DeSean was laying over Social Media’s left side, whispering into her ear the sweet mechanics of basic marksmanship. She was nervous. She shivered with each sentence he spoke. He guided her calmly regardless of her fears. After all, he had the trained mind of a expert rifleman who’d helped other Marines hit on target even during the fiercest of firefights.

A rifle was an extension of the warrior, just like a bow or a sword. Unlike weapons of the historical past, the rifle was capable of shooting a tiny piece of metal at supersonic speeds. The bullet was nearly impossible to avoid when the shooter was on target—and it didn’t take much to kill a person. Maybe two or three shots. Sometimes less if the head shot was accurate enough.

But last night revealed to DeSean that everyday guns and bullets weren’t enough anymore. He should’ve taken Princess Lylothia’s warning into more consideration. Hell, he’d seen it for himself at the farm house attack. The Chosen wouldn’t go down easily if they had Od put into Strength. It was truly an advantageous stat, and DeSean felt that now since his Strength was his second highest stat.

Even without an arm, he could probably duke it out against the four hostiles coming up the trail beneath his party’s concealed position. But that wasn’t his purpose here. The Od would be wasted on him now. But at the very least, he was going to get his people the best shot they could get to receive some easy Od.

So, he laid with Social Media in a muddy patch surrounded by shrubbery and a ring of saplings. Mariah and Roberto were positioned elsewhere that wasn’t too far off. Thanks to the optilings’ sky-high observations, DeSean could predict which trail the Chosen would take to reach Dr. Patterson’s business. Normally, that would be enough to make this a deadly attack for the enemy, but DeSean was taking the stats into further consideration.

If any of the Chosen had a ridiculous amount of Focus, they might sense the ambush before they entered the party’s sector of fire. So, DeSean had his minions make random rustling noises in the trees at an angle away from their positions. He’d even went as far as giving his sneakers to a pair of optilings to recreate his footprints up one of the trails. It was a sloppy job, and a well-trained combat hunter would sense the trap.

But I’m going to allow myself to assume most Chosen don’t have those credentials.

The four Chosen strode up the trail arrogantly. Three of them were men, and one was an elderly woman with a small ring of light hovering in front of her forehead. One of the men had talons for hands. Another carried a big red fire axe. The fourth had a rifle and bulbous eyes that rotated individually to look at different directions.

DeSean felt Social Media tensing and holding her breath. He pressed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze of reassurance. She slowly loosened up. Her breath came out as a very quiet sigh.

“Hey, I just heard something!” shrilled the bug-eyed man. He twisted around and aimed his rifle at DeSean and Social Media’s spot. The Chosen weren’t perfectly positioned in the middle of the sector of fire, unfortunately, and Social Media was moments away from pulling the trigger early.

He tapped the girl on her shoulder as a signal for her to wait.

At the same time, an optiling dove into a bush further down the trail.

“I think I heard the Marked further ahead,” boasted the man with the fire axe. “Hurry along, and let’s get this morning started right. The blood of the tainted must be spilled to make this a fine day.”

The bug-eyed Chosen swept his googly eyes from DeSean and Social Media’s position to the bushes the optiling was rustling through. Bug-eye pointed it out to the woman, her halo pulsating intently.

Halo Woman nodded, glared at the bush, and made her forehead shine brighter than the morning sun. DeSean gave his minion the message to abort, but the imp moved too slow.

The air popped and screamed. A thin beam of white light appeared between the woman and the bush and lit it in a flash. The line of mana connecting DeSean to his optiling snapped as the creature was roasted instantly.

The squeal it made the split second before it was toasted was very far from what a human would make. For a heart-stopping moment, DeSean wondered if this group was too tough for his party to chew on and if the ambush was lost. Would Bug-Eye return his attention to their spot and have Halo Woman vaporize them next?

“All you’ve had us kill out here are wretched animals,” said the man with talon-hands. “Stop twitching at every sound and let’s get to it. I’m getting closer to my path, and I want it today!”

“We’re all close to the path! Let’s move it,” said Fire-Axe. He marched forward with his weapon rested confidently on his shoulder. He walked into Social Media’s line of fire.

She held fast, not firing.

Then Bug-eyed fell under her barrel’s aim.

She continued to hold steady.

Talons came next, stopped right before reaching her line of fire, and bent down. “Heh, there’s some footprints here. We’re onto something.”

