Ethan dashed forward, aiming straight at the kobold boss. He moved quickly, swinging and stabbing with smooth attacks.

Ethan could clearly see the kobold boss's HP dropping, even if it wasn't a big amount.

Risa stayed where she was, ready with her defensive spell to protect him. Ethan had clearly told her not to join the boss fight fully.

Ethan jumped far back, keeping himself in a safe distance from the kobold boss's attack range.

He glanced to the side and saw Risa doing fine, with Hissy guarding her closely.

What surprised him more was that the boss's attention stayed only on Ethan, even though Risa was also here.

Does the kobold boss ignore her because of the red cursor?

If that was true, then Risa was safe even while Ethan fought the boss.

That was a relief. He could focus completely on attacking the Boss Kobold without worrying about her.

He swung his sword sideways, launching a crimson slash at the monster in front of him.

BLAST!

An explosion erupted, sending up a cloud of crimson smoke. Ethan jumped back fast and landed beside Risa.

Risa looked impressed and amazed. Ethan's skill was strong enough to fight a kobold boss that huge.

Her attention turned forward as the crimson smoke faded, meaning the explosion had fully ended.

"Was that attack enough?" Risa asked.

"It should be," Ethan replied.

He watched the kobold boss's HP bar drop little by little until it hit zero. Ethan had defeated the monster with one skill attack.

[Talent Quest: Swing Skill 1 800 times]

[Count: 422/800] [Duration: 39:23:32:25]

[Congratulations, you have obtained loot]

[+2000 EXP || +1000 Gold || +1000 Contribution Points || +100 Moon Fragment || 1x Soul Servant Fragment Chest (Rank A) || 1x Uncommon Crystal Spirit Chest || 1x Artifact Map Fragment]

[Congratulations, you are allowed to advance to the next floor]

[Floor 1 → Floor 2]

I defeated it at night, so I got Moon Fragments.

It seems only I get special rewards like this.

"You beat it. Congrats, Ethan," Risa said. Ethan smiled and nodded.

Slowly, a teleport crystal appeared in the middle of the room, allowing players to go to the second floor without needing the party panel.

Ethan smiled. He reached out and held Risa's hand tightly. She nodded, and the two of them stepped in, leaving the boss room behind.

The door opened, and people looked into the room. Some of them laughed, thinking Ethan had died quickly to the kobold boss.

But one of them squinted at the center of the room. He could clearly see a teleport crystal.

"That's the teleport crystal. Doesn't it only show up when the boss is defeated?"

"Really?"

Others looked too. They were shocked when they saw the crystal. In just a few minutes, the crystal vanished and the boss room opened again for the next challengers.

"He beat the kobold boss in under five minutes? What is that?"

"What's his name? I need to find him on the second floor. He'll be useful for my party."

"No! I'll find him first."

Everyone argued loudly about meeting Ethan. They all wanted to befriend him.

To them, befriending Ethan meant an easier path through the Tower Raids.

Somewhere else, Ethan arrived instantly on the second floor. When he opened his eyes, he stood on a cliff, with a dead forest on the other side and a stone bridge connecting both places.

Risa smiled. Even though the landscape was the same as before, it proved she didn't slow Ethan down in exploring the floors.

Together, they left the teleport cliff, crossed the stone bridge, and entered the dead forest. Many monsters wandered around endlessly there.

If the main monsters of the first floor were kobolds, then it was clear the second floor was full of lizards.

It was also very possible that the floor boss was a lizard boss.

Ethan and Risa stopped when they saw five lizard monsters blocking their path.

All five were below level 40, based on Ethan's experience.

"We'll do it like usual, Risa."

"I understand."

Seeing humans in their territory, the lizards attacked Ethan one by one. Ethan charged forward, striking and pushing them back.

With one sideways sword swing, Ethan launched a crimson slash at one of the lizards that was pushed away.

BLAST!

The explosion hit hard, sending up a tall crimson smoke cloud. No low-level monster could survive Ethan's skill attack. They were all guaranteed to die.

With this strength… am I equal to a legendary monster? Like that eternal banyan monster before?

He didn't stop attacking. Ethan went after the other lizards and did the same thing. With a 10-second cooldown, he killed all of them in under three minutes.

[Talent Quest: Swing Skill 1 800 times]

[Count: 427/800] [Duration: 39:23:24:07]

[Congratulations! You obtained loot:]

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

Risa stepped up and met Ethan. She checked to make sure he was fine, and he clearly was. He raised his hand and gently patted her hair, calming her.

Her eyes looked red, and she yawned a few times. Ethan saw it. She was clearly tired and wanted to rest.

He knew the location of Ahren Village, a good place for them to rest. He also checked the time on his dashboard. It was already 2 a.m.

I should take her to the village soon and rest.

They continued walking, not through the forest, but along the dirt path. Ahren Village was connected by this dirt road.

"Are we going to the village?" Risa asked.

Ethan nodded. He explained that he would protect her until they safely reached the village. Risa didn't need to do anything.

Risa understood and agreed. If Ethan told her so, she would follow.

They were stopped several times by groups of lizard monsters. Ethan used the same trick to kill them, and he did it quickly.

There were four groups of lizards in total. Three groups had five monsters each, and one group had only three.

A total of 18 monsters were defeated, and Ethan gained 18 Crimson Slash swings from them.

[Talent Quest: Swing Skill 1 800 times]

[Count: 445/800] [Duration: 39:23:02:45]

[Congratulations! You obtained loot:]

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

After defeating the last group of five monsters, the village gate appeared in front of Ethan.

Risa looked happy, relieved that she could finally rest in a warm inn room.

"Yay, we reached the village," Risa said happily.

"We'll rest here tonight."

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