Ch. 21..30

Chapter 21 - Hegemon

CRRR! CRRRR!

The sound of something heavy being pulled along the ground resonated throughout the forest. Except for this sound, everything else was silent.

This was the sound of the Stalker's corpse being pulled through the forest.

White snowflakes fell down around Alex as he walked through the deep darkness.

Suddenly, Alex saw a slight golden light coming from the sky. If his eyes hadn't been strengthened, he wouldn't have noticed this little bit of light.

Above the layer of clouds was a golden shooting star, its light barely visible to him.

'A golden shooting star that's so bright that I can even see it through a thick layer of clouds?' Alex thought with furrowed brows. 'That's strange. However, this world is already strange enough. This is just one more oddity added to the pile.'

Alex looked back down.

This golden shooting star didn't concern him.

After a while, Alex arrived at his clearing.

He hadn't seen another animal or creature all this time.

If it had been a month ago, Alex would have met at least one creature that had been drawn to him due to the sound, but Alex's position had changed.

He was no longer the vulnerable, new survivor.

Now, he was one of the hunters of the forest.

A normal animal would be frightened off by the Stalker's corpse, and a powerful creature would be able to feel Alex's power.

Stalkers weren't the most powerful creatures in the forest, but they also weren't weak.

Alex still remembered the two gigantic beasts he had seen when he had just arrived.

If Alex tried to attack them, he wouldn't even know how he had died.

He couldn't possibly fight against such behemoths with his current power.

Current was the keyword.

When Alex arrived at his clearing, he let go of the corpse and sat down beside it.

Shing! Shing!

Alex took out his sword and started to skin the corpse.

In the silent, cold night, only the sound of cutting could be heard.

It was like Alex was the only being in this world as only darkness surrounded him.

After Alex was done with skinning the Stalker, he took the hide and put it near his hut.

Then, Alex grabbed some dried wood from his wood stock. Alex had gathered a ton of wood the past couple of days. After all, when the true winter arrived, the snow would make all the trees wet. Alex needed dry wood to create a fire, and he needed enough to get through the winter.

Just as Alex put down the first branches, his head turned to one of the edges of the clearing.

Green eyes.

Alex knew these eyes.

It was the lizard that had stolen food from him more than once, the one that had shot the fireballs at the wolves.

However, the entire dynamic had changed.

When they had first met, the lizard had been overpowering. If it hadn't exhausted itself against the wolves, it could have killed Alex.

The second time they had met, they had been about equal.

Now, Alex was clearly the more powerful one of the two.

Alex had a lot of confidence in his ability to evade the fireballs, and even if he couldn't evade them, he could still use his sword or cloak to block them.

The lizard was dangerous but not nearly as dangerous as a Stalker.

Both of them knew that Alex was the more powerful one.

Alex scratched his chin in thought as he looked at the lizard from a distance.

Alex decided that he wanted to try something.

Splosh!

Alex grabbed the severed leg of the Stalker and threw it over to the lizard. The lizard jumped to the side and looked at Alex warily.

Alex didn't move and only looked at the lizard for a while.

Then, Alex went back to creating his fire.

The lizard was a bit confused for a while, but it couldn't resist its instincts. It carefully walked closer to the leg, constantly keeping an eye on Alex.

PACK!

The lizard bit the leg and ran away at full speed.

Alex only smirked.

'Reptiles on earth are solitary creatures. It's nearly impossible to create any kind of connection with them, even when one has them as pets for years.'

'However, this world is different from earth. The Stalker was also smart enough to notice that I was weaker without my weapon. I think creatures are more intelligent than animals.'

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ 'Who knows? Maybe if I work hard enough, I can build some kind of cooperation with that lizard. If its power increases, I might even be able to use it as a form of oven or dryer. That would make surviving the winter far easier.'

'Actually, it's quite surprising to find reptiles in such a cold climate. Most reptiles are cold-blooded by nature, and they would freeze to death in these temperatures. I guess the fire the lizard can use keeps it warm in the winter.'

'Anyway, that's for the future. Right now, I need to see if this will actually work,' Alex thought as he continued building his fire.

Alex had placed the fire over ten meters away from his hut for a specific reason.

After some minutes, quite a big fire roared in front of Alex.

Alex cut some parts off the Stalker and grilled them around the fire. However, he didn't dry the hide yet.

Why not?

He had a reason for that.

Alex continued to build his hut for the next hour.

Boom!

A distant sound of something heavy hitting the ground could be heard.

Alex smirked.

'It actually works. Should I be happy or scared?'

The sound grew louder over the next two minutes until something appeared at the edge of the clearing.

It was absolutely enormous, and it had gigantic, green needles.

It was the hedgehog!

This was why Alex had built the fire so far away from his hut.

Alex assumed that the hedgehog had found him the last time due to the fire and smell of meat, and sure enough, the hedgehog had appeared once again.

Alex didn't hide but sat several meters away from the fire, leaving enough space for the hedgehog.

The hedgehog looked at Alex for a second and then focused on the fire.

Just like last time, the hedgehog warmed itself over the fire for several minutes. While warming itself, it ate the entire Stalker.

After some more minutes, the hedgehog walked away from the fire, not destroying it this time.

After some meters, it stopped as it shook its body again.

This time, it dropped far more fruits.

After shaking off the fruits, the hedgehog left the clearing again.

'Sacrifice flesh to the Forest God, and you shall be awarded with fruit,' Alex thought with a smirk.

Alex looked at the retreating hedgehog and saw hundreds of fruits growing on its needles.

How much would his power improve if he could eat all of those?

However, Alex would never attempt to steal these fruits.

This hedgehog was humongous, very noticeable, and incredibly slow. Alex knew that the Stalker wasn't the powerful creature in this forest, which meant that there had to be more powerful ones.

Yet, the hedgehog still walked around at a leisurely pace.

No beast could miss this hedgehog since they could hear it from hundreds of meters away.

This only meant that either nothing attempted to kill the hedgehog or that everything that attacked the hedgehog died.

This hedgehog couldn't be simple at all.

Even more, Alex remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen on the mountains on his first day. That lizard had only been on the mountains, even though it could enter the forest. The thing it had killed had also been in the forest, not in the mountains.

There was no reason for the gigantic lizard to not enter the forest. After all, there was much more food here.

Yet, it hadn't entered.

Alex assumed that this hedgehog was the very reason for that.

The gigantic lizard had to have seen the hedgehog, but it hadn't attacked.

With all of these clues combined, Alex concluded that the hedgehog was probably the most powerful being in the entire basin.

Just one of its hundreds of fruits already made Alex's body nearly explode with Mana.

This thing was a true monster, the true hegemon of this basin!

Alex still remembered that the God had said that he should only go to a different wilderness when this one no longer posed any danger. This probably meant that the wilderness surrounding the basin was far more dangerous.

So, why wasn't any creature from there entering this basin? The mountains couldn't possibly stop them since they weren't even that high.

This was the hedgehog's territory.

It probably even counted as a mighty creature on the outside.

However, another question was, did no creature dare to enter…

Or did every creature that entered die?

Alex wasn't sure, but his attention was quickly drawn to the fruits on the ground.

Alex smirked.

There were so many!

Chapter 22 - The Enemy Is Complacency

Alex gathered the fruits.

There were 26 of them, which was insane!

The pig Alex had fed to the Hegemon before had only given him five, with one being taken away by the lizard.

But now, Alex received 26!

'Obviously, the Hegemon is rewarding me with fruits based on the power of the prey,' Alex thought as he gathered the fruits. 'What defines power? I guess it's mostly the amount of Mana inside of a being. The pig had only been a normal animal, but it had been quite massive. A normal wolf would probably only give me three fruits or something like that.'

As Alex took up the last fruit, he looked at it with narrowed eyes. 'I can train my body without problems when it comes to muscles, but power isn't only muscles.'

'I need powerful bones to resist my own power and to continue fighting after taking a heavy hit.'

'I need powerful organs for the same reason.'

'There's probably even something that can increase the effectiveness of my blood. More powerful muscles need more oxygen, and the blood is the thing that transports said oxygen.'

As Alex thought about that, he furrowed his brows. 'Wait a second. If my body requires more oxygen, I would be taking far deeper breaths. After all, my muscles are already more powerful than any human's muscles on earth. Yet, I'm breathing normally. In fact, now that I think about it, my breathing became even shallower.'

'It's almost like the more powerful my body gets, the less oxygen it needs, which makes no sense,' Alex thought. 'I wonder, can Mana work as some kind of replacement for oxygen? I think that's a possibility.'

Then, Alex sighed.

'Well, even without that, blood still plays an integral function for the body, and even if the blood itself has no chance of increasing its effectiveness, my blood vessels still need to become stronger. After all, I don't want to pop a vein whenever I bow forward.'

'In short, everything's important. My normal training gives me all I need for my muscles, but I require these fruits for everything else. I need to damage my body so that it can absorb Mana, and any damage to my bones or organs could prove fatal without a lot of Mana.'

Alex looked at the fire in the center of his clearing.

The fire crackled peacefully, and it was the sole source of light in a sea of darkness. The white snowflakes danced around it as the warm air pushed them away and melted them.

The sky was dark.

The forest was dark.

Only the fire wasn't dark.

