The day went on, a hierarchy began to emerge. Ronny and Enzi stood at the top, being responsible for more than half of the progress, while the work sifted the other recruits into a loose ladder based on capability. About half of the Woods were competent, while the other half were downright laughable in their efforts. Unlike Ronny though, none of them possessed System. As such, it would take at least a few weeks for them to make noteworthy progress.

Speaking of System, his strength had “increased to 14” a little after noon. It nice to be progressing again, Ronny thought. It did feel less gratifying now, with the recent events still weighing him down, but in remembering how easily General Risitro—and perhaps Enzi too—could kill his peers, motivation came. Getting more powerful was the most straightforward way to prevent history from repeating itself.

That was why he worked himself like a slave, he had to catch up. By Ronny’s estimation, Enzi’s strength stat would be around 25, if he had one. With the time between stat increases lengthening, it would take a long time to eclipse the Demon, but he had no reason to be hasty with things. Plus, he had magic now. That was another stat he could develop. Training in that department would occur at the Inn though, not at work.

Most of the new recruits liked to take long breaks under the shade of the rubble. Occasionally, the rocks they rested upon would shift. Sometimes quite violently. That always got quite the reaction, but Ronny chalked it up to pile being unstable. He didn’t bother to stop in check what the issue was. If he had, the incident it was going to cause could have been easily avoided.

Devitalized came early that day, about an hour before it usually did. He was working harder than usual, so the notification didn’t come as a shock. Ronny decided to push through it, though he had to go much slower than he would have liked. Enzi, on the other hand, was still working at the same pace he had started at. He didn’t even look tired. Despite himself, Ronny could help but feel envy the Demon. The work was so easy for Enzi that he’d taken to humming as he worked. The soft, low notes were quite skillful.

Ronny had been carrying stones to the river when the incident began. He was a good distance away from the other recruits, who other than Enzi, were resting on the rubble.

It began with a shrill scream, followed by similar ones just like it. Alarmed, Ronny dropped the bricks and ran to investigate. His movements were strained as a result of Devitalized, but he got there as fast as he could. The sight he encountered as he came out from the trees left him shaking.

A creature loosely resembling a beetle stood near the rubble with blood was on its thickly armored underside. Crushed under one of its massive legs was one of the recruits, a teenager. Small, loose rocks were littered about the ground around it, suggesting that it had come from under the rubble.

Instantly, Ronny understood the meaning of the word ‘monster’. The bug’s head was at eye-level with Ronny, he realized that when it shifted its gaze to him. On its massive head were three sets of mandibles, each large and sharp enough to cleave a man in two.

Even if he had been perfectly healthy, with no debuffs to speak of, Ronny wouldn’t have stood a chance. In his weakened state, he’d be lucky to survive a minute with that thing nearby. That much was obvious.

Certain death didn’t stop him from trying though. There were still other employees climbing over the rubble, trying to escape into the city. He needed to buy them time, and to do that, Ronny picked up a heavy rock and chucked it with as much force as he could.

The projectile crumbled like chalk on the creature’s head. Now aggravated, it started towards Ronny, which was what he wanted. The kid, bleeding from their chest, escaped the creature’s grasp made a break for the city, climbing over rubble like a madman. Now, it was just Ronny and the monster before him.

Ronny started by running back into the trees. He hoped that the beetle, in its massive size, would maneuver poorly in the dense shrubbery. Weakened and without a weapon, all he could do was run or try to survive long enough for help to arrive. Looking at six-legged insect in front of him, he chose the latter. There was no way he could outrun it.

The beetle charged, and Ronny braced for impact. It stopped before hitting the tree or him and with the snap of its gargantuan mandibles, snapped the tree in front of it in two. Ronny just dodged the falling log and scampered off to another tree.

The creature casually walked over his next source of cover and once again, cut down the tree. This time though, it continued its charge before Enzi had the time to react. The tree slammed loudly against its back, but it was unphased.

Only inches away from the monster, Ronny knew what was next. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a second death. He was just glad that he’d managed to save that one employee, injured as they may be.

But it didn’t come. Instead, System gave him a notification.

“Hidden Stat Unlocked: LEVEL”

“Level increased to 10. Stats increased. Passive effect: TEAM added.”

“Party Member Added: Enzi Adeyemi.”

“Enzi Adeyemi, “he thought, “What the hell is he doing in System?” Ronny opened his eyes, and above him was the Demon in question. On the ground next to him was the beetle. Dead.

“I didn’t think you guys had Rockjaws too.” Enzi reached his hand out to Ronny and for a moment, Ronny forgot his hatred. He grabbed the Demon’s hand and was lifted to his feet.

“Did you kill it?” Ronny was still disoriented.

“I hope so.” In Enzi’s other hand was a part of brick, “Smashed it over a joint. That’s the weak spot.”

Ronny started absentmindedly at the corpse beside them, “I uh… thank you for that.”

“Sure! I’m sure you would have done the same in my shoes.” Enzi kneeled down to examine the creature, “Nasty fella, this one. Twice the normal size. Is anyone hurt?”

“They got out of here as soon as that thing showed up.” He sighed, one person got hurt though… nothing fatal, but not a minor injury either.”

“Well at least we avoided the worst of it.” Enzi chuckled weakly, “That’s a win in my book.”

“Mine too. But we’ll need to stop working in the forest. It’s too dangerous out here.” He started toward the city, and Enzi walked beside him, “Let’s call it a day.”

Enzi heartily agreed and together, they went back into the city.