The next day started with the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the territory.
Logs and stones were carried in bunches. The ladies near the campfire were smashing the blue spots that appeared.
The size of the bonfire increased slightly. Intense heat melted the snow within a 200-meter radius.
While the temperature was still negative, it was countless times better than yesterday. Today, the warm air greeted Lan Sol's face as he smiled, looking at the hardworking men.
"Good morning, lord! It's a nice day."
"Good morning, lord."
"Good morning, lord!" All the men greeted him with enthusiasm as they saw Lan Sol. Lan Sol greeted them back and observed the territory.
With the axes and pickaxes he crafted yesterday and distributed to the Arctic Men, they were cutting down trees that fell inside the territory and breaking down the large rocks that were immovable by the strength of mortals.
In the canteen, he ate the skillfully cooked meat. The bread stock was emptied as every Arctic Man ate quite a lot for breakfast, and even the meat wouldn't last them for long.
"I have to go hunting." It was the second day, but he had already completed all the basic construction.
The sawmill was working fine, and a lot was being processed there. The amount of wood increased exponentially as notifications had been bombarding him since morning.
[+20 wood]
[+20 wood]
[+20 wood]
[+10 stones]
[+10 stones]
…
If he hadn't been able to silence the notifications, he would have gone mad by now.
"Let's leave." He took the spear and sword he crafted and tied the sheath properly on his waist.
The spear was in his hands since he didn't have a place to put it, and carrying it would be safer as there was no way of knowing when a monster would attack.
Before leaving, he instructed the Arctic Women to upgrade the campfire. Their only goal was to upgrade the campfire, currently the bonfire, as much as possible.
Then he left the territory.
There were lots of volunteers who wished to come with him, but he declined as he was enough on his own.
He had the minimap, so he wouldn't get lost and could track monsters more efficiently than others.
Without anyone else, he could unleash his potential to the max, as he was quite athletic. The agility points on his stats weren't for show; he was really good at athletics.
Right after exiting the border of the territory, he climbed a tree. The dense forest looked terrifying as it was dark.
Lan Sol then observed the area and decided to go north, as there could be a mine or dungeon there.
He jumped from tree branch to tree branch like a monkey. He was cautious enough to only jump to places within his reach.
His eyes also darted around the minimap constantly so he could be sure there were no monsters nearby.
Just 100 meters to the north, he saw red dots on the minimap.
"Found some!" Fortunately, it wasn't the end of the forest, so he observed the group of snow wolves from above where they couldn't reach him.
"Perfect." The distance was just right. He aimed and fired—bang!
The frost balls, three in a row, hit the wolf that was just searching for food.
"Howl!" With a shrill cry, it fell, but that alerted the nearby wolves.
However, before they could find the enemy, another three frost balls hit the second wolf, and the next one was already hit, though it dodged the remaining two.
"Howl!" The second wolf died, leaving three wolves remaining.
The three wolves, sensing danger, fled.
Lan Sol didn't target them as moving targets were hard to hit, and wasting too much mana wasn't good.
"Let's see."
[Successfully killed the snow wolf (LV. 1) Gained 30 EXP!]
[Successfully killed the snow wolf (LV. 1) Gained 30 EXP!]
[You have leveled up! Current Level: 2]
[Your stats have increased! Strength +2, Agility +2, Spirit +3, Constitution +2]
"Wow!" The increase was the same as in the game. It was awesome.
He felt a surge of energy, and his muscles loosened.
As he ran, he found his speed had increased a lot, and he could climb more agilely and with greater speed.
After testing his new stats, he jumped down and landed smoothly.
[Snow wolf (Corpse) [Decomposable]]
[Snow wolf's skin * 1]
(Can be used for sewing warm clothes.)
[Fresh Snow Wolf's Meat * 25]
(Each piece of meat is 1 kg. 1 piece of meat = 5 food)
[Snow wolf's Bones * 20]
(Sturdy bones that are useful for making weapons or food.)
[Snow Wolf's Sharp Fangs * 2]
(Sharp fangs can be used for making the tip of arrows or the blade of spears.)
It was the same as before. After collecting the loot from the second wolf, Lan Sol ran to the open areas as he was looking for a mine or dungeon.
The cold was penetrating. It was freezing, but nothing could be done since he had no warm clothes.
Without a tailor, sewing clothes wasn't possible.
So, Lan Sol endured the bone-chilling cold. As he ran, the heat from the friction warmed him slightly, but he shivered from time to time.
