“The city needs a shitton of wood for the superfence project.” Garry said, I was quick to respond. “I know that, but I asked how much wood they need and how long will we need to protect this lumberjacking enterprise.” Garry grimaced and responded. “Shitton.” Warren sighed as he stood next to us. The sounds of chainsaws and trucks all around us.

“One tree for every two meters of the fence counting in guard towers, which will be around thirty kilometers long. I would say fifteen thousand trees.” He looked at the workers and spoke again a while later. “Two weeks?” I sighed and started to mouth my mouth before Warren shouted.

“Eight incoming from the forest!” I snapped my head to the forest, but saw nothing. We nocked our arrows and waited for a clear shot. There were fifty Association members as well as ten soldiers with assault rifles, all meant to protect over a hundred workers present. Once the monster dogs showed themselves they were already dead, twenty arrows sailed towards them and easily ended their lives.

They were more of an annoyance than a true threat with the number of people we had here. We had few people with [Advanced Detect Presence], which used this skill in rotation, two at once. With the loud noise of chainsaws the dogs appeared quite often.

“Do you think we will get at least one small core each from loot?” Garry asked, a bit annoyed. We were here for four hours already and only around thirty dogs attacked us.

“Why are we doing this again?” Garry added, looking at his brother.

“The army feeds us, the army gives us gear, the army grants us a safe place to rest and train and the army commands.” Warren said slowly. “It is only for one week though, we will start patrolling after that. Treat it as vacation.” He smiled at the end, no doubt mocking me and Garry. I sighed again as I looked towards the workers that were using axes on the smaller branches of the felled trees readying them for transport. Fuel saving and all that.

“At least we get to laze around.” I said to the people around me, everytime we announced an attack workers looked on fearfully expecting some monsters to go past us. Most likely none of them focused too much on the system and hoped to wait it out. I didn’t have such delusions, it will only get worse and worse with every passing day. The fence will stop a dog and perhaps a small bear sized monster, but nothing else really. It was mostly a project to ease people's minds.

-

We all heard it, even before Warren felt it with [Advanced Detect Presence]. Whatever was coming shook the earth. Workers quickly ran to cars and we followed. There were enough trucks for all of us, but we stayed on the ground. We didn’t follow workers to the city, we waited to see what it was that shook the earth. We saw it soon after as it tore through trees to get to a clearing that the workers made. We were three hundred meters from the trees when it appeared through the foliage of the forest.

It was big, but not as big as the monsters that came from the seas. It looked like a massive pug, the pug the size of the elephant that is. The monster was awfully slow, even before the system came I could have outrun it. There was a small swarm of pink dogs and a few other boar-like monsters. We targeted the smaller one first, it was like a movie scene where a few dozen elfs shoot into orcs or some other thing. Volley after volley and the smaller threats were gone. The bigger one was of no issue, we concentrated our fire on it next easily kiting it.

We shot and we kaited back, a few minutes later it looked like a pincushion with a few hundred arrows sticking out of it. But it didn’t fall.

“More dogs to the east!” I heard someone cry, though I couldn’t see it since I was located on the other side of our group, to the left of where the big monster was. We spread out quite a bit not to get hit by friendly fire. I looked to the other side, the west. It was a corn field, of all fields that it could be, and it started a hundred meters away from me. Furthern in the field the corn was wildly swaying as if the hurricane was near, yet the rest of it stayed calm. Fuck. Warren noticed it as well.

[Leg Muscle Enhancement] activated.

“Hundred dogs to the west!” Panic set in, we were getting surrounded. Some were too content shooting at the dogs and the monster to notice the screams calling for all to run to trucks, lost in battle lust. Some froze in fear, believing it to be the end, it wouldn’t be if they moved. I ran to the trucks, they were military one meant for transporting soldiers, with the textile roof removed. I was one of the first ones on top of one of them despite being further away than most. Garry and Warren soon followed, a bit tired. “You could wait for us, you know.” Garry said, as he turned and started shooting the dogs that followed others.

[Leg Muscle Enhancement] deactivated.

I shot as well, though I could do nothing for those that were too slow to start running. Even though I shot as fast as I could nothing could be made for those that were struggling in melee against the dogs. Only Garry was good enough shot not to hit people by accident, the rest focused on the dogs that were further behind. Guns were used by the people struggling in melee, to some success.

