《Survival System: Return to the Enchanted Planet》 -1 Prologue Year 2132: [Conmet] has been discovered. A [Conmet] is a conscious metal. It can memorize, change its property, depending on its surroundings. Most of all, it is self-sufficient with more than 43 % efficiency. A major development in the graphene-quantum era. Year 2137: First successful Conmet ship test flight. Only 0.01% damage with 11% secondary energy harvest at warp speed 1. Year 2139: First successful test flight survived 0.07% damage with 19% secondary energy harvest at warp speed 4. Year 2147: First successful test flight survived 0.009% damage with 32% secondary energy harvest at warp speed 8. Year 2149: 13th type of energy particle has been discovered in the energy cell harvest from the warp energy. It is named as ''TreDecon''. Year 2151: Tredecon can energize any inanimate material. Year 2152: First commercial wrap craft has been completed. Capable of carrying over 100,000 people over one year at warp speed 1. Year 2155: Named ''Trotter'', First commercial wrap craft took its maiden flight to Luyten b. With 10,000 people on board, it will take 15-18 months to reach Luyten b with a warp factor of 2. Year 2158: First Tredecon energy beam had been tested on 87 Sylvia and destroyed without a single speck of dust. Year 2160: Trotter returned to earth with 7,628 people on board. With a confirmed mortality rate of 7.8%, the federation of earth announced that it is ready to inhabit lightyear planets. Year 2161: 3 months into the journey, Trotter 2 lost all the contacts with the earth. 2 months later, the federation declared wreckage of the failed craft had been discovered. Voyage of Trotter 3 is cancelled. Year 2162: 7 Mars colonies were destroyed in an unfortunate Tredecon experimental failure. Year 2163: Mars has shifted more than 1 kilometre from its orbit. Mutated humans were discovered on earth. Year 2164: The Voyage of Trotter 4 and 5 have been cancelled. Year 2165: The federation declared the Trotter project will be cancelled until further notice. Year 2166: The great mars colonies were deserted. Year 2167: 2,571,000,000 humans had died in Tradecon radiation. A Mutation epidemic had been declared. Year 2168: Due to beast mutation, radiation epidemic and corrosion due to Tredecon, earth and mars colonies have been declared deserted. On Christmas Eve, 2168, Survivor 1-8 craft took almost 1,000,000 human beings without any mutation and left the motherland of mankind, never to return. Due to the similarity of the fantasy element, ''Tredecon'' was renamed Mana. This was the beginning of the Magic Era of Earth. 1 Back to Earth. Aiden ducked as he avoided the kick by an inch. Aiden reached for the other leg, but the man was quicker. The leg that had missed its mark came crashing down on the Aiden''s head. Even before he could attack, Aiden had to roll away. The heel made a hole on the floor but it repaired itself before the boy could lift his leg. *Clap* *Clap* "That''s enough of that, Levi. You too, Aiden." "Yes, Captain." Both Levi and Aiden responded in unison. "Oh! Man. I was so close." Levi complained, putting his hand around Aiden. "Next time. I will get you." ''You''ve been nowhere close! If anyone could touch me, it would be Alex.'' Even though Aiden wasn''t the strongest of fighters, but was the most agile one. Still, he had felt that with each fight Alex''s moves were becoming harder to dodge. ''The captain is the perfect specimen, as they say.'' ''PADS, show me the result of the battle.'' With Aiden''s thought, the band on his neck blinked twice before arrays of data appeared in front of his eyes. It wasn''t a cheating system like Aiden had read in the novel between his training, but it was the most advanced product of the federation. Named ''Personal Assessment and Development System''. In short, it''s known as PADS. Not many of the top leaders had one. It wasn''t that Aiden was someone important, but because he was on the mission he was given one. Aiden was born in the mana slums of Luyten B which was renamed as Planet Will. It was right outside the 20 human strongholds on the planet. No, it wasn''t dangerous to live on the planet. The planet was just perfect for humans, and not many beasts could threaten the existence of a human being. Humans live in many cities on the planet but those fortresses were standing there for a different purpose. Like Earth, Planet Will have places with extreme weather conditions. And Desert Base 3 stood in one of those places. They cultivate humans who could overcome extreme mana poisoning and become a legendary sorcerer. The soldiers of the new era. "What are you dreaming about? Take your seat "Alex''s words woke him up. "I''m sorry Captain." Aiden scratched his head. Others had already taken their place. Aiden was greeted by Elijah''s smile. She pointed to the seat beside her, and Aiden accepted it with a smile. "And we''re all here," Alex''s voice was intense. "In less than two hours, we will reach Earth. Let''s get through the drill again. Accepting everyone''s nod, Alex began, " Alex. Water. Level 3, grade B. Captain." "Lyla. Fire. Level 3, Grade E. Vice-Captain." The red-haired girl answered next. "Elijah. Wind. Level 3, Gade E. First officer" "Levi. Earth. Level 2, Grade S. Second Officer." "Asher. Fire. Level 2, Grade S." There was no designation for the boy named Asher. It''s not just him, none of the next three had one. "Aiden. Wind. Level 2, Grade A." "Sara. Water. Level 2, Grade A." "Owen. Earth. Level 2, Grade B." "Can''t you try a little harder, Owen? Even Sara had become Grade A. "Levi grumbled unhappily. Owen evaded his glare and looked down. "Levi. Stop it." They were stopped by Alex but he did not forget to scold Owen, "Owen. While you''re on the field, don''t hold back the team." Owen agreed without looking up, but Alex wasn''t done, "It isn''t just him. When you make an error, be ready to accept your punishment." "Yes, Captain" Their voice resonated with each other. Alex pounded on the table as a small compartment opened in front of each of them. "This is the PADS-X. Military edition, state of the art, 0.3 fs response speed, along with auto repair, combat assist and sleep protection system. And the dog tag is the key to that. Use blood to bind the system." Their eyes were sparkling, staring at the new device. Most of them have even put it on. Aiden glanced at the neckband device. His name had been etched on the body. "They prefer to use this sort of thing in the past as well." It wasn''t that Aiden knew a lot about history, but one of the novels he''d read had discussed it. Alex confirmed his comments, "In the past when there was no Union, there were hundreds of countries out there. They used it to identify the soldiers." "But it''s different. On ''Planet Will'', no matter where you are, the Federation will find you as long as you have the tag on you." Alex described the feature with pride. Aiden wasn''t sure about it, but from the rumours, he knew that Alex was one of the heirs of the leading techno enterprise. Yet what was more important to Aiden was, "And on Earth?" " " Even with severe mana emissions, it would be 5 km. " '' 5 km? It wasn''t much, but it''s better than nothing.'' He put it on, after dyeing it with his blood. Through the reflection on the large fish ball window of the spacecraft, Aiden confirmed that he could no longer see the invisible neckband. "Yeah, that''s it. Head to the pod and get some rest. A quick overview of the tasks will be offered to you when you get the mana poisoning shots and everything else." "Ok Captain." Everyone stood up and moved toward their stasis pod. ''1:42:21'' The number continued to decline in the left corner of his view. Thinking about it, Aiden couldn''t help but sigh. From the mana slum to the top of the Desert Base 3. Now he''s hours away from the birthplace of mankind. "You''re going to age quicker if you sigh too much." Aiden turned to be greeted by Elijah, "Can I talk to you for a moment?" "Of course." Aiden chuckled. "Can you believe that? "Elijah asked, gazing out at the dark space. "We''ve been working with each other for 10 years, and now we''re here." ''Huh! She''s thinking about the same thing.'' Aiden''s grin grew wider, "Yeah, you were just 8 then, I was six.'' A sudden pinch greeted Aiden, "Don''t mention the age of a girl." Listening to her, Aiden couldn''t contain his grin, and she giggled. Somewhere in between, she squeezed Aiden''s side, "Aiden, I''m scared." "What a 3E grade mage would be afraid of." Aiden added a moment later, "I''d say I''m going to defend you, but I''m just a 2A grade mage." Aiden was confronted by a pair of stern eyes at the next moment. She was trying to save her hand from his grasp, but it failed. One sudden tug sent her in the embrace of Aiden. "Then again, my battle rating is higher than you. So I will protect you." Aiden whispered in the ear of struggling Elijah. After a moment of struggle, she calmed down and returned the warmth. "We''re running out of time. So if you two lovebirds could stop wasting time, it would have been easier." As soon as Alex''s words rang in his ear, a sudden push from Elijah sent Aiden to his butt. Elijah backed away from them while hiding her ashamed face. Gripping Alex''s palm, Aiden stood up. "Aiden, get yourself ready. We may have to go to war as soon as we land. You can do those things after we return. Ok?" "Yes, Captain." Alex avoided poking his soft corner, but it made him more embraced. "Go quick. Your parents are waiting. It will be harder to get in contact after we cross Saturn." Aiden raced back to the stasis capsule. When he stepped in, the pod closed on its own. Lukewarm gel kept wrapping around his body. The next time he opened his eyes, he stood in the green meadow. Four individuals were standing in front of him. A grey-haired man who looked older than his age, a young woman who had made an unusual pair with an old man. A young girl who stared at him with red eyes, and a little boy who rushed to see him as soon as he appeared. "Brother, brother. Why are you so late, huh? I''ve been waiting for so long." The boy, not older than 7, grumbled as he jumped to Aiden. "Sorry Aaron, your brother''s been a little busy." "Aaron, come down. You are so heavy you shouldn''t let your brother carry you." Looking at her mother Aaron tried to wiggle down but Aiden didn''t let him. "Come on, mother. It''s a virtual space. I don''t feel any weight." "You shouldn''t pamper him too much." His father grumbled. Aiden tried to smile, but his conscience was overcome by a sudden blast of pain. The agony was so intense that his leg was giving away. Even if it was virtual space, Aiden could not let himself fall while holding Aaron. At the time he recovered consciousness, he was already on his knees. "What happened?" "Aiden!!" Waves of worry engulfed him as soon as he recovered, but the girl was the first. "Please don''t go anywhere, brother. Come back here. Please don''t go. "She continued her unfinished crying while embracing Aiden. ''What are you doing here, Arya?'' His father tried to scream, but he couldn''t. Neither he nor his wife wanted to let their child die. Ten years ago, when Aiden was selected as a candidate, they were very pleased. Aiden had worked hardest over the years, and they were the ones who had enjoyed the fruits of his success. It was the culmination of Aiden''s hard work, that he could move from the Mana Slum to become the director of a large business. Even if he were the CEO of a medium-sized business before relocation, no one knows better than him that it would have been difficult without Aiden. "No, no. I''m alright. I''m going to get my shots. "Aiden spoke as his face twitched in discomfort. Looking at his profile, his mother couldn''t stop herself, hugging her three children. ''A man shouldn''t weep.'' Even though his father whispered those words in his head, it was hard for him to stop the tears. "What the hell are you doing? I''m alright. Don''t cry. Signals will be cut as soon as we cross Saturn." But Aiden''s pleading was in vain, and the humid atmosphere started to affect him as well. "What the hell are you crying for? The mission will be done in two or three months. We''re going ..." Aiden couldn''t finish his sentence when he realized the warm feeling of the embrace disappeared. Looking up, he found that his family members were just as shocked. His mother attempted to reach his son for the last time but failed as they faded away from his vision. Aiden collapsed on the green grass as he was enduring the pain of the shots. It took quite a while to get used to the pain, "Today is painful." He had no idea if it was the pain or the atmosphere that had affected his tear ducts yet he suffered in silence. Ignoring the agony, Aiden stood up, "PADS, show me the list of missions." Aiden was surprised by a lack of response as the grin emerged on his face at the next moment, "PADS-X, show me the list of missions." In front of his vision, a massive, transparent screen created from thin air. *************** "Stay in the formation. Without command, no one is allowed to break away from the formation." Alex''s voice continued to sound through the PADS. To maximize the survivability they all took separate pod shuttles. Adian was at the right corner of the rhombus formation. On his left was a shuttle carrying Elijah, whereas Levi was at the front. Aiden took one last glance at the empty dark space before closing the small window of the pod shuttle. "What was that?" It was only for a moment, and he was not sure what he had seen. "What happened?" Alex replied first while others waited for an explanation from Aiden. "I think a giant head at ten o''clock." "Are you sure? We are tens of thousand kilometres above ground." "It appeared only for a moment to peek before we plunged into the misty grey cloud." Even though he wasn''t sure what it was, Aiden was aware of something mysterious being there. Alex was about to scold him but the first response was from someone else. "I have seen it too. I''m not sure whether it was head, or not. Yet it jumped." Lyla supported Aiden''s words. There was a long silence until Alex sighed. "Let''s¡­" "Unknown objects at 1 o''clock. 42 seconds until impact." Levi shouted as Owen added, "Horde of flying beast at 8 o''clock. Confirmed scan. It is ''Naked Raven.''" As soon as he heard it, the system showed a picture at the side of his vision. A 2 meter tall beast with a wingspan of more than 10 meters. Below the giant raven head was a bare chest of a human. Wide black wings stretched out from the shoulders. its body was like a human being, but under its knees were black talons. ''What sort of mana poisoning has resulted in this kind of beast.'' It wasn''t Aiden''s first time, but it was hard for him to believe. "We should break," Lyla said, but Alex didn''t respond. "23 seconds from contact." "31 seconds." After Owen, Levi added. "Break up." Hearing Alex''s scream, Aiden could not help but frown. "Elijah, Levi and Aiden. Land at point C. Rest of you will follow me. Stay there for ten hours and then meet us at Point F." "What about Owen?" Levi shouted through the system. ''From when Levi is so worried about Owen? ''Aiden was confused, but he didn''t ask. "LEVI." Alex''s voice grumbled again. "Follow the order. We''re going to take care of him. Meet us within 24 hours." "Roger, Captain." They broke out with everyone''s confirmation. Even though Levi was still unwilling, he led the drive, but¡­ All of a sudden, misty grey clouds cracked in front of their eyes. They could see the green below. But, what they saw at the next moment, sent shivers down their spine. It''s a skeleton. A skeleton of humans. A giant human skeleton, and it''s still alive. His boney palm was flying towards them, as it was trying to knock them out of the air. "Nooooo" Levi''s scream thundered through the system as he tried to steer clear from the incoming attack. It was not just him, even Elijah and Aiden were trying to dodge the attack. Alas! It was too late and the palm was too big. Even before the system could sense the attack all the three pods were knocked out of the sky with a massive impact. 2 System: Six days to live *Tzzzzz* The electrical shock spread from his neck as Aiden was forced to wake up in a coughing fit. The taste of iron in his mouth reminded him of his harsh reality. ''What was that? A live skeleton, huh?!" He couldn''t believe it, even if he saw it with his own eyes, "Is that even possible?" "PADS, search for anything that resembles that thing." [No match found.] The robotic voice sounded in his mind, "Would you like to induct the data into the database?" ''There is no data! ''Aiden sighed before he confirmed it. [Extracting evidence from memory... The host will feel nausea during extraction.] As soon as the voice sounded, his stomach churned and he vomited air out of his empty stomach along with some residual blood. [Successful extraction.] Aiden was already struggling to get air by the time the confirmation came. His weak body collapsed on the ground. "Don''t ever extract data from my memory," Aiden grumbled as he looked at the grey sky. ''Who recorded the previous data?'' He had already asked the question in the past. The professor replied that several robotic explorers had been sent to Earth. Although none of them survived more than twenty minutes, each time they could still send back one or two pictures of the new beast. It took a moment to realize this, but he jumped back on his feet as soon as he did. "System, how many minutes have passed since I landed?" [14:25.] ''If none of the robots had survived for more than 20 minutes, then...'' And before he could think of the worst, it happened. He could hear the noise in the distance, along with the sound of hooves that came running with it. [21 seconds till contact. Confirm¡­] Aiden spared no effort to listen to the system''s explanation. ''What am I supposed to do? Weapon?'' Aiden turned to look at the messed up pod shuttle, ''No I should look for the medicine first.'' Before he could decide what to do, the timer turned 18 in the corner of his eyes, and the system added, [7 seconds till visual.] ''I have to leave.'' But running is out of options. Aiden looked up. He was greeted by the giant trees, and he didn''t dare to hesitate. He crouched down to gather the wind mana around him. It was much easier to gather mana on Earth, but Aiden couldn''t care less about it now. As soon as he jumped, the wind mana created a strong blast behind him, propelling him up into the air. [Skill [Wind Gale] is activated. Mana used: 17. Remaining Mana: 42] It was a high-grade skill so the mana expense was higher but Aiden couldn''t be stingy now. And most of all the skill was effective. With one jump he had reached 4 meters up into the tree but he wasn''t satisfied. He used it again. Sending himself higher on the tree opposite of him and he used the skill once more. [Skill [Wind Gale] is activated. Mana used: 17. Remaining Mana: 8] By the time he reached a wide branch high above the ground, he had been struggling for a lung full of air. Aiden had no idea whether it was due to injury or to the presence of excessive mana in the air. Perhaps it was just because he used mana too quickly that he had a hard time breathing. Soon the timer had stopped at the edge of his vision as the forest became silent. Aiden wasn''t sure whether or not there were insects in the forest, but he couldn''t hear one now. This is not a place with enough light. On top of that, most of the light was filtered out of the grey cloud. The place is shifting between dawn and night. There wasn''t a moment out there that was bright enough to be called a ''day''. The rustling continued in the dark east forest. Soon the darkness parted, and the system recognized the beast that had appeared. [The vampire deer. Height between 3-4 meters. Antler could grow to more than 2 meters. It''s bipedal...] Aiden couldn''t read the rest, as the low-frequency screech forced him to turn to the deer. Its body was covered with thick black hair, and the antlers were large enough to impel a human. However, it was staring at the light that was blinking at the shuttle right now. His snout was wide open, exposing the sharp teeth along with the mouth. And the long tongue that came out of the mouth was the one that made a piercing cry. If the camera on the shuttle did not send its feed to the system, Aiden would not have noticed the small mouth full of sharp teeth at the end of the long slithering tongue. Another thing Aiden had observed was the stench. Looking at the beast, hissing beneath the tree, Aiden was certain that it was the source of the tree. ''How can the blood stench be so dominant? System, record it in your database.'' Even in a situation like this, Aiden didn''t forget about one of his missions. The more he contributes to the database, the more credit he earns on his return. After recording enough of the data, the shuttle was silent. No matter how many times it had hissed, there was no response. It kept looking around, but it couldn''t find the one it was looking for. The blood that Aiden had vomited had already attracted his attention, and it was trying to find its source. The slithering tongue was moving in the air as if it had a brain on its own. It was screeching in every direction, trying to find its prey. Then it turned back to the branch. * Creeeee * The sound of its screeching had changed. The eyes of the giant deer turned to the branch, too. It was for a moment, but in that single moment, Aiden felt the red ruby eyes piercing through his soul. He tried to hide, but it was too late. The screech resonated at the air again, yet Aiden didn''t dare to look down. He knew it had seen him but was hoping that it won''t find him. "It''s going to kill me, it''s going to kill me," Aiden muttered in an intangible language as tears tickled down his eyes. ''Feeling restless'' was not the right phrase to explain the situation of his mind. His back was wet with sweat, so was his palm. Every time he tried to close his eyes, he could see a pair of red eyes staring at him. He was scared. He felt someone squeezing his heart every time he heard the sound of hooves hitting the hard ground. He couldn''t breathe, yet he kept muttering like a fool, "It''s not going to come so high in the tree. It''s not going to see me. It can''t be... *Tzzzz* His neckband sent a burst of electrical charge through his body. In a moment of vulnerability, he was struck unconscious by a sudden shock. *Tzzzz* Next short burst of electrical shock from the PADS forced him to wake up. There was very little duration between each pulse, but in that moment of carelessness, Aiden had almost fallen. No matter how much they were trained, after all, they were teenagers. Seeing a giant beast in a picture is one thing, but looking at the eyes was different. And that''s why the pulse was programmed as a combat support system in the PADS. [Host is in a state of shock. 34% drop in rationality. Emergency short bursts activated.] [Hormone level under control. 47% increase in effi...] The notification continued to appear in his mind, but Aiden ignored it. As soon as he woke up, he quickly stabilized his body on the branch. The beast was still shrieking, but it was no longer affecting his mind. After a short burst of the collar, his mind had calmed down. ''What am I doing here? I''ve been trained for so long and I''m going to fail as soon as I get here! No, I promised them. I''m going to live.'' Aiden shot those thoughts back in his mind as he peered to reassess the situation. That thing was a few meters away from the tree, but Aiden had no idea what it was going to do. Yet he was sure of what he had to do. ''Flash'' As soon as he ordered the shuttle, it sent a short burst of high-intensity flash. It radiated the forest for a moment, and on the next, the forest plunged into suffocating silence. But it was effective to draw the beast''s attention. *Boom* *Boom* The assault went on, and Aiden could see it all. The camera on the shuttle continued to send feedback to him. As soon as it flashed, the beast charged at the shuttle in force. Due to the elongated hind legs when it was on four, its body arched awkwardly. But his strength could not be ignored. Each time the giant antler clashed with the shuttle, it penetrated the outer shell. Alas! It was made of conmet, more commonly referred to as conscious metal or mana metal. As long as there is mana or any kind of energy in the surrounding area, it can be repaired on its own. When the beast attacked for the second time, the wounds of the first attack had healed. ''This won''t do.'' Aiden couldn''t help but sigh. ''It is a beast without intelligence. Driven by instinct it will continue to attack until it dies. I have to end it quickly.'' Aiden peeked down while the beast had no intention to spare any glance towards him. ''Ready the taser at the maximum strength.'' [Taser is on stand-by.] In his mind, the system verified. "Release" Aiden screamed in rage. Just as the antler reached the shuttle once more, enormous electric snakes shot from the vessel. It was a short time but the blinding light forced Aiden to turn away. The attack has been effective. The beast fell to the ground as part of its antler broke off. Its body continued to spasm. It took a while before the beast could stand up again. Still, it''s been struggling to stand straight. Fear was in its eyes as it looked back at the shuttle. It gave another piercing cry with its tongue before the vampire deer vanished in the dark forest. The whole ordeal was played out in front of his eyes, but Aiden couldn''t spare a glance at it. He felt someone squeezing his heart hard enough to burst as he stared at the face in front of him. It''s a face. He stared at the human face. A human face with no eyeballs or teeth inside the mouth. ''How could there be another human in here? And it''s not just one.'' As the spark spread from the shuttle, Aiden saw thousands of faces staring right at him. However, he was confused, ''When did they get so close?'' He could not even ask the system to check the beast, nor could he look away. He felt that they would attack him as soon as he looked away, so he didn''t dare. The wind sent chills down his back every time it touched his wet back. His eyes were itching to close, but he couldn''t. ''It''s better to give up.'' Even as he thought about it, he couldn''t dare to lose his taunted nerve. Aiden was already running on the fumes, and now he felt he had exhausted it, too. ''It''s better to die now. I could never win against so many of them.'' *Dong* Dong* ''Cowbell, isn''t it?'' Aiden was startled. In a moment of carelessness, he closed his eyes. He was ready to accept his death, yet he cried out in frustration. "Nooo." He opened his eyes, and he was greeted not by a face, but by a butterfly. Precisely, an insect that looked like a human face with wings of butterflies. [Face flies. 