With Ethan taking charge, all their doubts vanished in an instant.
"Alright, let's move out."
The decision was made, and the eight-person team sprang into action.
Below the cliff, the monster tide raged on, and the density of monsters near the military base was even higher than before.
"Follow me! I know a shortcut that leads straight to the outpost on the base's perimeter!"
Lucas, being a top student from First High, had clearly done his homework on Black Iron Mountain's terrain. He volunteered to take the lead.
The team split into formation, each member doing their part:
Lucas took point, using his shield to block stray attacks.
Sam and Aaron guarded the flanks, their blades flashing as they repelled any berserk monsters that got too close.
Mara and Talia provided ranged support and crowd control, raining fireballs and arrows down on the horde.
Amy and Ella charged ahead of the group, their sword and blade carving a narrow path through the monsters.
And Ethan? He was the team's unbreakable backbone.
He even drifted along the edges of the formation, picking off monsters while spamming Mass Heal nonstop.
The warm glow of holy light blanketed the entire team without pause.
+662!
+662!
+662!
Green numbers danced above their heads like raindrops.
No matter how ferocious the attack, no matter how devious the strike—so long as it didn't kill them instantly—Ethan's healing would yank them back to full health in the blink of an eye.
Lucas felt the effects most acutely.
His Indomitable Bulwark relied on taking damage to build up shields, so he'd always had to watch his HP like a hawk in battle, terrified of dropping too low and dying. But now?
He felt invincible! He could charge headfirst into the monster horde without a second thought, using his body to clear a path for his teammates.
Every time a monster clawed off a chunk of his HP, the holy light would instantly patch him up—and leave a shiny new shield covering his body!
It was the most exhilarating combat experience of his life!
"Ethan! Your healing is out of this world!"
Lucas roared, his voice filled with unbridled excitement and disbelief.
The other team members didn't say a word—but the awe and gratitude in their eyes spoke volumes.
With a super healer like Ethan backing them up, the team's combat power had skyrocketed by more than just one level!
They made rapid progress.
Even the raging monster horde couldn't slow down a team with an endless supply of healing.
But before long, their advance ground to a halt. Because the monsters had gotten stronger.
Their levels had jumped from around 10 to a whopping 30!
These beasts boasted a staggering 600 defense and 30,000 HP—even Ella couldn't one-shot them anymore.
Lucas's group could barely scratch them, dealing only double-digit damage per hit.
If it weren't for Ethan's healing frantically keeping them alive, they would have been torn apart by the horde long ago.
The team pressed on, fighting tooth and nail.
After about twenty grueling minutes, the trees ahead finally thinned out, and a towering fence made of thick iron pillars came into view.
Each pillar was as wide as a man's chest and fifteen meters tall—it wasn't a fence so much as a wall of steel. Watchtowers loomed above the fence, and the faint figures of soldiers and the glint of gun barrels were visible atop them.
"The outpost! We made it!" Lucas shouted, elated, throwing his hands up to signal they meant no harm.
The soldiers in the watchtower had clearly spotted the ragtag team fighting their way through the monster horde—especially that nonstop holy light.
It was impossible to miss.
Their expressions shifted from initial surprise and confusion to utter, jaw-dropping shock.
An eight-person team of students, cutting through a monster tide like it was nothing—and they looked completely unharmed?
It defied all logic.
The moment Lucas raised his hands, a heavy iron gate in the fence creaked open with a loud grinding of gears, just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
A sergeant in camouflage fatigues, a scar slicing across his face, leaned out and barked, "Hurry! Get in! Move it!" His voice was urgent, his eyes scanning the monster horde closing in behind the team with unwavering vigilance.
"Go! Go!"
Ethan reacted instantly, barking orders.
The team tightened their formation.
The second the gate creaked open, the monster horde outside surged forward like water bursting through a dam, charging straight for the gap!
Deafening roars and the thunder of pounding footsteps threatened to drown everything out.
Ethan brought up the rear, casting Mass Heal after Mass Heal, the light of his spells precisely covering every teammate, ensuring they could make it through this final, most dangerous stretch.
Lucas roared, his shield glowing brightly as he charged forward, smashing through the monster horde like an unstoppable boulder.
Amy and Ella flanked him, their sword and blade weaving a deadly curtain of steel that cut down any monsters lunging at the sides. Sam, Aaron, and the others fought with everything they had, guarding the rear.
The eight-person team shot toward the open gate like a well-honed arrow, fast and true.
"Open fire! Cover them!" the officer behind the fence ordered decisively.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Dense beams of energy erupted from the soldiers' guns, picking off the berserk monsters closest to Ethan and the others, easing the pressure on the team.
Those short twenty or thirty meters felt like an eternity with the monster horde bearing down on them.
But finally, with the soldiers' covering fire and Ethan's unyielding healing, all eight of them made it through the gate unscathed.
CLANG!
The heavy steel gate slammed shut behind them, trapping the surging monster horde outside.
Countless monsters slammed into the fence with bone-rattling thuds, but the fortress-like defenses and the soldiers' withering fire held them back.
They were safe.
Everyone except Ethan collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, completely drained.
The nonstop, high-intensity combat and the constant strain of staying alive had taken a massive toll on their bodies and minds.
