According to his previous Status, conventional wisdom in the Murim dictated that 30 was the limit of all attributes, but Remus had his doubts. Especially considering what he went through and the feats he achieved in the Murim.

'Hmm, strange... Anyways, woah I see some new things! I knew it, my Attributes have been over 30 for a while now!  I wonder why the changes to the Status sheet though...? Hmmm, I'll have to get back to it later, gotta get out of this sauna ASAP.'

Stranded, Remus couldn't step without unintentionally desecrating the dead. Slowly, stepping carefully between the dead as best as possible, he made his way to the cavern's opening. From there Remus went on into the tunnels to find an exit.

Corpses of monstrosities littered dead occasionally all along the paths Remus treaded. They appeared like some form of a twisted depiction of wolves. Oversized yellowed teeth branched out of their mouths along with six bleary eyes, four of such were front-facing and the other two were just under each ear respectively, all of which were placed on a disproportionately big head. They were estimated to stand at 2 metres from shoulder to paw, covered in grey coats that shone red from the light coming off the walls, hinting at metallic nature. Where one would assume claws would have been were instead four yellowed boney scythe-like extrusions.

So uncanny they were, that surely they could only be demons. A parody of nature's fauna, truly detestable.

"Those don't look friendly. I wouldn't mind never seeing these again after getting out, 'cos I can imagine em bein' a pain in the ass to kill."

The tunnels were destitute, sandy wastelands. Sand and rock were all there was for miles. Remus curtailed his hope of finding any source of water here, when after time and time again seemingly seeing water ahead, but only to find none and a discordant sound of deep silent laughter abounds. The problem wasn't that his mind would play tricks on him, he was certain. His Attribute pool proved his mental grit, so there was something at play here, something sinister, and he had strong suspicions on what.

Every so often he stopped to recuperate. Time was pressing on him for urgency. Cultivating through Mana circulation for a temporary recovery was simply a stop-gap measure to actual sustenance. No amount of Cultivation could substitute for his loss of water and nutrients. Naturally, the body excreted sweat to stave off the heat, and nutrients for energy, but he only had so much water to go on before succumbing to death by dehydration.

'I can't keep going on like this... Training hard is good n'ol but I'm definitely pushing too far especially considering the uncertainty of the circumstances I've somehow gotten myself into...'

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, he broke his training rule of no Mana enhancement unless in combat, all with the intent to rocket on forward, in hopes of expediting his exit.

"Welp here goes nothin'..."

[§] Congratulations! [§]
-------------------------------
※ Registered Mana Kata:
⟨ True Refinement (5☆) ⟩ 

'Huh... Display Status'

[System Tier II]
Name: Remus
Epithet: Black Swan
Level: 0 | Initiate
Free Attribute Points: 0

Attributes:
⟩ Strength   | 42/50 
⟩ Vitality   | 36/50
⟩ Endurance  | 33/50
⟩ Dexterity  | 31/50
⟩ Speed      | 37/50
⟩ Perception | 31/50
⟩ Acuity     | 39/50
⟩ Intent     | 43/50
⟩ Attunement | 38/50
⟩ Vitae      |  1/50

Vitae Expression: #???
Mana Katas [1/1]:
⟩ True Refinement (5☆)
  [66.2%:Brilliance]

"Where'd that number come out from? Only 66.2%? Clearly, I've not been working hard enough. My own Cultivation technique is only 66.2% mastered? ME? Murim's Reverent Jack? I will have to absolutely remedy such a blemish on my Status sheet as soon as I find my way out of this punishing place..." he groaned while introducing the enhanced capabilities into his rhythm of movement.

HUP- hup- huup~ hap!-

'Another moment, another step... gait consistent, advancement persistent, movement efficient and eventually I will arrive triumphant...'

He steadily continued trekking onward. It could only be said to be a grudging journey. Every so often he took breaks, circulating his Mana to ease muscle tension and relieve body pressure. Slowly, but ever present thirst and hunger gnawed at him.

Each time he got down for rest, without exception there was a subtle sense of something watching him overhead. It was always there every time. Just. There. Always a constant distance from him at all times of rest. As his pace changed, this gaze matched his tempo. Sometimes stopping a few times an hour, it was there. Sometimes stopping once every few hours, it was there. That gaze only ever came by when he stopped.

Remus found this annoying as it prevented him from even the comfort and ease of mind, worried that it just might suddenly decide to ambush him as soon as his attention left it. So he couldn't sleep. He couldn't risk himself being unguarded like that.

***

The cramped view of the tunnels is all that he saw for days. Day in, day out the search continued, the scenery still barely changed. Red rust-coloured sand, littered every so often with boulders of varying sizes, which Remus had a feeling might host some unpleasant things. So he kept his distance from them, constantly.

Throat parched, so hungry that he was beginning to eye the rotting corpses and exhaustion hampering his movement. This all was exacerbated by how the heat was sweltering on him, it was beginning to approach fatal territory. His condition declined until he could barely move forward at all.

'Going by how hungry I am, I'd say it's been 12 maybe 15 days since I found myself here. The constant ambient light makes it confusing to keep track of time. Also, I've never really starved before considering my enhanced constitution and close proximity to food at all times... Ah I how I miss having roasted rabbit, and those disgusting corpses don't seem to look disgusting anymore... Ah, with how things are I'm even considering licking on my sweat... I'm just... I'm just thirsty...'

Clearly, at an impasse and not keen on dying, Remus finally decided that this approach wasn't helping him. Moving past his lament, Remus rebalanced his bearings. He slowly lowered himself and laid down, eyes shut, and his huffing breath calmed.

Grasping at straws he tried to remember anything of significance throughout his search, but nothing came to mind. In this moment of apprehension Remus was so frustrated he began to cycle through all of his Attributes until when leveraging his Attunement Attribute in tandem with True Refinement to lash out in vexation, he sensed something. He latched onto it, and an indescribably mystical whisper urged him to will himself out...

※ Force Exit Realm Breach #793?

Now boosted with a sudden bout of enthusiasm, jumping up and down Remus joyfully exclaimed, "Yes! Yes, yes! Out...Please!".

A flash of familiar iridescence swallowed Remus, leaving the area to pervade with silence once more.

Like the truest of protagonists, lashing out works! Or maybe it was the generic trope of 'the last resort always works, letting the protagonist survive by the skin of his teeth!'. Regardless, Remus barely survived.

***

Disorientated from the transition Remus stumbled and tripped, falling to his knees. Clenching his hands tight, Remus grunted "Uff!".

'Sweat, dust, blood and now grass! Am I cursed to forever dirty my clothes, am I?! What next, slime?! I've had enough!'

He got up and stomped around in dissatisfaction, just to stop like a deer caught in headlights as he felt a gaze. He turned to see a few funnily dressed people that were talking among themselves while pointing at him. The dark grey and dusty brown stained robes they wore had a black crest quite similar to some of the corpses he saw in the Realm Breach. They were roughly fifty meters away, emerging from a copse of trees, and gradually decreasing the distance.

Too tired to think straight, Remus called them out while waving his hands high at them, "OH! HEYYY! NICE TO FINALLY SEE SOMEONE ALIVE!".

Impatient, instead of staying put, Remus slowly trod the clearing that he had found himself in towards them. At last, they met.

Growl~

Normally Remus considered begging beyond him, but he was desperate, "Uh, so do you happen to have any food and water to grace me with?"

***

Remus was now in shackles. Yes, shocking.

...