(We are nearly 33 percent towards our goal, whether I continue this fic or not would entirely depend on the support I am getting, which is determined by powerstones I am getting or number of Patreon members)
Nearly 1.5 years passed since Mereoleona visited him and gave him 'Gifts.'
Two beasts could be seen fighting each other.
On a closer look, you would notice that a beast and a human were fighting each other.
The human was none other than our protagonist, Akeru.
He was fighting a lion-like beast.
The lion lunged at him, and Akeru used his daggers to block with his palms while deflecting, such that he wasn't holding his full body weight on himself.
Now, somebody will ask how he got the daggers?
Simple, these were not daggers but bone pieces that Akeru was using as daggers.
'Fucking work,' he infused the mana into the bone daggers. They glowed bluer, but apart from the lion's claws being ground against his daggers, nothing changed.
The lion landed on the ground and tried to bite his legs, but Akeru had already kicked toward its neck, deflecting it from biting him.
'Safe, but I really need to figure out this technique I'm trying to create before I lose a body part or something.'
The lion skidded a few meters away but roared toward Akeru.
The lion then roared toward Akeru, a vibration of air hurling toward him, but the latter had already rolled away.
All the trees were obstructed within 100 meters of the lion's position in the path of the roar.
'What a ridiculous attack. I would die if it hit me,' Akeru thought while circling around the lion, which the latter seemed to be doing too.
'Well, it would be dangerous if he could hit me; otherwise, it's just useless,' Akeru smirked.
Now, one may ask, why is the lion trying to kill him other than obvious reasons?
Well, there is a special story behind this encounter.
Akeru was in the mood to try to meet and ambushed one lion and kill it.
He then decided to cook its meat and took two bones out of it, as his previous bone daggers were close to breaking.
So, he sharpened those and then ate the meat.
However, the lion that Akeru ate was this lion's pack member, and it decided to take revenge by coming after him.
Akeru hadn't hidden his tracks, which he usually does, as taking a big beast like a lion is hard, and he had targeted it due to it being alone. However, it seems that only backfired on him.
Suddenly, Akeru burst mana from his foot and rushed toward the lion. The latter also came toward Akeru.
At this time, Akeru had learned how to enhance himself with mana, at least passively.
So, his physical stats have increased severalfold from his base form, which was just that of a 10-year-old child.
The lion released another roar, but this time Akeru slid down on the ground, barely dodging it, such that he was under the lion's body.
He saw the lion raising its paw and intending to stomp on his head.
'Well, time to do or die,' Akeru's face turned into a maniacal smirk.
He was very literal in those words. If he fails to do the technique, then he will die.
The bone glowed blue, and this time, they turned more blue than before.
'Finally,' he thought while passing the dagger through the stomach of the lion as he was still skidding.
Before the paw could squash his face, the dagger cut the lion in two, blood pouring out of it.
The lion was cut into two.
'What the fuck, all the blood and organs came onto my face,' Akeru made a disgusted face but, despite that, didn't say anything out loud.
He had a habit of saying things in his mind, and it was just reinforcing in this case.
It's been 3 years since Akeru submitted himself to the uncivilized life.
He could be seen moving through the forest with a lazy expression, and his posture indicated that he was relaxed.
Somebody might mistake him for walking in a garden, looking at the greenery, but he was still in the same grand magic zone.
Animals seem to run away as soon as they see him.
He had earned a reputation throughout the entire region for his notoriety of eating each species in the whole zone.
Mana beasts call him "Stalkerish Glutton."
You won't even know when he attacked and killed you and ate you. Everything is done in mystery.
'Hehe, moving through the forests has become so much easier than before. Still, I won't dare to claim that I am the strongest in the forest.' He knew there were beasts that would give even senior magic knights a run for their money, and he was nowhere near that level.
Heck, just beating a magic knight head-on would be a very difficult feat if not outright impossible without a grimoire.
'Time to leave.' He moved his leg forward and dashed straight in front at a very fast speed.
He had enhanced his leg muscles with mana, and they gave him similar boosts as using mana bursts. But not only were they massively chakra efficient, he didn't have to worry about the recoil of the high momentum.
Soon, he came out of the forest and found himself in front of a dirt road.
He currently only had a bag strapped over his body.
He traveled for nearly an hour or so before he had to stop.
"Hand over all your money and goods right now," five people in black clothes suddenly came in front of him, daggers pointing toward him.
'What the hell?'
"Boss, it seems we have caught a hobo. I don't think looting him is worth it; he doesn't even have proper clothes," one man suddenly said.
"Fair enough, let's not waste time." With that, the man in the middle turned back and started walking away.
Akeru had a tick mark on his face. So what was wrong with him using leaves as makeshift clothes? What would you expect from training straight for 3 years? His clothes weren't wearable anymore within the first few months.
The bandit leader heard a thud behind him. "What is it you fo-" He turned around to only see a punch heading for his face and the world blacking out.
'Hehe, at least I would get some clothes now.' He made an evil smirk and started stripping off their belongings from the guys and looking at the loot they had in their bags.
Luckily, he found a half-pant, considering that he was looking at adult people's clothes, which was fortunate on his side.
The upper t-shirt he got was too loose for him, but it was better than nothing.
He then started moving away, but suddenly he had an idea.
He started stripping the clothes of all men and took them along with him.
After a few minutes of walking, he threw them into a bush.
'I am not petty; I am just thanking them for the clothes and some money that I got from them by letting them train their tracking ability and resilience.' He self-righteously nodded and started making his way toward the nearest habitable area.
After a few hours of walking, he realized something crucial.
'I am lost.' He internally cursed and decided to camp here in a plain area. Luckily, there were some trees, and after checking them, he slept in those.
A few days passed, traveling like that, and he finally saw the first instance of civilization.
'What the fuck... How the hell am I in front of the Royal Capital? Isn't it supposed to be in the middle of the kingdom or something?' He was dumbfounded.
"Move, hobo," somebody from behind said, and he instinctively sidestepped.
He didn't even bother looking at the person and then looked at the map nearby.
"You—Where are you going?" The guy seemed irritated that the person who he deemed insignificant didn't even look at him. His ego was hurt.
Akeru closed his eyes and sensed the mana of the guards and other people nearby.
He mentally nodded while looking at the map and engraving the important places in his mind.
Before the guy could touch him, he did a horse kick backward at the pelvic area of the arrogant voice.
"It hurtsss~" The guy dropped to the ground while clutching that area with both of his hands.
Akeru quickly used mana enhancement and started running away from the location.
He went in a random direction and started using mana bursts to increase his speed without looking back.
In a few hours, he looked around and sighed.
'So, this is the commoner realm. Hopefully, no young masters.' He crossed his fingers while looking around.
***
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