Soren watched her for a few more minutes, ensuring she was completely settled into her deep sleep before he slowly turned his attention inward, shifting his focus back to his own body.

He tentatively tested his muscles. Movement was possible if he forced it, but a wave of deep, lingering stiffness told him it would be incredibly painful to try.

Strangely, the agonizing sensation of ruptured organs and fractured bones was missing.

His severe internal injuries seemed to have been completely healed, likely through intense medical intervention or highest-grade potions.

As for the rest of his body, he remained unable to inspect external injuries, restricted by his inability to lift his head or shift his position.

’Well, the most important thing is that I’m alive,’ he muttered inwardly, letting out a faint breath.

With the immediate panic of awakening gone, his mind naturally began to reconstruct the chaotic final moments before the blackout.

He recalled the scene with stark clarity: the desperate execution of their final attack, the terrifying sensation of the fall, and the absolute darkness that claimed him the moment he hit the ground.

’...Did someone save us?’ he pondered, his brow furrowing slightly.

He was certain of their condition at the time. Left unattended for even a few minutes in that state, both he and Ryan would have succumbed to their injuries. Survival was an impossibility under those circumstances. That meant someone must have immediately entered the gate the exact moment the exit portal manifested, pulling them out of the jaws of death just in time.

’Wait.’

Soren paused, a sudden wave of concern breaking through his analytical thoughts.

’Is... Ryan okay as well?’

They had fought side by side until the very end, and given the severity of the situation, Ryan would have needed immediate rescue just as badly. Ryan was tough, but that final stretch had pushed them both past their absolute limits.

Sitting alone in the quiet ICU room, Soren had no way of knowing how his companion had fared, or if he was even in the same medical facility.

’Well, I’ll probably learn everything later.’

There was no use racking his brain over mysteries he couldn’t solve from a hospital bed. For now, he needed to assess his current standing and see exactly how much this nightmare had cost him—or rewarded him.

With a silent thought, he called upon his personal interface.

’Status, open.’

A familiar, translucent screen materialized before his eyes, shimmering softly against the dim clinical lights of the room to display his updated information.

════════════════

[PERSONAL INFORMATION]

Name: Soren Everly

Age: 22

Circle Rank: Second Circle (Middle Stage)

Hunter Rank: E

[CORE STATUS]

Mana Capacity: 39,650 / 50,000

Core Stability: Stable (Recovering)

Pathway Integrity: Recovering (74%)

Affinity: Ice (Grade 7 - S Rank) | Wind (Grade 5 - B Rank)

[INNATE ABILITIES]

• Accelerated Regeneration (C-Rank)

• Ironclad Body Constitution (C-Rank)

• Pain Resistance (D-Rank)

• Cold Resistance (D-Rank)

• Adrenaline Burst (C-Rank)

• Iron Will (D-Rank)

[SPECIAL ABILITIES]

• Resonant Bond

• Guardian’s Resolve

[TECHNIQUES & SKILLS]

• Glacial Emperor Scripture (Foundation Stage)

- First Star: Frost Palm Strike (82% Mastery)

- Second Star: Winter’s Barrier (62% Mastery)

• Glacial Edge Spear Arts

- First Form: Frost Piercing Thrust (99% Mastery)

- Second Form: Glacial Sweep (81% Mastery)

- Third Form: Glacial Descent (61% Mastery)

• Heaven-Treading Flash

- Quick Step (89% Mastery)

• Cooking Mastery (Intermediate Lv. 10)*

[EQUIPMENT]

• Tether Bond (Bound to: Ethea Everly)

• Hunter’s License (Standard - Grade E)

• Ring Of Boundless Void

[INVENTORY]

[CREDITS]

[INVESTMENT TARGETS]

════════════════

’Hmm...’

Soren scanned the lines of data, his focus immediately locking onto his core status. A heavy sigh of relief escaped his lips. The sheer terror of permanent mana pathway destruction had lingered at the back of his mind, but seeing his pathways sitting at a recovering seventy-four percent washed that anxiety away. His core was stable, and his foundation remained perfectly intact.

’Thank goodness.’

Then, his gaze drifted slightly higher, and a trace of surprise crossed his features.

’Second Circle, Middle Stage...’

’Almost 40 thousand...’

He knew he had been right on the cusp of breaking through to the Middle Stage before the final battle, but seeing it officially finalized on the interface brought a quiet wave of satisfaction. The brutal intensity of that life-or-death struggle had officially pushed him over the threshold.

Scrolling down further, Soren paused at the techniques and skills section, his brows raising slightly at the mastery percentages.

’They rose by that much?’

Frost Palm Strike had jumped all the way to eighty-two percent, and Quick Step was now teetering on the edge of perfection at eighty-nine percent. Even his spear arts forms had seen a substantial surge across the board. Well, the first form could be considered fully mastered.

He stared at the numbers for a moment before a wry, understanding thought crossed his mind.

It made sense.

He had spent that entire battle dancing on a razor’s edge, utilizing every single form, every shred of technique, and every ounce of his stamina to their absolute limits.

True mastery was beaten into the soul when survival was the only option.

As he continued scanning down, his gaze caught the final entry in the skill section, causing him to pause once more.

[Cooking Mastery (Intermediate Lv. 10)*]

The skill had officially hit the absolute peak of the intermediate rank. Soren stared at the maximum level indicator for a second, a quiet, amused irony rippling through his thoughts.

’Should I just give up being a hunter and become a chef instead?’

It was an absurd thought given the world they lived in, yet he welcomed the progress with genuine sincerity.

If not for this specific skill and the precise control it afforded him, he wouldn’t have been able to prepare the specialized meals required to support Ethea’s fragile condition.

Helping her regain even a fraction of her vitality made every bit of effort entirely worthwhile. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

With a relaxed exhale, he let his focus drift lower. He continued to scroll past his inventory and credits, but just as he was about to close the interface, a small, blinking icon in the corner of his vision caught his attention.

───────

[NOTIFICATION]

You have unread system logs.

The delay in processing is due to the user’s prolonged unconscious state.

[INVESTMENT AUTHORITY - SECOND PRIMARY TARGET]

Target: Ryan

Status: Investment Completed.

Would you like to view the final evaluation and claim your returns?

[YES / NO]

───────