Novels2Search
Pocket Empire
Сhapter 8

Сhapter 8

Staggering, Ayren made his way to the river, simultaneously pondering how he had miscalculated so badly.

"Where on the edge of the territory could such a powerful beast be lurking?" Ayren wondered as he was still within the safety zone.

[As I mentioned before, you are at the bottom of the food chain, and other creatures beyond the boundaries or even, as you've encountered, at the very edge, are many times stronger than you. I advise you not to leave the safety zone anymore.]

Ace intervened in Ayren's thoughts, clarifying the situation that had befallen him.

"Why am I learning about such important details only through my own experience?" Ayren was slightly annoyed.

[I see you've taken all the warnings and messages from the system as absolute, but that's not the case. The safety zone doesn't guarantee that you won't get a scratch in it. It simply means that in this zone, you'll be safest compared to anywhere else in this forest at the moment.]

Ayren wasn't satisfied with Ace's response, although he understood that he had repeatedly made the mistake of interpreting the system's words based on his experience from reading novels. However, the fact that there was still a chance of encountering a dangerous beast even within the safety zone made him angry at Ace, who hadn't warned him about it and even blamed him for the situation. So he simply didn't want to talk about anything further with Ace.

As Ayren walked through the pain to the river, he tried to find some spiritual herbs to at least complete a quest.

"This has to be the last one," Ayren plucked a plant.

[Quest completed.]

[Reward: 1 intellect point.]

[Accept?]

[Yes/No]

Ayren didn't feel any noticeable effect from the increase in intellect, only that his thoughts became slightly clearer.

"So, I have less than an hour left," Ayren wasn't far from the river and approached to wash his wounds.

"Darn, not bad, it's stopped bleeding," Ayren examined the wound on his leg.

After examining that the bleeding hadn't completely stopped, Ayren decided not to wait until his time ran out and immediately returned to his world.

"Hoping the wounds heal faster here," Ayren tore off another piece of his shirt and replaced the bandage.

"All that's left is to wait," Ayren didn't want to occupy himself with anything else to let the wound heal faster.

"I should at least check if I have enough for world expansion," Ayren opened the tab.

"All these herbs aren't very valuable," Ayren gathered everything he could and converted them.

[Conversion successful]

[World diameter expanded from 2 meters to 3 meters.]

Though Ayren still couldn't stand to his full height, now he could at least sit. Assessing the dimensions of his world, Ayren lay down to rest, unsure of how much time would pass before he could walk freely again.

Near the trees, a small creature moved swiftly, darting from one bush to another.

Sshhwuff!

The creature sensed something, but the only thing it managed to do was to turn back in the direction of the sound before Ayren's spear pierced it through.

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[Gray Ensock slain, gained 26 experiences.]

[Gained 15 experience points in the "Spear Mastery" skill and 1.5 experience.] [Gained 18 experience points in the "Stealth" skill and 1.8 experience.]

"That's not small," Ayren approached where he had hit the creature with his spear.

"Just one more and that's it," Ayren moved on.

After Ayren first ventured out to the border, almost a month and a half had passed outside. During this time, he had been completing quests and leveling up. He even managed to hunt creatures at the border, and although it was still difficult for him to confront them directly, his new skill in "Stealth" greatly helped.

Lurking in the bushes, Ayren waited for any prey passing by. Typically, in this area, Ayren could wait for several hours before anyone appeared.

Sshhwuff!

Ayren threw his spear at the creature with dark brown fur, resembling a raccoon, who decided to pass by the bush where Ayren was hiding.

"Damn" - although Ayren hit, there was no message about the beast's death.

Fetching a spare spear from his inventory, Ayren quickly ran to the beast to finish it off; moments later, he was beside it, raising the weapon over the creature's head to deliver the final blow.

But Ayren hadn't anticipated the creature's desire to survive, cornered as it was. Instead of attempting to flee, the dark brown beast lunged at its attacker.

"Hmm," Ayren thought, not expecting his prey to fight back; for him, it wasn't a particularly difficult change.

Adjusting the trajectory of his strike, Ayren aimed the spearhead once again at the beast's head.

When it dodged and ducked to the side, beginning to flee, Ayren hurled the spear into its back.

The sound of a whoosh followed by a thud confirmed the spear's impact, piercing the creature's leg and preventing it from escaping further.

Approaching swiftly, Ayren retrieved a third spear and swiftly dispatched the creature with a single strike.

[Killed the brown mordina, gained 34 experiences.]

[Gained 18 skill points in "Spear Mastery" and 1.8 experience.]

[Gained 10 skill points in "Stealth" and 1.0 experience.]

[Reached the experience limit, resulting in a level increase to 10.]

[Gained 3 attribute points.]

[Outdoor stay time increased by 1 hour.]

[Gained the art of "Cultivation."]

[Gained the new skill "Observation."]

[Unlocked the ability to exchange regular characteristics for special ones.] [Unlocked the increase of special characteristics.]

Ayren's eyes widened at the volume of text. After scrolling through all the notifications, he was particularly intrigued by the mention of cultivation. So much so that he immediately wanted to return to his pocket world. Glancing at how much time he had left, Ayren decided to return right away.

Settling in comfortably, he attempted to start cultivation but realized he didn't know how to begin, even though he had received all the knowledge in his mind.

"Why isn't it working? I'm doing everything right," Ayren couldn't understand what was wrong.

[Special characteristic "Talent" is required for cultivation, and your talent value is 0.] Dryly stated Ace.

"Understood," Ayren replied in a similar tone.

Opening the tab with characteristics, Ayren pressed the plus icon next to the talent line.

[To increase the special characteristic, 1 SC point is required.]

[Convert 10 available characteristic points to 1 SC?]

[Yes/No]

"What? 10 points? This is just extortion," Ayren was outraged.

Although he had 12 available points, he had been saving them almost from the beginning, and trying to increase characteristics only through quests had been a bit difficult for him.

"Alright," Ayren pressed "Yes" with a slight annoyance.

[Talent increased from 0 to 1.]

Immediately after increasing the characteristic, Ayren felt a fleeting sensation that particles were flying around him, although he had to strain himself to feel them.

"Now it should work," Ayren began cultivation again.

After increasing his talent, Ayren started feeling how those tiny particles began to penetrate his body and spread to every part of it. Ayren continued cultivation for several hours until he felt tired. He wanted to continue cultivation, but his body needed rest, so he decided to take a short break.

This continued for several days. Although he could go outside, he decided to finish the task and see what level of cultivation he would achieve.

[Cultivation raised to the 1st stage "Body Tempering."]

"Finally," Ayren began to lose patience as he received a new notification.

Standing up to his full height and stretching, Ayren felt a surge of energy but didn't understand how much his strength had grown. So, he opened his status.

[Player Status]

Name - Ayren Devian

Age - 21

Race - Human

Level: 10 (0/1000 XP)

Cultivation - 1 stage Body Tempering (0%)

[World Diameter - 9m]

HP - 26/26

SP - 28/28

SE - 5/5

[Characteristics * (1.25)]

Strength - 21

Agility - 23

Intelligence - 19

[Special Characteristics]

Stature - 1.0

Talent - 1.0

Wisdom - 1.0

[Skills]

[Inventory]

[Shop]

[World Status]