[Rolling_Crocodile: Is it just me, or is our great tank god giving off a shinier aura now? Is it because of that strange torch? or did he polish his tanky skin off-screen?]

[Blue_Dinosaur: Maybe it’s the effect of the speech he gave earlier; I didn’t really care about him until now but after hearing his thoughts... I am kind of starting to like this anchor... I just hope he would be able to survive longer...]

[Invincible_Bob: I knew that our great invincible tank god was a great person from the beginning, and after the speech now he seems like he’s shining to me! This must be the holy aura of the great God of Tanks!! All hail the tank god!!]

[Wise_Orangutan: Before seeing the light of the great tank god, I was just an ordinary old farmer.

But after being blessed with the holy aura of the great tank god, my testosterone level has shot through the roof, and now I have more horsepower than the engine of my tractor!

With this new vitality, I think I might succeed this time if I hit on the neighborhood’s old baddies! Kekekeke~]

[Shining_Lorraine: Oi, someone forgot to give their grandpa his meds; he’s going wild in the comment section over here! Come on, Grandpa, let’s get you back to the bed; you and those neighbourhood baddies are too old to be doing this anymore!]

[Wise_Orangutan: Hah! Young fellas nowadays don’t know sht! Back in my day I used to sleep with four women at the same time! Kids nowadays can’t even talk to women properly, tch!]

[Invincible_BoB: *Bombastic_sideeye.emoji* D*mn! four women at once!? I am kind of starting to believe that the grandpa really had more horsepower than a tractor engine back in his days.]

...

’Tch, here I am struggling to survive, and these idiots are debating about horsepower. Why is it that my stream is attracting only weirdos? How come no sane person is writing any proper comments!?’

With rolling his eyes at the random bulsh*t going on in his stream’s comment section, Zephyr walked towards the stairs, and this time no barrier stopped him.

Walking down the stairs, Zephyr realized that the further down he went, the darker and eerier the area around him became.

Moreover, the walls of the staircase and even the staircase itself were covered in a strange blackish-purple aura that was giving Zephyr a dangerous feeling.

’So, this is ’Miasma’. I can finally see it properly after becoming an awakener.’

Non-awakeners cannot properly sense or see mana and miasma because these are powerful, extraordinary energies that carry the powers of the ’laws’ of the universe, and sensing them would be harmful and burdensome for non-awakeners.

’I see, the torch is an important item if you want to take this trial...’

To Zephyr’s surprise, the mana waves that the torch was launching in all directions from its flames were now working like a shield for Zephyr.

With each new wave of mana, the miasma in the staircase area would be pushed back, protecting the torchbearer.

’How odd... why would Xinran send me here to go downstairs if she already knew that I had no mana in my body and without mana I would not be able to hold the torch and use it to go downstairs?’

Zephyr didn’t trust Xinran fully, but even she wouldn’t make an idiotic mistake like this for no reason.

’I wonder what she was thinking, or should I say... plotting? Well, whatever she was plotting, she clearly underestimated my ability to grow at a fast pace...’

’I have already awakened mana and am at least 100 times more than the version of me that fought her; I won’t lose so badly again.’

The rank difference between him and Xinran was insanely massive, but just rank alone was not what determined victory and defeat.

Increasing your rank would only mean that you have increased your mana quality and control along with your lifespan and base stats.

Actual combat capability is determined through various factors like talents, skills, techniques, will, spirit, reaction speed, decisiveness, planning, etc.

In the previous battle, Zephyr managed to survive because of his overwhelmingly powerful talent and his insanely tank body.

Although he got beaten completely one-sidedly in that battle, at least he could endure and withstand it; if it was someone else, they would have died a hundred times in that battle.

*Shrrrrr~* *Shrrrr~*

Just when Zephyr was busy analyzing his previous battle and his current combat capabilities, a strange echoing noise snapped him out of the daze, and he immediately became vigilant.

The stairs were narrow and extremely dark even with the torch illuminating the path forward.

So, Zephyr had to take every step with caution, and with his powerful combat sense, he knew that fighting in this place would be a nightmare.

’What kind of new bizarre monstrosity is about to show up this time?’

Unfortunately, Zephyr couldn’t use ’Perfect Stealth’ in this place as he was holding a torch that could easily blow his cover, and thus he could only face the threat head-on as there was no option to retreat.

*Shrrrr~* *Shrrrr~* *Shrrrr~*

The strange distant voice got closer and closer until eventually Zephyr reached a 90-degree turn in the staircase and noticed a small sparrow quietly sitting on a small shelf carved into the dark wall.

The sparrow was only about the size of Zephyr’s palm and looked rather cute and normal, but Zephyr remained cautious.

He was sure that those earlier sounds were definitely not fake and were likely originating from here; this sparrow was likely a monster in hiding.

’You can’t fool me, little fellow. I am a loyal fan of ’Re:Z*ro’! I know how even a harmless-looking rabbit can turn out to be something dangerous!’

Zephyr didn’t recklessly close the distance; instead, he waited a bit for the sparrow to act out of the ordinary, but it just looked at him curiously for a few seconds and then went about doing its own business.

’How strange... I don’t sense any miasma on this fierce beast at all. Are there monsters that can shapeshift and can hide their miasmic aura?’

’Well, if I can use stealth abilities, of course others can too.’