He devoured those steaks.
Not only were they delicious, but they were also important for his physical energy.
So, he didn't stop eating for two hours.
He wanted to continue for three more hours, but the food lasted only one more hour.
At this moment, his body started savoring all of that energy from those meats. They were filled to the brim with physical energy.
As this energy gathered in his cells, his perception suddenly became a dozen times better, giving him proper information about his cells.
These cells were constantly dying. But every time they died, the news cells would be born, stronger and with more life force.
He could feel it. The life force increase seemed insignificant compared to the times when he improved his ranks.
But it was still enough to let him feel the growth of his cells.
At this moment, he began extracting Aura from his cells. This was the perfect moment, and he was waiting for it.
Aura was extracted by merging the physical energy and mental energy. Every human could produce an Aura if they reached a certain requirement.
But one couldn't store Aura.
At least, it couldn't be stored within the body. The extracted Aura needed to be used on something; if not, it would be wasted.
Unless it was used on the Ability Crystal.
While his cells improved, his body could generate a lot of Aura, and he could put all of that Aura into his crystal.
Putting a small amount of Aura inside the crystal wouldn't do much. Because the Ability Crystal needed a large amount of Aura.
And, extracting Aura, especially a large amount of it during normal times, would be a dangerous thing to do.
Because he could only extract a limited amount of Aura. That also represented his Reserve.
Once his cells and soul were pushed to extremes, he would not only not be able to extract Aura but also use abilities.
Because the abilities require physical energy. For humans and for monsters, it was physical energy.
This physical energy was stamina. Extracting Aura would generally cost him stamina.
But stamina was also needed to activate his abilities. Because of this, it was pretty hard to extract Aura as a First Rank.
In this rank, one didn't have enough stamina to sustain Aura and abilities at the same time. Not only that, their souls wouldn't be strong enough.
After all, compared to stamina that could be trained at home, soul improvement required experience.
Every time Aura was extracted, the cells would lose a lot of stamina. But since these cells were improving rapidly, the lost stamina was quickly recovered.
This recovery helped him constantly generate more and more Aura without truly getting tired.
And, he put all of that Aura into the Ability Crystal.
Although there wasn't any indication, with his feelings, he knew the ability crystal absorbed 30% Aura.
And, this was just the start. So, he kept extracting more Aura and increasing the Aura Percentage in his Ability Crystal.
After nearly four more hours, he opened his eyes.
His body was in perfect condition as he didn't extract Aura during the last phase of his growth.
Even so, he managed to improve the percentage from thirty to eighty.
If he had taken a little bit of risk, he could've filled his Ability Crystal with Aura.
But considering what he saw during the previous battle, he didn't do it.
Those monsters were definitely scheming something. At least ten of the dozens sensed his presence, but only the snake chased after him.
It was as if they ignored his presence for some reason. And, when a monster ignores one's presence, it could only mean one thing.
'Outbreak!'
When he thought about it, he gulped heavily. Although he expected retaliation from the monsters, the idea of an outbreak still made him shiver.
Outbreak would lead to the death of tens of thousands, but considering that monsters knew this change wasn't targeting them, they might go easy.
At worst, this would be an attack led by a Mountain Level Monster.
Thinking about it, he stood up and turned towards Martin and John.
Both of them had successfully entered the Second Rank.
With their three new skills and the awakening of their Aura, their strength had reached a new level.
"Are you ready? This time, we will go deeper into the forest and try to get as many Natural Fruits as we can."
"After that, we will return immediately!"
Tyler asked.
While confused, four of them still nodded without hesitation. They had complete trust in their Lord.
"Good! Then, let's go!"
Tyler had a feeling that one more battle and he would be able to complete his ability crystal.
During this time, he wasn't extracting Aura to keep himself at his peak state.
But a battle would definitely improve his mental energy, giving him the boost he needed to generate more Aura.
During the previous feast, he realized he had absorbed too much of the monster's meat. This had helped him grow his body exponentially.
It was a good thing, but his mental energy growth was a bit short.
It was still immense thanks to the Soul Boosting Potion, but it fell short in front of those meats.
So, he was hoping to improve his soul through a battle and extract more Aura to enter the Fourth Rank.
Soon, they entered the forest, and they took a different route than before. This time, they crossed the river and went deeper.
It wasn't long before they noticed a fruit on one of the trees, but it was guarded by a large dog-like beast.
Tyler sensed this beast's strength and turned towards John, saying.
"Finish him as quickly as possible!"
John nodded and jumped forward. The moment that dog sensed his presence, John slapped his hand on the ground, and it shook.
A large chunk of rock started gathering underneath his palm and slowly rose into a gigantic pillar of earth with a sharpened tip.
[Fourth Skill- Giant Earth Bullet]
With his command, a powerful burst coated the bullet, and it flung towards the dog at an extraordinary speed.
The dog jumped towards it, with his claw, trying to tear it apart, but the force behind the bullet suppressed his strength.
The sheer size of the bullet covered his body and slammed it against the tree. The tree shook, but only a few leaves fell.
Thud!
The giant rock fell on the ground, with its front coated in red blood. There were several cracks on the tip.
If that dog had a little bit more strength, the tip would've collapsed easily.
John jumped towards the tree and took the Natural Fruit, without much hesitation.
He returned to the group and gave it to Tyler.
Tyler nodded, taking the fruit. He planned to give it to Liam, but only after they leave this forest.
They didn't have any storage bags or scrolls. If they lost this fruit, it wouldn't be good for him.
"Let's go!"
He signaled them, and five of them kept moving towards the middle of the forest. They didn't stick together.
Tyler knew if they did that, they would never be able to find a lot of Natural Fruits in a single day.
So, he asked them to search a kilometer away from him. This way, he could instantly give them support if they needed it.
As for sensing them, he could do that from several kilometers away.
Liam also found a fruit. And unlike the previous one, it wasn't guarded by any beast.
Instead, the fruit itself was quite difficult to spot, due to the branches and leaves.
'Fortunately, I am starting to get good at manipulating wind. Otherwise, I would've missed this fruit.'
Liam was using his wind manipulation to release a gentle breeze, enough to move around the leaves.
He had only started training it, but he had become quite good at it. And, it was because of this, he didn't miss the fruit.
On the other hand, Tyler also found Natural Fruit, and two at the same time.
They were in the same tree. But there was one big problem.
'Gulp!'
Tyler was quite far away. But his legs couldn't stop moving.
When he tried using his senses to feel the strength of the monster, the monster sensed his presence.
Not only that, it also spotted his position through reverse sensory.
'This is bad. I am not mistaken this time. This is definitely a Mountain Level Monster. Gulp! Can I even fight it?'
Just when he thought about that, a large blade of wind emerged in front of his eyes.
Before he could even react, the wind blade tore through the branches of the tree and slashed him through the chest.
"Argh!"
Splash!
The blood splattered out as he screamed. His body was flung back due to the sheer strength of that wind blade.
He forcefully applied Aura into his arm and pulled out the wind blade, crushing it into pieces as the blood gushed.
"Hiss!"
[Totem Creation]
[Third Skill- Rapid Regeneration]