First, I checked the equipment I had obtained.
A half-damaged sword.
A space ring with a decent amount of storage.
A staff.
And a shield.
The only thing I wanted was the sword.
As for the staff and shield...
I simply stored them inside the space ring.
Before heading back into the forest to gain more levels, I decided to practice with my new element.
Darkness.
I searched around the city for a place to train, but I couldn’t find one.
Training grounds were reserved for nobles and wealthy Awakeners.
Not for someone from the slums.
Besides, experimenting with magic in the middle of the city would only attract unnecessary attention.
So I returned to the Monster Forest.
After walking for a while, I found a deserted clearing and began training.
I started by trying to manifest darkness.
A faint black mist slowly gathered above my palm.
I couldn’t help but stare at it.
For more than fourteen years, I had never seen real magic.
Now...
I was using it myself.
After figuring out how to activate Devour through thought alone, I tried doing the same with my element.
It worked.
Then I began wondering what darkness could actually do.
I had spent most of my life surrounded by darkness.
After my parents abandoned me, I had no one to rely on but myself.
Every day felt like I was trapped inside an endless abyss.
The first thing that came to mind was a dagger.
The same weapon that had protected me.
The same weapon that had helped me kill that bastard monster.
I focused on its image.
The darkness responded to my will, slowly taking the shape of a pitch-black dagger that floated before me.
"It worked..."
Curious, I reached out to grab it.
The instant my fingers touched it, the dagger shattered into wisps of darkness and disappeared.
"...So it’s not stable yet."
Instead of feeling disappointed, I smiled.
I had actually done it.
Now I just needed to improve.
I continued experimenting.
Daggers.
Spears.
Spheres.
Shields.
Again and again, I changed its shape.
Each attempt lasted a little longer than the last before collapsing.
Slowly, I began to understand.
Darkness wasn’t limited to becoming weapons.
It could become almost anything I imagined.
Vines to bind an enemy.
Walls to block attacks.
Spikes erupting from the ground.
The possibilities were endless.
But every construct consumed mana.
The larger or more complex the shape became, the faster my mana drained.
And if I couldn’t maintain it...
It simply dissolved back into darkness.
Maybe...
The true strength of darkness wasn’t the element itself.
It was the freedom to shape it however I wanted.
I spent the next several hours experimenting with different forms, gradually improving my control.
Once I felt I had a basic grasp of my element, I stopped.
There were only four days left before the academy entrance examination.
Spending all of them training my element would be a mistake.
I needed experience.
I needed levels.
And most importantly...
I needed food.
I returned to the city, ate until I was full, and stocked my space ring with food and water for the days ahead.
Then I headed back toward the Monster Forest.
The same guards stood at the entrance.
One of them even gave me a respectful nod as I walked past.
He didn’t recognize me.
With my cleaner appearance, new clothes, and strengthened body, there was no way he would connect me to that starving slum rat from before.
I smiled to myself.
If he knew I was the same boy he had sent into the forest, thinking I was little more than a disposable porter...
I wondered what expression he would make.
Still, I didn’t hold it against him.
He was just another small piece of a much larger problem.
This world had always treated the weak as expendable.
Could I kill him?
Probably.
Would it change anything?
No.
He wasn’t worth wasting my time on.
Besides...
I was far too understanding a person to hold a grudge over something so small.
With that thought, I continued deeper into the forest in search of my next prey.
It didn’t take long before I found one.
Unfortunately...
It wasn’t alone.
Those ugly bastards were hunting in a pack now.
Seriously...
How was a poor, honest young man like me supposed to get stronger if these selfish monsters insisted on teaming up?
Didn’t they have any sense of fairness?
I watched them for a while, hoping a brilliant idea would suddenly strike me.
Nothing.
Not a single one.
"...Fine."
I chose the safest option.
I climbed the nearest tree.
From my perch, I gathered darkness into my palm, slowly shaping it into a dagger.
This time, I focused on making it as solid as possible.
When I felt it had stabilized...
I threw it.
The black dagger sliced through the air.
Unfortunately, my aim was terrible.
Instead of hitting the monster I had been aiming for, it struck another one.
"...Close enough."
As long as one of the ugly bastards died, I wasn’t going to complain.
Looking at them up close only made them even more revolting.
They looked like some horrible mixture of a dog and a lump of rotting flesh.
Thick black slime oozed from every part of their bodies, while sticky saliva dripped constantly from their mouths.
Just looking at them was enough to make my stomach turn.
The monster I had struck collapsed to the ground.
Instead of helping their companion...
The others rushed over and began devouring the black sludge leaking from its corpse.
"...Disgusting."
Even after everything I’d seen, that was too much.
As I watched them, another thought crossed my mind.
Dark daggers weren’t the right choice.
They consumed too much mana to create and maintain, and throwing them wasn’t very efficient.
What I needed wasn’t a weapon.
It was a projectile.
I condensed the darkness into a tiny black point.
Far smaller than a dagger.
Far denser.
It consumed noticeably less mana.
Interesting...
I aimed at another monster.
Then...
I fired.
A tiny black streak shot through the air and pierced the monster’s body.
The monsters immediately looked around, searching for the attacker.
None of them looked up.
Good.
I wasn’t hiding.
I was conducting a tactical retreat from a superior position.
There was a difference.
I condensed another point of darkness.
Fired.
Then another.
And another.
Each shot chipped away at the monsters while they wandered around below, sniffing the ground and searching in every direction except the one that mattered.
Eventually...
One of the ugly bastards let out a final screech before collapsing to the ground.
[Congratulations. You have killed a Level 12 Corrupted Beast.]
[You have gained 230 EXP.]