Karolina sat up slowly, wondering why she was awake so early. A scream came from outside, causing her to sit bolt upright. She quickly got to her feet, getting her boots and gloves on just in time for a direwolf to slam through the door. She quickly inspected it, wondering how worried she should be.

[Direwolf] - Level 3

Not worried at all. She sprinted at the low level direwolf, supremely confident. She didn’t even bother to activate her armor before she tackled the direwolf to the floor. She grabbed its head with both of her hands, avoiding its desperate scrabbling, and slammed its head into the floor once. Then twice.

The direwolf’s skull cracked open on the floor, its soul disappearing almost instantly. She dismissed the blue screen that popped up almost immediately after she saw that she hadn’t gained a level. She slowly got back to her feet, avoiding stepping on the corpse and blood as much as she could.

“Damn,” Ada said. “That was hardcore.”

Apparently, she had woken up during all the excitement, and was getting to her feet. Thomas, on the other hand, was less alert.

“What?” Thomas asked, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “What’s happening?”

“Karolina just killed a direwolf that came into the lodge,” Ada said, apparently having woken up too recently to be snarky.

“Into the lodge…? There was a monster inside of the camp?” Thomas asked, suddenly seeming much more awake.

Karolina felt her blood run cold. Monsters had never come into camp before. She remembered that Buckley had set a watch the first few nights, the one time she had seen him being a proactive leader. He had stopped setting guards once it became clear that monsters weren’t going to attack the camp. People didn't like having to stay up at night to keep watch.

If there was one monster in camp—she hurried over to the door, pulling it open and taking a quick glance outside. Instead of the calm, peaceful camp she had grown used to seeing, outside of their door she could see a scene of violence and death.

She could only see a few monsters, but that was still enough to cause chaos. She could see a goblin chasing someone with a rusty knife. The man was managing to keep ahead of the goblin for now, but she could see that he was starting to get tired.

She could see some monster corpses scattered around, which brightened her mood a little, but she felt her heart clench when she spotted it. There was a dead woman lying on her back, wearing brown robes. There was a huge red stain in the center of her torso, a nauseating reminder of how she had been killed.

She closed the door. She couldn’t bear to see anything else horrible right now, and she had seen all she needed to. It was clear that the direwolf wasn’t an isolated incident, and that this was a full-scale attack.

She should have pushed for the guards to remain. Why hadn’t she done that? She claimed that she wanted to be a leader, and then she just let Buckley make terrible decisions without challenging him?

She stared at the closed door, struggling to compose herself. After a few seconds, she had managed to temporarily push her grief and anger to the side. She could deal with it after it was all over.

She turned to Ada and Thomas, all business. While she had been checking out the outside, they had both managed to get up and be at least mostly combat ready.

“Monsters are attacking the entire camp. Ada, I need you to scout around the camp. See if survivors are congregating anywhere, and if so help lead isolated people there. Take one of the communication crystals with you. Thomas, with me,” she ordered.

“Aye aye, captain,” Ada said sardonically. She snapped off a sloppy salute, then grabbed one of the communication crystals and disappeared out the door in a blur.

Thomas just nodded at her with a serious expression on his face. At least he was treating the situation with the respect it deserved.

She grabbed the communication crystal and three potions: one healing potion, one mana recovery potion, and one stamina recovery potion. She wasn’t sure if she was going to need them, but better safe than sorry.

She hurried out the door, Thomas on her heels. He paused a bit when he saw what the camp looked like, but kept going.

The man being chased by a goblin had been heading towards the lodge, but it didn’t look like he was going to make it. Karolina ran towards him, hoping that she could reach him in time. She felt Thomas stop behind her, and a few seconds later saw a mana shield pop up between the man and the goblin.

The goblin slammed into the shield with a crack. It staggered backwards, trying to keep on its feet. It caught its footing just in time to get hit in the chest with a mana bolt. The goblin collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, chest smashed in.

The man who had been being chased bent over and put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Now that the fighting was over, at least for the moment, Karolina inspected him.

Xander Blythe: [Human (F) / Alchemist] - Level 1

He was only level one, which helped explain his lack of stamina. Honestly, he was lucky to be alive. This attack would be most dangerous for people, like him, who hadn’t been leveling up or getting combat experience. She felt her heart sink as she realized that that was most of the camp.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

He looked confused at being addressed for a moment, and then responded. “Yes, yes, I think so. Thank you so much. I… that thing almost killed me. I almost died. I—”

“Yes, but you’re safe now, alright?" she asked, cutting him off.

