Shiba was advancing as fast as he could with Earth Step.
Although he was still at level 2, he felt that before being exhausted, he could use Earth Step more times than before.
He had been using Earth Step constantly and didn't slack when training, so although it was difficult to advance to the next level in that area due to the thin energy on the air, he had improved.
Shiba's target was a town considered the border between the arid area and normal lands, so the quality of life in that town was far better than where Shiba had been. However, living in the town at the border wasn't that easy. If anyone could live there without problems, there wouldn't be any small town in the arid zone.
It was the nearest town from where he departed, but it couldn't be considered near. He only had chances to reach that place before dusk because his stats were at the limit of level 2.
Shiba knew of two other towns similar to that one from the conversations of his owners. The young ones seemed to enjoy going there since there wasn't any better place to go. Of course, they had beast mounts making their travels quick and easy.
The other two were their favorites, but it wasn't unheard that they went to the one Shiba was going to. However, Shiba didn't have any other choice since going to the east was the only viable solution to survive, and any town at the border near the area had the potential danger of meeting someone from that family.
He didn't know how much land was to the west, but he didn't believe that he could reach the other side alive.
Shiba had changed quite a bit since he was a slave thanks to the energy of Master Liye, so he could only hope that if he met one of them, they wouldn't recognize him. In fact, it wasn't that the young members of the family paid that much attention to the slaves to remember how they looked, so as long as he didn't reveal it himself, it would be difficult that they could recognize him at a single glance.
He was conscious of that, but since the owners went to the extent of exterminating everyone, he feared that there would be someone who could recognize him.
Shiba was still too weak at that moment, so he wouldn't be able to defend himself from those owners.
While wondering about it, he heard a strange cry and looked upwards.
The source of the cry was an ugly bird that was going straight to him. Anyone would have noticed that the bird had set Shiba as its prey.
"Really?"
Shiba couldn't believe in having that bad luck to meet a beast so quickly after departing.
In fact, meeting a beast in the whole travel between towns was already having terrible luck.
There weren't too many beasts in that area due to the thin energy in the air and the lack of food, but sometimes a beast could appear. Meeting a whole group of beasts was far more difficult, but it wasn't impossible either.
Although Shiba's luck was terrible, at least it was only one bird attacking him. If he needed to face several of them, he would really be hopeless.
He quickly drew his wooden sword, but it was a wooden sword, so it didn't damage the bird at all. However, Shiba managed to block the attack despite being forces to go several steps backward.
That bird was also at level 2, but it hadn't reached its limits, so in physical strength, Shiba was superior. The problem was that it was a bird, so it could fly, which turned it into a problematic opponent.
Shiba also lacked experience facing this kind of opponent, so he could only do his utmost to avoid being injured.
He didn't dare to use his body to face the claws and beak of that bird, so he could only use the wooden sword, and it couldn't harm it at all. It was fortunate that the quality of that wooden sword was enough to endure without breaking, but it wouldn't last for too long at that pace.
Earth Step was useless in that situation since he couldn't predict how he would move properly since his moves were to avoid the attacks of the bird or block them.
"Earth Step is useless on a fight. I knew that from the beginning, but what can I do now."
He knew that using his swordsmanship to stop the bird was just a method to delay the outcome. Unless he could defeat that bird, he was doomed.
"Maybe I can create something that could attack based on my experience with Earth Step? No, this beast is a bird. I don't know what type, but I doubt something related to the earth element can work."
After having learned Earth Step and taught it to others, Shiba felt that it wouldn't be impossible to create an offensive skill derived from it, but what he imagined would serve to make the opponent lose balance, which was useless against a bird that was flying.
Anyway, that was just his thought, he wasn't sure how exactly to turn that skill into reality, or he would have done it before leaving the town.
"I am supposed to be also talented on the wind element, but I only know how to sense a bit of the earth element thanks to Earth Step. How can I create something of the wind element?"
He felt that an attack based on the wind element would be more useful against the beast, but he didn't know even how to manipulate the wind element.
However, he still tried to feel it while continuing his battle with the bird. It was crazy, but he didn't have any other chance.
The system was already busy giving him instructions to resist asking it something else, and Shiba didn't think that the system would gift him something just because he was in danger.
While trying to sense the wind element, he discovered that he could predict the moves of the bird based on the wind since it was alerting it by flapping its wings. He had just been focused on his sight, so he hadn't paid attention to that until that moment.
Shiba improved thanks to that, but he still had the main issue of being unable to do a single scratch to that bird, and he wasn't confident about how much the wooden sword would be able to resist.
"This doesn't have an edge. There is no way it can cut the bird, and it isn't sturdy enough to harm it just by hitting."
If Shiba had a real sword, he felt confident in defeating that bird, but the problem was that he didn't have one.
"Cut it. If I just was able to cut it with a sharp sword, this battle shouldn't be difficult at all. Will I die for being too poor?"
Shiba never owned anything until he obtained the gifts of the people of the town, so he had never been someone who thought about material possessions too much.
However, at that moment, he understood that being so poor was a real problem to survive, not just a social one.
Skills were valuable, but they could be shared with others freely, so he felt that if everyone shared them, no one would have to suffer. However, there were things that couldn't be shared endlessly like that.
The town needed the sword, so they couldn't give it to Shiba. If that sword just multiplied each time that they wanted to give it to someone, everyone in the town would have one to be able to defend themselves in the case beasts attacked them, and they would have also given one to Shiba.
Sadly, the world wasn't that beautiful. The lack of a good weapon was a serious problem, but unless Shiba had been a shameless bastard and had stolen the only one in the town, there was no way he could obtain one. It was impossible that he could act like that to the people of the town. He hadn't even thought about that possibility.
Maybe if he had been in the treasury of his previous owners, he would have just picked anything without hesitation since he hated them, but he promised to never become like his owners, and stealing from those in the town would have made him like them.
"I will cut you! I won't die at your hands! I can't die. I need to obtain my revenge! I need to repay my master's kindness!"
Shiba was reaching the limit of his stamina, but he wasn't ready to give up.
His attacks were turning more aggressive, ignoring his defense.
That change surprised the bird since it was already used to Shiba's previous behavior, but once the surprise finished, it felt the chance to kill Shiba.
There were too many holes on its defense, so even a beast could notice about it.
The bird was ready to taste the flesh of its prey when it felt a sharp pain.
An instant later, the bird fell to the ground. It was dead with a huge cut on his neck.
Shiba's body was full of small injuries, but he knew it wasn't serious with his experience being harmed.
Once the bird fell to the ground, Shiba shouted.
"I won!"
While shouting, there was a green glow on his wooden sword that had yet to disappear.
[Congratulations on learning a skill without the system's help. The skill is called Wind Blade.]