After exiting the city gates, Stell and Felix found themselves in a clearing.
Stell cautiously walked forward while Felix strolled, relaxed. If anyone saw the comedic sight, they might burst out laughing immediately.
While walking through the clearing, Felix occasionally stepped on the air, while Stell made Earth pillars appear with each of his steps.
It didn't take long for them to realize that their energy was running out. After Stell stopped producing the Earth pillars, he could feel his energy returning, albeit very slowly.
Although he expected it, he still couldn't help but sigh at his limited energy. "It shouldn't last for more than ten minutes in combat."
"Mine might take even less if I overuse it." Felix added.
"It's enough for now." Stell hoped. "Probably."
After some time, Stell let down his guard. They didn't meet any monsters even after so much time.
Contrary to his expectations, Stell saw a bunch of people traveling the clearing, as well.
"They want to fight monsters as well?" After some thinking, he commented as if asking for confirmation.
"Should be it." Felix guessed.
After traveling through the clearing, they finally saw two people fighting a meter-long turtle with a yellow shell.
Looking at the fight in interest, Stell saw the turtle rising Earth pillars as it defended against the assailants. Unfortunately, it couldn't deal with two of them as every time it defended against one, the other attacked from the side.
Noting the weakness of his power, Stell wondered whether the turtle wished for that ability or naturally developed it.
After the turtle died, the two people in leather armor started slicing it as if searching for something.
Just as Stell and Felix walked past them, they saw a person pull out a blood-covered ball from the turtle's stomach.
The person looked really happy, almost jumping in excitement.
"How lucky. They found a turtle that formed a core." Stell almost whispered as he looked enviously at the excited man.
"Why are you speaking with a low voice? Also, what's a core?" Felix looked at the two men with interest.
"Some monsters form a core. I don't know the exact chances, but a person should be really lucky if he wants to find one." Stell explained, proud of his research in the pagoda.
"I see." Felix grinned. Just as Stell wondered why he grinned, he remembered that he was with a protagonist. If someone could farm cores comfortably, it was Felix.
Although he felt happy about the new money-making option, Stell also felt dejected. Nothing he did or accomplished wasn't without Felix's influence. He couldn't even count his fight in the shooter as Felix was in his team.
Deciding to rely on himself, Stell turned towards Felix. "Let's separate for now."
Felix looked strangely at Stell. "Why?" If Stell didn't know any better, he would have thought that Felix was pleading for him to not leave him.
"I want to do a real battle. One on one. No safety measure." Stell's voice trembled as he tried convincing himself that he needed it.
Felix only nodded before slowly walking away. Feeling like he did something bad, Stell shouted. "Let's meet here after an hour. The guy who gets the most kills wins."
His shout made Felix grin. "Good luck."
'I'll need it.' Stell bitterly thought.
After separating, he wandered alone. For better or worse, people didn't interact with each other in the wild. Looking around, he noticed many fights taking place.
"Seems like I reached the zone where monsters start getting active." Stell's hand started shaking slightly. Remembering the children on the streets, his boring life, and Mia, he found strength within himself.
'At least I don't think that I will run like a coward.' Of course, he didn't count a tactical retreat.
After some time, he found a monster that wasn't attacked by others. Although he called them monsters, Stell believed that the term Beasts was much more appropriate.
The Beast was, as fate would have it, a deer with a single horn and black stripes. 'If I remember correctly, it should be a Shadow Deer.'
Most beasts and monsters didn't have more than one element. At times, they didn't have any elements, relying solely on their physical body.
The deer in front of Stell had a shadow element, and one of its abilities was to enter shadows. Another, even more, common ability was to touch the opponent's shadow, completely immobilizing them.
Stell didn't remember seeing Aaron use that ability. 'I guess that he focused on the rarer ones.'
Taking out a dagger he purchased at a blacksmith shop for a Mid-Tier Common Rank wish, Stell slowly approached the deer.
Somehow, the deer sensed him as it looked in Stell's direction with angry eyes.
'Crap. It seems angry that I disturbed it.' Panicking slightly, Stell stomped on the ground, forming a wall in front of him. After that, he jumped backward, afraid that the deer could pierce through the wall.
As he stabilized himself, he saw the deer appearing from the wall's shadow.
"Crap." Stell cursed. The deer had the same ability as Aaron.
"Guess that I will soon find out how strong Aaron is." Stell forced himself to smile as he warily looked at the deer.
