ă€ŠThe Place Where Everything Beginsă€‹


 Chapter 1 - Prologue

    It was a total of 28 eras and 452 days after humans from Earth were transported into their new home, Ortus...

    At this moment, on a particr battlefield...

    The final war between two opposing forces urred, while each sideprised several hundred thousand soldiers assembled up with various races.

    ''The final war'' meant that if one side won, another side would be either annihted or be enved to the winner.

    The warfare was very intense that it was filled with thousands of magnificent spells and skills beingunched, covering over half of the gloomy reddish sky while reaping many lives in every passing second.

    Meanwhile, both sides'' tactics and strategies continuously changed while the soldiers were beingmanded and controlled by their respectivemanders to contend with their enemies endlessly.

    However, because most soldiers were elites among elites, many were even revered as geniuses among geniuses by their own kinds. As a result, most of them had more than enough defensive measures as their trump cards to counter the attacks aimed towards them.

    Moreover, whenever an allied soldier became exhausted or ran out of their trump cards, they would be reced immediately by another allied soldier.

    That reason alone had made the war prolonged...

    That''s why the war had been ongoing for more than 7 days, ording to Ortus'' time calendar, but the winner was still undecided.

    Since if one side lost the war, it meant that they would lose everything they ever had. As a result, countries, families, friends, loved ones, or their races might be extinct and disappear from Ortus forever.

    Thus, they fought and fought...

    Desperate, they were...

    They gave it their all at every passing moment...

    "Graaahhh!!" Shouted a 4 meters creature with grey skin while piercing and shing its de wildly at the enemy.

    *sh* *sh*

    *Stter*

    The body of a yellow-skinned creature with 3 meters height became separated into 3 big pieces of flesh lumps altogether, with purple blood gushing out from the severed body parts ceaselessly.

    *Thump*

    *Thud* *Thud*

    There came the thudding sounds of the yellow skin creature''s body parts dropping down to the ground heavily...

    Afterward, the 4 meters creature went on to fight yet another being. Sometimes, many runes were floating upon its de and body, signifying that some magic spells were used here and there.

    With its high cultivation level, the creature could kill several dozen enemies. Still, not long after that, it finally got bombarded by many spells causing its defensive measures to be broken like ss.

    Atst, its head got pierced through by aser beam-like spell...

    It was undoubtedly dead...

    It became yet another corpse within this vast battlefield...

    Events like this were happening all over the battlefield that had spanned over several hundred kilometers in diameter.

    Regardless of how strong you were as an individual, you couldn''t win against an army...

    That was also the case for the great sage of humanity who had caused several ten thousand deaths to the enemy camp.

    At this moment, the sage, aka space sage, was now having a dangerous-looking knife stuck hazardously inside his heart caused by abined force of 9 legendary ranked assassins of the enemy camp.

    However, before his eternal demise, he activated a specific spell attached to the ring on his right index finger.

    To be more precise, he had activated the ''spell'' engraved on a small stone inside the ring socket...

    At first nce, the stone seemed to be just an ordinary stone, yet it was actually a fraction of Ortus'' core, as it also had a direct connection to the Ortus'' central body in real-time.

    The sage knew about the fact all too well that he might not be able to cast the spell sessfully, for he didn''t have enough time to study the ''stone'' at all.

    However, he didn''t have time to waste anymore...

    Moreover, he didn''t have any other choice right now...

    Therefore, he was pressed to use the spell or die here as it was...

    Abruptly, all of his mana essences were gathered at one ce, which was at the ring on his right index finger.

    To be more exact, those mana essences were gathered at the small stone embedded in the ring...

    Regarding that, the spell was actually a 9th circle spell called ''Time Reversal.''

    ording to his prior experiments, he could use this spell to reverse time of an object or the lifespan of a being''s cells. Still, he didn''t actually know what wouldmence if this time, he decided to reverse time by using the small stone on his ring as a medium...

    In fact, the small ''stone'' was a fractured part of the main Ortus'' core...

    What was Ortus, you say?

    To be honest, Ortus was an Omnipresent being called by many names since immemorial times, for one of those names was actually ''Universe.''

    Considering that the small stone had a real-time connection with the Universe itself...

    Wasn''t it possible to reverse time of the Universe then?

    The great sage had thought about this problem for a long time...

    Finally, from a total of 13 hypothesizes that he hade up with, he chose the most likely one, ''going back in time.''

    Then, as a caster of the spell, it could only affect him somehow as the side effects of casting a magic spell on the Universe''s core. Still, his soul and memory should be safe; as per one of the spell''smands, his soul would be protected and unaffected by ''time'' itself...

    ''Ahh... the spell actually works. There is no sign of rejection or the spell forms being unstable at all.''

    The sage thought to himself while casting a space barrier to protect himself from the enemy''s attacks.

    That''s why, currently...

    The humanity''s great sage was grinning evilly at his enemies as he finally opened his mouth to speak...

    "This is not the end yet. The next time you meet me, the result shall be different..."

    His voice was not loud, yet it traveled across the battlefield, letting everyone hear his confident but vengeful voice clearly.

    For some of them, it might be a downfall of the supreme sage of magic...

    For some of them, it might be the demise of their greatest enemy...

    But for him, everything that had happened till now was just a prequel...

    A prequel before a true sequel of which would flip the universe upside down...

    ...

    Hence, this was just the beginning of our great sage''s new journeyˇ­

 Chapter 2 - Body Training

    Inside a bedroom of a certain someone in his early 20s...

    "Urggg..."

    A man lying on the bed groaned...

    After groaning, he felt an enormous amount of information suddenly embedded itself forcefully into his brain. Then he abruptly opened his eyes and started retching nauseously, apanied by a very severe headache like his head was going to explode from the inside.

    He retched to the side of his bed ceaselessly.

    Before long, he stopped the retching and started to pant instead.

    *Pant* *Pant* *Pant*

    ''*Sigh*, What a tormenting period.'' While looking around the room, he thought and soon spotted a single sun staying high in the sky outside the window.

    Right after looking around, he found himself in his own bedroom, but he realized something amiss. He then recalled the new information inside his head.

    After some time had passed, he smiled widely, filled with happiness and ecstasy.

    ''Indeed, what a wonderful spell, I have actuallye back to the past. Now, I''m really in my old world, Earth.''

    He didn''te back to his senses for a long time. It was like, he was an idiot smiling incessantly.

    More than 2 minutester, he stopped smiling and analyzed his current situation with a calm attitude.

    He was Jeremy C. Lakota, a US citizen. He was also a former space sage with colossal power enough to destroy his current world effortlessly, but now he was only a puny human called Jeremy.

    He was a 23 year old unemployed living his everyday life by spending heritage and assets left behind by his deceased parents, who had passed away in a ne crash ident 2 years ago.

    It was a turning point in life for him. He left the university and confined himself for months. He cut off almost all social connections in his life, including his friends, girlfriends, and rtives.

    That left with only 3 close friends...

    After that incident, he spent 2 years as a full-time NEET or the less known name ''Not in Education, Employment, or Training''. He spent his days ying games, watching anime, and reading novels and mangas.

    That was until today, after his consciousnessing back to the past via the ''spell'', after knowing what would happen in the uing future, he decided to prepare for it, prepare for the worst nightmare that would befall this little piece of shit world.

    He looked at the date on his Iphone X Plus. It was Saturday, June 22, 2019, a little bit more than 3 months before the first batch of humanity was transported into another world, Ortus.

    After that, he checked his online banking ount, it showed 847,285.31 dors, enough for him to spend tens of yearsfortably.

    On Sunday, September 29, 2019. At 1:35 p.m., UTC-4.

    It was the day when the first batch of humanity got transported onto Ortus. Scientists called it ''The First Doom''.

    Indeed, if there was ''first'', then there must be second, third, and so on. There were a total of 8 Dooms. Around 1 billion people would be transported onto Ortus to undergo a baptizing event called ''Tutorial'' in each Doom.

    The sole reason for the so-called baptizing or tutorial was because ''they'' wanted humanity to get used to the rules of Ortus; one of the rules was ''the strong get all'', someone called it ''weak meat, strong eat''.

    *Sigh*

    ''And because of that shit tutorial, there is only a little more than 5% of humanity remaining on the Ortus.'' Jeremy thought depressingly.

    When he was transported into the tutorial space, anyone might imagine an otaku geared up with a super cheat system and rare jumbled-up bloodlines overpowering everyone who obstructed him.

    But, in reality...

    Hell No!!

    The Tutorial, it was akin to a living hell for someone like him. He didn''t get any cheat ability or an ancient bloodline; he was only a petty otaku forced to fight monsters, ounders, and even humans.

    Not only the external threats that he had to fight desperately with, but there was also madness and craziness inside his heart that might erupt and pollute his mind at any time.

    ording to a particr biologist, it was called a ''natural selection''.

    In this ce, nature was tutorial and Ortus, while humanity was the one being selected. As a result, Earthlings could only be weak prey for the ferocious predators to eat.

    After all 8 Dooms had befallen humanity, only about 400 million humans from Earth were alive on Ortus. It was a pathetic amount that was not even one-third of China''s poption.

    Many races were living on Ortus while waging wars against one another to gain more resources and powers.

    The cause of all those wars started off with something very tiny, butter it became bigger and bigger.

    As each race believed in different gods, the difference in belief caused conflicts, conflicts caused wars, and those wars were endless.

    But those things were not all. In terms of battle prowess, the human race was very weak, if not the weakest,pared to other races.

    Not gaining much hope of living in a brand new world, it instead diminished their hope further down to the drain.

    Some peoplemitted suicide, some went crazy, and some decided to be devout religious believers. Still, the problem was, it was a devil religion believing and teaching about madness and destruction.

    After Jeremy sourced out his memory, he nned his next steps of actions...

    ''I know that I cannot change anything before I be strong enough. So, my first step is to get ready for the tutorial. I will not only barely pass it this time... I will crush it with the highest achievement in Ortus history and create a decent living ce for humanity, for that is my duty...''

    Jeremy thought with an unwavering determination.

    Then he picked up his phone, wore his jacket, put on his shoes, and picked up the car key. He was ready to go to the store to buy the training wears necessary for his short-term n.

    But before that... some terrifying sounds wereing from his stomach.

    *Growling*

    ''First, let''s go to the nearby restaurant on the way there. After that, I''ll go buy those training-rted wears''. He thought.

    After finished eating a sumptuous meal and buying the things he needed, he looked at the time on his phone. It was about 10:30 a.m.

    He realized that it was not an appropriate time to go to the gym yet. So, he decided to go home to y some games and watch some animations that he missed dearly.

    At 4 p.m., he came to the best boxing gym he could find in his neighborhood. Even so, it took him 40 minutes of driving to reach here.

    He looked at the gym''s arrogant name, ''World Championship Boxing Gym''.

    ''Indeed, a very arrogant name. I hope they are as good as their name suggests.'' Jeremy thought sarcastically.

    Aftering into the gym, he spotted many people training inside.

    Not long after, a 2-meter muscr man walked up to him and asked.

    "How can I help you?"

    "I want the best trainers here to train me to be a decent fighter within 2 months. The money is not a problem. Can you do it?" Jeremy said.

    "..."

    The muscr man silently sized Jeremy up from head to toe.

    "..."

    "Come with me.", said the muscr man before walking back inside the gym.

    Jeremy followed the man while looking around the gym in curiosity.

    Aftering inside the gym, the man led Jeremy directly to the registration desk to register him as a monthly membership.

    As for the grade of membership, Jeremy chose the highest level avable, which was tinum level.

    Like this, he would be trained directly by two proficient trainers who used to train many world champion boxers. One was a retired world champion middleweight boxer, another was a former world champion Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

    As for the price?

    It was a staggering 45,000 US dors for mere two months.

    ording to the training programs, he needed to spend at least two hours inside and two hours outside the gym, together with the new diet meal programs tailored for him by the two trainers, which would furtherplement his body-building process.

    And starting from today, he would have to learn various boxing techniques, skills, and ways to fight barehanded from this gym.

    As for a reason for an old monster like him who had lived more than 28 eras on Ortus to trouble himself with 2 trainers on Earth whose total lifespans had barely beenbined up to around 80 years old was because...

    He had long forgotten about how to fight barehanded. Except for some skills in spearmanship that he had barely practiced in his free time, he knew almost nothing about fighting barehanded.

    [A/N: Well, on Ortus, one day has around 50 hours, and one era equals 1,000 days. That means, if calcting by Earth''s standard, Jeremy''s total age is more than 180 years old... a literally old monster.]

    In fact, Jeremy had be the great sage of humanity for more than 10 eras. The great sage who only had to lift a single finger to obliterate the entire country into nothingness.

    So, were there any reasons for him to fight closebat anymore?

    It was too pointless for him. Also, he preferred spending his free time researching runes and arrays rather than learning how to fight in close range as a closebat mage.

    Nevertheless, he still had some defensive spells up his sleeve as the emergency measures for when some assassins were sneaking up to kill him.

    ''Well, I don''t think that my demise actually originated from myck of experience orck of skills in close-rangedbat. But I think that it was rather because I prepared too few emergency measures for the ambushes of 9 legendary ranked assassins altogether. Anyway, how did they break through my impregnable defense again? It was too bizarre. Hmm...''

    *Sigh*

    The now sweating profusely, Jeremy thought to himself and sighed into the air.

    After finishing the 2 hours of intense training, Jeremy took a short break and sat on a bench alone inside the gym, thinking about many things in his previous life.

    Indeed, one of them was about his downfall in thest battle, which had spanned more than 7 days on Ortus.

    He had to prepare and think about many things before the tutorial event that would be happening in the next 3 months.

    After some time had passed, Jeremy finally felt that he already had enough energy to walk and drive home.

    Thereby, he decided to grab some foods in the convenience store on the way back home ording to the special diet meals arranged by his trainers.

 Chapter 3 - Meditation

    When he arrived home, Jeremy walked back inside. Then took a long shower and sat at the table while eating dinner and watching some TV programs alone.

    ''Now that I''ve thought about it. I''m always a loner. No matter in this life or previous life, I''m always alone.''

    ''Maybe, the reason is that I am the one who ditches all of those people away...''

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy sighed depressingly.

    It wasn''t because he didn''t want to have any friends, but because he was too strong in hister years, and his aura was too domineering for other people to act too friendly towards him.

    That''s why other folks decided to respect and revere him instead of befriending him. Well, who would want to be disrespectful to a great sage of humanity?

    ''It seems like I will have to be alone again in this life...''

    ''Well,e to think about it, it might be a little bit different after all because I will change some of my approaches this time.'' Jeremy thought to himself.

    After facing the hardship of acting alone in his previous life, Jeremy decided to create an organization that its members would be serving as his extra eyes, ears, and limbs.

    He thought that creating a powerful organization was necessary to alleviate some burdens and helped free some of his time to strengthen and power up himself faster than in his previous life.

    Anyway, he would still act alone most of the time, for his fighting style was always like that. He couldn''t manage to have any burdens or stupid teammates at his side.

    Nevertheless, this time he would have an organization to back him up whenever he wanted. That alone could relieve many of his burdens.

    ''Alright, let''s draw a detailed map of Ortus and wrote down some future ns, ideas, and missions that I have to do and faceter on.''

    After finishing that thought, Jeremy buried himself inside his own world with full concentrations to squeeze out his dormant memories from inside his brain.

    ...

    When the time hit 7 p.m., the rm sounds of his phone rang out, signifying that it was time to eat his fourth meal of the day. Then he stood up briefly from the study table inside his bedroom and went outside to eat the meal.

    After finishing his supper meal, he went back inside the room to do his regr meditation that he had done countless times when he was on Ortus.

    Meditation was one of the most critical factors that had caused him to reach the Sage realm in his previous life. It tremendously helped increase the amount and density of his mana in his mana pools. It also hugely improved the effectiveness and efficiency of his brain and mind directly.

    In his previous life, the first time when he realized that he had great talents for magic was when he first did the meditation.

    Back then, he hadpared the results of his meditation with the various meditating technique-rted books.

    At that time, the results really astonished him to the point of his brain going absolutely nk because when using the same time frame to meditatepared to ordinary people. He could gather more mana than those folks around 30 times.

    That didn''t even count the benefits to his body and mind as of yet.

    Any folk or even a toddler might also be able to tell that he was born to be a great mage... no... he was actually destined to be a great sage of magic.

    Heck... he might even be the only one in quadrillions of people to have this magnitude of talents.

    After all, he spent only a bit more than 20 eras (Around 114 years from Earth''s standard) to be a great sage, and he was stuck at the peak level of sage before his ''almost'' demise.

    Who could tell what he would be in the following 20 eras if he wasn''t dead before that anyway?

    ''Hmmm... maybe those aliens had rashly formed the alliance to fight with us because of me? Nah... never mind, this time I will crush them to the ground anyway.''

    Jeremy thought to himself before doing the meditation.

    Then he sat on his bed in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes lightly. He then began to erase his thoughts and emotions, then he set and built up his exclusive attention and unified his mind in less than 2 minutes.

    It was a feat that even an Archmage found it hard to achieve, but a neer like Jeremy had done it in his first time by using a body that had never done meditation before.

    Usually, meditation had a total of 4 milestones of which were divided into 10 stages.

    Starting from the first milestone, ''the novice meditation'' which included stages 1-3, the second was ''the skilled meditation'', which included stages 4-6, the third was ''the transition'' which included only stage 7, andstly, the fourth milestone was ''the adept meditation'' which included stage 8-10.

    Actually, there were stages higher than the 10th stage of meditation, but that was a topic forter.

    Currently, from the feat of entering stage 7 of meditation which was exclusive attention and unifying his mind directly within 2 minutes, it certainly proved that Jeremy was a really inborn prodigy of the era.

    Every fiber and cell down into his own very being and soul were tailored made to be a mage. If a god really did exist in this world, they might envy him to death and decided to give him some heaven tribtions to curb their envy and anger.

    Upon achieving the 3rd milestone sessfully, Jeremy began establishing thest milestone that contained 3 stages: ''mental pliancy and pacifying the senses'', ''mental and physical pliancy and calming the intensity'', andstly, ''tranquility and equanimity''.

    He spent another 3 minutes before finally entering the 10th stage called ''tranquility and equanimity'' sessfully.

    For a person to sessfully enter this stage and maintain it for more than 1 hour meant that they had a qualification to be a mage and beyond, which was desired by most people on Ortus.

    As a result of the harsh and challenging requirements of entering and maintaining meditation, the majority of people on Ortus were disqualified from bing even a ss 1 mage.

    Not to mention that there were still many things, such as mana sensitivity, mind power, elemental affinity, imaginative mind, etc., that were needed for a mage to advance further in their truth-seeking routes.

    That''s why no matter where a mage went, he would receive the utmost respect and hospitality at the same level as a noble or an aristocrat of a country or a kingdom.

    In fact, the opposite also happened. For example, if a mage went into the settlement of a barbarian tribe, the mage would receive the utmost hostility from the tribe. The mage might even be killed at first sight if they wandered aimlessly around the tribe''s settlement.

    That resulted from the various mass massacres that the barbarians had received from the mages of old times.

    Right after Jeremy had entered the tranquility and equanimity stage of meditation, he tried to feel the ambient mana in the atmosphere around him...

    But to no avail, he couldn''t feel even the slightest bit of mana at all, even after 2 hours of maintaining the 10th stage of meditation.

