Chapter 2

The next morning

I woke up and stretched myself as I yawned. The blanket was soft and thick so I didn't feel uncomfortable sleeping on the ground.

[Good morning, young master.]

"Good morning, Lei."

[If you wish to clean yourself, you can head back to the stream from yesterday and use the towel to wipe yourself after drentching a portion of it in water.]

After getting myself cleaned and ready, I set out to hunt for my first spirit ring.

"Lei, what kind of spirit do you think is perfect for my daggers?"

[I recommend getting a spirit beast with an illusion ability, lightning ability or agility based ability.]

"That's a good start. Do you also know where to find them."

[I'll fly up and scout the area.]

As he said that, Lei took off from my shoulder and flew high up. I waited on the spot for him to return while reading a book about herbs and poisons from the ring.

[Young master, there are two spirit beasts that are compatible with you near where you are now. One is a 800 year old Shadow Panther while the other is a 700 year old Seven Coloured Illusion butterfly.]

"I thought that the optimum age spirit ring I can absorb is less than 400 hundred year old. And Shadow?"

[That is only for human standard. Young master is a half spirit beast and half human so you are capable of going beyond the border. Moreover, I believe it is beneficial for you if you could obtain shadow ability as it is also compatible to your abyss dagger.]

"I understand. Then might as well take this chance to get myself a 800 year old spirit beast for my first spirit ring. It was written that the older the beast is, the more powerful the ability.

[I will lead the way.]

Once we reached the said area, I could see a panther resembling a beast resting in the middle of a clearing.

"Lei, what are the chances of me defeating this spirit beast?"

[Approximately 10% but with me supporting you from the side, the percentage rises to 80%.There's the off chance of the beast managing to escape.]

"Ok, then I'll be relying on you."

Lei took the first strike and sent a flash of lightning towards the panther. Unfortunately, the beast snapped its eyes open and jumped away in alarm. Knowing where it was leaping to, I was already ready on the spot and summoned my dagger to slash it. I managed to land a hit on one of its thighs. Not fearing the now injured beast, I dash forward and to launch an onslaught against the panther. But the beast suddenly vanished.

'So this is the beast's ability.I let my guard down.' I stood still and kept my eyes wide open for the panther.

[Young master, please be careful. The spirit beast is still lingering around.]

'Noted.'

The panther popped out behind me and attempted to claw my back but I barely managed to dodge in time. The panther then disappeared again before reappearing in front of me. This time it tried to bite my neck but I ducked and used my knee to jab it upward, hitting the shin. The beast flipped and landed a few meters away from me.

'How is it doing that? Shadow.....Did it just use the shadows!' Now staring eye to eye with the Shadow Panther that's currently in front of me, 'How do I get it to stay on land....If there's light.....there's shadow but...what if the light is stronger...'

"Lei use your Lightning to brighten the area!"

[I hear and obey.]

A large lightning shot down from the sky and hit the middle of this space, blinding the panther and erasing the little shade there was. I wasn't effected because of my contract with Lei. Lei's each and every attack will not effect me in the slightest. Seeing the panther closing its eyes from the intense light, I took advantage of its condition and dash forward to slash its neck.

This time I made a direct hit at the beast and it fell down afterwards. A ring was hovering on its dead corpse. I also knelt onto the ground, trying to catch my breath after all that. My current strength isn't enough to deal with a beast of this caliber. If it weren't for Lei, I would have fought to the point of exhaustion and died in its paws.

I sat cross-legged and commenced absorbing it. To be honest, I had a hard time doing so as the ring was stronger than what I had imagined. It felt as if my mind had a storm going on inside. I could feel myself sweating from all the pressure and dominating power pouring into my body from the ring. It was difficult to not give into it.

After about 40 minutes or so, I managed to fully absorb the spirit ring and it became my first ability. The spirit skill I gained was Shadow Walk, a skill that allows me to enter the shadows and travel within it. The ability's range depends on how high my spirit level is.

For example, as a spirit master, my current range is 15 meters. As I move up a rank, the range increases by 5 to 10 more meters. I wanted to test it out for a bit and used the skill.

'Yin Yang daggers' First skill: Shadow walk.'

The Yin symbol on my dagger glowed as I sank into the shadows. Once I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by darkness. There were holes of light that came in different shapes: trees, bushes, birds...etc. I tried to exit by using the hole that was in the same of the tree. Upon going through the hole, I found myself back onto the real world. I turned to my back and saw that I was actually standing near the very tree that was producing the shade under me.

"Quite a decent skill. This can be useful in closing in distance between me and my opponent. It's perfect for a close combatant like me."

