Karen had taken the lead, with Eliza trailing closely behind her. Eliza's stomach suddenly grumbled as they made their way through the fog-shrouded forest together. She quickly lowered her head in embarrassment.

Karen abruptly halted and incredulously stared at Eliza for a few moments before walking over to the nearest dead tree. She broke a branch from that tree. A small amount of a white fluffy substance was present at the branch's broken intersection. As they were currently unarmed due to the loss of their weapons during their revival, Karen gathered some fluffy substance in her hands and extended it towards Eliza.

Eliza just stared at Karen, perplexed. Soon she received her response, "Just chew it and drink the juice inside." Karen said, "As there is no source of water in this forest, the trees absorb a significant amount of water through their roots and store it within them. It's the only consumable thing available in this wilderness."

Eliza had an uncomfortable expression on her face after hearing this, but her stomach had another opinion as it grumbled again. Finally, unable to control her hunger, she stuffed the white fluffy substance in her mouth with an ugly expression.

It didn't taste as terrible as it seemed. The cold pulp within was rushing down her parched throat at breakneck speed. She spat out the coarse remains after chewing for a while. Her stomach felt slightly fuller than before.

"It isn't as bad as I had feared. Could you please give me some more?" Eliza requested Karen.

"I told you," Karen said while breaking a few more branches from nearby trees. "I was also feeling a bit hungry, so let us fill our stomachs before continuing on our way."

They both drank the pulp until they were full.

"How did you know this was inside the tree?" Eliza inquired, pointing to the coarse dry remains.

"As it happens, I've been here a few times," Karen replied with a smile.

"However, the information on that white stuff did not appear even after I used Identification on the tree."

"What is Identification?" Karen questioned Eliza.

"The ability to identify everything. Didn't you see it in your status window?" Eliza asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I remember seeing it on that black screen. So, what do you mean by it?" Karen replied.

Eliza suddenly realized that Karen didn't know much about the system and its capabilities.

"Say status," she ordered Karen.

"Status." The status window screen reappeared in front of Karen's eyes. "The previous black screen has appeared in front of my eyes."

"That is your status window, and it displays all of your abilities and skills. In the skills section, there must be an Identification skill." Eliza directed Karen.

"Oh! It is present." Karen exclaimed with anticipation.

"Now say status once more to close the status window," Eliza continued instructing.

"Status," Karen said, and suddenly the status window in front of her eyes vanished.

"Now, while looking at that tree, say Identity in your mind." Eliza patiently explained.

Karen followed Eliza's instructions exactly, and after saying Identify in her mind, a different blue screen appeared in her view for a few moments.

Hell-Tree - Found in Hell.

"Whoa! It shows some information about the Hell-Tree!" Karen exclaimed in astonishment while looking at Eliza. "However, it only shows one sentence," she added glumly.

Eliza attempted to lift the now gloomy mood. It is only the beginning. As you advance through the levels, you will acquire more powerful abilities," she boasted.

After hearing this, Karen's gloomy mood completely disappeared. "All right, then, let's level up!" she exclaimed, her face beaming.

Karen's eyes gleamed with anticipation as she looked at Eliza. Eliza, on the other hand, shattered her expectations when she said, in a heavy voice,

"Right now, it's impossible."

"What do you mean?" Karen asked with a slightly depressed voice.

"Do you know what we need to do to level up?" Eliza asked back.

"Ah, no," Karen quickly replied.

This quick and honest reply shocked Eliza. 'Is she simply honest or, does she feel no embarrassment at all?' she thought.

"To level up, we have to kill other beings. The more powerful the enemies we kill, the more experience we gain and the faster we level up," Eliza elaborated.

"What is so difficult about killing a few monsters?" Karen asked with narrowed eyes.

"If you haven't already forgotten, let me remind you that we have no weapons and have lost all of our power," Eliza said, her voice frustrated. "Now, even the weakest of the monsters is enough to kill us both."

"What you say is correct, only if we confront them head-on. Have you ignored where we are?" Karen said this while spreading her hands and pointing to the dead trees and dense fog surrounding them. "This is the ideal for hunting without being discovered."

After hearing Karen's response, Eliza realized how much she had underestimated her. Despite her lack of knowledge of the system, Karen had proven to be a formidable demon commander. She had honed her battle instincts over several battles, making them razor-sharp. It was true that if they used their surroundings wisely, it wasn't impossible to entice and kill a few weaker monsters.

If they squandered this opportunity, there was no telling when they would have another chance to level up in Hell.

Eliza nodded at Karen, who returned her nod with a faint smile.

"But what about our weapons?" Eliza enquired further.

"I'll take care of that," Karen said, pointing to the hell trees that surrounded them.

She walked up to the dead trees and began ripping off their branches. It didn't take Eliza long to figure out what was going on. She started gathering the fallen branches in one place. Soon, a tangle of branches formed.

Then Karen started looking around for a sharp stone, and once she found one, she began to shave the dead skin off the branches.

After that, she began to break the branches by clenching them with both her hands.

In the end, only three branches remained intact.

Eliza just stood there silently, watching the whole process.

