The grit of volcanic ash tasted like dry coins in Han Sen's mouth. He huddled in the shadows of the crevice, his back pressed against the damp stone. Every muscle in his body felt like a frayed wire.
He looked down at his status screen. His HP bar was a flickering, thin line of red.
[Status: Extreme Fatigue]
[HP: 3/10]
[Mana: 1/5]
He was one wrong move away from death. Even a common cold could probably kill him at this point. He looked at the Phoenix egg cradled in his lap. It was pulsing with a rhythmic, golden light, but the light was growing dimmer.
[Warning: Nirvana Egg is losing vitality.]
[Requirement: 1,000 Units of Mana per minute to maintain life.]
Han Sen let out a dry, hacking laugh. He only had five units of mana in his entire body. The system was asking for a lake, and he was a single drop of rain.
He didn't panic. He opened his skill list and searched for anything related to energy. He found a passive skill called [Basic Breath]. It was a skill every Level 1 human had just to stay alive.
[Allocating Skill Points: 1,000,000]
[Basic Breath has evolved into: Heaven-Devouring Void Mantra (Max Level).]
The air in the crevice suddenly turned freezing cold. There was no wind and no noise. Instead, there was a terrifying silence as a vacuum formed around Han Sen.
The mana in the surrounding atmosphere didn't just flow into him. It was dragged, pulled, and consumed.
[Ding! Mana Regeneration has exceeded the limit of a Level 1 vessel.]
[Warning: Your 10 HP body cannot contain this energy. Diverting excess Mana to the Egg...]
Han Sen felt as if his veins were being filled with liquid lead. The pressure was immense. His skin began to glow with a faint, blue light. He quickly pressed both hands onto the warm surface of the egg.
The transfer was instantaneous. The egg didn't just take the mana; it drank it. The golden pulse inside the shell grew stronger, turning into a blinding radiance that filled the small cave.
The shell began to vibrate. Cracks formed along the surface, glowing like molten gold.
A sharp, high-pitched chirp echoed against the stone walls. A small, wet head poked through the top of the shell. It had feathers that looked like flickering embers and eyes as deep as the sun.
[Soul-Bond Established: Celestial Vermillion Phoenix (Infant)]
[Name: Nixi]
[Level: 1]
The little bird hopped out of the shell and looked at Han Sen. It tilted its head, its gaze heavy with an intelligence that shouldn't belong to a newborn.
It didn't see a weak Level 1 human. It saw the man who had provided the energy of a thousand stars to bring it into the world. Nixi let out a soft trill and nuzzled its head against Han Sen's thumb.
A new screen appeared, shimmering with a golden border.
[Bond Synergy Unlocked.]
[Host can now use 'Shared Skill Points' to upgrade the Divine Beast.]
Han Sen leaned back against the wall, his 3 HP finally beginning to tick upward as his breathing stabilized. He was still the most fragile person in the world, but he now had a god in the palm of his hand.
He looked toward the mouth of the cave. The Abyssal Lion's roar echoed in the distance, closer than before. The beast was hunting. It could smell the scent of its rival's offspring.
"You want this bird?" Han Sen whispered, his eyes turning cold. "Come and get it. I've got a few million points left to spend."
He looked at Nixi. The bird looked back, its tiny wings sparking with fire. The hunt was on, but the roles were about to change.