    Still, he never gave up.

    He decided beforehand that he would do the meditation for around 4 hours daily, which was the optimum time to do meditation from his previous life until the tutorial started.

    Even if he couldn''t feel a single ounce of mana in this world, he would still do the meditation to get himself acquainted with the meditation.

    Furthermore, doing meditationbined with special breathing techniques could also help his body and mind improve and enhance further.

    At the same time, it could also lessen his exhaustion and clear his mind from chaotic, evil, and unnecessary thoughts.

    Just like that, the 4 hours time frame went pass by quickly. Then Jeremy stopped his meditation automatically like he had set an rming clock in advance.

    This was one of the perks of sessfully entering and maintaining stage 10 of meditation for more than 1 hour at once. It would unlock some of the dormant potentials of your brain.

    After that, your body, brain, and mind would continuously get enhanced further and further up, leading you down the road of a true mage.

    *Sigh*

    ''At this rate, it looks like I won''t be able to be a mage before the tutorial starts.''

    Jeremy thought dejectedly.

    ''Well, I will get many benefits from the meditation anyway. At least, I should be strong enough to topple the tutorial with my fists, knowledge, and the future events that are destined to happen.''

    After finishing his thought, Jeremy took a look at the time on his phone and saw that it was already 2 a.m. So, it was time for him to hit the sack.

    Ifter than this, he might not be able to wake up at 6 a.m. to do the morning exercise training programs nned by his trainers.

    And to abandon his training programs? That was thest thing he would like to do. He had the responsibility called humanity weighing heavily on his shoulders. No matter what, he had to get stronger faster.

    Not long after, he went to sleep soundlessly and dreamed sweetly, thinking about the bright future that was waiting for him and humanity.

 Chapter 4 - One Month Later

    One monthter...

    *Whoosh* *Fwoosh*

    *Swish!!*

    *Bang!!*

    *Thud!!*

    *Whoosh*

    *Boom!!*

    The sounds of an extended object being wielded vigorously and powerfully into the still air reverberating out, creating chaotic and turbulent wind within the 200 square meters training room.

    Following that, the said long object, after being wielded forcefully, until almost creating a supersonic wave, hit thunderously head on another tangible, solid thing.

    The actions kept on repeating in several patterns for more than 30 minutes until the sweating young man who had been brandishing, swinging, and flourishing a two meters ''long object'' that he imagined as a ''spear''. Until he felt that he was too tired to continue making the various moves of spear skills. Thus, he decided to take a break for now.

    *Huff* *Huff*

    *Hahhh...*

    ''It sure is tiring to do thesepacted training programs each day.'' Jeremy exhaled tiringly and thought to himself.

    In his past life, he practiced some spear skills and spear maneuvering techniques in his free time. And his expertise in spear was quite decent for him to use a spear to fight in closebat with a Champion of the warrior pathway in equal footing.

    Actually, he would lose most of the time if the fight was prolonged.

    He was a mage, after all.

    In the end, his body and endurance were not strong enough to fight with those close-rangedbatants for long.

    Still, he could reap some victories from them if the opponents were distracted or showed him or let out even the slightest bit of opening; Jeremy would strike at those weaknesses and took the win of that round to himself.

    As for fighting with a Warlord whose rank was one whole realm above a Champion?

    It could only be said that ''one shot, half dead''.

    Jeremy couldn''t even afford to physically fend off a single attack from a Warlord if they came too close to him and had an opportunity to strike him sessfully.

    That was, of course, if Jeremy didn''t use any of his mana or spell to create some barriers and defensive measures against the said Warlord.

    Usually, a Warlord couldn''t evene close to him; Jeremy could obliterate thempletely, leaving nothing behind from several kilometers away.

    Taking a quick look at the notifications on his phone. He directly ignored all of the messages sent from his friends and rtives.

    After seeing the time was almost 9:30 p.m. in the evening, it was time for him to shower and then do a regr meditation for 4 hours before sleep.

    The now naked Jeremy within the bathroom looked nothing like him of the past one month ago.

    Right now, his body and demeanor could only be implied and described as that of a professional Olympics athlete.

    He looked very well-built in every part of his body with fined muscles together with no excess fat and also had those fined abs that would drown in the eyes of most MILF and young women out there.

    After a quick shower, he dressed up into his sleeping uniform while looking at himself in the mirror.

    He saw a man who wasn''t a male model, but he should have been one if the opportunity presented itself to him.

    The lush, mother lode-gold hair with a tinge of brown color that he groomed so carefully until it had a rippling quality.

    A sign of his rude health being showed clearly from the reflected mirror in his front.

    The aquiline nose he sportedplemented his prominent cheekbones. Handsome in an understated way, his basalt jaw and Spartan shoulders spoke of strength.

    He should possess atent, leonine power, and he stood there with purpose and authority. His only blemish was that his facial expression wascking any emotions.

    Meanwhile, exuding a mild mysterious and meek unfathomable aura from his body.

    In the daytime, people had always remarked that his best feature was his maic, wayfarer-blue eyes. Sloe-shaped eyes that could shine as bright as the evening stars; simultaneously, they resembled a light-filled with joy radiating the deep enjoyment of life.

    At other times, they could also resemble two liquid-blue pools of shing iciness that could attract and drown any onlookers.

    In conjunction with ssy and tasteful character, the room was always filled with his deep and clear voice whenever he talked.

    His beautiful styled clothes were a source of charming and alluring to mostdies, not least because they emanated an unearthly enticing fragrance of the expensive perfume.

    ''As handsome as always.'' Jeremy thought to himself narcissistically.

    After dressingpletely in sleeping clothes and finished admiring himself, he went into a meditating position he was most familiar with and started his daily meditation.

    As a result of body toning and training, weapon-wielding, and doing the highest stage of meditationplemented by special breathing techniques daily, Jeremy was now stronger than any Average Joe on the street several times.

    He could even beat a group of 10 tough-looking thugs onto the ground senselessly without having to exert his full power.

    As for his daily routines for the past month...

    First of all, after sleeping for 4 hours, he woke up at 6 a.m. sharp every day in the morning to do different kinds of exercise training for an hour. Then he would take a shower and eat breakfast right after.

    Next, he would n for his future actions in conformity with the sequences of future events, such as defining on the parts what things he could do and couldn''t do. Jeremy didn''t want to cause a colossal butterfly effect just yet, for he still could rip off the benefits from his future knowledge.

    After that, he would eat the 2nd meal at noon before driving himself to the gym to experience a hell training program from the 2 trainers. Then he would take a short break before going home to eat the 3rd meal of the day.

    Following that, he would surf the inte to read some news and updates of the world. And if the time was enough, he would y some games, watch some movies, and read some novels.

    In the evening, after the time hit 5 p.m. straight, he would do thest exercise training programs ording to the instructions of his trainers. Then he would eat thest meal at 7 p.m. and took a short break right after that.

    Late at night, he would be training his spear skills in the now-clear-of-everything garage that he had only put some heavy wooden dummies inside. And when the time hit 10 p.m., he would take a quit for the day to take a shower and do the regr meditation for 4 hours before going to sleep.

    He had been doing those things ever since his consciousness had returned into the past one month ago.

    He was now confident that he could contend with Usain Bolt in equal speed, if not a tad faster. He also was more believing that he could punch heavier than a heavyweight world champion.

    Additionally, he could also control his mind, emotions, and body to his liking wlessly.

    He was now even exuding a ''do not mess with me'' aura all the time to scare some ordinary folks.

    As for a reason behind that, it was simple, he just didn''t want any other random people to waste his time.

    All of those results originated and formed mainly through practicing meditation, and a small part of them was from him doing various kinds of body training in those one month''s time.

    Those upgrades were parts of the countless perks of being the greatest mage of all time.

    It was just one of the many perks that allowed him to go past human limits even when he was in a mana-less world...

 Chapter 5 - Shocking Discovery

    Like that, another 20 days passed by...

    Jeremy''s body and mind were improved tremendously by doing meditation every day.

    Today was also like the past 51 days for Jeremy. He was doing meditation like he always did.

    However, something unbelievable was going tomence soon...

    After 3 hours of continuous meditating, Jeremy suddenly felt an anomaly within the vicinity of his body.

    That was...

    He actually felt that there was a single particle of energy going past his body...

    That thing, that single particle of energy, was something that shouldn''t be presented here at all.

    No... it shouldn''t even exist at all in this world...

    It was a microscopic particle of energy that had a size smaller than 1 nanometer.

    Its size was several times smaller than the smallest size of a virus known to men in the present time. The size of which surprisingly was reaching the size of an atom. It was an energy particle that had the properties of a semi-living thing that had the capability of allowing a mortal to attain immortality.

    It was in itself one of the most miraculous and phenomenal existence in the entire universe.

    Even a god might not be called ''God'' anymore if theycked this energy particle.

    It was a thing called by the majority of people on Ortus as... Mana.

    This time, Jeremy almost lost his cool and nearly broke out of the meditation. Even a sage who had meditated for his entire life might lose hisposure from the discovery of mana particles on Earth.

    Thus, he tried his best to reel in that particle of mana into his body.

    The process of attracting mana particles into one''s body might be arduous for a neer wannabe mage but not for Jeremy. He was, after all, a former great sage who always yed and lived with mana his entire life.

    Just like that, the mana particle was being guided slowly into his body by using the meditation techniques method.

    Even though it was only a single microscopic energy particle to even exist, which was most likely undetectable by most mages, and didn''t even have to mention the process of pulling in that single particle into their bodies.

    That was an impossible feat that was deemed unachievable by most people.

    But for Jeremy...

    It was only ssified as a moderately challenging process. Jeremy only had to spend a little effort to sessfully pull that energy particle into his body''s pores.

    Upon entering his body, Jeremy felt a shudder when his body came in close contact with that energy particle.

    He felt that it was the finest and purest mana he had evere into contact with in his entire life. Even when he was a sage, he had never seen such a pure mana particle before in his life.

    If he had to rate or score between the mana, he could attract now and in his previous life. He would give it 9/10 ratings of when he was a sage,pared to this single mana particle which would definitely receive 10/10 ratings from him.

    After guiding the mana within his body into his brain, he controlled and circted it within his brain''s Thmus, which in modern science, had the responsibilities of rying sensory and motor signals and regting consciousness and alertness of the human body.

    Right after around 3 minutes, the mana particle started to dissolve and began fusing into his brain thoroughly, leaving nothing behind, except for the aftertaste ofing into contact with mana.

    "Haaaah..."

    Jeremy exhaled a long breath.

    ''What a thrilling experience. And how is it even possible for mana to exist within this world...''

    When he had finished all of the processes, Jeremy thought to himself and ensured that the mana particle had sessfully merged with his brain.

    ''D*mn... everything happened so fast that I almost lost my cool and almost missed a chance to be a mage. If I had not reactedposedly in time, I might have regretted the incident for the rest of my life.''

    ''Like this, I''ve properly stepped into the path of a true mage.''

    Jeremy thought while grinning satisfactorily.

    That''s right, the first thing for a person to step out from a ss 0 Schr to tread a path leading to ss 1 Mage was to sessfully merge with a single mana particle.

    Right now, Jeremy had finally stepped into the first substage, ''Initiate Mage'' of the 4 substages of a ss 1 Mage. Starting from Initiate Mage, Associate Mage, Apprentice Mage, andstly, Journeyman Mage.

    After the fourth substage, one could finally be qualified enough to be a ss 1 Mage, then ss 2 Adept Mage, ss 3 Grand Mage, and so on.

    As for the ss of the former great sage?

    That was a topic forter discussion...

    Upon bing an Initiate Mage, Jeremy''s body could now start gathering mana particles from the surroundings by using the same meditation method. And the mana gathering processes would be much smoother than when he was a ss 0 Schr who only knew how to meditate.

    From this point onwards, the next thing he had to do was do meditation to gather enough mana to form a small whirlpool within his body. In this case, the whirlpool could be created anywhere within one''s body, but the mostmon and most used ce was ''Dantian''.

    Why?

    Because Dantian was the most suitable ce for external energy to exist within one''s body. It included not only the human race, but every other race also used dantians as their energy gathering points.

    For each race, they usually had a different amount of dantian points within their bodies. The number of dantian within their bodies ranged from 1 to 3 points, of which the human race had 3 dantians.

    In a human body, 3 dantians existed, which were upper, middle, and lower dantian. They were situated between a person''s eyebrows, the center of a person''s chest, and a ce a bit below a person''s naval, respectively.

    And suppose the mana particles within one''s upper dantian could maintain themselves without having a person exert any more force into controlling them. In that case, that person could finally be called an Associate Mage.

    ''But the real tough part will be starting from here on. Sigh...'' Jeremy thought.

    The slight amount of the ambient mana within the Earth''s atmosphere made it very hard for him to gather enough mana to form a whirlpool within his upper dantian.

    If Jeremy was on Ortus, it would require him less than a minute to form a whirlpool and less than 4 minutes to form and connect all of the 3 whirlpools within the 3 dantians inside his body.

    What did that mean?

    It meant that he could be an Apprentice Mage which was the 3rd substage of a ss 1 Mage, in less than 5 minutes.

    Sadly, this is not ''Ortus''.

    Jeremy was still on a called ''Earth''.

    That''s why he was worry that he might not be able to be an Associate Mage that only had to form a whirlpool on his upper dantian.

    So, he nned out aprehensive n to form a whirlpool that might require him to meditate to gather the super thinned mana particles flying among the ambient air.

    First of all, he notified the 2 trainers that he wouldn''t be going to the gym anymore.

    After 50 or so days of training in the gym, he knew that he had already squeezed out most of the juicy parts. His body was more than enough to pass the uing tutorial.

    Still, he knew that it was not enough to crush the tutorialpletely with his current strength just yet.

    Even though the 2 trainers had tried various methods to make him stay and be a professional boxer, as when the 3 of them had been spending together, the 2 trainers believed that Jeremy could be the very best boxer in the history of humankind.

    However, Jeremy could only firmly refuse them outright.

    Because right after seeing that, he had an opportunity to be a ss 1 Mage that could easily crush and topple over the tutorial upside down. He couldn''t care less about other things anymore, as he couldn''t miss this golden...

    No... It actually was a diamond opportunity that was almost presented itself to him on a luxurious-looking te.

    The only thing that he had to do was to seize and grasp this chance firmly and never give up on it, no matter what.

    Thus, he decided to eat and rest fully for the next couple of days to prepare for the most arduous and torturous meditation he had ever done in his 2 lives time.

 Chapter 6 - Stop?

    Three dayster...

    At 6 p.m. New York time, inside a bedroom in one of the houses within a moderately prosperous districtmunity. Spotted a handsome man sitting cross-legged on the bed with two closed eyes with his face and body sweating profusely.

    It had been more than 12 hours since Jeremy had started his meditation to gather enough mana to form a whirlpool inside his upper dantian.

    If there was anyone nearby, they would be able to tell that Jeremy''s conditions were not good at all. Sometimes, his body would tremble slightly and then stop, and sometimes, sweat droplets would ooze out of his body unstoppably.

    Even with the 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius) temperature from the air conditioner within the room, it couldn''t stop the sweat at all.

    If this continued on, Jeremy might be dead from dehydration. Fortunately, in the past 3 days, he had been drinking water and food vigorously like a greedy pig.

    Nevertheless, even after 12 hours of gathering mana particles, he knew that it still didn''t reach even half of the required amount needed to form a whirlpool.

    Usually, for ordinary people, they shouldn''t do meditation for more than 2 hours at once. On the contrary, a gifted person who had a very high affinity to magic and mana could do around 3 hours at most.

    That meant everyone had a different optimum time frame to meditate exclusively to themselves.

    Because initially, when a person meditated, it would certainly help that person improve and boost their body, mind, and amount-cum-density of the mana.

    But nothing goodsted forever, there was a limit for everyone''s mind and body to handle the strenuosity from practicing meditation for more than a specific time limit.

    That''s why after every session of meditation, every practitioner must take an extended break to cool down their body, mind, brain, and soul.

    That was also the case for Jeremy.

    When he was a sage, he could meditate for more than 10 days straight, and he wouldn''t even feel that tired at all. Because his body, mind, brain, and soul had been trained and honed to the very highest stage a mortal could reach.

    However, right now, he was a puny mortal who didn''t even train his body and mind for long, but this time, he had meditated for more than 12 hours straight already.

    This alone was an achievement that should be recorded on the Akashic Records for eternity.

    Right now, Jeremy could only persevere, persevere, and persevere. He was currently trying his hardest to maintain the 10th stage of meditation while adjusting his breathing technique nonstop.

    This way, he would be able to alleviate most of the burden that his body had to face to the minimum degree possible.

    Even so, after the time count had hit 10 hours, he felt that his body would break soon enough if he didn''t do something to fix the problem.

    And this time, Jeremy came prepared...

    Therefore, he started to exert his mind power of which originated from his very being, in other words... his soul. He was overclocking his very own soul.

    He used his mind power and willpower originated from his soul to sustain all of the pressure from the continuous meditation and let his body take a short rest.

    This was already his second tost measure.

    He couldn''t manage to stop his meditation right now, or else his almost half-done whirlpool would dissipate into thin air really fast.

    He knew too well that if he stopped here, he could not re-do the meditation again in a short time because of his exhaustion.

    If it was like that, he had to take a long rest and wait for 2 or 3 more days before he could do it again.

    But he wanted none of those; he only wanted to sessfully step into the Associate Mage stage as fast as possible. He didn''t want to waste 4 or 5 more days again because the time for the tutorial wasing closer every day.

    Until 14 hourster...

    ...

    ...

    14 hourster...

    Jeremy''s face was as white as a sheet of paper,, but he stopped trembling and sweating like previously.

    At this time, he only felt that his soul was almost shredded apart by the shear stress from exerting his mind power too much.

    After sustaining the meditation by using most of his mind power for 14 hours straight, he almost hit his limits. So, he decided it was time to meditate in the standard way, using both his mind and body.

    As a result of using his will and mind powers to sustain the meditation, the efficiency and effectiveness were only half as good as when using both body and mind.

    Thus, right now, he could only gather around 60% of the required mana particles to form a whirlpool.

    He had already realized by now that the chance of him seeding was less than 30%. But he wouldn''t give up that easily.

    And after another 8 hours of meditation with total concentrations to attract as many mana particles as he could. The amount of mana had already reached 90%.

    But the conditions of Jeremy were nowhere near the word ''normal''.

    He was shaking like a leaf facing gust wind. His body and bed were drenched with sweat and got smellier with the passing seconds.

    Right now, he was hesitating whether to continue gathering the mana or to stop it at this point and then re-did it again in the future.

    He understood that when a person used their body and mind to the absolute limit. The only oue would be ''bing a vegetable''.

    A senseless half-dead human...

    After pondering about the dilemma for a short while, finally, Jeremy decided that it would be better to stop now.

    He would rather be safe than sorry...

    However, he wouldn''t go down without a final struggle.

    Whether they were human or beast, they would struggle the hardest when cornered.

    This was hisst measure...

    He believed that there was still a chance for him to aplish the feat sessfully if he handled it carefully enough.

    He was a former great sage of humanity after all.

    So, he...

 Chapter 7 - Mana Field Projection

    So, Jeremy decided to gather mana particles for 30 more minutes until he almost reached his absolute limits.

