The carriage ride to Jaxon's estate was gloomy.
Yves was still shaken up, any harsh vibrations or loud noises caused him to jump and he refused physical interactions. Nico, William, and Eleanor sat around him, offering support and love to help their father recover.
After all, he was nearly killed not too long ago. It happened so fast and unexpectedly that it didn't even register in his mind until a few hours ago.
Salvador quietly sat next to Jaxon who was dozing off next to him, a light snore emitting from his nose.
The light outside was absent and a vast array of stars were radiating light from above, coupled with the moon.
They were traveling in an expensive carriage which provided comfort for appearance. Salvador or anyone else didn't complain one bit, they were accustomed to the quality over appearance.
They were happy with the first impression Jaxon gave off. He didn't seem to be clouded by noble arrogance and very well didn't care if one was a peasant or not, if one deserves respect they shall receive it.
Eventually, the carriage came to a stop after the horses shouted. A man jumping to the ground could be heard as the rocks beneath him rattled under his footsteps which led to the carriage door.
"Sir Jaxon, the horses need to rest. We'll have to camp out tonight."
He finished his sentence and made his way to the white horses which were freshly brushed and tended to them. Even if the Horses had mana flowing within their veins, that did not exclude them from fatigue.
Jaxon's eyes slowly fluttered open. He rubbed his eyes and stepped out of the carriage, releasing a loud groan as he stretched his limbs. "You three, set up tents to sleep in, I'll have to speak to Salvador alone." He said with a croaky voice.
The three nodded and stepped out and received tools and such from the man who controlled the horses.
Jaxon signaled Salvador to follow him and he did. They stepped a few dozen meters away from the carriage before coming to an eventual stop.
Jaxon turned around to meet Salvador in the eyes. "Have you used any of your stat points?"
Salvador nodded. "I put three into stamina, agility, and strength after I got them."
Jaxon rubbed his chin and lightly bit his gum in thought; a quirk of his. "Alrighty. Put 15 into agility, 2 into strength, and then... um... last one into vitality."
Salvador nodded and called the screen.
[+15 Agility! 5 >>> 20!]
As soon as he inputted the stat points, a familiar surge of power multiple times better than before surged through his body.
He nearly collapsed before Jaxon caught him and grabbed his hands to keep him from failing around.
His veins became swollen and his face was growing pale. Isora rushed out of his head and flew into Jaxon's face, although the difference was that she wasn't submerged under his skin.
"What the FUCK is your problem? You know how much pain that brings to him!" Isora yelled at the man.
Jaxon stayed looking at Salvador's state before his lips curled a small bit. "You sure he's not enjoying it?"
Isora, confused, looked down at Salvador and was caught in shock.
On his pale, veiny face was a fiendish grin that spread out wide on his face.
"This little imp..." She muttered.
A faint cloud of mana was discharged from his body before the overwhelming sensation faded away.
His eyes weakly opened and he leaned forward.
"T-That felt amazing." He weakly exclaimed, coming to his feet with wobbly steps.
"It'll take a few minutes to adjust," Jaxon noted.
Salvador took a few deep breaths and took small, but gradually improving steps around a five-foot area. Eventually, he reached normal functionality and was able to walk perfectly fine.
Salvador lifted his head to his Uncle. "So, why'd you have me do that?"
Jaxon closed his eyes and materialized a small bracelet which he promptly put on his wrist. "You have a gift. You can get stronger by killing.
Others do not possess this gift as you do. Technically, they get stronger. As they use their body it improves, but it's different for you. You can greatly increase your strength by killing monsters on top of gaining battle experience. So-"
"You're going to have me kill weak monsters!" Salvador chimed in. Jaxon could easily sense the excitement in his voice. "It's not supposed to be something exciting, something can go wrong incredibly quick.
A strong beast, bandits, a lot of things."
Salvador gulped and he let out a nervous chuckle. "R-Really?" Jaxon stood up and shook his head. "No, not now at least. I'm here, and that bracelet will replenish your stamina until I can teach you a technique.
In the meantime, we're going to hunt beasts; weak ones of course. I had you put your stats into agility because any red-core human can pierce a beast, but they can't kill a live one because of their inferior speed. Now, we'll be hunting Unranked Beasts. One's that barely just started evolving, or are just pitifully weak. Most unranked beasts are barely faster than a peak red core, but you're faster than a peak red core by a long shot." He said with a devilish smirk.
"Kill five beasts and return with their corpses. You can put them in this spatial ring."
Jaxon pulled out a small metal ring which attained a silver embedment. 'S-So these do exist!'
He eagerly pulled up the description of the ring.
[Intermediate Spatial Ring]
[Space: 4x4 Meters.]
'That's quite a lot... I should have no problem storing the corpses.' He smiled.
"I can see that you like it, that's good." He smiled. "You have until dawn to kill five unranked beasts. I'll be accompanying you from afar, but I will not be helping you unless your life is in danger. Understood?"
Salvador nodded.
"Good."
Instantly, Jaxon disappeared before a gust of wind hit Salvador.
"No words of encouragement or anything, I see. Isora?"
He could sense Isora, but she didn't respond. 'I guess you can't help me.' He asked in an irritated tone. 'You're right, it's better you develop your skills yourself rather than having me baby you all the time.'
Salvador nodded.
Salvador trekked in a northern fashion, coming across many multiple small critters which scurried away as soon as Salvador entered a thirty-meter radius. 'Are they sensing my mana or something? I'm being as quiet as possible.'
Salvador walked under an abnormally sized tree where a small burrow sat. 'This is freakishly big. But I don't want no beasts sneaking up on me...'
Salvador released a deep breath and his eyes were filled with resolute as he crouched inside. He crept his mana to his eyes which extensively enhanced his vision. The dark passages now became faintly lit, just enough brightness to where he could make his way smoothly.
'The beast that made this burrow is as big, if not bigger than me...' Fear grew in his heart at such a thought. 'Size doesn't always mean anything.' He reassured himself.
He crouched and stepped into the wide burrow and slowly made his way through it.
He was amazed at the length of the current tunnel he was walking through.
It was a few dozen yards at a minimum. He slowly crept until he reached an intersection where it branched off in three different directions.
He stood still with a blank expression on his face before turning to his right. "Right is always the right way.