The dark wilderness

As the sun dipped below the horizon, signaling the rise of nocturnal monsters, the red hounds knew they had to swiftly defeat their prey to avoid going hungry tonight.

The red hounds continued to encircle Allen, their growls echoing through the desolate wilderness. Suddenly, they abandoned all reason as they charged toward him, baring their fangs and claws in a menacing display.

Undeterred by the red hounds' onslaught, Allen deftly evaded their attacks, though a slight wound marred his shoulder as he failed to anticipate one strike.

Unfazed, he skillfully manipulated his mana to staunch the bleeding, feeling only a slight sting. With newfound seriousness in his gaze, Allen tightened his grip on the sword's hilt, his eyes darting between the beasts as he analyzed their movements with precision.

In a sudden burst of primal howl, one of the red hounds lunged forward, its jaws snapping menacingly. Allen reacted with lightning reflexes, sidestepping the attack. Time almost seemed to stop as his blade sliced through the air, instantly decapitating the beast with a swift and precise motion.

As the body of the red hound went limp, the others suddenly recognized the magnitude of the opponent before them, feeling fearful. They were about to make a run for it, but would they really not avenge their pack member?

One of the red hounds refused to back away; after all, it had just lost its mate, who was carrying its soon-to-be offspring. Anger overwhelmed it, and in a fit of rage, it charged at Allen, uncaring for its own life.

The action of the red hound suddenly sparked something within the others. They had to avenge their pack member, even if they had to lose their lives.

Without further thoughts, they all ran at the monster before them, the monster who had just killed one of them. Allen, oblivious to the communication underneath, stood his ground with his blade at hand.

One by one, they arrived, but all their attacks proved futile in the face of greater strength as Allen dodged before he countered, swiftly dispatching any red hounds that came too close.

The last of the red hounds finally pounced at Allen; however, with Allen's fast reflexes, he sliced with his sword, blood spilling in all directions, staining his armor.

Allen hurriedly took out a knife before he began to take out the canine teeth of the red hounds, his worry palpable as the sun was on the verge of vanishing.

Quickly cutting out the fangs of the red hounds, he deposited them into his storage watch. Having no further objectives, he began to race back to the city with the compass guiding him.

However, the longer he ran, the more he felt danger closing in. It was almost like he was surrounded, yet he couldn't find any monsters nearby. He knew other monsters had likely caught scent of the blood spilled on his body.

Just then, an earth-shattering screech resounded through the wilderness, traveling across miles, reaching the sharp senses of Allen.

He began to feel tense as danger closed in. At that moment, he looked backward only to catch sight of multiple creatures running in his direction, following the scent of blood.

"Shit, I'm so screwed," he expressed his frustration palpably as he channeled mana into his feet, further enhancing his speed, leaving behind a trail of blue in the process.

The walls of the city began to show ahead on the horizon; however, he knew he was still miles away. He began to think if it was really a bad idea to have come to the wilderness in the first place.

Slashing his sword quickly, dispatching the black scorpion monster he had encountered. However, as the number of monsters he encountered continued to increase, his advance towards the city began to slow down, giving the monsters a chance to catch up. Before he knew it, he had been surrounded, causing him to stop his advance, realizing it was already too late to run towards the city. Now he knew he had to fight the horde of monsters.

Meanwhile, back at the internal structure of the wall, a man sat in the control room, glancing at the scanners which monitored the south side of the wall. With the use of the satellite in orbit, the scanner was able to pick up monsters' mana signatures, providing warnings whenever a beast tide was about to occur.

"What's going on?" he muttered in confusion, noticing the massive amassing of monsters, something that had never occurred in his career as an overseer.

Unable to explain what he saw, he quickly tapped on a button, deploying a drone which he began to skillfully control. In a matter of seconds, the drone had arrived.

"This..," he muttered in shock. The sheer number of monsters he saw was beyond comprehension. Guessing from sight alone, he would say there were in the hundreds, and possibly, if not, thousands.

However, just then, as he maneuvered the drone in stealth mode, he saw a boy in the center of the mass of monsters. Not only was the boy able to kill the monsters, but he seemed completely unharmed.

At least that was until he was suddenly caught off-guard by an insect-type monster, its attack grazing his cheeks as he narrowly dodged the attack.

It didn't take much time to deduce that the boy wouldn't make it for long, at least that was what he thought. "Attention all units! This is an emergency alert! A system holder is under attack by hostile creatures outside the city perimeter. Squad one, immediate response required! Move out to his location. Lives are at stake," he quickly called out for help.

