Kael crouched, eyeing the scattered stones along the water’s edge. He reached down and picked up two rocks, feeling their weight in his palms. The first was broad and smooth, while the other had a sharper edge. This wasn''t an ideal solution, but he wasn’t spoiled for choice.


    With measured force, Kael struck one rock against the other, chipping away at the edges, in an attempt to shave off a thin, sharp piece. With each impact, the sound of stones meeting echoed faintly across the clearing. He adjusted his grip when needed, striking at an angle to create a usable shard. After several strikes, a thin fragment broke away. Kael inspected it closely. The piece had a jagged edge, not sharp enough to be compared to a knife, but it would do the job. Satisfied, he put the shard into the ring, not wanting to risk the edge being ruined. He then stood, glancing around.


    After confirming that, nothing had been attracted by the noise, he stepped into the trees with the hare in hand. Kael moved with purposeful steps, leaving the clearing and the waterfall behind. After finding a small, relatively empty patch of ground, a reasonable distance away, he knelt and pulled the stone shard from his inventory ring. It felt strange, to retrieve something from what was essentially a weightless, room-sized void, it felt like pulling an object from thin air. But equally strange was that he was already growing used to it, and the conveniences it offered.


    Kael set the hare down and gripped his makeshift knife. Skinning an animal was precision work, usually, he had a more reliable tool, and doing so with such a crude instrument only made it more difficult. The sharp edge of the stone did its job, though it required effort and patience. He worked carefully, peeling the hide and exposing the muscle beneath. The scent of fresh meat filled the air, mixing with the earthy aroma of the forest.


    With slow, deliberate movements, Kael carved away at the flesh, cutting it into manageable pieces. He placed the raw meat into his inventory ring, watching as the chunks vanished from sight. Once he had collected enough from the carcass, Kael dug a small hole in the dirt and buried the remaining scraps, ensuring not too much scent lingered to attract scavengers.


    Finished with his task, he stood and brushed the dirt from his hands. On his way back to the waterfall, Kael made sure to keep an eye out for kindling. He gathered sticks and dry leaves, placing them all into his inventory ring. Checking on the space inside the ring, he couldn’t help but marvel yet again. Kael noticed that even though everything went to the same place, they were separated from each other by a small distance, so they didn''t touch.


    He had never been one for material attachment, but having such a big, well-thought-out storage space, easily accessible anytime, suddenly made him consider the appeal of hoarding.


    As he returned to the waterfall, Kael slipped behind the cascading water and into his usual cooking spot. He pulled out his gathered kindling and using the same friction-based method, Kael lit a small flame and carefully fed it dry twigs, coaxing it into a stable burn. Soon, a warm glow flickered beneath the rock overhang, casting faint shadows against the cavern walls.


    Once the fire was steady, Kael retrieved several pieces of meat and set them over the flames. The rich scent of roasting flesh soon filled the air. As the first pieces finished cooking, Kael took a bite, savoring the taste. It was plain, lacking any seasoning, but by now that had stopped to matter, his taste buds having gotten used to it.


    As he ate, his mind went back to a thought from earlier. Something had and still felt… off. He had noticed it before, but now as he was eating, it was undeniable. Kael was hungrier than usual.


    He frowned, chewing thoughtfully. It wasn’t just normal hunger, it was an almost urgent need for sustenance. Typically, even with physical exertion, he could go much longer without feeling this level of hunger. If anything, since gaining levels, his endurance had only increased, meaning he required less rest and recovery time. So why was he feeling starved?


    His mind went over the possibilities, finally settling on the potion.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    It was the only unusual factor. The healing had been near-instantaneous, closing wounds that should have been life-threatening and some that would have taken days or weeks to mend. It made sense that such a process would require energy, perhaps the potion forced his body into overdrive, accelerating the recovery beyond natural limits. And if that was the case, it stood to reason that his body now needed to replenish the resources that had been burned up in that process.


