Biggie and the twin tried their best to control the guardian to fight against the Revan-head, but the stone guardians were too slow to keep up with the monster.

"That thing looks dangerous," Biggie mumbled as he manoeuvred the guardian to chase after the humanoid monster.

"Should we open the door?" The girl asked.

"No. We will die." Before Biggie could respond, her brother said without a single shard of hesitation. "The only one who can keep up with its speed is him. If it comes for us, it will slaughter us, even before you can lift a finger."

Biggie wanted to say something but hesitated. Sleagh's desperate struggle against the bird monster made him wonder if he had made a wrong decision.

While struggling to decide whether he should go down or not, the boy said, "The only thing we can do right now is to use the guardian to create an opportunity for him to attack the monster."

Listening to the boy, Biggie watched the fight unfolding outside the tower. Sleagh was trying his best to escape out of the range of the spear.

Sleagh was fast, but the monster was faster. And the wounds started to accumulate on Sleaagh's body.

"Sister, move to the right," his sister followed the instruction instantly. "Two-step. Prepare to give a horizontal slash."

"Biggie, 10 meters to your left." Biggie hesitated to listen to the boy's order.

"Don't waste time, do it." The boy urged, saying, "It will help him."

Biggie moved the guardian to the position.

"When I ask, give me a home run." Before he could understand what the boy was talking about, the boy yelled, "Horizontal slash."

Sleagh was running backwards, avoiding the barrage of attacks. <Resonance> made him realise the sword guardian was behind him.

So he knew what would happen when he heard the boy suddenly shout the name of an attack.

Sleagh paused and sidestepped to turn. The sword was a few inches away from him.

He wanted to jump to avoid it but wasn't sure whether he could clear it. So, he rolled to the ground to avoid it.

The only good thing was the monster couldn't understand their language. However, it was more agile than the boy had anticipated.

It pulled out a spear and used it to catapult itself above the sword. The beast almost escaped the swing. But the guardian moved in an inhuman way and struck it with the sword.

The stone sword didn't connect perfectly. So, it wasn't able to cut the beast. However, the brute force sent it flying towards the stone guardian.

"Hit it," The boy yelled.

In the air, it shouldn't be able to evade the strike. Yet it did. It was the blue tip of the spear that the club struck.

*Boom*

The explosion forced the stone guardian to stagger back.

However, Sleagh noticed when the spear was about to hit the stone club, blue steam came out of the crystal and caused the explosion.

It made him realise what had cut his cheek, even when the spear missed him.

Before the beast could recover, he moved close to the stone guardian and attacked the beast from the side.

The monster deflected another attack from the club guardian while parrying his attack with another spear as if it was nothing.

While both of his hand was occupied, the beast couldn't turn around to defend against the incoming stone sword. 

It pushed Sleagh back, turned around, and received the attack. However, the attack came too close to his comfort, leaving a gashing wound on its furred shoulder.

*Crawwww*

Its cry became sharper. It aimed its spear toward the guardian as the blue stream of energy escaped the crystal spears.

It thrust the spear with all force. The spiderweb-like crack started to spread from the contact point.

Sleagh's spear aimed its stomach almost simultaneously. As it was overwhelmed with the attacks from all sides, Sleagh's spear didn't miss the mark.

Blue blood leaked out of the side of its stomach as the pair of black button-like eyes turned towards Sleagh.

Sleagh's instinct screamed in his mind, and he didn't hesitate. Sleagh was quick to pull the spear out. However, the monster was quicker.

One-handed swing of the short spear hit his Agate spear. With an already injured hand, it was hard for him to keep his hold, and the spear flew out of his blood-wet hand.

Yet to the monster's surprise, the weaponless human didn't try to recover his spear but charged right at him.

The monster swung its spear with every intention of breaking his ribs. As the short spear closed in, he ducked and moved to his right in one swift motion. 

The monster understood what was happening and swung its spear back. Alas! Sleagh was too close. A bone dagger had already penetrated its heart and was spraying blue-blood everywhere.

*Crawwwww*

It screamed in anger, rage, and pain. Its sharp beak opened and clamped down on Sleagh's shoulder.

"Ahhhh." Sleagh screamed but didn't let go of his dagger.  He twisted his dagger, intending to kill the monster quicker.

As the clamped beak on his shoulder loosened, Sleagh pulled out. The beak closed on his shoulder as he thrust the dagger back in. But it didn't have much power.

After repeating the same action a few more times, his dirty shirt turned blue on one side, while the other was red from the shoulder down.

He tried to move but couldn't maintain the weight of the lifeless body of the monster.

Under the weight of the dead monster, he collapsed to the ground. A string of notifications appeared inside his head.

[First Graded monster-kill registered.]

[You have killed Lunar Devil (raven)]

[10 exp awarded.]

[<Leach> activated.]

[Strength increased.]

[Dexterity increased.]

[Constitution increased.]

[Willpower increased.]

[Knowledge proficiency increased.]

While Sleagh was sorting his thoughts, the guardians struggled to remove the monster's body.

Soon enough, he could see the sky again. The sun was beginning to fall from its prime. His eternal clock registered the expected time as his face darkened.

Being close to the ground, he didn't need to use the skill to feel the vibration. It was coming from the direction of the forest.

*Grrrrrr*

He turned to look towards the forest as he struggled to stand up. Every cell in his body was aching.

His muscles had been pushed far beyond their breaking point. The dominant hand was wounded and throbbing profusely.

His other shoulder was rendered inoperable. And if that wasn't enough, he was too hungry to move.

Yet he gritted his teeth and stood up. His 'Stone' grade was too far away from him, while his 'Stone' grade bone dagger was still stuck to the monster's chest.

At that time, he could hear the tower door opening.

"Close the door." He yelled while pulling out the bone dagger.

Biggie was about to leave the tower. But he stopped. It was only then he realised another wave of enemies had arrived.

He was worried about Sleagh. But Sleagh didn't even look back at him.

He kept the bone dagger in his belt and grabbed to blue crystal spear.

'Heavy.' He mumbled in his heart as he grabbed the short spear.

Even though it was nearly half the size of his two-meter-long spear, it weighed nearly twice as much.

*Sharp*

Sleagh was debating whether to use the spear or not when he felt it.

His <Resonace> had detected it. It stung his chest before he could figure out what it was.

He looked down to find a dirty dart tied with small feathers stuck to his chest. The stinging sensation spread from the dart and…

*Creee*

Green creatures came out of the forest. Some were holding rusty, broken swords. A few of them were carrying blowpipes and broken spears. And there were ten of them.

When Sleagh looked at the chest-high creature, only one word came to mind: "Goblins."

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