0.6-0.8 meter in length. With a wingspan of 2 meters. Gives off a pheromone that induces hallucination.] "You bastard, can''t you let me know before the hallucination starts?" Aiden couldn''t help but curse out loud while struggling to avoid all the face flies that were flying around. [The host wasn''t under a pheromone-induced hallucination.] The robotic voice poured a bucket of cold water on his body. "Wasn''t that the flies? Then why did I hallucinate? "Aiden was shocked at the explanation. [The host is diagnosed with Acute Mana Poisoning,] As soon as he heard the robotic voice, all the strength left his body. But the voice wasn''t finished, [Host can live for a maximum of six days.] 3 In the face of death, he retaliated. It took a long time to get his breath back to normal. "It''s impossible. It can''t happen to me. System, run a full check of my body. I want to have a detailed analysis. I want to know all about it." [Initiating the analysis. Asking for permission to draw¡­] The system couldn''t complete his words, yet Aiden had already confirmed it, "Just do whatever you want." Moments ago, he struggled hard to survive a little longer, but now that the system had informed him of his inevitable fate, he couldn''t believe it. Even if it was an error-free system. The shock was so great that the needle pierced around his neck was no longer painful. It took a few minutes, but every minute was an eternity for Aiden. Age:16 Element: Wind Level: 2 (2) Grade: D (A) Strength: 7 (11) Agility: 9 (17) Endurance: 5 (21) Dexterity: 7 (15) Intelligence: 10 (15) Health: 18/57 (-/89) Mana: 10/32 (-/81) Battle rating: Level 2 (Level 5) Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale] ] "How can my stats be reduced by so much?" Aiden was expressing his disbelief and the system provided him with an answer. [The efficiency of the left shoulder is reduced due to injury. Due to acute mana poisoning, excess mana is constantly corroding the muscles and bones of the body, and¡­] "Stop it." Aiden growled, "Tell me what the hell''s wrong with my body?" As soon as he asked, an image of a human body appeared in front of his vision. A transparent body with lines all over it. ''These are not the blood vessels, but the mana channels. And the place where all the mana is stored is the bright spot in his abdomen. It''s called the ''mana vessel,'' but there''s one thing Aiden couldn''t understand. "What is the bright point over the heart?" It seemed that PADS was waiting for him to ask the question. [This is the body of an acute mana poisoned patient. To be precise, it is the body of one who cultivates magic using the Eastern Methodology.] [By Eastern methodology, mana is absorbed from the surrounding area and stored in the mana vessel. But when one is diagnosed with acute mana poisoning, another vessel appears in the body.] The point at the heart began to blink as the system spoke. The mana flow within the body, which has been streamlining until now, has become turbulent. And the mana began to flow to the heart. [In the case of ordinary mana poisoning, the vessels formed at the limbs. So, by discarding that part, one could survive. But in the case of an acute one, the vessel is much stronger, and even if one goes through a heart transplant, it will...] "Shut up. Shut up" Aiden screamed like crazy. He was not even worried about the result of his careless action. He went crazy and somewhere in the middle of this craziness he screamed out loud, "Medicine." "Yes, there is a medicine" He tried to slide down the tree but his impatience peeled the skin from here and there. Aiden was unable to give a damn about the new wound as he ran to the Pod Shuttle. The shuttle was in the shape of an egg and was three meters high. The outer shell was already repairing itself, but that wasn''t important as Aiden ran straight inside. He was looking for an anti-mana poisoning medicine, but it wasn''t there. He looked at the place where the backup drugs were supposed to be, and it wasn''t there either. It wasn''t just the mana poisoning drug, there wasn''t a single medicine in the entire shuttle. "It can''t be." Aiden fell to the floor as he grabbed his head, "How could he forget to distribute the drugs?" Aiden had no idea whether the device was attempting to be dramatic or not, but it decided to tell him. [It is concluded from the toxicology report that you have not received any shots of anti-poisoning in the last month.] "Huh! What did you say?" Aiden screamed in rage. But he understood everything the next moment. "Alex, it''s Alex. Only he can do that. He was responsible for distributing the shots. He was the one who was supposed to put the medicine on the shuttle." Horror, rage, fear, anger weakened his mental health. Weakness, too, invaded his body, and he could no longer stand. "Why? Alex why?" Aiden kept banging the hard metal floor as the snot and tears were making a mess of his face. His nose was not effective either. He struggled to breathe with his mouth. "Why didn''t you let me know when the serum of the shot was changed?" Somewhere in this depression, his anger turned toward the system. But the system''s voice was as cold as ever, [The host activated me today. So before this time I don''t have any recollection of the incident.] [The host had obtained only one serum of increased mana absorption during this time. Remaining impact period: 17:24:13. Given the host''s body condition, it''s recommended that the host must remove the serum residue ...] Aiden could no longer listen to it and smashed the neckband on the floor. Even if he knew that it had no connection to his misfortune, he still couldn''t stop torturing that inanimate device. "They want to kill me. Mana absorption serum? You bastard..." Even if he could understand, he still couldn''t believe it. "But why? Why Alex why?" He struggled to get hold of the last straw of reasoning. "Could it be that he also likes Elijah?" In a moment of hopeless reasoning, he understood the secret behind his attempted murder. "Yes, that''s exactly what it would have been. Every time I was with her, he..." Aiden couldn''t finish his reasoning. Veins popped up on his forehead as he slammed his pained hand on the floor. "I''m going to kill you. Even if I have to die, I''m going to kill that bastard with my hand." He shouted in rage. How many people have the mental fortitude to accept their death? And in case of Aiden, it was a premeditated murder. For a teenager with above-average intelligence, it was just too much to accept. There was a fire burning in his heart, and only vengeance could extinguish it. "I have to kill him before I die. Otherwise... "As he thought about the things he could do to Elijah, his rage grew stronger. ''Should I tell Elijah that?'' He discarded the thought as soon as it had appeared. ''Once she hears about it, she will try to help... No, I can''t let her do that. On top of that, I don''t know about the intentions of others. ''Even without others, Alex isn''t the one I could beat at my top, much less now.'' The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. "It''s going to be hard but not impossible." Aiden wasn''t the one who would give up in the face of a tough challenge but would try harder. It was because of this characteristic that he had become the top of the thirty ''Desert Base 3'' recruits. Everything fell silent at the next moment. Aiden stood there looking out at the dark forest. He was calm compared to his raging outburst a moment ago. He didn''t have any useless thoughts in his mind. He just had one goal now, and that''s to kill Alex. The air around him changed as he grabbed the tortured PADS neckband. After all, it was a military class. The scratch has been repaired. He put it on as the cold voice came back in his ears. [Under maintenance. Time remaining: 3:24] Aiden did not dare to waste a single moment. He moved to check the stuff stored in the suttle. "There''s no weapon as expected." Aiden couldn''t find his trusted Conmet blade. A couple of energy bars, two mana drinks, two sets of camouflage suits. That was all Aiden could find, and he stuffed it all in the bag. Looking at the mana drink, Aiden was about to slam in on the ground but stopped. "It''s not like I have any backup water." He sighed and stuffed the pair of bottles in the bag. [PADS-X is back online.] "Run another check-up of my body, scan my memories. Do whatever you want." Aiden slumped back on the chair, making it groan and bulge. "Report me any abnormalities in my body. Tabulate all the possibilities that could increase my survival." The system acted even without a response. Nausea has confirmed its action. Aiden gritted his teeth and waited for his answer. [Ignoring the wounds five abnormalities detected.] A human model appeared in front of his vision. Five points were blinking. [A foreign object is attached to the brain, the torn ligament¡­] The system was unable to complete its report before Aiden jumped up. Sudden dizziness made him stumble, he fell on his knee, "What kind of foreign object?" "The object was implanted on the host three years and four months ago." Aiden exhaled in relief. He had brain surgery around that time. ''That''s to reduce the risk of stroke and stimulate my potential.'' [The object is in a dormant state, which has never been activated before. The system is not capable of scanning it. Classified Data.] "Huh!" Aiden didn''t know how to respond. From the moment he came to the planet, he had received nothing but bad news. They were attacked before they could land. The captain of his team is behind his girlfriend. He''s going to die in six days. And now he''s got another ticking bomb in his brain. The veins were popping up on his forehead. He clenched so hard that blood began to seep out of his fist, yet he was calm. There was a smile on his face. "I''m going to die in six days. Does it matter that there''s one more thing that''s trying to kill me? Continue." [A torn ligament in the small finger of the right hand, a dislocated left shoulder, a cancerous mana vessel in the heart, and a bony growth in the right knee.] ''There''s nothing new here but the dislocation of the shoulder.'' He grabbed his left hand, turned a little, and yanked it to the right place. He was trained to move his shoulder around. Yes, it was still painful, but he didn''t have the time to feel it. " System, the list." It appeared in front of his eyes. But there have been too many possibilities. As he scrolled up and down, he couldn''t find many options that had a success rate of more than 3%. "Show those with success rates over 10%." [No solution found.] Aiden frowned, "5%?" [1. Anti-mana poison potion. Lifetime: 6 days 14 hours. Success rate: 7.2%] [2. Blood transfusion. Lifetime: 6 days 1 hour. Success rate: 5.6%] "Only two? Show the results with maximum lifetime." [1. Repeated Heart transplant (2 times). Lifetime: 116 days 19 hours. Success rate: 0.13%] [2. Destroy the Primary Mana Vessel. Lifetime: 96 days 21 hours. Success rate: 0.07%] [3¡­] "Forget about it. I can''t do heart transplant here. And destroying my mana vessel, huh! Wouldn''t it better to die now?" ''Why does it feel like I am missing something?'' After thinking for a while he asked again, "System, what will be the lifetime if I couldn''t find the potion?" "15:52:12" the cold voice poured a bucket of cold water over him. Aiden couldn''t wait any longer. He grabbed his bag and left the shuttle without looking back. He couldn''t help but shudder as soon as he walked out. Dark silence has become more and more suffocating. ''There are so many eyes on me.'' It was only when he ran away from a mad elephant during training, that he had the same experience. And that feeling was thousands of times stronger now, ''But they weren''t attacking! Maybe it''s because of the taser.'' [Tree-walker. Height: unknown. Giant head. Lives above the tree.] [Thunder badger. Height: 1 meter. Discharges electricity from the back] [Vampire...] ''Shut it.'' Aiden did not dare to speak out loud, as thinking was also effective. ''Find me the path that I can use.'' A circular map appeared on the edge of his vision. It''s been riddled with red dots. Yet, close to the north-eastern perimeter, there was a green flashing light. ''Who is that? Levi or Elijah?'' [Unable to confirm.] ''No problem. Initiate a program of combat assistance. Mind my mana and let me get to the green light as soon as possible.'' [Finding the path¡­] Looking at the blinking map, Aiden added, ''System, shock me as soon as I get intimidated or feel the fear. Don''t ask, just shock me. Control the hormone level, so I don''t feel fear.'' [Excessive stimulation could leave permanent damage to the host''s brain.] Aiden smiled, but the PADS had not understood his sadness, ''Even the permanent one can have an effect on me for only six days, so what is there to be afraid of?'' [The best course is found.] ''Good, lead me.'' Aiden sighed as he grabbed the broken antler of the vampire deer harder. Looking at the sharp tip he smiled, ''It looks like you''re going to live a little more, Alex.'' [Activate [Reduce Drag] and [Wind Skin]] Aiden smiled and activated it. [Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used: 1/14 mins. Remaining mana:15] [Skill [Wind Skin] activated. Mana used: 2/13 mins. Remaining mana:13] Looking at the mana coast, Aiden was happy. [Reduce Drag] was an agility skill with a mana expense of 1 unit per 10 minutes, while [Wind Skin] was a defensive skill with a mana expanse of 2 units per 10 minutes. ''Wow! Those skills are much stronger now. The effective time has increased too. And the most important thing is that the mana recovery rate has increased from 1 unit to 2 units in 10 minutes. Only if¡­'' Even before he could feel the remorse, a cold voice rang out. [50 meters towards the southwest.] It was in the opposite direction, but he did not dare to hesitate. On the other hand, they were disturbed by sudden movements from their prey, but soon the entire forest was awakened to violent chaos. [On the third step, turn right and continue for 42 meters.] The orders were very clear and concise. Aiden had no chance to make any mistake, but¡­ As soon as he turned to his right, he was greeted by a bright light. The beast was only 1 meter high. But the bright blue back was the most distinct thing about it. ''It''s not light, it''s charging the back. Thunderstruck Badger, huh?'' As per the order, the system did not respond to his curiosity, nor did it give any more order. Like the last time, the order came when he was only three steps away from the beast. [Jump to the right on the third step. Initiate [Air Spike] on your right leg and kick the underbelly. Five centimetres away from the back leg.] ''What am I? A machine?'' Even if he cursed, he did not dare to disobey. He jumped to the right on the third step. He was so close that he could feel the charges in the air. Small electrical snakes wiggled around its back as Aiden kicked. [Skill [Air Spike] activated. Mana used: 1. Remaining mana:12] The resistance he had made him realize that the kick was not perfect, but it had penetrated the beast. Even before it could cry in pain, the badger was sent flying while splattering blood everywhere. Something else had been affected by the thunderous attack that had been directed at Aiden. [Turn back and run 121 meters.] He couldn''t see what it was like before he had to turn back. He understood that his kick and the thunder attack had caused a forest fire. The darkness was struck down by the sudden invasion of light, and the blood of his body was drained from what he saw. 4 Mission Accomplished. Below his chest, it looked like any other human being. Not like any other human being, but a well overgrown human being. There was too much muscle in it. His skin was white, and he held a wooden club in one hand, and a giant bone of an unknown beast in another. It was over three meters tall, but the frightening thing was on his chest. Aiden couldn''t count them in one glance, but all those faces, attached to his headless chest, stared at him. A four-legged beast with multiple thick serpent heads attached to its shoulder, a giant eyeball whose body Aiden could not see, or a giant skull that looked at him from the trees. Aiden could see all these bizarre creatures and they weren''t alone. Among the unknown, he could see many known beasts, such as Vampire deers and thunderstruck badgers. They''ve all been waiting for a chance to attack. [Maintain speed of 14-15 km/h] ''What are you afraid of? You''re going to die one way or the other. There''s nothing to be afraid of.'' While Aiden was giving himself empty peep talk, the unhurried voice sounded in his ear. [Use [Wind Burst] to jump to your left.] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 10] Aiden''s body has moved on its own. Unlike [Wind Gale], which was used to propel his entire body into the air, [Wind Burst] was a more versatile and less expensive skill. Using it while punching increases the impact, using it under your feet will help you jump higher. And that is what Aiden had done. As soon as he jumped the trap door under his feet flung open and the pair of mandibles missed his leg by a hair''s breadth. Aiden had already grown numb from the sudden surprises and horrors. [Use [Wind Burst] to jump. Use [Wind Burst] on your back.] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 8] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 6] It was surprising, but he soon understood the reason for that. The first one lifted him into the air, while the second one gave him momentum. Then something struck his back like a whip. He was further propelled by the monster whip, with the initial momentum produced by the [Wind Burst]. ''Huh! That tree was alive!'' He was, however, more shocked by the success of the combat aid program. ''To think it might use the monster''s attack to formulate a plan!'' Success was not without pain, and the burning pain of his back was proof of that. But all he could do was suffer in silence. He didn''t dare think what would have happened if it had hit his neck. And he was driven by force for nearly 12-13 metres. He did not try to land on his feet but instead rolled on the ground to reduce the impact. But before he could run... [Use [Wind Scythe] to your right] [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 5] For first there was very little resistance but then the air in front of him exploded as the blue liquid splashed all over him. A heavy sewage stench almost made him vomit but the machine didn''t give him the time. He had no idea that there was an invisible beast in front of him, yet now he was drenched in its nasty blood. [Use [Air Punch] upward.] [Skill [Air Punch] activated. Mana used:1. Remaining Mana: 4] He only spotted it as he punched it upwards. If he were a second late, the giant skull hanging from the tree would have bitten his head off. His hand stuck a hard skull, and the pain forced tears from his eyes. His palm was screaming, and again he could only suffer in silence because he didn''t dare to waste any energy. While the [Air Punch] was not powerful enough to break the skull, it was sufficient to shock the snaked skulled beast long enough to escape its grasp. [Increase the speed to 20-21 km/h. Maintain the speed for 85 seconds.] Aiden had understood the situation only when the 85 turned 84 at the bottom of his view. He saw from the map the density of red dots in front of him, was many times less than his back. ''It''s like they surrounded the whole place to destroy me. Yet I survived.'' The smile of self-satisfaction evaporated even before it could pop up. ''No, it''s not the time yet. I need to escape as soon as I can.'' He knew those beasts were bound to be quicker than him and they knew the landscape better. Yet he didn''t back off, and his pace further increased. But... [Current speed: 25.6 km/h. The host is recommended to retain the speed between 20-21 km/h to maintain efficiency.] He didn''t even think about it for a moment, and he reduced the speed. He had no intention of questioning the effectiveness of the program. If it hadn''t been here, he wouldn''t have escaped with a broken fist, a bloody line on his back, and a nasty stench. He would have lost a few parts of his body, if not his life. Aiden sighed before he asked for a report. [Distance from destination: 1,437 meters Current speed: 20.7 km/h Expected time: 5:32] ''It''s supposed to be about four minutes by the current speed, but...'' Aiden sighed, ''It looks like I had to fight a few more. System, what''s with mana? '' [Current mana: 4 Lost mana: 11 Mana recovery: 2 in 2:17] ''That''s going to be six. But I''ve got to recharge [Reduce Drag] and [Wind Skin] in three minutes. So there''s only 3 left. Is that going to be enough?'' The system did not respond, and Aiden did not want to think about what would happen if it failed. Fatigue slowly overwhelmed his energy yet he continued to run. His head was still wandering around as he ran. The timer continued to decline on its own. The roars, the growls continued to grow on his back. They''ve been gaining on him. Yet he wasn''t worried about it. He had complete faith in the system. [Drink 60 ml of mana drink] ''Just when all this was right, it went crazy. You''re trying to kill me faster, too.'' Aiden couldn''t help but curse in his head. The system didn''t respond as the timer turned 32. He hesitated to¡­ [Drink 60 ml of mana drink] ¡­ and the system reminded him again. ''What the fuck! Do you want to kill me? Then just kill me.'' He took the bottle out of his bag and drank a little. [Keep the bottle open] The timer entered a single-digit counter, and Aiden understood the reason behind the last order. There were about 4 to 5 badgers who were getting ready to charge their backs. It was bright enough that he could see the second line of defence made of vampire deers, snake-headed beasts, and many more. ''There is no way in which these beasts could be so organized. Could it be someone...'' he couldn''t finish his frightening thought. [Run towards 1 o''clock. Throw the liquid on the third step] As soon as the liquid touched their backs... *Boom* The blast was the result of the explosion of the bottle that was still in his head. The fist, already fractured, had gone numb now. But it was a success. As soon as the liquid touched their backs, it evaporated, creating a fog around them. It was Aiden''s carelessness that he had forgotten to release the bottle that still contained the liquid, resulting in a blow. [Jump using [Wind Burst]. And roll on the landing.] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 2] The system wasn''t generous enough to worry about his pain. On the other hand, he was caught off guard. He was dazed and confused, but the order still came and his body moved. He could not see in the instant smokescreen, but only when he rolled, he understood that he had just rolled under the leg of a Vampire deer. If it wasn''t shocking enough, then... [Use [Wind Scythe] on the tree on your left] Aiden could see a willow-like tree on his left and reach it in three steps. ''I don''t have enough of the mana. [Wind Scythe] needs 3 mana.'' The system did not respond, and the tree was two steps away. ''I''m going to lose consciousness from mana exhaustion.'' Aiden pleaded, but PADS was silent. It was just a step away now. ''Fu*k, man. Just shock me if I lose consciousness.'' Aiden wasn''t sure that the shock would wake him up from the unconsciousness caused by mana exhaustion, but he greeted his teeth and activated it. A wind scythe extended from his left hand as he slashed the tree with all he had. [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 1] ''Huh! What happened? ''Aiden wasn''t sure, but he still had 1 out of 2 left after spending 3 mana. ''It''s illogical.'' And the logic wasn''t what the system was offering. [Duck and roll twice] He ducked and he felt that something had missed him by an inch. It didn''t end up there. The storm continued above him, and every time the branches touched him, they left a red mark. Aiden stood up after two rolls and began to run again. Only then did Aiden understand the result of his action. The willow-like tree continued to swing its branches, attacking everything that had entered its field of action. Although it couldn''t move like the tree Aiden had seen before, it was effective enough to stop Aiden''s pursuer. Aiden was curious about something else right now. ''Can this be mana liquid? But it''s never been powerful enough to restore mana. Could it be that the liquid accelerated the recovery of mana because it was the earth?'' [Skill Check: [Reduce Drag]. Time remaining: 1:28] [Skill Check: [Wind Skin]. Time remaining: 1:29] [Skill Check: [Wind Skin]. Deactivate in: 1:27] ''Deactivate it, huh? It''s not like I could just use [Wind Skin] with 1 mana.'' Aiden couldn''t help but sigh to think about it. Without [Wind Skin], he wouldn''t have escaped with just a bloody line on the back. ''How long will it take until we reach the destination?'' [Estimated time: 1:45] ''Okay. I can do that.'' Aiden could see the green dot blinking within 500 meters of him, yet he felt confused. The red dots on his back were continually gaining on him, but what was surprising was that there was not a single red dot between him and the green dot. ''I thought the beast was controlled by something clever, but this is... Could there be something stronger there? Or is that a trap?'' Aiden had no idea what was going on here, all he could do was believe in the action of the system. Soon, in his view, the timer turned 0 and deactivated [Wind Skin]. [Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/14 mins. Remaining Mana: 0] Dizziness overcame his mind. At the same time, an electric shot buzzed around his neck. Aiden could no longer control his weak body and slumped. The dark sky was staring at his face, the rumbling on the ground was increasing, yet he could not move. ''I have to move.'' He yelled in his mind, ''I have to kill him. Please move.'' His right hand was just as heavy as lead. His thigh was throbbing like crazy. However, no matter how much tears his eyes had leaked, his body was not listening to him at all. And the system came to his rescue. [Hormone level reached the threshold value. Time to break down: 0:54] His body began to sweat like crazy. His heart was like pumping blood like there''s no tomorrow. [Hormone level reached the threshold value. Time to break down: 0:53] His lungs were pumping air like gigantic bellows. His body had grown lighter now. [Hormone level reached the threshold value. Time to break down: 0:52] His hand was no longer painful as he jumped to his feet. Blood was leaking out of his nose, but he didn''t know about it. He ran as if there was no tomorrow. The tide of the beast was less than 20 meters away from him, yet he felt no fear. He ran in the direction to which he was directed. [Link established.] [Identifying the owner: Second officer Levi.] [Condition: Critical] [Cure: Inject a dose of Ck30] The system had no idea whether Aiden was listening to it or not. It was only when the shuttle appeared in Aiden''s view that he responded again. A few bodies of badgers have been mutilated by the earthen spike. The body of the unknown beast was crushed under a giant rock. And a four-legged beast with multiple snakeheads was struggling to get out of the quicksand. ''Did Levi kill them? ''The scene was shocking enough for Kinoya to break the trance. But Levi was more frightening than that. He stood there like a statue. His left face was black, charred. That was the smallest wound, though. Something had a part of his stomach, the intestines were spilt in front of him. And his right hand was like a thin, dried stick. The black line was spread over his chest from the shoulder. [Opening shuttle.] [Distance: 32 meters] ''What the hell has happened to him? He could kill these beasts, and yet he was reduced to such a state.'' Around this time, he realized that the warm blood that ran out of his nose was coming into his mouth. ''Just a little more,'' he asked his body again. Although the timer showed 0:39, he knew very well that it wasn''t going to last that long. He just moved to avoid the reach of one of the snakeheads and grabbed Levi. ''Have I used too much strength? ''Aiden wasn''t sure, but the left side of his face and his right hand crumbled as soon as Aiden touched. Some unknown part of the body leaked out of Levi''s wound, but he couldn''t spare a glance at it. [Hormone level reached the threshold value. Time to break down: 0:24] The notification arose as soon as he entered the shuttle. ''Close the shuttle. Charge the multi-directional taser.'' He put Levi down. Aiden wasn''t sure if Levi was alive or not, but he was looking for the medicine and it was a success. He had found multiple vials of Ck30 and many anti-poisoning potions. [Taser charged to maximum.] ''Fire it as soon as they get close.'' He poured the anti-poisoning potion down his throat. And he injected a Ck30 on his thigh, and another on Levi''s. "Bell. Monster. Kill me." Levi yelled, startling Aiden. "What?" Even before he could understand what Levi was talking about, he had already fallen unconscious. He wanted to check whether he was alive or not, but Aiden began to cough. He was coughing up blood. Blood flowed out of his nose and mouth. He didn''t know how to stop them as weakness washed over his body. He lost consciousness, as the cold, unhurried voice spoke. [Mission Accomplished.] 