“Someone spread a rumor that you are a murderer,” the woman said innocently.

Cole sighed. He never offended people, but trouble still came to him. “And who spread that?”

“We don’t know him, but he claimed to know you.”

If these people didn’t know that person well, it surely wasn’t Jeff who had spread the rumor. Those people were still dumbass to believe a baseless rumor, even though it was somewhat true.

Cole speculated that this person was a regular spectator of the deathmatch fights. This frustrated him more. Why did he keep encountering spectators but not his brothers?

Cole shook his head and smiled. “I’d advise you to not believe a baseless rumor. I am not a bad person. How about I tell you some useful information about those frogs as a token of goodwill?”

Cole told them everything he knew about Sloth Bullfrog. Those people thanked him and started hunting on their own. This place was large, so he didn’t mind sharing this hunting ground with them.

As they were fighting monsters, Cole observed their fighting style while absorbing the cards he had got. These cards included three low-grade experience cards and three point cards.

Name: Cole Xander (Level: 6 [175/750])

Currency Point: 160

Cole still had the other six cards, but those were loot cards, and Cole stored them in the inventory ring. After that, he looked at his experience bar and sighed helplessly. “Leveling up is more difficult now because the experience bar keeps increasing. I can’t relax.”

Cole told himself to keep on hunting, but he would do that after watching the people. Their cohesive teamwork impressed him. The female fighter, the leader, and another man acted as melee fighters. On the back, one male wizard dealt ranged magic attacks. Beside the wizard, the female healer healed melee fighters when they suffered injuries.

Their fighting style was cool, and it motivated him. He stood up and stretched his body, preparing to hunt monsters again. After all, he was alone, and he couldn’t afford to relax if he wanted to grow faster.

To prevent them, Cole ran to another pond. His footsteps created ripples in the water, but he kept charging at a frog and bruised its skin. After that, he ran to another one. As a result, he agitated these frogs, and they chased him.

Cole kept repeating the process until many monsters chased him. After he gathered several frogs, he stopped running and let them attack him. Their fast tongues punched his gut, slapped his ribs, and tied his limbs. His HP kept decreasing, and his skin reddened, but he still endured until an attack triggered the [Ruin Gust].

The rex helix revolved around him and hit all frogs at once. It kept spinning and scraped half of a frog’s head, turning half of its brain into a paste. Not only that, the spin severed many frogs’ limbs and their body parts. It didn’t miss any single frog.

As the red helix weakened his enemies, Cole charged at each of them and finished them with slashes.

On the other side, those people stopped after killing a frog, and they spectated how Cole fought. They suddenly felt ashamed of themselves. One man could tank many frogs while killing them, but they had to depend on teamwork to just kill one. Thanks to Cole’s action, each of them reached a silent agreement to hunt frogs as individuals. They needed to train themselves.

After dealing with a group of ten frogs, Cole rested a bit to absorb the harvested cards. As he did that, he took a glance at the group. To his surprise, they were hunting frogs as individuals. He didn’t know why they did that, but it was a pity. They looked cooler as a group.

After absorbing the cards, Cole’s experience increased, and it put him in a good mood. He loved to see numbers going up. That meant he was closer to his goal of reaching level twelve. He needed to reach that level to open the next skill slot.

Name: Cole Xander (Level: 6 [475/750])

As usual, he put the loot cards in his inventory ring. After counting those cards, he realized he had fulfilled his daily quota. He could stop hunting, but he wasn’t feeling satisfied yet. He wanted to kill more monsters.

As he was about to continue his hunt, a man screamed in pain. The man was none other than the male fighter. He was lying down on the ground while grabbing his bleeding arms.

In front of him, a wolf monster crouched and growled. The monster was as tall as Cole was. It had azure fur with a few white stripes. On each of its shoulder blades, a bone spike protruded out.

Name: ???

Level: 10

The wolf leaped at the lying man, but before it could land on him, the wizard man shot an invisible shock ball, pushing its body to the side.

After that, the female fighter and the captain pulled the injured male fighter away. However, the wolf had stood up again and leaped back at them.

