He would practice the same move over and over again for 2 to 3 hours before resting for a bit. After resting, he would casually hunt one or two of the rabbits and roasted its meat for his food. He would also bathe himself with water formed by his mana every day before and after practicing the move.

On the fifth day of his practice and 7th day of his stay in the forest, Zeke finally achieved 10 meters in one try. His feet and legs got accustomed to the movements while also getting the timing of his wind spell activation right. If it were any other person besides Zeke who tried to imitate what the cheetah did, it would probably take them months before they could even understand the gist of it. But for Zeke, who has [Thought Processing], he could individually practice both his feet and his mana control. This undoubtedly made Zeke's progress much faster than someone who couldn't divide his mind at will.

Zeke then decided that it's time for him to hunt the cheetah now and use his new ability on it.

*Congratulations on your newly made skill, Zeke. May I know the name of your skill?*

'Name? Hmm, this one's good for ambush, so I'll name it Jaguar Step. I'll try to modify it later on and make it viable for continuous application and call the other one Cheetah Steps. Jaguar Step would focus on the explosiveness for killing while Cheetah Steps will focus on speed and escaping.'

*Understood. Adding it to your self-made skills. Also, you got a bit of the Treant's stats due to your Ma.s.s Murderer t.i.tle, see for yourself.*

————————————

Ezekiel Flamehaven

Male; 9 years old

Pure Blooded Half-Dragon

t.i.tles: Otherworlder; Unrestrained; Pandora's Champion; Perfect Mana Core User; Undying;

Ma.s.s Murderer;

Level: 15(1250/1500)

Str: 1350

Agi: 1330

End: 1700

Int: 1650

CP: 2100

Skills: Lvl Max Mana Circulation

Lvl 15 Elemental Mana Circulation

Lvl Max CQC

Lvl 15 Formless Style (10 techniques)

Lvl 15 Aura

Lvl 10 Mana Skin

Lvl Max Fire Ball

Lvl Max Wind Step

Lvl Max Water Barrier

Lvl Max Tremor

Lvl Max Light s.h.i.+eld

Lvl Max Dark Slash

Lvl Max Grease

Lvl Max Wind Blade

Lvl Max Flame Wall

Lvl Max Bone Strengthening

Lvl Max Deflect

Lvl 10 Void Negation

Lvl 10 Breath of Lightning

Lvl 1 Wisdom King's Grace

Lvl 4 Spatial King's Domain

Lvl 5 Electric Discharge

Lvl 6 Fire of Recovery

Lvl 4 Earth Wall

Lvl 6 Wind Walk

Lvl 3 Chain of Ice

Lvl 5 Feline Control

Lvl 5 Blessings of Light

Lvl 6 Chilling Aura

[See self-taught skills]

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'Looking good. I'm halfway with my father's stats back then!'

*Yes, Zeke. It was all thanks to your hard work ever since then.*

'Yep, yep, I know, System.' Zeke hurriedly stopped the System.

Zeke then rushed off to the place where he previously saw the cheetah. Every day, he would check the surroundings for the cheetah after his practice. He always recorded it in his mind so right now, he was visiting all of the cheetah's previous hunting spots.

While checking on the third hunting spot, Zeke saw the cheetah with a dead snake. The cheetah lifted it up by biting on its neck and dragging it down towards the shrubs. Zeke noticed that the cheetah looked like it slightly lowered its guard right now. It seemed like it noticed that Zeke, its stalker, was already gone or just gave up in hunting itself. However, after a bit of relaxation, it left 20 to 30% of its attention towards the surroundings, wary of other predators that might harm him or steal his food. Zeke smiled as he felt the opportunity. He then approached the place from the tree branches up above.

The poor cheetah still hasn't expected that its attacker would be above its own. It was still looking out for its left and right, but it didn't count the high places and tree branches.

Zeke then jumped near the side of the tree he held moments ago. Aiming his sword, his feet then touched the trunk of the tree as his figure blurred before quickly appearing above the cheetah. The eating cheetah suddenly panicked but it was too late. It quickly moved its head but unfortunately, it was still pierced by Zeke's sword on its vital organ. The cheetah then quickly leaped away from Zeke with the sword still embedded in it. Its big wound continuously discharged blood as the cheetah's face suddenly became paler and paler. It couldn't stand with its own four feet anymore as it just looked at Zeke with helplessness and despair.

'Should I really kill it?'

Zeke didn't know why, but he was suddenly felt pity by the cheetah's expression. He was a bit confused and asked himself if he should really kill it or not.

After a few seconds of pondering, Zeke made up his mind to let the cheetah survive. After all, it was thanks to the cheetah's display days ago that he now had another formidable technique, so this could be said to be Zeke's form of repayment. He then threw a potion containing red liquid towards the cheetah, smearing its wounds while it started to regenerate at a visible pace. Zeke then carefully removed his sword from the cheetah's stomach as he gestured to the cheetah to drink the remaining potion.

The cheetah, as if understanding Zeke's gestures, suddenly knocked the flask down to the ground as it started to quickly lick the red liquid. Its rate of regeneration suddenly quickened as its stomach wound was rapidly st.i.tching itself back together. After a minute, the cheetah was back to its feet and looked as healthy as ever.

