On the ground lay the lifeless body of a large wolf with sharp fangs and menacing claws, a piece of crystal lodged in the wolf's chest.
Immediately upon seeing the wolf's body, Tom deduced two things.
First, that this black-skinned crystal creature was incredibly more powerful than the one he had faced, and that it possessed highly acute senses, as it had been able to notice the wolf from such a great distance.
Secondly, he realized that the crystal creature had just saved his life, even if it was likely unintentional.
Even in haste, Tom wasn't foolish enough to perch on the branch of a tree without surveying the surroundings, which means either he hadn't noticed the presence of the wolf - which seemed impossible given the wolf's proximity when the crystal creature took it down - or the wolf had approached him without him knowing, and it was this thought that filled Tom with dread.
Certainly, his attention was focused on the group of crystal creatures that had just arrived, but not to the extent that he wouldn't sense a danger so close to him.
This meant that the wolf could have approached him without arousing suspicion, and he might only have realized the wolf's presence when it was too late.
It was precisely this that demonstrated the danger of this black crystal creature. Despite being just meters away from Tom, he hadn't sensed the wolf. Yet, this creature, hundreds of meters away, had noticed the wolf's movement and took it down in a fraction of a second.
Tom cautiously glanced toward the group of crystal creatures, making sure not to draw attention to himself, and waited to see if anything else would happen.
Fortunately, there were no further incidents. The black crystal creature examined the remains of the dead one for a few minutes before departing. However, the other crystal creatures didn't leave the area.
After several minutes, Tom realized that these creatures had no intention of leaving, which posed a problem. He had assumed they would eventually return to where they had come from so he could descend the mountain, but at this rate, he'd be stuck there for a while.
While waiting for them to depart, Tom opened his hand to examine the core he held. The core pulsated periodically in a dark blue hue, and he could sense a significant amount of etherium within it, which made him grin once again.
"It was definitely worth it," he said, reflecting on his battle against the crystal creature.
Even though he hadn't managed to obtain a core, Vista had explained to Tom how to absorb the etherium from a monster's core if he ever found one in the Trial World.
Without wasting any time, Tom set out to absorb the etherium within the core. He used the tiny amount of etherium he had collected and wrapped it around the core. Without any further action on his part, his etherium formed a connection with the etherium within the core, and it began to flow from the creature's core into his.
The sensation of etherium passing through his body and into his core was absolutely pleasurable, to the point where Tom couldn't help but emit a moan of delight.
The sensation lasted for a few minutes before stopping, indicating that the core had emptied of all its etherium. Tom examined the core, now devoid of etherium, which resembled the creature in its final moments, transparent and lifeless.
With no further interest in the core now that it was completely drained, Tom set it down in front of him and began to inspect the changes in his body the core's absorption had caused.
The first thing he noticed was that his core felt filled with etherium, or rather, there was more etherium in his core than before. That alone brought a broad smile to his face, knowing that he could now fight for longer periods before running out of etherium.
Next, he decided to concentrate the etherium from his core into his fist and found that the response was quicker. The etherium flowed faster from one point of his body to another.
To add to his delight, he felt that his strength had increased when he clenched his etherium-enriched fist.
He hadn't become incredibly stronger than before, but it was a significant improvement.
'If I had this much strength, I don't think that our fight would have lasted all this time'.
He also sensed a slight difference in the etherium he generated. 'This must be due to the etherium purification enhancement,' he thought when his etherium seemed purer and more potent.
Of course, he didn't gain any insights into his Astralums, but that was expected since he didn't possess an Astralum related to the crystal creature, whose Astralum appeared to be, well, crystal.
Excited to test his newfound strength, Tom decided to leave the tree he was perched on. He couldn't test his strength in the immediate vicinity without alerting the crystal creatures to his presence, so he opted to move further into the mountains.
Unfortunately, despite all these changes, his injuries remained unchanged. So, he was in pain when he climbed down the tree and continued to hurt as he walked.
Etherium possessed the ability to heal wounds, but Tom's Etherium manipulation skills were not advanced enough for him to use it for self-healing.
Even if he could use Etherium for self-healing, it likely wouldn't compare to the healing abilities of someone whose Astralum allowed them to heal. However, at least he wouldn't suffer as much if he could use Etherium to alleviate the pain.
Fortunately, thanks to the Etherium he had absorbed from the core, the bleeding from his wounds stopped and even started to cauterize, although they still hurt.
But he was determined to discover the extent of his strength, so he gritted his teeth and continued walking toward the mountain's summit.
Once far enough from the mountain's base, away from the crystal creatures, Tom found a boulder as large as the one he had used to test his strength before. He decided to use this boulder as his test subject.
Concentrating Etherium into his arms, he attempted to lift the boulder. Unlike the first time when he could barely lift a boulder of this size off the ground, this time he managed to lift it higher. The base of the boulder was even at his ankles.
He grinned through the pain, seeing this progress. However, just after a few seconds, he had to put the boulder down when his wounds started hurting again.
Setting the boulder down, Tom couldn't help but feel content. After all, he could now lift a boulder that could completely obscure his body, considering how enormous it was.
Then he decided to test his strength by taking it up a notch. What he wanted to do was to strike the boulder.
To do this, he concentrated Etherium into his fist. To avoid injuring himself, he took the trouble to form an additional layer around his fingers. It took some time because he wasn't accustomed to this technique. Once done, he positioned himself in front of the boulder and delivered a powerful punch!
Boom
His punch sent the boulder flying about ten meters before it came to a stop. When the dust settled, he saw a clear imprint of his fist on the boulder.
"..."
He expected a good result, but this exceeded all his expectations in a good way. It seemed he had underestimated the boost he would receive from the creature's core.
After a few seconds, he grinned even more than when he lifted the boulder, happy that he got so much benefit from fighting that creature.
What Tom didn't know was that the creature he had killed was on the verge of advancing from level 1 to level 2, which was why it was looking for a hiding place and stumbled into the cave where he was.
Tom's luck was that he was the natural enemy of this crystal creature, if not, he would surely be dead by now.