Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

49  The Village of Death

For the next period, Sterl followed a small team in their exploration of the wilderness.

Along the way, they encountered numerous wild beasts. Sterl, not wanting to reveal his true strength, made only casual efforts.

He conjured a Blade of the Stars, transforming it into the less commonly used form of a long spear, and dealt with level 20-30 wild beasts as if he were slicing through vegetables.

This somewhat changed the adventure team's perception of Sterl... The newcomer, who seemed like a complete novice, actually had some decent skills.

As a result, the atmosphere within the team eased considerably.

"Philip Waldo, I see you're a solo player. How about you join us on a permanent basis?"

 "Yeah, our team could really use a warrior, couldn't it?"

"Philip, you've got some skills!"

The players in the adventure team even started joking around.

"Here, take this." The previously rude assassin, under the persuasion of a young man with blue hair, also proactively offered a healing potion.

Sterl chose to accept it and was in a good mood.

The atmosphere in this adventure team was indeed very pleasant, truly reminiscent of the time in his previous life when he played MMORPGs with a few good friends starting new adventures. However, the invitation for Sterl to join their team was merely a formality.

As they traveled, the team subtly kept Sterl on the outskirts of the group, ensuring that in case of conflict, the mages and archers wouldn't be the first to be attacked.

After clearing several waves of monsters, Sterl frowned slightly, "Although I've disguised my identity, my skill pool remains the same... There's still the risk of exposure."

Sterl pondered.

If he could display different skills or even exhibit a move that clearly required mastery or higher level of proficiency after each disguise...

Then, no one would be able to link Sterl's various identities together.

Generally, players have limited energy and can't master a large number of highly proficient skills. But after Sterl's job change and the addition of a secondary star slot, he could perfectly disguise a new identity by absorbing a secondary star with excellent skills and extracting those skills.

While Sterl was planning, he also observed the adventure team beside him.

This team wasn't composed of humans from Earth but was a mix of players from various races. The overall strength of the team was quite impressive, with a minimum of D-class professions and everyone possessing decent combat abilities.

The young man with blue hair and the female assassin in leather armor demonstrated particular talent in combat, handling various wild beasts with smooth maneuvers.

The members of the team had several pieces of equipment, faring much better than the impoverished humans of Earth.

In fact, this was the norm in the game "Transcendence."

Unlike other races, humans from Earth had a harsh living environment and had no choice but to throw themselves into "Transcendence."

As a result, they focused their racial strength to ensure the survival of as many people as possible. To achieve this goal, many bases were established in the poorer regions of the Divine Mountain Empire.

Consequently, despite the numerical advantage of Earth's humans and the cultivation of many talented players and professionals, they remained impoverished.

However, don't assume that the situation for players of other races is much better.

They practice a form of laissez-faire, with vast disparities in wealth among players.

The team Sterl encountered was composed of elites from several races, far stronger than the average players of the human race on Earth. Yet, others from their races struggle to survive in "Transcendence"!

Moreover, within each race, there aren't that many players of similar strength to form partnerships. It requires members from several races coming together to form a team.

As for the pros and cons of how humans and other races nurture their players, Sterl couldn't say. However, from what he learned in general education courses, the development speed of the human race has been slow yet steadily accelerating.

History books have recorded that many races that entered the game world alongside humans have perished over a millennium.

Lost in thought, Sterl and the adventure team finally reached the outskirts of the Village of Death the next day.

Since Sterl had set out at noon the day before and didn't want to waste evolution points, he could only slightly enhance the healing potion given to him by the adventure team, resulting in an item:

[Ultimate Healing Potion]

[Effect: Restores all injuries, heals amputations and disabilities, limb deficiencies (Players who have died but whose brains are intact and not brain dead can be resurrected by consuming this potion).]

The evolution effect surprised Sterl. This was no longer just a healing potion, but a resurrection potion. The only limitation was that deceased players couldn't be brain dead.

Whether for self-preservation or for use on others, it was extremely precious!

Sterl packed this bottle of potion into his bag.

As for why he didn't add points to his skills. Mainly because none of them can be added.

After advancing to an SSS-class Celestial Star, both the Blaze of Mars and Blade of the Stars skills indicated they would evolve slowly with the absorption of stellar energy.

Sterl needed to wait some time.

...

"We're here."

At this moment, the young man with blue hair took the lead, cautiously taking out his equipment, a giant tower shield shimmering with light.

Following his gaze, Sterl saw a cluster of earthy yellow bungalows.

Logically, such a number of rural dwellings wouldn't cluster too closely, or the population would necessitate developing into a town.

Yet, the buildings stretched indeterminably, the countless earthy bungalows vanishing into the distance.

"As soon as we enter those buildings, we'll be automatically teleported to random points... Let's hold hands and go in together." No sooner had the blue-haired young man finished speaking than the other team members had already formed up.

The team leader, holding hands with the female assassin on one side, reached out to Sterl with the other.

The team members understood that their leader was being kind again. In a place like the Village of Death, entering alone meant certain death!

Without waiting for Philip Waldo to speak, the young man with blue hair naturally pulled him into the formation, integrating him into the team as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

To the surprise of everyone present, Sterl shook his body, stepped aside, and outright refused the kindness of the adventure team.

"I'll go on to complete my quest then. As mountains and rivers are destined to meet, so are we bound to meet again in the future."

"If I make it out, I'll buy you all a drink." Sterl casually mentioned. After entering the Village of Death, players were teleported to random locations.

Given the vast expanse of the village, once players dispersed, it was nearly impossible to encounter each other again.

Sterl's words were clearly half-hearted, instantly changing the atmosphere.

"You... you're not coming with us?"

"No way? Are you out of your mind? Going into the Village of Death alone is suicide!"

"Philip Waldo, you might have some skills, but facing a tide of monsters alone, you won't last long!"

"Have you lost your mind?"

...

The rest of the adventure team tried to persuade him, their faces showing unmistakable dissatisfaction.

In "Transcendence," players have only one life, making adventure teams extremely reluctant to take on new members in the face of danger.

If someone with ill intentions joined, it could lead to the entire team being wiped out.

They had taken a huge risk to temporarily accept Sterl, and now he seemed completely ungrateful? Kindness is taken for granted. Anyone will feel a bit unhappy.

Sterl felt quite helpless and a bit troubled by the adventure team's reaction.

They were genuinely concerned for his safety, which was why they invited him along.

However, with skills like Starfall, Sterl could farm efficiently! Teaming up with them meant sharing a significant amount of experience!

That would be a loss for him.

Sterl had no choice but to go solo.

It's worth mentioning that the team mechanism in "Transcendence" is straightforward and brutal—

Experience is shared, and for every item that drops, each player rolls a number between 0-100. The player with the highest number gets the loot. If there's a tie for the highest number, those players roll again.

Given Sterl's strength, unless he was teaming up with players of the second transformation or higher, he would always be at a loss.

He didn't want to explain too much, so he simply walked alone towards the cluster of low buildings ahead.

Meanwhile...

The members of the adventure team were even more frustrated.

"Let him be. If he wants to seek death, that's his choice."

"Good advice is wasted on the damned."

The blue-haired young man, hearing his companions' complaints, could only helplessly shake his head. He wasn't a saint.

If Philip Waldo chose this path, he could only respect his fate.

The female assassin, conversing with the team's mage, remarked, "It's for the best. He clearly wasn't thinking straight."

"Having him in our team could even drag us down."

"We might as well look around the Village of Death later; maybe we'll even find Philip Waldo's inheritance."

Clearly, in their minds, they had already sentenced the overly ambitious Philip Waldo to death.

Creation is hard, cheer me up!

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