Virtue of patience

Despite the merchant's advice, Kyle and Selene left the village.

They had overheard a little bit of gossip, and he had also looked at the merchant's goods and prices.

Satisfied with what he had learned so far, Kyle turned around without even bothering to take another glance.

Kyle couldn't imagine anyone willingly purchasing the overpriced goods but maybe that was just him.

As he took in the merchant's appearance along with the kind of clothes, and accessories the chubby middle-aged man was wearing, Kyle could only shake his head.

Knowing that dealing with the merchant was a waste of time, he decided to do other important things.

Thus, both he and Selene left the village to test out their new weapons and increase their weapon proficiency.

In his past life, Kyle had fought with spears, swords, daggers, maces, battleaxes, and so on.

This had helped him in learning the basic movements with the most common types of weapons as a youth.

However, he had never wielded a machete before. Fortunately, a machete was not that different when compared to some types of sabers with which he had learned the foundational movements.

As such, Selene would have more problems wielding her weapon than him.

The only advantage she had was that her strength was higher than Kyle's.

The gap in their current strength was a lot because she was cultivating in the path of strength; Pryr!

On the other hand, Kyle had not even begun to cultivate.

Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the small village, Kyle opened the backpack after ensuring that no one was around.

He then handed Selene her ranked black steel dagger and scabbard before telling her to pay attention to the surroundings.

Selene was a Lohar after all and her large rabbit ears were not just for show.

Kyle knew that he could nurture her ears too, which would, in turn, increase her sense of hearing considerably.

This was interesting, but something to pay attention to in the future. Right now, they had to focus on practice!

While Selene was listening to the noises in their surroundings, Kyle was watchful and alert.

He was well aware of the fact that the hearing senses could be deceived by the slightest of distraction.

As such, not relying on just one but using multiple senses was the best.

Thus, Kyle acted as the eyes and Selene had turned into the ears of the pair.

It was not long after they had left the village that Selene spotted the first suitable prey.

Behind a dense thicket, she could hear the pained noises of an injured beast.

Even though Selene was not able to clearly tell what kind of beast it could be, according to the deep, rumbling noises she heard, it ought to be a large beast.

After she shared this information with Kyle, it didn't take him long to see a distinct red spot amidst dark greenish-brown stripes.

Squinting his eyes to get a better look, he saw a heavily injured bear at the mid Fortification stage amongst the bushes.

Happy of having found a big prey, Kyle smiled lightly.

He was about to take a step forward in order to unsheath and strike with the machete but he was obstructed by Selene. Her arm shot out, preventing him from making another noise.

"There are multiple beasts running in our direction. I guess, they were the ones who injured the beast hiding inside the thicket earlier!"

Kyle sheathed the machete back into the scabbard before they left hurriedly.

Only a few seconds later, a group of lionesses that had vines instead of fur growing out of their body, appeared from the opposite direction the two had disappeared into.

The last noises Selene heard were a loud roar of the injured bear and several growling sounds before she took a quick backward glance.

At that moment, the bear barreled outside the thicket, ripping apart the overconfident vine lioness that was the closest to it, before the rest of the group slashed and clawed at the bear, wearing it out.

Selene's movements had become sluggish and it was only when Kyle grabbed her arm to break her fall that she regained her senses.

Death was not new to her but also not something Selene had witnessed on a daily basis.

Her life may have been filled with violence but there were still things she had yet to experience.

"If you don't want to die, you should get accustomed to hunting, the faster the better!"

Kyle didn't include that it would be an added advantage if Selene could kill without hesitation. He knew that the incident with the forest deer was still fresh in her mind.

Thus, he led Selene, who was deep in thought, through the forest towards safety. Meanwhile, he also processed the information he had learned during the three hours he had spent at the pub the day before.

As such, he was able to find the area he had been looking for without too many problems.

They were still inside the Sadorla forest, but the surroundings had a relatively less number of large trees that thinned the further he went.

The dense growth of the large Karda trees grew sporadic as they were spaced further apart from each other than before.

Because of that, bright sun rays traveled past their thick leaves and fell to the ground.

It shone on the lush green bed of vegetation. Their eyes took in the colorful landscape adorned with various types of flowers, plants, and bushes owing to the nutritious soil.

