Many people find this difficult to swallow, but in the same way we view many other races as monstrous, they too see us as demonic entities to be avoided. Humanity’s talent with the arcane, fearsome adaptability, high intelligence, and insatiable greed make us a race to be reckoned with.

Suko Ryo - Interspeciel Expert - Humanity and the Other Races

____

“Watch your flank,” Silas shouted, cutting down a severally overgrown hamster. It shrieked and tumbled into the dirt, and he immediately changed targets to its nearby kin.

Olivia turned at his warning and flinched as she saw a hamster bounding for her from behind. This moment of distraction was enough for the one in front to charge at her legs and topple her over. It immediately twisted itself around her leg and gnawed at her flesh, while the other one arrived and attacked her head. Panicking, she dropped her spear and flailed and kicked at them, screaming, but failed to ward them off.

Silas slaughtered the two nearest to him and booted another away, fury streaming through his veins. He rushed over to Olivia and speared the hamster chewing on her leg. Its shrill squeak warned the one by her head, and it immediately retreated from his reach, joining the remaining handful of hamsters in circling the duo.

Silas reached out and pulled Olivia up, tears streaming down her blood-streaked face. “Are you okay?” he asked hoarsely.

Gasping for breath, she shook her head with her eyes set on the ground. She had slumped shoulders and slack limbs, and he feared she would fall the second he let go. Still, there was nothing else he could do as the hamsters were still circling them, growling as they looked for another opportunity to engage.

“Just hold on for a few seconds, alright? I’ll be done right away,” he said, releasing her. He dashed towards the hamsters and swung his spear in a wide arc, catching two off-guard.

The others rushed at him together from different directions, and he snarled, kicked, and stabbed until they lay dead in a growing puddle of red. There were a couple of scratches on his dark armour and they had bruised his skin in areas, but that was the worst of it. Panting, he strode over to Olivia and handed her a healing salve. He helped apply it and then supported her as she hobbled alongside him, coming upon a secure cave some minutes later.

It had been two days since they had left New Derby, and so far their journey to find Ethan had been fruitless. Travelling north-east, they hadn’t encountered any civilised people to help direct them in more detail, but they had come across several bands of monster who had done well in hindering them.

To add to this, Silas had only recently learnt that Olivia had merely been a level 4 at the start of their journey; he had abstained from asking her out of politeness, but then he had felt the need to after watching her during their first fight. Although his runes had greatly enhanced her capabilities, it didn’t change the fact she had little to none combat experience and that she easily panicked around violence. While her weakness had undoubtedly contributed to their slow progress, he hadn’t even entertained the idea of dumping her here in the wilderness, especially as she was improving with every fight.

“I got three of them,” Olivia called out, leaning against a stone wall. “Did you see?”

Silas acknowledged her with a hum. “Yeah, they were at least level twenty so you did well. Sorry it took me so long to come over.”

“It’s fine. It was my fault, anyway,” she replied, clenching her hands into trembling fists. “I just froze when I saw it charging towards me, and the other tripped me from behind.”

“At least you protected your head after your fall. How’s your leg feeling?” he asked.

She gingerly looked down at the stinging wound, cream-coloured balm splattered over the red cut. “Bad. But the salve should heal it up in a few hours, right?”

He nodded, “Should do.” They spoke for a while longer before quietening as she rested with her eyes closed, and he sat vigilant, chewing over the matters on his mind. Eventually remembering what Montigo had said about Aengus, he checked the leaderboards as it had been a while since he had done so.

1. Dahlia Howe - 55

2. Kuraim Jaffer - 53

3. Lucian Grimes - 51

4. Freddie Littlewood - 48

5. Ajit Ghost - 48

6. Katerina Ivanov - 48

7. Jeung Seoyeon - 47

8. Vivienne Durant - 45

9. Alfonso Pisani - 44

10. Aengus Abercrombie - 44

…

22. Zhang Bao - 42

…

35. Lavanya Sanghvi - 41

…

47. Matteo Rivera - 41

…

51. Dolkar Letho - 40

…

73. Waseem Bukhari - 40

…

86. Solomon Kebede - 40

87. Floyd Godson - 40

…

100. Seda Albayrak - 40

A grin sprouted on his face as he saw that Aengus had finally made the top ten! He figured this meant the Scottish man-giant had been successful in hunting down the wyvern Montigo had mentioned. Besides from this, Silas was somewhat surprised to see Floyd there, although it made sense considering the amount of experience he must have soaked up during the horde attacks.

Moving on, Silas recalled the things the System had said about the Test of Merit after the tutorial. It had stated the goal of it was to become a D ranked organism in 6 months, which could be done by reaching level 100, killing an organism already ranked D, or by completing a D rated quest. Considering Dahlia, Kuraim, and Lucian had already passed level 50 in just a month, thus becoming E ranked individuals, it seemed they were well set on passing level 100 in the remaining 5 months.

