The Ghouls kept attempting to circle him, one from the back and one from the front. It forced Nilbog to constantly reposition. He needed to keep them at his front. They were patient. Adult Ghouls behaved more intelligently than regular Ghouls, though their speed itself didn't seem to be much higher.

Nilbog tried to relax his muscles to no avail. They kept tightening at the Ghoul’s movement, further wasting his STM. The advanced food he'd eaten helped, but it wasn’t enough. Time was running out. Nilbog gave a quick glance to his left side, surveying the battlefield. Doyan’s group grew to a crew of eight, fighting just as many Ghouls. That was good news, at least.

The Ghoul on his left corner inched forward, as the other Ghoul inched to the right. Nilbog tensed, smiled, then relaxed. Time to test how much I actually know. He repositioned himself again. Running was not an option. They were rank F+ monsters, and while he had four ranks over them as a rank A monster, they were nearly double his level. His Shapeshifter race wasn’t even ranked that high because of the raw stats it had, anyway. He didn’t know if he was faster, and frankly, he didn’t want to test it at this moment. Inching backward all the way towards Doyan's group, as ingenious as the idea sounded, will undoubtedly end in tragedy when he gently bumps into a Ghoul.

He peeked at the right. The people that panicked and rushed to the blocked door were surprisingly holding their own at the door, using chairs and other miscellaneous objects to keep the Ghouls at bay. Barely any of them had weapons, showing that it was mostly inexperienced that panicked. There were a dozen of them left but nearly all were damaged and fatigued. Few people survived around him, and if their victim would fall, Nilbog would probably be the next target they hovered around.

The Ghouls once again got closer, inching forward.

Nilbog nodded--that’s all the information he needed. He positioned himself to the left but did not step back, allowing one to stay in striking range. The right Ghoul was not in his range, and at that moment, Nilbog once again glanced to the left.

A surprising number of Bruiser Ghouls surrounded someone just outside his line of sight. Those rank E variants were level 30, larger, muscular, and were protected by Life Armor. Most of the damage they received would be subtracted from their Life Armor instead of HP. Hitting one with a sword was akin to hitting one with a blunt weapon—little bleeding damage would occur until the Life Armor broke. There were two of those mobs surrounding different people. Flames extended from one of the circles, while the other had purple blood spraying like a fountain into the air.

The closest Ghoul on his left side went for a thrust at that moment, its left claw flying directly at Nilbog’s bare knuckles. The other Ghoul went in a second later.

That one second was the opening he was waiting for. He dashed forward, meeting its strike with the side of his knife.

That by itself wasn’t enough. Strength and Armor were his lowest parameters. It would have bent his Nilbog wrist, but by tensing his muscles at the moment of impact as he simultaneously twisted his upper body to the right, while adding forward momentum by stepping forward, Nilbog was sufficiently able to redirect the force of the blow.

The Ghoul flew past him. Sliding to its left side, Nilbog brought his other knife up and slashed across its neck.

Penetration!

Your strike dealt critical damage!

You have dealt 69 damage!

You have dealt Devastating Bleed Damage!

The knife went a good distance in, sliding halfway through its neck. The Ghoul’s right hand instinctively attempted to cover the wound. He gave it a strong kick, throwing it in the path of the other charging Ghoul. The bleeding damage should kill it in a few seconds. So far most Ghouls had around 150 HP, and with Devastating Bleed damage hovering above 9% of MAX HP or greater per second, it should be enough. It was damaged as well, further helping him—that was all according to the plan. Now all Nilbog needed to do was flick his eyes again, feigning distraction, and the stupid beast would attack.

What was not according to the plan, however, was that while the Ghoul Nilbog kicked was halfway to the ground, the second one did not step to the side, but rather stepped on it. It pushed off, jumping headfirst up a good half dozen feet into the air, claws and teeth out in equal measure.

Nilbog was utterly surprised. He stood, face blank for a few moments.

He then bent his body forward. The Ghoul missed him by a good distance, landing face-first into the marble floor behind him. An audible crack was heard.

I haven’t seen much, but that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen Two notifications informed him of their death. Nilbog stood in place, letting his STM regenerate. With how low his Constitution was and his lack of Life Armor, one mistake was all it took for the Ghouls to rip through him. It did help that the Ghouls had the mental capacities of children--they might be able to easily bite his neck off, shred his bones, and toss him around, but they were still children. He’d gotten through worse to get here.

