Perfect Understanding!

Crows were naturally vigilant and curious, and their intelligence was clearly greater than that of ordinary birds.

"It's May now, which seems to be the crows' breeding and egg-laying season. We should be able to find some."

On the way home, Mercer finished reading the manual in no time and had gotten a good grasp of how to breed crows.

Mercer knew that the Kasugai Crows came from that other world. They were "messengers" used to deliver information.

They had been bred over generations, with the best of the best selected each time to continually improve their genes.

They were highly intelligent, understood people, had minds of their own, and were loyal.

They were rare and valuable companions.

But if Mercer wanted to breed them, he could only start from scratch.

Still,

"I'm not worried about that at all. The animals in this world are incredibly spiritual. They're amazing."

Mercer knew of a starfish—an ordinary starfish.

When it was very young, it had always thought it was human. By the time it realized it was a starfish, it had already learned to speak human language.

It was very much a matter of belief.

It was especially incredible.

Never mind the large beasts; Sea Beasts almost all possessed intelligence no less than that of humans.

Even the minds of the countless ordinary animals in this world shouldn't be underestimated, let alone those of creatures as naturally clever as crows.

"Right, let's go hunt something."

With Observation Haki activated, Mercer easily picked up a decent presence. It didn't take long for him to find it.

"Oh-ho!" Mercer's lips curled as he looked at the Laboon that appeared before him. It was a small group of ten.

The Laboon stood twenty meters away: white, rabbit-like creatures that stood upright and were carnivorous like bears.

Both sides stared intently at each other.

One side's eyes turned blood red.

Mercer, on the other hand, watched them calmly.

He drew the short sword from his waist. With its silver-white blade about as long as his forearm, it was just the right size for Mercer now.

Though it was a short sword,

it was still 55 centimeters long.

Nearly half Mercer's height.

For me, it's practically a "long sword" now. A Good Grade Sword ought to have its own name, too. As it's swung through the air, dew forms spontaneously on the blade. This is Winter Island, so I'll call it "Cold Dew."

As Mercer pondered, a shrill roar exploded beside him, followed by the whoosh of rushing wind.

A Laboon swiped at him.

Mercer jumped back, dodging its incoming paw.

Several tiny bristles were visible on its sharp claws.

The moment he landed, Mercer suddenly rolled sideways, dodging another large Laboon that had leapt high into the air and tried to stomp on his head.

Thud! Snow flew everywhere.

He got to his feet.

Mercer looked at the ten Laboons closing in around him: six large ones and four medium-sized ones. All were bigger than he was, and the large ones were already over three meters tall.

A smile tugged at his lips. "Just because you have numbers doesn't mean you have the upper hand."

Mercer kicked off the ground, sending up a spray of snow, and charged toward the large Laboon directly in front of him.

He covered the four-meter distance in a breath. The Laboon roared with its mouth wide open and swung a paw at him.

Mercer's gaze remained calm. He stepped back as the edge of Cold Dew in his right hand suddenly swept upward with pinpoint precision.

Splurt!

A sound like paper being cut rang out, and blood sprayed everywhere. A long gash had been sliced straight across the Laboon's palm.

"Aaagh!"

The sharp pain made it howl and pull its paw back.

But while it pulled away, Mercer did not. He suddenly stepped forward and charged. Reaching its side, he slashed through its kneecap with a splurt.

The Laboon cried out in pain again and fell to its knees with a roar. Mercer appeared beside it, and the raised Cold Dew came crashing down in a powerful slash.

The sharp blade cut through its fur and its neck.

Mercer glanced at Cold Dew in his hand. Dew had formed on the blade, and it slid down alongside the blood, then dripped from its tip.

Tap!

The blood struck the snow, leaving a red hole.

Mercer watched the Laboons charge at him, roaring in even greater fury rather than cowering at the death of one of their own.

His expression unchanged, he darted nimbly among them, his sharp blade precisely carving deep, bone-reaching wounds into the joints of their legs.

The Laboons seemed to have the advantage thanks to their size, but after three sword strikes each, Mercer would precisely cut through their necks.

In less than three minutes,

Mercer looked around at the ten Laboons, all fallen into their deepest "sleep."

He watched the last E-Grade Soul Crystal, no bigger than a soybean, fly toward him.

A plume of white breath slowly left his mouth.

The ten Laboons had yielded six E-Grade and four F+-Grade Soul Crystals, for a total haul of ten.

