I didn't even know how long I had slept, but when I finally woke up and stepped outside, it was already night. The time in the Alliance and the God's Sanctuary was almost the same, which made it hard to tell how long I'd been out.
There were a few people walking around the shelter, their footsteps echoing in the quiet air, but no crowds anywhere. Most hunters preferred staying in after dark — and for good reason. Hunting at night was risky. The darkness made it nearly impossible to spot beasts before they struck, and the danger level rose several times higher.
And of course, I wasn't any different. I wasn't about to risk my life wandering into the dark wilderness. So, I decided to stay put until morning and use the time to practice my lightning skills instead.
Both Lightning Body and Storm Sense were far harder than I expected. No matter how much I tried to picture my body being covered in lightning, nothing happened. I couldn't even make a spark. The idea behind Storm Sense confused me even more.
"How the hell do you even sense someone with lightning?" I muttered in frustration. The whole thing made no sense to me. Electricity was supposed to burn, shock, and destroy — not detect movement.
Even if I somehow covered my body in lightning, how would it protect me from attacks? Wouldn't it just hurt me instead? The logic felt backward, and the skill itself was like a puzzle with missing pieces.
Static Step, on the other hand, gave me some real results. After hours of testing, I finally managed to make it work. The first few attempts just made my body jerk forward awkwardly, but then I noticed something — every time I focused on the crackling sound of lightning instead of the movement itself, my body would flicker. It was as if the energy wanted to follow the sound, not my will. So I started syncing my heartbeat with the crackling rhythm, and in an instant, my body blurred and appeared a few meters ahead.
It wasn't exactly teleportation — more like my body broke down into electrical energy for a split second and reformed nearby. The distance wasn't far, maybe two or three meters, but it was enough to dodge an attack or close in quickly. The sudden burst of movement left a faint smell of ozone behind me, and I couldn't help but grin in satisfaction.
After that, my proficiency went up a little. Static Step reached 1.5%, and Lightning Fist improved to 3.4%.
"Seems like even punching the air can increase your proficiency?" I muttered, wiping sweat off my forehead. I didn't really know how it worked since all I did was shadow boxing, but honestly, I wasn't in the mood to question it.
The sun rose higher and warmed the whole shelter. More people started to show up, and within an hour the place was packed.
I was about to head out to hunt again, so I hurried toward the big front gate. But then the ground beneath me trembled. Just a little at first, then stronger.
Moments later I saw why — people were coming through the gate riding heavy beast-soul mounts. They shook the ground with every step. I stood and watched, memories stirring in my head, but their names were still fuzzy.
"Look, isn't that Son of Heaven's squad?" a guy nearby shouted. Others nodded.
"Son of Heaven? That sick fuck? Hell nah man," I thought, keeping my distance. I didn't want any trouble with him. If the situation allowed me to, then I won't even want to be in a radius of 1km from him.
The squad kept moving, but then Son of Heaven stopped and looked to the right. A young man stood there holding a strange creature — it looked dead. Son of Heaven struck the man's left shoulder with his whip. The creature fell from the man's hands and he dropped to one knee.
The whole area went quiet. Son of Heaven's voice cut through the silence, cold and loud. "Who dared to sell you this primitive thing?"
Just like I had read about it in my previous life, it seemed like Son Of Heaven was really wooing Qin Xuan.
So for him, seeing the face of someone who stabbed his soon-to-be girlfriend's ass was too excruciating.
"I hunted it myself," the man on the ground said, voice tight with anger more than pain.
"If I find out someone sold this to you, I'll make sure you both die slowly," Son of Heaven said, then he moved on. People scattered from his path, myself included.
A while later, the black-coat guy with the swollen arm moved away too.
"It's kind of funny to see the main character treated like trash," I thought, watching the young man in the black coat — Han Sen, the story's main character — walk off.
I stood there and watched the direction he had gone for a while, lost in my thoughts.
"Sigh, whatever. There will be many chances to meet him soon, so no need to rush," I told myself as I walked toward the front gate.
Knowing he was still at an early stage made me feel calmer. If he was weak now, I could learn, grow, and choose my moves without being pushed into a corner. I didn't have to prove anything right away — I could take my time and get stronger first.
That thought eased some of the weight on my chest. I stepped out of the shelter, ready to keep hunting.