Core Layer 0, Gaden
As soon as Elias finished washing up, he used his newly obtained strength to get rid of the bald guy's corpse. It was obvious that he shouldn't be just left here to rot, plus Elias didn't want little tiger to eat human meat. Despite his physical stats only growing by thirty percent, he was able to just swim across with the corpse in tow. Then he quickly buried him under the closest tree he could find. This way, there would at least be something good from the existence of this guy.
Elias looked at the darkening sky. Clouds bathed in golden glow looked exactly the same as they did on his first day in this world, he however, was a new man now.
"Rawr!"
Little tiger's head appeared between Elias's legs.
"Yeah, you are right, let's get some food before it is night."
Elias did not want to return back to the village. At least not today. So he spent the little time of sunlight he had on three unsuccessful and one successful attempt at catching a wild fowl.
Thankfully, gathering a reasonable amount of firewood wasn't hard, so soon enough, on a clearing before the cave, a fire was lit. Over the fire, a fowl was being roasted filling the surroundings with an appetizing smell. A young man and a tiger cub both were watching their dinner with hungry gazes.
"Rawr!"
Little tiger wanted to jump the fowl despite the fire, but a hand landed on its fluffy head and stopped its charge.
"Calm down, it will be ready soon."
Elias inhaled the appetizing smell and gulped down his saliva. At the same time, there was a hint of sadness in his expression . The roasted chicken smell reminded him of home. He missed his family and friends, and had no idea if they are even still alive. After all, he wasn't some novel protagonist to simply forget whatever kind of person he was and instantly switch into the whole cold and ruthless nonsense within a paragraph of text.
Looking up towards the starry sky, Elias slowly slipped into deep thought.
*Will I be able to go back to Earth ever again? What if I can't? How much time really passed? Did I reincarnate right away or a hundred years passed first?*
As he was slipping deeper into depressing thoughts, an unpleasant smell attacked his nostrils.
"Damn! I forgot about the meat!"
Elias quickly bolted up and grabbed the spit. Luckily, only a small portion of it turned black, so dinner was saved. He split the unlucky bird with the little tiger. Little fella didn't wait even a millisecond to sink his teeth into hot and juicy fowl meat. Looking at such a sight, Elias couldn't stop himself from chuckling. With a smirk on his face he inhaled the tantalizing smell of fried chicken meat once again.
"Finally, some good fucking food."
His teeth bit into the golden brown skin that was still steaming. The greasy oil and tender meat complimented each other in a way dried meat he ate in the village could not compare to. However, something was missing.
"To the list of things I miss, salt and pepper!"
[Ding!]
[Notes added.]
"Sigh."
"Wait!"
Elias's eyes shined. He quickly gathered some herbs that were growing nearby. There were some Warm Leshets among them. He squeezed some of the juice out of them and smeared the chicken with it. The next bite filled his mouth with the hot spicy feeling.
"That's better. I bet that this is the first time someone tempers their tongue with chicken."
After finishing his portion of chicken, the little tiger climbed into Elias's lap. It stretched a bit and rolled up into a small fluffy ball, then it turned to Elias and yawned.
"Going to sleep already? Well, this day was an eventful one, I won't blame you."
Instead of sleeping right away, Elias decided to check out what new functions system had unlocked.
*System, you got the new abilities unlocked, right?*
[Ding!]
[Core Layer 0 functions are fully available.]
*List them.*
[Ding!]
[Listing Core Layer 0 functions:]
[Scanning]
[Internal Library]
[Chemical Analysis]
[Combat Visual Aid]
[Multi-purpose Computational Engine]
[Heuristics Stimulation]
[Basic Genetic Imprinting]
[Listing completed.]
*That's… a lot.*
*So, how can I use them?*
[Ding!]
[Host first needs to provide enough energy to activate the functionality.]
"Sigh"
*Of course I need to. How much for Chemical Analysis?*
[Ding!]
