[+28,000 Exp]

[+300 Exp]

[+23,000 Exp]

[+240 Exp].....

A string of notifications appeared before his eyes. Killing D-rank individuals may not have given him much Exp, but some of the fallen were C-rank.

Now, when the level difference was so high between him and his opponents, the Exp he received was extremely high. Also, since his Exp demand was increasing exponentially, the System increased the Exp it gave for the same level difference compared to the previous one.

For example, if he killed a level 10 as a level 1, he would barely get 100 Exp—or even less—but now killing a level 23 person as a level 13 gave him Exp in the thousands.

Even within the same rank, it heavily depended on the enemy's level. The Exp given for a level 11 and a level 19 beast could differ like heaven and earth.

[Level: 14]

[EXP: 18,240 / 200,000]

[AGILITY: 8 (+12) | ENDURANCE: 5 (+20) | STRENGTH: 7 (+14) | LUCK: 23 | WILLPOWER: 499]

Reputation: ★☆☆☆☆ (Silver)

★☆☆☆☆ (Bronze)

[MP: 110 / 160 (Recovery Rate: 1 per 270 seconds)]

[Stat Points: 5]

He didn't want to let these stats rest in such a crucial time. He was still wary about his psyche; but since he was able to fend off, he put the idea aside.

Only one thing seemed important enough to assign these five stat points to—and that was his MP.

He never thought any amount of MP would be enough to keep up with his skill. Heartpiercer would consume all his MP in just two uses.

[MP: 110 / 210]

His mana recovery rate was still slow compared to what he needed, but maybe if he got another skill, or if this skill improved every ten levels, then he could reach a point where his MP would recover every few seconds.

Everything was possible if patience prevailed.

He wasn't foolish enough to assume that he could wipe out the Tree by any means. He could damage it to a certain extent, but he was sure it had many other skills and attacks that he hadn't even faced yet.

There was a flicker of light in his eyes, calculating the ways he could save Jessie. His goal wasn't to kill the Devourer but to buy enough time to save Jessie.

There were some obstacles preventing him from completing the mission. First, it seemed like the Tree possessed all the knowledge of the Oasis—like it was omniscient within its domain. So, the moment he stepped inside, he would be hunted by the villagers.

Secondly, and most importantly, Jessie wasn't in her right mind. Ash knew the Tree had significant influence inside its domain—the Oasis.

But what about outside of it? He just needed to force Jessie out, and she would come back to her senses. After that, he planned to ignore this Oasis and continue their journey.

"How could I make her stop, so she doesn't attack me?" Ash pondered, circling his fingers.

His fingers moved on the sand, writing some strange runes that glowed as the sand started swirling in a flow.

Ash raised his eyebrows, shocked. All he did was write a Flow rune, and the sand started flowing—moving.

He had learned about the runes, but their usage—he had never tried that. If he were honest, having a teacher to explain their application would have helped him. But here he was.

Thrown into a trial meant to be faced by the entire humanity at once, and he was—surviving it with a friend who was stuck in a mind hex and wanted to kill him.

This thought made him realize how badly he was screwed. It reminded him of his previous life, when he was tasked with killing a religious cult leader who was always surrounded by his followers and lived on a stranded island.

He didn't even set foot on the island—and the leader was dealt with.

"Should I try that?" he pondered as something clicked in his head.

Then he shook his head, remembering the pressure he felt from the Circling Dragon. He wanted to lure it here and make the Tree and the Dragon fight, like he did in his previous life—making two competitors clash while he enjoyed watching them weaken each other.

"Form and Flow," he murmured, thinking about any possible use of these two runes. Could he make use of either of them?

But he couldn't come up with any plan. His nerves were shaking as he knew Jessie was in the riskiest place.

[MP: 210 / 210]

Ash stood up, looking at the armory.

[Coins: 1,12,340]

He had gathered a large sum of money. Better use it now than regret it later, Ash thought, buying some precautionary items and one particular item he was most hopeful about.

[Cloaking Module (30,000 Coins) – Short-term invisibility field. MP drains rapidly while active.]

[-30,000 Coins]

[Cloaking Module Equipped]

[2 MP / Second]

If someone saw him, he was completely reflecting the surrounding light, making him invisible. There was a very thin thread outlining his body, impossible to see with the naked eye.

Without wasting another second, he ran toward the Nethera's Heart—the Oasis.

His mind had already calculated—2 MP per second to keep the Cloaking Module active, while 3 MP per second to keep Phantom Veil active.

The combo of these two was perfect: while Phantom Veil hid his mana signature from any sensory skills, the Cloaking Module made him physically invisible, impossible to notice even his silhouette.

The sand beneath him showed the footprints of a walking person, creating an eerie scene, as if a ghost was roaming around.

5 MP every second just to keep these two things running. He had around 42 seconds to enter and come back with Jessie.

It was almost an impossible feat, but he held a D-rank crystal in his hand. Not sure about his current limits, Ash had already consumed two D-rank cores to recover his MP.

So, he just hoped that his limit had increased from three core usages per day to more cores.

The glistening core pulsed, pumping MP every second as his MP was being consumed just as rapidly.

[MP: 205 / 210]

[MP: 210 / 210]

[MP: 205 / 210].....

The process continued as Ash jumped over the fence, hoping his mission would succeed before his mind suffered fatigue from consuming too many cores.

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