Lucas frowned as he pressed down on his throbbing stomach. The pungent smell of blood and rotten meat left on his body assaulted his nostrils.
Leaning against the tree, Lucas looked around.
It was daytime a few hours ago but now it was dark. Fortunately, Lucas climbed up on a tree and noted the sense of direction. A few miles away, one can see a greenish mountain range covered in dark clouds.
The forest was not only inhabited by poisonous insects but also dangerous beasts and monsters.
While hunting in the dungeon, one had to always be prepared beforehand.
There were insect repellents, sprays that mask your body odour, and a liquid that moistens your eyes and keeps them in good condition.
But he had nothing here.
'Sir Harris didn't even leave a healing potion.'Lucas sighed as he managed to get up with his throbbing body.
"Woooof!"
Lucas's body instantly stiffened noticing a wild hungry wolf who had been searching for food.
The moment its eyes fell on Lucas, the wolf rushed at him like an arrow to which Lucas immediately raised the stick.
"KANG!"
The wolf's fangs bit the sword stick and a crunching sound echoed. Lucas used this opportunity to slam his knees against his jaw.
A crackling sound echoed due to the strong impact and its grip immediately loosened. Lucas pulled up the sword stick and used it like a club to bash it over the wolf's head.
BANG!
The wolf's eyes became teary due to the pain and its skull was fractured but this wasn't enough to pin it down. It lunged forward to take a nib of Lucas and bite him to death but at the very next moment, it knew it was a mistake.
Lucas had already made a rough guess about its strength. So, instead of retreating, Lucas extended his hand and held both ends of the jaw and, spinning his body, slammed it upside down with a strong force.
BANG!
The ground rustled as the wolf struck the dirt and before it could struggle, a flash of viciousness flashed over Lucas's eyes and exerting all his strength, he tore open its jaw.
"AWOOOOOOO!"
A painful shriek wailed across the forest but Lucas didn't show mercy and killed it.
[You have killed a peak 2-Star. You have gained 4900 experience points.]
Lucas gasped heavily and nodded in satisfaction. The only thing that he can be happy about was seeing experience points.
At least he can buy a potion from the system to save his life from a deadly situation.
Lucas stared at the corpse for a moment and then looked at the squirrel meat stuffed in the pocket.
"A wolf would taste better, wouldn't it?"
Lucas tried to peel off the skin with that so-called sword alas it was too blunt. He then searched for a sharp object, but nothing came into his view.
Pondering for a moment, certain ideas struck Lucas.
He tried to summon an ice spike and dig into the wolf's skin, however...
"Haa, isn't my mana just restricted. My body should have mana in it but I can't even use skills or use spells."Lucas shouted and kicked the ground in bitter frustration.
Small shards and chips of stores erupted from it, seeing which a certain idea struck Lucas.
"Thank god! Finally, I found something sharp."
Lucas searched around and clashed two stones to form a cutting edge. Though it was still rough, it was still usable.
Elated, Lucas immediately pulled it creating scratch marks over the skin and tore off the upper layer applying force with his bare hands.
Blood gushed out and a disgusting scene reflected in his eyesight that gave him the urge to vomit but nothing came out. Maybe because there was nothing in his stomach to get out.
Lucas then used stones to clash them against one another to make sparks and liting the firewood, grilled the meat of the wolf.
"I don't think I can sleep today. Who knows what may appear if I close my eyes even for a moment?"
Although he didn't encounter any life-threatening situations, he was exhausted mentally and physically.
His body felt heavier than before and he was always out of breath with little movement.
"I can't believe I am so helpless without mana. If one day this world lost mana wouldn't I be useless?"
"If any life threatening situation occurs,Sir Harris will not let me die, will he?"Lucas asked but there was no one to reply to him.
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
...
The bright light smeared the world with a golden lustre as if the sun was getting ready to hide behind the horizon. The sky and thick trees mixed into various shades of golden and red giving the world a beautiful contrast.
Away from any human settlement, the scene was quite captivating for an avid lover of nature to resist still there was no joy in his heart.
Lucas had hardly taken any rest due to the danger around.