The middle-aged officer strode over, the major's insignia on his shoulders clearly visible.
He had a stern, resolute face and sharp, piercing eyes.
He glanced at the still-raging monster horde outside, then turned to the eight exhausted students—and his gaze lingered on Amy and Ella.
"Niece of Major General Ryan Jones?" the officer asked, looking at Amy and Ella.
It was clear he'd already run a quick background check on the eight of them in the short time it took for them to fight their way to the gate.
"Yes," Amy replied, catching her breath.
"Thank you for your assistance, Major Frostburn."
She'd spotted the name tag on his chest: Kris Frostburn.
Major Frostburn nodded, his expression softening slightly.
"You kids have guts. The training camp hasn't even started yet, and you're already sneaking into the depths of Black Iron Mountain?"
His tone held a hint of reproach, but more than that—relief.
If it weren't for the Rank 2 Cleric with them, these promising young talents would have met a gruesome end today.
Lucas and the others hung their heads in shame, too embarrassed to reply.
Amy quickly explained, "We were only in the outer areas getting familiar with the terrain.
We were forced this far by the sudden monster tide."
Kris's gaze shifted to Ethan, his eyes filled with undisguised appreciation and curiosity.
"That nonstop Mass Heal—that was you casting it?"
"Yes, sir," Ethan replied calmly.
"What's your name? Class? Level?"
Kris fired off the questions in quick succession.
"Ethan. Priest. Level 12."
Ethan answered concisely.
That's right—in just over twenty minutes of fighting through the monster horde, Ethan had rocketed from Level 3 to Level 12.
"A Level 12 Priest?"
Disbelief flashed across Kris's face, and the soldiers behind him looked equally shocked.
That level of healing power and frequency was far beyond what any Level 12 Priest should be capable of—it was on par with a Rank 2 Cleric!
"A natural-born prodigy?"
Kris guessed.
Ethan smiled, neither confirming nor denying it.
"Something like that."
Kris stared at him for a long moment, then nodded—he knew better than to pry into someone's talent;
it was a closely guarded secret. He clapped his hands.
"Alright, this isn't the place to talk. Come with me to the command center to rest, and we'll get your information on record."
"The monster tide won't die down anytime soon. You'll have to stay here for a while."
Being able to take refuge in the military base was already a stroke of luck, so none of them objected.
Led by Kris, they passed through layer after layer of defensive fortifications and arrived at the command center nestled in the mountainside.
The center was a hive of organized activity, with communication devices and surveillance screens flickering, displaying real-time updates on the battle outside.
After being shown to a restroom and given water and food by the soldiers, Kris hurried off to oversee the defense.
Inside the restroom, the atmosphere finally relaxed completely.
"Phew... we're alive..."
Lucas collapsed onto a chair without a care for his dignity, looking at Ethan with sincere gratitude.
"Ethan, I can't thank you enough! If you ever need anything in Lincheng, just say the word—I owe you my life!"
"And us too!"
Sam, Mara, and the others echoed, their voices earnest.
They would never forget this debt of gratitude.
Ethan waved a hand dismissively.
"It was nothing—just a bit of mana spent."
That was a lie, of course. To be precise, he hadn't spent any mana at all.
But that would be too shocking to admit, so there was no point in mentioning it.
Ella leaned in close to Ethan, her big eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Ethan, be honest with me—do you have an infinite mana pool? You spammed heals like there was no tomorrow, and I didn't see you drink a single mana potion!"
Her question echoed the thoughts on everyone's mind—even Amy turned to look at him, waiting for an answer.
Ethan smiled mysteriously.
"A natural-born prodigy, remember?"
Seeing he wasn't going to elaborate, everyone wisely dropped the subject—but their impression of him as someone deeply mysterious and unfathomable only grew stronger.
Three hours later, Kris returned, holding a tablet in his hand.
"The situation has stabilized for the most part. The monster tide's peak has passed—now it's just a matter of mopping up the rest."
He updated them first, then turned to the group.
"Per protocol, I need to get your basic information on record for our files, and to contact your schools."
Naturally, everyone cooperated.
The registration process was quick—just name, school, level, and class.
When he got to Ethan, Kris paused, asking an extra question.
"What rank is your talent?"
He'd guessed it was high, but he needed to confirm it for the records.
"B-rank," Ethan replied—sticking to the talent rank officially recorded when he awakened at school.
Kris's eyebrows shot up, and his finger froze on the tablet screen.
He looked up, his eyes piercing as he stared at Ethan.
"B-rank? Are you sure?"
The atmosphere in the restroom instantly turned tense.
Lucas and the others exchanged confused glances, their faces clearly saying they didn't believe it for a second.
How could a B-rank talent priest support an entire team through a monster tide and make it look effortless?
Most of them had guessed his talent was SSS-rank—after all, they'd seen S-rank talents before, and none of them were this broken. Only an SSS-rank could explain that god-tier healing.
Faced with everyone's skeptical stares, Ethan remained calm.
He'd anticipated this question, so he had a ready answer.
"My talent is indeed B-rank—it's on file at my school; you can check it if you want."
He paused, then quickly typed a few lines on the tablet before looking up.
"Fine, B-rank it is. But Ethan—your performance today was exceptional. I'll make sure to highlight it in my report."
His tone was meaningful.