Chapter 3: Level Up, Efficient Growth
The next morning, Leo woke up early.
After a simple warm-up, he left the palace with his stone knife, heading straight for the eastern hillside he had planned to visit the day before.
Morning light filtered through the treetops, the forest mist had yet to disperse, and the air was fresh.
With yesterday's experience, his efficiency in searching for ant nests had noticeably improved.
In less than an hour, he found his first target beside a pile of rocks—a red ant nest built within the crevices of three large boulders.
Leo observed for a moment, confirming there were no other dangerous creatures nearby.
He found a thick branch, aimed it at the nest entrance, thrust it in forcefully, and then quickly stirred.
Dark red ants surged out like a tide, but this time Leo was prepared.
He wore pants and sleeves reinforced with broad leaves, making it difficult for the ants to crawl inside.
Sweeping the branch left and right, large numbers of ants were brushed off and crushed.
A faint, continuous warmth emanated from the tattoo on the back of his hand.
The prompt [Aura +0.01] kept appearing incessantly.
After clearing this nest, Leo continued his search forward. By the morning, he had successfully destroyed three ant nests of varying sizes, raising his level progress from 31% to 68%.
During a brief rest at noon, he ate some berries collected the day before and replenished his water by the stream.
After his body had been enhanced, his stamina consumption had significantly slowed; half a day of labor only left him feeling slightly fatigued.
"At this rate, I can level up today."
In the afternoon, Leo expanded his search range. He not only looked for obvious mound-shaped ant nests on the surface but also began paying attention to those built inside rotten wood or deep underground.
As the sun slanted westward, he found the fifth ant nest of the day at the roots of a giant dead tree. This nest was relatively large.
Leo spent nearly half an hour completely clearing it out.
When the last batch of ants was swept away, the tattoo on the back of his hand suddenly transmitted a stronger warmth than before.
[Aura +12.3]
[Level: 1 (5%)]
Success!
A warm current surged from the tattoo on the back of his hand, quickly spreading throughout his body.
Leo could clearly feel his muscles slightly swelling, and faint cracking sounds came from his bones. After about ten seconds, the warm current gradually subsided.
He clenched his fist, feeling a noticeable increase in strength.
Testing a jump, his body felt much lighter, easily leaping nearly half again as high as before.
His vision also became sharper—he could see the texture of leaves twenty meters away.
Leo found a small tree about the thickness of a bowl to test his strength.
Wrapping his arms around it, he pulled with force—the roots loosened, soil turned over, and the small tree was slowly lifted about three inches off the ground.
Although he couldn't uproot it completely, this strength far exceeded that of an ordinary adult.
"An all-around improvement."
He concluded. It wasn't just strength; speed, endurance, defense, the five senses... all aspects had significantly enhanced.
He recalled the description of basic physical attributes for Nen users in Hunter x Hunter.
Ordinary Nen users often developed their physical strength through long-term training and nourishment from Nen.
His method of direct enhancement through aura might be more efficient.
"If I raise it to level 25, even without activating Nen, my physical attributes alone wouldn't lose to an average Nen user."
Leo calculated in his mind. This realization strengthened his resolve to level up quickly.
As dusk fell, he returned to the palace.
That night, Leo attempted to make fire. He gathered dry deadwood, used a stone knife to carve a groove, and selected a sturdy wooden stick as a drill.
Though inexperienced, his enhanced strength and control made it easier to apply force.
After two hours of repeated attempts, smoke began to rise from the groove. He carefully added dry moss fragments and gently blew on them.
A flame leaped up.
The success of making fire was significant. Cooked food could provide more energy, drive away nocturnal beasts, and allow for processing animal hides to make simple equipment.
In the following days, Leo established a fixed routine.
He would set out at dawn, radiating outward from the palace as his center for exploration.
He focused mainly on ant nests and other social insect colonies, while also keeping an eye out for small animals along the way—wild rabbits, ground squirrels, birds—casually hunting them down.
Although these prey provided relatively little aura, it accumulated over time and also supplied meat.
His enhanced body doubled his efficiency.
Prey that previously required careful approach could now be ambushed at greater speed; large ant nests that once took considerable time and effort to destroy now took half the time.
Three days later, he reached Level 2.
The improvement was equally noticeable.
This time, he deliberately tested his stats: his hundred-meter sprint was about two seconds faster than at Level 1; a single punch could leave a noticeable dent in a tree trunk; jumping from five meters high allowed him to land effortlessly, with only a slight tremor in his knees.
His recovery ability also significantly improved.
Once, while clearing an ant nest, he was accidentally bitten by several soldier ants. The wounds stopped bleeding and scabbed over within half an hour, and by the next day, they had almost completely healed.
