River didn't Level Up after killing his second Smokey Wolf, so he continued moving toward the direction of the Quest, eyes sharp for any sign of another target.
It didn't take long before he found one—no, two.
Huddled together beneath a cave-like outcropping, hidden by fog and giant trees, the pair of Smokey Wolves lay low. From a distance, they looked still, but as River crept closer, he saw the rise and fall of their bloodied sides. Fresh wounds marked their bodies, torn open by some earlier battle—one so brutal it exposed the flesh beneath their fur.
They had fled from death. Like all wolves, they ran when their survival instincts kicked in. These two were no different.
River used every trick he had—his rope, his smoke bombs, his knife—and most importantly, the remaining beef jerky. The moment the food hit the ground, the wolves lunged, snapping at it without hesitation. Hunger made them reckless.
He struck.
It was a brutal fight. Even in their weakened state, they were monsters. River had to rely heavily on the Mana Gathering technique—twisting it into a sensing ability just to keep track of their lightning-fast movements. He weaved, dodged, rolled, and attacked, burning through what little stamina he had left.
By the end of it, River stood bloodied and broken over two corpses.
He dropped down onto one of the dead wolves, breath ragged, sweat and blood mixing on his skin.
"This is tough work…" he muttered, his voice hoarse. "If I try to find more, my body's going to shut down."
He wasn't being dramatic.
River knew his limits—and he had already pushed them far beyond the edge. Using Mana Gathering during combat was mentally exhausting. Add that to the earlier sprint from Nolan and his lunatic entourage, and his body was starting to fray at the seams.
One more push, and he wouldn't be able to stand again.
His chest throbbed with pain, every breath deep and labored. It wasn't just from the wounds—it was the adrenaline, the mental strain, the weight of trying to survive. His brain pulsed as if squeezed in a vice, and his vision blurred with every blink.
But he couldn't collapse.
Not yet.
River forced himself to take a few slow, deliberate breaths. He needed to stay alert, just for a few more seconds.
He looked down at his body.
His shirt was torn open, soaked in blood, revealing red-streaked skin underneath. Several deep claw marks slashed across his chest, raw and still bleeding. He had narrowly avoided death—if not for his Mana Gathering, one of those swipes would've split him open.
He raised his arms, inspecting them.
More cuts. Deep ones. His left arm was trembling slightly. Several of his fingers were bent at strange angles—broken from blocking blows with his knife. He clenched his jaw as the pain hit him again.
The knife itself was still in his hand, chipped at the edge but intact.
A cheap Hunter Facility weapon—durable enough to survive a few deadly encounters, but not made for prolonged battle.
His knife held on.
His fingers did not.
"This is going to be painful," River muttered under his breath, frowning as he glanced at his broken fingers.
Without hesitation, he crouched down and pressed one against the ground, aligning the bone back in place with a sharp twist. For the others, he bit down, using his teeth to snap them into position. The popping sound echoed softly around him.
Pain surged through his nerves like wildfire—but River didn't grunt. Not a single sound escaped his lips.
He simply breathed out, slow and steady, as sweat rolled down his forehead.
The fingers were back in place—mostly. Purple bruises were already forming, but at least they moved again. Flexing them carefully, River wiped his brow with a torn sleeve, the fabric smearing the grime and blood instead of cleaning it.
He was tired. In pain. But he was used to this.
Reaching into his bag, River pulled out one of the last strips of beef jerky and began to chew. It was dry, almost tasteless after everything he'd been through, but it gave him the fuel he needed. The rest of the food in his mini fridge container could wait—he would eat that once he started the Quest.
When he finished, he stood up and summoned his Status Screen.
A translucent, light-blue panel materialized in front of him like a flickering hologram.
STATUS SCREEN
Name: River Faelan
Skill: Bubblecrafter [Tap to see details]
Class: Mage
Level: 7
Experience Points: 121 / 780
Status Points: 7
Title(s): None
BASE STATS
HP: 100
MP: 100
STR: 8
AGI: 7
INT: 15
WIS: 14
VIT: 10
DEX: 7
River let out a breath of surprise. "This is better than I expected."