Besides the skill, my rank also increased again. This time it increased to rank 14. I jumped four ranks. I was pleased to say the least. This may be the work of my wish for talent. Or perhaps absorbing a ring higher that what you should be can increase your rank as well. Almost no one does it because they won't be able to handle the power of rings more powerful than them. It can actually put their life on the line and kill them. I'm different because I am a half spirit beast.

[Congratulations on your first ring, young master.]

"Thank you, Lei."

Afterwards, I went around gathering some edible fruits and mushrooms. It wasn't a lot but sufficient enough for lunch.

"Hey Lei, is there a cookbook in this ring?"

[There is not, however, there is a survival book which may contain some cooking instructions on certain food.]

Since my main goal of getting a spirit ring is complete, I decided to take some time and learn some cooking skills so that I can make better dishes for myself. Lei can also take this time to rest as he had been guarding me for nearly two days without rest.

A month later

Instead of cultivating, I had been focusing on perfecting my dagger techniques, other shadow abilities and cooking skills. During these days, I had also been using my divine eyes to identify the different herbs and poisons. Turns out, my divine eyes tell me the quality of them. There's a rank between one to ten, one would be considered trash quality while 10 would be super high quality. I can also tell the preciousness of the items by arranging them into ranks of F to S.

This was very convenient, practically equivalent to Huo Yuhao's Spirit eyes. My vision probably isn't as advanced as his though.

Right now, I am able to make somewhat decent food with the herbs and spices collected from the forest. I use them to mix with the meat or fish I hunted. The time in my storage ring stops so I could actually store leftover ingredients and food in there and it wouldn't go bad. I'm starting to really appreciate this god like item.

"I actually had forgotten to ask you this when I first came but do you know which forest I am right now?"

[Yes, this is Star Dou forest. You are currently in the outer region so there's no strong spirit beasts around.]

" Eh, then this is the forest where the protagonist will meet Daydream worm which is his first and most crucial step to becoming a god?"

[That is correct.]

"What are the odds?"

From what I know, this forest can also be considered a major habitat for a lot of spirit beasts. I'm actually surprised I could survive for so long within this forest without dying. Well, since I am in the outer region so I would meet spirit beasts of 10,000 year old and above.

" Lei, do you think I should take the risk and get myself a 100,000 year old spirit beast for my second ring? Like the protagonist."

[That is reckless and unrecommended but I'll inform you that you are also capable of absorbing a crimson ring. Though I will warn you that the process will be excruciatingly painful. It's basically 1000 times more tortuous than when you had been absorbing the 100 spirit ring. I prefer it if you instead absorb a 1000 year old ring than a 100,000 year old ring. At least, it would be less painful. About 5 times more painful than the 100 year old ring.]

"I see. Well, I'm not a main character so I really can't risk it ,can I. I'll aim for the 1000 spirit ring. No pain no gain."

I should return to my daily training then.

Two more months later~

It has been a while now, I had no trouble living in the forest but I decided to head to a nearby city. Currently with the help of Lei's navigation, I managed to make it to a small town. I asked Lei if he could hide in the forest while I was away because I didn't want to cause a commotion to bring in a spirit beast. Lei told me that he can enter my mental space and hide there, but there was no need for that as no one would be able to see him unless I give them permission.

The market was all new to me so I couldn't help but look around. Sadly, I wasn't planning on staying here for long. I was merely here to do some shopping here and there before heading back into the forest. I also wanted a change of clothing as well as some light ones for sleeping. I went to a tailor shop that I thought was good, they had some decent clothing. I had to pretend like a kid who's going on his own because his parents were too busy to accompany him. I lied to them about my parents giving me the necessary money to purchase on my own.

In the end I bought two sets of clothes. One is for sleeping and the other is for when the weather gets hot. I made sure to buy them in larger sizes so I didn't have to worry about me growing out of them anytime soon.

The amount of money I had in my storage ring was no joke. By my calculations, it could actually let me live a luxurious life for a good 10 to 15 years even including paying for Shrek's tuition fees. I did ,after all, learn currency in a general knowledge book from the ring.

I walked around for a while and bought some stuff here and there such as shampoo for both myself and my cooking utensils, herbs and spices that I couldn't find in the forest. Of course, I lied to the sellers saying that I was going on an errand for my non-existent parents.

I didn't buy any meat or fish because I know that I can hunt animals on my own. There was no need for me to waste money here. I wouldn't want to use up my future finances now, would I? I mean I could make money by selling the meat and herbs I got while traveling but I figure that it'd be better for me to stock up for emergencies. I probably wouldn't be going into any towns or cities for a long time. Additionally, I don't think there would be anyone who would buy from a child who's no older than 6.

After wandering about the town for some time, I headed back into the forest to continue my cultivation and body training.