"No, stop…! What am I doing? This is not the time to discuss this," Arthur suddenly realized he was losing focus. He understood this wasn't the time for chit-chat but the time to think about how to survive and act on it. Walking a bit to the edge of where he was standing, he quickly looked around beneath him, trying to see if he was close to any danger.
'Currently, the snake is the only one I see as my enemy. Other creatures are too big to climb here,' he thought, believing the snake was the only threat that could kill him.
Then he looked at the place where he had seen the snake before. The snake was not there. The creature that looked like a mouse, killed by the snake, had only its bones and skull left, and some strange ants were carrying its bones away. Arthur quickly looked everywhere he could: top, bottom, left, right—everywhere. But the snake was nowhere to be seen. Arthur didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
'Well, I guess it's gone from this place,' Arthur thought, trying to make himself feel better by convincing himself the snake had left.
Suddenly, he realized something. When he had looked everywhere to check for danger, He saw different creatures he hadn't noticed when he first emerged from the egg and looked at them from above. This meant that the creatures were changing their locations, which also meant that other creatures who could climb walls or fly might come here at any moment. Additionally, he hadn't eaten or drunk anything yet.
'What should I do? I need to find food and also protect myself,' he thought, knowing there were many things he needed to do and very little time.
"Why am I not feeling hungry? I just hatched. Shouldn't I feel hungry? Then why?" Arthur said, realizing he wasn't feeling any hunger.
Suddenly, he remembered that the spirit ally knew everything about this world—and everything in it too. That meant the spirit ally might also know why he wasn't feeling hungry.
But then, suddenly, he remembered what he had read in the letter again.
'But wait, she said she made my body, so maybe I don't fall under the spirit ally's knowledge," he thought, considering that his unique body might not be something the spirit ally could completely explain.
Even so, he decided to ask the spirit ally.
"Spirit ally, can you tell me why I'm not feeling hungry even though I just hatched?" he asked, hoping for an answer.
"Yes, it's because of your Prince Mana skill," the spirit ally replied, explaining that Arthur wasn't feeling hungry due to his third skill.
Arthur didn't fully understand how his third skill, Prince Mana, was preventing his hunger, but he was happy that the skill was proving useful. He asked again:
"But why? Why am I not feeling hungry because of my third skill, Prince Mana?"
"If your body doesn't have food to consume in its stomach, then your body starts using mana to provide energy instead." Since you have lots of mana, you won't feel hunger until it's completely depleted," the spirit ally replied.
"How long can I go without feeling hungry? And what happens after my mana is completely depleted? I'll start feeling hungry again, right?" Arthur asked, wanting to know how much time he had and what would happen afterward.
"Thirty-six days. After that, you die," the spirit ally replied.
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Arthur's face. But he didn't understand why he would die after his mana was depleted. He asked again, trying to understand.
"Spirit ally, why would I die if my mana runs out?"
"Mana is the life force of every living being. If your body consumes all your mana, then you die," the spirit ally explained, stating that mana was life energy, and using it all would result in death.
Arthur now understood the importance of mana. He was relieved to know he could survive without food for thirty-six days.
'Let's think of it as having thirty days. I'll make sure not to use up all my mana. I can survive that long without food—that's actually enough, I guess. But what about water? Does my mana work as water too?'
To clarify, Arthur asked the spirit ally again:
"Spirit ally, I can survive without water too, right? Just by using my mana?"
"Yes, you can survive without water too, by using mana," the spirit ally replied, confirming that Arthur didn't need food or water until his mana ran out.
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Arthur's face as he realized how important his third skill, Prince Mana, truly was.
'Okay then, it's time to practice my sub-skills. I don't need to worry about food or water for at least a month—it's time to do some physical work,' Arthur thought, knowing one major problem was resolved.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he quickly asked the spirit ally again:
"Spirit ally, if I work out continuously for fifteen days, when will my mana run out?"
"If you continue working out from now until day fifteen, Your mana will run out in ten days, and you will die after that," the spirit ally replied.
Hearing this, Arthur was happy.
"Ah… That's good news! I thought you'd say my mana would run out in five days," Arthur replied, relieved that he had more time than he initially feared.
Knowing he had at least ten days to train, and factoring in sleep and rest, Arthur realized he effectively had more than ten days within his limit. This gave him confidence.
'That means, including sleep and resting, I have more than ten days. Let's see if I can master my sub-skills within that ten-day limit,' Arthur thought, determined to prepare himself for this ten-day limit. Arthur had a plan for what he was going to do and how he was going to survive. The first skill Arthur decided to focus on was his second sub-skill, Spider Web. Since he was on top of the wall, the same wall acted as the ground for him. The ground and dungeon ceiling were connected by a small, middle pillar-like wall; he had the ground, wall, and ceiling available to practice his spider web shooting skill.
He stood in front of the wall that connected the dungeon ceiling to the ground beneath him and decided on his target: the same wall right in front of him. Raising his hand towards his target, he took aim and shot.