From Level 5 to Level 7 in one go. The random EXP multiplier must have been kind to him—probably a 3x bonus at least. The system's random bonus while still under the Awakening Ceremony gave anywhere from 2x to 5x experience per kill. Luck truly was a hidden stat.
Monsters didn't give flat EXP either. Even if they were the same species, their experience value changed based on size, strength, and condition. And being injured didn't lower it. That's why Kill Stealing was so frowned upon among Hunters—it robbed others of both the fight and the full reward.
River brought up the notification panel and checked the experience logs. After reviewing them, he waved his hand, dismissing the screen into particles of light that vanished with the wind.
He looked back at the two slain wolves for a moment, then turned his eyes forward.
"Level 7 should be enough," he muttered, the frown never leaving his face.
His body ached with every step. The exhaustion clawed at his bones. But he had no choice—he had to keep moving.
Keep going forward.
Even though he already knew what lay ahead, it somehow felt heavier than going in blind. The future was both clear and bleak, and he could only hope that every decision he made now would shift it toward something better.
The terrain began to change as he walked. Trees grew sparse, the massive trunks fading one by one. The rocks thinned out too. Not a single sound came from the surroundings—not birds, not beasts, not even insects.
The noise from the two guilds had long since faded. Silence reigned now, broken only by the soft rush of wind.
Fog surrounded everything.
Thick, cold, unnerving.
It parted as he walked through it, as if afraid to touch him.
River looked up. The sun had vanished—swallowed by a pale, eerie sky that stretched endlessly above him.
"The surroundings match the description from the report," River whispered, his voice nearly drowned by the oppressive silence. His thoughts, muddled from blood loss and mounting fatigue, struggled to stay focused.
Greyish-white fog. No sun. No direction.
And somewhere beyond it… the Quest.
He was the only person in the world who knew that this F-Rank Awakening Dungeon contained a Quest. If the news ever got out, this place would be swarmed by Hunters—especially those desperate Candidates clinging to any edge in the Awakening Ceremony.
But River was here first.
He pushed forward, ignoring the burning pain in his body. Blood still oozed from some wounds, while others had dried into red-black stains on his torn clothes. His legs felt like iron rods, his mind heavy and unstable. Every step blurred his vision a little more.
Still, he moved.
The fog was unending. A suffocating wall of grey. No sky. No ground. Just an infinite mist swallowing the world.
Until—finally—something changed.
River stopped. His eyes widened despite the haze clouding them.
"Finally…" he exhaled, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
It stood about a dozen meters ahead—an oblong, five-meter-tall phenomenon. A black swirling mass with glowing blue edges that pulsed and moved like smoke, slowly rotating clockwise. Even from here, River could feel the pressure rolling off it. A familiar pressure—one that all Hunters recognized.
A portal within a portal.
A Quest.
And not just any Quest.
This was the gift from the future.
River chuckled dryly, lifting his eyes toward the dark mass as he muttered, "Thanks to the guy who f*cked a humanoid rabbit monster… your service to mankind will never be forgotten."
Sarcasm helped him stay sane. A little dark humor to balance the absurdity of it all.
He approached the portal. As he stepped close, a translucent panel shimmered into view.
"You are standing before a Quest: Eye to Eye, Mind to Mind. Would you like to enter?"
"Yes," River said immediately. His voice was steady, but his chest rose and fell with each heavy breath. He steadied himself, eyes glinting with anticipation.
The panel flickered.
Confirmation Received.
Analyzing Candidate…
Mana Level: None Detected.
Status: Unusual.
Override Protocol: Engaged.
Qualification: Approved.
A final message appeared, its tone almost ceremonial.
You are now eligible to begin the Quest: Eye to Eye, Mind to Mind — a journey into the unknown depths of self-awareness and instinct. Proceed through the portal to begin.
River clenched his fist, his injuries momentarily forgotten.
Without hesitation, he stepped into the light.