When morning came again, both Michael and the bunny had bloodshot eyes. The fog turned black and the lady in white dress came back and the shrieks couldn't be heard anymore.
'What the f*ck. Is this how this is every night?' Michael asked himself inwardly and then asked the system but it didn't answer him as well. It just said.
{Host is in a system trial. Host will be here until host has fulfilled the requirements to be the owner of the Ankh system}
The system said mysteriously again. Michael wished he could punch the female voice who was talking.
'If this is a trial, maybe it means nothing will happen to me and I can't die'. But the system crushed his hope.
{Any fatal injuries that can cause the host to die will make him to die. The host is inside a trial, the host can die}
His blood ran cold when he heard the system again. 'Why is this happening to me?' He shouted inwardly but the system surprisingly answered him.
{Because host is compatible with the Ankh system}
"Great. I am dead. Maybe I should just give up now and offer myself to the woman in white"
The rabbit seemed to want to get out again. It was hungry and so was Michael. Not only hungry but his throat was parched. He needed water.
By the time the sun was in the sky and everything looked alright, Michael and the rabbit went out to find food and water. With a goal to mainly find a source of water, Michael traveled some distance from the broken temple before finding a water source.
It was a lake, the water looked crystal clear and the surface was clear from any ripples.
The rabbit slowly came to have a sip and when Michael saw nothing to it, he came right next to the rabbit and took a long drink.
"Yeah that hits the spot". He laid in exasperation. The bunny was still busy drinking so it paid no need to Michael.
After it finished drinking, it began munching on some grass that grew near the lake. Michael watched it ear before his stomach growled and he went to find food himself.
Unfortunately, he did not see any small animals he could have for lunch and the big ones gave him a long stare.
He saw some fruits growing by the side and both he and the rabbit ate til their fill. The fruits grew bountifully and were very big.
By the time they stuffed themselves, they could not move. "That was the best little white". Michael named the rabbit little white because of its white fur coat.
They did their usual routine again and by the time the sun was setting, they lay by the side watching until the sun could not be seen anymore.
By the time the fog rolled in, they were in the safety of the broken temple. The floating lady in white came again and the horrendous moans of several creatures was heard in the night sky under the illumination of the moon once more.
"Well little white, I guess this is where we live for the rest of our lives". Michael sighed as they sat down and listened to the sound of dying cries.
This was the third night but both Michael and little white were already getting comfortable in the broken temple.
After a couple of hours, they slept off and in the morning, the lady in white floated back to temple and the fog turned black before starting to disperse.
But for the first time in three days, Michael saw something that left him in shock. When the fog dispersed, Michael saw a beast of about three metres tall, with sharp claws and spiky limbs.
It was splayed wide on the ground with blood gushing out of its injuries. It looked like a turtle but very huge and very demonic. It was moaning in pain and heap of blood came out from its mouth.
It was on the verge of death and he could tell very soon that it would be dead. He wondered why it was still here since for the last three days, he had seen no such thing.
"Maybe it did not have time to escape, but why did the rest not finish it off?" He asked the rabbit and it looked at him too with confusion.
"Let's kill it then". He said to the rabbit and found a long stick he could use, but when he tried to stab it's eye the stick could not even pierce it.
He tried several more times but the result was the same. "It won't work". He said to the rabbit while the beast groaned in anger at Michael poking it's eye.
"Oh, just shut up." He said to the creature and then found a sharp metal rod to pierce the eye again. This time it went in but through much effort on Michael's part.
The creature shouted in pain again but Michael paid it no heed and continued to pierce the eye. The creature started to convulse and shook to get rid of Michael but he held on tight and made the rod go all the way.
{Mutated rank beast, Giant Bony Spiked tigress killed. Beast soul gained. Beast soul shard obtained.}
The system suddenly said with its soft voice and it stunned him. 'Huh. What does this mean'. He was very surprised.
'But why did the other animals I've killed not showed something like this?' He did not say it to anyone but the system answered him.
{Because those are ordinary creatures}
'Ordinary creatures?'
The system did not answer him leaving him hanging. The rabbit was looking at him as he had paused after killing the creature.
"Don't worry little white, am fine". Michael said to the rabbit and after making sure it was truly dead did they leave to go some food.
As they were walking, Michael decided to summon the beast soul he had gained to see what it looked like.
{Beast soul type: Armor}
He summoned it and a suit of armor covered his entire body excluding his head. It was covered in white scales just like the creature they had killed and he could see some bone spikes coming out from the side.
It looked demonic, but at the same time cool. Little white was looking at Michael with a weird gaze but soon after it got used to it and no longer bothered.
'I wonder how much damage it could resist'. He thought inwardly but since he did not know the rank it fell under, he had no way to know.
He did not even know what a beast shard was and how he obtained it. He checked the system status but his beast shard and shadow shard count was still low.
He kept the armor back in his system and got to finding food with Little white. Later in the day, he saw a airship fly past the area they were I'm but since they were under a rock at that time, it could not find them with its thermal search.
"They should stop wasting their time, they'll never find me". Michael said and lay down comfortably with Little white on his chest.
Up till now, it was still following him. The reason was still unknown to him but he could do with some company.
Back in the forest at home, he was all alone. He was slowly running mental and he had to make small talk the creatures living in the forest sometimes to avoid going mad.
He stroked little white and waited until the sun was setting until they went back to the broken temple to have a good night's rest.