"Why the h.e.l.l did you draw one of these to us?!" Leon yelled, trying to cripple the gargantuan creature with his telekinesis, trying to make it trip and fall. If the mana he put in failed, he would have wasted that much as the creature was moving around. He was trying to create an impact rather than hold it, since even if he could hold down the creature, it would exhaust all his mana.

"How is stage 2 creatures so much different to the creatures of stage 1?" Leila asked. "We were fighting goblins in level 2!"

"Boss! I don't think I can hold on against another attack from that beast!" Vaun yelled. Although his s.h.i.+eld itself was fine and could clearly endure infinitely more blows, the force transferred to Vaun himself was enough to shake his organs. He did block an -although indirect- attack, however, instead of being blown away. Raising his defence was a well-made investment.

"I'm gonna tame him, just move away!" h.e.l.l yelled, on top of a tyrannosaurus rex, the king of the prehistoric carnivores on land. h.e.l.l's attacks were barely scratching the surface of this creature's thick skin or creating small holes on the creature's skin akin to poking it with a needle, ironically enough.

"Don't be stupid, h.e.l.l, you'll die!" Leon yelled as h.e.l.l went for the creature's eyes, but before Imp Needle could make contact, T-Rex bit down with all its might, seemingly swallowing h.e.l.l whole.

"h.e.l.l!" Leon yelled.

"Boss!" Vaun followed.

"Idiot." Leila commented, seeing h.e.l.l on top of the dinosaur again.

T-Rex was fighting back with all its might but was unable to reach this puny creature on his back. h.e.l.l thought that if he could tame one of these, they'd be set for the day. However his strength was immensely lacking, he couldn't compensate for the damage he'd need to output with his speed. The system had done it now, choosing an enemy that speed would have little to no difference to. Considering the immense strength of the creature however, they'd surely level up multiple times as long as they could kill this monster. h.e.l.l never chose the "optional stealth" in games. He would plunge at the enemy and kill his way to the top, no matter how disadvantageous he started. He had the ability to get stronger, after all.

"I will blind it, make it fall at that point so we can finish it off!" h.e.l.l yelled and his team braced themselves for what's to come. h.e.l.l checked his mana.

*Mana: 1179/1325*

"Alright." He said. He had enough mana for combo attacks now. h.e.l.l prepared himself to use 4 consecutive Short Distance Warping to get both its eyes and to safely get back. He tried to steady his breathing as well as he could, and h.e.l.l executed his plan the moment the creature raised its head again. He was suddenly in front of the eyes of the T-Rex with his Warping, blinding it with a direct attack and then using Rapid Move to throw it to the creature's other eye. Everything happened in less than a second, even Leon was unable to comprehend the events transpiring. He still managed to come to his senses with h.e.l.l's maniacal laughing as the mad man was falling toward some trees, seeming to have himself teleported away from the creature right after. Seeing this, Leon used the chance to momentarily stop one of the legs of the beast as it tripped and fell in its enraged situation. It was terrifying that a sharp pain suddenly a.s.sailed its eyes and all over his head, he had even fallen on the ground. The creature stopped moving after the voices dimmed and he was lying down in silence, trying to comprehend its situation.

"Come here." h.e.l.l whispered to his dumbfounded teammates.

"Is it dead?" Vaun asked.

"No." h.e.l.l answered and turned to Leon: "I want you to stab it using that skill I gave you, right where his bleeding eyes are.

"How much HP should I use?"

"80%. Use a potion afterwards."

"What? Those potions aren't things we can just find lying around, it'll be-"

"It'll be too troublesome to kill otherwise, right now, we need levels, and that's a boss cla.s.s monster for us."

"Fine." Leon said. "Leila and Vaun, stay prepared in the case that we'll fail, try to finish it off as soon as possible."

"Alright." Both of them nodded.

Beast was lying on the ground and slowly crying in its own manner. h.e.l.l was confident after his last plan he executed, full of arrogance. Although the creature noticed creatures near him from the sound they made as soon as they teleported, Leon was ready to hit with his already prepared attack and even sliced into the back of its skull. The creature fell silent after an ear-piercing shriek that covered the entire jungle and fell limp.

*Tyrannosaurus Rex has been defeated*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*h.e.l.l has levelled up*

*h.e.l.l has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

"Amazing." Leon said, looking at his menu. "We levelled up so much, so fast. I wonder what those bosses will be like."

"High risk, high rewards, my friends. That's how I do things." h.e.l.l said with a satisfactory smile, investing all Vaun's points to his vitality.

*Vaun HP: 650*

"Good." He said as Vaun was surprised beyond belief. "I feel something warm in my chest! I suddenly feel so energetic and it feels amazing!" Vaun yelled.

"Pipe down, will you?" h.e.l.l said as his teammates looked at him with odd looks. Vaun quieted down, embarra.s.sed by his sudden exclamation.

