Li re-assumed human form in a flash of green and leaped out of the forest. If he started barreling out there as some kind of demonic god creature, he was sure that every single person out there would panic and spread news about him. Even if he had to use his powers, at the least, it would be easier for the humans to accept his explanations if he was also human like them.

One second would be all it took for the Myrmeke to gut one of the adventurers, and if that unlucky idiot was silver-ranked, then hordes of fans would be crying about it the next day.

Li’s hood fluttered against his head as he moved, and he tore it off in annoyance. When he stopped the Myrmeke, the adventurers and knights would demand him to remove the hood anyway, and he was sick and tired of hiding his face. He had modeled it after his own features, features that his parents had honored him with, so why should he be afraid to show them?

His gargantuan physical strength kicked in as he thundered forwards, his every step blowing out squalls of wind and explosive force that dredged up dirt and foliage. He had to cross the entire lake to get to the Myrmeke, and though he could sprint around the water’s edge to hide some of his speed, that wasted time.

To truly get a happy ending where blood wasn’t spilled, he had to give up some secrets about his power.

Li didn’t stop when his boots touched the water’s surface. He kept running. For a nanosecond, he closed his eyes, wondering if what he envisioned in his head would work.

It did.

Massive geysers of water burst behind him as he sprinted across the water’s surface. Running across the water slowed him down a little, but even then, he estimated just below ten seconds to reach the other side of the entire lake.

While he made his mad dash, he focused on the scene across the lake, his potent eyes zooming into the disaster.

The Myrmeke was fully awake now and screeched out a threatening roar that pierced that shook the branches of the trees in the clearing. Birds fluttered out from the treetops, sensing the danger.

Several magic circles manifested above the Myrmeke. Bolts of electrical energy and sweltering streams of fire emerged, engulfing the entire clearing in a fiery explosion wreathed with crackling shocks. Li recognized the spells. One was [Pillar of Fire] and the other [Rain of Lightning], both C and D ranked spells respectively.

Li didn’t worry. The Myrmeke would take little to no damage from low ranked spells coming from beings that were twenty or more levels below it. The Myrmeke swung its massive jaw from side to side with incredible force and speed, unleashing gales that killed the blaze that had erupted around it.

The fire had been a distraction. Using the second of time it had purchased, one of the adventurers, the biggest and sturdiest looking of them all, garbed in heavy black plate-mail and wielding a silver greatshield, stood bravely in front of the Myrmeke and planted his shield into the ground.

A young woman, a Templar it seemed by her immaculate white robes and chainmail, raised a plain wooden stave and cast a defensive buff on the knight, wreathing him in an aura of golden energy.

Li understood how this was working. The adventurers weren’t rushing in without a plan. As far as strategies went, this was actually quite safe. The armored adventurer, most likely a warrior with tanking specialties, would attract the Myrmeke’s attention while more fragile damage dealers would attempt to deal damage from as far behind as they could, alternating between different damage types to scope out weaknesses.

The only issue with this elementary gameplay was that it relied entirely on the tank’s ability to keep his defenses up.

Perhaps on a level 50 monster, this strategy was viable. Good, even.

However, at level 60, the Myrmeke simply out-statted the adventurers too much. One blow would punch through any damage reduction buff and deal massive damage to the tank. Li understood that in the game-world, you only died when your health reached 0, but here, where game mechanics meshed with elements of real life, a severe enough wound could lead to death through blood loss or straight up tear through vital organs.

The warrior steadied his stance behind the greatshield and withdrew an elixir from a belt pouch. It glowed a pearly white under the sun.

By now, Li was close enough to see a flash of silver dangling from the knight. Not good. He was one of the silvers that absolutely had to survive. Li put more power into his legs as he hurried his pace. That elixir also confirmed his suspicions: these adventurers didn’t have any access to meta-spells such as [Power Sense] or [Assess Danger] which allowed players in the game to gauge the levels, strengths, and weaknesses of unknown enemies.

The elixir, a [Cave Ward], was a thrown potion that blinded most enemies, but was particularly effective on creatures used to the dark of caves, stunning them. It was reasonable to assume that the Myrmeke was a regular insect-creature that dwelled in the dark, but as a Trapjaw variant used to digging through the earth, it possessed the [Tremor Sense] passive that made it immune to blinds.

Li was very close now, just a couple of seconds away, but still late.

The Myrmeke charged and used its jaws to slam into the knight like a raging bull. The knight soared almost a dozen meters into the air before he crashed into the ground with a ringing clang as his armor collided with solid earth.