What kind of impact did this image have on Alex?

Alienation.

From what?

From the fire.

The fire gave comfort to humans, but Alex didn't need comfort.

Alex's goal was not comfort and safety but power.

Alex wasn't prey anymore.

He was the hunter.

Alex's killing of the Stalker had reaffirmed this mindset.

However, deep inside, Alex still wanted to rest by the fire. He wanted to let go of all the pressure and dangers all around him.

But Alex wouldn't do so.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Alex had learned a lot from his fight with the Stalker.

The two opponents had been about equal in power.

Yet, Alex had basically come out of the fight without even being injured or in danger.

The Stalker hadn't even been able to resist.

Why?

Willpower!

Conviction!

Alex had gone all-in and had put his life on the line. He had never thought about retreat, and he had only attacked. He would either win or die attacking!

'I've been in similar situations before,' Alex thought as he gazed at the fire. 'Back when I trained my ass off for my fights, I had to uphold a strict diet, had to uphold a strict training regime, had nearly no free time.'

'I had the uncertainty of my future on my shoulders. If I lost my fight, I would not have any ways to make more money. I decided to go all-in in my training, and if I didn't win this gamble, I would fall into oblivion.'

'Keeping up with all of this was easy for a couple of weeks, hard for a couple of months, but the closer it got to the day of my fight, the heavier the burden became.'

'Some days before my first fight, I wanted to just run away. I cried and wanted to end my life. All the pressure was overwhelming, and no matter what I did for the remaining couple of days, it wouldn't offset everything I have invested in the past years.'

'My fate had already been decided by my past actions. Yet, I didn't know what fate would be chosen for me.'

'It was a feeling of powerlessness. It was like I no longer had control over my destiny.'

Alex looked at the fire.

'This fire reminds me of that place. I could abandon everything and simply sit down. I could find solace and escape this pressure. After all, I'm powerful enough to survive. I don't need to go through this pain anymore.'

Alex's eyes steeled. 'Yet, in order to achieve my dream, I need discipline. One day of skipping training will lead to another day a week later, which will lead to another day a week later until it becomes normal. Then, I will eventually take another day off, and the same thing will repeat itself.'

'In the end, I will have mostly given up.'

'Complacency will have invaded my being.'

Alex turned around and took hold of the Stalker's hide.

Then, he went over to the fire and hung the hide near it.

Alex turned away from the fire again and walked away.

'I can't give in to complacency!'

Alex arrived at his bag and looked through it.

'I still have newly-made jerky left. That's enough food for several days. I shouldn't eat anything right now since I will be training. I don't want to eat jerky just to puke it out again,' Alex thought.

Alex grabbed one of the fruits and looked at it with conviction.

Yet, no matter how convicted and stalwart his mind was at the moment, he still felt deep terror when he looked at the fruit.

This fruit symbolized another harrowing, torturous, traumatic experience.

'I'm sure there are other ways to train my organs, bones, skin, blood vessels, and so on. I can't imagine everyone going through this hell. The path to power is hard, but not that hard, probably.'

'Sadly, I don't know these other methods. Also, would these other methods be better than this one? Would they be faster?'

'I don't know.'

Alex hesitated a bit, but after gnashing his teeth, Alex finally swallowed the entire fruit.

Alex's body immediately felt like it started burning again.

However, Alex noticed a difference.

'The sensation of burning is not as intense as before,' Alex thought with fiery eyes. 'I will still explode if I don't do anything about this Mana, but it doesn't feel as immediate as before.'

'My body has become more powerful, and the fruits no longer have as big of an effect anymore.'

'Although, one fruit should still be enough for two jumps.'

Alex climbed the tree and looked around. Thanks to the Mana, his eyes had become so strong that he could see the entire clearing and some surroundings from the tree, even in the dead of night.

Alex didn't want to be ambushed while he was injured.

'The Mana also heals my head, even if I don't feel the burning there. Even if I lose consciousness, as long as I don't immediately die, the Mana should heal me.'

Then, Alex jumped.

Alex had never jumped from so high.

Some seconds later, Alex hit the ground.

He hit the ground spread-eagle.

Every part of his body hit the ground at the same time.

"Hurgh!"

Suddenly, Alex threw himself to the side as he puked more blood. Then, Alex took a deep breath.

It felt like he hadn't breathed for a minute.

Alex looked to his side at the floor, and he saw a huge pool of blood.

Alex looked at his body and saw that there were basically no injuries.

'I've lost consciousness for half a minute to a minute,' Alex realized.

It was a terrifying thought to know that it had been a very real possibility that Alex might not have woken up again.

Alex felt the Mana in his body and, sure enough, he had enough for one more jump.

Alex gritted his teeth.

'I need to continue!'

Alex climbed the tree again.

On this night, for several hours, the loud sounds of explosions could be heard from this part of the forest.

The animals didn't go there since it sounded like a terrifying predator.

The predators didn't go there since the sound would scare away all the prey.

This was one of the reasons why Alex decided to train at night.

Everyone was more careful, and no one would want to go to a noisy place in a forest at night.

Thus, Alex hadn't been disturbed in his masochistic training for the entire night.

 

Chapter 23 - Cold

Snow stormed throughout the forest.

The ground was covered with nearly a meter of snow, and the trees had transformed into silhouettes of ice and snow.

It was the height of winter.

It had been about four months since Alex had arrived in this world.

Currently, it was noon. Sadly, the sun couldn't be seen clearly as a violent blizzard stormed throughout the forest.

Judging by the nearly horizontal icicles on the trees, this blizzard had been going on for a long time already.

CRK! CRK!

Suddenly, something pushed the snow beneath a huge, dead tree to the side.

An opened door was revealed, which led to a small, warm area beneath the tree without snow.

A figure cloaked in black stepped out of the area.

Everything about the figure had been hidden by black fur, including the figure's head.

The figure looked like a faceless shadow of fur.

This was Alex.

Alex had finished his hut in time, but the hut hadn't been able to resist the storms in the winter, which was why it had collapsed.

Now, Alex only lived in a tiny "room" at the bottom of the dead tree. Only a diagonal barrier of wood protected him from the cold snow.

This was the best Alex could do in this situation.

Luckily, it was effective enough.

Right now, the temperatures even reached -40 degrees Celsius, which was frightening for someone living outside.

However, Alex didn't feel cold at all.

Something was keeping him warm, even while traveling through the forest.

Alex slowly stepped through the forest.

Why was Alex walking through this blizzard?

Because he had no other choice.

Alex's food had run out several days ago, and he had wanted to wait for the blizzard's end.

However, the blizzard just didn't end.

A conspicuous, dark shadow traveled across the snowy forest, the only dark thing in sight.

It was an oddity.

'I need food,' Alex thought. 'As soon as I get some food, I can continue training.'

Alex had summoned the Hegemon of the forest several times by now, and he had somewhat grown accustomed to the terrifying experiences that followed.

Additionally, Alex's swordsmanship had also increased considerably.

Alex hadn't had any guided training on swordsmanship, but he had continually trained all the different kinds of attacks and moves he could perform.

As long as his movements became more fluid, faster, and more powerful, his combat power should increase.

Alex didn't know if he had any weaknesses in his movements, but there was no way to rectify them, even if he had them.

The creatures weren't smart enough to notice the openings in Alex's movements.

Alex pushed himself through the snow.

However, he wasn't exactly walking upright.

The snow was already very high, and Alex decided to use the snow as cover. Because of that, Alex walked with a lowered posture, not showing himself anywhere. He would only raise his head above the snow cover occasionally to search for prey.

Alex had always traveled through the forest at night.

Why?

Because he needed stealth.

In the day, Alex's prey would see him from a distance and run away.

Now, this was no longer a problem.

Alex's body had become terrifyingly powerful, and he had no problems in reaching 50 – 60 kilometers per hour even with all his equipment.

Now, the light of day was an advantage instead of a disadvantage for him.

However, there had been one more reason why Alex hadn't traveled during the day.

Powerful predators.

What did this have to do with the time of day?

Well, most predators hunted at night.

Why?

For the same reasons as Alex had hunted at night. They needed stealth in order to catch their prey and run away.

Yet, what about the predators that hunted during the day?

One only had to think back to earth and think about what predators were active during the night and which predators were active during the day.

In North America, the predators that were active during the night were mostly small animals like weasels, for example. Yet, bears were active during the day.

There were fewer predators active during the day, but the ones that were active had a higher likelihood of being far more powerful.

Additionally, if a weaker predator were active during the day, there would be a high likelihood that they would be caught by a bigger predator due to the light of day.

The ones that needed to hide were active during the night.

The ones that didn't need to hide were active during the day.

Alex had killed two more Stalkers in the past couple of months, and he had also killed a gigantic anaconda, which had been a bit more powerful than a normal Stalker.

The anaconda had shot ice projectiles at Alex, which he had been able to defend against with his new cloak, at least to some degree. The projectiles still shot through Alex's cloak, but he hadn't been injured that heavily.

The ice projectiles also explained why such a tropical animal as an anaconda lived in such a cold climate.

Ever since then, Alex hadn't felt challenged again.

This was also one of the reasons why Alex came out during the day instead of the night.

The God had told Alex that he should become more powerful by throwing himself into danger.

