I slept during the entire day and got up late in the afternoon. I lazily got off the hard bed and headed to the merchant tower for a very late breakfast. The village was empty as there was still a few hours before the daily monster rush.

“Hello, would you like to visit our second-floor shop?” The clerk greeted me politely.

“Not right now. I don’t have enough coins to afford something interesting. Instead, can I have a look at the armours you are selling.”

“What exactly are you looking for?”

“Ideally something light and flexible. Something like my current leather armour but with an enchantment. Magic resistance sounds good.”

“Mmm I do not have any enchanted leather armour. Cheap leather cannot hold enchantments very well. How about a silk robe instead?” The clerk said while taking out a white silk robe. It looked rather simple to me; it was the type of casual robe worn by the race known as the Skylords. The fabric was rough due to the materials used but it made the robe harder to cut through.

“How much?”

“100 points. This is a rare item. I do not have much in stock.” The clerk said.

I thought for a moment before agreeing. “Alright but I won’t buy it now. Is it okay to buy it after the monster rush? This way, I won’t miss out on some free points.”

“Sure. Anything else?”

“Armguards. Again, it should not be too rigid or heavy. For the enchantment, do you have Thorn?”

“How about these ones? 30 points each.”

“Deal. Can you also prepare a couple of basic antidotes and a set of torches?”

I ordered a couple more items to prepare for tonight’s exploration of the tombs. The silk robe was mainly purchased to protect me against the other hunters. In case I was ganged up on, while I may survive a physical assault, if spells were added, I was not so confident in getting away anymore. The Magic Resistance Enchantment would precisely help me in this aspect.

The armguards were going to be very useful in dealing with the giant rats. They would protect my exposed arms and would allow me to block the giant rats’ bites. The Thorn enchantment would hurt anything attacking the armguards.

The antidotes would be useful in case I was bitten by the giant rats. As for the torches, it was fine to use them once I get inside the tombs. The giant rats could clearly see in the dark while I couldn’t. And since the tombs were divided into rooms, there was no risks of alerting all the giant rats at once.

I sat down in the shade of the tower, waiting for the monster rush to take place. Today was my turn to fight. There was no exact way to keep track of time; I could only estimate it using the position of the sun.

As I waited, the hunters who went to the canyon started returning. I did not know any of them, but they easily recognised me. Their gaze turned unfriendly upon noticing my presence. They grumbled but I ignored their complaints. I knew I had already turned into the villain of the village.

To my surprise, a few hunters also stepped out of the village. There were a few individuals and the whole Team 3 led by Xia Shiyu. I could feel her sharp murderous stare and simply disregarded her. Fortunately, she was not here to fight me and instead went straight into the merchant tower.

More and more hunters returned to the village and soon, Jake and the rest of my team gathered around me.

“How was your harvest today?”

“About thirty to forty points per person. My additional storage is also full of coyote corpses which should give us all a few more points.” Jake answered.

“That’s good. Focus on clearing your debts first. If you have spare mana stones, have a look at the items sold at the merchant tower. There are a few consumables you can purchase like a poison effective against the coyotes or baits to attract the coyotes to the team.”

We chatted for a few minutes before my teammates decided to go on their own business. Only Jake stayed at my side and we sat down for a chat.

“What are the measures you discussed with the other leaders for dividing the monsters of the canyon? There should have been a few fights over who can kill which monster, right?”

“Yeah. It is still a bit confusing. Something about having a hunting perimeter depending on the size of your party.” He explained briefly.

“Oh? That’s very limiting. I suppose you cannot move around the canyon much and have to stick to your area.”

“But that’s also the best decision we can make right now. How else are you going to divide the monsters?”

“For now, yes. But the teams will soon disband. You should have received invitations from others, right?” I asked casually.

“Eric invited me. He says that having so many different teams makes it hard to manage properly. It is also not easy to fairly divide a piece of land in fourteen parts.”

“Take it easy. There is no rush to change teams yet but keep your options open. Eric is just focused on trying to get to the end of the canyon; you can see it just by the fact that his team hunts ogres instead of slimes or coyotes like the others. He is trying to explore these areas ahead of everyone else.”

“What about you? Are you really not planning on forming your own team? Everyone can see that you have better methods of gathering points.”

