Ethyn became alarmed at seeing him in this situation and exclaimed in a hurry and anxious manner,
"Excuse me, did I do something wrong?"
Hearing the question, he turned back, wiped a tear from his eye, and whispered to himself, "I'm sorry," as he realised his state, accepted his current predicament and tried to move past the past. "I won't make the same error again. "I was granted a second opportunity."
"Oh, it's nothing; it's just that you resembled my sister, so I just got... you know?" Saying this, he turned back to her with a genuine smile.
Seeing his genuine smile and hearing those words, she relaxed a bit and looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Ahem. So anyway... "
"My name is Ignis, and yeah... thank you for helping me out there."
She smiled and offered a warm "you're welcome" in response, feeling comforted by his presence and the conversation that had just taken place, and added, "and congratulations on becoming the first to level up. "
Ignis couldn't help but smile back at her, genuinely appreciative of the warm welcome and congratulations.
"If you are alone, why not come with me?"
Both of them moved in the direction of the small cave, which appeared to be a part of the pack he earlier battled, after the other asked this and continued to explain what the information system gave him.
Before moving, Ignis checked for any loot that had dropped, and for the first time, there was loot.
It was just pieces of meat and the alpha aardwolf's claw, which can be used for forging low-level weapons. Holding all the loot, they both began moving towards the cave.
As they were nearing the cave, Ignis questioned abruptly, "What if I'm lying about all this and intend to kill you or do anything?" as they both moved closer to the cave.
"Why do you trust me?"
Ignis understood why he trusted her and what she might say in response, but he couldn't help but wonder why she would take his word for it and do as he said.
As she heard his question, she smirked.
"As you may be aware, the alpha had probably detected my presence, and the pack would have attacked me and I would have died, but you saved me."
"And you might not believe me, but I can probably sense when people are telling the truth or not."
'No, I was aware', he thought to himself, but he didn't press the matter further because he was ready for the answer and instead made his way to the cave.
Soon they reached the small cave and went inside. The interior was dark, and it took some time for their eyes to adjust to the dim light, and both of them heard a notification.
[You have entered a safe zone; only four players can stay here; please register your name.]
Ignis knew this would happen, and so he looked at Ethyn and found her looking at him; both of them then nodded and entered their names.
[Players Ignis and Ethyn Rivera have been registered.]
[Because there are only two players, you will have a total of 48 hours to stay here; after that, this shelter will be like any other cave; do you want to begin the shelter?]
Again, both of them made eye contact, nodded to each other, and said, "Yes."
As they gave their confirmation, the dim cave had light and was covered in an invisible protection dome. That would keep the two players safe while they stayed in the shelter.
In this shelter, they were given water, some meat for two days, and two mats. But what made the shelter special was that it provided a sense of security.
Settling down at some distance from each other, Ignis opened his stats panel.
_______________
Name: Ignis
Level: 2 [15.5/200]
Talent: Divinity Mark
Class: none
Title: The Syndicate Liquidator
HP: 200
Energy: 100
_______________
Stamina: 5 (+3)
Intellect: 5 (+3)
Strength: 5 (+3)
Defense: 5 (+3)
Vitality: 5 (+3)
Agility: 5 (+3)
_______________
Skills:
Stinger (F+)
_______________
Equipment:
Kusarigama (Ordinary)
_______________
As he saw these stats, he realized how much faster he is compared to his past self and the rest of the players.
"Once I break through and gain more stats than in my previous life, these combined will allow me to fight a level 5 monster while only being level 2."
"And this time, I might be able to kill 'that' monster on my own and get a silver-rank item, and they will also come there. "
As he remembered some old "buddies," Ignis had a very Ignis-type... ahem, a lunatic-type grin on his face.
"Oh, I love reunions."
After thinking about what was to come, he was excited and decided that it was time for him to break through.
Then he told Ethyn he was going to break through, and without waiting for a response, he applied to break through.
[You have requested the breakthrough.]
[This breakthrough will help you breakthrough the human limit, and this will happen via a new energy form that is not known to humans, and they do not understand where this energy comes from because as of now it is only present in the towers; it's called Mana.]
[Your previous energy attribute will be changed to mana.]
[It'll happen in three phases.]
[FIRST PHASE: Mana will temper your skin; this process will happen for 3 minutes, and for every minute you will be awarded 1 attribute point.]
[SECOND PHASE: Mana will temper your muscles; this process will happen for 7 minutes, and for every minute you will be awarded 2 attribute points.]
[THIRD PHASE: Mana will temper your bones; this process will happen for 10 minutes, and for every minute you will be awarded 3 attribute points.]
[Note: You can cancel this process at any time as it'll be painful, but it is recommended that you stick with it for as long as you can; the more you endure, the more attribute points you can get.]
[You can start your breakthrough in 3 minutes.]
Seeing this familiar process and note, Ignis felt nostalgic, and he also knew how vital this step would be in his life. This will determine how well he can begin and how far he can improve his body; the better the body, the easier it will be for mana to flow and the skill to be performed.
He then explained the process to Ethyn and told her not to worry about anything that might happen.
He took a deep breath to prepare himself for the beginning of the pain he was about to endure.
"Start the process."
As soon as he said that, the first wave of pain began to flow throughout his body, and his skin started...
BANG!
DANG!
BOOM!
'Stupid peach.. '
'Don't spot that boring ass breakthrough.'
'We all know that our chad will become powerful; don't try to explain the obvious in detail, try to keep it short.'
Ahem... Hello! Ladies and Ladies and Ladies, I'm Pompei, the great.
{Author: Pompei, bro, why did you have to knock him down? Ah, my hard life.}
Because I'm great.
So before that stupidity returns, let me quickly get you through this boring breakthrough.
Simply put, Ignis felt like his body was burning in the first phase, and in the second phase, his muscles and veins got tempered, but again, he endured.
You know what I'm saying.
Following the completion of the second phase and completed the third phase.
Pompei over and out.