The outline of the city faded behind them as Arthur and John stepped into the forest’s shade once more.

There weren’t as many groups fighting outside the city gates anymore.

Only a few dozen players were still struggling against the goblins out in the open, and none of them so much as even touched the slimes.

People had apparently realized it was better to move through the forest where the chaos was a bit more contained, than to fight mindlessly out in the open.

It was only the second day, but people were adjusting. Some of them had probably died more than once to get to this point, but they were improving.

The moment they reached the canopy, Arthur pushed aside those distracting thoughts and moved through the trees alongside John.

What Arthur found a little surprising was how easily John had given up his wooden log and swapped it for the black spear from that level 5 Spear-Guard. He seemed perfectly happy with the trade, too.

It was only after they ran into a group of level 3 goblins that Arthur finally understood why.

John was wielding the spear with unbelievable ease, as if he’d actually held one in his hands before. He cut through a squad of goblins without stopping.

His spear flashed once, and three headless bodies hit the ground, already dissolving into motes of light as the familiar system notifications scrolled through Arthur’s vision.

[Goblin defeated. +4 EXP]

[Goblin defeated. +4 EXP]

[Goblin defeated. +4 EXP]

Well, it was to be expected, anyway. A handful of level 3 goblins weren’t even a warm-up at Arthur’s and John’s current level.

Another thing that Arthur found a bit odd was the game’s EXP system and how it worked.

Solo, a level 3 goblin gave him 9 EXP, but in a party with John, no matter who landed the killing blow, they each only got 4 EXP. Just another one of the system’s quirks he hadn’t quite worked out yet, he supposed

In the end, he simply shrugged and continued forward.

After another hour of walking and half a dozen dead goblins under John’s spear, the trees finally began to thin.

Before long, the forest seemed to break entirely, giving way to a vast mountain range that stretched endlessly toward the horizon. Some of the peaks pierced through the clouds, as if reaching for the purple sky beyond.

"This must be the place with the Iron Boars, huh?" John said, excitement plastered all over his face. His grip on the spear tightened as he stepped out from under the last branches.

Arthur scanned the slope and nodded. "It should be. One of these mountains, at least."

...

Moments later, the two of them began to make their way up the mountain.

The ground under his feet crunched as Arthur stepped onto the unfamiliar terrain. Scrub grass and hardy bushes were the only things he could see besides the endless number of rocks.

And yet, for all the change in the terrain, Arthur and John quickly realized that visibility in this place was no better than the forest.

The entire mountain, from the foot up, was shrouded in some kind of white mist that only let them see a few meters ahead.

They kept climbing, as Arthur felt his sneakers grind on the loose gravel. Not exactly the best shoes for mountain climbing, but then again, the fact that he even got to keep his shoes inside the game instead of running around barefoot was already more than he could ask for.

In the end, it didn’t take long before the silence broke.

Arthur and John had only made it a few dozen meters up the mountain when a low grunt came from the rocks up ahead, followed by the sound of something scraping on the gravel.

Both of them stopped where they were.

Then a shape emerged slowly through the fog. It had a pair of curved tusks jutting forward like hooked blades and a monstrous body encased in a hide that looked like worked metal.

[Iron Boar.]

[Level 6.]

[Type: Monster.]

Arthur froze as he saw the creature the system identified as ’Iron Boar’. Well, there was probably no better description for the thing he was looking at right now.

"Ugly bastard," John muttered, clenching his grip on the spear.

Arthur’s mouth twitched. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he said,

"You take the flank this time. I’ll take the front."

Normally John would be the one to take the front while Arthur would slip in and finish the monsters before they knew what was happening. This time however, Arthur wasn’t sure his [Goblin’s Fang] would be enough to punch through that metallic hide. As for his [Water Arrow]? He had no idea how much damage it did, but he was about to find out.

Arthur stepped out first, his right hand stretched in front of his chest.

Just like back in the city, he closed his eyes and imagined forming a water arrow... and as expected, the effect was instant. The sensation of the world bending to his will returned, as the shape of a rippling blue arrow began to materialize in front of his outstretched palm.

He paused for a moment, taking it in. Then, his [Water Arrow] exploded forward, cutting through the air at an incredible speed, flying straight at the boar.

Arthur wasn’t sure if the arrow would find its target... but it did. It landed straight on the boar’s neck!

And to Arthur’s surprise, the beast actually squealed in pain, clearly wounded, as blood spurted in the air like a fountain.

But that was it. The boar didn’t fall down, let alone faint.

Its head snapped towards Arthur, its eyes locking on him.

And then it came.

Its hooves pounded the ground, spraying gravel with every lunge as it made a beeline for the hateful human.

Arthur had seen wolves run down prey in videos before, but this one was different. This thing was like a battering ram wrapped in flesh and muscle.

He hurriedly moved to the side, as a curved tusk slashed past his chest, close enough to scrape the chestpiece he was wearing. He had no idea whether the goblin-made armor would hold against this thing, but he highly doubted it.

The smell hit him in that instant. A foul mix of iron and whatever this hideous thing had been eating.

Arthur barely had time to reset his footing when movement came from the mist on his left.

John’s spear burst into view, the tip flashing low towards the boar’s front legs.

To his surprise, however, the beast reacted instantly.

It hadn’t even seen the spear, Arthur could tell that much, and yet right before John’s strike landed, it shifted its weight, its hooves grinding on rock as it twisted its body clear. John’s spear tip met nothing but stone, and the boar turned back toward Arthur without missing a step.

This thing moved on pure instinct!

It came at Arthur again, even faster this time.

Arthur snatched the [Goblin’s Fang] into his right hand while his left palm hurriedly stretched out. The second [Water Arrow] formed almost instantly, before flying straight into the incoming mass of murderous flesh.

The arrow landed into the boar’s snout with a wet crack, and again, the beast let out another squeal, its head jerking back. But it barely slowed at all!

...Luckily, John didn’t need more than that.

His spear came in from the side a second time, this time stabbing up into the soft flesh beneath the boar’s neck. The Iron Boar let out a loud scream, jerking against the spear shaft, but John braced and held.

A level 5 Warrior who had poured the majority of his stat points into Strength and Vitality wasn’t so easy to shake off.

Arthur moved in from the other side, too.

His [Goblin’s Fang] almost certainly couldn’t punch through the boar’s hide... but he didn’t need it to. He clenched it tightly and drove it straight for the beast’s snout, into the wound the [Water Arrow] had just opened.

Blood sprayed across his hand as the tooth sank deep into flesh.

The boar staggered, its legs shuddering. It tried to move its head and skewer Arthur with its tusks, but John wrenched his spear free and stabbed again, this time deep into the creature’s chest.

The boar convulsed once, then collapsed in a loud thump.

[Iron Boar defeated. +26 EXP]