<Embers> shot through the air, heating up the surroundings for a moment before colliding with a Dire Bear. The creature tried to keep chasing after Teresa, but a golden tether connected the monster to Jake, keeping them both trapped in a set area. Teresa's <Embers> didn't let up, scorching the Dire Bear until the tough creature finally went down.

You Have Slain {Dire Bear (F) (lv 43)}

Experience Granted

Teresa and her party had adventured northwest to what was supposed to be a level 36 Portal, but these were clearly not level 36 monsters. Teresa had left the Portal alone almost all week so she could take time to help her allies level up, but the tournament for leading the settlement was tomorrow. Evil Mc God Face had said that she was practically guaranteed to win, but she didn't want to risk it.

They had never found another qualified candidate, meaning it was entirely between Mijo and Teresa. While Teresa had made it clear she didn't want the position, it was undeniable that it was better to have her win than some random. She was planning on resigning from the position immediately, but there was also the possibility that she wouldn't be allowed to. She wasn't sure what to do in that scenario, and she had begun having doubts about her decisions.

"Are we sure it's a good idea to leave so soon?" Teresa asked as the last Dire Bear in the wandering pack went down, an arrow in each eye. "There are kids here too, I feel kinda bad about it."

"There are also over 5,000 fully capable adults with access to the exact same System as the rest of us, it's not like they're defenseless." Sarah replied as she went to collect her arrows. "If there were barely any adults around then yeah, I think staying would definitely be the move, but we're one party out of a thousand. Nikolas' party is staying around, and they're honestly better than us. Maybe not you, but I heard Matteo hit level 30. Give it another week and there will be several parties at our current level. Meanwhile, our families are out there somewhere, possibly being taken by an enemy they don't know exists yet. Our settlement might just be one of the safest places on the planet right now."

"That's terrifying to think about." Jake said, blinking a few times as his vision returned to normal after using <Golden Anchor>. "But yeah, I get it. I've been thinking about it too, but it's not like we're the make or break of society. When would we be able to leave without it being a bad time? Even if we waited until walls were set up around the camp, we would still feel bad about leaving because any decent level monster could knock down whatever walls we know how to make. I will admit, I think we should stick around for at least another week though."

"If our settlement is no longer going to be protected from Monsters by the System, then other settlements are probably experiencing the same thing. My mom and my dad are both just as vulnerable to monsters as everyone else here, they might be in an even worse position." Preston said. "I don't feel good about it either, but it's not an easy decision. There are a lot of people here and they're catching up just fine. I say the sooner we leave, the better."

"I agree, Jonathan made it sound way worse than it is. Even Simon hit level 15, heard he got a Miner class. All that guy wants to do is dig holes, and when he heard about class changes he started working to reach level 15 with some parties. If someone who has no actual interest in combat can reach level 15 just so he can further advance his hobby, then so can everyone else." Sarah said. "Even George is level 6 now, and he's in a wheelchair. I've heard he's hoping to get some sort of Trapper class, the settlement is in good hands."

"It's the Scilians who should be worried the most." Preston continued. "Nobody's ever seen one above level 10, Nikolas said we should start considering the possibility we might need to take them in as refugees. If the situation with the gorillas and whatever's going on in the south doesn't get resolved, there might be three different species living together real soon. The humans are in the best position right now, and I think we all know why."

"What, why?" Teresa asked. Preston rolled his eyes.

"You, dingus. Do you know how many people in the camp would be dead if not for you? Sarah, for one. Saylee and her party were apparently saved by you, same with Theo's party, and a shitload of others. We all got back to the camp as fast as we did mostly because of you, and we probably wouldn't have gone out to help people since Sarah would be dead and Madeline would be with her daughter. Then Simon would be also dead, George's party might have been killed, and anyone saved by the efforts of those you yourself saved would also be dead. Then we would have also lost people to thirst, possibly hunger, there would be bandits roaming around, dude a lot of people are incredibly grateful to you. Jonathan is just part of a loud, angry minority." Preston said.

"It just feels weird knowing so many people caught up so fast. I would have expected it to take longer, I spent an entire month in the Tutorial and I came out level 34. Over the last week, people have been gaining levels way faster than I expected." Teresa admitted.

"The highest level monsters in the Tutorial were level 29 Teresa, not counting the statue or strongholds. People have access to stronger enemies that they can fight with multiple allies backing them up now, parties don't have to be just five people. It splits the experience up, sure, but it doesn't seem like a perfect split either." Sarah said.

