The night had fallen. The silvery moon lit the land, enveloping it in silence. Occasionally, the stillness of the night was interrupted by the sounds of predators prowling.
Max was sleeping like a baby after a good meal, resting his aching body. He wasn't afraid, as partial awareness was one of the techniques he frequently used during the war, saving him a couple of times from enemies who approached his hideout during the night. From time to time, he was disturbed from his rest by sounds from the area, then quickly fell back asleep.
This was how he spent the first night. After waking up, he stretched, feeling the improvement in his wounded body. He started the day with a sumptuous breakfast, cooking the same meat.
Ahhh, this sure hits the spot. I wish I could eat this every day, like a damn gourmet, he thought.
After relishing the feeling, he got to work.
"Status," Max said calmly.
Name: Max Shevchenko
Affiliation: Independent
Titles: None
Realm: Apprentice
Aether Affinity: None
Weapon: None
Coin Balance: 55
Known Skills:
Skill: [Calm Heart]
Skill: [Butchering]
"Nice, I got some coins for killing the beast. I wonder where I'll use the coins. This will definitely become the new dollar on Earth. But why would the system give coins after killing something?" said Max, contemplating the connection. "The system remunerates everybody for challenging themselves, so maybe you could buy stuff from the system?"
He didn't have enough information, so he moved on.
I need to make some weapons and other tools in preparation for the rest of the tutorial. Also, I should figure out how to grow stronger. That's the plan for today.
He dug out the rest of the materials harvested from the beast and started by leaving the stick and tendons for the bow in the sun to dry. Taking one of the longer bones, Max sharpened it against a stone, making a knife in case he was forced to fight in close combat. After finishing that, he moved on to making a quiver out of leather. It could potentially store up to fifty arrows. Sharp stones, beast teeth, short twigs, and feathers were used to make the arrows.
After taking a couple of hours to finish, he decided to train.
He sat down cross-legged, breathing in a rhythm for ten minutes but felt nothing happening. He continued experimenting with different breathing patterns, trying to feel any warmth—basically creating a basic breathing technique, like those in the cultivation novels he read in his teens.
Perfect, I think I understood a bit. Different breathing patterns fill the body in different ways. Basically, my body is like a bottle and Aether is water, so there's a top limit. Filling it fully probably means something. Maybe it's part of the bottleneck to the next realm. I'll leave it as is for now, as I generally figured it out.
Remembering the Dusksaber in battle, he tried to use Aether to enhance his body. Mentally, he could feel Aether inside him. A whitish sheen covered his arm as a feeling of power surged through him while he mentally commanded the Aether to move. He walked to a tree and threw a punch at the trunk.
Bash!
Max looked at the trunk where a print of his fist had appeared. He shifted his gaze to his arm, feeling amazed.
"Damn, that was so awesome. Hahaha, I feel amazing," he laughed loudly in glee, reaching with the arm toward the sky. "One day, I will reach the peak."
Slowly calming down, Max made some conjectures about the use of Aether.
Aether acts like an enhancer. For example, let the power in my body be x. While enhanced with Aether, the power becomes 2x. I'm not sure about the exact difference. This means I can get stronger by training my body as the base, so that instead of x, it will be 1.5x. While using Aether, it becomes 3x. Aether amplification can probably be trained too, so that instead of increasing strength by a coefficient of 2, it will be 3. Therefore, 1.5x x 3 = 4.5x. This way I can exponentially grow stronger. Most likely, there's some kind of limit, but I'll leave it for later.
[ New Skill Created ]
Skill: [Aether Manipulation]
Origin: Self-Developed
Mastery: Untrained – 1%
Effect: Allows the user to perceive traces of Aether, slightly influence its flow, and enhance potential. Improvements with increased mastery.
"Hah, so I was right," he laughed cheerfully.
Having made this discovery, Max decided to train his body first. Doing basic calisthenics, he trained for two hours. Feeling tired, he washed himself in cold water and had a hearty lunch.
Experimenting with Aether and moving it to different body parts made him faster, stronger, and tougher—but his head started to feel cloudy.
Is this what happens if I use too much Aether in a short period? Hmm, probably there's more to it. Ok, but what will happen if I move Aether to the dagger?
He tried, but it felt like there was an invisible layer covering his body, not allowing the Aether to move outside. Following an army dagger routine, he tried to acquire the corresponding skill to see if it was possible.
[ New Skill Created ]
Skill: [Dagger Mastery]
Origin: Self-Developed
Mastery: Novice – 1%
Effect: Improves the user's basic handling of daggers, slightly increasing attack speed, precision, and grip stability. At this level, benefits are minimal but form the foundation for advanced techniques.
Enhancing the dagger was still not possible, though he had a slight feeling it would become easier with the skill in the future.
Finished with training, he checked if the materials for the bow were ready. Seeing them dry, he completed the bow.
Pulling on the bowstring and releasing produced a satisfying thwang sound.
"Originally, I decided on the bow because it's similar to a rifle, but the actual shooting is very different. I need to learn how to shoot first, hopefully getting some hits in," said Max as he walked farther from the tree, counting the distance. "Ok, I'll start from here. It's about 150m away."
Drawing an arrow with a stone tip from the quiver, he aimed for the target and steadied his breathing.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew through the air, missing by five meters to the left of the target.
Okay, this is harder than it looked.
He tried again, adjusting for the target.
Whoosh!
Three meters above the target.
Again and again, he practiced, the arrows flying closer and closer to the target.
Thunk!
"Hit!" exclaimed Max as he prepared another arrow. "Again!"
Whoosh!
Thunk!
"Nice, that's twice in a row," said Max, steadying himself for the third shot.
Whoosh!
Thunk!
A familiar screen appeared:
[ New Skill Created ]
Skill: [Bow Mastery]
Origin: Self-Developed
Mastery: Untrained – 1%
Effect: Grants the user a rudimentary understanding of bow usage, slightly improving aim and draw technique. Effects are minimal at this stage but lay the groundwork for enhanced accuracy, power, and firing speed with increased mastery.
"Perfect. I think that's enough for today," said Max as he collected the arrows and got ready to go. "I should check the area before it gets dark."
The last rays of light began to disappear as Max quietly walked through the forest. Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping came from not far away.
Something is here, thought Max, crouching lower and looking in the direction of the sound.
There, he could see a small beast walking slowly among the trees. It looked like an enlarged lizard, green scales covering its body, and a long tongue sticking out of its mouth.
Leaving it stalking around here is like asking for trouble. I should kill it. It'll also be a challenge for myself, he thought as he aimed his bow.
Silence.
Whoosh!
The beast was startled as the arrow flew above it, the wind brushing its body. It immediately prepared for battle. Looking around, it couldn't spot the enemy—
Then—
Thunk!
Its vision spun as it stumbled, trying to understand what happened. Its eyes slowly closed, confused, but mostly angry as it realized it was dying.
Max looked at the scene, amazed. The arrow had pierced the beast's head, killing it.
"Almost on the first try," he said proudly. "I guess the Ghost is back."
Afterward, he returned to his base, crawling into the trunk, waiting impatiently for the next day.