    Right about then, he would do the final struggle, which was trying to establish and maintain the whirlpool inside his upper dantian with only 90% or so of the required mana.

    For other people, the time frame of 30 minutes might be considered a concise time frame. But for Jeremy right now, every second wasparable to hours.

    He almost lost the concept of time since 4 hours ago. He could only barely figure out the time outside of his consciousness.

    So, what if he had reached his limits, then couldn''t perceive and figure out the time in the outside world anymore?

    The answer was, he would be an absolute vegetable...

    Thus, time was ticking and passing by very slowly, while being drenched in his own never-ending sweat and smelly odor, he persevered on, second by second, minute by minute...

    Until 32 minutester...

    He stopped attracting the mana particles. And finally, he started to circte and build up a whirlpool by using the purest mana energy particles collected within his upper dantian.

    The technique he would be using this time round was a revised technique created the night before as a contingency n in case he couldn''t gather enough mana particles to form a whirlpool.

    Thereby, the sess rates ranged between 10 to 50 percent. As for the exact numbers, the lowest sess rate of 10% would be when he could only gather around 85% of mana particles, while the highest sess rate of 50% was when he could gather up to 99% of mana particles.

    How many did he gather?

    He had gathered around 93% of mana particles, which had a sess rate of approximately 30%.

    Nheless, it was still worth trying...

    At most, he would be exhausted and slept half-dead for 2 or 3 days due to over-exerting himself.

    If someone was inside his upper dantian, they would hear the sounds of *whiff* *whizz* *whoosh* nonstop.

    Time was ticking second by second.

    Until finally, Jeremy''s body was shaking like he was having a seizure. He couldn''t even control his body anymore. He felt like his body had disappeared, leaving only his mind alone, floating within the endless darkness.

    He tried his hardest to give the final touch to the almost finished whirlpool.

    And 5 minutester...

    After finishing an arduous task that took like an eternity for him, the result finally came out.

    ''..S..Se..ss...''

    An almost inaudible sound wasing from Jeremy''s mouth.

    *Flop*

    It would be awe-inspiring if not for the fact that his forehead had already hit the bedsheet while he was still in the cross-legged sitting position.

    That''s right... He was unconscious in that position.

    Anyone might be able to imagine that after waking up 2 dayster, how Jeremy would be feeling.

    The worst pains in older people...

    They were stiff neck, back pain, and felt ufortable all over the body.

    Poor Jeremy...

    ...

    ...

    7 dayster...

    *Drip* *Drip*

    The sounds of sweat drop dripping down from Jeremy''s perspired body hitting the already inundated bedsheet resounding out quietly inside the bedroom.

    When suddenly...

    *Fwoosh*

    *Flutter* *Flutter*

    The noise of wind flowing out into every direction of Jeremy''s bedroom. Meanwhile, the center of themotion was actually the now sitting cross-legged Jeremy who sat on the bed.

    "Haaaah..."

    Jeremy opened his eyes slowly while exhaling a breath of cold air.

    "Finally... finally... I''ve finally be an Apprentice Mage." Jeremy said to himself.

    It was a rarely done behavior of his to talk to himself like this.

    "Huhuhu Wahaha Guhahaha!! I am now a f*cking Apprentice Mage. I can finally cast null spells without having to worry about the insufficient mana in the surroundings." Said Jeremy.

    He was currentlyughing out loud like a maniac.

    As he said, when someone reached the Apprentice Mage ss, they finally would be able to cast their first spell, albeit a very low-level magic spell. And that was the sole reason that made Jeremy happy.

    Ever since he woke up 5 days ago, he discarded every other program to focus only on resting for 3 full days to recover his exhausted body and mind, including recuperating from his stiff neck and back pain.

    Right after he had recovered fully, he took another step forward to create the 2nd whirlpool inside his middle dantian situated at the center of his chest.

    As a result of him having already formed a whirlpool within his upper dantian, he could now attract more than double the amount of mana particles with the same effortspared to when he didn''t have a mana whirlpool.

    Thus, he only had to spend around 15 hours to form a mana whirlpool inside his middle dantian. That caused him to not be as exhausted as the first time. Thus, he only had to take a rest of one day.

    And now, he was here. Having just finished thest whirlpool inside his lower dantian. He then tried to link the 3 dantian together via countless meridian pathways inside his body to create the connected whirlpools.

    First of all, he had to enter into a meditation state. Then slowly guided the excess mana energy generated from his upper dantian to slowly drive along the meridian pathways that spanned like spider webs inside his entire body.

    Along the way, he had to carefully control the mana particles, never let them go awry. He had to also imagine them as countless brooms, which were able to sweep and clean the impurities residing inside his meridian pathways.

    The process didn''t require much time from him. He only had to be careful to not left behind any impurities, or else his meridian pathways might be identally blockedter on.

    And if they were suddenly blocked during the time when he was casting a spell?

    The better oue would be that his spell was interrupted midway. As for the worst possible development, his meridian pathways might implode from within, causing severe body damage.

    Those results were not something anyone appreciated.

    Alright,e back to the current situations...

    When he finished the entire process and had all of the 3 whirlpools connected, a small gust of wind was blown out into every direction around him due to the weak mana field projection that was automatically generated upon him bing an Apprentice Mage.

    In a normal or dormant state, the mana field didn''t have any color. In that state, it would be the same as those mana particles floating in the atmosphere.

    From then on, Jeremy would always have an invisible mana field generated from his mana, containing his own mana signature that was only unique to himself in the entire universe.

    The mana field projection would act as a shield to receive and fend off all of the harmful thingsing his way.

    It would be activated instantaneously when someone sent any type of attack or harmful things towards Jeremy. And its color would change from transparent to light blue, which was the color of mana particles when they released their energy.

    It could be strengthened by increasing the mana output into the mana field directly connected to his mind, body, and the 3 whirlpools in his dantians.

    Whenever he desired to increase its sturdiness and defending capabilities, he could just input some of his mana into it. Then the mana field projection around his body would get instantaneously enhanced and reinforced to fend off the powerful iing attacks from all directions at any time he wanted.

    As for the shape, when he attained higher sses in the mage pathway, he could alter the form of his mana field into his likings.

    But for now, the field could only be at most around 10 centimeters covered every part of his body.

    This mana field, or to be exact, those mana particles even prated into the ground under Jeremy''s feet because their sizes were almost as small as atoms.

    And as a semi-living thing that had several tiers and hierarchies higher than a virus. It could automatically protect its owner from danger.

    That meant a proper mage was unkible...

    As long as mages didn''t run out of mana or their mana field didn''t get deactivated by some other means, no real life-threatening dangers would befall them.

    And upon a mage had be an Apprentice Mage, their mana would automatically get refilled by the work andbor of the 3 whirlpools acting as 3 vacuums to attract the surrounding mana particles into the 3 dantians.

    ''But why did those assassins had broken through my mana field that easily? Did some high beings intervened?''

    Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows.

    ''Let me keep this topic in my mind, for now; I cannot do anything anyway.''

    ''Alright, 36 days to go. Let''s see if I can sessfully be a ss 1 Mage before the tutorial starts or not.'' Jeremy thought.

 Chapter 8 - Jeremy Is A Man Of Culture

    The next day...

    Inside the training room, Jeremy was currently practicing his null elemental spells.

    For many eras, Jeremy had been finding the truth of the Earth''s whereabouts.

    Where was Earth exactly situated?

    Was it situated from the same universe as Ortus or not?

    Still...

    He couldn''t find the actual answer to that question at all, as he didn''t even know where Earth was anymore after being teleported into Ortus.

    Fortunately, Earth still existed in this timeline...

    So, Jeremy decided to do experiments to find out the answer to his long-lived curiosity. Firstly, he started casting some simple spells that the Ancient Mages used until the slightly moreplex spells of the Modernistic Mages.

    Right after that, he tested many other things such as Spell Forms, incantations of various Runes including Runes Spells, some of the very simple revised arrays, Rune Enchantment on the wooden dummies, andstly, the loathed ritual of most mages.

    Of course, he did the ritual and prayed to himself. In the first ce, Jeremy didn''t dare pray for any forbidden existence.

    After all of the experiments were finished. Jeremy finally came to the conclusion that Earth was in the same universe as Ortus.

    What did that mean then?

    It meant that the rules andws of everything that he got used to on Ortus could also be applied here on Earth.

    This was one of the questions that he really wanted to know in his previous life.

    And now, he finally knew the answer...

    Just like that, Jeremy had been practicing for quite some time already. Right now, he felt that his mana pools inside his dantians were almost running dry.

    After all, he was still only an Apprentice Mage. His mana amount was quite limited by the size of his mana whirlpools, and his ss rank was still low, of which he was not even a ss 1 True Mage as of yet.

    At the moment, it was already a miracle that he could still practice magic for a bit more before he became utterly exhausted.

    It was all thanks to the pure mana particles he had been using to practice for a while now.

    It was a miracle already that this had mana particles. Furthermore, it was even the purest of the purest mana at that.

    Because of the pureness of those mana energy particles, he now could cast a spell with higher effectiveness and higher efficiency with less amount of mana used.

    Right now, there was an almost transparent ball shaded with light blue color floating above Jeremy''s hand. Then it started to move and rotate rapidly around his body.

    Its shape was continuously being changed ording to Jeremy''smands.

    Then when it flew out to around 2 meters from Jeremy''s body. It started to shake a little until after it reached 3 meters away from his body, its structures began to change from a ball into a seemingly unstable water balloon.

    And when it had reached 5 meters away from his body, the mana ball finally dropped to the ground and dissipated into thin air.

    That signified that the radius of his mana control was about 5 meters. That meant the farthest mana barrier he could create was also around 5 meters.

    However, the barrier structures, mana cost-effectiveness, mana cost-efficiency, and its potency wouldn''t be satisfying in the least.

    If he wanted to create a mana barrier at the 5 meters range away from his body, it would cost him his own leg at the very least.

    In contrast, if he created a mana barrier at around 2 meters around his body, it could still be as stable as when it was generated around his body directly.

    Well, anyone might be confused that he already had a mana field at around 10 centimeters outside his body at all times; why did he still need a manual mana barrier to protect himself?

    It was simple...

    That was because a mage was a powerful yet fragile existence at the same time.

    They were at their strongest in long-range and when they were prepared enough, but they were very frail and feeble at close range and when they were ambushed abruptly without any preparation.

    That''s why every mage needed to have hidden cards and hidden measures as many as possible.

    And this mana barrier was the second protective measure of most mages to protect them from external threats.

    Next, he tried to throw a mana ball the size of a tennis ball at a dummy at around 20 meters in front of him.

    First of all, he created a mana ball on his right palm at a breakneck pace. The process and time used to create a mana ball could also signify one''s talent in magic, precisely a talent inbat magic.

    The faster they could create a spell, the higher their chance to win the fight.

    After that, while the ball was gaining a circr shape, Jeremy started to chant some unknownnguage and use his left-hand index finger to write runes near the mana ball.

    When Jeremy finished chanting, the runes that he had written on the vicinity of the ball-shaped mana suddenly permeated into the ball until they disappeared wholly inside.

    Subsequently, Jeremy postured his body like a baseball pitcher who was going to throw a ball.

    Then...

    ''[Mana Bolt]'' Jeremy thought lightly in his mind.

    *Whoosh*

    The mana bolt that was elerated by Jeremy''s throwing force, including his mental forceing from the precise control of his own mind power, generating a very fast speed mana bolt that was almost untraceable by the naked eyes.

    Well, even with this high speed of travel, the mana bolt still remained its shape as a spherical shape.

    And it was currently going in a straight line to the target?

    No...

    It was actually curving to left then right along the way. Sometimes, it was even going up and down, producing a very unpredictable trajectory if anyone was able to see it in the first ce.

    Because it was just too fast...

    Then...

    *Booomm!!*

    The sounds akin to a dynamite explosion urred within the close-shut garage generating chaotic and turbulent air within.

    The dust and unknown powder were blown away in every direction.

    *Cough* *Cough*

    "D*mn... *Cough*... *Cough*... it." Said Jeremy while coughing nonstop.

    Jeremy then hurriedly ran outside of the garage, waiting for the dust to settle down.

    After a few minutes, he walked back inside to inspect the result of his deeds.

    What was waiting for him was an astonishing sight of the heavy wooden dummy that was almost indestructible by ordinary people''s force...

    It was now missing its head and some parts of its upper torso...

    Jeremy''s face twitched a bit from the sight in front of him because even from when he was a former sage, he couldn''t produce the same result while using the same amount of mana as a moment ago.

    ''I''m truly surprised by the result. This was good, really good. Suddenly, I feel like my future is so bright ahead.'' Jeremy thought satisfactorily after seeing that he had half destroyed the dummy.

    Even with this much astonishing result, Jeremy didn''t show body signs or express anything outwardly.

    After all, he was the one who had experienced heaven and hell first hand.

    He had even undergone something much more astonishing than these things, like when his imprable and indestructible mana barrier and mana field were being forced through quickly like butter by the enemy assassins. Or when he went back in time with a 9th circle spell that shouldn''t be possible to use when he was only a sage.

    In the past, he even fought with dragons and demigods.

    He wouldn''t let something like this cause him to get ahead of himself.

    He was a man of culture, after all.

    ...

    [A/N: There will be exnationster on in theter chapters about those confusing terms such as Array, Rune, Spell, Form, etc. That''s why don''t forget to drop me some 5-star reviews and power stones as a trade for those exnations.]

 Chapter 9 - Jeremy Has A Good Hygiene

    Tens of minutester, Jeremy was utterly exhausted.

    Upon testing and experimenting on various things that ordinary people might deem as works of God, he finally put a stop to the day.

    With 4 hours of daily meditation and automatic mana replenishing whirlpools, he calcted that it would require him around 68 to 70 hours up to the density of mana in the surroundings for him to recover his mana pools fully.

    So, for the time being, he would stick to his old body training routine. All of them would remain the same, except after 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. That period would be his free time for the remaining 35 days before the tutorial started since he didn''t have to drive back and forth to the gym anymore.

    ...

    Just like that, he spent another seven days doing the regr training, and almost all of his free time was spent on animes, mangas, movies, hentai, and games.

    With asionally doing spells practices and other mana-rted kinds of stuff to get more insight into the current limitations of his body and mind.

    As for the insight about how to utilize mana, spells, runes, arrays, and other magic thingies, Jeremy believed that there was nothing much he could improve on for the time being, except for creating some revised versions for some forms and arrays.

    The way to do it was to adjust the structures of those spells and arrays to be morepatible with the pureness of his current mana.

    With those revised versions, they would require less mana from him, and their potency might even be better than the original versions.

    The primary reasons why he could create those revised versions were because he had vast extensive knowledge and deepprehension about magic, altogether with the newfound purest mana particles.

    Consequently, when they wereplemented with the godlike mana sensitivity and unrivaled mana affinity (self-proimed), Jeremy could now create some simple, revised, and improved versions of spells and arrays.

    As for the higher versions and 2nd circle spells onwards, he still had to wait after bing a Journeyman Mage to do that.

    Regarding Arrays, unless he could find or gather mana from somewhere else to fuel the arrays, he wouldn''t have enough mana to implement even aplete plex'' first-tier array. Because arrays usually required much more mana than the spells at the same circle.

    And for the runes, he could inscribe only the minority of them that required very little mana to activate. So, he wouldn''t touch anything rted to runes just yet.

    Right when he was watching Attack on Giant season 2 with total concentration, the sounds of his doorbell ringing interrupted him from the climactic scene on the TV.

    Hearing the sounds, Jeremy frowned; he decided to ignore the sounds thinking that it might be a postmaning to send him a letter or they might be a salesman who came to sell him some insurances.

    However, the sounds never stopped.

    *ding dong* *ding dong* *ding dong*

    Upon hearing the irritating ringing sounds so many times. Jeremy''s frown had be deeper and deeper with each ringing.

    *ding dong* *ding dong* *ding dong*

    Thereby, until he couldn''t endure it anymore, he did a quick incantation and cast a revised 1st circle non-elemental spell, which was now considered a ''special'' 1st circle spell.

    [Mana Wave Detection]

    Soon, an invisible wave was generated and controlled miraculously directly into the direction of the door at a rapid speed.

    After a split secondter, Jeremy received feedback from his earlier spell, inducing a general but unclear image of the way leading from his seat to the front of his door.

    He could make out that there were a group of 3 frickin'' people in front of his door.

    The one in front was a petite female with attractive and cute features.

    ''Height 152 centimeters, weight 39 kilograms, age around 22-23 years old, blonde... maybe blonde grey hair color, blue eyes, heartbeat and blood flows are normal, the intention is unclear, no mana detected. Well, she is quite cute by the normal standard of people. I might know her... who is that loli again?'' Thought to himself Jeremy.

    ''Right!! She was little Charlotte. My former ssmate.''

    After trying to recall, other dormant memory that Jeremy had forgotten for who knew how many eras started to resurface within his mind again.

    ''Hmmm... as for the other 2, both of them are males. One of them should be Owen, and the other one should be Samuel. They are also my former ssmates''

    Owen was a solemn-looking stout man with a thick beard whose height was 170 centimeters, and weight was 80 kilograms. Even he was only 22 years old this year, his head was already bald.

    If someone didn''t know him personally, they might even think that he was a middle-aged man whose age was around 40 years old.

    Another one was Sam, who was also 22 years old, was an energetic young man who looked more like someone at his age than Owen.

    He was 182 centimeters tall and weighed 70 kilograms with bright goldenbed hair, green shining eyes, a sharp nose, a light beard around his good jawline, and a moderately healthy-looking body. He looked nothing less than a model.

    "Open the godd*mn door!! Caesar!! Caesar!!"

    *Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

    *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

    The noise of Charlotte knocking and banging on the door nonstop resounding out. Even some of the neighborhood Kens and Karens were looking towards his house direction from their doors and windows.

    ''F*ck... these idiots. They don''t know how to act moderately at all.''

    Jeremy thought frowningly while sending a small shard of condensed mana together with a chant with unknownnguage into the direction of the doorknob.

    *Whoosh*

    *Click*

    As always, the spell did its wonder yet again right after it went left and right until it directly went inside the interior structure of the doorknob and moved to hit a specific part there.

    The noise of the door was unlocked, resounding out.

    Following the sounds of the door being unlocked, Charlotte opened the door hurriedly for fear that it might be locked once again.

    Then the trio went inside while looking around the house interior, expecting to see a messy house filled with garbage and junk from all around.

    But never in their wildest dreams to imagine that the house and rooms they expected to be messy like a rat hole would appear so clean and well managed like this.

    Heck, they hadn''t even seen a single speck of dust inside the house yet. For a moment, they even thought that they came to the wrong ce.

    The house is clean...

    The air is fresh...

    The furniture is in order...

    "Wo... Jeremy!! Your house is so clean. And where are you? Howes you are not here to wee us? Hey, Jeremy!! Do. You. Hear. Me!!?"

    ''Ah for f*ck sake, she is so noisy''

    Jeremy thought annoyingly...

 Chapter 10 - Are You Jerem Or...?

    Upon entering the house, and didn''t see the one who opened the door that initially should be standing right in front of it.

    As a result, Charlotte was speaking-cum-yelling at the same time with her high-pitched voice in all directions.

