They were ready. The hours they had spent waking up their powers had changed them.
The first shock of their arrival had been burned away and replaced by a cold, sharp focus.
They were a team, armed with skills that broke the rules of their old world. More importantly, they now knew the brutal rules of this new one.
They knew the hard truth: only six would survive. They knew the fastest way to get stronger was through violence, by absorbing the life force of the dead.
And they knew this forest, Zone E, was the starting area, the nursery filled with the weakest monsters. It was here they would take their first life.
They moved through the dark woods like a single creature. Jin and Eric were at the front, their eyes scanning the deep shadows.
Talia moved like a ghost on their side, her steps silent on the damp ground. Masha and Erica, their elemental fighters, walked in the center, their hands glowing faintly with stored energy.
Rina, their healer and most important member, was protected in the middle of their group. The rest of them—Edgar, Juno, Neil, and Dante—were at the back, acting as the brain of the operation.
"Hold," Dante whispered, raising a hand. The team froze.
Fifty yards ahead, a hunched creature was crouched by a stream. Its skin was a sick, spotty green, and its ears were long and pointed.
It chewed on a root with sharp, yellow teeth, its black, beady eyes darting nervously into the darkness. In its hand, it held a rough club made of wood and sharp stone. A goblin.
This was their test.
"Edgar, Appraisal," Dante ordered in a low voice.
Edgar's eyes went unfocused for a moment. "Goblin Scout. Rank E," he reported. "Very low health and stamina. It has one skill, 'Vicious Strike'. No special defenses. It's weak."
"Juno?"
Juno analyzed and said, "It's hungry and scared," he murmured. "Its left leg is hurt; it's not putting much weight on it. That's the weak spot."
"Alright," Dante said, the plan forming in his mind. "A clean kill. Jin, you go first. Hit the weak leg to stop it from moving.
Masha, the moment he moves, freeze the ground around it. Erica, hold your fire unless it tries to run. Talia, be ready to cut it off. Let's go."
Jin gave a sharp nod. He burst from the cover of the trees, his sword a silver flash in the dark.
SCREEE!
The goblin shrieked, a high, grating sound, and tried to scramble away. It was paranoid, but it wasn't fast enough.
"Masha, now!"
Masha pushed her palm forward. A sheet of slick, shiny frost instantly spread across the ground. The goblin's feet slipped out from under it, and its panicked run turned into a clumsy slide.
That single moment was all Jin needed. He closed the distance, his blade striking with perfect aim, not at the creature's heart, but at its injured leg.
The goblin howled in pain and rage, swinging its club wildly. The rough weapon glowed with a faint, dirty energy from its 'Vicious Strike' skill, but Jin easily blocked the clumsy attack.
CLANG!
The sound of wood hitting steel rang out in the quiet woods.
Realizing it was beaten, the goblin tried to drag itself away.
"Erica," Dante said calmly.
A small, controlled fireball shot from Erica's hands. It didn't hit the goblin but slammed into the ground right in its path, showering it with hot sparks and dirt.
The creature flinched back in terror, stumbling backward right into Jin's waiting sword. With a clean, quick thrust, the blade pierced the goblin's chest.
It gave one last, gurgling sigh and fell. A faint, almost invisible wisp of energy rose from the body. "Jin, absorb it," Dante ordered.
He focused, and the wisp of energy flowed into him. His eyes widened in surprise. "I feel it," he breathed. "It's not much, but I feel stronger."
A wave of relief went through the team. They had done it. Their first kill. It was a perfect plan, a flawless victory.
But their celebration was cut short.
The goblin's death shriek had been answered. From the deep shadows around them, a chorus of identical, high-pitched cries erupted.
The rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs grew louder and louder. Dozens of pairs of black, beady eyes lit up in the darkness like evil coals.
They had killed the scout. Now they had to face the nest.
They poured from the trees, first ten, then twenty, a screeching horde of green skin and rough weapons. The perfect plan was gone.
This was no longer a hunt. It was a desperate battle for survival.
"Formation! Rina, stay in the center! Eric, shield her!" Dante roared over the growing noise. "Masha, ice wall, now!"
A shimmering wall of thick ice shot up from the ground in front of them, blocking the charge of the first wave.
They slammed into it with weak thuds, clawing and pounding at the frozen barrier. But more were already swarming around their sides, their numbers seeming to have no end.
"Talia, left side! Edgar, right! Jin, hold the front!"
The world became a blur of violence. Erica turned into their cannon, launching fireball after fireball into the thickest parts of the horde.
Each blast sent goblins flying, their bodies blackened and smoking, but for every one she burned, three more scrambled over the dead to take its place.
Jin was a storm of steel at the crumbling ice wall, his blade a silver arc of death, but he was being pushed back by the sheer number of enemies.
"There are too many!" Talia yelled. She moved like a deadly dancer.
She dodged a club that would have crushed her skull and answered with a sharp thrust to the goblin's throat.
But as soon as one fell, two more lunged to fill the space, their clubs swinging.
Eric was a wall of muscle and will, his body a living shield for Rina.
CRUNCH.
A club hit his shoulder with a sickening sound. He grunted in pain but didn't move an inch.
Behind him, Rina's hands glowed with a soft green light, fixing the torn muscle, her face pale with the effort of constant healing.
Dante's mind raced, trying to control the chaos. A goblin, its eyes wild with bloodlust, broke through the line and charged at him.
Before he could even react, a spike of razor-sharp ice shot up from the ground, stabbing the creature from below. Masha didn't even look at him.
"Focus on leading, Dante!" she shouted, her face a grim mask as she launched a spray of ice shards into the oncoming wave. "We'll keep you safe!"
But they were getting tired. Their mana was running out. A club grazed Erica's arm, making her flinch. Her next fireball went wide, exploding harmlessly against a tree.
Jin took a shallow cut to his leg from a goblin's knife, and his footing slipped for a critical second. They were taking damage. They were being worn down.
The horde was a non-stop wave of claws and teeth, and they were an island slowly being washed away. They were completely surrounded, and the goblins just kept coming.