Hunting and walking were the only things Lucas did.He managed to squeeze out some water from the soaked humid soil using his cloth that he boiled in a bowl made of leaf by hanging it over the fire for a few minutes.
And yeah,it tasted like shit.
You don't need poison, just make the noble children drink this one shot and they will be shot.
Sighing,Lucas carried on his survival quest gritting his teeth.
CRUNCH!CRUNCH!CRUNCH!
While looking at the beautiful scenario with a gloomy expression, Lucas munched over small pieces of meat that left a bitter aftertaste. A little salt could do the magic but there wasn't any.
On his way, he had seen many fruits but it was common sense for humans to not eat anything that one wasn't sure of.
The shirt he had worn yesterday was now made into a rag that carried meat. Thick climbers had been torn and wrapped around his body for future use.
His appearance was enough to make anyone think of him as a wild man.
"I am sure there was a skill to communicate with beasts. I should look for it after I go back."
Coming out of the dense forest, Lucas's eyes became complicated.
"Looking at the height of the mountain and its oval shape at the top, it looked like a dormant volcano."
There seemed to be a few other hills beside it but Lucas wasn't able to get a good view as his sight had been blocked by this huge body.
"Fortunately, I had made rope with the climbers and lianas. I hope it will help in case I fall."
For the very first moment in his life, Lucas had the urge to bow down on his knees and worship Bear Grylls.
There still were a few hours of walking before he reached the foot of the mountain so he just moved forward without grumbling.
...
Now the forest was fully enveloped in the gentle embrace of a pearl-luminescent light.
Even with the aid of a bright moonlit sky, the visibility was still low.
"Wait! Now that I think about it, I haven't seen the sun,moon or any star. I thought they were hidden deeply but the sky is clear so why didn't I spot the sun? It's only possible in the case of a dungeon."
Suddenly Lucas's eyes lit with a vague conclusion.
"Am I in the dungeon?"
As Lucas immersed in thinking about the possibility, his steps abruptly halted.
"Something is here?"
Lucas's back was drenched in sweat and his senses screamed frantically.
"Which monster is it?"Turning around towards the back, Lucas hurried his way with hushed steps.
"A snake."
A hissing sound echoed and Lucas spotted the sight of a snake coiling around a rabbit.
Crouching behind the tree, Lucas snooped at the scene.
"This is weird."
"It doesn't look strong so why did I feel danger?"
While Lucas stood there alert, the snake that was engulfing the rabbit while spinning around on the ground was suddenly blown away.
As soon as the snake landed, it immediately took a defensive stance in a crawling form.
The snake was instantly alerted and swaying its body, it jumped in the air but something struck him and impaled him.
Lucas's heart screamed in danger.
As the snake died, a pitch-dark shadow appeared out of nowhere. It stared at the snake with its yellow eyes and claws.
Lucas gulped seeing the shadow cat.No, it was a shadow leopard who is an expert in hiding.
'Damn!' Lucas cursing his luck, turned around and ran back into the forest as fast as possible.
"Good…Good."
"My shitty bad luck is waiting for this time. I thought I had gotten rid of my bad luck but nah this shit is on my tail again."
It didn't matter if it was a 1-Star or 2-Star. They belong to a family of black cats. They are one of the most fatal beasts in the dungeon who can hide themselves perfectly under the veil of darkness.
Many hunters and warriors die encountering them.They are assassins of the wild.No Matter how invincible one is, there will always be a moment of carelessness that may cost your life.
This beast can kill people way above their realms.
And to his bad luck, he had encountered that damn thing and that also at night making it harder to notice it.
Lucas immediately started climbing hastily. The climbing wasn't too difficult as the mountain wasn't too erect rather it had a gradual slope.
After a few moments of climbing, Lucas felt a presence from behind that made him curse his luck.
He could feel it.
Something was staring at him and wanted to attack. He could feel the murderous intention.
Without pondering further, Lucas pulled out the sword.
It was then a rustling sound echoed across the place. Lucas's ear perked up and his body became tense.
Even before he could think, his body reacted on its own and stomping the ground, he jumped towards the left to avoid it.
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