Leo began crafting simple tools: weaving a backpack from animal hides and vines to carry more items; drying the tendons of his prey to attempt making bowstrings; collecting sharp stone flakes and binding them to wooden sticks to create spearheads.
On the fifth day, he reached Level 3.
By then, his physical fitness far surpassed that of an ordinary person.
A full-power leap could carry him onto a three-meter-high rock wall; he could snap a branch as thick as his arm with his bare hands; his vision allowed him to see movements thirty meters away under moonlight.
He also began encountering larger creatures.
A beast resembling a wildcat once tried to attack him, but he killed it in return with a stone spear, gaining 8 points of aura—though less efficient than ant nests, it was faster.
Leo realized that as his strength grew, he could appropriately challenge higher-level prey.
He began consciously searching for traces of medium-sized beasts while continuing to efficiently clear ant nests.
...
On the evening of the seventh day, after Leo cleared a large ant nest built into a rock crevice, the tattoo on the back of his hand emitted a familiar warmth.
[Aura +15.7]
[Level: 4 (2%)]
One week, from Level 0 to Level 4.
Leo stood on a hillside under the setting sun, overlooking the distant forest.
The changes in his body were revolutionary—his current strength was several times greater than when he first arrived, with overall enhancement of speed, reaction, and endurance.
He tried to recall the plot of "Hunter x Hunter." This level of physical fitness probably already exceeded that of lower-tier fighters in Heaven's Arena, approaching the level of mid-tier martial artists.
And this was only Level 4, still a long way from Level 25, when the Zetsu state would be lifted.
"If I can maintain this pace..." he estimated.
But deep down, he knew that as his level increased, the aura required for each upgrade would surely rise.
Moreover, the number of ant nests in the forest was limited; they couldn't be cleared indefinitely.
It was necessary to prepare for the future.
He decided to expand his exploration range starting tomorrow.
On one hand, he would continue searching for ant nests; on the other, he would head in the direction marked on the map, seeking new sources of prey for future leveling.
The campfire crackled. Leo roasted the wild rabbit he had hunted today, its fat dripping into the flames, filling the air with a delicious aroma.
He took a bite—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. With fire, the quality of survival had greatly improved.
The dark red tattoo on the back of his hand shimmered faintly in the firelight, as if it had a life of its own.
Level 4. Twenty-one levels to go before reaching the target of Level 25.
The road ahead was still long, but at least the start had been smooth.
...
The next day, Leo changed his strategy.
He was no longer satisfied with ant nests and small prey, and began actively seeking out larger creatures.
At noon, he found his target in a valley.
It was a Unicorn Bear—nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, covered in brownish-black fur, with a gray horn nearly half a meter long on its forehead. It was drinking by a stream, its posture relaxed.
Leo hid behind a rock to observe. With a build like that, the aura it provided would be substantial.
But the risks were high—the Unicorn Bear's thick fur and that horn were both deadly weapons.
After weighing his options for a moment, he decided to act.
The battle was intense. Relying on his enhanced agility, Leo maneuvered around the bear, repeatedly stabbing with his stone spear, each time only inflicting flesh wounds.
The Unicorn Bear's strength was terrifying, and every attack was perilously close.
Ten minutes later, Leo's left shoulder was grazed by a bear paw, and his bone made a cracking sound.
The doubled pain made his vision darken, but he gritted his teeth and persisted, seizing the opportunity to plunge his stone knife into the bear's eye with his right hand.
The Unicorn Bear howled in agony and rage, charging wildly. Leo was sent flying. He spat blood as he struggled to his feet, watching as the bear, blinded by its injured eye, crashed haphazardly into the rocky walls.
Suppressing the excruciating pain, he picked up the thickest wooden spear from the ground and charged at the Unicorn Bear from behind, thrusting it with all his strength into the back of its neck!
"Roar—!"
The Unicorn Bear let out a final cry before its massive body collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before falling still.
Leo slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, covered in blood. His left shoulder was fractured, and he had multiple abrasions. The doubled pain nearly made him pass out.
But a strong, warm sensation spread from the back of his hand.
[Aura +45]
[Level: 4 (47%)]
A single hunt had increased his progress by 45%! Far more efficient than ant nests.
The cost, however, was severe. Leo examined his injuries—his left arm could no longer be lifted. With great difficulty, he treated his wounds, used branches to immobilize his left arm, and tore strips from his clothes to bandage it.
Half an hour later, he could barely stand; two hours later, his left arm could move slightly; by the time he returned to the palace before nightfall, his injuries had mostly healed.
"My recovery ability... is even stronger than I imagined," Leo said in surprise.
This meant he could undertake higher-risk hunts, recover quickly after injuries, and not be hindered in his subsequent actions.
From that day on, his hunting strategy changed completely.