The deer rushed at Stell, making him create another Earth wall and jump backward. However, somehow, the deer swiftly changed directions, avoiding the wall and rushing at Stell.
"Dammit!" Stell could barely curse before he stabbed down with a dagger, hoping to hit the deer. However, the deer started falling into its own shadow, completely avoiding Stell's attack.
The moment the attack passed by the deer, it stopped its descent, ascending instead.
Stell couldn't even curse as he rolled to the side, barely avoiding the deer's horn. Just as he finished rolling, the deer attacked.
With his guard up, he deflected the deer's horn with the dagger. "Dammit, why is it so strong?!" He cursed while kicking it.
After the deer was kicked, Stell could finally let out a breather for a few seconds. Composing himself, he waited for the deer to attack again.
The deer, surprising Stell, didn't attack. Instead, it opted to circle around him.
Calming himself down slightly, Stell tried thinking of the best plan he could do. Never in his life did he expect it to be so hard to fight a deer.
Slowly approaching the deer, he kept his guard up as he prepared for his plan. Once he was within five meters of the deer, it suddenly started running at him.
Stell, already prepared, stomped on the ground, raising a wall in front of him. As the deer crashed into the wall, Stell quickly circled around it, hoping to stab the deer.
The deer was no longer there. Already accustomed to the disappearing deer, Stell jumped backward, hoping to avoid attacks from the shadow.
As he expected, the deer climbed from the shadow, quickly approaching him.
Stomping the ground again, Stell raised a pillar that hit the deer in the stomach. Just as he felt excited about the hit, the deer fell into its shadow.
"Dammit!" He cursed as he distanced himself. "Maybe I should get Shadow Affinity next. It looks so OP."
The deer exited its shadow after Stell distanced himself.
"Ready for round two?" Full of confidence and excitement, Stell looked at the deer with a derisive smirk.
The deer visibly became even more angry as it started rushing at him again.
Like the last time, Stell raised the wall in front of him, jumping backward and awaiting the deer to come from either side. What he didn't expect was for the deer to suddenly rise next to him, stomping with its leg at Stell's shadow, turning his movements sluggish.
"D-Dammit." Stell struggled to speak as he lifted his leg slowly, about to stomp.
The deer enjoyed looking at the sluggish Stell, clearly happy about its victory. Unfortunately for it, its victory ended as quickly as it came as Stell managed to press his foot to the ground, making a pillar with a pointy tip.
Somehow, in that moment of crisis, his brain managed to figure out a way to make pointy pillars. Although they weren't fatal, they lifted the deer from his shadow, moderately injuring it.
Not taking any more chances, Stell rushed at the immobilized deer and stabbed it with a dagger.
"What a hard fight." He sat down, feeling fatigued and overwhelmed. With cold sweat, he remembered the near-death experience.
That was the moment when Stell realized something. He was weak. Incredibly weak. If it weren't for the deer's arrogance and sadistic tendency, he would have already died.
After remembering that Aaron probably had the same abilities, maybe even more, Stell felt dejected. Aaron was a human, not a Beast. He was surely stronger because of his ability to think and adapt.
After twenty minutes of resting, Stell got up and stabbed deeper into the deer with a disgusted look. Although his brain told him that the chance was minuscule, he still wanted his hard work to be rewarded.
However, no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find a core. With a sigh, he walked towards the rendezvous spot he promised to meet with Felix.
On the way, he saw Damian covered in blood, limping towards the city. Just as Stell was about to approach him, he saw another Shadow deer appear and jump at Damian.
"Look out!" He shouted, believing that the heavily injured Damian couldn't deal with the ferocious deer.
The reality was often disappointing as he saw Damian casually swing his greatsword at the deer, cleaving it apart. If Stell didn't know better, he would have guessed that the deer was actually really weak.
Stell's depression worsened as he looked blankly at the scene. Damian was so much stronger than him, so how could he ever hope to reach him?
That was the first time he noticed his growing inferiority complex and envy.
Deciding to ignore Damian, Stell returned to the rendezvous spot, waiting for Felix.
After some time, Felix appeared with slightly dirty clothes. His innocent smile carried a hint of pure happiness and a competitive spirit.
'Did he find a weak opponent? Did he even find one?' Just as Stell started doubting whether Felix even fought, he saw Felix pull out three cores from his pocket.
At that moment, something inside Stell broke.