Li jumped from the water with explosive force and landed at the water’s edge, a shower of ploughed up water trickling around him like rain. He reached out an arm towards the Myrmeke to issue a command as it skittered right in front of the unmoving knight, its jaws open to slice the fallen knight into two.

But Li’s hand froze in the air as he witnessed the templar throw her staff behind her, roll up her white sleeves, and leap in front of the fallen knight. She too had a silver medallion hanging at her neck.

The Myrmeke’s jaws closed in on her, but instead of conjuring up a barrier, she stuck her arms out to her sides and used her bare hands to grab each jaw, stopping them from snapping half-way.

The Myrmeke’s jaws trembled as it channeled its might into them, but the templar stood firm, her lips pursed with heavy effort. The ground beneath her shattered as she countered the Myrmeke’s strength.

The scene unfolding before Li made no sense. The Templar, even as a silver rank, was still what? Level 40? Maybe 45? He didn’t even remember the exact details of her stats from when he had checked them before the adventurers roamed into the forest. She wasn’t anything special, and yet she had enough brute force to contend with a monster that likely had three times as much raw power.

This was the first time that he considered that there might have been mechanics completely unique to this world.

Li, his curiosity finally piqued just a little bit, still knew he couldn’t let this scene keep playing. The Myrmeke was winning against the templar, its jaws inching closer and closer to crushing her. He commanded the Myrmeke to stop and return to him, waving his hand and beckoning the creature to come by its master’s side.

Almost immediately, the giant ant scurried towards Li, as if it had completely forgotten about the adventurers, and nuzzled its head into his chest.

He stroked the creature’s head. It looked like it would feel smooth, but the ant’s carapace had many sensory hairs lining it that didn’t feel too different from fur. Now close to the creature, he could feel their summoning link.

He channeled his thoughts to the ant, ‘Go underground, but stay just close enough to me so that you can hear me.’

The Myrmeke clicked its jaws in understanding before it buried them into the earth. The dirt separated almost magically around the ant as it sunk underground almost as if it fallen into fast-acting quicksand, leaving no holes or any traces that it had been aboveground.

The adventurers hiding out in the forest growth, the mages, assassins, and rangers, stepped out into the clearing. The templar went back to the injured tank and knelt by him, placing a gentle hand on his helm and whispering out a healing spell.

The adventurers stared at Li with quizzical wonder mixed with fear. They were cautious, to be sure, keeping their distance as Li had shown the power to run across water, leap a dozen meters in the air, and tame a beast that was one step away from slaughtering every single one of them.

Li’s mind raced as he started formulating answers to the round of interrogation he was about to face.

Finally, one of the adventurers stepped closer to Li with hesitating steps. A woman, Li could tell, but barely considering that her body was concealed under a black cloak and her face shrouded by a fukumen.

The only tell-tale signs were her angular, feminine facial structure and long silvery hair tied back into a ponytail.

“I know you,” she said, her ruby red eyes blinking.

“Well, I don’t know you,” replied Li instinctively before he coughed into his hand, reminding himself to be a little more polite. “Ahem. I mean that I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“You’re the man on Old Thane’s farm! I catch you out in the field sometimes when I’m travelling by the main road. I never knew you were a man of such power.”

Li raised a brow. “Uh-huh.”

The adventurer looked away from Li. “My apologies. That sounded rather…unsettling. I’m no stalker, I assure you. My party and I, when we were children, we loved playing on that farm, back when his wife was still alive. Gods, she was good to us, and it hurt dearly so to have her go so early. I like to keep watch over the farm sometimes, to make sure Old Thane is doing fine.”

“Doesn’t look like the old man was getting much help before I got there.”

“He’s a stubborn man. I doubt he would have ever taken our coin or help. It’s a wonder he even took you in.”

“People tend to bend their principles a little when their lives are saved.”

The woman raised a hand to her mask-covered mouth. “My! You saved his life?” She gave a half bow, bending at the waist. “Great stranger from the East, I have to extend you thanks from the depths of my heart.”

Li was surprised that there wasn’t more ruckus about the fact that he was foreign. It had seemed to be a big deal to Vincentio, but not so much to the adventurers. In fact, as the woman kept talking to him, the adventurers behind her became more and more comfortable, knowing that he lived here in Riviera and was just like them.

