System Awakening Era: I Have 10x Skill Effects-Chapter 20: Rescue Mission

Mia and her twelve friends charged forward. Six of them attacked using ranged skills, while the rest attacked the monsters in close combat.

Aamon remained silent, still hiding behind one of the houses. His eyes carefully observed the battle, as if he were evaluating the abilities of their team.

They fought cautiously. The caterpillar monsters had a distinctive trait—sharp needle-like hairs that would emerge every ten seconds.

Being pierced by those hairs was enough to cause fever, and in severe cases, poisoning if not treated quickly.

Despite the danger, the survivors handled it well. The coordinated attacks of the thirteen survivors could kill one monster in less than three minutes.

They’re more experienced than I expected.

While Aamon was watching the battle, he was suddenly startled by the sound of a caterpillar monster approaching him.

Aamon reacted immediately by activating one of his assassin skills—not to kill, but to escape.

[Assassin Skill: Shadow Stealth]

Within seconds, Aamon’s presence vanished, allowing him to avoid the monster entirely. He moved quickly away from the house and headed toward the apartment building.

That was the only safe area from the monsters’ attacks.

"Time your attacks carefully! Avoid their needle hairs!" Mia commanded.

"Understood."

Aamon moved past them in stealth mode without Mia noticing him. Eight seconds passed, and his assassin skill ended.

His presence became visible again—right behind them. But none of them had noticed yet.

"Look! There’s a soldier," one of the children said while preparing to evacuate.

Several of Mia’s friends turned and were shocked to see Aamon standing among them.

"You?! Who are you?!"

"What’s going on?" Mia asked as she jumped back.

The woman turned around and was startled to see a soldier standing behind them, holding a sword.

"Who are you? Since when were you there?" Mia demanded firmly.

"I’ll explain later. Let’s focus on killing them first," Aamon replied.

"What do you think, Mia?" one of the men asked.

Mia did not want her focus divided. She ordered her friends to continue fighting the caterpillar monsters.

The matter with Aamon could be discussed after the wave of monsters ended.

"I’ll deal with you later. I have to kill them first," Mia replied.

Aamon raised his sword and gripped it tightly.

"I’ll help."

[Assassin Skill: Death Sigil]

The young man vanished again, disappearing from everyone’s sight. Some of them were shocked by Aamon’s skill, but their attention quickly returned to the battle ahead.

Mia and her friends combined their strength to attack the monsters one by one, while Aamon fought separately.

He raised his hand. An iron needle appeared above his palm and was thrown forward with force. The needle struck one of the monsters, inflicting a Reduce Movement debuff.

It only slowed the monster—it did not interrupt the timing of its needle-hair attack.

Aamon rushed forward, slashing his sword and tearing into the monster’s hide before leaping away when the pores on its body glowed—a sign that the needle hairs were about to emerge.

His eyes sharpened as his mind calculated everything rapidly. Aamon quickly analyzed the monster’s combat pattern.

They maintain their needle hairs for three seconds, then have a ten-second cooldown.

The needle hairs retracted back into the monster’s body.

Aamon began counting while activating another skill.

[Assassin Skill: Shadow Stealth]

His body vanished once again as he ran quickly while continuing to track the monster’s cooldown timing.

When he reached the monster’s back, Aamon thrust his sword deeply, triggering True Damage.

The caterpillar monster died after only two minutes of fighting Aamon alone.

People began noticing him.

"That soldier killed the monster in less than three minutes!"

Mia kept attacking while occasionally dodging.

"Focus on our enemy! Don’t pay attention to him!"

Aamon ran back toward Mia’s formation, targeting another caterpillar monster that wasn’t being attacked by her team.

Now I know when to attack and when to avoid.

[Sword Skill: 1000 Sword Movement!]

Aamon activated his regular skill and attacked during the monster’s needle-hair cooldown.

His strikes accelerated against a single target, stacking hits up to ten to trigger a wound explosion.

Another caterpillar monster died. The fight ended even faster this time because Aamon already understood their combat pattern.

One by one, the caterpillar monsters fell under Aamon’s attacks.

