SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Chapter 174: Heretics Settlement [1]

Standing above a scattered group of dead Heretics, Moon looked coldly down at their lifeless corpses with absolutely no remorse or hesitation. Under his feet lay one body, while ten more were scattered across the immediate area with various fatal injuries dealt to their bodies after their confrontation.

Whether it was severely burnt clothing and charred flesh from fire attacks, impaling earth spikes through their bodies, or clean dagger marks severing arteries.

“It seems like they maintain regular patrol teams operating outside their main settlement. Not entirely sure if that’s their normal security protocol, or if they somehow know we’re specifically coming for them,” Selene muttered thoughtfully, her hand resting on her chin in analytical contemplation.

“Oh, they know we are coming. They are not stupid, with the death of two powerful predators in the island, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were simply waiting for us to attack, luring us in before using their guardian beast to kill us.” Moon said, the smile on his face not quite reaching his eyes.

“I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they’re simply waiting patiently for us to attack their village. They’re probably luring us in before deploying their guardian beast to kill us.”

Selene’s eyes flickered with genuine surprise at Moon’s assessment. Thinking about his words more carefully, the logic was sound and troubling. They hadn’t encountered any Heretic forces for the past several days since the volcanic eruption, as if the enemy faction had either gone completely extinct or simply stopped caring about Moon and Selene’s existence entirely.

That behavioral change of the heretics was suspicious.

“Let’s keep advancing. We’re almost at their settlement now,” Moon said, vaulting smoothly back onto Mirage’s sturdy back before extending his hand down toward Selene in assistance.

Selene gripped his offered hand firmly and pulled herself up onto the horse behind Moon. Then she summoned her staff, prepared for the upcoming fight.

Mirage was no longer the weak, low-level mount who would simply watch passively from the sidelines as his master fought desperately through hard battles. The white horse had reached an impressive level twenty-three through constant combat experience and consuming powerful beast corpses, approaching the critical level twenty-five threshold himself.

Initially, Moon had been worried about the problem of how he would successfully ascend to the Second Sanctuary alongside Mirage when both reached maximum First Sanctuary levels. The standard system rules didn’t account for bringing tamed creatures through the advancement barrier.

For all he knew at the time, he might have left Mirage in the first sanctuary or wait until they both evolved and eventually found each other through some way.

But after spending some time into thinking through potential solutions and creative workarounds, Moon was no longer particularly concerned about that obstacle.

Moon had confidently figured out that he would find and copy a Beastmaster class’s core skill through his Class Slot ability. And since Beastmasters possessed the specialized ability to tame and contract beasts, storing them in a metaphysical space called the Beast Soul, Moon would gain that same capability through skill copying.

That would grant him the ability to ascend to the Second Sanctuary alongside Mirage once they both successfully reached level twenty-five.

His Classless evolutionary path was once again proving that it was different, freeing him from the standard restriction that the system forced on others. The flexibility was extraordinary, always making Moon question the origins of his path, or the reason it was free from the system.

After leaving this hidden realm and returning to normal sanctuary territory, Moon had already formulated ambitious plans to copy various crucial skills from different classes to accelerate his evolution task completion and overall power progression.

He couldn’t wait to eventually copy Second Order skills—the advanced abilities that Evolvers possessed which could change entire battle trajectories and provide overwhelming advantages. Those were the techniques that separated true powerhouses from mere awakeners.

The First Sanctuary represented just the beginning of the path. True strength came from successfully becoming an Evolver through class advancement, and eventually transcending even that to achieve Surpasser status.

Moon wanted to break through all these restrictive ranks, shatter every limitation and imposed shackle the system attempted to place.

Mirage’s hooves struck the ground with increasing tempo as they approached the Heretic settlement’s outer boundaries.

♢♢♢♢

“Shhh, slow down,” Moon whispered quietly, his hand gently caressing Mirage’s strong neck as the evolved horse immediately responded by adjusting his gait so his hooves no longer struck the ground audibly.

Moon and Selene carefully dismounted from Mirage in silence, ensuring absolutely no sound was produced that might alert distant sentries. Moon retrieved the makeshift map he’d drawn based on Yara’s detailed descriptions from their conversations over the past several days.

“These are the twin hills that Yara described as the primary landmark,” Moon whispered softly, moving his gaze repeatedly between the hand-drawn map and the actual terrain features before them to verify his thought.

Selene, who was also carefully cross-referencing the landscape against the map, nodded in agreement. “This is definitely the correct location. Their main settlement should be positioned northeast from this position.” She whispered.

Moon nodded. “Indeed. It’s only approximately one kilometer away from our current position. Let’s advance slowly on foot rather than mounted. Although the Heretics might already be expecting our eventual arrival, simply barging directly into their place isn’t exactly smart. Let’s eliminate scattered patrols first, reduce their overall numbers before confronting the main force. We’re only three combatants after all, so sneak attacks favors us greatly.”

Selene had absolutely no objections to Moon’s sensible cautious plan, simply following his lead without question.

The group began making their careful way forward on foot, advancing stealthily toward the Heretic settlement’s perimeter. As they gradually approached closer, the sounds of activity began reaching their ears.

Distant cries, occasional laughter, and various other noises indicating the presence of the heretics within the vicinity.

A cold smile crept across Moon’s face as he confirmed their presence. They were at the correct location, and the settlement was clearly populated rather than abandoned.