    Once again, she made noises that would be heard by even the security guards of themunity standing several tens of meters away from the house to inspect the various dwellings and visitors.

    Upon hearing that, Jeremy''s face became a tad bit darker.

    Annoyed by the pandemonium-like voice of hers, Jeremy conjured a total of 3 runes using his right index finger to write into the air in front of him. Then he mumbled-cum-whispered some almost inaudible words in a strangenguage.

    Right after that, the runes vanished into thin air like they had never existed before.

    [Hush Spell]

    Then...

    There was no then; it was just that the sounds that had been produced by Charlotte and everyone within the house wouldn''t be heard by the outsiders anymore.

    Right now, the noise from a ruckus that Charlotte was making could only travel inside the house.

    Just like that, inside and outside of the house were like two separate worlds.

    Upon seeing that the spell had sessfully taken its effect, Jeremy said lightly into the air like talking to himself.

    "I''m in the living room."

    That was not an ordinary speech, though. In fact, it was a speech infused with mana techniques capable of causing Jeremy''s voice to be conveyed to the targeted distance.

    And amazingly, his voice was heard by the trio, who were considerably at a far distance from him.

    Subsequently, that made them quite astonished when they had heard Jeremy''s voice up-close like he was beside them.

    But at the moment, their feet were already leading them on the way to the living room.

    While walking, the three of them were still a bit muddled and didn''t think much about the previous situations. They were only walking instinctively to the living room as in the first ce; their goal was to meet with Jeremy.

    Slowly, the trio entered the living room, and then they spotted Jeremy sitting on the sofa while watching Attack on Giant.

    When Charlotte was going to call out to Jeremy, she suddenly stopped... it was like she had just realized that she forgot something.

    In fact, the three of them stopped at once altogether...

    Because only now that they had finally realized something vital...

    And that was, Jeremy was sitting on a sofa in the living room...

    "..."

    The three pairs of eyes of the trio went wide open.

    They thought...

    Then who the f*ck was the one who had unlocked the door for them before they came into the house!!

    And then who the f*ck was the one that had talked to them a moment ago!!

    Furthermore, they also felt that the air temperature was suddenly so cold... albeit not knowing that it was because of an air conditioner in the living room.

    The trio started to shiver and have goosebumps all over their bodies.

    At this moment, they were feeling more and more terrified with every passing second after thinking about the previous events.

    They kept trembling and terrified like that for a short while until someone spoke up...

    "Ja... Ja... Je... rem, A... A... Are you Ja... Ja... Je... rem? Or...?"

    The ever stoic and solemn Owen decided to be the first person who opened his mouth after realizing that the other two were noting to their senses yet.

    Charlotte was standing nkly with her mouth gaping wide open, looking at Jeremy, whom was watching the TV with his back facing them.

    Meanwhile, Samuel was trembling from head to toe with a pale face as white as a sheet of paper together with clucking noisesing from his teeth ttering against one another nonstop.

    And the one who had caused all of these effects, Jeremy, after hearing Owen''s questions, he turned his head and body slowly, very, very slowly to the back.

    "..."

    *Gulp*

    *Huuk!*

    With three different reactions from three different people, Charlotte was still nk like before, Owen gulped his saliva loudly, and Sam flinched with a scared expression written all over his face; he almost pissed his pants.

    Upon turning his head and half of his body to face the trio, Jeremy smiled warmly and talked mildly to them.

    "Hi, guys. How are you guys doingtely?"

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    *Fwuuuu...* x3

    This time the trio''s reactions were the same.

    They exhaled in relief loudly; they were relieved that Jeremy was not a ghost, still alive and kicking as always.

    Soon after, they reached and sat down on the sofas around Jeremy.

    Their purpose ofing here was to talk and keep in touch with Jeremy as in college, the 4 of them were very close to one another.

    They always studied together, ate together, and went on many trips and ces together. In that period of 3 years that they spent together at the university had made them closer and closer.

    And from the bonds they had made in all those years, it was not wrong at all for them to call one another brothers and sister.

    That was... until the ident happened to Jeremy''s parents.

    Alright,e back to the current situations...

    "Hi!! Jeremy, it''s been a longgggg time. How are you doing?"

    "Wassup, bro, you are doing good?"

    After the trio had sat down, not waiting for anyone else to open their mouse. Charlotte greeted Jeremy energetically, following by the greetings from Sam, and thest one, Owen, who had made eye contact with Jeremy and only nodded in understanding to him without saying a single word.

    "Well, I am actually doing very well nowadays. My moods have been at the highest sincest week. How about you guys?"

    Jeremy answered and asked them back with a usual easygoing smile of his.

    ...

    ...

    4 hourster...

    They had been talking nonstop about their recent days'' activities, including their progress in works, rtionships, and many other things.

    Right now, after graduating from university, Charlotte was also doing nothing at home like Jeremy.

    Well, that''s actually guessable by anyone who truly knew about her natures, though. After all, she was raised up as a little missy in a very wealthy family.

    That was one of the main reasons that had caused her to be azy bum.

    The other main reason was that her parents loved and doted on her so much that they didn''t want any speck of dust to dirty her skin, hair, and clothes.

    Even in university, she was carried and helped immensely by Jeremy, who was akin to a brain of the group in study-rted kinds of stuff.

    And her duties back then were to splurge her family''s money andid backzily, waiting for others to take care of her.

    As for the enthusiastic Sam, he was actually a model with asional modeling the fashion clothing and rarely walking in fashion shows. He was indeed doing quite good in those model stuff ever since his fresher year in university.

    As a result of his family''s business going bankrupt back when he had just enrolled in college, he had to struggle with his own abilities to earn the tuition fees and pay the daily expenses by himself.

    That''s also the reason why he and Jeremy became close friends in the first ce.

    Because Sam didn''t have enough time to join all of the sses, and he could not acquire good grades by reading and learning by himself. So, he relied heavily on Jeremy about those study things.

    Lastly, for Owen, the ever stoic man, at the moment, he was a master chef in a five stars hotel. Even though his major in university was not anything near or rted to foods, he still chose to be a chef.

    And surprisingly, he was doing quite well too.

    It might be that his passions for food led him into the road of a true chef.

    Owen was also like the other two guys; that was, he also relied heavily on Jeremy to barely graduate from the university.

    Even though Jeremy had quit college in the 1st semester of his senior year, the umted result of regrly studying with Jeremy had enough boons to send him until the end of the university''s road.

    That''s why...

    The 3 of them felt indebted heavily to Jeremy, who was like a divine light of pir shining from heaven upon them in their university''s lives, albeit Jeremy didn''t feel like it at all. He just helped them because he could help them with nothing to lose. That''s all.

    However, the trio didn''t think the same as Jeremy. They were determined... determined that they would also never abandon Jeremy when he was at his lowest too.

    Like when Jeremy never abandoned them when they needed him...

    Just like that, they talked for a long time; simultaneously, they also watched Attack on Giant together.

    As a matter of fact, more than 80% of the conversations were initiated by Charlotte, and the other part was from Sam with asionally some essential questions from Owen.

    Even after talking continuously for 4 hours, drinking several cans of c, and eating tons of snacks, Charlotte didn''t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

    However, Sam and Owen were showing signs of weariness and spent. They had already wanted to go home and took a rest for quite some time already.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy was thinking about other thingspletely unrted to the topics that Charlotte was talking about.

    Those things were...

 Chapter 11 - Do You Believe In Magic?

    He was thinking about the tragic deaths of Charlotte and Samuel in the tutorial.

    Actually, he didn''t know that it was tragic or not. But considering the environment and conditions within the tutorial, he knew that it would be pretty miserable.

    ''Heck, this talkative and arrogant prick, Charlotte, might be a headless corpse even before the tutorial starts. Those damn Cupids...''

    ''And Sam, he might be killed by those savage monsters while trying to protect some hot chicks. Or he might be stabbed in the back by his ''trustedpanions'' in the tutorial.''

    ''Well, as for Owen, I had seen him only once after many dayster after the tutorial ended. He was apletely different person from before. He acted like he didn''t know me at all... No... he might even forget about mepletely, even after I had talked to him, he totally ignored me.''

    ''Should I tell them to prepare or not... D*mn it, this is hard.''

    He was contemting about the uing tutorial. Should he be telling them about the tutorial or not.

    If he told them to prepare beforehand, and they managed to survive the ordeals safely, would there be any butterfly effect in the future or not.

    Many thoughts were running through his head at light speed while listening to the story of Charlotte.

    Right now, within his head, there were 2 options to consider. The first one was to not tell them about the tutorial. As a result, only Owen would survive the ordeals; meanwhile, Charlotte and Sam would die...

    As for the second one, it was to tell them about the tutorial. This one may look simple at first nce, as it was just telling them about the destined events and showing them some proves to convince them (Of course, by using some magic means).

    However...

    He not only had to consider about the following butterfly effects that he didn''t want to happen so soon.

    There was also another factor rted to this option. That was... the trio''s family members, friends, rtives, and loved ones...

    If he told them about the events, what about those three''s close rtives?

    Charlotte, Sam, and Owen must certainly want their loved ones to survive the hellish tutorials...

    ''This was a huge dilemma.'' Jeremy thought seriously.

    ''...''

    ''Anyway, I have toe to terms with my own interests and benefits as much as possible. Meanwhile, I have to make sure that my 3 friends survive...''

    ''After all, they are my friends. Even though I might not be able to trust thempletely because of Ortus'' dangerous and mysterious threats. In the future, they can still be my useful right-hand men that I can rely and depend upon.''

    Unbeknownst to him, Jeremy had already cut out the option of not telling them about the tutorials.

    Well, actually, that option had only been lingering within his mind for a split second before it disappearedpletely.

    Within his subconscious mind, he still couldn''t abandon his own friends who had always been staying with him in both good and bad moments of his life.

    Not even had to mention that they cared and worried about him so much.

    If he decided to leave them on their own, they would undoubtedly die sooner orter. Like that, he would not forgive himself, which might be fatal and obstruct his cultivation road in theter stages.

    Nevertheless, inside his deepest mind, Jeremy still valued his interests and benefits greatly, as he was a really greedy person who viewed his own interest as the highest priority.

    ''That''s why I had received the trait ''Greedy'' in the first ce.''

    Jeremy thought bitterly to himself...

    Because there were too many things to consider if he decided to tell them about the iing events. He must be careful about his future approaches not to cause a significant butterfly effect so soon.

    ''What should I do...''

    After pondering for a short while, some ns and future actions started to be formed within his head.

    Within his head was running like this...

    Tell ''them'' about tutorial events > Make sure that ''they'' would not tell anyone about the events > n the future roles and duties for ''them'' > Make sure that ''their'' existences and actions would not change the future urrences > As a result, ''they'' survive and I also retain most of my benefits from my regression.

    [A/N: Regrettably, our MC still does not realize his regression''s chain of reactions of which had already caused an ''unsurmountable'' ripple effect to the current timeline. Furthermore, he is also very greedy to the point of willing to chain his own friends if necessary.]

    ''Alright, I''ve decided...''

    With a hardened facial expression, Jeremy determined his resolves inwardly.

    ...

    When the time almost hit 6 p.m. in the evening, Sam couldn''t stand it anymore. Thus, he decided to talk them back home.

    He had the right to go back home!!

    But before he could even speak, the voice of Jeremy interrupted him and left him speechless.

    "Do you believe in magic?" Said Jeremy for the three of them to hear.

    "..."

    "..."

    "The name of a song or a movie? What is that?" Said Charlotte, who had been talking incessantly a moment ago after being abruptly interrupted mid-speech by Jeremy''s question.

    "Wow... bro, don''t tell me that you can do some magic tricks? I really want to see it. Why don''t you show us some?"

    "..."

    Sam utterly disregarded Charlotte and spoke his mind out loud.

    Because he was bored to death by the lengthened gathering, they had here. In addition, Owen didn''t say anything, but he still nodded his head up and down 2 times after hearing Sam''s questions.

    As for Charlotte, she pouted cutely and kept quiet, waiting to see someme magic tricks that Jeremy would pull off.

    After seeing them reacted like that, he knew that no matter what things he told them, whether it be magic, tutorial, or Ortus, they wouldn''t believe a single thing from him.

    So, Jeremy could only shake his head and told them to look at his fingers carefully.

    ''Better proving it with actions first, then talkter.'' Thought, Jeremy.

    "Look at my fingers." Jeremy dered lightly.

    That made them focus on Jeremy''s fingers except one, Charlotte, who was trying to act clever.

    She believed that Jeremy''s fingers were just a decoy to divert their attention from the real tricks. So, she rapidly scrutinized Jeremy''s entire body to see through his tricks.

    But unfortunately, there was none...

    *Snap*

    Once and for all, Jeremy snapped his fingers.

    Then...

    There was no then, again, because nothing notable had happened at all.

    That caused the trio to feel confused, so they tried to size Jeremy up and down, left and right. They still found nothing out of the ordinary. Then they looked at one another to see that they received the same results or not.

    Until Charlotte couldn''t endure anymore, she wanted to reprimand Jeremy for pulling a prank on them instead of showing them someme magic tricks.

    She opened her mouth incessantly to rebuke Jeremy, word by word, sentence by sentence.

    But soon, she realized that her other 2 friends were looking at her weirdly.

    "..."

    Right then, she finally figured out that when she talked... there was no sounding out from her mouth at all.

    She was terrified yet again...

    She realized that breath and wind wereing out of her mouth, but the sounds just didn''t generate themselves. She tried yelling and screaming so hard that her throat felt hurt, but nothing came out of her mouth at all except for some hot air.

    Right about now, the other two people also realized that there was something wrong with Charlotte. Why she didn''t let out even a single sound as she yelled and screamed like that.

    Thus, Sam opened his mouth to talk too...

    But shockingly, he couldn''t hear his own voice.

    And the feeling of terrors hit him once again for the second time aftering into this haunted house. But this time, he was really pissing himself.

    Meanwhile, Owen also opened his mouth to speak but found no soundsing out from his mouth. He felt like God was trying to punish him.

    So, he prayed to God for forgiveness while his body was shaking nonstop.

    Furthermore, the three of them finally realized that the TV, which was still ying as usual... didn''t produce any sound at all...

    How was that even possible?

    As for Jeremy, he was currently shaking his head from side to side and started talking mockingly to the trio.

    "See? I''ve shown you some magic tricks. Where is my payment for the show?"

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    The 3 guys'' eyes went wide open after noticing that Jeremy could still talk like usual.

    "Why aren''t you guys talking? Are you guys deaf?"

    The three of them shook their head incessantly, trying to deny Jeremy. They could clearly hear his voice, but they could not create a single sound at all.

    *Snap*

    Suddenly, Jeremy snapped his fingers again.

    "Momma, help me. I''m gonna die, I''m gonna die, *sob sob*" Charlotte was calling for her mother and crying loudly.

    "No no no no, my voice, my voice, noooo... *Huuk Huuk*" Sam was whining like a chicken being chased by a scary predator.

    "Pa... Plea... Please, god. Forgive my sins. I will quit going to the brothel, I promise. Please..."

    As for Owen, he was trying to confess his sins.

    It was only after several seconds before they figured out that their voices had alreadye back to them.

    That made them felt very relieved, then they started to thank everything. Thank God, thank mom, thank goodness, thank this, thank that.

    But they never thanked Jeremy...

    So, Jeremy lifted his right hand again, going to snap his fingers.

    When the trio saw this scene, they started to stick and cling onto every limb of Jeremy''s. They tried so hard to beg him not to snap the goddamn fingers of his.

    "Please... Don''t..."

    "No No No No!!"

    "Don''t do it again, Jerem. I''m scared. You can do anything to me however you want but not this..."

    After the constant begging from them, Jeremy decided that this was enough for now.

    "Alright, alright, go away from me. Or else, I''d snap my fingers again for real, and this time I won''t lift the mute mode ever again." Said amusingly, Jeremy.

    The trio then hurriedly went away from him. Charlotte even ran as fast as possible to the living room corner, followed swiftly by the other two people.

    "How is it? Now, I will ask you again."

    Jeremy grinned widely while asking the same question to the 3 scaredy cats, but this time he was exuding an inexplicable aura enclosing the entire room.

    "Do you believe in magic?"

    His grins were evil...

 Chapter 12 - First Step Into A Different Future (1)

    One hourter...

    An hour ago, when Jeremy started exining about the tutorial events to the trio. As a result, he was assaulted by unrelenting and unceasing questions from the three.

    As a result, he decided to cast some spells to shut them up and test his magic spells on real living humans.

    Anyway, the questions from them were quite eptable, though, because no ordinary people would believe such nonsenses like being transported into another world or something along that line.

    However, whenever one of the three friends doubted a word from Jeremy. He snapped his fingers, and that person would not be able to move even a single inch from their position. They couldn''t even move their mouth or roll their eyeballs. They would be literally stiffed like a cold corpse.

    Sometimes, after the fingers snapping from Jeremy. One of those three would just lose all of their strength and flop down onto the sofa like a squid. Never to regain their energy back again. They would justy there waiting for Jeremy to lift the spell for them to be back to normal.

    And other times, they would be muted like that time, scared shitless by the sudden darkness enveloping them, or they would feel drowsy and sluggish, which made them want to sleep and never wake up ever again.

    After experiencing many spells and wonders from Jeremy, the three of them had been transformed from hot-blooded youths into obedient servants doing whatever Jeremy demanded them.

    From the various spells he had been casting until now, they were proved quite effective, like hitting two stones with one bird. He was satisfied with the results.

    [A/N: The bird is immortal, so the stones die...]

    After telling them enough information to prepare themselves for the destined toe world traveling, Jeremy took a look at the time. It had already passed his usual spear training time.

    ''Now, I have already told them about the necessary information such as how to prepare themselves, what they will face inside the tutorials, do''s and don''ts within the white space and tutorials, and also who is trustable and who is not trustable.''

    ''From now on until the end of the tutorial, it was up to them to fend for themselves. Alright... next is the queue to start one of my grand ns to conquer Ortus.''

    Jeremy thought to himself with an unnoticeable hidden glint reflecting on his eyes.

    First, Jeremy started by asking them to promise him that they would never speak about this topic or inform anyone, be it directly, indirectly, intentionally, or unintentionally to anyone except for the people present in this room.

    When the three of them heard that, Charlotte''s face went pale, Owen''s face was filled with reluctance; meanwhile, Sam''s face was neutral, like it was not a big deal for him at all.

    ''The hard part starts from now... sigh...''

    Jeremy thought inwardly.

    ording to his memory, Charlotte''s family members really loved and doted on her, and she also loved her family.

    When Jeremy asked them not to tell anyone about the events that might happen for real soon enough, so she felt very unwilling.

    On the other hand, she had also just realized that her family members had to experience the tutorial events the same as her. So, she felt terrified with the thought that her loved ones would be dead soon.

    It was also not much different for Owen''s. His family was also important to him, and he loved his family dearly.

    As for Samuel, he considered himself not to have any other family members or friends except for those three in front of him anymore. Because right after his family''s business went bankrupt, his parents broke up.

    Afterward, his mother ran away and created a new family with a guy in another state. She never bothered to contact him or his father again.

    Meanwhile, his father became an alcoholic and abused him on a daily basis. Until he couldn''t endure his father anymore. He decided to run away from home, found a job to earn a living, and lived by himself since then.

