Time was slowly passing…..4 days were already gone by…..

Max had already understood the meaning of Refining one's will. With his understanding as clear as crystal, it didn't take long before Max broke through the First Layer of the Ancient Manual.

It was a bit shocking, but not enough to be incomprehensible. Max had been practicing the First Layer for a long time and even without the system's buff, his body had reached the power level of a low level mage. It clearly showed that he wasn't far from breaking through.

After the breakthrough, Max's physique entered the Mid level category. Max took a two day break to heal the hole in his stomach while making the spearhead with Red Horned Deers horn.

With the spear complete, Max would have confidence in fighting the peak level Ferocious beasts. Even though Max had hunted the Red Horned Deer, he perfectly knew that this beast was a docile and brainless creature. Except for its sharp horn, there was nothing special about it.

After his wounds had healed, Max once again began his training and this time he was planning to go crazy with the spear in his hand.

He entered the forest with the first ray of sun in the morning and returned at the last ray of sun in the evening covered in wounds and blood.

And in the blink of an eye a week had passed….

During this week, Max had followed a simple routine.

Fighting from dawn to dusk after which he would take a bath in the river and spend some time with Sera and Juju. He would then continue with his practice of flow energy and the spirit energy to refine the core. And the rest of the time left aside from sleeping was used to practice his skills and craft equipment.

One of the day, Max's luck shined and he managed to find a few ores. It was not as rare as the Iron clay but still it was a 1★ ore. This allowed Max to cast a thin armor for himself and a small dagger for butchering the beasts, since it was difficult to do it with hands.

But Max's luck went down pretty fast as he met a Shadow Tiger while taking a stroll through the west part of the forest. The savage beasts weren't called savage without a reason. A single attack from its claw left Max not only with a permanent tattoo but also a huge gaping hole in his armor. If it wasn't for his wings, Max wouldn't have lived to tell the tale.

…..

Right now Max was sitting in his spirit realm in front if the Earth tablet.

"Sigh!"

"Even though I can sense the flow energy more accurately during the battle. I feel that I am doing something wrong. Did I understand it in the wrong way?"

Max looked at the earth tablet of the Ancient Manual.

When Max had broken through the first layer, the outer layer of the tablet containing the First layer had crumbled revealing the Second layer of the Ancient Manual.

"Ancient Manual"

"Second Layer: Refine the Shell"

"Every defeat is a small success. In the path against fate, no defeat is in vain. A weak will is like a weak shell, unless it goes through a thousand defeats, it might crumble in front of your own might."

—— Arkansas, the First Human God

"Shell should mean the body right? I think I have been trying to do that. Why in hell am I not feeling good then? It feels as if I am drifting away from the path…"

Max sat there with a frown on his face.

'What am I doing wrong?'

Suddenly Max felt weak thud on his back and he realised that Sera had just decided to make him his leaning sofa.

"You tired Sera?", Max asked as he rubbed Sera's head.

" Umnn..", Sera replied as she shook her head up and down.

By now, Sera could understand short and simple sentences.

"Khu-khu!"

Max looked at Juju who came in front of him and coiled onto his laps.

"What am I to you guys? A bed….huff! If you are feeling sleepy, just go and lie down on the bed that I made for you guys.", Max pointed his hand and spoke.

There was indeed a bed in the direction where Max was pointing at. Its frame was made of wood and Max really seemed to have the luxury as he made a mattress and pillow using the Iron clay ore.

If people came to know about his way of using the ore, they would definitely be spitting blood.

Max picked Sera up. But Juju still hung onto his legs as he moved towards the bed. He let down Sera on the bed and looked towards Juju.

"You, getting down or not? You never get tired do you?", Max asked.

Even though it might sound insane, this creature was very intelligent.

Max didn't know why Juju was different from the rest of the insects in the Spirit world. He suspected that it had something to do with Sera. But Max still wasn't sure as he had no way to confirm his suspicion.

In these past few days, he had experimented a lot of stuff with the spirit world. The insects from the spirit world couldn't be taken out. Neither could he bring any living creature into the spirit world.

As for the non living things, there was a limit on the object's size. Aside from that, if he brought too much stuff in, he would experience severe headaches. Even the thought of it sent shivers down Max's spine.

That was basically it and nothing new...

"Huff!"

Max moved his hand to grab Juju and it seemed to notice Max's action too. Suddenly, its soft and tender looking scales turned hard and it grips tightened even more around Max's leg.

Max's hands stopped and he froze. It wasn't due to pain but realization.

"Haha…"

"So, it could be this way too. I have been too focused on my body as a whole. Let's try it one by one….layer by layer….I don't know if it will work or not. But I have a positive feeling about it.", Max said with a laugh as he forcefully pulled apart Juju from his legs and threw it beside Sera on the bed.