Yet, Kyle wasted no time admiring nature's beauty and the different types of plants that were clearly visible in the bright sunlight.

Instead, his attention was trained on the soil below the thick bushes that only allowed the growth of certain plants while stunting all others.

Thus, only a few herbs, grasses, and certain plants were resilient enough to not just survive but thrive. Amongst them was the meligna grass Kyle was looking for.

It may have been wilted, but gathering and nurturing it with his ability would allow him to amass a small fortune.

While searching for wilted meligna grass that was likely to have been overshadowed by other plants, he wanted to hunt small beasts too.

Due to the warning given by the merchant, Kyle didn't think that killing the large bear he had seen earlier would have brought him exceptional benefits, except a soul to devour.

Dragging a large, bleeding corpse towards the village would leave a trail of blood. This was another reason why Kyle found it important to have an expandable pouch, or even better, a spatial ring!

Their current incapability to store corpses was another restriction in addition to their weak combat prowess that forced them to hunt injured beasts or beasts at the Initial fortification stage.

Kyle was slowly growing frustrated about their weak combat prowess and limitations which was noticeable.

On the other hand, Selene was extremely satisfied with herself and oblivious to Kyle's plight.

She could cultivate much more easily than before.

The pain that used to spread through her entire body had lessened considerably too, and it didn't matter to her how much time she would need until she was fully healed.

As long as recuperating completely was possible, she was okay with gradual healing.

In the end, Kyle was becoming increasingly impatient since he had reincarnated.

It was not that his personality was impatient, but the pressure to become stronger as fast as possible was starting to get to him.

He was the last old soul that had reincarnated, and he had no idea how strong the others were.

At the same time, Kyle could only reluctantly accept that every single beast they had encountered recently had been a threat to both of them!

There was not a single fight or tactic that he had won without putting himself in grave danger. Every single kill had required him to be suicidal, which had slowly accumulated the tension and frustration within him.

He tried to reassure himself that his progress would be slow in the beginning, but increase exponentially over time.

As such, there was nothing Kyle could do, except calming down and releasing his frustration somewhere.

While searching for wilted meligna grass, he could both vent his frustration and test the machete.

It was razor-sharp and didn't require much effort to wield as it was both lightweight and easy to use.

Closing his hands around the hilt, he cut through the bushes, chopping them unevenly to get a good look at the ground and the bush.

Somehow, after wildly swishing his machete as he wanted and chopping off a large part of the bushes nearby, Kyle felt much better after five minutes had passed.

He was gasping for air, and his forehead and back shone with sweat that trickled down his temples, but Kyle's face bore a mark of satisfaction.

Suddenly, Selene came near him and held her outstretched hands in front of his face to show the long wilted meligna grass blades.

She looked at him with expectations in her eyes, and Kyle couldn't help but scold himself to have let his mind linger on his slow pace for more than necessary

"If I were to say that I'm over 100 years old, nobody would believe me...what am I? A child or a reincarnated, old soul?? I've been practicing the virtue of patience for a century, and can't even stay calm for three weeks?"

He was just mumbling to himself in a quiet voice while patting Selene's head gently.

After that, he simply told her to store everything in her own backpack, and that she didn't have to run towards him every single time she spotted a new batch of meligna grass.

In response, Selene shook her head silently, repeating what Kyle had mumbled before she rushed away.

''100 years old? A reborn, old soul??''

Kyle was not worried about Selene having heard him mumbling. On the contrary, he had been thinking of telling her some things about his past life.

This would make many things much easier for the future.

More than three hours passed, and Kyle was astonished that they had been able to find so many batches of meligna grass.

He had estimated that it was beyond saving and that his Nurture ability wouldn't be able to revive it again, but that was not the case.

It was possible to nurture every single, thick blade of grass with his Nurture ability, and that brightened his mood.

Suddenly, the quiet and peaceful atmosphere was punctured with loud growling sounds, and both Kyle and Selene stiffened as they felt a chill run down their spines.

Only a few seconds later, the small group of vine lions they had escaped earlier, tore through the bushes, charging at them without a trace of hesitation.

It looked like they had planned this ambush from the beginning!