Time flows, and three days had passed in the blink of an eye.
In a dimly lit cave, Alex sat in the lotus position, deep in meditation. While a wriggling Vicious-vine coiled around his right hand and was about to reach his neck.
The Vicious vine was constantly trying to suck his mana, but a faint blue aura separated the vine from touching the skin.
However, as time passed, the blue aura started to fade, and the Vicious vine finally touched his skin. Alex's mana and willpower started to deplete at an amazing rate. It had already been one hour, and Alex was at the end of his rope.
Alex started to breathe heavily, while his willpower and energy were at the brink of exhaustion. In the end, he cut off the vine with his left hand using the machete. He then unwrapped the dead vine from his right hand.
After breathing a sigh of relief, Alex took a break, ate his lunch to recover his physical energy, and meditated to replenish his willpower.
In these three days, Alex had completed fifteen sessions of Extreme state in total. His strength improved by a level. Became proficient in Mana control and meditation.
However, his strength had not improved as calculated. After his strength breached the mark of 350KG (770 lbs), his improvement slowed down. Now his strength was only around 400KG (880 lbs).
Alex had two more days left before he leaves the crater. He needed to increase his strength by at least 500Kg (1100 lbs).
Alex opened his eyes and went through his belongings. He observed that there were not many blueberries left, while his water reserves were also dwindling.
Alex took the bottle with little water left and watered the potted plant. Fortunately, the blueberry plant survived, and although it did not have any berries yet. Alex was happy as his experiment succeeded.
Alex now had to replenish water and find more blueberries. So he got ready, wore his camouflage suit, equipped his weapons, and climbed down the cliff using the Vicious vines. He no longer was afraid of these vicious vines.
Alex landed on the ground and observed his surroundings carefully. Afterward, he focused his energy on his legs. Blue mana covered the soles of his Military boots. Then he dashed forward.
He was swift like wind, moving freely from one tree to another. Alex believed he was now faster than the cheetah. In less than a minute, he arrived at the other side of the lake.
Before searching for Blueberries, he refilled his water first. Alex then spent an hour searching for the Blueberry plants and found two new plants today.
The Blueberries are seriously in shortage. Alex remained calm cause he still had many Blackberries. However, they taste bitter and weird. So Alex still hoped to find Blueberries.
Alex took out his Redbook and marked the locations of the new plants. He saw that the right side of the map was devoid of markings. That was the den of the wolves. Alex did not have the guts to venture anywhere near there.
There was a blank space on the left side too. There, a gap in the crater was present, which was the exit out of here. And according to the Varis' mother, it's guarded by the Demonic wolves. Alex did not go there too.
Alex gathered the Blueberries and was about to go back to his cave. All of a sudden, he heard a loud shout, which soon echoed throughout the crater.
"ROSE, ARE YOU HERE?"
A vigorous male voice rang from the left where the exit was located. The shout was then followed by a loud commotion. Alex was dumbfounded at the unexpected situation.
It took him a while to understand what's going on. But soon, Alex's mind cleared and quickly hid in the nearby bushes. With the help of his camouflage suit, he faded from sight.
Somebody, probably humans, came looking for trouble in this den of wolves. Although Alex was curious, curiosity was what killed the cat. So, he stayed put and took out his binoculars and tried to look in the distance.
But soon, he heard a Wolf howls and looked to his right. Alex turned his head and saw five pitch-black wolves running on the lake's surface. The black wolf's mane was covered with dark haze, which swayed as it ran - Demonic wolves.
The Demonic wolves ran on the water like it was land, cut through the forest, and went to the commotion at the entry.
'These guys do not like it when someone intrudes in their territory,' thought Alex.
Alex looked through his binoculars but could not see anything through the dense forest. Alex remembered something, quickly took out his Redbook, and opened the self-made map.
Alex found a marking of a Vicious vine plant close to the entrance. It was a few hundred meters from his current location.
'It will be a pretty good place to watch the fight.' thought Alex excitedly.
Alex concentrated for few seconds, and his feet were covered by a blue aura again. He ran silently through the forest, and within few seconds, he reached the Vicious vine at the entrance.
After days of training, Alex was no longer was afraid of the Vicious Vine. Therefore, he quickly climbed the vine without hesitation and saw the scene at the entrance through his binoculars.
As expected, there was a fight. Alex's first vision was darkness. Then there was a burst of fire, and the darkness was dispelled. Three humans were fighting five Demonic wolves.
At the center, there was a handsome young knight in fiery steel armor. He was swinging a long sword while holding a kite-shaped shield. As he was not wearing any helmet, Alex can see his flaming red hair.
Behind him, there was an old guy in mage robes with a long white beard. He was holding a transparent magic staff, with a white orb at the top. The staff looked like it was made of Ice.
The last one was a young archer who reminded Alex of Robin hood. The young guy wore elegant green leather armor and was holding a longbow.
Alex saw the wolves started charging, but the young knight slammed his kite shield onto the wolves, and a shock wave was dispersed at impact.
The charging wolves stopped in their tracks. His right hand, holding the sword, struck from above at lightning fast. The confused wolf, which got its head bashed first, was late to react. The sword cut through the wolf's dark haze and landed on its back.
The ground quivered, and blood splashed, and the remaining wolves took a step back. Then the long-range attacks poured in.
The old man swished the ice staff, and five ice arrows appeared out of thin air and were shot towards the five wolves. The archer also shot three green arrows in a flash.
Four out of five wolves dispersed, avoiding the attacks. But the unlucky vanguard was hit by the ice arrow and a green arrow. The wolf cried in pain and escaped.
The other four wolves growled threateningly while keeping a good distance.
'Hey, these wolves ran to the fight with great fanfare, yet escaped just like that. In the end, they can only bully a poor kid like me and escape when powerful guys show up.' Alex thought.
The human group also did not attack the unlucky wolf anymore. As time passed, they did not attack the wolves wantonly but just deterred them with few skills.
"Did they run all the way here to give a talent show?" Alex was a little confused. These guys showed up here to rescue a person named Rose, yet they did not even enter the main den.
All of a sudden, there were terrible howls from the rear of the group. All three of them turned back and can see thick darkness ready to drown them.
"Quick, we need to leave. The three Alphas escaped from my Ice wall technique. We are going to be surrounded." roared the old mage with a surprisingly young voice.
After hearing the terrible howls, Alex also felt uneasy.