When the daylight showed itself, Nuvian was first to wake up, quickly followed by others. After a simple breakfast, the team started to look for tier-3 beasts. As they were hunting at the edge of the Ivory Woodland, there were many tier-3 beasts but almost no tier-4s.

Ethan remembered that around his first cave, there were tier-4 beasts, although they didn’t notice him or didn’t care about him. According to his new friends, the deeper you went, the more powerful beasts you encounter. But the thing about the Ivory Woodland was that the beasts' territories also got mixed after some point. One could’ve killed a tier-5 and found out that another tier-8 was living just next to it. That’s why only the truly powerful ventured to the deeper forest. Ethan was grateful for his fellow earthling to have appeared in the west rather than the east. Although, it would be a miracle for him or her to survive there for months.

The team moved along the forest in a relaxed manner. The forest was vivid as usual; every tone of green made an appearance as they walked. A gentle wind passed through the trees and traveled to the holes in Ethan’s clothes. After living like that for months, he was expecting to have a hard time wearing decent clothes.

He was also very pleased to eat any fruit he saw after getting the group’s approval. Though the most familiar one with the forest, Nuvian was scouting at the front, about a mile away from the others. Many of the tier-2 beasts avoided the group as they passed until finally, Nuvian returned with a good discovery. A cave lion at mid tier-3. He also didn’t see any other beasts nearby, which was perfect for them.

‘’Ethan, you stay out for this one and observe our teamwork. Only help out if we call for you,’’ Oliver said with a serious tone but not worried.

Ethan shrugged, ‘’Alright.’’ They don’t seem to see this lion as a threat. I wonder how different they fight from me?

Nuvian positioned himself away from the group as they got closer. He chose an open area with an easy to retreat option. Oliver went toward the cave, and Alice was between them, closer to Oliver. Ethan stayed closer to Alice in case she needed help.

The lion got out of the cave before they got any closer. It was a bit smaller than the spider but just as deadly. He felt that getting a direct hit from those paws would cripple him at best.

As Ethan was observing the beast, Nuvian released an arrow with the power of the wind. It traveled like a comet to the beast's head, but the lion blocked it with a claw and let out a roar. It started to run for Nuvian, but earth spikes rose from underneath, disturbing its momentum. The lion turned his attention to Oliver and made a jump.

Oliver was ready with his sword and parried its claw while making more earth spikes. Some of them stabbed the lion but the wounds were shallow. When the beast was dangerously close to Oliver, Alice sent a lightning bolt to its face. Though it didn’t do much damage, it did piss off the lion.

While Oliver was dancing with it, Nuvian and Alice kept sending ranged attacks to harass it. Their coordination was pretty good. The lion had no choice but to kill Oliver first, but any attempts to get close to him meant just more earth spikes, arrows, and lighting bolts for it.

When its injuries got worse, the beast used a skill that seemingly gave it more strength and attacked Oliver with all its might. To Ethan’s surprise, Oliver positioned himself to take the hit directly and yelled, ‘’Now!’’

Oliver used a skill and turned into a marble statue. As the powerful strike hit, a large crater appeared below him, but he was completely undamaged while the lion got stunned by the impact. Nuvian sent three comets rapidly to the neck of the lion. Alice also aimed at the same spot, but Oliver's skill ended and he slashed the wound in the neck before her skills could even hit.

The stun was about 2 seconds, but it was enough for the party to kill the lion. The beast fell to the ground in its last breaths, and Oliver’s sword ended its misery. ‘’Good job, everyone, it was even better than I expected,’’ he said after pulling his sword back.

‘’I didn’t even do much. It was you two who killed it,’’ Alice complained, storing her mace that didn’t get any action.

Nuvian walked toward them, his guard low. ‘’It would be best if I could advance to tier-3 first and I’m getting closer. Another ten beasts like that, and we’ll have another tier-3, then we can find some other prey for you and Ethan to solo while Oliver and I cover your backs.’’

‘’What do you think, Ethan? Can you join our teamwork for the next one?’’ Oliver asked.

