A seemingly endless stream of monsters crashed into the glade, diving into the water after Elias.
He swam hard, arms slicing through the surface in a frantic rhythm, desperation driving every stroke. He didn’t dare imagine what would happen if they caught him before he reached the island.
Glancing ahead, he saw Rebecca’s group splitting up. Rebecca and another girl were waiting for him at the island’s edge where he was headed, while the other three sprinted toward the distant pair of women.
The monsters were coming from both directions. And if either side was overrun, the result would be disastrous.
Elias reached the island’s edge just ahead of the horde. Rebecca extended a hand, and he grabbed it with a grateful nod. She hauled him up with ease. He gave her a breathless, beaming smile, but she only shook her head and snorted.
There was no time for words.
The monsters would arrive within moments, but Elias had just enough time to flick open his Status and check how much experience he’d earned. He knew it had to be a lot, since he’d been getting notifications non-stop, but the actual number left him slack-jawed.
 
Name: Elias Oliveira
Exp: 29.930
Rank: N/A
Spirit: 10
Skill: None
(21.000 exp to level)
Wisdom: 8
Skill: None
(17.000 exp to level)
Intelligence: 7
Skill: None
(15.000 exp to level)
Charisma: 8
Skill: None
(17.000 exp to level)
Agility: 8
Skill: None
(17.000 exp to level)
Strength: 8
Skill: None
(17.000 exp to level)
Vitality: 8
Skill: None
(17.000 exp to level)
 
It was unbelievable. In under an hour, he had earned nearly twice his usual daily experience. And while it wasn’t quite enough to level his attributes twice, it was close.
Still, there was no time to dwell on it.
He quickly selected the attribute he felt would help most in the moment and leveled it.
 The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Congratulations! Your Vitality is now level 9.
 
Using claws, fangs, or whatever else they had, the monsters scrambled for purchase on the massive fig tree’s roots, trying to climb out of the water.
Elias, Rebecca, and the third member of their group wasted no time. They struck with wild abandon—slashing, stabbing, punching—never pausing to check if their enemies were dead. They couldn’t spare the seconds that would take.
They had to keep the beasts from reaching the island. If even a few got through, they would be overrun.
Experience notifications popped up faster than Elias could count. Still, more monsters emerged every second. There were hundreds of them—each one falling, only to be replaced by another.
Their saving grace was that the monsters were small and fragile, and whatever special attacks they might have had were long spent. Soaked and scrambling to climb onto the island, they were easy targets for the three adventurers—at least individually.
Eventually, the flow of monsters slowed. Elias felt a weight lift from his shoulders as their numbers dwindled to nothing.
Relief and joy surged through him. A gleeful smile spread across his face, and he began to chuckle. It started small, but as the last of the monsters fell, his laughter swelled into a full-bellied roar.
"What are you laughing at?" Rebecca asked, her smile teasing.
"I'm alive!" Elias shouted, throwing his arms toward the sky. "I'm alive!"
Rebecca burst into laughter, while the other girl took a small, uncomfortable step back, eyeing him like he might have lost it. They left him to ride the emotional wave on his own, drifting off to check on the rest of their group.
Elias couldn’t care less. He was still trembling with adrenaline, high on victory. He had never felt more alive.
And for long moments, he let himself bask in the feeling.
As the rush faded and exhaustion began to creep in, Elias noticed the two blonde women approaching. They did not look happy.
"Hey," Elias said, preempting their arrival. "I’m sorry for dragging you into that mess."
One of the women gave him a warm smile and nodded in acceptance. The other narrowed her eyes and let out a sharp harrumph, clearly unimpressed.
Up close, Elias noticed their striking similarities. Both were tall and athletic, with matching blue eyes and nearly identical gear—a small shield and a spear each. He guessed they were sisters, or maybe cousins. He wasn’t sure, so he asked. Out of curiosity, of course. Not because he wanted to change the subject.
"We're sisters. I'm Alana, she's Amanda. And don't think you can change the subject," Alana snapped.
For the next minute or so, Alana tore into him for putting her and her sister in danger. Her words were sharp, but not disrespectful. Amanda, looking far less upset, stood by watching and occasionally giggling, as if she were enjoying a play.
Elias endured it, thoroughly embarrassed by the situation and his significant role in it.
"I think that’s enough, Alana," Amanda said eventually.
To his surprise, Alana stopped mid-sentence. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled—long and slow—looking oddly relieved. It was as if the rant had dislodged something from her throat, and she could finally breathe easy.
Their conversation lightened significantly after that.
As it turned out, while the sisters delved together, only Alana planned to continue down the adventurer’s path. Amanda wanted to be a writer. Both had recently perfected their foundations, and this delve was their last time adventuring together before their careers diverged.
Unlike adventurers, people who followed the path of professions unlocked completely different—and often strange—mechanisms for gaining experience and leveling up. Crafters, for example, used the energy drawn from energy crystals in their work and were somehow able to convert a portion of that energy into experience. Other professions, like performers, gained experience by converting emotions directly.
Elias had once heard of a shoemaker who earned experience based on the distance his clients walked in his shoes. Because of that, he made his footwear as sturdy and affordable as possible, which made him extremely popular among adventurers.
After a while, Elias made his way over to Rebecca’s group to apologize to them as well. But before he could even finish speaking, they waved him off with broad smiles.
“Did you not see how much exp we got from that!?”
“It was great! Let’s do it again!”
The group erupted into cheers and laughter. Elias blinked at their enthusiasm—then it clicked.
They were paying Rebecca to guide them through the core area of the zone specifically to gain experience and level up. The exp they’d just earned was probably more than they’d gotten all day. One of the men even tried to convince Elias to round up another wave of monsters.
He laughed nervously and firmly declined.
There was no way he was doing that again.
Just as Elias was about to say goodbye, he heard the rustling of something rapidly approaching through the jungle. He turned just in time to see a young couple burst into the glade, wide-eyed and panicked.
The man spotted them on the island immediately, and his eyes widened even further when they landed on Alana and Amanda.
"You again! This is all your fault!" he shouted, pointing trembling fingers at the two sisters.
The woman didn’t say a word. She dove into the pool without hesitation and began swimming toward the island. A heartbeat later, the man followed.
Elias felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.