It then looked at Zeke for a long time. Zeke was a bit nervous seeing as the cheetah might attack him again in retaliation and knowing the cheetah's monstrous speed, he would probably receive an attack that he couldn't react to. However, it was actually the opposite. The cheetah approached Zeke slowly and started to rub its body on Zeke's legs.

Zeke felt the urge to laugh as this cheetah looked and behaved exactly like how normal cats in his previous world are. He then warily crouched down and tried to pet the cheetah's head. The cheetah just stood still and let Zeke touch its head while its tail was vigorously wagging back and forth.

Zeke was very surprised by the sudden turn of events. Earlier, he had just planned out the ambush for the cheetah, and now not only did he now kill the cheetah, but it also became his friend! Zeke didn't know whether to laugh or cry about the situation.

While he was currently thinking this, the cheetah was nudging him using its paws. The nudge woke Zeke up from his dreamland. He then looked at the cheetah with a confused expression. The cheetah couldn't speak nor voice his thoughts so he just decided to walk towards a certain direction. Zeke understood what the cheetah wanted to so he followed along. He was a little bit curious as to what the cheetah wanted to show to him.

After a few minutes of walking around some of the cheetah's hunting spots, the two end up in a small hill hidden by huge trees. It was surrounded by very high trees and thick vegetation that If it wasn't for the cheetah's directions, Zeke would probably not see this at all.

The hill wasn't really that big, and its height was only 30 to 40% of the nearby trees. What's strange was that there was a small hole in the foot of it. The hole wasn't that deep, but Zeke could clearly see there were many things inside of it. With Zeke's enhanced vision, he could see things that are s.h.i.+mmering, things that look like stones but with different colors, and weapons of different shapes and forms. Zeke wondered who those items belonged to and why the cheetah brought Zeke to it.

Soon, the cheetah and Zeke were in front of the hill. The cheetah walked closer to the items and gestured Zeke with its head.

As Zeke took a closer look at the items sprawled on the ground, he saw a letter written in a piece of cloth as well as wall carvings. Zeke also noticed a human skeleton lying. The skeleton was taller than Zeke and it seemed to be pretty new considering the integrity of the bones.

The carvings in the wall were pretty vague, but Zeke could understand the gist of it. In the first carving, there was a lone person sitting cross-legged. Beside him lay a sword with beautiful intricate carvings with a jewel engraved in the middle of the handle. In the second carving, it showed multiple enemies being beheaded by the same figure in the first carving. His blade had blood oozing off of it while he looked ferocious and desolate. In the last carving, it showed him sitting cross-legged again but this time, the carving also showed the hill Zeke was currently in. The figure had something going down his whole body as Zeke inferred that it was blood and the figure sitting is injured. The other small carvings weren't intact anymore, so Zeke moved on to the letter. If it was a story about the owner of all this, then Zeke already got the gist of it. However, he still would like to know more about the person who left all the items.

Zeke opened the letter and read through it. It was written on a piece of cloth so the other parts were already illegible, but Zeke continued on as he was really curious right now.

"To whoever reads this, Greetings, I am Roland Von Dane, also known to the public as Baron Von Dane. If you are reading this, it means I have truly succ.u.mbed to the clutches of death. I have left .... in here in hopes that someone ..... and continue my glory. I was known as a formidable swordsman back in my prime, but ..... unfortunately obtained the ire and wrath of .... demons. I managed to survive ... but ... done here. I've lost too .... that I can't even .... anymore. I'm writing this .... reads this and gets the items would help me continue my legacy as a swordsman and help my family in the Dragon... City. -Baron Von Dane."

Zeke discerned that the guy must've used his own blood to write this down. He felt sad about the guy's fate seeing as he couldn't even go back to his own family before his demise.

Since he was the first to find all these, he figured he'd collect all these and give it to his family in the city. He wasn't that short of money or weapons, so he might as well give it to his family in hopes that they nurture another genius that will take up the guy's mantle.

Zeke didn't bother browsing the items as he directly stored it in his spatial ring. He plan to give all of it to the man's family and pray that they give him some as compensation.

Zeke then looked at the cheetah, who was looking outside of the hole as if guarding Zeke and the treasure inside. He then went out of the hole and tried to communicate with the cheetah.

"Hey, bud. Can you understand me?" Zeke probed.

The cheetah only looked at him without barking. After a few seconds, Zeke was surprised to see it nod its head.

'An intelligent animal, huh.'

"Great. I'll be taking the items here. Do you mind?"

The cheetah shook its head.

"Great. Do you want to hunt with me, then?" Zeke tried to ask. To be honest, he didn't need any helper at all since he's an all-rounder, but he figured he'd invite it since it was an intelligent creature. Zeke only wanted to have the cheetah's company so he could have someone to talk to. If others were to hear this, they'd probably think Zeke's gone out of his mind right now.

To Zeke's surprise, the cheetah immediately nodded vigorously as soon as he finished his question. It then stood and rubbed itself on Zeke's leg.

"Great! Then let's go now! Hey, do you know any good monster to hunt here?"

The cheetah nodded as it dashed off to Zeke's right. Zeke followed suit and matched his speed with the beast. Since the latter's a bit faster than Zeke, it was a perfect time for him to practice the altered Jaguar Step, the Cheetah Steps.

The boy and a big cat looked like they're racing as they explored the border between the outskirts of the forest and the deeper part.