"Level 25 dungeons inside the city were directly under the control of the association and had tight surveillance. I should aim for dungeons outside the city."
Radiant Solstice Empire had 117 cities in total.
Seven cities in the center were high-level cities, surrounding them were 24 mid-level cities, and on the outer side 86 low-level cities were scattered around.
Even the lowest-level cities had one or two Tier 3 dungeons, while the higher the level of the city, the stronger the military protection and the level of combat profession holders present in that city.
Per data from the association website, till now more or less 3200 Tier 1 dungeons, 1800 Tier 2 dungeons, 900 Tier 3 dungeons, 300 Tier 4 dungeons and 12 Tier 5 dungeons were registered under the association.
This number was not fixed and could change regularly depending on the situation.
Despite having millions of combat profession holders in its arsenal, the empire and association couldn't directly oversee and maintain its regulations over all dungeons while constantly fighting on the frontlines.
Which made them choose an alternative choice, which is to only take control over dungeons inside the cities while giving lease and outsourcing dungeons in the wilderness to guilds and clans of the city for a certain time period.
Leasing these dungeons doesn't mean guilds and clans would have total control over them.
Per conditions the association made, a certain number of regular people can enter these dungeons without any problem, but the clans and guilds have first priority when it comes to raiding and buying materials from dungeon raiders in return for strictly maintaining regulations and recording every detail on behalf of the association.
Eren was currently choosing that kind of dungeon right now, and he immediately found one that was suitable as well as having valuable drops.
[Nightmare Hollow Forest
Faction: Abyssal
Recommended Level: 20–25
Monster Type: Nightmare Stalker, Nightmare Stalker Broodmother, Abyssal Widow
Loot:
Common: Nightmare Silk
Rare: Nightmare Essence
Epic Loot: Abyss Weaver Ring
Legendary: Low-Grade Elixir, Abyss Weaver Wand, Dusk Sovereign Core, Nightmare Crystal, Widow Venom Heart (all of these are boss drop items)]
"This dungeon is the closest to the gate and has the most valuable drops compared to all surrounding ones. It also drops one of the evolution materials I need..."
Having fixed the target, the taxi arrived in front of the massive walls of the city gate.
Paying the taxi fee, Eren walked to the security guard who was examining all people crossing through the gate.
A lot of trucks passed by once they showed their awakener IDs at the toll gate.
On the side, some people stood in line, submitting their IDs before going through the gate.
Eren stood at the end of the line and patiently waited before handing over his ID when it was his turn.
"Student?!... You have already reached Level 10? It's not even a week since the awakening ceremony!"
The guard's exclamation attracted nearby people as well.
"I just had some help, sir. It's not that impressive."
Despite Eren's humble words, everyone paid great attention towards him.
"Even still it was impressive. Are you planning to hunt monsters outside alone?"
"Yes."
The guard let out a sigh.
"Don't be impulsive. The monsters outside the city are not like those you fought inside dungeons. They are far more ferocious and strong, even smart enough to call for help. There are sudden incidents where monsters ambush inexperienced hunters as well. Try to find a party to take you in."
Eren simply nodded his head and accepted his advice.
He was giving advice in goodwill after all.
When Eren crossed the gate, he saw a vast forest surrounding the city from all sides.
Tall trees proudly stood, blocking the rays of the sun from touching the ground.
Sounds of beasts howling and fighting echoed from the long distance, giving a dangerous vibe.
But Eren didn't waste time. He immediately started running towards the direction where the dungeon was.
With a boom sound he vanished from the spot, leaving the onlookers stunned.
"W-Wait...!"
"What the hell was that just now?!"
"Did he just run into the forest?! That's too fast!"
"Is he really Level 10?! It doesn't make any sense! I thought of inviting him into our party... Sigh"
Not only one person, there were a couple of people who came to invite Eren into their party, stood there stunned.
Reaching Level 10 within a week seemed to be really exaggerated even if it was done with help, especially considering the way Life Essence distributes depending on the contribution.
Seeing him prepared to fight alone, a lot of people who overheard the guard wanted to form a connection with him.
Eren, without knowing what happened behind him, arrived at an isolated space.
He took out a silver bracelet and wore it on his left hand, then used his authority to hide its appearance and information, and put the robe he had been using all this time into his inventory.
"Now it's time to see what my transformation looks like now."
Spirit energy surged as his appearance started to change.
His hands turned into razor-sharp claws that emitted a deep blue light.
All of his body increased in size, his eyes turned into those of a predator, emitting a pale lunar glow.
Pure silver-white fur, reflecting the sunlight, covered his entire body.
A simple dark blue crescent moon symbol appeared on his forehead.
The most distinctive feature was a pair of curved silver fangs that extended outside his mouth.
The terrifying aura of a two-meter-tall, big predatory wolf suddenly appeared in the isolated forest.
[[Name: Eren Morrow (Crescent Fang Wolf Transformation)
Job: Shapeshifter
Tier: I
Level: 10 (0.00%)
Type: Combat Profession
Strength: 600.0
Agility: 600.0
Spirit: 3071.0
Constitution: 1144.0
Beast Skills: Child of Moon Goddess (Passive Lv.10), Greater Presence Sense (Passive Lv.10), Lunar Severing Claw (Active Lv.10), Lunar Blessing (Active Lv.10), Azure Divine Flame (Active Lv.10), Sovereign Howl (Active Lv.10), Heavenrend Bite (Active Lv.10)
[Child of Moon Goddess: A powerful divine blessing granted by the Moon Goddess that grants extremely high resistance against all forms of soul-based attacks, curses, and mental corruption. The blessing constantly purifies hostile energies attempting to invade the user's spirit. During the night, the protection strengthens significantly, and under a full moon the user gains complete immunity to curse-type abilities and soul attacks.]
[Greater Presence Sense: The user can perceive all living beings, hostile intent, and fluctuations of spiritual energy within a five-kilometer radius. Stealth abilities of the same tier cannot evade this detection unless their concealment ability greatly surpasses the level of Greater Presence Sense.]
[Lunar Severing Claw: By consuming 1 Spirit, the user coats their claws with condensed lunar energy and delivers a devastating strike. This attack ignores all physical and magical defenses and directly damages the target's soul, increasing damage by 120%. Damage against Abyssal creatures and Dark-attribute beings is tripled.]
[Lunar Benediction: By consuming 5 Spirit, the user releases a powerful wave of lunar energy that restores 50% of the target's total health and removes all negative effects including poison, curse, fear, fatigue and corruption. When used at night, the healing effect increases significantly and also restores a portion of the target's spirit.]
[Azure Divine Flame: By consuming spirit energy, the user can ignite their own body with sacred Azure flames that can burn all physical and spiritual things. The more spiritual energy used, the more intense and longer the flames will burn. Deals additional damage to Abyssal creatures, corrupted beings and dark-attribute enemies.]
[Sovereign Howl: The user can release a commanding howl that spreads across a 50-meter radius at the cost of 5 Spirit. All beast-type monsters weaker than the user will be overwhelmed by primal fear. All physical attributes of affected targets will be halved while allies will gain a temporary buff that increases speed and strength attributes. The lower the target's spiritual energy, the more they will be affected.]
[Heavenrend Bite: Condensed divine energy will gather in the fangs and unleash a devastating bite force with a high penetration effect. The force of the bite will be directly proportional to the spirit energy used.]]
Eren looked at his sharp and large claws with great interest.
His claws were completely different compared to before.
They were supported by thick muscles and flexible joints that allowed him to grab and throw things at enemies.
He could feel his whole body overflowing with strength.
"Three new skills!... Should I test my current strength before going to the dungeon?"