Soren grinned upon seeing the notification.

He had finally achieved the results of his hard work. Although he knew that this was just a notification which only reflected his ability and not some miraculous method that would make him learn something out of thin air, he was still very happy to see it.

The notification had induced confidence in him.

Soon though, his excitement wore off and he dozed off to sleep but the grin never left his face, even while sleeping. He had not slept even once since coming to this forest and so, he was dead tired.

He slept through the night like a baby. He woke up the next morning with a fresh mind and a grinning face, which became somewhat stiff from being in the same state whole night.

He had gained two big achievements last day: Achieved Level 1 mastery in ‘Create Undead’ spell & Created an Innate skill—‘Mana Manipulation’.

He quickly freshened up and began his work.

Since he already had mastered basic mana control, he was going to use that time for experimenting with his Spell Vessels and Innate Spells. He soon released his Grimoire and started his cultivation.

Devour.

The counter increased as the black mist entered his body.

2%...5%...8%...11%...14%

He sat on the floor inside the cave, cultivating. The white mist kept surging towards the black book and then converted into black mist, which then permeated in Soren’s body.

………..

It was early in the morning and cold dew drops on the leaves hadn’t evaporated yet. The grass on the ground was also still wet.

Birds were already flying around in the search of food. Their sweet chirping voices could be heard all over the jungle. The wind blew slowly, rusting the leaves which complemented the sweet sound of birds chirping.

The jungle had a serene feel to it but it also had a bloody face.

Soren continued his cultivation in the dark without any regard to anything else. Soon the counter reached 50% and kept increasing.

After it reached 58%, he started feeling a slight pain in his head and decided to stop at that point.

He slowly opened his eyes and released a breath: It was time for another experiment. He turned his focus on the frozen dead bodies. They were still fresh because of his spell.

He cast ‘Create Undead’ and first called forth a Skeleton Soldier.

He started doing an experiment on how the process of the spell worked. He started with the connection he had with the undead and slowly moved to different aspects. He checked everything and experimented with Isaac helping him.

Soon he found out the basics behind the spell and got a notification.

“Spell Mastery increased. Create Undead - Low Tier – Level 2/15.”

He was slightly taken by surprise as he was not expecting his mastery to increase so quickly but after thinking about it, he found out that the experiments he performed had highly increased his knowledge about the undead and the method to control them.

He was silent for a minute but then, suddenly….

“Mw-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…”

He let out a loud laugh which might have scared the kids; if they were there.

“Master…….”

“Ahem!!”

Soren cleared his throat and calmed down. This was an unexpected gift he had not expected.

He focused his mind on the task and again continued with his work. After he had formed a basic idea on how the connection between him and the undead worked, he tried to replicate the process on the frozen dead bodies.

His ‘Mana Manipulation’ skill was a vital part of this experiment as he needed very fine control over mana to see any success. As the experiment continued, his mana control and the knowledge about the spell, both increased significantly.

Soon, afternoon came and went. Birds started returning to their home when the sky turned gray.

Soren was still focused on his work. Although he wanted to go out and hunt, he found it hard to stop his work midway. He only rested in between for food, water or some essential stuff. He continued the process even when night came upon the forest.

He completely became immersed in experimenting with his spells and the dead bodies.

Around midnight, he stopped his work and rested for a while. He ate some dried ration and drank some water while still contemplating about his research.

He then cultivated and practiced his mana control for a while and went to sleep; He was already very close to breaking through to Layer 4.

………

Waking up in the morning, he freshened up, did his daily stuff, ate something and then repeated the same process as last day but still didn’t get the result he wanted.

He started to become slightly frustrated and annoyed. His eyes turned red from the stress and his hair became messy.

“I should take a break…Ok, let’s go out to hunt today.”

Making the decision, he packed his stuff, rechecked everything and went out of the cave. He blocked the cave from outside using the vines again and went down. He had repaired all the Spell Vessels he had and cleaned himself up before coming out.