‘’Sure, I’m good at close combat. While you draw the beasts' attention, I can give sneak attacks to them.’’ Ethan replied before raising an eyebrow. ‘’What was that skill you used at the end?’’

‘’Sounds good. It's my second rank earth skill called [Unbreakable].’’

‘’Can I buy second or higher rank s–’’

‘’Nope,’’ Alice cut in. ‘’If that were the case, all the rich people would be using rank four skills at the lowest tiers,’’ she said, rolling her eyes.

‘’All the skills for sale are at the first rank, and every time you improve it, it becomes customized to you. Depending on your understanding of the element, your second rank skill might be equal to or even better than others' third rank skills,’’ Nuvian explained while helping Oliver to dissect the lion.

Oliver also joined the conversation. ‘’But of course, not all skills are the same. [Unbreakable], for example, is a rare one. My father bought it for me at an auction. Powerful families and nobles from the union already hoard an absurd number of skills for their younger generations.’’

Ethan hummed thoughtfully. ‘’Your family is rather well off then?’’

‘’Nah, my father is at tier-5, working for the council of Ehrendil. Just this skill must’ve cost him a fortune,’’ Oliver answered as he waved his hand dismissively. ‘’When I say powerful families, I meant the ones with thousands of years of history and quite a few ascended ancestors.’’

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So they are like kids of middle-class families and already this good. Whereas the rich kids have many rare kinds of skills and probably good pieces of equipment. It's better not to judge sentient beings by their tiers.

For the next hunt, Ethan didn’t hide any of his skills and went all out. Thanks to his lethal attacks at the right moments, the fights were much shorter. The group was pleased and a little surprised by his skills.

‘’[Fabric Tear]?’’ Oliver repeated, a little excited. ‘’I’ve never seen or heard anything like that. It's already useful for surprise attacks. Who knows what kind of evolution it would undergo at the higher ranks?’’

‘’What about those daggers, are those monster parts?’’ Alice asked.

He played with his dagger. ‘’Yep, tier 3 spider legs. Pretty good for throwing, but I rather have a pair of decent daggers for close combat.’’

‘’You are already good, maybe even better than me,’’ Alice said with a sour face. ‘’Now I understand why your family didn’t stop your training until you were 18. With training like that, you can fight higher tiers and catch up to your peers easily.’’

‘’Come on, you're not that bad. What was that skill you used to give us agility? Just with that, your contribution was higher than the previous time,’’ Ethan tried to cheer her up.

It worked as she already had a smug tone in her voice, ‘’[Thunder Breathing], although it's not a rare skill, it is considered above average.’’

‘’I’ll definitely look into those agility-increasing skills. Are there any items or potions that would permanently increase one’s agility or strength?’’ he asked.

‘’There are, but you can’t find those just with money,’’ Oliver replied, happy to see Alice wasn’t sulking. ‘’Only the most experienced alchemists can produce those elixirs, and they need priceless resources. The artifacts are even rarer. Many high-tier people would hunt you down if they knew you had a powerful artifact.’’

I wonder if I could find daggers that would give +100 AGI each? Preferably matte black with ghostly blue fires burning around them constantly, he thought with glee, eyes shining. And hoped the messages were going to the realm since it has a consciousness and everything.

The group continued until the afternoon before taking a break. They found a waterfall and decided they would make their camp near it for the next few days. Ethan and Oliver started to prepare dinner while Nuvian and Alice went to scout the nearby areas. Though Ethan had no confidence in their scouting abilities.

He returned to the campsite with a stack of wood and sat by Oliver after setting them down nearby. Looking over to the waterfall, he noted idly. ‘’This one doesn’t come from the same source as the rivers I found in the deeper forest. Apparently, there are many water reserves in the area.’’

‘’That’s natural. The biggest lake on the continent is not too far away from us in the north, the Serene Depths. It’s between Ivory Woodland and Emerald Forest,’’ Oliver explained. ‘’Many water sources connect to it. That’s also why you should be careful around the water. All kinds of weird creatures live in the Serene Depths.’’

