Rob continued to encourage the groups under him, which have grown to seven, to keep working, as they cut down a tree with a hatchet that for some reason, one of them had brought to the Tutorial.


    Leah lingered behind Thomas and Maria, her eyes flicking between Rob and his team. Tracy was barking orders at the twins, who seemed to listen but didn’t hide their shared smirks. Jaxon leaned casually against a tree, his sharp gaze scanning the clearing with an unsettling calm.


    “They don’t trust us,” Leah whispered, barely loud enough for Thomas to hear.


    Thomas stiffened. “And do you trust them?”


    Leah hesitated, her gaze landing on Rob’s easy grin as he shouted encouragement to another group. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I think they’re hiding something.”


    00:03:49


    With just under four minutes until the first wave, Rob and the people who had stayed, had cut down seven trees, and with one of them, had made two crude wooden spears for everyone. Of course, Rob’s group, along with a few others that he favored, got sharpened stone points for their spears, and Rob got the only metal knife on his.


    Leah, on the other hand, as the only one with a Core Sub-Attunement of bow, got a bow, made out of a sinewy wood they found, and a drawstring from a hoodie. They even got her some sharpened stakes, and one enterprising man found some feathers stuck to a bush, and managed to put fletching on three arrows.


    With the rest of the trees, Rob had made a barricade, and had stationed all twenty-seven non-healers in intervals around it, with the support and his group in the middle, to provide ‘aid’ if necessary.


    00:01:00


    “One minute!” A guy shouted.


    “Everyone to their stations, the people in the middle will finish with this tree!” Rob shouted. With that, everyone ditched whatever they were doing, and ran to their stations, picking up one spear, and having a second spear close by, for if their first spear breaks.


    Thomas tightened his grip on his spear, the rough wood biting into his palms. Around him, the others fidgeted nervously, their breaths visible in the cold, heavy air.


    “Forty seconds!” someone called, their voice cracking with tension.


    Maria shifted from foot to foot, casting nervous glances toward the forest. Leah, in the middle, hugged her arms to her chest, looking over the people on the outside, her eyes fixed on the treeline as if she expected something to burst out at any moment.


    Leah’s fingers danced on the grip of her bow, her breathing shallow as she scanned the barricade. The defenders looked nervous, their grips shaky on the crude spears. Every now and then, one would glance back at her—at the center—for reassurance she wasn’t sure she could give.


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    Rob’s voice boomed out again, calm and steady, as though trying to smother the rising panic. “Everybody! Stay calm. Fifteen seconds! Get ready!”


    Remember, hold the line!” Rob called out, his voice ringing over the clearing. “Stick together, and don’t lose your nerve!”


    Some defenders straightened at his words, their grips tightening on their spears. Others exchanged uncertain glances, their doubt clear even as they nodded.


    Tracy smirked from her spot near Rob, her confidence almost unsettling. “They’ll follow him,” she murmured to Jaxon. “For now.”


    A low growl rumbled in the distance, cutting through the tense silence like a knife. The shadows in the forest seemed to ripple, the pale moonlight catching flashes of movement that disappeared as quickly as they came.


    “Here they come!” Robert boomed. “Brace your spears!”


    In a flurry of motion, all the defenders on the outside lowered their spears, and got ready to stab and slice.”


    “Eight seconds!”


    “Five!”


    “Four!”


    “Three!”


    “Two!”


    “One!”


    The first wave approaches. It consists of forty-nine Moonlit Wolves, thirty-five attacking you, and f


    ourteen attacking the other group. Struggle For Supremacy.


    Then, the beasts emerged from the treeline.


    The first creature exploded from the treeline with a guttural snarl, its glowing red eyes locking onto the barricade. Its body was lean and sinewy, its claws scraping against the ground as it charged with terrifying speed. “Incoming!” Maria shouted, her voice breaking through the stillness like a gunshot.


    More creatures burst forth, dozens of them spilling from the shadows like a flood. The barricade shuddered as the first wave slammed against it, claws raking against wood and snarls filling the air.


    The first impact hit like a thunderclap, the barricade shuddering violently as claws scraped and pounded against the logs. Thomas gritted his teeth as splinters flew past his face, the snarls of the creatures mingling with the panicked shouts of defenders.


    “Hold steady!” Rob yelled, his voice barely audible over the din.


    A creature lunged through one of the gaps in the barricade, its jagged claws inches from Maria’s face. She screamed, driving her spear forward with all her strength.


    *Ding! You have slain [Moonlit Wolf - lvl 2 ] – Bonus essence earned for killing an enemy above your level. 2 TP earned*


    All along the barricade, defenders fought desperately, their movements growing more frantic with every passing second. Spears jabbed and pierced, cutting down the creatures that threw themselves at the wall, but for every beast slain, two more surged forward. The line wavered, the weight of the onslaught pressing harder and harder.


    Thomas’s arms burned as he thrust his spear forward, the jagged tip sinking into a creature’s chest. It shrieked, spraying blood it fell, but two more took its place.


    *Ding! You have slain [Moonlit Wolf - lvl 3 ] – Bonus essence earned for killing an enemy above your level. 2 TP earned*


    “Damn it!” Maria shouted, her spear cracking as she swung it sideways, deflecting another creature. “We can’t hold them like this!”


    ”Just keep pushing!” Thomas snapped back, sweat dripping down his temple. His heart pounded as the creatures pressed harder, their claws scraping closer with every second.


    Just then, a scream ripped through the air as one of the defenders was dragged over the barricade, their spear falling to the ground.


    “Get them back!” Rob shouted, but it was too late—the creatures swarmed, their snarls drowning out the defender’s cries.


    Leah’s breath caught in her throat. “That could have been someone I met just fifteen minutes ago.” She thought to herself. “I can’t let that happen again.”


    Soon, Rob yelled, “Leah! Get up here and start shooting! If you can kill a few, then we might be safe!”


    Leah froze for a moment, her heart hammering in her chest. Her bow steadied her, familiar in her hands, the string humming as she pulled it taut. She wasn’t supposed to be fighting—she had thought her job was to keep people alive, not to take lives. But as she watched another defender fall, claws raking through their chest, something shifted.


    “I have to,” she whispered to herself, raising the bow. “Sun can burn, after all.” Her hands steadied, her focus narrowing to a particularly large beast lunging at the barricade. The arrow loosed, slicing through the air.


    The arrow loosed with a sharp twang, cutting through the air like a whisper. Leah’s heart stopped as she watched it streak toward the wolf lunging at the barricade. It struck true, sinking deep into the creature’s shoulder. The wolf yelped, stumbling to the ground before another defender drove their spear into its chest, finishing it off.  For a moment, Leah just stared, her chest rising and falling in shallow gasps. She’d done it.


    *Ding! You have slain [Moonlit Wolf - lvl 4] – Bonus essence earned for killing an enemy above your level. 4 TP earned*


    *Ding! Your core has reached level 2. +2 Free Points*