“What are you doing? I already showed you the entrance to one of the secret locations! Why are you wasting time killing these slimes?” Levi said with frustration.

I paused for a moment and collected the mana stones left behind by the slimes. “Now is not the right time to enter this place. I don’t know how deep this tunnel goes and chances are, it will take me a couple of hours to get the treasure. The daily monster rush will take place very soon; it is too risky to go in now.”

“Furthermore, I don’t think I am strong enough to collect the treasures right now. I picked the Healing element, not an offensive spell, remember? You will have to wait for me to purchase a couple of items first. If you want to make this process faster, just help me find a slime nest.” I replied casually.

Levi’s expression darkened. “I don’t mind looking around for slime nests, but it will cost you a few points.”

“Isn’t it in your best interest to have me become stronger to increase the chances of obtaining the treasures? It would be a shame if even after our agreement, we return empty-handed because of my lack of strength.” I smiled faintly.

“You! Was that your plan all along? You proposed a 50/50 split knowing full well that you will need a lot of things before being able to collect the treasure?” Levi asked suspiciously.

“You are the one who said so. All I am saying is that it is in our best interest for me to become stronger. In the end, we will both be happy with the results. I am risking my life in this treasure hunt; you should at least be willing to invest a little bit in me.”

“…” Levi trembled in anger. “D*mn human! You are even tricking me into giving my services for free. Fine, I will do it but if I do not see any treasures when you are going to leave this room, I will come and look for you. There is no place to hide in the tower!”

“Sure.” I casually dismissed his empty threats and continued to work on the slimes.

A few minutes later, Levi came back to my side and directed me to a small cave where a large group of slimes has gathered. They all perished under my spear and I came out of the cave, holding on to 40 mana stones and 80 points.

‘Not bad for a day but as from tomorrow, this number will go down drastically. Once the other hunters start roaming around, the monsters available to hunt will have to be shared.’

…

I soon returned to the village to rest and fill up my stomach before the arrival of the monster rush. The village has become livelier from the time I left. I noticed a few people gathering together, getting to know each other.

When I entered the merchant tower, I noticed a familiar group, browsing through a selection of items. The clerk seemed pleased that his customers were not completely broke.

“Hey, Alex,” greeted the person at the centre of the group. It was Jake, one of my earlier teammates.

“Hey. We knocked on your door before coming here but nobody answered.”

“Yes. I left earlier to scout the canyon.” I replied, meeting the gaze of my teammates. Everyone was here and well-rested.

“You already went to the canyon? How was it?” They exclaimed in surprise.

“Not bad. It is not that dangerous if you are well equipped.” As I spoke, the eyes of my teammates fell on the long spear I was holding. Compared to the previous dull appearance of my wooden staff, the new spear looked like a real weapon.

Jake’s eyes lingered on my spear for a moment as they flashed with envy. “Alex, I am thinking of buying a new weapon with my mana stones. Any recommendations?” He swallowed his pride and asked me for help.

“Don’t buy anything for now. Your mana stones are not going to get you very far. Besides, regular weapons are not very useful here. At best, they will help you kill coyotes but are completely useless against the other monsters.” I replied truthfully.

“Is that so?” Jake looked disappointed.

“My advice would be to focus on killing the coyotes after the monster rush. Then, buy an enchanted weapon and start hunting slimes. You can already hunt slimes with your spells if you want but you will earn more if you hunt coyotes.”

“Why are you saying ‘You’ so many times? You are talking as if you are not part of our team.” Marie remarked with a darkened expression. “Are you planning to leave us and go on your own now after buying that weapon?”

Marie said what everyone had on their mind. While Jake was the acknowledged leader of the team, everyone was aware that I was somewhat special. I acted differently and more importantly, I was the only one who had points. They did not want to lose their protection tree so early.

In response, I shook my head. “The teams won’t last for very long anyway. We got together because of circumstances but now that there are a lot more groups, people would tend to mingle around and form new groups.”

“What do you mean? None of us have any intention of leaving.”

“For now. You will see. After the monster rush, people will start to compete for points. Competition will brew hostility and dissatisfaction. But don’t take my words for it.”

I shrugged my shoulders and did not continue the conversation any further. The others were curious but while I did not mind engaging in small talks, I stayed away from the sensitive topics.

After Jake finished browsing the items, I ordered a small meal for myself at the price of a mana stone and sat down in a corner to eat. There were no inns or restaurants in the village. One could either hunt the coyotes for their meat or purchase a full meal at the merchant tower.

My teammates looked at my plate hungrily. The presence of food reminded them that they haven’t eaten for hours but I was not going to share anything with them. They all had one or two mana stones left from the trade with Stannis. It was not enough to buy anything combat related but was good enough for a meal.

Then, the event I had long been waiting for started. The emergency bell on top of the merchant tower suddenly rung. It was so loud that the whole village was alerted. The hunters were confused and disoriented. They did not understand what was happening.