Right now, as long as Alex kept himself hidden during the day, he wouldn't be in any danger anymore.

This was enough to survive but not enough to reach true power.

Alex knew that he had to push himself.

And wasn't this a prime opportunity for him?

Such a powerful blizzard would make it harder for a big creature to move around. Additionally, the blizzard would interfere with the eyes, nose, and ears of the creature.

In comparison, Alex had a thin, nearly transparent piece of skin over his eyes. This protected his eyes from the blizzard.

Alex traveled through the snowy forest for nearly thirty minutes, leaving behind a crevice in the snow cover.

Alex had seen about two white rabbits up to now, but he wasn't interested in them.

He wanted bigger prey.

After a while, Alex arrived in front of a lake. This was the lake in the middle of the forest.

Alex wanted to come here since there were fewer trees in the way. If something traveled across the frozen lake, Alex would be able to spot it.

The lake was about a kilometer wide, making it neither small nor big.

However, the closer Alex got to the lake, the colder he felt.

'Is the temperature dropping?' Alex thought.

When Alex reached the edge of the lake, he felt like the temperature had dropped by another 20 degrees.

What was going on?

Why was it so much colder here?

As Alex looked at the lake, he got his answer.

Alex narrowed his eyes as he saw the two things in the middle of the lake.

One thing was something that was difficult to describe. It was some form of force. Some white air came out of the lake in the form of a spire, about two meters tall. It almost looked illusory. Several icicles and broken pieces of ice were seemingly levitating around the white, illusory spire.

'This is the thing that's causing all this coldness, and I'm sure that this thing wasn't here before,' Alex thought.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Then, Alex looked at the other thing. 'And that thing too.'

What was the other thing?

An ice bear.

A big one.

A really big one.

The ice bear was probably nearly three meters tall, which was insane. That was the height of an elephant!

This thing probably weighed several tons!

By now, Alex had cultivated some sort of feeling of animals and creatures.

How powerful did this creature feel?

Far more powerful than a Stalker.

More powerful than the ice anaconda.

Probably a bit weaker than the gigantic lizard Alex had seen on the mountains on his first day.

Far weaker than the Hegemon.

The bear slept beside the spire.

'This spire probably releases something that makes it easier for creatures with the ice element to become more powerful. I don't know if there are types of Mana, but if there were, this would probably be concentrated Ice Mana.'

Alex looked at his surroundings a bit more and found some bones strewn around the lake.

'I think nearly all animals with an Ice Affinity are drawn to this spire, but this bear has probably won the bloody battle.'

Alex remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen on his first day.

'The lizard didn't dare to enter the basin, but this bear did. Yet, this bear only feels a bit weaker than that lizard.'

'This probably means that this bear represents the highest power allowed by the Hegemon. Judging by the fear of the lizard, anything more powerful than this bear will probably be killed by the Hegemon. I don't know how the hedgehog does it, but that's the only explanation I can come up with.'

Alex narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

'It's a huge risk, but I'm supposed to risk my life. It doesn't feel like I would be helpless in front of this bear, but it also doesn't feel like I can win. It's a gamble.'

Alex's fist shook in conflict, but eventually, it relaxed.

'If I turn back now, I will turn back again later. I can't allow that!'

Alex readied his sword and patted the side of his torso a bit to check for something.

Then, he walked towards the lake.

 

Chapter 24 - Bear

Alex stepped onto the ice.

The surroundings became even colder as Alex walked forward.

However, Alex quickly noticed something that would change the entire dynamic of the fight.

Alex nearly fell over as his feet lost their grip.

'It's fucking ice! How could I have overlooked something like that?!' he thought in frustration.

Alex stabbed his sword into the ice. The sword easily entered the ice, almost like it didn't exist.

Then, Alex pushed himself forward, using his sword as an anchor point in the ice.

Alex practiced a bit to get used to his new form of movement.

After some minutes, Alex had a good grasp on how to move properly on the ice. Luckily, the bear was still sleeping. It either didn't notice him, or Alex didn't feel dangerous enough for it to care.

Alex looked at the bear with narrowed eyes. 'It can use its claws to run on the ice. It has the advantage in that sense.'

Then, Alex smirked. 'However, the ice can also be disadvantageous to it if I use it correctly.'

Then, Alex slid forward.

After around 200 meters of gliding across the lake, the bear opened its eyes and lifted its head as it looked at Alex.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Alex's heart jumped as their gazes met.

'Powerful!' Alex thought. 'But I can't always live in safety! If I want power, I have to push myself!'

The two only gazed at each other for several seconds.

CRRRR!

After the bear saw that Alex didn't move, it started to silently growl, the vibrations going across the lake.

'It either feels threatened or annoyed by me,' Alex thought.

Alex continued sliding forward.

When the bear saw that Alex didn't retreat, it stood up as it turned to him. Its growl became louder as it tried to scare Alex away.

Alex came closer.

Now, only 100 meters separated them.

Suddenly, the cold air around the bear transformed into a cold storm.

The bear took a deep breath, and Alex felt his hairs stand on end.

Alex immediately jumped to the side.

SHING!

A spear made of ice whizzed past Alex's body with insane speeds.

BANG!

The spear of ice punched through a tree and got stuck in the tree behind that one.

Alex took a deep breath.

This bear was no joke!

Alex had already met several beasts with these kinds of elemental powers, but this bear was on a completely different level.

The lizard Alex had seen a couple of times could only throw weak fireballs.

The anaconda had only been able to shoot some cold wind.

The Stalker also had an elemental power, but it hadn't been used as a form of attack but for keeping it hidden and silent.

Yet, this bear could transform its elemental powers into an actual attack.

Alex tightened the grip on his sword and continued going towards the bear.

The bear noticed that Alex had evaded, and it quickly formed another spear.

The spear shot forward.

BANG!

This time, Alex blocked the ice spear with the side of his sword. Alex could have evaded the attack, but he wanted to test if he could block it. It was better to test it from a distance in case his sword broke. If that happened, he could still flee.

Alex's arms shook, and his body got stopped by the power of the spear, but he had not gotten injured.

Alex quickly rammed his sword into the ground and shot himself forward with all his power.

In an instant, Alex's speed multiplied as he shot towards the bear.

The bear roared in aggression as another ice spear materialized, which it then directly shot at Alex.

CRR!

Alex fell on his ass and continued sliding forward, the spear passing over him, freezing parts of his hair.

Alex had arrived in front of the bear.

BOOOM!

Alex rammed his sword into the ground to stop himself, and a meaty paw exploded on the ice in front of Alex. If he hadn't stopped himself in time, he would have been killed.

Ice exploded in front of Alex as part of the icy lake was destroyed.

Alex's eyes never lost their conviction, even if he had several brushes with death.

Conviction!

He had to attack!

Alex used his sword as support and threw himself over it.

WHOOSH!

A paw swiped past Alex, barely hitting the sword.

Yet, the hit had already achieved its effect. Alex's sword was thrown to the side. Alex still managed to keep hold of his sword, but the trajectory of his jump had changed.

Alex had wanted to attack the bear from above, but he just passed it by on its upper left.

The bear quickly stood up onto its hind legs and tried to swipe at Alex again.

The bear's speed was incredibly fast, far faster than Alex had anticipated.

Alex put his sword in front of himself. He couldn't evade while being in the air, which meant that he could only block.

CRK!

Suddenly, the ice beneath the bear broke, and the bear's hind legs fell into holes.

Because of that, the bear's swipe missed Alex.

'Just as I've thought,' Alex thought as he landed on the other side, sliding away. 'The bear is already incredibly heavy. Obviously, the ice is sturdy and thick, but there has to be a limit to the ice's strength. It can resist the bear's weight when it's spread apart, but not when it's concentrated.'

The bear shouted in frustration and pulled itself out of the ice.

At the same time, Alex put his sword into the ice again and changed his trajectory.

There was now a distance of 20 meters between them.

The bear turned to Alex.

Then, it charged forward, the ice cracking beneath its powerful strides.

Alex used his sword like a ski pole to control his trajectory and speed as he circled around the bear.

The bear came closer, and Alex used his sword to immediately and sharply change his trajectory.

BOOOOM!

Another powerful paw hit the ice, but Alex managed to evade it.

Alex continued sliding around, and the same thing repeated itself once again.

How was the bear not able to hit Alex? It shouldn't be that stupid, right?

Ever tried to hit a fly in the air with a hand?

It was difficult.

Why?

It wasn't because of the speed. After all, a human's hand could move faster than the fly.

No, the problem was the fly's ability to change trajectories in an instant.

This gave the fly the ability to evade things that were moving even faster than it.

The bear was faster than Alex, but Alex's sudden changes of trajectory were throwing it off.

SSSSSS!

The sound of something cutting could be heard as Alex slid around the bear.

The bear grew more frustrated as it realized that it couldn't hit Alex.

CRK!

It formed another ice spear and shot it at Alex.

BANG!

Alex blocked it with his sword. Then, he continued sliding around the bear.

The bear shouted in frustration and condensed another ice spear.

Suddenly, Alex changed his trajectory again and slid towards the bear.

BANG!

Alex blocked the spear again and got stopped by it.

Suddenly, another spear appeared.

