Shay gazed at the purple ball hovering above the pedestal. The process diverged from Miss Aubrielle's teleportation, as the sphere enlarged and spread.
It began whirling, showing white stars and streams of vibrant colors, resembling a nebula mirror.
All the features coalesced, creating a bright vibrating surface as a breeze surrounded its oval shape.
He stepped closer, a recollection tied to his feet, disabled of movement. The past reminded him of the teleportation backstab, sending him to his grave from which he ascended.
Gritting his teeth, he flexed all his limbs muscles and tore the soul binding rope, crumbling the unfortunate experience as a paper.
While entering the gateway, his mind melted as his body traveled across the relativity of space, twisting his stomach in the process.
Whoosh.
Unprepared, the portal spat him out like a gum, thrusting him toward a gartium reinforced wall.
'Shit. Afterall, it can behave as in typical fantasies.'
Crash!
His internals seemed to mash together, creating mixtures of displeasure while lying on the ground.
"Urgh… I should have asked Aubrielle instead. This feeling sucks."
He pushed himself upward, bracing himself against the structure for support.
The room was empty besides the transportation device, and a human-sized exit, which he used after wobbling towards it.
His mind circled around, interfering with his rationality, as he kicked the door open.
The outside's over-saturated sunlight pierced his pupils, blinking fast as the irises enlarged the latter for enhanced passage.
As he regained full control of his consciousness and senses, he observed the scenery.
'So those are Safe Zones,' he thought, narrowing his sight as he scanned the surroundings.
Back in his town, the situation was reversed. Instead of encampments, they enclosed certain areas, entrapping the monsters.
These hunting sites were used for leaving school exams, which Shay could picture. Until that day, his skin revealed goose bumps when remembering the muddy puddle, which he sucked dry.
Otherwise, the vast area featured military buildings. Barracks, training grounds, medical tents, everything needed for surviving the days could be found there.
He roamed, familiarizing himself with each facility's purpose and buying necessities for his outing.
"Did you hear about the southern sector being cleared out? Apparently, there was no trace of Forest Trolls."
Shay's head turned, causing his movement to a complete stop. As he overheard a distant gossip around the corner, forcing him to check his bestiary with Shade's kill count.
[Forest Troll - 40/200] [Camouflaged Hide]
[Hill Troll - 11/150] [Sturdy Skin]
[Cave Troll - 96/100] [??????]
His breathing malfunctioned, disallowing air to enter through his wide opened mouth. His eyes shook at such sight, eyelids nearly hiding behind their sockets.
'What the fuck? Almost five hundred trolls killed?'
He defeated Holden during ranking's challenge because of Shade's killing spree, merging similar skills while in an utmost emergency.
[Bestiary milestone reached. Reward: Shadow Stone]
[Description: When the user is in a dark environment, their skin hardens to resemble rock. During the form, significantly increases physical damage resistance. It also allows blending in with cavern walls.]
He expected the prompt's appearance, since he assumed Shade worked toward completing his milestone, but he still showed a smirk, looking at his new skill properties.
'Not too shabby, even though the last feature is useless to me.'
He closed the system's interface and headed outside, going straight to the mountain range's core.
******
The sun's position shifted above as tiny beams passed through leaves of the thick forest. As he sprinted to the expanding hills, air brushed through his long hair.
Roar!
A thundering sensation shocked his mind, jumping to the side while keeping his momentum, as a palm resembling grass swished around him.
He pivoted, landing sideways against a trunk as pieces of bark parted.
Thud. Thud.
He directed his gaze at the Forest Troll, towering below the foliage. They were huge, yet their skin allowed concealment for surprise attacks like this.
They also hid their smell by using mud, covering their sweaty parts to ensure perfect hiding.
The monster tried approaching him, stomping gigantean footmarks on the ground.
However, after taking two more steps, Shay used that large tree as a launch pad, throwing himself against the troll's head, crushing its skull with his fist.
The timber behind him crackled and fell beside him, breaking the soulless corpse's legs.
He surprised himself, thoughts racing before his eyes. 'Em... I could've reserved more strength, I guess?'
Although he reduced the power he exerted by a lot, it still pressured the tree's base too much.
