After coming to terms with the sudden loss and facing the reality that I might work myself to death just to gather enough resources for the system, I couldn’t help but think, So this is modern slavery, huh? I tried to sleep, but I didn’t feel tired. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was Hera’s corpse. I knew she wasn’t dead, but how could she survive being shot from such a close distance?

Driven by this nightmare, I could only work hard and gather the new gene-cap potions so I could uncover the past hidden from me.

First, let’s check our gains. My lifeform has been upgraded to Elite. I could feel my strength skyrocket I could easily defeat myself from just a day ago. I wouldn’t have suffered such an injury from the python if I had this strength. Channeling my energy, I could tell that my energy reserves had become much larger and more refined, though not stronger. My attack strength didn’t increase significantly—if it did, it wasn’t enough for me to notice. What changed was that I could unleash at least 30 energy waves continuously without stopping. Covering my short blade in spiritual energy, I could feel it would last much longer than before—it could last up to 5 minutes!

Such a shocking increase, and I wanted to check what the difference was between this and the elemental weapon the old man gave me. When I gripped the sword and channeled energy into it, I could feel it wailing at me Release it from its prison. As I released the energy wave from the sword, not only did the color change from green to icy blue, but it also had side effects. Whoever got hit by it would suffer from frost invading their bodies, slowing them down, or freezing them on the spot.

Secondly, the tattoos on me changed. They went from snakes to winged snakes, and I could see them growing legs too! I wasn’t fantasizing when I first saw it! The tattoo changes—likely the side effects of evolution. So many secrets and too few answers.

After changing clothes and leaving the cave, I resumed my journey. Staying in this cave for a few days was okay, but I needed to move to a big city—likely one of the cities linked to the Northern Alliance capitals. Yes, the Northern Alliance has multiple capital cities, and they switch every term. There are three alliances and three capitals. Don’t ask me how bureaucrats manage to deal with all the paperwork that comes with it.

Before I go to the capital, I should slay some monsters down. Wandering around the forest, I found some normal and extraordinary monsters, but it seemed like all the Elite ones had disappeared from this world. It took me several hours to find one, and it was a black leopard—just like the ones that used to live on Earth. This one was the same, but much faster it could only last three energy waves before succumbing to its wounds and dying. It couldn’t even escape.

Feeling my newfound strength, I also started searching for new skills. My current skills are good, but I felt they had reached their limits in certain fields, and I didn’t have any attack skills that focused solely on raw power but rather enchanted the user or his attacks. I also searched for mastery skills in the sword section.

I found one I liked ‘Dance of Flowers.’ Sounds girlish, right? Well, I thought so at first, but I bought it in the end as I was curious about it for 1 gold and 50 silver. When I started reading, I realized its name made sense. When you’re in a field of flowers, they always move with the wind, and when they move, their petals move differently—not a single flower moves in the same direction. Each one has its distinct move some move more to the left or right. This technique mimics your opponent’s movements as they move left, so do you, and you’ll mirror their strikes. It’s like a mimicking technique, but later on, it also tells you when to strike your opponent when they are in their weakest state if you follow along with the corresponding technique.

I have to tell you, this technique is extremely hard to master. You have to follow your opponent’s movements and move in sync with them. Not only that, but you also have to punish them when they don’t follow your rhythm.

So when they’re out of rhythm, you can attack them. It’s like facing a copy of yourself, and when the copy feels the original making mistakes, you push them and take over the rhythm. In that moment, the opponent has to move according to your movements. Even though the flowers in the field each move differently when the wind blows, they all face the same direction when they move.

I tried multiple times with this technique, but I knew it wasn’t for me. No matter how much I practiced against my opponents, I realized it was a waste of money. Sighing, I could only sell this technique when I got to the city. While spiritual techniques are universal and everyone can practice them, these specific techniques are not the same. One has to be born with the necessary talent to master them to perfection. Maybe someone in the future will be able to master this technique, but it’s not for me.

I also learned a valuable lesson not everything in the system is useful for me. Some traps could lead me astray on my path. I need to carefully consider which skills to buy, but the descriptions make it all a gamble. They’re vague and scare me, fearing that if I try them, they won’t suit my liking or style.

But as I thought, soon total darkness descended upon the world. Night fell, but this didn’t slow my advancement. Using my spiritual energy, not only could I detect what was around me, but I could sense if any creature was trying to attack me. Even though I shouldn’t rely solely on it, it’s still a useful skill for me.

As I stepped on a branch and made a sound, I felt something passing by me—a shadow faster than the python when it advanced to Champion of the Life Realm. I could only channel even more energy into my eyes as I looked around vigilantly. All I made out was a dark shadow the size of a basketball.

Soon, I felt it attacking from behind me with extremely fast speed. I turned around just in time and released an energy wave, but the monster dodged in no time and moved back into the darkness. What surprised me most was that it could hide its presence in the darkness I couldn’t detect any spiritual energy from it.

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I knew I was in a tight spot as the creature was moving around me, and I couldn’t even hear anything when it attacked, making it even worse for me. I could only move slowly, trying to find a place where I could gain an advantage.

Whoosh!

With the leaves making a sound, I instantly reacted and struck where I heard the sound. Nothing. I hit nothing but the trees in that direction. Damn it! What the hell is it? I can’t see it, nor can I make out what it is, and in such darkness, I have to be on full alert as it could attack from any direction.

