Oliver was really confused. He didn't expect that people would be so afraid of the unknown things here. Listening to the conversation between the group, he began to realize something important.
A mysterious figure like himself, shrouded in a mask and unknown to the others, must have caused great terror in this place. The fear of that unknown person was powerful.
'So just wearing a mask makes people too scared to provoke me,' he thought, feeling a bit relieved.
'Well, this will make my job easier.' He had been prepared to fight against arrogant mobs before going to hunt the rift beasts, but now it seemed that just his appearance alone was enough to keep most people at bay.
'Who is the unknown guy who destroyed the Lionheart squad?' While pondering this, Oliver stood from the bench he had been sitting on. He glanced up at the dark sky, feeling the weight of the night pressing down on him.
'This isn't a good plan,' he decided.
'I'll just stay here for the night.'
The lesson the tough guy had taught the group echoed in his mind. The unknown really did mean danger. He agreed with that assessment wholeheartedly. There was no need to rush into the wilderness when he could use this time to gather more information and plan his next move.
Oliver began to roam around the base, taking in all the new sights. Everything here was different from what he was used to. As he wandered, he spotted a magazine on display. Out of curiosity and boredom, he picked it up.
The magazine was about the basic knowledge of cultivation. Oliver had read this information countless times in the past, but he flipped through the pages anyway, refreshing his memory.
The magazine explained that humans here could awaken their talents at the age of 16, through dark balls. The talents varied, but they were mainly divided into two categories: combat talents and life talents. Combat talents were much rarer than life talents.
Talents were ranked from F to S. However, simply awakening an S-level talent didn't make someone invincible. This was a world where spiritual energy had been revived, and to become truly strong, one had to absorb spiritual energy into their body.
There were nine stages of cultivation, with the lowest being the 1st rank and the strongest being the 9th rank. Rising through these ranks was no easy feat.
Even reaching the 5th rank made someone a force not to be messed with, they are capable of controlling their own territory.
The city lord of City No. 23 was also only a 5th rank awakener.
In short, awakening through a dark ball only granted a special talent, and the rank of that talent—whether F or S—determined how much spiritual energy one could store and how quickly they could absorb it. This process of absorption was what allowed people to grow stronger and climb from the 1st rank to the known strongest, the 9th rank.
After reading through the magazine, Oliver put it back on the shelf and returned to the bench. He needed to rest. The dormitory here required payment in monster cores, something he didn't have yet. So, he decided to make do with the bench.
----
Time passed slowly, and before long, it was morning. Oliver stretched out his arms and stood up, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness. Today, he would test his strength and find his limits.
He began walking towards the forest, eager to see what awaited him in the wild. The wilderness was home to all kinds of monsters, each forming its own ecological environment.
The monsters around the base were mostly 1st rank, with the occasional 2nd rank. News had spread that the flying monsters which attacked the base were led by a 3rd rank monster, making them particularly dangerous.
As Oliver ventured deeper into the forest, the atmosphere grew quieter and more tense. The once noisy surroundings faded away, leaving only the sound of his own footsteps and the rustle of leaves. Suddenly, a green arrow-like object shot towards him. Oliver quickly reacted, protecting his body with a shield of sand.
Looking closer, he realized it wasn't an arrow, but a stream of green liquid. He quickly retreated behind a tree, peeking out to see what had attacked him.
To his surprise, he saw a group of frogmen. They were hideous creatures, about half the size of a human, with bodies that seemed grotesquely out of proportion. Their hind legs were well-developed, allowing them to stand on two legs like humans, but their appearance was anything but human.
As Oliver watched, the frogmen began to croak at each other, communicating in their strange, guttural language.
"Croak, croak."
"Croak, croak."
Oliver didn't waste any more time. He hid his body fully behind the tree, turning himself into sand. He quickly controlled the sand, moving it across the ground in a silent, stealthy approach.
The frogmen, unaware of his movements, began to spread out, trying to surround the tree he had been hiding behind. But before one of them could react, its entire body was engulfed in sand.
"Croak, croak!" The frogman let out a startled croak as it was captured. The other three quickly gathered together, noticing the sand that was now scattered around the ground.
"Croak, croak!" they croaked again, sensing danger.
Oliver observed their movements carefully, but he had no intention of dragging this out any longer.
The sand began to move again, this time touching the bodies of all the frogmen. One frogmen jumped very high above the ground when the sand was about to touch him. But oliver followed it and touched it with sand.
Then before they could react, the sand ignited into blue flames, which looked beautiful.
The frogmen didn't stand a chance. The flames consumed them quickly after some struggle. Oliver watched as the last of the flames flickered out, his expression full of contemplation.
'I guess I'm stronger than I thought,' he thought as he looked towards the place that frogmen's died.