Darius was not a dramatic or overly empathic person, but he had to admit, this sight would scar him for life. What he heard was the painful whimpering of a struggling animal and the excited cries of a humanoid.

What he had expected to see was prime bestiality, where he would chase off the offending human and kill the ravaged beast to end its misery. However, nothing prepared him for this… this sacrilege to all living things.

A monster and a beast, what was that even called? No, Darius genuinely hoped this was an exception to the usual, such that no terminology had been created for it.

After all, if there was a widely known term for such a thing, it meant that it happened more often than he would like to believe.

Darius slumped down the side of the tree while sweating and trying to close off his senses. He realized now more than ever that yes, this wasn't Earth. In Faust, there were beasts and there were monsters.

The former were normal animals like there had been on Earth while the latter were more magical in nature such as Goblins, Trolls, Golems, and the like. The scene before him was sadly an issue he should have expected. All things considered, things were usually the same wherever certain constants existed.

Darius was able to quickly calm himself and detach his mind from the scene, suppressing his emotions. This was a useful trick he had learned and honed on Earth from his early adulthood.

Only as an old man near his death had he grown sentimental, making it a thing of the past. However, he would have to unveil his old tricks if he wanted a nice and clean advantage over everyone his age or above.

Darius removed his iron spear slowly then circled round the troll and its unwilling mate. Once he was behind it, Darius Inspected the troll and the lioness beneath it.

[Blue Troll - Level 8 Monster

HP: 89/89 MP: 12/12]

[Plains Lioness - Level 4 Beast

HP: 10/25 MP: 5/5]

Darius paused. A level 8 monster was a whopping 5 levels above him right now. The Plains Lioness he could easily kill, but the 20 exp he would get from that would not be able to level him up.

As such, Darius needed to work with the Plains Lioness before it died from its current predicament. He partially regretted not branding Derek to be his meat shield, but he had his reasons for that.

Right now, his goal was to reach level 5 by any means necessary, and this Troll would definitely shoot him up far enough, assuming he wasn't beaten to death by it first.

Darius checked his Database menu and entered the Bestiary. There he saw an entry for the troll, but it was unsurprisingly barebones. Darius would need to fight it to find its weaknesses, battle habits, and whatever else.

Darius' eyes narrowed slightly as he tried something else.

Analyze!

[Detected target is of an Enemy affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]

[Name: Blue Troll

Race: Troll

Class: Berserker

Sub-class: None

HP: 89/89

MP: 12/12

Level: 8

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Endurance: 9

Intellect: 2

Charisma: 1

Luck: 1

Abilities: Mad Charge, Powerful Swing, Berserk

Weapons: Wooden Club]

Darius suddenly realized something. He was level 3, yet his stats were just as good as, and in many aspects, better than this monster that was 5 levels above him.

Was it a benefit of the Supreme System? Or was it due to his relatively high starting stats, namely his Intellect, Charisma, and Luck? He came to the conclusion that it most likely was a combination of those two factors.

Darius now found himself more assured about the upcoming battle. His confidence came not from his magic, not even wholly from his stats, but the skill and expertise the Basic Lancer Arts had bestowed him.

Darius pondered analyzing the Lioness and decided that it would be prudent to know its abilities as well.

[Detected target is of an Enemy affiliation. Displaying details accordingly.]

[Name: Plains Lioness

Race: Lion

Class: Predator

Sub-class: None

HP: 8/25

MP: 5/5

Level: 4

Strength: 5

Agility: 6

Endurance: 5

Intellect: 4

Charisma: 8

Luck: 2

Abilities: Crunch, Fury Swipes, Pounce

Weapons: Tooth & Claw.]

As he expected. His stats were simply higher than the average monster or beast at his level, sometimes higher than others above him. Of course, this was dependant on the race and specific characteristics of the monster or beast in question.

Darius was certain that if he were to meet a level 3 Dragon or Phoenix, its stats would be far higher than anything he could possibly muster.

However, that had no relevance to the current situation. As it were, the Plains Lioness was about to breathe her last as her valiant resistance against evil was waning.

Darius unhesitatingly leaped out from his cover and deftly thrust his spear right up the only weak point he could access, which was the troll's exposed anus. It had torn off its loincloth in order to facilitate its evil intentions, which now turned out to be a fatal mistake in this case.

The moment Darius pierced its backside, the Troll screeched in sheer agony that could not be understood by anyone who had not gone through a similar experience.

Darius smiled and cast Sparks on the shaft of his iron spear. Since his spear could conduct electricity competently, the troll roared as it was electrocuted through a very fragile spot.

Unfortunately, this damage extended to the Plains Lioness still held in a chokehold underneath it, which was immediately killed due to the critical damage.

'So much for an improvised meatshield...' Darius internally facepalmed and pulled his spear out rudely, making sure to rip all of the softer bits of the trolls innards as it came out.

He then checked its health once again as he held the end of the spear far away from his face as it smelled horrible.

[Blue Troll - Level 8 Monster

HP: 51/89 MP: 12/12]