"These can be useful for making spears," Karen informed Eliza while pointing to the three intact branches.

Karen began working with the sharp stone on the three intact branches. She eventually fashioned three wooden spears with pointed heads. Eliza quickly used Identification on them.

Wooden Spear – Made from a branch of Hell-Tree

Eliza was astounded by Karen's crafting abilities and checked her status to see if she possessed any crafting-related skills. She was, however, surprised to discover that there were none. Identification was the only skill available. It made her even more perplexed. In the beginning, everyone at least possessed two skills, but Karen only had one.

Soon her gaze landed on the last line of the status window, which displayed the Penalty (Permanent). She quickly checked her status window. After reading her status window, which appeared in front of her, she felt as if she was about to lose her mind.

Eliza

Species: Human (Heroic Bloodline)

Level: 1

Stats:

Available Points (0)

Vitality - 5

Strength - 5

Endurance - 6

Agility - 5

Mana - 7

Intelligence - 7

Skills:

Available Skill Points (0)

Identification - Level 1

Inventory - Level 1

(Hereditary skills will become available as your level increases)

Soul-Binding Skills:

Telepathy - Level 1

Soul Transfer - Level 1

Intermediate Regeneration – Level 3

(As your bond grows, new skills will become available.)

Penalty (Permanent) – As a result of the forbidden technique used by the hosts to save their lives, their level will increase 20 times slower than before.

"This is insane," Eliza exclaimed as she gazed up at the red sky. 'Isn't it unfair to impose such a harsh penalty even if she had used a forbidden technique?'

Now even if she spent the rest of her life hunting monsters, she would not even come close to the shadow of her former self. What was the point of surviving if she couldn't even exact revenge? She was on the verge of breaking down.

Karen had rushed to her side when she noticed her reaction and inquired, "What happened?"

"Did you know about the penalty?" Eliza questioned Karen in a hollow voice.

"What penalty?" Karen was perplexed.

"The one displayed in our status window," Eliza added.

"Ah, the one at the very end. What about it?" Karen asked nonchalantly.

Eliza was exasperated as she looked at Karen. 'She has no idea how serious this situation is.'

"Because of this penalty, we'll have to literally put in twenty times the effort and time to level up!" Eliza coldly stated.

"It's not like it's preventing us from gaining more power," Karen shot back.

"Do you even realize how long it will take for us to increase levels? On top of that, we're in the middle of nowhere," Eliza's voice sounded frustrated. "Something like revenge is now just a pipe dream."

"Hey, I'm not sure why you're saying it this way, but you're making us sound completely useless without that system," Karen angrily said.

"Isn't that correct?" Eliza's eyes had begun to well up with tears.

Seeing this, Karen sighed and sat down beside Eliza. "You know what. Before all this happened, I aspired to be the strongest person in the world. It was a very personal matter,” Karen had a reminiscing look on her face. “Not that it matters anymore. Anyway, I used to train every single day, thinking that all I needed to do was become a little stronger than the day before. And over time, that teeny-tiny bit of strength accumulated and made me who I was"

Seeing this, Karen sighed and sat down beside Eliza. "You know what. Before all this happened, I aspired to be the strongest person in the world. It was a very personal matter,” Karen had a reminiscing look on her face.

She continued to console Eliza, “Not that it matters anymore. Anyway, I used to train every single day, thinking that all I needed to do was become a little stronger than the day before. And over time, that teeny-tiny bit of strength accumulated and made me who I was. I worked hard and my efforts never betrayed me till the end"

“On the other hand, the system is simply a tool to assist you. Don't let it control your limits. Even though it may give you impressive skills and abilities, it is nothing compared to your effort. Now don't worry, because even if I don't want to, I'm stuck with you, and I'll do everything I can to help you become stronger.”

"And as for revenge, it's only a pipe dream right now because we're so weak" Karen had a fierce glare in her eyes. "But whether it takes a year or hundreds of years, those cretins will receive what they deserve, and that from our hands only."

Eliza suddenly felt a slight heartache, and tears welled up in her eyes. She subconsciously clutched Karen's dress. Karen consoled her by patting her on the head. Any observer would have thought an older sister was comforting her younger sister.

Suddenly, they both received a slew of messages.

Your bond has grown stronger. Taking into account all of the possibilities and appropriately rewarding

Reward : Penalty reduced by half.

The most eye-catching aspect of this message was its red color. Eliza had never seen a red message before. The following one, on the other hand, was typical.

You have unlocked a minuscule portion of your Heroic Bloodline.

Perseverance (Passive) - You will use 10% less stamina in everything you do. This amount can rise in proportion to your belief in your cause for a short amount of time.

Eliza was at a loss for words. Their penalty was reduced by half, and she also unsealed some parts of her mysterious bloodline. She suddenly felt her body becoming a little warm.

She had tried several methods in the past to awaken her hereditary abilities, but none had worked. But now they had awakened, when she was at the lowest point in her life. Her stamina improved significantly as a result.

But the joy lasted only a few moments. Karen sensed something and suddenly stood up, holding the wooden spear.

"Get ready for battle. It appears that a monster has spotted us." Her face had a solemn expression.