His A rank went beyond his stats and skills. He had an advantage in knowledge, instincts, and whatever else made monsters fight better. Provided he only fights low ranks, he should be able to win even if they had the level advantage. He wasn’t sure about how much his stat scaling differed from the others. He should be able to learn, unlike other monsters. Maybe being stuck at level 20 wasn’t such a death sentence.

When he caught his breath, Nilbog continued his hunt. The middle of the Cafe was mostly vacant. Only two stuck around in the open field where they were surrounded on all sides by those Bruiser Ghouls.

One was a tall man in tight-fitting black robes. Flames stuck to his long-sword, burning even brighter when he swung it around. He ducked, turned, and wove with his slashes, not once stopping. His strikes didn’t penetrate the Bruiser Ghoul’s Life Armor, and neither did he need to. The Ghouls he struck went flying, and the ones that were just outside his range were scorched by the flames that extended with his swings. Inexplicably, as slowly as he was moving, not a single Ghoul was able to land a clean hit. Elusive couldn’t even begin to describe it. Each dodge put him into a position where only a single Bruiser Ghoul could swing at him. It fit Nilbog's definition of "dancing."

On the other circle was a blond girl dual-wielding daggers. A blanket of red and yellow aura enveloped her, leaving behind tracer as she dashed from one Ghoul to the next at a dizzying speed, turning tight angles while barely losing any momentum.

The one for one monster rule did not apply to her either, but that hardly mattered. As quickly as they joined was as quickly as they fell. Wherever she passed a Bruiser Ghoul two to four slashes was left on its Life Armor. The fifth strike jutted blood in wild directions. Any Bruiser Ghoul that swung as she whizzed by received large cuts, and those that that struck her had their limbs fly by, Life Armor or not. She grew faster with each attack and kill, the red aura increasing in size and density. She turned the world around her in red, yellow, and purple as she danced. She was a painter, and the Bruiser Ghoul’s were her medium.

Those two weren’t caught in the Game. They were made for it. Instead of kitchen knives the girl had two fully-fledged monster-killing weapons with gems inserted into the bottom of their hilts. That wasn’t to mention the glistening black leather that covered her from toe to neck. It was a full set, with torso, arms, and legs being made of the same material. While the human male barely needed it its defense, the girl’s manic style certainly did. Slashes that would have separated someone’s spine only left a shallow cut on her Life Armor. They added up, of course, but the fact she could tank damage so recklessly was ridiculous.

Unknown Human Male: Cub

Human Raisin’s Grand Daughter: Wolf

If the bodies littered around her was not an obvious enough indication, she was one of the reasons there was a big discrepancy in the level spread. More worryingly, however, was her Danger Rank. On average, Sentients went up a rank every 30 levels. Cub was 0-30, Wolf 30-60, Tiger 60-90, Dragon 90-120, and Disaster 120-150. The lower the level while the higher the rank was an indication of high potential.

He might just be witnessing a Cataclysm in the making. Very few Sentients were supposed to reach that Danger Rank even when they struck the 150-level cap.

The Game tried to even things out by sending more at her. Even while receiving attacks from all directions, it was not enough to mortally wound her. Bruiser Ghouls charged at her to no avail. Her Life Armor seemed to regenerate based on the damage she dealt, keeping her defenses up even as she invested every moment slashing and dicing. He could see the glow of her Life Armor glowing brighter with each kill, and that was what he could see. Who knew what else she gained from damage and kills.

She was, unfortunately, an idiot. Not only would the slight damage she is taking eventually build-up, but her STM should be running out. Nilbog found it hard to believe she was able to gain Speed, Strength, Life Force, and STM. Completely opposite to most classes, "berserker" like skills grew stronger as they lost HP and STM—the issue was that they lost both very quickly. The experience and points gained were highly rewarding, but she was risking injury and wasting more resources than she needed to by fighting alone and surrounded. Skills that regenerated HP and Overall STM were rare and had limited effects.

That old raisin was right—she could be mighty more useful if guided correctly, and that’s accounting for the fact that Nilbog was one of the most clueless people in this café. It wasn’t even odd that those two humans weren’t fighting together. The chaos that brewed around her was a direct contrast to the meticulous movements of the swordsman. They would just get in each other’s way.

The Bruiser Ghouls spotted him as he neared. Two ran at him, but with the girl running in circles around them, they were the ones surrounded. She did not let them escape. Before it got in range one of the Ghoul’s heads slipped off its neck while the other lost everything below its right knee. It tripped and fell into his knife. Another came from the side. He dodged on thrust, and before he could even deal a single point of damage it retreated into the girl’s daggers.

