Jack felt weird. Some parts of his remaining body hurt like hell, while others felt numb. He felt faint, but he panicked inside at the same time. Feinting meant death.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 24

Jack forced himself to cast. He was going to do everything possible to stay alive. Even if his attempt was doomed from the start, he wanted to at least try. Jack’s class changed his body, he could regenerate any part of his body naturally. The white clothed man might have thought it was impossible to cure Jack, unless a 6th tier magician would intervene, but Jack’s body allowed him to heal with less impressive magic.

He cast live kinetic spell, pushing blood in his veins. He immediately felt a bit more clear headed, but more blood gushed from his torn apart body. Jack used kinetic spell and pure life mana to temporarily stop bleeding, by closing all veins leaving his body. He already had too little blood. ‘I need to repair heart and lungs, the rest is secondary.’ Jack had a limited amount of clarity and he would die without a working heart. He moved his heart pieces to their place, and filled his heart with life mana.

Most internal organs of normal people weren’t able to regenerate. A heart of a normal person treated with life mana in this situation would try to wildly regenerate. There was a good chance the heart wouldn’t be even able to even work properly after. The heart muscles would be joined back without an order.

Jack’s heart pieces joined together perfectly. There was no problem. The heart was beating again, Jack no longer had to pump blood manually. The lungs were more problematic. Jack knew how they were functioning, but recreating the lost parts was a real bother. Also, his blood lacked nutrients for that. Jack patched up what he could, allowing lungs to work. His panic was receding, as his most important internal organs worked again.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 25

He still felt pain, though it was somehow easier to stomach. He checked his status, and discovered he had now +10% boost to mental endurance from the skill to withstand pain. Jack checked his bars.

Vitality

29/643

Stamina

49/159

Clarity

346/930

His vitality was really low, but the most important information was his remaining clarity.

‘I need to join back my legs. The evolution would fail would I try it with only my upper body.’ Jack groaned in his mind, his situation was horrible. His digestive system was destroyed. Jack wouldn’t be able to increase his mass before the next evolution. He had to evolve quickly, or he would lose weight, and die from starvation.

There was a problem. Jack’s blood lacked nutrients, Jack already used them. He could speed up regeneration, but his body still had to regenerate normally. His body needed nutrient to regenerate. High tier magic could take care of this problem, but Jack only had his own low tier spells.

‘I need to grow back liver.’ Jack picked up fragments of liver from the snow, threw them together and repaired with life mana. It was easy, even normal person’s liver could regenerate on its own. The difficult part was to connect the liver back to his body.

Jack used quite a bit clarity for that, but not all. He had a large pool after leveling up, he still had some to spare. ‘I can either attach back my lower body, or build a bunker for defense.’ Jack was lying in the snow, completely defenseless. His endurance was once again on the low side, as he had too little blood in his veins. ‘I need to attach back my legs before they start to rot. I need more flesh for evolution.’ Jack made his decision. Without legs, he wouldn’t be able to evolve, or rather, he would die trying due to lack of body mass and energy, since evolution would also try to grow back legs.

Jack moved his legs with kinetic spell, and concentrated on mending and connecting veins. There was still a bit of blood in his legs, though too little. Jack cast life spell, concentrating life mana in his bones to boost blood production. A problem quickly became apparent.

'I don’t have enough water in my body.’ The realization struck him. There was a solution, though. Jack created a water mana creating rune on the ground, and moved melted snow into his veins. Jack wasn’t eager to use that water, as it was a bit dirty and very cold, but he had no other source of water nearby. He couldn’t even drink it, as his digestive system had been destroyed. Unfortunately, his veins were a part of his body, and water mana conflicted with his earth affinity. Jack felt terrible pain, but he was able to endure. His life was the stake, he had to fix his body, before spending all clarity.

