After chatting with his sister for a while, Kael and Lila returned to Starlight Village.

  Kael pulled up the village management panel. The gathering rates for copper and iron were painfully slow. Many of the functional buildings in the village needed to be upgraded, which required huge amounts of wood, copper, and iron.

  For example, the current Tailor and Blacksmith shops only sold gear and materials for level 20 and below. Once upgraded, they would stock high-level crafting materials and even have a chance to spawn rare blues, epic purples, or even legendary golds in their inventory. Upgrades would also increase the level of quests that the village NPCs could offer.

  With Garrick's quest still active for another two days, the demand for copper and iron was sure to skyrocket. He had to find a stable source of ore. The problem was, the mine just outside the village had already been converted into a level 10 dungeon. Where else could he find a vein to tap?

  The question genuinely stumped him.

  Kael continued scrolling through the management panel, examining the functions of each building. Finally, he found a structure Starlight Village didn't have yet: the [Research Institute].

  [Research Institute]: Allows for the recruitment and upgrading of specialized NPCs.

  Construction Cost: 3000 Wood, 1500 Copper, 1000 Iron, 5000 Gold Ingots, 100 Population.

  It said he could recruit specialized NPCs, which probably meant he could find a Prospector. The only issue was the resource cost. It was absurd.

  Current Starlight Village Resources: 1103 Gold Ingots, 722 Wood, 408 Copper, 286 Iron, 10,000 Population.

  It was clear the Research Institute wasn't happening anytime soon. He’d have to shelve the idea for now.

  Kael checked the time. It was already 10 PM. Thinking about the Hidden Realm expedition tomorrow, he logged off early to rest.

  Lila, however, didn’t sleep. She stared at the scroll in her hands, [Phantom Blade Dance], hesitating.

  [Phantom Blade Dance]: Study the Phantom Blade Dance to advance your class to Blademaster.

  Level Requirement: 30

  Class Requirement: Strength-based classes

  She remembered Kael’s warning: “Once you learn Phantom Blade Dance, you’ll be locked into using blades exclusively. More importantly, you won't be able to learn new skills from system NPCs anymore. You’ll have to discover every new technique on your own.”

  The thought of having to “discover techniques” on her own was intimidating.

  But she trusted Kael.

  Learn Phantom Blade Dance!

  [System: You have learned [Phantom Blade Dance] and advanced your class to Blademaster. Your talents have been reset. Some skills have been unlearned, and their Skill Points have been refunded.]

  Lila immediately checked her skills.

  Player: Lila

  Class: Blademaster (1st Advancement)

  Level: 30

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  Talent Skills:

  [Fundamentals of the Blade]: Blade damage increased by 25%.

  [Edge Guard]: Gain 200% resistance while using skills.

  [Defiance]: For every 1% of health missing, defense is increased by 2%.

  General Skills:

  [Earthshatter Leap]: 3 Skill Points

  Leap to a target location 20 yards away. Upon landing, stun all enemies within a 5-yard radius for 1.5 seconds and increase the damage of your next attack by 150%.

  Cooldown: 20 seconds

  [Dragon Slash (Rank 1)]: 4 Skill Points

  Unleash 3 waves of blade energy, dealing (Attack + Strength*1) damage to all enemies in a 10-yard cone.

  Cooldown: 10 seconds

  Her old talent was a simple +10% damage. Now it was 25%, and she had two new defensive talents on top of that. For her general skills, only [Earthshatter Leap] remained. Her old skills like [Charge] and [Whirlwind] were gone, replaced by the new AoE skill, [Dragon Slash]. Looking at the numbers, Dragon Slash seemed pretty mediocre; the damage scaling was low.

  Lila looked at the scroll in her inventory again. It was still there, but its description had changed:

  [Phantom Blade Dance (Bound)]:

  Mastery Progress: 1%

  Thinking of the Hidden Realm tomorrow, Lila decided to spend the night studying the scroll, hoping she could discover a few more skills before morning.

  The next day, Kael finished breakfast and logged back into the game around 9 AM. The moment he appeared, a system notification popped up.

  [System: Starlight Village’s skill trainers have been upgraded. Skills up to level 40 are now available.]

  Before he could even process the message, he realized he was completely surrounded by a sea of players.

  “Excuse me, coming through!”

  “Stop pushing! I’m trying to get out!”

  “Move it, I can’t even click on the teleport nexus!”

  Kael looked up. The path to the blacksmith’s forge was a complete madhouse. It seemed everyone had found out about Garrick’s quest. Under these conditions, there was no way they could farm mobs like they did yesterday.

  Ten minutes later, the party had assembled:

  Dawnbreaker, Level 30 Divine Archer

  Lila, Level 30 Blademaster (1st Advancement)

  Hazel, Level 30 Protection Warrior (1st Advancement)

  Rena, Level 30 Priest (1st Advancement)

  Orion, Level 30 Diviner

  Kael took out the [Land of the Behemoth Teleport Scroll], crushed it between his hands, and the five of them vanished.

  Their vision blurred for a moment before clearing. They found themselves standing in a vast, open grassland.

  The last Hidden Realm they’d visited had been a dark and oppressive underwater zone. This place couldn't be more different; it was incredibly bright.

  “Just as the archives described!” Orion exclaimed, looking around curiously. “Have we arrived in paradise?”

  “It’s so beautiful,” Rena marveled. “I don’t see a single monster anywhere.”

  Lila gazed into the distance, but the plains stretched on, seemingly without end. “Dawnbreaker, is this an open-world map?”

  Kael shook his head. “Hidden Realms are all in pocket dimensions. They aren’t connected to the main world map. Everyone stay alert and don’t wander off. The monsters here are hidden. For all we know, we could be surrounded already.”

  Kael felt a sense of unease. While information on the Land of the Behemoth was scarce in his past life, there was one description he remembered with certainty: Hell on Earth.

  A place this beautiful had nothing to do with hell.

  Just then, Hazel ran over to a patch of flowers. She picked one and brought it to her nose, smiling. “It smells amazing, it’s so pret—AHHH!”

  A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.

  Everyone whipped their heads toward her. The thing in her hand wasn’t a flower. It was a human eyeball.

  At the same time, a shocking damage number erupted over Hazel’s head:

  -12,285

  A vine, sharp as a dagger, had shot up from the ground and stabbed her in the head while her shield was down, wiping out more than half her health.

  Then, a gigantic flower rose from the earth.

  [Mirage Mawflower]: Level 30

  HP: 1,000,000

  Physical Attack: 8100

  Physical Defense: 2520

  Magic Defense: 500

  As the Mawflower emerged, thick vines suddenly coiled around everyone’s waists.

  [System: You have been ensnared by the Mirage Mawflower’s skill [Snaring Vines] and cannot escape.]

  The vines were soft but incredibly tough, rooting them to the spot. It was the first time any of them had fought a plant-type monster, and its opening move was to lock them down, preventing any escape. It was a deeply unnerving experience.

  Kael, however, wasn’t surprised. Plant monsters almost always had skills like this to prevent being kited to death by ranged players.

  “What do we do? We can’t get away!” Hazel yelled, her voice laced with panic.

  Right in front of her, the dagger-like vine reared back again, aiming straight for her critically low health bar.