On the way, he encountered some wolves, but he had no intention of fighting them fairly. He climbed a tree and bombarded them with spells.
He recovered mana in a few minutes, as he had the best ring for a beginner mage.
On his way, he killed tens of wolves and collected hundreds of pieces of meat, bones, skins, and fangs.
[Successfully killed the snow wolf (LV. 1) Gained 30 EXP!]
[You have leveled up! Current Level: 3]
[Your stats have increased! Strength +2, Agility +2, Spirit +3, Constitution +2]
[Name]: Lan Sol
[Race]: Earth's Human
[Level]: Level 3 (20/900)
[Class]: Frost Mage
[Health]: 180
[Mana]: 120
[Strength]: 9
[Agility]: 11
[Spirit]: 11 (+1)
[Constitution]: 9
[Skills]: Frost Ball, Cold Healing Touch
[Current Status]: Cold
[Current Temperature]: -58℃
"Woah, it's so cold." Looking at the -55℃ in the status screen, he trembled.
"Maybe due to the increase in constitution, I'm not feeling as cold as earlier." It was cold, but he could endure it much more easily than before.
He jumped onto the tree with more speed. His mana had increased tremendously, and he was feeling very excited.
As he jumped around, he encountered a very big monster.
[Name]: Big Python
[Race]: Beast
[Level]: Level 3
[Health]: 250/250
[Attack Power]: 8~12
[Strength]: 12
[Agility]: 15
[Spirit]: 5
[Constitution]: 13
[Skills]: Venomous Bite, Suffocating Grip
[Current Status]: Healthy
[Note]: An ordinary python roaming in the forest. Be careful as it's highly poisonous. Once it strangles you, you can't escape at all.
The python noticed him and crawled toward him, climbing the tree easily.
"Let's wait." It was clear that, with his accuracy, it would be hard to shoot the python, which had wrapped its body around the tree and was climbing at a fast speed.
However, as it reached the place where Lan Sol was, it immediately jumped toward him.
With over 1 meter in length and 1 meter in diameter, it was huge.
And it was the perfect target. Immediately, Lan Sol grabbed the spear in his hands and stabbed the python.
"Siizzzz!" It let out a sharp sound, but it was just a hit, not penetration.
Its scales were so hard that his sharp blade couldn't even poke a small hole in it, let alone injure it.
But with that already in mind, his aim was not to injure it, but to keep it in place.
The spear hit the python's stomach, or what it felt like to him. Instead of deflecting the python off the spear, he thrust the spear forward and pinned the python to the tree.
Its scales were tough yet slippery. It nearly slipped off the spear, but Lan Sol pushed with all his body weight, using all his force to pin it down, while stretching out his other hand.
"Frost Ball."
One… two… three…
Ten Frost Balls in ten seconds hit the python's body.
[-10 HP]
[-10 HP]
[-10 HP]
[-10 HP]
Nearly all the mana was emptied in less than a minute, dealing 200+ damage to the monster.
Each Frost Ball cost 5 points of mana, and emptying his mana pushed the python's health to only 10.
Hiss! Hiss!
The python hissed and struggled but was greatly injured by its wounds. It even let out venomous gas, but since they were some distance away, it didn't blow into Lan Sol's face. Even when it got near, he used Frost Ball to dispel it, while simultaneously hitting the python, as both the gas and the python were within his line of sight.
With only 10 points of health left, it had no resistance at all. It was just meat left to be chopped in the hands of a butcher.
After a minute, he regained 5 points of mana. He had become quite adapted to emptying his mana, as its consequences weren't dire—just temporary weakness.
So he held on until his mana regenerated and cast Frost Ball again, ending the python for good.
[-10 HP]
[Successfully killed the Big Python (LV. 3) Gained 100 EXP!]
"Wow, 100 EXP!" Since he had double experience points rewards from the system, the original 50 EXP turned into 100.
Just killing 8 of these would be enough to level up again.
However, it wouldn't be as easy as he thought. Due to the noise, some monsters had gathered below the tree.
So it wasn't appropriate to stay here. "Gotta leave." He ran, as without mana, he would be like a child fighting an adult.
After running for a while, he finally saw what he had been seeking!
A cave!
[Goblin Habitat]: A dungeon with only Goblins residing in it.
[Current Status]: Unoccupied
[Note]: Occupying a dungeon prevents other survivors from entering it. Monsters spawn at fixed places, so it's also the best place to earn a large amount of EXP every day.