“Rem?”

“Dad!?”

Peter grinned at James, “Ah, can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier. Two pussies in a pod.” While James and Rem, the sniveling teenager, were having their reunion, Peter sized up the girl with the bob-cut. Her name was Anne and she was fifteen, contrary to her petite frame.

Displeased by her haughty attitude, he snorted, “Are you really fifteen? You look like you're twelve.” Anne clutched onto Olivia’s sword and flashed it menacingly.

Ever since her violent outburst, she hadn’t said a word and as a responsible adult, Peter attempted to cheer her up. He tried giving her whiskey at first, but she stared at him like a moron. Then he tried giving her food, which she rejected. Finally, he tried using insults to loosen her up, but she still ignored him.

“Aii, I give up!” Peter exaggeratedly whined. Seeing Peter walk over to James and Rem, Anne hopped into the car.

“Rem, what happened to mom?”

“She… she’s dead dad.”

James’ hopeful expression turned downcast. His eyes turned red and he wanted to lash out. However, seeing his son alive and in front of him restored part of his sanity. Taking a deep breath, James asked, “Rem, what happened to your arm?” James pointed at the burned fleshed and Rem replied, “It’s no... nothing.”

Seeing Rem’s flustered expression, Peter interrupted, “Yeah right, what happened, kid?” James glared at Peter and coaxed his son to tell him what happened. Rem narrated his “heroic tale” of saving Anne, but getting burned in the process.

‘So that’s why he went with her. If he went with the rest, his dad may have never seen him again. Funny how things work.’

Furious with his son, James scolded, “You have to put your life first! Always!” Disgusted by his father's attitude, Rem angrily stomped James’ foot and got into the car sitting next to Anne.

“Good job, family man.”

“Do you have to mock me?”

“Just when I feel like it.”

James’ expression twitched before wordlessly entering the car.

“Alright kids, strap in cuz we’re going to Jersey!”

Peter started the engine, but a loud tire popping noise echoed.

“Damn it!”

“Calm down Peter, we can find another car.”

“James, on the ride back to town, have you seen a single car?” Thinking back, James’ only recalled seeing debris and monster, but not a single car. His expression paled as he stuttered, “No…no…” Seeing James’ annoying mug, Peter snapped and got out of the car. “Deal’s off James.”

Peter took two plastic bags and dumped a portion of canned food into the backpack. Finally, he took two bottles of mineral water and a bottle of whiskey and zipped up the bag. Anne also got out of the car.

She glared at Peter and asked, “What are you doing?”

“So you do speak! Well Anne, the deal I had with James was to use his car to get to Jersey and in exchange, I’d protect him. But his car is useless now.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not. Stay with Rem and James.” Before Peter could leave, James screamed, “Wait! I know we haven't known each other for long, but aren't we friends?!”

Peter turned around and looked at James’ disheveled appearance. With a bitter taste in his mouth, he forced himself to say, “We're still friends. But the deals off James.”

“Can’t you protect me as a friend then? I’ll never survive out there Peter! Please!”

‘God damn it! I don’t have time for this… What should I do?’

“You promised us we could come with you, Peter.” Peter saw Anne’s worried expression and couldn’t help but think of Amy again.

~14 years ago~

“Da…daddy.”

“Yes, Amy?” Peter helplessly watched as his three-year-old daughter choked on her own blood while trying to say her last words. “D…Daddy, promise me... no more... no more pain.” These were the little girl’s last word as she breathed her last, strapped on a wooden cedar chair.

~Flashback end~

Peter looked at the group of three in frustration. Each time he glanced at Anne’s worried black eyes and brown hair, he kept seeing Amy. Even their names were similar.

~Sigh~

“Fine! But I can’t protect all three of you at the same time, I’m only one person. Either you all learn how to fight and follow me or you leave. If you follow me, I’ll protect you to the best of my abilities, but that’s all I can promise.”

