Maids VS Apocalypse

"Graaaa!!!"

A cacophony of cries and roars drew Mark's attention to the left. He saw the monsters rushing in his direction, but none managed to get close.

A couple of meters away, a young woman in a maid uniform stood firm, a glowing spear in her hand.

Whenever a monster came close, she moved her body with utmost grace, and right after, a few limbs or a head would fly away, drawing crimson arcs in the air.

It was a truly awe-inspiring sight, but the longer he looked the more details he noticed.

The maid was struggling. She was slaughtering the mindless beasts with ease, but their numbers were slowly pushing her back little by little. She kept her breath under control but her stamina was clearly running out.

The beasts didn't just lunge at her with their claws and fangs; some launched different kinds of fire attacks, others shot blasts of fire or air her way. Every time, Lara's entire body would release a bluish glow and she would take the attacks head-on.

That was her Force Field ability. It creates a nearly indestructible barrier around the body, blocking attacks of any kind, and can even be used to enhance the durability and destructiveness of weapons coated in it.

Mark had never put such an ability in Maids VS Apocalypse so he guessed it originally belonged to whatever creature that took on Lara's form, but according to her, it was the most basic ability all Awakened could use, and apparently, that included him.

A red filter slowly took over his field of vision, turning everything he looked at crimson. Touching his head, Mark realized that it was bleeding.

He pressed the start button on his imaginary keyboard and checked his MP only to grit his teeth and see it was 02/100.

According to his maid, Mark had been using his Force Field during the entire ride, albeit unconsciously. He covered the entire car in it and because of that, they were able to shrug off impacts that normally would've destroyed a mundane vehicle.

His Force Field protected them from Malarak's flames as well, allowing them to survive the second they needed to flee into the underground parking lot.

The Force Field was a truly broken ability however it came with a massive limitation. It required MP to activate, and from the looks of it, his reserves had run out not that long ago, leaving him defenseless.

Going by the pain coursing through his body, Mark realized that his head wasn't the only thing that had been injured. He couldn't tell whether the dizziness he felt came from the bleeding, his almost depleted MP, or the tormenting pain.

Gritting his teeth, Mark cursed his luck. He was forced to watch as his maid stood in the vanguard, doing her best to protect him while he lay down on the ground.

Though he had long since given up on life, never did his powerlessness infuriate him as much as it did right now.

'If I was stronger... If I had more power...'

Just then, a thought flashed in his mind and his eyes widened. Mark realized something important, something he hadn't given much thought to since all this mess started.

Lara had killed many monsters already yet he hasn't received a single LEVEL UP notification.

Even if the maid herself was at a high enough level that she needed a lot more EXP to level up, wouldn't he, a normal human, have already met the requirements to level up at least once? Or could it be that he didn't gain any EXP unless he killed the monsters himself? He had assumed that the two of them were in a party this whole time, but was it really the case?

'No, that's not it...'

The surrounding chaos faded into the background as Mark was hit with another realization. He never received a single drop of EXP since this whole mess started.

Every time Lara killed a monster, the message that appeared would confirm that it happened, inform him of the creature's name, and follow it with an addition of something referred to as AP.

[+25 AP]

[+30 AP]

[+40 AP]

[+30 AP]

[+30 AP]

A chill ran down Mark's back. One of the lizardmen with blades for arms managed to land a hit on Lara. It only grazed her maid uniform, tearing a small part of its skirt, but that was a clear sign of her performance deteriorating due to exhaustion.

Panic hit Mark hard and he grabbed his imaginary controller. He was tempted to look at his own stats but instead went straight for the Maids entry, summoning a list that had only one name on it; [Lara Becker. LV 01.]

His fears were confirmed; even after killing so many enemies, Lara had yet to rise up a single level. She was fighting the entire horde of monsters by relying only on the spear he gave her and her own skills. He didn't even know how she retrieved the spear, which was supposed to be stabbed into Malarak's right eye.

'Focus!' Mark urged himself, returning his focus to the problem at hand. 'She didn't level up at all. Is it because the monsters she killed weren't from the game?'

Another monster managed to graze Lara's shoulder only for her to sever its head the next moment.

Time was running out. Mark needed to do something and fast. He opened Lara's status window wanting to see the problem with the EXP gauge at the very bottom.

He had avoided looking into his and the maid's stat when he had the chance fearing what he might see, but it was that same reason that made looking into it at the moment a bad idea.

The status windows in his game displayed the numbers and nothing else. Whatever was displayed on them couldn't be changed. That means if it isn't something that could bring them hope, the only thing that awaited him was despair.

[

Name: Lara Becker

Race: Dhampire

Rank: Awakened

Stats:

Level 01

HP: 60/100

MP: 20/100

Strength 14 (+5)

Endurance 20 (+5)

Agility 14 (+5)

Dexterity 12 (+5)

Focus: 15

Mind 15

Soul 20

AP:

0/20

Equipment:

Maid Uniform.

CFBW type 05 (+1)

Abilities:

Force Field.

]

With just one look, Mark was able to notice the differences between the status window he knew and the one in front of him, and with that came a crushing wave of confusion.

For one, the intelligence and magic stats were missing, replaced by the Mind and Soul which weren't present in the original Maids VS Apocalypse. The same happened to the Magic and Skills sections which had "Abilities" listed in their stead.

The affection meter was gone as well, but that was nothing compared to the most incomprehensible change he had noticed, which was the disappearance of the EXP gauge.

In its place, a different counter was present. Focusing on it caused a new screen to appear, and when it did, Mark finally learned what the letters AP stood for.

[

Aether Points: 1325.

Assign AP to Maid Lara Becker:

+ 00/20

]