The Safe Zone was painfully obvious, to the point it could not be missed. Unlike the entire stretch of apocalyptic landscape around him, at the edge of Manhattan, far from any of the giant trees, was a circular area that looked like it was a mere memory. There were no overturned cars, ruined streets, or destroyed buildings. Instead, the entire zone just looked like an ordinary part of New York City, as if, at any moment, people would suddenly walk out of the restaurants to go about their day. The cars looked ready to be driven, and Michael swore that even the sunlight seemed to shine a bit brighter over there.

Is it like the Villages?

It made sense, given the nature of a tutorial. The only reason why he hadn't chosen to spawn in the middle of one was that he had wanted to get a better grasp of the city's situation before heading anywhere. If the Villages had been representations of these Safe Zones, then there was only one possible path to choose if he wanted to meet his mother and friends, especially because he had been given the option to spawn inside one of them.

Without hesitation, Michael started walking to the edge of the building's roof. At that moment, however, a System window appeared in front of him, making him stop in his tracks.

[Your reward for purifying the Consumed Territory and cleansing the Abyss will now be presented.]

Michael blinked, then took a step back, staring at the window. This System window was jet-black with the letters alone shining in the same color as the Blessing of Light. He clenched his jaw.

"…Are you mocking me, System? I lost a friend."

Naturally, there was no reply. Instead, more messages appeared in front of him.

[The infinite darkness was not enough to keep your blinding light from victory.]

[You faced the Tutorial Zone's greatest enemies on your own, with nothing but your own strength to rely on.]

[You dove into the deepest darkness and succeeded in purifying it.]

Michael frowned at the messages. Anger silently simmered underneath the surface as his hostility to the System grew by the second, even though he knew it wasn't at fault for what he had gone through. If anything, it was nothing but an impartial observer. The messages continued to appear.

[However, it was not without its cost. You lost a friend and ally, their existence erased.]

[You now bear the weight of his hopes and dreams.]

[Everything that makes up your power led to your current self.]

Michael flinched at the messages that made it seem like the System could read his mind.

No, it probably can.

His frown eased up a bit after the System acknowledged Veilthar's sacrifice. Silently, he waited for the final message.

[You have received the 'Sacrifice of Light and Darkness' Title.]

It was a simple one that also seemed to be his only reward. After a few seconds, the messages disappeared. Another appeared after a second.

[The 'Chosen by the Shadows' Title has merged into the 'Sacrifice of Light and Darkness' Title.]

Michael let out a small sigh and waved his hand, wishing for his new Title's information to appear.

[Title

Sacrifice of Light and Darkness: your great achievement was not without its cost. In a land created by the hateful suffering of the one born from shadows who had been blessed with Light, you granted him what he needed to make the decision to sacrifice himself. He never regretted it, not even as he disappeared. Your bond will live on.

Effects: increases the Rune of Shadows' effectiveness. Increases the effectiveness of all stats by 12%. Increases the effectiveness of all Skills related to the Light Dragon and the Blessing of Light. Increases recovery speed of all kinds when within darkness. Increases the effectiveness of all Skills by 15% when within darkness.

* Never give up, Michael Gray. You alone are able to avenge us. My sacrifice will never have been for nothing. I made my choice. I chose to believe in you.]

Michael stared at the System window for a long while, especially the last part, which seemed to be Veilthar's last message to him.

…This is different from the others.

This Title description was highly personal and made him feel like the System was actually talking to him even more, especially because of Veilthar's message. At least this time, he didn't feel the sense of detachment that he always sensed from the System's words. Was it because he was emotionally invested in this Title? Or was this feeling true? In the end, it didn't matter. Michael nodded at the System window.

"…I'll carry on our dreams, my friend."

Veilthar was an entity that had spent years with him, even if they had fought for most of that time. During many of the rest periods, they had talked about various things. To top it all off, the Umbra had chosen to erase his own existence for Michael's sake. What were they if not friends? Nobody had ever done that much for him.

Michael threw a bitter smile at the System message as it disappeared and took a deep breath.

There will be time to think about these things later.

Right now, he needed to focus on what he should do. He looked at the Safe Zone he had been going to before the System intervened. He shook his head and started running toward the edge, then leaped off without hesitation.

For a few seconds, his body kept rising into the air, until it ominously stopped in place. A moment later, Michael began to fall, ever faster. The wind became sharper, scraping against his skin, but he didn't even blink as the ground continued to approach at blinding speed. He waved his staff.

