Scias woke with a start, the memory of obsidian scales and ancient eyes still vivid in his mind.
Dawn light shined through the trees, casting shadow on the forest floor.
His back ached from sleeping against the gnarled roots of a tree—a poor substitute for the cave he'd called home for months.
He sat up, rubbing stiffness from his neck while surveying his surroundings.
No threats. Just the gentle morning sounds of the forest.
Reaching for his pack, Scias rummaged through his meager possessions.
The waterskin sloshed with barely half water remaining. His food supplies consisted of dried meat strips and a handful of wild berries he'd gathered before his encounter with the Water Hare yesterday. Enough for today if he rationed carefully, but tomorrow would bring hunger.
'Good that I always overpacked food and water,' he thought.
He hadn't anticipated being permanently cut off from his cave. All his carefully crafted tools, most of his preserved food, the extra clothing he'd fashioned—all gone. Incinerated or sealed by dragon fire.
At least he still had his knife, spear and waterskin.
The blue mana core from yesterday's hunt remained safely tucked in his pouch.
Scias stretched his limbs and rose to his feet. His stomach growled, but he ignored it, taking only a small sip of water to wet his throat.
He oriented himself, noting the position of the morning sun. The path he'd discovered yesterday was roughly southeast of his current position. With a final glance around his temporary shelter, Scias set out.
As he walked, a sobering realization settled over him. The spider creature's territorial behavior suddenly made perfect sense.
"It wouldn't cross some invisible boundary," Scias whispered to himself.
"It wouldn't enter the territory of the black dragon."
The forest creatures knew what he didn't—that he'd been living in the domain of one of this world's most powerful beings.
For months, he'd made his home in a predator's territory, surviving only by luck and the dragon's absence.
"Foolish. I should have wondered why no larger monsters ventured near that cave."
The thought was humbling.
After an hour of careful navigation, Scias found the path again.
Unlike game trails, this road was wider and well built, even if not maintained.
He paused, contemplating his next move.
The path seemed to trace the edge of what he now understood to be the dragon's territory.
Following it should lead to safety, but the lack of maintenance and use was concerning.
His stomach made the decision for him with another insistent growl.
Scias stepped onto the path, moving carefully southward.
He remained alert, his senses heightened to the maximum.
Every rustling leaf and every bird call registered in his consciousness as a potential threat.
His waterskin was nearly empty. Finding water was his next priority.
The river he found when he first entered to the deep woods was in a completely different direction.
He thought that following this road would be a better choice than moving along a river, thus he abandoned his thoughts about the river.
As the morning progressed, Scias occasionally stepped off the path to check for signs of water.
His hunter's instincts, honed over months of survival, detected subtle indicators—moss growth, changes in vegetation, the sounds of insects that preferred damper environments.
During one such detour, he froze, catching a faint sound of flowing water.
Scias moved cautiously toward the sound, pushing through dense underbrush until he emerged at the edge of a small, clear stream.
The water burbled across smooth stones, creating the gentle melody he'd heard from afar.
He approached the bank, kneeling to refill his waterskin. As the container filled, his reflection rippled on the surface—scarlet eyes, obsidian hair, a face leaner than when he'd first awakened in this world.
A sudden movement upstream caught his attention. Something small and furry lapped at the water about thirty paces away.
Scias remained perfectly still, observing.
The creature resembled a rabbit, but its fur shimmered with an unusual silver color. Not a Water Hare, but something similar. Perhaps weaker, given its smaller size.
Food and possibly another mana core.
'Should be easy.'
Moving with practiced stealth, Scias circled to approach from downwind. He prepared a small earth projectile, compressing it densely to ensure a clean kill.
The creature remained oblivious, occasionally lifting its head to scan for predators before returning to drink.
Scias took aim, careful to maintain his concealment. The spell gathered in his palm, ready to launch.
Just as he prepared to release his magic, the rabbit's ears shot up. It tensed, but oddly, it wasn't looking in his direction. Instead, it stared intently down the path he'd been following.
Then the rabbit moved away from the water.
Scias hesitated, shifting his focus to match the creature's. He extended his senses, straining to detect what had alarmed his potential prey.
