It took him another two hours to make his way back to his cave, and the sun had started to set when he arrived. On the return trip, he came across a few rabbits. They were technically monsters, but looked similar enough, except for the pointed teeth and aggressiveness.

  Fanged Rabbit (Level 1)

  A basic rabbit species that is quite aggressive and quick, but weak. They are popular prey for other predators.

  He had easily killed all three of them with a small earth spike to the head.

  They’re monsters, but probably still fine to eat, right? I really want some damn meat. I also don’t know how to skin these, but I remember seeing it done in tv shows… so I’m just going to wing it.

  Alex stopped mid-step; he had just realized something important.

  Nooooooo, how do I start a fire to cook these? I don't have fire magic or flint. I guess I could swing my sword on the stone in the cave and hope for sparks.

  “Fuckkkkkk” He cried out, aloud this time.

  Right as Alex was about to step inside the cave entrance, he heard a bone chilling scream. The scream sounded like it was from a woman, but he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. It came from the opposite direction he had searched.

  Alex quickly carried the rabbit bodies into the cave entrance, surrounded them with stone to hide them, then ran off toward the sound. His direction confirmed thirty seconds later when another scream rang out, followed by a man's yell.

  He sprinted through the forest, trees a blur as he ran past them. It didn’t take long for Alex to arrive, and what he saw immediately moved him into action. Three people were fighting against seven wolves, and they were losing.

  And the surprising thing to Alex was that he recognized them. It was the three people he saw in his caving group who didn’t know anyone else. Derek, the ex-military guy. Sarah, the girl who was scared of the cave. And the stoner kid, whose name Alex had forgotten.

  He immediately summoned three earth spikes. They soared toward a pack of wolves near Derek as Alex ran toward Sarah and the kid, his sword out. The wolves were all level 2 and 3.

  His spikes penetrated the low-level wolves with ease. Two died instantly, one being hit in the heart and the other in the head. The third wolf would have survived a while longer had Derek not quickly finished it off with a thrust of his sword.

  The other four wolves Alex ran towards were just as easily dispatched. It took less than ten seconds for him to kill all the wolves, and most of that time was spent closing the distance. Each wolf died to a single strike from his sword or [Earth Magic].

  Well, that was anticlimactic. I expected more of a challenge. Alex thought. I guess they were low-level, though, barely as strong as a Kobold Miner.

  This was the first time he had tested his new sword, and it felt fantastic. The sword felt like an extension of his arm, something he had always been with.

  “Alex, is that you?!” He heard someone ask, surprise in their voice.

  Turning around, he saw that Derek had a confused and fearful expression on his face. Glancing at the others, he saw that Sarah and the kid were looking at him the same way.

  “Yeah? Why're you guys looking at me like that?” Alex replied, looking at them like they were crazy. “I know it's weird that I survived that cave fall.”

  “Alex... “ Derek swallowed hard and stepped forward a bit, staring into Alex’s eyes. “Your hair and facial hair are silver, not white, they’re an actual silver.. You're wearing a complete set of armor. You killed all these wolves in a single strike of your sword or magic, and that's ignoring the fact that you used both, which isn’t normal. You moved quicker than all of us put together. And most of all.. .your eyes. It's like they glow, but don’t at the same time. I can see the white specs in your dark eyes and the gold rings around them, but all the light is absorbed into them. I feel like I’m looking into the night sky. Vast. Endless.” Derek said, his voice going quiet, barely whispering the last few words. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused back on Alex, losing the hazy look in his eyes, as if he had been looking at something far away.

  “Uhhhh… Yeah. Some stuff happened. Long story, made short, I’m level 7. So these wolves are pretty easy for me,” Alex said, feeling socially awkward and unsure how to respond to Derek's comment about his eyes.

  I didn’t know my eyes had changed along with my hair.

  “Level 7 in less than 2 days, alone?!” Sarah shouted out. “You have to help us then! You're strong enough to save everyone!” She ran over to Alex, all fear erased from her face, as she replaced it with something else. It was hope and desperation.

  “Help with what?” Alex asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer, because he already had a feeling of what it was.

  Before she responded, Alex glanced at them all, pushing his intent and willpower to see their levels. Their surprise that he was level 7 made him curious.

  Sarah Stuart - Level 2

  Derek Williams - Level 3

  Samuel Miller - Level 2

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Huh, the kid's name is Samuel. They're all lower level than I expected. Why are they so low? Alex thought to himself as Sarah started to answer.

  “It’s Chad. He's gone power mad and is keeping everyone prisoner, enforcing ridiculous rules, and killing anyone who disobeys him.” She started to tear up. “He even killed Marcus when he tried to stand up against him.”

  “Chad?” Alex said with a sigh. “I figured it was him. I knew someone would pull this kind of shit soon, and it makes sense he would be the first I met. He seemed like the type. That asshole dropped me in the cave on purpose. He smiled and let go of my hand.”

  “What level is he?” Alex continued.

  Samuel answered, “5. That dick keeps himself at the highest level, finding a reason to kill anyone who gets close to his level. He also has some of his lackeys at 3 and 4. They're all dicks too.”

  “There are more people?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, only about half our group is still alive, but a few hours after the integration, we ran into a small group. So now our total is around fifteen again. Chad and his three asshats control everyone. I’m the highest of the group, at level 3.” Derek said. “Half the people are still level 1, and only a handful are 2.”

  “Why is everyone so low level?” Alex said without thinking.

  “Alex…People are scared,” Sarah said in a small voice. “Our entire world changed 2 days ago, and most people haven’t adjusted or are too scared to fight. Those of us who want to get stronger, Chad won’t let us, and we don't want to abandon the others by leaving.”

