[ Name: Moon ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Class: Classless, Armoured Tank]

[ Level: 18 ][ 99% ]

[ Lives: 3959 ]

[ Strength: 27 ] [ Agility: 29 ] [ Constitution: 32 ] [ Mana: 39 ] (+5 to all stats)

[ Attribute Points: 5 ]

[ Skills: Elemental Attack, Five Element Affinity, Tenacity, Silver Skin]

[ Talent: Grim Reaper ]

[ Class Skill: Class Slot {1/1} ]

Staring at his status screen, Moon's eyes couldn't help but twitch at the unfortunate percentage. He was one percent away from reaching level nineteen. Just one more kill, even a lower-levelled creature, and he'd break through.

"...Sigh. I'll just need to kill one more," Moon muttered as he rested against the rocks.

The percentage was almost mocking in how close it was. But there was nothing to be done except continue hunting.

♢♢♢♢

Once his injuries were treated and his mana had been restored to approximately eighty percent, Moon decided to get up and start hunting again. Full recovery would take hours he didn't want to waste, and eighty percent was sufficient for most encounters.

He stood, testing his legs one final time. The pain had faded to background noise, manageable and ignorable. His hands no longer bore visible burns, though they remained slightly tender.

Moon jumped onto Mirage's back, settling into the saddle. The horse had waited patiently throughout its rest, proving itself a reliable companion.

"Come on, buddy. We've got more lives to harvest," Moon said, stroking the beautiful white fur along Mirage's neck.

Mirage whinnied in response and took off at a steady trot, navigating through the hunting ground's terrain with the same grace he'd demonstrated earlier.

Moon kept his senses alert as they moved, scanning for the next target. He needed just one more kill to reach level nineteen, preferably something less challenging than the Wind Lynx, but strong enough to push that final percent.

The hunting ground stretched out before them, filled with dangers and opportunities in equal measure.

♢♢♢♢

[You have reached level 19!]

Moon's eyes brightened at the sight of the notification. He'd just killed a level sixteen beast that he'd stumbled upon while pushing deeper into the hunting ground—a creature that had tried to launch a sneak attack on Mirage and paid the price.

Moon stored the beast's carapace in his storage ring and continued his Journey. He spent the next two hours searching for powerful beasts.

During that time, he encountered five creatures with levels ranging from nineteen to twenty-one. None of the beasts he encountered possessed any elemental affinity, making them pure C to B-rank monsters, average at best for this zone.

Moon didn't complain. Beasts with elemental affinities were rare, and his fight with the Wind Lynx had been a lucky encounter that he didn't expect to stumble upon frequently. Most creatures relied purely on physical prowess and instinct rather than manipulating the fundamental forces of nature.

Staring at the darkening sky, he could see the two moons hanging overhead, one pale blue and one deep crimson, neither matching the single silver moon from his original world.

A small laugh escaped his mouth. "I wonder when I'll have the power to join you two... up there."

The Second and Third Sanctuaries. That's where those moons supposedly led, according to what little information was publicly available. Higher realms beyond the First Sanctuary, where power operated on entirely different scales.

Ever since he'd gained consciousness in this world, Moon had never been able to understand the reasoning behind his parents' naming choice. They sure had weird taste, naming their child after the weakest celestial body.

Had they named him Sun, or Sunny he would have understood that they wanted him to shine brightly, become the source of light. Had they named him Star, he would have understood that too, but Moon…he never understood.

"Although it's weird, I would never exchange it for the world," he smiled wryly. This name was the only thing left from his parents, his connection to the people that sacrificed too much for him during their lifetime.

Mirage, seemingly sensing the mood Moon had fallen into, let out a soft nicker.

Moon laughed and stroked the horse's back. "Are you consolling me? That's cute of you."

With the sky darkening rapidly, Moon had to find himself a place to stay for the night. He couldn't return to the base, he was already tens of miles away, and he could feel that Mirage was approaching his limit. The horse had performed admirably, but even mounts needed rest, they weren't machines.

With darkness enveloping the sky, even Moon didn't dare stay out in the open wilderness, especially in this hunting ground. His earlier fight with the Wind Lynx had proven he wasn't invincible, not even close.

His mind kept replaying that fight, If he had stumbled against a pair of Wind Lynxes working together, he wasn't sure whether he'd survive without losing thousands of lives in the process or even permanently dying if they were coordinated enough to camp his respawn point and kill him repeatedly before he could escape.

As much as he hated to admit it, despite having the ability to theoretically die more than once, humans were not the apex predators in this cruel world.

Beasts had the advantage of being naturally stronger, more durable, and more instinctively connected to mana. They were born into power that humans had to fight and claw to obtain so they could survive.

Humans had only one real advantage: the ability to harvest power in the currency known as 'Lives' through the system. As for the ability of being innovators and intelligent species? That simply just wasn't the case, many specieis in the first sanctuary were more innovative, and more intelligent.

Nobody truly understood the mechanism behind such a phenomenon. Moon certainly didn't.

Why did killing grant lives? Why did death cost them? Why did such a mechanism exist in the first place?

The system existed. Everyone accepted it, with open arms. But no one actually knew why it worked the way it did.

To have the ability to die more than once was undeniably powerful, but it wasn't a cheat code or guarantee of survival. There were countless ways that beasts and even humans could circumvent the resurrection mechanic.

Heavily demanding zones that cost hundreds or thousands of lives per death. Instant-death zones like the Winter Beast's chamber that prevented respawning entirely through mechanisms Moon still didn't comprehend. Coordinated enemies who could camp spawn points and eliminate you faster than you could react.

And those were just the threats Moon knew about from his limited experience.

What other restrictions existed in higher sanctuaries? Why did instant death zones exist? These were all questions that had plagued his mind, but he never found the answer to.

Moon didn't know. The Association didn't publish that information, and pehaps the few awakeners who did venture deep enough to find answers never returned to share them.

The system was a mystery wrapped in power. It gave, it took, and it operated by rules that seemed arbitrary until you learned, often fatally, that they weren't arbitrary at all.

Moon shook off the philosophical thoughts as he spotted a defensible location, a small cave entrance partially hidden by overgrowth, elevated enough to avoid ground predators.

"This'll do," he muttered, dismounting and leading Mirage towards the entrance.

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