Chapter 5 - First Meditation Technique

The best way to fish was probably with a normal fishing rod, obviously, but Kayn enjoyed diving.

There was something freeing about being out in the water, chasing after fish with just a spear. It made him feel more manly, more primitive—more attuned to the world around him.

Every time he caught a fish, he placed it on the sand. Well, not directly on the sand. He had gathered some leaves from nearby trees to lay them on, keeping the fish clean. It was the best storage solution he could come up with, given the circumstances.

The Slime Spear was pretty damn good. All Kayn had to do was throw it, and it would adjust its trajectory mid-air, almost like it had a mind of its own. It made hitting the fish far easier than it should have been.

In total, the process took him about two hours. The hardest part wasn't throwing the spear—it was actually finding the fish in the first place. But eventually, he completed his quest.

And with that, the reward appeared.

[10 Crypto Earned]

Kayn frowned. Ten Crypto. That was way lower than he had expected. Considering his SSS Rank Summon Loot Box had cost him 500, this felt like nothing.

He checked the meditation loot boxes in the shop. The prices varied, but the cheapest one was 5 Crypto—and the best technique inside was only A Rank. And even that was just one A-Rank meditation among a bunch of weaker ones. A total scam.

Kayn sighed. It reminded him of all the CS:GO cases he had opened back in the day, always hoping for the best item—never getting it.

"Damn it," he muttered. "I really need a meditation technique to start training. Even if it's shit, I need it."

The worst-case scenario? He'd get a bad meditation technique, which would slow his progress. But at least he could swap it later. He had a shop, after all.

As he was about to purchase the case, something hit him—he had no idea what his affinity was! What if he ended up with a technique that didn't suit him?

There was no way around it. Kayn had to take the risk.

The loot box appeared in front of him, spinning rapidly. The image of countless meditation tomes flashed before his eyes, cycling through different options.

This was it.

Eventually, it stopped.

The notification that appeared in front of him was… kind of heartbreaking.

[Meditation of the One Thousand Suns (D Rank)]

A D-rank meditation technique. Basically, the worst possible outcome.

What was even stranger was the name—it sounded way too good for something ranked so low.

"I've never heard of this before," Kayn thought.

The tome materialized in front of him. It was old, wrapped in cracked leather, and looked like absolute garbage—something you'd expect to find rotting in a sewer or buried deep inside a swamp.

It did not look promising at all.

But it was what he had. And for now, it was what he'd use.

The first page of the tome explained the basics of the technique. The first requirement? It had to be practiced while feeling the sun. Not only that, but the best time to train was between 12 and 4 PM.

"So, I basically need strong sunlight for this to work properly," Kayn guessed.

Which meant… the technique was even worse during the early morning or evening? And probably useless at night?

No wonder it was D-rank.

But it was already dark, so he couldn't test it yet, even if he wanted to.

With a sigh, he turned his attention to the fish. He took a few to eat and carefully wrapped the rest to preserve them as best as he could. They wouldn't last long, but if needed, he could always catch more.

"I only got this many for the quest, after all," he thought.

For now, he needed a place to stay the night.

There had been a cave near the hill—a place people used to visit back in his time.

Maybe… just maybe, it was still there.

That was what he hoped.

Kayn searched for a long time. Things didn't look like he knew them.

But eventually, he found it.

And he was welcomed by some creatures.

Bats. But they weren't normal bats. They were much larger, fiercer, and clearly hostile.

The bats had mutated because of mana, turning them into something entirely different from what Kayn was familiar with.

He saw them flying toward him.

The first thing he did was get his Slime Spear ready.

It had decent damage and a good range, so maybe it was the perfect weapon for this fight.

The first bat came, trying to bite Kayn. He held his spear tightly and thrust it forward, striking the bat.

That spear was really strong, durable, and sharp. The slime was, after all, SSS Rank. It easily pierced through the bat.

The creature stopped moving the moment it got hit. Kayn shook the spear, tossing the bat to the side, then quickly prepared for the next one.

It worked again.

Perhaps the creatures realized they didn't stand a chance because, after seeing two of them fall, the remaining bats turned and flew away.

With that, Kayn secured the cave for himself. Now, he just needed to make a campfire, eat the fish he had caught, and rest for tomorrow.

*

Meanwhile, in the village near the beach, the guards had noticed something.

One of them stood at his post, watching as a group of bats flew away in the distance.

"What's that?" he muttered.

Another guard nearby frowned. "Strange. Those bats usually stay inside a cave. They only move when something disturbs them. What could it be?"

"I don't know, maybe we should check it?" the guard added.

*

Kayn quickly built the campfire and used his Slime Knife to clean the fish. He cooked it, ate it, and then settled onto one of the rocks inside the cave to rest, completely unaware that the villagers might have noticed his presence.