“One down! Three to go!”, shouted Zeke as he bashed the head of a stone monkey with the help of a wooden club. “Four to go! One was hidden on the ceiling!”, Reizel’s answer reverberated in the cave as he dodged a rock flying for his face.

Taking in a deep breath, Zeke asked while staring at the terrified monkey before him. “Ya need help?” and to that Reizel answered almost immediately. “No, I’ve got this! Finish off your side firs-“, his words were cut off as one of the monkeys threw a piece of stalagmite or maybe a stalactite in his direction.

“Okay! C’me ‘re ya little bast*rd!”, choosing to trust his friend’s words, Zeke ran after the clearly terrified enemy as it turned tail in an attempt to run for its puny life.

Meanwhile, on Reizel’s side, he was up against three of the rocky creatures as he ran forward, closing the distance between them. Having witnessed their fellow monkey get destroyed by Zeke’s club, the creatures seemed hesitant to let him get anywhere near them as they kept throwing stones in his direction.

‘Hah! You won’t get me like this again! Damned monkeys!’, he sneered inwardly and didn’t dodge this time, raising his arms to block the incoming projectiles. And, unlike what many would have expected, with a loud thud, the rocks hit the wood pieces strapped on Reizel’s arms and directly fell to the floor.

With a wild grin on his face, Reizel swiftly appeared before the three stone creatures which, unable to dodge at this distance, tried to scatter in all directions. The smartest one among them jumped backwards, while another one hit the wall on its side before shaking its head in a dazed manner. As for the last one? It had no chance to dodge as a sudden kick from down below shattered its stony leg in multiple pieces.

“Phew!”, Reizel exhaled while stretching his leg. ‘F*ck is it painful!’, he couldn’t help cursing inwardly as he raised his leg up and brought it down for the second time, effectively putting an end on the crawling creature’s miserable life.

“Screech!”, realizing they would be next, the two maddened monkeys growled in their particularly annoying way and rushed to attack Reizel’s body. Grinning like the devil he was in the holes they had for eyes, Reizel dodged one while blocking the other. The monkeys weren’t particularly strong by themselves, but everything changed when numbers were involved in the equation. And, true to the phrase ‘there is strength in numbers’, he couldn’t help falling in an impasse as he dodged one and blocked the other over and over again.

Alas, similar to the monkeys, Reizel wasn’t alone either. Having failed to jump him for yet another time, the monkey pulled itself together as it stood on its small legs once more, ready to attack.

*Step… Crush!*

However, before it had the chance to crouch, the familiar sound of flesh touching the ground echoed behind it. And, while the small creature was turning its head to take a look, all it saw in its last moments was a piece of wood as Zeke’s wooden club shattered its small stony head into countless rock fragments.

With a look of disbelief in its eyeless and noseless face, the last creature’s rationality seemed to return, making it hesitate for a moment. And, seeing how Reizel wasn’t one to miss an opportunity like that, he almost instantly raised his leg and brought it down, towards the stone monkey’s head.

Sadly for Reizel, even though the creature seemed to hesitate for a moment, it treasured its life even more as it raised its small rocky hands in an attempt to block. Sadly for the monkey, the force coming from Reizel’s kick was more than enough to shatter its little arms, leaving the creature armless.

Screeching indignantly at the face of death, the creature fell on its butt as another kick aimed at its head put an end to its misery.

“Huff… Huff…”, tired and breathless, Reizel sat cross-legged on the ground, resting for a while in order to catch his breath. Zeke’s figure was already gone, probably searching for their spoils of war somewhere amidst the rubble.

This wasn’t the first time they had fought against that many monkeys as, the further they ventured into the cave, the bigger groups they discovered. Alas, their total strength and tactics were similar to that of their predecessors, making for an easy fight when one got used to them.

“Phew...”, two minutes after he sat down, Reizel finally recovered enough to take a look at the blinking notifications.

[Congratulations! Stone Monkey Lv.3 has fallen. Experience points will be awarded.]

[Congratulations! Stone Monkey Lv.4 has fallen. Experience points will be awarded.]

[Level up!]

[Unarmed Combat has reached Beginner level 4!]

‘Finally, a level up!’, Reizel thought and recited the word ‘status’ in his mind.

[Status Screen]

Name: Reizel

Condition: (Tired) (Slightly hungry)

Level: 5

Skills: 2/2 [+]

[+]

Skill points: 1

[Attribute Screen]

Body – 10

Stamina: 68/100

Mind – 5

Soul – 14

Spirit Essence: 140/140

Attribute points: 1

The two had been fighting non-stop against the cave monkeys all afternoon. As for how many monkey groups they had exterminated until now? They’d ceased counting somewhere between the fifth or sixth group.

‘Unarmed Combat leveled up again... It’s now on the same level as the First Aid skill!’, Reizel thought while staring at the blue window above the status screen. Earlier in the afternoon, when Reizel and Zeke made their way out of the cave, they’d sat around the fire, racking their brains in order to find the best way of dealing with the stone monkeys.