At first glance, Mercer had noticed that the three-meter-tall Laboons were E-Grade, while the smaller ones, just over two meters tall, were only F+-Grade.

He put that out of his mind.

Mercer projected the interface panel with a thought.

He looked at the Soul Crystals he had accumulated over the past year.

Including the ones he had just collected.

Soul Crystals: [F-rank ×119, F+-rank ×208, E−-rank ×6]

His haul was decent. Mercer hunted in the Snow Forest almost every day.

Next, Mercer opened the attributes panel with a thought.

Attributes:

[Physique]: Strength: E−→E+; Endurance: E−→E; Agility: E→E+

[Soul]: Willpower: E−→E+; Perception: E→E+; Spirit: E−→E+

[Special: Mystery (Energy)]: E−→E+ (growth bonus to Observation Haki active.)

A year of blacksmithing, along with a plentiful supply of meat every day and the bonuses to his spirit, willpower, and perception attributes from Observation Haki and the state of Unity of Heaven and Man—

Aside from his endurance, which hadn't grown all that much due to his age, all his other attributes had reached E+, the highest grade within the E rank.

Mercer was reasonably satisfied with his progress. Everything was steadily improving.

However, his gaze shifted to the Soul Crystals.

Since there's an even faster, more stable path available, I might as well try it.

A thoughtful gleam appeared in Mercer's eyes as he rationally distributed and fused his Soul Crystals. In the end, he had one E+-Grade Soul Crystal, along with nine F-Grade and four E--Grade crystals that he hadn't fused.

He invested the Soul Crystal in his endurance attribute. The next moment, streams of warmth spread throughout Mercer's body from the inside out, steadily improving his endurance.

Time passed.

A tingling, swelling sensation spread through his body. Mercer could clearly feel every aspect of his physical endurance improving rapidly.

After a while, Mercer opened his eyes. His whole body felt balanced and clear.

A hexagonal warrior.

Evenly strong in every way.

His attributes had no weak spots. Mercer smiled. "I have to keep this trend going. Only strength across the board counts as true strength."

Glancing at the Laboons around him, Mercer picked out the two fattest and strongest to take home. There was nothing he could do for the rest.

As for letting them go to waste? That was impossible. Laboons were incredibly fertile.

Though they usually only had one or two young at a time, like bears, they made up for it by mating year-round, like rabbits.

There was no need to worry about the remaining Laboon carcasses, either. The smell of blood would naturally attract other carnivores to share in the delicious bounty nature had provided.

And taking just two Laboons home meant Kureha wouldn't nag him. After all, she didn't allow Mercer to fight Laboons.

Two was just right.

He carried the two kills home.

Mercer tossed his coat onto the desk.

Then he called Bear Cub out to help process them.

It wasn't snowing very heavily today. Beneath a giant tree not far from the Treehouse, a charcoal fire had been lit, with two large grills set over it.

The two prepared Laboons were skewered on iron rods and laid over the grills. As time passed, their glistening fat rendered and dripped onto the charcoal, crackling with a "sizzle."

Mercer used a knife to score a crosshatch pattern into the Laboon skin, then evenly brushed on the prepared sauce.

The meat roasted as it heated through.

Amid the sizzling sound of fat,

the rich aroma of roasted meat spread through the air.

"You're having roast meat?" Kureha's voice rang out. "Why didn't you invite me?"

Kureha walked over with a bottle of Plum Wine in her hand. She saw that it was Laboon, then looked at Mercer. Seeing that he had no obvious injuries, she couldn't be bothered to say anything.

Mercer was a little surprised. As he brushed sauce onto the meat, he smiled at Kureha. "Are you done for the day?"

"Yeah. My research reached a new stage these past couple of days, so I'll be able to take it easy for a while."

Kureha smiled.

"Oh, by the way, where did you get this?" Kureha pulled a booklet from the back pocket of her pants. It was the Crow Breeding Manual.

"I found it in your coat pocket. The breeding medicine in it is pretty interesting. It even seems to have a slight effect on an organism's brain."

A flicker of hesitation crossed Mercer's eyes, but after a moment's thought, just as he was about to speak,

Kureha continued, "And there was a medicine bottle in the clothes on your desk. What are the capsules inside?"

"How should I put this? I..."

Kureha raised an eyebrow and smiled. Then she suddenly said, "Never mind, I won't ask. You're mysterious day in and day out. If you don't want to tell me, I won't ask.

"Everyone has their own secrets. There's no need to pry into them."

Mercer scratched his head, a little helpless.

