Around two hours had passed ever since we started going up this mountain. And as I thought, the climate was slowly changing as we were on our way up.

I already had the masks finished which one of them I was planning on giving to Chloe.

I thought that I could resist this kind of environment but It seems that I was wrong. Compared to a normal environment, walking in this kind of terrain was slowing me down. Also considering that Chloe with me...

And while the temperatures were going down, Chloe was on my right side, walking with me while she was hugging my arm.

I looked at her.

[ What is it this time? ] ( Hatsuko )

Ever since we started climbing this mountain she has been acting differently. Actually no... ever since we departed from that cave she has been acting differently. She was acting as if she knows me.... when in reality she knows nothing about me.

I have encountered a lot of people who pretended to be my ally when in reality the only thing that they had on their minds was using me as they please.

[ What do you mean? ] ( Chloe )

She asked as she looked back at me.

[ Why are you holding my arm? ] ( Hatsuko )

As annoyed as I was, I asked her.

[ Well, It was getting really cold so I thought I'd warm you up. ] ( Chloe

She showed me a gentle smile as she replied to me.

[ I'm not cold so let me go. ] ( Hatsuko )

Why does she think I was cold? She should already know that low temperatures don't affect me that much. I also have a thick coat made of monster fur around me so I should be fine.

[ But... ] ( Chloe )

While I was looking at her, I noticed my arm shaking for some reason.

Huh? My arm is trembling? Why? I'm not feeling cold so why am I trembling?

No... Wait, It's not my arm shaking... it's coming from Chloe...

Her whole body was trembling, causing her body's vibration to be transmitted directly to me.

My whole arm had become several times warmer compared to before. And I could feel as a soft feeling was being warped around it. She had gripped my arm really tight and wasn't planning on letting it go.

Maybe if I push her away that'll teach her something. She should know her place.

I looked at her and noticed that she was looking at something in the sky. Her eyes were so focused on something to the point where she wasn't listening to anything I was saying to her.

[ Are you listening to-- ] ( Hatsuko )

But before I could finish talking.

[ --What is that thing? ] ( Chloe )

She pointed her finger towards the sky while she had the same expression.

But she still didn't let go of my arm.

I looked in the direction where she had pointed her finger and noticed something black floating in the distance.

"X10 eyes"

Now that I could see more clearly, I noticed some kind of weird bird which looked like it was coming towards us.

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Species: High Falcon

Gender: Male

Health: 5,500/5,500

STR: 2,400

MC: 1,301

AGI: 46,900

VIT: 5,400

DEF: 4,001

Condition: Healthy

Skills: ( night-vision ) ( X10 eyes ) ( Sharpness ) ( Sharp feathers )

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And the moment I saw a clear vision of the bird approaching us, I checked its status.

It was a bird type of monster with high agility. From its status, I can recognize two of its skills that are similar to my own.

This monster also had two other skills "Sharpness" and "Sharp feathers".

It's the first time I have seen those kinds of skills and based on their name I think that they have to do with making any part of its body really sharp.

The strength of this monster wasn't that high, but by combining its agility and its other stats, this kind of bird can be a threat.

[ That's a bird kind of monster. ] ( Hatsuko )

I notified Chloe about the black thing.

[ Okay! ] ( Chloe )

And without saying anything else, she let go of my arm and prepared herself to fight. She never took her eyes off from the bird which was coming at us at a high speed.

I think it'll take only a few seconds for the bird to reach us.

Chloe might have not noticed, but thanks to my skill, I could tell that that monster was coming towards us really fast.

The monster was getting closer and closer, that's why I also got into a fighting posting.

I charged fireballs directed at that monster.

Fireballs at the size of a football ball, I continued using the same attack nonstop. I could create more than 20 fireballs at the same time without a problem.

But the moment those attacks reached the High Falcon, It dodged all of my attacks really easily.

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Name: Hatsuko Gee

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Health: 93,112/93,112

STR: 40,367

MC (mental capacity): 12,615

AGI: 45,663

VIT: 14,815

DEF: 26,990

Soul collected: 9,999/10,000

Condition: Healthy

Skills: ( Materialization ), ( Air slash ) ( The eyes of see-through ) ( Rage ) ( Berserk of Gluttony ) ( Presence detection) ( Night Vision ) ( Fireball ) ( Marionette ) ( Auto fight ) ( Poison Resistance ) ( Illusion) ( Life Draining ) ( Telekinesis ) ( Limit breaker ) ( killing intent ) ( Boost ) ( X10 eyes ) ( Aura sense ) ( Eyes of destruction ) ( telepathy ) ( Clone ) ( Soul contract), etc

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I don't want to reveal too much to Chloe about my skills so I should probably be careful.

I stared at the center of the monster coming towards us.

"Eyes of destruction"

With this skill, that monster should be dead by the time it reaches us.

[ ... ] ( Hatsuko )

The bird started moving and wiggling around as it was coming towards us. It was moving so fast that I could barely focus my eyes at the center of its heart.

That's when I knew that that kind of bird wasn't any monster that you can play around with.

[ Chloe! ] ( Hatsuko )

I called out to her.

[ Yes?! ] ( Chloe )

[ Take cover at the nearest tree. ] ( Hatsuko )

I told her as I was trying not to lose focus of that monster.

[ O-Okay!! ] ( Chloe )

She hid from that monster in the nearest tree as soon as she heard my order.

That High Falcon might have already seen Chloe hiding, but it didn't consider that at this point I wasn't planning on holding back anymore.

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