The trucks started moving soon after, screams asking for help accompanied the roars of the engines. The officer in charge of the convoy ordered the trucks to leave, they weren’t high enough to protect us from dogs and so left. Unable to catch up to us dogs turned to the ones that were left behind. At least twenty from the Association died, none from the military. We killed perhaps two to three hundred dogs, but more were still coming from the forest.

“Fuck.” Garry said as he leaned on the truck’s wooden side. We knew some of those that we left behind, but the orders were clear. Run.

My mind ran through different thoughts. It was a planned attack and perfectly executed one. Use a slow moving tank up front for ranged units to focus on and attack from the sides with fast moving force. It was a tactic, and mindless monsters didn’t use tactics. The feeling of dread ran through my body. What are those monsters exactly?

[Path of the Prey 0/10] opened.

We arrived at the city thirty minutes later, the armored convoy was already on route with bigger guns and more soldiers. “At least we won't have to guard lumberjacks anymore.” Warren tried to joke.

-

“The army is aware of that, William.” The officer in charge of the base responded. He was a man in his fifties, yet his body was still in good shape, or perhaps it was the system's influence. “If we were aware that this type of monster roamed this far inland we would announce it, but you know how it is.” I really didn’t. “Most people still think that the System will pass, that those dogs are all that they will ever hear about roaming in their home nation. To tell them that there are creatures capable of tactically commanding them next to one of our biggest cities? It would crush their hopes.” The officer said, or more like ranted.

“You are free to leave, keep up the good work.” I got up and left.

We were supposed to head towards the bar at 9pm, as is our ritual when some shit happens, but I still had a few hours. We each got fifty small cores for our trouble with advice not to spread the information about the failure of a mission. A bribe I was happy to accept. I had grinding to do and two very important Paths to finish.

[Meditation] is now level 33. You have gained 1 Path point. Increases mana regeneration by 33% while the skill is active.

[Detect Presence] is now level 15. You have gained 1 Path point. Actively sends a pulse of mana to check the user’s surroundings for living beings. Range 45 meters. Uses 9 mana per minute.

[Path of the Prey 5/10] A craven’s path. Dexterity increased by 1. Endurance increased by 1.

-

“There were attacks on the coast today.” Jake said as he drank from his glass of beer. “Few hundred of our own died, we didn’t know that Titans had ranged attacks.” People started calling the monsters that were twenty meters tall as Titans, I wonder what people will call a monster that has nineteen meters. “Attacks inland increased as well, all at once.”

“Were they controlled? By the one on the shore I mean.” Warren asked. Which was an interesting hipotesis. Jake shrugged his arms, he wasn’t a high ranked officer with special clearances to know everything. “I hope not.”

“You got a bonus, I heard.” Jake added soon after, glancing on all the empty bottles that were on our table with a smirk on his face. “I will get new bottles.” Garry got the meaning. It took him a few minutes. Even though the prices of drinks increased, there were still many people present, drowning their sorrows in alcohol.

“There are too many blind spots for us, what good are ranged weapons when roads are surrounded by high grass or crops that are over a meter tall and we don't see anything until monsters are on top of us?” Garry said as he returned, giving all of us two bottles of beer each.

“Would you rather run around with a spear like a maniac?” I asked seriously. “There are quite a bit of people that picked [Path of Strength] as their first path, expecting to become ripped overnight.” They all laughed at that.

“To maniacs!” Jake raised his glass in a toast. “May they slash through a thousand dogs with their spears!”

“To maniacs!” We roared with laughter.

-

[Meditation] is now level 36. You have gained 1 Path point. Increases mana regeneration by 36% while the skill is active.

[Detect Presence] is now level 21. You have gained 1 Path point. Actively sends a pulse of mana to check the user’s surroundings for living beings. Range 63 meters. Uses 9 mana per minute.

[Path of the Prey 10/10] Run, that’s all that you can do Dexterity increased by 1. Endurance increased by 1. [Prey’s Flight] is now level 1.

[Path of Dexterity 20/25] Haven’t you noticed that your arm is gone? Dexterity increased by 1.

I felt somewhat happy seeing that I have yet another passive skill that leveled up by running.