Ethan pulled the bone spear from the creature's head as they were dropping to the ground together and saw that another sandworm missed them closely, passing above them like a rollercoaster train.

Contrary to his expectation, it turned out that fighting in absolute silence was a terrifying experience. Regardless of his focus on his sight and the help of [Mana Sense], he often found himself in unexpected situations. However, it was still much better than being affected by the sonic attacks of the sandworms.

These giant creatures were much easier to handle than the wyverns he fought before. In the absence of the thick scales, he was able to pierce their flesh effortlessly with his self-made bone spears. The only problem was their active skill, some kind of a sound wave attack that came with their roars. At first, every time he heard that annoying cry, he jolted for a second, and it even kept him dizzy for a little more afterward. And since there were more than a hundred sandworms all around, it became impossible to fight them with a clear mind.

Until he remembered his newest favorite skill, [Void Mute].

The moment he used it to cover his own head, silence came to being in the middle of the chaotic battlefield, and dizziness left his body gradually. He wanted to offer the same treatment to his friends Liam and Fraeya, but neither opening a separate [Void Mute] nor covering them together with him without the worms was possible. Even if he’d somehow managed the second one, it would cripple his mobility.

Meanwhile, the duo was clearly affected by the roars, but they weren’t in any danger so far. They kept moving and covering each other at the same time, and while they were slow on the hunt, it was apparent that they could survive this with little effort.

After witnessing that, Ethan began his silent hunt with the bone spears. They were perfect for the overgrown worms, but unfortunately, he’d sold most of them in Niamaris, leaving only five for his use. Not wishing to [Blink] around to collect his spears, he changed his strategy to stabbing them through [Fabric Tear]s, but since the sandworms were in constant movement, that also resulted in [Fabric Tear]’s inner side cutting the spears in half. In the end, he chose to [Blink] on top of them and stab with the spear personally.

Yet, even the most efficient tactic he found was consuming his mana rapidly, because the sandworms kept jumping above and diving back to the ground. In a battlefield that resembled a boiling pot of spaghetti, he had no choice but to keep [Blink]ing around to find the perfect moment for a kill.

As he was dropping to the ground on top of the dead sandworm, he sent his spear into his ring and called Devi before stabbing the creature which was killed recently. A smirk stretched on his lips when he witnessed that his curiosity paid off. Devi managed to absorb the essence from the carcass before it could return to the realm completely.

The essence he gathered wasn’t as good as the times he used Devi directly, but if he could snatch some from every death, it’d still add up to a considerable amount.

At last, he found confidence in his style’s sustainability and went all out. In a radius of 100 yards, whenever a sandworm gave an opening, he appeared on top of them and pierced their head with a spear before stabbing Devi as well. The more he killed, the more he grabbed the attention of the sandworms until most of them were changing direction to wherever he [Blink]ed, causing a funny scene on his soundless sight.

This gave a breather to Liam and Fraeya, and they switched from defense to offense in a heartbeat, both charging to a different sandworm.

Ethan was a bit surprised by Liam’s choice of close combat in this kind of environment, but he didn’t have much time to watch them. Because even though there were dozens of sandworms on his tail, there were still a few that passed by them and went for the caravan.

Killing another one in a quick fashion, he [Blink]ed more than 50 yards above and took a good look at the battlefield. He saw that Malik had gathered everyone in a small area and made a circle of 20 guards around them while the rest of the guards were charging toward the incoming sandworms.

He also saw that Beet’s shades were coming to help Liam and Fraeya, but Beet himself was staying with Vivian and others, likely waiting for a less chaotic time to join personally.

The caution of the little terror pleased Ethan, and since there were many tier-5s among the guards, he focused back on his pursuers with a light heart. He was about 30 yards above the ground and there were already four sandworms jumping toward him while many more were getting together below them swiftly.

Ethan activated his [Mana Aura] and threw his spear with an [Overcharge]. The spear made a hole in the beast’s head, but he was already on top of another, piercing its skull with a new spear before [Blink]ing again to pick up the one he threw.

Since he didn’t drink any potions yet and had plenty of mana, he used his [Blink] mostly for crowd control, trying to keep every sandworm engaged with him so that the others would have an easy time. Using his [Mana Sense], he kept an eye on most of the creatures, and whenever a beast turned toward the caravan, he changed the flow of the battle while weeding out a few on the way.

Covered in dark colored sticky blood of the sandworms, Ethan resumed his silent massacre with an invisible methodical approach, but regardless of his efforts, these giant creatures were covering a large area and there were always a few that slipped away toward the caravan.