    Regarding his other rtives, they abandoned him when he was at his lowest. There was no need for him to care about them at all.

    *Sigh*

    Right now, when Jeremy saw that Charlotte and Owen were reluctant to agree to his terms, he could only sigh and find some words to convince them.

    But in truth, it was only an act. Jeremy was inwardly satisfied with their reactions.

    "I know that you guys feel reluctant, and you guys concern dearly about your family members, but even if you tell them about those things, will they believe in you? What words will you use to convince them then? Are you nning to tell them that humanity will be transported batch by batch into a different world?"

    After hearing Jeremy''s words, Charlotte and Owen''s faces became bitter.

    Not waiting for the two people to open their mouths, Jeremy continued.

    "The answer is... ''No''. Those people will only think of you as delusional and watch too many fantasy movies. And if they somehow believe in your words, can you guarantee that they will survive the tutorials that only have a 5% of survival chance? That is, every neen out of twenty people will die..."

    Speaking up to here, the face of those two had already be white and ashen. But Jeremy decided to squash their little bit of hope that might still remain within the deepest part of their hearts.

    "Now, let''s assume that some of your family members somehow miraculously survive the tutorials and are teleported onto Ortus sessfully. How can you and your family reunite with one another? How can you contact them? Do note that the Ortus'' size is a quarter of the Sun''s of which is around 12,000 times bigger than Earth itself."

    After hearing those words, Charlotte was having a mental breakdown from the shocking revtions, while Owen''s head was as light as a feather until his head flopped down onto the sofa.

    As a result, even a neutral face, Samuel was also quite shocked at the superficial reveal of some vital information about Ortus from Jeremy.

    Not wanting to torment them anymore, Jeremy offered them a way out...

    ''It''s finallye to this, the hardest part...''

    Jeremy thought to himself.

    ...

    [A/N: Ortus'' radius is around 350,000 km, making it only around 3,000 times bigger than Earth and approximately four times less than Sun in terms of surface area.]

 Chapter 13 - First Step Into A Different Future (2)

    ''It''s finallye to this, the hardest part...''

    Jeremy thought to himself.

    "But... I have a way out for you and your family members..." Jeremy suddenly said, interrupting the agonizing thoughts of losing their loved ones.

    After hearing that, Charlotte and Owen raised their heads and were looking at Jeremy with hope. Like they had suddenly found an oasis after walking in a desert for a whole month.

    "Really?" Charlotte asked with hope written all over her face.

    "What is it? Please tell me." Owen seemed to be begging for the answers.

    When Jeremy saw their reactions, he felt that his convincing words from earlier were bearing their fruits.

    "First, the 2 of you calm down and then listen to my terms carefully."

    The 2 of them nodded their heads hastily for fear that Jeremy might change his mind.

    "I can convince your family members and tell them about the iing dangers that would befall humanity, and also tell them how to survive. Still, you and everyone who knows about those things must first agree to my terms and conditions."

    Speaking until here, Jeremy paused for a bit to let them digest the information. After seeing that they nodded their heads in agreement with his words, he continued.

    "The first condition is, everyone who knows about tutorials and Ortus must keep them as a secret that could only be shared between themselves. The second condition is, everyone, be it you or your family, must join my ''organization'' and be my subordinates. Don''t worry; I won''t mistreat you and your families. You know that you have no choice but to trust me, and you also have my words, I promise. And thest condition is, do not betray me, no matter what. As for the definition of ''betrayal'', it will be ording to the word in the universalnguage that you will find out soon after entering Ortus."

    "Those are all of the terms. Also, everyone must willingly receive the Oath Runes. You may just think of it as a contract that you have to act in ordance with. Now, you guys should think about those terms carefully and give me your answers... You too, Samuel, this also includes you."

    When Jeremy had finished speaking, he waited for the three of them to decide. In fact, he already knew the answers, but he had to wait for the three''s resolutions.

    Not long after, after she had done pondering, Charlotte turned her face to Jeremy and looked directly into his eyes.

    "Do you really promise to treat everyone fairly, Jeremy?"

    "I promise" Jeremy answered.

    "Okayyyy! Then I agree!!"

    Hearing the words from Charlotte, Jeremy smiled back with an approving nod. Then he turned his head to Owen, who was still in his thought.

    *Sigh*

    Owen sighed...

    "I actually don''t have a choice; why am I even bothering about those terms... I agree."

    Atst, Owen agreed.

    "Well, I also agree. It sounds enjoyable to be able to live in another world, right? Who am I to refuse that, hahaha."

    After seeing that there was no problem with those terms and conditions; instead, they might even benefit from it, causing Samuel also expressed his agreement enthusiastically.

    Seeing that everyone had agreed to his conditions, Jeremy became satisfied.

    Even though he had to risk creating butterfly effects in the earlier period, he still chose to help out their families. After all, he could not let his friends suffer, couldn''t he?

    "I give you guys a quota of 10 people per person; is that enough?" Jeremy asked.

    The three people nodded their heads, so Jeremy continued.

    "Okay, from now on, find some excuses to convince and bring all the people whom you want them to survive here within three days. All of them don''t have toe together, but please note that it must be within three days."

    Jeremy dered to the trio.

    When he saw the three of them nodded their heads. He inscribed the Oath Runes directly on their foreheads. These Oath Runes would never break or be renegaded upon so long as they still wanted to retain their sanities.

    Regarding the way to break the Oaths, there was only one way. It was to receive help from other races or sses that dealt directly with soul and mind, such as the devil, dragon, hive, necromancer, etc.

    But would it be easy to convince those beings to waste their time and resources to undo the Oaths?

    Not at all...

    It would be good enough if they didn''t get killed, mind-controlled, be mindless demons, or transformed into an undead at first sight of meeting those races and sses.

    Well, there were also thosewful races and sses which dealt directly with mind and soul existed, but their levels and existences were too high to trouble themselves with the soon-to-be rookies on Ortus.

    Then... not wanting to waste any more of his spear practicing time, Jeremy started the process of Oaths binding.

    "Alright, it''s time to bind you guy with the Oaths. Charlotte, you first."

    Feeling a bit surprised by his abrupt deration, Charlotte, who was sitting beside Jeremy, leaned closer to him.

    With a reddened face and blushing cheeks, she slowly leaned her face closer to Jeremy.

    Until her nose was almost touching with Jeremy''s...

    She closed her eyes with expectation and shyness written all over her face.

    Then...

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    *Bam*

    "Ouch!!"

    "Why did you hit me, Jerem!?"

    With the now reddened forehead, Charlotte whimpered in pain from Jeremy''s forehead flicking.

    Jeremy sighed and shook his head from side to side after seeing her like that.

    "You don''t have toe any closer; it''s not like we are gonna kiss or something to pledge the Oaths. Don''t let your imagination runs wild, lil'' loli."

    "Hmph!! I didn''t let my imagination run wild. It was just a misunderstanding... And I''m not a loli..."

    Charlotte pouted back at Jeremy, who had reprimanded her.

    "Okay... now listen to my words carefully. When I finish speaking all the terms, you just have to say ''I pledge'' with wholehearted consent within your mind for the Oath Rune to take its effects... Understood?"

    With a firm nod, Charlotte waited for Jeremy to start.

    "Charlotte Rosenberg, from now henceforth, you will keep the events taking ce here today as a secret that can only be shared with the people who receive my permission; you will also join my, Jeremy Caesar Lakota''s ''organization'' including bing my subordinate; and you won''t betray me, no matter what. Will you pledge and bind your soul to the three conditions?"

    "I pledge."

    Having known the conditions beforehand, with a determined face, Charlotte agreed without any hesitation.

    "Then I shall bind your soul and your resolves with this Oath Runeword."

    With an almost inaudible chant in an unknownnguage together with his right hand''s movements in the air, Jeremy finally said...

    "Bind!! [Oath Binding]"

    When he finished all of the processes, the strange letter in the air started to float into Charlotte''s forehead and disappeared entirely after.

    Then he said...

    "Done. The next one is your turn, Owen."

    Just like that, he proceeded with Owen and Sam, respectively.

    "Owen Steelman, from now henceforth, you will keep the events taking ce here today as a secret that can only be shared with the people who receive my permission; you will also join my, Jeremy Caesar Lakota''s ''organization'' including bing my subordinate..."

    "I pledge."

    "Then I shall bind your soul and your resolves with this Oath Runeword."

    "Bind!! [Oath Binding]"

    "Samuel Fenton, from now henceforth, you will keep the events taking ce here today as a secret that can only be..."

    "I pledge."

    "Then I shall bind your soul and your resolves with this Oath Runeword."

    "Bind!! [Oath Binding]"

    ...

    Just like that, after he finished binding the 3 people''s souls with the Oaths. He chased them away from his house, saying that he didn''t have anything to say anymore, and from now on, they should realize and prepare things by themselves.

    As for the Oaths'' effects, whenever one of the three tried to refuse or act in discordant with the conditions, their bodies would refuse to move by themselves, their mouths would shut tight, their hands would also stop writing or doing whatever they tried to do.

    ''If ''they'' are good enough to survive the tutorials and meet me on Ortus. I don''t mind taking ''them'' in under my wings. After all, I want as many limbs and eyes as possible.'' Jeremy thought.

    ''s... I''m finally taking my first step into a different future.''

    ''Now, what should I do next?''

    Jeremy thought about his next steps and grinned mysteriously.

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the Author''s thoughts below]

 Chapter 14 - Mystical Words

    Five dayster...

    At Jeremy''s house.

    *knock* *knock* *knock*

    ''Sigh... Finally, thest group of people that I have to baptize huh.'' Jeremy let out a sigh of tiredness and thought inwardly to himself. Currently, he was sitting on a sofa in the living room while watching some animes like always.

    "Come in; the door is not locked."

    Jeremy said lightly into the air.

    Unsurprisingly, the four people in front of the door had heard his voice clearly due to Jeremy''s mana utilization techniques.

    Everyone except for one person got a bit startled by the sudden voice besides their ears.

    However, they did not think much about it because there might be a voice inte doorbell somewhere nearby them.

    But they had no time to look around. Right now, the only person who was not startled by the sudden voice was currently opening the door into the house.

    *Creaks*

    Sounds of the door being pushed open resounding out.

    Afterward, Charlotte came into the house after receiving Jeremy''s permission with her father, mother, and aunt.

    Right... the four people were Charlotte and her family members.

    Charlotte''s father, who was walking right behind his daughter, was a man with an average height of around 165 cm, with somewhat broad shoulders. His weight was about 80 kilograms. That made him look a bit stout, almost fleshy. As for his age, he was somewhere around his mid-forties. He also had blonde, grey hair color and blue eyes like Charlotte.

    Beside him was his wife, Charlotte''s mother. Her height was 170 cm, her age was around 40, with a somewhat curvaceous and light body.

    Her hair is shiny blonde in color, her eyes were green, together with her dainty and beautiful nose, and glossy pink lips had made her a moderately charming adult.

    With everything in the right ce, she was considered a perfect mold of a wife material.

    Behind them was another woman; she looked somewhat simr to Charlotte''s mother. But considering that her elegance and beauty were many tiers above that, she must have inherited only the good genes from her parents.

    At first sight, she had a shapely figure with a wasp-waist like an hourss. She looked like someone not older than 35 years of age. Jointly with her glossy bright skin and her hot figure in her prime year of life made her one of the most attractive beauties out there.

    If someone looked at her more carefully, on her visage, there were slender eyebrows that seemed so attractive aligning perfectly with her charming and alluring bottle-green eyes, which would be able to drown in the eyes of every onlooker.

    Her eyshes were velvety. She had a dainty nose, glossy full red lips as well as shiny and halo-white teeth that could cause most lustful men to desire tovishly kiss and taste them.

    ...

    ...

    Right aftering into the house...

    They walked side by side until they reached the living room and spotted Jeremy, who was sitting there.

    Meanwhile, the faces of Charlotte''s father, mother, and aunt were clearly expressing their dissatisfaction to quite a degree.

    It was like, they were forced here by Charlotte for some unknown reason.

    In fact, there were two batches of people that Charlotte had brought to Jeremy''s house before them.

    The first batch consisted of Charlotte''s two besties, and the second batch included her grandfather (father''s father) and grandmother (father''s mother).

    That would make up to only seven people that Charlotte chooses for the future knowledge about tutorials and Ortus.

    It was not that she didn''t want to bring more people, but it was because her father didn''t have any siblings. Also, her mother only had one younger sister, Suzan. As for her mother''s parents, they had already passed away several years ago.

    For the headcounts, Owen also surprisingly brought in only seven people. Albeit, Jeremy gave them a quota of 10 people.

    He had his own reasons, though. Those were enough for him with his one parent, two siblings, two rtives, and two grandparents.

    Now,e back to the current situations...

    When everyone came into the living room, Jeremy turned to face them and stood up from the sofa.

    "Good evening, uncle Frank, aunt Emma, and aunt Suzan. It''s been more than a year since west met. How are you guys doing?"

    Jeremy nodded to Charlotte and greeted Frank and Emma warmly. Meanwhile, this was the first time he met with Suzan.

    After seeing that, Jeremy, aka the one who had invited them into his house, had greeted them warmly.

    The three adults decided to go along with the flows with some chit-chats first before diving into the main topic.

    "It''s been quite good for me. A week ago, I had just closed an important deal with a bigshot client. And it seems like everything will be going well for the near future too."

    Uncle Frank smiled warmly to Jeremy.

    Actually, Jeremy had been to their ''big house'' quite often. He would always be wee at their house, whether it be to eat dinners, tutor Charlotte, or throw a party. That''s why they were pretty close with him.

    "I''m good little Jerem. You know, our little sweetie, and we miss you so much. It''s been a very, very longgggg time since youst visited us. It would be best if you had gone to our home more often. I really want you to taste my new menus from our restaurant. Oh... I almost forget to ask, how are you? Do you feel bett... Oops."

    Right after Uncle Frank finished his greetings, aunt Emma hurriedly grasped this chance to talk with Jeremy.

    But she had to stop in mid-speech abruptly because ''her mouth'' had almost spilled out the words to remind Jeremy about his sorrowful past of losing his parents to the ne crash.

    "I''m sorry... I didn''t mean to hurt your feelings..." Said apologetically, aunt Emma.

    Hearing that Charlotte, Frank, and Suzan shook their heads from side to side at Emma, who had almost slipped her own tongue.

    "It''s okay. I''m doing fine now. All of my wounds have already been healed thanks to your ''lovely'' daughterpletely."

    Nevertheless, Jeremy answered back with his usual easygoing smile to alleviate the sudden mood change within the room.

    Anyhow, the ''past'' Jeremy had already gotten used to Emma, whom she was just like Charlotte whenever she got a chance to talk; she would talk nonstop.

    They were a pair of a chatterbox and also a heaven-sent duo made especially to annoy Jeremy.

    Well, that didn''t mean the ''present'' Jeremy would not feel annoyed by her talkative personality. He was a former sage, after all. Nobody had talked to him like a machine gun for a long time.

    Even though he felt quite a bit annoyed by their incessant speech, still, it was not a big deal after all, and they didn''t harbor any ill intention towards him. So, he chose to endure it and yed along with the flows.

    But in contrary to the annoyed Jeremy. After hearing those words from him, Charlotte, who had kept quiet all this time, suddenly felt a jolt on her entire body like electricity was running through her body.

    Then her face and ears were getting redder and redder.

    ''Did Jeremy justpliment me? OMG!!''

    Never in her wildest dream would she think that Jeremy wouldpliment her.

    However, unbeknownst to her, Jeremy''s purpose of saying those words was to alleviate the moods, not flirt with her.

    Not caring about Charlotte, who was fiddling her hair with a reddened face, Jeremy turned his head to aunt Suzan, and then he nodded his head with a warm smile towards her as a sign of greeting.

    "Hello, aunt Suzan. I believe that this is our first time meeting with one another. It''s nice to meet you."

    "Yes, it is, but I''ve heard about you from my niece more than a hundred times already. Anyway, it''s nice to meet you too."

    Hearing Jeremy''s greetings, Suzan greeted him back with a warm and beautiful smile stered on her lips. If any Average Joe saw her smile right now, they would be captivated immediately by her charming behaviors.

    ''Wow, she is as beautiful as a Hollywood star. ording to Charlotte''s words, she is also a businesswoman like Charlotte''s father and mother, if I do not remember wrong. She lives in a different state and is currently managing many businesses there. She is also sin...''

    "Ahem..."

    "Jeremy, may I know the purpose of our visit here? I think something important or urgent might be going on right now, for our lovely daughter to be very hell-bent on bringing us here."

    When Jeremy was thinking to himself, he was suddenly interrupted by Charlotte''s father, Frank.

    Currently, Frank was having a curious look written on his face. That''s why he decided to cut to the main topic right after they had finished greeting one another.

    The other two adults were also the same; they were waiting for Jeremy''s reasons for inviting them here.

    After all, they were a businessman and businesswomen. They had plenty of things to do and manage. Every passing second and minute meant that they were losing many opportunities to make money.

    If it was not for their beloved and doted daughter, who persisted them toe no matter what, they wouldn''t care to waste their precious money-making time at all.

    Their time meant money and gold...

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy could only sigh after he saw the behaviors of the three people like that.

    To tell the truth, there was nothing wrong with them being impatient because they didn''t know that everything was going to change soon.

    Furthermore, he knew well that they also had many things to do.

    Even right now, Suzan was typing her phone messages nonstop, and it must be about business that she had suddenly left behind at the other state.

    Concurrently, Emma was smiling bitterly when she heard her husband''s earlier words. Meanwhile, Charlotte was still fiddling with her beautiful blonde, grey hair with blushing cheeks.

    It seemed like she really felt shy...

    So, instead of answering them, he decided to say the words that he had been saying a total of 6 times already within the past five days.

    Those words were miraculous and mystical words that could convince even a crying baby into stopping its crying, or they could convince even an insecure girl to feel that she was pretty like an angel.

    Those words were that good, and Jeremy had already tested them firsthand so many times.

    In addition, this time would be the 7th time that he would say those words.

    And they were...

    "Do you believe in magic?"

    Jeremy lightly smiled and said with a hint of professionalism.

    ...

    [A/N: For enumeration, Jeremy had said it two times when the trio visited him five days ago. Then two more times for Owen''s two batches of family members. Lastly, two more times for Charlotte''s previous two batches. This time is the 7th.]

 Chapter 15 - Jeremy Sucks It Dry

    Two weeks or soter, at nighttime in eastern California...

    A man was currently standing nearby a grotesque-looking ancient tree. The tree didn''t have a single leaf; it had only dried branches protruding out randomly all over its upper part.

    ''So, this is thest one...'' The man thought while taking a look carefully at the tree.

    The tree was named Methush, the oldest non-clonal tree known to the public.

    The man was none other than Jeremy, who had been traveling nonstop since two weeks ago to find the various oldest trees worldwide.

    Shockingly, within a time frame of 15 days, he had been to more than five other countries and ended up in the USA, his own country.

    As for the reason he had been visiting the numerous trees, whether it be clonal or non-clonal trees was because...

    The older the tree was, the more mana particles it would have.

    This one simple fact was one of the basic knowledge about mana.

    Since two weeks ago, when Jeremy finished ''baptizing'' thest group of people, he had thought about his subsequent courses of action and tried to make them aligned with his primary goal.

