The cat and mouse game continued on for the whole day; the Saberwolf seemed to have and unlimited stamina as it was still vigorously chasing Basil. It was natural however, since its physical ability was incomparably higher than normal human.
Even though Basil had practiced [Star Withering] for three days, the accumulation time of practicing the technique wasn't more than 18 hours. No matter how godly the technique was and how vigorous he had trained, a short time of practice wouldn't produce a significant result.
However, despite being able to run away from the Saberwolf for many times, he didn't do it. The Saberwolf was proven to be useful for his stamina training!
What could speed up one's progress aside from talent? Urgency! The more dangerous the situation he was in, the faster his improvement.
Whenever he was tired, he would find a gap and hid himself to recover. Right after that, he would 'accidentally' reveal himself to the Saberwolf. Just like that, along with gathering 4 out of the 8 required ingredients to create Crystal Clear, he was improving each time.
"Huuh..." A hazy black smoke was expelled from Basil's mouth.
It was already night, however the Saberwolf didn't show any sign of stopping chasing him. Currently, he was resting his body on a branch of a big and tall black tree, which was none other than Black Sandalwood.
"So, I coincidentally found this high quality Black Sandalwood while 'running away' from the Saberwolf. It hides my smell from it, and it was funnily all thanks to it ... It isn't so bad meeting it at the cliff."
Remembering the rope he had left at the cliff made him sigh. He shook his head and took out his ration box out of his backpack. All of the food contained inside the box maintained its condition. He had no worry of rotten fruits or cold food.
It was thanks to the ration box that had a [Stagnancy] Rune carved on it. With that, anything inside would maintain its condition indefinitely, as long as the Rune wasn't destroyed.
Normally, anyone capable of using Mana would use a storage space to keep their stuff whenever they were traveling. While Mages use their Spatial Bracelet, Knights would use their Spatial Ring.
The only difference laid on the process of the making. Mages could make their Spatial Bracelet by carving an [Alternative] Rune on a Magic Steel, meanwhile Knights could make their Spatial Ring with a special ore along with a special forging technique.
Unfortunately, Basil wasn't given this luxury because of a simple reason: he couldn't use Magic. Of course, it would change in this week.
A strange feeling filled his chest—a feeling that he hadn't felt for quite a long time. An eagerness to get stronger faster than anyone. A smile full of nostalgia adorned his face, but unfortunately, from the other's perspective, it was no different from a chilling smile.
"Ah.. it's the feeling of... being weak. I am baffled that I even miss this feeling."
Being on the top for too long would slowly make you lose your motivation. It had been also the case for Basil; back then, he had gradually lost his urge to get stronger.
Although his power had always improved, he didn't do it to get stronger. It was only for the sole purpose of seeing where his limit was. Unfortunately, he couldn't find that either due to his untimely death.
He wasn't old however; he had stopped aging since his late twenties. Therefore, his appearance remained young and that also meant he wasn't old.
He did die untimely!
"Hmph! Why would I care about my age?"
Closing his eyes, Basil leaned his body on the trunk of the tree. He then quickly drifted off to sleep.
...
Basil didn't sleep for long—at most, it was 4 hours. A Knight naturally had a higher physical ability compared to normal person. Heightened sense, inhumane stamina, crazy strength—all of them were the traits of Knight.
Obviously, Basil had nowhere enough power to be called insanely strong. However, he would surely achieve it soon.
The sky was still dark as it was 3 in the morning. He stood uprightly on the branch and cut some of the small branches with his machete.
Of course, dealing with magical plant wasn't easy. He had to utilize his Qi meticulously to be able to cut the branches.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Three consecutive slash filled with power was executed flawlessly. Due to [Reinforcement], the ordinary yet well crafted machete glinted briefly and managed to cut it.
Basil didn't stay idle though. He quickly collected the branch he had cut, before they fell to the ground.
He then bundled them up and carried them on his back. Reaching out to his pouch, he quickly took out a tube like steel with a scoop like end.
It was a Sap Extractor that was used to extract the sap out of a tree. Naturally, Basil needed this to extract the sap of the Black Sandalwood tree.
He had been befuddled at first. The sap of Black Sandalwood was known to have a paralyzing effect when it entered human's system, after all.
However, he later found out from the knowledge the Guide had engraved on his mind that with the right dose, it could relax one's body and lessen the fatigue.
Stab!
The Sap Extractor was quickly stabbed into the trunk. There was no need to wait for long since there was a special rune created by the Alchemist Association, Philosopher, engraved on it.
When it was done, all of the extracted sap, which was roughly 500 milliliters was put in a vial. Although he didn't need it that much in the original formula, he needed it for the sake of his research.
He was determined to make the formula his!
Quickly jumping down the tree, he reinforced his hand and used it to slow down his falling speed. The tree was 30 meters tall; for the current him, jumping down from that height would result in bone fracture.
