Jack and the team went to the plaza. There had been a lot of hunters already there. Jack looked at the walls, and could see the double amount of soldiers, which was actually reassuring. The third shift had not been woken up, meaning, there was not any serious danger to the frontier. Lieutenant Elizabeth Bonner was standing on the podium with some of her adjutants.

“Attention! An average size tide of monsters is coming in our direction. According to scouts’ reports, large amount of rabbits will be here in an hour. Soldiers will be the main defense force, but as reports suggest that the enemies are low leveled, I have decided, that hunters in training will participate in the battle. It will be a good training to you all. Try not to die.”

The lieutenant left after that.

“That could be interesting,” Stanley said. “An opportunity to level a bit in relative safe environment.”

Jack was a bit excited and afraid. It will be his first real fight after joining the military.

“Are you sure we will be alright?” Lillie asked hesitantly.

“I can’t be sure, but the danger is small,” Stanley replied.

They went to the wall. Soldiers were standing directly behind the bony obstructions, while hunters were standing a few meters behind. Most of the hunters were sitting. The call was in the afternoon, while everyone was training. They wanted to recover both stamina and clarity before the fight.

“Should we prepare a bit? Consider some team tactic?” Jack asked his team and especially Stanley, who was the only one both willing and capable of being the leader. They had not decided officially anything, but everyone in the team considered him as such.

“I don’t think there will be a need to. Let’s just stay together. If there will be too many of them, then we join another team.”

They sat on the ground for some time. Jack used this to once again look over his status.

Name: Jack Age: 15 Class: Survivor Level:8 41% to next lv Stats: Base Essence reinforced Strength 11.26/25 23.42 (20% + (6+2)%/level) Endurance 11.98/30 22.40 (10% + (6+1)%/level) Intelligence 16.83/25 37.02 (40% + (6+4)%/level) Mental Endurance 17.34/30 31.90 (20% + (6+2)%/level) Agility 16.28/30 37.11 (40% + (7+4)%/level) Perception 11.83/20 19.64 (10% + (6+1)%/level) Affinities

Life

Fire

Earth

Light

7.26%

0.23%

3.15%

0.78%

Class skills:

Economy of movement

Scavenging

36

3

+10% to agility

Professions: 5/5

Conman I

Masochist I

Spearman VII

Wizard II

Battle mage III

Skills:

Analyze

Farming

Cooking

Sword handling

Spear handling

Rune Shaping

Charisma

Crafting

Archery

Pain Tolerance

Battle precognition

Parallel thinking

Mental intrusion resistance

Footwork

Spell slinging

Words of Power

Meditation

9

19

10

8

35

31

29

3

17

17

4

18

7

39

18

12

1

+10% to agility

+10% to intelligence

+5% to intelligence and perception

+ 10% to strength

Vitality 486/490 Stamina 168/180 Clarity 259/310

His greatest gains in the last three months was the increase in his stats. He trained every day either his body or mind, never stopping. He still had a long way to go before he would be close to his caps, but he was already strong.

Jack spent most of his free time in the library, studying spells and spell casting. His theoretical knowledge increased by much, but he had not learned many spells. He only learned the rest of the basic spells from the display, and the reinforce material spell. The warming spell was the reason for some of his fire affinity. The spell was quite harmful for his body with his low fire affinity, so it was more of a spell to warm his clothes or some food, maybe start a fire.

He wanted to master the reinforce material spell to appease Rick’s memory, but the spell was also useful. Jack wanted to reinforce his spear to make sure it wouldn’t snap, but spell vectors involved to maintain the spell for a spear rapidly changing positions in a battle were too much for him. He saw a future use to reinforce his armor, but he didn’t have an armor yet.

Jack had a bit crazy idea to just reinforce his own skin. It was theoretically possible, but he would need a high earth affinity to not hurt himself.

He also had learned two very generic and common spells used primarily as components in greater spells. The first one was kinetic spell. It used a bit of elemental mana and much more of essence to move something physical. It was easy to move solid objects, but liquids and gasses were a nightmare which needed a ton of spell vectors. The spell itself needed 20 of intelligence of its own, so it was more of a future investment, than an immediate boost to Jack’s arsenal. Jack hoped to learn the life variant of the spell, to be able to effectively heal himself. He had already studied anatomy books in the library.

The second spell was an investigate spell, or rather a part creating an illusion in his eye. For example, an earth investigating spell could detect earth, how the soil is placed and where, and even differentiate between minerals. This information must be transmitted somehow. High affinity mages can feel mana, like a 6th sense, but casters with a low affinity, couldn’t. Here comes the spell Jack learned. It creates an illusion just outside of an user’s eye, displaying the result of the investigation, or generally layout of mana, as a feedback from a spell. The spell needed 15 intelligence on its own. It could also be done with a life spell, but the component was more difficult. Better light spells could even directly place an information in the mind, but user needed a high light affinity to let light mana into his brain.