A low growl broke the silence, freezing Scias in place.
From the undergrowth further down the stream, a massive monster emerged—a wolf-like beast with copper-colored fur.
It stood nearly as tall as Scias at the shoulder, with jaws that could easily snap a man's arm.
The silver rabbit managed to hide itself behind a nearby tree, masking its presence. It didn't dare to move so it wouldn't alert the wolf monster.
The wolf sensed no danger and moved into the water, laying in it to cool itself.
When it felt refreshed, it started to leave the creak. At this moment, it noticed the rabbit.
The beast's eyes locked onto the smaller creature. With a rumbling snarl, the wolf-creature opened its maw wide.
Instead of lunging forward, it expelled a concentrated blast of wind that cut through the air with a high-pitched whistle. The attack tore up earth and vegetation as it raced toward the silver rabbit.
'That rabbit's finished,' Scias thought, bracing himself against the wind's backlash.
The beast's size alone suggested power far beyond what the small rabbit could match.
The silver rabbit leapt sideways at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the attack.
As it landed, its fur bristled with energy, tiny arcs of blue-white light dancing across its body like miniature lightning bolts.
Scias blinked in disbelief as the small creature retaliated.
A jagged burst of lightning shot from the rabbit's body, striking the larger beast directly in the chest. The wolf creature yelped, its fur smoking where the lightning hit.
Seeing the lightning strike, Scias expected the wolf to get atleast stunned. But nothing like that happened.
'Perhaps its because its wet that the lightning did so little damage?' He thought.
Had he attacked the seemingly harmless rabbit, that lightning would have definitely been his demise.
The wolf recovered quickly, unleashing another wind attack, this time sweeping horizontally like an invisible blade.
The silver rabbit darted beneath it, releasing another lightning strike that left scorched patches across the larger creature's side.
The fight intensified, the forest around them suffering collateral damage as wind magic uprooted smaller vegetation and lightning strikes let black marks on trees.
Despite its size disadvantage, the rabbit moved with extraordinary speed, evading most attacks while landing precise lightning strikes.
Blood matted the wolf creature's fur as the lightning burns accumulated. Driven by pain and fury, it launched a desperate assault, creating a swirling vortex of wind that lifted the rabbit off the ground, suspending it helplessly in the air.
Just when victory seemed certain for the larger beast, the rabbit concentrated its power, surrounding itself with a crackling sphere of electricity that intensified until it detonated in a blinding flash.
The explosion sent the wolf creature flying backward, where it crashed against a tree with a sickening crack.
The silver rabbit dropped to the ground, its victory evident as the larger beast lay still, unable to rise.
But the cost of victory was high.
Blood seeped from multiple wounds where wind magic had sliced through its silver coat. Its breath came in ragged gasps, lacking even the strength to approach its defeated foe and claim the mana core.
Scias watched, mesmerized by what he'd witnessed. The sheer power of lightning magic—an element he hadn't yet encountered—left him speechless.
A creature so small wielding such devastating force challenged everything he'd assumed about this world's predator hierarchy.
He shook himself from his trance.
The wounded rabbit presented perfect opportunity—weakened, exhausted, unable to mount an effective defense. Its lightning attacks had been formidable, but now it could barely stand.
'I can't waste this chance,' Scias thought, quickly comming up with strategy.
Despite its weakened state, the creature's senses remained sharp. A direct approach could fail.
Drawing on months of magical practice, Scias visualized multiple earth projectiles, forming them directly within his line of sight rather than near his body.
His persistent training had expanded his magical capabilities, allowing him to manifest magic at distance rather than forming them only near him.
He crafted each projectile with precision, sharp and compact.
Scias focused intently, gathering his mana while remaining perfectly still.
The silver rabbit's head drooped momentarily as exhaustion overtook it.
Scias struck.
The barrage of projectiles shot toward the creature from multiple angles. Despite its injuries, the rabbit's survival instincts triggered an immediate response. It leapt and twisted with remarkable agility, evading most of Scias's attacks.
But not all.
Two of the earth projectiles pierced through its silver fur, drawing fresh blood but failing to penetrate deeply.
