Single shots! A Berserk wolf on the ground dodged the first two bullets with terrifying agility, but the third—a red-hot mana-round—blew its skull apart.

Then, everyone’s gaze snapped to Igris.

The formation had broken, and the veterans had dealt with their threats in seconds. Now, they turned to check on their rookie.

But when they found Igris, their jaws practically hit the dirt.

Igris was moving at a speed that matched the Berserk wolf. He flowed like a phantom, his [108 Styles Body Strengthening Technique] pushed to the absolute limit. As the wolf lunged, he sidestepped with flawless precision, his Blade carving an icy-blue arc through the air.

The wolf’s stomach was sliced open effortlessly.

Fast. Accurate. Ruthless.

There was no hesitation. No panic. Just pure, calculated lethality.

BOOM!

On the other side, Lyon brought both his axes down, smashing the Level 15 Berserk wolf King into a pile of minced meat. He then twirled his axes, executing the two remaining Level 10 wolves with brutal efficiency.

Ending his battle, Lyon sheathed his axes and walked over, not even glancing back at his kills. Instead, he stared at the eviscerated wolf beneath Igris’s feet.

A slow, wide grin spread across his face. "It looks like we just scored a damn treasure!"

Igris panted slightly, looking down at the Berserk wolf.

That attack had looked effortless, but he had pushed his Agility and Strength stats to the max to execute it. Fortunately, his speed, combined with his Sword Intent, had allowed him to slaughter a speed-type monster at its own game.

And this wolf was only Level 11. He hadn’t even needed to use his Emperor Star Fist or his Ashes Bloodline.

Facing Lyon’s compliment, Igris remained indifferent. He didn’t belittle himself, nor did he let it go to his head.

"Not bad, Little Brother! Your combat skills are nothing to scoff at," Lyra jumped down from the tree, patting Igris’s shoulder in pleasant surprise.

"Misjudged you! Top freshman of Marlin Academy... you’re the real deal," Jin laughed, wiping wolf blood from his blade.

The team couldn’t help but recall their own first encounters with otherworldly monsters. They had been disheveled, terrified, and barely surviving. This kid? He was slicing and dicing like a veteran.

’Are newbies these days just built different?!’

"Alright, tidy up and let’s move. The smell of blood will attract bigger fish," Lyon commanded.

The team immediately went to work, harvesting the Berserk wolves’ claws and teeth.

As Igris carved into his kill, his 10,000x Multiplier System went crazy.

[Ding! Killed Level 11 Berserk wolf. +800 Exp]

[Ding! Asura bloodline has absorbed stats!]

[Agility +1]

[Agility +1]

[Strength Points +4]

’Agility?!’ Igris was elated. He had personally witnessed the terrifying speed the Berserk wolves possessed, entirely thanks to their agility Now that his Asura was passively absorbing it, his own speed-based attacks would skyrocket! Speed was the ultimate law of the battlefield—swoosh, swoosh, and you’re dead!

He continued harvesting, and the System pings kept rolling in as he absorbed the residual energy left by his teammates’ kills.

[Strength +2]

[Agility +2]

[Physique +3]

’What a beast,’ Igris thought, shaking his head.

Just as he finished bagging the claws, a final, golden prompt flashed.

[Ding! Special Drop Acquired from Berserk wolf King!]

[Skill Book: Steps of the Berserk (Uncommon)]

Igris’s eyes widened. A skill drop!

[10x Multiplier Activated on Skill Book...]

[Skill Book has evolved: Steps of the Berserk -> Phantom Berserk Steps (Rare)]

’Hell yes!’ Igris practically cheered. Footwork and movement skills were the most expensive and rarest techniques on the market! With his current wealth, buying a Rare-tier movement skill would have bankrupted him.

And the 10,000x System had instantly upgraded it to Rare-tier! This was an absolute game-changer!

He mentally stashed the skill book into his system space to learn later.

The team finished looting. No mana cores dropped, which was a bummer, but Igris wasn’t surprised. Core drops were rare for low-level beasts.

Lyon gathered them up, and they pushed deeper.

The night grew gloomier. In the Dark Mist Forest, the roars of beasts never ceased.

Roar~

Howl~

Screech...

