After finishing dinner, Nuwa closed her eyes and rested. Only Ethan was still awake, staying alert and watching their surroundings.

The campfire still burned, its smoke keeping forest insects away.

Ethan exhaled slowly, opened his system panel, and checked his attribute status.

Since he had free time, he decided to allocate some attribute points to important stats—something he often did when resting.

[Status Attributes]

[ATK: 10498 || DEF: 10035]

[STR: 150 || AGI: 130 || INT: 20 || CON: 140 || WIS: 70]

Even after adding points, there was no big increase in his base ATK or DEF.

He already expected that. After all, his default class was still Tier 1.

He was sure that once he reached level 70 and advanced to Tier 2, his attribute points would give a much bigger boost to his base ATK and DEF.

For now, I should focus on raising Base ATK and DEF through other features, Ethan thought.

He looked to the side and saw Nuwa still fast asleep, undisturbed by anything.

Wrapped in her sleeping bag and warmed by the fire, she slept peacefully.

SREK!

Ethan narrowed his eyes sharply, staring ahead into the bushes.

That sound—there was no way it was just the wind, not in this forest where no one lived except monsters.

"Maelis," Ethan ordered.

His servant Maelis nodded, then floated low and pressed both hands to the ground to activate a vibration sonar.

A sonar panel appeared before Ethan's eyes, showing three red dots standing still deep in the forest right in front of him.

"Hissy," Ethan called.

Hissy, the Venomfang Queen, slithered out from Ethan's arm and perched on his shoulder.

Ethan whispered something to her—a simple command the pet understood easily.

Then, after he laid his hand on the ground, Hissy moved quietly to carry out his order.

To avoid raising suspicion, Ethan pulled out some meat from his inventory and started roasting it.

He wanted to make it look like he hadn't noticed the intruders hiding nearby.

"Ahk!"

"What the hell, a snake?!" a woman's voice shouted.

Ethan smiled. He'd already guessed that they were players sneaking around—maybe to attack him, or maybe they were after something else, like the hidden cave behind him.

But since they were already discovered, Ethan stood up and left the burning meat behind.

He summoned his Fire-Pillar Sword and swung it sideways, sending a crimson slash cutting through the forest.

BLAST!

The explosion sent red smoke rising high. Agonized screams echoed through the trees.

Luckily, the noise didn't wake Nuwa. She must've been sleeping deeply after eating her fill and lying beside the warm fire.

But Ethan couldn't relax. Now that they knew his and Nuwa's location, letting them go could bring more players here later.

Moving swiftly, Ethan leaped into the forest and reached the blast site.

Three players lay helpless on the ground, badly injured from his crimson slash.

"Y-You… EthanArk?" one of them stammered in panic.

"I didn't expect you to know me."

"You destroyed the Twilight Guild in Porco. How could we not know you?"

Ethan watched their HP drop to critical. It looked like one of them had used a defensive skill that lessened the damage, keeping them barely alive.

From what he saw, they were all over level 40—around 43, 45, and 49.

With levels that high, their HP was way above a normal Black-Tree Monster's.

Still, they were badly wounded and on the brink of death. Against Ethan, they didn't stand a chance.

"ALN? Which guild are you from?" Ethan asked.

"Alanor. The ruling guild of Porco City," one of the men groaned.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. He'd never heard of Alanor before, but if they really were Porco's ruling guild, they must've sent their best team for the 1000 Stars Event.

"How much Star Essence have you collected?!" Ethan demanded, crouching down.

"Screw you! I'm not giving you a single one!" the woman snapped.

"That's too bad. Your guild master will be disappointed if I send you back like this," Ethan said calmly.

"A well-known Alanor Guild member can't even land a hit on the criminal named EthanArk."

"Your names will become famous," Ethan added.

"That's better than handing over our Star Essence to you."

Ethan smiled, stood up, and walked toward the man who seemed to be their team leader.

"Didn't you know? I can still take your Star Essence even if you die."

"Tch!" the man hissed in frustration, realizing he had no options left.

"What do you want, damn it?!" he shouted, trying to negotiate.

Ethan grinned, summoned Hissy again, and ordered her to shoot the three players with her poison spikes.

Hissy obeyed, firing green venomous thorns that pierced their arms.

The poison spread fast, lowering their resistance and draining their HP every second.

Two of them coughed up blood and started convulsing—it looked bad.

"I won't take your Star Essence if you hand over your weapons," Ethan said.

"W-Weapons…?"

"Yeah. I'll also draw out the poison and let you live."

"How about it?" Ethan asked, staring coldly at the man.

In the end, two of them agreed. The archer threw his bow and arrows, and the mage tossed her staff toward Ethan.

"What the hell are you doing?!" the leader yelled.

"Don't listen to him! He's lying!"

"Hissy," Ethan called, and she obeyed.

She bit both players' legs, neutralizing the poison. Slowly, their HP stopped dropping, and they stopped coughing blood.

The two of them survived, realizing Ethan hadn't lied.

The warrior scowled, unsure what Ethan planned next—but seeing his friends recover made him reconsider.

"Hand it over before you die," Ethan warned.

"F-Fine…"

The man threw his sword at Ethan. Ethan caught it and waved his hand, signaling for them to leave.

Hissy then cured the warrior's poison as well.

Once they were safe, the three of them ran out of the forest toward the mountain valley, carrying only their weaker backup weapons.

Ethan exhaled softly, relieved it hadn't turned into a full fight.

Still, he was pleased. He'd gained three weapons in exchange for their lives, pride, and Star Essence.

Ethan examined the weapons' ranks. Only the sword was Epic, while the bow and staff were Rare.

[Talent Quest:]

[Weapons Collected: 3/100]

[Duration: 19:17:12:59]

Nineteen days left. If he needed a hundred weapons, he'd have to collect at least five Rare or higher weapons per day for the next twenty days.

A squad usually had ten members—so he'd only need to take weapons from ten guild teams, assuming all of them used Rare gear.

Mid and large guilds usually had good equipment. Low-tier guilds rarely did.

In the end, Ethan had to plan carefully. He could delay gathering Star Essence and focus on finishing this talent quest first.

Once he completed it and got the Ashura Blood Sword, taking Star Essence from others would be much easier.

Time to hunt for weapons.

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