More significantly, one earth projectile struck its skull with precise force—not enough to pierce or crush, but sufficient to render it unconscious.
The rabbit collapsed, its small body crumpling to the forest floor.
Scias approached cautiously, knife drawn and senses alert for any sign of movement.
The creature's chest still rose and fell with shallow breaths. Unconscious, not dead—which meant it remained dangerous should it awaken.
Standing over the creature, Scias observed its remarkable silver fur up close, admiring the subtle patterns visible only at this distance.
Power in such a small body—another reminder to never to judge book by its cover, as the saying goes.
With practiced efficiency, Scias channeled mana into his palm, forming a thin wind blade.
A quick, clean strike cut the rabbit's neck, causing it to bleed to death.
As he wanted to gather the mana core, a familiar blue text appeared.
[System Notice:
Level 3 → Level 6]
Scias froze, knife hovering mid-cut. Three levels. From a single kill.
"Damn," he whispered, staring at the small carcass with newfound respect.
"Killing this rabbit gained me three levels."
He ran a hand through his hair, considering the implications.
The Water Hares he'd hunted earlier had only increased his level by two, and that was only after killing the first one. The second one did not increase his level at all.
How strong was it in terms of level? How much more powerful compared to the Water Hares?
A distant howl jerked him back to reality. The stream would attract other predators soon enough.
"Now is not the time to ponder these things," Scias muttered, resuming his work.
"Any monster can appear at any time to get some water."
Working quickly, Scias used his dagger to dig out the mana cores from both the rabbit and the wolf creature.
The rabbit's core gleamed with an unusual silver-blue light, substantially larger than the Water Hare's despite coming from a smaller body.
The wolf's core pulsed with white energy, though its light was already fading as death fully claimed the monster.
'The color of mana cores must be related to the monster's affinity,' Scias thought.
Blue for water, white for wind and silver-blue for lightning?
Scias carefully tucked the cores into his pouch.
He cleaned his knife on the grass, then hoisted the rabbit carcass onto his shoulder.
The wolf was too large to carry and would attract scavengers, but the rabbit would provide a decent meal.
He moved swiftly back toward the road, constantly scanning his surroundings.
The recent fight had likely drawn attention, making lingering dangerous. Once he reached the relative safety of the path, Scias followed it until he found a suitable safe place.
Working efficiently, he butchered the rabbit and built a small fire.
As the meat cooked, Scias maintained vigilance, one hand always near his weapons and his mind ready to use magic.
When the meat finished cooking, he tore off a piece and chewed thoughtfully.
The flavor spread across his tongue—bland and slightly tough, nothing like the rich taste he'd expected from such a remarkable creature.
"Not very good," he commented to himself, swallowing without enthusiasm.
While eating, Scias remained alert, his senses extended to detect any approaching threats.
Between cautious bites, he mentally called up his level information.
[Level: 6
Your recent advancement from Level 3 to Level 6 occurred due to defeating Quicksilver.]
"Quicksilver," Scias murmured, eyeing the remaining meat with renewed interest. "You don't taste good."
The System identified only the Quicksilver as source of advancement to higher level.
'Could it be that System mentiones only the creatures I don't know?' Scias though, recalling killing a Water Hare and not advancing in his levels.
That Water Hare must have contributed toward his level advancement though.
Four levels to go before awakening a class.
The path that had seemed so long this morning now appeared much shorter. With creatures like Quicksilver in these woods, his advancement, or death depending on his luck, might proceed faster than anticipated.
Scias moved his hand toward his waterskin, stopping mid motion. A realization hit him.
'I'm so stupid!' He thought. 'Can't I just use magic to make water?'
Scias forgot about his waterskin and created small ball of water that splashed into his palms.
He carefuly took a small sip, testing it. The water tasted normal, nothing different about it.
He then facepalmed himself, thinking back to all the time and effort he spent on getting a fresh water.
Just now, he could have avoided a potentially deadly situation with the Quicksilver.
'Actually, I wouldn't gain three levels so easily if I didn't go find water,' Scias thought.
In the end, his ignorance benefited him.