Emm stabbed the corpse a few more times just in case but to no avail. It was hanging limply by its tail. Yup, definitely dead. Slowly the realization set in.

He couldn't level. Everyone around him would quickly grow stronger and stronger. They would go up against stronger and stronger monsters. And he was already struggling against tutorial mobs. If nothing changed, he would be completely useless against a [Level 10] opponent. Boris had made that very clear against the demonic gorilla. A big level difference was insurmountable.

More importantly, he couldn't see a way out. There was no way back to Earth for him. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would have to spend several years avoiding death to reach [Level 100] and get transferred back, but even that was nothing but a pipe dream, now.

He took out his anger on the dead snake and swung his spear horizontally in a wide arc. He hit it in the most damaged spot, and with a loud squelch its body split into two pieces, the smaller of which fell to the ground. Emm wrinkled his nose at the large amount of blood that poured out.

Disgusting.

Michael watched. "No luck, huh? We should go and fight at least one more. Maybe you're just really close to [Level] 2."

Emm shook his head. "I don't think so. This one is twice as long as the first one, and thicker. It had to be stronger, and worth more."

Michael had already leveled just from killing the weaker one.

"You can't be sure of that. Who knows how far underground it went."

Emm wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Of course–"

Michael launched himself in the air and grabbed a fat branch with both hands. Effortlessly, he pulled himself up and stood up. He was like a monkey up there, slinging himself across another two branches, using all of his four limbs to grab purchase. The leaves rustled, and in a matter of moments, he was staring at the end of the dead monster's tail.

"It's growing out of the tree. Directly," he said.

Confirming their suspicion that the monsters were plants. That changed things. If they could chop the next one down at the base, it should die.

Michael dropped down and landed in a crouch. It had been a long drop but he shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Wow. You're really something else, Michael."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Michael grinned.

They set off deeper into the woods and continued to stomp around, crunching fallen leaves. Maybe it was a waste of energy, but it had worked fine against the previous monster. They were able to easily get away from its initial attack. There was no way they could sneak up on predators like those, so it couldn't hurt to announce their presence loud and clear.

Emm's stomach growled, reminding him that he'd skipped breakfast.

"Can you grab the next one as well? I hope the hand bandages helped."

"I think so, but the last monster almost slipped away a few times. Kicked real hard. You'll have to be faster about killing it," Michael said.

Emm nodded, unsure. He was already handling the heavy weapon better than at first, but the problem was his muscles- or lack thereof. He was on the scrawny side, and his arms could only last for so long.

"I can try. But if it's coming from the trees, you could climb up. I'll distract its main head while you have free reign around the roots. Safer."

Michael shot him a look. "That wouldn't give you the XP."

"Wouldn't it? How much did you get for this one?" Emm asked.

"I'm at 16% to [Level] 3 now, instead of 3%. So, I got 13%."

Emm whistled. "That's not much," he said, careful to keep his eyes on both the ground and the trees. New monsters could appear at any moment. He wouldn't let them get a jump on them again.

"I'm hoping that it's because you got most of the experience, and are now at 99% or something, without knowing."

Emm considered the possibility.

"I don't think the math checks out. We don't know how the experience requirements scale, but if you got a full level and a decent chunk extra, the difference is just too big."

"We have to try," Michael replied. "Or…"

Or I'm completely screwed. Yes. Stuck at [Level] 1, forever.

Shortly after, a new snake burst at them from the earth, just to Emm's left. It was closer to him and lunged, but Emm was ready. He put his spear in its way in time to block, and the monster bit down on the hard wood with an audible crunch. He let go of his weapon and grabbed its head.

Michael was quick to act and took hold of its from Emm's hands, freeing him to back away. The snake's jaws were still locked firmly around his spear, but after a few tries, he managed to pull it free, ripping out the snake's fangs in the process. They had gotten stuck in the wood.

All its smaller heads hissed and cried out in pain. Since the monster was defanged, Emm was in no hurry. His injured leg made him less mobile.

Slowly, he circled the monster, careful not to get bitten by the tiny snakes, and aimed for the spot where it was growing from.

He swung down on it, paying attention to the angle of the blade at the tip of his spear. His blow cut the monster deep, but not all the way through.

Carefully, he aimed again at the same spot, and his second swing finished the job, splitting the snake in two.

Michael dropped it, and they stepped away from it to watch it die.

He'd done it. Emm felt a shiver.

Unfathomably, his nose was getting used to the stench of purple blood. Still unpleasant, yes, but no longer unbearable.

"[Status]. Nope," he said to Michael, who gave him a worried look.

"You... might be right. I got another 13% for this kill."

It was worth the same as the previous one. Michael was already at 29%.

"Then," Emm began, "it's a complete waste to let me take any more kills. The XP is going into thin air."

He had to change his paradigm. If he couldn't level, but still had to survive against increasingly powerful monsters, he only had two options. The first was to find a safe area where he could settle down and spend the rest of his life doing some menial job. That didn't sound much worse than his life back on Earth, actually, he'd just have to learn to live without his loved ones. Or the internet. Or any of the other thousand conveniences he'd grown accustomed to. God, he hoped that this world at least had coffee.

If that didn't work, the other option was to take a more supportive role, but keep fighting. Staying as far away from danger as possible while doing everything in his power to help the others and keep them from dying. And maybe, in time, a monster would drop a legendary weapon or something, that he could use. Or he'd buy one. The more he thought about option two, though, the more it sounded like a dead end as well.

But from the way the world had treated him so far, Emm had a bad feeling about the first idea of a civilian life. There had to be a catch. If it was a legitimate option, surely the death toll couldn't possibly be as high as Miss Simmons had told them. Wouldn't most modern, spoiled, summoned "heroes" just accept that, rather than risk their lives fighting monsters straight out of nightmares?

There had to be a catch, he was sure of it. What he needed most was more information.

For now, it's option two.

"Don't worry about me. Let's kill more of these bastards," Emm said, rolling his shoulders. "I'm starting to get the hang of this."