[Congratulations! You have slain a lv.3 Mimic Wolf!]

[Congratulations! You leveled up!]

[You gained 3 bronze coins]

Ben wiped the sweat off of his forehead. 'Phew'.

He looked at Kara and felt he'd probably be dead without her. He wasn't particularly experienced in fighting, and it showed. If they had to fight more of these wolves, he better get his act together. Fast.

Ben walked up to Kara who was already checking up on Nathan.

''Ben, can you rip some cloth from your shirt? I need to cover his wound.'' Kara said.

Ben looked at Nathan's wound. Two deep holes and a bunch of smaller punctures could be seen on his shoulder. Although Nathan had covered his wounds with his hand, he couldn't fully stop the blood from dripping out. It would be best to get it treated as soon as possible.

Ben took off his shirt and ripped off his sleeve. Ben reached out his arm and offered the sleeve to Nathan.

''Here. It's yours.'' Ben said.

He was kinda expecting Nathan to go on another rant about how his clothing was contaminated with atheïsm, but Nathan didn't even notice the sleeve. He was facing the wall, staring in a daze. He looked absent-minded. It almost looked like he was in some state of shock and still in his head with what had just happened

''But I'm a devout Christian...'' Nathan mumbled to himself. ''This wasn't supposed to happen t-... to me...''

Kara grabbed the sleeve from Ben's hand and started wrapping Nathan's shoulder who barely seemed to capture what was happening.

''Thanks, Ben,'' Kara said.

Kara started whispering comforting words into Nathan's ears. Evidently, he needed it. It was probably best if he didn't eavesdrop on them. Nathan's wound wasn't life-threatening. If anything, his emotional wounds were deeper. And he couldn't think of anyone who could soothe him better in such a situation than his family.

Ben took this time to look at his status screen.

Name: Benjamin Neilson

Level: 2

Class: None

Titles: None

Constitution: Normal

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 12

Vitality: 9

Endurance: 9

Perception: 11

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Will: 14

SP (+): 10

Wealth: 3 Bronze Coins

Just like the notification said, he leveled up. He was now level 2. It didn't really show in his basic stats, though. They were unmoving. The only thing that changed was that his SP had gone up from 5 to 10. Probably the reward for leveling up.

SP had been a suspicious abbreviation from the start. It had a (+) sign behind it so Ben assumed it were points that would help him upgrade something. His limited experience in MMORPG games told him SP could be an abbreviation for either 'Skill points' or 'Stat points'. Seeing as he didn't know if skills even existed in this world, he guessed it was the latter.

''You haven't allocated your SP yet have you, Ben? You can upgrade your stats with it. Makes you stronger. Allocate it, and afterward, we'll look for our dad.'' Kara said.

''I was wondering about that. Nathan made it look like he already knew of the status. You also knew?'' Ben said.

''I asked. I asked it aloud to whatever this system was. It stayed silent when asking questions like why this was happening, but it was pretty keen on answering questions on what I should do to survive. Like info about the status. It wasn't much, though.'' Kara said.

''Anything else it told you?'' Ben asked.

''It told me that I could become unimaginably powerful, but so could others. And these others definitely would. To survive, I had to become stronger. Stronger than anyone.'' Kara said as she pointed at her bow. ''And it recommended the bow and arrow to me. Although, I was already going to choose the bow and arrow since I've had lessons in it since I was small. I appreciated the confirmation, though.''

''Well, shit. Guess I should've asked more. I gave up on asking after it wouldn't respond and just started bashing these stupid notifications.'' Ben said.

Kara smiled.

''Anything about these bronze coins?'' Ben asked.

''Nope, nothing about that. I already tried commanding for a shop. But nothing's there.'' Kara said.

''For now, we just need more info, maybe others will know more. We'll leave after I've patched up Nathan and you've allocated your stat points.'' Kara said.

Ben summoned the status screen. The thought slipped to him that this 'system' was almost too intuitively integrated with his brain. If it even was connected with his brain. He instinctively knew how to summon his status and manage the notifications so it wouldn't block his vision.

Looking back at the fight, his handling of the halberd was too unstable. He would have died if it weren't for the arrows of Kara. Not only wouldn't he be able to hit the wolf, but he also wasn't able to pierce its hide either. The only reason they were able to kill it was because Kara managed to hit its eyes and even its skin. And it was only a lv.3 wolf! Although he was probably only level 0 back then, the fact was he couldn't pierce it. He had to get stronger.

Ben mentally commanded 7 points to go into strength. Somehow this worked as his strength shot up to 18 points. With every extra point in strength, he felt his muscles and bone structure slightly alter. He felt it move even. It was only noticeable if he paid attention to it, but the stat upgrade actively changed his body. He felt that if he swung his halberd now, he would be able to cleave almost anything in half.

Then he put a point each into dexterity, vitality, and endurance. It left his vitality and dexterity on a nice 10, and an extra point of dexterity couldn't hurt.

He didn't feel anything after upgrading dexterity, whereas upgrading endurance made his skin slightly coarser. After upgrading vitality he felt like he had just drunk the most healthy power shake he'd ever drunk. His heart felt like it was pumping harder, and more efficiently. It was just a measly point, but he instantly felt healthier.

Ben was shocked. If a few points changed his physique this much already, how much would it change after adding 100 points to a single stat? Maybe it was true what the system had told Kara. They could become unimaginatively powerful. And if they didn't, others definitely would. This thought scared Ben because he knew such power should not be in the hands of everyone or everything. Ben looked back at his status.