"I still think we should stick around for a week. What if there's some sort of System event, like a monster stampede or something?" Jake asked. "Then again, if we fix whatever is going on in the south while heading out I feel like that would more than make up for us leaving early."

It wasn't the first time they had discussed this. Originally the plan was to leave after a short time once they felt enough people reached a solid level, but people had been leveling up a lot faster than expected. Additionally, casualties had begun dropping since snakeskin armor started being handed out to the low levels hunting monsters. It was pretty tough, but strangely enough the armor was weaker when worn by low level hunters. They also didn't have a self repair enchantment, so if one was damaged then the owner was shit out of luck until it could be replaced by one of the five tailors in the settlement.

The party continued on through the snowy tundra, which had a very abrupt edge with the rolling forest they were used to. It really had been a sudden shift from relatively warm weather to freezing cold. It was not nearly as bad as the nights had been in the Tutorial, but Teresa wasn't sure if that was because of the temperature itself or if she was just significantly more durable to the point where it didn't bother her one bit.

The Portal had been deliberately left alone by the camp all week as a part of an experiment. They wanted to see what would happen in an area if a Monster Spawner was left unchecked, and what better place to do it than a snow zone low level hunters would likely avoid anyways?

Soon, they ran into another pack of Dire Bears. They hadn't made it to where the Portal was marked on their map they had gotten from Saylee, but there were quite a few monsters roaming about. Teresa wondered once again what monsters eat, or if they even need to eat, but this pack was high level.

The strongest was level 44, and the weakest was level 37. In total, there were only six of them, and these Dire Bears seemed to have a build focused very heavily on Fortitude and Strength. As a result, everyone in the party was faster than the monsters, except for Jake. He was the one at the highest risk, as the Dire Bears had a build similar to his own at a much higher level. In a sense, he was being countered by facing a stronger version of himself.

Unfortunately for the Dire Bears, Teresa had shotgun <Embers> and <Dash>. She ran forward to face the monsters head on, blasting two of them with a point blank attack from her spell. They both survived the attack, though their eyes had both been scorched from the flames. Another Dire Bear swung a paw at her, but she was able to step back and avoid the strike easily. Teresa activated <Sturdy Outer Shell> and punched the Dire Bear in the face, which effectively did nothing.

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It wasn't entirely about killing the monster, sometimes it was just about gaining skill experience. Teresa had gotten much better at using <Sturdy Outer Shell> quickly, toggling the skill on and off in just two seconds. She retreated before another bear could swipe her in half, blasting them again with two instances of shotgun <Embers>.

Her party mostly watched, as this trip was largely about Teresa getting stronger for the tournament tomorrow. She would have to beat Mijo in a tournament where you could only lose "through surrender or death." It wouldn't hurt to get stronger just in case.

Multiple blasts of shotgun <Embers> pelted the bears directly in the face, blinding the pack rather quickly. Teresa kept an eye out for any additional roaming packs of Dire Bears, as another pack had joined mid fight last time resulting in the rest of her party needing to get involved.

Thankfully, the incident did not repeat itself. Teresa blinded each of the bears, then proceeded to punch them repeatedly with <Sturdy Outer Shell> until she was at half of her Mana capacity. From there, she finished them off with her actual attack spell <Embers>, though the process still took a while.

You Have Slain {Dire Bear (F) (lv 41)}

Experience Granted

Skill Level Up!

You Have Slain {Dire Bear (F) (lv 44)}

Experience Granted

You Have Slain {Dire Bear (F) (lv 39)}

Experience Granted

Level Up!

"Sweet, level 41." Teresa said, looking through her notifications and stats. Soon, her Agility would start gaining two points per level as well.

"Yeah, go team! Whoo!" Preston cheered, giving two thumbs up. "Is this how you normally feel watching us fight monsters?"

"Nah, difference is I can solo the monsters you fight." Teresa replied with a smile.

"Hey now, don't forget I can totally beat you in a race."

"How's your Fortitude doing? One little trip during that race and you're toast."

"Actually it's at 9 now, so give it a few levels and I might actually survive a nasty slip." Preston retorted.

"Make sure to watch out for mages who can summon walls, like actually though. If you're cruising at top speed and suddenly a wall sprouts up in front of you, then you might not have the time to react." Teresa advised.

"Shit, yeah that would suck. I've got 21 Intelligence now so my reaction speed is pretty solid, but I have a hard time switching <Dash> on and off like you do. I do have <Mana Control> now, so I might be able to get better at actually using multiple skills at once finally." Preston replied. At this point, everyone in the party had gotten <Mana Control>, which seemed to help a lot with using skills rapidly and simultaneously like how Teresa typically used her spells.

