While Asher was searching for shelter, he came across a pair of black beasts, but he didn't engage in a battle with them and avoided them successfully.

  [Name: Veil of Scent

  Number: 9987

  Ability: Shroud - Completely shrouds the scent of a person during activation]

  Using item numbered 9987, Asher avoided them successfully and the black beast that he hunted before was also with the help of this.

  Asher's inexperience turned every encounter with black beasts into a life and death battle. Their razor-sharp senses and their unyielding bodies made them hard to kill.

  Asher's spear was also a numbered item, crucial in injuring and killing the beast.

  Numbered items, as the name implies, are ranked in numerical order.

  There are ten thousand Numbered items, with Number one being the strongest and Number ten thousand being the weakest.

  Numbered items are rewards for passing the Trials of Destiny, which is Asher's current challenge.

  [Survive in the Abandoned World for 30 days]

  It was the trial given by the Celestial Mind to him, the administrator of the trial.

  After barely surviving half a day in the Abandoned World, mental fatigue already threatened to overwhelm Asher.

  Due to the effects of curse, Asher hadn't slept for two days, leaving dark circles under his eyes and causing his concentration to waver in battles.

  At this rate, Asher doubted whether he'd survive for five days, let alone thirty days.

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  Asher considered rapidly increasing his Rank to alleviate the effects of the curse, but it didn't work the way he hoped, increasing his frustration in the process.

  Because he hadn't found a single core to absorb.

  Ranks ascend from weakest to strongest: Awakened, Master, Ascendant, Monarch and Saint.

  Every Awakened being has a core inside their body and Asher needs to absorb them to increase his Rank.

  Despite killing over six black beasts, Asher couldn't find a single core inside them.

  Asher was confused and devastated to discover that the black beasts had no cores. The black beasts were an anomaly that Asher didn't understand.

  'Is absorbing the energy in the atmosphere my only chance?'

  Asher muttered with a sigh.

  Another way to increase his Rank was to absorb energy from the surroundings, but that method was outdated and time-consuming.

  It takes Asher about 24 hours of full-concentration meditation to absorb the energy equivalent to a single core from an Awakened Rank creature

  Asher didn't have the luxury of time; he had to solve the curse's problem quickly, or he would die in the Abandoned World without achieving his goal.

  Thinking that the only way to increase his chances of survival was to find other types of beasts to obtain their core, Asher passed another pair of black beasts without any conflict.

  ***

  After an hour of journey, Asher didn't find any suitable shelter, but at least he had a positive result.

  It was a huge tree that seemed to be about a hundred meters.

  Asher went near the tree and inspected it with awe. When seen from close, the seems to touch the gloomy red skies, and Asher felt like a child in front of its size and grandeur.

  At least in the hope of finding a way to escape from this place, Asher decided to climb the tree.

  'It should be tough, but I need to endure this much to pass the trial.' With determination, Asher removed his shirt.

  Tying the spear behind his back using his shirt, Asher began to climb the tree bare-chested.

  Since the branches were withered, Asher didn't dare to step on them due to fear and he could climb up using only his hands and feet.

  'I finally did it!'

  After reaching the top with great effort, Asher didn't have the luxury to catch his breath or look for a shelter, because the first thing that entered his field of vision was a huge black mountain.

  As soon as he saw this, Asher jumped down towards the nearest branch without caring whether it would break or not.

  He knew, he saw nothing before climbing up, and there was no way that he would miss such an important detail with his cautious mentality.

  Luckily, the branch didn't break when he landed, and Asher began to descend even more hastily like a monkey.

  Just three meters from the ground, the branch beneath Asher snapped, sending him plummeting.

  Asher was caught off guard and directly crashed to the ground.

  When he turned around, he saw the black mountain was also looking at him, no longer than the black mountain, it was proper to call it the bigger version of the black beast that he hunted before.

  This one too had a hideous face, revealing its razor-sharp teeth and pointy tongue, but the surprising part was it had eyes too.

  It was looking Asher like an easy prey and rolled its tongue in hunger.

  Asher's face turned pale, and his heart shrunk. Icy fear's grip paralyzed him, as his eyes fixed on the behemoth.

  His thoughts momentarily shuddered and he stood there like a statue.

  Asher's chest heaved, his breathing was quick and shallow, even though the beast was far away from him.

  Asher came back to his senses when the beast made a move, and then without even thinking of fighting back, he ran away towards the opposite direction.

  The huge behemoth spotted him and uprooted a withered tree from its root, holding it like a playing stick.

  After checking its durability by shaking it a few times, it threw the tree toward Asher.

  The tree flew towards Asher, tearing through the air like a sharp spear.