"I didn't even look at that, just tunnel-visioned to choose my [Skill]," Michael said. "But… This can't be right. I'm at 54%. It makes no sense."

Emm did the math: Michael's experience had been at 29% before, meaning these two monsters gave him another 25%. Or, only around 12.5% each.

The same as when Emm had taken two kills. Either the [System] was completely ignoring his existence and giving the full experience to Michael no matter what, or it was giving them an even split. But if they were sharing equal experience, Emm should have leveled up a long time before.

"I'm pretty sure it's not counting me as a person," Emm said. "We'll need to test it further, and check with the others."

"Man, this blows! I really thought you were taking the majority of it for the two snakes you whacked."

Emm shook his head.

"Maybe if you killed it without any help from me, you'd get like, 25%. But I doubt it."

If that wasn't the case, then the experience scaling was extremely harsh. Kill one monster to get to [Level] 2, and then kill, what, seven or eight more to get to [Level] 3? The curve was steep. What did [Level] 4 require, fifty? A hundred?!

Farming low level enemies wouldn't get them very far in this world. They would be forced to start challenging tougher opponents, sooner or later.

"Damn. I'm starting to see why it takes people years to reach [Level] 100," Michael grumbled.

"Exactly. Not even the early levels feel easy. This isn't a videogame."

Michael snorted, and they continued. His face was covered in a layer of soot from blowing the fire earlier, and his hair was singed. He looked like he'd just finished shoving his head into a chimney.

Emm's head was starting to hurt, possibly worse than his leg wound. He felt a new wave of pressure behind his skull with every step he took, still using his spear for support. He checked his bandage, and surprisingly it was holding. The stain of red was much bigger, though. Emm was struggling to put one foot in front of the other, and Michael was barely any better off.

Somewhere along the way, they'd stopped the stomping "tactic". They were both too tired now.

We did good, didn't we? Maybe it's time to call it quits.

"One more?" Emm asked, instead, surprising even himself. He didn't want to be outdone. Already it looked like they'd killed more monsters than anybody else had. If they could get Michael to [Level] 3, that was likely to make him the strongest person around.

The other groups were trying to share the love, and get every person to kill at least one [Vinesnake]. So they couldn't be anywhere close to reaching the next level. Emm was impressed by their teamwork, though. They were mostly listening to the big guy with the shield, who was pointing fingers left and right and shouting, all with a wide smile on his face.

Michael nodded, then scratched his face. "It was dumb of me to use my [Skill] right away. I only have enough mana for another cast, now. I wonder if it's going to be enough for a full kill."

"If I stay as far away as possible, you can try and get max experience. And I step in if you need me?" Emm proposed.

"Sure. But I'm stronger now, so I think I can take it."

They continued walking. If Emm traced back their steps, they were almost at the opposite point from where they'd started circling Miss Simmons and the others. If they kept going, they'd soon reach the same spot where they'd begun.

Emm realized he was beginning to feel more and more nauseous. And it wasn't just the monster's stink; they'd already left the last one far behind them. It had to be the stress, Emm decided. They were fighting monsters in a life-and-death situation, after all, and using medieval weapons and magical [Skills]. His leg had even been savaged by one of the monsters, and he lost some blood. It was normal to feel queasy.

A hissing noise broke the silence. Another [Vinesnake] lunged straight from the ground and aimed at Michael. He flinched and dodged away, then expertly grabbed its head out of the air. First try. His dagger fell to the ground.

Just like they'd practiced.

"[Fire Breath]," he said, unlike what they'd practiced.

The wide blaze of flames that came out of his mouth engulfed a large chunk of the monster's body. The fire looked more intense and felt hotter than the previous time. Emm was sure the monster would be screeching like mad if its mouth wasn't held shut. Michael kept the flame going for a few seconds, then stopped.

It was still writhing a bit, not completely dead, but Michael picked up his dagger and easily finished it off. All it took was a few precise stabs.

He sat down on the ground nearby to catch his breath. The snake's corpse was still on fire, burning close to him. Michael looked completely spent.

"Wow," Emm said, and walked closer to him.

That [Skill] is so powerful. I wish I could do that.

Emm's emotions were mixed. He was happy that Michael was so strong all of a sudden, but he felt a pang of jealousy too. A single level made such a huge difference.

"I only got 14%. I think you were right," Michael said. He was losing his voice.

Yeah. As expected.

"Looks like the [System] thinks I'm a rock or something. Or a piece of dirt," Emm joked. But he wasn't smiling.

Michael didn't find it funny either, and they stayed silent for a few moments. They watched the flames consume the burning monster, and tried to avoid breathing the foul air through their noses.

Emm found it odd, though. Wasn't the monster really wet on the inside? Flames shouldn't burn so easily through material that wasn't dry or flammable. Emm shrugged off the thought. It was magic, after all. Pretty famous for not respecting the rules of physics. He had to change his Earthly mindset.

Emm's headache wasn't getting any better, and he was still avoiding putting pressure on his wounded leg. He extended the shaft of his spear to Michael, who grabbed it, and Emm pulled on it to help him stand up.

"Back?" Emm asked.

"Back," Michael croaked. They'd done enough.

"You looked stronger back there, by the way. Even before you used your magic."

They started to walk, retracing their steps in hopes of avoiding provoking new enemies. With Michael out of mana, the next fight wouldn't be so trivial.

Michael nodded. "My [Stats]. I got plus one to my agility, strength, and intelligence, but I couldn't choose them, it was automatic."

Emm raised his eyebrows. Three per level. A lot, but not too extreme. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Michael wasn't done talking.

"And then two free points, which I put into my agility and intelligence. I want to avoid getting hit, if possible."

Oh. So it's five.

Emm shared Michael's sentiment, and absently nodded his head. Agility for the speed to avoid hits, and intelligence to make his spells hit harder. It made sense. However, was it optimal? Emm wasn't convinced going full offensive was the best choice. He felt they were still vulnerable against more powerful enemies. The defensive stats sounded enticing to him, too.

Miss Simmons would know best. They had to talk to her.

"You desperately need more will, too," Emm said. "Going from two to three casts would make a huge difference."

"Sure. I'll think–" Michael looked at Emm and stopped in his tracks.

"Your eyes," he pointed, with his mouth wide open. "There's blood coming out from your eyes."

What?

Emm brought his fingers to his face. They came away wet in red.