Ronata kept controlling her Water Stink Bug to follow the girl.
He noticed that he had been unconsciously being drawn toward her. And he knew the reason.
It was the desperation in her action. That's what drew him toward her.
Different face, but with a familiar expression.
The expression he had grown too familiar with in the last 5 years of his long 27-year life as a Human being.
The face he would always see whenever he looked in the mirror.
That face was the face of someone who had been filled too much with unseen urges.
For him, it was his responsibility as the head of a family.
—Why don't you work harder!?
Ronata immediately began emptying his mind the moment the face of the woman he used to call his wife surfaced.
'Ah... Shit, now my day's ruined.'
Ronata suddenly lost his determination to work hard. Despite having a visible goal to become strong enough to maintain Water Human nonstop, he decided to pause it for now.
'Let's just leave it for my tomorrow self...'
He relaxed again, letting all the works return to their autonomous state.
However, though he was not controlling it anymore, he still ordered his Water Stink Bug to continue to watch over the girl.
Maybe he's just curious.
Or maybe it was something else.
But he wanted to see what was pushing this girl to this extent.
After all, she was still so young, too young.
...
The day finally became darker. The night is near.
Saki swung her knife downward, piercing the last mouse that was coming out from their lair pits.
"Ha... Ha... Ha..."
Bruises filled her skin, while bandages covered most of her body. All because of the wounds those mice had inflicted on her.
Her short black hair had become disheveled under the heat of battle. Blood had colored her hands red, full of wounds, painful.
The panels continued to pop up, reporting her kills, celebrating her spoils.
Now, he had leveled up straight to Level 4 after killing more than ten mice.
But it's not enough.
She was still far away from wielding the power she needed to force out the truth from those hypocrites' sound holes.
'More... I need more...'
However,
Her body won't move.
She had reached her limit.
Her body ached, screaming for rest.
Saki gritted her teeth in frustration.
The more she spends time resting, the longer it will take for her to uncover the truth. And the longer the time passed, they would also become stronger.
But fortunately, she was not so reckless that she would ignore her fatigue and wounds. She knew that she needed rest.
It's not her desire, but what her body needed.
So she would comply.
Because she was a genius. A genius knows their limit, knows when to push, and knows when to stop.
It is still far from a satisfactory result, but she didn't have any choice but to end her grind for today.
Although difficultly, she successfully returned to her tent.
She used the water from the bottle to wash her face. Only her face, not her body. She only brought three 3-liter bottles with her. She should ransom them. The same rules applied to her food rations. She would ransom it, using it only if needed.
Then she lay on the ground after zipping up her tent.
She would not return to her house on Earth if she still had what she needed in her bag.
She wanted to become stronger.
Pain turned people stronger, so she would endure it, however harsh it would become.
"Ha..."
The pain made it hard for her to sleep.
But it's nothing.
Because she was a genius.
'A genius could handle it.'
A genius is strong.
'Father, Mother... Please wait. I'll bring justice for you and reveal the truth for everyone!'
The young girl made a vow before she let the dream world swallow her tired mind.
Her first day had ended, but her hunt had just begun. The end is still long from her reach.
Not now, not yet, not when she was still weak.
The night passed peacefully.
The plain's occupants hadn't noticed the appearance of the Gate, so the night passed without a single noise or disturbance.
They hadn't noticed... Yet.
The moment Saki woke up, her body screamed with pain.
For a moment, she almost believed that she had lost her ability to move her limbs due to all the wounds she had sustained. Teardrops dammed her eyes as she gritted her teeth, enduring the pain.
However, she actually could still move her body. She only had scratches and shallow wounds, after all.
It's painful, yes.
It's hard to move, yes.
But she could, so she would.
Wiping her tears and ignoring her pain, Saki sat up, her arm reaching out toward one of her water bottles.
She grabbed it and tugged it over her mouth, drinking some water to rehydrate her dry mouth.
She sealed and put the bottle back down before pulling out a canned food from her bag. She opened the can with her bloodied knife and began nibbling on it, supplying herself with the nutrients she needed.
After a quick rest, she got out of the tent and began stretching.
Her body would naturally try to cover her wounds. In the process, it would cause the wounds to swell. As a result, the body would become stiff. It's natural. That's only the basic abilities a Human's body has.
But letting her body become stiff would mean that she wouldn't be able to fight. When she is unable to fight, her growth would be hindered. Which, in turn, would mean that she would remain weak longer than ideal.
Every time she leveled up, Saki noticed that she would always receive 1 Point. She didn't know the purpose of these points until she checked her status and found the Skill Menu.
With points, she could buy skills. Skills brought power, and power means strength.
'I see. That's it. Skills. That's what they don't want people to know about.'
With skills, it has now become possible for an individual figure to be an absolute being and become theoretically invincible. Even becoming an Immortal is no longer a mere dream now that skills are within the reach of Humanity's hands.
'That means I need to start taking these skills. The ones I needed...'
Saki checks every skill she could afford with her 4 points and takes the ones she needed most at the moment.
'I'll grow stronger. That's for sure.'
___
•Name: Midori Saki/Saki Midori.
•Race: Human.
•Age: 16 years old.
•Gender: Female.
•Level: 4
•Strength: 23
•Endurance: 12
•Dexterity: 19
• Intelligence: 17
•Magic: 3
—Point: 0
[Normal Skill:]
1.Pain Resistance°1.
2.Recovery°1.
[Title:]
—Earthling.
___