Chapter 371:How it happens.

Chapter 371: 371:How it happens.

24hrs ago.

Leaving Death Row Valley behind should have made Silver feel safer.

Instead, twenty minutes after turning onto the road leading away from the valley, he discovered that his greatest immediate threat was no longer anything in the valley.

It was falling asleep behind the wheel.

He blinked hard and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel as the headlights illuminated another empty stretch of cracked road ahead.

Darkness had settled completely over the region, leaving the vehicle surrounded by little more than its own headlights and the occasional distant glow of an Association marker along the route.

Trees and overgrown vegetation crowded parts of the roadside while exposed stone dominated others. Every few minutes he caught himself staring at the same point ahead for far longer than he should have.

He opened the window and cold night air rushed inside.

Silver inhaled deeply.

It helped, for approximately thirty seconds, then his eyelids became heavy again.

"This is embarrassing." He rubbed his face with one hand. "I survived for so long, and apparently I’m going to die because I couldn’t find somewhere to take a nap."

Silver glanced toward the Emergency Survival Beacon attached to his equipment. The indicator continued flashing steadily, broadcasting his position now that there was no mountain blocking the transmission.

At least somebody should eventually find him. He just preferred they didn’t find his car wrapped around a tree.

He considered stopping. The sensible choice was obvious; pull over, lock the doors, sleep, and continue in the morning.

Unfortunately, every time he thought about stopping, he remembered the date.

Academy admissions opened tomorrow.

He had already accepted that arriving in the morning was almost impossible, but he refused to surrender the entire day without trying.

There was also Ravenna.

He had no phone anymore. She had received his message saying he was almost out, but she had no idea he’d actually reached the surface.

Every additional hour without contact was another hour she could spend wondering whether something had happened after that message.

He tightened his grip on the wheel.

"Alpha Three first. Collapse afterward."

His body disagreed.

Silver yawned so hard his eyes watered.

"Fine. We need another solution."

He checked his storage while maintaining enough attention on the road.

Medicine wasn’t the answer. He wasn’t going to abuse stimulants unless absolutely necessary, especially after everything his body had already endured.

Then Silver noticed the cores, several remaining from his underground journey.

The Tier Four Ironclaw Burrower core, the Tier Four Cave Stalker core, the Tier Three Mudwater Serpent core, lower-ranked cores he’d collected along the way, and the Tier Two Razorhawk core from the descent.

Silver had absorbed some earlier, but the more valuable ones had largely been preserved because he’d spent most of his time underground prioritizing survival over power growth.

He slowed the vehicle when a roadside emergency area appeared ahead and pulled in.

The engine remained running. He leaned back and took out one of the lower-ranked cores first. ℴ

"Absorbing while driving would be an incredibly stupid experiment, so we’ll do this properly."

Silver closed his eyes and began absorbing.

Energy entered his body.

The sensation was familiar, but after everything he’d endured, he noticed the difference almost immediately. His body accepted the energy much more smoothly than before.

The improved physical skills, increased experience with absorption and repeated stress on his abilities had changed how efficiently he processed beast energy.

His exhaustion didn’t disappear but his mind sharpened.

Silver opened his eyes several minutes later.

[Beast Core Absorption Completed.]

[Minor energy replenishment detected.]

[Current fatigue remains high.]

[Mental alertness temporarily improved.]

He smiled.

"That’s what I needed."

He returned to the road. For the next hour, the strategy worked; drive, stop when his concentration started dropping, absorb, rest for several minutes, and continue.

It wasn’t efficient progression or comfortable but it kept him awake.

The first beast appeared a little before ten. Spatial Sense detected movement approaching from the vegetation beside the road.

Silver’s hand moved toward his handgun.

The beast emerged several seconds later, a lean four-legged creature with a narrow head and oversized front claws. It chased the vehicle for perhaps twenty meters before deciding a moving machine wasn’t worth the effort.

He didn’t even slow down.

"Excellent decision."

Another encounter came nearly forty minutes later. This time three small beasts moved onto the road.

He reduced speed but they didn’t move.

He honked.

The beasts turned toward the car. He stared through the windshield.

"You have an entire wilderness available, and somehow the road is where you’ve decided to hold your meeting."

One immediately charged.

Silver sighed and drew. The missing suppressor meant there was no subtlety anymore.

BANG!

The shot struck the creature. It rolled across the road prompting the other two to flee immediately.

Silver continued driving.

He didn’t even stop for the core. There was a time when leaving a beast core lying on the road would have bothered him.

Tonight, reaching Alpha Three mattered more.

Another hour passed.

He stopped again. This time he selected the Tier Three Mudwater Serpent core.

He studied it beneath the dim interior light.

"You caused enough trouble. You can be useful now."

Absorption began.

The energy was noticeably denser. He felt it move through his body before spreading outward, reinforcing the pathways his abilities depended upon.

Minutes passed, then a notification appeared.

[Tier Three Beast Core absorption in progress.]

[Compatible physical characteristics detected.]

[Primal Strength Lv3 proficiency increased.]

He opened one eye.

"You’re still improving?"

Another notification appeared.

[Host’s recent sustained combat activity has accumulated unprocessed skill experience.]

Silver sat straighter.

"Unprocessed?"

The system continued.

[Extended high-pressure combat conditions resulted in repeated skill usage beyond normal proficiency thresholds.]

[Accumulated experience is currently being integrated during recovery.]

He looked at the notifications.

’That makes sense.’

Death Row Valley hadn’t given him much opportunity to sit somewhere safe and evaluate what was happening to his abilities.

He’d been using them constantly. Spatial Sense had been even worse; for days, he had depended on it to navigate. If any skill deserved an improvement, it was Spatial Sense.

Silver completed the absorption.