The next day, Derek began training early in the morning. Just as he expected, he received 2 points instead of one.
"Just a bit more, and in a few hours, I'll reach the 2nd stage of body tempering," Derek thought with anticipation.
After a good night's sleep, he felt great. Derek trained non-stop for several hours. When he got tired, he sat down by the campfire, opened the shop, and bought some food. After eating and recovering his strength, he continued his cultivation.
By noon, Derek finally saw the long-awaited notification.
[2nd Stage of Body Tempering achieved.]
He opened his status screen:
[Username: Derek]
[Race: Human]
[Ruler Title: None]
[Level: 3]
[Experience: 24/40 XP]
[Cultivation Stage: 2nd Stage of Body Tempering (0%)]
[Health: 50/50 HP]
[Stamina: 50/50 SP]
[Spiritual Energy: 0/0 EP]
[King's Points: 4.2]
[Attributes
Agility: 28
Endurance: 25
Strength: 25
Intelligence: 13
Spirit: 12
Free Points: 0]
"Alright, time to go test the new skill," Derek thought.
Stepping away from the cave, he activated the skill, but he could only sense insects within a short distance.
"I need to level up to increase detection range," Derek concluded.
After half an hour of hunting bugs, his experience bar was full.
[Upgrade 'Detection' skill for 3 King's Points?]
[Confirm]
[Yes/No]
After the upgrade, the skill's radius increased to 5 meters. Derek put 2 points into Agility and the last one into Constitution, then headed into the forest to hunt.
A few minutes later, he found his first prey — a lizard hiding behind a tree. Thanks to his skill, he spotted it easily.
[Small Forest Lizard slain]
[Gained 3 XP and 0.3 King's Points]
"That was easy," Derek said as he stored the lizard in his inventory and moved on.
He returned to the cave several hours later with a decent haul: 2 lizards, 1 snake, and 2 rabbits. He was just 3 XP short of leveling up.
After trading the prey, he received 2.5 King's Points. In total, he now had 5 points.
Derek upgraded the "Detection" skill once more, increasing its radius by about a meter. He put all his stat points into Constitution and realized he didn't have enough weapons — one spear had already broken, and only two remained.
He decided to get a spear blueprint, since the weapons in the shop were too expensive.
[Learn Spear Blueprint for 1 King's Point?]
[Confirm]
[Yes/No]
When he pressed "Yes," knowledge of how to craft a spear flooded his mind, as if he had been making them for years.
"Alright, time to gather materials," Derek said, heading toward the trees.
An hour later, he returned with several decent sticks for spear shafts, vines for binding, and a few stones for the tips from a nearby cliff.
After prepping the materials, he started crafting — sharpening stones with other stones and turning vines into rope. He completed his first spear.
[New Skill Acquired: Crafting]
[Crafted Low-Rank 'Spear']
[Gained 3 XP]
[Level Up! You are now Level 4]
"I gain experience by crafting items?" Derek exclaimed joyfully.
He raised his Constitution to 30, placed the rest of the points into Endurance, and unlocked a new skill.
[Skill: Crafting]
Type: Passive
Rarity: Rank 4
Description: A skill for creating simple weapons, tools, and everyday items.
"This is my first rank 4 skill. Too bad I've only got 1 King's Point left," Derek thought.
He spent the next few hours crafting three more spears.
Then he decided to compare their stats to the ones he found in the cave.
[Spear]
Damage: 5
Durability: 3/10
Quality: Rank 1 (Lowest)
Description: A spear made from granite and wood, bound with rope.
His own spears had these stats:
[Spear]
Damage: 3
Durability: 5/5
Quality: Rank 1 (Lowest)
Description: A spear made from stone and wood, bound with vine rope.
"My spears are nearly twice as weak," Derek thought.
Even when traded, his spears were only worth 0.1 King's Point. He planned to gather more materials tomorrow and invest all points earned from hunting into the Crafting skill.
"My strength is about equal to someone at the 3rd stage of Body Tempering, so I don't really have much to fear in the forest — only beasts like the ones I met on my first day," Derek mused.
So far, he hadn't encountered any truly dangerous beasts — only a ten-meter snake that seemed to be around the 3rd stage. Not counting monsters, of course.
Before going to bed, Derek browsed the shop for a bit. After a few minutes, he found something interesting:
[Body Strengthening Pills]
Rarity: Rank 1 (High)
Quantity: 10
Cost: 5 Points
Description: Doubles cultivation efficiency during the Body Tempering Stage.
Duration: 2 hours
Derek realized how valuable they were, but he already had plans for the points he hadn't even earned yet.
He decided not to train tomorrow and instead go hunting first thing in the morning — and look for useful herbs along the way.