17 Practice

The fairy bore a resemblance to a tiny female human, with wings akin to those of a dragonfly. Her yellow hair cascaded around her as she floated, adorned in ethereal blue silk that accentuated her beauty and aura of magic.

"Welcome, Lord Survivor!" 

The fairy greeted Shane with a high-pitched voice, hovering in front of him, barely the size of his head.

Upon close inspection, the fairy displayed no signs of hostility and seemed rather enthusiastic about his arrival.

"Hello, fairy… Can you tell me what's going on?" Shane inquired while still holding his weapon.

"Yes! You can call me Axis, Lord Survivor…" Axis introduced herself. 

"I'm the caretaker of this small land that was given to you by the Fairy Queen…"

"It was given to me?"

"Well, that's my guess, since I can feel that you received the blessing of the Fairy Queen. In any case, this small land has abundant mana, and you can use this place however you want."

He had never met this Fairy Queen, but his alternate self must've done it.

Shane fell silent for a moment as he contemplated the fairy's words. 

Although he wasn't sure what the abundant mana could do, the idea of having his own land prompted him to consider its potential uses. 

However, aside from using it as a resting place or for cultivating the land to harvest fruits and vegetables, he couldn't think of any other purposes.

"Axis, do you have a suggestion on how I should use this place?" Shane inquired as he believed that this fairy had some decent idea.

"Of course! As I said, this place has abundant mana, so planting Spiritual Herbs will be very beneficial to you. You can also train your Survivor Skills in this place… You can also consider crafting items in this place since you have a higher chance of getting better item effects in this place."

"Spiritual Herbs and Survivor Skills… I understand. That sounds interesting… But is it possible to bring someone else into this land?" Shane asked.

"It's impossible unless they're soul bound to you, Lord Survivor... However, you can bring any items you can carry to this place… For now, since you probably didn't bring anything with you, you can look around, take a bath in the small lake over there, or you can also cut down those trees and build a small resting house if you want." Fairy Axis said with a smile on her face as she looked at Shane.

Ultimately, Shane decided to chat with the fairy to fully understand this land's situation. 

During their exchange, he discovered that his System Inventory was still functional, allowing him to bring items gifted by the system into this realm. 

Additionally, Axis explained that soul-bound creatures could only be obtained through a specific ritual. 

Unfortunately, bringing one of them here seemed impossible, as soul-bound creatures might not exist in the Zombie Apocalypse he had entered. 

It seemed that soul-bound creatures were only available in the Fairy Realm Invasion Apocalypse. Nonetheless, Shane remained convinced that this land would still prove valuable to him.

After familiarizing himself with the roughly thousand-acre expanse, Shane heeded Axis' suggestion and set out to cut down some trees. 

Specifically, he aimed to test the new effect of his hatchet. 

He hadn't yet tried using the ice effect of his hatchet, which costs 30 Spirit Points for each usage. With this in mind, he approached the nearest tree.

The tree he chose stood thick and imposing, its gnarled bark weathered by time and its branches reaching about 20 to 25 meters high. 

'Let's see…'

Shane held his hatchet carefully and activated its ice effect; he did it by simply using his mind… 

As soon as he noticed that the hatchet's edge turned blue, he realized that its effect was already triggered. 

Then, without any more hesitation, he struck the tree with all his might.

Bang!

The hatchet didn't fail to cut a small part of the trunk… Then, ice started forming in the part where the trunk was hit!

It continued to spread for about 20 inches before completely stopping. 

"Awesome!"

Shane couldn't help but celebrate after seeing this. 

The formed ice would surely become a life-saving item.

Then, he immediately checked his status. 

[ Spirit: 235/265 ]

Just like what the description said, each use consumes 30 Spirit Points.

It means that with his 265 Spirit Points, he could only use the item's special effect eight times.

'That should be good enough for practice.'

Shane refrained from using the ice effect again as he was still uncertain about the recovery speed of his Spirit. 

Instead, he focused on practicing with his hatchet, as its sharpness and weight had undergone slight changes after the upgrade. 

Wary of the potential for injury while wielding the hatchet, he dedicated himself to honing his techniques and style.

As the eight hours drew to a close, Shane confirmed that his Spirit Recovery Speed was 1 Spirit Point per hour.

It seemed a bit slow, but he couldn't complain about it. 

Then, after checking the time, he bid farewell to Axis. 

"Let's see each other again, Axis…"

"I will be waiting here, Lord Survivor!" Axis replied as she waved her hand at Shane's disappearing figure.

Upon opening his eyes, Shane confirmed that he was still inside his shelter's tent. 

Then, he promptly inquired about his A.I. Assistant. 

"Any zombies around?"

[ Scanning the surroundings... ] [ Scan complete. ] [ Six zombies detected. ] 

[ 3 Crawler Zombies, 2 Walker Zombies, and 1 Runner Zombie. ]

Receiving this reply, Shane felt a surge of excitement as he silently emerged from his shelter while clutching his hatchet. 

His sights were set on the closest target, the Runner Zombie!