Al had been wondering what to do with the destructive spine 'I should maybe think up a proper name for it' he'd gotten from the Spinegolin. It's effective weight was of 10kg, meaning it was burdensome and would slow Al down, but with his Strength would be useable in battle.

The problem was that the Squirrelic seemed to affect the Spinegolin too, meaning it went from having to lighten only Al's weight of around 30kg to around 130kg, bringing the weight reduction down to around 15%. It also decreased the weapon's efficacy, since less weight meant less momentum.

Al had also extracted the horn from the Hareth Collapser, which was actually thinner than the Supra Rabbit's, and after doing some testing found that it pushed out mana much more efficiently and stably, even if the speed wasn't that great.

Al gave it to Yuly since it seemed to be a perfect fit for her current abilities, and she gratefully accepted. She was still doing physical though, so she wouldn't be using it much for the time being.

That wasn't the only bounty the hare had offered though. When the dismantling team was taking it apart, they found an Earth Core inside it! Looking back, it seemed obvious that it would have a core, seeing how much mana it could use, but it was still a great boon. Cores are an extremely useful cultivation resource, since the compressed mana they are made of can be absorbed much faster than ambient mana.

It is especially useful if the cultivator's element is compatible, since it would save enormous amounts of work when purifying their Core. Al had also read that they could be used as a base for enchantments of compatible elements, and produce much greater effects than with bases made from other materials.

They could also be used to empower spells of their element apparently, but unless they found a Life Core, none of them would be using Cores for that purpose. Al had also read that Cores only started appearing on Rank 3 beasts and higher, but some Rank 2s and even Rank 1s that we're solely magic based seemed to have them too.

The Squirrel Bomber and Spinegolin didn't have cores, but they had mana infused parts, which were just as valuable. This meant they couldn't use magic but they had innate buffs.

What was funny for Al was that Cores were just extremely compressed elemental mana. Gems were the same, but those were formed naturally underground or in places chock full of mana of a certain element. They were much less valuable though, since unlike cores they would always have small traces of other attributes mixed in, but this was unevitable since they were made of compressed ambient mana.

This had given Al the idea of artificially creating gems, but he was sure that this was already something people did. 'They wouldn't be stupid enough to forfeit such a business opportunity right?' Well, lightning gems wouldn't be very useful, but if Yuly started making healing gems? They'd be golden!

As he made business plans for the future, Al continued his skill and stat training. He regretted having put so many points into Dexterity since he could have gotten up to D Grade by mere training, but there was no use crying over spilled milk.

He practiced his [Flash] and [Quick Steps] skills over and over, since they were the only ones who hadn't evolved yet, and managed to get his Toughness to E+ Grade.

After three weeks, a screen finally appeared in front of Al.

[Flash] Skill has reached High proficiency. When using the skill while targeting an enemy's weak point or vital organ, gives a slight honing effect towards that part.

Al was very pleased. When [Flash] reached Mid proficiency it only gave a bonus to penetrative power, but he could do that himself by just using more mana on the skill or utilising more stamina. This upgrade however was much more useful, since even if he was proud of his precision, it wasn't by any means perfect.

This will allow Al to target the Spinegolin's small weak point much more easily for example. He hadn't actually encountered any Rank 3s these past few weeks, though he hadn't been going out to hunt much either.

Just like Al, Yuly and Koro had also been diligently training their bodies, with the former doing some mental training when resting her muscles. She now had slightly toned muscles, though she still didn't have a six-pack or crazy quads or anything like that. Koro had changed too since, while still looking like a muscle-clad war machine compressed into a prepubescent frame, he had actually lost some muscle volume.

He hadn't gotten weaker though, it was more like his muscles were compressing themselves, seeing how they now were literally as hard as stone. His appetite had also grown (once again), and he now ate as much as two healthy adult males. 'I mean, I eat quite a lot too, but he's just on another level.' Al hoped that Toughness also affected the digestive system's walls.

Al went hunting today like usual, and he was a bit excited since he felt he was close to reaching level 14. His levelling speed was out of this world, but then again the beasts he was fighting were much stronger than the beasts he killed at level 14 back on Earth, since cultivation had made him much stronger than he should be at his level.

He also brought Misty along. The tension between them had receded over the weeks, but she still refused to tell Al anything about her origin or knowledge, and Al could only glimpse at those unknowns with clever use of words. It seemed her power had been, somehow, forcefully locked to Rank 1 since birth, and only now could Misty grow in ranks,

Suddenly Misty's ears subtly perked up. [Seems like we have a visitor,] she said.

Al could only marvel at Misty's hearing, since even with his mana infused ears he couldn't hear the rumble until almost thirty seconds later. It was a like a muffled drum at first, then the periodic thumping sound got louder and louder. Whatever it was, it was big, and it was getting closer.

