Kyle and Alexandra

While his body was being restored, Kai was casually practicing his skill 'Prime Thrust' within the cave that had appeared in the white desert a while ago. He already knew that outside of his consciousness, his body was mortally wounded, but couldn't do anything about it, so he decided to spend his time sharpening his mastery over his movements.

Since Kai had no core, he couldn't access his Status window and check his proficiency, but he was pretty sure he'd already gained a basic understanding of the 'Prime Thrust'. Every conjurer or mage could call out a mysterious thing called a [Status]. Nobody knew the origin of this weird phenomenon, but it dated back to when the first human awakened Mana.

The Status window could show one's skills, arts, attributes, rank, etc.

Whoosh...

The bone spear tore through the air, creating a loud sound and making Kai's palm bleed for the hundredth time in a row. He never intended to practice the skill outside the white desert because his wounds wouldn't recover in a short time like they did within the magical cave.

"I've definitely reached Basic Understanding..."

Clenching the rough surface of the bone spear's hilt, Kai smirked.

There were six levels of proficiency one could attain over a Skill, Magic Art, and Weapon/Battle Style:

Basic → Intermediate → Proficient → Advanced → Elite → Supreme.

The higher the proficiency of the Skill, Magic Art, or Weapon/Battle Style, the stronger they are. Magic arts and Weapon/Battle styles also have tiers, with the seventh one being the highest, while skills are ranked from F to SSS tier.

'If I could somehow escape that bastard...'

With a bitter smile, Kai started repeating [Prime Thrust] until he felt that his body was being forcibly pulled out of the dark cave.

"Here comes the reality..."

Bracing himself for the pain that would assault him as soon as he woke up, Kai closed his eyes and hoped that he still had a body to go back to.

Blink... Blink...

Kai's vision was blurry, and his body felt as if it was lighter. Trying to sort out his thoughts, Kai suddenly froze. His body was devoid of any wounds or pain.

'What the hell?'

Looking at his body, Kai noticed that he was wearing different clothes and that his outer wounds were covered with white bandages.

"Hello?"

Hearing a female voice right by his side, Kai immediately searched for a bone spear that was usually propped against the wall.

"Searching for this?"

Looking towards the speaker, Kai finally identified the unknown guest as a human. Warily eyeing the female, he noticed the tattoos decorating her face and the bone spear she was tightly holding within her grip.

"Who are you..."

Ignoring her previous question, Kai almost whispered while moving backwards, where another bone spear should've been hidden.

"It's useless..."

He suddenly heard another voice behind his back and tried to dodge to the side, but was caught in the middle of his act.

"Calm down, we are humans!"

The man holding him from behind spoke, trying to sound as believable as possible. He even gave Kai a smile, but it was rather unsuccessful, as Kai started thrashing around even harder.

"Is he mentally okay?"

The female with tattoos spoke while looking at the teenager, who was desperately trying to escape from Kyle's tight grip.

"Yeah..."

Since Kyle injected his Mana into Kai, he more or less knew the boy's condition and found nothing wrong with his health.

"Who are you people!"

This time Kai raised his voice while glaring daggers at the pair of strangers. He really didn't trust humans that came out of nowhere and invaded his shelter.

"WE ARE HUMANS, WHO SAVED YOUR LIFE FROM THE GODDAMN WEREWOLF!"

The Alexandra lost her cool seeing the child ruin his body's condition even further by fruitlessly resisting.

Fortunately her sentence made Kai stop. Locking his eyes with hers he tried to find any kind of malice or ingenuity hidden within them, but saw none.

"Okay, I've calmed down"

Tapping the man's broad arm that was pressing him against the ground Kai spoke and Kyle slowly released him from his hold.

"Sorry, for overreacting... I usually don't have visitors"

Kai spoke without a slightest of hesitation while eyeing both people that 'allegedly' saved him from the werewolf. He was assessing their strength.

'They are strong...'

Kai couldn't accurately pinpoint the level of strength they possessed, but knew it was way above his.

'Maybe they really did defeat the monster...'

Collecting his thoughts Kai didn't even notice as Alexandra gave Kyle a look and whispered something into his ear.

'You've felt it too? He's checking our strength!'

Both were aware that the teenager before them was assessing them. Alexandra was surprised that a kid his age knew a method on how to do so, as far as she knew the method that was only taught in a second grade of awakener academy.

"What's your name, kid?"

Kyle broke the silence that engulfed the cavern making Kai lift his head and meet the man's eyes.

"Kai... Kai Steele!"

Hearing the teenager's name Kyle nodded his head. At least the kid didn't lie.

"My name is Kyle and hers is Alexandra..."

Pointing to himself and his comrade sitting right beside him Kyle spoke.

"We've been chasing after the werewolf and Alexandra found you within the ruined cave... How did you end up in this forest, Kai?"

Kyle looked towards the bandaged teenager who was looking straight into his eyes, seemingly absorbing every bit of information he said.

"I woke up here..."

Kai's response made both Kyle and Alexandra raise their eyebrows.

"Elaborate"

Alexandra urged Kai to continue, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"One moment I was at my adoptive parents' house and the other in the middle of this god forgotten forest!"

...

...

Both Kyle and Alexandra gave each other a meaningful look.

'He doesn't trust us yet...'

***

The three of them kept talking and got to know each other better. Kai retold everything he had experienced within the forest, while the pair held their breaths throughout the whole story.

The pair of powerful awakeners also briefed Kai about the situation outside the forest, because he told them about the time duration he'd spent within the forest.

In the end the morning came and the pair was getting ready to move out when Kai's words froze them in place.

"I'm thankful for helping me create the second layer of my Mana Core and saving my life, but I think… I'll remain in the forest for a little longer!"