Processing the data in his mind, Liam was stunned. The Apex Heart upgrade was insane. Before, if he went all out—using his maximum strength for every single hit—he would burn out in two minutes. Now, the Apex Heart extended that red-line state by an extra three minutes. That was five full minutes of maximum carnage.


In a fight like this, that was terrifying.


On top of that, he'd gained another raw strength boost. His maximum impact force was now a staggering 2,300 pounds.


In the span of a few seconds, his body had undergone a complete overhaul. Liam took a deep breath, watching the retreating Undead. He didn't rush. He needed another second to check the new data appearing in his mind.


The most important notification was about "Ether Arts." Apparently, hitting Level 5 Awakened unlocked these special techniques.


Because his build was focused on Muscle Augmentation, his choices for Ether Arts were physically oriented: "Iron Flesh" or "Demon Sinew."


The system, being as helpful as ever, gave no details on what they actually did. He had to guess based on the names.


"Iron Flesh" seemed straightforward. It probably turned his muscles into steel, similar to Shane Channing's "Ironclad Skin." It would make him a tank, practically invulnerable to blades and bullets.


"Demon Sinew" was vaguer. It sounded like it was in the same tier as Iron Flesh, but Liam guessed it was an offensive buff, likely related to explosive strength or elasticity.


He hesitated, weighing the options. But the Undead wasn't waiting. It shrieked, launching itself at Liam for round two.


Liam exhaled, his eyes glowing with faint light. He locked onto the lunging monster and triggered Spider Climb. Thanks to his upgraded stats, he was faster than before. He weaved between two lumbering Greater Carrion Beasts, moving like a shadow, and appeared instantly behind the Undead.


He coiled his left arm and unleashed a haymaker.


THWACK.


It sounded like hitting a sack of wet leather. A punch carrying over 2,000 pounds of force launched the Undead into the air. It hit the ground hard, skidding to a halt.


Liam didn't let up. He surged forward. The two Greater Carrion Beasts tried to intercept him, but they were moving in slow motion compared to him now. Liam's right hand swept the machete in a brutal arc, a perfect fusion of speed and power. Before the beasts could even process the threat, their heads were spinning through the air.


Two streams of Ether flowed into Liam's body.


But strangely, no system notification popped up.


The Ether from Greater Carrion Beasts is invalid now? Liam frowned. To get from Level 5 to the next stage, he needed 70 units of Ether. If these trash mobs weren't giving him XP anymore, he was in trouble. He was going to have to hunt bigger game.


Liam didn't waste time admiring his handiwork with the Greater Carrion Beasts. He turned his attention to the Undead. The creature had picked itself up from where it had been thrown, looking worse for wear—which was saying something for a zombie. It had four new ventilation holes in its skull and a nasty, crater-shaped dent in its back where Liam's fist had connected. Yet, it wasn't dead.


It scrambled backward, putting distance between itself and Liam. Even a rotting brain could process fear; it knew Liam wasn't the same fighter he was five minutes ago. He'd leveled up.


"Think you can run?" Liam flashed a grin that was all teeth.


He dropped into a crouch. Spectral, spider-like legs blurred into existence around him as he activated Spider Climb. Seeing Liam shift into his high-speed stance, the Undead let out a blood-curdling shriek.


It was an order.


The remaining Greater Carrion Beasts instantly stopped attacking Drake, Gwen, and the others. As if possessed by a hive mind, they turned and started grabbing the carnage littered across the rooftop—corpses of Arrow Serpents, Aqua Simians, and fallen Carrion Beasts. Instead of fighting, they hurled the bodies off the edge of the building.


The sudden shift in tactics stunned everyone, but Liam didn't pause to wonder why. He blurred forward, crossing the distance to the retreating Undead in a heartbeat. Cornered, the monster snapped. Its claws raked the air frantically, and then—thwack—its head shot forward on a neck that stretched like a grotesque spring, trying to headbutt Liam into oblivion.


Liam's feet crossed over one another, his body shifting like a phantom to side-step the strike. He gripped his machete with both hands, raised it high, and brought it down mid-leap.


The blade bit into the elongated, rubbery neck. With a wet snikt, the head was severed. Blood sprayed in a crimson arc, and the Undead's head, holes and all, went sailing across the roof.


But the chaos wasn't over. The rooftop was still swarming with Greater Carrion Beasts. They had gone completely berserk, ignoring their own safety to toss as many bodies off the ledge as possible. Drake and the team were scrambling to stop them, but they were too slow.


In seconds, at least twenty monster corpses had plummeted to the streets below.


As the Undead's body collapsed, a wisp of Ether drifted into Liam. The familiar blue text scrolled across his mind's eye.


Level 5 Awakened: Ether 2/70


Two points of Ether. The same payout as an Elite Beast.


While Drake, Gwen, and Harris mopped up the remaining frenzied beasts—each racking up a decent score of Ether themselves—Liam kept moving. He re-entered his combat stance, his machete becoming a blur of steel as he hacked through the remaining monsters.


He wasn't getting any XP for these small fries anymore, but he had to stop them.


Why order them to dump bodies? Liam thought, decapitating a beast mid-throw. It's feeding time. It's trying to lure something up here. Even in death, that thing wanted to take us out.


It was the only explanation. The Undead had been smarter than it looked.


Liam carved a path through the monsters, dropping ten of them in the blink of an eye. But while his body moved on autopilot, his mind was stuck on the notification screen hovering in his peripheral vision. It was time to choose his Ether Art.


Option A: Iron Flesh.


Option B: Demon Sinew.


Harris had told him that hitting Level 5 was a quantum leap for an Awakened. The "Ether Art" was a game-changer—more powerful than a standard ability, it defined your future combat style. It wasn't a choice to make lightly.


Iron Flesh is pure defense, Liam analyzed, dodging a stray claw. It boosts survivability. That's what Shane Channing had. But it's a trap. It looks tough, but if you hit a wall that's stronger than you, the shockwaves alone can turn your insides to jelly... exactly like how I took down Shane.


He thought about the monster potentially waiting at the bottom of the building—the Draco-Rhino Fish, or something worse.