He didn't want that!
This time he didn't want to wake up the Saberwolf, the last ingredient he was about to find, aside from Clear Water, was located in a rather bothersome place ... A Saberwolf's cave.
There was a special grass that could only grow in that place. Saberwolf always dug a hole before defecating. This grass grew on top of the soil that contained the feces of the Saberwolf, and was called Adrenaline Grass.
As its name suggested, it gave the same effect as a stimulant. It stimulated the nerves on the body, which in turn heightened the sense of the consumer. Naturally, it was all possible if processed correctly.
With a complicated face, Basil moved his feet toward the closest cave of a Saberwolf pack. He wasn't worried about the Saberwolf though—
'Does this mean I, Basil Pacifer, will indirectly eat a magical beast's feces!?'
—he was thinking about an entirely different case.
While thinking of that important matter on the way, with his top speed, he reached the cave within 20 minutes. With a leisure step, he casually entered the cave.
Since the start of his run, his step never produced any sound. He didn't bother to hide his smell, because Saberwolf's sense of smell was lowered when they were sleeping.
Furthermore, he could isolate his smell with his thin Qi barrier. Although it wasn't perfect, for the currently sleeping Saberwolves, a faint smell was the same as non-existent to them.
He quickly packed all the Adrenaline Grass he could find in the cave in his pouch. When he was done, e turned his body towards the entrance of the cave—
Grrr!
—and found an old acquaintance.
The man stood silently, and the beast growled motionlessly.
Basil frowned his face. He couldn't believe that the Saberwolf he had toyed with would find him here.
He silently looked at his surrounding—at the sleeping Saberwolves. 'If it somehow woke its pack up right now, I would be in a pinch.' He was thinking at miles an hour.
However, in the end, 'Whatever, it's not that I can't escape. I will be hurt, but I won't die,' he shrugged his shoulders.
Quickly unsheathing his machete, he swung it once and gestured the Saberwolf to come.
It was baffled for sure. It was plain on its face. It even stopped growling briefly. However, in the next moment, it gestured its head outside as if telling Basil to go out of the cave.
'Hm?'
He was puzzled, however he shrugged his shoulder and went outside. Upon coming out of the cave, the Saberwolf was already waiting there while growling at him.
It was pissed for not being able to catch him for an entire day, and this time it was determined to finish its game. Sadly however—
'Hmph! Do you think I'll fight if I have a choice not to? Who do you think I am? If I killed you here, your pack would be hot on my tails.'
—he met Basil.
Basil quickly disappeared from the Saberwolf's view, leaving it dumbfounded. Its face turned incredulous in the next moment, as it thought, 'Isn't he a shameless human!?'
...
After six hours of running without a rest, Basil finally reached the inner part of Vyres. It was the place he had chosen to concoct Crystal Clear, and also the place where the last ingredient he needed was located.
There was a beautiful waterfall in front of him, and a small natural pond below it. The view was breathtaking enough for one to gasp in awe, but Basil's intention was on the water of the pond that was no other than Clear Water.
Quickly taking out a small jug from his pouch, he put it below the waterfall. In the next moment, Clear Water was ceaselessly entering the jug. It might be small, but it had [Alternative] Rune on it. Therefore, it could contain more than ten liters of Clear Water.
Compared to Spatial Bracelet or Spatial Ring, the jug was dirt cheap; it didn't have [Stagnancy] Rune carved on it to preserve anything inside. Water wouldn't rot anyway. Furthermore for some reason, storing liquid didn't need that much requirements, so it was easy to make a Spatial Jug.
Although accessible to ordinary people, Spatial Jug was still considered a luxury. Most of the users were merchants selling liquor.
Right after filling the whole jug, Basil quickly stored it and undressed himself—a faint trace of muscles was already visible on his body. His previously thin build had buffed a little bit.
Graciously, he dipped his body inside the Clear Water pond, then quickly practiced [Star Withering] while his body was in the Clear Water.
Due to the abundance of Star Energy in the water, his Body Forging speed was heightened. The impurity of his Core was quickly expelled out of his Core in each of his breath.
Before he knew it, his Black Core turned brighter. Then, it turned white before being replaced with a dark red colored Core. Just like that, he advanced to the Red Core stage. Now, he could finally be able to call himself a beginner Knight.
There was no longer hazy black smoke being expelled out of his mouth; it was no different than the usual breath. Basil opened his eyes and looked at the peak of the waterfall. There, laid the secret of the Clear Water pond.
"My trip will be over soon. It is quite plain without that Saberwolf ... However, I am not alone, am I?"
He was actually referring to the Guide, but at that moment—
[Answering the Host's ignorance...]
[The Host is not alone. There is a foreign entity resides in the Host's Mindscape.]
—an outrageous truth was unveiled.