CHAPTER 70: THE LONE PLAYERS

Ethan left Arkan City with a heavy feeling in his heart. Before he entered the forest, he stopped for a moment and turned around.

In front of Arkan City, many players were already standing guard, ready to protect everyone from Ethan’s supposed threat.

But to Ethan, this wasn’t a threat—it was progress, something good.

When people share a common enemy, they’ll unite much more easily than before.

LionArk would become the leader of the Southern Guild Alliance. Ethan had asked Leni to handle several things, one of them being the guild pins or badges.

With those pins showing their membership as part of the Southern Guild Alliance, Ethan could tell who he should kill and who he shouldn’t.

After looking at Arkan City for a while, Ethan stepped into the forest, beginning his journey through places he hadn’t visited before.

His only goal was to kill as many members of the Northern Guild Alliance as possible until Silver Star noticed him.

If Silver Star’s last team fell and LionArk managed to survive until the end of the event, then Mavelard would still belong to LionArk—and Ashley wouldn’t have to marry the leader of Silver Star.

There’s still plenty of time before the event ends.

As he walked deeper into the forest, a system notification panel suddenly appeared before his eyes. It was from the Talent Quest system.

From that panel, Ethan clearly saw a new quest with a specific reward.

[Talent Quest:]

[6. Use Skill 1 a total of 800 times]

[Duration: 60 days]

[Reward: Skill 1 Lv. 10 → Skill 1 Lv. 50]

"Use Skill 1 eight hundred times within sixty days? I knew this day would come," Ethan said with a sigh.

He didn’t just open the Talent Quest panel; his attention also turned to his personal system panel, where he could see his MP and the MP cost for his Skill 1.

Skill 1, Crimson Slash Lv. 10, only required 75 MP to use. Its power had increased drastically thanks to the Infinite Rage effect, which multiplied the skill’s physical damage by five.

Ethan’s total MP was 17,400. Dividing that by 75 MP meant he could unleash Skill 1 two hundred thirty-two times in one go.

But he wasn’t sure if the skill had to hit an enemy to count toward the quest. The only way to find out was to try it.

Ethan summoned Bloodblade Ashura and swung it sideways, sending a crimson lightning slash flying forward.

The attack struck a tree, splitting it in half and knocking it down.

But no notification appeared saying that the skill use had been recorded.

That meant the Talent Quest only counted attacks that hit actual enemies.

If it needs to hit 800 times, that means I’ll have to kill 800 monsters in less than two months.

Another thought came to Ethan’s mind—power. With his current strength, he could instantly kill most monsters.

That was different from before, when he had to use Skill 1 more than twice to defeat them.

On the other hand, his overwhelming power made leveling up feel too easy, even boring. But there was no changing what had already happened.

He had to start seeing the Talent Quest as a blessing, not a burden.

I’ll deal with the Talent Quest later. For now, better focus on exploration. There are still many areas unmapped toward the north.

With Bloodblade Ashura in hand, Ethan walked alone through a dangerous path filled with death, hatred, and vengeance.

But that was his choice. He couldn’t push that burden onto anyone else.

The only one fit to carry out this mission was Ethan himself—his PK status was already infamous.

Living alone had become normal for him. It made both his mind and body tougher.

Ethan was sure he could carry out this plan well.

***

Five hours later.

Western Forest.

Ethan swung his sword sideways, releasing another crimson lightning slash that tore through a pack of direwolves.

Explosions burst out, followed by the rumble of red thunder.

After hours of battle, Ethan had felt the full effect and buffs of Bloodblade Ashura.

His strength had increased, his critical rate had improved, and he recovered 100% HP every time a monster died.

That made Ethan’s survivability skyrocket—his HP fully restored each time a monster was killed, even though he already regenerated health every time Bloodblade Ashura hit an enemy.

[Congratulations, you have slain a monster]

[Name: Crimson Furr Direwolf (Lv. 55)]

[+3000 EXP] [+3000 Gold] [+200 Star Essence]

Not only did he earn EXP and gold, but he also got Star Essence from them. Those monsters carried Star Essence within their bodies.

[Congratulations, you leveled up]

[Name: EthanArk]

[Level: 59 → 60] [AP: +10]

[EXP: 157073/181550]

[Congratulations, you have unlocked Class Advanced feature]

[Congratulations, you have unlocked Condominium feature]

Ethan had finally reached level 60, unlocking several new features. He saw the Class Advanced system open up, along with Condominium.

With Class Advanced, Ethan could now upgrade his class from a warrior to tier 2.

He didn’t know how many CAs (Class Advancements) were available for base warriors, but he would choose carefully.

Class Advanced can only be done at cathedrals in big cities. Maybe if I go to Mavelard, I can get mine there.

As far as Ethan remembered, there were many CA options for warriors—Mage Knight, Knight Templar, Paladin, Guardian, Swordsman, and more.

Back then, he had chosen Knight Templar because of its high STR attributes.

But now, he wasn’t sure which one to pick.

Besides that, the Condominium feature was something most players looked forward to after reaching level 60.

Buying a condominium came with lots of benefits, including private housing and personal areas.

It was also a required condition for unlocking the relationship feature at level 70.

Through that system, players could get married and live in the same condominium, even sharing their inventory.

It would be nice if I could marry Ashley in this game. But that’s impossible. She’d never want that with me.

Ethan pushed aside the new system features and focused back on hunting monsters.

He needed to keep exploring, hoping to find more Star Essence monsters.

That way, Sword Liberation’s Star Essence count would rise as Lara and the others continued their own hunts.

"Alright. Time to keep exploring."