Chapter 70: The Cavalry Has Arrived [Part 2] Efa rolled to the side as she desperately tried to evade the sword strike of a Hobgoblin that had broken through the South Gate. The defenders had fought valiantly to keep the monsters outside the city, but the destruction of the gate was inevitable. The Orcs and Hobgoblins effectively used their shields to block the arrows and crossbow bolts raining down on them from above. Meanwhile, the Mages—the only ones that stood a chance of destroying the shield-bearing monsters—were being targeted by the Goblin Archers, Goblin Shamans, and Goblin Mages. A few of them had died because of this, while the rest suffered various levels of injuries. In the end, everyone just fought however they could until the gate collapsed right under them. The moment the monsters poured into the city like a raging tide, Santino and Darius ordered the defenders to follow the strategy they had devised as a contingency plan. This meant everyone would resort to guerrilla tactics, taking advantage of their familiarity with the city as a way to cut down as many of the monsters as they could. Efa was a Rank 2 Scout who could both wield a bow and a sword if needed. Her versatility, which she also demonstrated after Alex had saved them, was one of the main reasons Elaine partnered with her. While she could fight a Hobgoblin in a one-on-one battle if she fought seriously, this wasn’t a situation where she could choose that option. "Kragg hernak!" the Hobgoblin said to the young lady who had nowhere to go. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 Its eyes were filled with malice and lust as it looked at Efa, whose strength it recognized. "I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m sure I don’t like it," Efa retorted before glancing at the two other Hobgoblins that had cut off her escape route. Left with no choice, she decided to break through by force, then run to where the other Adventurers were. Just as she was about to throw caution to the wind, she saw something fall on top of the first Hobgoblin’s head and shatter upon impact. Immediately, the three Hobgoblins shrieked in pain as the chili powder and black pepper powder exploded all over their faces. "Dim Dim!" Efa looked up at the roof of the house and saw Alex’s little friend, who had just saved her life. "Dim Dim!" Dim Dim replied before throwing another brittle vial at the dire wolf that was about to lunge at Efa from behind her. Like the Hobgoblins, the Dire Wolf was also temporarily blinded, allowing Efa to make quick work of it. With absolute precision, the Scout stabbed its eyes with the two daggers she wielded with equal mastery. As much as she wanted to kill the wolf, more monsters were heading in her direction, so she had to escape right away. "Dim Dim!" exclaimed the Dim Sum God as it jumped from roof to roof, guiding Efa to Alex and the other Catkins. The young man had asked the Dim Sum God to look for Efa and help her as much as possible. Although Alex wanted to go and find her himself, he was currently defending one of the shelters where the women, children, and older people were staying. The airship of the Clawford Tribe circled the town, raining spells and arrows from above. "Protect the Oathkeeper!" one of the Catkins shouted when he saw Alex fending off the attacks of an Orc and two Goblin Warriors. The young man was protecting the gate of the shelter with everything he had. The Orc was a Rank 2 monster and specialized in brute physical strength. Unfortunately for it, Alex was no longer the weakling he had once been. Now that he had become a Ranker, he could effortlessly hold his ground against a monster that could have killed him easily not that long ago. As for the two Goblin Warriors, Alex parried and countered their attacks with the sword in his hand, standing firm with the power of the Oathkeeper "Shield!" he shouted as he summoned a shield to protect him from the attack of the Goblin Warrior, which he was unable to block. A magical round shield appeared on his left side, blocking the sword strike of the Goblin Warrior, who died shortly after one of the Catkins came to Alex’s rescue. When news that an Oathkeeper had finally appeared in their tribe, the Catkins became elated. Nearly all the warriors had wished to meet Alex, very eager to see the second Oathkeeper of their tribe. However, they heard that Alex was going back to the Town of Thaloria to help defend it against a monster stampede. An old Catkin, who was a captain of an airship, volunteered to take Alex and Cairo back to their destination free of charge. This was his way of forming a connection with their new Oathkeeper, which had played an important role in the founding of their tribe. Many warriors also volunteered to help, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They wanted to meet Alex, and they reckoned he could use some aid. It was a win-win situation. One thing led to another, and soon, three hundred strong warriors from the Clawford Tribe were coming to fight alongside their Oathkeeper. Left with no choice, Alex had agreed to bring them with him. Frankly, he was now very happy with that decision. The Catkins fought tooth and nail with a ferocity that made the young man realize how powerful they truly were. They were not only very fast but also very agile, and their teamwork was impeccable. A handful of Ninjas from the Hartwell Clan also joined the fight, attacking the monsters where they least expected it. But there was one thing that Alex found quite peculiar. Whenever a monster was about to target him, that monster would soon find itself getting ganged up by Catkins, who didn’t want anything bad to happen to their Oathkeeper. ’I didn’t know if I should be thankful or not,’ Alex thought. ’I guess I’ll just thank them for now.’ Suddenly, something he didn’t expect happened. [Level Up!] ’Um?" Alex blinked at the notification that appeared in front of him. He was just standing in front of the gate, doing absolutely nothing, so he didn’t expect that he would advance a level out of the blue. Without a second thought, he opened his status page to check his experience bar, so that he would understand what was happening. [Experience Points: 2%] [Experience Points: 6%] [Experience Points: 9%] ’Oh, my, Goddess!’ Alex’s face lit up when he realized he was gaining experience points just by doing nothing! It was at that moment when it hit him. ’Wait, could it be that I formed a party with the entire Clawford Tribe?!’ That was the only explanation he could think of why his experience points were rising on their own accord. Alex glanced at his surroundings and saw his master kill an Orc that had tried to ambush him from behind. At that moment, his experience points rose to 15%. The young man immediately gave Cairo a thumbs up in his heart. In ELO, there was a term called "leeching". It described low-level players gaining experience points without contributing much or at all just because they’re in a high-level party. Simply put, the players would soak up experience from others’ efforts without even lifting a finger, allowing their ranks to rise safely. In other words, Alex was now a leech. He almost laughed out loud at the realization. If he could, he’d cheer for everyone who was doing all the work for him. —------