5 I was Forced... "100,000,000 credits? The federation is going to give that much if they just joined?" Aiden, 12, failed to hide his shock. Although he was only 12 years old, he achieved the highest rank among thirty recruits. He knew he wasn''t supposed to show his opponent his shock during the negotiations. It''s like giving them a higher ground, but it was too much of a shock to him. ''Father needs 10,000 credits a month for the family, so 120,000 credits a year. It''s going to be 1,200,000 in ten years. Then my elder sister, my brother, and I will have different families, a total of four families. That''s...'' Looking at the child who was acting like a child for the first time in six years, the general was happy. "It''s not just that." he struck when it was hot, "Every time you update the characteristics of local flora and fauna with evidence, you''ll earn one credit point. And you can trade every credit point for 1,000,000 credits." The general didn''t know whether Aiden had completed his calculation or given up in the midways after listening. Yet Aiden''s face had become more serious. "And?" Out of all the reactions the general had expected, Aiden had given him the most unexpected one. ''This little shit! Isn''t he satisfied with that yet?'' Hiding his initial surprise, he added, "Your name will be inducted into the history books, as one of the pioneers of new-age exploration. And you will contribute to the recovery of the birthplace of humankind." ''What is that? Can I eat it?'' The frown became deeper, as Aiden listened to the general. ''So, isn''t there any extra money?'' Feeling the inner thought of the child, the general couldn''t help but curse, ''Where did this money-grubber come from?'' It wasn''t that Aiden was the brightest of all the children, nor was he the highest level mage. But even the primary wind mage candidate can not hold a candle in front of him when it comes to combat. That''s why he was preferred more by the army. The general picked up another document from the folder and placed it in front of Aiden. "As soon as you get back from the mission, the army will appoint you a captain, and you will be paid until the day you die." "Where do I sign?" the general was a little startled by the straightforward question. ''A captain of the army will earn tens of thousands every month. There''s no way I can spend 100 million in this lifetime. But if I do, my salary will be enough for me." And Aiden was satisfied with that. ************** ''Auuu'' Aiden moaned in pain as soon as he woke up. His head was throbbing, his hand was still numb, and he felt like crying every time the sweat touched his wound on his back. His breathing did not return to normal. Every time he tried to move, he felt that all his organs were so painful that he couldn''t breathe. Even sighing was painful. ''Can you show me my stats?'' Age:16 Element: Wind Level: 2 (2) Grade: D (A) Strength: 6 (11) Agility: 8 (17) Endurance: 5 (21) Dexterity: 4 (15) Intelligence: 12 (15) Health: 07/57 (-/89) Mana: 23/32 (-/81) Battle rating: Level 1 (Level 5) Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale] ] ''How much time do I have?'' [Time till death: 1 day 15 hours] Even frowning was too painful, but he couldn''t help. ''Didn''t you say that, if I use a potion, I could live for six days?'' [To prolong life, the host needs to drink two more liquids. Extended lifetime: 6 days 7 hours. Time till next potion:1 day 11 hours] ''This way, can I continue to take the potion to prolong my life?'' Aiden was hopeful. But the cold voice soon put an end to his futile struggle. [Taking more than three potions will reduce the life of the host.] ''Give up.'' Aiden couldn''t help but scolded himself, ''It''s too late. Just give it up and...'' The voice within his mind was silent, the tears were trickling down his face. ''Why am I supposed to die?'' No one could answer, even if he wanted to know. It was then that he realized something, ''System, what about Levi?'' [Second officer Levi had died 5 hours ago.] ''So he was the first to leave?'' Aiden was sighing in his heart. ''Perhaps someone else had already died. Well, can you let me show me his last fight?'' [The host was chosen to carry the will of Second Officer Levi.] ''Me! Why? Did he know that I was here?'' [Yes.] ''He might have woken up when I was out.'' Aiden was silent, ''Death must always be lonely. Well, soon enough, I''m going to know about it. All right, PADS, show me his last memory.'' [The host must use the stasis pod to complete the inheritance of the will.] ''The Stasis Pod? Does he have one of them here? ''Aiden was dumbfounded. And the system has confirmed it, ''Wow! As expected of a rich man.'' Of the eight who came to this mission, four were the primary operators. They were given the rank of officers not because of their level of magic, but because of their background. They''re all somehow linked to the Federation. Elijah was the illegitimate daughter of the director of Desert Base 3. Even then, her situation was hundreds of times better than anyone else''s. It was the same with Alex, Lyla and Levi. On the other hand, Asher, Sara, Owen and Aiden came from ordinary backgrounds. These secondary operatives are only backups for primary operatives. ''Maybe that''s also why Alex decided to kill him without hesitation.'' Whatever the reason might be, he had no intention of thinking about it. Right now, he had a different thought going through his mind. ''If I have a stasis pod, it won''t be a problem to treat my injury.'' Somewhere inside Aiden was relieved. ''Can you take me to the pod? Well, if you can, do it.'' The floor moved as soon as he ordered. A large compartment opened on the side, and the mechanical arms took out the pod. Soon, everything was assembled, and the part of the floor was aligned with the side of the pod. [The host is requested to enter the pod.] ''You want me to move around? ''Aiden cursed. Even when the floor moved, it was too painful for him, and now ... ''Just do it one more time.'' Aiden urged his body, held his breath and rolled over. If it wasn''t painful for him to scream, he would have broken a few glasses. The hatch closed on one of them, and the cold liquid wrapped his body. His consciousness faded slowly. [Inheritance is about to begin ...] ''Wait a minute.'' Aiden had yet to recover from the pain but was forced to respond. ''Can you heal my body, please?'' [Assessing the condition¡­] [Status: Severely Wounded] [Checking the serum¡­] [Checking for solution¡­] [Full recovery: 13 hours.] ''13 hours, Huh! "Aiden hesitated. He was in a situation where he couldn''t dare to waste his time. ''Can''t you do something faster than that?'' [Mana induced recovery: Estimated time: 5:32:13] ''That''s a lot faster,'' but looking at the name he frowned, ''What''s the problem with it?'' [The host''s lifetime will be reduced by 3 hours.] ''Do it. Start the recovery first.'' Even if it takes 6 hours and with 3 hours of life lost, it''s still better than 13 hours to recover.'' The next moment his consciousness has been diluted again. *Creee* Even before Aiden opened his eyes, a bone-chilling, yet similar shriek greeted him. He stood in the dark forest, and the smallmouth at the end of the tongue of the vampire deer sent out piercing cries to him. "Come on, if you want to kill me, then come on." Aiden felt he was screaming at the vampire deer. Just to make sure he turned around and there wasn''t anybody behind him. [The host will witness second-officer Levi''s last memories. The host will feel no pain.] Just as the notification came to an end, the deer charged him with another piercing cry. "[Earth wall]." The wall was not large, but the height was perfect. It was trying to move away, but it was moving too fast, and the beast was not expecting it. His thin leg crashed into the wall. The wall had disappeared as soon as it had stumbled. And Levi cried out, "[Stone]." ''His combat perception is nothing to laugh at.'' Aiden could not help but praise Levi with a heavy heart. The last spell Levi had cast, made a stone out of thin air and crashed down on Deer''s leg. It''s a sharp cry that has confirmed its disability. But Levi did not spare a glance at it, nor did he have a chance at it. A moment ago, he saw a black tiger or something that was charging him, but he had lost track of it. ''Shadow jaguar and fire spitter tapir!?'' Aiden could also read the notification that Levi had received from his PADS-X. [Stone Crush]. As soon as he shouted, Levi jumped back and swung his Conmet blade. It passed through the thin air, but it gave rise to a fountain of blood. The slash wounded the shadow jaguar, which was only a few inches away. Even then, in a puff of black smoke, it vanished again. ''If that thing had chased me, I would have died a long time ago.'' Aiden felt lucky for the first time. He turned to see that the tapir had been crushed under a giant boulder just as he had seen it before. ''To think that he was able to carry out his attack in such a precise way,'' Aiden''s mind was linked to Levi, so he was certain that Levi did not receive any assistance from the combat aid programme. ''And this Levi was beaten so easily by Alex.'' He knew it was going to be tough, but¡­ While Aiden was thinking about the challenges he would face, a couple of thunderstorm badgers and a four-legged beast with multiple snake heads came to attack him. "[Earth Needle]" "[Quick sand]" "A shadow on your right." Aiden couldn''t help but shout. While Levi concentrated on attacking the beast at the front, a shadow rushed to him from the right. It was only a shadow that moved towards Levi, a shadow without a body. It was only when it came close enough to attack, a jaguar emerged from the shadows. Levi jumped back and slashed his blade. Halfway through the slash, Aiden felt that the form of Levi was wrong. Before he could understand why a good piece of meat had been bitten off his left side of the belly. ''There were two jaguars in here! ''There were a lot of things he wanted to ask, but then he heard that sound for the second time. *Dong* Dong* The entire forest plunged into suffocating darkness. For the second time, the pair of jaguars did not attack. The snake-heads that were struggling to get themselves out of the quicksand were now trying to hide their many heads. The handicapped Vampire deer, who was dragging his useless body into the forest, slumped on the ground and pretended to be dead. Levi felt that someone had touched his right hand. But even before his head could feel that something was wrong with his hand, it had gone numb. Levi turned to be welcomed by a charred black hand with a black line trying to invade his chest. There was no burning sensation, no pain, but the connection to the hand was lost. "Ahhhhhh!" Only when Levi screamed, Aiden turned to see what was in front of him. But there was nothing. Everything in front him was black and a pair of red rings stared at him. ''Is that the eyes of that thing?'' Aiden wasn''t sure about that. And Levi didn''t have the strength to move his body as that thing stretched out its hand to touch his left cheek. Everything in front of him had vanished, and Levi had lost consciousness. Only then did Aiden dare to breathe again. Even if it happened a long time ago, Aiden couldn''t help but be scared. Unlike Aiden, Levi was a mage of Western faith. Instead of creating a mana vessel in his abdomen, they used their hearts as a vessel to create what they call the ''Arcana heart.'' Although it is more difficult to cultivate the arcana heart, if the mage can cultivate it successfully, the mage will be able to use long-distance magic and may also be good at close combat at the same time. Unlike Levi, Aiden was a mage of the Eastern faith, he can only use close-range attacks. And if it comes close to him, he''s sure he''s going to die. ''That thing is at the top of the food chain.'' While Aiden was trying to find a way to counter it, the darkness evaporated. "Don''t think about it. No matter what you do, it was useless." Aiden was surprised to find Levi standing in a green meadow, a few meters away from him. "As much as I know you, you''re trying to find a way to counter it." Levi shook his head, "I can''t activate or circulate the mana when I''m close to it. My [Earth Skin] was torn like a paper" "And it''s faster than the sound. So, as soon as you hear that damn bell, it''s already too late." ''I''ve heard it once.'' Aiden didn''t believe his words, "How can you be so sure of that?" Levi smiled but chose not to reply. "You''re here, that means I''m dead and you''re alive, so you''re going to have my inheritance." "Why me?" Aiden was curious. Two years ago, he met Levi when the final training for the mission had begun. However, he chose him as the inheritor. Aiden felt that Levi''s eyes were sad when he said, "Please forgive me, Aiden. I was forced." 6 Initiating E.S. system... "Why me?" Aiden said curiously. He met Levi two years ago when the final training for the mission had begun. Besides being a friend, they didn''t have anything special between them. Yet he chose him as the inheritor. Aiden felt that Levi''s eyes were sad when he said, "Please forgive me, Aiden, I have been forced." Aiden''s heart skipped a beat. "Forced?" he didn''t know what Levi meant, "Do you have anything to do with my situation? Did Alex force you?" Levi stood there without responding, and it irritated Aiden more. He ran to him, grabbed his collar and shook him, "Tell me why do you want to kill me?" And there was no answer to that. Aiden was trying to punch Levi. It connected, there''s still no response. [Second Officer Levi had no recollection of any event related to your situation.] "Then?" He felt empty, and the system didn''t respond. "Tell me, Levi, why are you sorry?" "Just forgive me, Aiden. I''m forced to do that." Levi started from the place where he had been stopped. "It''s going to sting a little." [Initiating inheritance¡­] [Inheritor: Aiden Law. Status: Severely Injured. Dying. Element: Wind Level: 2 Grade: D] The view in front of him has changed. It was a room of 27 cubic metres. And the words kept flashing in front of Aiden''s eyes. [Verifying condition¡­] [Recommendation: Levi Park (Second Officer)] [Criminal Record: None] [E.S. System: Dormant] "The E.S. System?" Aiden was sure that he had never heard of any such system of personal assistance. Even though he only used PADS or his counterpart, he was quite knowledgeable about them. "Maybe Levi used one of the specially customized systems." Aiden laughed, thinking about the lavishness, "He could think about the future of his system even when he died!" But he couldn''t keep his smile much longer. "Aaaaaaaaaaa." Aiden grabbed his head and fell. It''s like someone pounded his brain with a sledgehammer. He rolled over the floor like a headless chicken. No tears were coming out of his eyes. The blood that would have come out of his nose had not appeared in this virtual space. [Waiting for Captain''s approval¡­] Another notification arose, but Aiden was so drowned in pain that he had not noticed it. [... ... Approved.] [Initiation Complete.] [Activating E.S. System¡­] [Unlocking DNA sequencing¡­] [The host is requested to bear the pain till the activation could be completed.] Alas! The person to whom the words were directed was unable to respond. This virtual space was created in Aiden''s consciousness. He couldn''t have lost consciousness, even if he wanted to. All he could do now was to suffer in silence... There was nothing in the cube to show the time. A long time had passed before Aiden could stand on his feet again. He struggled to stand up while he was clutching his head. But to his surprise, there was no pain at all. On the contrary, he felt much lighter than before. He wasn''t sure it was because he was in virtual space, or his wounds are healing right now. Yet he was very happy. The same clear blue screen was in front of him. But it was the data that shocked him the most. [Inheritance complete] [E.S. System Activated.] [DNA sequence is unlocked] [Please check the status for better understanding.] Age:16 Rank: Second Officer Team: EP00 (Previously UG93) Condition: Fatigue. Hungry. Acute Mana Poisoning. Element: Wind Level: 3 Grade: E Strength: 12 Agility: 28 Endurance: 39 Dexterity: 25 Intelligence: 42 Health: 92/127 Mana: 87/111 Battle rating: Level 6 Innate skill: [*Light Foot*] [Skill Mine] [*Zone*] Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale] ] "What the hell is this?" Aiden couldn''t believe that it was his status. "PADS, what the hell has happened to me?" [Welcome, Second Officer of Aiden. That inferior program has been deleted. Please consult me in case of need.] "Who are you? "Aiden frowned, hearing the unfamiliar voice. [E.S.S.: Empirical Survival System. This is the state-of-the-art military survival system.] "PADS-X was also a military system." [Huh! It was a cheap knock-off.] "What the hell are you doing? How could the system have so much ego? "Aiden was stunned and angry at the same moment. [Yes. That''s what you call the state of the art. ESS can express various human emotions.] "You don''t have an expressionless mode?" The ESS had fallen silent to his surprise. And the silence was enough for Aiden to understand, "ESS, activate the emotionless mode." [Tch. The emotionless mode is activated.] "Even if you can choose not to reply, you can''t ignore a command. Can you?" [No] Hearing the same cold voice, the ear of Aiden was more satisfied. "Explain the situation here." [The ES system is a state-of-the-art military survival system. The system is specially developed for earth exploration after ''Mana Apocalypse.'' The system is based on the experience and data collected by previous explorers.] "The previous explorers? "Even if Aiden could have understood the meaning, he had a hard time digesting the context of the phrase," Is it Levi? Or did someone else die, too?" [Yes. 728 explorers, including Levi, had come to earth¡­] "What is it? Are you kidding me about that? We are the first to be sent to Earth in the last 20 years." [Before this exploration mission, 93 more missions have been carried out over the last 20 years. Codenamed UG00 to UG92.] Taking another look, Aiden understood the meaning of the team''s name. Still, it was hard for him to accept, "Is this some kind of conspiracy?" [No...] "Forget it. You don''t need to explain that. Whatever it is, I don''t care." And it was the truth that Aiden didn''t have any interest in this kind of thing. What he was more interested in was his status. "What is [* Light Foot *], [Skill Mine] and [* Zone *]?" As long as it''s a skill he could use to kill Alex, it''s more than enough for him. [[Light Foot]: A traceless agility skill. X1.5 normal speed. Duration: 10 seconds Cooldown time: 1 minute. Maximum use: 10 times/day [Skill Mine]: A long-distance bestowal skill. Can bestow known magic skill to an inanimate object. Object limit: 3. Mana limit:1. Activation distance: 1 meter. [Zone]: A limit breaker skill. Double all the physical stats. Duration: 5 Seconds After effect: 10 minutes. Cooldown time: 24 hours. Maximum use: 1 time/week.] "What''s this? Some kind of game, huh?" No matter how error less these systems might be, something like this could never be true. "You''re playing a joke with me?" Aiden couldn''t stop frowning. [Innate skills are derived from the DNA sequence, mana properties, mana circulation, body core, mana vessel, training habit, and 72 other variables. The system can''t guess what kind of innate skill one has until it appears.] Although the voice was cold, Aiden still felt that the system was angry. But he didn''t care about it. "So can I use it without mana?" [Yes. However, in the current situation, the host can not use [* Light Foot *] [* Zone *] due to acute mana poisoning.] "Fu*c you." Aiden cursed out loud, "What do you want me to do? Cure an incurable disease? If you don''t want me to use it, why give it?" [The system can not guess¡­] "Yeah, yeah. You can not possibly guess it. If you can''t just shut it down then.'' Aiden was visibly angry and had no intention of carefully choosing his words. "What do you expect, then? Get me out of this place." [The host is requested to have a look at the available missions.] "What do you want? Mission, Huh! I have six days to live, and I''m not going to waste my time behind that. I have to kill a man." [The host is requested not to kill¡­] "Get me out of here," Aiden growled, and the system was silent. Silence concentrated for a few moments before the scene around Aiden changed again. It was the same green meadow, and Levi was still waiting for it. Looking at Aiden, he smiled. "You looked stronger now." Aiden was startled by his response. "How do I know that? Because everyone gets an innate skill after an inheritance, so they''re bound to get stronger." "I''m sorry about that, Aiden. I didn''t want to drag you to this place. It could be painful to get through the inheritance. "Levi''s voice was sad. It''s like he was sorry. "You might be powerful right now, but the mission is going to be harder. You can die." Although Aiden was angry a while ago, Aiden still couldn''t help but smile at Levi. It''s like he''s really worried about him. But what Levi didn''t know was that Aiden was dying in a couple of days, and it was like a boom to him instead of being a headache. So he was very grateful that Levi had given him a chance to take revenge. He gave Levi a deep bow, "Thank you. Thank you so much for everything." "There''s no need to thank me. I''m dead." Levi smiled," But help me with something." Aiden hesitated for a moment, "I''m going to die in six days. If you want me to take your body home, that''s going to be impossible." "I know you''re going to help me." Levi reacted as he didn''t hear Aiden. "Please take care of Owen." Aiden was dumbfounded. That was the last thing he had hoped to hear from Levi. ''Owen, huh? Is he seriously thinking about Owen when he died?'' "I know he might be clumsy, but he''s a good kid. He''s like a little brother to me. Without my help, he can''t do anything..."Aiden was sure that there were tears in Levi''s eyes, his voice was shaking, but he continued. "I know that sometimes I can be tough on him, but it was for his good. I just want to..." Levi shook his head, "Look at me, I''m still rambling about him even after death." Levi smiled again at Aiden and gave a deep bow, "Please take care of my brother after I''m gone." Aiden did not realize that looking at Levi, tears had begun to come out of his eyes. Aiden waited for Levi to stand up again, but Levi did not move. "I can''t do that. I''m going to die soon." That''s what Aiden was trying to say to him, but he couldn''t say those words. "I''m going to take care of him as long as I live." Only when he spoke, Aiden understood that he was crying too. ''Do you know how much I have misunderstood you? ''Aiden sighed in his heart as he took tears out of his eyes. ''I never thought that receiving the last wish of a dead man could be so heavy. Is there going to be one next to me when I die? ''On the other hand, only after Levi had received the words of reassurance, he stood up. He ran to Aiden and hugged him, even before Aiden could move. "Thank you, my brother. Thank you. I know that I can put my faith in you." Levi''s voice wavered again. "You''re a good man, Aiden. I know you''re going to survive." Even if it was virtual space, even if all this was happening inside his consciousness, even if Levi was dead, the warmth that Aiden felt in his embrace melted away his heart. And his last struggle to hold his tears back faded away. His tears were no longer listening to him. He was weak, he would have already fallen without Levi. All the anger, frustration, pain, sadness, and all the emotions flowed out of Aiden at that moment. "Goodbye, brother." The voice of Levi sounded in his ear, and at the next moment, his support had vanished. Aiden wanted to hug tighter by instinct, but he couldn''t. Aiden stumbled and slumped on the grass, unable to control himself. "Ah hah" Aiden''s mournful cry echoed through the dead space. There were no best recruits, there was no confident money-grubber, there was no avenger. There was a son, a brother, a lover, and a teenager who knew about his death and he was crying in the middle of the green meadow. 