Tomorrow… I’ll level up. I’ll definitely level up.

And just before I fell asleep, I glanced over at the crunchy and dead leaves beside me.

…

I awoke late in the morning, my body sore from all the running and tension yesterday.

Before moving towards the cave not too far away, I went hunting for a few berries as I felt my stomach rumble.

But, I wanted to do this first.

My starvation was so bad that it kept weakening my body, so I needed to complete my task quickly…

I picked up a large pile of dead and dry leaves and moved it over to the cave.

I felt another chill get sent down my spine, but I proceeded with my plan, trying my best to ignore the bloodthirsty presence hiding within the cave.

The leaves rustled as I set the last pile of leaves next to the entrance.

Iron ants have already gathered at the entrance, but they can’t leave due to the transparent wall blocking their exit.

“Okay… And now, we just-“

I dug my hands under the pile of leaves and pushed them through the barrier.

Some landed on the ants, some floated in the air, and some were swept deeper into the cave.

Click

One of the ants clacked its mandibles together, creating a spark that floated through the air.

Click

Another ant slammed its mandibles together, creating another spark that this time lasted longer than the previous one.

But before it could even reach a leaf, it disintegrated into nothing.

Click

One of the sparks created by the ant’s mandible managed to land on one of the leaves, erupting into flames.

The fire quickly coated the inside of the cave, burning the ants alive.

But, my main objective wasn’t to burn them but to exhaust all the oxygen inside.

It was a bit of a gamble but with no risk for me, which is why it was so great.

Though, I kept thinking this would work due to the fire from behind the barrier not coming back out of the barrier… which means oxygen might work the same?

“This probably won’t work,” I muttered to myself before glancing up at the few panels above me, but had no reaction because I already expected to kill some of them.

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

[5 XP]

Some of the iron ants behind the barrier were completely toasted to the core while some just barely managed to survive, scurrying back farther into the dungeon, trying their best to escape the fire.

Now, it’s time to wait.

For a few hours, I went hunting for more berries as I waited for more XP to come, but disappointingly, I never received any.

Just to make sure, I jogged back to the cave after eating a few berries.

“Yep, no XP,” I muttered.

I lost my gamble but at least I gained some experience points.

But just as I was about to head towards civilization, I felt a chill run down my spine once again.

I glanced back and saw the silhouette of a massive ant with spikes peaking its head out of the cave.

It wasn’t out of the barrier, but it felt like it could attack me at any moment.

“I’ll be back,” I mutter with a smile.

…

“HUFF HUFF HUFF HUFF… Finally… Finally, civilization,” I mutter, staring down from the green hill I was on.

I had arrived at civilization, but it was looking much different from my previous idea of a city.

Tall buildings made of high-quality materials scraped the clouds.

Transportation using fancy wheels, on neatly paved, black, roads.

The clothes used by the citizens were strange as instead of showing off their muscles or seductive bodies, they covered them up with long clothes.

It didn’t even seem like winter or fall but just decided to accept the fact that this was probably a different world.

Surrounding the cities were large trees and mountains with the same brown and orange theme.

I slowly walked down the hill, my eyes scanning the entrance.

It was a large bridge across a moat that surrounded the entire island-like city.

Well, it was an assumption as I couldn’t really see the end of the city nor could I see if the moat wrapped all the way around due to how large the place was.

Across the large bridge was a single line of people, not using any form of transportation.

I also noticed something that felt a bit nostalgic.

“Robes,” I muttered.

As soon as I arrived at the bridge, I received many stares due to my ragged and tattered brown clothes, with severe malnutrition as well.

I wasn’t that dehydrated as I found a few puddles throughout the forest, so I drank from them, fully accepting that I was going to get sick.

But somehow, I’m doing fine.

I lined up at the very back of the line and was greeted by a man in armor.

Huh? Why is there a man in armor all of a sudden when the others are wearing those weird clothes?

But when I looked just a bit farther ahead, I noticed the group in front of me had robes and all types of armor on.

I wanted to ask why they were wearing such strange things but restrained myself in order to not draw any more attention than I already had.

…

(Knight POV)

“Ugh, I’m so tired,” The woman next to me says as she leans on her staff as if it was a cane.

“Stop complaining. The entire raid party is exhausted so just shut up and wait,” A man beside me says.

The stench of blood on us was horrendous but we couldn’t do anything about it until we got back to our lodging.

“Hey, at least we finished the dungeon this time,” I say with a smile and everybody’s exhausted expressions were filled with just the tiniest bit of joy.

I gripped my hand tightly as scenes of the past dungeon raid flashed through my mind.

We’ve lost 4 today… With 12 remaining.

“Hey, don’t mind it. At least we lost less than last time,” My best friend says, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“You’re right… But we still had deaths,” I reply.

“*sigh*… Come on man, you gotta get used to it, otherwise, your future is just going to be miserable… Dude? Arthur? You good?”

My friend tries to catch my attention but my eyes were stalking the boy who was currently walking down the green hill beside us.

He was severely starved, malnourished, sleep-deprived, and a bit dehydrated.

He lined up behind our raid party and just stood there in silence.

His eyes were strange though… they seemed mature… Too mature in fact.

It was as if I was looking at a man about the same age as me.

“Let’s go check on him,” I say and Ellie beside me followed.

“Boy, where did you come from?” I asked him.

Intimidation subconsciously rubbed off of me, but the boy didn’t flinch in the slightest.

And then, he smiled.

“Where am I?” He asks, the air around him shifting as if the previous look on his face was never there.

“You’re in Amlas,” Ellie replies.

The boy’s childish face distorted upon hearing her words.