At long last—after more than a month—Sakeer had finally achieved his first milestone in this new world.
"Whew..."
A faint cry drifted through the air, coming from the grass ten meters away from the large tree where Sakeer sat.
His sharp gaze flickered toward the sound before he furrowed his brows slightly.
"Still following me?"
Recognizing the source, he soon lost interest and turned his attention away.
It was that little Barghest.
He had no interest in taming a creature that lacked combat potential.
Even a fully grown Barghest wasn't impressive in his eyes.
With time, Sakeer knew he would only grow stronger, and an adult Barghest—only slightly stronger than an ogre—would be of no real use to him.
In the dense underbrush, the small Barghest lay panting weakly on the ground.
Its brown beast-like pupils stared at Sakeer's distant figure beneath the towering tree.
Its limbs trembled, exhaustion weighing heavily on its tiny body.
The long journey had pushed it to its limits.
Even with its inherent endurance, the trek had been too much for a pup born not long ago.
Its ears drooped, its breath came in ragged pants, and eventually, its eyes fluttered shut as sleep overtook it.
Under the mighty tree, Sakeer retrieved a few waterskins and some miscellaneous items from his Item Box.
From time to time, a glimmer of magic flickered between his fingertips as he studied them carefully.
This had been his routine for days.
When he wasn't out hunting goblins and monsters for experience, he devoted his time to alchemy research.
And now, after countless trials and failures, he has finally made some progress.
Among his recent experiments, the most notable success was an alchemical solution created using the Poison Sac harvested from a Hanged Spider he had slain earlier.
Item Acquired: Inferior Alchemy Solution
Effect: A solution created using the Hanged Spider's Poison Sac, inducing paralysis for three minutes.
(Cannot be stored for long. The effect completely dissipates within an hour.)
Sakeer had used two Poison Sacs just to successfully craft this.
Fortunately, thanks to the Item Box's storage function, anything placed inside would remain in its original state, preventing the solution from spoiling over time.
But despite this small success, he realized something crucial—the range of materials usable for alchemy was far broader than he had initially thought.
Still—
There was a problem.
Just like his previous heat grass-based alchemical solution, this new Poison Sac solution came with a glaring flaw—
It had an "Inferior" label attached to it.
Even though both solutions had effects, Sakeer wasn't satisfied.
To him, they were half-finished products at best.
No—not even that.
If he had to compare, it was like making tomato soup using only a single tomato.
The process itself wasn't complex—simply chopping the tomato, adding water, heating it, and waiting a while would result in soup.
But alchemy was different.
It was as if alchemy skipped the entire process and simply turned a raw tomato into soup instantly.
It was convenient, sure—
But was it efficient?
Not really.
In fact, while making traditional soup might reduce some of the tomato's nutrients, alchemy had the potential to preserve and even enhance them.
Still—this wasn't enough.
"A half-finished product is still a half-finished product."
Sakeer muttered to himself, shaking his head.
"Even if it has an effect and is technically usable, it's still meaningless."
Sure, at low levels, it might serve a minor purpose—but once his level increased, this Inferior Alchemy Solution would become completely worthless.
It reminded him of his previous attempt at making an alchemical solution using heatgrass.
That one only boosted health by a single point after drinking.
Utterly useless.
He might as well give the heatgrass to Nfirea, who could actually brew a proper healing potion from it.
Perhaps higher-quality materials or rare herbs could produce better results, but in the end, they would still be inferior products—just wasting valuable resources.
And that was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Sakeer sighed.
"Right now, I'm no different from an amateur pharmacist."
He raised a hand and rubbed his temples, frustration creeping into his expression.
For now, all he could do was continue experimenting—but without better materials or techniques, he wouldn't be able to create anything truly valuable.
It was like trying to strike it rich in silence—except, in the end, only the silence remained.
Sakeer knew exactly what he lacked.
A proper set of alchemy-related skills—just like those in YGGDRASIL.
He shook his head.
There was no point in dwelling on it now. If alchemy couldn't offer him much at this moment, then he might as well set it aside for the time being.
Night passed swiftly.
By the fourth day of the seventh month, Sakeer was only a little over 100 experience points away from leveling up.
With the goal within reach, he redoubled his efforts.
As dawn barely began to break, the jungle remained cloaked in darkness.
Yet Sakeer was already on the move.
With his sword raised and his "Forest Crossing" enchanted gear, navigating through the dense underbrush was effortless.
His movements became more fluid, more efficient, allowing him to quickly lock onto scattered goblins and monsters hidden throughout the jungle.
Not far behind, the little Barghest, still nestled in the grass, suddenly stirred.
The moment Sakeer moved, the pup instinctively followed.
However, the dense foliage and its own lack of speed made it impossible to keep up.
In mere moments, Sakeer had already vanished from sight.
Yet—
"Awoo."
Unfazed, the small Barghest gave its body a firm shake, flinging off the morning dew.
Lifting its nose to the air, it sniffed deeply, catching the lingering scent of Sakeer.
Guided by its keen sense of smell, it burrowed into the forest, determined to keep up.
Boom!
A half-meter-long armored beetle was sent flying with a single kick from Sakeer, crashing into a nearby tree with a dull, resounding thud.
The tree shuddered under the impact, rustling its dense canopy of leaves.
Yet—
"Hiss!"
The beetle scrambled upright, seemingly unscathed, its thin wings buzzing violently as it prepared to charge once more.
Sou!
Sakeer swiftly sidestepped, feeling the gust of wind as the creature lunged past.
He clicked his tongue.
"Damn. This thing's tough. Should've just gone for goblins—much easier to kill."
Using the beetle's own momentum against it, Sakeer maneuvered himself into position. The oversized insect, unable to adjust mid-charge, slammed straight into the tree behind him.
Boom!
Another deep, muffled crash echoed through the jungle.
The sheer force of the impact even caused cracks to appear along the tree trunk.
Yet, ironically, it was the beetle itself that suffered the most.
The collision sent it tumbling onto its back, exposing its unprotected underbelly—its only true weakness.
Sakeer's eyes gleamed.
Without hesitation, he closed the distance, raising his iron sword before bringing it down in a swift arc.
Poof!
A sickening slice—
"Hiiiiss—!"
The beetle let out a final, piercing screech—then fell silent.
『XP Gained: 53』
『Experience Slot: 9425/9500』
Sakeer exhaled, studying his weapon.
"That shell's ridiculously tough. My sword barely cut through... My gear is still way too weak."
"And the experience gain is pathetic. Killing two goblins would've been faster than dealing with this thing."
Shaking his head, he continued his search for better prey.
Within the dense jungle, the cold gleam of his blade flickered intermittently.
Every now and then, the piercing cries of beasts rang out—only to be swiftly silenced, their lives converted into experience points.
But despite being only 70 XP away from leveling up, Sakeer felt as if time had slowed to a crawl.
Bang!
A fat, speckled hare found itself pinned underfoot as Sakeer dodged an attack.
The creature flailed its legs desperately, struggling against his unyielding grip.
It was just an ordinary hare—but right now, that didn't matter.
The experience it provided would be just enough.
Glancing at his pocket watch, Sakeer's lips curled into a rare smile of relief.
"11:02—just in time for lunch."
Without hesitation, he pressed down harder with his foot.
"Finally... I can leave this damn forest."
Spending over a month here wasn't that long, but if he had to stay any longer—he might as well become a wild man himself.
Crunch!
The hare's skull caved in under his weight.
『XP Gained: 1』
『XP Slot: 0/10000 — Genius Lv.10』
End of Chapter