Bladed weapons like the knife Reizel had in his possession were out of the question. Since the creatures' structure was made entirely out of stone, they would only be chipping their equipment away if they faced them with such things. And, while Zeke’s axe could still be used to break them apart, it wouldn’t last long like that.

Therefore, the two decided to turn their attention to blunt weapons such as clubs and the like. And, while it didn’t take long for them to turn a branch into an awfully crafted club, Reizel felt he wasn’t suited for a weapon like that. Different from him, Zeke, who had been swinging the axe around all afternoon, felt even more confident with the club in hand. His physique was such that he could use weapons and tools a little heavier than the usual.

“Ya ain’t making a club like me?”, asked Zeke while watching Reizel tie a sturdy piece of wood around his leg. “No, I’ll try bushing them with my kicks. Earlier, I kicked the little bast*rd and almost broke my leg... Next time, hehehe!”, he said and let out an evil laugh, sending chills down Zeke’s spine.

Needless to say, this is how Reizel unlocked the [Unarmed Combat (N)] skill while he was still level 3. Unable to get sufficient skill points for both the skill and skill slot which required yet another 2 skill points, Reizel had to wait until he leveled up all the way to level 4 before adding it to his arsenal. As for the other skills he had unlocked earlier, like the ‘Knife Mastery’ and ‘Butchering’; he had no plans of adding them as of yet.

Why? Well, in order to unlock the next skill slot, the following message appeared before him at the time.

[Would you like to purchase more skill slots? Purchase cost 4SP.]

An entire 4 skill points! And that was only for the slot! If one considered the skill as well, the price would be at least 5! Not to mention that number was most probably only for skills of the (N) rarity... Who knows, with how shrewd the system seemed to be, higher rarity skills might be even more expensive than common skills!

That being said, Reizel had actually managed to level up the ‘Unarmed Combat’ skill all the way to beginner level 4! He didn’t know if that was amazing or not, but he definitely felt the improvement coming out of his kicks compared to before.

Meanwhile, Reizel wasn’t the only one who acquired skills and levels as Zeke had also raised his level all the way to 5 even before Reizel. But then again, that was to be expected.

The tactic they used against the monkeys was simple. Zeke couldn’t face more than 2 monkeys alone, forcing Reizel to distract more than half a group of monkeys at all times. And, while it was effective, Zeke always got to kill 1 or 2 more than him, progressing faster in the experience department.

Back to the present, Reizel glanced at the attribute points. His strategy had always been to increase the Body attribute as much as possible... But since it reached 10 and made a breakthrough, unlocking his stamina bar, he couldn’t help wondering what Mind would unlock. He still didn’t have a use for Spirit Essence, but the stamina bar went down whenever he overexerted himself before slowly filling up again.

‘Should I start adding points to Mind?’, he asked himself before quickly rejecting that option. He knew from experience that it wouldn’t be a good idea to spread the attribute points he could only get from leveling up everywhere. As for how he knew that? He had no clue! Another mystery for him to ponder...

“Sigh...”, letting out a mouthful of cold air, he started closing the windows one by one. As for the attribute point? He decided to come back to it later, once he had given it a bit more thinking.

Pulling himself up, Reizel followed Zeke’s lead and went searching for crystals amidst the monkey remains. The two already had a bag full of the little gems, but they kept collecting them just in case they found a use for them later. ‘Oh, this one looks slightly bigger?’, he thought while excavating the brown gemstone out of the level 4 monkey. ‘Or maybe not?’, the difference was almost too small to notice, but the newer addition was definitely a tipsy tiny little bit bigger.

“Ya done here?”, Zeke’s voice resounded as he neared Reizel’s location. “Yea, this is the last one.”, he said and dusted off the rugs he referred to as clothes before adding. “Let’s move on.”

Letting out a light sigh, Zeke asked in passing. “How about we call it quits for today? I am already starting to get a little tired.” Glancing up, Reizel’s brows furrowed slightly as he answered back. “Hmm... How about we get to the end of this corridor first?” And to that, Zeke’s answer came almost immediately.

“Haven’t we killed enough already? It’s gonna be a dead-end anyway.” Pausing in his steps, Reizel turned around and said while bumping his fists. “Another fight, another level!”

“Sigh... Last one, okay?”, Zeke indignantly agreed as he glanced at Reizel’s face.

“Yea, one more group and we are out of here for today!”, added Reizel as his pearly white teeth emerged along with his grin.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

“This is it boys and girls! Today marks the day our little gaming studio officially starts operations!”, exclaimed an excited Bryan for the thousandth time as he happily glanced around the living room.

The skinny man’s tan seemed to have gotten even darker than what it used to be. But that was to be expected, only one month into the summer and the temperature outside was already above thirty degrees. Alas, like the businessman that Bryan claimed to be, he had been busying himself all day, every day, not only with preparations for the upcoming launch of Fragmented Realms but scouting for members as well.