[First Forest Troll killed]
[Rewards:]
[Strength: 35 (24%) -> 36 (21%)]
[Endurance: 30 (11%) -> 31 (10%)]
"What???"
He filled three creature bestiary goals, but since Shade did all the work, he received no skill points. The reason was, quite simply, that they didn't die by his own hands.
While gazing at the corpse, a sigh slipped from his mouth, thinking about the unnecessary hassle. Stats evaded his consideration, faintly remembering each initial Growler evolution gifted him with such prowess.
He shook his head, parting from his thoughts as he bolted at the mountain range.
On his course, slaying the same monsters obscuring his straightforward path, he also killed a Hill Troll. It provided him with a similar upgrade, adding two points for each of the latter stats.
******
Shay bent behind, staring at the humongous precipice he needed to climb. He put down his backpack, some pockets filled with curved fangs, and pulled out a cartogram.
"Hmmm, heading along takes time to reach the peak chasm, which I currently don't have. Well, let's try rock climbing." He said, packing up his map.
He stepped closer to the mountain's foot, adjusting his bag straight before ascending. As he scanned the potential routes, his feet tiptoed on a protrusion and his hands grasped sharp edges.
He pressed his chest against the rocky surface, shifting his center-of-gravity forward to prevent falling. It grazed his skin, almost ticklish from the stone's sharpness.
While groping and stepping over stone shards and fissures, he reached one of the platforms below the top.
"It's not too hard," he remarked, gazing at the steeper section of the cliff.
While cleaning dust particles, a thick mana strand appeared below him, leading behind the cliff's corner.
He cleaned his throat multiple times before shouting all the air from his lungs. "Shade! Come here, boy!"
A boulder shot from the border, rolling down and shaking the ground with micro tremors. He looked at the slowly approaching shadowy figure.
Shade's fur shone with purple outlines, suiting his darker than black color. Its limbs gained muscle volume, allowing faster travel and leaping height.
Otherwise, nothing else changed, yet such minor variations signaled his exponential growth.
As their stares clashed, Shay's pal mended with the crag's shadow, appearing by his side and jumping at him.
He fell to the ground, Shade lying beside him and licking his head. Residue of saliva stuck his hair together, creating a glistening stream of intertwining strands. It somewhat simulated voids of a galaxy.
The ember of joy he experienced transmigrated through his body, ending inside his face, leaving off a smiling expression while sweeping through his friend's half formed, soft coat.
"I know it's been a while, but I have another request from you."
Shade's intense behavior changed as he sat and cocked his ear, listening to Shay's plea.
"Can you hunt down a vast quantity of weaker beasts? I need foundations for merging other skills."
While explaining, he stroke his head while looking into his buddy's concerning eyes. They were dark, dark as the shadow itself, which he ruled like a black knight.
After a while, he let out an immense howl and jumped down the cliff, leaving him alone.
"It's time to finish this part of bestiary myself."
******
Pant. Pant.
Shay clutched his knees, partially bent, grasping for air. His body shook at the repetitive anxiety.
"Fuck this…" his breath was short, the sentence cut in half, "chasm."
He turned back and approached the edge, each step crouching closer to the ground.
Upon reaching the top, its crown angled outside, forcing him to hang on crackles by sliding his hands inside to create friction.
Without his reinforced skin, it would tear off with the possibility of learning how to fly.
"Ufff. I'll take a slight… rest?"
He bolted to the side, his head buzzing with warning signs, red alerting light filling up his apprehension.
Four trolls, creating wild wind gales, flew before him. Three of them crashed, sending earth all around from their massive bodies, while the other one barely missed the edge and a diminishing roar resonated from below.
The sides started crumbling as Shay stood close to nothingness.
His eyes narrowed at the horrifying sight, leaning forward and using his Thunder Dash. The soil below him got launched at a supersonic speed as he bolted past the three groaning monsters.
Although lying on the ground, their hips somehow reached just under his head, way monstrous than the hill and forest trolls.
His heart raced from the abomination, but with his skill, fear could only peek from the door's glass.
'What could launch four giants at once?!'
His comprehensive ability shattered, looking around for potential clues about what powerful being had such strength.
However, before his eyes swept throughout the surroundings, the three titans rose, sending a threatening roar toward Shay as they ran at him.
"Bring it on!" He screamed, taking a fighting stance position.