Pursuit

The monster leveled up when it ran out of mana, and Darius decided to use Aether to make it recover mana. It recovered almost instantly, and then the extra was used to strengthen the slime.

"Since you are a monster, I guess you absorb aether better than me," Darius rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I can use this now and then… anyway, you have outrun your usefulness. Time to die."

Much to his surprise, the slime didn't attack again, but Darius wasn't convinced about the change of heart. Still, after giving some orders, the slime actually followed all the orders, like jumping and spinning backward. Still, what helped Darius was what he saw next.

(You got the passive Tame.)

(Tame - 0/100: Gotta catch'em all. You can use this skill to Tame them after injuring or adding some negative effects on a target. The skill level and the target's willpower can affect the taming's chances of success.)

"Much better… the more I beat the crap out of them, the easier it will be to tame… but this kind of ability will take a lot of time and effort to level up," Darius thought. "But then again, it is a passive one… maybe I can get some experience even by falling."

It was a bit weird that it didn't consume any mana, but Darius didn't use it, so it made sense… His method had been quite original. Hopefully, the slimes that the ones he tamed will be immediately obedient; otherwise, his work will be endless.

"I was planning to see if I could get some variations of you all by changing the environment and even putting two different in the same spot to see the results… the things I do for science," Darius thought and then shrugged. "Anyway, this will have to wait until I am resting from the runs."

Darius began to use his strategy to run with all his might outside and rest inside.

Darius - Level: 88 (200/8800)

HP: 620/620

MP: 370/370

STA: 570/570

Strength: 113

Magic: 118

Quickness: 138

Endurance: 62

Spirit: 37

Adaptability: 57

Free Points: 00

Skill List

Abilities: Heavy Throw Lv 20, Sprint Lv 19

Magic: Mana Bolt Lv 16, Fireball Lv 24

Passive: Spear Mastery Lv 36, Shield Mastery Lv 14, Heat Resistance Lv 16, Fire Resistance Lv 16, Wind Resistance Lv 01, Cold Resistance Lv 04, Tame Lv 01

"I guess I need to level up my Adaptability to be able to run more and stop fewer times… it also should help me run with more ease in the sand," Darius thought.

It will take a while before that could happen, though. Besides, it seemed a bit foolish to make that decision with only those factors in mind. Darius could recover stamina faster by using Aether as well.

In any case, Darius had to run across for several hours to reach the end of the desert… the heat bothered him quite a lot since he crossed more or less five hundred kilometers. Still, he had plenty of water and time to recover in his domain.

As soon as he left the desert, Darius soon found a town in the distance… the place had been strangely built around a river that surrounded most of the place… the city didn't look that advanced since it didn't have tall towers and the walls were only five meters tall. Still, the people in it had enough manpower to dig and redirect the river.

"It has been a while since that guy stopped talking, and the people of the city don't look to be on alert… it is midnight, though, so maybe that is to be expected," Darius furrowed his eyebrows. "I was expecting to find some danger, and not a town… maybe the god of this world doesn't interact with his people that much, and I might be safe around them, but it is better not to take any chances… I also don't have to stop here since my goal isn't here."

Darius resumed his run and just passed near the city. Still, he kept an eye on the area just in case… his movements and steps were beyond where the light of torches could reach him, but Darius knew that wouldn't be enough to remain hidden.

Eventually, that was no longer necessary, so Darius kept his eyes on the path ahead. Come to think of it, he didn't see monsters since he left the desert… so he wondered if any normal people would be able to wound him… without monsters, people would have no reason to get stronger after all.

"A man once said that adversity breeds ingenuity or something like that; in a world like this, people might get stronger by constantly fighting monsters, but without that, they usually would follow the same path as humans, and they would only get strong enough to deal with other humans…." Darius thought. "I don't know if this is a good thing or not, though."

Would that world eventually develop enough to create nukes? That was why Darius couldn't say if it was a good thing or not. Without some enemies to threaten them as species, but most beings like humans probably would follow a path of ruin… Darius realized that after he heard about the Great Filter.

While he was thinking about that, a single person left the city and began to chase Darius from a distance…