Alex returned back to the town, grabbed a bite, and boarded an intercity bus. In less than an hour he arrived at a neighboring town, which was more like a big village honestly. The reason he came here, was that it was just around four or five kilometers away from a monster field.
Monster fields were areas where monsters that invaded the planet carved out a place for themselves in the ecosystem. In a sense, they were pretty much like wild animals now, though a lot more dangerous. Like their dungeon counterparts, they still disappeared mysteriously after their death leaving the loot behind, but if a monster field was cleared out, it would cease to exist. But if it was left alone, the monsters would actually hunt and breed like normal animals. This made for a great training ground for the newly awakened since even the lowest-ranked dungeons were dangerous enough that you couldn't guarantee safety even with a full team.
Alex quickly exited the bus and entered a hostel. It was really cheap, since it wasn't exactly a tourist destination, and there was nothing really important to this town anyway. Still, a few adventurous or brave souls like him would occasionally come to kill a few monsters for pocket money. The town mayor even established an agency that dealt with buying and processing the unwanted loot, since the town couldn't really afford to have a standing regiment of troops protecting it, so he had to encourage the awakened in some way.
Of course, awakened were free to do whatever they wanted, and as long as the area around the town was clean of monsters, it was a win-win situation for both sides.
After entering his room, Alex changed his clothes to something more appropriate for combat and put a backpack on his shoulder. The backpack was mostly for the loot, but it contained some emergency necessities as well. He didn't plan to go camping, but he would rather be ready than not. In fact, with his firepower, he could go to a dungeon right away, but those were closely guarded and required authorization, which was not perfect for him. At least for now.
He bought a map at the hostel reception desk and left, walking through the streets towards the designated location.
The moon shone brightly in the sky illuminating his way through the darkness. A small breeze ruffled his hair as he walked. It was almost calming.
After a short walk, he found a path that led into the nearby forest. He followed the path and soon found himself surrounded by trees on all sides. He looked around. He was surrounded by silence, save for the occasional rustling of leaves caused by the wind. There were no signs of other people nor did he hear anything. Everything was shrouded by a veil of darkness and the moonlight that pierced through the leaf cover above couldn't illuminate the whole area.
Suddenly, a long snakelike shadow appeared on the ground in front of him. A low, menacing growl reverberated through the forest, disturbing the peace. Alex looked up to see where the source of the sound was, and his gaze fell on two blazing dots, hovering in the darkness. Those were the eyes of a predator. A silhouette of a beast suddenly jumped out from behind a tree and attacked Alex.
Alex could feel the hot breath of the beast, its mouth was wide open revealing numerous sharp fangs that gleamed in the moonlight. As the beast's jaws were closing on his face, Alex's expression remained calm as frost had gathered around his right arm.
He moved his arm in a blur-like motion and an icy blade materialized in the air in front of him, piercing the chest of the wolf-like creature, killing it instantly. The beast's corpse tumbled onto the ground with a heavy thud. Alex raised his head to examine what kind of monster he encountered. It turned out to be a dire wolf.
Dire wolves were considered low-level creatures in monster fields. They were relatively smart and usually worked in packs. That meant Alex would meet a lot more of them tonight.
Just as he had thought, several growls were heard behind him, and Alex spun around. Several pairs of gleaming dots were quickly approaching his position.
Alex took a deep breath and cast his spell once again. Multiple flashes of ice shot from his hand and two more dire wolves fell to the ground with pained howls. The remaining ones paused for a brief moment but immediately resumed the charge.
Alex did not relent either. He kept casting the skill over and over. The first pack of wolves had already disintegrated, and Alex stood amidst the corpses. He continued to stare at the point where the other wolves should be, but all was silent.
He breathed heavily as his heart pounded under the stimulation from the adrenaline. Sweat dripped down his forehead, despite the cold surrounding him. Alex's endurance was not suited for extended periods of exertion. Still, he felt incredible. It was as if he was born to do this.
He quickly counted already disintegrating bodies.
"Twelve 1-Star monsters!" he muttered under his breath, with a hint of astonishment and satisfaction in his voice. "Haha, that was awesome."
Usually, such a pack would trouble even a full team of newbies. Recently awakened people tended to use their skills sparingly, making sure to make the most use of them, but Alex didn't have any such reservations.
The corpses finally faded and Alex was able to see that the pack had dropped two vitality crystals. He picked up the crystals and pocketed them.
He didn't have to travel far before encountering another pack of wolves that rushed madly at him, making it easy to annihilate the entire pack quickly. Alex even managed to kill two wolves with one [Ice Razor] since they lined up so perfectly.
The process repeated again, and again as he moved deeper into the forest. Monsters would charge at him, he would quickly dispose of them, pick up the loot, and repeat.
There was a plethora of vitality crystals in his bag, but unfortunately, nothing else dropped.
Alex eventually stopped near a small brook, next to a boulder that was slightly bigger than a grown man. The area was relatively open, so he could rest here a little and not be afraid of getting jumped.
Alex took a bottle of water out of his bag and drank from it. He felt much better as he sat down on a fallen tree and enjoyed the cool breeze.
His clothes were wet from all the dew and sweat, and he was a complete mess, but he didn't care. The last two hours were the most thrilling and exciting he'd ever experienced. It was nothing like the countless dreams and fantasies about what it would be like to be an awakened.
He munched on an energy bar as he counted the crystals in his backpack. The total number of vitality crystals was twenty-three. He couldn't wait to absorb them and check out the results.
Alex gulped down the remaining water from the bottle and was about to get up and keep hunting when he felt the ground vibrate beneath his feet. A moment later, a deafening roar resounded through the forest. Alex stood up quickly, looking around anxiously.
He immediately noticed the eyes glowing in the bushes behind him. Alex felt a chill run down his spine as a massive monster stepped out of the foliage. Its entire body was covered in gray-blue fur, with black stripes running along its flank.
Its eyes were a bright yellow and glinted dangerously in the darkness. A pair of saber-sharp canine teeth protruded from its upper jaw, as its lips curled upwards in a snarl. A scar ran across the side of its nose, reaching up to the brow. Two triangular ears stood up on its head as it glared at Alex, who was rooted in place and completely terrified.
The creature was slightly hunched forward and stood on all fours. It looked like a bear, except much larger. The monster let out another furious roar, snapping Alex out of his daze. He raised his hand in front of his body instinctively, and an ice shard materialized in front of it, shooting straight towards the monster. Then another one. And another.
The three spells pierced through its thick hide, and came out on the other side.
The monster roared in pain as it charged straight at Alex. Alex quickly launched a fourth projectile. This one struck the monster's face directly, tearing off a portion of its muzzle. The monster's charge stopped abruptly as it stumbled backward. A torrential flow of blood gushed out from the wound as the monster shook its head.
Alex wasn't going to let this opportunity escape, however. He kept launching one attack after another. The beast was much more resilient than any of the previous monsters that he hunted so far. But it was irrelevant as three more shards struck the beast's head, killing it for good.