Thus, the group of six finally started their journey to climb the Battle Royal. Naturally, Zack and Skyler had to abandon their plans to look for the opportunities mentioned in the novel, knowing that a certain someone was already taking them before they could.
Instead, the group just focused on slaying monsters to earn system points and climb the levels of the Battle Royal. After all, the first five levels were simply beginner levels, where the strongest monsters were mostly dormant or kept to themselves. Beyond a few hidden missions, these levels offered no civilizations or notably large missions.
At first, everyone except Charles followed along happily and carefreely, thinking that all they had to do was slay monsters for a month before returning home to rest. But they soon realized how wrong they were.
Skyler was a freak—he never got tired! On top of that, he refused to give them even a single little moment to catch their breath!
There were only six of them, yet they had already roamed a large portion of the 2nd level of the Battle Royal in a few hours and offended many people from various races!
The sky above them had been crystal clear when they all left the cavern, but now dark clouds had returned, dotted with tiny stars.
Skyler, this crazy bastard, had deliberately been attracting monsters toward them by spending precious system points on vials of strange liquids from the system shop!
Their usually silent systems now flooded them with notifications for every monster they killed as they sprinted at full speed, a large horde of monsters hot on their heels.
Yuris’s muscles ached, tears welling in his eyes as he stared at Skyler, who hovered a few inches above the ground. The jerk was already far ahead of them, wielding a dark green bow brimming with wind Evol that he had drawn from one of his storage rings.
With effortless ease, he unleashed arrow after arrow, each purely crafted from wind Evol, striking the beasts pursuing them.
"Please stop...!! I’m gonna die fighting!!"
Austin and Zack were panting beside him, and Charles was no better, teetering on the edge of fainting. The four were exhausted—they desperately needed rest. No one could have imagined that in just a few hours, they would wish to simply collapse dead on the spot just to get a little moment of respite.
They didn’t even give a damn that Skyler, who already wielded six natural elements—Light, Space, Darkness, Lightning, Water, and Earth—was now wielding a seventh element: Wind! All they wanted was rest!
Skyler only cast the four a brief glance before shifting his attention to Isaac—the only one who still seemed relatively fine.
Why?
Because he had decisively spent 10,000 system points to purchase a room-sized, portable space pocket along with a variety of herbs for him so he could craft potions for the group without any other problems.
The only drawback was that the pocket lasted for just three days despite being so expensive. Still, fortunately, it was invisible and inaccessible to everyone except those he permitted, as if it existed in a separate dimension—and it moved alongside him.
"Are you done?"
Hearing him, Isaac wiped the sweat from his forehead and shot him a glare before quickly tossing over a few potion bottles.
"These are strength potions. They’ll help ease their exhaustion. Still, give me some time—I have all the ingredients, but I can’t brew potions every single second! It takes time for even the herbs to boil and mix!"
Skyler obviously heard his words with one ear and let them fly out the other, tossing the bottles of potions toward the others.
"Drink and keep moving!"
Everyone caught the potions with horrified expressions. Still, they could only grit their teeth, drink, and continue killing monsters.
Their hearts sank even further when Skyler broke open another vial of liquid that lured more monsters. Now, everyone was crying—it was a miracle they were still alive. Due to the horde of monsters, everyone nearby fled to avoid getting involved, and even the hidden base of the villains on the second level was alerted by the large commotion.
Skyler narrowed his eyes.
’Strange... where is the gate to the next level? According to the novel, it should be around here. Yet 505 still hadn’t detected a single monster bearing the gate guardian’s aura, despite all the chaos I have caused.’
He flew upward, killing a few flying beasts with the bow while thinking: Was the gate’s location different before Max discovered it in the original story...? After all, their group had arrived here earlier than in the story.
’Or had it simply shifted? If so... Max, oh Max, you’ve truly been thorough this time.’
His face grew solemn as he scanned the surroundings. He could only hope that the location of the gate to the next level hadn’t shifted, as it usually did when the gate felt too many people had found it or when the ghost guarding it awoke. Otherwise, their journey would become far more arduous.
"Now what?"
Frustrated, he clicked his tongue, racking his brain for a solution. They had already wasted far too much time in the 2nd level.
Originally, the first five levels of the Battle Royal should have been the easiest to clear with his knowledge. But no—everything had to become so unnecessarily complicated.
If Max truly altered the gate’s location before leaving, then that jerk has lost it.
Merciless bastard.
Skyler really wanted to know the reason behind it if his thought was true. Did Max not want anyone else to grow this time?
Doesn’t he know that when their planet is struck by a calamity a month from now, no matter how powerful he is, he won’t be able to face it alone? And even if he manages to save Eldoria from the first calamity with his strength alone, what about the second, the third, and the numerous waves that follow?
They were facing chaos, and each of its waves would be far stronger than the last.