A few hours after leaving the base, the surrounding scenery gradually changed.
The ordinary forests had given way to an area that screamed of the presence of a monster race.
The further the massive caravan of awakened ones went, the heavier the atmosphere became, along the path, scattered bones of monsters and various animals could be seen.
Some of them were so large that it was hard to imagine what could have killed them.
A few kilometers ahead, the remains of a completely destroyed caravan could be seen.
Broken wheels, bent metal, and remains of armors that once belonged to hunters, the trees in the area were not in better condition either, many of them had been split in half by massive claws.
Some others had been uprooted and fallen on the ground, and more importantly... the ground, the soil in many parts of the area was completely compacted.
As if thousands of heavy creatures had passed through it continuously.
Even the experienced awakened ones were no longer joking, the talking had decreased, faces had become more serious.
Everyone knew they had entered the true territory of the Ironfang Ravagers.
This was an area that, for weeks, from the very first days the base was established, awakened ones had tried to avoid and stay away from.
This was a large graveyard where hundreds of awakened ones had been massacred, this was no place for jokes, if they made a mistake for a moment and lowered their guard, it could cost them their lives.
At that same moment, the woman who was the commander of the operation gave the order to stop.
The crowd slowly stopped, she went toward the remains of a monster that was lying by the path, the rotten corpse of an Ironfang, even after death it had a terrifying appearance.
The woman said with a loud voice.
"Before we enter the main area, there is something you should know." She pointed at the monster’s skin with the tip of her sword.
"Poison, this creature is poisonous, some of you should know this, but I will repeat it to be safe, not just the teeth, not just the claws, the whole body, blood, flesh, skin, and even the steam that comes out of fresh wounds are poisonous."
A murmur formed among the crowd, a significant number were aware of this, some were not, but one thing was the same for everyone.
Their sense of danger increased and they realized they had to be careful not to touch these monsters directly under any circumstances.
Otherwise, today this place would become their graveyard as well.
"In the past few months, more than twenty novice hunters died just from touching the skin of these creatures, if you do not have an antidote, if you do not have protective equipment, and if you do not have poison resistance skills, it is better to keep your distance."
Upon hearing these words, Lian fell into thought, in fact, ever since he had obtained the Poison Bane skill, he had paid almost no attention to it.
But now...this skill could be much more valuable than he had imagined, but it only gave twenty percent resistance to poisons.
Although it was not small, it was not large either, and for such conditions it was very risky.
He immediately opened the system panel.
His number of fragments was still considerable, without hesitation he chose the upgrade option.
A faint blue light appeared in front of his eyes.
[ Poison Bane ]
[ Rank: Common → Great ]
[ Cost: 15 Fragments ]
[ Confirm? ]
Lian confirmed without pausing, and at that same moment a new notification appeared.
[ Poison Bane skill successfully upgraded ]
[ Skill Name: Poison Foe ]
[ Rank: Great ]
[ Description: Resistance to poison increases by up to 50%, when active it consumes 0.5 units of mana per minute. ]
Lian gave a small smile, fifty percent resistance to poison.
This number was now much better than before, and he no longer needed to worry too much, and unfortunately this was the maximum potential of this skill and it could not be upgraded further.
Now in practice, he was now one of the few people who could move among these monsters without serious worry.
After the commander’s explanations ended, the movement began again.
Lian moved forward among the crowd and soon found Kael’s group, the same five people, but this time their condition was completely different.
Rhea was wearing new red armor and carrying her massive sword on her shoulder.
Bren had placed his gigantic shield on the ground and was doing his final checks.
Zak was sharpening his sword blade with full concentration.
Elias was busy preparing potions and checking his medical equipment.
And Kael...as always calm, was examining the map of the area on a holographic screen.
It was clear that they were completely prepared for this operation, no sign of joking or carelessness could be seen on their faces.
They had come to hunt and they had taken this matter completely seriously.
It was not just them, everyone was serious for this mission, the better they could hunt, the more reward they would receive, the more they hunted, the more they could level up.
For many awakened ones, the complete destruction of this group of monsters was a great opportunity to finally gain a lot of experience without worry.
A few minutes later, the advance groups entered the forest, everyone expected to find a few scattered monsters.
"Be careful! The enemy is approaching!"
But the reality was very different, suddenly an Ironfang jumped out from among the trees.
Then a second one.
A third one.
A fourth one.
And then dozens of other monsters, multiple roars echoed in the forest, and within seconds the battlefield exploded.
Swords were drawn, spells were activated, and the monsters attacked from all directions.
And everyone understood why the government had decided to carry out such a large operation.
But Lian was in no hurry to enter, he observed the scene from a distance, he wanted to learn their behavior patterns, find their weak points, and identify the best way to kill them.
And what he saw was truly strange, these monsters did not attack blindly, some of them played the role of hunters.
They went directly toward the weaker targets, and others moved from the flanks and tried to surround the groups.
And a few stayed back, waiting for the best opportunity, like an army, like soldiers who had specific duties.
This matter was even more dangerous than their numbers, because it showed they were not just a bunch of mindless stupid monsters, but they knew how to fight.
Of course, considering that a few Fallen ones were leading them, it should not have been that surprising.
At that moment, one of the monsters broke away from the right flank, it had targeted a few young students.
The students had just noticed the danger, if that creature reached them...their death was almost certain.
Lian did not wait any longer, explosive power flowed through his muscles, the ground beneath his feet cracked, and his body shot forward like a bullet.
The monster was still a few meters away from the students, but Lian arrived sooner, lightning gathered on his right fist.
[ Thunder Calamity ]
Blue sparks danced in the air, and then...his fist landed.
An explosion.
The Ironfang’s skull was literally shattered, the monster’s body was thrown several meters into the air and fell to the ground with great force.
The entire scene fell silent for a moment.
The system notification appeared.
[ Ironfang Ravager level 21 killed ]
[ EXP Gained ]
[ Stats Gained: +11 ]
[ You have obtained a new skill! ]
Lian’s eyes widened slightly, eleven stats, just from one monster, this amount was even more than what he had expected.
And more importantly...this was only one of hundreds of monsters, of course, he had received this amount because he had killed the monster alone.
If it had been a group kill, he would have gotten fewer points.
’I should try to hunt the ones with lower levels by myself.’ He thought to himself, he could not miss such a good opportunity to become stronger.
"Thank you so much." The rescued students thanked him sincerely, and Lian nodded and did not stay there any longer.
At that same moment, Kael, who had seen the scene from a distance, fixed his gaze on Lian, he was the first one to notice that Lian had not even gotten serious yet.
That speed...that power...and that calmness, none of them were like a normal awakened one.
"Who is this boy really?"
"I have seen him at the academy center a few times, could he be a student?"
"Impossible..."
A few others also had their attention drawn, and the more they looked at Lian, the more their curiosity grew, even the commander of the operation gave a quick glance at him.
To be able to kill a level 21 monster with one hit, one must be at least level 25, but she knew all the level 25 awakened ones at the base.
So who was this? But she had no time to think.
Because suddenly, one of the commanders shouted with a loud voice.
"They are coming from the river side!"
Everyone turned their heads, in the distance, a massive cloud of dust was approaching.
And then hundreds of Ironfang Ravagers appeared from among the trees, their numbers were so many that even some hunters lost their color.
But this was still not the worst part, among them...a few larger creatures were moving.
Black armor, larger bodies, larger horns...Fallen Ironfang Ravagers.
The system notification appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.
[ Ironfang Ravagers Detected ]
[ Rank: Fallen ]
[ Level: 27 ]
And at that same moment, everyone understood... the battle had begun.