He wasn't sure how long he had slept for but when he awoke the moon was high in the dark sky, not a single star glimmered in the sky. Stretching his sore limbs he stood up, his body stiff from sleeping on the dirt ground. Looking at his surroundings he was a bit confused, meteors and nukes having fallen from the sky just a few days ago the area was with fresh vegetation, the tree's encompassed the whole pond placing him in a forest. The soft breeze shook the trees as the moonlight reflected off the pond, seeming to make the entire area glow.
Looking at the gem grasped in his hand tinge of annoyance rippled through him, he didn't know if Sen resided in the stone but she had caused the durability to reach 0 leaving him in the dark. In a way, she saved his life granting him the SE gave him access to the many abilities he supported so he couldn't put the blame on her. If she had successfully used the gem as a vessel he didn't know. Lifting it towards the moonlight he examines the dark gem,
??? (Contaminated) Durability: ??? Abilities: ??? Description: A former Gem of Essence undergoing possession.
Making the gem her vessel had changed all the properties of the stone, it no longer could purify anything or produce the light that had saved his life in the abyss. It was a bit depressing but he figured it was inevitable, the durability was nearing its end.
His wounds had healed, his stats being fully recovered had healed a majority of the gashes inflicted on his body. Stretching his fully recovered body, he looked for the cabin. Azel's cabin, it had only been a few days since his death, Azel could still be surviving in the bomb shelter he constructed. Which is what Shin had been betting on, but looking around there wasn't one.
Only trees surrounded the area, and in those trees shadows. Remembering how the Stenchling clung to the darkness in the caverns, Shin opted to wait until daybreak until he ventured out of the area. Instead, he decided it would be highly beneficial to learn how the rest of his skills worked while he had the time.
He decided to start with Protection I. Firstly it consumed the lease amount of SE so he could use it multiple times without draining too much from his SE pool. If a situation were to arise and he had no SE to defend himself he would be in a bad situation. Secondly, he only had one offensive skill so he wanted to focus on his defense. It would have helped him in the abyss if he had been better at defending against the Stenchlings.
Flexing his hands and closing his eyes Shin tries to activate the skill, it was different from using Purify or Ray of Light in which he only had to concentrate the energy to his hands. Protection had to envelop his entire body like a suit of armor, he could feel the energy in his body. It was a cool energy that swirled inside him, the aura shined yellow slowly he externalized the aura first covering his chest, then dropping down to his legs and finally to his feet.
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Opening his eyes after finishing the familiar ding rang in his head, slightly confused he opens the message.
[Congratulations! Through the use of Soul Rearrangement you have discovered the Skill - Spirit Armor I!]
Skill: Spirit Armor I Mastery: 0% Description: Forms a Layer of Spirit Energy around the user, provides 5% protection against physical and spiritual attacks. Speed: Average Consumption Rate: 5 SE/ per minute
Chuckling he closes the notification, it wasn't Protection he was feeling but Soul Rearrangement. The skill allowed him to manipulate his SE to create different skills depending on what he wanted to do and his SE pool. The problem was his SE pool was small compared to the skills that he had, he would manage a short encounter but in an extended fight, his expression turned grim at the thought.
He wouldn't survive, no amount of armor and protection would make up for his lack of firepower. If Shin was going to survive and find Azel he knew he needed a versatile set of offensive skills, and he continued to experiment with Soul Rearrangement until the sun rose in the sky.
It was harder then he thought, Shin hadn't been able to create any new skills with Soul Rearrangement. Taking breaks in between experimenting so his SE didn't drop too low, he had spent a total of 4 hours and had very little to show for it. But now wasn't the time to regret his failure.
It was daylight and he wanted to visit his town, he had no food, water or even clothes. Seeing how the cabin wasn't here he assumed it was destroyed, so he began walking through the forest. Hoping to find some clues about what had happened to the world.
It was strange, there was no signs of the forest being on fire, no craters from the meteors, no evidence that the world had gone to hell. Continuing to walk through the trees he didn't recognize anything, he had lived here all his life but nothing looked familiar, and soon he got lost wandering around in the forest.
It had been an hour since he started walking, the forest seems to span for miles without a clearing to be seen in any direction. Taking a break he sat under one of the bigger trees to catch his breath.
There hadn't been a forest this big around his town, so the question was where the hell was he? No matter how much he thought there was no answer. Then he heard the snarl, that of an angry animal.
Looking around the trees he saw nothing which only scared him more, he knew nothing of this new world or its creatures. Regret immediately filled his mind as he stood up his hands pointing them in both directions ready to defend himself, the snarl grew louder but the harder he looked the less he could see until finally.
It was in his ear, looking up at the creature. It resembled a leopard's body but the fur was thick and brown, probably to help it blend in with the trees. Shin didn't focus on the name just the mouth closing in on the nape of his neck.
"Don't move!" The voice said before, an arrow plunged through the head dropping it to the floor.
Looking towards the voice a man stood there drawing another arrow pointing it in his direction. The man wasn't that much taller than him but his muscles bulged from every move he made his thick beard made him look more intimidating as he held the bow pointed at Shin.