As night fell, the excitement from earlier began to fade, and everyone slowly drifted into sleep. That night, they slept far more peacefully than before.
Alex and his classmates were treated like heroes, returning to their classroom amidst cheers. After the lights were turned off, the excited chatter gradually quieted, and one by one, they fell asleep.
The next morning came quickly.
Alex and Tanya were the first to wake up, just like the previous day. Tanya wasn't used to sleeping in a classroom, while Alex's heightened senses made it easy for him to be disturbed by even the slightest movement. The two shared a glance, smiling silently at the coincidence.
After freshening up, Alex and Tanya headed to the school field together, buying breakfast from Quinn before returning to the classroom.
Compared to the confusion and uncertainty of the previous morning, today felt full of energy and determination. Not only Tim and the others but most of the school had become more motivated. When Alex and his group reached the school gates, they were met with a surprising sight: nearly a thousand people had gathered there!
Almost 80% of those who had awakened their powers were now at the gate. Seeing Alex and his group approach, the crowd erupted in cheers, making his classmates feel a bit overwhelmed by the attention.
As Alex's group left the school, hundreds of people followed behind them. The large crowd quickly wiped out all the wandering monsters near the school. There were so few creatures that they couldn't even ensure everyone got a single kill.
The sheer size of the group slowed Alex and his friends down significantly. Frustrated, they decided to head to one of the nearby monster zones.
Unlike the sparse street monsters, the number of creatures in the monster zones only seemed to increase. After making the decision to head toward one, Alex and his group kindly warned the crowd following them about the potential danger.
However, after witnessing Alex and his team's strength the day before, many of the onlookers were determined to stick close, ready to benefit from their protection. They nodded in agreement, yet continued to follow at a distance.
This situation left Tanya and the others feeling helpless. Since it had only been two days since the awakening event began, the differences in agility among the group were still minimal. Shaking off the followers wouldn't be easy.
When they arrived at the nearest monster zone, it became clear that the number of creatures had increased overnight. The area was now swarming with over a hundred monsters. While most of them were the familiar blue scythe monsters, there were also four or five purple ones, indicating a higher ratio of advanced creatures.
With over a hundred monsters, Alex and his group knew they couldn't take them head-on. They stuck to their usual tactic of attracting smaller groups of enemies. Each wave they lured consisted of about 10 to 20 monsters, which Alex's team could easily handle. The crowd behind them, however, only managed to pick off a few creatures here and there, no more than four or five.
Frustrated by the slow pace, some people in the crowd took it upon themselves to attract more monsters. This reckless action quickly caused chaos, and by the time Alex and his group noticed, nearly half the creatures from the zone were rushing toward them!
Although 40 monsters weren't enough to pose a serious threat to their team, the ensuing disorder could lead to accidents and potential casualties. Alex and his group were furious—the crowd following them was not only slowing them down but also putting them all in danger by trying to steal kills.
Tim saw an opportunity and suggested, "Let's just push forward and fight our way through! In this chaos, they won't be able to keep up with us."
It was a solid plan. Alex and his group had three people who could one-shot monsters. For them, 40 creatures were manageable, while the larger group would struggle to fight through and catch up.
Everyone agreed with Tim's idea. They were fed up with the hangers-on, knowing that if they kept dragging them along, they wouldn't make even a fifth of what they did yesterday.
Once the decision was made, Alex's team wasted no time. The 20 of them charged toward the heart of the monster zone, cutting down the monsters in their path. The crowd, seeing Alex and his group rush forward, tried to follow, but the 40-plus creatures slowed them down, preventing them from keeping pace.
By the time the stragglers finished off the monsters, Alex and his team were long gone. Frustration boiled over in the crowd, but there was nothing they could do. Left behind, they had to find another way to farm monsters on their own.
With the nuisance of the crowd gone, Alex's team could once again grind at their usual speed. By midday, they had completed all their daily quests and gained an average of five more levels each. Tim and Charlie both reached level 20, while Tanya and the others had all surpassed level 15.
Alex, who hadn't leveled up his stats that day, still progressed quickly, raising his level from 13 to 27. His additional damage had climbed to 270 points, and his total damage output was likely over 600 points—he was becoming a walking cheat code.
At noon, the group decided not to return to the school. For one, they had traveled far enough that the nearest monster zone was at least three kilometers away. Additionally, if they returned to the school, they feared another group might start tailing them again in the afternoon.
So, they found a small convenience store, grabbed some snacks, and took a short break before diving back into monster hunting.
Although it was clear the monsters had become stronger that day—dealing higher damage and withstanding more hits—it was negligible compared to the team's exponential growth. For them, grinding monsters had become an almost mindless task.
By the end of the day, they had cleared nine monster zones, slaying over a thousand creatures. Their haul was impressive: more than 1,200 N-level awakening stones, 29 R-level stones, and 13 R-level gems!
After washing up outside, they returned to the school just before sunset. When they handed over the awakening stones to the school officials, the teachers were visibly shocked.
To put it in perspective, on the first day, the entire school had only managed to kill a little over a thousand monsters. Yet Alex's team of just 20 people had matched that number on their own!
Even the more composed teachers couldn't hide their envy and admiration.
Alex took home 400 of the N-level awakening stones, converting them into 800,000 points. His classmates each received nearly 100,000 points.
As for the 29 R-level stones, combined with the 17 they had collected earlier, Alex was entitled to 12 stones, while the others each received one. Those who had already used their R-level stones, like Tanya and Tim, had to wait for the next batch.
Once again, Alex's team had proven to be not only the strongest but also the most resourceful in the entire school. Their rise in power showed no signs of slowing down.