“Just do your best to protect me until I’m positioned,” Halo Woman said, walking past Talons. “Then I shall reap—”

Social Media pulled the trigger and filled the nearby forest with the crack of thunder.

Halo Woman’s head burst into pink mist and glinting chunks of white. The halo in front of her head winked out instantly, making it clear she was dead.

DeSean grinned and patted Social Media on the head. He used the head pat to prop himself up and break out of their concealment, stealing all of Bug-eye’s attention.

The Chosen’s first shot went awry as first shots tended to do when the shooter was caught on the back foot. It cracked open the sapling inches to DeSean’s left.

Bug-eye didn’t get a second shot. There was a second crack of a rifle, but from a different direction.

The Chosen’s head lurched to the side suddenly, breaking open like a cantaloupe struck on the side by a hammer. Mariah scored her kill, leaving two physical-looking Chosen to fight on their own.

Talons rushed Mariah and Roberto’s position, revealing a higher level of Agility DeSean hadn’t seen before. The Chosen swerved in and out of copses of trees, moving unpredictably while under gunfire from the sister and brother.

DeSean left them to it, trusting the two would handle themselves despite being kids. They had fierce survival instincts.

He walked boldly down a small slope facing Fire Axe. The monstrous man across from him grinned cheek-to-cheek and lowered his weapon from his shoulder. He charged at a speed that was way faster than the muscle man from last night. If Fire Axe was facing the DeSean from before last night, he would’ve caught the Marine easily.

DeSean shifted to the side, making Fire Axe follow him. The Chosen unknowingly ran into Social Media’s line of fire.

The girl slammed home a bullet against Fire Axe’s shoulder. The Chosen stumbled, but he didn’t slow by much.

Fire Axe raised his weapon with one hand. He was about to bring it down on DeSean, but the Marine’s minions flew in with perfect timing. Five pug-looking buggers flapped all around Fire Axe’s head, fouling his swing.

DeSean sprinted past him and down the hill. At the same time, he tossed a taunt over his shoulder. “How are going to spill my tainted blood if you can’t even hit me?”

Fire Axe roared, swinging chaotically at the optilings. The minions departed after one of their own was hacked down, their dark blood splattering the Chosen. The enraged man followed after DeSean, displaying a lack of Focus that would haunt him.

He ignored Social Media.

She made him pay for it.

As the rifle shots came out repeatedly and struck true, DeSean dove behind a tree trunk to avoid friendly fire. Behind him, Fire Axe howled in pain, taking everything that the girl had to give. To his credit, the Chosen stayed standing as Social Media finished unloading on him.

DeSean peeked around his cover and saw the bloody mess of a Chosen stumbling up the hill toward Social Media’s position. Fire Axe got within ten feet of her before collapsing in a heap, his shredded back and exposed skull facing up to the sky.

The university student stood up, mud dripping down her body. Her arms were wrapped around the weapon’s stock as she shook like a leaf in the wind.

“Is it o-o-over?” she stammered. “Please tell me it’s over.”

“[Dauntless Strike]!” Roberto’s voice carried with the strange Systemic tune that made it resonate powerfully. A loud, bone-breaking crack followed right after.

“Do it again!” his sister yelled. “Do it again!”

“[Dauntless Strike]!” Roberto repeated.

Kra-krunch!

DeSean reached Social Media and guided the trembling girl over to the fight the siblings’ were finishing. They found Roberto standing over Talons. The boy held his shotgun by the barrel, unbothered by the heat the end of the weapon gave off when fired repeatedly.

Blood and brain goop dripped down from the shotgun’s butt, selling half the story that Talons’ pancaked face was telling. The siblings weren’t lacking in ability just like yesterday.

“Any injuries?” DeSean asked.

Mariah flipped around a big bush knife that was coated in blood. “He scratched me right here.” She pointed at the bleeding mark on her stomach. “He was faster than me, but Roberto backed him away. Then I was able to use [Predator’s Ambush] on him again.”

“Mariah stabbed him in the leg, slowing him down for me to, uh, finish it.” Roberto stared at the bloody end of his impromptu bludgeoning tool.

“He wasn’t that tough,” Mariah said, scoffing.

“You two do realize you’d taken down Chosen who were close to getting their Path?” DeSean asked. “They had more Od than you, and their own Skills.”

“Whatever!” Mariah huffed. “I got a bunch of Free Od from them. And I got [Great Huntress] on my Records.”