He had become stronger than when he just came into this jungle. Now, he was very much eager to test his powers. He opened his status and did an inspection of everything.

Status: Healthy

Rank 0: Layer 3 [87%]

Name: Soren Farrow

Species: Human

Attribute: Darkness & Ice

Health: 100%

Stamina: 96%

Mana: 97%

Strength: 1.01

Agility: 1.32

Vitality: 1.97

Intelligence: 3.90

Spirit: 3.52

Resistance: 1.20

Spells:

Spell Vessels: 5/5

Innate Spells/Skills:

Ice Arrow [7/7] – Level 3/10. Mana Cost – Low.

------------

Cold Touch [4/4] – Level 2/10. Mana Cost – Average.

------------

Acid Splash [6/6] – Level 3/10. Mana Cost – Low.

------------

Shadow Chain [4/4] – Level 3/10. Mana Cost – Average.

------------

Create Undead – Low Tier [3/3] – Level 2/15. Mana Cost – High.

------------

Mana Manipulation – Level 1/15.

------------

He adjusted his backpack slightly and decided on a direction. As he started to move, he noticed a big difference. He was much swifter and could react to obstacles more quickly. He was also not getting tired easily even if he ran slowly for a certain distance.

Experiencing the upgrade of his physical aspects, he now, even more, anticipated his magical prowess.

He moved through the jungle slowly, checking the direction. After a while he started seeing multiple trails, all moving in the same direction. Following those trails carefully, he came upon a lake.

It was quite a big lake, the diameter being almost 3~4 km.

Soren quickly but stealthily came close and swiftly climbed a tree. Upon reaching a hiding place on that tree, he stabilized himself. He peeked through the gaps between the leaves and branch and gazed upon the large and calm lake.

There were multiple animals surrounding the lake, some drinking water, and some resting. The atmosphere was very weird as the predators and the prey co-existed at this place. It was like they had made some kind of deal to maintain peace at this place.

Soren continued to observe them as suddenly an idea came into his mind. He noticed that if he focused hard on those animals, he could see a light white mist emanating off them. He quickly formulated an idea based on this.

Isaac. Scan the mana emanating off those creatures. Take my mana signature from Layer 1 till now as a basis for comparison.

“Yes Master.”

……..

“Scan function created. You can scan them now, Master.”

Hmm…

He chose the one closest to him and gave the command to Isaac.

“Rank 0: Layer 2.”

Can you get more information?

“Not possible, Master. Maybe, if you make direct contact with their mana.”

Ok. That’s enough for now.

Soon he started scanning those animals. He checked the limitations on this scan like distance and strength difference. He noticed that the maximum distance he could scan anyone was around 100 meters, given the strength must not differ by 3 Layers.

………

After finishing all those conjectures, he climbed down the tree and started moving in a direction opposite to the lake.

He was not yet ready to face all those animals together with some beasts which he could not even scan. He would die the moment he stepped inside their territory.

He traveled through the forest, keeping an eye out for any danger or a prey. He soon found a trail that seemed like dog’s paws but bigger in size. He started following that trail carefully and stealthily.

Suddenly, he stopped as he noticed something. His pupils dilated as he ducked down quickly.

Swoosh!!

A sharp claw slashed at the place where his head was.

If he hadn’t moved his head suddenly, he would have become a headless corpse by now.

He quickly did a dive roll to the right and released his Grimoire.

He calmly analyzed the situation and cast ‘Create Undead’. Soon a completely rotten zombie walked out from the black mist in front of him.

Soren backed off a few steps and scanned the area in front of him but still could not see the creature that had attacked him.

His heart became slightly anxious but his eyes remained calm. Soon he succeeded in calming his heart down and started forming a plan to deal with this situation.

He had a meat tank in the form of a zombie but it was not that useful if he could not even detect the enemy.

His ‘Powered Vision’ was also useless at this point. Although it gave him athletic skills like dynamic vision, vision tracking etc., which allowed him to see fast moving objects clearly and track it using his eyes, it was still weak at this point and was totally useless against this swift beast.

