Flames licked the very fur off of his body, leaving nothing but burnt tufts behind. But beneath the fur lies some hardened scales, causing not an inch of flames to touch his human skin.

Thanks to training with Zeke and Mikella, Lyle was capable of handling his own even against several monsters of his own stage.

His multiple insect legs were incredibly useful as he traversed the ground, trampling and killing every Fire Fox that came his way by piercing them with his sharp appendages. But that wasn't all, as he traversed with those long spider legs that grew from his back, he also swiped the foxes to the side with his claws made from his arms. Even if the fire foxes go and bite them, the hidden scales underneath the bear-like arms would protect them.

Before, he could only really use one form at a time, but now thanks to his training, he was able to at least use three at a time for a limited time. His stats and resources have gotten an incredible boost thanks to the enhanced attribute fruits and the skill leveling provided to him by Mikella's intense workout routine. Even though he only gained about two levels after almost a month of living in Arcelot, his fighting improved ten times over according to his guess.

But even that wasn't enough. He was by himself at the moment, surveying the dozens of foxes of varying sizes trying to kill him. Looking over, he noticed Zeke fighting for his own life–or rather, fighting to defend the people behind them.

The camp filled with low-level folks all rushed and panicked, noticing the sudden horde of the most powerful and dangerous creatures coming after them. Even though some of the foxes ran past Lyle, Zeke was able to push them back with his runic spells and good use of his magic gauntlets. They hit the foxes accurately, causing them to get deterred enough so that Lyle would come and kill them.

And as for why Zeke was not fighting and instead hanging back was simple enough. Lyle needed the experience points.

The foxes didn't just range in level 30 to 40. Some even went above level 50, and the largest foxes, often having more than one tail, were around Journeymen rank at level 60 and above. They even had a different name for those giant creatures.

Three-tailed Fire Fox, Level 63.

I do not wanna see the Nine-Tailed Fox, thank you very much.

He shivered at the thought of seeing any monster with nine tails as the three tailed fox was enough to put him on edge. The smaller foxes were nothing, but the three tails were fast and witty, often tricking him into attacking the smaller fire foxes which looked so much alike. One would think the size difference was easy to determine, but there were so many foxes that one could crowd around each other to look like the three tails.

Worse yet, they often use illusions that came along with the intense uncomfortable heat wave they give off. That was already causing some of the folks behind them to attack each other instead of running away, forcing the others to tackle them and keep them in place. Both Lyle and Zeke have Steadfast Mind, a skill gained throughout their casting and crafting, so they were fine against the mental attacks, but it kept distracting Lyle from actually hitting the damn things.

Just as he got distracted yet again, a sharp pain, followed by an intense burn, hit his back and making him grimace. A powerful fireball hit his back, causing one of the spider legs to get burnt up and turning limp. Even though the monster parts were separate, they were still a part of his body, so any damage done to them is passed to him too.

He wasn't skilled enough to control them directly, so he had little choice but to leave the damaged spider leg out as he pulled out several poison-tipped knives from his pack and threw them at the fox that fired at him.

As expected, it was the three tails. It jumped out of the way, leaving the knives to impale the smaller foxes that were behind it. They went down easily, the poison powerful enough to execute their low-level beings.

If Lyle was good at something, he was good at making medicine. And he specialized very well in poison. Being an assassin's helper let him experiment a lot with poisonous substances, leaning towards a poison that could easily take a life without much suffering.

It was the least he could do to help Janet's conscience when killing people, even if they deserve it for being heinous criminals. While some of the poison he experimented with were dastardly unusable for being so chaotic to the body rather than instant death, he didn't mind using them on the foxes. He didn't care if they suffered, but the three-tailed fox was just too fast.

He looked back at Zeke who was focusing hard on keeping the foxes away from the camp. The otherworlders at the camp tried their hardest to help, at least a small percentage of them, but none of their attacks even made a scratch on them.

Zeke roared at them to go, figuring them being there would just kill them instead. Though he knew Zeke appreciated the gesture.

That's why Lyle forced himself to work harder. It wasn't just for the experience–Zeke was better at keeping the enemy away from the low-levels. His skill set was mostly dealing with powerful monsters at single-combat. If he had his barrier, that would be one thing, but Lyle was the only one able to take down a group of monsters at once.

Level Up! You are now Level 57. You gain 2 free points.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

…..

Kinetic Perception Level Up! It is now Level 6.

…..

Mana Manipulation Level Up! It is now Level 3.

And the more he fought, the stronger he got. He spent his free points on his Dexterity as soon as he could. He needed to be faster, and every point in Dexterity would help him as he charged ahead with his spider legs to take out as many foxes as he could.

But one little nasty fox managed to get under him, charging up a gout of flames that burned the bottom half of his body. He screamed in agony as he crushed the fox, leaving it as a nasty meat paste on the ground.