“I nearly got the same, except for [Big Finisher] being added to my Records,” Roberto said.

DeSean felt elated. The two rugrats were growing and leaning into what they were good at. One was a deft hand at killing. The other smashed the enemy no matter what.

“How’d she do?” Mariah jutted her chin at Social Media.

“I feel awful,” the university student said in a small voice. “I thought maybe I’ll become like you guys. But… but I don’t really feel any better about this. I nearly died yesterday. Now I watched myself shoot people like I’m in a game.”

Social Media dropped her rifle.

DeSean pressed his lips into a thin line, but held his tongue. She’s not a Marine. The rifle isn’t sacred to her. It was really hard for him to not snap at her, though.

“I’m scared,” Social Media said. “If I don’t do this, I’ll be too weak to help, yeah? But… but I don’t want to have to fight like that. This is sooo shitty.”

“You have to fight,” Roberto said in a small voice, surprising everyone. “You have to. Because if we don’t, the people around us can get hurt.”

“Or you get out of our way so you don’t be a huge drag on us,” Mariah said. “What can you do to be useful?”

Social Media glanced at DeSean, rifled through her pockets to pull out her phone, and accessed it. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped it tensely.

“This. If I can… If I can make this useful to you all, then maybe I don’t have to fight the way you do.”

“You still need Od to progress,” DeSean said. “Maybe it’s early for me to say this, but until we learn otherwise, we need to kill to get Od.”

“There are other ways,” Princess Lylothia said from the branches above, “to gain Od without direct conflict. But the path you seek requires an investment in Attunement. And this path can only be sought when you meet the Od Level 100 requirement to unlock your Main Path.”

The Hell Princess flapped down to DeSean’s shoulder. She looked down at shivering Social Media with curious red eyes.

“The Summoner seems to fancy you, and the others,” the princess said. “At first, I wonder if it was a weakness of his. So, I sat above as a witness, and saw an unusual battle play out. You were disadvantaged since those were stronger Chosen, and in an even fight, you would’ve lost. But….”

The princess gave them all a wickedly demonic smile. “You all showed wonderful forest warfare tactics that sings to me. I know this was by the Summoner’s design, but it is impressive that you’ve three followed through excellently.”

“Wow,” Roberto said. “Um, that’s a lot coming from a princess. Thanks.”

“Cool,” Mariah said, shrugging.

“All I did was do what DeSean told me,” Social Media whimpered.

“No,” DeSean said.

She put Halo Woman out of the fight instantly. That was a intelligently brutal move for someone who was the wimpiest of the party.

It was good fortune that Halo Woman and Bug-eye were probably low on Strength, too. The Strength stat affected how tough they could be. Halo Woman probably had high Attunement, but low Strength. Bug-eye probably had high Focus, but low Strength as well. Talons was probably concentrating his efforts on Agility, with Strength or Endurance as a secondary stat. Fire Axe was mainly progressing his Strength, but placed Od into Agility and Endurance no doubt, so he wasn’t as tough as muscle man from last night.

DeSean was starting to understand how these stats could play out in real combat. Depending on the situation, the environment, the timing, and the people involved, situations that would’ve spelled doom before the apocalypse could be overturned thanks to having the right person with the right stats and Skills.

And there are people out there who are going to rely on those stats and Skills and overlook everything else that could tactically be used against them.

DeSean hummed with delight, feeling a little excited for the future. Everyone was looking at him strangely, waiting for him to resurface from his thoughts.

“I told you to shoot when they enter your line of fire,” DeSean said. “You waited to takeout the most dangerous threat. It was a really smart move on your part, Social Media.”

“I was scared she’ll vaporize us!” Social Media squealed, covering her face with her hands.

“Fear is a great motivator, little mortal,” Lylothia said. “All that matters is if you use fear as a helping hand or a hurtful one. You’ve impressed me by choosing the former rather than the latter.”

“Oh,” Social Media replied, peeking between her fingers at the princess. “Um, thank you then.”

“You have attractive qualities,” Lylothia said, smirking. “Once I help you along your path, you’ll make for a decent concubine for my Summoner.”

“O mah gawd, whaaaaat?”

“Seriously, DeSean,” Mariah spat.

“What’s a concubine?” Roberto asked.

DeSean pressed his hand to his face.

He needed to have a talk with the princess. He wasn’t in the business of collecting a harem. He wasn’t an anime protagonist.

That was Quinton’s thing.