Al approached the source of the sound and found it belonged to a ginormous boar, easily elephant-sized, maybe even more. It stomped over anything in its way, including trees and rocks. Maintaining a safe distance, Al charged up [Palm of the Storm] to the max and, when he felt he couldn't control it any longer, threw the Lightning ball at the creature's head. It stunned it only for a moment, but that was more than enough for Al to reach the beast's eye and pierce it in one go.

The back of the eyeball was plated in hard bone, so Al couldn't reach its brain. He jumped back and the beast furiously rammed towards him, but it didn't have time to speed up, so Al jumped up ad gracefully landed on its back.

It was fully covered in tough fur, so he instead ran to the beasts rear and grabbed its tail, coiling his feet around it. He then used [Flash] on the boar's backdoor, causing it to wail in pain. He did it again and again, causing the boar to leave a line of blood in its path of destruction.

The boar soon started to lose its oomph, so Al jumped down to the ground and pierced the fallen beast's snout, this time reaching the brain and ending it. Je could have done this faster and with less animal cruelty, but this was the safest method after all. The screen in front of him confirmed that it was dead.

You have reached level 14

The long ride on the boar's tail had also given Al time to think of a witty name, though for a while he had only been able to come up with 'Bloody Boar'. Well, it was a pretty messy sight when he was riding it from the backdoor.

In the end, he settled for 'Tusk Tank', which sounded pretty damn cool. After the now routine of telling the adults about the new beast, Al continued his training. The snow was almost completely gone by now too, and the first spring flowers once again peeled out from in between the shrubs.

Over the next two months, Al trained (mostly) diligently, only taking breaks for a couple of days per week. He let Misty do most of the beast culling, only going in person when she informed him that there was a Rank 3. He killed a Spinegolin, two Bomber Squirrels and an Hareth Collapser, and was one step away from level 15. Tusk Tanks seemed to be rarer, though the fur of a single one had been enough to make excellent body armor and even helmets for everyone at the orphanage.

Al had also needed to create several more light boxes for beast materials, and now they practically had a production line going.

They had given the two tusks along with the two heavy spikes to the old carver at the village and asked him to try to make a sword out of them, and he requested Koro to stay there with him to provide with manpower to whittle down the hard bone. The situation had been pretty comical. He also asked for almost two gold, but the orphanage's income from selling materials allowed them to pay it.

After a month the swords were ready, and they were a perfect fit for Koro. He still had a bit of trouble controlling them, but Al had seen the destruction they caused firsthand and it was astonishing. They could cut trees in one swing and barely lose any speed, and when Koro slammed them on the ground they caused cracks to spread for several meters.

Koro had also awakens his element, and from the looks of it, it had happened several months ago, and he just hadn't realised it. It seemed to be metal, but he could only summon a thin, 20 cm long square piece maximum, and keep it for a few seconds. It seemed to be made of some really resistant metal though, and it reminded Al of high-carbon steel. Of course it was just a suspicion, and he obviously didn't have a reference since it didn't seem to exist in this world. 'Or at least not in frontier villages...'

' But those are just side dishes. The most important changes in these couple of months are...' Al checked his Status once again.

Alberto Peñas

Age: 3 years

Level 14

Class: Prodigy of the Lightning Rapier

Strength

D-

Dexterity

D+

Toughness

E+

Will

E+

Intelligence

D-

Charisma

E-

Perception

E-

Assignable

4

Skills:

[Mana Molding] (Low)

[D Grade Core] (High)

[Physical Augmentation] (High)

[Sense Enrichment] (Mid)

[Palm of the Storm] (Low)

[Impulse] (Low)

[Flash] (High)

'Nice.' Al's Strength has reached D- Grade, and his [Physical Augmentation] has reached High proficiency. It allowed him to slightly change mana output of the skill without losing the cost reduction, though if he went over that amount by a tiny bit, the bonus would revert instantly. It was still a great asset in battle though, since it allowed him to lower the amount of mana he gave the skill if he ran low, for example.

Finally, his Quick Step skill had evolved into [Impulse]. It was basically the same, except that each time he pushed himself off something using the skill he would gain extra velocity. He still hadn't reached the level of speed of his previous life, but it was incredibly useful nonetheless, and synergised extremely well with [Flash], allowing him to pierce even the hide of the Tusk Tank and the scales of the Spinegolin if he aimed at the points between the scales, which [Flash] helped him with. 'Damn, this build is turning OP. Well, they are my class skills, so it's normal for them to work well together.'

Al thought as he killed an unsuspecting Bear-Boar, and getting a message he didn't expect.

You have reached level 15