Night had slowly cast its shadow over the military base.
After leaving Commander Gareth’s office, Lian walked slowly along the dirt path between the base buildings.
Unlike previous days, the atmosphere was strange.
Heavy, silent, suffocating. No laughter could be heard. No groups of students had gathered together.
Even the soldiers, who usually talked to each other during patrols, were speaking quietly and briefly this time.
A few meters away, two nurses quickly left a building and ran toward the medical section.
Several soldiers were also moving medical equipment. News of Sarah and Andreas’s deaths had spread throughout the base.
Everyone knew. Everyone was talking about it. And everyone understood that the situation in the fallen city was much worse than they had imagined.
When a few students saw Lian, they unconsciously moved aside.
Some stared at him, some looked away. Rumors were spreading at a terrifying speed.
The student who had killed dozens of monsters alone. The student who had caused an entire pack of monsters to retreat.
The student that even Federation commanders were talking about.
But Lian did not care. He was just tired. Very tired. Finally, he entered his tent.
He closed the door.
And for the first time since entering the fallen city, he let his body relax.
He put aside his armor, fell onto the bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. He hoped that at least unlike the day, he could have a peaceful night.
But his sleep was not peaceful.
He was standing in the fallen city again. Gray sky, empty streets, ruined buildings. But this time, something was different.
Thousands of corpses. All the streets were covered in bodies. Human, monster, soldier, hunter, child, old man, woman, man.
All lying on the ground in silence. The smell of blood filled the space.
And at the end of the street... he saw it. The white-eyed creature. The same unknown creature. The same thing that even satellites could not record.
This time, the creature was not facing away. This time, it was looking directly at him.
Two completely white eyes, without pupils, without emotion. But apart from that, it was almost completely human-like. In every other way except those eyes.
But in an inexplicable way, Lian was sure that the creature could see him.
It recognized him. It was aware of his existence.
A few seconds passed. Then the creature smiled. A smile without any emotion. A smile that no human should be able to make.
"You will pay the price for my child’s death." It said in a tone devoid of any human emotion.
And suddenly... Lian woke up.
His breathing was heavy. Cold sweat was on his forehead. Sunlight was passing through the tent fabric.
It was morning.
A few seconds passed before he realized it had all been just a dream. But the bad feeling that creature had given him still remained in his heart.
As if that gaze really existed. As if it was not just a nightmare.
This was the first time he had felt death in a dream! He felt like he had been closer to death than anything else.
He had only felt this way twice before in his life. The first moments in the Ruined Realm when he faced that Fallen Wolf.
And the second time when he faced that Unholy Dreadmaw.
Lian sat on the bed for a few moments, then took a deep breath.
"Nonsense..." But even he did not fully believe his own words.
He felt that this was not a nightmare, but a threat and a warning.
He took a quiet breath and opened his status panel. He had gained many achievements yesterday. It was time to take a look at them.
[Name: Lian Vonhelm]
[Level: 11]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Monster]
[Talents: Dormant Monster, Winter Adaptation]
[Innate Skills: Glutton, Bloodlust, Butcher, Winter Skin, Ice Dominion]
[Skills: Fallen Wolf Speed, Blood Hunt, Glacial Reaper Claw, Eternal Frozen Apocalypse, Steelhide, Thunder Calamity, Earthbreaker, Shadow Skin, Blood Rush]
[Stats: Click to see]
[Titles: Explorer of the Lost City, Wolf Slayer, Nightmare of Monsters]
Lian looked at his level. He had leveled up once and reached level 11. And that was after killing dozens of monsters.
He could not even imagine how long it would take him to reach level 20.
Then he clicked on the first new skill he had obtained.
[Earthbreaker]
[Rank: Common (+)]
Description: By injecting mana into the ground, the user can create a destructive shockwave. Attack power increases with Strength.
On direct impact, bones and heavy armor take more damage.
Lian immediately remembered the Gravehide Brutes. Massive three-meter creatures that crushed the asphalt with a single hit.
If he combined this skill with his current power... he could probably split the street in half.
It was extremely suitable for group battles, especially when there were many enemies.
And now he had another offensive fist skill alongside Glacial Reaper Claw.
He then went to the second skill.
[Shadow Skin]
[Rank: Common (+)]
Description: The user can hide part of their body in shadow. Resistance to detection increases. Stealth ability in dark environments is greatly enhanced.
Consumes 0.5 mana per minute.
Lian’s face turned slightly cold. The Red-Eyed Stalker. He still had not forgotten the moment of Andreas’s death.
A creature that appeared without any warning and took a human life in an instant.
Lian looked at the skill description for a few seconds. It was a very useful skill that could help in various situations like spying, stealth entries, and sneak attacks.
The best type of skill for assassin classes.
He immediately opened the third skill.
[Blood Rush]
[Rank: Common (+)]
Description: When activated, movement speed and reaction speed increase. The more damage you take, the more speed increases, until mana is completely drained.
Consumes 0.7 mana per minute.
This skill was really interesting.
Fallen Wolf Speed and Blood Rush. Combining these two skills, even he could not imagine the final speed.
Then he opened the stats panel.
[Strength: 138]
[Spirit: 5]
[Speed: 96]
[Mana: 156]
[Resistance: 65]
[Stat Points: 101]
[Fragments: 72]
Lian raised his eyebrow. One hundred and one points. A big number. Very big, especially for his current level. He doubted any level 11 had this many stat points.
But he had also leveled up once. After level 10, the amount of points Awakened receive per level up multiplies several times.
Now the question was, how many of these points were from the level up?
He closed the panel. For now, he had no plan to increase his stats.
At that moment...
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The sound of knocking on the tent came. Lian raised his head. He waited a few seconds, and the knocking came again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
He stood up, went to the entrance, and pulled the tent flap aside.
Two people were standing outside.
Liana and Selina. Unlike usual, neither was smiling. Their faces were serious, even a little sad. It was clear they had heard the news of Sarah and Andreas’s deaths.
A few seconds of silence passed between them.
"We heard what happened..." Selina then said quietly.
Liana lifted her gaze from the ground and looked directly into Lian’s eyes.
"Can we talk?" She asked quietly.