The truth was obviously far different, but Li allowed them to hold onto the illusion that he was like them. It would make them comfortable. He couldn’t even imagine the amount of alarm he would have caused if he stood out here in his true form.

“You’re not, well, surprised to see me? I’m a little different, no?” said Li.

“Surprised? Of course. I am in wonder to see a man of the East for the first time with my eyes. We have records of your people, but none from our generation have set sight upon your kin. But I do understand your concern. As a foreigner, surely you must have suffered some ill-begotten words thrown at you by the common rabble,” said the woman as she straightened her posture back up.

She gestured back to the small crowd of adventurers behind her. They had come closer now, comfortable with Li’s presence. “But as adventurers, we travel far and wide. We have long learned to understand that the arch of one’s brow or the color of one’s skin is no judgement of the character.”

“That don’t count for Elven scum, though,” spat out one of the adventurers as he pushed in front of the woman. He was a tall man with similar build to Li, being lanky but athletic. His complexion, however, was much darker than Li’s, being a tanned bronze.

He was dressed in animal skins and leather armor, but it was light, exposing significant chunks of a heavily tattooed body. A wooden longbow at his back was a telltale sign that he was a ranger.

“And you,” said the man as he stood directly in front of Li. “I can give ya thanks for keeping the old grump alive, but how do ya explain what just happened? Sprinting cross’ the water like some devil and then gettin’ that beast all ferocious like down to being as tame as a puppy?”

By this time, Li had made something up in his head.

“Where I come from, there are certain martial arts that let people perform impossible tasks such as walking on water,” he said, recalling fantastical tales in webnovels and wuxia literature he once killed spare time reading. “Taming the monster is also one of the powers I learned. There are a great many monsters in the east, so all of us grow up knowing how to tame creatures. If you want specifics about my powers, though, well, I’ve been away from home for quite a while and so my memories aren’t the best. Even if I did remember, I’m sorry to say but I can’t just share state secrets.”

“I ain’t heard of no Eastern beast taming powers, though,” said the man. Li began to feel worried before the man shrugged and said, “But then again, ain’t nobody seen an Easterner in the flesh in years and years, so who am I to be judging.”

The man suddenly fell backwards. The templar from before had yanked him back by what looked like a tiger pelt around his neck. With her other arm, she hoisted the fallen tank – full set of platemail included – over her shoulder with complete ease.

“Gods damn it, Jeanne, I was just curious bout’ this here foreigner, okay?” complained the man as the templar held him back. He didn’t try to struggle. It was evident from his expression of defeat that he knew he couldn’t escape even if he tried.

Jeanne smiled to Li as she flicked her head back, pushing long blonde locks away from her eyes. “Apologies for my friend’s rudeness, good sir, and have no worries: a friend of Thane is a friend of ours.

But most all, I have to extend you my gratitude for saving our lives. Were it not for you, surely that monster would have slain most of us. Alas, it seemed we were far too confident in dealing with the creature. Though pray, do tell, where did you send it?”

“Away,” said Li vaguely. “Far, far away. It won’t bother any of you anymore.”

Jeanne nodded in appreciation before she raised her voice so that it projected to all the adventurers. “By my honor, I have deemed this man rightly and just! Ask of him no more!”

She gestured to the white-haired and black-cloaked woman to go to Li. “Sylvie, can you guide him out of the forest? Keep him away from the knights, would you? I can get the adventurers to listen to me, but when the knights finally muster enough courage to show up here, I fear they will be a much more hard-headed lot.”

“Understood,” Sylvie said with a curt bow, shorter than the one she had given Li. She grasped Li’s arm and motioned to the forests, away from where the knights were no doubt still guarding a ballista that they had no use for anymore. “Come with me. I can cover you with stealth, but you mustn’t stray very far. Is that fine?”

Li nodded and followed Sylvie, surprised that things had worked out so well. He didn’t even have to lie that much.

When they stepped into the thick of the forest, Sylvie raised her free hand so that it was directly in front of her forehead, almost like she was in prayer. Li recognized this gesture.

It was what Assassins that specialized as Ninjas did to cast their spells. This also explained the fact that she wore a fukumen on her face. But all of these concepts were fundamentally Eastern and yet Sylvie didn’t seem to know anything about the East. A curious thing.

“[Cloud Arts: Windwalk]”

Wispy mist materialized around Li and Sylvie, obscuring their presences in a fog. Outsiders would see them as hazy silhouettes at best, so faint that they might even second-guess themselves into thinking they had just seen ghosts.