Similar things were happening all over the world — all the ancient families were preparing for the trial. Even the governments of all seven kingdoms were training their best warriors to enter it.

Meanwhile, the normal public was busy with their average lives, unaware of the cataclysm that was about to descend.

---

"You better not try to get in my way," a boy standing in front of a girl said. Behind the girl stood another boy, his gaze lowered.

Ash didn't want to get involved… he just kept staring at the ground. Her cousins were trying to push Jessie into a corner.

"Asterion, I have no reason to. Don't think the world revolves around you," Jessie replied, ignoring her cousins.

She was the only daughter of Luther, while her uncle had three sons — all of them talented beyond understanding.

Asterion, Sylas, and Ray — among these three, Asterion was the problematic one. He was always jealous of her, while Ray maintained a neutral stance.

Ash wasn't afraid of the other two, but his skin crawled under Sylas' piercing gaze. There was a strange similarity between him and Sylas — both shared a habit of constantly calculating ways to kill the person in front of them.

Sylas was a homicidal maniac. It takes one to recognize one. Ash didn't think he was one himself, but it would be delusional to say he hadn't killed.

It was always at the back of his mind — every person he met, every person he crossed paths with had already died in his head multiple times.

Ash could feel Sylas' intention to slit his throat. His bloodlust was too strong to be contained. For some reason, no one other than Ash felt it.

Jessie didn't even seem to notice him; she was locked in debate with Asterion.

"We'll see," Jessie said, walking out of the house.

Ash followed behind her. He felt as if a dagger had passed through his heart.

He wanted to escape that man's eyes. It was the first time he had met someone as ready to kill as himself.

As he followed her out, Ash pondered — Sylas was far stronger than him, and the same went for the others. He was at the very bottom of the ladder.

"We need to pick up the speed… and rise in levels as much as we can within three months," Ash said, making Jessie pause mid-step.

She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "That's where I'm going. That's where we're going."

As they approached the newly summoned dungeon gates, they saw several family members standing outside.

"Jessie, would you like to join us in the D-Rank dungeon?" three boys asked, standing in front of the portal.

"Is anyone inside?" Jessie asked, confused.

"No! We were just looking for someone else to join and help clear the dungeon," the boy in the lead said.

Jessie resisted the urge to palm her head. After meeting Ash, she had forgotten how hard it was to clear a dungeon — it actually required a team. Jessie chuckled and moved ahead to the next D-Rank dungeon.

"No, sorry. You can ask someone else," she said, entering another D-Rank portal.

The boy just bit his tongue. He didn't have enough status to talk back to her, but he saw Ash following behind.

"Are you her domestic dog?" the boy sneered, seeing Jessie vanish inside the portal.

Ash looked at him with a smirk. "What a joker."

"How dare you—" Before he could finish, Ash had already vanished into the dungeon.

When Ash opened his eyes, scorching heat hit his body. The dry desert sprawled endlessly in all directions.

"Something is crawling beneath the sand," Jessie warned, making Ash stop.

"They're sensitive to movement. Don't move," Jessie said, standing completely still.

"Then how are we going to kill them?" Ash already had his gun in hand.

"You're good at that, aren't you? Ask yourself," she said, scanning the sands for movement.

Ash had a simple plan — just shoot whoever attacked — but it was terribly flawed. He wasn't sure of the exact number, and reckless movement could get them killed. These weren't E-rank beasts like those rats; their numbers could easily overwhelm them.

Ash opened his Store panel.

[Store Coins: 44,650]

Then he checked the item he wanted to buy.

[Tactical Throwing Knife (2,000 Coins) — Compact, razor-sharp, slightly mana-conductive. Easy to conceal.]

He bought a knife, then moved to the next new item.

Ash flipped open the armory menu and materialized one of the new additions — a compact metal sphere the size of his palm.

[Shrapnel Grenade (10,000 Coins) — Explosive radius: 3.2 meters. Enhanced by Mana to deal greater damage.]

He didn't like spending 10,000 coins on a grenade, but not testing it would leave him in the dark. He needed to see its effects for himself.

He held it for a moment, feeling its subtle vibration — a steady hum of compressed energy waiting to burst.

"Let's see what you can do," he muttered.

He pulled the pin, tying it to the throwing knife, then hurled the knife as far as he could.

The moment it hit the ground, the sand began to crawl rapidly. Countless scorpion stingers erupted from beneath, shooting dark venom toward the knife.

Within seconds, dozens of scorpions surfaced, ready to strike with their twitching tails.

The Venomic Scorpions were the size of horses, their carapaces glistening with an oily green sheen under the dim light. Every joint in their armored bodies pulsed faintly, as if venom itself flowed beneath their shells like liquid fire.

Their tails — longer than their bodies — ended in double-pronged stingers, constantly twitching with lethal impatience. Each strike left behind a hiss of vapor; the venom was so concentrated it corroded stone.

Jessie gasped at the sight. "We're in big trouble…"

BOOM!

A blinding flash and a shockwave burst outward, shredding the large scorpions. The edges of the explosion were filled with high-speed fragments that left deep gouges across their hides.

When the dust settled, Ash saw several notifications. Not all of them were dead, but at least the remaining ones were half-dead.

Ash exhaled, a faint smirk curling his lips. "Good. Good."

"So this is what it feels like to move in flow… It didn't matter how things happened — things just needed to keep moving."

Among them, around five scorpions died in the blast, leaving the rest bleeding heavily. Their blood oozed from their bodies like venom.

Their eyes locked on their true enemy — Ash — who stood in the distance, enjoying the scene.

Seeing this, the scorpions tried to burrow back into the sand, but they were trapped inside a burning fire sphere that slowly scorched their carapaces.

"Tch, too easy."

Ash looked at his full-screen status.

[Profession: Modern Assassin]

[Class: Venomblade]

[Description:Where steel fails, poison prevails.

The Venomblade is a deadly fusion of assassin and alchemist — a warrior who turns toxins into an art form. ]

[Class Traits]

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