Little Dou was happily playing around all this time. Though her actions looked like she wasn't listening, she could still hear everything they talked about.
Among all the people around Max, Little Dou would always be the most informed of his situation.
She was the System Fairy, after all. She could be called the representative of the System.
Although Little Dou couldn't tell them everything she knows about the Skill Box, the System determined that they have gathered enough information and decided to give them a hint.
However, whether they will find something out with that was entirely up to them. The three of them stared at Little Dou, waiting for what she was going to say.
They have a feeling that they were on to something big, a secret that was waiting to be uncovered that will be beneficial for them.
[The hint is to pay more attention to the New Awakeneds! They have the answer you are looking for!]
New Awakeneds? Max became lost in thought. New Awakeneds should be what they call those Awakeneds who recently kept popping out of nowhere.
Why would Little Dou tell them to pay close attention to the New Awakeneds? Are they different from the rest of the Awakeneds? Or was there something about them that they still didn't know?
As far as he knows, there was no difference between Awakeneds. If there are, what could it be?
The only way to find out was to follow the hint Little Dou gave them. There must be a reason why she specifically said New Awakeneds. But how were they going to do that? It looks like Max had to continue his night watch around the city.
He would start from there and from then on see what will be their next course of action. Max doesn't believe that they won't find some more clues about it.
These past few nights before he roamed the city, Max had been training his body seriously. Even though he has a strong body for a human doesn't mean he had the strongest body for an Awakened.
Having a higher rank meant having more overall power that includes body strength. However, there is more to it than that.
Some animals in the wild were naturally born with a powerful body, but no one ever thought they were formidable.
Without techniques and strategies, they were just simple creatures. The same with Max, his body strength and overall superior skills doesn't automatically mean he will be unbeatable.
From the information that he obtained in the past few days, Awakeneds in the entire world had a variety of ways on how they train to become stronger.
Some focus on their skills, honing it to its peak while trying to gain enlightenment to become stronger.
This meant gaining more understanding of their skills and modifying it to be more efficient to which the output would be stronger.
While they were in that process, the energy in their bodies would slowly grow denser. Once their energy finally becomes dense enough, they will achieve a breakthrough to the next stage until they could rank up and get their second skill.
Most Awakeneds described it as the more experience someone has with their skill, the more they will understand it, and the better their control will be, thus making themselves stronger.
Max got to read some stories about people breaking through and gaining enlightenment in a life and death situation, which was considered a fortunate and rare occurrence.
Other Awakeneds decided to focus on strengthening their bodies. Of course, their skills are indispensable, but they chose to focus more on their bodies, using it as a weapon.
Awakeneds like them should have some skills that won't get any stronger. An example would be some type of Storage Skill like the Inventory or any Movement Skills. They could only depend on their physical abilities to fight.
It was different from having skills that use weapons which could be improved by having better control and greater insight.
This gives those Awakeneds with weaker skills a chance to change their fate with their own hands. In the end, their progress will depend on themselves.
Naturally, those with skills on the stronger side would have an edge, especially if they were paired with any skills that give them useful buffs.
That was another way to become stronger. There were a lot more ways to get stronger such as pills and treasures, but those resources aren't available for every Awakeneds.
Most people choose to do a little bit of everything, trying to learn more about their skill to improve it while strengthening their body and using the resources available to them.
With all that knowledge, Max had to go through intense training to improve his body's flexibility and reaction time.
He also played with his skills in the wild, trying all sorts of combinations and strategies he could think of. His Time Stop was one of his strongest skills that can be used offensively and defensively.
Max planned to make it one of his primary skills in the future, and it's in his top priority to be upgraded. He believed that the Time Stop would be his most potent card someday against the mighty foes he will face.
To be away from people's eyes, Max traveled outside the city to the countryside where the mountainous region was located.
With the serene environment and bountiful wild animals to hunt, Max was able to hone his skills and reflexes. He saw improvements in his movements that were now more controlled. His steps were also lighter.
Yu'er gave Max some pointers since he was lacking in some areas when it comes to combat. She pointed out how slow his hand-eye coordination was, which is only one of the many fundamental things he should improve on.
For days, each time he went to the mountains, Max had to catch fish from the river for food with bare hands.
It was a difficult time for him. Those fish were fast and slippery. Sometimes his hands weren't quick enough to grab them.
But Max persevered all night, trying again and again. He also trained in other ways such as hunting without using any skills, nonstop using his body to its full capability to surpass his present self.
Nowadays, Max wasn't that same as he was before. His sharp eyes stayed alert, and his body movements were relaxed yet seemed to always be ready to react to any situation in his surroundings.
A hint of excitement showed on Yu'er's composed face as she turned to Max, having a plan of her own,
"This city is massive. There are a lot of them in here so finding them should be easy. If we really tried. Of course, this time we will be joining you."
A small smile crept its way to her face. She had been patient and cautious, staying away from any dangerous activities since their parents went away.
Yu'er knows that Max from the past won't be able to handle it if she were to have powerful enemies. That was the reason she acted like an ordinary person, never exposing her skill to anyone, especially her skill, which can heal people.
If that were to be known, plenty of Awakeneds that have evil intentions would inevitably pop out to take advantage of her and Max.
One day they would slowly explore the world, go on an adventure, meet all kinds of enemies and above all, have the most overpowered skills, conquer the world and everything in it.
"Where should we go first? Do you have any ideas?"
Max nodded. In the first place, he never had any plans to go alone. With Yu'er and Xue's help, they could do a lot more things.
Now that they have a few skills with them, while also getting stronger by the day, Max decided that this should be the right time for them to begin interacting with the hidden world shrouded in mystery.
He was aware that being too cautious is limiting them. With a slight change of mentality, this can be considered his first step forward to the unknown.
"Yeah, I know some places."