7 Reunion Aiden did not know if it was because he was crying, or because of the E.S. System. But now, both physically and mentally, he felt a lot lighter. "ESS, When do I have to take the anti poisoning potion again?" [The host has to drink two more potions to extend his lifespan. Expected lifetime: 4 days 8 hours. Time to the next potion: 11 minutes.] Aiden checked again, just to make sure there was no error. Then he spoke in a calm voice, "ESS, is there anything wrong with your calculation?" [The host has to drink two more potions to extend his lifespan. Expected lifetime: 4 days 8 hours. Time to the next potion: 10 minutes.] And Aiden ran to look for a potion where he had fallen. There was still the cold body of Levi, so was the medicine and the potions. Aiden quickly grabbed one of them and poured it down his throat. He took a deep breath, "ESS, preserve Levi''s body, and program the shuttle, so that he can return to the main ship after the mission is over." [YES.] The floor was moving as it took the body with it. His voice was still peaceful as he asked, "And tell me why I''ve only got four days to live." [Accessing Memory...] Aiden braces for impact, but there was no feeling of dizziness. However, he could not stand still waiting for the reply. [Predicted Initial Survival Time: 6 days 14 hours. Travel to your current destination: 00:14:23 Unconscious after intake of potion: 07:02:47 Mana healing: 1 day 13 hours lifetime decay due to [Mana Healing]: 08:57:18 ] No matter how many times he''s done this, the calculation is correct. Aiden couldn''t have guessed why, so he asked. [Cell regeneration increased by 13% during inheritance. The rate of cell decay increased by 72%. The cancerous mana vessel affected the flow of mana. The host''s heart rate¡­] "DON''T go through all the technicals. Just confirm me." After ESS confirmed, Aiden sighed, "And the extra loss of lifetime?" [Due to the forced healing of [Mana Healing]] Aiden slumped down on the chair, ''There''s nothing free in this life. Everything has a price to pay.'' "But it''s not time to worry about what''s been lost." Aiden did not notice the apparent change in his thinking after the inheritance, nor did he have time to do so. He moved around looking for a weapon. Although he was comfortable with a curved blade, Levi preferred a straight blade. But having a weapon is better than not having one. There was a Latin machete in between a lot of knives. Although it wasn''t as curved like the one he used, it was still a curved one. To his surprise, there was a gun, too. There was no lack of guns on Planet Will, but Aiden was still surprised that they had trained with so many cold weapons, but not so much with guns. For starters, the old projectile weapon is not effective against the mana beast. Which was also the reason why they left the planet in the first place. Even if the Conmet bullet could do so, there is a serious Conmet deficiency in the new Planet. On the other hand, conventional electrical weapons discharge quickly on this planet. And the technology wasn''t advanced enough to make a portable one. There were only a few bulky ones, and all the pod shuttles were armed with a few of them. Amazingly, one of the projectile guns was in front of him. The gun was very old, but Aiden couldn''t stop himself from touching it. [Modified Ruger Redhawk (Firearm) Type: Revolver. Number of bullets: 6 Effective distance: 25 meters Comment: Heavy recoil. 24% chance of exploding. Not Recommended.] "You can do that? Why haven''t you introduced the machete?" [The host had prior knowledge of the weapon] "Oh! "Aiden was more curious about the weapon in his hand, and he was tempted to take it away. "I have a better chance of success with it," but he was still hesitant. "One of the four shots is going to explode," he thought for a moment before deciding, "Don''t worry Levi, I''ll give it back after use. ESS, can you find anyone around me?" [Two sources found.] The map in front of him went up to 5 km, and the two points blinked on the map with the tag, [Elijah] and [Alex]. But looking at the route they had taken, he frowned, "You son of a bitch, you''re not satisfied yet?" Elijah was 4.4 km away from him and was heading straight to him from the north. Alex, on the other hand, was 4.2 km northeast, but looking at the route he understood he was aiming for Elijah, but not for him. "Just wait, I''m going to kill you for sure." "ESS, combat assistance mode." Aiden took the potions in his bag. There were a few energy bars left after most of them had been devoured. He took all of them, pushed the door open, and was astonished. [The system doesn''t have such a support program.] What Aiden heard and saw didn''t match up. Outside, there were many dead bodies of the beast. Few of the dead were too close to the shuttle, but it was the living one that surprised him the most. Not many of the beasts were hiding in the shadows, but he could see all of them in the dark forest. Four shadow jaguars at 10 o''clock, one tree walker, two snake-heads at 72 meters at 1 o''clock. 3 Vampire deers, one head snatcher, several more, but Aiden could see them all. They''ve all been outlined in a red. The names were floating over their heads. Now he understood everything. ''So that''s how Levi could see the shadow jaguars just before it appeared.'' ''ESS is something else,'' it wasn''t just the beasts. The path he was supposed to take was marked by green footsteps. He just smiled, understanding the secrets of the elites that made them the elites. "Could it know the one with the cowbell?" [Identifying¡­ Name: The Devil Grade: A*** Element: Darkness (??) Feature: Cowbell, Red ring eyes, Variable size, Faster than sound. Kill count: 259 Comment: Hearing the bell means death.] A video appeared in front of his eyes with the introduction. There was a child in black from head to toe. He squatted as he rested beside the swamp, looking at the muddy water. Although the water was dark, it reflected a bright pair of red rings. The man who watched it was startled by a sudden sound. It was a moment of carelessness, and he could no longer find it. Without hesitation, the man turned around and tried to leave the place. But he heard a cowbell and the red rings were staring at the face. It raised its hand to touch his cheek and Aiden stepped back. It was black again, the beasts were still hiding in the distance, but Aiden was drenched in sweat. It took a while before his breathing became normal again. When he realized that he was sitting at the gate, he couldn''t help but curse out loud, ''What the hell was that thing?'' It was only now that he could understand how lucky he was to be alive, even after he had heard the bell. ''Let''s just hope I don''t meet it again.'' Only after his initial shock had vanished, he understood that it was a different kind of beast? [Beasts are ranked from ''S'' to ''E.'' The star represents their elementary capability. The Devil had the highest elemental capacity of all the beasts observed.] "But have you seen someone stronger than that? The ''S'' grade? "Aiden wanted to know, but a notification popped up before that. [Team Captain Alex is with first officer Elijah.] Only then did he realize that the two dots had stopped moving about 2.1 km away from him. Aiden jumped up on his legs. [The host is asked to collect the mana stone from the beast before leaving.] Aiden acted as if he had not even heard the system and traced the green footsteps that led to his destination. He had a Latin machete in one hand, and Levi''s blade in other. The beasts reacted in the way they were expected. The head snatcher was right in front of him. Unlike the one he had seen before, it had only three heads on its chest. The more he closed in, the more data the system revealed in his eyes. [Head-Snatcher Grade: E Element: None. Feature: High strength and stamina. Medium agility. Weakness: Leg. Back.] ''What is it? Would you like me to fight? You don''t want to divert the way?'' The system did not respond as the footsteps kept blinking just beside the head-snatcher. It had a weapon, a wooden club, and it was raised high in the air. It''s been waiting for Aiden to get into the range. Even then, the footsteps did not deviate from its place. ''It''s a good opportunity to understand my new body.'' Helpless Aiden jumped out of the way to escape from the incoming club. He paid no more attention to the footsteps and turned to attack. It might be slow, but its strength was not to laugh at it. The club crashed on the ground, splattering the stones everywhere. But Aiden was faster, none of the debris could touch him. He had moved to reach his back. Before he could reach the striking distance, the club swung sideways. Aiden ducked and slashed at its leg. Aiden was astounded. He tried to cut off its Achilles tendon, but he cut off his whole ankle. ''A clean-cut!'' Aiden did not expect that, nor did the beast. "Kuuuuaaaa" Due to the rotational force of the last attack, he was no longer able to control his weight and fell, leaving a sliced foot still planted on the ground. Three heads were encrusted in the chest. Aiden had no idea where the beast''s heart was. Just to be safe, he cut off its other leg and ran away. It took a while to explain, but it happened in one breath. Some beasts who were charging for Aiden pounced at their easier prey, while the rest of them followed Aiden. [Assisting in combat will make the senses of the host dull. The host is asked to practice more to have a better understanding of the body.] ''Dull my senses, huh?'' He took the system''s words to his heart, but he didn''t have much time to train his body. He was still happy. He had never expected a blade to cut clean through the beast''s log-like leg. He sighed, and at the moment of carelessness, a red light shone right in front of him. [Shadow Jaguar Grade: E* Element: Shadow. Feature: High agility. Strong jaw. Shadow jump Weakness: Weak body ] Its appearance was so sudden that he was caught off guard. Yet his high battle rating was not for the show. He moved out of the way with the quick motion before slashing it. ''Oh, man! Was there another one behind me?'' If Aiden hadn''t moved, a part of him would have been bitten off. [Skill [Air Spike] activated. Mana used:1. Remaining Mana: 110] Aiden was kicking at the belly of the jaguar with skill. To his surprise, the beast was sent three meters up in the air before it slumped on the ground again. Blood leaked out of the [Air Spike] hole. But it was still better than the one whose spine was broken by Aiden''s uncontrolled slash. Even though they were injured, they vanished in the shadows. [The host needs to practice his awareness skills.] ''You''re supposed to inform me of the one on the back? ''Aiden groaned. [Assisting in combat will make the senses of the host dull. The host is asked to practice more to have a better understanding of the body.] ''But aren''t you going to become useless if I die?'' [The host needs to work hard so he doesn''t die.] Aiden sighed and did not reply. He missed the PADS-X. But he was also happy. He had a lot of mana, and now his body was stronger. There were so many things he was trying to do. He charged at the vampire deer. *Creeee¡­* The piercing yell was cut short. [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 108] [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 105] With the help of [Wind Burst] alone, he was able to jump up to three meters in the air. The [Wind Scythe], extending from his elbow, cut off the head of the beast. He ran to another one as soon as his feet touched the ground. [The host is deviating from the path to the destination.] Aiden was shocked and realized that he was going in the opposite direction from the other. Thinking of Elijah, Aiden did not dare to waste any more time and ran straight to them. ''Can''t they be afraid of me? ''The Aiden thought. He ran for almost two kilometres and three of the beasts died under his blade. But that was all. Other than the Grade D* tree walker, none of the other beasts dared attack him. [A message has been received from the captain.] "What is it?" he was shocked for several reasons. He asked, "Are you able to communicate with others? [Communication is possible within 1 km.] [Would the host like to see the message?] Aiden was curious about the massage. [Don''t come over here. Go away.] "Fu*k off." The voice blew through the quiet forest. "What are you waiting for? Send the message to him." [Would the host like to send ''F*ck off'' to the captain?] "Yes, do it." [Massage sent.] With only one massage, all the happy feelings were lost. Aiden was angry yet calm. One more time, he remembered what he had to do and¡­ [A message has been received from the captain.] "Block him." There wasn''t a single wave of hesitation in his voice, nor was anger. [The host can''t block the captain of the team during the mission.] "Then don''t let me know, as long as the message is from that son of a bitch." And the rest of the journey was silent. The closer he came to them, the faster he got. He wanted to meet her, and he wanted to see her, too. But most of all, he wanted to meet that son of a bitch again and¡­ "Let me go." A voice echoed through the woods. A few notifications have popped up. [Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 97] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 95] He soon found the two people. Alex grabbed Elijah''s wrist as she struggled to free herself. "You ought to give up on him." "Why is it important to you?" Elijah protested even if she was unable to free herself. "If you don''t¡­" "If she doesn''t... Then what, Alex?" Aiden started from where Alex couldn''t finish. Aiden''s appearance stunned both of them, and Alex was the first to recover. "Have you not read my message?" He sounded angry. "Was that a very important thing?" "Aiden" Elijah cried softly as soon as she hugged Aiden. "Where have you been?" Aiden didn''t respond, he kept staring at Alex. On the other hand, the more Alex looked at Elijah, the angrier he became. He left without a word in the end. "Captain," Aiden said from behind. Alex turned to him as he hugged Elijah closer and spoke," Second Officer Aiden is reporting for duty." Alex, irritated, left without sparing a word. "Are you all right, Aiden?" Elijah was trying to find any visible wound on his body. Looking at worried Elijah warmed his heart. He hugged her tighter, trying to hide his tearful face from the person he loves. And in an inaudible voice, Aiden said, "I am sorry. Elijah, I''m sorry." 8 A shot that shook the world... "I think Alex is plotting something." Elijah took a look at Aiden''s face before carefully choosing her words. She knew very well how much Alex was respected by Aiden. To her astonishment, Aiden looked at Alex with intense hatred. He never even heard her. Elijah crawled closer to him, nudged Aiden again, "Aiden, are you all right? The soft voice of Elijah woke him up, "Yes, yes. I know." "You know? What do you know?" "That Alex is plotting something." Elijah was a little shocked by Aiden''s simple reaction. She whispered, "Did he say anything to you?" Her scared voice forced Aiden to turn to her. Looking at his face, Elijah quickly hid her red face. Aiden smiled a little and patted her head. "What about you? Was he threatening you? Did he tell you to stay away from me?" These were not the words she had expected from Aiden. Elijah, astonished, looked at Aiden before she nodded. "This Bastard," he said. He did not hesitate to curse out loud. Elijah was scared, but she grabbed his hand quickly to stop him from doing something rash. "You''ve changed, Aiden." The voice was so low that Aiden almost missed it. Still, a smile bloomed on his face, "I have the inheritance of Levi." "Is that true? Right now, are you the second officer?" Suddenly she realized it and said, "Yes, your position has been shown on the map. Well, then, Levi?" "He fought bravely, but the devil..." Aiden could not put an end to his words as she hugged his hand tighter. "Then? Do you have an innate skill now?" Elijah looked at Aiden with her curious eyes. "Of course. I''m stronger right now. You don''t have to worry about anybody. I''m going to protect you. Even Alex isn''t going to be able to do anything to you." "What are you talking about? I''m an officer, too. I can protect myself" "Are you not the one who said, ''I''m afraid,'' on the ship? "Aiden couldn''t help but smile at the girl who tried her best to set up a brave front. "That was then," she frowned as she continued to say, "I''m all right now. Well, what about you? How many innate skills do you have?" "For the time being, it''s one." "What is it?" Her eyes were glowing. "Aiden, there''s something I have to talk about." From the sudden interruption, both of them turned to Alex. "Yes. I also have something to talk about." As he spoke, Elijah grabbed his hand tighter. He smiled at Elijah, "Don''t worry, nothing is going to happen." As soon as he got up, she said, "Don''t go." Aiden smiled at her but said nothing. In the vicinity, there was no shuttle pod. Asher had been on the lookout. Whereas Aiden did not see Lyla, Sara or Owen. They weren''t in the vicinity of the map. As soon as they were far enough, Alex snapped, "What are you doing?" "What am I supposed to do? Die?" Aiden didn''t give in either, "Let me ask you Alex, is human life so cheap?" Alex was stunned by the question, he wanted to say something, but Aiden had no intention of letting him, "You could have talked to me. You could have talked to Elijah. But did you have to do that?" "You haven''t read my messages?" Alex frowned, "If you read it ..." "If I read it, then what? I''m going to forgive you?" The more Aiden spoke, the angrier he got. "Never. I''m never going to forgive you. And believe me, as long as I live, this will never end." "Listen to me, Aiden." Even if Alex wanted to say something he couldn''t do. Elijah''s cry for help stopped him. "What have you done?" Aiden yelled in anger. But his words were drowned by the loud booming sound that resonated through the entire forest. "HOOOOOOOWWWW" The sound was so loud that they were forced to cover their ears. Even before Aiden could react, Alex was charging to the camp, and he followed. But they weren''t able to reach their destination. The path was blocked by a giant beast. A 5-meter giant monkey. Body full of thick black fur, with a patch of golden hair on its crown. It looked pretty ferocious. [Night Howler Grade: C* Element: Wind. Feature: High strength. Whiptail. Howl. Weakness: Back, Throat ] He rushed to the beast, holding the machete in his hand. Aiden was more concerned with Elijah than the beast in front of him. She was struggling with four golden howlers. Even if Asher was there to help, it was still difficult for her to fight four. The golden howler was a lot smaller than the night howler. The ESS confirmed that these beasts had no elementary affinity. Still, Aiden was worried about it. Even before he could reach the beast, a few water bullets grazed past him. The bullets did nothing but enrage the beast. ''What is this? Would you like to use a borrowed gun to kill me?'' Aiden frowned as the wind began to gather around his feet. [Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 99] [Skill [Wind skin] activated. Mana used:2/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 97] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 95] Just as the beast''s fist was about to reach him, he twisted his body to avoid the attack. With the [Wind Burst] under his sole, he turned toward the air shack under the beast''s throat. There was an inch of distance between the tip of his machete and the air shack, and Aiden was sent out to fly. His body slammed into the tree. It almost knocked him unconscious. It was only when he recovered his senses that he realized that the beast had not four but five limbs. The tail, as thick as Aiden''s waist, was as good as his limbs. The beast didn''t spare a glance at Aiden and kept throwing rocks at Alex. Alex was dodging it all. His body was so flexible that it was like he didn''t have bones in his body. "HOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW" The night howler, now angry, was screaming like crazy. He supported his body like a gorilla on four limbs, and the air pouch under his throat began to bulge. The patch of golden hair on the crown was also glowing. "It is gathering mana of wind in its throat." Aiden has always been very sensitive to wind mana. "Hooww...Howww" "Hooow¡­Howwww" The golden howlers who fought with Elijah and Asher were also excited. Aiden was unable to decide whether to go to support Elijah or take care of the big one first. "Aiden, now." Alex''s scream frightened him for a moment, but he understood what he was supposed to do. He spat out his blood as he squatted down. [Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 80] Not only did the inheritance develop his body, but it also changed his magic skills. He was able to retain [Reduce Drag] and [Wind Skin] longer, and the mana cost of [Wind Gale] also decreased. Although most of the other skills remained the same. Aiden vanished from the spot, but he wasn''t the only one to be sensitive to the wind mana. The beast also observed that Aiden had charged at him and that his tail had come into action. Aiden was preparing for it. He slashed his blade against his tail. With the sharpness and speed of the Conmet blade, it can cut through the tail. But not all the way through ... [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 78] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 76] It is impossible to activate [Wind Gale] without support, but [Wind Burst] is different. As soon as he felt the resistance he gave up on the blade. Still, blood was flowing out of his hand. [Wind Burst] pushed him out of the tail whip''s path. The thick tail passed over his head, and the machete still stuck to it. As soon as his legs touched the ground, he... [Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 63] With the wind mana gathering in its throat, it couldn''t cry in pain, but now all its attention was directed towards Aiden. He was shot down with its giant hand like a fly as soon as he took the flight. Aiden slammed on the tree. His internal organs shifted again as he vomited blood mixed energy bar pieces from his stomach. He almost fainted¡­ [The host is severely injured. Physical capabilities will be reduced by 30%] Aiden couldn''t care less about it. He was struggling to breathe, but he was astonished as soon as he turned to the beast. Just a moment ago, when Aiden used his first [Wind Gale], two [Water Missile] had also formed in front of Alex. By the time Aiden hit the tail, the missile was a few meters away from the airbag of the beast. While it was using its right hand to send Aiden away, his left hand crushed the water missiles. But it was too late. Alex was about to plunge his spear into his heart. The beast twisted its body to get out of the way, but the spear still drew blood. And for Alex, it was too late. Alex had been crushed into minced meat by his giant hand. ''Alex is dead,'' Aiden was shocked. ''Just like that.'' He didn''t know how he was supposed to feel. Should he be happy, huh? Should he be mad? Satisfied or sad? He could not react at all. *Boom* The sound frightened him. It was around that time that he realized it was the beast that had fallen. And Alex was standing on the back, holding a blood-soaked spear of water. Alex had given Aiden a last look before he went to the camp. ''What happened?'' Aiden muttered, and the system gave him an answer. [The Captain had used a high tire spell [Water Clone].] "High tire spell? [Water Clone]?" Aiden repeated the words of the system. His mind was confused about that. He underestimated Alex''s strength. He never imagined that Alex was going to be so powerful. [Wind Gale] is also an intermediate skill. And the tire above is a high-quality skill. Aiden couldn''t dare to think about how much that mana would have cost. "What am I supposed to do? Can I win against him? "Aiden hesitated. He thought he was getting stronger, but the grade C beast mopped the floor with him while Alex took it down without a single scratch on his body. "Just how powerful is he?" His heart throbbing, his stomach aching, the taste of blood still fresh in his mouth, but his brain was working overtime. He was trying to come up with a plan to kill Alex. ''Tell me how many of the skills he''d used, and their grade.'' Aiden didn''t dare ask out loud. [Passive skill: 1 Innate Skill: 1 Basic grade: 17 Intermediate grade: 3 High grade:1 Advanced grade:0 ] ''A passive skill?'' Aiden couldn''t believe that. It was hard to believe that he had a high-grade skill, and now there''s passive skill? With enough money, you could have a high-quality skill, but a passive skill is harder to get and hardest to master. ''What''s the skill?'' [Innate skill: [Multicasting]. Passive Skill: [Mana Acceleration]] ''It is not time to praise your enemy'', He slapped himself before asking,''Can you calculate the mana cost of the skill?'' [Basic grade: 28 Intermediate grade: 36-39 High grade:42-56 ] ''He''s a 3 B grade mage so his mana should be 559-699 ...'' When he realized that Alex had an enormous amount of mana, he felt lost. Fighting Alex until he''s used all his mana is going to be hard for Aiden, even if he''s at his top. ''And I don''t think there''s a shuttle pod near this place. Even if I''m going back to Levi''s, no, no. I can''t do that. I can''t leave Elijah here.'' The more he thought of it, the more hopeless he felt. ''That''s it!'' There was a smile in his lips, thinking about it, ''Yes, I should use that. Four out of one. It''s not going to fail me with the first blow. Swallowing his pain Aiden jumped up and walked towards the camp. The other howlers had fled the camp without hesitation as soon as their leader had died. As soon as he returned to the camp, Elijah jumped into his embrace, making him groan in pain. "Are you all right?" Looking at the concerned Elijah, Aiden could no longer control himself. He hugged Elijah, and she didn''t resist. "Leave the camp," Aiden whispered to her ear. "What?" Elijah struggled to free herself, but Aiden did not let her go. "Believe in me. He won''t be coming after you again." She forced her way out of his embrace. She asked while she was looking at him, "What are you going to do? You can''t beat him that way. He''s got two innate skills. I can help you," she shook her head, "No, we should just run away." "Can''t you believe me again?" Aiden looked at her, and she was about to say something. "Aiden¡­" Looking at Alex, Aiden released her, "Just go." Then he went towards Alex. "Let me get my medicine first," Aiden said with a smile. And slowly he walked to the other side of the camp. Just as he was about to grab his bag, Alex said, "Where are you going, Elijah?" Aiden quickly grabbed the Redhawk from the bag and yelled, "Alex?" Alex, who was less than ten meters away from him, turned towards him. Aiden lifted the gun, "You deserve it, Bastard," and pulled the trigger. * Boom* The thunderous boom silenced the dark forest as blood scattered everywhere. 