BANG!

Alex was pushed back, and he fell onto his back due to the force, sliding away from the bear.

Another spear.

DING!

Due to Alex lying on the ground, the spear passed over him and buried itself in the ground behind him.

CRK!

Alex slid right into the spear, and Alex frantically pushed himself away.

Alex had stopped his slide by using his free hand to stop himself by grabbing the spear. However, the Stalker's coat between Alex's hand and the spear froze in an instant!

This spear's temperature was frighteningly low!

If Alex had grabbed the spear directly, his free arm would have been frozen solid!

The frozen part of Alex's coat broke off like a piece of ice.

Alex quickly jumped to his feet and slid away again, barely dodging another ice spear.

Then, he slid towards the bear again, dodging another spear.

Suddenly, Alex jumped.

Alex looked with fiery eyes at the bear.

However, Alex gritted his teeth when he realized that the bear didn't stand up!

His entire plan hinged on the bear standing up!

Instead, another ice spear appeared above the bear.

Alex changed the position of his sword. He had wanted to strike the bear, but he had to block again.

CRK!

Yet, Alex's eyes widened in horror as a second spear formed above the bear.

Then, both spears shot at Alex.

Alex couldn't block both of them!

He would get hit by one!

Chapter 25 - Thing

Alex gritted his teeth.

If he had to take one of the two spears, he would take the one that hit a less vital area!

SHING! SHING!

The two spears shot forward, and Alex's sword blocked one of them.

SHING!

However, the other one punched through Alex's left shoulder.

Before Alex's left arm completely froze, he issued one last command to it.

Whoosh!

Alex's coat was thrown up as his left arm lifted upward.

Then, Alex's left arm and a huge part of his torso froze over in nearly an instant.

"Now!"

Alex shouted.

As Alex's coat was thrown upward, his torso was revealed, and something new with it.

How had Alex been able to stay warm in such insanely cold weather?

Around Alex's torso was a large, green lizard! It was curled around Alex's torso, and it radiated a ton of heat!

It was the lizard that Alex had met on his first day!

The lizard had already prepared itself.

BANG!

The lizard shot a fireball in the bear's face.

BOOM!

The fireball exploded on the bear's head, making it scream in fear and pain.

Its eyes were completely destroyed!

Its fur was singed, and burns littered its face. However, it wasn't dead yet.

In the chaos, the bear stood up.

CRK! CRK!

The bear's hind legs broke through the ice again, and the bear's torso hit the front of the ice as it lost its balance.

CRK!

Suddenly, the ice in a rough circle around the bear broke.

Back when Alex had slid around the bear, he had cut out the part of the ice where the bear was standing on. The bear's fall broke the ice.

CREEEAAK!

Suddenly, the icecap started tilting towards one side. The bear's hind legs were in the center of the icecap, while its torso was on one side.

Like a human that leaned completely to one side while wearing a lifebuoy in the water, the icecap completely tilted.

BANG!

Until it turned 180°!

The bear's body was now below the ice as its hind legs stuck out from the ice.

Alex gritted his teeth as the burning pain from his left side seared itself into his mind.

Alex heard a muffled roar from below the ice as the icecap shook with power.

When Alex landed, he used his sword to shoot himself towards the bear's legs.

CRACK!

Alex swung his sword at one of the legs, and it cut to the middle of the leg, only being blocked by the bone.

This was the first creature that managed to resist Alex's sword to some degree.

Alex immediately swung a second time!

CRACK!

The bone was broken, and with another swing, the bear's left hind leg was cut off.

A shower of blood shot out, coating Alex's entire body.

Alex could hear another terrifying roar beneath the ice, but he couldn't get distracted now.

BANG!

Alex hit the bear's other leg before it managed to free itself.

BANG!

However, suddenly, something shocking happened.

The bear's other leg was pulled below the surface of the lake with terrifying speed!

Alex's eyes widened.

'This couldn't have been the bear! That yank was too powerful!'

Silence.

Only the blizzard roared.

The lake was completely silent.

Alex slowly walked forward and looked through one of the two holes.

Red!

The water beneath the hole was blood red!

This wasn't right!

For Alex, the atmosphere on the lake changed.

From a natural calm to a terrifying calm.

Alex didn't feel like he was on a lake but on the roof of a terrifying creature's domain.

The way the bear had been pulled underwater had been unnatural.

It was like a giant hand had simply yanked the bear out.

Suddenly, the silent sound of something small coming out of the water could be heard.

Alex's body shuddered, and he quickly jumped away from the two holes.

What had he just seen?!

A long and thin tentacle had silently come out of one of the holes!

The tentacle directly went to the middle of the lake, towards the ethereal ice spire in the middle.

The tentacle seemingly didn't end as it extended for over 20 meters!

When the tentacle arrived beside the ethereal spire, it moved around it, seemingly inspecting it.

After some seconds, the tentacle pulled back into the water.

CRRRR!

Then, the two holes in the ice quickly got repaired.

It was like the ice hadn't been damaged at all!

Alex had completely stopped breathing as he watched all of this unfold.

He didn't want to make any sound.

After a bit, Alex noticed something else, and what he saw shook him to the core.

The ethereal spire in the middle of the lake.

It had grown bigger and more powerful!

Immediately, Alex combined several clues into a terrifying picture.

'This is not some natural Mana phenomenon,' Alex thought.

'This is bait!'

'This… thing created this ethereal spire to lure in a powerful creature! Then, it would consume the creature after a while!'

'This is a trap!'

Alex took a deep breath.

If it were another creature like the bear, Alex wouldn't feel so distraught.

However, the power with which this thing had pulled the bear down had been too frightening.

It was like a grown man that had yanked on a mere piece of grass!

The yank had been so powerful that it was probably harder to not accidentally tear the bear apart than to pull it out of the ice!

The bear and this thing were not on the same level at all!

'Maybe the hedgehog actually isn't the most powerful thing in this forest?' Alex thought with terror.

'What if the hedgehog isn't the reason why there are no powerful creatures here?'

'What if the reason is that thing in the lake?'

Suddenly, Alex felt something pull on his coat, and Alex nearly jumped back.

However, he realized that it was only the lizard that had climbed down.

The lizard seemingly wanted to pull Alex towards the ethereal spire in the middle of the lake.

The lizard looked at Alex's frozen left arm, then at the spire, at Alex's arm again, and at the spire again.

Alex also looked at his arm and gritted his teeth.

'My arm is basically destroyed,' he thought with pain.

Alex's entire arm had been frozen solid, and the cold even started to invade his torso.

Alex knew that his left arm had already completely died.

Alex looked at the ethereal spire.

Just like before, ice formed around the spire continuously, and it danced around it in a calm manner.

Alex's instincts were telling him that there was a ton of Mana in there!

'However, this is that thing's bait,' Alex thought. 'The lizard thinks that this spire can help me. Maybe its ice powers can heal my dead arm?'

Alex looked at the calm lake, and he felt the overbearing pressure in the air.

'But if that thing notices me, I'm dead.'

Alex looked at his left arm again.

'However, I already lost an arm. This will severely cripple my fighting ability,' Alex thought.

Then, he looked back at the spire.

'Should I try getting the spire or not?'

Silence.

A minute passed.

And then, Alex made his decision.

Alex turned around and left the lake.

'I can't risk it. There is probably a way to heal my arm on the outside, but I can't revive myself from the dead,' Alex thought.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ 'It's too risky!'

CREEAAK!

However, Alex suddenly heard the sounds of trees being bent from the shore of the lake.

Alex knew that sound!

Sure enough, just a bit later, the hedgehog had appeared at the edge of the lake.

Alex looked at the hedgehog, and the hedgehog looked at Alex.

Then, the hedgehog looked at the spire in the middle.

Then, it looked at Alex again.

It seemingly looked at Alex with expectation.

Alex looked at the hedgehog's actions, and he felt like he could understand its intentions.

'Does it want me to grab the spire?'

Chapter 26 - Ethereal Spire

Alex looked at the hedgehog, unsure if he was judging its intentions correctly.

Alex pointed towards the spire with his sword and looked at the hedgehog.

The hedgehog didn't react.

It continued looking at Alex with expectation.

'Fuck! Does it want me to get this ethereal spire for it?!' Alex thought.

'Is it forcing me to retrieve it?!'

Alex started sliding towards a different direction of where the hedgehog was.

CREEEAK!

The hedgehog followed Alex's new trajectory, and it quickly arrived at the spot where Alex was sliding towards.

'Fuck! It won't let me go! It will probably kill me if I exit the lake!'

Alex was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He either had to go against the hedgehog or the thing in the lake.

Both of these creatures were far beyond his capabilities to deal with!

Alex felt stifled and frustrated beyond belief.

Others were deciding his fate!

He hated that!

Alex looked with hate at the hedgehog, but its demeanor didn't change.

It still looked at Alex expectantly.

After a while, Alex clenched his fist.

'If I have to choose, I'll choose to help the hedgehog,' Alex thought. 'The hedgehog has at least rewarded me when I gave it something. Instead, that thing in the lake will probably just ignore or consume me.'

'Sadly, I'm not powerful enough to make demands. I'm completely at the mercy of the hedgehog's whims.'

In the end, Alex shooed the lizard away.

