In a parking lot, where dented and overturned cars littered the place, Vincent and his party encountered their next opponents.
[Numb Rat lvl 1], a green name tag.
Extremely agile elementals.
They typically stood waist-high on an adult when on their hind legs, doubling their length when their tail was counted. Their fur ranged from blue-grey to white, and their shark-like ice teeth made it nearly impossible to pry them off once they latched onto flesh.
The party was only taking 1 damage from each attack, but the rats had become smarter, working like a pack.
They knew how to flank.
And when one of the healers used their spell, they took aggro right away.
It was fortunate that Angel was assigned to protect them. She alone took down three rats in six seconds while Vincent shot the other two.
[+ 10 xp]
[+ 10 xp]
[+ 10 xp]
[+ 15 xp]
[+ 15 xp]
Looking at the spam of notifications, Vincent figured Angel should level up soon, and he waited in anticipation.
The number six was giving him anxiety every time he accidentally glanced at it, and it wasn't just Angel who started with that HP.
Without knowing if it was randomized, Vincent had at least confirmed the system chose between 6, 8, 10, and 12 for the player's starter health.
He also confirmed his earlier theory.
The Hellfire Rounds never failed to ignite his targets.
That added to the growing list of reasons why he needed to choose properly when prompted. He also vowed that the next time he read another system description, he would memorize it so he could analyze it deeper later.
The rest of the swarm died within ten minutes. Three of them were killed by Daniel, while Theo happily took one down. The last two were punched to death by Henry and Dave (the other paladin).
Dave was skinny as someone from the homeless crew, but he was the tallest member of the party reaching 194 cm. He was 33 years old with dirty blonde hair and white skin.
Punching was actually Daniel's suggestion.
They were players now. And though these rats didn't make him feel like he was killing mobs, they were certainly no boss. Which meant a punch should deal some damage.
The test was successful. Even if the damage was only reported as 1, it meant they could keep fighting without a weapon.
Vincent abused this fact, letting the combatants train with their fists. Their enchanter joined as well, planning to fight alongside them in the future despite being a life skill player—inspired by Vincent and the siblings.
By the time they reached Southland Mall, it was nearly five. Along the way, they managed to hunt two more lvl 2 Frost Rabbits and a four-pack of lvl 1 Numbing Rats.
Training was progressing well as the homeless crew managed to take down the Frost Rabbits and two of the Numbing Rats themselves. The other two were finished off by Angel since they went for the healers again.
And Angel leveled up.
Her health was now 11, and since last time Daniel chose to increase his mana, she picked the [+1 Chosen Attribute] instead.
That gave her a glimpse of all her stats.
[STR: 10]
[DEX: 16 -> 17]
[CON: 10]
[INT: 13]
[WIS: 12]
[CHA: 16]
Debates rang right away about what each attribute could entail besides its literal meaning.
And Palya was keeping note of all their discoveries in a small notebook, helping to distract her from the haunting trauma while decreasing her instances of stuttering.
The group was gradually becoming more cohesive, and Vincent was grateful that they continued to listen to him despite the boost in their egos. Arrogance would be their undoing, and Vincent felt responsible for their lives.
Continuing on, Southland Mall almost looked similar to Walmart's state—abandoned, cluttered, and looted. But frosted windows, the same trench-like snow pathway, and ice stalactites hanging from the ceiling made Vincent feel as if he had entered a cave.
The howling of an oncoming blizzard added to the effect.
Crunch—
Frowning, Vincent gestured for everyone to stop. For ease of communication, he and the siblings taught everyone the standard military hand signals.
They froze in sync with the siblings, gradually getting used to it.
Crunch—
Vincent had heard it correctly.
Earlier, amidst the sound of their crunching footsteps, was a different kind of crunch that he had only heard once but could never forget.
Carefully, he hugged the wall and inched closer to the corner to take a peek. Everyone followed along behind him, struggling to keep their curiosity in check.
