I grow stronger by making my wife happy.

Chapter 359: 359:The outside world.

Silver stopped beneath a crooked tree and opened his physical condition.

[Physical Condition: Injured ~ Recovering.]

[Skeletal Integrity: Stable.]

[Muscular Trauma: Minor to Moderate.]

[Soft Tissue Trauma: Minor.]

[Internal Damage: Minimal.]

[Natural Recovery Rate: Elevated.]

He stared at the last notification.

”Elevated?”

The system responded.

[Recent physical skill advancements have increased Host’s overall physical resilience.]

[Primal Strength Lv3 reduces physical strain associated with sustained muscular exertion.]

[Iron Bones Lv3 improves skeletal resilience and reduces secondary trauma resulting from physical stress.]

[Current recovery medicine remains active.]

[Combined effect has improved Host’s functional recovery.]

Silver flexed his fingers.

That explained why moving wasn’t destroying him as badly as he’d expected.

The two skills weren’t directly healing his wounds, but his newly strengthened body was handling those wounds much better.

Every step placed less strain on already exhausted muscles, while the improved Iron Bones meant his battered skeleton wasn’t constantly aggravating surrounding tissue whenever he climbed, slipped or lowered his weight onto another ledge.

Considering the amount of punishment required to advance both skills, Silver wasn’t sure whether he should consider the trade worthwhile.

He looked toward the distant opening high above.

”Actually, I’m going to say it was worth it because the alternative was dying.”

He continued downward. The mountain apparently agreed that surviving deserved additional training.

[Primal Strength Lv3 proficiency increased.]

He paused while hanging from a root and stared at the notification.

”You’ve got to be joking.”

Another notification appeared.

[Sustained controlled descent recorded.]

[Physical load distribution improved.]

[Primal Strength Lv3 proficiency increased.]

He pulled himself onto the lower ledge and sat there for several seconds.

”Six days underground wasn’t enough training, so now climbing down counts too.”

The system didn’t answer.

Silver smiled faintly.

”I’ll take it.”

He was no longer going to complain about free proficiency.

The descent continued.

Several times he deliberately avoided using Short-Step even though teleportation would have made difficult sections easier.

His spatial reserves were recovering, but after exhausting them during the fight with the queen and the cliff escape, he wanted to preserve the ability for genuine emergencies.

His body could handle climbing since his spatial abilities needed rest.

There was also something strangely satisfying about descending normally.

For almost six days, every meter had been earned through darkness. Now he could actually see where he was going.

The valley stretched around him beneath the late afternoon light. Trees covered portions of the slopes, broken by exposed stone and long strips of pale earth.

Farther below, the terrain widened enough for vehicles, and beyond that Silver could make out parts of the route their expedition had travelled before everything went wrong.

The open sky still felt enormous but he kept looking at it. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed clouds. A shadow suddenly crossed the ground.

He stopped.

The soldier inside him reacted before his conscious thoughts did. He looked upward, to see something circling above.

At first Silver thought it might be one of the Sky-Borers. His hand immediately went to the handgun, then the creature banked.

It had feathers, with meant it was a bird, a large bird at that, but that didn’t necessarily make it friendly.

Silver watched it carefully. It circled once then descended slightly.

”Don’t.”

The bird ignored the warning, its wings spreading wider.

The creature was large enough that he estimated its wingspan at several meters, with dark brown feathers, hooked talons and a long narrow beak.

It had probably noticed an injured person moving slowly along exposed terrain and decided he’d make an easy meal.

Silver activated Insight.

[Insight Activated.]

[Cliff Razorhawk]

[Tier: Two.]

[Type: Avian / Agility.]

[Primary Traits: High-Speed Dive, Enhanced Vision, Reinforced Talons.]

[Secondary Trait: Opportunistic Predation.]

[Primary Weaknesses: Wing joints, chest, neck.]

[Threat Assessment: Low.]

He looked at the final line.

”At least something thinks I’m low risk.”

The Razorhawk folded its wings, then dropped, fast.

He drew.

[Phantom Draw Lv3 Activated.]

He tracked the approaching beast. The suppressor attached to the handgun was already damaged from the cliff escape, but Silver barely thought about it.

The bird descended. He waited until it was around twenty meters, its talons extended before...

BANG!

The sound exploded across Death Row Valley. He physically flinched from how loud the noise was.

The Razorhawk jerked in the air as the bullet struck its chest.

He fired again.

BANG!

The second shot hit near the base of its wing and the bird lost control.

It crashed several meters away, rolled down the slope and struck a rock hard enough to stop moving.

Silver remained frozen as the echoes travelled across the valley.

BANG... bang... bang...

He slowly looked at his handgun, then at the suppressor. A cracked piece fell from it.

He stared blankly at it.

”So you’re dead too.”

He removed the ruined suppressor and examined it,; it was completely useless.

Silver tossed it into storage rather than leaving evidence scattered around.

After spending days using suppressed gunfire underground, the normal report had sounded almost unnatural.

It also probably told anything within a considerable distance that someone was here.

He glanced uphill, no Sky-Borers appeared. He approached the Razorhawk carefully.

Insight confirmed the kill.

[Cliff Razorhawk ~ Deceased.]

[Tier Two Beast Core detected.]

He removed the core. After what he had learnt, leaving usable resources behind had become almost physically uncomfortable.

He stored it, then looked at his handgun. The weapon was still functional. Ammunition wasn’t currently a serious problem but the missing sword was.

Silver instinctively reached to the side of his waist before remembering that nothing was there.

The sword he’d carried through most of the underground ordeal had been left in the final chamber when the queen knocked it away.

There had been no opportunity to retrieve it.

He opened the system shop.

”Let’s see how badly you’re going to rob me.”

The balance appeared.

[Available Affection Points: 688 AP.]

He winced.

He had started the underground ordeal with more than enough to feel comfortable, but surviving underground was apparently expensive.

Silver searched.

[Category: Weapons.]

[Subcategory: Swords.]

Results appeared.