In the dark night where only moonlight shone, the bright fire in the distance stood out. The crackling of the flames wasn't loud, but in the silent forest, it spread far and wide. The aroma of delicious meat wafted in the air for several miles.
The psychic plants were curious about the fool who attempted such a thing. Within a few minutes, the fool would be surrounded by hordes of monsters and be eaten up alive.
Still, they were curious. Even though the two-legged creatures that entered the valley were stupid, they shouldn't be this stupid.
So, they spread their mental sense to find the fool.
They found a young man sitting on a log as he fried a large chunk of red meat. The psychic plants concluded him to be stupid and were about to withdraw their mental sense when they accidentally noticed the red scales on the ground.
The psychic plants, almost a few miles away, shook violently and shuddered like they were facing a storm.
Their mental space scanned the location again. He was sitting beside the silver lake, near the red scales, and frying red meat.
…It was clear this time.
This man was a monster!
The psychic plants signaled to their Stonemen comrades. The Stonemen split themselves into a bunch of fist-sized stones and formed a protective layer around them.
The stone barrier offered strong protection.
Even then, the plants shivered.
As psychic plants, they more or less had rational judgments.
So, they knew…
Until that monster left, they wouldn't be able to feel safe.
"Roar!"
But the rest of the creatures weren't that rational.
So, a group of white wolves, blood-sucking plants, and stone giants surrounded him.
Varian sighed lightly. "You could've come after my meal."
Saying so, he stood up and stepped forward. A fierce aura spread out from him.
The twenty-odd creatures facing him flinched. Their instincts suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
This place was supposed to have a red monster. If that monster was missing, then…
"I'll make it quick," Varian said and unsheathed his sword.
A golden light flashed in the darkness and the ground shook violently. Roars, screams, and shrieks echoed as blood splattered the lake.
After exactly fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds, Varian sat on the log. His body had several injuries ranging from fourth-degree burns, and bone fractures to even large chunks of missing flesh.
But he didn't care.
He scanned the surroundings and confirmed that there were no more monsters in the vicinity.
"If I was forced to use this, I'd have retreated without hesitation." Varian looked at the brown metallic star in his palm and sighed in relief.
It was the treasure he got in the Azure plains. Even though it looked simple and was extremely cold to touch, it was his backup.
Since the highest limit of Azure Plains' reward was below Celestial grade, Varian got a treasure that was equivalent to Sovereign grade.
The treasure had a massive limitation though. It was only for a single-use.
But Varian still felt it was worth every bit of effort. The description of the treasure rang in his mind for the thirteenth time.
{Upon activation, a barrier will be formed around you and lasts for a minute. It can withstand attacks of any mortal rank. You can also adjust the barrier, but that would decrease the time it'd last drastically.}
Any mortal attack included a Sovereign attack as well.
This was the reason Varian took the bold move to kill all the monsters.
In the worst-case scenario, he could protect himself. If not for this treasure, he'd have treaded far more cautiously.
But now, he could just focus on improving his strength.
Even if things turned dangerous, he could activate the treasure and teleport away. Of course, Varian was unwilling to waste the treasure on level 7s.
He decided to save it up for situations where lady death would try to drag him away.
"Now I can take the bamboo smoothly." Varian smiled as a cunning glint flashed in his eyes.
The real reason for frying the fish was to attract the monsters in the vicinity.
If they disturbed him while he was assimilating the bamboo, it'd have affected his progress.
So, Varian acted like a fool to fool the monsters.
"…This doesn't taste so bad." Varian took a bite.
In fact, his cooking was excellent and was getting better each day.
As he regained more and more memories, Varian's standard of taste also rose thanks to her.
In one of the recent memories he regained, Sia had to go on a school trip for two whole weeks.
Before she left, she taught him how to cook. It was hard, and she nagged him a lot. In the end, Varian gained a passing score from her.
'Not bad.' was her highest compliment.
But again, Varian agreed with her. Compared to what she cooked, he wasn't comparable at all.
However, he still cooked now and then because Sia said. 'Even though from a purely cooking lens, it's so-so, personally, I love it.'
So, every time he made something, he'd give her the first portion of the dish. Just like now—
"Sia, how do you think this tast—"
Varian froze and looked at his hand that was handing out a piece of meat to empty air.
The fire went off and so did the light on his face.
As the fog thickened, the moonlight couldn't reach the valley anymore.
In the silent darkness, Varian remained still for a few minutes.
His eyes shook with violent emotions before he closed them.
Then, without another word, he took out the lightning bamboo and began absorbing it.
First were the roots of the bamboo. His arms turned into branches and connected with bamboo's roots.
The roots shone with a green light and prana flooded Varian's body.
Unlike the typical foreign prana, this prana was far less hostile and even a bit docile. Just with some nudging, it began to assimilate into his own prana.
[+100 Xp]
[+100 Xp]
…
[+100 Xp]
As the roots continue to shine, the bamboo's stem and the insides also shone. They would be available only for a short period of time before they disintegrate.
So, Varian ignored the notifications and turned his focus to the stem.
His body let out a golden glow and his lightning formed a thread, connecting with the bamboo's stem.
Lightning snakes coiled around the bamboo before slithering around the lightning thread and reaching Varian.
A surge of lighting mana followed.
Then, he focused on the insides of the bamboo.
His chi flowed into the bamboo and brought the bamboo's solidified chi into his body.
This was the easiest to digest.
Green, golden and red lights shone in the darkness for a few minutes before disappearing.
Varian opened his eyes and exhaled deeply.
Over the past few days, he had several fights, but none was life-threatening. So, his growth wasn't really spectacular.
Ironically, being in less dangerous situations stunted his growth.
'To think lady death didn't smile upon me...' Varian looked at the sky with grudging eyes.
...He really shouldn't have asked. But he didn't know then.
'Forget it, with the bamboo at least, I hope my progress isn't too bad.' Varian held his breath and muttered.
'Status'