Ethan left the basement of the ruined castle carrying all the tower artifacts he had found.

They were not very valuable, but this was the first Tower Artifact he had obtained under the new tower design.

He left when the clock showed 9 p.m. Now it was 10 p.m., which meant he had been away from the village for one hour.

If you add the return time, Ethan would be gone for a total of two hours. He would arrive back at 11 p.m.

He walked alone through a leafless dead forest. For some reason he kept thinking about the Moon Fragments he had gotten after killing those three kobolds earlier.

Ethan was curious. Would he get the same result when killing other monsters tonight? The only way to know was to try.

He went in a different direction from the way back to the village. His goal was clear: hunt the forest monsters that roamed and kill them.

If Ethan did get the same result, he could be sure Moon Fragments could be collected from monsters killed at night.

He headed south, entered the dead forest, and met a few monsters roaming.

They were a fair distance away, but Ethan could see them because of the red cursor above their heads.

With quick moves, Ethan ran from tree to tree, hiding behind trunks.

When he got close, he rushed toward five kobolds in front of him.

The five kobolds were shocked. They raised their weapons and swung them along Ethan's path. But their slow club swings could not match Ethan's speed.

The first kobold was wounded by a diagonal slash, the second by a stab, the third and fourth by cutting wounds.

With Tempest Resonance skill, Ethan marked four kobolds. He ran far away quickly, still in the same forest area at the same fight site.

Ethan drove the blade of his Tempest Reaver into the ground, activating the wind slash effect on the four Tempest Resonance marks on the kobolds' bodies.

They screamed in pain, their cries echoing until they were silent. In seconds after the skill hit, the four kobolds were dead.

One kobold remained. It was not dead but it was terrified at Ethan's power. It tried to run, but Ethan would not let it escape.

Ethan raised his sword, calling thunder to the sky above the dead forest.

Lightning struck the Tempest Reaver blade, and Ethan plunged it into the ground.

That caused all nearby enemies to be struck by lightning from the sky, as if the sword's electric current entered their bodies and called more lightning to strike.

The scared kobold was hit by lightning until its body blackened and it died instantly. Ethan had killed five kobold monsters in total. Their level was lower than before.

[Congratulations, you have obtained loot]

[+1000 EXP || +500 Gold || +500 Contribution Points || +5 Moon Fragments]

Seems I got it again. I can be sure Moon Fragments drop from monsters killed at night.

One monster, one Moon Fragment. That is more than enough, which means I need to kill 1000 monsters to finish the second objective of Luna's side quest.

Ethan moved on to hunt again, not only for contribution points but also for Moon Fragments.

With his current power, Ethan could easily kill them. It did not take long; it was like instant kills.

Just as he kept hunting in the southern area, his attention was drawn by the sound of a fight nearby.

Ethan hid behind a tree, focusing his eyes forward.

There he saw a woman dressed all in black fighting five horned fire kobolds, the same type Megan's team had once beaten.

What caught Ethan's attention was the woman's purpose. Everyone knew night was dangerous because many monsters roamed.

People would rather rest than fight monsters. It was very risky and the loot was not worth it, same as killing monsters during the day.

"I must become strong! I must become strong!" she shouted.

She repeated the phrase every time she attacked a monster. From her skill moves and ability, Ethan saw she was an assassin.

But the damage she dealt did not significantly hurt the kobolds. She was exhausted, breathing hard, her body full of wounds.

She had reached her limit.

One kobold hit the woman's stomach hard, sending her flying backward.

Her body slammed into a tree, she vomited blood and was completely worn out.

Still, not a single kobold in front of her was dead.

"I-I must become strong!" she gasped, trying to get up.

Even so, she could not do much. The five kobolds ganged up on her, smashing her body and face with spiked clubs.

The woman screamed each time her skin and flesh tore. She weakened more and more, blood pouring from her wounds.

Although they did not strip her dignity, kobolds were clearly more brutal and feral than goblins.

They often cut up their enemies and it was not impossible they might eat them.

Ethan gripped his Tempest Reaver, then dashed in a flash of lightning and wind from tree to tree.

He swung his sword sideways, attacking one kobold. Ethan moved forward and struck another until his skill hit the fourth kobold again.

Tempest Resonance marks appeared. The woman slowly opened her eyes and clearly saw the white-haired man moving like lightning to save her.

"W-who are you?" the woman asked.

Ethan said nothing. He drove the tip of his blade into the ground, causing a sharp wind-sword attack to hit the four kobolds.

The woman widened her eyes, not expecting the white-haired man to be so strong, able to kill four kobolds with his skill.

He was agile, but that was clearly a warrior's sword. Who was he really?

Ethan killed the four kobolds. Their bodies turned into particles of magic.

Before facing the fifth kobold, Ethan took three level-three HP potions and threw them to the woman to restore her condition.

The woman accepted the potions, even though she already had them in her inventory. A small act of kindness like that left her stunned.

Ethan turned to the fifth kobold. With a quick forward move, he attacked the monster using basic attacks and speed.

Each time Ethan cut the kobold, it tried to strike back. But its spiked club swings did not hit Ethan because of his agile, fast moves, like lightning in a wind storm.

Not only the kobold, the assassin woman was also amazed at Ethan's ability. After drinking the three HP potions, her wounds regenerated and she recovered.

That should be an assassin's move. A warrior would not have that flexibility. Who was he really?

The woman looked at Ethan's username, EthanArk. Finally she remembered who EthanArk was and where he came from.

Ethan killed the last kobold and earned the loot, and the assassin woman also got rewards because she helped.

[Congratulations, you have obtained loot]

[+1000 EXP || +500 Gold || +500 Contribution Points || +5 Moon Fragments]

He received more loot because all five monsters had died by his side. Ethan had defeated them. When he turned around, the woman raised her sword, a blade different from a warrior's, an assassin's sword.

"You're EthanArk, right?" the woman asked.

Ethan stayed silent, not answering, his eyes fixed ahead, watching the woman he had saved now point her sword at him.

"What do you want to do? Fight me?" Ethan asked.

The woman felt conflicted. Ethan was a criminal, but without him she would surely have died by the five kobolds. She did not know how to respond.

"Tch!"

"Thanks…" the woman said shortly.

Ethan nodded and walked away to another area to continue hunting monsters. The woman watched him and guessed Ethan was also hunting at night like she was.

She followed Ethan until he noticed her. Ethan stopped and turned, clearly asking why she was following him.

"I just want to hunt monsters. We happened to go the same way," the woman said.

No. I will kill you when you are cornered by monsters. Your head is worth more than the loot from those damn monsters.

Ethan was silent, then left without sending her away. His only goal was to keep hunting and collect Moon Fragments.

He glanced back from time to time, watching the woman even though he knew she had no ability to kill him.

I will use her later. She seems to want power by killing many monsters.

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