    That was... increasing his personal strength.

    The only way to achieve his goal was to advance into a Journeyman Mage ss, thest substage of ss 1 True Mage.

    But considering that the ambient mana within the atmosphere was too little, causing him to have a meager chance of sessfully advancing into that stage.

    Thus, he had to find an alternative way to advance.

    He had thought about countless ways and possibilities that could be possible on Ortus, but sadly, only one way was the most usible in his current situation.

    Anyway, he still could not guarantee that this method would be a sess or a failure because he didn''t know that the mana had appeared on Earth for how long.

    Did it appear only two months ago, when he did meditation?

    Did it appear ever since hundreds or thousands of years ago?

    Or... Did it appear since the world''s creation?

    There were too many questions and variables within the hypothesizes. Nevertheless, Jeremy had to start doing something to grow his strength anyway.

    That''s why...

    Around two weeks ago, he decided to check out the various ancient old trees on Earth, whether they had the umted mana within their bodies or not.

    And surprisingly, Jeremy finally found some specks of mana particles within a one-hundred-year-old tree inside a walking park a couple of blocks away from his house.

    Usually, on Ortus, most of the old trees would develop some unique characteristics exclusively for themselves.

    One of those unique traits was that, after a tree grew past a certain period, it would be able to absorb mana particles from the ambient atmosphere instinctively to prolong its life with its mysterious means. That resulted in some ancient trees living for more than 10,000 eras, or more than 57,000 years.

    However, those cases only happen on Ortus...

    As for Earth, the where there shouldn''t be any mana existed. Those trees shouldn''t be able to live that long, but somehow they had survived since thest ice age, which was more than 10,000 years ago until this very day.

    And that made Jeremy felt very suspicious...

    So, he decided to check out those trees'' conditions, and he found out that they indeed contained the mana within their bodies, albeit very little. But if they were to bebined, it would be quite a substantial amount of mana.

    Moreover, he realized that he might not be able to advance to Journeyman Mage with the current mana density on the Earth''s atmosphere.

    So, he had decided to visit and collect the mana particles from the oldest living trees, whether it be clonal or non-clonal trees from around the world instead.

    As for the method to absorb mana from those trees, he had to use two special versions of the 1st tier array inscribed one on the tree trunk and another one on a leather cloth of an animal ced on the ground while cing an ''enchanted'' ss bottle on top.

    For the output or fuel, which was the ''Mana'' used to create the arrays, Jeremy chose a recycling method to reduce his mana consumption as much as possible, for he would be using the mana from inside the trees as a power source instead.

    Like that, he would be able to absorb many tree''s mana within a single day without having to take a break to replenish his mana.

    Well, for a reason, if he used up all of his mana inside his dantians, he had to take a three days rest. It was just too long...

    Even though it would have wasted an average of more than 50-70% of the mana inside the trees, it was worth it. Something like this would still be better than drying his own mana whirlpools, as Jeremy didn''t have enough time to waste on resting after all.

    Right now, standing while taking a look at the process of mana attraction from the ancient tree. Jeremy was delighted and fascinated with the 100 ml ss bottle, which was filled more than half by now.

    ''Ahhh... My precious...'' Jeremy thought indulgingly to himself.

    Meanwhile, when he was waiting for the mana extraction process. Jeremy started to put out two animal leather gloves from inside his backpack. They were just a pair of ordinary leather gloves made from animal hides.

    After cing them on the nearby stone, he started to control his mana from the three dantians and bring them into his index fingers on each hand.

    Right after that, he started to write magic array formtions on the air just a little bit above the two gloves.

    Surprisingly, he was using two hands simultaneously, inscribing the runes above the gloves at almost the same time, but with the same rhythm, patterns, and magic array forms.

    At the same time, the surroundings were being apanied by a sonorous mumbled incantation with an unknownnguage from Jeremy.

    More than 15 minutester, when Jeremy finished inscribing and chanting. Two beautiful special tier-1 arrays were now floating quietly but dazzlingly above the two gloves. It lookedplex yet so pretty.

    If some mages from Ortus were to see this amazing sight, they could only think of one thing.

    That was... it was a great art of a great array practitioner.

    Right now, Jeremy suddenly brought out another ss bottle with the same mana liquid inside, simr to the one on top of the array.

    However, this bottle only contained around ten drops of mana liquid.

    It was clear that this bottle was prepared specifically for this job. Moreover, the liquid inside was used up until it had reached the bottle''s very bottom already.

    Then he opened the bottle''s lit and pour a drop of mana liquid onto the center of each array.

    Miraculously enough, after receiving a drop of mana liquid, the two arrays started to shrink down from the size of a football into the size of a single coin.

    Next, the two shrunk arrays started to rotate slowly and moved down even more slowly onto the palm of each glove. Until, they stuck on the gloves'' palms, and the dazzling light of the arrays disappeared, leaving behind only tiny spell arrays on the palms.

    *Fwuu...*

    After seeing that the arrays were done beautifully, Jeremy let out a long breath, and then he kept the gloves back inside his backpack.

    ''Finally, only three pairs of gloves left to be done...''He thought to himself.

    Right about now, the mana extraction process was also going to end soon. Atst, after a lengthened journey, Jeremy felt very relieved that finally, he could be able to take a rest because this one was thest.

    However, upon the operation was done, Jeremy frowned and cursed.

    ''F*cking d*mn old tree, you only give me a quarter of a drop of mana liquid. What a stingy old tree; don''t you know that it is very hard for me to sneak in here without anyone noticing. D*mn you!''

    That amount was indeed too little...

    The process of collecting mana liquid on Earth was such an arduous job.

    Despite that, his evesting persevere and money-burning method to travel around the world in 2 weeks were still fruitful.

    From his calction, this amount of mana was more than enough for him to breakthrough into a Journeyman Mage ss more than 50 times consecutively.

    Regarding real motives of his over-collecting of mana liquid were because he wanted to create a staff for himself for the uing tutorial, and he wanted to gift ''them'' some survival measures inside the tutorial.

    They would be his subordinates soon anyway; at the very least, they needed to survive the tutorials and meet him on Ortus first.

    As for the materials to craft a staff?

    Some bits and parts were mainly from the trees that he had been visiting, some other misceneous parts were from animals'' hides, and the central orb was from the purest gold on Earth that he had custom-ordered from Perth Mint Company in Australia since three weeks ago.

    Well, the best gold they could make was 999.999, six nines fine, which was considered the purest gold ever produced on Earth, refined for the first time by the Perth Mint Company in 1957.

    And Jeremy had just ordered them by spending more than 300,000 US dors as the technique and rush price.

    ''The gold orb and the shield should arrive in a few days.''

    Jeremy thought relievedly.

    ''What a tiring long trip, it is finally time to go back...''

 Chapter 16 - Getting Stronger

    Upon arriving home, Jeremy ordered a sumptuous meal from the nearby restaurant and took a long shower waiting for the meal to be delivered.

    He decided not to care about his health anymore.

    The time wasn''t long before he wouldn''t be able to eat Earth''s foods any longer. There were not even two weeks before the tutorial events started.

    After finishing everything, he did the regr meditation. He then went to sleep for 15 hours straight, only to wake up after the time hit midday to eat another sumptuous meal of McDonial.

    Right after, he picked up his iPhone X Plus and called Charlotte.

    *Toot* *Toot* *Toot*

    After the phone rang three or so times, the sounds of a phone being picked up from the other side were heard.

    Not waiting for Jeremy to speak first, Charlotte started the conversation directly.

    "Hellooooo... Jeremy? What is it?" Came the voice of the energetic Charlotte.

    "The things that I have promised to you guys on the phone since two weeks ago are almost ready. Bring all of those people here two dayster at 5 p.m."

    "Okayyy! Anything else?"

    "That''s all I have to say. Bye-bye."

    "What!? Wait wai..."

    *Tut* *Tut* *Tut*

    After Jeremy hang up the phone, he went straight to call his other two friends and told them the same thing.

    Meanwhile, Charlotte, who was hung up on by Jeremy, was now pouting and grumbling at her phone ceaselessly.

    ...

    *Fwuuuu...*

    Jeremy exhaled and thought.

    ''Let''s do it. It was time for me to be stronger yet again... in this ''almost'' mana-less world.''

    Right now, Jeremy was sitting cross-legged on the floor beside his bed. At the same time, there was a bottle of light blue colored fluid cing right in front of him.

    Both Jeremy and the bottle situated on top of strange-looking and weird-shaped lines inscribed on an animal''s hide filled with strange characters then and there circling around them.

    They were two null elemental revised arrays. One of the two arrays was used to absorb the mana into Jeremy''s body, while the other one''s function was to convert the mana''s signature into his.

    As a result of there were not enough mana particles within the air. The fluid inside the bottle would be used toplement the process of his advancement into a Journeyman Mage.

    For one to be a Journeyman Mage. That person''s body and mind had to get ustomed and acquainted enough with the three mana whirlpools within their dantians.

    After that, that person had to umte enough mana particles inside their dantians and let those particles resided within the dantians in a dormant state.

    Upon all of the above processes were done. That person would be qualified to be a Journeyman Mage.

    But before that, they had to condense those mana particles and convert those dormant mana particles into mana fluid in the three dantians simultaneously.

    And if they could sessfully condense the droplets, they would finally be a Journeyman Mage.

    The procedures above might look simple at first nce, but it was like climbing Mount Everest barehandedly for an average mage with a low overall aptitude for magic.

    The hardest partid in the condensing process.

    On this part, a mage had to put their highest focus on the 10th stage of meditation, ''tranquillity and equanimity.

    Not only that, the mage had to be much more familiarized with it more than when they entered the Apprentice Mage substage.

    As a result, the mage was required to enter this stage with effortlessly stable attention, mindfulness, joy, tranquillity, and equanimity. After that, they needed to enter the deepest part of stage 10, which was ''persistence of the mental qualities''.

    Only after aplishing those actions could the ''average mage'' be able to persist through more than 1 hour and a half at the least until they could sessfully condense a drop of mana fluid inside one of their dantians.

    Furthermore, the mage had to do it dantian by dantian until they finished all three dantians.

    Just like that, the mage would finally be called a ''Journeyman Mage'', one step away from a True Mage.

    Now, let''s talk about a general detail about a dantian and a whirlpool. First of all, imagine a CD of which the outer perimeter was the whirlpool revolving around itself continuously in three dimensions.

    Meanwhile, at the center of which was just a small circr space would be where the mana fluid resided.

    However, a dantian in a human''s body was only around 1-centimeter diameter in size. How was it able to host the mana fluid inside, right?

    It was because every dantian had its subspace inside of which the real size was several times bigger than its actual size.

    For example, when Jeremy became a Journeyman Mage, his dantians'' subspaces were around 5-centimeter diameter in size each (2.5 cm radius), which were enough to umte more than four cubic cm of mana fluid inside each one of them.

    If using standard calction form, his dantians could contain a total of 65 mL of mana fluid in volume, but that was not the case here. In fact, it could only hold around 4 mL of mana within a 1-centimeter radius at the center of the ''disk''.

    As a result of the other part, which was the rest of 61 mL, it operated as a whirlpool circling around the center space of the ''disk''.

    Everyone out there might be wondering that only a single drop of mana fluid was enough to be a Journeyman Mage?

    The answer was... YES.

    And it would be best if you did not underestimate the might of a single drop of mana fluid.

    If utilized with appropriate means and methods, a single mana drop could easily destroy an entire house into smithereens.

    That''s the power of a wondrous thing called ''Mana''...

    Right now, Jeremy was trying to use this breakthrough opportunity to absorb as much as possible of mana from the atmosphere and enchanted fluid bottle.

    This was one of the rare opportunities to absorb mana into his dantians without affecting his foundation after all.

    ...

    *Fwuuuu...*

    After several minutester, Jeremy exhaled and opened his eyes.

    "Sess..."

    Jeremy mumbled quietly.

    For him, breaking through this time was not hard at all, unlike when he was trying to form a whirlpool inside his upper dantian. The differences in difficulty felt like heaven and earth for Jeremy.

    This time he had absorbed more than 2 mL of mana fluid (40 mana droplets) into the center of the ''disk'' inside each of his dantian. That made a total of 6 mL that he had absorbed from the 50 mL bottle.

    That left with only 44 mL of mana fluid inside the bottle.

    Right now, he could be considered a Mid-stage Journeyman Mage, and he was only one step away from bing a True Mage.

    Nevertheless, hisbat power, together with his defensive measures, were definitely more substantial than most ss 1 Mage from the fact that the pureness of mana was top-notch.

    Furthermore, toplement the pureness of his newfound mana was the endless experience and knowledge from his past life.

    It could be said that he was unrivaled against the opponent in the same realm...

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the Author''s thoughts below. Also, you can calcte the volume of Jeremy''s dantians by using the equation V=4/3¦Đr^3. Lemme help you with this; his dantians'' capacity was around 65 cubic cm each from the calctions. For the reference of water, 1,000 cubic cm = 1 liter, and 1 cubic cm = 20 droplets of water in volume. Well, assume that mana density is equal to water density, then from now on, I will use ''mL'' instead of ''cubic cm''.]

 Chapter 17 - Welcome Gifts (1)

    Two dayster...

    Around 5:00 p.m. at Jeremy''s garage beside his house.

    Currently, the usually spacious garage was almost packed with almost 20 people of various ages.

    Those people were Jeremy, his three friends, and the rest were those three friends'' family members and friends.

    From Charlotte''s side, there were her two besties, father, mother, aunt, grandfather, and grandmother.

    From Owen''s side, there were two younger brothers, mother, aunt, uncle, grandfather, and grandmother.

    However, regarding Samuel, there was absolutely no one standing beside him because he didn''t choose anyone in the first ce.

    Not even his girlfriend, he didn''t tell her toe for some unknown reasons.

    Jeremy was currently standing at the garage''s center between the wooden dummies at the garage''s end and those 17 people at the garage entrance.

    Meanwhile, everyone was talking and whispering to one another incessantly.

    If an onlooker was present, they should feel like they were in a ssroom packed with students to the brim instead of the garage.

    As for the topics of their discussions, they talked about tutorials, Ortus, aftermaths of transmigrations, today''s events, the gifts from Jeremy, andstly, the reliability of Jeremy''s story about Ortus and everything rted to it.

    After all, even after Jeremy had shown them various kinds of miracle and mysterious magic skills. Within their deepest minds, they still harbored a tad bit of doubt.

    Or rather, it should be called ''Hope''...

    They still had hopes within their subconscious minds.

    They hoped that, after September 29, 2019, everything would remain the same.

    They hoped that the world''s end would nevere.

    They hoped that they could normally live like they always did.

    However, how could they doubt Jeremy after seeing and witnessing his magical powers?

    Jeremy also had his own credibility that was very hard to refute.

    Consequently, they kept talking with one another ceaselessly and erratically, as they saw that 17 other people were sharing the same fate as them of being the ones who ''knew'' about the uing ''advents'' before the other seven or so billion people on Earth.

    Some felt scared...

    Some felt despaired...

    Some felt excited...

    Some felt unreal...

    Many emotions wereing and going inside their mind at the moment. However, there was one emotion that all of them had it the same.

    It was the emotion of when they stared at the man in front of them.

    That emotion was ''relieve''...

    They felt relieved... relieved that there was someone they could rely on.

    They felt relieved... like when they finally found an oasis amidst a scorching hot desert.

    And that person who made them felt relieved was... Jeremy.

    If they only considered his age, he still looked rtively young with only early-twenties of age.

    Nevertheless, he was exuding a mysterious and unfathomable aura.

    They knew all too well that those things had nothing to do with him being an introvert or extrovert, wearing dark clothing, or having a somber voice.

    They just felt that he was mysterious, and at the same time, he also felt ancient and unfathomable.

    But how was that even possible?

    He looked just like someone in his 22 or 23 years of age...

    As for his features, he had lush, mother lode-gold hair with a tinge of brown color with a rippling quality.

    With perfect health being showed clearly as a result of training his body regrly. He looked even more like a model than Samuel in those people''s eyes.

    His outstanding facial characteristics, the aquiline nose he sportedplemented his prominent cheekbones. His fine-lined jaw and feline shoulders spoke of strength.

    He should possess atent, redoubted power, and he stood there with purpose and authority.

    Altogether with the wayfarer-blue eyes that could resemble two liquid-blue pools of shing iciness that could attract and drown them into the deepest part of Abyss.

    His appearancebined with the unquestionable aura causing him to look beyond and outside a mortal''s reach.

    They instinctively knew that he was different from others...

    They also felt safe whenever they were under his care...

    Still, they didn''t really know where his mysteriousness was induced from.

    Was it about him hiding earth-shattering secrets?

    Maybe or maybe not...

    Those unknown secrets should be big and dark enough that, upon being discovered, they could destroy the person who knew about them one way or another.

    But how did he know about those secrets?

    They didn''t dare to question him...

    His auras alone didn''t allow them to look at him for a prolonged time.

    At this moment, after realizing that Jeremy''s ice-cold blue eyes were staring at them, they had unknowingly stopped talking, then turned their heads to him like they were in a trance.

    ...

    *Sigh*

    ''That''s why the road to be a sage is full of hospitalities and hostilities.'' Jeremy sighed and thought to himself.

    That''s normal; after all, respect and hate always came together.

    But for a person who trod a path of true magic, that person must be prepared to receive much more respect and hate than ordinary people.

    After seeing that everyone''s attention finally shifted to him, Jeremy started speaking while looking straight at them one by one.

    "Let''s make it quick. I have already told every one of you about how the iing events are going to unfold. Also, you might have realized already that, even if you know about those things before anyone else, it doesn''t mean that you will ''survive'' those ordeals."

    What Jeremy meant was that they might still die even if they knew what wasing at them... because they were powerless to protect themselves.

    As when Jeremy had talked till the word ''survive'', he narrowed his eyes coldly at the two brothers of Owen''s, two besties of Charlotte''s, and at the 4 ''very old people'' of his two friends.

    Simultaneously, those people instinctively shivered with the realization of dangers and the predator-liked stare from Jeremy.

    The two younger brothers of Owen, namely George and Matthew, were now almost huddling together to lessen their fear.

    Concurrently, Amelia and Grace, who were Charlotte''s besties since young, were shivering and shaking nonstop while trying to grab Charlotte''s hem-cloth as reassurance.

    As for those ''old people'', they just sighed with a saddened face and stood there with dejected expressions.

    Meanwhile, everyone else was clutching their own hands tightly at their own ipetency to do anything to save their own lives and their loved ones when the supposed inevitable future came.

    But they knew that there was one person they could rely and depend on to survive the uing advents.

    So, they were waiting for Jeremy, their possible ''savior'', to dere about his real purpose of inviting them here.

    They were hoping that Jeremy, the current most mysterious man on Earth who could wield enigmatic magics, could be able to give them a way to survive.

    Seeing that everyone didn''t get outraged or get annoyed at his mild sarcasm, he felt a bit satisfied.

    He knew that as a result of ''Do you believe in magic?'', everyone here was as obedient as they could be. They didn''t want to mop the ground with their faces or got muted ever again.

    Jeremy had ''taken care'' of them really well...

 Chapter 18 - Welcome Gifts (2)

    "I invite you guys today because I want to gift you, my future subordinates, with survival tools against the uing Tutorial Events."