By the time it swung around the girl was gone. She left crisscrossing slashes on its back that broke its Life Armor and gushed open its back, which easily allowed Nilbog to sink both his knives into the back of its neck. He kicked it away, jerking free his weapons. He fell on it, stabbing it at least a half dozen times before it stopped moving. It took more than 150 points of damage, and that’s without accounting how much damage it already received.

“I’m Iris!”

Nilbog yelped, leaping backwards upon her sudden turning, which ended up with him tripping on the Ghoul’s body. He fell on his butt, his weapons sliding out of his hands. The girl stood in front of him, her face a few inches away from his. Half of it was dripping purple. Faded crops of yellow hair stuck to it.

“Are you one of us?” she asked, tilting her head.

A bitter lump of salvia, his own blood, and the rotten undead blood went down Nilbog's throat. He turned towards the Ghouls, but froze when his cheeks touched the sharp tips of a dagger.

“My eyes are up here,” she said, frowning. “You don’t seem-“

“Do I look purple to you?” Nilbog said, finding his wits, then immediately lost it as the dagger pushed against his skin. “Yes, yes I freaking am.”

“Oh,” she said, snapping her back straight. “Sorry about that. You can never be too sure!” She twirled the daggers in between her fingers as she turned around. All the Ghouls around them died with none of the holes which spawned them showing any movement. “Where did all of them go?”

Nilbog collapsed to the ground, finally catching his breath. Crazy girl, though she brings up a good point. Was it really a coincidence that the moment he joined in the endless flood of Ghouls ceased? This was likely another unnatural pattern The Game created. Being fair was the only positive thing that could be said about it. It will always provide a difficult challenge, but never an impossible one.

By the time Nilbog sat up, the Ghouls once again began to climb out. Break’s time over? Was that supposed to give me time to think, or for her to rest?

Iris perked up. The red aura surrounding her was fading, but upon seeing an enemy it sparked to life. She took a few steps forward before Nilbog caught her wrist. She flinched, and then went completely still.

“Hold on, we shou-“ Nilbog didn’t know what drove him into ducking even before Sentient Killer activated. Maybe it was what The Game taught him, or maybe it was Seventh Sense, but apparently touching her was considered an attack. It activated a Retribution skill, a type of skill that activities whenever the wielder receives an attack. Even while she was facing the other direction, the speed at which she twisted back with her dagger swinging was just ludicrous. The metal whipped the air above his head, taking off a few hairs. If he hadn’t moved a full second before she swung, his head would have been the one flying off.

“Seriously?” Was she really going to kill him for that?

“Sorry,” she said, flinching when she saw Nilbog. She scratched the side of her head with the hilt of her dagger as she nervously stepped in place. “I get…too focused sometimes. I really didn’t mean to hurt you, but good job on surviving!"

“Do you want to get through this without injuring yourself?” Nilbog quickly said. He should give up on understanding her or them. “You’re definitely going to get the first spot. Why waste more Overall STM that could be used later?”

She pursed her lips, frowning. Her eyes bounced from him to the growing inferno behind them.

Bright yellow, he noted. There were two branches to Life Force—Internal and External. As the names implied, one focused on self-buffing while the other had various outside uses. Seeing Life Force enchant her eyes meant she was her sight and senses were buffed senses. If she attacks him, he should expect for her to have unnaturally high reaction skills. Time will move slower for her. “If you have a grandmother around here, she told me to get you,” he said, and turned around, picking up his knives as he ran. “Follow me if you want.”

After a few moments, he heard her footsteps behind him. “You’re all too weak,” she said, staring at him with a blank look. Both red and yellow auras had completely faded, leaving her noticeably pale and short-breathed. Sometimes skills had side-effects, the berserker type more so than others. “Shon said more will come than they could handle if I joined.”

“I sure hope so, Iris.” If Sentients were going to be selfish pricks, then so will he.

“I like your smile,” she said, her stiff face falling into a giggle.

It caught Nilbog off-guard. Her laughter was so pure it sent the creeps down his spine. The heavy bloodlust she emitted vanished so abruptly it left an eerie void behind. Why is everyone so twisted? Nilbog thought, looking towards Doyan’s group. Then again, am I panning out so differently? The Game said it would reward actions that got Ghouls dead, but it never mentioned anything about the lives that will be lost because of it.

Soon, a large wave of Ghouls was on their heels.