Moon spent two hours in the recovery room, though the experience felt like a full day's worth of rest compressed into that brief period.

The room itself was deceptively simple with plain walls, a comfortable bed, and minimal furnishings.

There were no visible runes anywhere in the room. That spoke to the Rune Master's skills.

Lesser practitioners left their inscriptions visible, either due to lack of skill or intentional showmanship.

Moon felt a twinge of jealousy. If he could create such powerful constructs at some point, not only would he save tremendous amounts of money on recovery facilities, but he'd also gain incredible versatility.

The possibilities were almost endless, whether it was miscellaneous, defensive or even offensive runes. Moon could only hope he'd stumbled upon a Rune Master at work eventually. They were exceedingly rare even in a major settlement like Ironpeak Base.

According to what he'd learned, only one Rune Master was stationed in large bases like Ironpeak permanently; they were responsible for maintaining all the base's formations and creating new installations when needed.

Of course, other Rune Masters could be asked to come help with the base if there was a large project that required more hands, or if that Rune Master was travelling. But normally, there was only one.

And that individual barely revealed himself, working primarily in secured workshops away from public areas. It made seeing him in action, much less copying his class, virtually impossible for someone like Moon.

But a problem still remained for Moon, even if he somehow managed to copy the class; Moon was certain it wouldn't be easy to comprehend the skills behind it within a single day. Rune crafting required deep theoretical knowledge, application of that knowledge, and understanding of mana flow patterns that couldn't be absorbed through simple observation.

The complexity was orders of magnitude beyond a straightforward combat class. This would take considerable time, planning, and resources he didn't currently possess.

Moon shelved the idea for now. Gaining a skill from the {Rune Master} class was something that certainly enticed him to pursue it in the future when opportunities present themselves.

He left the recovery room after two hours, paying the additional cost of $5000. The innkeeper accepted payment without comment, clearly used to awakeners extending their sessions after experiencing the effects of the room.

Now that Moon was back to full strength with his wounds healed, stamina restored, and mental fatigue eliminated, he decided to head back into the wilderness. His goals were clear: accumulate more lives, gain experience, and eventually level up.

His primary objective was to reach level twenty-five, the threshold that would trigger his first class evolution task. Each class evolution significantly enhanced the class's capabilities, and most importantly, evolved the awakener to the next step, the second sanctuary with more powerful beasts lurking.

A second-order awakener at level 26 could beat tens of level 25 first-order awakeners; it was that big of a difference. Those who completed their first class evolution would become higher-level beings; that's what Moon wanted to achieve. To become powerful enough not to be treated as fodder.

For Moon's Classless talent, he had no idea what an evolution task would entail. The system had provided no hints, no guidance. But he suspected it would be challenging, possibly dangerous, and almost certainly unique compared to standard class evolutions.

Reaching level twenty-five from his current eighteen required substantial experience gain. He'd need to hunt consistently, target creatures at or above his level, and maximise his efficiency.

Moon left the inn and made his way back toward the base's exit, checking his status one final time before departing.

[ Level: 18 ][ 42% ]

Another important difference between Ironpeak Base and his previous settlement was the cost of death it entailed. The death penalty around this base was one hundred lives, by no means a small amount.

It was even higher than the cost in the hidden realm, which made sense considering that even the weakest beasts in this area were level fifteen and considered fodder.

As Moon was about to head out of the gate, he heard a voice that made him stop.

"Moon? Is that you?"

Moon turned around to find one of his old classmates walking toward him, his expression a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

"Moon! That really is you! How are you here? Didn't you fail to awaken a class during the ceremony?" Jack, one of his former classmates, spoke as he approached.

Moon shook his head. "I awakened a class. The awakening stone must've malfunctioned. Do you want anything?"

Moon had decided to engage because Jack was one of the nicer students from their class. They'd never been close friends, but Jack had been decent to him when others hadn't. Moon decided to maintain the polite exchange they'd always had.

"Congrats, man! That's great to hear." Jack's smile seemed genuine. "I've never seen you here before. Did you arrive recently?"

Moon nodded. "Yeah, just came today."

"I see, I see." Jack's enthusiasm was palpable. "If you need anything, just let me know! I made friends with a veteran here. According to my estimates, I should be able to reach my class evolution by the end of the year."

Moon nodded his head. "Good luck with that. Well, I'm going to head out. I have some things to do."

"Wait!" Jack called out as Moon started to turn. "Have you heard about Sarah? She was actually in this base a month ago..., but now she's about to ascend to the Second Sanctuary alongside Marcus, Lena, and Adrian."

Moon stopped in his tracks. His hands clenched involuntarily, then slowly released.

Jack sighed before continuing, seemingly oblivious to Moon's reaction. "Some people are just in a different league of their own, you know? To ascend to the Second Sanctuary so quickly... it must be really nice. They awakened a class at the same time as us, but they're already leaving the First Sanctuary behind."

"I see."

Jack didn't seem to notice the edge in Moon's tone. "I heard Sarah got some kind of special invitation to a Second Sanctuary guild. They're going to set her up with equipment, training, the whole package when she ascends. Must be nice having connections like that."

"Anyway, I just thought you'd want to know since you and Sarah had a relationship at some point, you know. Pretty crazy how different everyone's paths turned out, huh?"

"Yeah."

Jack finally seemed to pick up on Moon's desire to leave. "Well, I won't keep you. Good luck out there! Maybe we'll run into each other again."

"Maybe," Moon said, already turning back toward the gate.

Sarah and the second-generation trash she chose to group with were ascending and moving beyond his current reach, entering a realm where the weakest creatures were Second Order beasts that could crush First Sanctuary awakeners like insects.

Moon pushed the thoughts aside as he exited through the gate and headed toward his chosen hunting ground.

Sarah's ascension changed nothing about his path. He'd set his goals long before learning about her progress, and those goals remained unchanged.

He was going to continue accumulating power until he could stand against anyone, regardless of what advantages they'd been given.

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