BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

<977 experience points for a single beast is a huge boon," Erik thought.

He was still far from leveling up again, but he had already gained two levels since the attack began, and not even half an hour had passed since the Blirdoth came to the Yellow Palace.

If only Erik could find a place to hide and that the thaids couldn't find or breach, he could finally relax a little, but unfortunately, the situation was that there was no such place around.

The only thing he could do was go to the closest shelter, but even that meant he had to pass multiple thaids, increasing the danger he was exposed to a lot. However, he couldn't stay out there in the open much longer. The shelter was his best shot at surviving.

Erik then observed the Ferele's body and breathed a sigh of relief when he looked at it, knowing that he had killed it. However, the problem was that the battle had left him with low mana reserves, and he didn't know if he could survive without them.

He needed to rest a little before starting his march again, but regardless of the situation, he was going to risk being attacked again. He then walked away from the corpse of the Ferele. His flyssa was still slick with the thaid's blood, but he wiped it clean on his sleeve and sheathed it.

He walked briskly down the empty street, as he had just decided that the best thing to do was to get away from the place since the beast's dead body would surely attract more thaids.

His eyes scanned the buildings and alleys ahead for any sign of danger, and he paid attention to any sound nearby so that he wouldn't be surprised in case something happened. He had learned the hard way that Thaids rarely traveled alone, and he was on high alert for any other creatures that might be lurking nearby.

The problem was that the growls and screeches of monsters reverberated throughout the whole city, and there wasn't a second where he didn't hear a creature making noise. Luckily, the buildings were too tall for the creatures to climb them, and even if they did, they would die in the fall.

<At least I don't have to also look at the sky,> the young man thought.

The awakener reached the end of the street. He was going to turn a corner when he heard a low growl; he tensed, readying his flyssa for another fight. He tried to be as stealthy as possible and not alert the thaids that were evidently behind the corner. However, the system didn't give him the usual message he got when a hostile creature appeared, meaning that the beasts hadn't heard him yet.

<What the fuck do I do? Charge in or change path?>

In the end, Erik decided to avoid the fight and keep his mana reserves, so he returned to the beginning of the street and took another road. To be honest, this happened a couple of times, with Erik having to change directions every time to avoid fighting.

This tactic worked well enough because, after a while, Erik noticed that the sounds made by the monsters diminished until eventually sounding so distant that he believed he finally got away safely as if whatever creature was out there was gone; he could relax for the time being.

"That's one less thing to worry about." He said to himself, breathing deeply. After walking through several streets filled with nothing but silence and emptiness, but for the thaids distant sounds, he arrived at a nearby park where all the workers probably ate between breaks since there were several food stalls along the way that were left deserted but full of food.

However, he wasn't the only one who got here since many thaids were scavenging the stalls and eating the food like the ravenous beasts they were. He decided to keep a safe distance from them; he observed them from afar, trying to devise a plan to avoid getting spotted.

He noticed the thaids were not paying attention to their surroundings and were too focused on the food. He thought about sneaking past them while they were distracted, but he wasn't sure if he could make it without being noticed. After a short while, he found out there was no chance for him to get past them and that he could only take a long route to reach the shelter.

<Fuck... this will make me lo->

[WARNING: MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED.]

"Oh my god!"

A moment later, a growl came back from behind the young man. He quickly turned to see what the menace was, and soon he saw a group of Thaids emerge from an alleyway, snarling and snapping their teeth. The young man's heart raced as he realized he was surrounded by monsters famous for being very vocal.

They were Ma-cofs, nothing Erik couldn't kill, but the fight would almost certainly attract more thaids, and if the monster in the park saw him, that would be a problem. Erik quickly reached for his weapon, ready to defend himself against the hostile monsters.

There were thousands of thaids there at the moment, and they were stronger than average. He would have killed them relatively easily if he had seeds with him. Unfortunately, he did not intend to leave the Red Palace and did not bring them with him.

"Serves you right, you stupid idiot!" Erik said to himself. He hadn't forgotten about the seeds, but he thought it was unlikely that something like this would have happened to him. He was at the Red Palace with Master Nieminen and hundreds of teachers and workers protecting him and the other students. There would have been no need to bring the seeds with him; everything happened because of the military's inadequacy in protecting the city.

Erik counted the monsters quickly. There were four of them, and they looked hungry. He tightened his grip on his flyssa and prepared for battle.

The Thaids charged at him, their eyes glowing with a fierce hunger. Erik dodged their initial attack, his flyssa flashing as he struck out at them. One of the Thaids went down with a yelp, but the others kept coming.

Erik spun around, using the momentum to deliver a decisive blow to another Thaid's head. It went down with a satisfying thud, but the remaining two were still advancing. Erik gritted his teeth and readied himself for their next move, his heart pounding with adrenaline. He knew he had to be quick and precise if he wanted to come out of this unscathed.

Erik backed up, trying to keep the Thaids at bay. Up until now, he managed to kill the thaids in relative silence, but the remaining two could still make noise and attract the other thaids. He had to try and kill them as fast as possible without using mana and being as silent as possible.

He feinted to the left, then darted to the right, ducking under a bolt from one of the Ma-Cofs. He swung his flyssa in a wide arc, catching the creature across the back. It winced in pain, but its partner was already approaching Erik from the side.

Erik leaped over the Thaid's outstretched claws, twisting in midair to land a blow on its head. Dazed, the creature staggered back, and Erik took advantage of the opening to strike it down with a final, brutal blow.

He turned back to face the last remaining Thaid, panting and sweating from the exertion. It growled at him, saliva dripping from its fangs.

Erik circled it warily, looking for an opening. The Thaid charged at him, but Erik was ready for it. He sidestepped, driving his flyssa into its flank. The Thaid howled in pain.

"FUCK!"

At that moment, a notification appeared in his head.

[MULTIPLE HOSTILE MA-COFS KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]

[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]

[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]

[3...2...1...0]

[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 880 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]

[WARNING: MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED.]

However, when the Ma-Cof howled, all the other thaids turned their heads and found out about the young man. They charged at him at unprecedented speed with snarls and growls, and Erik started running away from the monsters.

He dashed down the street, turned right, and then turned left after 20 meters. Going inside an alleyway, he stopped and hid inside a trash can, and the smell masked his scent. The thaids went past the alley without noticing him.

Erik stood there momentarily, catching his breath and looking around to ensure no more Thaids were lurking nearby. The city was silent and empty as if nothing had happened.

He briefly took his mask off and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He put it on again and sheathed his sword. He had survived another encounter, but he knew there would be more Thaids out there waiting for him.

"Let's get out of here..." As soon as he stepped out of the trash can, he heard the voice of someone he didn't want to meet ever again. Erik turned to look at the young man and saw that it was Nathaniel, followed by five other people.

"I FOUND YOU!"