11 First Blood

Lyrian wanted to sit down and use Gale right then and there to test out the speed of mana gain for himself, but his grumbling stomach reminded him that he needed to hunt and eat first.

After fully surveying the large cavern, which was probably somewhere around 100-100 meters in length and height, he made his way back up to the surface and immediately began his hunt.

He had seen hundreds of wild squirrels, rabbits, and other small creatures scurrying around as he made his way to the cave, so he decided to hunt them first.

First, he found several large leaves and sewed them together with some vine, making a large but light bush which he could cover the entrance of the cave with.

This would allow him to hide inside the cave, waiting for any incoming prey without worrying about his own back.

Next, he scavenged around for a little while before finally finding a few wild root carrots and some edible-looking wild berries.

After setting the bait right outside of the entrance of his cave, he hid behind the fake bush and began to wait.

While waiting, he thought how pitiful this looked. What he actually wanted right now was a shit ton of meat from some large predatory animal.

However, he knew that there would be no way he could defeat any such creature's right now.

His 'trap' was pretty bad as well. In most circumstances, no prey would ever actually go for some random berries in a random area like that.

But why Lyrian still decided to do it because of the sheer number of animals he had seen in the jungle.

When he walked anywhere, he could feel the jungle walking with him. One could sense the surrounding life just by existing.

He knew that statistically, a creature would eventually have to cross the front of his cave entrance.

When that did happen, he just hoped that it would notice the bait and at least poke at it for a split second.

Lyrian's stomach grumbled one more time, as he looked through the opening of the fake bush, noticing the sun start to go down.

He didn't have a large amount of time left, and he surprisingly hadn't seen a single animal except for birds for a long while.

But just when his hopes began to dwindle slightly, a large rabbit the size of a small dog jumped out from the brush and approached the bait.

Immediately, Lyrian's eyes opened wide as his heart started to race. Sweat formed on his fingertips and adrenaline began to course through his veins.

This was it. He was going to do it! He was going to hunt this animal.

Lyrian's body trembled with anticipation as he crouched behind a bush, his eyes fixed on the unsuspecting rabbit.

He held his breath, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And then it came.

The rabbit lowered its head to sniff the bait, and with a burst of energy, Lyrian pounced.

He landed on top of the rabbit and squeezed its neck with all his might, silencing its writhing screeches.

*Ding* [Achievement Unlocked! First Blood]

[Achievement Reward: Scan (Ability to inspect any being or object)]

Lyrian's heart was pounding in his chest as he stared at the lifeless rabbit, but was surprised to hear what Gear said.

He couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret for taking his life, but he knew it was necessary to become stronger.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the dead rabbit, before picking it up by the scruff of its neck and standing up.

'Inspect any being or object? How is that supposed to work?' He questioned in his head rhetorically.

[All you have to do is identify something by looking at it, and say the word "scan" within your mind]

Suddenly, he heard rustling noises from the spot where the rabbit had first appeared.

He turned to see two baby rabbits peering out from the bushes with curious expressions.

There was no doubt that the two were the now orphans of the rabbit he held in his hand.

'Scan.'

┏━━━Scan━━━┓

Name: Baby Rabbit

Species: Rabbit

Age: 2 Months

Overall Power (OP): 0.12

Health: 3/3

Stamina: 2/2

Strength: 1

Agility: 4

Defense: 1

Rank: Normal

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

[Without the help of their mother, these two will die within the next 3 days due to extreme dehydration]

…

Lyrian's face remained stoic as he looked at them for a few seconds longer, before turning around and heading into the cave, knowing that this was simply the cycle of life.

There was no point in dwelling in sorrow for something he had already done.

He set to work building a fire inside the first room of the cave, gathering dry twigs and branches from the forest floor.

Once he had a good pile, he used his flint and steel to start the flames.

The fire crackled and hissed as it grew, sending flickers of light dancing across the cave walls.

Next, Lyrian set to work preparing the rabbit. He used a small knife to skin and gut the animal, taking care to remove all the innards.

Once it was cleaned, he skewered it on a sharpened stick and held it over the flames.

After a little while, the rabbit was finally cooked to perfection.

Lyrian took it off the fire and let it cool for a few moments before taking his first bite. The meat was tender and juicy, filling his mouth with flavor.

Although it wasn't seasoned at all, his prolonged hunger was sure to make almost anything taste good.

As he ate, he thought of what to do next. Although many thoughts popped up in his head, all that there was left to do was to work his ass off.

He decided that tomorrow, he would finally begin his advanced and rigorous physical training.