Soon after, Beet also joined the fray and made an appearance next to his shades, staying close to Liam and Fraeya. Their small team finally gained an edge and they even pushed toward Ethan’s horde, helping him slowly.

When Ethan’s mana was finally depleted, he gulped a mana potion and noticed that there were only three more creatures left. He didn’t even join this time and watched the trio shred them into pieces. Well, in one of the cases, it was burning it to a crisp.

He was already happy with the recent level-up, and seeing that Beet was able to keep up with the others brought a big smile to his face promptly. I feel like it was only yesterday that he was sulking for not being helpful enough. Man, kids grow up so fast…

As the last sandworm gave its life under Fraeya’s staff, Ethan removed his [Void Mute] and heard the cries coming from behind. He turned around to see that everyone was rejoicing after the event except the guards. A quick survey revealed that two of the guards were missing and another had lost both of his legs.

Only after that, he realized how lucky he was to avoid those sharp and long teeth every time. A small distraction on his focus could’ve been deadly, but thankfully his only blunder cost him a bruise instead of a bite.

‘’How the hell are you using [Blink] like that?!’’ Fraeya sounded loudly. ‘’You can’t be a full mage with how fast and strong you are. Yet, even the mages at tier-4 can’t [Blink] around all the time like you.’’

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‘’Stop yelling, damn it. My ears are still buzzing,’’ Liam said, jumping down from the corpse. ‘’And what’s so strange about that? He already said that he is hiding his cultivation.’’

‘’That’s even more ridiculous. If he was a high tier, why would he bother with these sandworms for so long?’’ she retorted, rolling her eyes. ‘’Killing these worms should be easier than slapping a tier-9, don’t you think?’’

Ethan chuckled wryly, not sure how to explain. His cloak was reducing the mana consumption of [Blink] by half and his dagger was feeding him essence throughout the fight. It was natural for him to [Blink] to his heart’s content, but it wasn’t something he could explain.

‘’Well, I have my reasons, but I’ll be keeping them to myself for now,’’ he told Fraeya with an apologetic smile before turning back to join the group. ‘’Also, I don’t know about you guys, but I need a shower and a good rest.’’

‘’Hold on!’’ Liam called. ‘’What about the cores?’’

‘’I’m sure we can find someone to do the labor for us in exchange for a small cut. I’ve done enough gore business today,’’ he said with a wave of his hand, dark sticky blood dripping from his cloak as he walked.

Beet called his shades back and flew over before landing on his shoulder, while the others shrugged and followed him after. As they got close to the crowd, many turned to look at them with mixed feelings, and one of them caught Ethan’s attention.

The blank expression of a guard who was kneeling on the ground turned into pure hatred after noticing him. The guard gritted his teeth and pointed at him furiously. ‘’Why didn’t you help!? Why? I asked for your help, but you didn’t even turn to look. I’ve lost my brother because of you!’’

Ethan frowned, not remembering any call for help. ‘’I was using a skill to block my hearing. Although I’m not sure if I could help if that wasn’t the case.’’

‘’Four sandworms attacked at the same time. If you could turn your head for a moment, you’d see my call,’’ the guard said, seething. ‘’But you’d never cared for us, did you? You’ve killed those monsters for yourself. It wouldn’t matter to you if all of us died!’’

‘’Look, I wasn’t in a–’’

‘’That’s enough,’’ Malik interrupted. ‘’Forgive him, Ethan. He’s just grieving.’’

‘’He is right, though,’’ another guard said, staring at him darkly. It was the same guy who called Beet that thing the other day, Joey. ‘’It wasn’t any problem for you to help us, but you didn’t.’’

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. ‘’It was a problem. If I were to leave my position, even more sandworms would’ve reached you.’’

‘’Bullshit. Your [Blink]’s range is wide enough. You could’ve returned back before they even notice.’’

‘’I wasn’t–’’

‘’It’s okay, guys,’’ Malik piped up again. ‘’It would be better if you could collaborate with us Ethan, but–’’

‘’Shut it, Malik!’’ Ethan barked, before walking toward Joey. ‘’I did my best to help you. I could’ve killed them faster but I wasted my time attracting more of them. If you can’t even fight a bunch of monsters at the same tier as you, it’s your fault.’’ He stopped a few feet away from Joey and turned to face Malik. ‘’More importantly, y’all are forgetting a simple question. Do I look like a fucking guard?’’