Wind Blades.

The air below him shifted. Instead of acting against him, it followed his will and gathered all around him. Because of Twin Casting, the number of Blades was doubled, and they lost their shape to create a curtain of wind all around him. The curtain fought back against the air around it while also flowing upward, slowing him down significantly. A heartbeat later, Michael's feet slammed on the ground with a loud bang. The impact rose up his legs, but he only grunted and regained his balance by stepping forward. He had suffered no damage.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," he mumbled under his breath before starting to run. It was an attempt to distract himself from the sadness brooding within his chest.

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Michael jumped over the large tree roots in front of him and went around a giant tree that had risen in the middle of one of the streets. That was when he met his first monster. Landing on a traffic light, he looked at the beast, who was staring back at him. The creature looked like an enormous tiger with orange fur and amber eyes, as tall as a house and half as long. There were no stripes.

Michael only looked at the enemy, still a bit caught up in his thoughts. The sight of the beast didn't intimidate him in the least, not after having fought mana-wielding undead in darkness and a Mythical Beast, but he started thinking about something different, trying to move away from the Title's description.

How would my friends beat this thing?

For a moment, he considered that question. Apart from them, how would Viktor have organized a plan of attack? What about Rose? Were any of them prepared to defeat and kill a beast this large? He had expected the difficulty to increase after the Tutorial was over, but was this really how it was supposed to go?

The giant beast's snarl brought him back to reality. Each of its fangs was as long as a human's arm, but Michael didn't even blink. Instead, he leaped out of his position and fell lightly on the asphalt, then started walking toward the monster.

…Let's see what these stats can do.

He shook his head and blinked. Once his eyes opened, they were perfectly clear. The tiger stepped back as hesitation crossed its eyes before it was replaced by wild ferocity. The monster roared loudly and started sprinting toward Michael, each step covering a great distance. It took less than two seconds for the creature to arrive in front of Michael and swing its paw, claws glinting under the sunlight, each even longer than his torso. The wind from the attack brushed against his hair and made his robes flutter. He watched the attack as if it were moving in slow motion. Compared to Veilthar, this thing was way, way too slow.

Without activating his Dragonheart or casting any spell, Michael shot forward diagonally, easily going under the attack. Once he avoided it, his feet ground against the asphalt to quickly bring him to a halt, as if he had never moved so quickly in the first place. A moment later, he closed the distance between himself and the beast before sending his left fist piercing through the air, which was displaced by the attack. The blow connected with the tiger's left side before it could even react. A loud, dull thud echoed.

The hide sank from the point of impact as the muscles were crushed with a sickening crunch. Michael's fist reached the ribs and promptly shattered them, feeling the bones crack, then kept going until it reached the beast's lung. By this point, his arm was almost entirely inside the creature's body, which had slightly lifted off the ground. Michael opened his hand and grabbed the giant beast's lung, then pulled.

Coated in crimson blood, his arm left the piercing wound while carrying the ripped-off piece of the monster's organ. The injury looked like the tiger had been hit by a giant bullet. The monster tried to roar, but because of the destroyed lung and the gaping hole, all air escaped it. In the end, the monster simply toppled over, drowning in its own blood. Michael furrowed his brow. There was no meaning in extending the creature's suffering.

He raised his bloodied fist again, then punched downward, right toward the forehead of the giant beast. The attack pierced through the air like a bullet shot by a sniper rifle. The moment his fist connected, the monster's skull crumbled with a loud crack. The thick and dense bone was crushed under the weight of his Strength, cracking before collapsing completely. He easily destroyed its brain, large as it was. The creature stopped moving, and the usual notification of having acquired XP rang out in Michael's mind. He looked at it.

Level 33, huh?

James and the others were only in the twenties, with James and Elizabeth at Level 26. Even if they were in a Party, killing something like this would have been extremely difficult, especially when taking into account the beast's size. Michael frowned. Had he simply spawned in a bad location? Or was the entire city like this? Maybe New York City as a whole was a dangerous place, unlike other cities that he'd seen in the projection of Earth that the System had shown him? For now, he didn't have the answers to any of those questions.

Michael lowered his gaze to look at his bloodied hand. His fist was covered in bits of internal organs and coated entirely in blood. The viscous texture was one that he hadn't needed to experience much before, as a ranged combatant. The metallic smell was one that he had become used to over the months of the Tutorial, but it still felt unfamiliar.

