His waking groan was muffled. To be accurate, it was more blocked than muffled.

William’s jaw was somehow nestled inside a rock. Not only that, but his entire body was lodged in rock. It took a few seconds for what happened to flash through his mind before he lost consciousness.

The spike of fear that shot through him was heart-stopping. It almost paralyzed him when he realized that he still couldn’t see. He immediately pulled up his health to see how much he had lost and, more importantly, how much he had left to spare.

Health: 42/1400

The spike of fear that William felt before looking at his health status was nothing compared to what filled his entire body at the moment. This might be the closest he had been to death, and if not that, it was undoubtedly the most significant proportion of health he had lost.

The loss of his sight was the least of his concerns now. It was now a matter of how to get himself out of this situation and swallow more pills before the adverse conditions of the hellscape killed him.

As William tried to get himself out of the place he was lodged in, he pulled up the logs to see the alerts that appeared after he fell unconscious.

[-1200 HP]

[-100 HP]

[-58 HP]

[Trait Removed | Adverse Conditions in Environment]

That was good news. Great news, actually. Not that he knew why that trait had been removed.

He had been unconscious for at least two hours, but that would have been enough to kill him if he hadn’t got lucky. He wondered if his Luck attribute was actually enough to give him such a break.

William grunted when he freed his arms from the rock. He could barely feel any part of his body, including the arm he freed. Considering the broken state he was in, it was likely a blessing to have his nerves completely dead.

He freed his other arm carefully as he watched his health to make sure he didn’t accidentally damage himself in the process. Thankfully that was successful.

William didn’t know how close he was to the ground, but since a slight fall might be enough to end his life, he needed a firm grip on something before trying to free the rest of his body. The only problem was that he could feel his arms, and he also suspected that it had the quality of jelly since it was likely that his bones were shattered.

The answer to his problems was to use Qi, as long as it worked, of course. William assumed the suppression didn’t apply on this level since the water wasn’t here.

He grunted as he thrust his palm into the rock.

[-5 HP]

William winced at seeing the loss. Five points was usually nothing he would pay attention to, but it was nearly a tenth of what he had left at the moment. He decided to forego using his other arm and hoped one was enough to keep himself in place.

Besides not wanting to lose more of his precious health, William had another reason to get himself out of this rock.

The hope that he could only see black due to being lodged face-first into a rock wall. Not for any other permanent reason.

With his fist clenched in the hole that was just created and his other hand pushing on the rock wall, William finally pushed his body out.

[-5 HP]

That alert was ignored as he giggled hysterically while hanging precariously to the wall with his one arm.

He could see.

It was blurry at the start, but William didn’t give a fuck. He could see.

[-1 HP]

That alert he couldn’t ignore. There was still a stupid smile on his face, or he assumed so since he couldn’t really feel his face, but he didn’t let that stop him from popping the needed pills. He pulled two from his slowly dwindling supply and swallowed one.

[+570 HP]

[Health: 31 —> 601/1400]

[Impurity Increased]

[Stage 1 (67%) —> Stage 1 (84%)]

William groaned in pain when his nerves suddenly started to do their job. It was unpleasant and pleasant at the same time, but mainly the latter. Pain meant he was alive and getting better.

However, he hesitated to use more pills after seeing his impurity percentage. It would take him to stage two, which would be a massive detriment with the rewards that would be in reach due to the quest from Sophia.

And William also noticed that the initial impurity had dropped a percentage point during the time he had been unconscious. It meant he had only been out for a little over two hours, far less than he had thought.

With that in mind, he decided to delay taking another pill until his impurity had dropped by two percentage points. It was a risk, no doubt, but he would keep a pill on hand in case of an emergency. A whiff of danger, and he would take it.

William closed his fist around the pill and looked around for the first time, blinking in shock when he saw the changes in the environment.

What had previously been a hellscape with pits of flaming lava had turned into a lush garden that seemed more vibrant than the forest he had been dropped into. And in the center of it all was a massive thing that could only be called as some sort of world tree.

It made the trees in the forest look pathetic in comparison. It was a significant distance away from Willam. Still, the massive trunk seemed to be a mile wide, and that was no exaggeration. The bark was a rich brown, but there were large green patches that could be moss, though those patches had to be mind-bogglingly vast with how much of the bark they covered.

He kept tilting his head to see the end of the tree, and by the time he found it, he was looking straight up.

This thing was ridiculous.

Its vast branches spread from the center before ending right above him, creating a comfortable shade over the garden as if shielding it from the outside.

William noticed that there seemed to be an actual ecosystem that thrived on and around this tree, unlike the clinical nature of the ones in the forest. It was as if this was naturally grown without interference from a cultivator.

He looked away from the marvel when he heard a soft crack beneath him. He snapped his head to the sound and blinked when he took in the distance to the ground. It was lucky he had the mind to get a grip on the wall, or he truly would have fallen to his death.

There was another crack, this time more clearly heard, and the rock wall had a small hole at the very bottom.

It was then that William saw proof that he was still in the same hellscape. A reddish mist seeped through the hole, turning the vibrant grass full of life a dull yellow the moment it was touched. That wasn’t the end of what came through the newly formed hole.

[Name: Pyralisk | Level: 67]

It was a lizard-like creature with a rather stunning armor covering its body. It would be stunning if William ignored its fearsome appearance and focused on a small part of its body. Its transparent crystalline armor shimmered and shined while showcasing the constantly flowing magma beneath.

The first thing it did after entering this paradise was munch on the grass, making a sound similar to rocks grinding against each other. Perhaps it was from happiness, but he didn’t overthink it. There was something else that needed his attention.

William realized something when that Pyralisk broke in. This lush garden was contained inside a barrier made of rock that surrounded all sides, and from the occasional circles that covered this wall, he quickly concluded that this had formerly been ground.

Those circles had once been lava pits.

Something happened that caused the ground to be lifted to form a bowl, with that tree in the center.

William’s mind flashed to the two giants having a death match, ending as golden blood covered the ground beneath them.

His eyes locked onto the tree, or more precisely, where it had grown. It was approximately where the golden blood had stained the ground.

William gulped as if that would stop his greed from overtaking his mind. He looked at the Pyralisk happily munching away at a new patch of grass.

He wanted to taste some grass too. It must have extraordinary properties.

But before allowing himself to leave the wall, William needed to get his health to a higher state. And before that, he needed to wait around five hours to reduce his impurity and avoid crossing over to the second stage.

However, after that, he would taste some of that grass.