“Yes, I am. Thank you,” he said again.

“You’re welcome,” she said. “You should come with us. We’ll keep you safe,” she said.

He nodded thankfully, apparently out of words. She turned to Thomas, who seemed to be doing his best not to look at the dead bodies.

“Thomas, we need to find Selena and make sure she’s alive. If she dies, we won't have a healer for any of the injured,” she continued.

“Yeah, that would be bad. I really hope she’s alright,” Thomas said.

“Yeah, me too,” Karolina replied, and was surprised to find that she meant it. No matter what she thought of the woman, she was indispensable to keeping people in the camp alive. The problem was that she took advantage of that fact, but that didn’t matter right now. Not when the camp was being attacked and people were dying.

The three of them hurried off towards Selena’s cabin. Along the way, they managed to rescue a few other people, but they saw more dead people than live ones.

Karolina didn’t spare them much attention, but she noticed how shocked all of them seemed. The majority of the camp had never been in a life-or-death situation, never even seen a monster, and they didn’t seem to know how to deal with it.

After a few minutes, Selena’s cabin came into sight. It was instantly recognizable, even from a distance, because of how well repaired and nicely decorated it was compared to neighboring cabins.

Apparently the monsters also thought it was an attractive target, as there were two goblins trying to break down the front door while a direwolf growled and paced around them. Karolina could barely see the door, but it didn’t look like it was in great shape.

They hurried towards the cabin, the people they rescued staying a few feet behind them. As they got closer, the direwolf noticed them and bumped into both goblins.

The monsters all turned towards them, and one of the goblins pulled out a bow while the other drew a rusty dagger. The goblin and direwolf started moving towards the group, the direwolf very obviously faster.

Karolina charged forward and activated Mana Armor, leaving Thomas to protect the small group of survivors. She could only fight at close range, it would be stupid to wait to fight the enemy near the people she was trying to protect.

After a couple of seconds, the goblin archer loosed an arrow at her, causing one of the people they had saved to scream. Karolina caught the arrow using Combat Perception and threw it to the side nonchalantly.

If she were being honest, ferrying around a bunch of helpless people was starting to strain her patience, but she couldn’t focus on that now. She had to concentrate on winning this fight.

It only took a few more seconds for her to get close to the direwolf. She readied a Strong Blow, but just as she was about to hit it, the direwolf abruptly stopped moving. She stumbled, her momentum preventing her from stopping cleanly and causing her to miss the monster.

Then the direwolf exploded into a blur of motion, trying to run past her to get to the far weaker prey behind her. She recognized the skill; it was the same skill that the direwolf which had nearly killed Ada had used. Back then, the skill had made the direwolf so fast she hadn’t even been able to see it move.

She was better now though, faster. As the direwolf tried to speed past her, she managed to just barely get in front of its charge. It slammed into her full force, breaking through her armor in a single hit, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

She wrestled with the beast, trying to prevent it from killing her, receiving numerous scratches from its sharp claws in the process. Finally, she managed to get on top of the monster, forcing it to be still for a moment.

She frantically infused her arms with Strong Blow, accidentally overloading her arms with stamina. She felt like screaming when the skin on her arms started to rupture, but she was able to focus through the pain and crush the monster’s chest in.

She released the skill with a relieved sigh, but the damage was done. Her arms were bleeding heavily, her skin broken and torn. They hurt a lot, but she thought she might be able to still use them if necessary.

She looked up from her arms to find that both of the goblins were already dead. Thomas was getting more and more efficient. She started to raise her right arm to give him a wave, but winced and aborted the motion when her pain flared up.

She waited by the corpse of the direwolf for Thomas and the rest of them to reach her. She again quickly dismissed the blue screen that popped up, disappointed that, despite her suffering, she hadn’t earned a level.

While she was waiting, she looked down at her arms. The only reason she was so injured was because she had messed up. The scratches from the direwolf hurt, but they weren’t anywhere as serious as the injuries to her arms.

The only reason the skill was able to be used like that was because she had upgraded it. She needed to be more careful with that skill in the future so that she wouldn’t do this again. She couldn’t afford to make these kinds of mistakes, not when there were people relying on her.

She kicked the direwolf corpse, hoping it would make her feel better. It didn’t. Hopefully getting healed by Selena would help. If the healer was still alive, that is.

“Are you okay?” one of the people they rescued asked, making her look up from her injuries.