    Kael sighed, perhaps he was overthinking things, he would not know more by just sitting here, and speculating. With that thought, he finished the last piece of meat. His hunger had subsided somewhat after the meal, but he knew that he would need to find some more food later.


    For now, he focused on other tasks. He doused the fire, camouflaging the cooking station, and made his way toward his cave. The trek through the forest was a slow, methodical process. Kael still stuck to his routine of taking convoluted steps to hide his tracks, even if the Gloomkin were no longer an issue. There was no reason for him to make a new one, due to carelessness. It also offered a chance for him to gather even more resources, now that he didn''t need to worry about his carrying capacity. Kael picked up fallen branches, stones, and anything else that might be useful.


    It wasn’t long before he encountered the ring’s first restriction, size. While he could store an impressive volume of items, he quickly learned that anything too large wouldn’t be stored. He found this out when he had attempted to store a boulder roughly half his height, hoping to use it to block the inner entrance of his cave.


    When he placed his right hand on the boulder, the rock remained stubbornly in place, refusing to be stored no matter how many times he infused Essence into the ring. Kael clicked his tongue but didn’t dwell on it. He opted for a more practical approach, gathering sizable rocks that did enter the inventory space, which he could stack instead.


    By the time he reached his cave, his inventory was significantly fuller. He had collected more than enough firewood to burn down the village several times over, and a variety of other materials he could use for different things. Things, that would help with upgrading his current home from the Stone Age.


    Arriving at the entrance to the cave, Kael removed the makeshift camouflage covering the entrance, stepping inside before replacing it. The familiar narrow tunnel leading toward the cave proper greeted him. Kael moved through the space, his feet finding the path without issue. As he reached the inner sanctum, having removed the remaining barricade, he sat down on his makeshift bed.


    The reason Kael had made the track to his cave. When he instead could have just as well done this part of his day in the clearing with the waterfall. It was because he wanted to be in a safe place, and not worry about something sneaking up on him. While, he was too focused on his practice with Essence manipulation, to notice.


    Kael started as he always did, by refining his connection to his core. He exercised connecting and retracting the Essence tendril, the same one he had succeeded in connecting to his body yesterday. Kael wanted to improve the ease with, which he could move the tendril around. Having found out that, the time and effort he put into improving his control, and will over the tendrils, helped when he eventually attempted to upgrade to a bigger tendril.


    Satisfied, he moved on to his Body Reinforcement, practicing how quickly he could enhance his limbs. He treated it like a military drill, repeating the process over and over again. To see if he could improve how fast he could activate, and deactivate the enhancement. It reminded him of his time as a soldier, when they would compete over how quickly someone could disassemble, and reassemble their firearms. This was something Kael needed to do, and get better at every time he upgraded the connection to his core.


    After an hour of rigorous practice, Kael moved on to his main focus. Essence Shaping. He was in a stalemate for now, when it came to his body reinforcement. To make more improvements in enhancing his body, Kael needed to improve the size of the tendril yet again. Bigger tendrils meant more Essence, which meant stronger enhancement. But having just recently upgraded the size, there was not much more, he could do, other than attempt to enhance his organs or brain. Which, Kael continued to refuse to do. Ultimately, this meant he was for now stagnant on that end.


    Kael started by summoning an Essence sphere over his palm, then elongating and compressing it into the shape of a knife. With the improvements, he had made, as well as having more stats than the last time he attempted this. The construct actually resembled more of a proper knife. Still, there was no edge, and that was something he needed to prioritize to form.


    Kael compressed different areas, molding the construct with increasing precision. He dismissed and reshaped it with more Essence each time, repeatedly pushing himself further.


    Every cycle drained his Essence, forcing him to pause and regenerate before continuing. The process was slow and mentally taxing, but he didn’t stop. Kael pushed himself to improve. The reason was that even if it was draining and time-consuming. It was also making the construct more durable and sharper with each cycle.