“Any second now…” muttered Matt.


    Luke and Johnny didn’t respond, they were very familiar with Matt’s impatience. Luke looked back at the others who were back in formation around the cabin. Raising his head, he saw Jim scanning the horizon and Mary staring at him with a weird smile.


    Was Emma not kidding? he wondered. Either way, he couldn’t be bothered about such things right now. He was cautiously optimistic about the second wave now that he had the [Mana shield] ability but he couldn’t bring himself to believe there would be no casualties.


    Suddenly, Johnny tensed up next to him. Soon afterwards, Luke heard it as well…and then he felt it. The ground started to shake and rumble, Mary almost fell off the roof before Jim steadied her. Luke unsheathed his sword and activated [Mana shield]. A few seconds later, the monsters of the second wave were revealed.


    “We’re fucked” said Johnny.


    Luke couldn’t help but agree as he laid his eyes upon the black bull charging towards them. Its head was over ten feet off the ground and its red eyes looked stereotypically evil. It was so eye-catching that Luke didn’t even notice the dozen smaller bulls that accompanied it before they were almost upon them.


    Like last time, the weaker bulls didn’t engage the rankers and went straight towards the spearmen. This time however, the three rankers couldn’t even chase them down because of the threat from the black bull that had stopped in front of them. It let out a snort as it eyed the three rankers but for some reason, it didn’t move to attack.


    Luke was planning to use [Cut] on the monster’s legs but before he could, he saw something insane. Jim’s arrows failing to cause significant damage was nothing new but Luke had never seen a monster open its mouth and swallow an arrow whole.


    That’s one way to dodge an attack he thought. Luke didn’t wait around any longer and charged towards the bull’s legs, knowing that was the safest place to attack. Unfortunately, the creature seemed to realize that too and opened its mouth to reveal an orange light emerging from its throat.


    Luke didn’t know what it was but he had a pretty good guess so he ran to the side, getting out from directly in front of the bull before a stream of fire erupted from its mouth.


    Perhaps it was acquiring [Mana shield] that did it, but something made him unusually brave today. Luke didn’t hesitate for even a second before running past the fiery attack and slicing at the monster’s leg.


    His [Cut] was stronger than ever after his level ups in swordsmanship and mana infusion, the bull’s leg was cut so deep that he could see the bone. The creature let out the ugliest cry Luke had ever heard, a grotesque mix between a moo and roar.


    He ran past the bull and it turned around to follow him, just as he expected. Luke dodged a second stream of fire and right as he did, he heard the bull release another ugly cry. Its decision to turn its back on the cabin had caused two of Jim’s arrows to strike its back.


    Before the creature could react to that, Johnny had leapt up to its upper thigh and left ten deep claw marks on it. Luke almost felt bad for the bull when he saw Matt spawn out of nowhere with his [Cloak] ability and stab the creature right where Luke had cut it.


    Luckily, the creature wiped away any pity he had by almost burning him alive with the largest stream of fire yet.


    “Sarge, turn right and make it chase you!” shouted Jim from the cabin roof.


    Luke instantly understood what Jim was planning, though he wasn’t keen to have a fire breathing bull chase him. Still, if it worked then their victory was guaranteed so Luke reluctantly followed Jim’s instructions.


    As soon as Luke turned right and started to run, the bull released another one of its grotesque noises and followed him. He wasn’t as lucky as he was before and the fourth burst of fire singed his forearms as he leapt to avoid it.


    Luke winced in pain from the burns. If it weren’t for [Mana shield], they’d be far worse. Though not as bad as the bull’s plight because Jim’s plan had worked.


    The ground shook as several tons of weight crashed on to the dirt. Like they hoped, Jim’s arrow had struck the leg that Luke and Matt had injured, finally rendering it useless. Even more arrows rained down on the creature as it struggled to stand up.


    Matt and Johnny ran up from behind it and started to attack it with all they had but in just a few seconds, the bull was back on its feet. It swayed slightly as it faced Luke, looking more like a porcupine than a bull thanks to the arrows covering it.


    Luke felt a chill down his spine as the beast opened its mouth. The familiar orange light illuminated its throat but it was taking longer than usual. Luke reactivated [Mana shield] as he ran to the side as fast as he could but he didn’t realize that he wasn’t the monster’s target.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The bull turned to the champion’s cabin where Jim, Mary and the spearmen had managed to kill each of the smaller bulls. Luke’s heart dropped to his stomach as he saw the creature release its attack. It was like a sea of fire, the extent of the bull’s attack was greater than ever before.


    The spearmen tried to move away but many of them were caught in the flames and Luke saw at least three people fully engulfed by them. The monster crashed to the ground after its final attack but no one spared it a second glance.


    Matt, Luke and Johnny rushed to the burning cabin. Jim grabbed Mary and jumped down right before they reached. There was a miserable panic as the people who weren’t burned took off their shirts and tried to smother the flames of those who had caught on fire. The whole time, they tried not to look at the three charred corpses that were right in front of the burning cabin.


