Sophie tries to catch the sparrows with her [Manipulation], but unfortunately, she was unsuccessful. The moment her mana reaches towards them, they fly away.

On the other side, I was able to kill multiple of them, yet every time not much was left of their bodies. My attacks needed to be too fast in order to kill them, obliterating them in the process, barely leaving anything behind.

When I try weaker attacks, they just bend around the birds or miss them. The sparrows are even able to sense the mana threads I create in an attempt to trap them.

It's annoying, it really is, and more so now that we are without food.

Aaron and Lily are sometimes too weak to even walk and need to be carried, although all of this is alleviated by the water that Cipher creates. But he doesn't complain, not to me. He doesn't tell me how dumb of a decision it was to give up the trap. He is too smart for that.

His companions, on the other hand, give me angry glances when they think I don't see it.

In comparison to others, I don't seem to be so bothered by the lack of food, water, and even sleep. The body upgrade is showing more and more as time passes. I don't know if it's just a simple effect of the body upgrade or if the upgrade allowed my body to use some of my mana to keep going. Both options are equally probable.

"More?" I hear from beside me and turn my attention back to Kim, who stands next to me, catching his breath after a fight we just went through. There are massive circles under his eyes, and even his body bears the marks of lack of food, and his lips are dry. Yet the 15-year-old boy continues to push, showing surprising mastery over his skills.

"Take a break," I answer him.

"I can still cont—"

My mana flares up for a moment, and he stops, immediately closing his mouth and then just sitting on the edge of the roof next to me. Both of us looking towards the giant white walls far in the distance.

I then stare at the palms of my hands, the left one is still itching annoyingly, but I ignore it and once again try to replicate Cipher's skill and create some water. Yet, as before, the structure of the skill just refuses to come into existence and always crumbles the moment I try to push some mana through it.

It doesn't work no matter how careful I am, no matter how much mana I'm using, and no matter how carefully I'm watching Cipher do it. But I do not give up and continue to try.

"Do you think there will be some food and water behind the walls?" At Kim´s question, I take my eyes off my hands and also look at the wall.

"Most likely," I answer shortly.

Knowing the system, there will be more danger and better rewards, and the closer we will be to the end of the third floor and finding out what's happening here.

In the community, the system continues to censor everything about the place behind the wall. Group Whitewing and also Savant seem to be already be there, yet we haven't learned anything.

Another annoying thing is that we haven't met Hadwin yet and didn't see any of the areas covered by poisonous clouds that he talked about. After a bit of talking, he, Maya, and Dennis decided to stop waiting near it and move closer towards where the white walls should be. Well, not much we can do about it, right?

"Go ahead and ask what you wanted to ask," I say to Kim, who, ever since we started hunting together, continues to glance at me, clearly having something he wants to ask but not brave enough to actually do it.

"Oh," he mutters, surprised. His reaction only reminds me how young he is, the youngest out of our group after Isabella.

I keep forgetting that.

"I'm sorry... you know... with Lily and all of this." The skill I'm trying to replicate once again fails, and I start trying again, nodding to him to continue.

"I... would never..." he starts again.

"I understand," I stop him, and this time, I give him my full attention. "You did a good job protecting her, and I owe you because of that. So if there is something you would like in exchange, feel free to ask."

There is no need to be so roundabout about all of this. I already told you I owe you.

"I really mean it when I say you did a good job. It must have been hard for you." I continue with the compliment, and I see his eyes light up. It's as if he is craving recognition as if he wants to hear it from someone.

As for why it makes him happy hearing it from me and why he looks up to me, I don't know. I really don't. I might be somewhat strong and decisive, but I'm totally not someone a young boy should look up to.

Still, it's not a problem to compliment him once in a while. It doesn't cost me anything, and it seems to make him happy, so what's wrong with that?

"Please train me again, help me to improve." This time his eyes do not waver, and he looks straight at me. I notice his slightly shaking hands and noticeably twitching lips. He is so nervous; it almost makes me want to bully him a bit.

Well, at least he finally got out what he wanted to say.

"Kill that rat from here and with this," I give him a small stone as big as my fingernail and point at the rat far in the distance, way out of Kim's usual range.

