Time Off

By the time Alex and the others had reached the compound's safety, dawn had already begun to break. Though their losses were significant, the three of them managed to survive the night. Alex vowed to himself he would try his best to return to the compound before dusk from this point on.

Though Alex, Cassie, and Brandon had survived, Gunnar was not so lucky. They had abandoned him to the terrifying monster that nearly killed them all. For that, the trio felt deep shame, especially since Gunnar's disappearance did not go without notice.

Brandon reported directly to Captain Hunter about what had transpired on their journey. As such, Captain Hunter took the necessary measures to hunt down the supplies they had left behind and find Gunnar's remains. If it were possible, they would have a proper burial for the poor bastard.

Alex and Emily briefly reunited; the two had much to catch up upon. Apparently, Emily had prior sewing knowledge and had been doing her best to fix up the apparel of the slayers; after all, fresh clothes were in short supply.

After chatting with Emily for a bit, Alex went to sleep and spent the next few days licking his wounds. Until Captain Hunter could find a replacement for Gunnar, Alex's team had been downgraded to sentry duty. Alex took advantage of his downtime to explore the system.

Alex had opened up the system and looked at his level-up screen. His status displayed like normal.

Name: Alexander Smith

Class: None

Title: None

Deity: None

Hitpoints: 160/160

Stamina: 160/160

Attribute Points [2] Skill Points [1]

Attributes: Skills: Proficiencies:

Strength: 16 [+][-] Charge: Level 1 [+][-] 1H Axes: 3

Dexterity: 16 [+][-] Suffer Agony: Level 1[+][-] Unarmed: 15

Constitution: 16 [+][-] Iron Limbs: Level 1 [+][-] Dual Wielding: 3

Intelligence: 12 [+][-] Iron Hide: Level 1 [+][-]

Wisdom: 8 [+][-]

Charisma: 8 [+][-]

After careful consideration, Alex decided to spend his attribute points on Strength and Constitution, raising them both to 17. Alex decided to browse the skills this time and paid special attention to all of them available to him.

Previously, Alex had only considered skills involving advancing his defense; though he had a skill in mind that he desired, he would investigate the other available skills. Upon further inspection, Alex noticed there were different tabs for skills requiring different attributes. After searching through the dexterity tab, he found a skill that interested him.

[Lightning Reflexes]

Active

For five seconds, you have a 50% chance to block melee and projectile attacks. Also, your attack speed is 25% faster.

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Prerequisite: 15 Dexterity.

Though this skill interested Alex, he had already made up his mind to get the skill [Iron Tendons]; after browsing through the various options available to him in the separate tabs, he realized that most of the skills outside of the strength and constitution tabs did not fit his fighting style.

Alex selected [Iron Tendons] and immediately felt a searing pain throughout his muscular system; every muscle in his body throbbed with a burning sensation as his muscles were reborn. By the time the pain was gone, Alex was drenched in sweat. However, it was a small price to pay for power.

He could feel the power emanating through his body and rejoiced at the effect. If it weren't for the fact that his squad was a man down, he would want to go out and test out his new ability immediately. However, all he could do was maintain sentry duty at this point.

Several hours passed, and Alex noticed Cassie playing with her new daggers. He was curious about their quality, and as such, approached her.

"Do you mind if I have a look at those daggers?"

Cassie smiled and tossed one of the daggers at Alex handle first

"Knock yourself out."

Alex closely inspected the dagger and noticed the system displayed information about it.

[Black Iron Dagger]

Item Level 4

One-Hand

Damage: 5

Speed: 1.8

Durability: 16/16

Grade: Novice

The information truly appeared like an MMORPG; the more Alex explored the system, the more enthralled with it he became. The dagger was fairly decent for a low-level item, though Alex had limited knowledge of the system and how it worked. Based on his experience with MMOs, he could have a rough estimate of the quality of such items.

Alex handed the dagger back to Cassie and nodded in approval

"It's decent,"

he said with a stoic expression; Cassie, however, was slightly perturbed from his response and began to pout. She decided to play a prank on Alex. Though the two were separated by a few meters, Cassie immediately vanished into thin air and reappeared in front of Alex with her blade held to his neck.

Alex could feel a cold sweat pouring from his forehead as he realized he had been careless; Cassie smirked devilishly as she stared into his eyes with a playful demeanor.

"Decent, huh?"

Alex stood there stunned momentarily before coming to his senses

"How did you do that?"

The busty country girl pulled back her dagger and walked with a confident strut.

"It's my new skill [Shadow Step]."

In an instant, Alex knew she had played a prank on him and frowned

"I'll get you back for this!"

The girl smiled with her back turned to Alex as she walked away slowly

"Sure you will."

Hours after their quarrel, the light of the silver sun began to fade, and dusk had arrived. Alex was smoking a cigarette while on sentry duty with Brandon; the two had a friendly banter as they stood at their post. Curiously enough, Cassie was missing, and neither had really inquired about her whereabouts.

Rather than be at her post with her teammates, she had a clandestine rendezvous with Captain Hunter in his office. Cassie stood at attention like a soldier awaiting her superior officer's command. Captain Hunter was sitting in his chair drinking a cup of coffee with a stern expression on his face.

The other slayer squads had gathered the supplies Cassie and her team left behind and had even retrieved what was left of Gunnar's body. However, these minor issues were not what concerned the charismatic Police Captain.

He stared coldly at Cassie with an intimidating glance, a stare that sent shivers down the girl's spine.

"You're telling me the boy is already level five?"

Without a second of hesitation, Cassie replied

"Yes, sir!"

Captain Hunter tapped his finger on the desk in contemplation; he had not expected Alex's progress to be so rapid. Initially, he had Alex assigned to Brandon's squads due to Cassie's presence within it.

Only the remaining officers of the percent were aware of her identity as a Police Officer; the rest of the survivors in the camp had no idea about her true identity. Cassie was originally assigned to Brandon's squad to keep an eye on him; after all, Captain Hunter could never trust a convicted felon.

Yet, the arrival of Alex had extended her duties as a plant; Captain Hunter was weary of the power Alex possessed. Initially, he thought he could rival Alex in strength, but now after hearing Cassie's report, he began to believe he had underestimated his abilities.

Captain Hunter liked to run a tight ship with no rival to his authority, but Alex's growth could prove to be just that. As such, Captain Hunter began to think of contingencies in case the youth became disobedient. After minutes of contemplation, Captain Hunder revealed a sly grin.

"I want you to monitor the boy closely; if he becomes a threat, eliminate him."

Cassie nodded with unquestionable obedience.

"Understood"

Captain Hunter swiveled his chair around and stared out the window, gazing upon Alex and Brandon laughing with one another. A deep look of concern could be seen in his reflection.

"Dismissed."