    There were seven people in total who were burned. The others were in a panic on what to do as they stood around the groaning victims but Luke remembered what had happened at the end of the last trial.


    He ran over to the black bull, infusing mana into his sword as he did. The creature was already near death, staring at Luke with empty eyes as he used [Cut] on the bull’s neck. The deep gash that appeared still didn’t kill it and Luke needed to repeat the move before he received the notification he wanted to see.


    *The trial has ended, the village remains standing*


    Luke turned around at once, looking over at those who were burned. Like he hoped, they started to sit up, finding their injuries fully healed. Luke let out a relieved laugh but it caught in his throat as he saw the blackened corpses. The system seemed to sense his troubled emotions and offered a distraction.


    *You have slain [Obsidian Bull (Lvl.22)], 89,000 EXP earned*


    *Previously earned EXP granted*


    *You have reached level 11, +2 to all stats, 4 free points earned*


    *You have reached level 12, stats allocated, free points earned*


    Luke wished he could celebrate the increase in his power but his focus once again returned to the charred corpses. He didn’t even know who they were, yet he took a twisted comfort in seeing that everyone he knew well was alright.


    For the next few minutes, everyone stood around the champion’s cabin, watching it burn. Eventually, Jim walked up to him with a solemn expression and spoke.


    “It was Frank, Sean and Andrew” he said.


    “We didn’t do enough. We need to be better prepared for the next trial” muttered Luke.


    “We were prepared for this one…These trials are designed to kill us” retorted Jim.


    “Does that mean we shouldn’t try?”


    Jim just let out a deep sigh and didn’t answer. Luke felt like he should say something, not just to Jim but to everyone, to try and give them a way forward. Luckily or unluckily, something else came up to distract him.


    *Requirements met, village upgrade will commence in 5…4…3…*


    As soon as the number went down to zero, Luke felt himself be picked up and thrown back several dozen feet. Right before he crashed into a tree, things slowed down and he was gently placed on to the ground.


    Looking around, Luke saw that everyone else was also thrown out of the village. Before they could do anything else, the ground started to shake for the second time that day and everyone watched in awe as the entire village sunk into the earth.


    When the tallest building disappeared fully into the ground, there was a brief silence. Soon after, the ground shook again as new structures started to rise from the earth. A minute later, all the commotion had ended and there was a brand new village in front of them.


    Luke was the first to walk up to the twenty foot stone wall that now surrounded the village. As he reached the massive door made of wood and iron, it opened by itself and let him into the new and improved third village.


    *Calculating contributions… Titles taken into consideration… 1800 Game Points awarded*


    What the hell is a game point? thought Luke, even though he had a few guesses. He noticed the others enter the village behind him but he was focused on taking in the changes. The most important change was the fact that the place was now truly a village and not a bunch of cabins grouped together.


    Aside from the wall, there was now a gravel road serving as a pathway between the various buildings. Speaking of buildings, the wooden cabins were gone, they were replaced with stereotypical fantasy houses with blue tiled roofs, white walls and wooden beams on the outside.


    Like in the old village, the largest house had a bronze plaque on the door with the word “Champion” on it. Luke noted the fact but didn’t move towards his new residence, something else had caught his attention.


    Right next to the champion’s house was a strange set up. It was a small red tent with a wooden table in front of it, the sort of thing you would find in certain marketplaces. The strangest part was the small cat sitting atop the table.


    As Luke walked towards it, the light grey cat stood up and meowed at him. He stopped in front of the cat, brown eyes meeting blue and they silently stared at each other for a few seconds.


    “This is so weird” muttered Luke.


    “You’re weird!” retorted the cat, with the voice of a little girl.


    “Of course it talks” sighed Luke, not even a little bit surprised.


    “I’m not an it, my name is Maya!!” complained the cat.


    “You’re a cat! Why do you need a name!” exclaimed Luke.


    “Do you wanna use the shop or not?” asked Maya.


    “Is that what the game points are for?” asked Matt, coming up behind Luke.


    “You’re not gonna question the talking cat?” asked Luke, to which Matt shrugged.


    “The game points can be used to purchase many things in the store” said Maya, ignoring Luke.


    “Like what?” asked Matt and Luke at the same time.


    “Alcoholic beverages, food, weapons and pretty much everything else you could want” said Maya.


    “How do we access the shop?” asked Luke.


    “Just say the word” said Maya.


    “Shop” said Luke and a screen popped up in front of him.


    SHOP


    Categories: Food and Beverages


    Weapons and Armor


    Skill totems


    Potions and Pills


    Clothing and Accessories


    Miscellaneous


    Why would there be a clothing and accessories category thought Luke. He looked up from the screen and glanced at Matt, only to find him wearing a purple bowler hat.


    Of course thought Luke.