Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the end, Xi En did not turn on his heel to leave.
He chose to endure the stench instead of spending the night out in the wilderness with monsters.
Furthermore, the heavy stench would cover Xi En’s scent to prevent the monsters from seeking him.
Once Xi En went into the cave, he kept his attention on the activities of the monsters with his “Perception of Enemy” skill and stayed alert at all times lest the monsters came sneaking into the cave. As he kept watch…
“Grr…”
Xi En’s stomach began to growl and suck him dry of all energy.
“Huh, now that I think of it, I haven’t eaten anything all day…”
Coming across a stream in the forest, he quenched his thirst with gulps of water. Otherwise, he had not eaten at all.
“I’ll die from hunger if this goes on…”
He had to look for something to feed himself, but what can he find in a place like this?
“Do I have to go out and hunt? Fight for food with the monsters this late at night?”
The thought ruffled his feathers. In the next instant, he glanced at his side in silence. The hound’s carcass lay still on the ground. Staring at the dead body, he heaved a long sigh after a lengthy contemplation.
“The beginning of this second life is ridiculous!”
With that, Xi En picked up his Sacred Sword reluctantly and began to slice the meat from the carcass to satiate his hunger. It was not the time to be picky.
“The Sacred Sword is immune to negative effects anyway. So, I don’t have to worry about being poisoned.”
Xi En abandoned his restraint. However, he would not take the meat raw. He would never eat the raw meat of a monster in this life.
To grill the meat which he had gotten after some effort, Xi En went out of the cave to collect some dried branches from the forest. Later, he piled up the wood and skewered the meat.
He did not have to crack his head to start a fire either. The hound’s spurt of fire before its death had kindled the weeds around the cave. At present they were still smouldering.
Using what he had, Xi En lit his bonfire without much difficulty and barbecued the meat before eating it.
“Ew…”
It felt like he was chewing wax, his face scrunched up in disgust. There was no salt, soy sauce, nor any other seasoning. It seemed natural for barbecued meat to taste bland in this case. Well, chewing wax was better than eating dirt. Xi En ate till he was filled to the brim.
Later, he extinguished the fire and covered the fire pit as well as the carcass with soil before returning to the cave. After he found a comfortable spot, he lay himself down.
Perhaps because it was the hound’s den, the cave’s interior was rather warm. In fact, it was a little stuffy. At least, Xi En would not catch a cold.
He placed the Sacred Sword beside him and gazed toward the night sky outside the cave. There was no moon tonight, but the dark void was sprinkled with stars.
When he saw the bright blinking stars against the inky backdrop, Xi En finally relaxed.
“It’s not like this world sucks completely.”
At the very least, he probably had not witnessed such a night sky in his previous life.
Xi En had forgotten all about his past life except for the general knowledge which he retained. He vaguely remembered that the stars were not really much of a sight in the big cities in his past life.
“I was most likely a regular Joe in my past life. I wonder why the Goddess summoned someone like me to be a Warrior.”
Could it be his ability to cheat? Yet the tricks were given by the Goddess herself.
Xi En was perplexed.
“Speaking of which, I don’t even know the Goddess’s name.”
Recalling the beautiful Goddess who did not seem real in the world, be it physically or otherwise, Xi En began to wonder. Unknowingly, he fell asleep in the process.
…
When he woke up the next day, Xi En left the cave to continue searching for a way out of the forest.
To prevent himself from being lost again, he consciously seek out the locations of the monsters instead of detouring to avoid them. He realized that he could not hide from trouble.
As a result, he met various kinds of monsters.
He came across a pig which released an unbearable miasma, and a black snake which transformed their surroundings to marshes. Mobs of monsters besieged him one mob after another.
Despite the Sacred Sword he wielded, Xi En was caught in a few crises during these encounters. However, these crises provided him with opportunities to acquire different kinds of skills.
When he was overwhelmed by the stench of the pig’s miasma, he picked up the “Unusual State Resistance” skill.
Next, when he fell into the marshes and was nearly drowned, he picked up the “Permanence” skill.
Finally, when he was besieged by the mobs and carelessly flung his Sacred Sword away, Xi En picked up the “Extreme Evolve” skill.
“Unusual State Resistance”
– Permanent skill
– Enhances resistance against unusual conditions
“Permanence”
– Permanent skill
– Increases recovery and healing abilities
– Provides certain defenses against immediate fatal attacks
– Maintains vital signs by force; mana depleted in situations where vital signs cannot be maintained
“Extreme Evolve”
– Active skill
– Directly affects life level
– Enhances all abilities when in use, effect depends on mana depletion and skill level
These skills were all useful, especially the “Permanence” and the “Extreme Evolve” skills. Xi En’s vital signs could be maintained when he drowned in the swamp. He was alive but not breathing. It was basically the ultimate survival skill. On the other hand, his first active skill would, if he chose to use it, enable him to be a superman who could directly jump to the top of a tree over ten meters tall.
It was the appearance of this latter skill that Xi En felt an extraordinary energy for the first time. It was mana, a type of energy that he could use to activate his skills and produce magic.
By depleting this energy, Xi En could use an active skill such as “Extreme Evolve” and a permanent skill which required mana depletion such as “Permanence”. It was an energy he could only dream of possessing.
Using mana, Xi En obtained two more skills, “Magic Lift” and “Mana Recovery”.
“Magic Lift”
– Permanent skill
– Increases mana tremendously
– Increases effect of magic tremendously
“Magic Recovery”
– Permanent skill
– Automatically restores depleted mana
These two skills made Xi En feel that he was a totally different person. When he channeled the mana, he truly felt that he had arrived at the world of sword and magic.
It motivated him and gave him confidence.
“I wonder if I can use magic?”
With such motivation, Xi En kept going and defeated a large number of monsters. He had completely gotten used to battling and was gradually adapting to the forest environment as well.