Peter looked solemnly at the group and analyzed each of their expression. Surprisingly Rem was the first to agree, then Anne, and finally James. Rem and Anne both had a resolute expression. However, James shot back a fearful and reluctant look.

“James, there’s no free lunch in this world.”

“Ye…Yeah, I know. I’m ju..ust not used to seeing all this violence.”

“James, what did you do for a living before all this?”

“I was a therapist.”

‘Oh god. I bet this prick is psychoanalyzing me or trying to figure how many bolts I have loose.’ Peter’s mood turned dark and he pointed at the car. “Get the food from the plastic bags and put them into your back-pack. Pack light, one bottle each. Leave the rest.”

Anne locked eyes with Peter and gave a faint smile. Shocked at Anne’s sudden display of emotion, Peter unconsciously smiled back. James and Rem shuddered at the sight of Peter’s smile and started packing faster.

ROARR!

As soon as James and Rem finished packing, a frightening roar broke the quiet atmosphere in the neighborhood. Following the roar were two high pitched screams.

Rem shrieked, “That was Tommy!” Peter turned around and clasped his hands over his mouth.

‘That roar wasn’t far away. Those four kids must’ve poked a hornet’s nest.’

Removing his hands from Rem’s mouth, he took off his bag and pointed at the window on the 1st floor of the apartment complex in the alley.

Peter hopped on top of the dumpster and jumped with full power. He grabbed onto the ledge of the window sill and pulled himself up. Kicking away the broken glass on the window, Peter safely entered the living room. The first thing he noticed were two corpses on the floor: one human and one goblin.

‘Damn, where’s the rope?’

After trashing the entire bedroom, Peter angrily took three pairs of jeans and tied them together. ‘This should hold.’ Throwing down the make-shift rope, he quickly pulled all three up.

“We’re going to stay here for the night.”

The three simultaneously nodded and found a spot to sleep in. James gulped at the sight of the bedroom, but Rem dragged him away. Eventually, they decided that Anne would have the couch and the father and son duo would sleep on the floor.

Out of a mix of fear and respect for Peter, they unanimously decided that he would have the bed. Yet, Peter gave them a shock.

“I’m not sleeping tonight. I’m going to see if I can find your friends. If anything happens to me and I’m not back by the morning. Leave without me.”

James was the first to open his mouth, “No! That's not safe Peter! Do you really have to do this?!” Rem and Anne quietly stared at the two.

“Those kids, I feel responsible. I could’ve taken them all with me, but I was reluctant because there was no space in the car. Now, it just feels so damn stupid and pointless.”

Feeling ashamed, James was unable to retort. “Good… luck.” Rem mumbled.

Peter’s mood turned slightly better as he walked out the door. The hall was caked in blood. Judging by the hundreds of goblins scattered outside, it was unlikely there would be any left in the building.

As he stepped out the main door and into the street, he spotted fifteen goblins. Luckily, it wasn't the other way around. The two foremost goblins held torches while the rest communicated in loud shrieks.

“I wonder how they communicate through screaming...” Peter whispered under his breath.

Like before, in the supermarket, he slipped behind the group of goblins and slit their throats with a dagger. After three goblins died in a similar fashion, the goblins finally noticed something was wrong.

Peter slid his dagger back into the holder and brandished both machetes. He gave a low guttural roar before diving into the goblins. Waving his machete downwards, he cleaved the first goblin through the brain.

He quickly followed up with two quick flicks with both arms and 3 bodies fell to the floor. The goblins finally reacted and took out their weapons.

“Shriek!!”

Two goblins lunged at Peter. Sidestepping the raging goblin with the baseball bat, he turned his attention to the one in mid-air and swung upwards. Then, he kicked the goblin with the baseball bat off balance and drove his free machete into its skull.

The remaining seven goblins all shrieked at the same time before charging at Peter. With his improved hearing, he could hear another fifteen goblins approaching his position.

‘Screw it, I’ll kill these seven quickly and hide.’

