Erm, according to my mental map this direction is North. The sun rises from the East … which means it is still morning.

Time flowed differently in Reality and inside the [ Philippine Lore ]. According to the game’s official forum, 1:3 was the time ratio. It means, 1 hour in reality was 3 hours inside the game.

Although he couldn’t tell the exact time, Rain was confident that it was still morning after seeing the position of the sun.

Like words from the Father of Bourbon, it would be different altogether if the sun rises from the West, but there would be no end in sight if he began doubting everything.

“Sister spider… where do you think we are right now?”

As he walked, Rain glanced at his side. There, a giant spider over two meters tall was quietly walking beside him while looking around.

As if answering his question, the giant spider let out a ‘Scree’ sound.

It had already been an hour since Rain and the spider left the cave. During this time, they had already encountered several monsters; a black bear, a boar with a horn and the all too familiar; wolves.

As what had Rain expected, the spider was really strong. She was the one confronting these monsters and easily binding them with its sticky webs. After this was Rain’s job.

As a mage, he cast fireballs after fireballs to raise his skill proficiency. Then if he was already out of mana, he then wields his dagger and start slicing. Though he still hasn’t leveled up again and was still Lv2 but his skill proficiency was rising like a rocket.

“Status”

[Lagim]

Level: 2 55%/100%

Class: Mage

Strength: 13

Stamina: 10/17

Agility: 10

Mana: 6/16

Stat Points: 0 Skill Points: 0

Magic: Fire: Lv2 12%/100% Water: Lv0 2%/100%

Earth: Lv0 10%/100% Wind: Lv0 3%/100%

- ---

- Aliguyon’s Battle Endurance (Passive) Lv1 21%/100%

- Innate ability: Hyper Intuition (Passive)

- Dagger Mastery Lv1 63%/100%

- Corpse Disassembly Lv0 60%/100%

- Acrobatics Lv0 33%/100%

- Self-Regeneration Lv0 6%/100%

Just like in the past, Rain had added two points in strength and one point in Mana.

As for his fire magic, he can now cast two fireballs as the same time with the size of a basketball. Its strength

compared to when it was still Lv0 was like heaven and earth.

Now, he was really walking towards the path of becoming a strong Battle Mage!

He had also harvested a considerable amount of monster parts. If he were to be compared to the other players, Rain was confident that he was now richer compared to them.

Rain and the spider continued to walk all the way towards the north.

The two stopped talking. Their pace wasn’t considerably fast as if they were just strolling.

At this moment, the spider suddenly sprang up.

“Screee!!!” It let out a very anxious shrill and immediately bit Rain’s hem and slowly dragged him backward.

“Hey, what are you do---“

Rain was bewildered by the spider’s action and struggled but then suddenly he felt something. It’s as if thousands of bugs were crawling from all over his body.

Chills!!

Because of this, Rain immediately realized what happened, causing his heart to sink like the titanic; his instincts were commanding him to run!

Rain wanted to run away as far as possible, but it seems like it was already too late. With his improved hearing, Rain could hear a noise coming from the bushes 10 meters away from them.

--- According to the presence he was feeling, if they chose to flee, they would definitely be slower than this creature. However, if he chose to fight, he would be extremely small and fragile in front of the one exuding this overbearing and terrifying pressure.

And so the only option would be …

Realizing this, he immediately tackled the giant spider at the side and hide.

“Scree?!”

“Sshh, I know what you want to say but we can’t run anymore. It would surely see us the moment we scurried away and chased us. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to notice us yet, so we could still hide… understand?” Rain squatted on his heels with the spider after as they hid in nearby bushes.

With the size of the giant spider, it should’ve been near impossible to hide her; however, fortunately the trees and the bushes were far from normal as they were far bigger compared to the real thing. Cutting some branch and long grass with his dagger, Rain immediately made a suitable camouflage for her.

Clenching the dagger tight, Rain carefully observed the surrounding through the grass.

Just what is this thing that was giving him chills …

“Scree!”

“Sshh, I know it’s moving slowly towards us.” Rain nodded and held his breath.

Rain knew that even the slightest breath could reveal them to monsters that possess acute sense. Although he wasn’t a hunter but a mage, he had seen some movies and videos of hunters in hunt in the past and learned some theoretical knowledge about it.

Although he doesn’t know if this half-assed knowledge was enough but he doesn’t have a choice anymore and could only try it. But still, a small excited smile appeared from his face.

This game was fun and exciting because of thrills like this.

As this thought struck him, Rain couldn’t help but deeply sighed at this time.

How could I think something like this at this situation?

He was troubled by his craziness but he couldn’t deny the excitement he was currently having.

The spider didn’t let out another sound but its eight eyes wasn’t looking anywhere but Rain. A complicated feeling flashed across its eyes as she keeps staring at his figure.

How could this human still smile when there was clearly a strong monster coming towards them? Is he not afraid to die?

The spider only followed Rain until now because of curiosity. And now, this curiosity gradually deepens as a new feeling slowly growing inside.

--- ---

Time passed by and Rain coped with his nervousness and excitement before the hunt by counting his own heartbeats.

Eight meters, seven meters, five meters….

When it reached three meters, Rain saw the grass at the far front slightly shake and then one figure showed up.

‘What the $&%*$#!?’

Seeing the creature in front of him, Rain couldn’t help but cursed inwardly. He almost let out his voice, thankfully he managed to hold it.

A half-man, half-bull!

“A Minotaur?!”

The creature resembled the Minotaur of legends. However something was different. Seeing this, Rain finally realized what the creature was really called.

With shining jewels that could rival diamonds and rubies hanging from its ears, Rain guessed that this monster was

the [ Sarangay ]

[ Sarangay ]can be called the Philippine Minotaur. It had the appearance of a half-man, half-bull mythical creature which was said to be of Ibanag origin.

So why is it here? It doesn't make any sense!?

Was this the game's mistake? Or maybe... there were some purpose for it to be here?

The [ Sarangay ] usually dwells in the wilderness and uses its scary reputation to protect its habitat from the coming invaders.

They were some rumors saying that the jewels hanging from its ears were sacred and possess superpowers.

However, it was said that no one had managed to steal it from the [ Sarangay ] as all the people who tried it only ends in one way; Death in cold blood.

--- ---

Seeing the creature, Rain remained still and refrained from moving even a little bit. He could only forcefully swallow his saliva.

He then looked at the spider next to him and stared at each other, finding fear and horror in each other’s eyes.

He knows that he could never beat this monster at his current level. Even if there was sister spider helping him, fighting that bull monster is nothing but stupidity.

And although he was certainly crazy, but craziness has also its own limits!

The Bull-man’s eyes were bloodshot as if it will slaughter any people reflected on it.

This scared Rain.

Its face was grim and its limbs were stout. The Bull-man’s teeth were exposed in the air and every single tooth was as long as Rain’s finger.

From a single glance, Rain knew that if he were to fight against this monster – he would be torn apart!

And so, Rain had no choice but to hide in the bushes and tuck his tail like a cowardly dog.

This event caused a huge spark inside Rain’s mind. He now realized how weak he still was. He could only grit his teeth in frustration and hide like a coward.

Thinking like this, Rain gradually felt sadness overcome his heart. This wouldn’t happen next time! As he slowly accepted this fact, his sadness slowly turned into solemnness.

--- ---