“Do I look like I’m okay?” she snapped. The woman who asked the question flinched back, cowed, and Karolina sighed. “Sorry, yes, I’m fine. Or I’m going to be, anyway,” she apologized.

Thomas looked a little disappointed with her, but she had a right to be annoyed. These people only needed to be saved because, before today, they were content to do nothing. They all sat around camp, wasting the opportunities the System had given them, and let her and others risk their lives for their benefit.

No, that wasn’t fair. They had been thrown into a situation that they had no idea how to handle, just like her. She couldn’t be mad at them just because she was able to deal with it better. To them, this new world wasn’t an amazing opportunity like it was for her, it was just strange and bad and different.

She looked away from a dead body, another victim who had never asked for this to happen. Of course, right now, the new world wasn’t seeming that great to her either.

After another minute of walking, they finally arrived at Selena’s cabin. The door was very damaged, bent inwards at the side. If they hadn’t interrupted the goblins, they would have finished breaking down the door very soon.

“I’ll talk to her. You keep them safe,” she said to Thomas. He nodded, turning to survey the area around them.

Karolina walked up to the damaged door and knocked, wondering if it could even still be opened. “Selena? Are you there?” she asked.

After waiting for a response for a few seconds, she knocked again, louder this time. There was still no response from inside of the cabin.

“I’m coming in,” she called, then started forcing the door open. It took a few seconds, but the door finally collapsed inwards, hanging off of one hinge. Examining the door, the reason that it had been so hard to open was that a chair had been wedged under the handle. Her opening the door had also partially crushed the chair.

She stepped into the cabin carefully, trying to spot Selena. She wasn’t in the main room, which was the only room Karolina had been in before.

She walked over to the closed door at the back of the room. It probably led to Selena’s bedroom. Just as she was about to knock on the door, Selena burst through it with a dagger poised to strike.

Karolina instinctively activated Combat Perception, using the skill to see the path of the blade. She slapped the hand holding the knife, knocking the dagger to the floor, then quickly backed up, not wanting to be attacked again.

Selena looked at her empty hand in shock for a moment, then looked down at her dagger on the floor. Finally, she seemed to realize what had happened, and looked up at Karolina and sighed in relief.

“Oh, hey, Karolina. Always nice to see you,” she said, still breathing heavily. She looked from Karolina to the door, and let out an exaggerated sigh. “You’ll be paying to fix my door, of course,” Selena said.

“Paying? With what money?” Karolina sputtered.

“You know what I mean,” Selena replied, shrugging.

Karolina looked at Selena’s soul, and found that rather than being unfazed or smug, as she was acting, she was deeply terrified. She couldn’t let herself forget how good of an actor Selena was.

“Hey, you’re safe now. It’s okay,” Karolina said. She didn’t know why she felt the need to comfort the woman. She tried to tell herself that it was just cold pragmatism. Selena wouldn’t be very useful if she was too busy breaking down to heal people, after all. But that wasn’t it.

The real reason was that the attack had put Selena’s actions in perspective for Karolina. So what if she lied about who she was? Karolina wasn’t exactly telling anyone about her soulsight, either. Her threat was a different matter, and Selena would answer for it, but it all seemed so petty in the face of how many people were dying today.

Selena gave a short laugh. “Of course I’m safe. What are you talking about?”

Karolina just continued to stare at her, not responding. After a few seconds, Selena dropped her haughty smile.

“Yes, I am, thanks to you,” Selena said, sinking deeply into one of her remaining chairs. “Honestly, that was terrifying. I almost died. I don’t want to die, Karolina. I have so much left to do,” she said.

“I know. You’re safe now,” Karolina repeated, unsure of what else to do.

Selena didn’t respond, so she kept quiet too. They remained in silence for a bit, as Selena calmed down. Eventually, Selena spoke up again.

“You have my heartfelt gratitude. Thank you for the rescue, and for giving me a moment to collect myself. I’m glad that there’s at least one person in camp I can drop the act in front of,” she said.

Karolina wanted to shout at her. If dropping the act was so nice, why couldn't she just do it all the time? She kept silent though, knowing that nothing she could say would sway the woman from her course. She could almost admire that crazy determination, emphasis on the crazy of course.

“Anyway, enough of that,” Selena said. She assessed the state of the room as she walked back over to her dagger and pocketed it. “You’ll have to pay to fix my chair too, of course,” she smiled.

“Sure,” Karolina said dryly. “I’ll get right on that.”