  “Did he really let you fall in the cave?” Derek asked.

  Sighing as he looked at Derek, Alex replied, “Yep. The asshole smiled as he did it. I was extremely fortunate to survive. And that’s fair, Sarah. I forgot everyone would take this kind of thing differently. But why are you all out here?”

  “We snuck out of the camp, hoping to get some levels tonight, then go back in the morning to fight Chad and his goons,” Derek said with determination in his eyes.

  “Alright, works for me. Can anyone start a fire? I’m hungry,” Alex said nonchalantly, then turned and started walking away.

  Surprised by the abrupt shift and casual answer, Derek didn’t know what to say for a second. “Uhhhh... What? Where are you going?”

  “Come with me,” Alex yelled back to them, waving for them to follow.

  A few minutes passed, and everyone was silent since Alex had been ignoring their questions. As they walked, he grew curious, though.

  “So, I need to know something. Don’t take this the wrong way, but how’re you three so calm about all this? And out here fighting by yourselves, at night? Why do you all seem to be doing mostly okay? Minus the Chad drama,” Alex asked them, looking serious. " For me... I'm only going with the flow and trying to accept this craziness otherwise my head might explode. Just trying not to think about it."

  Derek shrugged and replied first, “I’m a military man, have been since I enlisted at 17. I’ve done my time, seen my fair share of bad shit all over the world, and honestly? This doesn’t feel all that different from any other deployment. Except, you know, for all this weird ass fantasy and video game craziness. I’m no expert on it, but I understand the basics. When I was stationed overseas, online games were the best way to spend time with my kids, and some of those were fantasy ones where we leveled up and did stuff.”

  “I'm just chillin, man, and going with the flow, plus I’ve played a lot of RPG video games too. Oh, and I’m excited to get a profession or class upgrade. I’m going to make the best drugs.” Samuel said, while staring off into the distance, lost in thought.

  Sarah was quite hesitant with her answer and took a moment to respond. When she did, it was a whisper they had to struggle to hear. “I’m barely holding it together… If I’m alone, I’m usually just crying. Too many people have died… I’m worried for my family… my friends.. and… I.. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement, understanding how she felt. They were all quiet for the rest of the walk, lost in their own thoughts.

  After walking for a bit, they arrived at the cave.

  “Why’re we back at the cave?” Samuel asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

  “I decided to make this area my new home away from home,” Alex said with a smile. “And we’re here for dinner. And then your training montage begins.”

  “Training montage?” Derek asked.

  “Yep, we’re going to get you guys some levels tonight, before we go deal with Chad in the morning,” Alex said to them. “But first, we’re eating. I’m starving, and it's been days since I’ve had meat. One of you can start a fire, right?”

  “Yeah, we can,” Derek shook his head at the nonsense.

  “Good, we’ll make a fire right outside the entrance here. I’m pretty sure the cave is safe. I didn’t see anything inside it earlier today.” Alex said. “Let's gather up some wood for a fire, and does anyone know how to skin rabbits? I was just going to wing it.”

  “I can do it,” Derek said. “I’ve had experience with it before, and I have the skinning skill.”

  “Wait.. skill? Not a profession?” Alex curiously asked

  “Exactly. We learned there are something called essential skills, which are just skills that everyone can learn. They're similar to professions, but they're treated only as skills and are more limited. The ones we know about are Skinning, Mining, and Woodcutting.” Derek took the rabbits from Alex’s outstretched hand.

  “The essential skills are similar to breaking things down, cutting a tree into smaller pieces, ore veins in smaller rocks, animals into pieces, etcetera. There are probably more essential skills, but we have only discovered these. They’re also fundamental, and at the lowest level, so I don't think you could skin a dragon, for example. You would probably need a profession for that, assuming dragons are real in this crazy new world. Nothing is usually created that's greater than the original for these essential skills.”

  As he spoke, he examined the rabbits, checking their condition and size. “The things that create would probably be the professions. Like turning the meat you gather from skinning into a high-quality meal. Smelting the mined ore and forging it into armor or weapons. Or turning the wood logs into a house. These would be the cooking profession, blacksmithing, and carpentry. Assuming those are the profession names, we’re mostly just guessing here. But there was a lot of discussion about this at the camp.”

  “That… makes sense actually.” Alex pondered. “Can you teach me how to do this Skinning then? It would be nice to be able to do it myself in the future.”

  “Yeah, we should be able to get you the skill with these three rabbits. It won’t take long.” Derek said. “We just need somewhere to do this; it’ll be messy.”

  Using his [Earth Magic], Alex created a large stone table off to the side of the cave entrance.

  “That’ll work,” Derek walked over to the table and laid the rabbits down. “What kind of class are you, Alex? I’ve seen you using earth magic, but you also move too quickly and are too strong with your sword to be a mage. You don’t have to tell me, but it might be good to know if we’ll be fighting together tomorrow.”

  “That’s fair. But I don’t really feel comfortable talking about my class yet. Just think of me as a sword fighter who dabbles in magic,” Alex said hesitantly, hoping Derek would accept that for now.

  “All good. We’ll leave it at that then. I’m around if you wanna share the details later,” Derek replied with a nod, no hint of dissatisfaction with Alex's answer.

  “Just so you know, I’m a warrior, looking to gear more towards a tank. But one of Chad’s minions took my shield.”

  Alex smiled. “No worries, we’ll get it back for you or maybe a better one. But a tank? Look at you using nerd lingo. Your kids taught you right.”