The Search

In the afternoon, Alex was exhausted from the previous search for Blueberries, but he still made preparations to enter the extreme state. He grilled a large quantity of meat for energy intake and chose few Blueberries for supplements. Alex also decided to add weights in the high-intensity training. So he filled his backpack with stones.

After all the preparations, Alex looked at the Vicious vine placed in front of him and grabbed it. Promptly his Mana was sucked by the Vicious vine. It took every ounce of his willpower to stop the Mana from draining and hold on.

Alex had a cold sweat dripping from his head. In the end, he lost the battle after ten minutes, all his Mana devoured. Alex feebly fell back on his bed.

After regaining some strength, Alex slowly ate his lunch, and hot energy filled his whole body. All cells in his body greedily absorbed the energy as a pleasant feeling enveloped him. But soon, the Mana became overwhelming, and his body was about to blow up.

Without wasting any time, Alex started his new high-intensity exercise. He did the usual push-ups, squats, jumping jacks... but with an added weight on his back.

After a long time, Alex sat down panting. While feeling uncomfortable all over his body. He ate two Blueberries, and cool energy spread his whole body, which made him refreshed. He closed his eyes and meditated to regain the mental energy.

The Extreme state is called an extreme for a reason. Alex was both devoid of energy and bursting with energy within a short period of time. Although this type of suffering will help him temper his body and mind. Alex feels very uncomfortable.

After some rest, Alex got ready and traveled to the other side of the lake in search of Blueberries. Alex took out his multi-function binoculars and started using the Heat vision mode.

He started near the Redhog's cave, where he first found the blueberries. Soon at a 100m distance, he found a bright red fruit in his heat vision binoculars. Alex quickly went to the side and found a small plant holding a bunch of Blueberries.

Alex sighed in relief. He took out his knife and carefully dug the plant and its surrounding soil. Then Alex put the plant with some soil in a plastic ziplock bag. Alex wanted to experiment if he can take away the plant with him.

This Blueberries will be useful to him for a long time. Once he leaves the crater, he does not want to waste such a precious resource.

If he can raise the plant in a pot, he can have a good source of Blueberries. He can have a garden of Blueberries. That would be great.

Soon he found two more in the surroundings. Alex marked the location and did not unearth the plants. He is going to see if the first plant will stay alive for a period of time.

As the sun was about to go down, Alex returned to his cave. He put the plant on his side and watered it for the night. Alex then started to make dinner for two.

Soon, he heard a chirp from the outside, and Alex opened the Vine curtain. Varis flew in elegantly and perched on its pedestal.

"Welcome home, buddy," said Alex while caressing its head. Varis, however, tried to dodge and peck him.

"Haha." Alex laughed but did not stop caressing it.

The little Redbird screeched indignantly.

"Ok, Ok. Big brother is busy. So have dinner and go to sleep." Said Alex while putting a slab of grilled meat in front of the bird.

After feeding Varis first, Alex entered the Extreme State again. After a plentiful dinner and a high-intensity workout, Alex was tired.

Alex laid on his leather bed panting. After eating two blueberries, he felt alive again. It was already around 9 o'clock in the night, and the wolves were howling from time to time.

Alex took his binoculars and was going to start surveillance. The Sky eagle gave him a deadline of one week before the cubs grow and hunt him as a target.

However, Alex wanted to check the actual situation. He did believe that the Night wolves were aware of him and want to hunt him for sport. But he wanted to make sure if they will start only after a week.

Alex saw two cubs and an adult demonic wolf in a distance. Alex saw the cubs, which were puppies a few days ago, were twice their size now. Alex felt cold as he saw the two little wolves toy with a hamster.

As Alex kept watching, the adult Night wolf sensed him peeping and stared in his direction. The indifferent red eyes gave him goosebumps and immediately stopped his reconnaissance and frowned slightly.

'Ok, the Night wolves definitely know about my presence. With the growth speed of the cubs, they may become a small-sized wolf in a week.' thought Alex while having a headache.

At his current level, a pack of small wolves can successfully ambush him. Although he was strong, he can't fend off a bunch of small wolves, not to mention the adult wolves will be watching from the side. Sooner or later, he will be like those poor hamsters toyed by those cruel wolves.

In the end, he decided to increase his practice sessions from tomorrow. He also had to practice his Mana control and escape from this crater as soon as possible.

Alex laid on his bed deep in thought when he remembered the blackberries he got in the morning. He immediately took a few of them and walked to the little bird's pedestal.

"Hey buddy, do you want these?" said Alex while placing few blackberries in front of him.

The little bird, who was about to sleep, woke up in confusion. The bird looked at the blackberries and hesitated before eating one of them. Alex rejoiced and quickly ate one blackberry. But then the bird spitted it out.

"The heck?!" Alex also tried to spit it out, but it was too late. He felt a sour taste like vinegar in his mouth.

Soon, he found cool energy entering his body and was relaxed.

"It is edible, but the bird did not like the taste of it. Thank god." Alex sighed. Alex, whose life was hanging by a thread, does not have the luxury to pick palatable foods.

After eating a yellow fruit to mask the previous sour taste, Alex petted the little bird goodnight and went to bed.