At four in the morning, Kara woke up, bleary-eyed.

  The relentless grind of daily labor was exhausting, but for Lucian’s sake, she never uttered a word of complaint. She tiptoed toward the bathroom to wash up, trying not to make a sound, only to find Lucian’s bedroom door standing wide open. The bed was already made, neat and tidy.

  Kara froze. It hadn't crossed her mind that Lucian would be up even earlier than her.

  "Are you awake already?" she called out, but no one answered.

  A moment later, she spotted a note left on the living room coffee table. She opened it, and Lucian’s familiar handwriting met her eyes.

  I’m heading to The Stony Barrens for a few days. Stay home and wait for me. Don't worry, I’ll be fine. When I get back, I’m going to make sure we finally have a better life!

  Staring at the ink, Kara could almost see Lucian’s determined face reflected in the words.

  "That boy... how could he go to The Stony Barrens all by himself?" Even with his reassurances, Kara’s heart hammered against her ribs the moment she finished reading.

  In her mind, Lucian was likely heading there to grind experience for The Awakening Trials, desperate to get into a university and secure a spot in the Dungeons. Guilt gnawed at her—if only she had been the one to undergo a Class Awakening into one of the Combat Classes, Lucian wouldn't have to shoulder all this pressure alone.

  Outside, the pre-dawn sky was a bruised purple, with only a thin sliver of pale light breaking over the eastern horizon.

  Lucian sat on a suburban bus, eyes closed as he rested. Aside from the driver, there were about a dozen others on board. Judging by their gear, they were all Class Awakened individuals above Level 10, likely heading into the wilds to level up or gather materials to sell for a profit.

  These suburban buses served exactly that purpose—shuttling people toward the danger zones. Of course, with ferocious beasts roaming the wilderness, the bus wouldn't venture too far. The final stop was roughly fifty miles outside Riverport City. Still, it saved the hunters a considerable amount of trekking.

  Eventually, the bus hissed to a halt at the terminus. A small outpost sat here, manned by several Level 10+ Combat Classes known as The Vanguard Sentinels, who ensured the station's safety.

  This was the final threshold of civilization. Moving deeper into The Stony Barrens meant leaving the protection of The Vanguard Sentinels behind. Once an Aggressive Mob appeared, it was a matter of kill or be killed.

  Lucian stepped off the bus alongside the other material hunters. There was no chatter; the group dispersed immediately, each heading toward the heart of the barrens. Back on the bus, a team of hunters had tried to recruit Lucian, but he had turned them down without a second thought.

  The material hunting trade was a murky business. Most of these "veterans" were old foxes who had survived by being ruthless; backstabbing and looting fellow humans was second nature to them. Lucian had no interest in their company. Even if the depths of The Stony Barrens were crawling with powerful beasts, walking alone was far safer than walking with a knife at his back.

  Besides, he was here to dig up treasure. He wasn't even going the same way as the hunters.

  With his Newbie Cleaver strapped to his back, Lucian followed the coordinates marked on his Treasure Map. Before long, he crossed into the mid-zone of The Stony Barrens.

  The sun had fully risen now, bathing the landscape in light. The terrain reminded him of a place back on Azure Star called The Obsidian Expanse. The land was flat but littered with jagged, protruding rocks, with patches of waist-high scrub scattered about.

  Occasionally, small herds of Level 7 Great-horned Antelopes or Level 8 Heavy-hoofed Stallions wandered past. These beasts weren't aggressive by nature; as long as Lucian didn't provoke them, they wouldn't cause any trouble.

  However, it wasn't long before Lucian encountered his first real obstacle: a Blood-crazed Grey Fox.

  This predator sat near the top of the local food chain. The moment it spotted a human, its predatory instincts flared, and it began to close the distance with clear hostile intent.

  Lucian cast Appraisal directly at the creature's head, and its stats materialized in his mind:

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  [Blood-crazed Grey Fox] (Aggressive Mob)

  Level: 10

  Strength: 15

  Agility: 31

  Spirit: 10

  Endurance: 14

  Skills:

  Bloodlust: Restores 10% HP when damaging an enemy.

  Frenzied Combo: Delivers two rapid-fire strikes in quick succession.

  A Level 10 monster—the same level as Lucian. Looking at the stats, it was clearly a high-Agility glass cannon, but its Strength and Endurance were mediocre.

  Comparing their raw numbers, Lucian held the upper hand. With all four of his primary attributes sitting above 20, he had no reason to fear a head-on collision with this fox.

  Of course, this was only because Lucian had been a top-tier student at Riverport Third Academy. A typical Level 10 student would usually have attributes hovering around 10. For an average person, stumbling upon this Blood-crazed Grey Fox in the wild would be a death sentence.

  The fox was already tailing him, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Lucian wasn't about to sit around and wait for the bite. He reached over his shoulder, drawing the long Newbie Cleaver. He needed to clear this nuisance quickly.