    ''I cannot let you all die after I''ve wasted so much of my time and energy to baptize you after all.''

    Jeremy''s speech and thoughts were expressing two different things. The former was like he was going to help them survive. And thetter was about his interests and profits that he would lose if they died.

    After that, he picked up a ck leather glove from a bag cing close by his feet. Then he put it on his left hand after realizing that it was a left-handed glove.

    When Jeremy brought out the glove, everyone''s eyes shifted from Jeremy to the glove.

    "As you can see, this glove is the ''gift'' that I''ve been talking about. At first nce, it might look ordinary, but it contains a spell I''ve engraved onto the glove personally. The spell is called Mana Bolt."

    Murmuring sounds from the garage''s entrance started as soon as Jeremy finished telling them about the glove and the spell.

    With a look of realization, someone had already guessed about the skill''s usage correctly, as they used to see it in some games before.

    On the other hand, those who were still clueless about the spell started asking those who knew.

    Before long, the talking and gossiping sounds began to be louder and louder...

    "Ahem"

    "I haven''t finished exining yet. If anyone of you has a question, do ask me after I finish."

    Jeremy interrupted their chit-chat before it went overboard, and he continued his exnation.

    "As the spell''s name suggests, it is a ball that is shaped up andpressed from pure mana. That''s why the Mana Bolt''s color will be light blue, which is the mana''s color when it released itstent energy. As for its speed, it is around half of the sound speed. Hmm... around half of a 9mm handgun bullet."

    Talking till here, Jeremy paused for a bit to let them digest the information before continuing.

    Most of them had already learned some basic information aboutmon knowledge of energy types on Ortus, such as elements, mana, qi, spirit, etc.

    They even knew that each race had its own ''unique'' ways to cultivate and power up, but they still didn''t know the specific and more profound knowledge just yet.

    Right now, they only knew basic information.

    So, they didn''t get confused when Jeremy talked about the supposed transparent mana that suddenly transformed into light blue color.

    That''s why many of them nodded their heads in understanding.

    "As for its rank, it is only a tier 0 spell, but its might and power ispletely different. Since I''ve modified the spell and adjusted its power personally, causing it to be as powerful as a tier-1 spell."

    "For simple exnation, if hit directly, it can easily kill an elephant or make a deep dent on a tank. So, don''t ever take it lightly and make sure that you stand at least 7 meters away from your target when you cast it..."

    There were gulping noises resounding out within the quietened garage after Jeremy finished his exnation about the spell''s prowess.

    Many of them were shocked to the core at the sheer power of the spell. If it was as Jeremy had described, this spell was akin to a 1 kg ANFO explosive; it could kill people easily if being hit directly.

    Everyone knew what would have happened to them if there was a bomb exploding close to their bodies.

    They would certainly be dead, and some parts of their bodies would disappear from this world forever...

    But there was still one question within their minds...

    How to use it?

    Even the talkative Charlotte and enthusiastic Samuel chose to keep their quiet and were now thinking about how to utilize the spell.

    Seeing everyone''s confusion, Jeremy knew what was transpiring within their minds.

    So, he went on to the next topic.

    "Now, I will demonstrate to you how to use the spell engraved on the glove. Just look at my next actions."

    After he saw that every one''s attention was put on him once again, he went on to demonstrate the spell.

    Jeremy raised his left hand in the direction of a dummy at the end of the garage. After that, he put his palm facing the wooden dummy in a parallel line.

    "Vitas"

    Jeremy said lightly, but the voice was heard by the people behind him instantly and clearly.

    At the same time, when Jeremy finished reciting the word, a white light suddenly shed on the tiny array engraved on the glove''s palm.

    Then in a split secondter, the people at the entrance only saw the blurred line of something traveling at a breakneck speed.

    Before they realized what it was, it had already collided with the wooden dummy causing an earth-shattering explosion at the chest of the unlucky dummy.

    *BOOOOOMMMM!!!*

    "Kiahhhh!!"

    That was the sound of someone screaming...

    Then...

    *Shatter!* *Break!*

    *Crashhh!!*

    This time was the sound of the garage''s ceiling crashing down from above the dummy.

    The explosion had caused dust and debris to float mildly within the garage. Fortunately, it was not as much asst time when Jeremy experimented on his spells.

    Considering thatst time, Jeremy had cast the Mana Bolt spell inducing too much dust to fly chaotically within the garage, causing him to cough constantly.

    So, this time he came prepared...

    Before today, he had already cleared out every speck of dust by using his mana techniques to generate pushing forces to push all of the dust and unknown powder out of the garage.

    It was very tiring to do that with his current mana pools, but it was worth it.

    That''s why the dust amount being blown away from the impact was not as much asst time.

    As for the debris and parts of the dummy and the broken ceiling were blown into different directions, but surprisingly, there was not even a single piece that flew in those people''s direction.

    That''s the result of Jeremy creating a mana barrier to protect them, just in case some sharp parts identally flew in their direction.

    For all that, he didn''t want them to die indirectly by his own hands.

    When those people at the entrance came back to their senses and saw the now half-bodied dummyying on the nearby ground in stillness, they were left shocked and speechless in awe of the spell''s destructive capability.

    Right now, the dummy was missing its upper torso like thest time when Jeremy had cast the exact same spell.

    However, the spell he cast this time was more than two times stronger than thest time because he had no control over the finished engraved array except for being able to refill its energy.

    So, the Mana Bolt spell this time was at its full power.

    Looking around the garage, those people saw quite an amount of dust spattering everywhere in the air.

    Some of them were coughing nonstop with the sudden dust''s outburst, while some remainedposed just like they didn''t care at all about the dust.

    Until, right when they spotted the left, right, and backside of the dummy of which were the garage''s walls made of cement, they were astounded once again.

    Currently, there were some cracks and dents on the walls, like someone had just smashed them with a car.

    As for the ceiling that was made from woods...

    Right now, there was a circr-shaped hole on it!

    When they looked at the hole, they could even see the sky that was currently depicting a dusk picture with some mild yellow with a tinge of orange light from the sleepy setting sun.

    In their front was a man''s back standing with all those backgrounds as his enhanced grandeur like a troubadour singing and praising the king''s greatness.

    When those phenomenabined, they were quite a memorable sight to behold.

    ''He looks so cool...''

    The people at the entrance thought dazedly...

 Chapter 19 - Welcome Gifts (3)

    After several seconds passed by, everyone finally came back to their senses.

    "Woahhh..."

    "Wo..."

    "That''s incredible."

    "If that thing ever hits me, I''m fucked..."

    They eximed in astonishment at the detrimental damages caused by a single Mana Bolt spell.

    Meanwhile, most people''s eyes were radiating fervent heat like devout believers. Within their minds, they thought that with this Mana Bolt spell, they could at least save their own lives when the time came for them to fend for themselves.

    Even the two younger brothers of Owen''s were showing excited expressions for them to be able to witness a spell being fired for real, like in the games.

    Well, a part of those people showed their dread and anxiety about the spell''s danger and hazard. Within their minds, it was like ying with a bomb. If they didn''t handle the thing well, they would be royally doomed.

    "Wow! That is awesome! You are super cool!!"

    Not waiting for long, Charlotte, who thought that Jeremy was too cool and had already finished his exnations and demonstrations, started to express her thoughts that were running wildly within her mind for quite some time.

    "If I have something like that, I will be able to obliterate anyone who dares to mess with me!! I will pass the tutorial that you have been speaking of so easily."

    Samuel, who was standing beside Charlotte and her friends, also expressed his consented opinion with an approving nod.

    Everyone else also started to nod their heads one by one in approval at the feasibility of surviving the tutorial.

    When Jeremy saw their conformity of thoughts about the spell''s usefulness, he calmly exined further about the reasons he had chosen this spell.

    "As you can see, this left-handed glove needs an activation code to be able to cast the spell. You should have heard that I spoke a single word before a glowing light suddenly came out of the glove''s palm, right?"

    When he saw that all of them nodded their heads in consent, he continued.

    "The code for this left-handed glove is ''Vitas''. As for the right-handed one, it is ''Milos''. This rule also applies to every single glove within this backpack."

    After removing the glove from his hand, he started exining the activation rule of the spell while pointing his index finger at the backpack beside his feet.

    Unsurprisingly, his backpack was filled with more than 35 other gloves, enough for all people here to wear except for Jeremy, of course.

    He didn''t need something like that when he reached the tutorial zone where the concentration of mana was several hundreds of times higher than Earth.

    At that time, he could cast Mana Bolt spell as many times as he wanted...

    "Also, keep this in mind... the spell won''t work if you don''t wear the glove and say the correct activation code of the array engraved on it."

    After telling them how to activate the spell, he also warned them about the two requirements before using it.

    "Any question?"

    Saying till here, Jeremy paused a bit, letting those people organize their thoughts and ask him some questions.

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Right after Jeremy had allowed them to ask questions, dead air had descended upon them.

    Most people were looking left and right to see if their family members or friends had any questions.

    However, that only increased the stalemate of the current situation.

    Until some 30 secondster...

    "Why this spell? There is no better spell than Mana Bolt?"

    The silent Owen asked quite an important question as always.

    Hearing that, everyone else, including Jeremy, nodded their heads in approval at Owen''s question.

    "Yes, it is as you have thought. In the past dozens of days, I''ve thought about what spell should be given to you guys to maximize your probability of survival. After a long debate in my own thoughts, I''ve decided to pick the Mana Bolt spell because of its versatility in various situations. I also have to consider the limits of my current strength. So, the best spell for ''our'' current situations is Mana Bo..."

    "I want to try it!!"

    When Jeremy was calmly exining the reasons why he had chosen this spell, he was unexpectedly interrupted by the sudden voice of Charlotte''s.

    ''This girl... Sigh...'' Jeremy and other people thought in dismay.

    Meanwhile, Charlotte, who was feeling thrilled from head to toe while ignoring the stumped looks from everyone, requested Jeremy to try the spell.

    Not minding the fact that those people around her knew that she was the one who had screamed in terror like a little girl in a horror movie earlier when the explosion and crashing sounds rang out.

    However, after seeing what feats the glove and the spell could do, they also started getting excited.

    Going with the flows was good most of the time, after all.

    So, they were waiting for Jeremy to let them try it one by one.

    Still...

    "Don''t get overexcited just yet. There was still one w with the gloves. Which is... they are consumables with only two uses per glove."

    Jeremy shut down the energetic Charlotte and everyone else with a few sentences.

    "As you can see, the mana used to maintain the functions to keep the spell potency in its original state is quite demanding. Even if I had already used a drop of purest mana fluid to inscribe each one of these gloves, unfortunately, they could only remain functioning for around two months, and each one of them could be used only two times."

    Even if they were ignorant about ''a drop of purest mana fluid'', they still got a gist of it. That was... it must be something very powerful and precious.

    Speaking till here, Jeremy paused for a bit, then continued.

    "Every one of you will get a pair of these gloves as wee gifts to my organization, which means each one of you can cast Mana Bolt spell for a total of 4 times. Oh... by the way, except for you, Charlotte."

    Right when Charlotte had heard Jeremy''s words, her eyes brightened up once again with hope.

    Since she was a little princess who really loved special treatments from others.

    In other words, she was a spoiled brat...

    Also, most people usually preferred special treatments from the person you like, right?

    She was also the same...

    However...

    "You will get this left-handed glove, together with another right-handed one. That will make you have total usage of 3 times."

    Jeremy said with a warm and harmless smile to Charlotte, whom was on cloud nine just a moment ago.

    But right after hearing Jeremy''s words, she dropped into hell nine in mere seconds.

    Concurrently, teardrops started to gather at the edges of her eyes.

    Meanwhile, some people in the group were feeling terror within their minds.

    It was not a terror from the limited usage of the Mana Bolt spell.

    But it was actually a terror from Charlotte''s cryingˇ­

    ''The legendary crybaby ising back...'' Frank, Charlotte''s father, thought horribly.

    ''Oh no! Not now...'' Thought Charlotte''s grandfather, Sebastian Rosenburg.

    ''Shit!'' Samuel cursed in his mind.

    Half of the people here knew what exactly would happen if they didn''t stop Charlotte from crying.

    Shit would get real...

    However, they loosened up a bit when they realized that one person could shut her down with a snap of his finger.

    Fortunately, Jeremy wasn''t that ''heartless'' to his friends. That was a thing for his foes and mortal enemies.

    "Well, I''m just kidding with you. I will refill it up before giving the glove to you, okay?"

    *Hu-uuk*

    When Charlotte heard that Jeremy was just kidding with her, she made the ''Hu-uuk'' sound, and then she miraculously stopped crying.

    Her tears had returned back into hercrimal nds with some unknown methods.

    "Rea... Really..?"

    Charlotte asked Jeremy meekly, looking simr to a little girl who got bullied by a hooligan.

    "It''s real, see? I''ve already refilled it up a moment ago."

    Jeremy said while walking into the garage''s entrance direction with a backpack hanging on his back. At the same time, he was swinging the glove in the air for Charlotte to see.

    Atst, Charlotte calmed down...

    In the past, whenever the legendary crybaby Charlotte came back, she would cry relentlessly for a full day until she fell asleep. That''s also the reason why they didn''t want her to cry ever again in this life.

    Even with Jeremy''s spells, they were still terrified of her crying within their fragile hearts.

    Maybe, that''s why they treated her like a princess?

    Maybe, they were afraid of her crying?

    That''s why, when they saw that Charlotte had finally calmed down after being reassured by Jeremy''s words, her family members and friends sighed in relief.

    Meanwhile, everyone else also startedughing a bit at the current drama that helped alleviate the mood quite a lot, considering that they would soon face life-threatening dangers.

    Most of them smiled andughed warmly at the sudden change of moods.

    Not everything was bad after all...

 Chapter 20 - Icebreaker

    Twenty minutester, inside Jeremy''s house...

    Everyone was exchanging some words together for the reason that they had the same fate. Also, they would be working in Jeremy''s ''organization'' soon.

    So, it was better to know each other more.

    As a result, everyone was currently standing in groups of 3 or 4 people while talking and expressing opinions with one another.

    "I see... So, your name is George, Owen''s youngest brother, and you are Matthew, the middle child. My name is Charlotte Rosenburg; you can just call me Charlotte."

    "..."

    "..."

    George and Matthew, who were in front of Charlotte, nodded their heads in understanding.

    For their ages and appearance, George looked to be around 13 years old with a skinhead, moderate heightpared to someone his age, and he looked pretty adorable at first nce. As for Matthew, he was 15 years old, an average teenager that you can find along the street.

    ''Whatsoever, they looked different from the muted Owen.'' Charlotte thought to herself.

    "Let me introduce those people to you. Here... you guys look over there, the short old guy with white hair talking to your grandpa and grandma is my grandpa, Sebastian. He is my father''s father."

    "..."

    "..."

    The kids nodded their heads in acknowledgment.

    After that, Charlotte pointed her index finger to another group of people who were also talking to one another, like her grandpa''s group. She pointed them out one by one.

    "You see that beautiful woman with blonde hair and hourss body? She is my aunt, Suzan Howell. As for the kind old woman with white hair standing beside my aunt who is talking to your mom and aunt, she is my grandma, Penelope, my father''s mother."

    "..."

    "..."

    The two kids nodded their heads once again.

    Seeing that, Charlotte pointed at a group of 3 people at the living room corner and continued.

    "As for those two middle-aged people who are talking to your uncle, they are my mother and my father. My mother''s name is Emma, and my father''s name is Frank."

    "..."

    "..."

    The kids then took a quick look at the short couples who were talking to their uncle, Bob.

    "And the group at that corner, the fiddled man''s name is Samuel; he is trying to flirt my two besties. The woman on the left is Grace, and on the right is Amelia."

    "..."

    "..."

    Afterward, the kids scrutinized Samuel carefully because they had often heard about Sam from their brother, Owen. Then they took a look briefly at the blonde-haired Grace and the red-haired Amelia.

    Then the two kids nodded their heads like the previous times.

    "Well, I''m quite thirsty; you two want some water?"

    "..."

    "..."

    "By the way, have you kids eaten? How about some snacks?"

    "..."

    "..."

    Those earlier reactions of the kids had finally caused Charlotte to be unable to take it in anymore.

    She had been the only one talking for quite a while now. Meanwhile, the kids only nodded at her words and questions without saying or asking anything back at all.

    Those were not natural reactions...

    Well, it might be natural when someone their ages met with a stranger, but Charlotte couldn''t tolerate that.

    "Why don''t you say anything or ask any question, kids? You only nodded your heads for a while now, didn''t you?" She asked questioningly at the two kids who were standing in front of her.

    "..."

    "..."

    Seeing the demanding stare from Charlotte, the kids knew they had no way out.

    Then George and Matthew looked at one another''s eyes for a brief moment before they came into an agreement that Matthew would be the one who rified Charlotte''s doubt.

    "It''s because Owen told us not to talk or ask back at you." The older brother, Matthew, answered truthfully to rify Charlotte.

    "What!? Why? What else did he tell you about me?" With a deep frown, Charlotte inquired further.

    "He told us that you are a bigmouthed monster. So, we should keep our thoughts to ourselves while talking to you. Or else, we will get absorbed into an eternal, endless loop."

    Hearing those statements from Matthew, Charlotte''s eyes widened in astonishment, then her cheeks and eyes twitched continuously.

    "..."

    "..."

    "O...WENNN!! Why did you tell the kids. Like. THAT!??"

    With a darkened face and pouted lips, Charlotte shouted in the direction of the sofas where Jeremy and Owen were sitting while watching a top box office movie.

    When Owen, who was engrossing in the movie''s intro, had heard Charlotte''s voice, his body suddenly stiffened up.

    ''What happens...?''

    ''...''

    ''Do those twods tell her? If it is so, then... I''m royally fucked up!''

    Owen thought horribly to himself and prepared to run away from this cursed house as soon as he got a chance.

    However...

    *Ding Dong* *Ding Dong* *Ding Dong*

    Before Owen could even stand up and run to the door ording to his great escape n, ringing sounds came suddenly from the house''s entrance.

    Those bell-ringing sounds interrupted every conversation and activity of the people inside.

    At that moment, everyone wondered who wasing at this time... after Jeremy had already finished the demonstrations for quite some time.

    ''That person must be quite daring toe at this time.'' They thought.

    So, everyone was turning their heads in Jeremy''s direction curiously to see what this was about.

    Was that person reallyte to the event today?

    Or was that person unrted to them in the first ce?

    Jeremy, who was the center of the attention, frowned a bit at the interruption of his enjoyment.

    ''...[Mana Wave Detection]...''

    Jeremy recited the spell soundlessly.

    Then there was an invisible wave of mana whizzed into the direction of the entrance.

    A split secondter, the feedback came back into his mind showing a general but unclear image of the surroundings around the entrance.

    Jeremy saw two middle-aged men around 40 years old in front of his house. Then he thought for a bit about who they were.

    ''They are the two security guards of this area... What do theye here for?''

    Jeremy raised one of his eyebrows after realizing that they were actually security guards who usually patrolled around this block area.

    *Sigh*

    ''What a nuisance.'' Jeremy sighed and thought annoyingly.

    Then with the watchful eyes of everyone in the room, Jeremy stood up and walked to the entrance.

    Not long after, he reached the door; he opened it up and saw the two people in front of the door.

