"...AH!" Moon woke up breathing heavily. He snapped his eyes open, immediately summoning his staff while scanning the unfamiliar room defensively.

Moon found himself in a relatively large room with basic, cozy furniture. His eyes landed on a young woman sitting on a chair before him.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything is fine now. You're in the infirmary of Ironpeak Base." The young woman wearing a long white healer's cloak spoke with a soft, reassuring smile.

Moon's guard dropped slightly, though his grip on the staff remained firm. He raised his brows. "Who are you?"

He'd never seen this woman before.

Not surprised by his wariness, the young healer began explaining. "I'm one of the base's senior healers. I was personally instructed by the Base Lord to ensure you received the best care while you were unconscious."

Moon dismissed his staff back to his storage ring. He couldn't detect any malice from the young woman, and if she'd harbored bad intentions, she would have acted while he was helpless. Pragmatically, she'd had hours of opportunity.

Moon rubbed his temple as he tried to piece together what had happened before he collapsed.

The young healer, seemingly understanding his predicament, began explaining the aftermath of the battle. The Mountain Bear's death. The retreat of the remaining beast horde. The successful defense of Ironpeak Base despite catastrophic casualties.

Moon listened intently and nodded. 'That matches what I remember before losing consciousness.'

"Hiss..." Moon took a sharp breath and clutched his head as sudden pain lanced through his skull.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious," the healer said calmly. "Your brain is simply processing everything that happened, your injuries, the accelerated healing, the transition back to consciousness. The discomfort should pass within a few minutes."

"How long was I out?" Moon asked through gritted teeth.

"Five hours since you collapsed. We could have woken you earlier, but that would have caused worse side effects than a temporary headache. With no immediate threats remaining, we thought it best to let your body recover naturally."

After a minute of sitting quietly, the headache indeed faded completely. Moon stood and prepared to leave when he noticed his clothing had been changed. His combat-damaged gear was gone, replaced with clean, unfamiliar garments.

His face flushed slightly with embarrassment before he quickly suppressed the emotion. "Who changed my clothes?"

"...I did," the healer replied with a soft, knowing grin. "It's standard procedure for patients with extensive burns and wounds. There's nothing you need to be ashamed of. Your gear is stored in the patient items storage, you can retrieve them from there."

Moon remained silent for a moment, processing that information with mild discomfort. "I see. Thank you for the assistance. I should get going now."

The healer nodded, not attempting to stop him. "Before you leave, make sure you visit the Base Lord. He specifically requested to see you once you woke."

Moon's brows lifted slightly. He'd never had any direct interaction with the man before, and the last time Moon had seen him, the Lord had been retreating from the battlefield with his tail between his legs after nearly dying permanently by the assassin.

'Let's see what this man wants from me, Moon thought coolly. If his intentions are genuine and beneficial, we can have a productive conversation. If he's attempting to manipulate or exploit me after I helped save his base...' His eyes flickered coldly.

Moon wasn't someone who could be easily pushed around or taken advantage of. He'd proven his value and power on that battlefield. Anyone who thought his youth or relative inexperience made him vulnerable to political maneuvering would learn otherwise quickly and painfully.

He'd killed plenty of humans during the siege. Adding one more name to that list wouldn't cost him any sleep if circumstances required it.

Moon walked through the infirmary corridors, his expression neutral but his mind alert for any potential complications.

Along the way, he pulled up the notifications he'd received while unconscious.

[You have killed a level 25 Three-Armed Mountain Bear.]

[You have received 1,000 Lives.]

Moon momentarily stopped mid-stride.

One thousand lives from that single beast, despite dozens of awakeners contributing to its death. The reward distribution clearly weighted individual contribution heavily, and Moon had arguably inflicted the most critical damage—the evolved Ignite technique that crippled it and enabled the final kill.

[You have reached level 22!]

[ Name: Moon ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Class: Classless, Pyromancer ]

[ Level: 22 ][ 39% ]

[ Lives: 4131 ]

[ Strength: 33 ] [ Agility: 35 ] [ Constitution: 36 ] [ Mana: 49 ] (+5 to all stats)

[ Attribute Points: 0 ]

[ Skills: Elemental Attack, Five Element Affinity, Tenacity, Silver Skin, Ignite, Heat Sense, Pyromantic Affinity(Limited Time) ]

[ Talent: Grim Reaper ]

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

Staring at his updated status, Moon was extremely satisfied with the battle's results.

He'd leveled up twice, reaching level twenty-two with solid progress toward twenty-three. He'd successfully mastered and evolved Explosive Flame into the Epic-rank Ignite skill.

Most importantly, he'd maintained his life total above four thousand despite spending over four thousand lives on skill evolution. The massive influx from killing James repeatedly and contributing to the Mountain Bear's death had more than compensated for the expenditure.

This meant Moon not only possessed high survivability through his substantial life reserve, but he also retained the capability to evolve another Rare skill to Epic rank if circumstances and opportunities aligned properly in the future.

The war had been costly, dangerous, and exhausting. But the rewards made it entirely worthwhile.

Moon resumed walking toward where he was told the Base Lord's office would be located, his confidence restored and his mind already planning his next steps.

Time to see what the man who'd fled his own battlefield wanted from the person who'd helped save it.

Arriving at the building, two awakeners were stationed at the door. Upon spotting him, the two gave him a nod of respect. Everybody had come to know of what Moon had done in the base, he was akin to a celebrity in the Ironpeak base.

"I'm here to meet the base lord."

The two glanced at each other before letting him in, one person escorting him inside.

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