The Distance

Ryuu had to create himself an eyepatch from the hide of the beast he had remaining, still leaving a large chunk of the coat behind in the process. It could be useful for clothes in the future.

Eventually, as well, Ryuu couldn't stand the hunger any longer, skinning the Ape creatures and using them for sustenance. He watched from above the pot, watching as the meat of the monster sizzled against the iron. After the food had finished, he grabbed the chunk and bit into it, fighting off the instinctual urge to spit it back up, gagging every two or so bites.

After the second chunk of meat had been eaten, he familiarized himself with it and steeled himself, knowing that this would most likely be the only form of food he'd be capable of eating in the underground.

He tested out the glowing plants beforehand, clearing out the glowing material, without it, et cetera. It was not to be consumed as he would immediately regurgitate the substance, but he figured out that the material that allowed the plants to glow is medicinal.

What wasn't medicinal would be the plant if the substance that made it glow were removed.

The substance was poisonous; it wasn't a strong poison, but anyone who had consumed it would feel ill for an extended period. Of course, he had discovered this information by using himself as a test subject, initially resorting to such a decision out of desperation.

This was useful for the larger man, especially if he wanted to make efforts to clear out the Apes that had made camp outside the tunnels, especially since they had begun expanding their forces. Outside of the smaller Apes, large ones with red beaming eyes had begun to merge into their infantry. They were much more powerful than the smaller ones, as most of the Apes would make a wide berth away from the larger ones.

The ones that Ryuu had more concern for were those clad in armor. They weren't necessarily tall, nor were they short, and their fur was as black as coal and appeared to be much more confident compared to their brethren.

It was a great way to test out the effectiveness of these dull, glowing plants. Weakening his prey, taking them out one by one. It was ideal.

Ryuu would have to find some way to sneak into the camp-- it wouldn't be too hard to just drip the herb straight into a cauldron or pot of theirs, but the hard part was getting in, especially with so many stronger and more conscientious foes lurking about.

Ryuu lurked for a few days, waiting and watching, attempting to memorize their patrol patterns, when they eat, when they sleep. When they slept seemed to be the best time to move in, probably obvious to most, but it's also because the higher tier fighters slept whilst the weaker ilk patrolled in their stead.

The smaller breeds were more reckless and dumb, but due to the strength the others held, they were selfish and dull.

Eventually, Ryuu had begun grinding up the herbs that resulted from squeezing the glowing material that was maintained within the plants. Ryuu used water to thicken the glowing material into a liquid that could be used to staunch wounds and the like, whilst he reduced the herbs into dust that he threw into various small sacks that were made up of chunks of beast pelt, most coming from the corpses of those Ape-like creatures.

After a few days had passed, Ryuu found his next opportunity to move in, waiting for the more incompetent from the weaker Ape-ilk to begin their patrol.

He slipped in from the darkness, dousing what was saved up for their food with remnants of the herb, going from one section of the camp to another. Ryuu would make himself look like he belonged whenever the patrol was away before dipping into the black of a wall as they stumbled on by.

After his trap had been set, Ryuu ran back to his alcove, and all he had to do now was sit back and wait.

If he got the timing right, the sickness inflicted by the poison would last multiple days, providing him ample opportunity to clear them out, one by one.

Ryuu, of course, made full use of his ability, which helped him speed up as too much time had passed, the camp slowly rising from their slumber.

The effects are not immediate, but the bonuses that he attains from his Tempering ability are substantial. Within his ability of Tempering, he can heat objects or cool them, including himself. By adding friction to himself and other objects, adding heat to it, he's able to either add enough heat to burn an object, melt through it, or speed the object up significantly

Without his ability to heat himself, he wouldn't be able to speed off away from the encampment like he did. On top of that, he can increase the impact of an object or hit through this ability as well, not to mention his significantly faster reaction times that came from his slow adaptation to the ability itself.

Cooling is the exact opposite and is almost self-explanatory, except for two significant factors. When an object is cooled, it appears that the toughness of said object is increased significantly; in fact, it holds some semblance of healing as well, saving him from the concussion he had suffered multiple days previously.

But if he held the cooling for long enough, the object itself also increases in weight significantly. He attempted to use the cooling properties of his ability on himself one time, realizing his movements slowed, assuming that it was something about the cold causing him to slowly freeze in place, but paid close attention to the weight as well after a few minutes had passed, realizing quickly that his slowed movements wasn't because of the cold, but because of the weight added onto himself as he persisted with the maintaining of this aspect of his ability.

The increase of heat or cooling as a whole, though, is a somewhat slow process, regardless. In general, the ability itself, as was said, held a lot of versatility and potential.

Then there was the most impressive part of his Tempering ability.

After some trial and error, he figured out that the ability itself seemed to have a Passive Skill that allowed him to slowly improve further than his base strength, rather than, typically, adapting to the power over a certain period.

Cases like him were not unusual-- people discovering their abilities late in life, but he was an especially special case due in part to the growth rates compared from one ability to another.

