"Who is he?" Alicar whispered to Iris as she seemed tense while facing Jacob, her entire body rigid with obvious discomfort. "Doesn’t seem too friendly and..."
Alicar didn’t complete his sentence, but it was because he simply didn’t want to tell Iris what he was really seeing at that moment.
He could see the souls of the people in the clearing, and though all of them were decent at best, Jacob’s potential was the real deal, something that genuinely surprised him.
[Name: Jacob Thorne]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 4]
[Vessel Potential: Excellent.]
It wasn’t on Iris’ level, but it was still amazing by normal standards, and Alicar would have definitely chosen him as a "vessel" if Iris hadn’t been present.
Also, as soon as he saw Jacob’s last name, Alicar instantly understood what was going on and why Iris seemed so shaken by his presence.
Besides the Crowford family, there were four other families that truly stood above all others when it came to the Eternal Realm, each of them wielding immense power and influence.
The Thorne family, Phoenix family, Phantom family, and finally, the Arceus family, all of them ancient bloodlines with decades of history behind them.
Due to the natural competition between each family, they expected their younglings to unlock powerful classes and step through the Eternal Realm to grow stronger and prove their worth.
For Jacob, it seemed to have worked wonderfully, as he had acquired a good class that clearly suited his combat style and personality.
As for Iris, her failure had spread far and wide before the Crowford family could stop it, making her a target of ridicule among the noble families.
Or at least, that would be the case until the world realized that Iris now had two classes, which would change everything for her.
But for now, she remained the "disaster daughter" in everyone’s eyes.
"Well," Alicar simply sighed as he turned around, aiming to head to another spot in the forest to avoid unnecessary conflict. "Let’s just go, there’s no need to stay here."
But of course, as soon as he took a single step forward, Jacob lifted his hand, and a dozen vines erupted from the ground to stop Alicar in his tracks, blocking his path.
"Someone desperate enough to team up with the failure," Jacob smiled devilishly, his eyes gleaming with malicious amusement. "Or perhaps you are aiming for something more...?"
Alicar turned his gaze toward the green-haired man, his expression neutral and unreadable as he assessed the situation.
He knew he would have a hard time if he attempted to fight Jacob, especially at his current level.
But at the same time, letting him do as he wished wasn’t something Alicar would allow, not after everything that happened.
And so, without warning, from the ground beside Jacob, an ice spike erupted right beside him, the young man moving out in fear of the attack as he stumbled backward.
"You..." Jacob turned to gaze at Alicar, his eyes narrowing with a mixture of anger and curiosity. "...Haha, I see."
Perhaps seeing the fact that Alicar was able to fight back with his class and wasn’t afraid to do so, Iris suddenly stopped trembling and faced Jacob with renewed determination.
She stood tall beside Alicar, refusing to be intimidated any longer.
"Well, we’ll be seeing each other in the First Layer anyway," Jacob shook his head with a dismissive shrug, then he turned back to his group. "We’re going back to the base for now."
Jacob walked toward where the human base was, followed by his companions, which included a tank, two damage dealers, and a support, a well-balanced party that showed he knew what he was doing.
Even someone like Jacob from a prestigious family needed people to help him fight monsters, as the Eternal Realm was dangerous for everyone regardless of their background.
And as they walked out of view, Iris finally calmed down, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves.
"I-I don’t think I was ready to meet someone like that yet," she smiled faintly, though her hands were still trembling slightly. "But knowing what awaits me in the future, perhaps it was good I experienced it so early."
"We should kick their asses," Alicar said bluntly, surprising the girl with his directness and confidence. "...Once we’re strong enough," he added with a small smile, making her laugh.
"Haha, yeah," Iris grinned, the tension finally leaving her shoulders.
The two of them decided to use the time they were given today to focus more on the usage of their ability, knowing that practice would be essential for their growth.
The Initial Stage was mainly something used to increase one’s proficiency with their skills, which is why it was called a "test" by many.
It was a place to learn, to adapt, and to prepare for the challenges that awaited them in the higher layers.
"I guess they left the bodies of the monsters behind as well," Iris mumbled, glancing at the fallen creatures scattered across the clearing.
"Yeah," Alicar replied, his mind already calculating their potential value.
For people like Jacob and Iris, who had prestigious families with a ton of wealth, the corpses of the Initial Stage monsters were nothing, barely worth the effort to collect them.
In fact, without a spatial ring, it was even a burden to try and profit from them, as carrying the bodies would slow them down considerably.
For someone like Alicar though, with a massive debt hanging over his head, even a few of these corpses could definitely help him get back on his feet.
’No,’ he shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the bigger picture. ’Gotta focus on reaching the First Layer. It’ll be easier once I’m there.’
And more than anything, both he and Iris needed to do something important involving their skills: increase their proficiency.
As one might notice, their skills’ panels had levels linked to them, which directly affected their power and effectiveness in battle.
There was no way to increase a skill beside using some incredibly rare items or increasing its proficiency, meaning one needed to truly master it through repeated use and experimentation.
This process could take months if not years for some skills, especially as they grew stronger and more complex.
Though if a skill reached level 10, it could be evolved and pushed to new highs, allowing its owner to grow even stronger and unlock new abilities.
While they were talking though, another monster appeared in the small clearing, this one much stronger than anything they had faced yet.
A massive roar echoed through the trees as the creature emerged from the undergrowth.
ROOAR!
[Vine Bear Lv.4]
[Rank: Uncommon]
The two of them were level 2 awakeners, so trying to face against a level 4 monster was akin to suicide, a risk that most sane people would never take.
Even someone like Jacob needed to make sure he had a team to defeat level 5 monsters, as the risk was simply too high for anyone to fight alone.
"Be careful, it’s an uncommon-rank beast!" Iris spoke as she readied herself, her mana coursing through her veins with growing intensity.
They had only met common-rank monsters until now, which were fairly equal to awakeners in terms of strength and could be handled with relative ease.
But as the monster’s rank increased, they became even harder to deal with, especially for awakeners who were underleveled and lacking in experience.
Many would have immediately attempted to flee at that moment, their survival instincts screaming at them to run.
But not Alicar or Iris, both of them stood their ground.
The vine bear swung its massive claws at Alicar and Iris with devastating force, the latter managing to dodge out of the way just in time.
Alicar on the other hand summoned a wall from the earth to block the attack.
But the bear smashed right through his defense effortlessly and immediately went in for the kill, making his eyes widen as its massive teeth closed in on his neck.
’Oh shit, I got too confident,’ Alicar thought, his heart pounding in his chest. ’Fuck.’
Alicar didn’t have Iris’ training to avoid such an attack, and in fact his agility was fairly low, not nearly enough to hope and dodge this massive creature.
But seeing the dire situation he was in, Iris immediately acted with an overwhelming composure that surprised even him.
She instantly used the power of their wind affinity to send a massive gust of wind toward the vine bear, disrupting its momentum.
It didn’t really do any damage, but the power of the element was enough to make the vine bear stumble and miss its intended target.
Its teeth closed right on Alicar’s shoulders instead, which hurt like hell, but at least it didn’t kill him.
...
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