章 18: Side by Side in Battle, Repelling the Murloc Horde
"Victoria, you're a bit slow on the uptake."
John remarked as he swiftly tossed two potions to Victoria, "Here's a healing potion and a painkiller. Use them quickly. I'll buy you some time."
John was already overflowing with experience. Now, every monster he killed was a waste.
It was better to let Victoria gain their experience to level up quickly because a fierce battle likely lay ahead.
Monsters, when gathered in groups at the door, if encountering a formidable enemy, would contact the dungeon's boss to move the portal from another world closer, thereby increasing their reinforcements.
Victoria opened the healing potion, pouring the emerald liquid over her arm wound, feeling an immediate cooling sensation.
The pain in her wound noticeably lessened as if something was rapidly entering her injury.
The scars were visibly healing at an observable rate.
Meanwhile, John, in full view of the many murlocs, stashed his two poisoned daggers back into his system backpack.
The Bluegill Warrior tilted its head, puzzled as to why John would sheathe his weapons.
It was, in fact, quite wary of the poison. The agonizing death of the two Fishman Tide hunters was proof enough of the daggers' lethal efficiency.
" Croak… Croak…Croak…"
With a sharp claw swipe, the Bluegill Warrior commanded several Fishman Tide hunters to rush forward, eager to see what trick this human was playing.
Four Fishman Tide hunters, two on each side, charged at John with great speed.
Having to protect Victoria behind him, John stood his ground... not that he needed to dodge.
Sometimes, the suppression of levels is absolute. At level 10, John's attributes had been raised to the human limit. To him, these Fishman Tide hunters were too slow.
With swift punches, the air whooshed with his movements.
His hands moved so fast they were barely visible. After two muffled thuds, two Fishman Tide hunters were already on the ground. Their eye sockets caved in, writhing in pain.
The other two Fishman Tide hunters, under the cover of their companions, attempted a side assault on John but were met with a swift turn, a punch, and an elbow from John, sending them flying.
The other two Fishman Tide Hunters, under the direct cover of their companions, rushed towards John's side to make a surprise attack. But they were turned around by John, punched and elbowed, and flew out directly.
"What a bunch of weaklings, utterly useless aside from their stench." John scoffed coldly, breaking the spines of the two grounded murlocs with a few stomps. Their central nervous system was destroyed, paralyzing them instantly on the ground.
To avoid wasting experience by killing these level 3 Fishman Tide Hunters with a single punch, John even held back a bit of his strength.
Victoria, witnessing this scene from behind, had a slight daze on her usually composed face. Having just engaged with the murlocs, she knew they were not weak.
The fact that they stood no chance against John meant only one thing... He was too powerful.
What baffled Victoria even more was—
Wasn't this guy supposed to be an apothecary?
According to the system panel's description, weren't apothecaries supposed to be the survival role in a team, a supportive profession meant to ensure the longevity of an Awakener squad?
However, what John had shown was more akin to a fighter or a rogue!
Had it not been for the two potions he had just given her, Victoria might have doubted whether the system had displayed his profession incorrectly.
"Done with the potions? Kill these murlocs and absorb their experience quickly." John urged Victoria, who was behind him.
"I'm ready." Victoria said, using her dueling sword to push herself up. Her arm wound had fully healed, although some areas on her back were missed but she was ready enough to fight.
She swung her dueling sword, easily killing two Fishman Tide Hunters.
[You have slain 2 Fishman Tide Hunters, gaining 600 experience points.]
Victoria leveled up to 3, quickly allocating her attribute and skill points before joining John.
She hadn't seen COCO and asked with some concern, "Where's COCO? Where is she?"
"Don't ask. That Bluegill Warrior might understand us." John replied without giving a direct answer. It was inconvenient to bring COCO along earlier. So he had found a relatively hidden room with a thick fireproof iron door and had her hide inside.
Victoria frowned deeply, glaring at the Bluegill Warrior with eyes full of loathing and sorrow, "That Bluegill Warrior... seems to have eaten... my mother."
"There's a debtor for every debt. Kill it to avenge your mother." John said softly.
Then, the two started fighting together.
With no need to cover for Victoria, John unleashed his full strength, charging directly at the murlocs. His brave display earlier had considerably dampened the morale of the murlocs.
Being humanoid monsters with a certain level of intelligence, they could sense that John's level was far above theirs.
The duo, fighting side by side for the first time, displayed an incredibly high level of synergy.
Soon, the lower-leveled murlocs were decimated by John and Victoria, with John dealing heavy blows and Victoria finishing them off.
The Bluegill Warrior sensed trouble.
These two Awakeners together were becoming difficult to handle, especially the apothecary, who seemed very peculiar and appeared to have a high level.
It turned and ran towards the large floor-to-ceiling window, leading the remaining murlocs to crash through the window and fall into the pool below.
Victoria pierced the last murloc with her sword and rushed to the window, fearing her mother's killer might escape.
However, the murlocs in the pool below didn't seem to be fleeing.
Instead, they quickly gathered around the Bluegill Warrior, as if conducting some magic.
"What are these murlocs... doing?" Victoria turned to John, asking in a soft voice.
"They're contacting their counterparts inside the portal from another world. The portal will soon be moved here."
John explained in a low voice.
Indeed, as soon as John finished speaking, the weather darkened instantly. A fierce wind began to howl.
A black energy sphere, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, began to absorb the pool water and the floating murlocs were sucked into it.
Soon, the energy sphere expanded, and a huge portal from another world appeared in the pool.
However, no massive number of murlocs emerged from the portal immediately. John knew they were waiting for their counterparts to revive while making thorough preparations.
Victoria turned her gaze towards John, seeking his opinion, "I need to check my mom's room first..."
Despite having seen her mother's severed hand, Victoria couldn't let go. Unless she saw her mother's body with her own eyes, she would rather believe her mother had just gone missing...
"Alright, let's go."
John nodded, following behind Victoria.
He knew well that facing the assault of a group of murlocs, those without automatic firearms stood almost no chance of surviving.
While moving the bodies in the freight elevator earlier, John, a medical student, had determined that these bodies had been dead for at least six to seven hours, already stiffening.
From the time of death, it could be inferred that the murlocs had snuck in and started their massacre around 4 to 5 in the morning the day before.
Facing a massive, nocturnal attack by murlocs, even an experienced team of Awakeners might risk casualties, let alone ordinary people.
John concluded based on his own judgment that the likelihood of Victoria's mother surviving was... zero.
But seeing for oneself is better, after all. Anyone would be unwilling to accept it without seeing with their own eyes.
John was just worried whether Victoria, overwhelmed by grief later, could still handle the upcoming battles.
Following Victoria's lead, John left the fourth-floor lobby. He passed through a narrow corridor, and arrived in front of a large door.
The mahogany door was already shattered, covered in deep claw marks.
Clearly, this place had been breached by a group of murlocs, leaving almost no chance for those inside to survive.
Still hoping for a miracle, Victoria pushed open the half-closed door.
As soon as she stepped in, Victoria staggered as if struck by an invisible arrow, her whole being faltering.
John immediately caught her, turning pale, and also took in the scene inside the room...
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