Ones who discover their abilities late in life typically adapt to the power relatively quickly. Of course, at first, they don't feel the effects, but after a day or two, they would normally experience a significant strength increase.

Ryuu was an outlier, but in comparison, this was even more ideal. Those who get to their ideal strength, comparable to the star rating of their ability, find difficulty in increasing their strength past a certain point, but, due to the special nature of their Ability's growth rate, the potential of growth in regards to strength was significant.

The problem was that patience was important. He had to wait, train, and gradually get to a point of strength that he was comfortable with.

What provided him even more hope, though, was that this was the first stage of many. The System clearly stated that his ability didn't have its full capabilities revealed.

***

The lights of his alcove brightened, signifying the coming of night, forcing Ryuu out of his restful slumber.

He took light, circled steps over to the tunnel, slowly making his way through before peaking through, watching as the camp indulged in a bountiful feast. He pressed his body against the other side of the tunnel to give himself a better view, sitting himself down and observing as they indulged in a variety of festivities.

The Stronger ones with Coal-Black fur watched with an egotistical air, clearly believing themselves to be better. They kept the larger Apes on a leash, tugging on it periodically as they found themselves distracted by food or alcohol that they were throwing about.

Ryuu knew that they had to have acquired these goods from somewhere, meaning that they had some sort of path to the outside world, outside of this underground labyrinth.

An hour passed, Ryuu paid close attention to the sickened beasts as they retreated into their tents, the Black-Haired Apes bullying their lesser compatriots in frustration, witnessing as some of the hairy creatures vomiting or separating themselves to empty their bowels.

Ryuu knew this was the best opportunity to strike, taking a makeshift hatchet he had made from segments of the pipes behind him, descending through the darkness.

Ryuu snuck up on one of the Apes that had separated from the group, slashing down with the hatchet, cleaving the creature's skull in two. The blade got stuck in between the flesh and bone, pulling it away with the weapon, making his way back up to the pipe. He dragged the body over to the alcove, using his foot to unlodge the hatchet from the creature's newly split skull.

With some nearby chunk of pelt, he slid the blade across it to clean off the blood, heading back out for his hunt.

Ryuu could feel his bones shiver-- even with his newfound abilities, cleaving into these creatures felt as if he was putting an axe to a thick stump of wood, or maybe some sort of metal table. But he had enough strength, and doubly so for the amount of force he is now able to dish out. Fighting the Lower Apes was simple in comparison now, though he had no experience against the larger monsters in their repertoire, along with the ones with Black Fur.

Ryuu slipped back into the darkness, increasing his speed gradually through Tempering. He slipped out toward a more distant camp, separate from the main enforcement set out in the direct center of the cave. He lunged out from the darkness, watching as one of the Apes reeled from the poisonous plants Ryuu had infected them with.

Using the momentum of his sprint, he slashed down onto the shoulder of the creature, splitting it in two, missing the creature's head. Blood sprayed out from the wound, one large arm, clothes lining the creature as one leg kicked its feet out from under it, slamming it into the stone below.

The creature gasped, and one of the other Monsters stood a few feet away, looking alarmed at the sudden, blood-stained man in front of them. Ryuu dislodged the hatchet, bringing out one long stride of his leg, stepping on the creature's foot directly as it instinctively attempted to create distance from him.

Their food was pulled against Ryuu's who swiped the hatchet across the Ape's neck, his arms brought up to his head in an attempt to defend themselves.

A chunk of their neck fell loosely to the side, fingers breaking against the blade, almost cleaving them clean off. Blood gushed from the wound on their neck, pouring like a waterfall down their body, staining their fur crimson. The monster made a vain attempt to staunch the wound, collapsing onto the ground.

Ryuu forced himself low, hiding behind a tent of their encampment. The Ape, whose shoulder he had cleaved open, writhed on the floor, eyes looking shell-shocked as a slow mumbling left their lips.

Ryuu grabbed the nape of the creature, pulling it out from view before finishing it off, ending its misery.

He sighed, slowly rising from his cover, his thoughts suddenly interrupted by two stray members of the camp. Ryuu quickly snapped over to one of their fire pits, grabbing the hot stone and launching it into the head of its comrade.

The other Ape side-stepped, falling onto its knees as it scrambled for a weapon, screaming as loudly as it could.

In a panic, Ryuu sprinted for the tunnel, the entire camp now alerted to his presence.

One of the survivors of the stray camp pointed to the others, directing them to Ryuu's abode, causing the ones that remained at the camp to immediately take up arms.

Ryuu stepped up an incline within the alcove, taking the high ground against any enemy assailant that may come.

Ryuu had planned this for almost a month now. He had planned this, setting up traps with stray materials he had stolen along the way.

Ryuu could hear as chaos descend the tunnel, waiting, and waiting.

It was quiet for a moment, seemingly, two monsters stumbled upon the alcove, looking around for Ryuu before finally spotting him.

Ryuu took a deep breath and shouted as loudly as he could. "COME AND GET ME YA FREAKS!"