Ethan walked instead of running, keeping his focus sharp as he scanned left and right—not to avoid monsters, but to hunt them. So far, he had only encountered lizard monsters, none of the other types yet.

But since he was moving at night, there would definitely be more monsters wandering around than he expected.

His steps stopped when a group of lizard monsters blocked his path. There were five of them, just like before. However, their scales were a different color—red instead of green.

Their weapons were still the same: spears, relying on speed. Ethan had to be careful fighting them.

He raised his sword and aimed it forward. One of the lizards dashed toward him and thrust its spear at his body, but Ethan dodged in time.

His sword swung sideways, releasing a crimson slash aimed right at the creature. The monster turned, realizing the danger, but before it could escape, the skill had already hit it.

BLAST!

A powerful explosion erupted, followed by crimson smoke and small red sparks crackling within the haze. Ethan was certain that one was dead.

Even with just Skill 1, they can die. That's fine. I still have sixty days left to complete 800 Skill 1 strikes for the Talent Quest.

The remaining monsters became more aggressive, charging at Ethan to kill him. He blocked their attacks, countered, and kicked them away to gain space.

Luckily, he could handle them easily; their attack speed was nothing compared to Ethan's strength now.

When the cooldown ended, Ethan swung his sword again, sending another crimson slash toward the nearest enemy.

BLAST!

A second explosion followed. The lizard shrieked in pain, then went silent—it was dead.

"Two down, three left," Ethan muttered, turning his head.

He dashed forward and engaged them using only basic attacks. Every time the Crimson Slash cooldown ended, he used it immediately, no matter how close he was to the target.

He didn't need to worry. As the skill's owner, the explosion would never harm him.

One by one, the lizard monsters fell, their green blood splattering across the ground.

Slowly, the corpses disintegrated into glowing magic particles drifting into the night sky.

[Blood Lizard (Lv. 38) || HP: 0/9100]

[Congratulations! You obtained loot:]

[+1250 EXP || +500 Gold || +500 Contribution Points || +5 Moon Fragment]

Although their level was different from the green lizards, only their HP had changed. The EXP reward remained the same.

Maybe the rewards are higher if I hunt monsters above level 40.

Ethan got the fragments he needed for Luna's side quest. Even though the quest was on hold for 180 days, he still had to collect Moon Fragments to save Luna from the World of a Thousand Stars.

But he still hadn't found a way to enter that world without going through an event. He needed to figure out a better way to save her.

After finishing the five blood lizards, Ethan moved southeast, planning to check if there were any Tower Artifacts there.

As he went deeper into the forest, he encountered more lizard monsters along the way. They were the same—level 38, 9100 HP, same appearance.

Ethan didn't want to waste the opportunity. He fought them in his usual style: basic attacks followed by Skill 1.

It wasn't the most efficient, and he knew it. Still, the more he used Skill 1, the faster he could finish his Talent Quest.

[Blood Lizard (Lv. 38) || HP: 0/9100]

[Congratulations! You obtained loot:]

[+1250 EXP || +500 Gold || +500 Contribution Points || +5 Moon Fragment]

After ten minutes of fighting, Ethan defeated another five blood lizards. The EXP he gained was enough to level up.

[Congratulations! You leveled up]

[Name: EthanArk]

[Level 62 → Level 63]

[EXP: 232573/256550] [AP: 30] [+30]

Ethan blinked in surprise, not expecting to level up so quickly just by killing weak mobs like these. Still, the EXP gap was huge—he'd need at least 25,000 more to reach level 63.

For now, he was satisfied with his progress. He continued southeast, moving through the dark, lifeless forest.

The farther he went, the more lizard groups he met, each with mixed types.

This time, 13 of them blocked his way—three poison lizards, five blood lizards, and five green ones.

The more monsters there are, the more likely they're guarding something.

Looks like I'm on the right path.

Ethan saw this not as a deadly situation but as a harvest—Contribution Points, EXP, Gold, Moon Fragments, and more Skill 1 strikes.

He sprinted forward, repeating the same combo as before: basic attacks, then Skill 1 to finish.

The large number of enemies made things more chaotic.

He took a few hits—spears cutting his arms, poison mist brushing his skin—but Bloodblade Ashura's regeneration healed him instantly, and his toxic resistance neutralized the poison.

These abilities made Ethan unstoppable in this battle. The lizards couldn't kill him; each of his basic attacks triggered lifesteal, draining their HP and restoring his own every second.

After thirty minutes of fighting, Ethan had used Skill 1 at least ten times. The explosions took out several at once—a good number for him.

[Blood Lizard (Lv. 38) || HP: 0/9100] [Green Lizard (Lv. 35) || HP: 0/8500] [Poison Lizard (Lv. 38) || HP: 0/9100]

[Congratulations! You obtained loot:]

[+3250 EXP || +1300 Gold || +1300 Contribution Points || +13 Moon Fragment]

The thirteen corpses turned into light particles and vanished. Ethan collected his loot, though unfortunately, Tower monsters didn't drop items anymore.

The major update had changed many things—the Tower was no longer a place for farming items or gear, but for fast leveling.

Leveling was good, but it meant nothing if your equipment was weak—and vice versa. Both had to stay balanced.

After the fight, Ethan headed farther southeast. In the distance, he saw the forest's outer edge.

He stepped out and found an abandoned village. The houses were broken and decayed, covered in creeping roots spreading from a single banyan tree at the center.

The forest around it was dead—no leaves in sight—but strangely, that banyan tree was full of green foliage.

The village wasn't as large as Ahren Village, so Ethan could explore the whole area quickly.

He entered cautiously, alone.

Was this village also built by players?

No. If it were, they'd have used cement instead of wood.

Judging by the walls and roofs, everything looked too traditional to be player-built.

He stepped into one of the houses. The door was broken, and the interior was in ruins.

From the furniture and layout, Ethan grew more certain this was made by Tower natives—probably the Blood-Cursed Tribe.

[WARNING!]

[Territorial Monster Trap Activated]

A red system panel flashed before him—a danger sign. Ethan froze, then tried to run out of the village, but he was too late.

He watched as the tree roots rose into the air, intertwining until they formed a dome that trapped him inside.

He swung his sword, sending a crimson slash that tore through the roots. They shattered—then quickly regenerated.

What's going on?

The ground trembled beneath his feet—not too strong, but enough to alarm him. More roots burst from the soil, converging toward the center of the village.

The massive banyan tree, fifteen meters tall, began to move, revealing a terrifying face carved into its trunk.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. Judging by its size and aura, he was trapped inside the territory of a high-level monster.

Damn it. Just my luck.

He tested its strength by firing another crimson slash. The attack hit and exploded, cutting off a few branches, but that was all.

[Varnash the Eternal Banyan (Lv. 225) || HP: 116,898/155,000]

[You have been inflicted with a debuff!]

[Debuff: -50% Physical Damage]

Ethan frowned. His attack power had dropped drastically—by half. That meant his Skill 1, which normally dealt 76,000 damage, now only did 38,000.

He checked the monster's HP bar—it was regenerating 1000 HP per second.

Reduced damage and regeneration buff… this thing's terrifying.

No way out. I'll have to defeat it.

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