Chapter Fourteen: Trouble

A beast uprising within a haven wasn’t anything new to the current populace. Hence, emergency mode had been established to prevent the extermination of Evolvers trapped inside.

It prevented Evolvers from being stranded in a sector with powerful monsters, and defensive measures were also put in place to ensure they could retreat safely.

The reason these defenses couldn’t be deployed easily was that they consumed an astronomical amount of energy to maintain. If the energy supply ran out, the fortified walls would collapse, allowing the beasts on the other side to escape regardless.

Therefore, the wall’s offensive and defensive functions could only be activated as a last resort to prevent the energy reserves from being exhausted.

Valen’s heart leaped into his throat when he saw the devastating beam descend upon the Amberfiends, who were attempting to force their way through the opening alongside the fleeing Evolvers.

Valen knew that if the fortified walls truly collapsed, he would be doomed this time. Thankfully, the Amberfiends retreated after that single attack, allowing the remaining Evolvers to retreat safely before the gap in the wall shut once more.

The Evolvers surveyed their surroundings, and their expressions turned grim. Like the first courtyard, the second courtyard also served as a training ground.

However, it possessed deeper craters and far more cracks. Scattered throughout the courtyard were the corpses of both Amberfiends and Evolvers.

Another battle raged in the distance, its tremors and pained groans echoing faintly in Valen’s ears.

After enduring so many battles, the clogged-up energy within him had dispersed, tempering his body further. His level had now increased to 0.70%.

Valen exhaled a cloud of stale air and sat down while tapping his armor. The armor around that area receded, allowing him to retrieve a pouch from his pocket. Then he turned toward his teammates and said, "Please cover me. I’m about to level up."

"Friend Night Star, rest assured. I, Forgotten Maple, will do my best." Forgotten Maple tapped his chest confidently.

Night Vanguard silently stepped forward and positioned himself before Valen. He said nothing, but his intentions were obvious.

The other party members also voiced their agreement. Throughout their battles in the first courtyard, Valen had saved every one of them repeatedly. Because of that, they saw no reason not to carry out such a simple task.

Just as Valen slipped his hand into the brown pouch and clutched a handful of purple coins, preparing to absorb them, a group of individuals approached and surrounded his party members.

"What do you want?" Valen asked with a deep scowl. He needed to level up as quickly as possible. Only by reaching Level 1 and attaining another minor evolution could he stand a chance of survival.

A towering young man stepped forward, staring at Valen with a cold expression. "I saw you had the Hero Sector Pass. Hand it over, and we won’t harm you."

Valen froze briefly. Then he smiled faintly and observed the individuals surrounding his teammates.

"Is that also why all of you are here?" he asked calmly.

A lanky youth among them sneered. "You’re in trouble and still have the luxury of questioning us? Do you think you can escape?"

"Shameless!" Night Vanguard bellowed as he stepped forward. "Without him, all of you would still be trapped in the first courtyard without knowing what to do. Yet instead of thanking him, you want to rob him."

"I agree with Vanguard." Neon Phantom also stepped forward.

"Yeah. Do you think just because you have the numerical advantage, you can bully our team leader and expect us to overlook it?"

"If it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get. Let’s see who’s afraid of whom!"

Everyone on Valen’s team spoke up while readying their weapons. Before entering the haven, they might have been content to watch from the sidelines. But now, Valen had earned their respect, and they wouldn’t sit idly by while he was humiliated.

Valen gestured for his teammates to stop when he noticed them preparing to charge into battle. He looked toward the towering young man and asked calmly, "There is only one pass, and it can only allow eleven people through. How do so many of you plan to divide it?"

"Trying to sow discord?" The lanky youth shook his head with a contemptuous smile. "How we divide it is our problem, not yours. Now hand over the pass, or I’ll break your legs."

"Do you really want to test the limits of my patience?" Valen asked, his tone turning frosty.

The towering young man interrupted with a laugh. "Hahaha, so what if you’re stronger than us? We have the numerical advantage. Also, you can’t kill us because the system is protecting us, and your system lenses are capturing everything. Although the same applies to us, we can still beat you up, tie you down, and retrieve the pass. If I were you, I’d hand it over willingly."

Valen sighed. "We can activate emergency mode just like before and enter the Hero Sector that way, so why do this?"

The towering young man shook his head fearfully while eyeing the battle raging in the distance. "That won’t do. What if the system refuses to activate it to conserve energy? Wouldn’t we be doomed then?"

"Stephen, stop wasting time with him and get the job done already." The lanky youth wrinkled his nose in annoyance.

The towering young man—Stephen—nodded and gestured toward one of his teammates, who immediately handed him a long black rope.

Stephen fixed Valen with a ferocious stare. "You can only blame yourself for not cooperating. Friends, deal with his party members while Vincent and I tie him up."

The moment he finished speaking, Stephen and the lanky youth, Vincent, sprang into action. Each held one end of the rope.

Their teammates drew their weapons and charged toward Forgotten Maple and the others, preventing them from helping Valen.

Stephen and Vincent appeared before Valen and began executing complex footwork. They circled him in an attempt to tie him up while cold smiles formed on their lips.

"You forced me to do this," Valen murmured while rising to his feet. He shook his hands slightly, causing the blades protruding from the gauntlets to slide inward.

Then he balled his fists and vanished from his position.

Charge!

He appeared beside Stephen and punched him in the back with enough force to send him writhing on the ground in agony. A -7 floated from Stephen’s Silver Watch.

Before Vincent could react, Valen used Charge once more and appeared beside him instantly.

In truth, he didn’t even need a movement skill like Charge to boost his speed anymore. Having already reached Level 0.70, he could naturally move at nearly seventy metres per second.

Within moments, both Stephen and Vincent were on the ground, gritting their teeth in pain. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Valen accelerated again and appeared behind the remaining individuals one after another, knocking them to the ground effortlessly. Rows of damage numbers floated from their Silver Watches while pained groans echoed throughout the courtyard.

Soon, only Valen and his teammates remained standing.

The sight left everyone on his team staring at him in shock.

Valen ignored their reactions and shifted his attention toward the other parties who had followed them into the Elite Sector but hadn’t joined Stephen and Vincent’s group.

Those party members forced out respectful smiles before retreating to the side. Their actions clearly showed they had no intention of disturbing him.

Valen nodded in satisfaction before finding a suitable place to sit and level up.

The damage numbers floating from the fallen assailants prompted him to inspect his own HP stat.

During the chaos of battle, he hadn’t had time to monitor it properly. Now, he realized his HP had risen to a little over 80 and was steadily recovering. Soon, he would return to peak condition.

For now, he only needed to focus on leveling up and attaining his first minor evolution at Level 1.

He turned toward his teammates, who were still standing there dumbfounded, and asked with feigned confusion, "What are you guys still doing standing there? Come over."

"Oh."

They finally snapped out of their daze and scratched their heads awkwardly while approaching Valen. None of them had expected the gap between them and Valen to become so enormous.

Seeing Valen ignore them as though they were nonexistent, Stephen and Vincent became so furious that they fainted on the spot. Their embarrassed teammates hurriedly dragged them away.

"Just you wait, fool. You’ve offended our Black Tail Guild, and we’ll never let it go!"

The retreating teammates turned around and shot Valen vicious looks while throwing out standard third-rate villain lines.

Afterward, they quickly ran away.

Valen’s teammates ignored them and instead stared at Valen with shock, respect, confusion, and curiosity written across their faces.

"Friend Night Star, you aren’t only a Strength Path Evolver, right?" Forgotten Maple whispered, voicing everyone’s thoughts.