Cole arrived at the side and slashed the wolf’s body. The blade penetrated the hide and scratched the monster. At the same time, the wizard at the back launched another shock ball and pushed the monster away.

Cole clicked his tongue. His attack only did a shallow scratch. This monster was strong. “Run! I will buy time.”

“Don’t joke around. You can die!” the leader shouted.

“Why do you care? I am a murderer! Go! Run!”

The leader gave the injured man to the female healer, and he rushed to the side. “They are my teammate and my responsibility. It is my job to protect them.”

Cole hesitated a bit and said, “You….”

“Don’t give me a wrong idea. I hate owing something to outsiders. Everyone, you can go without me!”

The healer took the injured man and escaped. However, the female fighter and the wizard stood in line with Cole and the leader.

“What are you doing?” the leader asked.

“Leader said a melee fighter is a vanguard of the team. I am just simply buying time for those two to escape,” the woman said.

“I don’t plan to die with you guys, but my skill is useful to send that monster flying. I will escape if things go south,” the wizard said.

Cole admired their courage. Once again, he looked at them one by one and carved their appearances in his mind. The leader was a plain-looking buff guy; the woman was a pretty brunette with a slender-muscular frame, and the wizard was a man with a slack expression.

“Hey, my name is Cole. May I know your name?”

“Lisa,” the pretty female fighter said.

“Abraham,” the leader said.

“Roger,” the wizard said with a yawn.

“I will remember you.” Cole spent one free point to strength and charged at the enemy first, shocking other people. He swung his sword at the wolf.

The wolf caught the blade with its teeth and pushed it down. After that, the monster leaped past Cole and left a deep slash on his right shoulder.

Cole grinned as his skin reddened. He pivoted back and stabbed the wolf’s butt, making it jump while crying.

The female fighter jumped into the air, and her blade left a trail of blue light as she slashed the wolf. This was the active skill that one could buy in the shop, and it was strong enough to penetrate the monster’s thick hide.

The wolf cried agility and caught the woman in midair. After that, it sank its sharp fangs into her shoulder.

They landed on the ground with the wolf above her. Blood splattered everywhere, and Lisa’s body twitched weakly.

“Lisa!” the leader shouted as he bodied his shoulder against the monster’s head.

The wolf stiffened. It tried to move, but it couldn’t do it. This was the leader’s skill that could stun a monster.

After the leader used [Stun], the wizard shot an invisible shock ball, sending the monster toward Cole.

As the wolf was flying toward him, Cole placed his greatsword in front of him, stabbing it in the belly.

Cole laughed maniacally as he pushed the wolf to a tree. As its body crashed against the trunk, he pulled his sword and delivered a barrage of slashes. In the middle of swinging his sword, he saw a claw coming at him, and he jumped back, but the claw still scratched his chest.

As he made a distance between them, Cole saw flakes of ice on the ground and the wolf’s body. He realized he had been hitting some kind of ice armor. “No wonder you are so hard to kill,” he praised the wolf.

Cole and the wolf stared at each other, and none of them moved. The situation tensed, and he hoped those people could back him up. However, after waiting for a minute, no one approached the wolf.

Cole looked back and saw the wizard carrying Lisa away. After they escaped, the leader approached him and stood by his side. “You don’t run yet?” Cole asked in a mocking tone.

“Nah, it seems we almost kill the monster. Can you believe it? We are all level 6. Let’s divide the resources evenly.”

“I am fine with that….” Cole said with a trembled voice as he suddenly felt the searing pain in his injuries. Having [Injury Transmutation] didn’t mean he was immune to injuries.

“Just don’t die,” Cole said.

They both shouted as they charged at the monster. At the same time, a layer of thin ice spread from the wolf’s upper body. It was trying to cover its body with ice armor.

Cole slid forward and slashed the monster’s right legs before ice could reach those body parts. As a result, the wolf fell to the side, and its head leaned forward.

Coming from the front, the leader bodied his shoulder against the wolf’s head, making the ice layer around the head crack. The attack was supposed to stun the wolf, but thanks to its ice armor’s effect, it negated a skill effect. However, the leader’s attack still agitated the wolf. It cocked its head forward and opened its jaws wide.