He didn't want it to get hurt.

Alex turned to the ethereal spire, and the lizard understood what Alex meant.

Without hesitation, the lizard shot towards the shore of the lake, vanishing into the forest.

The hedgehog didn't even look at it.

'Sure enough, the lizard only cares about me as long as I'm of use to it. It will abandon me at the first sign of weakness. It might even kill me when I'm showing weakness,' Alex thought.

However, he had already expected something like that.

The lizard wasn't Alex's pet.

It was a wild animal and a reptile on top of that. Reptiles weren't known for their affection towards other animals.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Eventually, Alex moved around the ethereal spire and stopped behind it.

Right now, the spire was in front of Alex, and behind the spire, on the edge of the lake, was the hedgehog.

Alex would speed towards the spire, absorb it, and continue rushing towards the hedgehog.

This was the best method he could come up with.

Alex took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself.

SHING!

Then, Alex put his sword into the ice and shot himself forward.

Alex accelerated as much as he could.

And then, Alex's frozen arm hit the ethereal spire!

WHOOOM!

It was like the spire had been disturbed!

The ethereal spire became deformed.

The spire's form changed, and it started to curl around Alex's arm.

It was like a soft band made of paper that was being pulled along.

SSSHH!

The sound of sizzling could be heard as the ethereal form of the spire wrapped itself around Alex's body in an instant.

Alex felt like he was touched by something of terrifying coldness!

Yet, Alex's body wasn't being frozen or injured.

Alex felt a cold sensation creep into his body. However, the outside of his body started to warm up again.

It was like the cold sensation was moving through his body.

Alex felt the cold sensation enter his head of its own volition.

Yet, there seemingly was a blockage that stopped it from advancing.

After a moment, the cold sensation gave up trying to get into Alex's head, and traveled towards his frozen arm again.

Suddenly, Alex's left arm regained feeling, and he felt like his arm became even colder than before.

Alex barely managed to jerk his left arm in panic.

WHOOOM!

Suddenly, a terrifyingly cold wind came out of Alex's left arm.

The cold wind hit the ice cover beneath Alex, and an additional layer of ice formed on that spot.

Yet, something shocking happened at the same time!

Alex's arm instantly warmed up!

In actuality, Alex's arm felt quite hot suddenly!

It was like Alex had gathered all the cold in his body and had expelled it.

Even the ice spear, which was stuck in his shoulder, was melting away.

It was like Alex's left arm had worked with the same principles as an air conditioning unit!

In order to make a room cold, an air conditioner needed to transport the heat somewhere else.

If the inside of a room was as hot as the outside and the air conditioner was turned on, the inside would become colder, and the outside would become hotter.

The hot temperature was gathered and expelled.

Alex's arm had seemingly done something with the same principle but reversed.

Alex had cooled the surroundings, resulting in his left arm becoming hotter.

However, Alex had far bigger problems right now and didn't have any time to analyze this right now.

All of this had happened in just three seconds.

And three seconds after Alex absorbed the ethereal spire…

BOOOOOOOM!

A gigantic, brown… boulder-like thing broke through the middle of the lake.

It was over ten meters tall and nearly three meters wide.

A line went through the boulder-like thing.

Alex knew what this was, and his heart beat fiercely in his chest.

'That's the beak of a gigantic octopus!' he realized.

If already the beak of the octopus was ten meters long, how huge was the entire creature?!

The beak had punched through the middle of the lake, and it had closed around it.

The octopus had probably assumed that Alex was still there.

Luckily, Alex had grabbed the ethereal spire while sliding.

Alex looked with terror behind him.

BOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the entire lake exploded!

The gigantic octopus had realized that it had caught nothing, and its entire body broke out of the lake.

It couldn't let go of its bait!

It cost too much Mana to condense something like that!

Tentacles nearly 50-meters-long stretched across the lake as a gigantic head came out of the water.

The eyes of the octopus quickly looked around, and they immediately spotted the running Alex.

BOOOOOM!

The tentacles all punched down at the frozen lake.

Surprisingly, the ice didn't break.

That was because the octopus had used its ice powers to increase the hardness of the ice.

As the octopus smashed its tentacles down, its body left the water and flew towards Alex.

It had thrown itself over 50 meters into the air, right towards Alex!

Alex's heart nearly stopped.

This octopus was too fast!

It would catch him in an instant!

'I'm dead!'

The tentacles of the flying octopus stretched towards Alex.

It would catch him in a second!

Alex looked forward with desperate eyes.

Yet, what he saw made him despair.

The hedgehog had turned around!

It wasn't even looking at him anymore!

Alex's eyes opened widely with terrified eyes.

And then, everything changed!

BANG!

It was one loud, explosive sound.

It was like a grenade had gone off!

Suddenly, Alex felt a storm hit his body.

A terrifying wind had suddenly picked up, and Alex's body was hurled across the lake uncontrollably!

As Alex was thrown around, he managed to catch a glimpse of the octopus in the air, and an image was burned into his mind!

Over 20 extremely long, green needles had buried themselves into the octopus' body!

This was the reason for the explosive sound and the terrifying storm!

The needles had exploded off the hedgehog's body, had passed by Alex's body with unimaginable speeds, and had buried themselves into the octopus!

The wind of the needles had thrown Alex across the lake!

The sheer power of the needle-explosion had stopped the massive octopus in the air!

Then, Alex saw the hedgehog quickly peek behind itself.

After that, it turned away again.

BANG!

Another terrifying explosion and another twenty needles shot through the octopus!

The ground beneath the hedgehog broke due to the unimaginable force, and the octopus was thrown across the lake.

BANG!

Another explosion and the octopus was thrown even farther away!

Alex quickly lifted himself off the ground again and ran towards the edge of the lake.

The hedgehog turned around, and then it exploded forward.

BOOOOM!

The hedgehog exploded with absolutely terrifying speed!

It was racing around the lake, avoiding the ice. It knew that the ice wouldn't be able to withstand its weight.

Alex's eyes opened in shock as he saw the unreal speed of the hedgehog.

How could he have thought that the hedgehog was slow?!

That thing was moving with over 200 kph!

All the trees around it were utterly annihilated, creating a terrifyingly long trail of destruction.

BANG!

Meanwhile, the octopus landed outside the lake, inside the forest.

Its tentacles were violently flailing around, destroying everything in its surroundings.

Some seconds later, the hedgehog arrived near the octopus.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Alex couldn't see, but he heard the sounds of two gigantic beasts fighting in the distance.

This was not a fight he could get involved in!

However, the sounds vanished in less than ten seconds.

The fight was already over!

Alex took a deep breath.

Then, he slowly made his way to the fighting area.

Alex could see some green needles peeking over the trees, and they were moving around.

He couldn't see any gigantic tentacles above the trees.

This meant that the hedgehog had won.

'Sure enough, the Hegemon is the Hegemon,' Alex thought.

Alex slowly calmed down as he realized that he had managed to avoid death.

'I wonder if the hedgehog will reward me? I hope so. Fleeing now makes no sense. If the hedgehog wants to kill me, there's nothing I can do.'

Alex only hoped that the hedgehog's personality wouldn't suddenly change into a cruel one.

Chapter 27 - Experiment And Trade

Alex walked towards the area where the giant octopus had landed.

He didn't want to miss out on any potential rewards the hedgehog had for him.

While Alex was walking to that place, he looked at his left arm.

His left arm was no longer frozen, and it actually felt a bit hot. Sadly, his left arm was still severely injured. The freezing of organic material completely destroyed its structure, severing veins, and many other things.

Alex's left arm hadn't been in pain while it had been frozen, but as soon as it had thawed, Alex felt searing pain coming from it.

Alex couldn't really move it much, but he could still experiment with it.

The ethereal spire had entered Alex's left arm, and it remained there. He had already accidentally shot some cold air out of his left arm earlier, and Alex wanted to know how that worked.

Alex was already familiar with how it felt to move Mana, and he willed for the cold Mana in his left arm to explode.

SSSHH!

A blast of cold air left Alex's left arm. Since his left arm was still limply hanging around, the cold hit part of Alex's left leg and the ground.

The ice below Alex's left arm grew by a bit, and the coat on Alex's left leg completely froze.

However, Alex was too busy with something else.

As soon as Alex had willed the Ice Mana to explode, his arm started to burn. Well, it wasn't burning literally, but it felt like it was burning.

Alex quickly ran to one of the spots with destroyed ice. The octopus had destroyed a huge part of the lake when it had surfaced.

SSSSSS!

Alex put his arm directly into the icy water and gritted his teeth. The sound of something hot touching cold water could be heard as soon as Alex's arm hit the water.

'Fuck! That's so hot!' Alex thought. 'Are you serious?! You have Mana, and you follow the Laws of Thermodynamics?! You want to make stuff cold, so you have to make other stuff hot?! Why can't you just do something magical?!'

After a while, Alex pulled his arm out and moved it through the air for a bit.

His arm had received several burns.

However, it was coated with a thin coating of ice now.

His arm definitely felt colder than before.

'My arm is colder than before. So, let's try again!'

SSSHH!

Another blast of cold air, and Alex immediately dipped his arm into the cold water again.

'It's not as hot as previously, but it still feels like I touched a hot plate or something,' Alex concluded.

