Rewards Come for those Who Kill Evil Orcs

The fight didn't take long to end. When Alex reached the street, full of blood on his armor but without one wound, Tina finished the last orc. The creature tried to hit her head with a small axe, but Tina deflected the blow with her shield. The orc lost his balance, and she stuck the sword in the creature's neck. She removed it with force and instantly grabbed her own knees, dropping the blade on the ground and gasping for air,

"Where were you?" she asked, lifting her head for him to see her purple eyes, "this adventurer thing… I thought we would kill monsters, not orcs," she said between breaths.

The building he was in fell from inside as Alex stepped on the street. The fire consumed the place and transformed it into a crackling wreckage.

"I was dealing with the big one," Alex muttered and Tina smiled,

"I bet it was quite easy,"

"Oh, you have no idea," he replied with a smile. At the end of the street, the fight was ending, too. Rel'Tir and Liv were both resting before continuing, the two seeming relieved by Alex's presence.

Liv started to get as many arrows back as she could and put them into her quiver. Rel'Tir only dropped to the ground, lying with both arms extended,

"Is it ended?" he asked, and Alex examined the other remains of the fight with more care,

In the distance, he could see Ratamir swinging his mace against the knee of one orc and then smashing their head. Tal'Dore put three arrows in three different orcs in an instant. Bogath was on the back with the priest, and Val'Mari was watching the end of the fight. Both dark and white elves of both sexes were fighting the remaining orcs with them.

The denizens of FrontHold and the adventurer guild were now the majority of living fighters. As Alex walked towards them, the remaining orcs died or ran into adjacent streets, fleeing the fight and abandoning their ransacks.

Close to the last building of the street, this one with zero fire in it, thanks to Bogath's water magic, Ravi stood with his back against a wall, drinking what seemed to be wine.

"I think it's finished," Alex muttered, waving them to follow him towards the others.

They got close, and Ratamir was already shouting orders to everyone to find buckles of water and throw them into the houses on fire. Alex and the others joined the effort. Surprised, Alex saw elves of both eye colors, humans, and even a couple of orcs helping.

In one hour, the fire was controlled. Some places were still burning, but the risk of spreading towards the rest of the city was now close to zero. The rest Alex had gotten after killing the orc leader was now nonexistent. Alex had some friends on the fire brigade but was never interested in that. Now, he could see the value of it, but at the same time, working as a cop was way less tiresome.

Alex sat on one stair that led to the city hall and opened his system messages. The reward after the hard work finally arrived.

He had accumulated two different upgrades, but the system had put them all in just one message,

…

Processing information.

…

Analyzing

…

Results:

Strength: Adequate

Endurance: Enhanced

Speed: Adequate

Intelligence: Enhanced

Magic Power: Adequate

Physical Power: Adequate

Faction Power: Maximized

…

Checking Changes

…

Requirements achieved.

Initializing changes to:

Divine Endowment General Ranking

Strength.

Endurance.

Speed.

Intelligence.

Physical Power.

Magic Power:

…

Changes complete.

Divine Endowment Rank upgraded from F4 to F5

Strength upgraded from F3 to F5

Endurance upgraded from F4 to F6

Speed upgraded from F4 to F5

Intelligence upgraded from F6 to F7

Physical Power upgraded from F3 to F4

Magic Power upgraded from F2 to F5

Alex couldn't contain the joy inside himself as he saw the numbers. He had gotten an upgrade in all his attributes, the ones about him and the ones about the Devil's Hand, with a massive improvement in strength, endurance, and magic power. Alex thought this was due to his fight against the orc leader.

And most of all, he had no more "lacking" written nowhere to be seen. The Divine Endowment seemed to be aligned with his other attributes, ignoring the "Faction Power" one that remained a mystery to Alex. With a smile on his face, he finally noticed the second message,

Divine Endowment Evolved

Ethereal Blade Unlocked

With enough energy and the right will, the Devil's Hand Host can summon an Ethereal Blade to fight with him.

Finally! Alex thought, contemplating the text in front of him that only he could read. Finally, he was learning a little more about his powers. Like in a video game, he had skills, but instead of mana to use them, he could use Arcanite Light or another form that contained the energy. For Alex, it was the blood of his enemies or the actual light contained inside the ores.

He opened his status screen to take a look at it one more time,

Hostname: Alex Smith

Divine Endowment: The Devil's Hand.

Class: Absorber, Melee.

Faction: Elazael's Army.

Rank: F5

…

Host attributes:

-Strength: F5

-Endurance: F6

-Speed: F4

-Intelligence: F6

…

Endowment Attributes:

-Physical Power: F4

-Magical Power: F5

-Faction Power: SSS

The advancement was indeed incredible. Once again, Alex contemplated the names below his own, and now he had a good idea of what they all meant.

The Devil's Hand was of the class of an Absorber, which meant that he was absorbing power when he got strong after defeating an enemy or incorporating one or more traits into his body. Melee probably meant that his invocations or abilities were more effective at close distances, and Alex had nothing against it. 

He had years and years of boxing experience. Guns were excellent tools; if he had one, he would have finished the monsters sooner, but being able to fight close quarters and overcome adversity? That was what motivated Alex.

Tina got close to him with fast steps,

"Why are you so happy?" She asked with a smile of her own,

"I'm feeling good. Hard work pays off, I guess." He complemented as she sat beside him and gently laid her head on his shoulder. She sighed deeply,

"I felt powerful today. The training with Ravi, the fight with the orcs. All of these moments showed me that I have something deep inside," Tina said and looked fiercely inside Alex's eyes, "I wanted to do this for the adventure, the fame. I still want it, but today…" her eyes were teary and her voice full of emotion, "seeing how we saved the city... I want to help!"

Alex looked at her for a couple seconds without saying anything. He had felt this altruism in his life before; it wasn't a recurring feeling these days, but he understood her, and a part of him wanted to help, too. The savagery, the damage to the town, the mental impairment bestowed upon Val'Mari and many others. All that inspired Alex to act, but he also needed to preserve himself. He couldn't be a complete hero, selfless and ready to sacrifice himself for a good cause. He had promised he would not die.

With a gentle touch, Alex took Tina's shoulder.

"That's a great feeling, Tina. We'll help everyone we can, but don't forget: we need to look up for ourselves first. You'll be of no good dead." He said with intent in his voice, and she didn't protest. She nodded with determination, cleaning her tears.

Saying those words were somewhat ironic to Alex. He honestly felt that way, but simultaneously, he was the only one who knew the world was ending and trying to understand how to stop it.

"Come to the city hall, kids!" Ravi called behind them with an immense drunk smile on his face. No trace of antipathy or annoyance. "I'm aware that you killed Morg, the White Fang… He was terrorizing the plains for decades… Congratulations." Ravi said, and Alex could glimpse the sober version of the man in his eyes, distrust lingering in his gaze.

What's this guy's problem? He thought, but only said thanks and followed him,

"We'll plan the dungeon delving. We'll enter in a couple hours," With the battle and all the killing, Alex could've almost forgotten why they came to the place, but the voice whispering for him to enter the dungeon would never permit that.