Karolina could pinpoint the exact moment that Selena noticed her injuries. The healer didn’t react in a way that anyone else would be able to notice, but her soul flickered in concern. Karolina felt vindicated; the woman did actually care about her. That made her feel better about the lingering positive feelings she had for the woman.

“Here, let me heal you,” Selena said, and got up and started to heal her injuries. “Can’t let my favorite minion remain injured, after all.”

That was the moment that Karolina remembered who she was talking to. No matter how likable the woman was, she had threatened to let Karolina and her friends die unless she gave her an item. They were enemies, adversaries, and she would forget that at her peril.

“Do you understand how much like a cartoon villain you sound?” Karolina asked the other woman after she was done being healed.

“I’m sorry?” Selena asked, tilting her head to the side.

“You literally told me that you’re going to take over the world, and you just called me your minion. Next thing I know, you’re going to get a white cat and start telling people your evil plan to poison the water supply,” Karolina said.

Selena sighed. “I’d never get a cat, dogs are obviously the superior pet choice. More importantly, the System has thrown the entire world into chaos. Once we get out of the tutorial, people are going to need a leader. Why shouldn’t it be me? Actually, is this even the time for this?”

“No, it’s really not. Let’s move,” Karolina said. She wasn’t satisfied by Selena’s half-hearted answer. Why shouldn’t it be her? No, Selena wasn’t anywhere near that cavalier about her plan. She wanted it, desperately, and Karolina still didn't know why.

Karolina led Selena out of the house to the group of people waiting outside. Selena separated from her, going into the small crowd and healing any minor injuries they had accrued with a pleasant smile and bubbly chitchat.

Thomas sidled over to her. “Are you alright? You look irritated,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she responded. “This whole situation is just terrible.”

Thomas nodded in understanding. She felt terrible about lying to him, but she couldn't tell him what (or rather who) was really irritating her. She hadn’t told Thomas the truth about Selena before, and now certainly wasn't the correct time to tell him.

After the whole group was healed, Selena walked back over to them. “I just wanted to thank you two for saving me. This is all so scary, isn’t it? I’m glad that we have heroes like you two willing to save us,” she said.

“Sure,” Karolina said. She tried to hide how completely unimpressed she was with Selena, but wasn’t sure how successful she was. “Anyway, we should try to meet up with the other survivors. I think that the center of camp would be a good first place to check?”

Neither of them had any better ideas, so they started heading to the center of camp. They hadn’t passed it while heading to Selena’s cabin from the lodge, so she hadn’t actually seen people congregating there. It did seem like the logical place for people to head, though. The large grassy area was a central location that could be reached quickly from anywhere in the camp.

They managed to reach the center of camp without any major incidents, and Karolina saw that her guess was correct. People were gathering there. After some encouragement and reassurances, the group of people they had rescued went off and joined the people who were already in the area. She was glad that they were finally safe. She hadn’t completely failed.

This was the first time she had seen this many people from the camp in one place since the first day of the tutorial. Then, the people who had gathered there to listen to Buckley’s speech had looked angry and confused, but they were still full of energy and vigor. Now, if she had to describe the general mood, it would be defeated. People were injured, bloody, and tired. Even if they were still alive, they had all seen people die in front of them.

Besides the different disposition of the crowd, it was impossible to ignore the fact that the crowd was far smaller than it had been the first day. She didn’t know how many people from the camp had died since then, but it was enough that the crowd was noticeably smaller. She needed to talk with Buckley or Aaron to get a sense of the situation.

Aaron was near the center of the space, looking injured and tired. He was holding his sword loosely in one hand as he spoke with an archer. Karolina continued looking around, but she didn’t see Buckley anywhere. Where was he?

Before she could try to figure out the answer to her question, Aaron finished his conversation and rushed over to them. “I’m glad that you're alright,” he said. “Selena, I need you to take care of our injuries. It seems that the worst of it is over, and we need to get everybody healed up.”

Before Selena could respond, Ada’s voice came from one of Karolina’s pockets. “Karolina. Karolina, are you there?”

She pulled out the communication crystal, and put some of her mana into it, aware that Aaron and the other people around her were staring at her. “Yes, Ada, I’m here. Where are you?”

“I’m near the north side of the camp, towards the forward barracks, but that’s not important right now. What is important is that this was only the initial attack. There’s a lot more coming. They’re gathering right now, but it looks like they’ll attack in a few minutes,” she said.

Karolina looked from the crystal in her hand to the people around her. Selena looked unfazed, but Aaron and Thomas both shared her horror. Karolina didn’t know how many people had already died, but it was too many. How many more would die in a second attack?