Ethan gazed at the guards, and when no one answered, he turned to leave with a deadpan expression.

As he passed by the solemn guards to join the cheery crowd, Fraeya caught up to him. ‘’Half.’’

‘’What?’’

‘’If it wasn’t for you, at least half of our group would be dead.’’

He threw her an amused look, smiling slightly. ‘’I’m sure you and Liam could do good crowd control even without me.’’

‘’Yeah, that’s why it’s half. They would be all dead if not for the three of us.’’

Ethan laughed and shook his head. ‘’You’re reminding me of an old friend. Though, you don’t need to console me. I know what human nature is like, and I stopped living for others long ago. There is no one I need to prove myself but myself.’’

Fraeya stared at him for a moment and replied with a wordless nod.

Before joining others, the trio rented shower cabins from the merchants and got rid of all the grim quickly. Ethan also asked the guy to send someone to collect the cores beforehand, and they agreed on a 5% fee. Finally having some time for himself, Ethan distributed his stats and took a look at his status.

Tier 4 - Level 43

Health: 1108/1500

Mana: 470/2000

Stamina: 244/1200

Vitality: 150

Strength: 122

Endurance: 120

Agility: 220

Intellect: 200

Perception: 100

*Available stats: 0

Skills(Rank 1): [Fabric Tear], [Mana Sense], [Shadow Spikes], [Mana Conceal], [Mana Connection], [Void Mute], [Blood Rush]

Rank 2: [Void Wrap], [Mana Aura], [Blink], [Overcharge]

He was pleased with his stats, but his skills made him chuckle wryly. Hiding my cultivation… I barely have a few skills, and I’m doing everything to use them in the most efficient way. And even though I can solve most of my problems with [Blink] for now, this won’t be the case as I advance to higher tiers. I’m gonna need much more If I want to survive in Elisium, let alone the higher realms.

After the shower, he dressed in clean clothes and made his way toward his friends. As he guessed, people were already settling down with their tents and preparing meals for the diner. Since there was only an hour before the dark, it was best to spend the night here.

He quickly found Hayley's big tent. Everyone was sitting at the table next to it, while Liam was fetching all kinds of food from his spatial bag and putting them on the table one after another. Ethan’s eyes lit up as different flavors assaulted his nose. ‘’This can’t be our fixed menu, right?’’

‘’Nope,’’ Liam said. ‘’Since we had a good haul, today’s dinner is my treat.’’

‘’You can’t really have treats without any money,’’ Fraeya pointed out. ‘’So technically, it’s my treat.’’

Liam rolled his eyes. ‘’Whatever makes you happy, witch.’’

‘’Oh? I didn’t see you complaining when I was saving your ass.’’

‘’It was Beet who saved my ass. I would have evaded those teeth regardless of you. But can you say the same for the time I burned that sandworm’s eyes?’’

Ethan joined them at the table as he listened to their bickering. Vivian held his hand and gave a small squeeze before offering a sweet smile. He smiled back and started eating.

Right after their meals finished, the young boy Ethan hired came with a dirty-looking bag and passed it toward him hesitantly. A frown formed on his face as he checked the cores. ‘’Just my cut should be close to a hundred, but there is only half of that?’’

‘’S-Sir Malik said, they will be the compensation for the families of the guards that we lost today,’’ the boy said, shifting his eyes.

Ethan gave a toothy smile. ‘’Is that so?’’

Liam jumped to his feet. ‘’I'll deal with that. Don’t worry about it.’’

He also got up slowly. ‘’Nah, let me come with you as well.’’

Vivian stood as well and put her hand on his shoulder. ‘’Let Liam handle it. What you need to do is chill.’’ Seeing Ethan’s hesitation, she leaned a bit closer and whispered, ‘’I can think of a few things that might be helpful.’’

In the end, it was Liam who went to see Malik while Ethan started a new battle in his tent, much more fun than the one with sandworms. Hours later, he was lying on his bed with short and rapid breaths, staring at the ceiling.

Vivian was next to him, using his arm as a pillow and watching him with an amused face. ‘’It was much better than last night. I’ll give you that.’’

Ethan snorted and couldn’t help but smile as well. ‘’Just you wait. Before this trip ends, it’ll be you who yields.’’

She giggled before giving him a hug. ‘’I’m looking forward to it.’’

‘’Hey, can I ask you something?’’

‘’Sure,’’ she said, raising an eyebrow.

‘’So, why are you stealing people’s shit?’’