I've been killing things with spells, or at least using mana.

There hadn't been many chances for him to end a battle like this one. The feeling of the blood on his skin was… strange. He thought he would find it sickening, but he didn't feel the urge to react at all. Michael's frown became deeper.

Whatever. I only wanted to test my body's strength.

Shaking his head, Michael continued on his way toward the safe zone. He leaped over the overturned cars, walked on the giant tree roots, and jumped on top of small buildings to cover as much ground as possible, as quickly as possible. The few monsters he found on his way were killed with a single cast of Arcane Missile. As he walked over the ruined corpse of a three-meter tall, fat, grey-skinned creature that was still holding onto the fire hydrant it had been using as a weapon, a realization that had been building ever since the Tutorial ended solidified in Michael's mind. He looked at the creature's carcass.

I'm stronger now.

It wasn't enlightenment or even a complex realization. But it was something he hadn't properly internalized since leaving the Abyss. He could easily defeat even these enemies, against whom his friends would certainly bitterly struggle. Nevertheless, these thoughts brought him no comfort. His enemies were still far beyond his power level.

Shaking his head again, Michael marched on. Finally, he arrived in front of the very limits of the apparent safe zone. Looking at it from up close only made it seem even more unreal. Despite the changed world around, this area alone remained the same as it had always been. Michael reached out and touched the outer border of the zone. The air rippled, making him feel the wave of mana for the first time.

A barrier of sorts?

Nodding to himself, he stepped forward and went through the apparent barrier, entering the safe zone. A System message appeared in front of him.

[You have entered Safe Zone M36.]

Once inside, Michael looked around, ignoring the Safe Zone's predictable name. The streets were empty.

"Did I get here too early because of my unique situation?" he asked himself, then looked back at the System message.

Michael narrowed his eyes. Theoretically, he could try and ask the System for information, but he still didn't feel like he could do so again. The feeling of soul-exhaustion hadn't disappeared or even gotten better at all. With a sigh, he jumped on top of the nearest building and then onto the west wall of another. The Elder Chief's Staff pierced through the concrete, allowing him to use it to scale the walls and arrive at the roof. There, Michael took a few steps away from the edge and sat down. Right now, all he could do was wait and recover. He closed his eyes. The last remaining thoughts about his new Title and Veilthar disappeared.

The Safe Zone felt strangely quiet after having experienced the city outside, but it was serene because of that contrast. For the first time in a while, Michael channeled Astral Meditation. The outside world almost disappeared as he left only a sliver of focus on the outside, turning completely inward. Once he looked at his spiritual body, however, surprise filled him.

…I thought as much, but not to this extent.

In the boundless world of energy that was in the color of his mana, the spiritual body sat in the same position as usual, surrounded by a curtain of darkness that Michael recognized. Nevertheless, he could see the spirit clearly, and its appearance was what had changed. There were no longer a few scales on his arms or at the edge of his eyes at all, and his horns had changed into antlers that resembled Clyranth's. A long tail now surged out of his tailbone, blue with a few golden scales. It ended in what looked like a triangular patch of beautiful, silky golden fur. The mana around the spiritual body gathered around its back, forming the vague shape of a bird's wings. The spirit's muscles were more clearly defined, and Michael could swear its bone structure had changed a bit.

Most importantly, there was an atmosphere of rage around the spiritual body, as if it were about to start fighting against anything in its way. It was a feeling that Michael recognized, from the mentality to the reason behind it. He focused his perception a bit more. Defiance wasn't something so easily interpreted, but he was the one who housed it, after all.

Things will only change even more from here.

Throwing all idle thoughts away, Michael focused and started drawing in mana, attuning himself to the environment's higher mana levels. He tried to understand his mana's current nature after it received so many significant power boosts. He'd learned it was a critical part of battle itself – to know exactly what he was capable of. He started slow, just trying to gauge his mana's capabilities, as if he were a researcher exploring an entirely new field.

If before his mana had been a pond, it was now a large, deep lake. After some time, he started drawing mana from the outside to develop his Circles. Once Michael felt like he had done so enough, he went back to analyzing his mana. He repeated this pattern several times.

After a while, something changed. For a reason he couldn't quite easily identify, Michael dragged his consciousness outward and opened his eyes to see the world around him once more. 'Something' was about to happen. He looked at the sky.

A white, blinding light rippled in the blue sky.

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