"One hundred thirty-five... One hundred thirty-six..." I shouted to myself as I raised myself up and down, in short, doing push-ups.

However, these were no normal push-ups. No, these were far, far more difficult, because not only was I using only one hand, but the other one was holding a giant boulder just over my back.

My face was completely red and my whole body was filled with sweat. Fortunately, I was completely naked because I expected this to happen, so my clothes were all nice and safe.

It has been 4 months since I came to this noob island. A lot of things had happened, but, truth be told, they can easily be summarized up in a couple sentences.

I trained for the first two weeks non-stop, constantly challenging powerful beasts and constantly improving my martial arts techniques and improving my technique with random weapons I came across. I'm not going to deny the fact that I got my ass handed to me a good number of times, in fact, at least 75% of all my battles ended up with me either running away or both me and my opponent retreating because neither of us desired mutual destruction.

I also became a master at concocting medicines and self-healing, since I kind of like... did it a lot? Fighting isn't like in animes where wounds mysteriously appear and then disappear, real life is a lot different, kiddos.

Then, around a month ago, I decided to try my hand at challenging Drakkon. It was an intense fight, but eventually, I was overwhelmed.

I escaped death by an extremely small margin. The main reason as to why I didn't straight up die is probably Siry, as they constantly fed me vital information on how to treat myself and ways to avoid being tracked down and slaughtered.

Normally, the wounds I received would have taken months and months, even years, to heal. 80% of my body was severely burned severely, my entire arm was barely attached to my shoulder and my whole face had been turned into minced meat after I got caught by that damn monkey and was repeatedly punched.

However! This is not a normal world, and everything operates under many different rules. It took merely a couple weeks for all my burns to heal, and just recently, both my face and arm finished healing.

Since then, I have been furiously training every single moment of my day. I don't know whether it's true or not, but at this point, I'm starting to think I'm a huge masochist since I can't help but constantly try to kill myself by attempting really stupid things. At least it works out (usually). 

If I was to compare myself to a regular human now, I could easily be called a complete monster. I have no trouble lifting huge boulders that, if my estimates are correct, weight around ~300 kilos.

However, it never seems enough. Memories of Drakkon's fearsome fire breaths, his immeasurable strength, and borderline indestructible hide constantly surface in my mind, reminding me that I can never stop improving.

Just thinking that Drakkon is the weakest of all the Kings makes me shiver. Just how do you defeat a beast like that?

Without even noticing, I had already reached 200 push-ups whilst lost in thought. I throw the rock to the side, letting it slam into the ground and create a small quake.

I walked down to the intersection between the beach and the forest. There, I had built a wooden hut and a small pond next to it, filled with fishes of all kind. 

Something I noticed as I gradually improved was that my food intake slowly increased. That doesn't mean I became fat, but rather, it's as if my body needs more energy, which makes sense.

Hence, the amount of fishes that I need to catch has been constantly increasing. Although it has become a matter of merely looking at a fish, lounging with my hand and spearing it through the fish, then eating said fish, this process still requires a long time overall since all the fishes are simply too small.

Sighing, I jumped on top of the huge rock next to my house and sat down cross-legged. Closing my eyes, I began my daily meditation and focused on the world around me, trying to feel its energies.

At the start, I felt like it was completely pointless. However, after several months of constant attempts, I can feel that I'm close to reaching out to those energies. I just need a couple more weeks, then I will be able to contact what I suspect is the famous observation Haki.

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Suddenly, my senses spiked up. My closed eyes snapped open and my hand shot up and caught something mid-air, then squeezed it so hard it exploded in a mist of blood, flesh, and organs.

My entire body was dirtied by the blood and guts of the being that had foolishly attempted to ambush me during the small span of time my senses were all at their maximum. 

However, this was not the first time this had happened. I didn't dare let my guard down as I rose up and looked at the sky with a cold face.

Hundreds, no, thousands of birds the size of my palm flew in circles high above. Individually, these birds were nothing. However, what is truly scary is that they are never alone...

Name: Bloodseeking Houdinis

Individual Threat: 2%  -   Group Threat: 60%

A powerful group of birds that operate in gigantic murders. They aren't very smart nor strong individually, however, their mere number assure them a good spot as one of the top predators of Noob Island, and even some parts of the real world.

