Tess stole my hoodie.

Tess insists she's only "borrowing" my hoodie, but deep down, I know the truth. That hoodie is gone, never to return. She's like a hoodie black hole, absorbing all the coziness and leaving me shivering in my hoodie-less existence.

She says it's because of the screw-up I made during our last hunt that she ended up with her clothes torn, but look, who would have guessed that the troll is so good at throwing stuff?

Totally not my fault.

And sure, with my increased constitution, I don't feel the cold even in the slightly colder weather we are in, and the hoodie was just lying down in my gym bag, but... but, it's mine, it was mine.

Well, whatever.

There are 10 days remaining on the time limit for the floor quest, so I decided to hunt alone for some time. I took a lot of dried meat and a few bottles of water with me and went to the forest, leaving them to survive on their own for a few days.

Hadwin didn't like it at all, and neither did most of them, but I think it will help them too. Some of them became too reliant on my help, stopped improving on their own, and just followed my lead. Sure, they will get hurt, maybe even die, but if they just continue to follow me, they will for sure die in the future.

If we look at this like a game, the first floor should be the easiest one, right?

For me, the danger didn't feel that big, and I have a feeling that my growth has stagnated as well. I don't want to become too reliant on them, so I leave to return in a few days.

I am also worried that I am getting too close to them.

The forest is quiet, as always, and without Tess's scouting, I feel much more vulnerable, but surprisingly I don't hate it.

As always, there is mana flowing through my body, through my mana circuit, and my [Mana Perception] keeps sending wave after wave of mana into our surroundings like a sonar, trying to find something. The range isn't that big, but it's doable.

So I continue checking my quests once in a while. There still isn't a new [Side Quest] unfortunately, but knowing the system, I am sure it's cooking up something really spicy.

The first enemy I meet is a simple wolf.

[Wolf, lvl 2]

Poor guy, how did he end up here? In such a high-level zone.

He sniffs me and starts running away immediately. Unfortunately for him, I send more mana through my body and dash at him with a speed higher than his.

Surely enough, I catch up to him, and he turns to attack me in a last-ditch effort.

I dodge, and his teeth clamp close to my head.

Then I slap him.

Yup.

I bitch-slap that poor guy.

He staggers back, and I repeat it, and he falls down, unconscious.

I pull out the last remaining piece of the goblin shaman's amulet and tie it to the wolf's fur. I already did it multiple times in hopes of confusing the Cinderbear.

Fuck Cinderbear tho.

I started doing it immediately after the last time, and there should be 7 wolves running around with a piece of amulet tied to their fur. Or they lost it. I don't care. Just get that crap far away from me.

What the heck is it even?

A tracking device?

Whatever, I stand up and leave the wolf alive.

I may or may not have petted him a few times before leaving.

[BattleTroll, lvl 9]

I keep mana flowing through my body and blade, ready to use [Oscillation] at any time as I slowly walk towards the monster.

The BattleTroll is only slightly bigger than the first troll we met; he is slimmer but holds a massive club in his hand, most likely made of a tree trunk. There are weird red tattoos over his body.

This time, I decide to fight him on equal footing.

I feel a pulse of mana from him, and he swings his weapon.

A loud roar sounds into the surroundings.

The attack is impressively fast, but it's something I can dodge. However, I don't do it. Instead of dodging, I coat my blade in mana to prevent it from being destroyed and let mana rush to my body while I use [Kinetic Redistribution].

Our weapons meet, and instead of instantly breaking my hand, I feel the force of his attack weaken as I absorb some of it with my skill. It's much more than I expected, so I groan under the power of his attack.

Unable to do anything with the absorbed kinetic force, I just let it escape into the surroundings, creating a small shockwave with us at the center.

The troll roars and attacks again from the same side. Again, I block his attack with my sword, absorbing more force than the first time, yet I still get pushed and stagger a bit. However, I regain enough balance to block another attack, and another shockwave of absorbed kinetic energy explodes into the surroundings.

For the next few blows, I continue to block his attacks, and the way I use the skill improves a tiny bit every time.

I manipulate mana better and faster. Activating the skill sooner, using more mana at the right places, and reducing waste. Using bits of energy from his attacks to push against his weapon.

I dodge under his clumsy kick and block his club with my sword, but this time I manipulate the absorbed energy and use it to create a weak shockwave that I aim back at the troll.

He staggers backward a little but quickly attacks me again.

I feel his body generating more and more mana, and his tattoos start glowing.

This time, I dodge the attack, and it hits the ground. Earth explodes into the surroundings, and with a quick dash, I move closer and cut off his leg above his knee. The blade hums while oscillating wildly.

While he is falling down, I make a deep cut on his chest and then cut his club apart before jumping away.

My breathing is rough as I almost lose control over [Oscillation].

I send more mana into my body, but then I get the message.

[You have defeated the BattleTroll Lvl 9]

Oh, it looks like I hit something important.

I almost feel disappointed as the monster falls down, dead.

That's it, I guess.

Out of nowhere I sense a hint of mana at the edge of my [Mana Perception] range and focus more mana in that direction. The feeling disappears without leaving anything behind.

Huh?

I dash towards it, but I don't catch anything. It's gone and there isn´t leftover mana left behind.

What was that?

The forest immediately feels more dangerous, and silence fills the surroundings.

I feel mana behind me, but when I focus more on it, it disappears immediately in a way I can´t explain.

Cold sweat starts running down my back, and I dash away from it. Mana strengthens my muscles, and at this point, I am able to run as fast as a horse while letting [Focus] help me to do it without hitting any trees.

After a few minutes I stop to catch a breath.

I lost it for sure…

Another pulse of mana appears at the edge of my perception.

Damn.

I run again.

Ten minutes pass, and I continue to strengthen my body; my muscles feel hot as I continue to channel mana through my Mana Circuit to strengthen them. My mana pool is now big enough to keep it up for a really long time.

As I run, I continue to feel the same mana signature at the edges of my perception.

At first, I try to run away from it, but it starts to feel as if it's trying to lure me somewhere, so I just avoid it.

At some point, I even attempt to dash toward it again, but it disappears and reappears behind me within a minute.

My [Mana Perception] continues to shoot into the surroundings, but I always only feel a hint of mana at the edge of my range.

While continuing to use the skill, I optimize it a bit and increase the range. However, the signature moves again, staying not entirely out of range but still close.

I stop.

My breathing is quick, and my muscles burn. Sweat runs down my body.

Something like laughter echoes in the distance.

The presence appears once again at the edge of my detection.

You asshole.

This is getting annoying.

Fight me or something.

As if knowing what I am thinking, the cackle sounds once again, and the presence disappears.

It looks like there will be no sleep tonight.