9 The struggle *Boom* The forest had never been so quiet before. Asher was panting because of the battle with the golden howlers, but he couldn''t believe his eyes. "Is this a gun?" he muttered. Elijah, who just ran away a little while ago, came back running. Nobody was more surprised than her when she saw that Aiden was holding a gun. Alex was holding his face. Even when blood was flowing on the side of his face, he couldn''t believe it. The actual situation of his wound could not be seen, but the water mana was trying to heal his wound as soon as it appeared. [The host attacked a senior officer on duty. The host will face the charges after the mission has ended.] Aiden acted like he couldn''t hear it, but he was more surprised that he missed it. His right hand had already been wounded by the night howler. And now he was bleeding from the place between his thumb and index finger due to his inexperienced handling. ''Didn''t you tell me it was accurate within 25 metres?'' He was sure that the distance between them was less than 10, but he still missed it. [The host has no prior knowledge of the use of this firearm. High recoil makes it harder for beginners to control.] ''I missed it. So what? If one-shot is not enough then¡­'' *Kaboom* Another shot made the forest shake. Asher and Elijah were stunned, not knowing how to respond. Alex, on the other hand, was calm. As soon as he saw movement in Aiden''s bloody hand, he jumped out of the way. And the shot missed its target. Aiden was unable to hold the gun, to begin with, and the blood made it worse. The gun left his hand as soon as he pulled the trigger and sent the bullet to its unknown destination. "What are you doing there? Do you want to kill me?" Alex yelled in outrage. "Do you have any questions about this?" Aiden retaliated in rage. He was a bit shocked when the gun slipped out of his hand, but he decided to attack with his bare hands. Alex never expected the situation to turn out that way. Even before he could stand on his leg, Aiden had already landed three blows on him. He was about to land the fourth, but he was sent to fly with a burst of water mana. Alex was struggling to stand up. The bleeding on the side of his face had stopped. Now he''s missing an ear. Three water rings formed from the water mana and began to rotate around Alex like a gyroscope. His eyes were red, his fist clenched tight. Before turning to Elijah, he looked at Aiden, "YOU? I am..." "You''re going to die," Aiden yelled at him as he punched. But the second ring deflected it before the punch could reach its final destination. Alex took the opportunity to kick Aiden, sending him down to the ground. "No one will die. Listen to me. "Alex yelled. "Huh!" Aiden jumped back on his feet before charging at him again, "Can you say for sure that nobody is going to die?" [Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 62] [Skill [Wind Skin] activated. Mana used:2/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 60] "Listen to me, darn it." Alex jumped back, as many droplets of water were condensed around him. "It wasn''t me." "What the hell are you talking about, Alex?" His speed improved with [Reduce Drag]. Before Alex could say anything Aiden appeared before him. [Skill [Air Punch] activated. Mana used:1. Remaining Mana: 59] Alex was out of reach even with [Air Punch]. The radius of the outer ring, protecting Alex, was almost two meters in diameter. Although Aiden was able to bypass it, the second ring stopped all of his attacks. With the water spear appearing on Alex''s side, Aiden jumped back to get out of his range. As soon as he took a step back, [Water Bullet] grazed on the side of his stomach. Yet the attack did not stop there. Almost 20 bullets, formed around Alex, kept raining down on Aiden. Aiden didn''t have a chance to attack as more bullets, and a few [Water Missile] were forming behind Alex. "Listen to me, Aiden, I didn''t do it," Alex yelled after breathing. Aiden, on the other hand, had a hard time avoiding the barrage of bullets. [Wind Skin] reduced the efficiency of all the bullets that had scratched him. However, the wounds were still piled up. "What the hell didn''t you do, Alex?" Even if he jumped back and forth, his voice was steady. He spared no effort to listen to the words of Alex, but Aiden''s eyes continued to observe Alex''s movements, without losing a single hand gesture. [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 57] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 55] The first one sent him to his left, where the density of the [Water Bullet] was lower. And as soon as his heel touched the ground, another [Wind Burst] propelled him forward. ''You can''t send the [Water Bullet] backwards, can you? ''Aiden was smiling in his heart. ''At the last moment, you can tweak the angle slightly, but you can''t turn it around and attack at the back.'' Yet his happiness did not last long. He had to move away as soon as he landed, as the new set of new [Water Bullet] had already formed, and... [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 53] If the [Wind Burst] had not been used at the last moment, the water missile would have taken a large chunk of him. "What the hell are you doing, Asher? Help me." Alex''s sudden cry frightened Asher. A moment of hesitation, before he ran to Elijah. "Stop it, Aiden." Asher shouted, holding his dagger at her throat, "If you don''t stop, Elijah will get hurt." There was a pin-drop of silence. Aiden was stopped on his way, and the bullet stopped in the air, too. Aiden turned to Alex, with veins bulging on his forehead. "What¡­" Alex couldn''t voice his surprise, before¡­ *Boom* Asher has been sent flying. Looking at the [Vortex], the intermediate grade spell around Elijah, a smile appeared on Aiden''s face. But when Elijah looked at him, her face was serious, "I don''t know what you''re doing, Aiden. But I''m going to support you. "Elijah''s voice didn''t waver a bit. Her voice became softer, "I grew up fighting with you. Don''t worry about me. "She smiled at Aiden, and her face was serious again. She was walking towards Asher. He was visibly shocked by Elijah''s quick retaliation. He started to pick up mana in his hand behind his back. Several [Fireball] were soon thrown at her. Alas, with [Vortex] still rotating around her, none of them could touch her. "It''s my turn right now" [Wind Blades] continued to form on her hand as she threw it at Asher. Even if they had been trained together, Elijah and Aiden were two very different types of mages. Aiden cultivates the Eastern faith and is good at close combat. Whereas, at a very young age, Elijah used the western cultivation system and condensed her mana heart. The weapon she used was a wand with a tiny Wind crystal. While some western mage is skilled in both long-distance combat and close battle, she has been a traditional long-distance mage. But that didn''t make her any weaker. None of the [Fireball] could have reached the vortex. [Fire Bolt] might be stopping her on the track, but that was it. It wasn''t able to penetrate. The [Wind Blade] took its form over her head and was sent to Asher with the wave of her wand. Asher tried to run away, but he stumbled and fell to the ground. This was the step that saved his life. The [Wind Blade] just grazed past his hair and sliced the tree in half. Unfortunately, the tree fell by its weight. Asher looked at Elijah again, it was nothing but fear. He knew she was weak in close combat, so he ran into the forest without hesitation, and Elijah followed him. "Maybe Asher is with her, too." Even if Elijah was fighting with Asher, Aiden never stopped attacking Alex. On the other hand, Alex tried his best to explain that he did not know why Asher attacked Elijah, but all of it fell to deaf ears. "Hahaha," Aiden couldn''t help being sarcastic at the moment. "If you want to lie, please make it credible." "You son of a bitch, believe me when I say that. It was Elijah who was trying to kill you. She''s the one who''s trying to kill you, she''s the one who''s stopped giving you the serum. She gave you the poison." It was hard for him to breathe with the constant attacks of the [Water Bullet]. He still said, "Why? Does she want to make a mana stone out of me?" Alex was surprised for a moment before he understood it all," Yes, Yes. Did you know that?" Planet ''Will'' had a dedicated mana stone harvesting industry. It''s all been through mining. But the stronghold did not stop researching a way to make mana stone. And one of them succeeded. They were able to make animals. And the industry was booming. But words spread that mana stone made of humans has a higher rate of amplification than others. Without hesitation, The Federation has made it illegal to harvest mana stone from humans, and even the mana stone harvesting of animals has been carried out under an appropriate licence. But where there is light, there is darkness, too. Aiden jumped back as he crouched down to breathe. Even if the [Water Bullet] and [Water Missile] were above him, Alex didn''t attack. "Tell me, Alex. If you knew all about it then, why didn''t you stop it? "Even without looking at him, Aiden spoke. "That''s because she had a letter from Dessert Base 3, with the permission of the Federation." But the intended words never came out. In the blink of an eye, Aiden attacked. [Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 38] "Fu*k," the curse escaped his mouth unintentionally, as he sent all the mana projectile to Aiden. Once the [Wind Gale] had accelerated, Aiden could not control the direction of his movement. That made him an easy target. But... [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 36] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 34] [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 32] ... ... His breathing stopped as mana circulated through his brain and eyes. Strengthening his awareness of the peak, he continued to cast [Wind Burst]. He was so precise that he was dodging most of them with minimal movement. He crouched on the ground again as soon as he had escaped all of them. Alex knew what was going to happen next, but the new [Water Bullet] has not yet been formed. He grabbed his spear tighter, and ... [Skill [Wind Gale] activated. Mana used:15. Remaining Mana: 11] He accelerated straight towards Alex. The spear was aimed at him, the three rings were revolving fast but Aiden was faster. [Skill [Air Spike] activated. Mana used:1. Remaining Mana: 10] The skill that he generally used on his foot now had created a sharp cone from his fist as it slammed on Alex''s chest. *Puchi* Blood scattered all over. A good piece of meat was taken from his shoulder by a spear of water. Aiden crossed the outer two rings. The inner ring, however, was small and rotated faster. It landed a heavy blow to his chest. In the fight with the night howler, he was wounded, and the blow made it worse. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, but he was happy in his heart, ''I succeeded.'' Alas! His excitement was short-lived. "What is this thing?" His scream forced him to cough more blood. Well, that doesn''t worry him a lot. His hand, with the help of [Air Punching], had drilled through Alex''s chest. It wasn''t Alex, though. ''The water clone? ''He wanted to jump back as soon as he understood, but it was too late. The ring collapsed around him, enclosing him in a thin shell of water. And it was quickly filling up. "Listen to me, I didn''t want to kill you." Alex''s voice sounded in the shell, "Elijah wanted to..." Aiden didn''t have time to listen to him. He was struggling to break free. The water was already at his waist, and he''s going to drown in a few breaths, ''I''ve got to escape.'' [Skill [Air Spike] activated. Mana used:1. Remaining Mana: 9] [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 6] Yet none of them has been useful. "Listen to me, we need to stop fighting now. You didn''t die until now, we might be able to find a way to save you." "Why don''t you first undo the water bubble. "Aiden growled like a mad beast. For a moment, he didn''t stop fighting. Unable to break the bubble, he directed all his mana to his head and eyes, trying to find the weakness of the spell. "You forced me to ..." that was the last word Aiden had heard before he drowned. Surrounded by water from all sides, Aiden was unable to absorb more mana of wind, yet he directed all his mana to his lungs. *Kuukh* Alex vomited a mouthful of blood outside the water bubble. His eyes were sad as he watched Aiden''s struggle grow slower and slower with each breath. Inside the bubble, quietness returned as Aiden''s body continued to float. Somewhere in the void of silence, a notification arose. [The host has¡­ 10 The End, Before the New Start... [The host has manually initiated an innate skill.] [Initiating [Zone]...] [All Physical Stats will be doubled for 5 seconds.] [4.9987] The timer appeared on the edge of his vision, and Aiden knew exactly what he had to do. He could feel a huge amount of energy surging through his body. The feeling was divine, however, he didn''t have time to enjoy it. Alex had coughed some blood a moment ago, and now his body was weak. He struggled to maintain the [Water Prison], his second high-grade skill. He had never thought that any human could escape, and now Aiden was on the verge of breaking it. "But how?" Alex mumbled. Aiden, who had stopped struggling a moment ago, was now awake. *Boom* Water splashed all over the place as the water prison broke and the drawback forced Alex to spit more blood. Aiden pounced at him as soon as their eyes met. He wasn''t in a position to fight, yet he stood up with the support of a water spear. Alex was forced to swallow his blood as he cast his innate skill. The three water rings had begun to rotate around him, but Alex could not relax. Although Aiden had shown an enormous amount of strength, he knew very well that it was temporary. Rather than magic or strength, it was a matter of stamina. [Author note: As you know it Alex had two innate skills, [Multicasting] and [Water Defence] (The one with three rings.). Even if he didn''t have mana, he didn''t have a problem activating them.] Aiden appeared in a flash, and Alex stabbed his spear. It passed through Aiden''s heart to his utter disbelief. Aiden had moved through the outer two rings with a spear stuck to his chest. His bloody hand was a hair breath away from Alex''s face. Alex looked into Aiden''s lifeless eyes with fear. Blood was flowing out of his mouth, his breath was ragged. But looking at him, Aiden smiled and muttered. At the next instance, Alex''s legs gave away, he fell to the ground. His blood flowed like water from his mouth, his nose, and even his ears. He couldn''t understand what kind of magic Aiden was using. At that time, he felt that someone had hammered three thick nails through his solar plexus, his right chest, and his face. [Second Officer Aiden used his innate skill [Skill Mine].] His ESS explained to him. Even a moment before his death he wanted to know how Aiden had done it. [Second Officer Aiden had planted three [Air Spike] skills with the three shots he had landed on the host.] ''Why didn''t you tell me before?'' He wanted to scream but he had no energy. [This innate skill is untraceable until it is activated.] Alex wanted to say a few more things, but his consciousness slowly faded. Aiden, on the other hand, was not good either. [Due to the forced activation of the [Zone], the host will be immobilized for 30 minutes.] ''I''m not going to survive that long.'' Aiden smiled at his fate. ''This is where I die, then? Mother, father, I''m so sorry. Arya, Aaron... With the money I left for you, you won''t have to worry about anything.'' His chest was heavy and breathing was hard. He couldn''t move his eyelid, ''If for the last time..'' "He did it." Those words sent a jolt to his body. ''Elijah, where are you now? I can''t see you,'' he shouted in his heart. Gathering the fumes, he tried to open his eyes again. One of them did not hear his plea, while he forcefully opened the other. "He had two innate abilities from the look of it." It was a voice he had heard before, ''It''s Asher. Why is he with her?'' "He dared to lie to me." It was only then that Aiden could feel that something was casting a shadow over his body. He couldn''t see the face at all, ''Are you Elijah?'' Aiden asked in his heart, but none of them answered, neither the system nor the person. Yet he was able to feel someone poking his head. "Hey, are you still alive?" The voice came closer, and she poked again. ''This is Elijah. I''m sure. But why are you acting like that? Aren''t you supposed to be sad?'' However, Elijah could not hear the words of his heart. "Tch, man. Alex had destroyed his heart. Otherwise, it would have made a great mana stone." Elijah felt sorry, not for Aiden, but for the effort, she had made to cultivate one mana stone, "I had felt that our mana was compatible." "If the heart had not been destroyed, would you have been able to make one?" Asher was curious about that. "Yes, his mana stone was close to maturity. Father taught me a way of extracting mana from the secondary mana vessel and condensing it in the heart." Looking at the ragged body of Aiden, she shook her head, "But the stone could only condense into the heart of the mana-bearer." "That''s a bummer. Even if he is still breathing¡­" ''What are you talking about? Mana stone, heart, Director?'' Aiden could not understand them at all. No, he didn''t want to believe that at all. ''There''s no way, it could be true. There''s no way that this is Elijah. I love her. She loves me. We''ve been together since the age of 6. There''s no way she could have¡­'' "Wow, man! Is he still alive with the wound? "Asher has voiced his astonishment. "He''s still alive. Wow, he''s crying." Aiden was shocked, ''Am I crying?'' Aiden had no control over his body. He didn''t know why tears were leaking at a time like this. "He''s crying. The great ''King of Combat'' of Base 3 is crying. Can you believe that?" Aiden could see two people inspecting his face as the voice of Elijah sounded close to his ear. "He''s in love with you, I think." "Huh? You''ve got to be kidding me. I, the daughter of the desert base 3 director, will never go out with a slumdog. He was just a guinea pig for my dad. I''ve just been taking care of him." ''I am a guinea pig. Yes, I was just a stupid guinea pig.'' Aiden laughed in his heart, ''Alex was right. He''s been right all along. Perhaps he knew...'' Aiden''s consciousness faded more and more in darkness. All he could see was the shadows that were moving in front of him. Suddenly, Elijah jumped up and looked at every direction before yelling, "Run, it''s here." Elijah didn''t wait for Asher to understand, and she ran into the forest. Though Asher was confused, he followed without a word. He knew of her sixth sense, a sense that had never been proven wrong. *Dong* dong* ''Cowbell,?'' Aiden was trying to find it. Fear? No, he didn''t feel an ounce of fear, he was happy. ''I want to die,'' he said. And his wish had been fulfilled. He could see the red ring, ''The Red Ring of Death.'' Looking at the hand coming towards him, Aiden closed his eyes. His consciousness faded into eternal darkness. "Stop, don''t touch him." The voice was hoarse, it sounded like stones grinding against each other. Aiden was unable to hear it. He didn''t see that the hand of the fearful devil had stopped an inch away from him. It was looking back to see the speaker. A deer emerged from the forest at the moment. A deer made of vines, mosses and stones. Flowers bloomed all over the body. The eyes were red crystals. They were shining even in the dark, grey environment. "Father?" This voice was feminine, and it came from the hollow mouth of the devil. She was running to the deer. Even if it was called a deer, it had the same height as a horse. Like a gleeful child, she jumped on its back. "Have you been talking about this child of a man?" The devil nodded vigorously to his question. On the other hand, the deer shook his head as if he had smelled something awful. "The smell of death is so strong. No, it''s not just death, there''s grief, guilt, and ... what happened to him?" Although the smell is intense, out of curiosity, he still came close to Aiden''s body, "This is a good find." "And this one?" Deer moved to Alex''s dead body. "This one had a perfect heart. No, there is a slight imperfection." "Susrut" The deer spoke again, and something came out of the forest. It wasn''t more than 30 centimetres in height. Looking at it, you could confuse it with a mushroom. Yet it was alive. There was a mushroom cap on his head, which looked like a wizard''s hat. It had a white body, and there were a few pairs of whiskers that reached the ground. "Take that boy and that heart with you." "But, Master, the boy isn''t dead¡­" He sounded confused, "He''s not alive either." "Father. Said. Do." The devil spoke. The one called Susrut smiled at her, "But we can''t take a man''s child to the sacred land." "Just do it."The little guy complied with the deer''s order. "Okay, Master." Susrut bowed, "Wisp, big guy." The dark forest began to shake as if a giant were running. And after all, when it appeared, it was a giant. A head-snatcher, with only one face on his chest. There was a blue fireball, a will-o-wisp. As it stopped in front of Susrut, a little child''s body began to take shape out of the darkness. It looked frightened of Susrut, even though it was of a double size. "Wisp, lead the big guy to the place. And you, "He pointed to the head snatcher, "Take him away. Don''t play around. Go straight to the sacred land." The one, with the head of a fireball and the body of darkness, nodded vigorously. Susrut, on the other hand, moved to Alex''s body. As soon as he got close to Alex''s chest, his whiskers came to life. Those four whiskers drove straight into his chest without spilling a single drop of blood and took out a heart made of crystal blue water. Without a word, they all vanished in the darkness of the forest. Leaving Alex''s heartless body behind. ************* 2 weeks before reaching earth. Captain''s quarter, Spaceship. "That asshole!?" Alex slammed his fist on the table in frustration. "Can you believe that? Those assholes were planning to kill my man even before we could start our mission." Sitting in front of him was a teenager with an asymmetrical haircut that covered her left eye. Alex''s indignation didn''t affect her at all. She took a mana candy out of the bowl and popped it in her mouth. "What are you doing?" Alex yelled at her. "Huh?" The girl looked as if she had never expected such a question. She showed Alex the wrapper with an innocent face, "I ate candy. Can''t I do that?" The veins on his forehead almost popped, he clenched his fist, and... Alex sighed and released his taunted nerve, "Come on, Lyla. Can''t you see the situation? Aren''t you mad?" "Being angry, huh? Why am I supposed to? It''s not my problem." Alex was surprised by Lyla''s nonchalant words. "Nothing to do with you? "Alex mumbled, his surprise soon turned into anger. He said, "You''re the team''s vice-captain, and you''re saying it has nothing to do with you?" "I''m the team''s vice-captain. The team is made up of Levi, Elijah, you and me. I have nothing to do with any of the other four." There was no hesitation in her face, "If they survive, I''ll be happy to cooperate. If not, then..." "But Aiden has the same level 5 battle rating as you do." Alex tried to reason her. "But he''s just a mage of level 2." "Levi is level 2 as well." "[Mana Cost Reduction] is an innate skill of Levi. It can reduce the cost of mana to a fourth. His 97 mana can be rated as a 388 mana unit." "Hey, come on, Lyla. That is not what I am talking about. He''s the best close combat fighter ever. You, too, have a hard time fighting him." "Only if I don''t use innate skills." Lyla never tried to hide her frustration. "Even when you don''t have an innate skill, those mana beasts won''t go easy on you." Alex was not able to refute to this point, nor was Lyla intended to let him do so. "What''s your point? The federation has already approved this, and it is a Desert Base 3 experiment. Even if we''re on the planet Will, there''s very little you could do about it." Those words are nothing but the truth. Even if Alex didn''t want to protest, he couldn''t stop it. "But what Elijah is doing is inhumane." Lyla shook her head, "If you ask me, it''s a good thing. With her Grade A innate skill [Clairvoyance], she''s going to be a better teammate than Aiden. It could increase our chances of survival. Rather than Aiden, I think she should have high-grade mana stones." Alex''s frown grew deeper with each of her words. He was trying to say something, but... "You can''t save yourself, why do you worry about others? "That one sentence poured on him a bucket of cold water. "We''re here because we''re all expendable." "You, the perfect geniuses who passed his prime. Me..." She paused for a moment to sigh before adding, "The dirty spot on one of Planet Will''s greatest mage families."And there followed an awkward silence. After some time, she asked, "How many days do you have?" "I might live beyond the task time." There was a sad smile on his face. "What about your recovery rate?" "I can''t recover at all. I am on potions and shots." Lyla broke into laughter, "Look at you, A mana rejected is worried about a mana poisoned patient." "No, he is not poisoned yet. We can still stop¡­" "Stop it." Lyla screamed as she stood, "Do whatever you want. I''m not going to help you." And she left without a look. Leaving Alex behind even more puzzled. 