Just as Siry says, these birds are quite the pain to deal. However...

I unconsciously licked my lips, my whole body trembling as my tongue picked up the wonderful taste of blood and bird flesh.

I haven't eaten chicken in a long time, and it just happens that I am really hungry. I am quite thankful these birds were kind enough to show up for Thanksgiving by themselves.

Dropping to my knees for a second, I waited for the Houdinis to do their usual thing. Just like I expected, they all dropped from the skies in a massive death-plunge.

I'll admit, it's extremely terrifying the first time you see it. Imagine, the sky filled with beaks all coming towards you at a crazy speed.

However, now that I know their patterns, it's not quite as impressive. A couple seconds after I crouched, I launch myself to the side and make a mad sprint for the beach.

Usually, going for an open space against a huge number of opponents is a bad idea. However, those stupid birds have the advantage of higher mobility, so if I was to go in the forest, I would get trapped and then whittled down. Although not smart, those Houdinis aren't something I want to ever underestimate.

As the Houdinis all leave trails of red just where I previously stood, most of them adjust their trajectory towards where I'm going. As I furiously run, dodge and slide, the single-minded birds constantly attack in straight lines, making it all too easy for me to dodge them with my improved reflexes.

After around 20 minutes of constantly dodging and tanking small hits, the difference between me humans and small birds began to show.

First of all, humans have incredible stamina. I don't know the specifics, but I read that we can actually regenerate stamina even whilst running. Furthermore, our huge bodies allow us to store a lot more energy than the much smaller Houdinis, who have been furiously using all their energy carelessly.

Now, their plunges were a lot slower, and some of them had even landed a couple dozen meters away to take breathers. With a grin, I decided that this was the time for the counterattack.

As the new round of death-plunges arrived, my arms moved like a tornado as they began slapping the now sloppy birds off the air and then squashing them with my feet or just leaving them to die. Now that they were all tired, they couldn't use the small windows of time I presented them during my counterattacks.

It didn't take long for the birds to notice that the tide had shifted. Crying out in their annoyingly squeaky voice, they all beat for a retreat to the skies. However, isn't retreat also a synonym for vulnerability?

I lunged up multiple times, snatching the small birds off the air and throwing them against the ground or against rocks. During the 10 or so seconds in which they all flew away, over 200 birds were killed, compared to the 100 that died during the actual fight.

As the Houdinis flew away, I finally allowed myself to relax. This wasn't the first time I faced Houdinis, and at this point, I didn't really fear them. However, they are still annoying.

But today, I think I will enjoy this attack. My stomach gave the signal with a loud rumble, so I headed back towards the hut to take out some woods and materials to light a fire and other cooking utensils...

----------------------------------------

My belly was full. My mind was well-rested, and my body in perfect condition. And yet, I couldn't help but feel empty inside. Despite the fire being right next to me, I felt cold. A freezing, icy cold that refuses to let go.

I watched the night sky in silence for a long time. How long have I been stuck here, training like a madman, or madwoman now? Even if I know the answer, it doesn't help the loneliness inside me.

I looked at my own hands. They were still beautiful and soft, but now, they were beginning to show signs of raw power. I looked at my legs. A single kick from one of them could crush a car and send it flying.

And yet, it isn't enough. Those kings are called kings for a reason. However, despite my suspicions that my mind had been altered to a more bloody and primal form since coming to this word, the main evidence being the complete lack of disgust towards gore, even enjoyment of it, this alteration evidently hadn't changed my need for company.

How much longer until I can finally defeat these damn kings? How much longer until I can go and explore this world?

I hugged my knees and watched the waves as they slowly rolled over to the beach. It looked unreal, something straight out of a fantasy. Hell, it even seemed as though a draft was slowly moving towards this island.

I looked at the stars and tried linking them into images, trying to kill time before sunrise so I could begin my training once more. However, just as I was about to do that, my eyes snapped back over to the sea.

Hold on a second, that's not my imagination, that's a real fucking ship! Well, sort of...

Still, people!