RROOOOARRRR

It was loud, bellowing roars. They were so loud that it felt like the air shook.

This call was also familiar.

Fortified-level monsters, and they were getting closer.

In retrospect, they were already lucky not to have encountered a mob of them already. For better or for worse, even when they were at the border, they had already landed in the Level 2 Danger Zone.

Like this, the group scrambled to contain their camp, with Finn having to take some of their items into one of his spaces. They decided to move a bit further back from the border this time.

After spending time in level 2 and at the borders, they concluded that maybe hanging around on the borders of level 1 was enough. Before, the border was sparsely populated by toughened levels; now the numbers there were akin to the previous level 2.

They continued on because they wanted to check the situation in level 2, wondering if it was the same as before.

Before, the borders would show fortified level monsters, but not many. It would've been manageable since they had a decent number and a fortified-level member. But hearing that roar now indicated that a mob that was above their pay grade was coming.

As such, the group headed out, hoping to leave level 2 before the fortified-level mobs arrived.

Sadly, their way there was blocked by a continuous stream of enemies, and everyone had no choice but to start using their skills from the get-go, just so they could get as far away as possible from the fortified mob.

For example, Finn had to use his [Feather Step] every time the cool down allowed, Leez's mace would always be surrounded by her fiery technique, Leiah's arrows were advanced and deadlier than usual, and so on.

More and more beasts came and soon, they found themselves on the defensive. Finn quickly gave everyone a bottle of expensive beast repelling potion each, which worked just enough to make them hesitate in their approach, giving the humans openings to run away!

Luck was not on their side, however, when—

Bang… bang… bang…

Heavy footsteps sounded as they ran and defended themselves, and they turned to see five fortified stage monsters! FIVE! And this time, they didn't have the barrier to hide in!

Gideon was the only fortified level there, and Durgan was at the peak of toughened and he shielded them the best they could.

Gideon pushed them back with his sword, making sure everyone was behind him, while Durgan yelled every time he pushed his shield, and he bellowed when he swung his axe.

"Continue moving forward!!" he yelled, asking everyone to focus on running, focus on clearing their paths and leave the rear to him!

ROOOAAAARR!

BANG!!

The monsters lunged at them, and the two had to block against fortified monsters, but they were quick and a claw managed to swipe Durgan.

"AH!"

"DURGAN!!"

"No!"

They gasped when they saw a deep gash on his arm, but he kept holding his shield. Their eyes were teary, but they knew they had to make a clear path for everyone.

The group had their backs against each other, attacking whatever beast surrounded them. Their stats were quickly decreasing, and they could not consume their potions fast enough. The only bright side to this was that they had just slept so their stats were pretty okay, though not full as they only rested for a few hours.

Things happened quickly and in their distraction due to Durgan's injury, several monsters managed to push through their defensive circle.

Even a fortified adventurer would have trouble, what more the weaker ones?!

ROAAAR!!

More and more among them were swiped and hit, and the blood in their bodies made the monsters go even wilder, until everyone was bleeding.

"KYAAA!"

"GIDEON!!"

"Oh no! Marcus!"

More and more people received dangerous injuries, and they sharply felt that they could really die this time.

Finn used his [Feather Step] and carried Marcus on his back. Nona and Leez took care of Durgan while swinging their weapons at the attackers, while Leiah was jumping from tree to tree, focused on damaging the enemies following them.

Finn gritted his teeth and took out food. "Leiah! Make it fly!" he yelled, and Leiah nodded, making some of the D-class and even C-class meat from Finn's space to fly.

Because the people bleeding were toughened-level, he had to take out meat that'd be more attractive to them.

Anyway, none of them were in the state to fight. "Back to the cave!" he yelled, referring to the cave they stayed in less than an hour prior.

ROAAAR!!

There were a lot of fortified stage monsters, even at the borders. "This is not normal," Gideon said with narrowed eyes. He was a fortified-level fighter so he was a mainstay in this area.

"Something is happening, and we have to report it," Leiah muttered, a solemn expression on her face.

"We'll have to get out of here alive, first!" Nona yelled.

Finn did not have the energy to even speak. He was just running as fast as he could, carrying Marcus. He could only sacrifice every bit of food from his space and get the others to throw them away, to reduce the number of monsters running after them, even if only for a few moments.

Finn was running out of essence food. He had three small spaces, and now none of them had a few dishes left.

"What do we do…?" he asked, heart palpitating. Surely, this wasn't the end!?

BANG!

BANG!

They could only fight them off at the mouth, but eventually their energies would run out as well. Even the HP potions from the [Hearth Market] had been consumed and he needed to wait hours before a single bottle could be purchased!

Not to mention, the healing potion could only do so much because of their levels, and a toughened level fighter needed more than one bottle for decent effect.

Finn forced his brain to work. Think, think, he chanted as he swung his weapon, listening to the other swipe away at their enemies, but struggling to do so.

Soon, they arrived at the cave, but they were still surrounded. Throwing the last bits of food he had would be useless now, because they were now stuck.

It was at this moment that he suddenly remembered something.

He immediately went to the [Build] Tab and clicked one of the new buildings he had been ignoring due to reasons.

[Expansion Module].

[Would you like to build an expansion here? Yes | No]

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