11 Totem or Slave contract!? "Old man, don''t stop right now. Complete the story." Aiden, 6, nudged the old man who was drowsy in the middle of the story. "Huh!" The old man opened his eyes. It took him quite a few moments before he could understand what was going on. Looking at Little Aiden, he showed his yellow teeth and patted his head. "Oh, come on," Aiden grunted as he pushed the old hand from the top of his head, "come on, tell me. What happened? Did people know that Harry saved them? He was the hero, he killed Voldemort, and he saved the world. The old man could not help but smile again. Looking at Aiden, he remembered his days back on earth. His first grandson wanted to hear the old fairy tale, so he read it to him. And now¡­ The old man sighed hard, remembering the death of his grandchild, who died in the first year when it all started. What did they call it? Mana63. It was the year of the year 2163. It was the beginning of the Pandemic Mana, the beginning of the Mana Apo¡­ "Come on, don''t fall asleep again," the child pleaded, "you didn''t even say a word this time." "Oh, yes." He patted the child again, even though the child frowned, "Aiden, what''s a hero?" "A hero?" Little Aiden was serious about that. He wanted to give the correct answer, "The hero is the one who gets the rewards." "But Harry didn''t get the reward." "Didn''t he?" He couldn''t believe the old man. He said, "but he saved the world." "Yes, he saved the world, but even so he didn''t expect anything back. And that''s why he was called a hero." "But ¡­" Aiden wanted to say something when the older girl ran in. "Aiden, let''s go. You''re accepted. You can go there now." Aiden was shocked for a moment but soon ran away in excitement. "Arya? What happened?" The old man was confused. So Arya explained to him that Aiden had been chosen as a stronghold recruit. He''s going to have a chance to go back to the earth. After carefully explaining all this to the old man, she left the house. Looking at their excitement, the old man could not help but sigh. ''How can it be a good thing to go back to that hellhole?'' The more the old man thought, the more scared he was. Humans turned into stones or disintegrated into ashes by breathing. The chicken turned into firebirds, the cat-sized rats eating a human in a matter of seconds, the pet dogs becoming more ferocious than the tigers. It''s been a nightmare. ************** ''Why did I have such a dream?'' Aiden did not know why he remembered that day. It was the day he sold his life. Thinking back, that made him feel sad. It''s always been a good day. He sat back up after taking a deep breath. His body was sore here and there, but it wasn''t that bad. The first thing he did was to check his body. He had a cut mark on his abdomen, as well as on his chest. The thought made him frightened. When he checked, his worst nightmare proved to be true. He can no longer cultivate. ''Is that how I''ve survived?'' Aiden wasn''t sure of that. But when he moved his hand, he could still feel the beating heart in his chest and the scar that covered it. ''Didn''t that spear has pierced my heart? Aiden was sure that he took the spear in his heart to activate his [Skill Mine] so that his hand could reach within 1 meter of his body. ''I succeeded.'' There was an empty smile on his face, ''ESS? Are you in there? Or I''ve already died.'' [The host is alive.] ''How many days do I have to live? If I remember correctly, it should be around 80 or 90 days.'' He had to take into account the time he was asleep. ''These wounds could not be healed in one day.'' [87 years 9 months and 18 days.] Hearing the notification, Aiden frowned, "Are you kidding again? Have you turned off the emotionless mode?" [The ESS is running in motionless mode.] ''I am healed right now?'' Aiden couldn''t believe that. [The host has been cured.] After coming to this world, he was happy far too many times, only to have his hopes shattered most devastatingly. First, he needed to confirm everything. ''Show me the status.'' [[NAME: Aiden Law Age:16 Rank: First officer Team: EP00 (Previously UG93) Condition: Perfect Element: Wind[locked], Water[??] Level: 1 Grade: none Strength: 32 Agility: 47 Endurance: 54 Dexterity: 38 Intelligence: 67 Health: 189/189 Mana: 5/5 Battle rating: Level 6 Innate skill: [Light Foot] [Skill Mine] [Zone] Passive skill: [Mana Acceleration(??)] (Locked) Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale] ] ''My stats have increased? ''Aiden never expected this to happen. To begin with, he had never expected to live, yet he had survived. It''s like a fortune out of his misfortune. [Stats of the host haven''t increased. Due to mana poisoning and injury, the host was unable to use his full strength.] ''Now that I was thinking about it, something like that had been reported before.'' Looking at his status, he couldn''t understand a lot of things. ''Huh! Right now, I''m the first officer. When did that happen?'' [After the death of Team Leader Alex, Vice-Captain Liya was promoted to Captain, First Officer Elijah to Vice-Captain and the host¡­] Aiden could no longer hear it. He couldn''t breathe just as that name hit his ear. It took a few moments before he could recover. His eyes were clear, there was no pain or sorrow. There was no hint of anger or hatred either. ''I''ll take back everything that''s been taken from me, and I''ll pay back what I owe to them.'' he clenched his fist tighter, ''This is a precious second life of mine. If someone is trying to mess with my life again...'' Aiden took a deep breath before he calmed down and asked,'' ESS, where am I?'' [Identifying¡­ Unable to identify... Recording new location¡­] "If you want to know, you should come out first." The hoarse voice sounded from the outside, as someone cast a shadow at the mouth of the dark place where he was staying. Aiden jumped quickly to his feet. There was nothing to cover his chest, only a ragged pant in his waist. Aiden was unable to find any weapons or the dog tag. There was nothing inside the place, to be precise. Aiden stepped out with caution and was mesmerized. "Is this the earth?" That was all he could have said. There was a peal of laughter coming from his side, but it sounded more like two stones grinding against each other. ''What is this?'' The man who spoke to him was anything but human. It was shaped like a human, and it even had the bones of a human being, but that was all. There was no skin, no muscle, no flesh. Thick vines grew inside and outside the skeleton, giving it the feeling that it was a human plant. To his surprise, thick green grasses grew above his skull. "I am Adi," said the thing, but Aiden could pay little attention to it. If there''s anything like paradise here, it''s supposed to be the one. And there was a giant tree at the centre of all this. ''Huge'' is not the perfect word to explain. It was a giant, to be precise. Aiden wouldn''t be surprised if anyone said that it was the same size as the skeleton that had knocked them out of the sky. What was more wonderful was the top of the tree. It was so high that the cloud of the sky parted, making a giant whole in those dark grey clouds. "This is the first time I saw the sun after I came down," Aiden whispered to himself. "Yes, that''s the source of our life." The man went up to Aiden. With each step, he had to tear off the root that had connected him to the earth in a brief moment of contact. "You''re almost 20 kilometres away from the tree, it still looked so mesmerizing," said the man, "when that thing happened, it protected us. All the green you see here is a gift. The dark forest behind it is also part of its territory." "But, what are you? You''re not human." After Aiden recovered his clam, he took another look at the man. "I''m the one who saved you." As if Adi was smiling. "Saved me!?" Aiden was confused. "Why?" "Because she wanted it," said the thing, pointing to the distance. Looking in the direction, a chill ran down his spine. He took a step back by instinct. ''The devil?'' Now that the devil was in the light, he could see his outline. It was the same height as Aiden, and the red rings were even brighter. The light had devoured as soon as it had touched it. "Ha ha ha." Aiden burst into thunderous laughter. Even the devil was stopped in its tracks, "You saved me, so you can kill me? I thought that only humans had the same hobby." The plant skeleton shook its head. "She wants to play with you." "She?!" Aiden was surprised by its choice of words, "What does ''she'' want to play? Tag to kill?" It was hard to understand whether there was a smile on that vine face as it said, "Touch her, and you will understand." *Dong* Dong* The next moment the devil disappeared. Aiden wanted to step back but he found that his legs were wrapped with vines. He couldn''t tear it even with increased strength. "What are you scared of? You didn''t want her to touch you? "Aiden wanted to reply, but it had appeared before. Same dark hand stretched out towards him¡­ * Khuuk * The shackles on his legs vanished and he fell on his ass. He looked up to find a smile on its dark, expressionless face. He touched his cheek instinctively, and it was there, a little colder now. But at the next moment, the devil jumped at him, wrapping itself around him. It rubbed its head on his chest like a child who had found her favourite toy. Aiden couldn''t believe that, other than feeling a little chillier, there was no feeling of pain. "What? But how?" Aiden couldn''t believe that ''is it a dream?'' "She was a human once, so she longed for human friends¡­" "No, not that? Why didn''t I die?" "Sorry, I don''t interact with human beings," Adi said with a stupid smile. "Well, there might be many reasons, but one of the most important is that ... you''re no longer human." Even if he was scared, he still pushed the devil out of his body as he stood up. "What did you say about that? Am I not a human being? Well, then what? A monster, huh? A mana beast?" That thing shook his head, "You have a mana heart, as well as mana crystal. But you can''t use them. So you are none of them." "Mana heart? Mana crystal?" Nothing made sense to Aiden. He didn''t know much about mana crystal, but he knew very well that it wasn''t easy to cultivate the mana heart. Only one of the five could survive, but... The devil was still clinging to him as if she was checking every part of Aiden. Even if he wanted to, he would not be able to remove her, so he decided to accept the invasion. "Is that the heart of Alex?" Now that he''s been thinking about it, he''s seen Alex''s element and passive skill in status. On the other hand, the vine man sighed as he said, "Your heart was destroyed, so we replaced yours with the other boy." "Alex," he couldn''t stop his hand from touching his chest. For the first time, there was a tinge of sadness on his face, but it vanished on the next. Before turning to Adi, he shook his head. "Is it even possible to implant a water mana heart in the body of wind mage?" "No, but the heart is different. That heart had a mana rejection effect. It can absorb mana, but it can''t circulate through the body. That boy would have died soon, even if you didn''t kill him." ''Why are you telling me this?'' Aiden frowned, ''did I look like someone in need of your condolences?'' It was as if Adi had been able to read his mind. He smiled at Aiden before continuing. "When she found you, you were already going through the process of becoming a beast, condensing the crystal of mana." There was confusion in its eyes and voice, "Why didn''t you cultivate it?" "Cultivate?" Aiden spoke with doubt, "Mana crystal?" Adi nodded, "If you had cultivated it, you would have been a mana general." ''Mana general? Is that a designation of a mana beast?'' Again Adi didn''t quench his curiosity. "But it was too late, though. If I was a little late, your body would have exploded and died, leaving behind the crystal." ''He''s the one who saved me.'' Aiden now understands everything. Aiden wanted to say his own words, but first, he bowed to Adi. "No, no. There''s no need to thank me. If there was anyone else, he might have done better. And just one more thing. You don''t have to try to cultivate. Neither the crystal nor the heart." ''Didn''t you say I couldn''t cultivate it in the first place? Why should I try it, then?'' Aiden was a little confused by his choice of words. "It may be because of my lack of knowledge of the mana heart, but the crystal and the heart have a very delicate balance of power between them. If you try to cultivate again..." the man sighed and bowed, "I''m sorry about that." "No, no. I am alive because of you." Aiden said, "There is no need to think about that. If I don''t cultivate I won''t die. I''m very thankful to you." Adi paused for a moment. As if he was aware of it, "There is a different way." Aiden''s heart thumped. Even if he had accepted his fate, he was sad. Who doesn''t want to become strong? He was very eager inside, but outside he was calm, "What kind of method?" "If somebody imprints you." "Imprint?" Aiden was unable to understand the meaning. "Oh! You''re not from here, so you might not know that." ''Was that his whole plan? Is it to imprint me?'' Aiden was surprised, but he understood after thinking about it. ''After all, there is no free lunch.'' "We call it the imprint. The human is calling it ''Totem.'' If you''ve got a totem. You can cultivate it again. You could get stronger, too." Aiden was tempted but never dared to make the same mistake again. If this ''imprinting'' is the same thing as a slave collar, he''d choose to die now instead of becoming a totemic warrior. "From the look of it, she''d be happy to give you the totem." Hearing Adi''s word, Aiden turned to the devil, only to find the red rings that were pleading to him. 12 A Cannibal? "Maybe she doesn''t look like one, but she''s a ''Mana King''."Adi continued with pride, "She''s a death elemental on top of that. Something very rare in this world, too." Looking at the uninterested Aiden, Adi added, "To tell you the truth, it''s very hard to evolve from ''Mana Noble'' to ''Mana King''. But she did it without giving anyone a totem. But becoming a ''Mana Emperor'' would be almost impossible for her if she couldn''t imprint someone." "To begin with, it''s hard to find someone who could contain her mana," thinking about it, all Adi could do was sigh. At the next moment, his face lit up, "If you carry her imprint, you''ll become a ''Mana General.'' It''s going to be easy for you to become a ''Mana Noble'' as..." "I''m sorry," said Aiden, surprising Adi. He didn''t know how to respond, "Don''t be like that. You don''t have to make your decision..." Aiden shook his head, "I am sorry." He didn''t even hesitate for a moment. He looked at his eyes and said, "I thank you again for saving me. But, I like to leave now, if I have permission to leave." "I want to go back to my team. If I survive the time of the mission, I want to go back home. I have no intention of cultivating again." Aiden said those words loud and clear, without a hint of hesitation. Still, when he looked at Adi''s eyes, he felt that Adi had seen him through his lies. And to his surprise, he was smiling at him. "You''re free to leave." It was Aiden''s turn to be surprised. He never expected Adi to let him leave just like that, ''could it be that it wasn''t a bad thing...'' As Adi had said, something had come from far away. A little wolf with something like a green pumpkin-headed tree man on its back. The wolf was made entirely of green vines, and the pumpkin-headed creature was wearing the armour of some unknown tree bark. He also carried a club made by tying a stone to a stick. They bowed as soon as they appeared in front of Adi. Adi nodded, "Take this child to the south forest." They nodded, turning to Aiden, and signing him to follow them. "Boy, don''t misunderstand me. I don''t intend to force you. After all, that''s your life." Adi gave Aiden a blade. It was a single-edged blade with a handle slightly bent outward. It was the 40 cm long blade that attracted him most. It was black, but it felt like someone had drawn intricate silver designs all over its body. Looking at mesmerized Aiden, Adi smiled, "Take it. The path you''re going to take won''t be without blood." Aiden was surprised by those words, yet again he smiled at Aiden, "The men of this land will recognize you as soon as they see your weapon. This, however, is something that the men of this land use." "You want me to fight with them, huh?" Adi smiled and shook his head. He said, "I want you to be prepared. And in that direction, there''s someone you might want to save." And he put the blade on the hand of Aiden. ''Someone that I want to save?'' Aiden didn''t hesitate any longer, ''Compared to my life, how much more costly this blade could be?'' But when he stepped forward to leave, someone stopped him from behind. As soon as Aiden understood that her power could not affect him, Aiden''s fear had died. Aiden tried to free his hand from her grip, only then did he realize that even if it had a child''s body, it was still an ''A'' graded monster. Aiden turned to Adi for help. He smiled, but he did nothing. "Let me go, please," Aiden said. She shook her head to his surprise. Aiden was dumbfounded, ''If you are an ''A'' graded beast, then act like one. Why are you acting like a kid?'' "Looks like she is very fond of you." Adi acted like he was enjoying the show. Looking at nonchalant Adi, Aiden turned to her, "Listen to me, you can come to me whenever you want. I will play with you." ''How am I supposed to play with the most dangerous monster with the death count of 300?'' But, to his surprise, his words were effective. He could feel it, the grip loosened a little bit. "As long as you don''t show up when I am working or you don''t hurt my Fri¡­ my teammates. I will play with you." Looking at her, Aiden felt that her already bright eyes were shining. "So, let me go now." And she complied without wasting a moment. ''Somehow I have gotten myself a new sister.'' Aiden shook his head and followed the already waiting green wolf rider. As soon as Aiden had gone far enough, the devil had also vanished, intending to follow him. Adi stood alone, looking at the giant tree in the distance. The wind rose a moment later. They began to gather the leaves and flowers that were scattered across the earth. It soon took the form of a woman. "Master, should I kill him?" she asked. Adi smiled at her, "Why is that?" "He is the only child of a man who can defy the power of the princess." "Do you think it was a joke when I said that if he tried to cultivate, he would die?" "My king. I wouldn''t dare," said the woman on her knees. "Only if he could ingest the essence of... Let''s not talk about the impossible. He''s not going to hinder our revenge." "But the prophecy ... "Yes, the prophecy of the seer." Adi turned to look at the giant tree, "The man who can defy death will rule the land." Adi laughed for an unknown reason, "No man can defy death. I was the one who denied death for him. And I am the one who will rule the land." ************** Aiden, on the other hand, was following the wolf rider. ''So Mana''s beast has some kind of level, huh? Mana General, Mana Noble, Mana King, Mana Emperor... There must be more, too.'' Aiden was amused, ''I never expected the Mana beast to be ranked by themselves.'' ''ESS, what is the level of Adi?'' [Unable to identify. Not a mana beast.] ''Not a mana beast? Could it be because it''s a tree?'' [System can identify flora.] ''What''s the problem, then? What he did to my body is not something to laugh at.'' [There was no sign of life on his body.] ''Can this be some kind of golem? A puppet? ''The more he thought about it, the more curious he was. ''If it wasn''t a living body, it would explain how he was able to touch the devil.'' [Does the host want to set up new data?] ''Do it. Put the tag of the species as the golem.'' [Name: Adi Species: Golem Grade: S (??) Element: Unknown Feature: Red crystal eyes, Human skeleton with vines and moss. Comment: Golem with consciousness (?)] [Does the host want to modify it?] ''No.'' Aiden wasn''t sure if it was a golem of not, but he felt that the system measured the grade correctly. [Autor note: Level A: Mana Emperor] ''If the golem is at the level of mana emperor, then who made it?'' He was curious, however, he had no intention of wasting time on it. He asked, ''How many days have it been?'' [Looking at the position of the sun, it is the 17th day of the mission] ''17 days? So I was sleeping for 11 days. That was a lot.'' As Aiden thought, the view in front of him changed again. The grey, colourless forest appeared before his eyes. But in the vicinity, there was no beast. The bright place wasn''t there any more as he turned back. There was a dark forest as long as he could see. ''Where did the forest go?'' [The concentration of Mana is too high. Unable to discern.] ''Can this be some sort of spell?'' The more he thought about it, the more fearful he was. At that moment, the wolf rider stopped and pointed his finger to the direction. "You want me to go in that direction, huh?" It nodded to his question and turned the wolf around to disappear into the darkness. ''What am I supposed to do now?'' All of a sudden, Aiden was feeling empty. He never thought he was going to live to see another day. All the struggles to resist death for one more day, the conflict that was bred by his idiocy and the death... All his past actions seemed to be a joke to him right now. ''Should I kill her as well?'' No one was there to see the flash of intense hatred in his eyes as he clenched. But it vanished as soon as it had appeared. A moment later he shook his head, "How many of them should I kill? Elijah, Asher, huh? Perhaps Lyla also knew about it. Then there''s the director back on the planet and the federation..." Aiden sighed. Aiden was trying to scream his heart out, but he couldn''t. "I just want to go home, I just want to be with my..." he couldn''t say. The pain, the grief, the guilt, and the happiness turned into tears. The peace of the forest was destroyed by his painful howl. Aiden, on his knees, was like a little lamb for slaughter, but no one dared to disturb him. Nobody knew how long it went, but when he stood up, his eyes were calm. As if he had undergone a complete transformation. "I killed the captain of the team. So there''s going to be a punishment, too." It wasn''t like he was afraid of anything, but thinking about his family, his heart hurt. ''Maybe I could reduce my sentence by completing some of the missions.'' For a non-member of the team, credit points are just money. But for those who don''t lack the money, that''s the price of prestige and fame. "Should I do the mission?" [Seven Missions are available.] Like a seasoned salesman, ESS responded at the right time. Aiden smiled and said, "Show me." [1. Fauna sample collection. New fauna identification: 2 credit points. Blood sample: 5 credit points. Mana crystal: 2-10 credit points. 2. City ruin exploration: 100 credit points. 3. Contact with the natives and knowledge of current development: 100 credit point 4. Mine exploration: 100 credit points 5. Chaos ore collection: 5 credit point/ kg 6. Knowledge of native magic theory: 200 credit points 7. Knowledge of human stronghold: 100 credit points ] ''The New Wildlife? ESS, show me the current credit point.'' [New species identification: 8 Recorded data correction: 2] ''10, isn''t it? Aiden frowned,'' Even if he could explain the reason behind his action, he knew very well that the punishment for killing an on-duty senior officer would not be light.'' ''They might cancel my rewards.'' Aiden sighed in his heart and took another look at the mission list. ''The best way to do this is to collect mana crystal. With my new strength, it''s not going to be a problem.'' Aiden looked around to find a potential target. Even after reading all the missions, he felt that hunting for mana crystals would be the best option, but before that, ''Can you find the way to Levi''s shuttle pod?'' [The system can only identify the shuttle pod of the host.] ''That''s going to do too. It wasn''t far away.'' Aiden was forced to stop thinking, ''What was that?'' [Identified a cry for human help. It is 882 meters to the east.] ''Hearing the sound from a distance.'' He was happy, but it didn''t last long, because the number of cries grew. At first, he thought there might be a chance that it was one of his teammates, but now that the number of voices grew, he knew very well that it couldn''t be. ''They''re natives.'' Aiden gave another look to the east, before turning to the direction of his pod. ''It doesn''t have anything to do with me. I don''t want to interfere with other people''s problems.'' [Rescuing victims can increase the chance of cordiality between the host and the natives.] ''What happens if the other party attacks me?'' [If the other party is a mana beast, the host will also have a chance to harvest mana crystal.] ''There''s no need. It didn''t have anything to do with me. I''m going to the shuttle pod.'' [A mine is 123 meters away from this place.] ''A mine, huh? 100 credit points? Maybe there''s a chance to know more about the current situation¡­'' Aiden sighed in his heart as he turned toward the direction. ''Let''s just watch for the moment.'' [The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]] And the wind began to roar in his ears. Only when the heavy wind clashed against his chest did he remember that he was wearing no shirts. To his surprise, it wasn''t even ten seconds before he had to stop. The groaning became louder as things came to be seen. Aiden had been quick to hide behind the tree. If it had been before, he would have vomited, but now he wasn''t so weak. Still, the deep stench of blood was not something he could have enjoyed. And it was a human being in front of him or something that was shaped like one. The right shoulder was much larger than the other shoulder, and the right hand was thicker than the human thigh. But the other shoulder was more human-like. But on closer inspection, he understood that there was not just one, but two left hands. Although these hands were still of normal size when one stacked above the other, it seemed like a rejected human by-product. "Grrrrrrr" Aiden had no idea whether he felt his gaze or not, but when those grey eyes stared into his eyes, his heart was forced to skip a beat. The thing called the lips weren''t on his face, and the jaw looked more like a snout than a human jaw. Only when that big body moved, Aiden could see the thing he was eating. ''A human.'' His legs still had spasms, yet his eyes were dead. A large piece of his shoulder was missing, and the open stomachs were spilling out of the intestines. ''A cannibal?'' Aiden couldn''t help but suck a lung full of cold air. 12 A new beginning... "Maybe she doesn''t look like one, but she''s a ''Mana King''." Looking at uninterested Aiden, Adi added, "She''s a death elemental on top of that. Something very rare in this world, too." "I''m sorry," said Aiden, surprising Adi. He didn''t know how to respond, "Don''t be like that. You don''t have to make your decision..." "I don''t understand that. The totem, the imprint... " Aiden was curious about the way by which he could cultivate again. "Totem is a contract for the soul. You, the one with the totem, can use the mana of totem origin. "Adi pointed to the devil," And she is the origin of the totem. The more she imprinted, the more mana she was able to gather. It''ll be easier for her to become the ''Mana Emperor''." "So the others are going to do the work for her? "Although Aiden wanted to use better words, he could find none. "You can''t cultivate mana from your mana heart or mana crystal. Yet, by cultivating her mana, you can make yourself stronger. "Adi pointed out the most important points. He wanted to get stronger, who doesn''t. However, Aiden was confused. The more Aiden thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. ''It''s better not to accept than to pay the price after accepting it.'' Aiden shook his head, "I am sorry." He didn''t even hesitate for a moment. He looked at his eyes and said, "I thank you again for saving me. But, I don''t think I could accept her totem." "It might be wrong for me to reject you after you saved me, but I don''t want to get bound, "Aiden said those words loud and clear, without a hint of hesitation. And most of all, he said the truth, "I want to go back to my team. If I survive the mission, I want to go back home." An angry outburst or more persuasion, nothing like Aiden had expected to happen. Adi was smiling when he looked at him. As if he understood the inner thoughts of Aiden. "I want to leave this place." Aiden did not dare to hesitate after rejecting him. "You''re free to leave," Adi said, smiling. Soon a little wolf came with something like a green pumpkin-headed tree man on its back. The wolf was made entirely of green vines, and the pumpkin-headed creature was wearing the armour of some unknown tree bark. He also carried a club made by tying a stone to a stick. They bowed as soon as they appeared in front of Adi. Adi nodded, "Take this child to the south forest." They nodded, turning to Aiden, and signing him to follow them. "South forest?" Aiden was not sure how the natives of the land named the place. Adi''s all-knowing smile was still there, "That is the place closer to your destination." He stopped for a moment, before