Chapter 12 - New Faces

"These people…" Louis looked as he shook his head.

Niko also looked at these people in disdain.

Many people surrounded the crazy-looking guy and those on the attacking side, to ask for Their help. The first person everyone went towards, was the bald man, however, the bald man declined everyone's request kindly, as he sat down and decided to stay behind.

"Hahaha! You all saw how powerful I was! Giving that big monster a good beating! If you want my help you all have to give me something in return. Hehe!" The crazy man puffed up his chest laughing maniacally.

"He struggled to even put a scratch on the monster… All he did was keep it distracted as other people beat it…" Louis said in a low voice towards Niko showing his displeasure.

Listening, Nikon Spoke, "These people don't care. They need anything they can get, besides, it seems like it won't just be the crazy guy, look."

Others from the attacking group decided to join in, as well as the fat man and Mamadi. All of these people, along with the skilless, created a big group and walked towards the jungle as well.

"Louis, I need to get used to this skill of mine, let's go ourselves, we should be able to defend against some of the weaker monsters. If it gets too difficult we can always run to the big group and get help." Niko suggested.

"Yeah, I haven't been able to fully control this skill I have either." Louis agreed as they also began to walk towards the jungle, however, after taking a few steps, they came to a pause.

"Wait!" A mature feminine voice came from behind.

Niko and Louis turned to face two people. One was a woman in her forties, who wore a dress usually worn at home. Her face had a few wrinkles here and there, but it didn't really impact her average looks. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and her body was slightly slim.

Next to her was a short young man who looked to be in his teens. His hairstyle was that of a shiny bowl cut and his thick glasses almost made it seems like it weighed as much as a boulder. His head was round and his body slimmer than the woman beside him, almost comparable to the body of Niko, however, Niko was still skinnier. He wore a high school uniform as he stood next to the woman.

"I am Maria and this is Simon, we met in the preparation world… We were wondering if you two could help us out…" The woman asked politely.

Niko's mind began to wonder, as a question popped up in his mind, "Why us? We have support skills, why not join that group over there?"

Niko looked at the two with doubt. Niko wasn't a good guy or a hero. In fact, he was very selfish when it came to those he didn't know. If he didn't see a benefit in doing something, he would completely not even think about it. However, This was something much different. A few more people were just what he needed. Not because it would make it easier to kill the monsters, but because, if things got out of hand and powerful monsters came out, he would have a better chance of survival as the other two were weaker.

The boy named Simon responded, "Yeah we could have joined that group, but we only have one hour here, and getting our chance in such a large group would be too hard. As for you two possessing support skills, it does not bother us. You have that strange orb flying around you and if my guess is correct, it might be able to either, heal us or protect us, right?"

Niko nodded in surprise. He was impressed at how much Simon, was able to guess his skill as he thought to himself, "What's really important, is that he doesn't exactly know the secret of this skill. He doesn't know, that this orb can take the shape of other monsters, or that I can summon many of them to fight for me… If he knew that he would've been shocked."

Simon smiled and continued, "We also don't know what skill, the man next to you possesses, therefore, we can't really judge. We would like to take our chances, as the monsters aren't that strong and I am sure the four of us would be able to take them on."

Louis looked at Niko and back at Simon as he said, "You seem pretty smart kid."

Pushing his glasses up, Simon answered awkwardly, "I am not smart when it comes to school, however, playing RPG games all day long, allows you to understand many things in this world as it replicates an RPG game. No wonder I failed at school."

Louis laughed as he was taken by surprise.

Niko smiled and then spoke, "Alright, you can come. However, if you show any signs of being a hindrance…"

"We understand," Maria said in a hurry.

It wasn't that Niko was heartless, however, he just simply couldn't risk anything. He had worked too hard to find his sister, he wouldn't allow anyone to get in the way.

The four walked towards the jungle together, learning a thing or two about one another. Maria was a childless woman who lost her husband in a car accident while Simon was a game-loving freak who played games hours upon hours, each day.

Niko slightly understood, why these two were able to survive thus far. People's mentality could change even when on Earth due to certain events, therefore, tempering their minds and making them much stronger than before.

They stopped their walking after they got closer to the jungle. The other groups were a bit farther away, however, they were also still close to the jungle nonetheless.

Niko looked up towards the trees as he was amazed at the height of such things. The heights weren't the only strange thing as the leaves were extremely huge. It was almost as long as himself. The grass in the jungle was slightly higher than the grasslands, and the jungle possessed brighter colors as flowers were scattered around.

Niko had never seen such a thing. A clear difference in lands so close together. It was like seeing two different worlds right next to one another.

As Niko is looking at his surroundings Louis said, "Get ready they're coming!"

Niko looked up at the trees, as it once again danced side to side.

"Zzzt!"

"Zzzt!"

Hearing weird noises to his side Niko noticed that Louis had used his skill. The skill was called [Horns of the Lighting Satyr General I], and Niko now understood why. Louis had two small horns on his forehead, as well as a small goatee. Small dark green electric discharges could be seen between his horns making him look like a tazer.

He took a look at Niko and smiled as his body moved to a stance. Niko moved back a few steps and spoke, "Louis, you lead them to you. They are fast, but they can't control direction, so dodging shouldn't be hard for you. After you dodge I can come in and attack it. Afterward..."

Niko looked at the other two next to him and said, "One of you come in quickly and kill the monsters. We can do this until you guys have received something useful that can support you in the future."

Both of them nodded as their expressions became serious.

Niko began to focus on the translucent orb that orbited his body. He began to order it around in his mind and to his expectations, it did just that. Niko was delighted as he was finding out more about the orb. Sadly, the orb's movement was extremely clumsy and there was a delay in movement whenever it was ordered around by Niko.

The orb continued to float around in front of Niko as everyone was waiting for the monsters to finally appear. Simon looked at Niko who was trying to control the orb with awe as he was becoming much more determined.

Suddenly, the trees began to dance. Just like before many bug-looking monsters appeared as they began to fly out of the jungle. There were around twenty bugs and they all began to move towards the big group, however, one of them strayed off of the pack and began to fly towards Niko's group.

"Get ready!" Niko said as he controlled the orb.