He no longer relied solely on ant nests but actively sought out large creatures: Unicorn Bears in the valleys, Saber-toothed Tigers in the forests, Giant Crocodiles in the swamps... Each was dangerous, but they provided abundant aura.
Of course, he still cleared any ant nests and swarming insects he encountered along the way—these were stable sources of income.
Days passed one by one.
Leo became increasingly familiar with the forest.
He knew where to find specific prey, how to use the terrain to his advantage, and the weaknesses and attack patterns of each creature. His combat experience accumulated rapidly.
A month later, he reached Level 8.
At this point, his physical fitness had reached an astonishing level: he could fight medium-sized beasts bare-handed and jump from ten meters high without a scratch.
Two months later, level 12. He began challenging more dangerous areas, even actively entering the territories of some powerful creatures.
Three months later, level 16. Ordinary beasts could no longer pose a threat to him; he needed to seek stronger prey.
At the same time, Leo also discovered a pattern: as his level increased, the aura required for leveling up grew incrementally, meaning he needed more and stronger prey.
He began systematically clearing every corner of the dimensional rift, exploring every part of the forest.
...
Time flew by.
Half a year later.
Somewhere in the forest, a rhino-armored beast the size of a small elephant crashed to the ground.
Its body was covered in thick, bone-like plates of skin, impervious to ordinary attacks, but now there was a fist-sized bloody hole in its throat—a single strike had killed it.
Leo stood beside the corpse, shaking the blood off his hands.
He had changed dramatically. His height had grown from 1.7 meters to nearly 1.85 meters, his physique lean and muscular, with sculpted muscle lines.
His skin had taken on a wheatish hue from long-term life in the wild, marked with several faint scars—all traces left by half a year of battles.
His eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, exuding the steadiness that came from enduring life-and-death situations.
He wore self-made leather armor, pieced together from various animal hides, with bone fragments embedded in key areas. A stone knife hung at his waist—along with several bone throwing darts.
Over the past half year, Leo had also consciously trained his body. Thanks to his powerful recovery ability, he had subjected himself to self-inflicted, brutal conditioning, gradually adapting to double the pain.
The dark red tattoo on the back of his hand felt slightly warm.
[Aura +120]
[Level: 23 (10.8%)]
"Level 23," Leo murmured.
Half a year, from level 4 to level 23.
He had almost traversed the entire dimensional rift, hunting down most of the large creatures in the forest. The remaining creatures were relatively powerful, and he was still unable to hunt them for now.
Now, he spent a great deal of time each day just to find suitable prey, and his leveling speed had noticeably slowed.
But his strength had undergone a dramatic transformation.
He had tested it: a full-force punch could snap a tree trunk as thick as a waist; he could sprint 100 meters in under five seconds; his vision could discern insect holes on leaves 100 meters away; his hearing could detect subtle sounds within 100 meters.
His recovery ability was even more terrifying. A week ago, while hunting, he was bitten by a venomous lizard. The potent poison paralyzed half his body, but within three hours, the toxins were completely metabolized, and the wound healed that same day.
"Just two more levels," Leo looked toward the east, the direction of the dimensional rift's exit. "Once I reach level 25 and lift the 'Zetsu,' I can leave this place."
He hoisted the most valuable part of the armored beast—its horn. This material was extremely hard and could be used to craft weapons.
On his way back to the palace, he cleared out two small ant nests along the way, gaining a few more points of aura.
Night fell, beside the bonfire in the palace.
Leo roasted beast meat while polishing a newly crafted bone spear.
Over the past half year, he had transformed this palace into a temporary base: there was a cellar for storing food, a tool area for processing materials, and a resting spot covered with animal hides.
"The last two levels... might take over a month," he estimated. Prey was becoming harder to find, and sometimes he wouldn't encounter a suitable target for days.
Just at this moment, in a cave at the eastern edge of the dimensional rift, at the forest's end.
The calm seawater suddenly rippled. On the cave walls, ancient patterns lit up one by one, emitting a faint blue glow.
The light gathered, forming a rotating portal of light in the center of the cave.
As the ripples spread, three figures emerged from the light portal.
The leader was a tall, slender middle-aged man dressed in an elegant suit, exuding a refined demeanor.
In his hand, he held a dark gray stone slab—the very one that had fallen on a town in the Yorbian Continent six months earlier.
Behind him followed a man and a woman.
The man was young, wore glasses, and carried a large backpack, giving off the appearance of a scholar.
The woman had red hair, a fit physique, a short knife at her waist, and an alert gaze.
"We did it!" the young scholar Casper exclaimed excitedly. "Mr. Satotz, we've really made it inside!"
The red-haired woman, Selena, rested her hand on the hilt of her knife, observing cautiously.
"The air is circulating, and plants are growing. This dimensional rift is still operational. Be careful—there might be guardian creatures."
The three activated their lighting equipment and began to explore outward.