Every single win, every single lesson learned and combat ability developed, surviving within the Evolution Domain gets just a tiny bit easier than it was before; that is a thought ingrained in Novus now as he strives to improve himself as much as he can whenever he is in this place.

Sure, it is also true that the ease with which it is gradually increasing is just relative to the level of danger that his current location poses, for him, however...

’It’s fine like that as well... gives me the feeling like I’m progressing well enough...’ he remarked as he added yet another thought in his mind, that is, the fact that it also helps in keeping his pride and confidence grounded by constantly being beaten by much stronger opponents even more often than the times he thinks that he has already grown quite strong.

As he thought about all those things, he continued his move as he went northward, hoping that this Evolution Domain works similar to his world, the sun rising from the east and down the west, allowing him to figure out which was north and which was south as well.

’I’ve been travelling for a few hours now, though... is the safe zone that far from my location?’

He noticed, each step he takes, he is slightly adjusting his course as he picks signs of life here and there, forcing him to take detours to harvest those hunts instead of just letting them go as it would feel too much of a pity to do so, especially when he has yet to meet the required amount of both F-Tier and E-Tier Evolution Crystal in order for him to break through and step into the E-Tier.

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (2)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (2)]

As soon as he took the life of lower-tier Amber Slimes he discovered, he then continued with his travel, repeating this process time and time again as he gradually accumulated a great amount of F-Tier Evolution Crystals in the process.

It wasn’t only Amber Slimes that he encounters along the way, but sneaky Shadow Slimes as well, every single time he was ambushed by these F-Tier creatures still being quite dangerous as he had to rely on his instinct to pick up the first attack, given that constantly pushing his senses to the utmost of his power for a prolonged amount of time will cause him to be completely drained of his mental strength.

Still, he always manages to fend off these sneak attacks, activating his enhanced senses the next moment and dealing with these stealthy slimes even when they are still completely hidden from plain sight, a single slash with his new technique allowing him to cleave them into two without any effort on his part.

"It’s really convenient..." Taking a good look at the Shadow Slime’s carcass, cleanly cleaved in two by his attack, he said with a satisfied smile on his face while scanning the ’blade’ he made with his hand.

[Immortal Energy: 196/200]

[Immortal Energy: 194/200]

[Immortal Energy: 192/200]

’If not for the drawbacks, it would’ve been more sustainable than enhanced punch as well...’ he added with a wry smile on his face as he felt like there’s just always have to be something in exchange for everything, his absolute regeneration being the pain that comes with it being amplified, while this technique’s effectiveness being the fact that it also damages his body in the process of using it.

’There’s also the enhanced sensing... and whatever that is that allows me to just sense mana... that’s more efficient, but I just can’t do it again...’

Knowing just how much potential the things he had developed within these past few battles in the Evolution Domain have, he smiles, thinking that ever since he acquired this system and entered the Evolution Domain, work regarding his own improvement has just started piling up more and more.

’So much work to do~’ he said in a complaining voice, albeit sporting an excited smile on his face, setting a little goal for himself as he continues with his hunt and his search for this so-called safe zone within the Verdant Expanse.

’Hmm... let’s call the mana reinforcement method Mana Blade, as for the sense technique... hmm, I guess Sensory Expansion works... Giving them a name just feels right, helps me visualize and execute them easier as well...’

He mutters to himself as he feels like those two are truly significant discoveries that he will utilize more and more in the future, basing the deduction of those two methods being easier to visualize and execute from the same mage ideology that stands true for a long time.

"Magic that a mage is familiar with is stronger than magic that is not, and what better way for a mage to familiarize themselves with a spell than knowing the name of an old spell, and granting a name to a newly created one?"

As he granted these two spells, or more aptly, techniques, that he created, he immediately gets on to improving them, testing himself with every creature that he picked up in his senses along the way north, one on one duels, fighting against multiple violent but direct Amber Slimes or group of sneaky, lethal Shadow Slimes, each exchange allowing him to grow little by little, step by step.

During his endless run towards what he assumes is northwards, not only does the young man encounter a lot of F-Tier Amber Slimes and Shadow Slimes, he also encounters stronger E-Tiers as well, amounting to one of each, both being taken down by him, but not without any consequences.

[Defeated: Shadow Slime. Rewards: E-Tier Evolution Crystal (1), Slime Substrate (4)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: E-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (3)]

Both of these times that he had taken down E-Tier creatures, he had to take a good amount of rest before he continues, given that even when he already knows both of their weakness, he still has to be particularly careful when fighting against them, this wariness being displayed more when facing the Amber Slime, as he still thinks it is way harder to deal with compared to the E-Tier Shadow Slime.

[Immortal Energy: 160/200]

"Hah, you deserve that..." he remarked as he looked at the remains, or rather, the lack of said remains, from the E-Tier Amber Slime that he just killed, the exhaustion of continuously cleaving apart its flesh in order to reveal its core something that is starting to hit him now again, but not as worse as it hit when he hunted an E-Tier Amber Slime the first time.

Time passes, and Novus feels like something is changing as well. The once rare, spread-out population of slimes hopping and rolling around the verdant field of grass seems to appear more and more frequently, as if, as he continues to move, the slime population increases as well.

And just a few minutes later, he finally understands why it is that the case is, his running coming to a stop as he begins to appreciate the sudden change of the Evolution Domain’s backdrop that his encounter brings.

"With this... I should be closer to that safe zone now, right?" he mutters to himself as he starts walking forward, taking his time to bridge the distance between his current location and the magnificent sight in front of him.