Releasing a quick breath, he decided on a plan and pushed his palm towards the Grimoire.

Devour!

He started using his Bloodline Talent ‘Devour’.

Mana started rushing towards the black book from the atmosphere. He strained his mind, making the process run even faster and with more force.

Soon the mana from all around started rushing towards him. The dense white mist enveloped him completely, making a white dome around him.

His Grimoire also started converting the white mist into black mist quickly but Soren didn’t care for that right now.

He quickly casted ice arrow twice and got ready.

All of this took some time to explain but everything happened only in a few seconds.

The beast had yet to make its second attack.

Soren waited for it to make its move first; He was ready with a makeshift intruder alert system.

Suddenly, the white mist surged on his right side. He quickly got into action and fired one of the floating arrows towards that direction: But…it was too late.

“AHHHHH!—Cough!—Cough!!...”

He had totally missed and a big gash had formed on Soren’s lower neck and chest area as he coughed up large mouthfuls of blood.

He stumbled backward and could only stabilize himself with the help of a tree. Blood flowed from the wound continuously like a fountain—it was a very deep cut.

He pressed on the wound with his hands and tried to control his rough breathing. The pain from the wound started to make his mind numb but he bit his tongue to stay alert. He ordered his rotten zombie to cover his back and again casted ‘Ice Arrow’.

This time, he did not stop and continued to cast ‘Ice Arrow’ 3 more times.

Soon 4 ice arrows floated in front of him. The collection of ice arrows made the temperature around him go down sharply.

As he was continuing to cast more ice arrows, another attack came.

This time it was from the back. Maybe, the beast had realized that Soren would be paying more attention to his front with the rotten zombie protecting his back and so it chose to attack Soren’s back.

Soren had created a rotten zombie instead of a skeleton soldier because of its defensive ability, but that would become useless if the enemy just bypassed it and focused on Soren himself.

Again, the claw slashed at Soren, taking chunks of flesh, meat, and blood with itself.

“AHHHH!!!”

Soren screamed in pain and stumbled forward. He gritted his teeth and prevented himself from losing consciousness. He was completely cornered now.

Even though he made an alert system using the dense mana, he was not fast enough to react to the movements yet.

Even his developed eyes could not follow the beast let alone his body.

He spat the blood in his mouth on the ground and stood straight while slightly trembling. He was completely drenched in his own blood now.

His mangled flesh and muscle hung in front of his chest and back. The wounds were so deep that even the bones had been scratched deep.

His warm blood flowed out of his body and slowly his body started getting cold. He tried to ignore the pain and the dizziness; He had no option left to him now.

He gritted his teeth and cast ‘Ice Arrow’ again. His Spell Vessel of Ice Arrow had reached its limit and would break if he used it even one more time. His mana had also decreased quite a bit. He tried his best to focus his eyes and got ready.

Soon, the attack came and this time, from his left. But Soren did not care at all about the direction of attack—He had already made his decision.

As soon as the dense white mist moved and the sharp claw got closer, Soren….snapped his fingers.

Boom!

A sharp scream resounded in the air following the sound of ice arrows exploding.

Soren had done a kamikaze attack.

He simply had one thought in his mind—‘If I don’t live, you won’t live either’.

The hundreds of ice shards from the 5 ice arrows blasted off in every direction and pierced the beast.

It had not died but was rendered completely immobile.

Soren smiled weakly but coldly as he gazed upon this scene. He had protected his face and head at the last moment with his arms but his body had been riddled with small holes.

Although the ice wouldn’t hurt him because of his high affinity towards it but the force from the explosion made several holes in him.

He was already hurt severely and this pushed him off the cliff.

He started losing consciousness but before completely blacking out, he casted ‘Cold Touch with the last of his mana and froze some of his biggest wounds. He also gave out few orders to his undead while he was casting his spell.