Soon, the wind started blowing the leaves, making my job harder. I knew I couldn’t channel any energy into my eyes anymore because I couldn’t see it. With the wind blowing the leaves, I couldn’t even hear where it would attack from.

Then something entered my spiritual field as I was momentarily caught up in my thoughts. Feeling the danger, I swung my sword in that direction, but again, there was nothing—only the forest. But this time, I could make out its figure more clearly.

It was a whole body covered in fur, and it didn’t have any eyes, just cat-like whiskers on its nose to sense anything in front of it. That might be why it dodged every time. But I couldn’t make out more about the monster as it retreated too fast, and the minimal light from the bugs or plants in this forest started to darken, leaving my last source of light diminishing fast.

I never bet on this little light to navigate in the darkness, but it helped me identify the direction I was going. Yet even at such a close distance, I still couldn’t sense any spiritual energy from it. Every attack I tried seemed to bounce off the creature, which surprised me. Just how is it immune to spiritual energy attacks? Could it be a dead creature? No, that wouldn’t explain its intelligence.

But happily, I didn’t have to wait long as the first ray of light descended on the forest. Sensing its time had run out, the creature retreated.

I knew it would try to find me and hunt me down as soon as darkness fell again. I don’t know how, but I felt that I was marked by it somehow. Knowing this, I had to find a good place to face it again. Even though it was Elite level, it gave me the most headaches. I couldn’t see it or sense it at all. Every time I killed it, it would retreat instantly, dodging all my attacks. I could walk for a few days without sleeping thanks to my promotion to Elite level, but I knew I needed to sleep, and it would strike me even if I slept during the daytime. I could sense it did not leave me completely alone as it watched me from the darkness of the forest. A fricking stalker, huh?

Not stopping until I found a good place to face it again, I started jogging instead of walking or sprinting. Moving faster conserved more energy for me.

***

I moved around the forest for quite some time, but I didn’t see an end or a place where I could confront this creature. No wonder it lived here—a perfect hunting ground for it. What surprised me was that there were no monsters. No birds or even insects. Did this thing hunt down every creature that entered its territory?

Knowing I was running out of time and didn’t want to waste my time with this monster, I had to improvise.

Soon, I started cutting down trees, but only enough for them not to fall to the ground. Using vines I found, I connected the trunks of different trees, creating a big web. They weren’t strong, but they would hinder the movements of anyone trying to pass through this location.

As for the ground, I bought from the system soups and different drinks and poured them on the ground to make it mushy and slippery. Waste of money, but I had to do it if I wanted to catch this creature.

I could only wait for it to strike while I pinched my nose against the unbearable smell of so many foods being thrown on the ground and baking under the sun.

Soon, darkness came, and I stopped meditating. Dark circles under my eyes showed how tired I was from brainstorming ideas and executing them.

Soon, the wind started again, making sounds by moving the leaves, and darkness engulfed everything.

Nothing happened for a long time, but I knew it was watching me from the darkness, waiting for its opportunity. Soon, the wind stopped, but the leaves did not as something moved fast, and I could hear the vines snapping.

I saw something approaching me and brandished my short sword, sending an energy wave to meet it. The creature tried to back away, but the mushy ground made it slip and land heavily on the ground. Its four limbs spread out, clinging to its bare body. It tried to get up, but the vines tangled around its legs and the slippery ground made it hard to balance.

Knowing the creature could not escape, I sent another wave of energy its way. If I moved, I would fall into my trap, as the ground around me within a meter was still mushy. Soon, another wave went towards it.

The creature, sensing danger, jumped at a nearby tree. The sudden force made the tree instantly fall, as I had chipped so much from the trunk that with a little force, the tree could be knocked down. The monster lost its balance and grip, making its attempt to jump away weaker, causing it to fall to the ground and get entangled by vines again.

Another energy wave went towards it. Feeling the danger, it tried to get up but slipped its footing and fell to the ground again. In its desperation, it made a great sacrifice its front leg was cut off. With only three legs and a bleeding wound, it tried to retreat—and it did, successfully, as my energy waves have a limit on how far they can reach.

But the blood it left behind allowed me to follow it easily. This creature had not let go of me for so long, and I don’t think it would with such grievances.

Following it around for some time, I soon caught up with it as it weakened from the loss of blood. What surprised me most was that I could sense its spiritual energy flowing out from its body. No longer would I be in darkness as I sent another energy wave toward it.

With that, I followed up by covering my sword in spiritual energy and continuing after my initial attack. Sensing the danger, the monster dodged, but sluggishly, as it tried to climb a tree but failed due to its adjustment to having only three legs instead of four. With its momentum broken, but dodging the energy wave, I struck at it.

Feeling the danger closing in, and with not enough energy, the monster moved sideways to dodge a fatal attack and bit onto my arm. “Not this again!” I saw it trying to bite through my arm, but the wrist protector did its job, stopping the monster from seriously damaging my wrist. I slashed the monster in two as I changed direction. My sword moved as the monster did not have high defense.

Soon, its body weakened and dropped to the ground, but not before causing some injuries to my wrist as its fangs penetrated the leather in the end. I moved my wrist around a bit the injury wasn’t serious, so I made sure no infection occurred. I bought a few herbs for this job, applied them to my wound, and wrapped my wrist in bandages.

But this wasn’t the last monster that irritated me on my journey to the capital. I encountered many monsters and hordes of them that chased me around. In the end, though, I reached the capital.