After a while, Alex pulled his arm out again.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ 'I wonder, can I use less?'

Alex tried to suppress the Mana but also made a bit of it explode.

SSSH!

A cold wind left Alex's left arm again, and Alex's arm heated up again.

However, this time, Alex's arm wasn't burning hot.

It was just uncomfortably hot, the temperature that would make someone sweat profusely.

Yet, in exchange, the cold air that left Alex's left arm wasn't as cold as in the earlier blasts.

Alex scratched his chin as he thought about everything he had witnessed. 'So, my arm heats up proportionally to how cold the air is. I'm not sure, but I think the amount of air leaving my arm is the same as the weight of my arm. Because of that, the blasts are quite powerful.'

'Now, I need to test something else.'

Alex grabbed his left arm with his right arm and pointed it at his face.

'Just a little bit. Just a tiny, little bit,' Alex thought.

SSSSSHH!

Alex's head was blown back by the storm coming out of the arm. However, since he had only used a little bit, Alex's face wasn't injured.

Only some icicles had formed on Alex's face.

Alex rubbed the icicles off his face and looked at his arm with excitement.

'Interesting,' Alex thought, scratching his chin. 'I only used a tiny fraction, and my arm probably only heated up by a single degree. Yet, the air on my face was slightly colder than the surrounding air.'

'This means that this blast uses the outside temperature as a reference when cooling something, not the arm itself.'

'So, theoretically, if it were -40°C right now, and if my arm were 20°C hot, and if I unleashed a blast equaling 20°C, the blast of air would be -60°C, and my arm would reach 40°C.'

Alex scratched his chin as a complicated expression appeared on his face.

'That means the power of this ability relies heavily on my environment. After all, if I were in some desert that's 50°C and I did the same thing, my arm would reach 40°C, and my opponent would get a comfortable breeze of 30°C hot air.'

'However, in a cold environment, the effect would be different,' Alex thought as he looked around. 'Sure, the creatures living in such a cold environment have a great cold resistance, but that's only true to a certain extent.'

'A beast living in a 50°C hot desert wouldn't mind a blast of 30°C hot air. However, a beast living in a -40°C cold tundra would have some issues with a blast of -60°C cold air.'

'Even more, I can reduce the temperature of my left arm even further in cold weather. I could run around with a 5°C cold arm without issues. It would simply feel very dull, numbs, and awkward. However, I could unleash a blast of 35°C. In a cold climate, this would severely damage someone. After all, the blast would nearly reach -100°C!'

'Additionally, if I'm willing to pay some injuries, I can even blast them with like 60°C or something. Sure, my arm would get severe burns and would become useless until I healed it, but my enemy would be frozen.'

Alex scratched his chin.

'There surely are some uses for this ability in a fight. My sword is one-handed anyway, leaving me with a free arm.'

Alex had been walking all this time, and he finally came close to his goal.

Alex passed a tree and saw an area of absolute destruction.

The trees were all destroyed, and many gigantic needles poked out of the unmoving octopus.

Right now, the hedgehog was calmly munching on the octopus, seemingly without a care in the world.

Alex walked up to one of the tentacles and saw how it towered over him.

This was one of the thicker tentacles of the octopus, and just its width was at least three meters.

It was like Alex stood before the fleshy wall of an estate.

That tentacle was probably fifty meters long, which simply seemed unreal.

Alex jumped onto the tentacle and walked along with it.

Then, Alex walked over to the spot where the hedgehog was currently munching away and stopped before it.

The hedgehog continued eating, but after some seconds, it noticed him.

The hedgehog extended its head to Alex and sniffed several times.

Alex became a bit nervous.

Maybe it smelled the ethereal spire in his body? After all, it was currently munching on the creator and actual owner of the ethereal spire.

Maybe Alex smelled similar to the octopus?

He hoped not!

After a bit of sniffing, the hedgehog pulled its head back and looked at Alex.

Then, it looked at the octopus below Alex.

Then, back at Alex again.

After that, the hedgehog walked to the tentacle where Alex had come from.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

After a minute of biting, the hedgehog had severed the tentacle from the corpse.

BANG!

Then, the hedgehog threw the tentacle a couple of meters into the distance with a kick from its paw.

After that, it looked at Alex again for a while.

And after that, it went back to eating.

Alex realized what the hedgehog meant.

It had given Alex one of the tentacles!

Alex became excited for a bit.

The Octopus probably had an insane amount of Mana stored in its body!

However, Alex quickly deflated and sighed.

That tentacle weighed so many tons!

He couldn't possibly eat all of that.

Alex scratched his chin for a bit.

Then, he walked to the end of the tentacle and tried to move it with all his power.

Alex managed to lift the last couple of meters of the tentacle and rotated it slightly towards the hedgehog.

"Hey!" Alex shouted. "I can't eat that! You take it!"

The hedgehog stopped munching and looked at Alex.

Alex pointed at the tentacle, shook his head, and then pointed at the hedgehog.

The hedgehog looked at Alex for a bit and realized what he meant.

The hedgehog walked over, bit down on the tentacle, and moved it back to the corpse, showing that the tentacle now belonged to it.

Alex looked expectantly at the hedgehog.

The hedgehog looked at Alex for a while.

Ten seconds of nothing happened.

The hedgehog was probably thinking hard on what to do.

Then, it looked at the sky for a bit, seemingly thinking about something.

Lastly, it looked at Alex again.

RRMM! RRMM! RRMM!

The hedgehog's body began to vibrate slightly in a rhythmic pattern.

Alex recognized the sound.

'Hey, isn't that the weird sound dogs make before they barf?' Alex thought.

Sure enough, the hedgehog opened its mouth and spat something out.

However, it wasn't barf, but something else.

Alex's eyes widened in shock at what he saw!

Chapter 28 - Affinity?

What had the hedgehog spat out?

Something brown hit the ground. It almost looked like a regular piece of earth.

However, the brown piece of earth quickly dissolved into mist, which gathered in the air above it.

In the end, some brown mist had formed in the shape of a spear, and several clumps of earth materialized in the air and fell to the ground.

Alex almost couldn't believe it.

It was another ethereal spire!

However, it also seemed logical to Alex.

If the octopus could create an ethereal spire, why couldn't the hedgehog?

From what he had seen, the octopus' ethereal spire had something to do with the Ice Element, and the hedgehog's ethereal spire was obviously of the Earth Element.

Could Alex have two ethereal spires in his body?

Alex walked over to the ethereal spire, which was slowly being burrowed by the earth forming around it.

'I should first try my right arm,' Alex thought. 'I don't know if the two spires will cancel each other out or something.'

'I just hope I won't explode or something.'

Alex put his sword to the side and touched the brown ethereal spire with his right hand.

The spire wrapped itself around Alex's right arm and vanished into Alex's body.

Alex felt how the ethereal spire moved throughout his body.

First, it traveled through his right arm to his head.

However, just like with the previous one, this ethereal spire seemingly couldn't reach Alex's mind. It was like something was blocking its way.

After that, the ethereal spire went to Alex's left arm, and Alex became nervous.

How would the spires interact?

Alex felt how the brown ethereal spire entered his left arm and then…

Nothing happened.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ After a bit, it exited Alex's left arm and went to his legs.

Then, it inspected Alex's torso.

Lastly, the ethereal spire went back to Alex's head.

"Huuurgh!"

Alex felt like he had barfed, and the ethereal spire left Alex's body through his mouth.

Then, it landed in front of him and simply stayed there.

Alex blinked a couple of times as he looked at the brown ethereal spire.

'Well, seems like I can't use that. Does it have something to do with the strange Affinity the God was telling me about?' Alex thought.

Then, Alex looked at his left arm.

'Do I have an Ice Affinity?' Alex thought. 'Honestly, I'm not so sure. The God told me that my Affinity would be very special, and, honestly, if I had an Ice Affinity, my left arm probably wouldn't heat up if I used that spire. I can't imagine every Ice Mage burning to a crisp as soon as they use a spell.'

Alex scratched the back of his head.

'I mean, my Affinity obviously has something to do with Ice, but it probably isn't pure Ice. At the same time, it probably has nothing to do with Earth. Wonder what it is,' Alex thought.

Alex looked at the hedgehog with a complicated expression.

"Hey, I can't use that!" Alex shouted.

The hedgehog looked at Alex again.

Alex took two steps away from the brown ethereal spire.

Slurp!

Without waiting for a second, the hedgehog slurped up the ethereal spire.

Obviously, it hadn't been comfortable with handing something like that over.

That was probably also why it had thought over its decision for so long earlier.

Then, the hedgehog walked away from the octopus and began violently shaking.

Plonk! Plonk! Plonk!

An avalanche of fruit fell off the hedgehog's needles.

Its needles became completely empty of fruit!

There were hundreds!

Alex's eyes widened.

He knew how powerful these fruits were!

All these fruits couldn't even compare to a single tentacle of the octopus or one of the ethereal spires?!

Even more, the hedgehog seemed rather happy with that trade.

It had appeared neutral when it gave Alex the tentacle.

When it gave Alex the ethereal spire, it had definitely been unwilling.

But when it had given Alex the fruit, it seemingly hadn't minded a single bit.

