Another day passed successfully as Damien continued hunting Grey Wolves. By this point, he had killed 6 more wolves and had successfully reached level 9.

‘Damn, it took 6 years for me to reach level 5 but now I’ve added another 4 levels to that within 3 days. I know the circumstances aren’t even close to being in my favor, but maybe this is the kind of environment I needed for my growth’

‘Status’

[Status]

[Damien Void]

Human

Male – Age 17

Level 9 – [Classless]

Experience value: 250/1,000

Titles [•••••••, Bearer of the Void Physique]

Affinities: Space

Physique: Void Physique

Magic Power: 100

STR: 5

AGI: 8

DEF: 3

INT: 6

DEX: 8

Skills: [Short Distance Teleportation Level 3], [Minor Telekinesis Level 2], [Minor Regeneration Level 5]

After constantly using his teleportation skill in battle, his mastery began to grow, increasing his distance limit to 25 meters. Furthermore, he passed time by playing with his telekinesis to pull his blades towards himself and managed to increase its level once.

Naturally, with all the healing he’s had to do with his constant scratches and gashes from battles, his regeneration had the most improvement.

‘Sadly my physical stats are still stagnant, even though my mana capacity has increased 5 fold. I still haven’t been able to test my theory about my Void Body, but I have a feeling that the best place to test it is when I eat and am forced to mutate.’

Damien decided to stop hunting for a bit and train his abilities. Although he hadn’t failed in a hunt yet, it was only due to his teleportation and the low intelligence of the beasts he fought. He knew that as he went further down into the dungeon, his current advantages would fade.

Sitting down in a meditative pose, Damien closed his eyes, trying to feel the space around him. Even before he awakened, he always felt an intrinsic connection to space, as if his awareness was always better than it should be. This feeling only became more prominent after he came in contact with mana.

He did not doubt that if it wasn’t for his Void Body holding him back from physical improvement, he would’ve had enough talent to rival the likes of Elena and Jin.

As he focused on this intrinsic connection, Damien felt like he was in the middle of an endless ocean. Layers upon layers and waves upon waves crashed down on him from every direction, seemingly upholding the laws of space in the area.

As he dove deeper into this phenomenon, he felt as if he could connect any two of these layers and simply walk to the point in space where they begin and end.

‘I see, so this is the underlying principle behind my teleportation ability. I’m subconsciously connecting two points in space and transporting myself through the spatial layers. If it’s like that then I wonder if…’

Damien connected himself to a faint layer of space he felt past the end of his perception and willed himself forward.

“Cough..cough..”

Suddenly, he appeared 30 meters away from his original position, however, he was now kneeling on the floor and coughing up blood. Still, his eyes were as bright as ever.

‘So that’s how it is. Usually, I just see a blur before I’m at the point where I wanted to be but I felt it clearly this time. If my body isn’t strong enough, the spatial turbulence caused by the connection of two non-adjacent points in space will rip me to shreds.’

‘As my understanding of my spatial affinity grows, I can lower the amount of turbulence, increasing the distance I can travel. Similarly, as long as my body grows strong enough, the distance limit will not matter anymore. It looks like I have to test my theory on the Void Body sooner than I originally planned. Only then can I start growing.’

Since he wouldn’t make progress in the spatial element for a while, he decided to train his swordsmanship. Damien took a stance and swung his swords repeatedly, trying to lower the amount of wasted motion as much as possible.

Hours passed like this until the day came to an end, and Damien finally finished training. By the end, he had awakened the skill [Sword Mastery].

Although it was only level 1, it still signified that he had stepped on the right path. Damien decided that it was best to rest for a while before he started fighting without abusing his teleportation. Only like this would he be able to consistently improve.

Earth POV

In a hospital somewhere in Los Angeles, a young woman could be seen sitting patiently beside a hospital bed. She was 17 years old, with dark blue hair and matching eyes that had lost some of their light. Combined with her trained body, she was no doubt someone who could be considered a top beauty.

On the bed was a middle-aged woman with black hair, her eyes were closed as she remained in a coma for the last 6 years.

“Aunty, I’m sorry,” Elena said with tears in her eyes. “I told him I would protect him, but in the end, he was the one who saved me. That bastard who screwed him over isn’t even trying to pretend like he didn’t do it.”

Thinking about that hateful Jin, Elena’s eyes grew red with fury. It had been 4 days since Damien had been trapped in the dungeon, and Jin had been flaunting himself like he didn’t do anything wrong. To make matters worse, he was now openly attempting to pursue Elena and make her his woman.

“Aunty, no matter what, I refuse to believe that he’s dead. Damien would never leave you behind. That bastard has to come back. After all, I-I never told him how I…never mind.” Elena sighed.

No matter what people said, no matter what the odds of survival are, Elena adamantly insisted that Damien was alive.

When he disappeared through the gate, Elena had raged and punched Jin so hard he flew 10 meters before he managed to stop himself. She would’ve done much worse if she wasn’t stopped by her guild.

After that incident, she took some time off and began visiting the hospital almost daily. She had also taken over Damien’s mother’s hospital bills in his stead.

“I promise you that I’ll get stronger. So strong that when he comes back, he won’t even recognize me. Next time I see him, I’ll properly tell him everything. At that time, aunty, I hope I can have your support as well.”

Checking the time, Elena got up. “Goodbye for today aunty, I’ll probably come back pretty soon so you don’t have to worry about not having company.”

Elena left the hospital room and sighed. She wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes as she resolved herself. ‘Never again. Never again will I be forced into a position where he has to protect me.’

‘When he comes back, he’ll definitely be strong, and at that time, I must be able to stand before him confidently.’

Just like Damien did a few days prior, Elena resolved herself to become stronger than anyone.