"It's not that I can't tell you. I got these two things through a special channel. You can understand the Crow Breeding Manual, Doctor Doriel, so I won't go into that further."

"The main thing is the other one. The capsules in that bottle are a highly lethal chemical poison called 'APTX 4869.' Taking one has two possible effects. One is that you die. The other is a side effect that restores your body to its developmental stage. But your mind stays the same."

Kureha raised her eyebrows. She didn't dwell on how Mercer knew so much. Instead, she thoughtfully tapped her chin. "Rejuvenation at the cellular level?"

"More or less."

"Hehehehe." Kureha laughed delightedly. "Now that's some advanced technology. Would you mind letting me study it?"

Mercer waved his hand, unconcerned. "I brought it back so you could study it. I just didn't know how to explain where it came from."

Kureha pursed her lips. "Does anyone else know you have something like this?"

"No. Just you, me, and Bear Cub."

"Bear Cub doesn't count. So it's just the two of us, then. Good, that's fine."

"Since no one else knows, I can study it without worry. We won't have to run away, either."

Mercer: "Run away?"

Kureha gave a strange laugh and rolled her eyes at Mercer. "Kid, remember this: in this world, eternal life is always the most alluring thing. If you have something that can grant it and others find out, you'll never know another peaceful day."

"So tell me, if others found out we had this, shouldn't we run away right away? Or should we wait for them to come over for tea?"

"Oh." Mercer nodded and smiled at Kureha. "Then if you figure out how to make that rejuvenation drug, won't we have to move?"

"Right." Kureha thought it over, then agreed. "We might have to move when that happens."

"You're that confident?"

Mercer asked curiously.

Kureha replied coolly, "Who do you think I am? If it's a drug and I have a sample, do you think I can't reverse-engineer it?

"Do you think I've wasted these more than 120 years of my youth?"

Mercer didn't answer, just in case she hit him.

"Mm, the meat's ready. Let's eat."

As she spoke, he cut off a large, bone-in piece and handed it to Kureha.

She took it without bothering to mind the heat and happily dug in, alternating between a bite of meat and a sip of wine.

Mercer started eating, too. As for Bear Cub, there was no need to worry about him. He had already started devouring the other Laboon while the two of them talked.

After she had eaten her fill, Kureha cheerfully said, "Go on and do your thing," and "You two keep eating," before returning to the Treehouse with a spring in her step.

Once she was home, Mercer turned back to his roast and kept eating, a smile in his eyes. This is good. It's nice to have this kind of understanding.

After many years of relying on each other, Mercer trusted Kureha deeply. He knew what kind of person she was.

Mercer figured that if he drew anything interesting in the future, he could keep sharing it with her.

"This kind of relationship is pretty comfortable. I'm sure Doctor Doriel feels the same way."

"I just wonder how long it'll take her to figure out that drug."

Mercer used his breathing to speed up his digestion, precisely controlling his stomach and intestines to rapidly absorb nutrients.

That made him even hungrier.

"Free Breathing Method"

"Precision"

Using the two blessings at once, each complementing the other, Mercer was delighted.

As expected, the two blessings can enhance each other. Breathing is actively used, while Precision can be passive. They can work together like the front and back of a hand, acting on each other.

"It feels a bit like Return of Life. No, not quite. It isn't the same as Return of Life; the effect is just similar."

Seeing Mercer speed up his eating, Bear Cub's eyes widened. His bear face took on a distinctly defiant look.

"Oof."

Eating speed suddenly increased.

Mercer glanced at it, rolling his eyes speechlessly. "If you've got the guts, don't use your ability; if you've got the guts, don't open your mouth so wide?"

Bear Cub didn't answer Mercer, just eating the meat in huge bites.

Making soft whimpering noises in its mouth.

The whites of its eyes rolled back.

Since you already use your breathing to affect your digestion speed, it's not cheating for the bear to use its ability either; it's just eating a bit too wolfishly, not really tasting the flavor.

Mercer smiled.

Looking at the silly bear.

The roasted Laboon it was eating was already more than half gone, while he still had more than half of his own left.

Kureha's appetite was just that of a normal person.

A few minutes later, Bear Cub looked eagerly at the roast meat in front of Mercer, while its own roast meat had entirely gone into its belly.

At this moment, it looked at Mercer with a pitiful gaze.

Smiling, Mercer tore off a large chunk of meat and tossed it to Bear Cub, who caught it in one hand and ate a bit more carefully this time.

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