Once they did that, they would become Sovereigns of Idroa and obtain the power to kick out the ratkin. The System had even claimed they could unfuse the planets and go back to just having Earth again, but Silas felt somewhat contested on this point. On the one hand, Earth was his true home and a safe haven to all humans, but on the other it had been Idroa that had breathed life into his hollow husk. Would he lose all his progress and attributes on returning to Earth, and if so, was he destined to become a piteous vagabond again?

He had no idea to the answers of these questions, and so he was oddly relieved that he wasn’t a ranker as at least this way he didn’t have to worry about these grand issues. Besides, it was possible that humanity wouldn’t even get a say on this matter as there was a chance that one of the other races could reach D rank first.

Scrolling down to the classes list, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open.

1. Elisha Luna - Primal Healer level 17

2. Hou Yu - Artificer level 15

3. Kuraim Jaffer - Necromancer level 15

4. Emmanuel Baasch - Alchemist level 14

5. Katerina Ivanova - Hidden Blade level 14

6. Darshan Jha - Farmer level 14

7. Dahlia Howe - Abomination level 14

8. Conan Hughes - Druid level 14

9. Jack Jones - Miner level 13

10. Aiyasha Okilo - Shaman level 13

11. Lucian Grimes - Warlord level 13

12. Laila Samra - Mirage level 13

…

39. Stefan Sommer - Chronicler level 12

…

81. Bijou Louis - Puppeteer level 12

…

97. Reynard Holden - Runesmith level 12

…

100. Roxanne Martin - Oracle level 11

Non-combat classes had almost completely overrun the list! Silas was still only a level 8 Duellist, so Elisha was a little over double his class level already. In truth, he had thought until now that people would only reach D rank through levels and kills, but this sight opened his eyes to the fact that many people could achieve the same thing through their quests. There wasn’t anyone he recognised on the list though, so he skipped onto the next one.

1. Dahlia Howe - 3 E-5

2. Lucian Grimes - 6 F-1

3. Katerina Ivanova - 4 F-1

4. Freddie Littlewood - 3 F-1

5. Zhang Bao - 3 F-1

6. Kuraim Jaffer - 2 F-1

7. Jeung Seoyeon - 2 F-1

8. Aengus Abercrombie - 2 F-1

9. Ajit Ghost - 2 F-1

10. Vivienne Durant - 2 F-1

…

27. Lavanya Sanghvi - 2 F-1

…

52. Floyd Godson - 1 F-1

…

100. Lloyd Merrick - 6 F-2

It appeared the mantis leader Floyd had killed had been an F-1, which explained his high position. While the kills list was interesting, most of Silas’s attention went to the highest-ranked person, Dahlia Howe. From her level, class title, and astonishing number of high-ranked kills, he imagined her to be some sort of assassin hunting down terrifying monsters for sport.

Silas’s thought track suddenly derailed as he rose and gripped his spear. Olivia turned to him, her doe-eyes betraying her worry. She didn’t know what exactly he had sensed, but the only times he reacted like this was when there were monsters nearby.

“I know you’re there,” Silas shouted, pacing forward. Simultaneously, he gestured Olivia to go deeper into the cave.

“Move again, girl, and my baby will fire,” came the reply. Silas tensed as he recognised the voice.

Out from behind a bunch of trees skittered a misshapen insect with all the grace of a dead, washed-out rat. With six pincer-like legs and a glossy-black shell, it boasted oversized mandibles at the front of its thorax. It stopped some strides away from him and tasted the air with its mandibles.

Behind it followed Raven with her jet-black hair and deathly pale skin. She looked worse for the wear with her plunge dress now dirty and in tatters. Her silver piercings glinted in the dusking light and brought his attention to her depraved expression. Beside her strode Meera, the dark-skinned Huntress, her bow drawn and aimed at Olivia, her bleak eyes trained on her prey.

“Put down the bow,” Silas yelled, anger seeping into his voice. He had not expected to find the Voidcaller and her pet here, and he especially hadn’t expected such a hostile reception.

Raven guffawed, her bosom bouncing with her laughter. “Now, I wonder, Silas,” she said, struggling for breath, “Would you be able to save this girl if I told my baby to fire? No? Then perhaps you should take a softer tone, you swine.” She uttered the last word with such venom it threw him off-balance.

He couldn’t recall ever wronging her, let alone doing something deserving of such spite. Perhaps the Voidcaller’s insanity had taken over? He sharply sucked in a breath and decided to change his strategy: whatever the case, he had to disarm Meera before she shot at Olivia.

____

For those of you who are eager to hunt down monstrous animals, remember that you don’t need to kill it on your first encounter. On many occasions, I like to scout out my prey first, before wearing them down, and only then finishing them off. Be aware, though, that some animals will catch onto your plan and attempt to run away at the first opportunity, so remember to bring something to track them with.

Lavanya Sanghvi - the Monster Bane - Adventurer’s Guide to Surviving the Idroan Wilderness