The moment Evan disappeared into the darkness, the sounds of hurried footsteps rapidly drew closer.
Within seconds, the remaining Goblin Scouts arrived atop their Mountain Wolves.
Their eyes immediately fell upon the gruesome scene.
The Mountain Wolf remained impaled upon the earthen spike, its blood still dripping onto the forest floor.
Yet...
The scout that had been riding it was nowhere to be found.
The goblins exchanged sharp cries in their native tongue before splitting into several groups.
Some searched the surrounding area for their missing comrade.
Others immediately began tracking the unknown attacker.
The reason was simple.
None of the scouts possessed Earth Magic capable of creating such a precise spike.
Someone else had interfered.
Whether it was an intruder or a survivor from the ambush...
There had to be another living person inside the forest.
The wolves lowered their noses and began tracking the scent.
However...
Instead of charging in one direction, the beasts became unusually restless.
They repeatedly circled the same area, clearly confused.
The smell ended and then reappeared...
Before disappearing once more beneath the scent of damp soil.
The goblins exchanged uneasy glances.
A moment later, sharp whistles echoed throughout the forest.
Groups of scouts scattered in every direction.
Soon...
The once-silent forest was filled with the distant howls of Mountain Wolves and the shrill cries of goblins searching beneath the moonlit canopy.
...
Meanwhile...
Evan continued running without stopping.
Branches whipped past him as he silently moved through the dense forest.
Only after creating nearly a kilometer of distance did he finally slow down.
Even then...
He knew it wasn't enough.
Mountain Wolves excelled at tracking prey.
Given enough time, they would eventually catch up.
Fortunately...
He had prepared beforehand.
By masking his scent beneath wet soil before escaping, the wolves would need considerably longer to recover his trail.
Time.
That was all he needed.
His mana had already fallen below half after the previous battle.
If his guess proved correct...
The risk would be worth it.
After travelling for another half an hour, Evan finally arrived at a secluded clearing surrounded by towering ancient trees.
He carefully observed the surroundings before sitting on the soft grass.
Only then did he remove the goblin's corpse from his inventory.
The lifeless body landed quietly before him.
Its face still carried the twisted expression from the moment it died.
Evan stared at it for several moments before raising a hand toward his own face.
His fingertips touched an almost invisible surface.
Just as expected.
A faint ripple spread across it.
He slowly grasped the transparent layer and peeled it away.
A crystal-clear oval mask appeared in his hand.
At its center rested a translucent gemstone that shimmered faintly beneath the moonlight.
A smile slowly appeared on Evan's face.
"...Just as I thought."
His deduction had been correct.
When he inspected his sealed Status earlier, one detail immediately caught his attention.
Every one of his Bound Items could be unlocked using Selection Points.
Except one.
[Mask of Concealment]
It never appeared among the sealed options.
At first, he assumed the Trial had simply overlooked it.
But after remembering how the mask had effortlessly blocked the Trial Hall's scanning process...
He dismissed that possibility.
This wasn't a flaw.
The mask simply wasn't recognised as something the Trial could seal.
Unlike the rest of his equipment...
This artifact existed outside the Trial's governing authority.
That single observation had given birth to his current plan.
Now, it was time to verify it.
Evan lowered his gaze toward the goblin's corpse.
"Let's see what secrets you're hiding..."
He activated the Mask's ability.
[Memory Devour]
The moment the command was issued...
The transparent mask trembled slightly.
It behaved differently than before.
Countless faint runes surfaced beneath its crystal-like surface, glowing one after another as though reacting to something beyond Evan's perception.
"Hm?"
Before he could inspect it further—
The mask slipped from his hand.
It crawled across the corpse like a living parasite before firmly attaching itself to the goblin's face.
Evan remained silent.
He did not attempt to stop it.
Artifacts of this level weren't ordinary equipment.
Many possessed predetermined functions that activated automatically once certain conditions were fulfilled.
Since obtaining the mask...
He had never fully understood everything it could do.
Several quiet seconds passed.
The runes covering the mask gradually dimmed before disappearing altogether.
The mask detached itself from the corpse and silently floated back into Evan's waiting hand.
"...Finished already?"
He wiped away the blood staining its surface before placing it back over his face.
The instant it settled into place...
Several translucent panels appeared before him.
────────────────────
[Memory Devour Complete.]
[Error... Target is not a natural living organism.]
[Analysing target structure...]
[Target identified: Simulation under Trial System Authority.]
[Memory extraction failed.]
────────────────────
Evan let out a quiet sigh.
"So there really weren't any memories..."
It made sense.
A recreated existence possessed no genuine soul.
Without a true soul...
There were no memories to devour.
He was just about to dismiss the notification when another panel suddenly appeared.
────────────────────
[Memory Devour failed.]
[Artifact Protocol initiated.]
[Alternative information source detected.]
[Reading structural imprint attached to Simulation Puppet...]
────────────────────
Evan's brows rose.
"...Alternative information source?" He didn't understand it until the things appeared completely.
More notifications rapidly followed.
────────────────────
[Structural data successfully acquired.]
