Flain opened the system and selected the [Shop] option. Three items appeared before him for sale.
[1x Inventory - 5000 EXP (skill)
1x Scan - 7500 EXP (skill)
1x Box with EN skill - 7000 EXP]
Flain didn't have enough EXP for any of them. He didn't even know what Inventory did. He assumed Scan would scan something, but he had no idea what he would need it for. And the Box with EN skill—Flain guessed it would be a melee skill that consumed EN. That would be the best option since he had plenty of EN. Either way, Flain closed the system because he didn't have enough EXP for any of the items.
Flain didn't know what to do. Maybe he should go hunt monsters in the cave, but what if the black Lizard army was heading there? As Flain pondered, something occurred to him. When he had the description open for Low-Dagger-Mastery or Low-DualSwords-Mastery, it stated that their level could be increased through training. So what if Flain trained now? He could train endlessly since skeletons didn't have stamina.
Flain stepped a little into the cave and started training. He swung his two swords, dodged, blocked, stabbed… Flain trained for an hour, and exactly after an hour, something happened.
[+150 EXP]
[You have discovered a hidden ability in the Warrior class: [Warrior Training].]
Flain was surprised—he had gained EXP from training. It was only 150 EXP, but still better than nothing. Though it was still more efficient to earn EXP by killing—an hour of training gave him 150 EXP, whereas killing a hammer-headed snake in one minute granted 190 EXP. But then he noticed that Warrior Training was marked, so he clicked on it.
----
Meanwhile, the black Lizard army was returning to their home. As they entered, all the black Lizards looked at them, curious about the news.
Two commanders stepped forward before the Svetloid and smeared their faces with toxic saliva.
"My Svetloid, we have made quite an unexpected discovery," one of the commanders said. The Svetloid fixed its large, glowing purple eyes on them.
"At the lake where our commander went to collect the tribute for that slaughtered group, we found something. All the corpses were there—ours and the greens'. It looks like, in the end, our commander fought against something and lost because he was farther away from the others," the commander continued.
"This leads us to believe that the greens didn't kill them. There is zero chance they killed each other, especially considering that we had an equal-sized army at the lake, so if they had fought, they would have won. This brings us to the thought that someone or something stumbled upon them while they were arguing and killed them all," the second commander said.
The Svetloid began trembling with rage. "WHAT WORM DARES TO KILL MY COMMANDER?!" he roared in fury.
"My Svetloid, it would be wise to arrange a meeting of the Svetloids so you can reach an agreement," the first commander said.
"Very well, then. Send a messenger," the black Svetloid said, now slightly calmer.
Flain, in the meantime, kept training. He decided he would train until Itai woke up because he wanted to be absolutely sure that the black Lizard army was gone—he definitely didn't want to die.
Flain didn't know how long humans slept since, in his world, people only needed to sleep for three hours due to their lifestyle. Of course, slaves didn't count—they needed as much as ten hours of sleep, but their owners never allowed them that luxury.
As Flain trained, a rather problematic thought crossed his mind. What if Itai died standing up? What then? But Flain then realized that he would simply return in time again to the beginning with a sample of his power. Even so, it was still annoying—Flain could build something in this world, but his master just had to die standing, and Flain along with him.
He quickly pushed such thoughts aside and focused on training—that was a problem for future Flain. He trained for a total of 11 hours straight, checking on Itai regularly, but each time, Itai was still asleep. Only after 11 hours did he finally wake up. Flain had earned a total of 1650 EXP, including what he gained in the first hour.
----
Meanwhile, a large procession of black Lizards, led by their Svetloid wielding a massive sword, was making its way toward the settlement of the green Lizards.
The green Lizard guards let them inside, where the green Lizards were already waiting, led by their own Svetloid.
The Svetloids pointed their weapons at each other—the green Svetloid held a spear, while the black one gripped a large sword. Their weapons clashed, producing a majestic sound. But the difference in their sizes was quite apparent.
"I greet you Zehren," said the green Svetloid.
"I greet you Aran," the black Svetloid replied curtly.
Both of them then walked alone into a rather large bone-constructed building in the green settlement. Inside, there was a massive table made of bones, and across from each other stood two large bone chairs. The Svetloids sat down facing one another.
"Aran, you probably know why I requested this meeting," Zehren said.
"I have a hunch," Aran replied.
"At first, I thought it was you, but it didn't fit your personality. A group of ours went missing, but another group found their fresh corpses. Sorry, but we couldn't think of another standout suspect besides you. It couldn't have been those from above because our squad watching the entrance reported nothing. That's why we went to claim your water, and you came to oppose us. But suddenly, my group didn't return with their commander, and when I sent a large reconnaissance squad, it was revealed that both groups had been massacred," Zehren said, trying to keep from yelling in anger.
"That's unfortunate. Three of my groups have gone missing as well," Aran muttered.
"I propose that you and I join forces, find the culprit, and take our revenge. We will sacrifice all our soldiers, capture them, and then they will experience something they've never endured before," Zehren declared...