His legs burned, the skin screaming in agony. His spider legs were no better, getting charred by the sides. He cursed under his breath as he felt more foxes incoming. Looking back, he saw multiple foxes of differing levels coming straight for him. In his weakened state, he was perfect to take down now.

A blast of sharp air blew at the group of foxes, severing their bodies apart in a flash. Looking back, he saw Zeke's hand facing his way, his forehead dripping with sweat from his concentration. Taking this downtime, Lyle downed a specialized health potion for this occasion.

He can't expect Zeke to come and save his ass whenever he was hurt, and he was currently protecting the masses which were utterly useless to defend themselves. Besides, while free healing was nice, there was nothing better than drinking his specialized concoctions.

He opened up his specially made canister gun, piercing his arm with the needle and shooting the contents straight into his body by pulling the trigger. It quickly blazed throughout his body, refreshing his channels and burning them at the same time.

Then the effects poured in. Life energy healed up his burnt legs and even his spider legs. His muscles tensed and tightened, his veins pulsing with more energy than ever before.

You have drunk Lyle's Special Dose.

You have gained a buff: Hammer Time.

Your regeneration has been increased by 50% for the next two minutes. Your attributes Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance have been increased by 10% for the next two minutes. Your overall senses have been increased by 15% for the next two minutes.

"Aaw yes! That's bangin'!"

Lyle screamed, truly feeling alive from that dosage. When he created this, he learned that increasing the effects of the potion he just drank while at its Rare rarity was possible, but it would increase the addictive nature, forcing the body to go through withdrawal if he doesn't intake this Special Dose on a regular basis.

He still put a hard limit on how many he can drink at a time. While drinking more won't make him an addict, there was a heavy downside of weakness afterwards, which he hoped Zeke might be able to take over when it happened.

That was why he put in extra effort to make each potion as powerful and high quality as he could for this very reason. No longer having to worry about holding back certain effects, he let his body fly as he trampled, crushed, and stabbed every creature he came across. Not even the three tails could get in his way.

Because by the time the three tails was running away to get at the otherworlders, Lyle chased it down like a devil straight out of hell and ripped it apart with its pincer-like spider legs.

…..

Level Up! You are now Level 58. You gain 2 free points.

Janet frowned as she already distributed her free points into her status. She had been steadily gaining levels recently, which was at first troubling news rather than exciting.

That means Lyle was fighting for his life, gaining levels. And if that was the case, he must be fighting a serious battle with dozens of monsters.

But the more she leveled, the more she was assured that Lyle was receiving a lot of aid. Either Zeke or the other Journeymen were helping him survive the onslaught.

As for how Janet knew, she looked at Mikella who stared at the direction she was facing, her sword at the ready.

Looking back to where she was staring at, she noticed several creatures coming towards them.

This time, they were all bunnies. Normally, this would be the most adorable scene she would ever witness, but that was all ruined thanks to the multitude of those bunnies having glaring red eyes with orange-matted fur, and their forms were more crooked and bony than fluffy. Their fangs protruded out of their mouths as each of them growled like hellhounds from the pits of despair.

Hell Bunny, Level 34.

They weren't just low Experts, but some were middle, high, and some even reached Journeymen rank. Their names showing exactly what they look like, they all gathered around each other, glaring at the camp in front of them.

"Lyle's fighting too," Janet said, her dagger at the ready. "I think he's fine."

"That's good," Mikella smiled sweetly. "But we need to focus right now. I'm sure that Lyle can take care of himself. But these people need our help."

Janet nodded slowly, seeing the multitude of scared and shaking otherworlders behind her. Right now, Mark and Elly were working overtime to keep them from running around and panicking, trying to gather them all up together while the fighters took up position. However, seeing their levels, it was obvious that not a single one would survive if even just one of these creatures went for them.

It was unfair. Her hands tightened on her dagger as she noticed just how high the disadvantage was for these otherworlders. How can they survive if all these monsters are so high in levels?

"Janet, you know what to do," Mikella said, her tone cold and steady. It honestly made Janet feel at ease to hear her so serious. "Go after them and kill every single one you can spot. Don't worry about any creature that goes past you. I'll take care of them. You focus on getting stronger from this."

"...Shouldn't we help the others gain levels too?" Janet asked, but that got Mikella to shake her head.

"If Zeke or maybe more of our party were here, that'd be a good idea. But I don't want to gamble on their lives to get just some of them strong. I want them all to survive. So don't worry–make sure to keep that experience to yourself, and don't die."

Janet felt her limbs shake from the proclamation. What mattered here wasn't just to get stronger. It's to use whatever means necessary to survive in this world, and if she gets stronger, she can help the others survive longer just like Mikella and Zeke did.

Without another moment of hesitation, she dashed forward to the rushing Hell Bunnies, her eyes sharpened like her dagger as she planned to cut them all down to the bone.

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