Max tried for another two days to bring up any other screens, his spirit renewed due to his recent success. Whether it was due to it not being existent, or not having the requirements to open them yet, none showed up. Regardless, that left him with only one thing to do. Continue growing his AOI until someone finally came along or he saw something different.

Day 23

Finally, he saw another life form... Sort of. An earthworm traveled through the ground below him but did not come up to the surface. Probably due to the lack of moisture up here. It was obviously dry, with the dirt being cracked all over the place. The good news was his vision now extended to over twenty centimeters on either side. His total AOI was up to over forty, meaning he was making decent progress. Still nothing notable.

Day 104

Now have total sight reaching over a meter and a half in diameter, meaning Max could see seventy-five centimeters either way. It allowed him to see the first potential target for his second skill, not that he wanted to use it. There was a rat, which was scampering through my sight. It even sniffed at him, possibly checking to see if I was something to eat. It did not stay long in his sight, but either way Max did not want to waste the mana to try communicating with a rodent to try and get consent. He did not feel as though five seconds was enough time to establish communication with a rat. Maybe ten, but then he would need to try and get consent as well. That in itself would be difficult

Day 221

Finally, Max could see something other than dirt and the occasional bug passing through. Bits of wood were stuck in the ground on the edge of his sight, allowing him to understand that he was either indoors, or nearby some sort of building. It had to be abandoned though, it had almost been a full earth-year, and yet he had not seen anything other than rodents and bugs. Was he never going to see people? Maybe it was a good idea to use telepathy on the rat, maybe try and get some sort of information network started.

Day 222

The rat came back, but sadly not for long. This time though, Max knew exactly what caused the rat to run away. All he did was initiate his skill for a single second and said hello, and the rodent scampered off as fast as it's stubby legs could carry it. Which in all reality, was quite fast indeed. With that, he had wasted mana to only scare off a rodent. Thankfully it scampered at the first word, making it so only two mana was wasted instead of the potential ten if he had gone for five seconds. With that, he just resumed expanding his sightlines once more, once that two wasted mana regenerated.

Day 281

'Well, this is just great,' Max whined. First, the good things. He had now gotten up to just over four meters to look at. Thanks to that, he was no able to see that he was safely inside a building with a roof over his head. No need to worry about being broken or cut for jewelry. Now, as for the bad news, the lighter of two sides was that the rat did not come back. Ever since he scared it away, he had been left all by himself with no other movement to be noticed. Not even a single insect came through his view. As for the worse side of it, his building was a shack. A rundown shack that he wondered just how it was holding itself together. There were holes everywhere, the twine holding some parts together were horribly frayed, and every single nail he could see was rusted beyond belief. And other than his AOI, nothing on his status had changed.

As he was lamenting over the fact that nothing seemed to be working out right now, the door to the shack swung open. Two men walked into his sight, carrying a woman between them. Whereas the two looked to be guards at a renaissance fair, complete with spears and an emblem on their shoulders, the woman was entirely naked. Her body was covered with wounds, her skin a deathly pale, and she had a number of infections going on, especially in her pussy. As the two men threw her onto the dirt ground of the shack, one of them piped up, "Hey, want to have a quick go before we leave her here?"

The other one laughed before responding, "Hah, as if anyone would be dumb enough to do that. You know the only reasons the count disposes of women are that he broke them, they got infected, or both. There is almost no chance of her living, and even if she does it won't be pleasant."

"Oh, is that why we are using this abandoned shack out in the dirty slums?"

"Of course. She dies, and it's just some street prostitute who couldn't get any more money for her body. She lives, and she gets this wonderful house to call her own!" At this, both of the men laughed before closing the door and walking off. Max felt absolutely enraged, not just at the men, but at this 'count' as well. Pleasure should be mutual, not just one-sided. Before he got too angry, he turned his gaze to the women now basically lying beside his body. She was fading in and out and did not seem like she would last much longer.

As he only had three seconds right now, Max needed to be quick and precise with whatever words he used. Coming up with something simple, he activated his skill. 'Do you wish to be saved? If so, give me everything that you are.' He had cut it close, barely getting the last word out before he was cut off from the lack of mana.

He watched as the woman slowly raised her head. Her face was ghastly, as there were cuts and bruises covering it everywhere. "If you.... want someone as minuscule.... as I, then I gladly.... offer you everything that I am" She said, barely getting the words out between labored breaths. Hearing that, Max activated his second skill. A new window popped up, but Max was not able to focus on that. Instead, he watched as the woman slowly gave her last breaths and passed away in front of him.