“Shit,” the leader exclaimed as the wolf opened its mouth wide at him.

Cole stabbed the wolf’s neck from the side, but he was too late. The wolf had torn the leader’s right arm apart. Seeing blood spurted out of him, the leader fell to his knees.

Cole shouted out of frustration and pushed his sword deeper into the monster’s neck. The wolf wiggled and whipped Cole’s back with its tail, but he didn’t let go. After the second whip, the red helix appeared out of thin air and revolved around him.

The wolf roared in pain as the helix destroyed through the ice layer and hit its body. It couldn’t breathe anymore and fell to the ground.

You have killed a Frost Wolf Brat.

Smoke came out of the wolf’s body and gathered in the air to become a golden card. Cole grabbed it and immediately checked the leader’s condition.

“Are you okay?” Cole asked. He was about to embrace the man’s shoulder, but the latter parried his arm.

“I can’t be saved,” the leader said.

“That’s not true. Here, I have a healing card.” Cole took out a healing card from his inventory ring. He used it, but a screen appeared on the side and said the activation had failed. “Why?”

The leader said with panted voice, “I—my HP is zero. My vision is blurring. It is a miracle I can talk with you.”

“You….” Cole felt pity that nothing could save the man. “Do you have any last word? I will deliver it to your loved ones. I promise on my name.”

The leader chuckled. “They are wrong. You are a good person. I have a favor. Just treat it as my share of resources. Join my team. I—” He coughed blood and fell to the side. His body trembled, but he forced himself to say, “I want you to stay until they are strong enough as individuals. Help me. My team is the backbone of the… alliance.”

“Brother, hey, stay with me.” Cole shook the leader’s body, but the latter didn’t move anymore.

After a while, the man turned into smoke and vanished. He felt conflicted about the man’s last wish, but he didn’t have to comply with it. However, the man still died in honor, so he clasped his hands in prayer.

……

After Cole came back to the base, Jeff held a burial ceremony for the leader. It seemed the man had an excellent reputation in this alliance of people. They had been here for a few days, but people created bonds faster than he thought.

Lisa wept as she hugged the leader’s empty tombstone. She seemed to be the one who was grieving the most. Jeff had told Cole that she and the leader were close relatives.

After the ceremony ended, Jeff invited Cole to lunch in the cafeteria. These people were indebted to him, so Jeff treated him. Cole didn’t shy and ordered a lot of food and drinks.

“This alliance has many teams, but Abraham’s team was the main force. His team comprised five people, now four. Their mission was to get stronger without caring for other people,” Jeff said.

Cole chomped a piece of meat and said, “How about you, Jeff? You are strong.”

Jeff smiled calmly. “I take care of other people. How about Abraham’s request? Do you want to join the main team as a leader?”

“Can I? I am just an outsider.”

Jeff smirked. “Everyone here is a stranger to another. We unite together as one to survive. Remember, our objective is to escape this Beginner Island before void creatures appear here. We don’t know when void creatures will appear, but according to the lady messenger, once they appear, we are doomed.”

Cole didn’t have any affection for this alliance. He was wary of Jeff too, but he had witnessed the main group’s members’ loyalty to each other, and it touched him. Furthermore, he liked to honor the dead’s request if he could grant it. “If they don’t mind my presence on the team, I don’t mind joining for a while until they are a little bit stronger.”

“I understand. I shall summon them immediately.” Jeff stood up and looked for the main team’s members. After a while, he came back with two men and two women. He told them to sit.

“You people have heard Abraham’s last request, right? This is Cole. He is your leader from now on,” Jeff said.

“I have witnessed his might. I don’t mind him in this group,” Roger, the wizard, said expressionlessly.

“It was Uncle Abraham’s wish, so I am fine with it,” Lisa said.

“No problem here,” the female healer said.

“Wait, I know it was Mr. Abraham’s wish, but we can’t just put a random person in this group. First, I want you to tell us about your skillset and what you are capable of,” the melee fighter man exclaimed. He was none other than the first person to get injured by the Frost Wolf Brat.