Derek slowly pushed himself up. His muscles still ached, but the overwhelming exhaustion had lessened quite a bit.
Darkness surrounded him. He was deep in the forest with no source of light. If not for the faint moonlight slipping through the branches, he wouldn't even be able to see what was around him.
Using the ground for support, Derek managed to get on his feet.
"It's going to be rough going back in this condition… I had no trouble fighting monsters on my way here, but returning like this would be impossible." He fell into deep thought.
But just as he was trying to figure out what to do, his eyes landed on the crystal core lying near him — the one the serpent left behind.
"What is this…?" Derek walked over, picked it up, and examined it closely.
"It looks like another core… just like the one Instructor Peter fed me."
Despite the ominous appearance of the core, Derek's eyes flickered with a reckless idea.
"If the demon core made me stronger… will this one do the same?"
