After stealing some clothes, he sat down in a park, leaning against a tree as he watched children play and birds flying around. It was peaceful, and with his enhanced senses, he could feel it even more deeply than an ordinary human. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke.
"So, you're a beast-taming system?"
[Yes, that's my main function.]
"Beast taming, huh? I'm a bit disappointed, but I guess it's still a good ability if you can tame really strong monsters."
[Let me explain. My main function is indeed taming, but I have sub-skills stemming from that, like the Evolution Forge, a skill that can evolve any beast or monster into a stronger version of itself. I have many other functions, but for now, you can only use the Evolution Forge, and even that is limited to monsters weaker than or around the same level as you.]
"Hmm, that's actually not bad at all. I'd like to head straight for a dungeon, but I don't think that's how things work. Maybe I should go to that association building in the big city."
[The best and safest location in this region? Isn't that pretty far? How will you get there?]
"What do you mean? I'll run, obviously."
[…You're going to run 23 kilometers?]
"Yeah, this'll be a good chance to test myself. I'm restless just sitting here. So much power is flowing through me, and I need to release it right away. But I should be patient. First, I need to find something to eat."
His stomach rumbled. He wanted a proper meal, but he had no money. After thinking it over, he went to a mini-market and ordered fried chips, two small drinks, and a large sausage roll.
"Here you go, sir. We added a little extra for supporting us," a lovely young girl said, smiling. He stared at her, forcing a fake smile in return.
"Thank you. By the way, do you have any beef pies?"
"Let me check real quick."
She hurried away, her smile still lingering. A few minutes later, she came back with an assortment of pies for him to choose from, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Sir?" She stopped smiling, looking around the store. Realizing he had vanished, she laughed nervously. "A thief… a really handsome thief… I'm going to get fired…"
She was on the verge of tears, but that wouldn't change anything. Vell was long gone, sprinting out of town at high speed. He felt light, almost as if he were floating, each step a longer leap than any human could manage. The power in his legs propelled him even faster.
[…If you keep using your mana like that, you'll run out before you're even halfway there.]
"Is that so? Wanna bet on that?"
The system didn't respond; it knew betting with someone who had mastered the art of force awakening was a bad idea. After just an hour, he had already covered 7 kilometers and wasn't even tired, nor was he close to running out of mana.
What the hell is up with him? He's just a newbie—he should be out of mana and gasping by now. But somehow, his mana pool has barely depleted. How is he using it so effectively at such an early stage?
The system was shocked. It had seen thousands of people, and none came close to his learning speed. Most took weeks or even months to learn how to enhance their bodies with mana, but he had done it immediately, as if he had done it before. To him, it was as natural as drinking water.
"Okay, this spot should be fine. I'm starving."
He stopped at a collapsed skyscraper and found a comfortable spot in a corner inside. Sitting down, he began eating his food, his expression a mix of joy and odd sadness. It was as if he were about to cry but also overjoyed; his taste buds hadn't experienced anything this good in months. He devoured the food in less than five minutes and, feeling full, soon became sleepy.
"Ahh, that was so good. Now I need to nap a bit. Can't run on a full stomach, after all."
Isn't it the other way around? And are you sure sleeping out here is a good idea?
"It's fine. I'll only sleep for about an hour, I prom—"
He trailed off, already dozing. His promised nap of one hour quickly stretched into five. As he shifted in his sleep, his ears picked up faint whispers approaching. The voices drew closer, but he pretended not to hear and kept still.
"Boss, are you sure this is a good idea?" A big guy with a scarred face whispered, nervously clutching a large gun. Beside him was the leader, a tall, skinny man with spiky hair holding a strange, likely stolen weapon.
"Shut up, or you'll wake him, you idiot. Just go over and choke him or something; we can't afford to waste bullets right now."
The big guy nodded, moving cautiously and stretching out his hand to grab Vell's neck. But his attempt backfired as Vell shot up and delivered a double kick to his face that sent him crashing to the ground.
Vell yawned, stretching his arms and legs after his nap. Ignoring the leader, he glanced outside, noticing it was already dark.
"Crap, I slept too long. Now I'll have to run at night."
His gaze shifted back to the leader, and he walked toward him with a blank expression.
"You know, there's one thing that annoys me more than anything—"
The leader cut him off by firing his weapon, which shot energy bullets. Vell dodged with ease, and before the leader knew it, Vell was standing right in front of him, staring into his eyes with a cold, piercing gaze.
"As I was saying, I hate being woken up. Couldn't you have been polite and waited until I woke up?"
The leader began to shake. Unlike Vell, he was just an ordinary person trying to survive in a harsh, unforgiving world.
"We're… sorry?"
But that didn't change the fact that they had disturbed his nap. Vell smirked, grabbing the leader's face and lifting him before tossing him across the room.
"B-Boss!"
The big guy, trying to prove his loyalty, attacked again. This time, Vell ensured he wouldn't rise by delivering a hard kick to the groin.
"Haah, I don't have time for this… I wonder."
A few minutes later, the building was far behind him, and in his hand was a small pouch containing 200 credits.