Chapter 22：Tension in the Camp

Stanis's whole body shivered, despite the burning sun overhead. That Goblin, if it still was a Goblin, was clearly a cut above the rest. It made him feel apprehensive, especially the way the Goblin had licked its lips while pointing at him. Unfortunately, this wasn't just something he could push to the back of his mind, it had too much of an impact for him to be able to do so.

At the same time, the others who were finishing up the battle were now back on edge. They were too far away to see the Goblin's figure, nevertheless its face. But they had seen the bright orange ball of fire soar through the air, as well as the plume of dark smoke that now rose to the sky. Not a single person thought it was a human, after all, Humanity was too busy being hunted in this world to actually have the time to cause destruction to others. This meant that it was most likely a monster…

This would explain why the Dead 4 had been focused on during the battle, despite them killing all the enemies. It was because there was some kind of Goblin strategist watching them from the Forest. This would also explain why the red-headed Berserker hadn't been focused on during the battle despite being as strong as the Dead 4, it was because he hadn't participated in the last battle.

Soon enough, all the enemies were cleared and the Humans were the only ones left standing. Weak waves of cheers brought Stanis back to reality as he broke away from his paranoid thoughts. In an attempt to distract himself, Stanis began slicing open the stomachs of the Goblins, in search of their Storage stones.

A few minutes later, Stanis was engrossed within his bloody work as he sliced through his multiple kills. However, his spirit further dampened as he saw the Goblin corpse with finger imprints across its scalp…

However, instead of breaking down or puking at what he was becoming, Stanis instead just continued his process of eviscerating the Goblin; he had matured.

A few more minutes later, Stanis was finished and had now collected 15 Storage stones. Not knowing how the other people would react to one person getting nearly a fourth of the total loot, Stanis began opening them where he stood.

Out of the 15 Storage Stones, he got 4 cards which allowed you to increase one attribute by one point, 2 cards that gave him extra experience points, and finally a skill scroll. Stanis immediately used both types of cards on himself, and then wrapped the skill scroll around his waist belt, alongside his now-gory blade.

[Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Mana capacity: 12 (regeneration is capacity/4 per hour) (Mana capacity is actually 18, however 6 points are currently in use)

Level 11 (Progress to the next level is 55%)

Unallocated points: 8

Strength: 19 [18->19]

Dexterity: 19 [17->18]

Constitution: 18[16 -> 17]

Intelligence: 12[12]

Wisdom: 12[10 ->11]

Tenacity: 16[15 -> 16]

Skills: Layman's Rush]

It seemed Stanis was now exactly mid-way between the survivors, not good nor bad. However he had also levelled up twice during this battle, and now had 8 unallocated points due to the cards he had used. After a bit of thought, Stanis decided to increase his Strength and Dexterity by one, Constitution by two, Tenacity by two and Intelligence by two.

The other choices were quite self-explanatory but as for his sudden investment in Intelligence despite neglecting it for so long, it was to do with the mission he had from the Zelaro. It said that he had to kill 20 beings with his darkness, and Stanis was certain that his powers couldn't even kill a fly, nevertheless the monsters that now plagued Earth.

However, he also remembered that both his Transformation and Darkness manipulation traits increased in strength based on his Intelligence and Wisdom. Stanis wasn't sure about what he would get if he passed the mission, but Gahlnym had said some grand words about the Zelaro, and so he was quite hopeful.

[Strength and Dexterity increased from 19 to 20. Constitution has been increased from 18 to 20, and Tenacity from 16 to 18. Intelligence has been increased from 12 to 14.

You are above average for all your upgraded attributes.

You have passed the threshold of 20 with three of your attributes. Would you like to upgrade any of your skills by any of these three attributes?]

Stanis checked the description of Layman's Rush once more:

[Layman's Rush - For a limited time, have all your abilities heightened to their maximum state, despite any fatigue/pain you may be in. Best used when in a serious situation to rapidly turn the tables.

Effect time is currently: 5 seconds. Costs 6 mana to use and has 1 hour cooldown time.]

Despite the wondrous effect it would have on him, Stanis hadn't used it at all during this battle. This was due to the crippling pain, and fatigue his body would be in afterwards. It was an overpowered skill from Stanis's viewpoint, but one that came with just as high of a cost.

If he upgraded it with Strength or Dexterity, he was sure that the skill would become even more powerful, but also one that would be followed by an even worse after-effect. However, Constitution could possibly fix this problem, after all that attribute was all about health and recovery. He hoped for the best as he willed the system to upgrade Layman's Rush.