Unlike Tess, he seems to focus on mid to close-range way too much, and his long-range attacks are terrible, so that's something we will start with.

He opens his mouth as if about to complain, but then he stops and I feel his mana gather up.

Good.

We return when both my [Disruption] and [Mana Infusion] are at level nineteen. I once again tried to hunt sparrows and even only boosted some stones with kinetic energy or created projectiles as small as needles, yet everything failed. I was also unsuccessful in trying to replicate Cipher's skill.

I will also need to do something about [Disruption] and [Oscillation]. The two skills feel too similar to each other. I have some ideas, but I'll need a bit more time.

Then there is a problem with Lily. The girl nearly ignores drinking the water before others have it, feeling some regret that we are now a few days without food because of her.

Seeing her just sitting there, looking hungry, and weak annoys me even more. Yet, I keep my calm, and as always, I just use [Focus] to push all the emotions to the back of my mind.

Little Isabella probably notices that because she comes to me and looks up, her face angry and brow furrowed.

"You can't keep doing that, it's not good," she pouts in her soft voice, and I just pinch her cheek and caress the top of her head.

"Go and play with Biscuit, okay?" She is too young to worry about useless stuff. I can handle myself.

Isabella listens, but one last time, she gives me an angry look, which makes her look more like an angry kitten than threatening.

So that's how I'll end up, even little kids worrying about me. I would laugh if I could.

I return from another hunt, tired and even more annoyed. The only success was leveling [Perception]. There are still about two more hours of light, yet I decide to return to the hideout, finding everyone already back inside.

As I enter, I see Cipher talking to Lily, who just sits and nods to what he says. Both of them smiling slightly. Behind Cipher, there is Goldie staring at the girl.

Sophie is sleeping in the corner with Isabella on her chest. Tess is talking with Kim and Aaron.

So should I bully Biscuit a little bit...

Wait. What is that?

My eyes move back to Lily, Cipher, and Goldie, and I notice a weird shine in Goldie's eyes that I didn't see up until now. It doesn't contain any mana, and it only looks like fractured light. Yet, it does something, and it is clearly aimed at Lily.

WHAT

ARE

YOU

DOING.

POV Kim Min-Jae

It came out of nowhere. A sound that reminds me of a heartbeat yet impossibly strong, and right after, I notice my movements slow to a crawl. Panicked, I try to move my arm, but it's hard to do, and it moves terribly slowly.

Then I feel mana, his mana.

It explodes into the surroundings and fills the entire hideout, making the walls vibrate, and everyone is immediately up, feeling the threatening pressure.

My eyes slowly turn to Nathaniel, and there he stands. Thin, messy, yet so strong. His gray and brown eyes seem to glow in the dimly lit hideout, and he stares at the group of three people in the corner of the room.

"What are you doing?" His words are quiet, yet in the silence, everyone hears them, and they send shivers down my back. They are so cold.

He takes a step towards them, another heartbeat sounding like a gong vibrating the room, and the air becomes colder as I start seeing my breath become visible in the chill.

"Nathaniel, I can explain," the man named Cipher says, seemingly calm even as Nathaniel takes another step towards him, "Please think calmly, you need me, Lily needs me," Cipher says, and that makes Nathaniel stop in his walk.

There is a short moment that feels like an eternity as both men stare at each other. Then his mana weakens, and the air gets back some of its warmth.

"But I don't need her," Nathaniel turns to woman next to Cipher, and as his mana rises up, there is a sharp flash from Goldie's eyes, and something hits him.

"Goldie, No!" Cipher screams desperately, yet it's too late.

"Huh, I wanted to block all his skills but only managed to block one. It's called Focus?" Goldie blubbers out as she probably reads the notification. She sounds confused, and scared, probably not even realizing what she did as her eyes continue to tick around.

"Oh… fuck," I hear next to me, shocked, I realize that it was Tess who spoke, making it the first time I've heard her swear.

Then slowly, a laugh sounds in the room, a laugh that I do not recognize. It's a soft, gentle laugh. It's not cruel, it's not mocking. It just sounds like something incredibly funny happened, and they can't help but laugh at it.

Only then do I realize that the one laughing is Nathaniel.