‘’Thanks for the tip. There are many things I need to learn,’’ he admitted. ‘’Are there any libraries in Ehrendil? Or stores that sell books?’’

‘’Of course, for this kind of information, just a library is enough. The bookstores you mentioned are the ones that sell skills. They mostly have rare and cultivation-related books.’’

‘’Awesome.’’ He laid back and clasped his hands behind his head. The weather was perfect, just like the past months, and he didn’t want it to change. Under the rumbles of the waterfall, he felt a little sleepy. ‘’Do you think it's necessary to scout the area before camping?’’ Perhaps he’s aware of what’s going on but doesn’t care.

Oliver’s voice was solemn.‘’Definitely, you never know if a wolf pack or some other shit resides close to us and passes by at night. We do it every time before a new camp.’’

Nope, clueless as a block of wood, Ethan thought. He also had a cheating girlfriend once, but the circumstances were different. At those times, he would be offended if someone close to him knew and didn’t tell him, but he and Oliver weren’t that close. He couldn’t even decide if telling him would be good or bad. Whatever, let him experience it himself. It's also a kind of growth, he lied to himself, dropping the subject.

‘How are our earthlings doing, Ani?’

‘The three in Ehrendil met up and the group that was about 8000 miles away has other additions. Some of them keep appearing and disappearing.’

Unless they keep switching their signals off and on, that’s definitely long-range teleportation. ‘Ani, if anyone with a biochip appears closer than a thousand miles, give me a heads up.’

‘Understood.’

‘’Oliver, are there any long-range teleportation options in Ehrendil?’’

The answer came with mild surprise. ‘’Yeah, every free city in the Emerald Forest has a teleportation gate connected to each other. How did you know?’’

‘’Just a guess. You guys said it's a big city,’’ he said, still lying on his back with his eyes closed. ‘’How many free cities are there? And can I use those gates?’’

Oliver returned to his dinner preparations. ‘’There are four free cities, all inside the Emerald Forest. The gates are for everyone, but it's 10 gold for citizens and 100 gold for outsiders. I suggest you go for citizenship first. The application takes about a month, and there was a small amount of money required if I remember correctly.’’

Then they are in another city and send small parties to gather everyone in that city 8000 miles away. I’m rather curious about their situations, but no need to hurry. I’ll get there eventually, Ethan thought before jumping to his feet.

‘’Alright, thanks again. I’m gonna meditate under the waterfall. Call me if you need anything,’’ he said, walking toward the water with a smile. If that wouldn’t get me a second-rank skill, nothing would.

It didn’t. They called him for dinner after an hour, and he didn’t even get a slight inspiration. In the five days they stayed there, Ethan spent about a day under the waterfall, but it was useless.

The party of four continued their journey. They picked their hunts carefully, and their teamwork got better with each fight. The only time it got dangerous was when they fought a late tier-3 flying creature. With its high speed, it managed to injure everyone on the team, and after understanding that it couldn't win, it actually turned around and escaped.

Thankfully they had some potions in Alice’s pouch. That’s when Ethan learned that low-quality potions gave 500 health. There were also some for mana and stamina, but only rich people really used them. Potions were relatively expensive and one could only use one potion a day with a full effect. You got half the effect if you drank another one after half a day. That's why many people used them as a last resort and mainly let their regeneration do the job.

On the 8th day after Ethan joined them, Nuvian reached tier-3. They were much faster with 4 people, but the essence was also split four ways. All this time Ethan only got one level, but he was pleased with the progress. The important thing was his skills, and he could still get another level or two on the way back.

The way back included Emerald Forest which was also a dangerous place, but there weren’t as many tier-3 beasts as in the Ivory Woodland. Their journey would be lengthy, and as long as the others didn’t mind, he could find some tier-3 beasts to solo.

Ethan didn’t know what he would do after reaching Ehrendil, but he really liked this adventuring party. He thought that even if he left them, joining another party or building his own would be nice. Not that he didn’t like this one, but Nuvian and Alice made him uneasy. In his opinion, trust was the main foundation of good and lasting relationships.