[Simulated Monster.]
[Level: 24.]
The monster let out a heavy roar and its black claws dug into the ground, its three-meter-tall body charged toward Lian with a speed that did not match its size.
He stood right there and calmly followed the monster’s movement with his eyes, a heavy creature with a muscular body, thick gray skin, and two curved horns coming out from both sides of its skull.
For a normal Level 23 Awakened, it was not a simple enemy.....
The distance between them went from twenty meters to five meters in a few seconds.
The monster lowered its head and its two large horns aimed directly at his chest, the weight of its entire body was behind the attack and the sound of its footsteps shook the ground around it.
Right when the horns were about to reach him, Lian took one step forward and his right fist moved, the attack hit the middle of the monster’s forehead directly and the sound of something breaking spread through the air.
The creature stopped at that exact moment, its front legs left the ground and its huge body was thrown several meters backward.
Its back hit the trunk of one of the trees.
The gray tree broke with a heavy sound and the monster’s body fell to the ground and was dragged several meters across the dirt and wet leaves.
Silence returned to the forest and the young Vorhelm looked at the motionless creature for a few seconds, the front part of its skull was almost crushed.
[Simulated Monster defeated.]
[Points increased.]
The monster’s body suddenly began to change and turned into thousands of small blue particles that spread through the air like ash.
Lian waited without hurry.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
But no other notification appeared, apparently, killing monsters only gave them points and there was no other reward.
"Predictable." He said calmly and took his eyes away from the last mana particles disappearing in the air.
Silas had said before they entered that the creatures in this test were not real, it was a little disappointing.
If each of these creatures had been real, such a test could have turned into a feast for Glutton and Butcher.
Lian raised his head and examined his surroundings more carefully.
The island was much larger than it had seemed from the images inside the hall.
The forest continued for several kilometers in every direction and gray trees several dozen meters tall covered a large part of the sky.
The sounds of different creatures could be heard from far away and sometimes there was a sound like something heavy being dragged across stone.
The wind also blew into the forest from the edge of the island almost without stopping and moved the mist away every few moments.
Through the gaps between the trees, he could see parts of other islands floating in the sky at different heights.
But even with this view, the main destination could not be lost.
The central upside-down mountain could be seen behind all the islands and the golden crown on it shone like a small star in the gray sky.
"So just running toward that isn’t going to be enough." He muttered while giving the crown a short look.
Silas had clearly talked about exploration, special locations, hidden targets, and decision-making, if the only goal was reaching the center quickly, a large part of his explanation would make no sense.
Lian moved forward a few steps and then stood on one of the large roots to get a better view.
Three paths caught his attention more than the others.
On the left, at an unclear distance, a thin line of white smoke was rising from the forest, its source could not be seen, but the smoke did not look completely natural and despite the strong wind, it was rising almost straight up.
On the right, on a rocky high area, the tops of several broken pillars could be seen through the trees, something like a small ruin was located there.
The direct path was also almost in the direction of the central mountain, but the trees in that area were much denser and the ground slowly went downward.
Lian only thought for a few seconds and his eyes returned to the ruin.
"Let’s first see what you hid here." He then said with a little curiosity in his voice and jumped down from the root.
He changed his direction and moved toward the rocky high area, about five minutes later, something in the forest changed.
He slowed his steps.
At first, the change was so small that someone less careful might not have noticed it at all, the sounds of the forest were still there, the wind was still blowing and the mist was still moving between the roots.
But something did not match the natural rhythm of the area.
Lian continued moving without turning his head.
A few seconds later, the mist behind him moved against the direction of the wind for a moment.
Left.
Then he heard the very weak sound of a claw touching stone from ahead.
Three.
The corner of his mouth rose slightly.
"First strength and now perception?" The first test had tested his strength and now it seemed to be targeting his perception.
The mist around him slowly became thicker.
The nearby trees were still visible, but the viewing distance decreased from several dozen meters to less than fifteen meters, something moved inside the mist and the thin shadow of a body could be seen for a fraction of a second.
Then it disappeared.
Lian stopped and at that exact moment, he heard the sound of a claw scratching behind him, his body leaned slightly to the left and a black claw passed beside his neck.
Boom!
A wolf-like creature with a long and thin body jumped out of the mist, but before it could change the direction of its movement, the young Vorhelm’s fist hit its side.
The sound of several bones breaking could be heard and the monster was thrown to the side, but before it even reached the ground, a second creature came out from a blind spot.
Lian took one step backward and its claw passed only a few centimeters from his chest, and suddenly a third one attacked from above, this one had been hiding on a branch high above.
He raised his head and at that moment several short notifications appeared in front of his eyes.
[Simulated Monster.]
[Mistfang Hunter.]
[Rank: Normal.]
[Level: 26.]
Three creatures and all of them were Level 26, but their Level was not the problem.
The body of the first creature that had been hit disappeared into the mist and became visible again several meters away, the injury on its side was real, but its presence disappeared into the layer of white mist again.
"Interesting." This time, there was some interest in his eyes.
He could sweep through the entire area with raw speed or use Predator’s Instincts and finish everything quickly, but for now, he did not need to.
If the test was testing something, it was better to first understand what it was, now was the time to test his own guesses.
The two creatures disappeared again and he narrowed his eyes slightly.
True Sequence.
His eyes stayed fixed on the mist around one of the hunters.
At that moment, what had previously been only an unclear movement of energy became a clear structure.
Mana moved through the creature’s four limbs, gathered in the lower part of its stomach, and then spread over the surface of its body in a thin layer.
That layer was what mixed with the surrounding mist and hid the creature’s physical presence.
But it was not perfect, and at the moment of attack, the mana flow had to change direction.
The young Vorhelm waited without moving and one second later, the mana moved from the hind legs of one of the creatures back toward its spine.
Before its body could even become visible in the mist, Lian turned, his leg moved and the attack hit the creature directly under its jaw, forcing its head backward at an unnatural angle.
Its body was still in the air when it turned into mana particles.
The second one attacked from behind, the same change in the mana flow happened and Lian moved half a step to the side, grabbed its front claw by the wrist and slammed its body into the ground with one movement.
The ground under the monster cracked and before it could stand up, his heel came down on its skull.
The third one did not attack this time and only moved through the mist for several seconds.
Suddenly, the mana flow changed and moved to the right, and at that exact moment Lian raised his hand.
The monster’s claw stopped between his fingers a few centimeters before his face and the creature’s yellow eyes widened for a moment.
"Found you." He then said calmly and slammed his other hand into the monster’s chest.
The creature’s body bent immediately.
The attack did not come out from its back, but its force was enough to crush a large part of its rib cage.
The three bodies dissolved into mana one after another and the artificial mist around them also slowly disappeared.
[Simulated Monsters defeated.]
[Points increased.]
And a few moments later—
[Adaptive Evaluation updated.]
Lian stared at the last notification, no other explanation appeared.
"So my guess was correct, each wave of monsters is stronger than the previous ones, not only in Level but also in tactics, intelligence, and special abilities."
This was no longer just a group of monsters.
The first enemy had directly tested his physical strength and when it had achieved nothing, the test had not simply sent a bigger enemy, it had changed the type of challenge.
He was now almost sure that this was what Silas had meant, the test was trying to find his weakness and every new wave of monsters that came toward him would be stronger than the previous one.
But he did not care, he doubted that this test could find his weakness.
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