I Hate Systems

"This place is…?" Compass Carburettor blinked, noticing that he had appeared within what seemed to be a forest. The trees surrounding him were massive, with each spanning at least 40-50 metres in height, possessing thick foliage that caused the place to become dark.

But to him, this place wasn't dark at all. After all, a frog was able to see exceptionally well in the dark, not to mention having exceptional sensitivity to anything that moved. So, he wasn't worried about being thrust into a dark environment.

Suddenly, he noticed something amiss, immediately seeping his Origin Essence into his storage bracelet, taking out a shield as a coloured arrow slammed into it, causing a resounding clang.

"Ugh!" Compass Carburettor grunted under the force as he jumped up, using the Origin Art of Snag to pull himself towards a tree branch around ten metres above the ground. He then frowned for a moment, noticing that the shield didn't suffer any damage.

It was an energy blade made using Darlac after all. But the reason it was so tough was thanks to the Trait of Permanence.

As he didn't have any Origin Arts to defend himself with, he used the energy blade shields to protect himself. He had a variety of them stored in his storage bracelet.

Origin Arts—Mind Connect!

Compass Carburettor unleashed this ability, grunting upon failing to reach the target. The target was too far away, only unleashing arrows that he created using Origin Essence.

The range of his Mind Connect was thirty metres. And at present, he could connect with nine people at most. The Origin Art of Snag had a similar range as Compass Carburettor was unable to target the enemy that was in hiding.

But, that didn't mean he was out of options as he used the Origin Art of Frog Leap in conjunction with Snag, jumping from one branch to another, vanishing from the area. He had zero reasons to engage with this enemy when there was no benefit involved.

"Tch!" There was a grunt from among the trees after he had left as a figure slowly revealed itself, laying in wait for ten to fifteen minutes before beginning to move upon failing to see him return.

Compass Carburettor slowly travelled through the forest, cautious in his approach as he observed that apart from the trees being massive, there wasn't anything special to this forest. There weren't even any insects around, not to mention bushes that could become their habitat.

As time passed in such a fashion, he eventually came across the edges of the forest as the height of the trees began to reduce while the foliage wasn't as thick anymore, causing sunlight to leak inside, brightening up his surroundings.

Grrr!

Compass Carburettor hid immediately, noticing a Claw Wolf sleeping a certain distance away. But, what was different between this and the Claw Wolves outside the Secret Realm was the fact that a tiny herb seemed to be growing out of its forehead.

This herb resembled two strands of grass in shape and size, having a thick, bluish veiny pattern on its crimson shade. The two strands of grass gently waved in the wind, seemingly as if it was dancing.

The moment he chanced upon it, Compass Carburettor's eyes widened in surprise, for this herb was something recorded as a priceless treasure.

Blood Vitality Grass!

Ingesting this herb raised one's body metabolism, strengthening the entire body while also raising the toughness of all their internal organs, especially the heart. This allowed them to perform strenuous activities without much trouble as compared to before.

'And the best thing is the fact that ingesting it now raises my foundation, causing me to be stronger at the Martial Origin Stage.' Compass Carburettor thought. After all, the breakthrough to reach the Martial Origin consisted of compressing their Origin Essence to the limit.

A healthy body brimming with vitality was necessary to house a stronger mind which was required for this breakthrough. Other than that, to reach the Martial Providence Stage, his Martial Spirit would devour his body. At that time, all the strength, vitality, etc. that his body possesses would be transferred over to the Martial Spirit.

Meaning, his Martial Spirit would grow a lot stronger as compared to before. That's why the Blood Vitality Grass was a valuable herb as it directly raised one's foundation.

Swish!

Right as Compass Carburettor planned to grab the herb, an arrow flew towards him once again, causing him to defend against it, resulting in a resounding clang, waking up the Claw Wolf.

The Claw Wolf was in the Second Layer of the Martial Origin Stage, so it couldn't be underestimated. But, Compass Carburettor didn't mind it, for the time being, glaring in the direction the attack arrived from.

Origin Art—Mind Connect!

Origin Art—Gloss Over!

As the Claw Wolf rushed at him, Compass Carburettor established a connection between their minds using Mind Connect, transmitting the effect of Gloss Over.

This Origin Art was developed by condensing the trait of his Mind Frog's skin poison, preventing everyone connected to him from glossing over his existence.

And as he had expected, the Claw Wolf snorted, seeing its target vanish as it sniffed around, noticing a second target further away, rushing there immediately.

'This is the second time you've tried to kill me.' Compass Carburettor scowled as he used Frog Leap to hop around, keeping pace with the Claw Wolf that was chasing after the attacker.

Clang!

Another arrow was fired at him that he defended using the energy blade shield. The momentum behind the impact halted his advance, but Compass Carburettor smiled in response, for he was finally in range.

He immediately established a connection with the other party's mind. As this was the mind attribute, it was neither tangible nor could be seen, allowing him to connect with the attacker easily. Moreover, using the Origin Art of Gloss Over, he approached the target without their awareness.

Following that, he used the Origin Art of Mental Destruction, suddenly causing the target to scream in shock before losing their footing, falling off the tree branch, being grabbed by the Claw Wolf along the way, and shredded apart.

And right as it was eating up the cultivator, Compass Carburettor landed on its back, noticing that it was still not able to sense him, despite his bodyweight causing its body some strain.

He smiled, connecting with the Claw Wolf's mind, activating the Origin Art of Mental Destruction, slowly destroying its mind.