The entire battle lasted around ten minutes until every monster was dead.

Mia was the last person to kill the final monster in that wave. The situation slowly returned to normal, though Mia and her friends looked exhausted.

"Finally... it’s over," Mia said.

A loot panel appeared in front of Aamon as a result of the monsters he had killed alone.

[Congratulations! You obtained drop items:]

[+100 EXP || +40 Contribution Points || +40 Coins || 4x Monster Core]

Aamon sheathed his sword and saw Mia walking toward him. He had already expected that she would question him, since he had entered their territory without permission.

"Who are you? Why are you here?!" Mia demanded, trying to intimidate him.

The young man glanced at the other survivors. They wore serious expressions, clearly displeased with a stranger appearing in their territory uninvited.

"I’m an elite member of the Chicago Army."

"I’m Aamon."

"Alright, Mr. Aamon. What is your purpose here?" Mia asked with her arms crossed.

"Coincidence," Aamon replied. "I was refueling my motorcycle. I heard someone inside the convenience store."

"I followed you here."

"What?" Mia exclaimed in surprise.

"At least he’s not a raider, Mia. We don’t need to suspect him anymore," one of the women said.

Mia remained silent, still wary of Aamon. Trust was expensive in a chaotic world like this. Giving it too easily could lead them to ruin.

"I’m not entirely suspicious of him, but I’m staying cautious," Mia replied.

"Listen. The Army is stationed at Chicago Headquarters. That’s the safest shelter for all of you," Aamon said firmly.

"I admire your principle of protecting the elderly and children, but with only thirteen people, it’s not enough."

"You’re lucky it was just monsters attacking you. What if it had been those raider groups you mentioned?"

The woman in front of Aamon sighed softly, placing her hands on her hips while staring at him.

"I know. But getting to Chicago from here would take hours. The roads are dangerous—there are monsters everywhere."

"I can’t risk their lives."

Aamon glanced behind her and counted the residents of the apartment building.

There were forty people living there: thirteen survivors, seventeen children, and ten middle-aged or elderly individuals.

Robert might accept the children—they can awaken their systems. But not the elderly.

Aamon remained silent for a while, observing them all—Mia, her friends, and the civilians under their protection.

If they were too afraid to leave, then the solution was simple.

A rescue pickup.

"You know about those raiders, right?"

"Yes," Mia answered. "Cold-blooded selfish survivors. They’re disgusting."

"That’s valuable information. The soldiers will be glad to hear it," Aamon said.

He pulled out his phone and contacted Robert.

At first, Aamon had assumed the phone would be useless since satellites were no longer functioning. But he had been wrong.

Military satellites were designed to operate under any circumstances—even now.

The phone connected, though it only allowed one-way communication.

"Robert? Are you there?" Aamon asked.

"Robert here. What’s the situation?"

Aamon glanced at Mia.

"I found some survivors. But they’re having difficulty reaching the city. Can you arrange a pickup for them?"

"How many?"

"Thirteen survivors, seventeen children, and ten elderly."

"Excellent, Aamon! Tell me their location."

Aamon turned slightly as Mia explained their exact location. The convenience store could serve as a pinpoint.

Robert listened carefully. He promised to send a military truck to the area within one or two days.

To ensure their safety until the pickup arrived, Robert asked Aamon to stay there.

Aamon did not mind.

He ended the call and informed everyone.

"Soldiers from Chicago will arrive with a military truck. They’ll take you to a safe place!" Aamon announced.

Wide smiles spread across their faces. Hope returned the moment Aamon brought news of rescue. Some of Mia’s friends even began to relax, their suspicion toward Aamon fading.

"They’ll arrive in one or two days. Start packing your belongings."

Mia remained silent.

Even though Aamon sounded convincing, she still did not fully trust him. But if the military truly came to pick them up, it would help them immensely.

Aamon looked at her.

"I’ll stay here until they arrive. What do you think?"

Some of Mia’s friends urged her to accept Aamon’s proposal. After all, he was strong and could help guard the apartment during that time.

Mia sighed.

She didn’t have much choice.

"Alright," Mia said.

"You can stay—but you’ll be under my watch."