"These gloves are too eye-catching…" Lukas commented while looking at the white gloves covering his hands. He purchased them with his last remaining Star Crystals. The gloves were pure white, probably made from the fur of some Star Monster. Although they wouldn't protect his hands from damage, that wasn't the reason he had purchased them to begin with, anyway.
The gloves' sole purpose was to hide the two shining stars on the back of his palm.
For others, the stars were a symbol of pride they could flaunt openly, but for him, one look and his greatest weakness was revealed.
Of course, he didn't care about mocking, but something else..Something even more crucial.
It revealed his Star Energy capacity. Any enemy hiding in the shadows could make use of this knowledge to their advantage.
Lukas had no intention of giving any advantage to his enemies.
While moving, Lukas tried to put his hands inside his pants pocket so the number of onlookers staring at his hands would decrease.
While thinking about all these things, he moved toward the settlement exit—his destination: Starfall Expanse.
A special region one hundred kilometres north of Roaring Dragon Settlement. It was the home to Lukas' target: Starforged Minotaur, a Star Beast with a special passive ability that Lukas greatly desired.
The list he had purchased from Night Phantom Guild had hundreds of monsters with passive abilities, but there were only a few that caught Lukas' eye.
Starforged Minotaur was one of them.
He had three passives in mind, and thankfully, all of them were scattered within the 300-kilometre domain. Lukas had no plans of going beyond the 300-kilometre mark for now. Beyond that distance, he would enter the inner region of Iron Tree Forest, with Blood Infusion stage monsters roaming around.
Of course, he wouldn't have even dared to think about going even a hundred kilometres deep into the forest before. It was only Tommy's evolution that gave him hope.
Moreover, there was one other reason. After wandering around in the market, he realized he had no choice but to take risks. During his shopping spree, he had even searched for body‑refining methods and realized something.
Just like Star Energy Gathering methods, body‑refining methods were too damn expensive, with the cheapest being sold at ten thousand Star Crystals flat.
However, Lukas had a feeling those things were just to attract new Awakeners but weren't actually for sale at all.
The only single route of acquiring them was joining a guild. He had learned one more thing: even if he wanted to join any guild, no one was going to accept him once they realized he only had two‑star potential.
Of course, if he was willing to be mocked and humiliated, then he could try.
Thinking of all these things, Lukas shook his head.
"No. Throughout my life, the best results I've gotten are when I worked alone…"
Lukas' eyes flashed with a determined light as he went through his past life memories. Remembering that whenever he was alone—whenever he was doing things at his own pace and without receiving instruction from others—was when he truly shone.
In this life, things were going to be no different.
Without even realizing it, he had moved far ahead, leaving the gates of Roaring Dragon Settlement behind.
…
Traceless Steps were activated on their own. With each step that he took, Lukas' figure seemed to blend with the dark ancient Iron Trees, like a chameleon changing colors to mix with the environment.
Whenever he would encounter Star Beasts he couldn't get past, Lukas would use Nemo Talent Sovereign Grasp to distract enemies, allowing him to pass silently undetected.
Just like that, Lukas moved without stopping, continuously walking for hours. Because of undead traits, he didn't feel tired at all, seemingly filled with endless stamina.
The more time passed, the more Lukas felt like this endless stamina could be considered a golden finger on its own.
Just like that, time flowed like water, and soon the entire Iron Tree Forest was completely enveloped in the dark of the night.
Unwilling to take any risks, Lukas found a safe spot to hide, choosing to continue his journey only in the morning.
He found a hollowed‑out cave—probably an abandoned home of some monster. Just to make sure, he sent Tommy to check for any signs of danger. After hearing his command, the undead fire in Tommy's eyes flickered as if processing his order.
After a brief moment, Tommy nodded his head and went inside the dark cave, step by step.
Lukas waited anxiously, ready to flee at the first sign of danger.
However, after some time, Tommy returned, signalling the cave was safe.
After wiping the sweat off his forehead, Lukas moved close to Tommy and said in a low voice:
"Tommy, you guard the entrance while I meditate. Understood?"
Lukas simply said this, not expecting Tommy to respond. And as expected, without any drama, Tommy silently moved toward the entrance, vigilantly looking around for any threats, his rune‑engraved frame glowing with Star Energy.
This caused Lukas to also sigh in relief.
Although Traceless Steps didn't consume too much Star Energy, talents like Sovereign Grasp took a significant amount. His first star was almost empty.
He needed to meditate at least for six hours to fill the reserves, and night happened to be the perfect time to use the Night Dipper meditation technique.
After taking a map out of the storage bag, he studied it for some time, memorizing all the dangerous zones that he needed to avoid, while also marking his location on the map.
"First day has been fruitful. I managed to cover a hundred kilometres in a single day. Now, as soon as the sun rises, I can start looking for Starforged Minotaurs."
Thinking about the Starforged Minotaurs, a solemn look appeared on his face. Dealing with them was going to be a pain in the ass.
Unlike all the monsters that he encountered before, Starforged Minotaurs were Epic-grade monsters. The only saving grace was that they were solitary creatures.
Killing one Minotaur alone shouldn't be that big of a deal… or so he thought.
With that thought in mind, he sat cross‑legged and started meditating. A steady stream of Star Energy flowed down from somewhere deep in the void, slowly restoring the Star Energy reserves.
Time passed without him even realizing it was already morning, with rays of dawn slightly making their way inside the cave, lighting up the interior.
Without wasting any time, Lukas packed everything inside the bag once more and headed out.