While not even a day had passed, Nathan had already put his body through substantial suffering.

The only reason he was still able to move his battered body was that he was an awakened.

After a few hours of soundly sleeping, his fingers suddenly twitched. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open and he tried to stand up.

But although the wind slashes never hit him directly, even indirect attacks from an Enma-rank were too severe for a Meta-rank like him.

With great difficulty, he could only sit while supporting himself with the wall.

His bleeding had stopped, but he wasn't in any condition to move.

He decided to rest for a little more time.

Nathan glanced at his bracelet.

"Will it only activate when I am practically half-dead? Or is it broken?"

But he already knew that nothing was wrong with the bracelet. They were designed to only activate when the user faced a life-threatening attack.

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Sighing, he tapped his bracelet.

=======

Name: Nathan Hunt

ID: 210102064

Points: 08

Time Remaining: 116:42:33

=======

"Not even a day has passed and I am already failing at everything. Can I even do anything, a failure like me?"

My expression turned melancholic as I began looking at the previous day.

"Even the Greenhorn rabbits that are called the weakest beast for their levels are hard for me to handle."

"Can even get the ether manual and the art within 4 days like this? Was I just overestimating myself when I decided to get the manuals?"

Blood began seeping through his clenched hands as I repeatedly questioned myself.

SLAP-!

Abruptly, a sound of slapping echoed as I slapped myself.

"What the hell are you thinking, you stupid bitch? Weren't you always crying for a second chance? Now that you got one, you are getting cold feet when not even a day has passed?"

"You should just go back to the shadow fox if only this level of suffering is enough to hold you back. And why not kill yourself while at it? Then you won't even need to worry about your future problems."

Blood trickled down from my nose and I could feel my cheek swelling.

"So what if you can't fight as well as others? Use your brain. Isn't that what you are best at? Now get up, you stupid bitch!"

Exhaling a long, deep breath, I quieted down.

After staying motionless for a few more minutes, I jumped back up and stretched myself.

As I looked at my tattered clothes, a chuckle escaped from my mouth.

"Those guys would have spent a fortune to get a chance to see me in this state."

Too bad for them I wasn't sane enough to stop just at this level, not that I had a choice either way.

Pressing my stinging sides, I walked ahead while also examining the tunnel walls.

"Was that pearl an Aether orb? That would explain why the shadow fox was so overprotective. Not that I would complain. If not for it using a roundabout way to attack me, I would have died many times over if even it just pushed me directly."

An Aether orb contains pure concentrated aether. It would give a boost to rank if one could absorb it.

For the beasts, it worked like an elixir. Even if the beasts were only close to it, they would be able to grow faster and stronger.

Though it wasn't very effective for humans as they didn't use Aether.

As I remembered my thoughts during the time I was intoxicated due to the orb, I couldn't help but helplessly smile.

Easy future? How could I forget that any character in this novel other than the protagonist could die at any moment? Heck, even every member of the main cast had a very miserable end waiting for them.

While I kept talking to myself, my swollen cheek was turning blue and black.

"Is this the only way?" I had reached the exit of the tunnel on the side of the lake.

Overlooking the lake, I noticed a small river flowing through it approximately 200 feet away from me.

By now, the number of shadow foxes had almost reached a hundred.

I sat at the edge and began recollecting everything I saw up until now.

"Sudden disappearance of chains and appearance of a lake at the night. Even though there was no lake during the daytime."

"Shadow foxes flocking to the lake. Inside the floating land, there is an aether orb which is also 'coincidently' protected by the same species."

"And finally, the tunnels which are a straight pathway to the dome where the aether orb is."

I had noticed that many tunnels were opening inside the dome. Remembering the number of roots that reached the lake, I naturally concluded that most, if not all, connected the outside and inside.

"The lake would disappear by morning and somehow Shadow Foxes would be able to enter the tunnels."

This was the conclusion I reached after thinking back on everything that had happened.

The shadow foxes wouldn't flock to the lake if they couldn't enter and bask in the ambiance of the aether orb.

All beasts use Aether as such, they would feel an instinctual pull towards the Aether orb. This would make them go towards it.

It was this same ambiance that had robbed me of my mind. But since humans themselves didn't use aether, I was able to regain my clarity relatively easily.

Otherwise, I might have only woken when I was dying, being impaled by the shadow fox.

I shuddered at the thought. Instantly, I shook my head and focused on other things.

"I need to get away… again."

I sighed as I made my decision.

"I can use the river to get away while hiding from the Shadow foxes. The water should also conceal the smell of dead shadow fox on me."

But my body was still not healed enough. As such, I decided to wait for a few hours before climbing down.

"I should do some preparations in the meantime."

VUPP-!

Bringing my spear out, I began examining it.

"I don't think it will hold out much longer."

I wondered if I could use the dead shadow fox I had inside my dimensional ring.

But then I looked back inside the tunnel.

"It won't come out after smelling it, right?"

VUPP-!

With a heavy thud, the corpse of the shadow fox fell to the floor.

I straightened its tail and brought out my dagger. But only a dagger with a half-shattered blade appeared in my hand.

"It must have broken when it pierced through this shadow fox."

With no other choice, I used my spear to cut its tail at the base.

Just as the tail was removed entirely from its body, it immediately hardened. Examining it, I nodded.

Then I used the spear's tip to remove all the hairs the tail had.

After working for half an hour, I looked at the thing in my hand. I had a 5 feet long pole with a silver tip in my hand.

Its body was entirely black and looked like charcoal. If one looked at it now, nobody would be able to tell that this wasn't a real spear.

"Thank you, piece of tras-kheum dear author, for making the protagonist fight shadow foxes when he was weak. Now I have a backup weapon after learning from him."

I praised the Author for his hard work and put the corpse back inside my ring.

"Status."

======

Name: Nathan Hunt

Rank: Meta

Level: 4

Exp: 75/600

Remaining SP – 00

-->Stats:

Strength – 09

Agility – 14

Stamina – 11

Constitution – 11

Aura – 10

Intelligence – 11

Luck – 07

-->Skills:

[Pierce [Common-Rank]]

Extend the tip of your weapon by 5 feet.

=========

"Should I absorb the cores now? No, it won't be enough to level up. I should save them for later."

I decided to rest for some more time before moving.

"How easy would it be from here on if the aether orb wasn't being protected?"

If I could take the aether orb out of here, I could use it to lure that Sky Viper and get the manuals easily.

Thinking back to the dome, I remember seeing the golden pattern on the ground.

"Was it some kind of magic circle to trap aether enriched air inside the dome? The patterns had golden hue, so the orb's energy must be the source to keep the circle activated."

That would explain why the beasts from all over the island weren't flocking here.

"But why would somebody bother using so many resources to raise a shadow fox?"

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