Obsession

Slowly the color of the sky started to change, from a black color brimming with stars to an orange color. Ryu waked and it was still night, but he had slept very early since he was bored with nothing to do. For a long time, he was lying down in his uncomfortable camp bed, just looking at the sky wondering how long it will take to get enough herbs to leave this place.

Ryu reached a conclusion about the sect residences. At first, he thought they were giving the disciples small huts because they were miser, now that he was forced to spent the night out to seek strength he changed his mind. The sect gave those accommodations instead of the traditional house with a large courtyard to not entice too much comfort in the disciples.

If his house were something luxurious with a soft and large bed, expensive furniture, and many utensils Ryu would certainly go back to pass the next night there. No way he would be sleeping in a place like this camp without a good reason. Ryu could not understand those people who like to go camping and fishing for days, far away from civilization.

As the sun rose in the east like it always does, Ryu dismantled his camp and he ventured into the forest, not wanting to waste any more time.

One by one he started to pick the herbs.

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A few times he picked the wrong one and received no system notification, this way he was learning which herbs to pick and which not.

Much to his displeasure, most of the herbs were not easy to find, maybe for a maniac like Luise but not for Ryu that until this moment never cared for any flower or tree before. His reference in picking was the petals' color, however not every herb has an actual petal, some just has stem and leaves, and no matter what he could not differentiate a herb type from a normal useless flower.

Some of the herbs were hidden behind others, some were buried deep within the bark of trees, while others look no different than the normal random bush.

Ryu was slowly making progress, a very frustrating one but still progress.

With this simple routine, Ryu got the necessary herbs but he decided to stay for a few more days. At first, his decision was based on the principle of getting the greatest amount of benefits he could before leaving this forest. But when boredom took over, the reason for him to stay was to make sure that he was not leaving something precious behind, he would not come back for this kind of quest anytime soon.

But when he was about to leave a sensation assaulted him, that feeling that something was about to happen. Based on this doubtful feeling Ryu continued in the forest picking herbs, sometimes the sensation increased, while sometimes, it diminished. An urge to give up this sensation and go back for his level up was increasing with time, but he forced himself to stay for a little while.

One time when the night was about to settle, he packed his things and started to walk back. He walked a few hundred meters and stopped, angry with himself.

He could not stop thinking about that feeling, he was obsessed with it, he was mad with the possibility of going back and losing a reward from the system. He had no way to discover what would happen, but if he loses this opportunity Ryu was afraid that he would never have a good night of sleep, thinking of what he had lost in this forest.

It happened eventually, he was standing in an open section near the bord of the forest with eyes scanning for herbs at distance. His eyes passing attentively in every single hole searching for a hidden herb, he was tired of being in this forest and his eyes were itching with the task of focusing on different objects with light crossing between the trees.

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Stats point Focus +1, total 11.

Stats point Resistance +1, total 12.

New Skill -> enhanced vision (passive) first stage acquired.

Enhanced vision: improves eyes capability and brain vision processing.

Scholar Grade Skill

-first stage: enhanced the eyes to see further and change the focus faster.

-second stage: improved eyes that allow to see wide light specter and see in minimum light quantity condition. (disabled)

-third stage: focus on multiple targets and widen the sight. (disabled)

-fourth stage: improve eye processing, by removing eye and brain limitations one can see objects moving at any speed. (disabled)

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Ryu was not expecting to get two stats points, but after giving a thought it just felt natural for him. He had just spent the last days walking in the forest looking at all places with full concentration mode on, if that was not enough to get him some points he doesn't know what else could.

But the best reward was the skill, he was starting to get addicted to acquiring skills. This one seemed to be another strong skill but since he does not have access to the store there is no way for him to properly evaluate this skill, but a scholar grade skill is not something to look down.

An immortal grade skill is something that one can't buy in the store, it is something that comes from another realm, they are the absolute peak in skills. Below this, there are the Sage grade skills, the Scholar grade, and last is the Human grade. This last category has its own subdivision, the Human grade is divided into bronze, silver, and gold, and they make the vast majority of skills.

Having a high tier skill is no guarantee in strength, after all a skill can have a weakness or do not work very well in a situation, strength is not based purely on the grade of the skills one has nor the quantity.

Still, having more skills is much better than not having. Ryu is building his arsenal of powerful skills.

At this moment Ryu started to feel something was wrong, he has no clue why he was getting so many powerful skills in such a short period of time, this was not how it should be. The possibility of his skills being something common surged in his mind, he was thinking of himself to be special but what if everyone is getting overpowered skills just like him.

He would just play dumb if he acts strong while others actually have skills as strong as his. Ryu would have to investigate the matter as soon as possible, a task that might not be so easy. He would have to ask about the skills that others might want to share information, while he would try to hide his own skill.

Finally, after days in these desert places Ryu packed his belongings in his spatial ring and went back to the sect, he was eager to go back and see civilization once again.

The journey back was long, he was exhausted. His life as a cultivator was not what he was dreaming, but he is happy.

He would level up many days after he was expecting, still, he would level up.