Lin Fang grimaced at the thought. "Twelve deaths a day just to scout everything?"
He fell back onto his bed and let out a sigh. "But getting used to death is also risky. It might affect my mentality. I can be reckless in the training grounds because I can revive, but in real life, if I die, then that's it. Yeah… let's not get crazy and just go at your own pace."
Three days later;
Inside the Training Grounds;
On a wide, frozen plain below the Silver Moon Snow Mountain, Lin Fang moved like a blur of shadow; his footwork was at its best so far.
In each hand gleamed the twin replicas of Xuanwu's daggers, blades that shimmered with a faint icy glow.
The Frost Bear King roared in fury, but its thick white fur was now marred with several cuts and patches of frozen blood.
Thirty-five minutes.
That's how long they had been locked in a repeated but patient dance of one dodge, one step back, one step forward, and then, twin slashes.
Since the start, Lin Fang, equipped with the icy blue daggers, dominated the battle. Unlike the broadsword, the daggers complemented Lin Fang's footwork, and the Frost Bear King could only throw its paws left and right without getting any result of a strike against him.
But, over time, Lin Fang began to lose steam as his stamina dropped. His limbs felt heavier with each movement, and his legs betrayed him, causing his attacks to hesitate for a second longer than they had in the beginning.
At the 36th minute, he gritted his teeth and launched another feint, sidestepping the bear's massive paw and lashing out with a diagonal slash across its hind leg. Blood sprayed for the nth time, and the Frost Bear King bellowed in rage. It surged forward.
Lin Fang, fully confident now, had a smirk on his face as his feet moved. "Your attacks are too predictable, you dumb Bea… r? Huh?"
While his eyes captured its claw, the heaviness of his body and the loss of stamina made his footstep falter a bit as he was about to dodge. He missed the time. "Sh*t…"
As a result, the bear's claw slammed into his chest, tearing through shirt and flesh like paper.
"Argh…"
Pain exploded through his body, and Lin Fang screamed as he was blasted backward, skidding across the icy ground. He barely managed to gasp before the Frost Bear King was already upon him, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. "No… wait!"
A massive, ice-coated fist came down.
CRACK
The world turned black.
*
Lin Fang jolted upright. *Sigh*
He couldn't help but lie back against the invisible floor and stare into the endless ceiling of white above. "Thirty-five minutes of hard work and one swipe— just one attack—and I'm mincemeat."
He wiped the sweat from his brow, still catching his breath.
"I guess without mana, holding a weapon is still useless. Ugh… System, don't you have anything to help out your dear host other than that Blood Coagulation Pill?"
No reply from the system, as always.
"Ugh. Whatever." He groaned, sitting up. He glanced toward the still-glowing list of habitats.
His eyelids drooped, and his body slumped. "Big day tomorrow," he mumbled. "No point getting murdered again right now and affecting myself…"
With that, Lin Fang logged out of the system and let himself fall back into bed, already hearing Black's soft whimper as the pup climbed up to snuggle beside him as usual.
"You'd better be strong enough to let me pass the exam, Black," he muttered before closing his eyes and drifting into sleep. Or atleast he tried to, at first.
But after a few minutes, He sat up with a groan, rubbing his neck. "Let's check on others."
He opened his system interface and tapped into the Nursery Pen tab. A faint light flickered across his vision.
[Cloud – Level 13]
[Tempest – Level 20]
"Tempest's catching up fast." He nodded to himself.
The Lightning Pterosaur had been in the nursery for only a few days and had already reached Level 20. Cloud and Tempest were both Epic-grade pets, but the latter's growth was quite fast. He couldn't help but wonder why...
Perhaps…
Lin Fang then had an urge to use the remaining growth pills to raise it to Level-30 and make it a Commander Tier, then use it instead of Black as the latter is a healing/attack type, while Tempest is a flying attack type, but he fought against his thoughts and closed the interface, thinking that it would be a demerit if the exam is not conducted in an open space.
Reaching over the bedside table, he then flipped open his laptop, navigated to NovaMart, and logged into his seller dashboard.
Luminous Direwolf Eggs – 50 Units (40,000 Credits each)
Blazing Direwolf Eggs — 50 Units (40,000 Credits each)
Terran Direwolf Eggs — 50 Units (40,000 Credits each)
Electral Direwolf Eggs — 50 Units (40,000 Credits each)
Shadow Direwolf Eggs — 50 Units (40,000 Credits each)
Hydro Direwolf Eggs — 50 Units (40,000 Credits each)
Listing them to the sale, he closed it down, mumbling. "Alright, now, this is worth 12 million credits overall. If that mysterious buyer still follows me, he will definitely contact me for a bargain, unless he is an idiot."
With a groan, Lin Fang snapped the laptop shut and tossed it on the bed beside him. He lay back, one arm over his eyes. "I still couldn't defeat that damn bear… Mana is everything, huh?"
Lin Fang chuckled bitterly, watching the ceiling. "Ever since I regressed back to this timeline, I have been doing this and that, continuously, that I never did in my past life. But then again, once I pass tomorrow and get the license, everything will fall into place."
He shifted slightly, pulling the blanket over himself. "Anyway, need enough sleep for tomorrow." He shut his eyes.
One hour passed. Then two.
Lin Fang tossed and turned beneath his blanket, opening his eyes slowly. His eyes fell on the glow-in-the-dark stickers on the ceiling. "Aghhh…" he sat up, kicking off the sheets. "I can't sleep."
He quietly slipped out of his room after sending Black to the pet inventory.
With a beer can taken from the fridge, he trudged to the living room and sat down on the sofa before switching on the television. "Damn…"
The volume stayed low, just above a whisper. The Discovery Channel was airing a documentary about snow leopards in the Himalayas. Lin Fang leaned back and took a slow sip, watching it, hoping to fall asleep from a boring TV show.
But just a few minutes later, the creak of a door broke the silence. From the master bedroom, Li Liu emerged, taking him by surprise.
She paused as soon as she saw him, also startled for a moment before her gaze shifted away. Her hair was slightly messy from sleep, and she was wrapped in a loose t-shirt and shorts.
"What are you doing up?" she asked, almost hesitant in a soft voice.
"Couldn't sleep," Lin Fang replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "You?"