[Layman's Rush upgraded. Now, after the ability's effect is over, you will experience a weaker aftereffect, and your body will have increased regeneration after the ability effect is over.]

To Stanis's luck, his gamble seemed to have paid off as he got even more than he had bargained for. There were no values attached to the increased regeneration, however, that didn't matter as even a weak increased regeneration was better than nothing. He once more checked his Status.

[Stanis Volkov

Age: 18 years

Mana capacity: 14 (regeneration is capacity/4 per hour) (Mana capacity is actually 20, however 6 points are currently in use)

Level 11 (Progress to the next level is 55%)

Strength: 20 [19]

Dexterity: 20 [18]

Constitution: 20[17->18]

Intelligence: 14[12]

Wisdom: 12[11]

Tenacity: 18[16]

Skills: Layman's Rush]

Having finished his upgrades and changes, Stanis looked towards the Camp. The rest of the people were in a similar position to him as some were still harvesting Storage Stones, while others were mentally upgrading their Status.

During the first fight, no one had particularly cared about the Storage Stones and had allowed Juan to take all of them in the stead of the Camp. Now, none of them was stupid enough to do such a thing as people rushed to harvest the monsters they killed, and occasionally, by accident, others' kills as well.

Doing a quick headcount, Stanis noted that the number of people had gone down from above 30 to the low 20s now. The reason why Stanis didn't fight in the group with the others wasn't due to him hating them, but rather due to the bad experiences he had undergone while in the Camp. However, right now was one of those moments that he needed to re-join the Camp, and so Stanis began walking towards the others.

Now closer to the battlefield, Stanis could once again see the brutality of large-scale fights. His fight scene was certainly not a pretty sight, but it was far better than what he was faced with now. The soil was soaked and mushy with blood, the ground littered with countless corpses.

He could see broken weapons scattered in between the corpses, as well as a few corpses so badly mangled that he could see protruding bones.

His mind sobered, and his heart hardened as he saw the mess in front of him. He remembered the stories about war that he used to hear over the news, about how the soldiers still got nightmares and were sick over what they had seen years past. It was clear that he was currently in a living nightmare, perhaps one even worse than what they had gone through.

Now within the crowd of people, Stanis was surprised as he heard a clear voice break the tense silence. It was one that he could vaguely understand, even without the system translating.

The Russian man spoke with a loud voice, and at a slow pace.

"We were all hit hard when the realisation came that we were in a stalemate, and I think I can fairly say that every single one of us feared our lives then. And so I would like to say:

Thank you, Stanis. You have saved multiple lives by following your battle sense, instead of some dumb formation."

He then performed a bow, albeit exaggerated. His right-hand man, Scowly, did the same. It was clear that these men were taking clear shots at Juan, who had made the plan, despite the fact that no one had any qualms about it before the fight.

Stanis's heart slightly lurched as he remembered the power struggles within the Camp: he had not missed them in the least and had actually been happier without them in his life. He felt used as he realised the Russian man was using his effect on the battle to strike at Juan.

All the others understood this as well, even the people who had recently migrated Camps understood this was a shot at Juan, but people still clapped for Stanis as what the Russian man had said still had truth to it. Stanis killing the Shamans, and releasing the pressure on the powerhouses had drastically shortened the longevity of the battle, and in turn the number of people that would have died from it.

Since he was the target, Juan should have been shot down a peg by the indirect accusations, but he was now far more confident and comfortable in his position as the leader than he was two weeks ago.

"Egor that is very well said. I could not have said it better myself. As for you Stanis, you have my deepest gratitude for saving those who should be dead by now."

Juan then walked up to Stanis, before patting him on the shoulder. It was clear that he was unfazed by Egor's accusations. Now finished congratulating Stanis, he continued talking,

"Many of us are injured, and all are exhausted. However, there is still work to be done! Let's first carry the worst of us back into the camp, into the Injured tent.

After that I want every able man and woman to come to the emergency meeting I will be holding in 10 minutes. Our plan should have worked perfectly, just like last time, but I think it is obvious to all that someone, or something had directly countered it.

We need to have an emergency meeting about what that thing is. After all, we know that the Goblins and Wolves aren't smart enough to plan such complex strategies. Our survival is dependent on the information we have, and how we plan around that. Let us no longer make mistakes like this, as it has cost us eight lives within this very battle. What then about the ones to come?"