Jack was connecting veins in his legs one after another. He had to maintain blood pressure. Would he just send his remaining blood all at once to his legs, he would lose consciousness, and most likely die. In the meantime, Jack tried to fix his blended abdominal muscles, and close his open stomach. He was doing a lousy job. Jack didn’t care much about it, since his very life was at the stake, his muscles were just a minor matter. After a few minutes, Jack managed to fix all veins in his legs, and stabilize his situation. He still had to join together nerves, bones, and the rest of muscles, though.

Exhaustion hit him, as he completed basis repairs. Jack’s mind had to rest, but he forced himself to build a simple earthen dome above him. Sleeping defenseless in the middle of the forest was just courting death. Jack was lucky no monster, lured by the smell of blood, already came. Jack fell asleep.

Jack was woken up by growling sounds. There was a dug out hole in his dome, and a wolf was eating one of his legs. Jack was startled, but he quickly remembered he still had to connect nerves. The wolf looked to be in the 2nd tier, judging by Jack’s analyze skill. The problem was, Jack had no strength in his body, he could barely move his arms. He had to use a spell.

Jack cast life kinetic spell, and killed the wolf.

Ding... You have killed lv. 13 Wolf

Jack hastily reformed the dome, and checked his situation over, while healing his nibbled leg. His vitality went up a bit, and he had once again some clarity to cast.

Jack thought about his situation. He had to fix his nerves and spine, but also run away from here. The white clothed man could return any moment, either to loot the Jack’s corpse, or to just destroy the evidence of his crimes. Jack had no idea why he had been so unlucky. Humanity had to stick together, a murder was the worst of crimes, but there always had been someone trying to kill another in Jack’s recent past.

Threat from monsters didn’t disappear, Jack had to return to the frontier. Even in his prime condition, being in the exterior alone was very dangerous. Now, any 3rd tier was a serious threat. The longer Jack was staying in the exterior, the greater the chance something would want to hunt him down.

Jack was healing his nerves, but he encountered a problem. ‘My body doesn’t want to be healed anymore.’ He was using life mana, but it had a meager effect. The nerves and muscles connected with each other, but the process was a way slower than before. He also felt pain from his whole body while healing. ‘Is that because my blood doesn’t have nutrients?’ Jack was starving, but he tried to think about something else. His next meal would be after the next evolution, he had no choice in this matter. The pain of healing was different compared to the pain of starvation, though.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 26

Jack tried to stand up. His legs were numb, and he had problems with controlling them. 'Nerves must have mended incorrectly.’ Jack cast the strength boosting spell, but the same pain as while healing struck his body. Jack could deduce the reason now, his body reached the mana saturation. Every mana type was harmful to a body without the affinity. Life mana was no exception.

At the beginning of training, every caster tried to gain affinity by using small amounts of mana. Fire elemental casters had it the worst, as fire mana was destructive, they had to train very slowly. This was the main reason why Bob had not been able to use fire as much as Aleena. He couldn’t force too much of fire mana through his body, as it would cook him.

Jack used a huge amount of life mana on his bones to boost blood production. His body gained some life mana affinity, but because the whole process lasted only for a dozen of minutes, his body was harmed by life mana, and reached mana saturation. Jack groaned in his mind. The next evolution would remove this problem, but until then, any mana traveling through his body would be more harmful than normal. Also, life mana would have very limited effect on his body. The outcome was that life mana would harm him more than heal him. The mana saturation was not an instant process. Jack could still cast, but the more he cast, the worse his mana saturation would get.

Children of nobles had it better. There was no need to control mana by someone’s own spell to gain affinity, you could get an affinity even from enemy’s attacks. Nobles used mana on their children with a plan for them to reach mana saturation just before the evolution to the 2nd tier.

Jack thought previously he may be able to use the earth kinetic spell to levitate a large rock. He could just lie on it, and levitate himself to the frontier, but mana saturation made it impossible. He could also use life kinetic spell, but it was more dangerous, a mistake could rip his body apart, even when in his prime.