Throwing away his ordinary machete, he held his [Blood Machete] with both hands and swung horizontally.

Puchi!

Sidestepping the incoming dagger strike, Peter elbowed the goblin forward. Peter gripped his machete with both hands again and swung through the kitchen knife aiming at his torso and beheaded another goblin.

Lower his center of gravity, he swung upwards and cut a goblin in half. After the goblin dropped to the floor, he furiously cleaved downwards to deliver the death sentence.

The incoming fifteen goblins were two hundred feet away, and there were four goblins left. Peter pounced towards the goblin in front and shoved his machete straight the goblin’s throat. The remaining two goblins threw their torches at him and fled. Turning around, he ran toward the goblin he elbowed earlier and swung downwards.

The fifteen goblins were now fifty feet away, but Peter had blended back into the darkness. Seeing the thirteen corpses sprawled on the floor, the fifteen goblins, led by a hobgoblin were furious. Peter followed the group storm back to their camp. As he approached closer to the camp, it became harder to hide. There were sentries on almost every block.

He quietly [Ghost Walked] and disabled the goblins who saw him before they could alarm the rest. Then, Peter saw it.

Sitting around the large campfire was a huge 3-meter tall warrior. The green orc was fully clothed, unlike its counterparts. It also held a great sword. The hobgoblin group that he followed looked extremely fearful of the orc. The hobgoblin kneeled and began to speak in an unintelligible fashion.

After the hobgoblin stopped speaking the orc surprisingly lifted its great sword and threw it towards Peter. Alarmed, he instantly broke out of cover and into the campfire.

Seeing Peter emerge, the two goblins who got away earlier shrieked loudly and pointed at Peter. The rest of the goblins were riled up and the orc smiled wickedly at him.

[Mini-Boss Orc Warrior]

[Level: 20]

[Skills: N/A]

“Hi…I come in peace?”

After his friendly wave, the crowd of goblins jumped towards Peter.

ROAR!

Immediately, the goblins and hobgoblins froze in place and backed away from Peter. The orc pointed at him and kicked over a weapon.

[Steel Sword – Uncommon]

[Effects: +5 STR +6 AGI]

[Skills: None]

‘It wants to duel me?’

“I can’t really say no to such a charming beast like you can I?”

Picking up the sword, he kicked a pile of soil at the orc and stabbed towards the orc’s throat. The orc jumped backward and swung his great sword. The large sword sliced towards Peter at incredible speed. The speed was faster than anything he had ever experienced before. Despite ducking the great sword in the nick of time, Peter felt a few strands of hair cut off.

‘This guy is twice as fast as the elite cat. If I didn’t have Mind’s eye, I’d be dead from that already.’

Watching the orc expression of glee, Peter could only continue weaving back and forth. The fight extended for another thirty seconds before his head started aching.

‘I can’t keep pushing Mind’s eye any longer!’

Seeing none of its swings connecting, the orc's joy turned into fury. Finally, the irritated orc made a mistake. Instead of maintaining its relentless lightning attacks, it decided to swing with the flat side of the blade, a slow swing that would cover more area.

‘CHANCE!’

This swing had much more power but was obviously slower. Peter [Ghost Walked] and appeared behind the orc. He took his sword and sliced the orc’s left ankle, specifically the tendon area.

Immediately, the orc fell on its right knee and was merely half its height. The orc’s beefy neck was now reachable and Peter thrust his sword into its carotid artery. This was a full powered strike, which burned through his remaining stamina. If the orc didn’t die from this wound, then he would die from its rage.

“Huff. Puff. Haaa”

The blood flooded out of its neck and the orc slowly turned its head around. It locked eyes with the damned human, but surprisingly it didn’t see a smug or arrogant look on the human. The human stared at it, like an equal. With its remaining breath, it savagely smiled.

Under the corpse of the orc was a green glow. ‘This is new.’ Peter quickly picked up the green treasure chest. The hundreds of goblins on the sidelines stared in shock at the human, who just killed its leader.