Name: Benjamin Neilson

Level: 2

Class: None

Titles: None

Constitution: Normal

Strength: 18

Dexterity: 13

Vitality: 10

Endurance: 10

Perception: 11

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Will: 14

SP (+): 0

Wealth: 3 Bronze Coins

Satisfied, Ben grabbed his halberd and moved to the middle of the room, and started swinging. The halberd wasn't shaking anymore and he could actually make a controlled stab now. Ben didn't know if this was because of the increased strength, or if the additional point in dexterity helped thát much. It's probably the strength stats, though.

Ben started practicing his stabs on the chairs he dropped after he was transported away. After assaulting the notifications, these chairs had become his new outlet of frustration.

''Let's go,'' Kara said standing next to the door.

Ben looked at Nathan standing next to Kara, ''Will you be okay?'' he said.

Nathan had already removed the makeshift bandages. He probably increased his vitality to stop the bleeding. Ben wouldn't be surprised if vitality affected that as well.

''wIlL YoU bE oKaY'' Nathan mockingly said. ''God is merely testing us. To see if we're worthy. It's nothing more and nothing less, and we won't become worthy by staying here.''

Ben wasn't as offended as he was relieved. He expected the near-death experience would last a deeper impression on Nathan. To make him unable to fight properly. But it looked like he bounced right back to his old self. Maybe he underestimated Nathan. This was a good thing though. It looked like Nathan would be able to protect himself at the least.

''Follow me, I know where to find dad. He's most likely in his office.'' Kara whispered.

Maybe it was the adrenaline from fighting the wolf, but Ben hadn't noticed the screams echoing through the monastery. They were somewhat muffled by the sound of howling wolves, but it was still very distinct. 'What is going on!?' Ben thought.

Kara took the lead as they stepped into the corridor. The ancient hallways seemed even scarier than they had been when he entered this camp.

The group headed to an intersection with silent steps with Kara in the lead and Ben at the end. They didn't dare to utter a single word as they stealthily advanced to the intersection.

He wondered if he should take the lead. What if a monster suddenly attacked from the corner. Kara had a bow and arrow, she was probably the most vulnerable of all of them in close combat. While Ben was ruminating, the group was suddenly alarmed.

*SKRRR*

The sound of scraping metal echoed throughout the hallway.

''Sorry,'' Ben said scratching the back of his head.

Kara and Nathan glared back at him as Kara put her fingers to her mouth. They had to be quiet. Ben guessed it'd probably be better to mention their formation once they arrive at the next safe place.

They reached the intersection when Kara lifted her hand and signed the group to stop. She glanced past the wall into the next hallway as discretely as she could.

''Nothing here, let's go,'' Kara said.

They kept walking into the corridor and noticed the howls and screams were getting louder. Ben had never heard anything more ominous in his life. The sounds were slightly off, though.

It was different than before. The sounds were getting louder, but the number of sounds was getting fewer and fewer. He didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

When they reached the next fork Kara did the same thing and peeked from behind the wall to scout out the corridor. Kara saw a door slightly ajar. Group 8.

''Psshhhh, Kara...'' someone whispered from the door.

Kara was about to head over when a group of wolves arrived from the opposite end of the hallway. Three wolves headed in their direction, and they weren't slow. If they headed back now, they would get caught by the wolves. They had to fight.

''More wolves, get ready,'' Kara whispered as she put up 3 fingers. Ben and Nathan nodded.

Ben took a peek and saw the three wolves approaching them. They were in a position where they had to fight. And it was against three wolves this time.

He wasn't even very confident they could take down 1 larger wolf. And they had to fight 3. Ben decided there was no other choice and stood ready to pounce at any time.

The wolves kept getting closer and closer. Just about when the wolves were about a spear-length distance away from them, a loud hollow sound could be heard from a room the wolves had just passed. Room 8. A hollow sound, as if someone had thrown a wooden chair on the floor.

The wolves' hair stood on end as they turned around and went into predator mode. The wolves silently approached the door as closely as they could without alerting their prey inside.

''NOW!'' Kara said.

Kara jumped out into the open and fired her shot.

SWISH

A cry could be heard as the arrow solidly landed in the wolf's leg, firmly puncturing its muscle. Ben and Nathan took this opening to charge at this same wolf.

Ben held his halberd tightly and thrust it forward as powerful as he could. He hit the wolf at the same spot Kara’s arrow hit.

Before Ben could retract his halberd, Nathan had already arrived and started bashing at the bladed part of the halberd stuck in the wolf. Like a hammer hitting a chisel. Nathan had probably realized he wouldn't be able to pierce its skin with only his mace and used this method to actually do damage.

Nathan could strike twice more before the wolf's companions leaped for the rescue. However, its comrades were too late. Kara had already hit an arrow in the injured wolf's face, leaving the wolf limp on the ground.

The remaining wolves, realizing what had happened to their companion, leaped at Ben and Nathan in a frenzy. Ben and Nathan tried to keep the distance using their weapons, but it seemed like the wolves didn't care about the weapons anymore.

Ben pointed his halberd at the wolves' neck but couldn't pierce it. Luckily, it was enough to fend of the first attack of the wolf. Ben looked at his side and saw Nathan had managed the same as the other wolf also whimpered back.

The wolves got ready for another leap when a figure jumped out from the wolves' shadow and sliced at the front-most wolf's face. The wolf whimpered back. Another arrow took this chance to hit the wolf, which landed on its right paw. With the wolf now distracted, Ben and Nathan used this opportunity to finish the wolf off.

Seeing his last comrade die in front of its eyes made it reconsider its options. The wolf turned around and sprinted away as fast as he could.

SWISH

Kara fired another arrow at it, but the wolf dodged it and fled around the corner.

Ben breathed a sigh of relief and was about to look at the new notifications that popped up when he heard a voice.

''Kara, Nathan! Thank god you guys are alive!''