. I smiled to myself; I knew I was going to be the centre of attention again.

A giant stone pillar appeared next to the tower. On it, the name of every human being was displayed in order.

[1. Alex. 119 Points]

[2. Eric. 0 Points]

[3. Eliza. 0 Points]

[4. Xia Shiyu. 0 Points]

.

.

[104. Riyaad 0 Points]

[The daily bonus will now be awarded. The hunter in the first position shall receive 10% of his current number of points. The hunter in the second position will receive 9%, the one in the third position, 8%, and so on. Those below the 11th position won’t receive any bonus.]

[Updating the daily ranking]

[1. Alex. 130 Points]

[2. Eric. 0 Points]

.

.

The crowd stared at the stone pillar, baffled. “What the f*ck! Someone already has so many points! Did the tower make a mistake?”

“This is impossible. Who is the person called Alex?”

I stood still, ignoring the murmurs of the crowd and the inquisitive stares of my teammates.

After a few moments, Eric decided to speak up. “Regardless of who he is, for now, let’s focus on treating those who are injured. Do we have anyone with the Healing element?”

“That person is right. We should treat the injured first.”

The battle did not last for long, but a few people had broken arms and bruises, especially the ones who held shields.

Out of the 104 individuals, only three had chosen the Healing element, excluding me. I was certain that there were more but there was no way to find out. These three people quickly got to work but unfortunately, having never absorbed any mana stones, they were only able to use their Heal spell a few times before running out of mana.

As for me, I stood with my team and concealed my element. I was waiting for something and soon, it happened.

“What? Why do I have to give you a mana stone to heal me?” An angry voice exclaimed. The speaker was a man in his thirties; he was furiously swinging his hands in front of a young girl from the children’s group. The child was one of the three healers who revealed themselves.

“I do not have any mana left. I cannot use the Heal spell without mana.” The child explained weakly. When facing the tall adult, the child was intimidated and did not dare meet his eyes.

“How is that fair? The three people before me did not have to pay anything. I do not have any mana stones on me.”

I watched the scene unfold. The healers should have finally realised that it was impossible to heal benevolently. Everyone had a limited amount of mana; at the very least, the injured needed to provide the mana to heal their injuries.

I glanced at my teammates and muttered. “See? I did not scam you when I asked for a corpse of the silver wolf for a Heal.”

While the situation was worsening because the injured did not want to pay for their treatment, Eric quickly stepped up to protect the three healers. He was blatantly trying to drag them to his side. Healers were extremely valuable and none of the members of his team chose the Healing element.

“What this child said is right. The healers cannot just heal people for free. It is their mana and they can use it as they please. If you want to be healed, please at least pay for the mana used.” Eric said, standing in front of the young girl.

“But we do not have any mana stones left and we all contributed to the battle.”

“Didn’t the healers fight too? Why should they be contributing more than you? In any case, you can use the mana stones obtained from the monsters you killed to pay for your treatment. I believe the corpses of the monsters can also be exchanged for some mana stones at the merchant tower.”

“But I did not get to kill any monsters. I was the tank of my team, not the damage dealer!” exclaimed the young man who was previously screaming at the girl.

“Then, discuss with your teammates about how you are going to distribute the loot. Clearly, for this fight, we worked in different groups. Moving forward, we should come up with an appropriate strategy so that everyone can benefit. May I ask for the leaders of each group to meet me at the merchant tower?”

The different groups started discussing among themselves. I was glad that there was someone like Eric in this group; he was making things progress, establishing rules and regulations. However, how could uniting more than a hundred people be easy? It would take some time but right now, his words had some weight since he took the lead in this battle.

“Jake, are we going to continue to stand there doing nothing? We should go and collect the corpses of the two ogres we killed. You are the leader of our team, so lead.” I said quietly. I was making myself clear once again; I was not looking for the leader’s position. After all, my mindset was different; I spent close to nine years in the tower while everyone else freshly came here from Earth.

“Oh? Alright, then.”

There were a few disputes over the ownership of the corpses but in the end, my team secured the corpses of two ogres and four coyotes. The slimes did not leave behind any traces.

“This should be worth about five points but considering our numbers and that you will all instantly lose these points, I think it will be wiser to exchange them for mana stones. We can then all have three mana stones.” I shared my thoughts and the rest of my team quickly agreed.

Because we steered clear from any possible conflicts, our team was the first to head to the merchant tower. We traded the corpses and left happily with three more mana stones each.

As we left, we met several groups making their way to the toward. Coincidentally, the one leading them was Eric. Our eyes met. He smiled faintly and approached me.

“I assume your name is Alex.” He said with confidence.

“Yes, and you are Eric.”

“Nice to meet you. I was right when I said that you looked different from the others. How did you manage to earn so many points already?” He asked curiously.

“I did not. I just never went into debt in the first place. With a combination of luck and guts, you do not need the help of a fairy.”

“I am sure there is more to it. But anyway, can you wait for us, we will hold a meeting with all the team leaders to decide how we are going to tackle the defence of the village in the future.” Eric replied.

“Oh? But I am not the leader of my team. He is.” I pushed Jake in front of me. “There, you two stay and have a good chat. I will take my leave.”

Eric fell silent. He glanced at Jake suspiciously. “Are you really the team leader?”

“Officially yes. Alex said several times that he doesn’t want to lead and take any responsibilities.”

“Is that so? Then, will he agree to the decision you take?”

“Well… He never opposed my decisions, but he would give a few pieces of advice here and there.”

Eric’s expression hardened. “Anyway. Please wait a little bit for us to exchange our loot. Then, we’ll decide on the path to take.”

…

I quickly left the scene, not wanting to be involved in a complicated situation. Technically speaking, I was the only person with enough credibility to go against Eric at the moment. People listened to him because he was charismatic and took the initiative to fight the monsters. On the other hand, I was already proven to be successful, having over a hundred points under my name.

It was in my best interest to have all the participants unite under one front. It would significantly lower the casualty rate and at the same time, make the village’s environment safer. I did not want to become an obstacle in the unification of the teams. It would be troublesome to get involved in leading and managing the other teams. I was already exhausted from hunting for long hours and did not need more administrative work.

As long as Eric did not abuse his power and force me into disadvantageous situations, I would focus on my own goals and quickly leave this place. Time was short. I had less than a month to reach the first floor of the tower before the races of the tower notice the arrival of the humans.