"My head hurts..." Liam grimaced, placing his hand on his head. He struggled to get up after the pain. He looked around; everywhere bore the marks of destruction, with rubble and blood. Suddenly, this made him a little worried.
"You're awake?" A voice rang out nearby, and it was none other than James.
Liam turned, trying to understand the situation:
"What exactly happened?"
James sighed, seeing that, feeling a bit frustrated. The rubble was clearly caused by Liam, he should have been the one asking Liam in the first place. Then, James recounted the entire incident to Liam, except for the part where he got injured trying to stop him.
"So that's what happened..." Liam clicked his tongue, then suddenly unleashed energy within himself. The energy enveloped his body, healing his wounds. Once fully recovered, he walked over to pick up the medallion lying on the ground, now completely devoid of its usual light. He gazed at it thoughtfully.
When he used it, he had completely forgotten everything he had done. He just felt a rush of memories pouring into his mind, making his head feel like it was going to explode, as if thousands of needles were stabbing into his brain. At that moment, he thought he was going to die again, so the only thing he could do was try to alleviate the headache by any means possible. Yet, even the force energy couldn't relieve much of the pain.
"Is this the thing that caused you to be like this?" James stared at the medallion, a bit curious.
Liam nodded gently while still looking at the medallion. Then he opened his mouth, speaking with an uncertain tone:
"It seems this is the emblem of the Carter family... It provided me with the ability to control force energy."
"Really?" James' eyes widened in surprise as he asked. Then, he hurriedly pulled everything out of his spatial ring.
"Damn it! I hope there's something in here..."
Nearby, Liam walked over to a large stone, sitting down to process the memories he had just received. The first piece of information was that the emblem's name was Lysander, and it granted him five skills to control force energy.
When he received the information about the skills, he was both excited and terrified. He was thrilled because these skills were incredibly powerful; perhaps just by hearing the name, one could guess how strong they were without needing to witness them in action. However, he was also scared that if he used them or if someone found out he had this emblem, he would surely be hunted down and killed. Such an incredible skill being lost in an underwater cave surely meant that something had gone terribly wrong with the Carter family. But what exactly happened wasn't important anymore because it was now inside his head.
It was best to use these skills only in dangerous moments when no one was watching. At least until he became truly strong.
The skills were arranged in order of increasing difficulty. It wouldn't be wise to learn the more powerful ones right away. So, he decided to focus on the first skill, called "Formation." As the name suggested, it allowed him to condense energy into weapons or armor. And he didn't need to worry about the time it would take to learn, as the emblem had deeply stored it within his brain. Perhaps that was why he initially experienced such intense pain.
Liam looked at his hand and tried to concentrate his energy there. The energy from all over his body gradually gathered, forming a large layer of energy that covered his hand. But it had no specific shape yet. He tried to compress it into a blade around his hand. As time passed, sweat dripped down, but he still failed. In frustration, he punched his leg while sitting.
"Damn it!"
He lay down on the stone floor, exhausted, staring at his trembling hands.
"It seems that even with these skills, things won't be so simple."
Nearby, James appeared very excited, admiring his collection of items.
"Hahaha… So much money," he said. "With this amount, I could live safely for about ten years in a protected area."
Then, he stored the gold in his ring and added, shaking his head: "However, it wouldn't be too smart if I did that."
Living comfortably but only for ten years would be useless, especially since people who had leveled up lived very long lives. It would be smarter to invest in his strength. That way, he could walk freely both day and night without fear like before.
And so, time passed, and another day ended in the blink of an eye. However, yesterday had been quite a joyful one for them, with the treasure they had found.
"Let's go into the forest... We need to gather some wood to make a small raft," James added. "And we also need to gather some more food supplies."
Now they needed a small raft to continue their journey. Although they could walk on water, that wasn't a long-term solution. Moreover, most of their food had been left on the ship. Fortunately, they had kept a little in their spatial rings, which would last them a few days on this island.
Both of them quickly entered the forest as soon as daylight broke. They needed to save as much time as possible. After all, no one could predict what might interrupt them in the forest.
"The forest is really dense…" Liam was a bit surprised. This was his first time in such a large forest. In his previous world, he had only seen it on TV.
"That's right..." James nodded in agreement, then suddenly saw something and quickly ran off.
"What's up, James?" Liam asked, puzzled as he saw James running hastily.
"Hurry up… I think there's a lake up ahead..." James' voice echoed from afar.
Liam chased after James, who was gradually disappearing from his view. He quickly passed through the bushes, feeling the cool leaves brushing against his face, still wet with dewdrops. He closed his eyes and savored the chill of the wild leaves until he finally reached an open scene before him.
"Wow... Beautiful," he murmured as he scanned the area. A stunning lake with crystal-clear water stretched out before him, so clear that he could see the bottom, with a waterfall cascading down into it. Nearby were some wild fruit trees that looked quite delicious. He hadn't expected such a beautiful area to exist on this gloomy, dark island. It was clear that the island shouldn't be judged by its outward appearance alone.
"It feels great… Liam, come down here!" James' voice rang out from the lake. It seemed like he was thoroughly enjoying the area.
Seeing James swimming around so happily, Liam sighed. Then, he scratched his head, thinking.
"I should probably enjoy this for a while… After all, there won't be many opportunities soon."