Everyone jumps at the defenseless-looking monster, hungry for some food.

A small stone flies at its head, and Maya dashes, I feel a pulse of Sophie's mana, but the monster blinks its eyes and dashes so quickly I can barely track it with my eyes, disappearing where it came from.

I feel its mana with my perception, but then it disappears as the monster hides its mana. Is that why I didn't feel it coming closer?

"It's gone," Tess says shortly.

Already? Tess's skill has a massive range; how fast is that rabbit?

"That was so funny," I hear.

A new voice. No one from us.

When I turn around, my mana is already flowing through my body, faster than ever before, thanks to my new class and passive skill.

Then I freeze, unable to feel any mana from the man in front of us.

 

[Mana-veiled Scout- lvl ?]

I guess that answers the question if there are any other humans.

"I've never seen such a pathetic attempt to hunt a horned rabbit," he lets out a quiet laugh.

Confident yet still careful, judging from his stance.

Is he from a different group of Hell difficulty people? Is he from a different round?

"Do not move closer," Hadwin says, his voice firm but not aggressive. I already feel mana around the man.

"Calm yourself, mister, it's you guys who are here hunting on Lord Blackburn's land," he smirks.

Yup, I guess he is not from Earth.

We have to witness the end of the world. What is it even?

Does it mean the system plans to destroy the world and for us to witness it? That would be weird, there are more groups; even the system can't create multiple worlds, right? Right?

Moreover, the environments appear identical; could this be some sort of virtual reality? Are we merely imagining all this?

While thinking, focusing on one part of my mind to think about it, I focus with another part to keep mana flowing through my body, ready to fight anytime.

"We didn't know it belongs to someone; we wouldn't dare to do it otherwise," Sophie smartly talks to the man. "We are lost… and hungry."

Good start. The man seems to be much higher level than us so let's be careful.

"Ha! That's some bullshit! You are in the middle of the lord's land, and yet you got lost."

Mana finally flares up from him. Only as a warning.

The difference is massive. He is on a different level. Much stronger than Cinderbear. Multiple times stronger.

Isn't he a scout? Why does he have such mana, and does the question mark mean that his level is so much higher? We were able to see level 20 when we were around level 5. So he is at least level 40 or higher?

"We just appeared here out of nowhere, through the portal! We didn't want to," Kim adds this time. "Are you also from Hell difficulty?"

"Oh," he pauses, and his mana calms down. "So you are drifters, you should have told me," he laughs a bit, ignoring the last part.

Did he not hear it?

"It's my first time finding some of your kind." His eyes move up and down, checking us out, and I feel an almost unnoticeable touch of his mana measuring us.

"Well, you guys seem pretty messed up, so it could be true. I will bring you to the boss, and if you try to run or fight, I will have to kill you," he says and this time his face seems a bit more serious.

I don't like that at all.

Can we fight?

It might be too risky right now so I gesture to Tess to calm down and do the same.

Let's wait and see if we get a better chance.

It's not like we have a choice, right? The entire time, I continued to watch him he seemed careless at times, but that can't be it.

He might be trying to lure us into attacking.

How strong is his body being the level he is? Can we even pierce his skin with our attacks? How does it work?

He is still a human, so is his body stronger than a level 26 Cinderbear?

Questions, questions, questions and no answers.

Fine, let's tread carefully for the time being.

He whistles, and a crow comes flying down, landing on a nearby tree.

 

[Twilight Raven - lvl 19]

 

The crow is pitch-dark, and its eyes are yellow-colored as it looks at us with intelligent eyes. It looks especially long at the corgi.

"Talon likes your… what is it even? Some mutated version of a battle dog? Puppy?" he pauses for a second while looking at Biscuit, "Whatever, follow me."

Without waiting, he starts walking, and I again think of running away. Who knows where the man wants to lead us and what awaits us there, it might be safer to just fight him now.

The crow caws and looks at me with its intelligent eyes. I feel its mana touch me.

What just happened?

"Talon put a mark on you all, so don't even think about running."

Huh? I scan my body, but I don't find anything even after I repeat it multiple times. He might be bluffing.

Yet, the crow's intelligent eyes make me nervous, and slowly I follow the man, together with the others.

 

---

 

The man is called Roland. He isn't that tall, and his build is slim. He has brown eyes and black hair.

He moves, talks, and looks like a human.

We can understand him as if he is talking in English, and he can understand us.

He moves fairly quickly, so we have to move at a similar speed to not stay behind. All under the watchful eyes of his crow.

The land we are on belongs to Lord Blackburn, and every plant, tree, and animal or monster on it also belongs to him. Lord Blackburn is also the strongest man in the area.

Hunting animals without permission is a crime, and for violating this, they can cut off a person's hand.

Roland isn't that talkative when it comes to sharing details, but we find out that there are levels as well. And classes.

The man says they are all from the gods.

We also discover that they refer to skills as "gifts."

Apparently, it's super hard to get one.

Kim asked him what his level is, and Roland slapped him. I wasn´t even able to see his movement and even after 5 minutes Kim can barely walk in a straight line.

It looks like it's a super rude thing to ask.

Additionally, it seems like a wise decision not to confront him unless I am absolutely certain of defeating or surprising him. This may be even more challenging due to the crow flying alongside us, which likely has some connection to Roland.

"Sir," I move closer, trying to sound as respectful as possible. "Would you mind if I ask you a few more things?"

"Haaaa, and I thought you would leave me alone. Go ahead and ask, three questions. Let the gods not think that I don't show some mercy towards the cripples."

I pause. You...

Phew, okay, let's calm down.

"Who is the strongest person in the kingdom?"

His eyes turn to me with surprise, and then he laughs.

"That would be Champion Keiron. Sure, some people say that Champion Tristan is stronger, but everyone knows who the king calls when things go to shit!"

Champion? Is that some sort of title?

I wait a bit more, but the man doesn't continue, and I don't dare to ask about the levels.

"What should I do when talking to Lord Blackburn?"

"Yes, you guys are totally drifters," he laughs even louder than before. "You will be talking to one of the lord's men. The lord is too busy to deal with people like you," he continues to giggle.

"What are drifters?" I ask my last question.

"People send here by the gods, what else?" he pauses and looks at me with a more serious look, "Now, shut up. I don't appreciate your tone, nor the look in your eyes. It makes my skin crawl. If you don't want to get beaten, do something about it. Others won't be as nice as me."

Then he stops talking, and I don't ask him anymore.

Are drifters some setup from the system meant to help us integrate here?

Moreover, how much time do we have until the world ends? Days, months, years? Are we meant to become stronger and survive it? Run and hide somewhere?

In addition, what's the issue with the look in my eyes?

I notice that Tess is gesturing at me, so I move closer to her.

"There's something like a camp, a few dozen men, all armored, and most of them with one question mark over their head."

I guess that's it.

Now we have to hope that the system didn't send us here to die. Something tells me it didn't. In the same way, it put us in the least dangerous part of the first floor and then gradually heightened the difficulty.

I'm following the rest of the group, our steps cautious as we approach the camp. We pass a few tents set up haphazardly across the area, their outlines sharp against the night sky. Armed men cross our path at intervals, their watchful eyes, the weapons and question marks over their heads serving as silent reminders of the potential danger that surrounds us.

 

[Ironclad Warden - lvl ?]

[Longbow Marksman - lvl ?]

[Runebound Knight - lvl ?]

 

They all seem dangerous, too dangerous for me to deal with even one. Some of them look at us with interest as we walk towards the tent in the middle where the leader awaits us.

 

[Mystic Duelist - lvl ?]