The first monster to burst into the glade was a small, bird-like creature with a bee’s stinger.
It dove at the man without hesitation, extending its stinger at the last second to pierce him. Elias’s heart clenched as he watched it unfold. Gritting his teeth, he braced himself to jump into the water. He’d drag the man to the island if he had to.
"Watch out!" Rebecca shouted.
Both adventurers dove beneath the surface at the same time. The bird crashed into the pool after the man, but its stinger couldn’t reach its target underwater. A moment later, a small throwing knife struck the creature, killing it instantly.
 
You have gained 29 exp.
 
Brows raised in surprise, Elias glanced at Rebecca. One of her throwing knives was missing from her vest. He gave her a nod of respect, drawing a smirk from the girl.
By the time the wasp-bird died, a steady stream of monsters was already diving into the pool after the couple. Watching them swim for their lives was a very different experience than being the one in the water.
This time, he saw the chaos from above—the way the creatures tangled and collided in their frenzy. Some were struck down from behind by their own kind, others drowned in the crush of bodies, victims of their own overwhelming numbers.
In the brief window before the couple reached the island, Elias opened his Status again. Even with the experience split five ways, wiping out both Alana and Amanda’s horde—along with his own—had earned him enough to level up again.
They had killed hundreds of monsters. And since Rebecca, Alana, and Amanda were already at the level cap, none of them had shared in the experience gain.
While leveling Agility might have been the smarter choice, Elias didn’t hesitate and leveled Vitality instead. Agility would have helped him move through the jungle more easily; it definitely would’ve made a difference when he was running for his life less than an hour ago.
But that didn’t compare to the satisfaction of finally bringing Vitality to level 10. It was a point of pride, and the sense of accomplishment it gave him couldn’t be overstated.
 
Congratulations! Your Vitality is now level 10.
 
Despite the woman’s head start, the couple reached the island at the same time. Alana and Elias helped pull them from the water, dragging the adventurers to safety just as the monsters arrived.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Compared to the frantic pace of the earlier fight, handling the new wave with a group of ten adventurers felt almost trivial. They formed a line along the island’s edge, striking down any creature that tried to climb out of the water. It was like defending a castle from atop its walls, the fig tree’s thick roots serving as their parapet.
The fight was over quickly. This horde was much smaller than the one Elias had drawn. He barely managed to kill more than a dozen or so creatures before it was over.
"Welcome to the resistance!" Amanda said brightly to the newly arrived couple.
Like Alana before them, they were not impressed.
Elias didn’t stick around to watch the couple scold the sisters—especially since he knew they might try to shift the blame onto him. Instead, he slipped back into the pool before anyone else showed up with a fresh horde of monsters in tow.
The fact that he was still tired and injured hadn’t changed. He planned to use this brief respite to let the hot-and-cold water work its magic, healing and reinvigorating him.
Soon enough, another group of adventurers burst into the clearing, panic written across their faces.
This time, there were no accusations, no pointing fingers. They simply shouted that the monsters were coming and pleaded for help before diving into the water and swimming toward the island.
Elias let out a sigh and climbed back onto the island to greet the approaching adventurers—and the monsters chasing them.
After nearly five minutes soaking in the magical water, he felt somewhat refreshed. Some of his strength had returned, and his wounds ached a little less. He’d hoped for more time to recover, but there was nothing to be done about that.
Regardless, he suspected he probably wasn’t leaving the glade anytime soon.
Over the next few hours, no fewer than seventeen more groups fled to the glade, each with a horde of monsters behind them. Some had even managed to gather more monsters than Elias had. When asked, they explained that they’d tried to make it back to the clearing at first, but eventually gave up and headed for the glade instead.
The other two groups Elias had encountered during his own chase eventually showed up as well, and he felt no small relief at seeing they were all right.
By now, guilt was gnawing at him for having caused this whole mess. Then again, how was he supposed to know things would spiral this far out of control?
Either way, there were now two dozen groups of adventurers gathered in the glade, totaling nearly sixty people. And that was just those who had come here to deal with the monsters. From what he’d heard, others had fled to the clearing instead, hoping the higher-ranked adventurers already there could protect them.
None of the groups in the glade had dared to leave yet, afraid of stumbling into another horde. Everyone was waiting for the flow of fleeing adventurers to stop—that would be the clearest sign that no more groups were still out there, running for their lives.
Besides, if someone had made it to the clearing, it wouldn’t be long before a high-ranked adventurer swept through the jungle and cleaned up whatever monster clusters remained.
The latest group had arrived nearly twenty minutes ago. The one before that had shown up thirty minutes earlier. At this point, it was unlikely anyone else would appear.
Still, he decided to wait another twenty minutes, just to be sure.
“There’s the man of the hour,” said a deep, menacing voice from behind him.
Elias turned—and froze.
Alana, Amanda, a young man with a thin frame and sandy blond hair, and three burly men with similar features stood staring at him. Together, they made up the three groups he’d passed while fleeing from the monsters.
Their eyes were narrowed, their displeasure punctuated by deep frowns.