  One fox was manageable, but if he got bogged down and attracted more aggressive mobs, he’d be dead in the dirt long before he ever reached the treasure coordinates.

  Starter Machete (Common Gear)

  Strength: +2

  Agility: +1

  These were the stats of the weapon in Lucian’s hand.

  In this world, gear was divided into several tiers: Common, Dark Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Epic, and Mythic.

  Common Gear was the most basic tier, providing only the most negligible stat boosts. This Starter Machete was standard-issue equipment from the Riverport Third Academy, handed out to students whenever teachers took them into the wild to grind levels and hone their combat instincts. It barely even qualified as a weapon.

  As for its attributes, they were better than nothing—at the very least, they spared Lucian from having to fight beasts with his bare fists.

  As Lucian unsheathed the blade, the Blood-crazed Grey Fox realized it was time to strike. Even if it didn't initiate, Lucian—sensing the threat—was already prepared to kill.

  "Yip! Yip!" The fox’s cry sounded almost cute, but its blood-red eyes and the saliva dripping from its serrated maw stripped away any illusion of charm.

  The Blood-crazed Grey Fox was incredibly fast. Its half-meter-long body blurred as it closed the gap, narrowing the hundreds of meters between them to less than five in the blink of an eye.

  Then, the fox lunged, its dual claws slashing through the air.

  Lucian narrowed his eyes and snapped the machete up in a guard.

  Clang!

  Squelch!

  The Blood-crazed Grey Fox unleashed its Blood-crazed Combo. One claw slammed into the Starter Machete, sending sparks flying and leaving a deep gouge in the metal. The other claw, however, tore directly into Lucian’s arm, carving a wound so deep it grazed the bone. Blood sprayed instantly.

  The searing pain caused Lucian’s face to contort, but as a top-tier student, his combat instincts were razor-sharp. He didn't flinch. Instead, he whipped his arm around in a counter-cleave, the blade biting hard into the fox's side.

  Rip! The Blood-crazed Grey Fox hadn't expected a Level 10 human to possess such seasoned combat experience—to take a hit just to land one.

  The gash opened the fox's abdomen, leaving its internal organs faintly visible through the red ruin.

  In this exchange of blood for blood, Lucian definitely came out on top. If he hadn't used such a reckless method, it would have been nearly impossible to tag a beast with five more points of Agility than him.

  Lucian didn't give it room to breathe. Pressing his advantage, he lunged forward, following up with another heavy downward hack.

  The fox’s movements slowed as its lifeblood drained away. It failed to dodge, and Lucian’s blade bit deep once more, leaving the creature on the brink of death.

  Still, it was a Level 10 monster with high base stats. In its final death throes, it lashed out, raking its claws across Lucian’s calf and leaving two more jagged red tracks.

  Lucian delivered the final blow, burying the machete in the fox’s skull and silencing his opponent for good.

  Slaying a Level 10 monster granted Lucian 120 EXP. He could also skin the carcass; the pelt would fetch a decent price at the Riverport City materials market. A Level 10 pelt was worth roughly eighty Draco-marks—a respectable sum.

  However, risking one's life against Level 10 beasts for a mere eighty Draco-marks was a losing proposition for most. Only the more desperate or skilled professional "Material Hunters" took such risks for such meager pay.

  Lucian slumped to the ground, the wounds across his body throbbing with agonizing heat.

  He reached into his inventory and pulled out a steamed bun his aunt had made, wolfing it down in two bites.

  Steamed Bun (Level 1 Food)

  Effect: Recovers a small amount of health upon consumption.

  This was a recipe his aunt had learned from a crafting manual; the buns functioned as a rudimentary substitute for health potions.

  As Lucian finished the bun, his wounds began to knit together. The bleeding stopped.

  After a brief rest, he quickly skinned the Blood-crazed Grey Fox, stowed the pelt in his inventory, and resumed his trek toward the Divine Treasure Map’s coordinates.

  Time blurred as he pushed forward.

  By the time the sun began to dip toward the western horizon, Lucian had finally traversed the twenty-five-mile distance, arriving at the coordinates: The Stony Barrens (341681, 674331).

  Lucian was now covered in over a dozen wounds. As for his Starter Machete, it had completely shattered during the last few encounters.

  On his way here, he had been ambushed by three more waves of Aggressive Mobs similar to the fox. He had survived through sheer grit and mechanical skill, finally reaching his destination.

  "I hope this God-tier map doesn't let me down. If it does, I might not actually make it back alive," Lucian muttered with a wry smile, offering a silent prayer.

  For someone who hadn't even undergone Class Awakening to make it this far was nothing short of a miracle. If this map didn't change his fate, he was a dead man. Without a weapon, the next Level 10 Aggressive Mob he ran into would be the end of him.

  "System, use Treasure Map!" Lucian commanded internally.

  The system's voice chimed in his mind:

  "Ding! Host's current coordinates match the Treasure Map (God-tier). Treasure Map successfully consumed!"