A Cold-Blooded POV

Deep howls reverberated through the forest, signaling that a hunt was being initiated for a pack of monsters.

Breezes of wind drifted - momentarily lifting the abnormally extensive crimson leaves. This created a fluttering sound, giving the creatures inhabiting the forest an artificial sense of chilliness.

Everlasting rays of mana light beamed down to give light to the rich thickets, establishing a resplendent scene that was worthy of admiration by all who had eyes to see it.

The trees were tall as mountains, their trunks twisted into bizarre shapes. Their branches reached skyward like giant claws, grasping at the ceiling above with deadly sharp nails. This made certain parts of the forest abandoned by the light, leaving areas of the woodlands dark while others lightened.

Deeper within this forest - pass an uncountable amount of trees, there was an underground home. A nest.

Within that nest - there was a reptile, almost 7 feet in length.

Ethoss laid on his bed. The red, almost pink, dead leaves that he had collected from the trees outside his nest buried the dirt - giving the bed a very comfortable cradle.

These massively long leaves were even more comfortable than the leaves that grew in the forest expanse within the Great Aeternus Labyrinth. These leaves had a cloth-like feeling to them that cushioned his body, and Ethoss loved it.

It was definitely a great choice exterminating all those goblins to discover this idea. Ethoss wouldn't have ever learned about it - had he never entered that cave. Goblins would always hold a unique place in his heart for their creative invention, and also for their scrumptious taste.

Yet, their invention would always inevitably pale in comparison to the three small blood colored orbs that laid next to him.

Ethoss large head rested on his bed, facing in the direction of these orbs. They looked so beautiful resting against the soft red-pinkish leaves of his bed.

They were tiny little balls of magic energy, each one mundanely absorbing mana slowly while simultaneously releasing mana. Ethoss watched this process repeat itself - over and over again. His nightly blue eyes glowed softly within the dark underground nest.

'I wish I could hold on to these forever…' Ethoss internally complained.

Still, he knew that this desire would not be possible at the moment. No matter how much he adored cores, he needed them more than he wanted them. His ambition for strength far outweighed his greed for the cores.

Accepting this detrimental reality, he snatched his eyes off of the crimson orbs with difficulty - placing them on the bones that littered his nest.

These were the bones of the hyena monsters. Ethoss had just finished eating everything he could from them approximately 10 minutes ago. He had gained a total of 9 biomass from their corpses.

The bones were large and lengthy - much stronger than ordinary animal bones. Earlier, after finishing his meal, Ethoss had thought about carrying these bones outside of his nest since he had no need for them, and they were taking up space.

However, he decided against this. They would soon be sucked into the dungeon anyway, it would just be a waste of time carrying them out. Besides, Ethoss fatigue still hadn't wore off, and his wounds still hadn't fully healed - it would take sometime for the food to digest and his wounds to recuperate.

Staring at the larger bones of the litter, Ethoss' mind subconsciously thought about that weird magic the black tooth hyena casted each time it attacked him.

The element of magic had convoluted properties within it that made it seem alien compared to the elements he was familiar with - fire and ice.

Suddenly, a thought popped into his head.

'Ah! Right, the monster profile said something regarding an affinity…' Ethoss thought as he scrambled through the menu in his mind.

A couple of seconds later, he pulled up the profile and reanalyzed it - hoping to get a better prospective on the unknown element.

'Shadow affinity?' He questioned. 'Hmm… well that would correspond with its dark color, I suppose'.

Ethoss wasn't a expert when it came to magic and mana, however, his eyes played a crucial role in his understanding of certain aspects.

For instance, although his eyes could only see so far deeply within mana, what he could make out based off color - was that essence of mana was pure. This was until one attempted to add a magical element to ignite a spell - dousing the pure mana with a different color unique to the specific element infused.

Ethoss could see these colors really clearly since they were technically sub-particles of mana itself - similar to peanut butter and jelly were.

His eyes were way more essential than he'd ever imagined them to be - and he predicated that the more he mutated his eyes in this route, the more he could analyze regarding the key factors of mana.

'Now that I'm on this topic, there is a experiment I want to run regarding pure mana itself.' Ethoss thought.

He closed his eyes, allowing his scaled eyelids to cover over them like a blanket. With the innate knowledge he gained when his mana manipulation skill upgraded to mana shaping, Ethoss began to concentrate.

He could feel his core within him, sitting right in the center of his mid-section. It was warm - like a tight ball of heat, faintly pulsing with energy.

Soon he began using all his mental energy on his core, sinking his mind deep within himself. His consciousness locked on the core, then started to draw from it. Gradually, it began to move, flowing in the direction of his thoughts.

Unlike normally, Ethoss wasn't attempting to use any elemental properties like fire or ice, he wanted to focus explicitly on the mana itself.

It was hard, just as hard as when he attempted elemental spells.

His brain pumped endlessly, and soon the mana began moving reluctantly out of his core and into his body. He directed the mana to course through his body slowly.

[Mana Recycle has reached level 4]

Ethoss ignored the voice, he couldn't mess up now - he had made it so far. Any distraction and all of his progress would be for nothing.

After a couple of seconds of moving the mana through his body, it started.

The itching sensation that the miracle lake produced on his body. That uncomfortable tingling sensation tickled his body intensely. Still, Ethoss continued.

Opening one of his eyes, he glanced at a bite wound that was on his leg, and just how he imagined - it was healing.

He could visually see his meat tissue connecting and tying itself up like a shoe. Additionally, he could feel a weak but strong force welling up within him.

About 2 minutes flew by, then Ethoss felt his core start to run empty. Checking his core, he confirmed that his MP was 0.

Gasp!

Ethoss breathed harshly. It was always mentally taxing when it regarded magic. Without warning, an unexpected mechanical voice spoke in Ethoss' mind.

[Aptitude achieved, you have been awarded the skill Minor Heal]