****
The abrupt ending of the tutelage became an event of the past. Several weeks went ahead in silence as our protagonist skillfully managed to exit the Prime Celestial Preserve, avoiding the detection of the invaders.
"Where to?" Standing on top of a tall mound, Adam scratched his head before turning his head right and left. Now that he has a quest to complete, he needs to select a direction to begin his investigation.
"On this land where strength reigns supreme, you can only have a smooth journey if your level is high enough. Defeat beasts, amass experience points, consume beast cores and you'll see yourself growing with time." Reiterating the sage's last words before he departed, Adam acquired a grin on his lips.
The warmth of a pleasant morning was slowly intensifying into the radiance of the giant fireball when he raised his eyes and determined the south. Turning in that direction, Adam took slow steps which eventually escalated into a full-ahead marathon.
But before leaving, he took a peek over his shoulders and saw the pillars of smoke rising from a distance. Even from such lengths, Adam could perceive the violence embedded in those fleeting bundles of dark clouds.
'Rising Valor, here I come.'
***
In the meantime...
The war against the beasts of preserve whirled against the kingdoms. Whilst the poison and paralysing most was effective, they couldn't hold a candle against X and Z graded calamities.
"Retreat!!"
The raging fire spewed by the S-grade Flame-Mane Lions disintegrated a major portion of the invading forces. The reinforced might of Giant Obsidian Gorillas shattered the bones and flesh of the armies to meat paste. The very presence of draconic races on the battlefield hammered the last nail on the coffin of a crushing setback.
With an insatiable loss in resources and infantry, the prideful kingdoms could only retreat with the bitterness of defeat.
The clouds of dismal were hovering over prince Victor and Salazar. They were one among the three kingdoms that stubbornly persisted to push through the defences of the beasts. And they were the ones who encountered misfortune of the greatest scale.
****
At the same time...
About a few hundred kilometres away, Adam was experimenting with his new wisdom.
'Condense the mana on your fingertip, stabilise it and write.' Adam instructed himself like guiding a toddler as he followed the movements introduced by the sage.
It took him a few seconds to condense the mana to a satisfactory level. After finding it stable and unwavering, Adam glided his finger in the air like writing on an imaginary paper.
"Detect." Adam recited the name of the glyph and a truly incomprehensible character was produced out of nowhere in the midair, like a suspended image. As soon as his fingers flawlessly portrayed the symbol, the glyph in thick bold black colour immediately sublimed into the air.
This was outside his expectations as the sage never mentioned such an effect as soon as the glyph is produced. But the next second, his puzzlement subsided like a wave of information rushed into his head.
The backlash of condensing almost all of his mana reserve to write the glyph also assaulted him with a blanket of fatigue.
"Nothing in the vicinity?" Adam frowned at his misfortune but wasn't discouraged. He tried a couple more glyphs like 'Reinforce' and 'Search'. Upon using the glyph 'Enlarge' on a pebble, it grew exponentially within a sliver of a second. The glyph 'Weaken' changed a stone's molecular structure to a fragile crystalline arrangement and it broke at the slightest flick.
And all these forced Adam to consume one or two beast cores to refill his depleted energy.
"I should try the personal glyphs." Recalling that there are arcane characters that could support living organisms, Adam's finger materialised the glyph 'Nimbleness' with his body as the subject. At once, the symbol evaporated into the void leaving no trace of a change.
This time, the sluggishness was bearable and Adam didn't felt the pressure descending on him.
A puzzled expression veiled over Adam's face as he felt nothing transforming in him. To solve the dilemma, he quickly summoned the interface and it revealed the alteration.
/◄▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫►\
...
▹ AGI: 39
...
\◄▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫◇▫◆▫►/
"39?" Adam almost jumped backwards at this updated info.
On the surface, the increment of a single digit doesn't bring out a great change. But it does determine the victor. To arrive late by a minute means the increased possibility to get killed. Moreover, this lag accumulates in the long run and the difference becomes significantly larger.
