The next day, William walked into the Black Forest early in the morning, showed his seal to the guards at the east gate, and announced his departure.

He had planned a three-day journey for himself. One day to leave, one day to hunt, and one day to return.

Several other teams entered the forest with William, but no one cared about William.

After walking through the forest for a while, William realized he needed a mount.

This area of the forest was mostly swamps. Sometimes he would sink into the mud and have to struggle for a long time to get out.

When he walked until noon, he was finally able to get out of the swamps. He had never seen a man or a creature before.

When he came out of the swamp, he was greeted by small hills. These hills were covered with various trees and were uncomfortably humid, though not as dense as a rainforest.

He was worried that he hadn't seen any creatures since the morning, but after a while, his worry turned out to be unnecessary.

He encountered a silver moon wolf, who was staring at him cunningly. He was relieved to see that the level of the silver moon wolf was still at the meridian level. He didn't want to encounter a silver moon wolf when he was at the same level, because they could use their bloodline-specific abilities.

The bloodline ability they used in addition to their own abilities made them very powerful. This ability was even more deadly, especially when used at night. Those who saw this ability called it Moonlight.

When the Silver Moon Wolf used its bloodline power, its body would be covered in moonlight, giving it extra speed. Therefore, if you encountered a powerful Silver Moon Wolf at night, it was almost impossible to escape.

He frowned and looked into the wolf's eyes. He circulated qi throughout his body and released his aura.

William did not want to go into battle in vain to attract the attention of the surrounding people and creatures. That's why he chose such a way.

The wolf looked terrified. As it turned and fled, it occasionally glanced cunningly at William behind it.

William knew that after the intelligence meridian, creatures would also become conscious and capable of thinking. That's why he got goosebumps when he noticed the wolf's gaze.

He immediately started running at full speed in the direction he wanted to go.

Since there were no roads in the forest, he occasionally jumped on the branches of the trees, jumping from branch to branch like a monkey.

After passing a few hills, he thought the wolf was no longer a threat. Just as he jumped from the tree, he felt a huge head on his right side. When he turned his eyes slightly, he saw a huge mouth and two huge teeth staring at him.

He immediately pulled out his sword from his dimensional bag.

"DINGG!"

The clash of teeth and swords knocked them both back a bit. It was a green tree python, sneaking up on him and trying to devour him in one bite.

William had been afraid of snakes in his previous life, but not for this world. He had tasted snake meat for the first time in this world and found it delicious.

He licked the corner of his lips and said, "There's a snake for dinner tonight."

Immediately his sword caught fire and he jumped on the snake. The green tree snake was not an animal known for its agility. To hunt, it usually lurked in the trees and swallowed its prey as it approached its mouth.

William's opponent was an iron-level snake. So he knew that battle could be tiring.

So he only used his Fire Sword technique.

His Iron Body technique was useless against the snake. Because the snake had two ways of attacking; biting and choking the enemy.

"DING!" The snake's fangs and the sword met again. He had not yet injected qi into his sword, but he realized that the snake's fangs might be harder than his own sword. Due to the snake's slowness, he immediately slipped to the side of his head. With all his might, he swung his sword into the snake's neck. A hand-wide cut was made in the snake's neck, but it was nothing compared to the snake's gigantic size. It was just enough to make the snake squeal a little from the pain. At that moment, he saw the snake's tail coming towards him. He jumped into the air to get rid of the tail that was whipping like a whip.

The snake was obviously a skilled hunter. For as soon as William jumped, its wounded head turned towards him, its mouth opened like a bucket and came to swallow him. Again, William raised his sword and swung. He couldn't defend himself because the snake's mouth was wide enough to swallow him with his sword.

The snake and William took a few steps back. William cut the snake's body again as he escaped its mouth and fell. This time the depth was greater. The snake hissed more than usual. William saw the snake coming at him again. This time he thought of finishing it in one blow.

He used the flame steps he hadn't used since the beginning of the fight and jumped into the air just as the snake's mouth was about to hit him. The snake's entire neck was exposed. He sent Qi onto his sword and began to fall rapidly under the weight of the sword. As he fell, he supported his sword and sliced it.

This time, the snake's head was almost severed. The snake continued to shed blood and struggle for a long time because of the abundance of life force it possessed.

Ten minutes later, its movements were completely cut off.

William looked at the sword in his hand with respect and thought. This is where humans and creatures separate. If it wasn't for this sword. I'm sure I would have fallen first.

There was indeed a big difference between humans and creatures. The creatures were naturally strong. Without practicing any meditation techniques, their bodies would naturally absorb the surrounding spiritual energy and become stronger. And because they were born fighting for food, they were also superior to the inexperience of humans. For this reason, humans have never been able to defeat the creatures, and they have always fallen behind.