Jack was able to stand up, but his legs were shaking, he was barely able to move. He didn’t have much clarity, but Jack decided staying in his current position was more dangerous. He could defend here, but mana saturation was a problem, he couldn’t be passive, as the time was against him. Jack also couldn’t just grind the last level and evolve here. Three days in which his body would be defenseless would be enough for any competent predator to kill him, even if he would manage to create some sort of bunker.

Jack walked slowly through the snow. He couldn’t use detection spells, or rather, only a limited number of times. He conserved clarity and his body condition for the inevitable fights. There was no way he would be able to walk to the frontier undetected. Jack also went a different route than before, he didn’t forget about the white clothed man who might search for his corpse. Jack thought it’s better to walk a little longer, than be killed due to carelessness.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 27

Jack encountered a few 2nd tier monsters. Some escaped from him, but most tried to eat him. Jack used the life kinetic spell to destroy their brains each time. Each time, he had lost a bit of clarity, and mana saturation got worst.

Jack encountered a 3rd tier wolf with a small pack after three hours. The wolves dashed at him, but Jack calmly took off his lightning wand and sent electric mana to the 3rd tier wolf, while casting life kinetic spell to kill the rest. As alpha’s body charged, a lightning travelled from Jack’s wand to the wolf. It was still alive, the lightning was too weak. A half of the rest of wolves dropped dead due to the life spells in the meantime.

The rest retreated before the unknown threat, dragging back 3rd tier alpha. Jack left the wolves and went ahead. He had to conserve his resources, he couldn’t just fight with the wolves to death. They would probably avoid Jack from now on, anyway.

Jack walked slowly for another hour. Suddenly, something appeared from below the snow and jumped at him. ‘Shit, an ambush predator,’ Jack only managed to have such a thought, before a lynx landed on him and pressed him to the ground. Jack cast life kinetic spell, and luckily, he succeeded. The lynx was only in the 2nd tier, and died. Jack was too weak to move it with only his muscle strength, though. The lynx weight firmly pressed him to the ground.

He thought about giving up. He felt cold, but the lynx’s body was warm. He could just rest here. It was hard to move through the snow. The change of failing to reach the frontier was high. Jack thought, ‘why should I suffer?’ His body hurt. He could just give up.

He didn’t. Jack wanted to take revenge. He had Bob to take care, he couldn’t just die. Jack promised to his parents. He used life kinetic spell to get out from under the cat.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 28

He walked on, thinking about the lynx.

‘This is my weakness. Aleena or Stanley could have detected the lynx with their detection spells.’ Jack wanted the quasi-artifact Aleena had showed him even more now, though the situation was a mess.

A 3rd tier eagle tried to kill him. Birds used mostly vision, their smell sensory organs weren’t powerful, so Jack used his illusions. The bird hit a tree with its full diving speed as the result. Jack walked on, leaving stunned bird behind.

Soon, the night fell. It was getting cooler. Jack regretted not taking the fire amulet left after Lillie. He walked for a few hours. Not many predators hunted at night, but he was still forced to fight a few bats and an owl. As the result, he got an level.

Ding… LEVEL UP! You have reached lv. 25

Ding… You have unlocked Great Spear Warrior class due to your actions

Ding… You have unlocked Great Human class due to your actions

Ding… You have unlocked Last Survivor class due to your actions

Ding… You have unlocked Magical Survivor class due to your actions

Jack didn’t check possible classes, there was no reason do it now. Around midnight, it was too cold. Jack felt he might lose consciousness and die in the snow. He had not taken his cloak, he had been thinking he would be able to return before the night.

Jack stopped and sat in the snow. He used his hands to clear snow from the ground, and sketched fire mana producing rune. After half an hour, he managed to complete it. Jack knew he would probably have frostbites on his hands, he just hoped he would be able to evolve soon.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 29

The night was long, and Jack had a lot of time to think about what have happened.

‘Aleena gave me the package, she either didn’t know what was inside, or she did it consciously.’ Jack thought about the first option. ‘The package was from her family, so… either a fight inside her family, or someone misplaced the contents when package travelled from Aleena’s family to her.’