Jack knew how strong were Stanley, Lillie and Patrick. Stanley was stronger both physically and had a better control over spells in battle. Jack spent much time on the theory. He regretted that a bit in the face of the incoming monster tide.

Lillie and Patrick were a bit weaker than him physically, but not much. Patrick could not do much magic, especially in battle, but Lillie was as good with the minor strength spell as he. She wasn’t distracted by learning the theory.

After a few dozen of minutes, they could see their enemy. A mass of white and gray emerged from the autumn forest and was approaching the walls. Everyone jumped up and prepared, at least mentally, for combat. Soldiers formed a spear wall.

As rabbits were closer to the walls, Jack could spot more of their features. They weren’t big, most were 20 centimeters tall. Jack tried to remember what he had been taught at the lectures. Rabbits were herbivorous. Their main weapon were teeth. Their claws were also sharp, but hardly lethal. Rabbits had been also known for very rapid reproduction.

Jack concluded the fight should be pretty safe. It should be a free essence meal, unless there were some higher tier rabbits, or many would manage to cross the wall and swarm him.

Some people were shooting from crossbows into the tide. They were mostly hunters of noble origins. Jack was envious of free essence they were getting that way. It was a bit strange that soldiers were not doing the same, as they had crossbows.

When the monsters encountered the walls, they tried to jump up. It was of limited success, as many were falling back down. The next obstacle for them were bone fortifications. The ones which managed to get to the top were pierced by the sharp bones. Soldiers had not done anything yet.

Jack felt a bit sorry for the rabbits. They were most likely escaping from a predator, they were not trying to attack humanity. Forced to either climb a wall or face a predator, it was only natural to try luck here. The humanity couldn’t allow them a free pass, though. Jack also knew many wouldn’t give up such a chance to level up. In the end, even with some ability to fight, rabbits were a prey.

Rabbits’ bodies were piling up on the bone obstructions, hiding blades in bodies of rabbits. Soldiers started to stab alive rabbits with spears. Jack could also imagine bodies piling up below the wall, shortening the wall for a jump.

Jack cast the minor strength spell in his mind.

Soon, soldiers had it hard to keep rabbits at bay. Rabbits’ bodies piled up before the spear wall, and the live ones used that mound to jump over the soldiers. Now, hunters entered the action.

Jack and the rest of team rushed at rabbits. There were only a few rabbits on this side of the soldiers’ spear wall. Jack pushed his spear at a rabbit, but it jumped to the side. There, Stanley stabbed it. Jack spotted a rabbit jumping over the soldiers. He rushed to his landing spot, and stabbed it in the air.

Ding… You have killed lv. 6 Rabbit.

More rabbits were jumping on this side. Jack dashed to another rabbit. It tried to escape, jumping further from the wall. Jack hit the rabbit with his spear, pinning it to the ground. He then stepped on the rabbit and stabbed it to death.

Ding… You have killed lv.5 Rabbit

Jack looked around to seek a new target. There was a chaotic battle. Rabbits barely resisted the slaughter. Some hunters used magic to attack. He looked at Aleena. She controlled a ball of fire in the air, tossing it at a rabbit at a time, frying them to death. She was standing in a one place, not moving and not attacking physically, only a tendril of fire mana connected her to the spell, which she controlled like a whip. Jack knew, that he wouldn’t be able to control such spell with his current intelligence.

He rushed at another rabbit. It dodged to the side, and jumped on Jack’s face attacking with its teeth. Jack caught the rabbit with the left hand and stabbed it with the spear. The rabbit scratched his arm with its claws, but left only superficial wounds. Jack could easily heal them with few seconds of the recovery spell, but he would need to drop his minor strength spell. He was barely keeping that spell in the fight without additional distractions.

Ding… You have killed lv. 5 Rabbit

Ding… LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 9.

Jack felt a sharp pain on his right shoulder. Some rabbit jumped on him from behind, and sunk its teeth in Jack’s flesh. He grabbed the rabbit and threw it on the ground, stabbing it immediately.

He ignored notification. He had learned some time age from the library, that he could postpone reading notifications, with was very handy in the battle.

There were a lot more rabbits on this side, and their quantity was increasing still. He decided to join his team. He ran toward Lillie, killing one rabbit on the way, and deflecting to the sides a few more.

“We should team up. There is too many of them,” Jack said. She nodded and stabbed a rabbit close to her. Soon, Stanley and Patrick joined. They created a circle, standing with their backs to each other and defended.

Rabbits were not suicidal, so they didn’t swarm the group. Jack looked around. Most people created small groups. A few of most talented were fighting on their own. Aleena was standing alone, her fireball was flying around her, deterring the monsters.

