[Dungeon successfully opened]
The dungeon key dissipated into flakes. A blue portal opened. The air coming out of the portal was ancient and putrid.
[New quest received]
[Free the lost soul of the Forgotten Star]
[Duration: 1 month]
[Failure to complete the quest within the time frame will lead to severe punishment]
[Rewards: 1000 EXP, 50 stat points and ???????]
"Hmm... why is the reward blurred out again? It could mean only one thing—sweet treasure." Ethan was happy as he quickly jumped in, not caring for the world. Immediately, the portal shut close behind him.
BANG
The portal opened—Ethan stepped out. Looking around, he saw a vast terrain. With his sharp eyes, he could see ancient ruins scattered about. It was like a fallen civilization.
[You are now on the planet: The Forgotten Star]
[After the beginning of time, the Forgotten Star was once known as the Eye of Orion and was ruled by the First Men. It was one of the divine planets of the God of Space and Time.]
[But the gods were greedy. Because of Planet Orion's divine energy, the plotting gods bypassed the divine array left to protect the realm. The evil gods were like demons—they killed and plundered the First Men for many centuries.]
[After a thousand years, the gods decided to abandon the planet. After the divine energy was plundered to zero, it earned the name The Forgotten Star.]
"This is strange. Who were the greedy gods and evil gods?" Ethan thought. "Did gods exist? Why haven't I seen one? From what I heard from the system, it seems they existed at the beginning of time. If these evil and greedy gods existed... humanity would have been wiped out."
And who were the First Men? Was it the humans' first ancestors?
"There's no need to think too much. I should get strong as quickly as possible before the gods appear. Seems they are evil and will wipe humanity out for no reason." Ethan sighed.
At this moment, he couldn't even defeat an ascended. So he didn't stand a chance against the gods.
Ethan adjusted himself as he continued to walk down the terrain. At first, it was a smooth journey—until he met a mutant beast.
[Void-Eyed Hound – Level 5: Fast, blind dogs that hunt by sensing vibrations in space.]
[Kill it to gain 10 to 15 EXP]
The dog was huge like a tiger and had one white eye. The color of its skin was purple and looked slimy. Immediately, Ethan launched at it—but before he could reach it, its paws moved faster, hitting Ethan in the stomach.
Ethan was shocked. This mutant dog was faster than him.
It was now he remembered the system said it could sense vibrations in space. Ethan quickly put on his lightning armor and summoned his Starless Sword.
Again, Ethan launched at it—this time with precision. He tried not to move too soundly as he knew this could somehow affect space, right? Still, the Void-Eyed Hound found him and launched its paw.
This time, Ethan dodged and sliced the hound's neck.
BANG! It hit the floor, black blood splashing on the ground. It whimpered... and finally laid motionless.
[Void-Eyed Hound killed. 15 EXP gained.]
"Geez, that was close." Ethan was sweating. "This place is no ordinary Tier 2 dungeon. Which Tier 2 dungeon will you easily see a mutant beast that's twice as strong as normal?"
Ethan harvested the soul core and stored it in his storage. This one could fetch a price of 100k Ace Coin.
After harvesting, Ethan continued into a ruin.
This one looked like it was once a soldier barracks. It was huge—like 20 football stadiums joined together. Ethan could sense foul, evil odor in the air. It was like evil spirits that died with regrets and sorrow. The atmosphere was sad.
"Well, I guess I have to find the lost soul of the forgotten. But where will I start? This place is vast and boundless." Ethan was worried. What if he spent a whole year here, like he did on the Void Planet?
He dared not think about it.
Well, the system said 1 month. If he failed in one month... what would be the consequences?
Focusing his mind, Ethan continued to search the rooms of the ruin. An army barrack should have the city map, right?
He searched for about 12 hours but found nothing. During that time, he encountered 10 more Void-Eyed Hounds, which gave him 150 EXP.
Now, it remained 250 EXP for him to rank up to Level 8.
Ethan decided to set up camp in a room. The Void-Eyed Hound meat was inedible, so he had to eat the meat he brought with him. He tried to keep the smoke low so he wouldn't attract hounds.
The room was big, so he could move around with no issue.
He tried practicing the Star Sword Technique Level 2 without using mana—but it was of no use. He couldn't even grasp the basics. This frustrated Ethan.
After watching the video of the man over and over again—about 30 times—he was able to grab a bit.
It was as if the black man was blending together with the surroundings, but he knew he wasn't blending. He was blending with space and, at the same time, slowing time.
What Ethan didn't get was—why was it slowing time?
Ethan went to bed after watching the video another 10 times. He came to a conclusion:
He has to master a space and time technique first before he can comprehend it.
He already had a space technique: [Space Teleportation]—but it was not enough.
He needs to learn something like Space Warp.