As for me, I quietly stood up and walked out of the merchant tower. My teammates tactfully followed behind. “The monster rush is coming. Do your best to kill a few monsters.”

The merchant tower was the closest building to the canyon. As soon as I stepped out, I noticed a thick cloud of dust caused by the rushing group of ogres. A smaller group of slimes and a pack of coyotes were also making their way toward the village. The monsters were in a frenzied state; something in the merchant tower was calling for them. They were ready to disregard their lives if they managed to reach the tower.

‘I would say that there are about ten ogres, thirty slimes and fifty coyotes. Oh, there is also a golem rushing from the rear; it is slightly slower than the others.’

I fell into deep thoughts as I firmly grabbed onto my spear. Around me, I noticed several other groups appearing. Eric’s group stood at the very front; he was trying to establish himself as the main character. I also caught sight of the group of children from earlier. They stood near the rear, hesitant to face the monsters.

“Let’s go! You have heard the tower’s voice earlier. We need to protect the merchant tower. We should move forward!” Eric shouted, raising his sword. As a team, they rushed forward toward the pack of monsters.

I was quite impressed by his group. It has only been a day, but they were well-coordinated and trusted Eric.

“Are we joining them?” Jake asked with a low voice.

“Why are you asking me? You are the leader of the group. I am just a healer.”

“Just a healer, my *ss…”

With Eric having made the first move, it was not long before another group joined in. Then, following the crowd, the rest of the hunters also drew their weapons to face the monsters.

There were about a hundred people in the village. When they all worked together, facing the group of monsters was not very challenging. However, the battle was extremely chaotic. For many, it was the first time they were fighting in such a large group. Those who chose the bow as their weapons had to be extremely careful to not hurt an ally. Similarly, the hunters at the front needed to be careful when swinging their weapons.

I went along and instantly killed a few slimes. Because of the chaotic nature of such a large battle, I chose to remain on the sidelines. More than once, I felt arrows flying just above my head. This feeling was rather uncomfortable; I could die if the archer made a single mistake.

The coyotes and slimes died very quickly and soon, we were forced to face the ogres. Nobody wanted to deal with these robust creatures as even blocking one of their attacks with a shield would make one’s arm numb.

Jake, Roberto, and Marie were the three members of the team who wielded shields. They courageously stood at the front together while Lovin shot arrow after arrow at one of the ogres. The latter roared in pain and rushed toward our group.

At my side, Old Wu and Anjali held onto their weapons. They were ready to jump and attack the ogre. James was also jumping on the spot like a boxer.

The ogre smashed his elbow into our three shield-bearers’ formation. I heard the metal shield cracking as my teammates grunted in pain. Marie’s body position was unstable; she fell backward after the shock. Fortunately, Jake and Roberto were able to hold their ground.

When the ogre came to a stop, it was our turn to act. We surrounded the ogre and mercilessly attacked from all sides. I thrust my spear, aiming for his legs. Even without activating the Static enchantment, the sharpness of the spearhead was enough to pierce through the ogre’s tough skin. Once the spearhead entered his flesh, I viciously twisted the spear, causing the ogre to roar in pain.

At the same time, Anjali was continuously whipping the ogre’s back. The whip was long and thin; her lashes would cause an unbelievable amount of pain to the receiver. James aimed directly for the ogre’s head, punching him like a sandbag while Old Wu used his saber and hacked continuously at the ogre’s arm. After several cuts at the same location, the ogre’s arm finally gave in and fell onto the ground.

Despite its strong vitality, the ogre soon fell to our barrage of attacks. The final blow was dealt by Jake who sliced the ogre’s head with his long sword. Everyone was caught up in the battle and we did not care about who was going to obtain the points for killing the monsters.

Our battle came to an end, but many ogres were still alive, battling with the other groups. My teammates wordlessly looked at each other before rushing toward the nearest ogre.

“You guys should start using your spells. Old Wu, start by using [Blind] on the ogre. Roberto, you can use [Spark] whenever you stab with your spear. Marie, use [Vine] to grab onto the ogre’s leg. You all should be aware of your spells. You have to get used to combining your weapons with the spells you have.” I gave a few pieces of advice as we engaged the other ogre.

I was not trying to act as the leader, but I did not want my team to waste their potential. Using a few spells would make the battle much safer for everyone.

The battle soon came to an end. The whole encounter did not last for more than fifteen minutes. It was a short battle, but many were severely injured after blocking the attacks of ogres. The group who shouldered the most risk was Eric’s team as he personally charged at the golem. While all the monsters were only worth one point, the value of the corpses they left behind differed.

I briefly glanced at the golem’s body but did not think much of it. At most, it was worth two points.

[Congratulations. You have successfully defended the village.]

[The daily ranking shall now be updated.]