*Mana: 1825*

h.e.l.l invested all his points to mana and looked at his friends. "What stat will you guys go for?"

"Well, I'll raise my HP, will make use of that skill you gave me." Leon said. "Still, using that skill wasn't like taking physical damage, it was as if the damage it gave me spread into every fibre of my being. I just feel like it literally took some amount of life out of me."

"Well, good skill still, right? Look how deep that dagger went in! I think it's stuck at the back of his skull. Dunno how you're gonna get that back." h.e.l.l said.

"Like this." Leon answered and summoned the dagger into his hands. Since it was bloodied as it went in, there was also a boost into the dagger's attacking power, making things even slightly easier. "Did you think you were the only one who could do that?"

"Awesome." h.e.l.l said and looked and Leila. "What about you?"

"What's your real level?" Leila asked.

"Come on, Leil" Leon was saying as Leila interjected.

"No! He has to be truthful."

"Hey, you got me. I was just being cautious, you know?" h.e.l.l said, there was no point in hiding his level any longer.

"So what is it?" Leila asked.

"It's currently 26. 24 before the fight."

"No wonder you are so confident." Leon commented.

"Well, what will you invest your stats in?" h.e.l.l asked again.

"Mana." She quickly answered. "You gave me some nice skills and I have some nice ones of my own, but I have little mana."

"Makes sense." h.e.l.l said and got up. "You guys want to kill a few more of those, then?"

The team responded by collapsing onto the floor. "We stood watch as you took your sweet time and slept last night. Give us at least half an hour to recuperate." Leon said.

"Hey, I said I'd take the watch tonight to make it up!" He exclaimed and sat among his friends. They heard a shriek in the distance soon after, as scary as the one belonging to the T-Rex, yet different.

"Well, up we go." h.e.l.l said. "Prey's waiting for us."

"Hunting the hunters, huh?" Leila murmured. "We probably won't be bothered again around here if we kill two of these territorial creatures."

"Well, we won't see them if we stay here like boring old people." h.e.l.l added.

"You are wis.h.i.+ng for death."

"Quite so." h.e.l.l answered and got onto one of the long trees and waited, the strategy was the same.

"I will have enough mana to trip it once. You will have to deal with this afterwards."

"We'll make do." Leila said. "I have mana to spare for my Shadow Reach now."

"Oh? We'll finally see it again? I'm looking forward to it." Leon said.

They all prepared for yet another attack, they had barely rested properly but they figured it would probably be fine and waited. Each step of this creature seemed at least as heavy as T-Rex's, and a long mouth with sharp teeth lined up, a giant crocodile head was suddenly seen among the trees. "Ah, we're f.u.c.ked." Vaun said. Leila and Leon looked at the usually quiet Vaun. "Isn't this the beast that killed the T-Rex in the movie?"

"What mov-" Leon was saying and suddenly exclaimed right after "Oh, f.u.c.k! It is!" and turned to the tree h.e.l.l had climbed up. "h.e.l.l, we're running, don't engage, don't engage!"

h.e.l.l was also wary of this creature. It seemed slightly larger than the T-Rex they killed, and seemed to have a sail on its back. "It looks like that one dino." He thought when he heard Leon's yell, surprised. It would be fine, right? They had killed the T-Rex after all. His yelling, however, also attracted the attention of the new dinosaur and it began rus.h.i.+ng toward them. Spinosaurus was intent on killing anything it saw, it seemed it claimed this territory in its mind the moment it saw the corpse of the T-Rex. Its large feet crushed foliage and some velociraptors that were running from it. h.e.l.l thought he could handle this as long as he could execute the plan again. Its long mouth would bar the creature from reacting as quick as the T-Rex they killed, so he ignored them and went for it.

"Here's Johnny!" He yelled as he blinded one eye of the Spinosaurus Rex, but it suddenly turned its head and bit down at him in mere moments, almost biting h.e.l.l's whole arm off. Its teeth had only grazed it yet the damage was quite severe. He activated Knight-Demon's Vitality he got from Claude. It was an amazing skill, the bleeding slowed almost to a halt at that very moment and his arm began regenerating. It would still take at least 10 seconds to completely recover, but the mana required for this skill was only 20 per second.

*Mana: 1209/1325*

He would be fine.

The pain registered in Spinosaurus' head moments after and it crashed its head to a nearby tree in pain, causing it to fall over himself. The sound of bones breaking was heard in high volume and the system's voice rang in their minds again.

*Spinosaurus Rex has been, defeated?*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leon has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*Leila has levelled up*

*h.e.l.l has levelled up*

*h.e.l.l has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

*Vaun has levelled up*

"That's it?" Leon said. "It just killed itself?"

"Did it sound like even the system was almost unsure to you guys, too?"