Getting things done for the game’s launch had gone rather well, the gaming equipment was already settled, each in a different room of the gaming studio. And, with everyone assisting here and there, they had long since finished making arrangements. As for how well Bryan’s ‘scouting’ for new members went? A complete and utter failure.

Most of the ‘experts’ among the players had already been contracted with different gaming studios, making it impossible for him to snatch them. As for those at the very top? He had already tried once with Kyle’s name as bait and got several of them at once. Bryan wouldn’t go out of his way to ask them for a second time. As for those at the bottom tier among the better players? The small studio could neither provide deals lucrative enough to keep them nor did it have a reason to as of yet. Once they made their mark in the game, players would be rushing to join them of their own accord anyway.

Kyle was leisurely sitting on a couch, sipping tea as he gave a side glance at the people before him. Bryan had been talking non-stop for a while now and, judging by the look on everyone’s faces, they all seemed to be exhausted by that point.

Sitting, or more accurately speaking, sleeping right next to him on the sofa was Robert Wynn or, as Kyle liked to call him as of late, the studio’s Chihuahua. The little guy seemed to have dozed off for a while now as he snored lightly. Understandably, he couldn’t stand Bryan’s hour-long rumbling.

Aside from Robert and Kyle, who luckily picked the sofa to chill on, Dylan couldn’t help letting out a small grumble as he attempted to stretch out his limbs for the fifth time. The chair wasn’t small, but Dylan’s long and thin figure made it look like it was meant for a toddler.

Other than them, there were three more people inside the living room. One of them was Kyle’s best friend and the studio’s newest addition, Jacob Stais, who, for some weird reason, looked tense to the point of no return as he sternly listened to Bryan’s words... Or did he? Kyle was unable to pinpoint the reason behind his friend’s antics, but there was definitely something weird about them.

Sighing inwardly at the embarrassing sight of his bestie, Kyle’s gaze lingered on the two ladies lying comfortably on the opposing couch for a few seconds. And, while both ladies shared the same pitch-black hair, they couldn’t be any more different from one another. On the left side sitting properly with her hands resting on her laps was what could only be described by human words as a fairy.

Gazing out of the window with her crystal-clear navy-blue eyes, the fairy’s long dark hair swayed lightly along with the gentle wind coming down from an old school fan above their heads. ‘Layla Edmonds...’, Kyle thought while trying to take his stare away from the light green dress showcasing her picture-perfect silhouette.

Layla was easily the most beautiful woman Kyle had ever laid his eyes upon. ‘Perfect’, many would say and, truly, she would have been perfect if not for her proudly holding the title of the biggest weirdo among the Silverfun members. Why? Well... Be it the reason why she was here or the way she acted around people all seemed to be ‘flawed’ in a way.

Recalling the first time he witnessed Layla’s shenanigans sent shivers down his spine.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

“Hello~ You must be Reizel, right? Wow, even your eyes look exactly the same.”, said the black-haired woman as she took one step after the other, edging closer towards Kyle. It had only been 3 days since he joined and Kyle was currently chilling in the gaming studio’s living room, casually reading a book to pass the time. Alas, the alluring figure of Layla Edmonds was bound to disturb his inner peace as she airily approached him for the first time.

“You are...”, he couldn’t help muttering as the cores of his azure pupils expanded slightly. “Layla Edmonds nice to meet ya~”, the woman exclaimed happily while doing a small curtsey before him.

“I-”, Kyle tried to utter something but he neither knew what to say nor did he have something to say. That’s just how startled he actually was. Layla, on the other hand, seemed way more prepared than him as she said in the most serious manner she could muster while locking onto his eyes. “Hmm... Indeed, you must be Reizel. No wait, your name was Kyle, right? Then Ky, shall we make haste?”

Confusion was one of the many things painted on Kyle’s face as he closed the book he was reading before asking in a quivering voice. “Ky? No wait, haste... Haste for what?”

And, while flashing the most brilliant smile Layla could muster, she continued. “Oh, silly me. Didn’t I mention it yet? We need to make preparations for the wedding!”

Baffled as he was, Kyle couldn’t help adding in his confusion as a trickle of cold sweat flowed down his forehead. “Wedding? Whose wedding?” and to that, Layla pointed her index finger in Kyle’s direction. ‘Me?’, he thought, and then she pulled it back pointing it towards her. ‘You?’, another thought flashed by as he started connecting the dots.

‘Me and you? Our wedding? Wait what? Wh-’, alas, before he could finish pondering, Layla intertwined their fingers and said in the most seductive voice Kyle had ever heard.

“You don’t want to?”, being the young man that he was, Kyle’s heart was beating way too fast for him to be thinking straight so before he could get his thoughts together, he said. “Wai- What? Who are you?!”

“Oh, silly you~ Your future bride obviously!”