Jack groaned. He had too little information, and he wasn’t good at plotting. ‘There are two options, either it was someone from Aleena’s family or not. I think it is the most important to deduce why the white clothed man tried to kill me.’

Generally, Jack thought the white clothed man should be from one of three families taking part in the negotiations.

‘The man could be from Greene family. Technically, the package I brought to them killed two Greene family members. He could want a revenge,’ Jack thought, but quickly dismissed the idea. ‘People who reached 4th tier are not stupid. They can made a stupid emotional decision from time to time, but this guy wanted to kill me, while he should want to interrogate me first. I’m nobody, it’s obvious a Greene family member would want to know who sent me.’

Jack thought about the Hillman family, but it didn’t make sense. ‘Even assuming Hillman family misplaced the true contents of package, I know nothing about it. They would have no reason to kill me.’

The third family was similar, though Jack had to admit, they could sent a spy in a form of white clothed man, but that didn’t explain why he wanted to kill Jack.

‘The white clothed man had to be from the Greene family.’ Jack concluded. ‘It’s probably an internal fight, and the man knows about it. He wanted to kill me, so nobody would know why those two people died. They would be able to blame Hillman family, or someone else. It also explains why he rushed back after he thought he killed me. His family members fought with Hillman people at that time.’

Jack didn’t understand why the white clothed hadn’t been in the cave. He was the strongest and probably oldest. He should be the leader of the negotiations. This was a hole in Jack’s deductions, but he still thought his previous hypothesis was the correct one.

Time passed, and the sun raised above the horizon. Jack couldn’t sleep, he had to be vigilant all night. He didn’t want to stand up, though. It was warm here, thanks to the fire rune, he didn’t want to feel cold. Jack just wanted to stay here a little longer. His body hurt, sitting was easier.

Jack thought about Aleena. He tried to kill him once again. ‘Did she?’ Jack couldn’t be sure she knew about the bomb, but he didn’t want to confront her. He felt betrayed and lonely. Jack knew he had to get up, or he would die, but… Jack told this himself too many time already. He had grown indifferent to his own death.

Jack still wanted to live, but he didn’t have enough willpower to get up. ‘The white clothed man, I want revenge, right?’ Jack wanted revenge. The guy tried to literally kill him, Jack wanted at least send him to the black guard. Jack hated him. ‘I need to give my testimony, or the man would win.’ He finally stood up.

Ding… Your Pain Tolerance skill has reached lv. 30

Jack knew he was lucky. A strong pack of wolves, a 4th tier, even a strong 3rd tier monster could end his life, but he had not encountered them. Before the midday, Jack spotted movement. He prepared his wand, but a group of five people came from behind the trees.

“Are you okay?” A girl asked him. They were wary of him. Jack sighed in his mind. He was suspicious to them.

“Where are your teammates?” A boy asked. Jack decided to just lie, as it would be more believable. Murder was extremely uncommon, after all.

“I was separated with my teammate, they are probably already in the headquarters. I was severely injured. Can you help me get to the frontier?” Jack said with an effort. He breathed heavily, his now smaller lungs hadn’t much air.

“Sure.” They looked at each other with wonder. A boy walked forward. “I know some life magic. I can heal you.” Jack wanted to laugh, these noobs were hopeless. It was already over a half a year, and only one person knew life magic.

“I have already used life magic to heal myself, but my wounds are really severe.” He denied healing. His body didn’t want more mana.

“Right. You know magic.” A girl said. Jack could deduce a few things. They thought him a noble child. His gear looked expensive. It was also easy to deduce he was 2nd tier by his footprints in the snow. Any person with half decent Analyze skill could do that.

Ding… Your Charisma skill has reached lv. 36

They agreed to escort him. The distance to the frontier was only about fifteen kilometers, monsters were weak and most of them escaped from a party of six humans. Jack reached the frontier after four more hours.

Jack entered the underground check room, while two 3rd tier looking soldiers drew their weapons.

“It’s him.” Everyone looked at Jack.

“You are arrested for a murder.”

“Please, be gentle.” Jack replied.