Shrill cries echoed through the canopy. Igris noticed a thick, unnatural mist beginning to roll in, blanketing the forest floor. The atmosphere went from dangerous to deadly.

"Mist is rolling in. Leader?" Lyra frowned.

"Find a clearing and set up camp. We’re done for the night," Lyon stopped.

No one objected. Especially not Igris. He was the rookie here; rookies didn’t get a vote. He just quietly followed orders, eagerly anticipating the moment he could equip his new Phantom Berserk Steps skill.

The next morning, the pale light of the Ghadora Plains’ twin suns filtered through the dense canopy of the Dark Mist Forest, casting elongated, ghostly shadows across the forest floor.

Everyone woke up perched on the thick, iron-like branches of a colossal ancient tree. They had taken turns keeping watch throughout the night, using the high ground to prevent any ambushes from Monsters during the darkest hours. The air was crisp and bitingly cold, carrying the scent of damp earth and strange, bioluminescent moss.

"You’re awake. ’Yawn~’ It’s such absolute torture watching the rest of you sleep like babies," Jin jumped down from the highest tree branch, stretching his arms wide as he let out a massive yawn. His tone was dripping with exaggerated envy and exhaustion. He had drawn the short straw for the last watch, meaning he had stayed awake while the forest was at its most dangerous—and his teammates had snored away.

"I’ll take the last shift next time," Felix smiled mildly, his deep voice rumbling softly as he rolled up his bedroll. Despite his gentle demeanor, his eyes were sharp and alert, scanning the treeline out of pure habit.

"Eat something. We’re heading to Wind Valley to hunt a Single-Horn Badger!" Lyon announced, chewing on a piece of dried mana-beast jerky with the enthusiasm of a man proposing a holiday.

"Single-Horn Badger?!" Jin hesitated, his expression turning instantly serious. The playful glint in his eyes vanished, replaced by the wary gaze of a veteran. "Leader, don’t you think it’s a little too early for us to hunt a Level 25 beast? We just got a rookie in the squad, and we’re still syncoping our formations."

"At first, I planned to wait until Igris got used to the environment here. I figured he’d need a few days to acclimatize to the ambient mana pressure and the terrain," Lyon explained, leaning against the tree trunk. "But after seeing him slice open that gale wolf last night like it was made of paper... I think we can push the schedule up. He’s not a liability. He’s an asset."

"Leader, even though Igris performed well yesterday, that’s a Level 25 beast we’re talking about!" Lyra frowned, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the cool metal of her machine gun. "And a gifted one at that! The Single-Horn Badger is one of the hardest beasts to hunt in the outer circle. It’s got speed, intelligence, and devastating wind attacks. Even working together at full capacity, we might not be able to take it down. If we’re not careful, we’ll end up as its breakfast. And with Igris in the mix, we have to split our attention."

"That’s right, Leader. Lyra makes sense," Felix agreed, his brow furrowed. "The Badger is too dangerous for a squad with a newcomer. The margin for error is razor-thin."

Yue just looked back and forth between her teammates and chose to remain invisible, quietly packing away her healing supplies. In the team, that was always her designated role—the silent observer, the pocket healer who only spoke up when blood was drawn.

"Igris, what do you think?" Lyon smiled, turning to the newest member of their squad with a probing gaze.

"I don’t have any thoughts," Igris said, entirely speechless at being put on the spot. When he saw Lyon’s awkward, expectant expression, he sighed internally and continued, "I don’t mind taking a look at this Badger. However, since it’s a Level 25 beast, I won’t be of much use in a head-on clash. My raw stats just aren’t there yet. I’ll at most provide cover fire from the flanks and draw its aggro when you need a breather."

He knew his limitations perfectly well. A Level 25 beast was practically at the peak of the Player ranks in this zone. Even with his 10,000x Multiplier System, fighting a boss-level monster with area-of-effect wind attacks in a straight slugfest was borderline suicide at his current Level 8 status. His Energy reserves would deplete long before the beast’s stamina gave out.

’I can’t brute-force this one,’ Igris thought to himself. ’I’ll have to rely on positioning and my Sword intent.’

"Fair enough," Lyon nodded, appreciating the kid’s honesty as he stood there. "We’ll stick to the strategy of ours. You hang back and pepper it with arrows, and only engage with melee if there’s a guaranteed opening you see. We will do the heavy lifting."