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In fact, according to some history books, such as 'The Power of Nature', and 'Encyclopedia of Ancient Creatures', after the ancient creatures died naturally, humans were able to gain some space for themselves.

Even now, half of the land claimed by the Jade Wind Kingdom was in the Black Forest, but they could not take it. On top of that, they suffered great losses due to the wave of creatures they encountered from time to time.

The Jade Wind Kingdom had to constantly pray to the Academy. Since the Academy was built, the waves of creatures from the east had almost stopped.

William didn't think much about it. He quickly cut its fangs. He also cut some meat for dinner.

That was the most valuable organ of the creature, and its body was too big to get the rest. He left it as a gift for the other creatures in the forest.

This is where the functionality of the dimensional bag manifested itself. Running around with a bloody bag on his back would definitely attract creatures.

He immediately started running towards the east. After running for a while, he heard a howl that chilled him to the bone.

This howl obviously belonged to a Silver Moon Wolf. He used the flame steps and ran at full speed. Even if the flames at his feet left a trail behind him, he had to run, because once he was seen, he would be finished.

Although the Silvermoon Wolf could follow him by scent, he could change direction and escape somehow if it did not see him.

He had already reached the Worm Mountains without realizing it. He could feel the great cliffs rising in front of him and the richness of the earth elements.

Looking back, he could see the Iron Level Silver Moon Wolf watching him through the trees. Next to him was the non-iron-level wolf he had chased away earlier.

"I did a good deed by not killing it!" he cursed himself.

Now he had brought his mother with him. The other wolf was at least three times the size of the cub. It was almost three meters high and nearly five meters long from head to tail.

There was something about it that frightened her. She (Mother Wolf) didn't want to go into the cliffs, even though she had her eyes on William.

William took advantage of this hesitation and immediately started looking for a cave. The moon was very easy to find as it gave a great light to his eyes.

It was the entrance to a cave the width of a wolf. William immediately picked up a rock from the edge and placed it at the entrance of the cave.

After checking the inside, he would close the rock as a door to the cave entrance. His sword caught fire and illuminated the dark cave like a torch.

The depth of the cave was about fifteen meters. He could see no danger inside. He went to the end of the cave, sat down, and took out the snake meat. He plucked some and put it on his sword. There was nothing to make a fire because there were no pieces of wood inside.

He fell asleep after eating the slightly chewy but delicious meat of the snake.

A few hours later, in the dead of night, he awoke to the sound of rubbing. With the keenness of his senses, he could hear the sound of the worm crawling beneath him.

The floor of the cave was not very thick. It was very likely that there was a tunnel underneath.

Without moving, he waited silently for the worm to pass.

There were worms with different characteristics. Some had no eyes but had strong senses, while others were blind even though they had eyes. They were creatures with very different mutations.

As for the earthworm, William guessed that it was most likely blind and knew that it would have to make up for it with its other senses. Even if it had no eyes, it could hear or feel.

So he waited for it to pass by without moving a finger.

After a while, the rubbing stopped. William did not dare to lay his head down and fall asleep again, but he wanted to lie down and relax.

This event, which he never wanted to experience, happened to him when William moved his body slightly. Immediately, the rock in the deepest corner of the cave swelled up. A worm quickly came out of it.

The size of the worm was not as large as the snake he had encountered earlier. But since this worm was a creature of the earth element, its defenses were stronger.

William knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of this narrow cave quickly. And even if he did, he would rather fight a worm here than a wolf waiting for him in the forest.

Taking advantage of the worm's moment of escape, his sword caught fire and he was thrown into the worm. Silently, he wanted to stab it in its mouth or somewhere else.

William was already close. Even though the creature's body was no longer visible from the rocks, its general outline was clear. Fortunately, his sword pierced the creature directly. It was like piercing a plastic pipe. The sword had expended some power when it entered, then fell into the void and stabbed again with difficulty.

"Zİİİİİİİİ!!!!!"

The creature began to shake its head from side to side in pain. Because of its strength, William almost lost his sword.

He quickly stood up to the creature and withdrew his sword. The creature attacked him with its still bleeding head like a whip. William jumped back slightly. He knew that the creature's level was the same as his own. He sensed it not only from the fact that he could cut its skin but also from the aura it released with its high-pitched scream of pain.

Finally, the creature was able to climb to the surface of the cave to fight William more easily. It was about ten meters tall. Because the cave was narrow, it was coiled like a snake. Its width was the size of a bucket, just like a snake. Only the middle of its body was the size of two buckets.

