Battles Upon Battles. Reaching Level 5.

Ethan slumped down on the beast, huffing. He was tired but not as tired as the first day where he had to run nonstop while being chased by energy suckers, literally. He was slightly surprised by the notification, but he had to get away from the beast carcass before other beasts appeared. As he made to move away to find a place to hide for the night, the system rang out.

[Threat Is Edible!]

"The f..." Ethan was greatly surprised. He was thinking of food and here he had one but was he supposed to hide it. He could use the Storage Space, but the beast was too big, and he wouldn't need it forever. He still had a day to go but the beast was enough for more than a day. As he was contemplating, he had an idea.

'What if I create an aura skill which can last long and is also sharp for cutting? I have no weapon or knife to cut the beast. Zark, is that possible?'

'Of course. You are really smart but be warned, the skill you want to create drains a lot of energy, specifically, your physical capabilities for now. Until you accumulate enough strength and special aura traits like killing intent etc., it will feed on your physical capabilities. Based on how you want to make it, it will be a bit special from the other aura skills.' Zark spoke directly into his head this time unlike when he used the system. His voice was calm, with a certain charm and wisdom and experience in it. Ethan was clearly surprised with this.

'You talked to m...'

'Focus kid. You are wasting time on useless things.'

'...'

Ethan slowly and steadily gathered aura on his right hand again. He visualized a 30-inch machete with a long handle of 4 inches. As an aura skill, he visualized it in a dark silver color with a glowing silver for its sharp blade. Outside, the aura was forming what Ethan was visualizing in his head without the color and effects, just a faint outline of it. As usual, the system recognized the creation of the new skill and asked for Ethan to name it.

'Razor!'

The moment Ethan named it, the aura gained color. It formed a dark silver machete, 30 inches long, with a dark silver handle of 4 inches and with a dim silver glow on its sharp and cutting part. Ethan was again shocked by the power of the system and how powerful the aura skill was. To test, he swiped it on the snout of the beast he was still standing atop. A dark silver streak and a perfect slice of the snout from the beast's body.

Ethan stared, surprised by the sharpness of the aura blade. It was very sharp but came with a cost of his physical capabilities. He felt a bit of energy leave him after he performed that action. Seeing its effectiveness, Ethan plunged the blade in the beast's body and slashed diagonally. He had never skinned or butchered an animal before, so he just cut a large piece of meat out of it, stored it in the system and swiftly left the place. Luckily, he found an empty cave. Zark gave him tips on how to grill the meat. As for making fire, Ethan knew how to do it, though theoretically he still managed to do it. After eating a fairly large, flavorless meal, shocked by how hungry he was, Ethan sat cross-legged and entered a meditative mode. It helped him relax even though he was still a bit afraid and ready for a fight. He needed all the energy for the next day. As the saying goes, last days are dangerous, he wanted to be prepared for anything. 

...

Ethan skidded to a halt as he dodged an attack from a 3-meter-tall wolf beast. It had brown scaly fur with dim silver designs. Its spine was protected by a layer of dim silver scales which occasionally glowed when it attacked.

<Wolf Drake (Peak Bronze Rank): A breed between a fallen dragon and wolf. Possesses affinities to Earth, Wind, Light, Fire the very rare Metal affinity. Its rank can be identified by scale of its spine which glows when it attacks.>

The moment he left his cave, he encountered it. It was attracted by his previous battle. The beast was very agile and cunning, a real predator unlike the somehow mindless Razorfangs Puppy. Another thing was it possessed the Metal affinity which gave a good defense and piercing offensive power, a proclamation of the little injuries on Ethan. He had dodged most of the attacks, but the beast was just cunning even managing to sometimes fool his perceptiveness. Ethan could have defeated it with Razor, his new aura skill but this was just the morning and he had at least 20+ more hours to go. He couldn't afford to use his aura skill when they were just usable three times a day. Besides, it was good practice for him to fight with his own strength and martial arts skills. Ethan hadn't realized but his way of fighting had become a bit beast-like, not caring much for defense, just attacking.

A huge metal spear was sent towards with speed, but he managed to evade and with a tip from Zark, grabbed the spear. The spear was larger than him, but his strength made up for it as he raised it threw it back at the beast. It failed to dodge it in time, allowing the spear to pierce it to a nearby tree. Its own attack had been used against it and it was finding it difficult to remove the spear. It was so much in pain that it failed to notice the boy who had jumped up high. Ethan fell with his fist clenched as he gave a hard punch to the head of the beast making it bleed from its eyes. The spear also did a good job by pinning it down. It had become a punching bag. He climbed it and punched its head, spilling blood every time he punched until he heard the notice that the beast was dead. 

He jumped off its body, breathing profusely. He had become strong, and the feeling of strength was amazing, but he couldn't enjoy for long when he felt an ominous aura. It was stronger than what he had been sensing for the past two days. That was when the system rang out.

[Danger! Danger! Danger!]

[Silver Rank Beast Approaching!]