[Species Pattern Recorded: Grimbark Goblin.]
[Terrain imprint synchronised.]
[Species inherent language successfully recorded.]
────────────────────
The instant the final notification disappeared...
A strange sensation spread throughout Evan's mind.
It wasn't like reading someone else's memories.
Nor was knowledge being forcefully implanted.
Instead...
It felt as though information had quietly awakened inside his consciousness.
A complete mental map of the surrounding forest unfolded before his mind's eye.
Every nearby path...
Every elevation change or stream...
Every stretch of woodland within the recorded area became astonishingly clear.
At the same time...
The harsh goblin language that had sounded like meaningless screeches moments ago suddenly became understandable.
Evan stood frozen for several seconds.
Then a faint smile slowly formed.
"So that's how it works..."
The mask hadn't broken into the Trial.
Nor had it stolen the System's authority.
Since memories couldn't be extracted from an artificial lifeform...
It had automatically shifted to its secondary function, extracting the structural imprint left upon the Simulation puppet itself.
The Trial had unknowingly become the source of information.
"...Looks like I underestimated you."
He gently touched the transparent mask before lowering his gaze toward the goblin's corpse once again.
Then his eyes shifted toward his mana bar.
It had already recovered to nearly full.
His plan...
Could finally begin.
But Evan let out a slow breath.
Raising the goblin as an undead wasn't an option.
'To resurrect even a single corpse in my current state... I'd need at least a thousand mana. Before, that amount was insignificant. Now... it would cripple me before the real battle even begins.'
He dismissed the thought immediately.
With a flick of his fingers, pale black flames blossomed over the corpse.
[Corpse Flame]
The fire silently devoured the goblin.
Unlike ordinary flames, it gave off almost no light. Within seconds, flesh, bones, and blood were reduced to fine ash.
Not wasting another moment, Evan manipulated the earth beneath him.
The ashes sank deep into the soil, leaving behind no trace of what had happened.
No corpse.
No blood.
Not even a speck of ash.
The wolves relied heavily on scent. Giving them another trail to follow was the last thing he wanted.
Only after making sure everything had vanished did Evan finally stand.
His gaze shifted toward the mental map floating inside his mind.
Although it wasn't complete, the information the mask had extracted from the Trial's structural data was more than enough to understand the surrounding terrain.
His current position was near the northwestern region of the forest.
His immediate objective was simple.
Survive.
Which meant escaping the goblin search zone before dawn.
Unfortunately...
There were only three possible destinations.
Each one was dangerous in its own way.
The first was the Great Eastern River.
Beyond it stretched vast grasslands where the Grimbark Goblins rarely ventured due to the territory of the Gale Leopard Pack and its powerful Alpha.
Crossing the river meant escaping the goblins.
The problem...
The river itself flowed directly beside the main goblin settlement.
The moment he approached it, he'd be walking straight into the heart of enemy territory.
Suicide.
He passed through the forest as he thought of the second spot.
The second option was the rocky badlands to the south.
That region belonged to the Terra Bears, creatures so powerful that even the goblins avoided provoking them.
The presence of their leader, the Ironhide Bear, alone was enough to keep the entire area free from goblin influence.
Normally, that would've been a decent refuge.
But reaching it required crossing almost half the forest.
Every extra mile increased the chance of running into another patrol.
'Not worth the risk.'
He dismissed the thought and went ahead while carefully observing his surroundings.
The third...
Evan lifted his eyes toward the faint silhouette towering beyond the endless trees.
A mountain.
So impossibly tall that its peak disappeared into thunderclouds.
The Skyfall Mountain.
Every day, violent lightning descended upon its summit without warning.
The storms never stopped.
Neither beasts nor goblins dared establish territory there.
It had long earned the title...
The No-Man's Zone.
For everyone else, it was a place of certain death.
For Evan...
It was merely another gamble.
'The lightning can kill me.
The goblins can kill me.
The beasts can kill me.'
He rubbed his forehead.
'What wonderful choices; having to choose which way to die is a great thought.'
Even worse...
At the base of the mountain stood a small goblin outpost led by a Goblin Shaman that constantly observed the mountain's surroundings.
No matter which route he chose...
Death was waiting somewhere along the path.
"...What a troublesome Trial."
Evan studied the map once more, weighing every possibility.
The river offered the safest destination but the most dangerous journey.
The rocky lands were secure, yet almost impossible to reach.
The mountain...
...was madness.
Silence stretched for several moments.
Then...
A faint smile slowly appeared on his face.
"I've decided."
Just as the words left his mouth—
Rustle.
His expression instantly froze.
Someone was approaching.
Without hesitation, Nightstep activated.
His presence melted into the darkness as he silently slipped between the trees toward the source of the noise.
Every movement was careful.
Every breath controlled.
As he neared the sound, he crouched behind a thick trunk and slowly peeked ahead.
The next moment...
His eyes widened.
Then a faint grin spread across his face.
'...So that's how it works.
Interesting.'
The scene before him had just revealed something incredibly valuable.
Something that might completely change how he survived this Trial.