The large battle had come to an end, with one person left standing, while the other was lying flat out on the floor. Ice had passed out, and to those watching, there was a clear victor. The only thing was, those watching had no clue just how close the match really was.
To them, Gary, while taking the hits non-stop from Ice, looked like someone who was invincible and had an unlimited amount of stamina. That was because for that short period of time, those two things were certainly true.
‘You were incredibly strong, more so than I could ever imagine. You also helped me see what it’s like to fight against someone that has strong elemental powers, and you also showed that I’m still not strong enough,’ Gary thought to himself, trying to clench his fist.
In doing so, his fingers, his whole fist, was weak, but one thing did occur, and that was a ding sound from his system.
[Quest complete] [You have leveled up!] [You have leveled up!]
[Level 34 >>> 36]
It was the first time in a while since defeating one opponent that Gary had leveled up more than once. Which was nice for him to see; with it, he would gain two stat points he could use as well. They were handy, since the higher level he was, the fewer stat points he would receive even from consuming Altered and beasts.
But on top of that, there was a little more in terms of rewards he had received.
[You have received 2 pawn points] [Total pawn points: 7]
‘I still have 7 pawn points I can use. I can use these to upgrade my other stats or see how much is required to upgrade my skills as well. I can also use them to unlock new skills if they're available. That’s why I’ve been keeping them for the time being, and there’s another reason as well,’ Gary thought as he looked at the points building up. He needed to think about what was the best situation in all of this and what he could do, but before that, he needed to figure things out himself.
He raised his hand, hitting the top of his forehead; his vision was quite blurry.
[1HP/300 HP]
‘I’m in a critical state right now…the thing I need…I need…is food.’
No one had approached Gary or Ice yet. They were still unsure of what could happen to them; some of them even feared if they went forward they would still be attacked by either due to the mode they were in.
What they were amazed at was Gary right now. Even though he was standing upright, he had done so in a pool of blood. They remembered all the hits he had taken with his body and the strong hits from Ice. It was a miracle that he was still alive.
It was the same for Blackjack, who had been watching the fight carefully.
‘So you managed to do it, you managed to defeat Ice, but to me, it looks like it was done by the skin of your teeth. Luckily, I don’t need you to defeat the warden, but just to get a bite on her. Still, after seeing everything though, I can’t figure out what type of Werewolf he is.’
Thinking back to the fight, there was also something else he noticed when Gary had used his full transformation, but he was unsure about it.
‘Did his eyes glow red?’ Blackjack thought. ‘No, that’s impossible, in a place like this, and to be that weak, it just doesn’t make any sense, right?’
Still standing there, Gary’s legs were starting to feel weak. In these situations, there would at least be someone for him to consume, but it didn’t seem to be the case. For now, the best thing for him was to get out of there.
Looking around, he was wondering where to go, to head to his cell or try and bust open into the canteen to eat something. He took a step forward, and they were a bit shaky.
This didn’t go unnoticed by a certain leader either.
“He’s hurt, then now’s our chance.”
A signal was given, a hand raised in the air, and they knew what to do.
One of the men that were watching everything so far didn’t act on the order straight away; instead, he looked around for a few moments before he broke from the wall and charged forward at Gary. His hand had transformed into a sharp reptile-skinned point, and he was heading right for Gary.
‘Sh*t!’ Gary thought as he saw this. ‘I can hardly move, and if I get hit by that, I’m dead!’
The downside of using the last stand skill was that one needed to get rid of everyone before using it, otherwise, they would be in a really bad position, just like what Gary was in now.
The person came closer and closer, that was until a man appeared in front of the two of them. He grabbed onto the stinger, and a card was thrown out right at the attacker’s neck.
Letting go of the stinger, the man fell to the floor with the card lodged into his throat.
“Blackjack! Blackjack just saved the new guy, wait why would he do that!” The prisoners asked.
"Hey, more like why did someone try to attack Gary, did they think this was the perfect chance to get rid of him?"
Right then, Gary’s eyes were seen closing, and it looked like he was about to fall to the floor. Right before he did, Blackjack held out his hand, catching him. He then lifted him, placing him over his shoulder.
No one dared to step forward again, and right after that, Blackjack knelt down and lifted Ice from the ground, placing him above his shoulder as well. He was carrying them as if they were weightless and with such ease even though he was smaller than both of them.
“These two, don’t touch them, they belong to me,” Blackjack answered with a smile and began to walk away.
***