adding, "boy, don''t misunderstand me. I don''t intend to force you. After all, that''s your life." "Take this."Adi gave Aiden a blade. It was a 40 cm single-edged blade with a handle slightly bent outward. "It is a simple blade, you can find it in any human settlement." Adi said, "The path you''re going to take won''t be without blood." Aiden was surprised by those words, yet again he smiled at Aiden, "The men of this land will recognize you as soon as they see your weapon. This, however, is something that the men of this land use." "You want me to fight with them, huh?" Adi smiled and shook his head. He said, "I want you to be prepared. And in that direction, there''s someone you might want to save." And he put the blade on the hand of Aiden. ''Someone that I want to save?'' Aiden didn''t hesitate any longer, ''Compared to my life, how much more costly this blade could be?'' But when he stepped forward to leave, someone stopped him from behind. As soon as Aiden understood that her power could not affect him, Aiden''s fear had died. Aiden tried to free his hand from her grip, only then did he realize that even if it had a child''s body, it was still an ''A'' graded monster. Aiden turned to Adi for help. He smiled, but he did nothing. "Let me go, please," Aiden said. She shook her head to his surprise. Aiden was dumbfounded, ''If you are an ''A'' graded beast, then act like one. Why are you acting like a kid?'' "Looks like she is very fond of you." Adi acted like he was enjoying the show. Looking at nonchalant Adi, Aiden turned to her, "Listen to me, you can come to me whenever you want. I will play with you." ''How am I supposed to play with the most dangerous monster with the death count of 300?'' But, to his surprise, his words were effective. He could feel it, the grip loosened a little bit. "As long as you don''t show up when I am working or you don''t hurt my Fri¡­ my teammates. I will play with you." Looking at her, Aiden felt that her already bright eyes were shining. "So, let me go now." And she complied without wasting a moment. ''Somehow I have gotten myself a new sister.'' Aiden shook his head and followed the already waiting green wolf rider. As soon as Aiden had gone far enough, the devil had also vanished, intending to follow him. Adi stood alone, looking at the giant tree in the distance. The wind rose a moment later. They began to gather the leaves and flowers that were scattered across the earth. It soon took the form of a woman. "Master, should I kill him?" she asked. Adi smiled at her, "Why is that?" "He is the only child of a man who can defy the power of the princess." "Do you think it was a joke when I said that if he tried to cultivate, he would die?" "My king. I wouldn''t dare," said the woman on her knees. "Only if he could ingest the essence of... Let''s not talk about the impossible. A weak child like him is not going to hinder our revenge. And he does..." "But the prophecy¡­" "Yes, the prophecy of the seer." Adi turned to look at the giant tree, "The man who can defy death will rule the land." Adi laughed for an unknown reason, "No man can defy death. I was the one who denied death for him. And I am the one who will rule the land." ************** Aiden, on the other hand, was following the wolf rider. ''ESS, what is the level of Adi?'' [Unable to identify. Not a mana beast.] ''Not a mana beast? Could it be because it''s a tree?'' [System can identify flora.] ''What''s the problem, then? What he did to my body is not something to laugh at.'' [There was no sign of life on his body.] ''Can this be some kind of golem? A puppet? ''The more he thought about it, the more curious he was. ''If it wasn''t a living body, it would explain how he was able to touch the devil.'' [Does the host want to set up new data?] ''Do it. Put the tag of the species as the golem.'' [Name: Adi Species: Golem Grade: S (??) Element: Unknown Feature: Red crystal eyes, Human skeleton with vines and moss. Comment: Golem with consciousness (?)] [Does the host want to modify it?] ''No.'' Aiden wasn''t sure if it was a golem of not, but he felt that the system measured the grade correctly. ''If the golem is at the level of ''S'', then who made it?'' He was curious, however, he had no intention of wasting time on it. He asked, ''How many days have it been?'' [Looking at the position of the sun, it is the 17th day of the mission] ''17 days? So I was sleeping for 11 days. That was a lot.'' As Aiden thought, the view in front of him changed again. The grey, colourless forest appeared before his eyes. But in the vicinity, there was no beast. The bright place wasn''t there any more as he turned back. There was a dark forest as long as he could see. ''Where did the forest go?'' [The concentration of Mana is too high. Unable to discern.] ''Can this be some sort of spell?'' The more he thought about it, the more fearful he was. At that moment, the wolf rider stopped and pointed his finger to the direction. "You want me to go in that direction, huh?" It nodded to his question and turned the wolf around to disappear into the darkness. ''What am I supposed to do now?'' All of a sudden, Aiden was feeling empty. He never thought he was going to live to see another day. All the struggles to resist death for one more day, the conflict that was bred by his idiocy and the death... All his past actions seemed to be a joke to him right now. ''Should I kill her as well?'' No one was there to see the flash of intense hatred in his eyes as he clenched. But it vanished as soon as it had appeared. A moment later he shook his head, "How many of them should I kill? Elijah, Asher, huh? Perhaps Lyla also knew about it. Then there''s the director back on the planet and the federation..." Aiden sighed. Aiden was trying to scream his heart out, but he couldn''t. "I just want to go home, I just want to be with my..." he couldn''t say. The pain, the grief, the guilt, and the happiness turned into tears. The peace of the forest was destroyed by his painful howl. Aiden, on his knees, was like a little lamb for slaughter, but no one dared to disturb him. Nobody knew how long it went, but when he stood up, his eyes were calm. As if he had undergone a complete transformation. 13 Cannibal!! [1. Fauna sample collection. New fauna identification: 2 credit points. Blood sample: 5 credit points. Mana crystal: 2-10 credit points. 2. City ruin exploration: 100 credit points. 3. Contact with the natives and knowledge of current development: 100 credit point 4. Mine exploration: 100 credit points 5. Chaos ore collection: 5 credit point/ kg 6. Knowledge of native magic theory: 200 credit points 7. Knowledge of human stronghold: 100 credit points Comment: Solo compilation of the mission is not recommended.] He wanted to stay in the shuttle pod until the time of the task was over. But, according to the ESS ... [Killing a senior officer on a mission punishable by death.] Aiden had laughed at his fate. ''No matter what I do, I can''t escape my fate. Do I have to die?'' Once again, it was the ESS that came to his rescue. [The host can reduce the sentence with enough credit points.] He had only thought for a second that he could stay on Earth. But when he was thinking about his family, he gave up that thought. And his only way out of here was to do missions. Aiden looked at the list in front of his eyes, ''The New Wildlife? ESS, show me the current credit point.'' [New species identification: 8 Recorded data correction: 2] ''10, isn''t it?'' Aiden frowned, Even if he could explain the reason behind his action, he knew very well that the punishment for killing an on-duty senior officer would not be light. ''They might cancel my rewards.'' Aiden sighed in his heart and took another look at the mission list. ''The best way to do this is to collect mana crystal. With my new strength, it''s not going to be a problem.'' Aiden looked around to find a potential target. Even after reading all the missions, he felt that hunting for mana crystals would be the best option, but before that, ''Can you find the way to Levi''s shuttle pod?'' [The system can only identify the shuttle pod of the host.] When he was deciding to go back to his pod, something attracted his attention. [Identified a cry for human help. It is 882 meters to the east.] ''Hearing the sound from a distance.'' He was happy, but it didn''t last long, because the number of cries grew. At first, he thought there might be a chance that it was one of his teammates, but now that the number of voices grew, he knew very well that it couldn''t be. ''They''re natives.'' Aiden thought about it, ''If I can rescue them, then I have a better chance of completing a high ranking mission.'' And the ESS didn''t forget to entice him more. [A mine is 123 meters away from this place.] ''A mine, huh? 100 credit points?'' Aiden sighed in his heart as he turned toward the direction. ''Let''s look at the situation first.'' [The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]] To his surprise, it wasn''t even ten seconds before he had to stop. The groaning became louder as things came to be seen. Aiden had been quick to hide behind the tree. If it had been before, he would have vomited, but now he wasn''t so weak. Still, the deep stench of blood was not something he could enjoy. And it was a human being in front of him or something that was shaped like one. The right shoulder was much larger than the other shoulder, and the right hand was thicker than the human thigh. The other shoulder was more human-like. On closer inspection, he understood that there was not just one, but two left hands. Although these hands were still of normal size. With one stacked above the other, the beast seemed like a rejected human by-product. "Grrrrrrr" Aiden had no idea whether he felt his gaze or not, but when those grey eyes stared into his eyes, his heart was forced to skip a beat. The thing called the lips weren''t on his face, and the jaw looked more like a snout than a human jaw. Only when that big body moved, Aiden could see the thing he was eating. ''A human.'' His legs still had spasms, yet his eyes were dead. The head was smashed, a large piece of his shoulder was missing, and the open stomachs were spilling out of the intestines. ''A cannibal?'' Aiden couldn''t help but suck a lung full of cold air. But he didn''t have time to look at it, as the deformed human pounced toward him. [The host activated the innate skill [Light Foot]] Aiden was meant to run the other way, but his body did not recognize his intention and ran toward the beast while holding the blade. Looking at the bulky body, he tried to attack right at the chest, but a punch from the giant right shoulder forced him to duck. If he was just a little late his head would have smashed like a pumpkin. ''That giant shoulder is more nimble than it looks.'' He was a little careless for a moment, and two more punches came from the beast''s left hands. He was able to avoid one of them and¡­ [Skill [Wind Skin] activated. Mana used:2/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 3] If not for the [Wind Skin], the blow from the seemingly human hand would have had a devastating effect. Still, he could feel the pain, and before he could recover, another kick sent him to fly. Aiden rolled over the ground and stood up while clutching his stomach. The beast did not give up and pounced again. ''What the fuck is this thing? ''Aiden could not help but curse. [Identifying¡­] [Unknown beast.] [Would the host like to name the beast?] ''Extra-hand.'' His successor could say anything about it, but Aiden had no intention of spending extra time naming it while running away from it. [Name: Extra-hand Grade: B Element: None. Feature: Three hands, Superhuman strength. High dexterity, Medium speed, Cannibal. Weakness: Unknown Comment: Keep your distance ] ''It might be quick with his hand, but speed is slower.'' After thinking for a moment, he knew what he was supposed to do. [Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 2] As soon as Aiden walked into his range, the big hand attacked him again. Now that he knew it, he didn''t have a problem escaping it. And as soon as he did, a couple of left hands came back to him. ''You attack pattern is so repetitive,'' Aiden thought. As he got out of range, he could see that his leg was itching to kick him. Just as his legs left the ground, he moved back and attacked his other leg. He attacked it multiple times with his swift movement. And one more slash cut off the tendon of Achilles. While the beast was throwing his weight around, his left foot bent in an awkward angle and it broke its leg. Aiden quickly moved out of the way as it fell on its back. Aiden couldn''t afford to waste any more time. Even before it could recover, he plunged his blade in its heart. ''Huh!'' Aiden moved away, escaping its last-ditch attack from the right arm. ''Even with a blade in its heart, it was still able to attack!'' [The host was able to keep his conscience with a wounded heart for almost four minutes.] Aiden ignored its remark and moved back. Fighting the beast, he understood some of his problems, ''What is the recovery rate of mana?'' [1 unit per minute] "What?" He couldn''t contain his surprise. When he was a mage, his recovery rate was 1 mana per ten minutes. And now¡­ [On earth, the host had a recovery rate of 1 mana per five minutes.] [After receiving the inheritance it was reduced to 1 mana per two minutes.] [The host has recovered from mana poisoning, so the time is reduced to one minute.] ''Still, 5 unit mana is too low.'' Aiden sighed. He had innate skills but they had different problems. Even if the innate skill doesn''t use mana, it still leaves him exhausted, both mentally and physically. So he had to use his magic skills one way or another. Before moving to the dead body of the beast, he took the mental notes of his to do and don''t. He recovered the blade and plunged his hand through the wound, ''Where''s the mana crystal?'' [Beast without any affinity to mana will not produce any mana crystal.] ''Shouldn''t you say that earlier?'' Aiden couldn''t help but frown. When he tried to find something to clean the blood on his hand, he realised that he had nothing but a blade and a pant. Not even the dog tag. Unable to find anything he moved. The cries of help were growing stronger as he closed in. He was sure there wasn''t just one victim nor there is just one beast. Aiden moved through the night without activating his innate abilities. It took longer, but soon he could see what was in front of him. The human-shaped beast was dragging people, as the victims were still struggling to free themselves. Most of the beast was similar to the beast he had fought a while ago. Some of them had three hands, some had two heads. These are common, and in between them, what stood out was a four-armed beast. It didn''t seem deformed. It was a perfectly shaped human being with an extra pair of arms. It was carrying two women under its second pair of hands. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn''t get rid of the three-metre giant''s clutches. ''One boss and eight lackeys. There''s no way I can beat them.'' Even if Aiden wanted to help, he reasoned that he didn''t need to commit suicide just after he got his new life. Alas! ESS had a different idea. [Known life signature detected] [Identifying¡­] [Owen Stone. Identity confirmed.] ''What is it? Owen, huh? ''Aiden was amazed. ''Is he the one Adi was talking about?'' Something shocking happened before he could decide what to do. Suddenly, the boss turned to Aiden, screaming in an intangible language. And before Aiden could understand it, an Extra hand and an Extra head pounced toward him. 14 Give up? Aiden turned around instinctively and ran away. Fighting against two beasts is not going to be a big problem for him, but he was worried that all the others would attack him at the same time. ''And if the one with the four hands attacks¡­'' Aiden didn''t even want to think about it. He only decided to engage after they had traversed a long distance. He had no problem fighting the Extra-hand, but the other one was a headache. Continuous dodging made Aiden''s breath more ragged. He wanted to attack, but every time he closed in, the one with an extra head would attack him with a blowpipe. ''And I thought their pattern of attack was the same.'' Aiden sighed as he moved his body a little to dodge another dirt. He wasn''t wrong about that. The one with the extra arm had only known how to attack, but... ''Looks like having an extra head does the trick.'' Aiden stared at the ''Double-head.'' The name he gave to the companion of Extra-Hand. [Name: Double-head Grade: C Element: None. Feature: Two heads, High agility, Poisonous blowdart, Cannibal. Weakness: Unknown Comment: Keep moving ] [Author note: There was a mistake in the last chapter. Extra-hand is a grade-C mutated human beast, like Double-head.] ''If you''re not coming then...'' The speed of the extra-hand wasn''t high enough to keep up with Aiden, even without [Light Foot]. But now that he activated it, Extra-hand didn''t have a way to touch it. [The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]] Stacked with [Reduced Drag], Aiden had no trouble chasing after the Double-head. As soon as it realized that, it had blown two more poisonous darts to Aiden before running the other way. When Aiden ran after it, he noticed something. During the run, one of the heads controlled its body, while the other kept putting the darts in the blowpipe. "Like hell, I''m going to give you a chance." After confirming from the ESS that all of his five-unit mana had been recovered, he... [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 3] In a blink, Aiden appeared in front of the Double-head. Not only was it fast, but the Double-head was also nimble enough. Although it looked awkward, it was effective when one head of the body tried to pull the other part out of the blade''s path. Alas, Aiden hasn''t finished yet. As soon as his leg touched the ground, two warnings and a timer popped up in front of his eyes. [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 0] [The host has activated innate skill [Zone]] [4.9998] Whether it was because of the initiation of two innate abilities at once or because of his mana exhaustion, Aiden felt a little dizzy. But he didn''t have time to relax as he lunged again. [4.8823]: He could see it in slow motion, as the Double-head was trying to stabilize itself. [4.6791]: Looking at Aiden''s hand, it understood Aiden''s intention. [4.5127]: It was trying to blow another dirt, while the other head was trying to duck. It was too late, though. Aiden''s [Wind Scythe] missed their throat, but not by much. [4.3819]: The [Wind Scythe] vanished, shedding the blood left on the ground. Aiden couldn''t dare to look back at the Double-head. Half of its heads had been cut, shedding blood and grey matter all over its body. One of the eyes was still hanging from the veins, as the body fell to the ground. The effect of [Light Foot] and [Zone] could not be stacked. Still, the change in agility from 47\u003e118 is not something that can be ignored, much less when compared to the speed of the Extra-Hand. Before it could understand what had happened, The Extra-hand fell to the ground with a pierced heart and a slit throat. Even if its intelligence was low, it could still understand what had happened. As it looked at the human, there was nothing but fear in its eyes. [3.6749] [The host manually deactivated innate skill [Zone]] [Control and understanding of [Zone] increased.] [Duration increased by .5 seconds] [Cooldown time decreased by 10 seconds] [For activating [Zone], The host will be immobilized for 2 minutes 22 seconds.] But Aiden was not able to hear any of it. His heart worked extra time to pump blood through his veins, and the lungs worked harder to add a little extra oxygen, but none of it could relieve the piercing pain in his brain. He was swallowing a large mouth full of air as he slowly recovered from the agonizing headache. ''The mana is the secret,'' Aiden understood the trick behind his [Zone]. To be precise, he understood it when he activated it against Alex. But at that time he didn''t have a chance to think about it. The human body is created to work on blood and oxygen, but when these things are replaced by mana, the result will be something like ''Zone''. But, as everyone knows, the human body isn''t very evolved to work with mana, the consequences are expected. ''I hope there won''t be a long-term side effect.'' Aiden sat up slowly. ESS had said that the cooldown would take about two minutes, but it wasn''t until five minutes later that he could move again. The first thing he did was to recover the blade and walk in the direction of the beasts. Even if he wanted to run away, it was no longer possible. ''I made a promise to Levi, and I will keep it.'' He was very grateful to Levi, to be precise. Without his inheritance, he would have died at the hands of Alex. Even if he killed Alex because of his misunderstanding, he still reasoned that what he did was right. Alex knew that Elijah did it, he still didn''t stop her. Aiden didn''t want to think about it right now, as he had a bigger problem to solve. ''How did the beast find me? Could it have some kind of skill, too.'' ''No, it can''t be that way. Otherwise, I would have been found a long time ago. It could have been some kind of sense. Vision, hearing, smell...'' ''Can that be because of the blood? ''Aiden had not cleaned his hand after he had plunged his hand into the chest of the first Extra-hand he had fought against. And the wind had brought the smell to the beast. ''I''ve got to hide my scent.'' There was nothing in his view that could do that. But he did find another solution. ''Is this plant poisonous?'' As soon as ESS responded, he rubbed it all over the body, making him almost green. Soon, he reached the place, but it was empty with bloodstains all over the place. But the cries could still be heard. Looking around, he had no difficulty finding the place with a dense amount of red outlines with a green light huddled together with blues. This time, he didn''t dare to be careless. And he cautiously moved it. But the light had begun to disappear one by one before he could reach them. Only when he could see them with naked eyes did he understand the mystery. [The host had discovered entry to the mine.] ''Mine, huh? How do you know that? Is the position indicated in your database?'' Aiden''s confused. He was also confused as to how the ESS works. But he knew it wasn''t the time to clear up his confusion. [The position was confirmed by studying the change in the circulation of mana inside the host body due to the radiation of Chaos ore.] Although the process is a closely guarded secret, it is widely known that Chaos ore was the main source of Conmet production. A conscious metal that could harvest any kind of energy. The backbone of the new era of Mana. There are also a few mines on the planet Will, but they are of low quality. That''s also why there''s a mission to do that, too. ''Right now, the priority is to save Owen.'' Aiden checked his body''s situation before concentrating the situation in front of him. Although it was called mine, it was just a cave without a lot of infrastructures. There were two Extra-hands in the mouth. One might think it was all, but the system showed otherwise. Two more Double-heads were hiding in the forest, 50 meters from the entrance, on each side. With their body, redlined, they had no chance of hiding from Aiden''s vision. Aiden moved without wasting a moment. Aiden crawled along the ground before stopping 20 meters away from the beast. He chose this one because even if he killed it first, the wind would take the smell of blood away from the cave. Aiden lunged as soon as the wind blew. [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 3] [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 0] Even before it could understand what had happened, two of its heads were already rolling on the ground. Aiden had to move quickly, otherwise, if the direction of the wind changes, it would be too late¡­ ''Is this the blowpipe?'' Aiden wanted to use it, but he wasn''t sure whether or not their saliva was poisonous or not. But he took five of the dirt away. All of them had some kind of sticky liquid at the tip. Wrapping them in a thick leaf, Aiden took a longer route around the cave to reach the other Double-head and waited. Waited for his mana to fill up again. [Skill [Wind Scythe] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana: 2] Aiden couldn''t help being too careful, even if it cost too much. Aiden vanished before the head could hit the ground. [The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]] [Skill [Air Spike] activated. Mana used:1. Remaining Mana: 1] His blade had slit the throat of one of the Extra-hands, while [Air spike] had silenced the other. Aiden could not dare to stop there. He was quick to drag his body to the side of the cave, but as soon as he put it down... "##@@##@" Aiden has been stunned. He ran away without hesitation. He looked back at the entrance when he was about 100 meters away from the cave. As expected, his attack was found, and the other three bodies were discovered. But there was also a fatal mistake on his side. Aiden saw that there were one boss and eight lackeys. But there were five of them in front of the cave mouth, and the boss wasn''t with them. "There was supposed to be 8, but there are two more. It looks like I''ve been miscalculated. "Aiden sighed at the heart. Aiden was not sure whether or not there were hordes of these beasts inside the cave. Even if he could tackle these five, it would be impossible for him to fight more if more of them appeared. ''Am I supposed to give up on Owen?'' 15 A wild Boss appeared... Aiden stared at the now busy cave entrance, unable to decide what to do about it. ''No one will know what I had promised Levi.'' Aiden reasoned, ''neither will they know that I have found Owen.'' He knew very well that nobody would know about him, yet he couldn''t give up. He had a seed of hesitation somewhere in his heart. If it were before, he would jump out and attack, but now all he did was sigh while thinking about the pros and cons of his options. ''Let''s wait and see first of all. I don''t think they''re going to eat him as soon as they catch him. If they did that then ... ''Aiden didn''t want to think about it and began to observe the situation. ''They could communicate with each other, despite their brutal appearance. Could it be... ESS, can you analyze those words?'' [The beast''s language is derived from the old ''Eseugutrop'' language.] ''So, in the past, they were human. No wonder they''re so well organised. Not only did they guard the door entrance with a melee fighter, but the dart blower hid in the shadows as well.'' This discovery made him even more careful. Fighting an intelligent beast is harder than fighting a hundred mindless beasts. Before making a move, he had to be sure of his success. Even though he couldn''t hear them, they watched their actions closely. After a little more yelling, two of them stayed at the entrance, while