"You know what? This has been a weird day. Let's try to get some meat out of these guys right here and leave for our plateau." h.e.l.l pointed toward some tribal people with greenish skin. They looked like a breed between goblins and humans. They resembled humans a lot more than goblins, however, compared to the scavenger creatures h.e.l.l knew from Level 2.

The team noticed the tribal people all around them suddenly with some of them crying, some looking angry.

Leon slapped his forehead and sighed, hoping these people weren't hostile. It wasn't a good idea to fight them when they were completely encircled like this. He didn't even know how many there were so Leon whispered to h.e.l.l: "Don't. Attack. Them."

"We just saved these people from the two monsters. I got this." h.e.l.l said and raised his arms, dropping Imp Needle and going up to the T-Rex, kicking its face and then hitting his own chest in valour, followed by doing the same with Spinosaurus. "I am your champion!" He yelled, awaiting his praise.

Tribal people watched everything unfolding in shock and a team of them shot bamboo arrows at them. h.e.l.l dodged the first barrage and c.o.c.kily said: "I'll play with you if you wish so that much." As he was. .h.i.t by the second barrage from behind and fell unconscious.

He was in a cell made of wood when he woke up, heard loud chanting all around. Leon and Vaun were there as well, looking at h.e.l.l in rage.

"Morning." h.e.l.l said.

"Where is Leila?" He asked.

"Hopefully, escaped. One of them could speak our language. It turns out, we didn't save them from monsters. We killed the guardian deities sent by their G.o.d."

"Cool, they were deities?" h.e.l.l said. "They died too quickly for deities, didn't they?"

"No, dumba.s.s, they were probably the pets of the guy they are summoning right now. The guy they are summoning owned those monsters. Can you imagine what kind of boss that would be? This day is getting worse and worse by the second."

"Who is the G.o.d they are summoning? Is it something cool like Zeus?" h.e.l.l asked.

"Will you take this seriously for one minute?" Leon said in anger as he tried not to raise his voice.

"It's called Pilaki." A feminine voice was heard near their wooden cell, followed by the thuds of two bodies as they fell on the ground.

"Leila!" Leon said. "Quick, open this up."

"That's why I'm here." She said and struck the door, breaking part of the lock and it opened. As soon as that happened however, a wave of energy spread out from their location with a loud boom.

"Well, at least I can do this, still." h.e.l.l said as he forcefully snapped the ropes binding his arms as he freed himself.

"Good for you, free us all, they are coming!" Leon quickly added.

"Boss, my s.h.i.+eld and sword…"

"Oh, where are they?"

"Do you see the chest behind that angry mob coming at us?"

"Yeah." h.e.l.l said.

"That's where they are."

"Cool, I'll get it and meet you guys ahead." h.e.l.l said and added: "I'll a.s.sume these tribal freaks will let me know where they are. I'll wait for you in the plateau and give you a head start for now."

The party was shocked but as there were moments until they would be caught or killed again, they broke into a dash.

"Hey, they are no longer following us." Vaun yelled.

"Some still have their eyes on us, don't stop. h.e.l.l only said he'd give us a head start, he isn't stopping a whole tribe by himself." Leila yelled as she used her Undead's Vision to gaze ahead. She saw h.e.l.l killing the shamans summoning their G.o.d as the portal created seemed to have gone awry, going nuclear.

"I hope he'll be safe." Leila added as they made their way to the plateau. There weren't too many hostile creatures even if it was night, likely thanks to the previously established presence of the guardian deities of these people, and whatever else they encountered, they handled while running. After what seemed to be hours of running in zigzags, they reached their safe spot, the plateau. They made sure to kill any tribesmen still following them before heading to the plateau's direction to make sure their safe haven wasn't exposed, but there was still no sight of h.e.l.l, odd, considering his speed.

"Open Menu."

Leon commanded. There was a tab about his party members but it was just their names. h.e.l.l's name was still there but he didn't know if he would stay there until he was dead or until Leon himself removed him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I can see him on the menu screen." Leon said. "He is perfectly healthy." Trying to ease the hearts of his sister and h.e.l.l's friend Vaun.

"I don't think that man can even die." Vaun mumbled under his breath. That seemed peculiar to Leon, but he didn't ask further.

They waited for hours and went to sleep one after another, one of them keeping watch at any point. Vaun had the last s.h.i.+ft, as it was dawn, he went to wake Leila up so he could sleep as he saw something climbing the plateau. The man seemed to be wearing torn clothes, bloodied and even his heart was seen from the outside.

"Boss!" Vaun yelled and saw h.e.l.l carry his s.h.i.+eld and sword.

"I got your s.h.i.+tty accessories." h.e.l.l faintly said and collapsed. Creating a puddle of blood as he has done so.

"Wake up! Leon! Leila! Boss returned!" Vaun rushed at h.e.l.l's side, turning him over.