The woman leapt forward and swung her sword at Aamon. Aamon raised his blade and blocked her attack.
The two fought each other, trading swings, defending, and dodging. But there was something different between the two of them.
Aamon jumped far back after five minutes of clashing swords with the mysterious woman. He glanced at his blade and saw it starting to deteriorate. Its durability had clearly dropped.
"You don't have any real sword skills, do you?" Aamon asked.
"What?"
"There's a chance… you can swing a sword because you copied movements from video games."
"T-That… isn't true!" the woman snapped.
The young man tapped the screen of his sword twice, bringing up the system panel and checking how much durability the weapon had left.
Today, after fighting monsters and now fighting this mysterious woman, the durability had dropped significantly to 15.
The number matched the condition of the blade, which was dented, worn, and damaged in many places.
If it kept being used, the sword would break once the durability reached 0.
"No, it's obvious you're pretending like—"
Aamon's words stopped when he faintly heard squeaking sounds coming from the area around the airdrop box.
His eyes scanned the surroundings. Fly monsters, mosquito monsters, and even centipedes began appearing from all directions.
The mysterious woman also looked shocked. She hadn't expected that her fight with Aamon would attract even more monsters from nearby areas.
The two of them stood back-to-back, watching in completely different directions.
"Truce. Let's destroy these monsters first. Deal?!"
The mysterious woman fell silent for a moment, then responded with a soft sigh. She agreed to Aamon's suggestion for a temporary truce.
"Fine. If I can't kill you, maybe they can," the woman complained.
Aamon glanced briefly behind him before looking forward again. The two of them began running toward the monsters in front of them, swinging their swords as they attacked.
They slashed, stabbed, and even jumped high whenever they needed to dodge.
The woman unleashed slicing attacks toward the monsters, while Aamon thrust his sword forward to activate his skill.
[Sword Skill: First Thrust]
They successfully killed the monsters they were fighting. Aamon stretched out his hand and collected the dropped items from the monster he had slain.
[Congratulations! You obtained drop items:]
[+50 EXP || +20 Contribution Points || +20 Coins || 2x Monster Core]
The two of them ended up back-to-back again. They had managed to kill two monsters from the crowd in front of them.
Aamon glanced quickly at her. The woman's breathing had become ragged. Sweat dripped down her face, a clear sign that she had reached her limit.
"We won't win against them!"
He grabbed the woman's hand and pulled her away from the street. The beautiful woman looked stunned.
No strange man had ever held her hand before, especially one whose name she didn't even know.
The two of them ran into a nearby house, locked the door, and blocked it with a wooden cabinet.
The woman rushed to another part of the house, and they were lucky.
"There's a basement! We can hide here," the woman said, pulling open the basement door.
Aamon quickly left the entrance and stepped down into the dark, silent basement.
No lights were turned on. The monsters could be extremely sensitive to light or sound.
The sound of the front door being destroyed echoed through the house, enough to startle the woman.
Aamon remained seated on the stairs, gripping his sword, ready in case the insects broke through the basement door.
Thirty minutes passed. The sounds of the monsters gradually became faint and distant, a sign that they had left the area.
Aamon could finally breathe a little easier. He reached into his pocket, turned on a flashlight, and aimed the beam forward at the woman sitting on the stairs with him.
"Can we leave?" the woman asked.
"I'm not sure. I'm worried the monsters are still around this house."
The woman sighed softly and sat curled up while hugging her knees.
"My brother must be worried."
Aamon stayed silent. He wanted to ask about her parents. But in a situation like this, that would only reopen painful wounds.
Maybe her family had been hurt, leaving only her and her brother behind.
"We can go out later. Not now."
Aamon walked down the stairs, holding the flashlight while carefully examining the basement.
The place looked more like a storage room than a shelter. There was no food or water, only unused junk and old rusted tools.
"There's nothing to eat here," Aamon said, turning back. "You think you can help me check the fridge upstairs?"
The woman slowly let out a breath and nodded.
"Alright."
The basement door opened. There were no signs of monsters inside the house, though faint squeaking sounds could still be heard from outside.
She moved carefully, opening the refrigerator and cupboards, taking whatever food she could find before bringing it down to the basement.
"I found some."
Aamon nodded and lit a small fire in the basement using leftover firewood from the pile of junk.
The two of them sat in front of the fire as night fell, heating canned meat from the refrigerator.
"From your clothes… are you a soldier?"
Aamon shook his head, taking a can from the middle of the burning wood.
"Actually, no. But they brought me in and assigned me."
"So they're using you. Am I right?" the woman asked.
The young man sighed and cleared his throat softly, "More or less… yeah."
"It makes sense they'd do that… only teenagers can awaken their abilities," she said.
She set her can aside and extended her hand, "My name's Avery. Avery Ashton."
"I'm Aamon Viremont."
The two of them shook hands and introduced themselves before continuing to eat their canned food.
What Avery said was true. Only teenagers, young adults, and people under the age of thirty-five could awaken the skill system.
That meant the entire defense relied on them. People over thirty-five couldn't do anything.
Aamon traced the letter S and pressed it once, causing his individual system to appear.
[Individual System]
[Name: Aamon Viremont]
[Level: 1]
[EXP: 250/500]
[Class: None]
[Contribution Points: 100]
His EXP had increased, but it wasn't significant considering he needed 500 EXP to level up.
Aamon sighed. If he didn't level up soon and increase his CON attribute, his stamina would keep dropping every time he used the 10x Skill Effect.
Only by leveling up would he be able to use the 10x skill freely.
After closing the individual system panel, Aamon opened his inventory and took out the sword he had obtained from the airdrop earlier.
[Weapon Status]
[Name: Iron Essence Sword]
[Type: Weapon – Sword]
[Grade: Medium]
[Durability: 300/300]
[Stats:]
[Attack Power: +21 || STR: +12 || AGI: +10 || Bleed: +10/s]
|[Use?]
Aamon immediately equipped the weapon, replacing his Basic Combat Sword with it. The longsword rested firmly in his hand, noticeably heavier than his previous weapon.
Avery watched the sword with envy. If she had reacted faster, maybe she would have been the one to get that item.
Not only the sword, Aamon also equipped the Lion Fang Gauntlet in his equipment status. It wasn't visible to the public, but it was enough to increase his damage resistance and physical attack.
His attention finally turned to the Medium-Tier Skill Scroll. Aamon opened the scroll, and a sword skill appeared before him.
[Congratulations, you obtained a Skill]
[Skill Name: 1000 Sword Movement]
[Skill Tier: Medium]
[Description: The host activates the skill, making attack or defensive movements extremely fast, as if swords were flying on their own.]
The skill was obtained and could be used immediately. However, Aamon decided to wait until later that night had passed.
The number of monsters was far greater at night than during the day. If the two of them left the house now, danger would definitely be waiting.
"After tonight, are you going back to that base?" Avery asked.
"Probably. They offer food and shelter," Aamon replied. "I'm not strong enough to explore this world alone yet."
"Exploring the world alone sounds like a dream come true. Am I right?"
"What do you mean?" Aamon asked.
"There are no national borders, no one stopping us, and we're free to take whatever we want. Isn't that paradise?" Avery said.
Aamon fell silent for a moment before chuckling softly, "Yeah… that's if the monsters disappear."
"But one thing is certain," Aamon added, "You'll realize that loneliness is the most painful part of this disaster."