Grande's feet stepped onto the dry grass of the Wastelands for the first time, and he immediately noticed the difference. In Stone City, Mana vibrated in the air, controlled and channeled. Here, the Mana felt dead, absorbed by the arid earth and the roots of poison-spewing trees.
He had chosen the North Gate because it faced the Border Forest, an unprotected area filled with Low-Rank monsters known as Echo Suckers.
Here, there were no sirens, no High Ranks shouting orders, and no Power Limit restricting his movements. But, there was also no clean water, food, or shelter.
His first challenge was the Echo Suckers.
These creatures were like thin wolves covered in thick gray fur, but their real danger lay in their ability to absorb Mana - they fed on the residual Mana drifting from Stone City. This was why the area was called the Dead Mana Forest.
Grande knew he couldn't waste the Echo Energy he had collected from the Commander Quarters. That energy was now the only external power source he possessed.
Suddenly, the sound of a snapped twig echoed. Two Echo Suckers, with fierce red eyes glowing in the dark, emerged from the bushes. They smelled something - perhaps the scent of a Gigantes, or maybe the residual Echo Energy still clinging to Grande's uniform.
"Alright, let's test the limits of Efficient Cleaning," Grande whispered, gripping his Rank F Broom.
He didn't wait. He charged forward.
The first Echo Sucker leaped, its mouth open, revealing sharp fangs.
Grande dodged with the agile movement he had trained in the narrow tunnels of Stone City. Then, he activated his Custodian Snap Technique openly.
SNAP!
This time, the Snap was undisguised. It was a pure Rank D Snap, erupting from the tip of the wooden handle. It struck the Echo Sucker's ribs.
The creature howled in pain and was thrown aside. Its ribcage cracked, proving that the Rank D strength was effective against Low-Rank monsters that lacked Mana armor.
However, the second Echo Sucker attacked. It tried a different tactic - it lunged towards Grande's Custodian badge, where the Echo Energy was most heavily stored.
Grande realized that if the badge was torn off, he would lose his Echo Energy reserves.
He reacted quickly. He used the technique he created in the Junk Arena: the Ghost Sweep. He dropped low and swept the creature's legs.
SNAP!
The second Snap hit the creature's ankle joint. It tumbled, losing its balance.
Grande now stood over both creatures. He picked up a sharp stone from the ground (a non-ranked tool) and ended the fight swiftly.
The victory was a crucial confirmation. The Custodian Snap Technique worked perfectly outside the System.
Loss and Discovery
The next day, Grande took time to assess the situation. He needed to find a safe spot. He found a small cave hidden in the cliffside.
His primary problem was now the Rank F Broom. Although powerful, the wood was cracking in several places from the consecutive Snaps.
"I need a weapon that can continuously handle this Rank D Snap," Grande thought.
However, he couldn't craft a metal weapon. First, he lacked the tools. Second, a metal weapon would attract attention, and more importantly, might still activate the Power Limit if he tried to return to Stone City or if the System had spies outside.
He remembered his old wooden sword training in Akar Kayu. He needed something unclassified.
He spent two days searching for materials. He found an ancient tree whose core was hard as iron in the middle of the forest - Gigantes Hardwood. It was an incredibly heavy and dense tree, usually ignored by Gigantes because it couldn't channel Mana well.
Grande used all his strength to cut the thickest branch. He used stones and modified Custodian tools to shape the branch into a greatsword that resembled the Fate Breaker he had dreamed of.
After three days of hard labor, he held the hardwood sword. It was heavy, but his trained hands could swing it.
The sword had no Mana Runes and was not classified as a weapon. It was just cut Wood.
Grande swung the hardwood sword and activated the Custodian Snap.
CRACK-BOOM!
The sound of the Snap this time was much louder. The hardwood sword did not crack; instead, the Snap Energy channeled through the dense wood grain, producing a shockwave that was more focused and deadly.
He had created the True Rank F Sword - a weapon that bypassed the System completely.
Assimilation into the New Role
Now, Grande was not just using Role Skills; he was integrating them into his identity.
He began training in the cave. He was no longer training to "clean"; he was training to defend.
He created new exercises, combining the techniques he learned from the Archive and Sirus's Log:
* 'Continuous Snap' Training System: Using the Hardwood Sword to perform 5000 swings, where every tenth swing required a Custodian Snap. This trained his body to manifest the Rank D power automatically, without conscious thought.
* Forced Echo Harvesting: He crafted a small leather bag (using Echo Sucker hide) and used it to collect the residual Echo Energy he found around the border zone, forcing him to be more meticulous.
His strength and precision increased exponentially, freed from the constraints of Stone City. He began fighting larger monsters, and with every successful Snap, he understood the System's weakness more deeply.
The Fate Rank System was an electric fence designed to keep Low Ranks away from power. But with the Hardwood Sword in hand, Grande had found a way to poke holes in that fence.
He realized that his dream of becoming the strongest in Gigantes didn't need to involve shining armor or grand magic. It only required intelligence and hard work that the System never anticipated.
The Wastelands was no longer a dumping ground; it was Grande's personal training ground, a place where he could carve his own destiny with the Hardwood Sword in hand. He was now ready to find his way back to civilization, not as a Custodian, but as a rankless warrior who could not be classified.