Tears poured endlessly from Joe’s eyes as he sprinted through the woods without looking back. His legs moved faster as the energy Olivia had shared with him surged through his veins and drove him forward. His vision blurred from the tears, and he sobbed openly, trying and failing to wipe his face clean. No matter how many times he cleared his eyes, more tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with thick mucus that ran from his nose and made him feel filthy and pathetic.

  Joe knew he was a coward. There was no point pretending otherwise. His friend was fighting behind him at that very moment, risking her life just to buy him a few seconds to escape, and he was running away without even daring to glance back. Guilt twisted inside his chest. For a brief moment he almost stopped. He almost turned around. But the image of the Lord of the Woods surfaced in his mind and crushed that impulse completely. A Grade 3 monster was not something he could face. If he went back, he would die for nothing. He was weak. He was useless. Running was the only thing he could do. If he survived, then at least their sacrifice would mean something. For someone as weak as him, surviving was the only role he was capable of fulfilling.

  The ground shook violently beneath his feet as an intense green light erupted behind him. The clash between Olivia and the Lord of the Woods sent shockwaves through the forest, making the trees sway and the earth tremble. A deafening explosion echoed across the jungle as their attacks collided again and again. Joe stumbled but forced himself to keep moving, his heart pounding wildly as he fixed his eyes forward. The edge of the forest finally came into view.

  He burst through the canopy and into a vast stretch of barren land that led toward Suveny, still many kilometers away. He did not slow down. His feet hammered against the dry earth as a massive cloud of dust rose behind him, clearly marking his path. His speed was so extreme that an ordinary person would not have been able to follow his movements with the naked eye.

  As he continued running at hundreds of meters per second, Joe gradually realized something strange. He was not getting tired. No matter how long he sprinted, his stamina remained full as if it had never been touched. Each time fatigue tried to creep into his muscles, Olivia’s skill erased it completely. His body felt light and for a brief moment, he thought he might be able to run forever.

  Seconds turned into minutes, and then the first signs of exhaustion appeared. His pace dipped slightly. The green aura around him flickered, thin and unstable, as if it could vanish at any moment. Joe felt his stomach drop. He did not know if the skill had a time limit or if this meant Olivia was losing. In his mind, both answers led to the same conclusion. If she was fighting a Grade 3 monster alone, it was only a matter of time before she fell, if she had not already. The power she gave him was only a portion of her own strength. It made sense that it would eventually fade.

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  He clenched his teeth and pushed harder, desperately trying to close the remaining distance to Suveny before the last of the energy disappeared.

  A few minutes later, the green light vanished completely.

  The change was immediate and brutal.

  The blazing sun pressed down on him without mercy. He raised his left hand to shield his face, but the heat cut through his palm and slipped between his fingers, searing his skin. Red blisters formed almost instantly. Pain exploded across his face. Joe screamed but did not stop.

  Without the enhancement, exhaustion flooded his body all at once. His stamina plummeted. His limbs felt heavy and unresponsive. His sprint slowed to a jog, then nearly to a stagger as his breathing turned ragged.

  There was still no clear sign of Suveny.

  But he refused to fall.

  He forced himself onward, vision swimming as sweat poured into his eyes. His body lurched again and again, threatening to collapse. He had reached his limit. Just as despair began to swallow him, the tall walls of the town finally appeared on the horizon.

  A fragile smile formed on his cracked lips.

  Hope surged through him and forced his legs to move again.

  ‘I’ll make it. For my comrades who laid down their lives for me, I have to live.’

  It took another five minutes, but Joe finally reached the gates of Suveny. He glanced around and saw no guards stationed outside. He shouted, but no one came out of the nearby guard house.

  Frustration exploded inside him. His eyes flashed silver.

  “Open up!” he roared as he stepped forward and slammed his fist into the iron bars.

  The gates crumpled instantly. Metal shrieked as the impact tore them from their hinges and sent them crashing inward.

  Inside the guard house, Jerry jolted awake from his soft white chair after the piercing sound. He grabbed the spear beside him and stumbled outside. The moment he stepped into the open air, he saw Joe tearing through the entrance at terrifying speed, a massive cloud of dust trailing behind him.

  Jerry coughed from the dust and turned toward the entrance.

  His spear slipped from his fingers and clattered against the ground.

  “What the…” he muttered weakly.

  When he looked back, Joe was already gone.

  Joe tore through the streets of Suveny without slowing. A second surge of power flooded his body, similar to when he had carried Olivia through Evergreen. It forced his muscles to move beyond their limits. His eyes scanned frantically as civilians screamed and scrambled out of his path.

  “Jenny said there’s a Healer in Suveny named Sophia. I need to find her.”

  His bones creaked. His muscles strained and tore under the unnatural force driving him forward, but he endured it. He did not know where the establishment was located. He could only search blindly for any building that treated the injured.

  After another minute of desperate searching, he spotted a sign that read, ‘Healer’s Covern.’

  He did not hesitate.

  Joe launched himself forward and delivered a flying kick straight through the door. The wood shattered instantly as he blasted inside. A green haired woman behind the counter looked up just in time to see him hurtling toward her.

  She screamed.

  Joe screamed.

  A second later, he crashed into the counter. The sound of snapping bones echoed through the house. The world went black as consciousness left him.