A scene straight from the ice age, Jason watched with trembling eyes. The magnitude of Tapeesa’s skill was unlike he had ever seen.

 

Too OP.

 

Half of the freighter encased in ice as the area of effect of the skill even reached a small part of the lake. A few surviving merrloks retreated as they jumped into the water, fleeing away after seeing the devastation caused by a single girl.

 

He kept his eyes at the lone girl on the container, and she saw her collapsing on the metal container as she returned to normal.

 

“We have to hurry,” said Arrluk.

 

Nuniq was a step ahead. He kicked down the door as battled against what left of the merrloks. 

 

“What’s going on?” Jason had to ask.

 

“She only freezes and not kill,” Arrluk said. His words were enough for Jason to understood.

 

Jason narrowed his eyes as he followed the trail of these two. Arrluk came bashing the frozen merrloks as it shattered with merely a slight force. The long rod was the perfect weapon in killing multiple enemies at the same time. 

 

Nuniq was the same. The wide grin showed he was excited over the easy kill as he went wild like a madden juvenile beast. Jason, on the other hand, stood there and stared at the frozen fish people. He scanned up and down at the frozen creature as the immobile effect of her skill was beyond convenient. 

 

A big mace emerged in his hand as he joined in the fun and shattered the merrloks. A blunt weapon was better than a sword for a job like this. 

 

I guess her ability isn’t that severely OP, and seeing how she collapsed on the container, I think her AOE freeze ability is a one-time kind of thing. 

 

The trio continued smashing every frozen merrloks until nothing was left on the deck.

 

“Is it done on your side?” Arrluk asked.

 

Jason nodded. 

 

“What about your granddaughter?” Jason asked.

 

“She’s fine,” said Nuniq. “She does it all the time, and she always collapses afterward.”

 

The brother spoke with a nonchalance attitude that made Jason wondered whether he was a brother like him to Esther. The three went on top of the container as they saw Tapeesa lay there unconscious.

 

“Nuniq, carry your sister to the cabin,” said Arrluk. 

 

“Can’t you do it, grandpa? I just reach level twenty. I need time to think about my job choices,” said Nuniq as he revealed his first opportunity in becoming stronger.

 

“Stop being smug and do it,” said Arrluk. 

 

“Fine.” Nuniq obeyed and carried his sister away.

 

Then they were two.

 

“So. How long does the freeze last?” Jason had to ask after noticing the long period of the merrloks being encased in ice. It lasted more than ten seconds, and that was enough to amaze him. Even his only disable-type of skill only lasted a fraction of a second.

 

“Ten minutes,” said Arrluk.

 

The answer alone made his jaw dropped. A ten minute disable was the epitome of a disable-type skill, despite it was a one-time use.

 

“But it has its drawback,” said Jason as he deep in his thought.

 

“When are you going to leave?” Arrluk didn’t mind a guest, but a person related to the military made him caution even when the person himself proclaimed that he was merely a mercenary.

 

Jason met eyes with Arrluk for a while as he smirked.

 

“I need sleep,” he said. “I’m too tired after all the swinging and killing. I’m gonna crash one of your empty cabin.”

 

Jason left Arrluk alone as he headed to a cabin. 

 

You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.

 

Arrluk was left alone as he stared at the back of the leaving Jason. He let out a sigh as he turned to Oshawa with his eyes narrowed down. The sight of those spiking earth and emerging tectonic plates made the old-timer worried about the unknown future.

 

“A bad feeling,” Arrluk said as he shook his head.

 

The water of the lake was calm as per usual, unlike the raging wave from before. But despite the calmness that returned, the fate of Oshawa City was still unknown.

 

Morning came, and Jason got out to the deck breathing in the fresh air of the late morning. He checked on his status as his energy points returned to full after a good night's sleep. 

 

People are starting to catch up, and some are stronger than I expected. Better get my game face on and see if I can level up for today. On second thought, should I focus on one attribute for a while? My offense kind of dwindling down a bit after going through the balanced route.

 

He stretched his whole body readied for another day. There was nothing better than a good warm-up before venturing out into the wilderness.

 

It’s that pig leader. It kind of bothers me of how I can’t do a thing during last night's fight. Well, it couldn’t be call fair since I did fight against a whole horde of them alongside that big-ass pig leader. I wonder if it’s still alive after the tsunami and whatever artificial disaster that those missiles caused.

 

Jason took a few steps as he prepared for another feat of running on water. Deep down, he couldn’t help but felt excited doing it again.

 

“Jason!” a voice called out to him, stopping him from making a run.

 

Tapeesa ran with her hands, swaying side to side as she reached Jason before it was too late. She panted mildly for her breath as she spurted down after noticing Jason’s cabin was empty.

 

“Are you leaving?” she asked.

 

“Yea,” he said.

 

“You’re not joining us for breakfast? Me and Nuniq got some pancake mix during our last scavenge hut. We thought it would be nice to have some with our natural honey,” said Tapeesa. 

 

That sounds pretty delicious. Should I stay?

 

Grrr…

 

The grumbling of his stomach echoed as both Jason and Tapeesa heard it. 

 

“I guess that’s a yes?” she smiled.

 

My stomach really knows when to make an entrance, might as well feast before a fight.

 

“Fine. But you need to keep your grandfather off my back. His stare starts to bug me,” said Jason.

 

“Okay,” her smile turned wider as the duo headed towards the canteen.