“Shing!”

[Body Enchant – Rare]

[Passive: None]

[Active: +20% to STR and AGI, +30% to CON and VIT. 10% of Mana/min]

After going through the process twice, Peter mentally prepared himself and only felt a slight sting in his head. Immediately after learning the skill, Peter watched the hobgoblins gather into groups. Each hobgoblin led thirty goblins.

The hobgoblins looked eagerly at Peter as they screamed at their subordinates. After seeing the corpses of goblins on the floor, he understood the situation. The leader was dead and the hobgoblins were forming factions.

‘I’m not in any condition to fight. But, I’ll be back’

Picking up the remaining two white chests by the orc’s corpse, Peter activated [Ghost Walk] and vanished. Seeing Peter magically disappear, the hobgoblins were enraged and immediately began throwing wooden spears towards the spot, which Peter just disappeared from.

PUCHI!

‘OW!’ Holding in his urge to scream, Peter ran for his life with a spear stuck in the back of his lungs. Peter quickly left the camp and re-appeared behind the last building where he disarmed a goblin. He could feel his breath fading away and prayed to the system for an HP potion.

“Shing!”

[Sharp Sword – Uncommon]

[Effect: + 8 AGI]

[Skill: None]

‘No! God damn! SYSTEM, you are so un-loyal!’

“Shing!”

[Panacea – Uncommon]

[One-Time-Effect: Heals HP, Mana and Stamina loss.]

“Yes…” he muttered. Running out of oxygen, Peter downed the potion and removed the spear at the same time. The potion quickly sealed up the spear wound and minor wounds fighting the goblins.

‘Damn this feels wonderful.’ Although his flesh was squirming and contracting, it didn’t hurt. Rather it felt ticklish. Seeing traces of light, Peter sighed. ‘I can’t believe all this happened in just a few hours.’ Interrupted by the sound of footsteps, Peter snapped back to reality and gripped onto [Steel Sword].

Peter waited as the footsteps grew increasingly louder. ‘I can hear about thirty grunts. Probably led by a hobgoblin. Let’s see how far I can take this [Body-Enchant]’

Activating the skill, Peter rushed towards the hobgoblin and struck the sword into its heart. Then he kicked the hobgoblin towards the middle of the group, effectively splitting the group into two. As the group parted, he dove into the left group and started swinging both swords.

Although he wasn’t ambidextrous, he used his left sword to sweep away goblins that got too close for comfort and his right sword to kill with precision accuracy. With the increase of 30% AGI and the +8 AGI from the sword, he felt that these goblins were extremely slow.

In a minute a dozen goblins from the left group died. The right group shrieked for assistance, but like a wolf left alone with a flock of sheep, they fell one by one. As their screams gave life to the night, three more groups of reinforcement arrived.

Seeing the new arrivals, Peter’s bloodlust peaked. "This is payback assholes!" he screamed while thinking of all the human corpses and Olivia.

First, he beheaded the three hobgoblins, which consequently threw the goblin formation into chaos. Avoiding the barehanded goblins, he aimed for the goblins with weapons. Each time a goblin ran towards Peter, it wouldn’t even have a chance to brandish its weapon before it was beheaded or stabbed through the heart. Each swing drew blood and painted the streets green.

Within fifteen minutes almost a hundred goblins were slain. The remaining goblins ran for their lives, but Peter ruthlessly chased them down.

“Groan.”

‘I’m feeling a bit tired. Guess I can only maintain this ability for a few minutes… Must be mana…’

Feeling tired, Peter decided to let the remaining dozen or so goblins live and headed back to the building. The survivors’ fear of Peter was officially engraved into their hearts.

“Knock Knock” said Peter

“Pe…Peter?”

“Open up James.”

“Did you find them?” said Rem

Opening the door to the bedroom, Peter frowned and replied, “No. Good Night.”