Stanley left the circle for a moment to attack a close to him rabbit. Meanwhile, some two rabbits attacked Jack frontally. He swiped his spear on a left one, hitting him. Patrick helped, and attacked the second one. Jack finished off his rabbit, but he felt a sharp pain on his head. “Damn.” Some rabbit jumped on his head! He panicked a bit and his strength spell crumbled. Lillie grabbed the rabbit from his head and threw on the ground. She stepped on it, crushing its spine with a cracking sound.

“Thanks,” he said, and started to create the recovery spell in his head. “Sorry,” Stanley said, “I shouldn’t leave the circle.”

“No, that’s fine. We need to attack more, even if we are going to be bitten,” Jack said. “We need more essence. As long as we will be careful, we should be fine.” The most talented never stopped killing. Jack didn’t want to be worst.

“Ok, but let’s not go too far apart,” Stanley said. “If someone in trouble, we need to help each other.” They all nodded. There were dozens of rabbits on this side. Jack started to once again cast the minor strength spell now, as his injuries were healed. The spell increased his total strength by 10%. It was noticeable in a fight, giving him more edge.

Jack dashed for more kills. He stabbed a rabbit, another one bit his arm. Jack threw him on the ground and crushed under his feet. Two others bit onto his legs. He shrugged them off. Patrick had a problem, he was on his knees, six rabbits were biting him. Jack ran to him and pierced one of the rabbits, and stomped on another one. Stanley hit a rabbit with the blunt side of his spear, breaking the rabbit’s spine and sending it flying. Patrick stood up and killed another one. He had many minor wounds, nothing serious, but he looked bloody.

Jack attacked again. He looked towards Lillie. She was fine, but rabbit’s blood was dripping from her, mixing with some of her own. They were swarming her. He moved to her. Rabbits were swarming him too. He decided to just protect vital organs, and let them bite the rest. If he would let his throat get damaged he may die. It would be hard to regenerate that kind of damage.

He got to Lillie and helped her out, killing three rabbits, and getting bit multiple time. They were retreating from the walls, now fighting on the slope. It was hard, as rabbits were coming downhill on them. Soldiers were forced to fight back to the wall.

Bright fire burned a line before the soldiers. Some 3rd tier intervened. “Soldiers, retreat two meters back and reform spear wall!” He heard the command. Soldiers done as ordered. Rabbits couldn’t jump over them anymore, as the distance increased, and were dying to the spear wall, forming another mound.

The amount of rabbits on this side of the spear wall started to decline, as they were killed off. Jack and the rest of his team used the opportunity to run the recovery spell. Jack looked around. The ground was littered with corpses, and blood was flowing down the slope in a small streams. Many were wounded. Not everyone knew the recovery spell.

Actually, his team was one of the best. There were stronger individuals, often fighting on their own, like Aleena, but team wise – most of them only passively defended and now needed someone to heal them.

Not long after, rabbits’ corpses created another mound and situation was the same as before, with an exception – they had less stamina and clarity remaining.

Jack lost himself in the killing. Half an hour passed, until the tide ended, but Jack felt like it was much more. His team was all in blood and wounds. He was barely standing. Jack wanted nothing more than a night of sleep, to recover both physically and mentally. He let notifications come. There were a lot of killing notifications, but also a few different ones.

Ding… LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 10

Ding… Your Spear handling skill has reached lv. 36

Ding… Your Footwork skill has reached lv. 40

Ding… Your Footwork skill has reached lv. 41

Ding… Your Parallel thinking skill has reached lv. 19

Ding… Your Parallel thinking skill has reached lv. 20

Ding… Your Pain tolerance skill has reached lv. 18

Ding… Your Pain tolerance skill has reached lv. 19

Ding… Your Pain tolerance skill has reached lv. 20

Ding… Your Economy of movement skill has reached lv. 37

He was actually close to level 11. He knew, he should be able to reach it within a month just with training.

Jack also wanted a bath. He was too tried to draw water from a well. Fortunately, award for the best killers was a bath. Jack thought that pretty convenient, as all best fighters were drenched in blood. All hunters who fought to the end looked at each other with some respect. They were mostly lone individuals, but there were also two other teams, beside Jack’s.

The rest were sitting, or lying on the ground, wounded. Jack could spot his brother. He was sitting with his team, and looked at Jack with some envy. Jack couldn’t understand. Why all these guys didn’t learn the recovery spell?

He looked at Aleena. She was clean. Her fireball burned every rabbit around her. Jack was impressed. She was able to both defend and attack with this magic. It was a shame she didn’t want to cooperate with them, but looking at the results, Jack was certain she killed more rabbits than him.

‘Seems I am going to eat rabbit meat for the next week,’ Jack thought, looking at the sea of corpses.

Hunters were led to a stone building. Magical inscriptions were drawing water from a well, heating it up, and sending it from above. Jack cleaned himself. Blood water was running down into cracks in the floor.

After that, Jack and his team went slowly to their hut. Jack went to sleep, and got up the next day’s morning.