Comprehension

Blood flowed from the trunk of an enormous tree as a body slumped out onto the floor. Lin's arm had a large cut that revealed his bones while he kept gushing blood. He shifted his gaze and saw the black mist approaching him quickly, but he could not move a finger to do anything.

He could only watch as the mist struck him and immediately sunk into his flesh. Within a few seconds, the mist cloud had disappeared into his body. Lin thought he was a goner and that the mist would invade his body and tear it apart from the inside out.

His thoughts, however, did not occur as the wounds on his body began to heal, and he felt his strength increasing.

"What?; This isn't beast possession?" As he healed, the dry blood on him began to flake off, revealing smooth and rejuvenated skin.

His hair colour became even brighter and more beautiful. His bones became more refined and thicker. He stood from the ground and examined his body. Noting that nothing life-threatening was happening, he sat and focused on healing. "Is this how I level now? Does that mean the method would change after I reach a certain rank?" The answer to that was not something Lin knew.

Lin sat quietly as the mist sipped into his skin. After about half an hour, all the dark mist had disappeared into his body, and he was back to full strength. His aura became even more tangible. Lin stood up and stretched himself.

<Name: Lin>

<Assigned Weapon: Spear [Evolvable]>

<Element Attributes: Lightening, Fire>

<Level: Retro Quint>

<Rank: -12>

There was a vibration in his pocket that rattled him. He put his hand in and pulled out a scopenet. It was an incoming call. He wrapped himself in flames and answered. The face of a beautiful lady appeared through the hologram. She had blonde curly hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her face was exceptionally smooth. "Did you get them?" Lin asked.

"Yes, I got them. Where do we meet?" She asked with a frown. She wasn't happy running an errand for Lin, but she had no choice but to do so. After all, a deal was a deal. Besides, he saved her life. "There's no need to meet. Just drop it off at the place indicated. I will come to pick it" he said and ended the call before she could say anything more.

"I should find a way to hide my aura now that my hoodie ripped. But how…?" Lin walked deeper into the forest and jumped onto a large branch, where he lay down to rest. As he lay comfortably, an idea struck him. He jumped up and exclaimed, "That's it".

"My spear has no aura, so if I could study the spear and note some of its properties, I might be able to find a clue that would aid me conceal my aura as well." The thought of being able to hide his aura excited Lin. He quickly pulled out his spear and used his element sense to observe the spear. He checked to the very depths of the spear. As he studied it, he nodded every time he comprehended something.

Slowly an hour passed, then two, three and before long, a day had passed. Lin was immersed in his study. It felt like he was in an isolated world, completely different from the real world. The days slowly rolled by, and as they did, so did his aura dwindle. His expression was one of satisfaction. He appeared to have comprehended more than he had initially intended. After a week went by, his aura was completely gone.

His eyes slowly opened, and he sighed. "Success", he clenched and whispered. "The secrets within this spear are more profound than I thought. Though I have been able to comprehend a bit, I still feel there is more to learn." He put away the spear and took out the scopenet. He had several missed calls from the same contact.

He dialled the number, and a woman picked up the call, "You…" she pouted unhappily. "I have been calling you for a week, and you refused to answer. Why did you ask me to deliver the things if you know you are not ready to pick them up?" She was displeased. After delivering what Lin wanted, she had to guard it as he never showed up to collect them.

"Wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about? A week?"

"You…" she was even more annoyed. She thought Lin was pretending to mess around with her, however, she had no idea he was telling the truth. "A week went by? I thought it was just a few hours" Lin was quite surprised. He did not think it could take so long to comprehend so little.

"Sorry, I guess?" he muttered and was about to speak when she cut in. "I am leaving; you can come pick up your stuff yourself. Hmph!" she said and disconnected the call.

"Did she just…?". she was not over the fact that Lin abruptly disconnected the call the last time they spoke. Now that she had returned the favour, she was pleased with herself.

"Huff", Lin sighed and dropped from the branch. He scrolled through a few sites on the scopenet and discovered a notification. He opened it and saw his earlier search had a reply, but he was replied to privately.

"Hmm? What is this?" Lin saw the message but could not understand a thing. It was a message in a language he had never seen or heard of before. The message contained several characters that looked like runes. He searched for it but found no information on it.

"Why would this person reply with a language I do not understand? How am I supposed to read this then" he pondered, but then, a realisation dawned on him, "Could it be that the woman who appeared on top of the mount was the one who sent the message? It would make sense since she called me little brother and would likely expect me to understand that language."

"I don't even know her, nor do I have a sister as far as I can remember. Just who is she? I need to find out more about her origin. I should visit that mount again; there might be something there that would give me a lead", Lin concluded and departed from where he was. His first destination was to collect the things delivered for him.

After walking for a few miles, he came to a dark spot in the trunk of a tree. The tree was not particularly huge and had broad leaves on it. There was a hole twice the size of a tennis ball in the tree trunk. He put his hand in it and pulled out a small blue cube. It was a space storage cube. He inspected its content and smiled. "To think she would keep her word, that's a surprise. I should probably have her sell beast cores for me. I could make some money and find my way out of here."

"Is it necessary to play the game of hide and seek this early morning?" Lin looked up and boldly declared.

A woman cladded in a camo hunting gear slowly descended from the air. She had dark, beautiful skin with long locks on her head. The leaves swayed as she dropped past them.