I shook my head. “No. I won’t team up with anyone. You guys should all take it slowly and gear up properly here while I am in a rush. I have less than a month to leave the tutorial if I want to avoid direct conflict.”

“What do you mean? What is so urgent that you put such a tight deadline on yourself. There is no time limit on the tutorial, right?”

“There’s no time limit but I have things to do that needs me to reach the first floor before it is too late.”

“I wonder what your driving force can be. Are you trying to reunite with your family and loved ones or something like that?”

“My family?” I paused for a moment, not knowing how to respond. I spent almost nine years in the tower, and never once did I meet any members of my family or close friends. Family was a sensitive topic that many hunters avoided in my past life. I was shaken as I recalled the happiest moments of my life before I entered the tower. But no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to picture my parents’ face properly. Their faces were blurry, their voices were unclear. My family was just a vague memory I had trouble recalling. The memories of my friends were even worse; I could not even remember their name.

‘Maybe… Just maybe I will get the chance to meet them this time. I have no way of accessing the other tutorial areas but maybe if they reach the first floor, I will be able to see them.’

“It was not part of my original plan but now that you’ve mentioned it, I guess I will have to add this to my to do list.”

…

Eventually, the emergency bell rang, and all the even-numbered team rushed forward to repel the monster rush.

‘The monster wave this time seems to be slightly larger. There are twelve ogres instead of ten and the pack of coyotes grew in size too. Defending the village is going to get slightly harder every day from now on.’

As usual, we started by clearing out the slimes and coyotes. My team headed directly for the golem at the back. Contrary to one’s expectations, my spear was not completely useless against the golem. It was a magical creature made of rocks. While Static was not the best enchantment to deal with the golem, it was enough to disrupt the magical energy holding the golem’s body together.

Jake and Roberto blocked the golem’s attack together while the rest of us surrounded it. We focused on the golem’s legs to immobilise it. Marie swung her heavy mace at the golem’s legs. After a few days, she had gotten familiar with her heavy weapon and her arm did not hurt as much anymore. She smashed the golem’s legs continuously until it gave in.

Meanwhile, I was aiming for the other leg, thrusting my spear while activating the Static Enchantment. Old Wu would swing his saber, aiming for the thinner connective portion of the golem’s legs. James, Lovin and Anjali worked on keeping the other monsters away from us since their weapons were not the most efficient against the golem.

“Jake, careful! It is going to attack. Use [Harden]!”

“Old Wu. Don’t waste your mana using [Blind]. The golem does not have real eyes. Instead, use your second element. Use [Ember] and aim for the legs.”

“Roberto. Remember to use [Water Ball]. It does not cause much damage, but golems do not like being wet.”

“Marie. Follow up being Roberto with your [Ice Shard].”

I only received a few grunts in reply, but my teammates nevertheless executed the commands I gave them.

“Bang!”

Marie was finally able to smash the golem’s leg. It crashed on the ground loudly and we quickly aimed for its head where the mana stone was located. Soon, the golem stopped struggling, having ran out of mana to move.

“Alright. Let’s finish it quickly and move to the others.” I scanned the battlefield, in search of groups who needed help. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be able to deal with the ogres.

[Congratulations. You have successfully defended the village.]

[The daily ranking shall now be updated.]

[1. Alex. 167 Points]

[2. Aditya. 3 Points]

[3. Eric. 0 Points]

.

.

[The daily bonus will now be awarded. Updating the daily ranking]

[1. Alex. 183 Points]

[2. Aditya. 3 Points]

[3. Eric. 0 Points]

‘Someone has finished clearing out his debt?’ I was surprised by the announcement of the tower. The stone pillar was updated, and everyone could see that person’s name. Murmurs rose from the crowd.

Everyone was excited. The fact that a second person was able to clear his debt brought hope to everyone else. Naturally, what happened next was a frantic search for that person. It turned out that Aditya was just a child, looking no older than twelve. He was quickly surrounded by people.

“A kid actually cleared his debt before all the adults. Does that mean that they have a better way of earning points?” Anjali voiced out her thoughts.

“Not necessarily. This child may also have simply asked less questions about the tower and therefore has had less debts.” I replied disinterestedly.

While everyone’s focus was on Aditya, I headed to the merchant tower to purchase the items I pre-ordered.