As Xander ran he kept on hearing the loud roars of the manticore behind him.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

As he reached his camping site he immediately dropped Hannah and then collapsed on the floor beside her.

Xander panted for breath. His heart was beating extremely fast and he clutched his chest and closed his eyes to calm down.

’I could feel how hot that fire was, it wasn’t a normal flame at all... it must be using magic.’ Xander thought as he felt his heartbeat slowing down.

’I can’t believe that I was so scared.’ He thought as he sat up and crawled towards his fire which went up.

He threw in some more dried monster skin and started a fire. As he turned around though, he saw the girl curled up while sobbing quietly.

"There must be a reason why you want to get out of here so bad. I also want to leave but taking risks is not an option." Xander said as he walked to her side.

Seeing the girl still crying quietly Xander didn’t know what to do.

’What do I do now? Do I hug her or something? No, that’ll be weird. How about this,’ Xander began rubbing her back and she seemed her body seemed to stop vibrating.

She soon raised her head, "Thank you," she said as she looked at Xander’s face. For some reason the red flames made him look very handsome.

Xander walked her to the fire and grilled some meat and both of them ate their full.

Xander, after he finished eating, closed his eyes and began to study the swirling Mana in his chest that was red in color... just like his soul.

"My sister."

Xander opened his eyes in the real world as he heard Hannah say something.

"My sister promised to take me to her concert which was one month away. I promised I’ll be there." Hannah said as she curled up again and put her chin on her knees.

"I owe my sister so much, when our parents left us she was the one who... who..." Hannah then began to sob and Xander sighed tiredly and walked to sit beside her.

This time he wrapped a hand around her shoulder and she calmed down in two minutes.

"The point is... I have to be able to stand on my own. I don’t want to die a nobody." She raised her head with a look of determination. "That’s why I have to leave this place at all costs. You might not understand–"

"I understand," Xander said as he stood up from where he sat.

"My family was not poor nor were we broke. But we were close to poor. Thirteen months ago my dad got fired and he got depressed thinking about his family and then he ran away." Xander said with a slight chuckle.

’And then he came back to tell me about superpowers and I didn’t believe him.’

"You’ve seen your dad before? That’s great. I never knew what my dad looks like." Hannah said with something that he hasn’t seen in weeks, a smile.

...

It was as if both of them were doing a contest to see whose life was worst and... well... Hannah won, hands down.

"I think we should focus on increasing your level to 50," Xander suggested changing the topic from the discussion about parents.

"I’m currently at level 29 so it’ll take a while. Exactly what level was that lion creature?"

Xander didn’t focus on the second statement but on the first.

"You entered a cave of level 15 grants at only level 29." He said in shock.

There were more than three hundred level 15 and 16 grants inside that cave. For her to kill all the level 15 and 16 grants then she must have leveled up a couple of times.

"Oh. The Manticore. My guess. Level max." Xander said with a sigh.

"What do you mean by level max?" Hannah got confused.

"The level after level 99 - Max - that’s what I mean. It also means that the manticore would be invisible."

Hannah furrowed her brows as she recalled something.

"You looked like someone who gave up hope before."

"The time I was resting my back and closing my eyes?" Xander asked and Hannah nodded.

"I was training in how to control Mana and I was studying it so that it would be easier to use."

Hannah was stunned. ’Training with Mana. Isn’t this just a game? Why the hell would he need to do that?’

"Also. I’m not hopeless. I’m rational. I need to see my dad and ask him what’s been on my mind." Xander turned around to look at her in her eyes. "So I cannot die just yet."

’His resolve is strong. I feel like I’ll be able to get out with his help.’ Hannah thought as she smiled.

"Then let’s get to leveling up."

Xander and Hannah lost track of time in the cave of Serebus as they looked for monsters in dangerous parts. Experience tales with empire

Xander only hunted powerful creatures of level 40 and above and then let Hannah make the final attack.

During this time they began to know each other better. Xander wasn’t the talkative type but this girl just understood him well which made him remember his friend Harry.

They were both people with free spirits and determination. The difference between both of them is that Harry is a pervert.

"Let’s stop and eat. We’ll continue after a few hours of rest." Xander suggested and they sat down and grilled some of the meat from a creature they killed earlier.

After that, both of them took turns to watch as the other rested. It was convenient and Xander had the rest that he had not been getting for the past few weeks or even months.

After they were fully charged again Xander and Hannah set out to continue levelling up.

On their way, they began to see a trail of footprints in the sand and van der stopped.

The footprints looked like regular human footprints.

"Should we follow it?" Hannah asked, uncertainty etched in her tone.

"Humanoid creatures are very powerful in this cave so yeah. Let’s follow it." Xander walked in front while Hannah was behind him with a torch as she can’t see in the dark.

After a while, they got to another cave, this time the cave had little holes in the ceiling through which light came in.

In the middle of the cave was... something.

"What’s that?" Hannah asked, only to look at Xander who was staring at the creature with wide eyes. "That’s an elf."