Vincent saw the source, and his breath hitched.
[Revenant Spider lvl 3], a red name tag.
It was an entity with a humanoid top half, while the rest was a spider. Since it wasn't elemental, the zone didn't affect it, preserving its original form—black with a bit of fur, thin needle-like metallic-colored legs, and eight blood-red eyes clustered on the humanoid face.
From where Vincent was, he guessed it was four to five meters tall, and he now understood why the entrances looked the way they did—completely shattered as if multiple cars had crashed through.
The corridor towards the Canadian Tire had been turned into its nest. Enlarged cobwebs surrounded it, and cocoons of different shapes were piled on either side of the spider.
Contrary to how it fed before mutation, this spider was now gnawing and ripping flesh like a lion, breaking bones easily between its normal-looking teeth.
The unwrapped corpse of a human in its hands made Vincent's stomach lurch.
Vincent stopped peeking and sighed, relieved that their destination wasn't anywhere near it.
He brought the party away from it in the meantime, keeping their noise level to the bare minimum.
Once they were in front of Cutting Edge, he finally explained what he saw.
"We don't have information about fighting against a level 3. But the same could be said for the troll that is our ultimate target. Considering this will be your first time handling your new weapons, the risk of dying against this spider increased."
Vincent paused, letting his last sentence sink in.
"But I want us to take that risk."
Everyone was startled except for the siblings, and Henry asked him to elaborate.
"Why are we taking the risk? Isn't survival the main priority?"
"Precisely because of that. We won't get many chances to control who or what we fight. And knowing how to handle an opponent much stronger than us will be useful in scenarios where we miscalculate a monster's strength."
Pondering, silence enveloped them for a few minutes.
"Think about it while choosing your blades. Don't worry. If even one of the combatants says no, I won't force the team for now. We still have hundreds of geese to train upon."
The tension eased with his words, and enthusiasm to finally have a proper weapon emerged.
All the blades in this store weren't sharp enough to cut through skin upon contact, but they were deadly against human flesh.
There were also a lot of customized swords designed after movies, anime, and games, like the Sword of Thorin from The Hobbit.
Vincent told them to be practical with their choice, as they would be using this sword for quite a while to defend their lives.
Half an hour later, with Vincent keeping watch, everyone was equipped. Some didn't have sheaths, but they could worry about that later.
Theo, the one pushed to be the spokesperson for the party, conveyed that they were willing to fight the spider.
Vincent was actually surprised, and he was made aware of the weight of responsibility.
With so many people trusting him, he refused to have his hands drenched in their blood.
He was going to make them stronger so going out for a stroll would become a normal thing again.
Meanwhile, the Revenant Spider continued to feed. An uncontrollable hunger had dominated its thoughts from the moment it mutated.
Right as the emergency alerts rang through the city last week, it had already been an hour too late for the people in Southland Mall at the time.
This spider had used its webs to capture as many humans as possible, and it had yet to deplete its stocks.
Today, it was extremely eager with its meal, failing to notice the two groups of unwanted guests.
Deep inside its core, power was accumulating rapidly, waiting to burst—a strength beyond simply leveling up was brewing.
It had to eat something more.
Something more than these empty bags of flesh that tasted nothing like its original flavor.
[Threshold reached. Maximum consumption achieved. Necessary experience for evolution is 1,200. Happy hunting.]
The spider froze.
That insatiable hunger that had driven it to a frenzy suddenly disappeared, bringing forth clarity.
Madness that had limited its senses vanished, and its ears started picking up the noise traveling with the wind.
One group had soft footsteps, careful and deliberate. The other was loud, confident yet careless.
A wide grin split its face as it tossed the half-eaten corpse. All its legs shook for a stretch before it started to walk.
But where heavy thuds should have sounded as it looked heavy, there was none.
There was barely any noise as it broke into a sprint toward its obnoxious visitors.