Time passed as the trio continued their hunt through the desert.
The blazing sun hung overhead like a giant furnace, baking the endless sea of sand beneath it. Heat waves danced across the horizon and the air itself felt hot enough to distort one’s vision.
Yet despite the harsh environment, neither Adam nor Zoey showed any signs of losing enthusiasm.
If anything, they were becoming more excited with every passing hour.
Their levels were constantly increasing.
Their stats were growing.
And perhaps most importantly, they were gaining real combat experience rather than simply farming monsters inside a controlled Exp farming facility.
With Kael carrying the difficult fights, it honestly felt like they had stumbled upon a superior version of a farming center.
One that was completely free.
At that moment, they were dealing with a group of three golems.
The battle had become almost routine.
Kael weakened the targets and exposes the cores.
Adam and Zoey finished them off.
Simple and efficient.
Crack!
A powerful punch shattered part of a golem’s abdomen, exposing the glowing core hidden within.
Almost immediately, Adam moved.
Their teamwork had improved dramatically over the past few hours. They no longer needed Kael’s instructions.
The moment a core appeared, they already knew what to do.
Adam charged forward with his hammer raised high.
"Receive the Hammer of Justice, baby!"
Boom!
The hammer descended with tremendous force.
The core shattered instantly.
The golem froze before collapsing into rubble and sand.
Unlike earlier, Adam didn’t stand around admiring his work.
The moment the kill was secured, he immediately retreated.
A lesson learned after nearly getting flattened multiple times.
The remaining two golems roared in anger.
Kael stepped forward before either could react.
The next few minutes consisted of what could only be described as a systematic beating.
Stone shattered.
Limbs broke.
Cores were exposed.
Then Adam and Zoey delivered the finishing blows.
Before long, the final golem collapsed.
Silence returned to the battlefield.
Kael smiled.
"Good job, everyone."
Zoey brushed some sand from her clothes.
"Most of the credit belongs to you."
Adam nodded in agreement.
Without Kael, neither of them would’ve leveled this quickly.
At the moment, Adam had already reached Level 19 and wasn’t far from Level 20.
Zoey was slightly behind at Level 18, though she was rapidly approaching Level 19.
The progress was ridiculous.
Kael glanced between them.
"You guys tired?"
The desert wasn’t exactly kind.
Even with enhanced physiques, fighting under such heat could slowly drain a person’s stamina.
Yet both immediately shook their heads.
Not even slightly.
Sure, the heat was exhausting.
But Kael had been handling almost all of the difficult combat.
Most of their contribution involved landing finishing blows.
On top of that, every level-up restored a significant portion of their energy.
The result was that they actually felt better than they had hours ago.
Seeing their reactions, Kael nodded.
"Good."
He pointed deeper into the desert.
"Let’s keep going."
A grin appeared on his face.
"Let’s get both of you to Level 20 before the day ends."
Adam and Zoey immediately brightened.
The goal suddenly felt achievable.
Still...
As they followed behind Kael, the same thought surfaced once again.
Level 20.
Wasn’t that the level Kael claimed to be?
Neither of them believed it anymore.
Not even a little.
At first they had accepted his explanation.
Now?
Not a chance.
A Level 20 Awakener effortlessly defeating a Level 45 opponent was simply impossible.
At least according to common sense.
His strength.
His speed.
His reactions.
Everything pointed toward someone far stronger than he claimed.
Clearly Kael had lied about his level.
It was the only explanation that made sense.
What they didn’t know was that they weren’t entirely wrong.
Kael had indeed lied.
Just not by much.
His actual level was twenty-six.
Unfortunately for their theory, even Level 26 shouldn’t have been capable of doing what Kael had done.
The real reason lay elsewhere.
Three hundred points.
Three hundred absurdly distributed stat points that had transformed his attributes into something completely unreasonable.
Even Kael himself still wasn’t sure where his limits were.
The fight against Marcus certainly hadn’t shown them.
He had held back heavily during that battle.
After all, accidentally killing someone in broad daylight would’ve been troublesome.
The thought made him slightly disappointed.
He genuinely wanted to test himself against a truly powerful opponent.
Someone capable of pushing him.
Someone capable of showing him exactly how strong he had become.
Almost as if the universe had heard that thought the ground suddenly trembled.
Rumble.
The sand beneath their feet vibrated.
The three immediately stopped moving.
Zoey’s expression changed.
Her relaxed demeanor vanished instantly.
"I sense something."
Her voice was serious.
She turned toward the distance.
"It’s coming from over there."
A frown appeared on her face.
"It’s powerful."
Very powerful.
"Much stronger than anything we’ve fought today."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
He felt it too.
His perception wasn’t as specialized as Zoey’s.
But with the absurd amount of Intelligence he possessed, his sensitivity toward danger had become frighteningly sharp.
And right now...
Every instinct in his body was screaming.
Danger.
The difference between this creature and the golems they had been hunting wasn’t merely large.
It was enormous.
The golems felt like ants in comparison.
The tremors intensified.
Rumble.
Rumble.
Then suddenly....
"Move!"
A shout echoed across the desert.
The trio turned.
A group of hunters burst into view.
They were sprinting toward them at full speed.
Their armor was damaged.
Their faces were pale.
Several looked outright terrified.
One of them pointed behind himself while running.
"What are you standing around for?!"
"Run!"
The panic in his voice instantly made the situation clear.
Adam felt his mouth go dry.
Beside him, even Zoey looked tense.
The cloud of dust approaching from the distance was growing larger every second.
Something massive was moving beneath the sand.
Adam slowly turned toward Kael.
"We should definitely be running, right?"
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the approaching dust cloud.
The desert surface bulged and shifted as a gigantic body moved beneath it.
Every movement produced another tremor.
Every tremor made the threat feel larger.
More real.
Finally, Kael spoke.
"You two should run."
Zoey’s eyes widened.
"What about you?"
Kael kept watching the approaching monster.
"I’ll hold it back."
Adam immediately frowned.
"But—"
"I’m not stupid."
Kael cut him off before he could continue.
His voice remained calm.
"I’m not planning to throw my life away."
The confidence in his tone caused both of them to hesitate.
After everything they had witnessed today, they couldn’t deny one thing.
Kael was strong.
Far stronger than either of them.
Perhaps...
Just perhaps...
He really could survive.
Adam clenched his fists.
Then nodded.
"Fine."
Zoey looked reluctant, but she eventually nodded as well.
"Don’t die."
Kael laughed.
"I’ll try not to."
With that, the two turned and began running alongside the retreating hunters.
Meanwhile, Kael remained where he stood.
Alone.
The desert winds blew across the sands as the approaching tremors grew stronger.
His gaze never left the massive cloud of dust racing toward him from the horizon.