'Hmm...' Adam rubbed his glabella and pushed his toes into the ground and readied his mind and body to accelerate forward.
"3...2...1...go!" With a push forward, Adam found himself dashing ahead at a very high speed. He almost felt that he was gliding in the air.
But this session abruptly came to end when Adam stumbled across a tree's root protruding over the ground. This caused Adam to stagger and fall into the embrace of the soil.
"No wonder the sage emphasized the term 'practice'." Springing up from the dirt and dusting his clothes, Adam exhibited a passion to rehearse his newfound agility.
Unhurriedly, the earthling exercised his nimbleness. The effort to accustom to the overwhelming dexterity bore fruit as hours went past. Adam was also getting used to the collisions in due course.
Until the sun partially sank behind the horizon, Adam went on taming his litheness. Any intelligent being would be able to track his presence by tailing the shattered wooden remains.
AWOO...!!
The arrival of dusk attributed a serene quality to nature. Savouring the golden-orange hue, Adam was distracted by a sudden howl. Instinctively turning to his side, he executed the 'Detect' glyph and frowned at the result.
"Where the hell did these people come from?"
About a few hundred metres away, about 4 able-bodied zoomorph males were fending off a pack of Green Wolves. A roughly built carriage with supplies of herbs and meat was guarded by these men and that was the beasts' target. But these able-bodied folks couldn't just let the beasts steal away their fruit of toil.
With each passing minute, Adam sensed the pack growing in number.
"If this goes on, they'll die." Producing the 'Strengthen' glyph in the air, Adam reinforced his body and muscles with the arcane wisdom. He swiftly flicked his wrist and a spear materialised in his palm.
To deal with numerous enemies, a long weapon is efficient.
A drop of blood fell on the weapon and the spear acknowledged Adam as the master. This was a peculiarity that only Pure and Treasure grade objects had. Once a link is formed, it will prevail until the master dies.
With this, Adam completed his preparation. Without delaying a second, his figure dashed at the chaos.
...
"Don't let these beasts get near the cart!"
Ignoring the irritating sensation attributed to the blood flowing into his eyes, one of the zoomorph fellow wailed as he bravely stepped forth to swing his sword. The thoroughly eroded edges of the blade couldn't make a dent on the wolf's body, but the momentum threw the beast away.
The other three were in a sorry state. Two of them had bite marks on their limbs and the wounds brought forth blood. The alluring scent of blood only acted as a catalyst in bringing more beasts together.
The stoutest among the group was the final person. He had a large build that can put up a decent fight with the werewolf from before. As the leader of the party, he was responsible for their safety. And that was the very reason he pounced on the beast at the first glance, only to be wounded with claw marks.
Gripping on the spear as if this is his last battle, the leader swung his weapon horizontally. Packed with a threatening aura, the beast felt the hostility and kept a distance from him.
"Don't exhaust your strength. Fight intelligently." A zoomorph whispered to his fellow males and the reply was a nod. Occasionally, the leader of the group would take a peek at a particular distance, and his face would darken at once.
'What are they intending to do?' Adam had a question mark suspended on his head as he saw the four-member party. At a glimpse itself, Adam realised that each one of them is strong enough to pummel a beast thoroughly. Yet he was confused as to why they were behaving bizarrely.
Are they trying to bait these wolves? But why? Can't they whack these beasts to death? Or are their muscles a showpiece?
Numerous puzzles emerged inside the heart of the earthling as he keenly observed. Not only were they acting stupid with those inefficient weapons, but they also ended up getting wounded by the beasts.
And while Adam was pondering over this matter in his head, four figures emerged from the woods and began to strike the wolves down.
"Attack!!"
A barbaric hammer swung horizontally and scattered many in a single swipe. A long-eared female was launching arrows every few seconds and the beast horde found the odds escalated exponentially.
Adam was stunned by this sudden turn of events as he sensed a familiarity with the feminine voice.