By the time Havok woke up it was nighttime, and he could hear several fights happening. His mana core was only a quarter full, but his injuries had healed enough that they were no longer bleeding and the bones in his arms were healed. His whole body was aching and covered in black bruises, but he could move. He groaned and grunted as he got off the ground and spit out what was left from the jaguar's core. It was just a brown ball and he assumed that this was the jaguars earth affinity, so he kept it. He already had a green ball left from the black widow's mana core. He knew that he couldn't do anything with it, but he kept it anyway as a sort of trophy for his kill.
Havok activated 'Darkness Dash' as he sped through the forest dragging the jaguar's corpse behind him, eager to get home and take a bath and go to sleep. He got home without running into any trouble. He placed the jaguar on the butcher counter, "Hah… Home, sweet home. It's time to take a long hot bath." Havok lit the fire for the tub and rinsed off all the dirt and blood.
When the water was the perfect temperature, he went over and slid in the tub. Relaxation washed over his whole body, and he closed his eyes and just sat there. That was the most damage he has taken in a fight, granted it was mostly self-inflicted. He also used more mana than he ever had before and even now after absorbing all the mana in the jaguar's beast core his mana core still was not refilled. The jaguar's beast core did not contain as much mana as the other mana beasts he killed because this fight forced it to use its earth techniques several times. The only other mana beast that had an affinity that he fought before was the black widow and it was not able to use its poison techniques at the same level that the jaguar used its earth techniques leaving its beast core nearly full of mana.
'Well, I wanted to increase my power and I certainly did that, although it does suck to have to find out firsthand and damn near killing myself. Still that technique is extremely effective, I just need to find an amount of mana that will only damage my opponent and not kill me. Taking a few days to just rest and recuperate will be good for me. Just fighting all the time is not how I want to spend my time here. I haven't explored the forest in the last 6 months. Exploring for the next few days should be fun. Maybe some other fruits and hopefully some vegetables have grown as the mana in the forest increases over time. I can try cooking something other than meat. I read about agriculture in the library though I have never cooked them before. I know what several vegetables look like and even a few spices, I can just pick stuff that looks edible and give them a try. I have spent 6 months here and it was pretty hot when I first arrived and it has begun to cool down quite a bit, so winter should be coming. I need to stock up on food, pelts and also a large amount of wood. I have no idea how cold it will get or how it will affect the behavior of the mana beast. The good news is that the meat should be able to last longer if they are kept cold.' Havok thought to himself.
He stayed in the tub until the water became cool. He finally got out of the tub and went to sleep. Havok slept for well over a day, showing just how exhausted and injured he was after the last fight.
When he awoke his mana core was full and his injuries had all healed up. Now that he was a ranker he did not need to eat, but that didn't mean that he would pass up the opportunity to. As someone who never had a hot meal until he was ten years old, he decided to never miss a chance to eat delicious food whenever he had the chance. He made his way over to the butcher counter and began to break down the jaguar. Every time he had the chance to taste a new mana beast, he was excited.
He kept enough for a meal and stored the rest in the meat cabinet. He cooked the jaguar meat the same as he had every other piece of meat. Havok removed it from the fire and let it rest for a few minutes then dug in. It tasted okay, but Havok thought it should taste better than this given that it was the strongest beast he had ever eaten. He cut off a small piece and cooked it for a shorter amount of time and it tasted better. He continued to do that until it tasted like he thought a strong beast like the jaguar should.
"Now that's what I am talking about! It took a while, but now it's perfect. It's slightly raw on the inside and has a crispy exterior and it's extremely flavorful. Even though the jaguar meat doesn't have the spiciness that the black widow had because of its poison affinity, it is still bursting with flavor," said an excited Havok with a mouth full of jaguar meat as he continued to cook the rest of the meat.
Havok quickly made a new backpack because the fight with the jaguar destroyed it. He put on his new backpack, grabbed his weapons and left his cave to explore the forest.
He started where he lived in the southern region and strolled around where he could see any vegetation growing looking for any vegetables or fruits. The books he read in the library had a significant amount of wear and tear, so he guessed that they were old. He didn't exactly know how old they were, but he knew that the world should have changed since they were written, so even though he knew what type of vegetable and fruits used to grow in the forest there is no telling how much the environment has changed. That was before mana arrived and now it was even more likely that things that did not used to grow in the forest, now could grow anywhere with the help of mana and there was also the probability that there would be new types of fruits and vegetables that he has never seen before. He was more excited for this than he was for training because this was much easier and it would give him new foods to try, which was right behind sleeping and bathing as his favorite things to do.
"Oh, my first find. These should be carrots." Havok said as he bent down and picked up a dirt covered carrot. It was a brighter orange than he saw in the books and slightly bigger.
"Is everything now going to get bigger with the introduction of mana into the environment? The animals grew as they absorbed mana, those berries were bigger too and now these carrots. Even the old man was extremely tall." Havok wondered.
There were several carrots filling the soil in this area while it was not big. It was enough for Havok to eat them whenever he wanted without having to worry about them running out.
He grabbed enough so that he wouldn't need to replenish them for a while and put them in this backpack. He took about half of the carrots available, and he made a mental note of where the carrots were located, and he would mark the large map on the wall above his bed when he returned home. His bag was full, and he was not that far from his cave, so he went home to empty it and mark the map while he was there.
He went back to the area the carrots were at and continued his journey while he was focused on finding new things to eat. He knew that the number of mana beasts had grown in the western region, and he was pretty sure that it should be the same for the rest of the regions. While he was here, he might as well take notice of any of the stronger mana beasts that he sees. He visited every corner of the southern region aside from where the falcon had its nest, just to avoid any unnecessary troubles.
He observed how all of the mana beasts interacted with each other and noticed that they had all gotten stronger which was bound to happen as time passed. The weaker mana beasts now had the strength of what he would have called the stronger mana beasts when he first arrived in the forest. The stronger mana beasts now were at around the level of the black widow that he killed. He still did not see any of them use an affinity, but he noticed that the mana beasts were clearly more violent than they were before. He just stood in the shade of one of the shorter trees and watched them fight.
"Do mana beasts get more violent as they become stronger or is this just a fight for food as winter is approaching. Not that it really matters to me either way, my biggest worry right now is the rulers and that black bear in particular. I need to make sure that at the bare minimum I keep pace with the speed of their growth. That black bear will always be the biggest obstacle as it has that glowing pond which has to be the reason it was so strong before. Imagining how strong it is now is bone chilling. Now that the strength of all the mana beasts has risen, I have many more opponents that I can use to train. I have been all around the southern region and found nothing else that looks edible. Well, while I am here, I should probably go and check on the falcon and see how it's grown." Havok said as he watched as a wolf ripped apart a grizzly bear.
Havok moved from the shade of one tree to the next until he arrived at the spot, he checked the falcon's nest. Unfortunately, the falcon was not here, but right then he heard…