It had no eyes. There were only two holes where its ears should have been. Right next to the burrows were the marks of William's attack. Its mouth was as wide as a bucket. It was as if its teeth were scattering seeds. Each fang was at least a finger long. It looked terrible.

William was as calm as ever. It was pointless to worry. He had dealt with situations like this for a long time. Not only was he not alone most of the time, but the fact that he was alone now didn't add to his fear.

He knew he would face worse than this on his journey to gain power.

First, he waited for the worm to attack. The two 'looked' at each other for about five seconds. Even though the worm has no eyes.

Then, with a shrill scream, the worm opened its mouth and pounced on William. It could have swallowed William's head in one gulp.

William had already activated the Fire Steps, the Fire Sword, and the Iron Body. This was not a plant(wood) element creature that was weak against fire like the previous snake. If he wanted to break through its defenses, he would have to use all of his strength.

Just as the worm's head was in front of him, he scratched slightly to the left and made a slashing motion from below. The sword had cut through a few centimeters. Only a little blood dripped.

What William hadn't expected was the worm's next move.

Unable to keep its head up, the worm turned like a snake to the right and tried to squeeze William. Because the cave was so narrow and the worm so long, William had no choice but to attack the worm's body and discourage it.

He was surprised to see it curled up like a snake.

He immediately made the snake-killing move and sent Qi to his sword. He plunged the heavy sword into the thickest part of the worm, in the middle of its body. He continued until the sword was out of sight. The creature screamed in pain.

The creature was still intelligent, though not as much as other earth creatures. It understood that if it stayed there any longer, it would most likely die at the hands of this agile man.

It wanted to escape. The head that had attacked William deflated like a balloon. This time, the side that looked like the creature's tail began to move. It was as if it had two heads, alternating between the two.

It was a logical move for the worm. Because its other head was closer to the hole it came from. It wanted to jump at once, but its speed wasn't the same as a snake's, and it underestimated William.

Realizing it was about to flee, William pulled out his stabbed sword and attacked again. The creature tried to move, but most of its body was out of control.

When it realized it couldn't escape that way, its head turned back into a tail and the other side turned back into a head.

Meanwhile, William made his third attack. This attack split the worm in half.

Worms were beings rich in life force(vital energy. Same). Even if their bodies were cut into several pieces, they could still move.

They were usually born with two genders. William didn't know which one he had just killed, but there was only one left. And it was shorter than before.

When he saw the worm's body split in two, he went crazy. Its half-body was still bleeding. It didn't have enough life force to recover quickly. This was because it had lost half of its body.

It used all its strength to decapitate its enemy, jumping like a snake. It stretched and leaped.

Seeing the creature leaping at him, William made a stabbing motion with his sword. The sword entered the worm's mouth and exited where its brain should have been.

William didn't know if it was going to die, so he wanted to make sure. He pulled the sword sharply toward him and sliced the area in between completely. He had cut the corner of the creature's mouth.

He must have just severed the creature's brain because it died instantly and collapsed at his feet. It was very heavy indeed, disproportionate to its appearance.

William sat down on the worm's long body and gasped for breath. After a while, it occurred to him that he needed to draw the creature's blood.

"Stupid head!" he said and immediately took a barrel from his dimensional bag. Holding the short part of the worm he had killed, he poured its blood into the barrel. When it was full, he immediately took the anticoagulant from his dimensional bag and mixed it with his sword. Then he closed its lid and put it back into the dimensional bag.

In fact, he had completed the mission from the first day without much effort. But now he was very tired.

Before he could come back, he needed to restore his qi, and he still hadn't tried the meditation he had just gotten.

So he sat down and took the copied meditation technique out of his bag. After checking that he remembered it correctly, he put it back and began to meditate.

Indeed, the meditation technique was the best for his level. He could already feel his tiredness diminishing slightly.

About an hour later, when his qi was almost restored, he felt an elemental reaction.

This reaction came from the belly of the worm.

He gave in to his curiosity and stopped meditating. He got up and walked in the direction where he felt the reaction. It was coming from the lower part of the worm. He slit it open.

Normally, he didn't know which part of these worms was valuable, so he decided to leave it. He didn't want to waste space in his dimensional bag for a few gold pieces.

When he opened the belly of the creature, he was surprised.

It contained black iron the size of a baby's fist!

He had researched valuable ores before coming here, and even his own sword contained half a kilo of black iron.

A kilo of black iron could certainly make a sword as valuable as the one in his hand. Moreover, the black iron he encountered now weighed at least ten kilos!

William took the black iron and examined it for a while.

Curiosity and greed began to grow in him.