Just as Noah was finished done eating, Liam clapped his hands a single time to get his attention.

"Three hours and fifty-eight minutes have passed since you began the trial. Which means that it's just about time to get serious. It's good that you managed to kill an [adept] early on, use the points to buy a health potion, and a canteen of water. " Liam muttered, regaining the authoritarian tone that he had tried to suppress earlier.

Noah just listened, because Liam's tone clearly indicated that he was in no mood to jest. "Understood" he replied and carried out the instructions without complaint.

He received a very small crystalline bottle full of red liquid, and a steel container full of water. He drank a few gulps of water before depositing the canteen of water into his inventory. As for the health potion, he just pocketed it.

"The health potion isn't potent enough to save you from a fatal wound, but it will stem bleeding and hasten the healing process significantly," Liam explained in a placid tone.

Noah just nodded. After spending all those points, he had only 85 EP left.

"The area where you had spawned initially was at the very outskirts of the Goblin Lord's camp, probably as deep as the tower could place you without coming across level 2 opponents. The [Goblin Lord's] camp is located in the center, while the challengers are spawned on either side of it, a fair distance away. You saw the field of flowers earlier, didn't you?" asked Liam.

"Yes. I didn't go in that direction because there was very little cover and I didn't really want to run into other people this soon" Noah replied, reiterating the mental gymnastics he had done to come to that decision.

"Good. Past that sea of flowers is where the real patrolling starts. The [Level 1] adept on the outskirts was just a warning of sorts.... or a death sentence for those who came unprepared. Now, listen carefully. In about 8 hours from now, you will get a set of [Modified Vitality Pills]. Swallowing a single one will ensure that you don't feel the need to sleep for a week, which should be more than enough for [Gridlocked], but they'll come in handy later on." Liam finally gave Noah some of the juicy future knowledge he had been looking forward to, and he was happy to greedily absorb it like a sponge.

"Don't look so pleased kid, let me finish. After 24 hours have elapsed, the first contraction will occur. Always stay 5 kilometers away from the boundary line. Subsequently, every 24 hours thereafter, the grid will continue to shrink, until either the [Goblin Lord] is slain, or 50 percent of the challengers are dead. Oh, and you've been having a jolly good time hunting down the goblins. Know why? They're nocturnal creatures, so they've been fighting with a handicap all this while. They see far more clearly in the darkness, do not underestimate them. Though I believe that you will be fine, our goal shall be to reach level 3 before my time runs out " said Liam in a very professional tone, expecting Noah to deliver on his expectations.

Noah felt kinda overwhelmed by the scary revelations that he was bombarded with one after the other, but he steeled his nerves and composed himself. If he could survive Jake Lane, he would survive these night vision goblins. "Anything else?" he asked, trying not to show any weakness or fear in his voice.

"Don't try to hide in trees thinking you're the second coming of Einstien. Goblin Archers are terrible shots in the day, but at night if they come across a stationary target situated on a branch like a dumbfuck.... well, an arrow to the gullet isn't a very pleasurable sensation. " Liam answered in a rough-shod manner, just in case if Noah was getting any funny ideas.

"So, I don't have to kill the goblin lord?" Noah asked because if he had set himself for the leviathan task of trying to surpass Liam, the first step should at least be matching his accomplishments.

"Carpe Diem, my friend. Do what you can for now. Smash the crates you can find, and get to level 3 before I pass out. Simple as that, " Liam answered in a relaxed tone.

A bead of sweat trickled down Noah's forehead and obscured the vision in his right eye, as he scaled the fifth tree of the day. His new boots were a godsend, and while the increase in sprinting speed and stamina reduction effects were pretty negligible, it was the muffling effect he was really after. It didn't make him a ghost as he traversed through the forest, but if someone were to hear his footsteps they would attribute it to an errant goblin running around instead of a 200-pound man sprinting.

Things had gotten pretty tense earlier on, when he had just descended from the third tree of the day and heard 2 voices conversing, one belonging to an older woman with an American accent, while the other belonging to a young man that sounded a few years older than Noah at most, with a slightly foreign edge to his accent as they fluently conversed in English. The noise he made while descending had definitely attracted their attention, so he started sprinting in the other direction without waiting for Liam's advice. He could only hope they wouldn't chase after him in fear of an ambush, as goblins had a tendency to travel in packs.

Thankfully, the pursuit he had braced himself for never came. While it was quite possible that they were friendly and would extend a peaceful invitation to their group at max, he simply had no time to waste on random socializing if he wanted to hit level 3 before he lost Liam's assistance. Plus, after Jake, his trust in other people, or perhaps the spirit of humanity itself stood on very shaky grounds.

Noah grunted slightly, as he used his upper arm strength to clamber the next branch in his way. He had already scaled the tree to a height of 50 meters, and from the looks of it, this one was most likely a bust too. Now much more proficient in climbing trees, he subconsciously reached out his hand to latch onto the tree's bark for support, but his eyes widened in surprise when he only grabbed on to thin air.

Turning his head to his left, he realized that where the tree bark was supposed to be was a hollowed-out hole carved into the body of the tree, and peacefully nestled inside it was a mossy wooden box ravaged by the passage of time.

"Finally" he muttered, taking out the spiked bludgeon he had gotten from the skirmisher earlier and smashing the box open. This was definitely a feeling he could get used to.