The Rotten Zombie, that was supposed to protect Soren, ended up being protected by Soren instead. It was almost unscathed by the ice explosion and the swift beast had also ignored it before, so it was in a very good shape—As good shape as a rotten zombie could be at least.

As soon as it received the orders from Soren, it moved towards the immobile beast and quickly pieced his sharp but rotten claw in its throat, ending its life.

The beast looked like a beaver but much bigger in size. It had extremely sharp claws and two sharp canines came out from its mouth on both sides. It was black in color and had a yellow stripe like fur going from his head to tail.

If Soren had made Isaac scan this beast, he would have been extremely astonished at his own victory.

“Rank 0: Layer 5.”

The Rotten Zombie quickly slashed opened its head and took out the core. It then went to Soren and picked him up.

It put the core in its mouth and balanced Soren on its shoulders. Using its sharp claws, it started to climb the nearby tree.

It climbed clumsily but somehow reached its destination. It put down Soren in a comfortable position on a large branch. That area was hidden by the leaves and branches.

It then sat down close by, intending to protect its master.

As Soren was losing consciousness, he had also intended to give some orders to Isaac. But as he was almost unconscious, the order was extremely simple.

Actually, it could not even be called an order. As he was losing his consciousness, he only said one word—

Isaac!

……..

“Overriding Authority—highest priority set: Master’s Survival. Taking control of the process: Devour.”

Isaac didn’t even reply to Soren and just started executing his tasks.

He took control of the ‘Devour’ process and made it start again; it had stopped as Soren had lost consciousness.

The white mist kept pouring into the black book and black mist came out of it. The black mist then surrounded Soren like a cocoon.

Soren’s pulse was almost non-existent by now. Although he stopped the bleeding by freezing the wounds, he had already lost too much blood. But, even though he was unconscious, he was still cultivating with the help of Isaac.

Soon his cultivation reached the point of breakthrough. But as Isaac did the calculation, he found that even after the increased stats, the probability of Soren surviving was very low.

So, taking his highest priority into account, he made some severe decisions.

“Taking measures to increase the survival rate.”

Messages kept displaying in front of an unconscious Soren.

Isaac quickly did some calculation and forced the ‘Devour’ effect to turn towards Soren’s body. Isaac was in complete control of the process and it was easy for him to make these changes.

But what came afterward held drastic consequences for both Soren and Isaac.

Isaac controlled the ‘Devour’ process and started to devour some of the Quintessence from Soren’s Mana Source. This Quintessence was the same one which was used to develop Soren’s physical and magical aspect when he made a breakthrough.

Isaac was devouring some of the Quintessence back.

Isaac had calculated every possibility about the evolution of the Stygian Grimoire and Soren’s Secondary Bloodline Talent and finally came to this conclusion: ‘Devour’ could evolve and be used to consume Mana Source—this was his conclusion.

Isaac had suffered heavy damages in order to force the ability out. He had used every resource available to him to make this possible.

The Quintessence started coming out of Soren’s Mana Source and slowly entered the Grimoire.

As the process was not started by proper means and was forced out, the Stygian Grimoire was not able to complete the process efficiently and some of the Quintessence dissipated in the air.

Isaac then controlled the Quintessence that had entered the Grimoire and again forced it towards Soren but this time he changed its focus.

The Quintessence from the Grimoire and the Quintessence from the breakthrough mixed together and started developing an aspect of Soren that would save his life right now.

The process continued on and slowly, Soren’s vitals showed some sign of stabilizing.

“Heavy damage detected: Going into hibernation mode for recovery.”

“Master, please survive……..”

Isaac was heavily damaged after that reckless act and soon had to go into hibernation for the recovery process.

The ‘Rotten Zombie’ was still sitting down beside the black mist cocoon without making any movement or noise.

It did not have much mana left but as it was sitting idly, it was able to extend its stay in this realm. One Rotten Zombie and one black mist cocoon rested on the tree as the sun hit the horizon.