They trained and practiced for five hours before finally feeling exhausted.

All of the skills of Lorain and Quinn leveled up to level 3 at the end. On the other hand, Aren only had one skill, and he brought it up to max level, at level 5.

Most importantly, Aren’s guess was right as he found a way to increase the spirit energy pool.

As their skill levels increased, A state on their status window also increased [ Meridians ].

Both Quinn and Lorain’s [ Meridians ] stat increased to 1%, and when that happened, both of them heard a voice inside their heads and a small screen of text in front of them.

[ Since your Meridians stat has reached 1%, your spirit energy pool’s limit has been increased by 100. ]

They told Aren about it, and he grinned hearing that. ” So my guess was correct. We have to increase our Meridiance stat by practicing skills manually to increase our spirit energy pool. ”

After saying that, He looked at his status but smiled wryly since his meridians state was at 0.9%.

” It looks like we need more skills and level them up if we want to increase our spirit energy pool. ”

For now, They reviewed their leveled-up skills.

<Haste>

-Skill Level: 2->5 (MAX: 5)

-Skill Rank: C

-Cost: 30 Spirit Energy.

-Duration: 1 minute and 40 seconds–>2 minutes and 30 seconds.

-Effect: Increases movement speed and action speed by 40%–>55%.

.

<Charged Attack>

-Skill level: 1->3 (Max: 5)

-Skill Rank: C

-Cost: 30 spirit energy.

-Effect: Infuse spirit energy in your hands or legs to increase the damage of the next attack by 30%–>40%.

.

< Leap >

-Skill level: 1->3(Max:5)

-Skill Rank: C

-Cost: 20–>15 spirit energy.

-Effect: Infuse spirit energy in your soles to increase your jump ability significantly for the next jump, up to 5 meters off the ground.

.

<Stab>

-Skill level: 3 (Max: 5)

-Skill rank: C

-Cost: 30 spirit energy.

-Effect: infuse spirit energy in your hand and the weapon to increase stabbing motion and the strength of the attack by 40%.

.

<Dash>

-Skill level: 1->3 (Max: 5)

-Skill rank: C

-Cost: 20 spirit energy.

-Effect: Infuse spirit energy in your legs to get the burst of speed to increase your running speed by 70%->76% for 8 seconds.

—

” Let’s return now. We need to sleep to recover oursel-”

*Shasha…shasha…*

*Grrrrrrrr…*

Suddenly, A tiger came out from their right side of the bush, and right after that, another tiger came out from behind them.

One attacked Quinn, and another leaped towards Aren because they were near them.

” Mom! Help Quinn. ”

Lorain was already on her way since she knew that Quinn didn’t have any spirit energy to use skills just like her.

On the other, Aren narrowed his eyes at the leaping tiger as he took a step to the side before swinging his heavy broad sword towards the tiger.

*Slash…*

The tiger was cut into two pieces.

[ A normal wild beast killed, 10 Exp gained. ]

On the other hand, Lorain swung her sword towards the tiger, and Quinn also threw her boomerang.

Lorain’s sword pierced into the tiger’s hind legs while Quinn’s Boomerang pierced into its belly.

The tiger didn’t die instantly, but it was incapacitated, so Lorain finished it off.

Lorain gained 7 Exp while Quinn gained 3 Exp.

” Phew…That was out of nowhere. ” Quinn heaved a sigh.

Aren nodded as he looked around, ” Indeed. When I came here previously, I saw some of those tigers on the way but not in this area. Anyway, Let’s return and take some rest. ”

…

The three of them returned to the hospital room.

” Quinn, Your grandpa might not let you come here tomorrow, so just make an excuse like today. We can’t waste time. ” Aren said to Quinn with a serious expression.

” I know. I will try to convince him, but if it fails then…hehe, I will still come here to meet the auntie since her health is bad. ” Quinn spoke with a chuckle.

Lorain got off from the bed as she felt even better than in her younger days. Looking at Quinn, She beamed, ” Well, I am perfectly fine now. But…Your grandpa doesn’t know that. ”

” Exactly! Alright. See you tomorrow, Auntie, Aren. ”

After Quinn left, Aren said to his mom, ” Mom, I’ll go visit the doctor. I think she will still be here. ”

” Why? If you are worried about me, then there’s no need. I am in the best condition of my life right now. ” Lorain spoke with a gentle smile.

Aren scratched his nose with a weak smile as he couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth to her right now.

He turned his brain gears up and thought of a reason, ” Oh. I just wanted to see if they will take back the medicine we brought for you. ”

” Mhmm Mhmm…You are right, son. ” Lorain nodded in understanding before she continued with a smile, ” I don’t need the medicines anymore, so better give them back. ”

Aren nodded with a grin as he told her to wait here before leaving the room and went to the doctor’s office.

He saw that doctor Erica was still there as she was leaning back on the chair and looking at the ceiling with a dazed expression.

The TV was on, but she was not looking at it.

” Doctor Erica, Did something happen? ” Aren asked as he entered the office. He wondered why doctor Erica had a blank expression on her face.

Hearing Aren’s voice, Doctor Erica snapped out of her daze and looked at Aren with a sad smile, ” Look at the news. ”

Aren turned around to look at the walled TV. After he read the headlines, His expression changed into a shock.

[ The governments of all countries had joined their hands together and just finished the first intensive rough search. The rough estimation is that approx 3 million people died. ]

” I think more people died than the number stated…sigh. ” Doctor Erica shook her head with a sigh.

Aren turned around and looked at Doctor Erica before speaking thoughtfully, ” I believe that the deaths will decrease and won’t increase anymore. The initial phase is rough, and people don’t know anything about this strange phenomenon, which caused this many deaths. I have gone there and with my mother nonetheless. That place is a paradise but a nightmare too. We just have to be careful there. My mother and I both are now stronger than average humans. ”

Aren walked towards the wall and punched with full power.

*Booom…*

After punching, A frown appeared on Aren’s face due to pain, but the wall had web cracks on it as if someone hit it with a hammer.

He then turned towards Doctor Erica before speaking with a serious expression, ” I believe we need to get even stronger for the future. ”

Doctor Erica sighed as she remembered the first voice as she muttered, ” Despair after three years, huh? I wonder what is happening and why? ” She then looked at Aren and asked, ” Anyway, Do you want something from me? ”

Aren nodded before taking off his T-shirt and removed the sterile pads. He also didn’t know, so he was checking, and indeed, All traces of the operation disappeared.

He then looked at doctor Erica and spoke with a faint smile, ” I have not been feeling any discomfort since entering that place, and my body obviously got stronger in every way. So….I want to check if I got my kidney back or not. ”