This meant:

Hundreds of fruits < tentacle < ethereal spire.

'Huh, apparently, I made quite a steal by absorbing that ice spire,' Alex thought.

'However, how do I even transport all of these fruits?' Alex thought as he scratched his chin.

There were several mountains of fruits, all about a meter tall.

Alex sighed.

'Obviously, I can't transport all of them. Well, let's forget about returning home. I can just train here,' Alex thought.

Alex looked at the blizzard storming around him.

'Also, with that new ability, I can keep myself warm. As my blood travels through my left arm, the temperature of my arm will be distributed along my body. As long as it's not too cold, that's enough to heat my entire body. It's essentially not any different from what my body is naturally doing anyway.'

Crunch!

Alex looked at one of the mountains and saw a familiar creature.

"Of course you return as soon as you're no longer in danger," Alex said with a sarcastic tone while looking at the lizard.

The lizard had returned and had eaten one of the fruits.

"Well, you helped me in dealing with the bear, so you can get some of the fruits," Alex said.

The lizard mostly ignored Alex. After eating the fruit, it went over to a tree, climbed it, and laid down.

Alex also went over and ate one of the fruits.

By now, Alex needed two fruits for one "attempted suicide" of training.

However, for now, Alex only ate one.

Why?

SSSSSSS!

Alex looked at his left arm as it released sizzling sounds.

This was the sound of Alex's arm healing with rapid speeds.

For once, Alex felt quite lucky.

If he hadn't grabbed the ethereal spire, and if he hadn't used it, his arm would have probably shattered and fallen off at some point.

Alex didn't want to find out if he could regrow entire limbs.

Probably not.

However, since his left arm was still attached and not frozen, it could receive the nutrients and Mana from the fruit and heal.

After a bit, Alex moved his left arm around with practiced ease.

Finally, he could move his arm again!

Alex looked at the other fruits for a while and then at the hedgehog, which was still munching away on the octopus. Its stomach seemed endless.

'I probably don't have to be very careful around here. I'm pretty sure that no beast would dare to come close to the hedgehog's food. The lizard is only here because it had met the hedgehog several times when we exchanged stuff.'

Alex looked back at the fruits.

'Well, it's time for a lot of pain!'

Alex ate two fruits, climbed a tree, and jumped off with all of his power.

Alex flew high into the air, did several flips, and perfectly hit the icy ground with the front of his body.

Alex knew that, at some point, trees wouldn't be high enough anymore.

When that happened, Alex would need to find an alternate method of training his entire body.

When the hedgehog heard the loud impact of Alex falling to the ground, it turned to Alex and looked at him with confusion.

What was that human doing?

Alex convulsed on the ground in unending pain, and the hedgehog only stared at him in confusion.

After a while, Alex stood up, ate some more fruits, and repeated the process.

After watching Alex for a couple of repetitions, the hedgehog went back to eating the octopus.

That human was weird.

 

Chapter 29 - Human

Alex gathered everything he owned and checked if he got everything.

After looking over his broken shed one more time, he nodded in appreciation.

Then, Alex jogged towards the south.

It had been about half a year since he had arrived in this world, and today, he would finally leave this wilderness!

He had killed the ice bear about two or three months ago, and he had already used up all of the fruits he had gotten from the hedgehog.

Near the end, Alex had realized that the fruits weren't that useful anymore.

He would need over ten fruits for one attempted suicide of training.

That wasn't so bad, and Alex could still get some use out of the fruits.

However, there was a problem.

For the past three days, the hedgehog had refused to appear in front of Alex.

No matter how much he searched or how many fires Alex lit, the hedgehog just wouldn't come out anymore.

Without the hedgehog, Alex's progress had slowed down severely. Now, he could only train with the normal meditation, which felt far too slow to him.

Additionally, Alex hadn't found another beast on the level of the ice bear in the past couple of months.

Sure, Alex had found a couple new creatures, but they were all about as strong as the Stalker.

By now, Alex could beat a Stalker without even needing to use his sword.

His body was just that powerful.

Because of that, Alex had decided that it was time for him to leave the safety of the basin.

It was time to see the wider world!

Alex jogged leisurely, but he still moved faster than the fastest human on Earth could sprint.

The trees acted as obstacles, which made Alex's journey a bit awkward, but he arrived at the edge of the basin in about an hour.

If he could run in a straight line, he could easily get there in less than half an hour.

Alex touched his new coat and kept hold of his sword.

He didn't know what would await him on the other side of the mountain.

The basin was surrounded by mountains, and Alex would be traveling through a natural pathway between two of the mountains. He would need to awkwardly climb to a height of about 500 meters to pass the mountains. That wasn't really hard for his new body, but it was still higher than all of the trees in the forest.

Even more, Alex wouldn't be surrounded by the forest anymore. Any beast would be able to see him as soon as he started climbing the mountain.

Alex still remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen near the mountains on his first day.

Alex was uncertain if he could win against such a beast.

At least, the mystery of why no truly powerful beast entered the basin had been solved.

It was obviously the hedgehog.

In the past, Alex had been unsure of why no powerful beast had been here. After all, the hedgehog couldn't be everywhere at once, right?

Well, in a certain sense, the hedgehog could be everywhere at once.

Its needles could.

The hedgehog would probably hear or smell the gigantic beasts. Then, it would run there and shoot them down from hundreds of meters away.

Alex guessed that the hedgehog hadn't used his needles earlier since one needle probably cost it more Mana or energy than the prey was worth.

However, if it were something like that big lizard, it would probably be worth it.

The mystery of why there hadn't been any powerful sea creatures had also been solved.

A river stretched through the basin, and logically, there should be a couple of powerful creatures.

Well, these creatures had obviously been consumed by the octopus.

Sure, with the death of the octopus, powerful sea creatures would probably appear in the basin, but Alex knew his own limits.

He could attempt to fight a powerful land creature, emphasis being on attempt, but he wouldn't have any chance when fighting such a creature in the water.

The basin had become useless to Alex, and it was time to move on.

Alex looked at the path he would travel to, took a deep breath, and started climbing.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you."

Alex's heart nearly stopped in fright.

Alex quickly turned around and saw something he hadn't seen in over six months.

A human!

An actual human!

Behind Alex stood a middle-aged man in green robes. These robes reminded Alex of several dramas playing in the middle-ages. These were the robes that a dignitary would wear. They radiated splendor and respect.

He had green hair and a black beard, making him appear a bit mismatched.

Even more, Alex felt Mana revolve around the person.

There was so much Mana!

'First human contact in the new world! Don't be awkward!'

"Yo!" Alex said with a slightly raised hand.

It was normal to greet others like this on the street. It was a relaxed greeting.

The man raised an eyebrow in skepticism when he heard Alex's greeting.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked.

Since Alex could pay attention to the words now, he noticed that the words didn't sound English, but they felt like English to Alex. The man obviously spoke a different language, but Alex felt like he was speaking English.

It was a weird feeling.

It was like a badly dubbed movie.

"I've been living here for the past six months, and I lived in the wilderness to become more powerful," Alex explained.

The man nodded.

Then, the man pointed at Alex while reciting some confusing words.

Alex's hair stood up.

Was that a spell?!

Would the man attack him?!

Alex immediately jumped to the side and ran into the distance.

The man was surprised as he stopped chanting.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ He only looked at Alex running away.

Then, the man spoke a couple of words.

It didn't even take him a second to speak all of them.

BOOOOM!

An explosion of wind appeared behind the man, and his body shot forward with absolutely ridiculous speeds!

It was like he had been shot out of a gun!

WHOOOM!

The man appeared in front of Alex in less than a second, and after another small explosion of wind, his body stopped.

Alex's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the man in front of him.

Just now, the man had been even faster than the hedgehog!

"Calm down," the man said evenly. "My first word was +%&. You should know that this word is reserved for investigative spells."

In Alex's mind, the word the man was referring to sounded like pure gibberish. It didn't even sound like an actual word. It was more like a weird combination of noises that made no sense.

However, Alex knew that he couldn't do anything against the man if he wanted to try something on him.

It was better to simply follow his instructions.

The man spoke the same words again, and after a while, Alex felt Mana gather around his body.

Alex's body subconsciously absorbed the Mana, and Alex immediately felt refreshed.

However, Alex was still confused about what the man was actually doing.

The man stroked his black beard in thought. "It's just as I've thought. You're a Physi."

"A Physi? What's that?" Alex asked.

The man raised his eyebrow again as he heard Alex's question.

Was something wrong with this kid's head?

"Physi, as in, physical fighter, someone that can't practice Magic," the man said.

'Physi?' Alex thought with an uncomfortable expression. 'That sounds like a nickname for a group of people in high school or college. Is that how physical fighters are referred to in this world, Physi?'

"What are you then? A Magi?" Alex asked.

"Mage," the man answered.

For a while, the man had been suspicious of Alex's supposed memory loss and lack of common knowledge.

However, if Alex were truly acting, his acting skills would be deserving of several awards.

There was no way that someone this weak could act this well in front of him.

"Why did you say that I shouldn't go to the mountain? I want to leave," Alex said.

"A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard has its nest between those two mountains. If you disturb it, you will die," the man said.

"A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard? What's that?" Alex asked.