Clarissa, who was finally prepared to finally rest for the day, her fatigue evident in her tired stance. Just then, as she was about to take off her combat uniform, an emergency alert suddenly resounded through the quarters, causing her to grit her teeth in frustration, before she tapped on her watch receiving information about the sudden emergency.

Back in the wilderness, Allen couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration before he slashed with his sword, decapitating the serpent that lunged at him. Feeling danger, he turned around using his sword to parry the attack from the goblin-like creature. As he parried the attack, he realized he was once again being surrounded by monsters.

Instinctively, his sword lit on fire, red flames appearing on it as he used his Dragonic flames. Slashing in a 360-degree manner, he quickly defeated tens of monsters; however, they were soon replaced by a hundred more.

"I'm so screwed up~," he thought, but he could only steel his tired muscles, bringing down his flaming sword, immediately defeating more of the monsters.

As he exhausted more and more of his mana, he had the thought about using his dragonic transformation, but remembering how much mana he consumed, he dropped the idea, before rolling across the ground narrowly avoiding the beast that had pounced on him.

Quickly recovering, he stood to his feet, slashing once again, his blade cutting through flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter.

*Ding*

[You have leveled up]

"How many times have I heard this," he thought tiredly, and though his strength continued to increase, the increase could not help his growing fatigue, making it seem like he had never truly leveled up.

Having no other choice but to continue the battle, he simply went with the flow, and despite the tiredness, he was getting better. Every time he killed a monster, he seemed to expend less energy, and his movements became more fluid.

Each of his steps, each of his attacks, each of his movements, they all seemed calculated. With the battle ensuring he no longer chose to dodge, he faced the brunt behind each attack, casually evading or redirecting every attack.

Just then, his senses suddenly went off chart, providing evidence of the arrival of a new beast. Allen, in the zone, glanced in the direction he felt the aura.

"A D-rank monster?" Allen finally encountering a creature that could give him a run for his money couldn't help but harden his gaze, his body tensing up, as he recalled the true difference between an F and D-rank monster.

Whether monsters or monster hunters, the increase and gap between the ranks of F and E to D-rank was abysmal, akin to the difference between heaven and earth. Though the gap in stats might not be much, D-rank monsters and above will always possess some special ability, while system holders will receive an increase in abilities.

Allen had previously defeated F and E-rank monsters with ease, but now encountering a D-rank monster, he knew he had to give it his absolute all, lest he might really experience demise.

With the arrival of the D-rank monster, the other monsters ran for their dear lives as they recognized the magnitude of the monster before them.

Now separated from the monsters, Allen focused on the dark orc before him as he glanced at his remaining mana.

- Name: Allen

- Class: None

- Level: 6 // Exp: 1789/7000

- Vitality: 45 // HP: 301/450

- Magic power: 110 // MP: 278/1100 // Regen: 35 MP per minute

- Strength: 32

- Agility: 30

- Defense: 36

- Intelligence: 35

- Endurance: 31

"I hope it's enough," he thought, wondering if he should use his arcane edge technique, but even if he wanted to use it, he would have to get close enough.

At the moment, they were in a stalemate. Allen, seeing that the dark orc was not willing to attack, formulated his strategy, recalling everything he could about a dark orc.

"Dark orcs, known for their love for human meat, possess tough skins that are hard to penetrate. Not only that, they also possess regeneration on the higher level of the spectrum, almost on par with trolls, and they also have a unique skill called..."

At that moment, a sudden chill wrapped around him, his entire body freezing unable to move as he made eye contact with the dark troll. They possess a unique skill called evil eye that requires eye contact, he remembered, but it was already too late. He had already made eye contact with the dark orc.

Just then, the monster he had in sight suddenly disappeared from its position, and the next thing he knew, he was sent flying before an overwhelming sense of pain flooded his unguarded body, the mediocre armor he wore breaking into pieces.

Rolling across the floor of the wilderness, he finally came to a stop, driving his sword into the ground to stop his momentum as he regained his movement, holding his sword trying to stand to his feet, a warm liquid suddenly came up his throat before he forcibly vomited blood.

Just then, he glanced upward as he noticed a shadow, blocking the moonlight. Looking at the source, he saw the dark orc, its fist clenched up. It didn't take Allen much thought to realize what was about to happen.

Reacting, he attempted to move his body out of the way, but his body did not respond; the damage he had taken having a great toll on his body. Then *baam*.