[Chemical Analysis function needs energy equal to 1000 cultivation base units.]
*How much?!*
Elias looked towards the starry sky once again.
*System, how much CB do I currently have?*
[Ding!]
[Current amount of energy accumulated by the host is equal to 17 points worth of cultivation base.]
*What?! We literally spoke for barely a minute, how much energy do you need to speak?*
[System requires extra energy because of the extensive damage suffered shortly after integration.]
When Elias heard these words, he felt like he knew what system was talking about, but the more he tried to remember, the more frustration he felt due to his own inability to do so.
*Fine. What about the bald guy's blood sample. I think he was one of the people who used local herbs to train his body. Is it of any use?*
[Analyzing. The sample indeed comes from a trained warrior. More thorough analysis available. ETA: 135 Hours. Energy required: 5184 units of cultivation base. Third sample will boost analysis speed immensely.]
Elias's eyes went wide seeing these numbers.
*I get it, I get it, back to meditation.*
He straightened his back and began executing the breathing technique.
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In the Fierce Tiger Tribe's village, there was a building that was considered luxurious by the standards of locals. In the contrast to the mudwall huts that constituted the vast majority of the houses in the village, this building was built out of genuine stone, making it much more durable and giving it longevity to which mudwall huts couldn't ever compare. This was the house of the Fierce Tiger, the chief of the tribe. Whoever held the title would live here.
Inside this building, in a rather spacious hall, a muscular man sat lazily on a beast hide covered chair. What was interesting, an iron sword was fastened to his belt. Beside the man, five barely clothed maids were. Four of them massaged his body, while the last one fed him fruits and wine.
He was clearly enjoying his time when the doors of the hall burst open and an attendant rushed in. He quickly made his way over and bent one knee in front of the muscular man.
"Great Chief, none of them have returned."
The muscular man snorted and bolted up from his comfortable seat.
"So the kid is probably still alive… Fucking idiots!"
Anger welled up in Gaden's heart. He threw the wine jug in his hand towards the floor, and as soon as it made contact, it exploded with great force. Countless sharp pieces of ceramic mixed with wine flew in all directions leaving numerous lacerations on the skin of the maids and attendant. However, none of them dared to make any sound.
"If only this bald piece of shit did not come up with his idea when all the elders were present, I would have already dealt with Calak's son." - Gaden thought.
He calmed his breathing and started to pace in front of a large window that let in serene moonlight.
"That kid has too much luck. Mines did nothing to him, all usual workers barely hold on for three months before showing the signs of getting ill. He was fine after working there for half a year! Shoving him off a cliff was useless, he came back the same day and even went working the next morning! Unless I see the body myself, I won't believe he's dead."
His eyes glinted with malice, reflecting the pale moonlight the land was bathed in.
"I even gave that bald moron the herbal medicine Sovsem makes for the warriors and still, he has failed."
He looked outside.
"Could it be that some elder is protecting him? If a Heart Calming stage warrior was around, he could have saved him from the fall. And herbal medicine can stave off the miner's sickness..."
Suspicion arose inside him. Most of the elders did not like him, and in fact, even openly opposed him. Out of the eight elders of the tribe, only two spoke out in his favor. If not for the fact that among the opposing elders, three were Ferocious Warriors just like him, he would have crushed the opposition long ago.
It was important to note that there were differences to the strengths of Ferocious Warriors. Gaden, for example, had reached the level of Second Grade Ferocious Warrior, while three elders were in the First Grade. Their strengths were roughly equal, so they could only keep each other in check. This kind of situation greatly frustrated Gaden, as he went as far as to fight Calak, who was a Third Grade Ferocious Warrior. Even though Calak was injured after fighting three Second Grade Ferocious warriors, he still made them retreat.
It was only because Calak did not expect Gaden's betrayal, he was able to succeed.
Gaden thought for a bit, and turned to the attendant.
"Listen closely, here is what you are going to do..."