A heavy, ringing silence settled over the mountain pass as all the mountain rabbits had been brutally slaughtered.

The ground was a field of churned, crimson snow and shattered rock, and while most of the bodies had disintegrated into nothingness, those killed by Evelyn were strewn about like mangled dolls.

I clutched my knees and breathed the cold air heavily in exhaustion.

As for Evelyn, she slumped as well, but before she could reach the ground, a throne of jagged, crimson blood instantly formed beneath her, rising directly from the stained snow to catch her exhausted body.

She leaned heavily against the throne then muttered, "Ahhh… it's been a while since I had that much fun."

At that moment, Dion was approaching us and spoke. "Damn… I didn't know we had two battle junkies in the party."

When he reached us, he added with a sheepish glance at the carnage, "Now I feel bad for not doing much."

I straightened up, tapped his shoulder, and said sincerely, "Don't feel bad, mate."

Then I smiled and added mentally. 'I'm actually glad that you didn't do much.'

Turning away from him, I looked to the side then called out mentally, 'Gamer Privileges?'

[Activating Gamer Privileges…]

'Pull up my profile.'

~~~~~~~~ Character Profile ~~~~~~~~

Character Name: [Cedric Anele Martini]

Age: [17]

Level: [12]

Grade: [1] [Evolution Requirements Met]

Element: [Darkness]

Exclusive Class: [Gamer]

Exclusive Class Attribute: [Gamer Privileges]

Bond Name: [Aika Soryu]

Bonded Ability: [Chrysalis]

Exclusive Skill: [Flames of decay - Lv2]

EXP: [6,230 / 10,000]

Karma points: [N 1,870 / P 910]

~~~~~~ ============== ~~~~~~

A large smile crept up my face as I stared at the profile.

'Level 12? I jumped up two levels?'

Damn…

'This territory really was an experience farm.'

…At least for me.

Unless a person had a skill like mine that could completely obliterate a mountain rabbit from existence at the first kill, trying to farm using them was pure hell.

'I guess I'm not all that unlucky…'

I narrowed my eyes on the Grade section and my smile grew even wider.

Finally!

I had met the condition to move up a Grade!

…However, the evolution was not immediate, and so, I had to wait a short while for that to happen.

From what I knew, the process usually took place when you fell asleep.

All of a sudden, I couldn't wait to get to a camp.

I smiled as I continued looking at the profile until Evelyn's voice drew my attention:

"Oh? What's got you smiling like that?"

At that moment, the screens in front of me all vanished, and my eyes focused on Evelyn who was now standing right in front of me.

"Huh? What did you say?" I blurted, as I took an involuntary step back, startled by her sudden proximity.

She formed a large, exaggerated smiling face with her two fingers, then said, "I asked why you had that large smile up your face."

She turned to look back as she spoke. "What were you looking at?"

"Uh… nothing."

She turned back to me, putting her hands behind her back, then she leaned in uncomfortably close, narrowing her eyes in suspicious amusement.

I quickly changed the subject while leaning back a bit. "By the way, I think we need to find a place to make camp soon. I'm tired, and I need to sleep."

Dion's spear shimmered and changed into Ino, who then quickly said, "We need to keep moving then. Once we get past the crest and begin our descent, we should be able to find a rock shelter."

She reached out a hand to me. I then took out the whisperglobe I had stored for her and handed it over.

She took it and placed a palm over it, and a holographic map popped up. After studying it for a few seconds, she looked to us and said, "Let's hurry. We don't need something else popping up out of nowhere to attack us."

She then began moving briskly, with us following shortly after.

We ascended the steep pass, climbing over rocks and hauling ourselves over icy boulders from time to time.

Over thirty minutes passed, and then finally, we reached the crest of the mountain pass.

Once we got there, the winds were so strong that they nearly blew us off our feet, but we paid little attention to it as we were all overcome with a wave of relief, excitement, and weary triumph.

That was because up here, we could almost see the entirety of the grade one region.

From up here, we could see the dense forests below. We could also see deserts, rivers, and even what looked like the ruins of ancient cities in the far distance.

…But most importantly, we could see the puppeteers grove. It was a forest of vivid red and ghostly white leaves just beyond a small, winding river.

"Woah…" Dion exclaimed as he looked around. "The view here is surreal."

"Indeed." I whispered as I also took in the view.

It really was surreal and unlike anything I had ever seen.

While it was still day here, with the sun shining brightly from the south, far ahead, the sky began to darken to a deep twilight in places. Even further, the horizon turned absolute black, dotted with the sharp pinpricks of emerging stars.

We stood in silence for a few long moments, studying the impossible panorama, before I finally looked to the others. "Let's keep moving. It's freezing up here."

"Yeah," Celeste muttered in a really low voice while also rubbing her arms vigorously and turning her collar up.

Everyone turned, and with Ino taking the lead again, we all began the steep descent down the slippery, boulder-strewn slope.

After ninety minutes of grueling descent, sliding on scree and navigating icy patches, the temperature finally began to lift. Thirty minutes later, we passed the point where the ground was free of snow. It didn't take long after that to finally spot the first stunted pines of the treeline below.

We looked for a rock shelter, and when we finally saw a deep, carved overhang nestled beneath a massive, granite slab, we all rushed in. We quickly set up a fire and gathered around it, savoring the immediate warmth and relief.

Not long after, I brought out a mountain cat from my inventory, and we roasted it for dinner.

We didn't stay long by the fire, as everyone was tired from the brutal climb and the intense battle, and so, barely speaking a word, we all retired to sleep. While the others lay on their banana leaves by the fireplace, I climbed into my sleeping bag.

…Then I smiled as I closed my eyes.

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