Seth wasn’t the only one who felt the wash of foreign will scanning them.

Everyone’s eyes snapped open, leaping to their feet, tense and their guards high, as they tracked the source the foreign will receded to.

Seth stood high above the rest down below, an essence still locked firmly in his grasp. Even now he didn’t dare test out absorbing more essence, especially if there was going to be another battle.

And he saw them — six pairs of entrancing emerald eyes, mired in the dark pool of an obsidian sclera.

Their pale skin was covered with countless mystical glyphs that pulsed with ancient grace.

They were humanoids, definitely foreign race members, and Seth’s discomfort didn’t come from encountering them.

It came from the fact that they were the ones approaching Seth and his group.

And from the dangerous, stifling aura that wafted from them, Seth could definitely feel the gap in strength. These guys were strong.

’Stronger than the Rangol trio, that’s for sure.’ Seth highlighted inwardly, wearing a solemn expression.

And while this wasn’t his first time encountering foreign races, for the rest of the cohort it was.

Right now, the three of them were filled with awe and curiosity, but still retained strict vigilance.

One of the Treant Race members stepped forward. Based on their masculine frame, it was safe to say they were male.

Gani stepped forward, staring down at these unknown race members, his eyes carrying casual light.

He didn’t even think much of these bunch. If not for Vamel, he’d rather be preparing for the next hoard. In his eyes, Seth and the others weren’t worth mentioning.

They were just an unknown race dwelling in the barren region of the wastelands. What sort of threat could they possibly amount to?

He opened his mouth, speaking in his mother tongue, but his will warped the words, ringing English into the ears of the humans.

"Whoever you are, we don’t care and we don’t want to know. We are here to give you an option: leave the Origin Realm willingly, or we take action and remove you ourselves."

Seth and the others froze, stunned at how direct and upfront with hostility these foreign race members were being.

Gani stood silently, his expression cold as his gaze rested on Seth and the others.

In his eyes, this was actually a fortunate opportunity for Seth and the others. After all, they got a chance to leave willingly, keeping all the progress and fortune they had earned till now.

So it was actually a no-brainer what they’d choose. After all, these guys couldn’t be foolish enough to try to defy them, right?

...

Seth’s expression went dark. Trying to bully them out of a quest event?

And also, something wasn’t right. His eyes flashed as he perceived deeper into their presence.

These guys... they were Noble-grade existences at the very least!

This didn’t tally with the information he was given. Seth’s brows creased. According to the Rangol Race trio, they were the pinnacle in GreenFold Settlement.

And it had been centuries since they had geniuses that could go above Leader grade and become Noble-grade existences in the settlement.

So where were these guys from?

Could they be from the bigger settlement that resided in the desert surrounding the Savage Oasis?

These thoughts weighed on him for a few seconds, as he slowly gathered for a reply.

But before he could even speak, the Treant Gani grew impatient and decreed, "We don’t have time to waste. You either scram or we make you."

The Treant didn’t delay behind his words. An emerald sheen pulsed as he raised a palm towards their direction.

Simmering brown seeds congealed into existence, forming within milliseconds. Giving zero time for his foes to process, the Treant — still wearing a laid-back expression — made the familiar gesture of snapping his fingers.

The soft, crisp pop resounded in the air. Following behind it was a skill trigger, and all the seeds exploded into motion like bullets ignited by gunpowder. They rained down on Seth and the others.

Spiked, the seeds writhed and bloated before bursting into agile vine branches carrying spiked skin and petrified deadly splinters of wood that threatened to turn Seth and the others into porcupines.

The deadly wood spikes and vines riddled the branch Seth was on with attacks, breaking it off the tree.

But the target remained untouched. Seth’s frame rippled out of a distant space, his necklace dimming from activation.

His heart pounded in his chest, his pupils constricted. ’that attack... too fast.’ His scalp went numb.

In the Awakened class, power and strength went beyond the numbers on your attribute list.

Things became a lot more complex, as those numbers started holding more weight.

The peak stat capacity for Awakeneds is generally 999.

And early stage, mid stage, and peak stage levels of the rank corresponded with one having all attribute stats at first 300, 600, and 900 stat points respectively.

A peak-level Awakened bore more than just 900+ average stat points. He also carried the density provided by the sheer amount of stats.

An essence unit of 999 carried a strong density that gave massive boosts in prowess.

We’re talking all-round advantages: a higher density of essence could facilitate faster attack speed, speedier recovery rate, and not to mention the massive boost in damage.

And this was what Seth just experienced with his eyes...

The dust cleared, revealing the rest of Seth’s crew. Fortunately, they had managed to ward off the attacks one way or another.

Gani raised a brow. ’Not dead? Tsk, I shouldn’t have held back.’

His eyes burned with a brighter shade of emerald. All around him, sinister seeds congealed several times more in quantity and density, carrying a darker, more sinister shade.

He turned back to Seth and the others, wearing an almost lazy expression, and snapped his fingers once more.

This time Seth’s processing speed or reaction couldn’t even perceive what followed.

His eyes bulged wide as he spat out blood, his lungs slowly being soaked with his own blood through internal bleeding, hampering his breathing.

His body reeled uncontrollably backwards, riddled with spiked wood injecting a sinister poisonous force into his body.

Before he could even collect himself mid-air to land steadily, his body began to turn sickly blue, a searing pain assaulting all his senses as the venom tore through him.

In the air, the six pairs of emerald eyes stared at the four writhing figures, their gaze carrying zero emotions. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

This wasn’t personal. This was just the natural order.

The strong preyed on the weak. That was how this world worked...