"My meat!!!"
After a brief moment of shock, Zeng Tian let out a long, anguished cry.
He had gone to so much trouble to kill that opponent, only for someone to snatch it away after he had taken just a few bites.
Worst of all, he could not get it back, because as a Charmander, he-
Could not fly!
Zeng Tian puffed out his cheeks in fury and punched a small tree beside him, thinking viciously, Damn it! Taking advantage of the fact that I can't fly, huh? Once I evolve into Charizard, if I ever run into that bird again, I'll catch it and roast it!
Once his anger subsided, however, Zeng Tian rubbed his still-hungry, cream-colored belly and sighed.
"What's done is done. Complaining won't help. I'll just have to find something else to eat."
"I wonder if the Douluo Continent has anything like Berries."
Berries were a high-energy, highly nutritious food in the Pokémon world, as well as the main ingredients used to make Pokémon Food and Pokéblocks.
Their existence also kept battles between Pokémon in that world from becoming quite so fierce.
Zeng Tian did not hold out much hope, though. He had searched his memories of the Douluo Continent and found nothing similar.
If all else failed, he would have to hunt wild animals, or even Soul Beasts, to fill his stomach.
After walking for a short while, Zeng Tian reached a lush patch of blue grass, where several plump pink rabbits were nibbling on Blue Silver Grass. They hopped about every now and then, looking utterly adorable.
"This Soft Bone Rabbit smells amazing."
A quarter of an hour later, Zeng Tian watched the roasting rabbit before him sizzle with dripping fat, licked his lips, and instinctively rubbed his little hands together.
Beside him lay another Soft Bone Rabbit's corpse, with a white Soul Ring floating above it, proving that it was a ten-year Soul Beast.
Indeed, these pink rabbits were Soft Bone Rabbits, the same species of Soul Beast as Xiao Wu. Rabbits reproduced extremely quickly, and Soft Bone Rabbits were one of the main food sources at the bottom of the food chain in most Soul Beast forests.
Although Soft Bone Rabbits were fast and possessed a charming ability that gave them a decent chance of survival, they still fell short against true predators.
After several failed attempts, Zeng Tian had learned to anticipate their movements and easily killed these ten-year Soft Bone Rabbits with Ember. Compared with killing the hundred-year Mandala Snake earlier, it had been far simpler.
Before long, Zeng Tian polished off both roasted Soft Bone Rabbits, and his hunger gave way to a full stomach.
Zeng Tian patted his round belly in satisfaction, then his gaze sharpened. It was time to train.
Even without training, his strength would increase as his body grew, so long as he spent every day eating and sleeping. But that was far too slow.
His current circumstances were hardly promising. He needed to get stronger quickly.
Besides, simply waiting for his body to grow would not be enough to evolve into Charizard.
Only a small minority of Pokémon managed to evolve into their final forms. Most became stuck before that stage, unable to advance another inch.
Zeng Tian did not want that. After all, he had set his sights on becoming the strongest Charizard.
If he could not even evolve into Charizard, he would be a disgrace to transmigrators everywhere.
Zeng Tian then found a suitable spot and stood before a tree, his eyes tightly shut as he recalled the descriptions of moves in his inherited memories.
The next instant, white light shone around both his claws, and he slashed fiercely at the tree before him.
White light swept past, leaving two claw marks an inch deep in the tree, while its bark began to crumble.
Looking at the claw marks, Zeng Tian frowned. "The power still isn't concentrated enough. It's too spread out."
Indeed, the first move Zeng Tian chose to train was Scratch.
His speed was currently limited, and he could not fly. In a place teeming with Soul Beasts like this forest, close-quarters fighting was almost unavoidable.
As the only close-range move Zeng Tian currently knew, and the starting point and foundation for many claw-based moves, Scratch was well worth training.
His earlier battle against the Mandala Snake on the cliff face had proven the importance of Scratch.
Without Scratch, Zeng Tian might already have fallen off the cliff, let alone managed to kite the Mandala Snake.
Most importantly, Scratch was still lv1, and he had accumulated plenty of experience during the earlier battle, making it the easiest move to level up.
"If I don't have enough experience, I'll just keep practicing!"
"Char, char, char~"
The Charmander's gaze sharpened, and white light once again shone around his claws as he frantically slashed at the tree before him.
As time passed, each slash left deeper claw marks in the tree, while the area of damage became increasingly concentrated.
Suddenly, the white light around Zeng Tian's right claw lengthened. With a single slash, the white claw of light pierced the tree's trunk, and the already overburdened tree finally crashed to the ground.
Zeng Tian panted heavily, but his eyes shone unusually brightly, because the level of his Scratch move had changed.
Not only that, but his own level had also risen.
[Name: Zeng Tian Species: Charmander Ability: Blaze Level: 5 Status: infancy Moves learned: Ember lv2, Scratch lv2, Growl lv1]
"Level 5. I've gotten a little stronger again."
The process of clearly feeling his own strength constantly increase made it difficult for Zeng Tian to stop.
Under normal circumstances, training was monotonous, and even enthusiasm would soon be exhausted.
But with this panel, Zeng Tian could clearly perceive the changes in his strength, allowing him to persevere for much longer.
When he used Scratch again, the length of his claws increased from three centimeters to five, and they were more condensed as well.
It was not just Scratch. Even Ember's power had increased by roughly ten percent compared with before he leveled up.
Leveling up improves everything. Just gaining this one level was no less than raising every move by a level.
Seeing the increase in his moves' power, Zeng Tian could not help thinking this to himself.
It would be wonderful if he could raise his level quickly, and for Pokémon, there was no faster way to level up than battling.
But Zeng Tian soon shook his head. Leveling up was not something he could rush.
Reality was not a game. Although battling could speed up the acquisition of experience, it did not guarantee any, so he could not rapidly level up by farming low-level Soul Beasts.
Most importantly, he only had one life. He had only just been born and still had plenty of room to improve. There was no need to risk his life fighting those Soul Beasts.
He would train a while longer before considering that.
Afterward, Zeng Tian resumed his training.
A day passed quickly. Through constant training, both Zeng Tian's Ember and Scratch advanced to lv3.
Even Growl advanced to lv2.
Although he had not reached level 6, his strength had still improved considerably compared with before.
"I'll get something to eat, then keep training."