A great danger

The first ray of sunshine appeared in the sky when Cain got into a military truck and left the Lightning Imperial Fort. He spent the previous day preparing and resting before leaving for the Tier 0 Danger Zone, where his mission took place.

Once the military truck crossed the gates and left the fort's line of sight, he activated his Nullity Armor. After setting the coordinates, he closed his eyes and began meditating, ensuring his body was in peak condition for future battles.

Less than half an hour after Cain's departure, another military truck left the Lightning Imperial Fort. It drove for less than twenty minutes before its sole passenger got out and flashed into a nearby forest.

The individual was shrouded in shadows, but upon a closer look, it was clear that it was no one else but Nira, the scion that fell in disgrace during the Military Academy Secret Trial.

It did not take long for her to reach a small pond deep in the forest where a young man was waiting for her. Admiration and love appeared in Nira's eyes when she saw the man.

"Brother Dimitri!" Nira's eyes almost teared up as she thrust herself into the young man's arms.

"There, there, I am here now." The young man gently caressed Nira's head.

The pressure Nira's felt the past few weeks were crushing for someone so young, and it was only now that she could finally relax a little. Yet, her sadness did not last long, as poisonous hatred appeared in her eyes.

"Brother, let's go. I know where he will be in the next couple of days. I want to pay him back all the suffering he caused me."

When the young man heard that, he frowned. "Little sister. Even if he is a commoner, his current status is that of a Collapsing Lightning Military Academy cadet. We would be in serious trouble if we killed him and someone found out you were responsible."

The young man did not see a problem with ending a life but did not want to leave any evidence behind.

"Don't worry, brother. I used a broker to obtain information about his mission and made sure to hide my tracks even then. I also solicited a mission far from his location, and the military truck would drive there before returning on its own, giving me a good enough alibi. Besides, that man also enraged many other scions, like Zamir Jarken, whom I heard is currently going on a mission near him."

When the young man heard that analysis, his eyes widened. They have been together all their lives, but he found it hard to reconcile the cold and calculative woman in front of him with his short-tempered and wild little sister.

"You have changed."

"Uh."

Dimitri spoke so low that Nira did not quite hear those words.

"Nothing. Let's go. We will need to go on foot to hide any trace of our presence."

Nira nodded to Dimitri, and the duo ran to Cain's location.

---

Cain had no idea of the threat approaching, and his mind focused solely on the mission.

After almost five hours of travel, he finally reached the Whisper Forest. In it, there was a Tier 0 Danger Zone with many Wave Beasts between Levels 1 and 3.

His mission consisted in gathering Blood Rose and Dark Lilies found across the Whisper Forest. Both of them were useful in the creation of all sorts of drugs.

Cain got down from the military truck and got deep into the forest. He had commanded the Absolute Life Form System to use the [Basic Scan Force Field] to pick up any trace of the herbs. Meanwhile, he used his sense of smell to track down Wave Beasts.

After almost three hours of running, he finally prepared for a battle. On the way here, he picked up many herbs and found some Wave Beasts, but they were all at Level 1, so he chose to avoid them.

Less than one hundred meters from Cain, there was a pack composed of four Level 2 Earth Lions.

Cain took out a Warrior Pill and put it inside his mouth, between his checks. He could consume it in case anything unexpected happened.

Slowly he approached the pack. Once he was near enough, he activated his Wave Cloak and triggered Wave Burst.

The Earth Lions rose from the ground as they felt the burst of Wave near them. Before they could get battle ready, Cain was already next to one of them and landed a punch in its neck.

Cain's right gauntlet glowed as it fired a Kinetic Blast, destroying the Earth Lion's neck and killing the creature instantly.

"ROAR!"

"ROAR!"

"ROAR!"

The three Earth Lions roared as they saw their comrade die and lunged toward Cain, full of killing intent.

Cain's eyes narrowed as he saw the massive Wave Beasts charging toward him. Instead of moving back, he used his Light Boots' Burst to flash forward, bypassing the Earth Lions on his left and right and crashing with the one at the center.

The Earth Lion weighed easily over two tons, but the moment it and Cain clashed, the winner was the human.

Cain's momentum was higher than that of the Earth Lion, and he used Wave Focus to direct as much of his Astral Wave as possible into his arms, so when the punch and claw collided, he came up victorious.

"AHH!" The Earth Lion screamed in pain as the punch pushed it back with a broken paw.

Cain did not let go of the Earth Lion and jumped forward, sending a kick to its head. The beast trembled due to brain trauma and lost consciousness.

Cain only needed one more attack to kill the Earth Lion but instead jumped past it, avoiding the two claw strikes coming at his back.

Immediately, Cain turned around and concentrated Astral Wave in his right leg, kicking the unconscious Earth Lion toward one of the two still awake.

With one of the Earth Lion temporarily incapacitated, Cain focused his full power on the other.

Cain saw a claw heading to his head but did not dodge. He used his left arm to block it and the right to land an uppercut on the Earth Lion.

The Earth Lion froze as its brain shook inside its skull and could not avoid a ferocious blow to its throat. It could not move nor breathe, and the next punch to its head ended its life.

Cain had just landed a blow to the Earth Lion's temple when he turned to the right and saw the last one lunging toward him. He could not dodge it and was only able to raise his arms before the beast clashed with him.

The Earth Lion pinned Cain down and attempted to bite his head off. He held onto the beast's maws with one arm before connecting a Kinetic Blast point blank on its neck.

"Crack!" It was so close that Cain could hear how the Earth Lion's neck shattered.

After that, the Earth Lion's eyes lost their light and perished.

Cain got the creature out of him before immediately dashing to the unconscious Earth Lion and killing it. He then used his hands to open the Wave Beasts' chests and took out their hearts before storing them in his military backpack.

Not wanting to find out whether his battle drew any attention, Cain ran away.

Cain kept picking up herbs and getting deeper into the Whisper Forest, finding more powerful Wave Beasts. After two days in the forest, he reached a shallow river and did not advance any further.

That was the dividing line that marked the end of the Tier 0 Danger Zone and the beginning of a Tier 1 Danger Zone.

Before coming, Cain had investigated the Whisper Forest and knew he could find Level 4 Wave Beasts beyond that point. It was already night, so he rose to a tree and began to rest before going to sleep when a message startled him.

[Warning: Two individuals entered the Basic Scan Force Field range. One of them is Nira Kilor.]