'So, this is the supposed use of the essence shards?'
It wasn't much, but even the growth of half a percent had brought a smile upon his face. An idea appeared in his head as he clenched his hand and tried to move around.
After some trial, he was sure there wasn't any massive boost in the physical department, nor had it affected the reservoir of his essence. Not only was there no effect on his wounds.
All his wounds were there... making him groan in pain from time to time.
'What was I expecting... this is just half a percent...' Shaking his head, he picked up another shard. The same notification appeared, and he just nodded his head.
[Growth: 1%]
'Is it a fixed amount...' Nolan thought, looking at how the shards had once again increased his [Growth] just by half a percent.
Not complaining, he moved to the shards one after another and began absorbing them.
After absorbing twenty of them, when his Growth reached ten percent, something changed inside of him. It was minute, but he had caught onto it.
'Wait a minute?'
Excited, Nolan checked his physical condition, and sure enough, he could feel some enhancement to his physical strength. It appeared his essence tank had improved as well.
Unfortunately, his wounds were the same.
An idea, to check how much he had improved, sprouted in his mind as he looked at the spear in his hand and cautiously dismissed it.
Suddenly, a wave of weakness overwhelmed him, prompting his legs to almost give up on him. It was bad… the pain was bad, the fatigue that came with it was even worse.
Yet, it amounted to nothing compared to what he had felt before. Unlike previously, Nolan was able to stop himself from dropping to the ground.
'Fuck... yeah! Let's gooo...' Celebrating, he summoned the Ember and felt a lot better.
Looking at the shards, he began to absorb the rest one by one, and at the end of it all, he was left with his Growth percentage at 15%.
'Is it every 10%?...' he thought after noticing that there wasn't any significant improvement similar to the 10% mark.
"Now that this is done... what next?.." Thinking out loud, he sat down and began thinking about his next course of action.
As Nolan had finally found a way to get himself stronger, he was getting eager to find and hunt monsters for their shards. But looking at his condition, he knew the time wasn't right.
Shaking his head, he sighed and asked an obvious question that had been making rounds in his head for a while, "What will happen after I reach 100%?"
'Will I evolve?' This was one of the first, most practical, and obvious paths he could think of after having read novels and comics alike.
Hmmm! If I evolve... will I transform into a monster... will I gain new abilities as well? What about my physical strength? Will I be strong enough to lift buildings and run really fast?
Nolan let loose as he spiraled into the world of imagination.
Wait a minute... if I can evolve, doesn't that mean there could be monsters beyond the rank I've met? Hmmm! What was my rank... Yes! Primor... spark left of the primordial. Who is this primordial and why would he leave his spark like that…
…And what comes after spark? Flame? Fire? Agni?...
Could the name of the next rank be Flamer? Flaming? Hmmm! No, it can't be that simple, maybe... gosh! Why is it so hard to come up with original names? Shit, forget it, I can see when it shows itself.
And why am I focusing on names when the real problem is their strength... how powerful will the monsters be of the next rank... in what way will they improve from their previous counterparts…
…Will they gain magical abilities like mine, or will they continue to get stronger physically? What more am I missing? ...Nolan was getting stuck in the spiral of questions when a sound reached his ears.
murmur! murmur!
Suddenly, his stomach was begging him to eat something.
'Ahh! Why am I feeling hungry all of a sudden?'
Nolan frowned, not knowing where this sudden appetite had come from. He was hungry, yes, but it wasn't strong enough to make an announcement to the world like that.
'Hmm! Is it because of the increase in strength?' After putting two and two together, he felt this sounded like the most obvious answer.
'Well, they surely say a stronger body needs greater appetite...' Thinking, he looked at the organs laid in front of him and began contemplating whether to eat them raw or cook them.
Remembering all the warnings about never eating meat raw, he patted his pants. Finding that there was still a lighter inside, it wasn't really a problem starting a fire.
'...But what about monsters... will they be attracted to fire or run away like animals?' he thought, pondering over the question again and again.
'Grallith looked like an evolved version of boars, so they might be afraid of fire as well... hmmm! Now that I think about it... fungus doesn't like heat that much either.'
Nolan had theorized the monsters wouldn't be that keen on wandering around some fire, but he wasn't fully sure either, still.
Getting the lighter out of his pocket, he thought of something, 'Why don't I light a fire some distance away and see the result.' Thinking, he began the preparation.
As the biome's temperature was already hot, it wasn't hard to find flammable material. Getting out, Nolan moved out from the skull and began moving toward the field once again.
After traveling a bit farther, he found the distance far enough and began lighting the dried mushroom. It took him a few tries, but the fire started eventually.
Nolan cleared the area to prevent the fire from spreading through the entire field—not that he really cared, but his base was nearby. After piling enough fuel to keep it burning for a while, he turned and headed back to camp.
Sitting on top of the skull, he watched the show, waiting for something to happen.
Time passed, and after half an hour with nothing approaching the fire, Nolan figured it was safe enough to light the flame inside the skull.
Entering the skull, he gathered material and lit the fire. Making sticks out of the giant tree, he skewered the organ on them and began roasting it slowly.
His camping skills were paying off; as the minutes ticked by, a rich, sweet aroma slowly filled the skull's hollow interior.
Licking his lips, he moved and picked up the supposed kebab, "Mmmmm! It was all fucking worth it..."