"Greyish-brown lizard," the man answered. "About twenty meters long with an Earth Affinity. Gravel Lizards are beasts at the Second Realm. A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard is in the middle of the Second Realm."

The man pointed at Alex.

"Judging by your physical power, you are in the Late First Realm. By fighting smartly and with lots of preparation, you can maybe attempt to fight a beast at the Peak of the First Realm, but one in the Middle Second Realm will directly kill you," the man said.

Alex nodded, and his eyes shone in curiosity.

Finally, he could get some actual information about this world!

These Realms the man was referring to were probably a sort of classification or quantification for power. The man had said that Alex was in the Late First Realm. Alex assumed that he had come to this world while being in the Initial First Realm, which meant he had made quite some progress.

However, according to logic, a Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard was probably stronger than Alex just as much as the current Alex was stronger than the past Alex.

The past Alex and the current Alex couldn't be compared.

Alex also remembered something else.

"I've also seen a polar bear, which was about three meters high and could condense ice spears. What was that?" Alex asked.

"Ice Spear Bear, straightforward name. Beast of the First Realm. It sounds like a High-Grade Ice Spear Bear, according to what you've said. Did you kill one?" the man asked.

Alex nodded.

The man nodded back.

"Quite impressive for a Physi. You two should be at the same level. It's not a given that a human can fight against a beast on the same level. Well, at least not as a Physi," the man explained.

Alex scratched his chin in thought. 'My body has become far stronger now. I guess, back when I fought the Ice Spear Bear, my body was probably in the middle First Realm.'

Alex glanced at the man.

'However, I probably shouldn't tell him that. I don't know him.'

"What brings you here?" Alex asked the man.

"I'm here to ask you a question," the man said.

"Ask away," Alex answered.

"What happened to the Old Ice Octopus in the lake of this forest?"

Alex's body shook.

Now, he knew why this man was here.

He was investigating what happened to the octopus!

Even more, Alex knew why they were probably interested in it.

The ethereal spire!

And where was the ethereal spire right now?

Alex stealthily hid his left arm.

Chapter 30 - Whirlwind

"The Old Ice Octopus? Do you mean that gigantic octopus in the lake?" Alex asked.

The man slightly narrowed his eyes as he heard Alex's words.

"Yes. What happened to it?" the man asked.

Acting like Alex hadn't seen anything would be too obvious of a lie. After all, the octopus had died, and the destruction it had caused had been massive and loud.

"It was killed by the huge hedgehog," Alex said.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Killed by the Earth Fruit Hedgehog? What happened?" he asked.

"I wasn't there for the entire fight, but I was near the lake. I heard a loud explosion and saw a gigantic octopus jump through the air!" Alex explained animatedly.

"However, something shocking happened after that! Tens of gigantic, long needles punched through the octopus, and I saw it land towards the north of the lake, in the middle of the forest. I saw the gigantic hedgehog charge over to that area, and after a couple more explosions, everything quieted down. I'm pretty sure that the hedgehog has killed the octopus," Alex explained.

The man stroked his beard in thought.

"What you say makes sense, but I need to verify it. Wait here for a bit."

Alex nodded.

Alex wouldn't want to take the risk and flee while the man was away. The man probably had many ways to find Alex again. Fleeing would only awaken suspicion.

The man spoke several words, and this time, it took him nearly ten full seconds to recite them.

Obviously, the spell he was casting was very complex.

Alex felt a storm of Mana coming to the man, and after he finished his spell, the man suddenly started to levitate!

An actual storm picked up around him, and Alex was nearly thrown into the distance.

However, the storm only surrounded the man and lifted him upwards.

The trees violently shook around him due to the storm, and eventually, the man shot into the distance, right above the forest.

Alex's eyes widened in shock.

'He can fly! A human can actually fly in this world!' Alex thought.

Alex had seen the powers the God had shown him, which were obviously superior to this man, but Alex would have never believed that the first human he would see could fly!

Flying!

This was something every human dreamed of doing!

It symbolized freedom and power beyond one's imagination!

Alex's thirst for power only increased in intensity!

As Alex continued thinking about what he had just seen, the man arrived at the lake and descended at its north.

There was a big area with destroyed trees, and the man could see several holes.

The man had only searched through the lake since the Old Ice Octopus was a water creature.

Who would search for an octopus on land?

The man turned his gaze, and he saw a gigantic rock.

However, this rock wasn't a rock but the octopus' beak.

The hedgehog couldn't eat something like that, which was why the beak was still here.

Even after two months, the beak still lied there, in the middle of the forest.

The man ascended again and flew back to Alex.

Alex was nearly blown back as the man slowly landed in front of him.

After landing, the man nodded at Alex. "You spoke the truth. I couldn't find the Old Ice Octopus, but I found its beak and several holes that are about as wide as the needles of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog. Seems like the hedgehog got quite a good meal out of this."

Then, the man narrowed his eyes. "No wonder the hedgehog acted this uppity towards me this year," he muttered. "It thinks after becoming a High-Rank Earth Fruit Hedgehog, it can avoid paying its tribute."

"Stupid animal."

Alex's body shook, and sweat ran down his back as he heard the man's words.

Alex remembered a peculiarity.

The hedgehog hadn't visited him in three days!

Did this man…?

"Sir, what happened to the hedgehog?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" the man asked with a cold glint in his eyes.

Alex's body shivered. "Well, I exchanged meat for the hedgehog's fruits several times."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Sentiment? For a beast?"

Alex didn't answer.

"Don't be naïve," the man berated coldly. "The hedgehog only traded with you because you are in the First Realm. It has killed plenty of humans in the Second and even some in the Third Realm. If you were in the Second Realm, it would have killed you as soon as it saw you."

"The Earth Fruit Hedgehog discerns enemies by smell. If the odor you give off has a certain density of Mana, its hunting instinct gets triggered. The hedgehog even killed the person that had fed it for twenty years after he reached the Second Realm," the man explained.

Alex remembered how the hedgehog had always smelled him whenever it came near him.

Now, that cute action no longer felt as cute!

The hedgehog had always sniffed Alex several times when they met.

If the hedgehog could even kill someone that fed it for 20 years, he would probably not be an exception.

A cold shudder ran down Alex's spine.

"Thank you for your warning, sir," Alex said politely. "Could I ask another question, please?"

After seeing the man fly, Alex had become far more polite.

The man nodded.

"Since you helped me in solving the mystery of the missing Old Ice Octopus, I can entertain some of your questions," he said.

"I saw a green lizard, about a meter long. It has the ability to shoot fireballs from its mouth. What kind of creature is that?" Alex asked.

The man scratched his chin.

For once, he didn't have an answer immediately.

"Sounds like a Fire Tree Lizard hatchling," the man said. "Fire Tree Lizards normally are not in the basin but in the mountains surrounding the basin. I'm guessing that it accidentally wandered into the basin after being born in one of the surrounding mountains."

"Fire Tree Lizards are beasts of the Second Realm. This means that they will reach the Second Realm as soon as they become adults. And you say that this thing is in here?"

Alex nodded.

"Do you know if it ate some of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog's fruits?"

Alex nodded again.

"Then forget about the lizard," the man said. "Earth Fruit Hedgehogs gather their waste products in their needles, and the needles will eventually bear these fruits. These fruits will eventually fall down and remain on the ground."

"The fruits are filled with Mana, and every beast is drawn to these fruits. The hedgehog is wasting no Mana by creating these fruits. However, as a creature in the Third Realm, just its waste products already carry quite a significant amount of Mana."

"Over the long years, the fruits of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog gained a certain addictive property. Humans can still eat them since our minds are conscious, but beasts that only act on instinct can't resist these fruits."

"Since the Fire Tree Lizard has already tasted the fruits, it will stick around the Earth Fruit Hedgehog. Eventually, it will eat enough fruits to reach maturity and advance to the Second Realm."

"When that happens, the hedgehog will consume the lizard."

Alex took a deep breath.

The hedgehog had long stopped being cute in Alex's mind.

This thing was a demon in disguise!

"Thank you for your teachings, sir," Alex said.

The man looked at Alex for a bit.

"As for your earlier question, I taught the Earth Fruit Hedgehog some manners and collected its Earth Mana Source. The Earth Fruit Hedgehog gets to live in my garden, but in exchange, it will give me one Earth Mana Source per year. I'm answering these questions for you since you helped me to solve the mystery of the missing Old Ice Octopus. Don't forget that."

Alex's mind went so several places.

However, why speculate when he could just ask?

"What's a Mana Source?" Alex asked.

"Foggy, ethereal spears, about a meter high," the man answered. "Mana Sources can act as a catalyst for elemental powers for beasts. The parents give Mana Sources to their offspring. A beast in the Second Realm can create an impure Mana Source, and a beast in the Third Realm can produce a pure Mana Source."

"Apprentices require a Mana Source in order to officially become Adepts. Most Apprentices can only use an impure Mana Source due to the difficulty of obtaining it, but wealthy families pay a lot of money for pure Mana Sources."

"That's why I'm here."

At this moment, the man looked like he had just remembered something.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "I haven't introduced myself yet."

"I'm Duke Whirlwind, a High Mage, and this…"

Duke Whirlwind gestured to the forest.

"Is one of my gardens."