"Oh, I just realized something." Teresa said, looking back at her stats again. "I'm higher level than everything in the Tutorial now."

"Wow, congrats. That's actually really impressive." Sarah said, followed shortly by everyone else.

"Feels weird, I remember seeing a group of level 29 Wyvern-Fish and running for my life using a goblin as bait once. Now I'm even higher level than Lady Liberty, and I feel like I could actually beat her in a fight without C4." The party continued on towards where the Portal was marked, occasionally taking on a pack of high level Dire Bears. It was great experience for Teresa, and she even began practicing with the boomerang for a little bit just to grind experience for her class.

Within a few hours, they found the Portal.

<Dire Bear Monster Portal (F): lv 45>

Materials: ???

A one way portal that connects monster Souls with generated bodies. Can be destroyed for resources.

The Monster Spawner had leveled up on its own with time, and it had done so rather quickly too. Just a few days ago it had been level 36, meaning it had gained over 2 levels per day while left unattended. How did a Portal level up? Was it just automatic over time? Did it have to do with the number of monsters in an area? Did it level up so fast because they had left this entire area alone, or did all Portals just level up this fast? Maybe Portals had different leveling speeds, what if the details would only be revealed with a higher level <Appraise>? Teresa needed to use that skill more.

Around the Portal were twenty Dire Bears, all level 45. Teresa had an absurd Mana capacity of 1121, which was higher than the rest of her party's combined and then doubled. Still, due to their high Fortitude Teresa was thinking she might need to bring out some strategies from the Monster Stronghold days.

"Alright, here's the game plan. I'm gonna go in, blind them, take out as many as I can, then retreat once my Mana gets low. I'll recharge my resources, then go back in and repeat until I can finish them off." Teresa said, looking at her party. "That means you guys need to take cover and hide, it'll become a problem if they start going after you."

"Got it." Jake said, and with that the party started to put some distance between themselves and the level 45 Portal.

Once they were a safe distance away, it was time for Teresa to kill some Dire Bears. She ran towards the Portal, keeping <Dash> deactivated so she could preserve her Mana and Stamina. The Dire Bears spotted her rather quickly, as she wasn't exactly being inconspicuous. They began to charge after her, roaring in an attempt to intimidate her before they ate her. Of course, the odds of them succeeding were rather low.

Two constant streams of fire shot out from Teresa's hands, covering the Dire Bears in magical napalm. <Intuitive Aim> helped her with targeting their eyes, which sounds easy when you were practically a sapient flamethrower but was actually kind of difficult. Her spell blinded multiple Dire Bears almost immediately, making the rest of them wary.

The remaining monsters split apart into three groups, splitting up to make it harder for her to attack all of them at once. Thankfully, Teresa was faster than all of them, and she was able to maintain a constant distance running away while firing at the Dire Bears.

A shrill roar sounded out louder than the rest, completely unlike the sound of a typical bear. Chills were sent down Teresa's spine, and she suddenly felt her Agility drop. One of the bears had a debuffing spell, slowing her down while also making the ground feel slicker than it already was.

She picked out the bear that had been responsible for the spell, then directed her <Embers> to target the monster. The other Dire Bears were able to close in on her within this time, but all she had to do was jump. Her legs pushed off the ground as hard as they could, empowered by <Dash> as she soared well into the air. Her <Embers> landed on the magical Dire Bear, and while the monster definitely had a lower Fortitude than the rest of its allies it was still able to survive.

Thankfully, Teresa wasn't completely alone.

"JAKE!" She yelled out, and a barrier of light appeared under her feet. Teresa jumped off this barrier using it as an impromptu platform, launching off like a Dire Bear seeking missile. She went straight for the magical Dire Bear, activating <Sturdy Outer Shell> midair and pulling out her new Tutorial sword.

She landed sword first on the monster, which unfortunately was only able to leave a nasty cut along the outer flesh of the Dire Bear. However, Teresa herself was practically a meteor, and she slammed into the monster knocking it to the ground. A quick activation of shotgun <Embers> at point blank range to the throat was enough to finish the monster off, getting rid of the debuff on her.

Unfortunately, her increased usage of Mana meant she was probably going to need to launch three separate attacks on the pack of Dire Bears, but that wasn't going to be a big deal. The Dire Bears just had their only real chance of victory get blasted by an experience-hungry Teresa.

These bears were so fucked.

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