Ryan POV
The monster moves before any of us decide what to do.
It doesn’t charge like the ridgebacks. It walks forward, slow and deliberate, head low, eyes fixed on me instead of Emily or Daniel.
"It’s looking at Ryan," Daniel says.
"I noticed," Emily says. "Spread out. Don’t let it pick who it fights."
We break formation, moving to flank it from both sides. The creature doesn’t react to Emily or Daniel at all. It keeps coming straight at me.
"Ryan, hold your ground," Emily says. "Let it commit first."
I plant my feet, sword raised, watching the way its weight shifts with each step. It’s bigger than the ridgebacks, slower too, but something about the way it moves tells me slow doesn’t mean safe.
It lunges.
I sidestep the way I’ve trained all day, blade already moving to catch it across the shoulder. The strike lands, but it barely slows down, swinging its head toward me with enough force that I have to throw myself backward to avoid the hit.
"It’s tougher than it looks!" I call out.
Emily’s already closing the distance, striking it from the side. Daniel follows a second later, aiming for its hind leg. The monster snarls, turning to face the new threats, giving me the opening I need.
I activate Basic Slash again. The cooldown’s clear now. My sword comes down with the extra force the skill provides, catching the creature across the back. It staggers.
"Now!" Emily shouts.
The three of us close in together. Emily strikes its side. Daniel hits the same leg again, finally buckling it. I finish with a strike across its throat, putting everything I have into it.
The creature collapses and dissolves into light.
No glowing drop this time. Just standard loot—fur and a handful of gold, same as everything else we’ve fought today. My shoulders loosen slightly at that.
A notification opens in my vision.
[EXP Gained: 350]
[Level Up! You are now Level 2.]
"There it is," Emily says, catching her breath. "First level up."
"Feels anticlimactic," I say. The source of this chapter is g.com.
"It gets better the higher you go. Open your status window. See what changed."
I pull it up. My stats have shifted since the last time I checked.
Strength: 14 (+2)
Agility: 12 (+2)
Intelligence: 8 (+0)
Defense: 13 (+2)
Vitality: 12 (+2)
Health: 120 (+20)
Mana: 50 (+0)
"Standard growth for a Warrior," Emily says, glancing at the numbers over my shoulder. "Strength, agility, defense and vitality go up. Intelligence and mana stay flat unless you invest in something that changes it."
"Can I choose where the points go?" I ask.
"Not yet. Base classes get fixed growth until you unlock a path or subclass. Once you do, you get more control."
Daniel’s checking his own window, frowning.
"I’m still level one. That’s not fair."
"You didn’t land the finishing hit," Emily says. "EXP splits based on contribution. Ryan did more damage overall, so he got more."
"Great. Love that for me."
"You’ll catch up," I say.
Emily’s still watching me, something thoughtful behind her eyes.
"You picked up Basic Slash fast. Most new players take a few tries before they land it cleanly under pressure."
"I don’t know. It felt natural once I tried it."
"That’s not normal for a first skill use." She doesn’t say anything else, but I catch the look she gives Daniel.
I don’t mention the glitch from character creation. Not yet. The moment still doesn’t feel right, and some part of me wants to understand it better before I say it out loud to anyone, even her. The source of this chapter is NovelPing.
"We should head back," Emily says. "Quest should be marked complete now that the thing blocking the trail is dead."
I check my interface. She’s right.
[Quest Complete: Clear the Disturbance]
[Reward: 500 Gold, 800 EXP]
The reward pushes me closer to level 3, the bar in the corner of my vision ticking forward. Daniel’s still grumbling about being behind, but there’s no real frustration in it, just the usual noise he makes when things don’t go exactly his way.
We start back toward the trail, the forest quieter now than it’s been since we left the city gate. I flex my hand around the sword grip, still thinking about the strength behind that first skill use.
Emily called it unusual. I don’t disagree, but I also don’t have an explanation for it, and that bothers me more than I want to admit.
"Hey," Daniel says, falling into step beside me. "For what it’s worth, that was a pretty solid first level. Beats my first time completely. I died twice before I got anywhere."
"You died?"
"Respawned, obviously. But yeah. First week was rough for me."
"Good to know I’m not completely hopeless, then."
"You’re not hopeless. You’re just weirdly good at this for someone who swore he wasn’t a gamer."
I don’t have an answer for that either.
Emily leads us back toward the gate, and the guard from earlier nods as we pass.
"Trail’s clear," Emily tells him. "Whatever was out there isn’t anymore."
"Appreciate it," he says, though he doesn’t ask for details, and Emily doesn’t offer any.
As we head back toward the plaza, I pull up my status window one more time, scrolling past the main stats to the smaller section underneath—skills, attributes, the things most players probably never bother checking closely.
One line catches my attention.
A single attribute, small and easy to miss, sitting below Vitality where it wasn’t before.
Something that shouldn’t be there at all.