Lying in Wait

A shin flew through the air and made contact with the skull of a hobgoblin, knocking it off balance as it struggled on its feet. Before it could collect its baring, a flying superman punch connected to the skull sending the monster tumbling to the floor. Kneeling on top of it, Alex rained continuous punches to the dazed hobgoblin until its face resembled mincemeat.

[You have slain a hobgoblin and gain 320 xp]

The familiar message once more appeared in Alex's peripheral as he smiled at the meager increase in experience. For some reason, it seemed like every hundred meters, or so they would come across another group of goblins led by a hobgoblin. The closer to the strip they got, the more concentrated the monsters became.

To the left, Derek was lighting goblins aflame with his staff, and to the right, Cassie was vanishing and reappearing every other moment with the head of a goblin in her hands. At this rate, she would have her own collection.

Brandon launched a barrage of arrows at the hostiles; it was a completely one-sided slaughter. These were the tactics commonly employed by the squad. Alex would tank the most difficult enemy, and the others would clear up the mobs.

If Alex had not killed his target by the time the others finished slaying the additional enemies, they would join hands with him and work together to bring them down. After leveling up to 10 and gaining his class, Alex could now single-handedly fight a hobgoblin without any trouble.

Though they were on par in terms of base attributes, Alex was far more intelligent and fought a lot smarter as a human. As such, the average hobgoblin did not pose a significant risk of injury to him. With the hobgoblin preoccupied, the remaining forces were simply sheep to the slaughter.

After finishing off the remaining enemies, a message appeared in Cassie's vision.

[Level Up! You are now level 10!]

[Class Selection Available]

[Accept? Yes/No]

A large smile spread across her face as she rejoiced at the new development. She had finally caught up to Alex; for the last few days, she had to listen to the boisterous youth's incessant bragging, and now she too could accept a class!

Alex had explained to her in great detail the process since he leveled up, and she already had an idea of the class she wanted. After searching through the options, she noticed the [Rogue] class and quickly accepted. The same series of messages appeared before her that Alex had to go through, and she accepted the conditions.

Much like what Alex had described, she instantly felt every cell in her body become infused with the aspects of her class. Her cells became more dexterous, concealed, and shrouded in a dark miasma. It was a completely different feeling than what Alex had expressed about his fighter's aura.

Cassie immediately recognized her base power had increased to a sharp degree; she was no longer the same novice she had been. It was as if her body had accepted the chaotic energy of the new world and assimilated to it.

The party had also received messages notifying Cassie's advancement in level and congratulated her on her progression. However, Derek and Brandon had an enviable expression, though it would not be long before they too reached the tenth level. They had bittersweet feelings about being the last in the party to evolve.

If the party of slayers lying in wait with ill intent knew that Cassie had just evolved into a rogue, they would immediately flee and never return. However, their ignorance allowed them to go forth with their wicked plan boldly, and they continued to stalk Alex and his party from the shadows.

As Cassie had become a rogue, she instantly became aware of what dwelled in the shadows nearby. Almost as if a sixth sense had appeared in her mind. She grinned wickedly as she began to scheme how she would deal with the fools who had been following them.

For now, she would not alert her party; after all, at least one of those idiots was a terrible actor and would immediately give away her plans. Instead, she tracked the movements of the hostiles while continuing to slaughter her way through the monstrous hordes who continued to block their path.

Alex took point and blasted his way through the monsters like a battering ram. With his defenses, it was difficult for these low-level monsters to harm him. Only something like a Hobgoblin, a Gnoll Veteran, or a Common Lizardfolk posed a challenge to him at this point.

Of course, that was only considering the monsters that they had come across. There were plenty of more powerful and insidious monsters dwelling within the depths of the strip that humanity was blissfully unaware of at this point.

After fighting through the back alleys for hours, the party finally came across the outskirts of the strip. Normally this area would be designated as a "battlefield" or a "contested zone." However, that only applied to the outskirts of the strip near human settlements.

They were practically on the other side of the strip that was near the Airport. The closest survivor camp was Captain Hunter's stronghold, which was more than a few kilometers away. Normally on a battlefield, they would have other slayers backing them as the humans and monsters fighting each other in large numbers to take control of an area.

Here, there were no nearby slayer teams or at least friendly ones. So the party had to be extra cautious about how to proceed. Due to Cassie's class advancement, she now had the ability to cling to the shadows more easily and detect nearby enemies better. As such, she would operate a scout and sneak around the outskirts finding a safe route to the liquor store.

Before she headed off, Cassie approached Alex and whispered in his ear

"Remember to watch your six."

before he could even react, Cassie had vanished into thin air and begun her scouting route. Even though Alex was not the brightest bulb in the box, he instantly understood her meaning. Hostiles were lying in wait for an ambush, and he had to be prepared.

Just as Cassie had predicted, the moment she left to scout ahead, the team of slayers came out of the shadows wielding various weapons with malicious intent. The burly bald man whom Alex had intimidated back at the airport glared at him with wicked intent. He spits some chewing tobacco on the ground as he asked Alex a question.

"You remember me?"

Alex put on a confused look and gazed inquisitively at the man as if he had no idea who he was. Alex then put on a friendly smile as he made fun of the man who was threatening him.

"Are you the man I sold that viagra to? You did not have to come all this way to thank me for helping you with your little problem."

The wicked smile instantly vanished from the burly man's face and was replaced with an expression of pure rage.

"Fucking bastard! I'd like to see you laugh at this!"

he roared at his men furiously as he reached into his coat pocket pulled out a device that looked like an animal call. He began to breathe while doing so; a distorted noise that resembled a monstrous roar echoed into the distance.

At first, nothing happened, which resulted in both Brand and Derek laughing and mocking their rivals.

"Is that supposed to scare us?"

However, Alex felt something was wrong. Gradually the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Eventually, cracks began to appear in the asphalt as a matching roar thundered from the strip. Before long, a hideous and burly creature nearly five meters tall could be seen popping its head out from behind a nearby building as it glared at the humans who dared to deceive it.

The creature had snot green skin, which was mottled with unkempt fur. Massive tusks jutting out from its mouth as its malevolent roar practically pierced the heavens. In its hands was a giant stone hammer that was lengthier than a full-grown man. Only one word could be used to describe such a fierce creature.

Troll...