three moved in the direction Aiden had dragged the body. ''Looks like you don''t have anymore dart-blower.'' A confident smile appeared on his face, ''With their speed, I won''t have any trouble taking care of them.'' Still, Aiden waited long enough. After making sure there weren''t double-headed dart-blowers hiding, he moved in. He took care of the three with relative ease, before attacking the two at the entrance. Again, it ended in silence. Aiden didn''t pull the bodies away this time but used them as a bait. He waited patiently to see if there was any more to come out or not. One hour had passed, however, there was no movement. ''Should I go in there?'' Aiden had no idea where the horde of them was inside or not. ''I won''t know if I don''t enter.'' Even if he wanted to keep his promise, he also had to save his own life. ''Let''s just try one thing. If anything unexpected happens, then...'' Aiden looked around. There was darkness around him, yet not the one he was looking for. It took him a few moments before he closed in. As Aiden reached the mouth of the cave, no beast could be seen. There was no red outline inside the dark cave. There was nothing else besides occasional moaning, groaning and crying. Yet as soon as he stepped inside the cave, his leg gave away. Something squeezed his heart so hard that he could almost die. By instinct, his body jumped out of the cave. ''What was it?'' While he was gulping for large lungs full of air, he thought. However, the ESS did not have an answer. For a moment, he felt like a little mouse, and a giant snake was waiting to kill. ''Should I be running? ''He couldn''t hide his hesitation, he still decided against it. ''If things go wrong, I''m going to...'' He wasn''t sure he could run away, but he stepped inside. However, he didn''t feel it again. ''Did I have imagined it?'' He wasn''t sure, ''let''s not get careless.'' As he continued to walk forward, the cry was getting stronger, so was the stench of blood. Yet, none of the red outlines had appeared. ''Could it be behind the wall?'' Before he could understand the reason Aiden stumbled. Although the outside was grey like the dawn, the situation inside the cave was dark. Even if his eyes were used to the darkness, he still missed that leg. He was quick to attack, but he found the body had no head, and the stench of rotting was strong. ''It''s not just a day or two.'' Aiden was sure that it had died a long time ago. And the hive-like holes on his bulged belly were proof of that. The small, finger-sized worms were coming out and going in from one hole to another. The sight was not pleasant to see, and Aiden decided to move on. Soon enough, the path was divided. One of them went into the empty room while the other led further down. ''This may be the room of the guards. They''re smarter than I thought they were. They must have been human before.'' While Aiden took the other road, the system provided him with an answer. [Chaos ore radiation can have an impact on the human body. These beasts are proof of radiation mutation.] ''Didn''t Conmet have Chaos ore in it?'' [The amount of this is only 1%. Chaos ore is also a catalyst for the creation of a ''Tredecon'' particle. More commonly referred to as ''Mana''] ''This is one of the reasons for the Apocalypse, then? It couldn''t have been the only reason, maybe...'' Aiden wanted to ask, but he stopped as he appeared in front of another fork road. And this time, the room wasn''t empty. It was filled with almost 20 to 30 blue outlines, and there was a green one in the middle of it. And he can see the face of Owen. His face was dirty, his eyes full of hopelessness as he sat there. [Chaos Ore has been identified.] Aiden did not expect the room to be lit. The crystal-like stone was spreading the light. But Aiden was more concerned about the two beasts in the room. They were feeding on a dead body. Aiden attacked without giving them an opportunity. After fighting a lot of them, Aiden took care of him with a very precise movement. Those who were present were amazed, did not know how to react. Aiden didn''t have time to take care of them, either. To be precise, he wanted to take some of the ore but he resisted the urge. All this time, Owen was sitting on his face with an empty look. He didn''t even notice that the beasts had been killed. Only when Aiden pulled him out, he cried in pain. "Is your hand broken? "Owen gave a confused gaze to Aiden''s question. "If you don''t want to die, come along with me." Owen jumped up and followed him. Aiden had taken another look at the path. After he confirmed, they ran. Owen was following. And there were two more behind them. Most of the others were shocked for a moment before their survival instinct gained momentum. And the entire room broke into chaos. *GRRRrrrrr* By the time he reached the empty room, the whole cave shook with a thunderous roar. "Don''t dare slow down," Aiden shouted, seeing that Owen lagged. "Just run away. If they come, I''m going to take care of them." Even if Aiden had said that he had never stopped or gone back to fight. By the time they reached the mouth of the cave, the screams had filled the caves. ''ESS, Show me the root to the pod.'' Before ESS could answer, the shorter man from the back said, "We''re supposed to run to the white root city." Aiden didn''t even think about it, and he followed the green footsteps. To his surprise, they followed him, too. Looking at Aiden, who was glaring at them, the shorter man spoke again, "These mutants are very vengeful." "They will kill us all as soon as they find us. It''s better to follow you than to go the other way. With you, I''d have a better chance of survival if they attacked us." It was just as the man had said. They were chasing them. But it was only one beast from what Aiden could hear. "Run. Don''t stop." Aiden shouted, shocking the other three who followed him. "What?" "What happened?" At the same time, both Owen and the short man asked. "Don''t stop if you don''t want to die," Aiden growled. By this time, others could hear that something was charging at them through the forest. The closer it was, the more shook the earth. The other two men did not hesitate as soon as they could see what was going on. Owen was hesitant, but he was still following them. ''Why would you like to make yourself a hero?'' ''No, I just keep my promise to Levi.'' ''Isn''t life more important than a promise?.'' [The ESS can not understand the command of the host.] Aiden nearly laughed out loud. ''Didn''t you say that you understand human emotion?'' But in the next instance, his relaxed feeling vanished. *Boom* If Aiden hadn''t moved in the last moment, the giant club would have smashed him into a paste of meat. [Weapon: Macuahuitl Type: Sword/Club Comment: Avoid at all cost.] ''Even if you don''t say that, I''m not meant to get hurt.'' Aiden frowned, looking at the fearful weapon. The weapon looked like a club, but there were sharp stones on the edges. However, he was more worried about the wielder than the weapon. [Name: Four-Arms Grade: B Element: None. Feature: Four hands, Superhuman strength. High dexterity, High speed, Cannibal. Weakness: Unknown Comment: Run if you don''t want to die. ] Aiden wanted to run, yet he didn''t even get the chance. He jumped to the left to escape the blow, but Macuahuitl also moved sideways. [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 3] He jumped up to escape the next attack, which he had expected to be a kick. However, he had underestimated the beast. Four-arms reached out his vice-like hand and grabbed his leg quickly before throwing him into the tree. The attack was quick and Aiden didn''t expect it to happen. He slammed into the tree before he could understand what had happened. He coughed some blood, but he could spit it out. The beast appeared in front of him. Four-hand raised his weapon above his head to bring it down on Aiden''s neck. Aiden''s head, on the other hand, was still hazy because of the previous attack. He could not see clearly, nor could he move, and the weapon was too close... *Boom* 16 Defeating a grade B *Boom* That huge weapon passed over Aiden, taking a large chunk of tree. But it shocked him to wake up. [Skill [Wind Burst] activated. Mana used:2. Remaining Mana: 1] Even if he didn''t know how the attack missed, he needed to get out of that place, so he did. It was only after his vision cleared up that he realized that there was another person who attacked the Four Arms. Not only did his attack make the Four-arms miss its target, but it also made it angry. Four-arms pounced towards the man. Aiden, on the other hand, was already on his feet. He shook his already painful head, not believing what he saw. ''Wasn''t that the tall man running with us? So how did his body turn into a bear?'' It was a man who had the upper body of a bear, while his legs looked like a human. His thick bear paw was just the size of his four-arm hand, but it wasn''t enough. [The human had been transformed into a bear. Its mana channel is neither a human nor a beast.] ''That''s not something I need to worry about right now.'' Aiden saw that the bear-man was losing. There were two problems with the bear-man. Compared to its strength, it was weaker than the Four-arms, and it lacked two more arms. As his paw was caught by the Four-Arms, a barrage of punches from its extra pair of hands pushed the bear-man back. ''If he fails, I will not be able to last much longer.'' Aiden did not dare to waste any more time and ran back to the four arms. While it was busy with the bear-man, he aimed for the Achilles tendon. Alas, it wasn''t such an idiot as ''Extra-hand.'' Before he could attack, the bear-man was pushed back with ''Four-arms'' mighty strength to get out of the range of his blade. It was surprising, but the next move was more shocking. Four-arms held the hand of the bear-man, and the other pair grabbed his body and threw the giant body at Aiden. Aiden had no time to praise his enemy, as a giant mass of half a bear and half a human had thrown at him. In the middle of the air, the body was transformed back into a human being he knew. Still, Aiden stepped out of his landing zone and... [The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]] If he had been late for a moment, Four-arms would have broken his head. As soon as the bear-man was thrown away, Aiden was attacked. Even with [Light Foot] Aiden, he had a hard time getting out of its reach. "Get ready to attack." Aiden cried as soon as he saw the bear-man standing up and turning to the bear-man again. And the man understood Aiden''s intention as he transformed his body into a bear again. ''Shit.'' Aiden yelled in his heart. He was still 15 meters away, while the Four-arms''s hand was an inch away from his neck. Aiden moved quickly to his side, yet he was unable to increase the distance. He was ten meters away from the bear-man, but the hand will grab him any moment now. ''A little more.'' Aiden screamed in his heart as he saw that the bear-man was gathering all his energy in the attack and¡­ [The host has activated innate skill [Zone]] [4.1247] [3.5478] [The host manually deactivated innate skill [Zone]] It was half a second, and Aiden vanished from the four-armed view in that blink. it was shocked and unprepared as he received an attack from a glowing bear paw on his bare chest. The duration of [Zone] was very small, but Aiden was still struggling for air. He stared with big eyes when he stood up. ''How that thing could still be alive'' He couldn''t believe that the Four Arms had just taken the Bear Paw attack to its chest and took only one step back. *Grrrrrrrrrr* It was screaming in rage. Its eyes were red as it stared at the bear-man. It was clear that the deep gushing wounds, on its chest, from the bear''s paw, had caused some serious damage, but¡­ The Four-arms attacked the bear-man intending to kill him. No matter how good the bear-man was, he was unable to bear the burden of the attack from the four arms. ''If he goes down...'' Aiden shook his head to shake off his pain. Gritting his teeth, he circulated the mana through his brain. [The host has activated innate skill [Zone]] [3.5216] The view in front of him slowed down, but he still felt that its four arms were attacking at normal human speed. ''No matter how first you are, I think you''re too slow for me.'' Aiden attacked again. [3.5124] Aiden appeared on the left of the Four-Arms. It raised its arms to strike the fallen bear-man, yet, as soon as Aiden appeared close to him, it swung its hand at Aiden. Aiden had no problem ducking, as he punched at the left side of its rib cage. In [Zone], Aiden had 64 in his strength, still, it turned to Aiden to smile. As if it was mocking Aiden. [2.9458] Aiden had neither the time nor any intention of going head to head against it. This time, he appeared on the right side, but Four-arms was ready. The pair of right hands had come crashing down, and it had hit nothing but air. Another punch fell on its chest, right on the heart. The strength of 64 was nothing but the impact was effective when he hit the deep wound on its chest. *Gahhhhhhh* Aiden was unable to discern whether it was howling in pain or rage, yet he didn''t dare to stop his attack. He drove his blade through its stomach but was unable to retrieve it. It was too late when he understood the intention of the beast. He was trying to move away, but the punch still grazed him. When he stopped a few meters away from the Four-arms, he was unable to keep his balance and fell to his knees. Everything in front of his eyes was hazy. He couldn''t see the decreasing timer. [1.4256] When he recovered his vision, he saw that the Four-arms was struggling to get its legs free from the grip of the bear-man. Enraged, the Four-arms slammed down on the bear-man with its four arms. [The host has recovered 1 mana. Current Mana: 2/5] ''Thank you.'' Aiden spoke to the bear-man who was either unconscious or dead now. Looking at the Four-arms lunging towards him, Aiden smiled, "You''re too late." Aiden appeared on the back of the beast the next time. But the sense of the beast could not be underestimated. It took a quick turn and attacked. By the time the punch touched Aiden, Aiden had already touched his back. He mumbled, "Activate," but he was also thrown into the air at the next moment. His body tumbled across the earth before it came to a halt. On the side of his vision, the timer turned from 0.5179 to 0 but he didn''t have the energy to move as few notifications popped up in front of his eyes. [The host has activated innate skill [Skill Mine]. Remaining Mana: 0] [Due to the activation of the [Zone], the host will be immobilized for 9 minutes.] [The host have activated new innate skill, [Blink]] Aiden didn''t have time to look at the notifications. He was wounded, yet Aiden was pleased that he was able to activate both the [Air spike] he had planted on Four Arms using [Skill Mine]. ''As long as it''s activated at the right time, there''s no way ...'' Aiden couldn''t finish his thought, as something had cast a big shadow over him. ''How?'' He couldn''t understand how it was still able to move, but before he decided how to escape¡­ *Bang* Bang* "AAAHHhhhhh." His ears were still ringing as the rigid body of the Four-arms fell on him, causing him more damage than its punch did to him. ''A gun, huh? ''Aiden couldn''t help but think about that. ''Was that Owen''s? No, no, no. If it was his, he would have used it a long time ago. Then? The short man?'' When Aiden tried to understand what had happened, the four-armed body moved. ''Isn''t that dead? ''Thinking of his future, a chill ran down his spine. But when the body rolled out of his body, it was Owen who welcomed him, and he was a short man with him. "Feed it to him," said the short man, giving Owen something. Owen did what he had been told, but when the little bottle of unknown liquid came to his nose, Aiden resisted. "Don''t worry." Aiden felt that the man was smiling, "I''m not going to poison the man who saved me." Aiden, still unable to move, stared at him. It was his first time interacting with the natives of the world, so he did not dare to be careless. "Do whatever you want." The man said, "You killed one of the leaders of the pack, the others will soon come. It''s better to move as soon as possible. "And he left for the bear man. "I don''t think that man is lying. If he hadn''t shot the monster at the right time, you would have been dead by now." It was Owen, who was still holding the potion. ''If he had a gun, why didn''t he use it earlier? It would have been easy,'' thought Aiden, yet he knew very well that the short man was right, and the beasts would soon follow them here. ''ESS, Monitor my body,'' Aiden opened his mouth. Owen poured in the liquid. ''What is it? ''Aiden nearly vomited. The taste was so horrible that he cried out. [Cell regeneration increased by 27%.] [Blood flow increased by 61%] ¡­ There was a series of notifications that continued to appear. Aiden Skipped through all of them until the last one. [Reduced recovery time: 1:02] ''ESS, isn''t there a problem with my body? ''Aiden could feel his energy recovering at a frightening speed. [No anomaly detected.] Only then could he breathe a sigh of relief. 17 Blink ''Another innate ability? [Blast], huh? ''Aiden wanted to inspect the details of it, but he had a more important problem to deal with first. There were more than 700 operatives who came to the planet before him. There was no way that not one of them had any contact with the natives. ''ESS, has there been a record of interaction with natives before now?'' [123. 51 dead. 20 wounded. 52 friendly.] ''51 dead?'' [The operatives have to kill the natives because of their hostility.] [The host is asked to be careful with the natives.] ''Caution, huh!''Even without a comment from the system, he would have done the same thing. As time went by, he could move his body again. It was still painful, but he was able to move. Looking at the short man and bare-chested tall man coming to their way, Aiden whispered, "Let me do the talking." Owen was surprised by his words but nodded nonetheless. "Thank you." The short man was the first to speak, "I am Jewel, A trader from the white root city. Thank you for saving us." Aiden nodded, "I am Aiden, from the mountain of the west." According to the ESS, it was the mountain cities that had the least amount of interaction with the outside world. So that''s the identity that had the least chance of exposing. "No wonder, you are very strong, Aiden. I am Kaiser." The tall man walked forward to shake his hand, as Aiden slowly stood up. "You too." Aiden could feel his overflowing strength from his grip. "Still it was hard to believe that you were caught." "We have our circumstances." Jewel sighed. "Again, thank you for saving us." "No, no. With his strength and your gun, you wouldn''t have much of a problem in killing it." Aiden took a good look at his face as he said the words. A tinge of surprise flashed on his face before it vanished. It was easy for one to miss Jewel''s emotion if he hadn''t been keenly watched. Kaiser, on the other hand, had a hard time hiding his shock. "How do you know about guns?" As soon as Kaiser spoke, Jewel frowned. ''Wasn''t the gun an easy weapon to get before the apocalypse? In 20 short years, there''s no way it can go extinct.'' Aiden was confused by their reaction. The ESS did not give him an explanation but offered him an answer. "The elders have given us the knowledge," Aiden said as the ESS had told him to. "But why didn''t you use it earlier?" Feeling Aiden''s displeasure, Jewel pulled out the so-called ''gun''. "I don''t think it would have been enough to kill that Four-arms" [Modified Double Barrel Shotgun (Firearm) Type: Shotgun. Number of bullets: 2 Effective distance: 40 meters Comment: Heavy recoil. 8% chance of exploding.] ''Shotgun? It seemed more powerful than the revolver. But only two bullets won''t be enough.'' And Jewel gave him the same excuse, "I don''t think two bullets would have been enough to start with. On top of that, in that distance, I would have been killed even before I could pull the trigger." Jewel sighed as he continued, "If it wasn''t for you, I wouldn''t even be able to pull the trigger." Aiden knew very well that it was not a lie. Still, Aiden was unable to relax. There were too many things he didn''t know about. The transformation of the bear-man was also a shock to him. "We should leave this place, as soon as possible." "We should." Aiden nodded, "Let''s go Owen." The path in front of him was lit by green footprints. He recovered his blade, dyed in the blood of Four-arm and¡­ "Where are you going? That isn''t the path." Jewel spoke in confusion. "It is." But Aiden''s reaction confused him more. "Aren''t you going to the White Root city? This isn''t the way." "I didn''t say I was going to White Root City. You can go wherever you want to go. We''re not going to go with you." Aiden wanted to go to the so-called White Root city, but not now. He was weak, and he would not be able to use his innate talent. So he was trying to avoid unknown territory. Aiden wasn''t sure why Jewel was so persistent about it, but he had no intention of entertaining Jewel. But jewel quickly ran up to him, "Then, where are you going?" "You don''t need to know." Aiden didn''t stop for him anymore. "Why are all of you so stubborn? Do you even have any idea what lies in that direction?" Aiden felt little concern in his voice, but didn''t dare to relax, "There is a devil in the forest. A Mana King. One-touch and you will die." "That Four-arms," he pointed at the dead body as he continued, "He is like an ant in front of it. As soon as you hear the bell you will die a horrible death." "Haha." Even if he wanted, Aiden couldn''t control his laughter any longer. It wasn''t just Jewel who was shocked. Owen, who was fearful of the beast in the discussion, looked at Aiden in confused eyes. "Sorry." Aiden spoke in a serious tone, but the trace of a smile was still there, "You don''t have to worry about us. You can go back to your city. We have no intention of going there." Jewel was trying his best to hide his discontent. He sighed, "If you survive, please come to White Root city. I would like to reward you properly for saving me." ''Could it be he is someone important from within the city?'' Aiden was tempted to follow him but resisted the urge. Aiden nodded, and he was stopped again as he was about to leave. "Do you even know the path to the city? Do you even have a City light?" This time, Jewel gave him an all-knowing smile. ''City-light?'' This was the first time Aiden had heard about it, much less had it? Looking at the confused Aiden, Jewel smiled at him as he took something small out of his clothes. "Take this. This is a city light of White Root city." Aiden accepted the small round thing and checked it. ''Is it a compass?'' That was his first reaction, but the system was unable to provide him with an answer. [City Light(??) Type: Compass (??) Comment: Find White Root city, Detect specific wavelength of mana.] ''You just told me what I know.'' [The ESS have prior knowledge of ''City Light''.] "If you have this, you will be able to find the city. But you need to be within 200 km of the city." Jewel opened another city light to show Aiden the use of it. There was a tiny piece of azure silk that was swimming inside a red liquid. No matter in which direction Aiden moved it was always heading in the same direction. "And the direction in which it is pointing is the White Root City," Jewel spoke. "And there is a mark on its back. It is my mark. If you show it to the main city gate, they''re going to take you to me." "I understand. I will go if I get the chance." Aiden said and left quickly, fearing that he will be stopped again. They were moving at the top speed Owen could manage. It took more than two hours to get to his shuttle pod. ''ESS, will it be possible to retrace the path to Levi''s shuttle pod from here?'' The system didn''t answer but a new set of footprints appeared in front of him. "This is?" Owen asked in a confused voice. He had expected Aiden would come to take him to his shuttle pod. But rather than entering it, Aiden took him to another one. Aiden didn''t answer but entered the pod, and Owen followed. After the door closed, the interior lit up again, the system of the shuttle pod spoke. [Welcome, 1st officer Aiden Law.] Ignoring the surprise of Owen''s face, Aiden ordered, "show me the body." Soon a compartment opened up and out came the coffin. Inside it was Levi, with a burned face. "I saved you because he wanted me to." Owen was staring at the cold coffin, not daring to believe what he was seeing was real. "Stay here until the end of the task period. I won''t save you a second time." But Owen didn''t respond. There were tears in his eyes and looking at him all Aiden could do was sigh. ''Why the hell the federation had sent children like us to do something like this?'' Still, Aiden had no intention of comforting him, ''ESS, ready the stasis pod for [Mana Healing]'' So it did. Before entering the pod Aiden took a last look at Owen. ''ESS, Don''t open the door without my permission'' And the hatch closed on him. He was again standing in the 3X3 space with a giant screen in front of him, that was showing his status. [[NAME: Aiden Law Age:16 Rank: First officer Team: EP00 (Previously UG93) Condition: severely wounded Element: Wind[locked], Water[??] Level: 1 Grade: none Strength: 33(32) Agility: 50(47) Endurance: 56 (54) Dexterity: 40 (38) Intelligence: 67 (67) Health: 189/189 Mana: 5/5 Battle rating: Level 6 Innate skill: [Light Foot] [Skill Mine] [Zone] [Blink] Passive skill: [Mana Acceleration(??)] (Locked) Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale] ] ''My stats have increased!'' Aiden was pleasantly surprised. [Every time the host will push himself beyond his limit, the host will evolve in a superior being.] ''Superior being?'' Aiden smiled, ''Being a superhuman won''t be bad, but¡­'' He knew very well that without mana there would be a lot of bottlenecks he wouldn''t be able to cross. But there''s one thing that could help him out. That''s the innate skill. ''Show me the innate skill.'' Aiden could help but feel excited. [[Light Foot]: A traceless agility skill. X1.5 normal speed. Duration: 20 seconds Cooldown time: 50 seconds. Maximum use: 12 times/day [Skill Mine]: A long-distance bestowal skill. Can bestow known magic skill to an inanimate object. Object limit: 3. Mana limit:1. Activation distance: 1 meter. [Zone]: A limit breaker skill. Double all the physical stats. Duration: 5.5 Seconds. After effect: 09:50 minutes. Cooldown time: 20 hours. Maximum use: 2 times/week. [Blink]: A short distance agility skill. Can only be activated during [Zone]. Distance: 5 meters. Maximum use: none.] ''How can there be a distance limit on an agility skill?'' Aiden wasn''t sure about it. [The host can appear in any position within a radius of 5 meters around him with a single step.] ''But why can''t I use it without [Zone]?'' Aiden was a little confused, but the system cleared his doubts. [During [Zone] the host''s agility stats exceed 100.]