    Jeremy nodded at the two and gestured for them to state their purposes.

    "Are you mister Lakota, the owner of this house?"

    The guard from Jeremy''s left asked after seeing Jeremy''s gesture to speak.

    "Yes, it''s me."

    Jeremy said inly while looking at the left guard.

    "We had received a total of 4ints from your neighborhood. They all said that there was a sound akin to an explosion reverberating from your house''s area. So, we havee here to inquire and request for a simple inspection of your house." The guard on the left stated his purposes directly.

    ''That sound must be from my Mana Bolt spell. Hmmm... He looked to be superior of the right guy...'' After hearing the guard''s statements and sizing up the two guards for a bit, Jeremy thought to himself.

    "I see... The sound was actually from my friends and me renovating the garage next to this house. Please excuse me." Jeremy replied to the guards casually, then he prepared to close the door.

    But within his mind...

    ''Well, this is already the best answer I can give, considering they may want some proof. Like that, I can lead these two people to see the garage and tell them that the sound originated from remodeling the ceiling and the walls. Also, I have those people as eyewitnesses and aplices."

    When the guards had heard Jeremy''s reply, they got a bit dubious and skeptical at his reasons. ording to Jeremy''s neighbors''ints, the sound they had described was something like an explosion or a gunshot.

    So, the two guards exchanged a nce with one another. The guard on the right raised one of his eyebrows and shook his head in skepticism.

    When the guard on the left saw the sign from his subordinate that they had thought the same thing, he decided to inspect Jeremy''s house to see if he had illegal guns or explosives within his house or not.

    Well, they had the necessary contract and agreements to inspect his house after all. When Jeremy''s parents had bought the house in thismunity, they did sign a contract about allowing inquiry and simple inspection.

    Then the guard on the left interrupted Jeremy, who was going to close the door, "Hold on... ording to the reports, the sound reverberating from here is not quite the same as your recount. So, if you don''t mind, we would like to do a quick inspection of your house. What do you say?"

    ''Tsk... They also want to check the house huh?'' Jeremy clicked his tongue inwardly in annoyance.

    ''As I''ve thought... It is really a nuisance. But it can''t be helped; I have to abide by themunity''s norms for now. Then, after they find nothing in the house, they will request to inspect the garage without a doubt... Sigh...''

    Jeremy thought and sighed to himself, but on the outside, he was still showing his nonchnt attitude that seemed to be uncaring of the current situations.

    "Sure, do as you see fit and be quick with it."

    He casually gave his affirmation to the guards to inspect his house and was about to turn his body halfway to let the guards in.

    Still...

    "What''s the matter?"

    The voice of an old man interrupted the three people at the entrance.

 Chapter 21 - A Spy Within The House

    [A/N: I have to admit that this chapter is a bit... clich¨¦. Please proceed at your own risk.]

    ...

    Then an old man with a bald head in his 60s walked out slowly from the hallway to the entrance where stood the three people.

    His height was around 170 cm, equal to Owen''s. His body build was a bit stout. If he was the same age as Owen, they should look like one another like two brothers. His face looked calm, not expressing any emotion; his attitude and demeanor were rtively obscure.

    He also looked somewhat mysterious but clearly different from Jeremy''s mysteriousness.

    If one had to describe, Jeremy looked mysterious from his very own being. Meanwhile, the old man looked just like someone who pretended to be mysterious.

    Maybe, he didn''t want other people to guess his action and intention correctly. That''s why he tried to keep everything a secret.

    That''s also the reason why he looked pretentious whenpared to Jeremy.

    But if one had to say, he had sessfully aplished his goal of keeping everything a secret from other''s prying eyes.

    It was very hard to guess his intentions by solely observing him superficially.

    ''Hmm... What is Owen''s grandpa doing here? Why he doesn''t just wait inside. Well... Whatever...''

    Jeremy thought to himself after realizing that it was Owen''s grandpa who had interrupted them. So, he decided to wait and see the situation first.

    Soon, the old man reached beside Jeremy and stood there while looking at the guards curiously, waiting for the guards to speak.

    "In consequence of someints stating about an unknown ''explosion'' from this house''s area, we''vee here to request for a simple inspection, sir."

    After seeing that the opposite side was an old man, the same guard on the left decided to reply respectfully to him, Owen''s grandpa, Marcel.

    "I see..." Marcel replied.

    Then he put his hand inside his right pants pocket and pull out his wallet. Afterward, he brought out a card with a picture of him ced on it and gave it to the guard on the left.

    When the guard received the card and saw its content, his eyes went wide in astonishment.

    Seeing that his superior was in shock from seeing the card, the guard on the right also took a peek at the card in his superior''s hand.

    Right after that, he almost got a heart attack from seeing the significance of the card.

    Because...

    It was actually a ''CIA identification card''!!

    If the card was authentic, then the old man in front of them was a genuine secret agent like Jason Bourne in the movie.

    After seeing the card, the guard on the right suddenly got excited. It seemed like he was a hardcore fan of spy movies.

    "Boss! Let me see the card; I have a way to check its authenticity from the government''s website!"

    The man urged his boss excitedly...

    After shaking his head slightly in disappointment, the left guard gave his subordinate the identification card and then waited for the authentication processes to be done.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy, who was observing the unfolding situations calmly from the side, raised one of his eyebrows in wonder.

    ''What? He is a CIA agent... That''s unexpected from someone who is only half a step away from his grave. Maybe, he is already retired, but he somehow should have a way to retain the card... An honorable agent? But... is it really okay to unt his card like this?''

    Jeremy was thinking of many possibilities. Never in his wildest dream would he have thought that Owen''s grandpa was a CIA agent.

    ''I''ve never asked Owen about him anyway. Well... This may be good with this situation, and it may lessen the nuisan...''

    "Wow!! It''s real!! BOSS! He is the real deal... Furthermore, he is an ''executive'' of the analysis department. His rank is the third highest rank of the freakin'' CIA!"

    The sudden outburst from the guard on the right interrupted Jeremy''s thoughts.

    It was not exaggerated at all to call it an ''outburst''. Right now, nasty saliva and the hot breath of the man were spewing incessantly to the surroundings.

    Jeremy and Marcel took a step back to avoid the man''s saliva.

    Meanwhile, the man''s boss was even more disappointed at his subordinate''s behaviors. He was shaking his head in frustration.

    "Alright, Joe, calm down. You are trying to embarrass us."

    The guard on the left spoke to calm the man down.

    With a sudden look of realization, the excited and red-faced guard on the right settled down his fervor for quite a degree.

    However, his eyes were still radiating zealous passion.

    "Sa.. Sir... Sir Marcel. Ma... May I shake... your hand?"

    The zealous guard requested Marcel, who was now around four steps away from him, for a handshake.

    Marcel, who had rarely seen behavior like this, got a bit stunned at his request. In his opinion, he was not a superstar or something.

    He was just a retired CIA officer...

    But with just having a handshake with the guard, he wouldn''t lose anything. So, he agreed with the request.

    "Why not? It''s nice to meet you. I''m Marcel Steelman, a retired paper worker of CIA."

    Marcel walked back to his original position and shook hands with the guard.

    "Hi!! I''m Joe. Everyone calls me Average Joe. This... This is my first time seeing a real spy. It''s my greatest pleasure to meet you. I''m feeling very honored to shake hands with you, sir!!"

    The guard introduced himself and shook hands with Marcel.

    "Well, I''m not a spy, though..."

    Marcel replied back while shaking his hand with the man.

    But...

    Three seconds passed...

    Five seconds passed...

    Ten seconds passed...

    They continued the handshake with no sign of stopping.

    The reason for that was from the guard; he didn''t let Marcel''s hand go...

    Concurrently, Marcel was smiling awkwardly at the guard in front of him.

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    "Ahem!!"

    There came the sound of coughing from the guard on the left.

    The guard couldn''t bear it anymore. He decided to interrupt his subordinate from sinking them deeper into the sea of embarrassment.

    When the right guard had heard the sound, he finally reluctantly let go of Marcel''s hand.

    "My apology, sir Marcel. My subordinate cannot contain his excitement after meeting with you."

    The left guard said apologetically to Marcel.

    Right after, not wanting to prolong the awkward status quo, he asked Marcel formally, "Well, sir Marcel. Do you mind if I ask you something?".

    Hearing that, Marcel simply replied, "Sure, go ahead."

    "The sound that had happened here since almost half an hour ago is it from something dangerous? And is there any need for evacuation?" With a hint of nervousness in his voice, the left guard asked further.

    "It''s not something dangerous,d. I can assure you that. As for evacuation, there is no need. Anything else?"

    Having heard the obscure reply from Marcel, the left guard was left stumped for words.

    ''Sigh... It can''t be helped. I cannot force an inspection on this house with a guarantee from a CIA officer anyway.''

    With an internal sigh of dejection, the left guard spoke.

    "Okay, I believe in your words, sir Marcel. But please don''t make too much noise next time because it might scare the people around here. As a result, I may have toe here again because I need to ensure that no harm or insecurity befall those people. Please understand me."

    "If you don''t mind us, we will go off continue doing our duty then. So... Goodbye, sir Marcel and mister Lakota."

    With a military salute, the left guard then dragged his subordinate from there.

    However...

    "Wait!! Where are you going?"

    Marcel''s voice stopped them in their track before they could even walk three steps away from the entrance.

    "Do you need anything else, sir?"

    With a curious face, the left guard turned around and asked politely.

    "No, not you. I mean him..."

    Marcel replied to him while pointing his right index finger at ''Average Joe'', who had remained quiet for quite some time to suppress his excitement about meeting with a real-life spy.

    "What? Me?"

    With a startled facial expression, the man in question was taken aback and said with a somewhat frightened tone.

    "My card..."

    Marcel gestured his head at the card that was being clutched tightly in Joe''s left hand.

    "Oh, I see, hehe. I almost forget to return this card to you, sorry, sir."

    With a sudden realization, he hurriedly walked back to returned the card to Marcel.

    ''Almost, my ass.'' Marcel lightly cursed in his mind and then put the card back inside his wallet.

    Afterward, the guards quickly left the area of Jeremy''s house; of course, with the disappointed expressions of the left guard, who was clearly expressing his dissatisfaction about his subordinate''s performance today.

    After seeing that those two had finally left, Jeremy and Marcel walked back into the house.

    "Is it okay to unt your card like that, old man?" While walking, Jeremy suddenly asked Marcel.

    "..."

    After reminiscing a bit about something, with a bitter smile on his face, Marcel said...

    "Well, the world is ending anyway. If the things you said are all true, this card of mine will be just a piece of insignificant trash soon..."

    Just like that, they continued their walk into the house...

    However, while they were walking back inside, they were left speechless with the many heads poking out from the hallway''s sides.

    Those heads appeared like mushrooms growing on tree bark.

    When those people inside realized that they got found out by Jeremy and Marcel, they hastily pulled their heads back.

    Not long after, the two came back inside the living room with the same watchful eyes of those peeping people.

    As a result, Marcel was bombarded with countless questions from everyone about his past career. Especially from Charlotte, who interrogated excitedly about Marcel''s past deeds.

    "Woahhh!! Did you use to be a spy? Howe Owen has never told me?"

    "What did you do when you work at CIA?"

    "Why did you look no different than a normal person?"

    "Have you ever killed people?"

    "Can you show me the card?"

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    ''Sigh... it must be a long night for me.''

    Jeremy thought annoyingly to himself while sitting down on the sofa.

    ''Or should I chase them away?''

    There was also another idea of chasing them away within his mind.

    ''Nah... just let them be this once.''

    s, he eventually sumbed to this rare asion.

 Chapter 22 - Sea Of Consciousness

    Ten dayster, within Jeremy''s house basement.

    Currently, Jeremy was sitting on a chair in front of a working bench while cutting some bits and parts of woods he had collected from the ancient trees since weeks ago.

    If one took a look closely at him, they would only see that Jeremy was cutting, splitting, trimming, and carving those wooden parts randomly.

    However, if that same person took a look carefully at the working bench in front of Jeremy, they would see that the bits and parts of countless trees were orderly ced in a straight line. Well, if they had to count those pieces, they would be ounted for more than 500-600 pieces in big and small size.

    As for how those pieces looked like when they were ced on the table, one could only say that if they were to be ounted separately, every piece of them would look really random. However, if they were to bebined with one another, it would be as if they could be a long staff of more than 170 cm in length.

    And exactly that...

    Jeremy''s fundamental purpose of cutting so many pieces from various trees was to create a ''staff'' for himself.

    Concerning how to create a staff, Jeremy''s method tobine and craft the magic staff was the ''Enchantment''.

    Enchantment was one of the many auxiliary branches of the Magic System, and it was actually one of the most important branches at that.

    As for a reason, it was because Enchantment was the only way for the feeble mage to craft a magical item for their own use.

    Of course, there were also many exceptions, such as a mage who learned how to smith instead of Enchantment. That way, the mage needed to learn a secondary ss as a cksmith, and they must have quite a decent fire affinity at that to be able to create a magical item without using the Enchantment method.

    There was also another example of when a mage learned a secondary ss as a Crafter, Tailor, Mechanic, etc.

    However, all those secondary sses required much more patience, dedication, and requirements than the Enchantment method. That''s why by using the Enchantment method, the mage didn''t need to learn a secondary ss and didn''t need toplete many requirements as those methods.

    That''s why Jeremy had chosen the Enchantment method as the way to craft his weapon, the staff.

    ''Finally, thest piece is done...'' Jeremy thought to himself after finishing thest part of the staff.

    Then he ced the part at the staff''s top-most ce; the piece actually looked like an ordinary toothpick with a bit of curve here and there. Nevertheless, when it was ced at the top of the ''staff'', it surprisingly looked harmonious and concordant with the rest of the pieces.

    He was currently admiring and checking the beautiful pieces of art that he had spent more than ten days of arduous work to finish.

    After that, Jeremy brought out a furless animal leather doormat from under the working table the size of 2x3 meters, then spread it on the floor. It was the thing he had ordered from Amazon several days ago.

    Then he started to bring the pieces of the ''staff'' down, cing them, piece by piece, on the doormat.

    He did the job very carefully, not to miss or misce any piece, or else his staff might be crippled in the Enchantment process.

    Afterward, with thest piece being ced on the doormat, he brought out a dazzling round golden orb the size of 5 cm in diameters with the weight of around 4 kg from his backpack situated on the working bench.

    He had ordered it from Perth Mint Company several weeks ago. It was actually the purest gold on Earth, with the six nines fine of 999.999 of pureness.

    Thus, it was now reflecting the beautiful yellow dusk-like ray from the light bulbs on the basement''s ceiling into every direction, causing the walls in the basement to shine in a light yellow color.

    Right now, even Jeremy, who was looking directly at the orb on his right palm in a fascinating expression, his ice-cold eyes were radiating its yellow light halo.

    One of the purest gold on Earth, it was just that mesmerizing and captivating...

    After bringing out the orb, Jeremy ced it at the top center of the ''staff'' that was being left empty until now.

    Then he checked the staff''s every nook and cranny to see if anything was missing or being misced or not.

    *Fwuuu...*

    When he realized that there was nothing wrong with the ''staff'', Jeremy exhaled a long breath of cold air.

    Then Jeremy thought ponderingly to himself while taking a deep look at the ''staff'', ''Now, thest thing to do is, set up an Enchantment Diagram for this staff, then inscribe the runes on the diagram. Hmmm... It seems like the first stage of Enchantment won''t be anywhere nearly enough to fuse those pieces together.''

    ''That makes it the second stage then... A bit hard with my current soul strength, but with the help of my sea of consciousness, it should be somewhat possible.''

    ''Alright, from the looks of it, around 30-31 mL of mana fluid should be enough. But... which diagram will be best for this staff?''

    Jeremy, who had been thinking until this point, started to consider the resources he currently had and what enchantment method to be used.

    Even after thinking for some time, he still couldn''te up with the best diagram for the ''staff''.

    So, he decided to sit down on the spot and closed his eyes, preparing to do meditation.

    Not long after, he entered into a meditating state of which, right after that, he tried to ess his sea of consciousness.

    Actually, a sea of consciousness''s primary function was to govern one''s mind. It was clearly different from soul strength that was closely rted to one''s will.

    That meant the entity of mind and will were not the same things...

    It could be said that the body was the outeryer of a person. Then within one''s body, there situated a sea of consciousness that directly influenced a person''s mind. Lastly, at the center of the sea of consciousness, something called ''soul'' resided there, which was the source of a person''s will.

    A sea of consciousness acted as the first defensiveyer of a person''s mind and soul. At the same time, it could also be used to observe a person''s internal and external world, which would be increased in power ordingly with higher cultivation or higher ss.

    For those reasons alone, a person''s sea of consciousness must be as strong as their body and soul, if not stronger, to protect the person''s Achilles heel, the soul.

    That meant, even if a person''s personal strength was heaven-defying but had a fragile sea of consciousness, that person might be killed easily by a weaker cultivator or ss with a stronger soul and sea of consciousness.

    That''s why, most of the time, a sea of consciousness could only be essed by high-ranked sses. Only those higher-ranked sses had the privilege of attacking and invading others'' minds and souls, with only a few exceptions of certain races and sses.

    In Jeremy''s case, it was somewhat different from others, as he had essed into his sea of consciousness in his past life when he reached a ss 3 Grand Mage. Meanwhile, other people had to struggle to ess their sea of consciousness even after they achieved ss 4 of their respective pathway.

    However...

    In this life, Jeremy could already enter into his sea of consciousness when he had tried to achieve a breakthrough into an Apprentice Mage stage. It happened at the time when his mind and body were utterly exhausted that he achieved a breakthrough.

    As for why he never bothered to ess his sea of consciousness was because there was no need to ess it at all. Right now, Jeremy''s sea of consciousness was very small, and it couldn''t even be used to attack anyone.

    At most, it could only be used to defend against a weak mind strike, search his dormant memories, and also scan a small area around himself with his mind sense that was directly rted to his sea of consciousness.

    Let use back to the current situation...

    As of now, Jeremy was sitting cross-legged while doing meditation.

    Not long after, he...

 Chapter 23 - The Two Diagrams

    Not long after, when Jeremy had tried to search for his soul within the depth of his mind, he suddenly entered into his sea of consciousness.

    It was quite an easy feat for him to ess it because his sea of consciousness had already been formed ever since his breakthrough into an Apprentice Mage stage.

    Concurrently, he was standing right in the middle of white space, an original shape, ce, and structure of most people''s sea of consciousness.

    Its interior waspletely white, with a seemingly infinite border distance away from him.

    Jeremy could only see whiteness in every direction of his sight. The ceiling was white, his left side was white, his right side was also white, even the floor underneath his dashing eggs was white.

    He couldn''t even fathom that he was standing on a white floor or floating still in a white space.

    It was just white...

    Everything was white...

    Seeing those sights, Jeremy suddenly closed his virtual eyes and imagined a scene from one of his countless memories. It was an explicit scene of a clear light blue sky with solid brown soil underneath. Then he thought about a pond of water in the middle of thend.

    Afterward, he opened his eyes to see that everything was being depicted ording to his imagination.

    The sky was splendid blue...

    The high-quality brown soil was astonishingly beautiful...

    The moderate size pond was filled with transparent milky white water...

    It was like he was in the middle of an unhot desert together with an oasis pond of water in the middle.

    Except...

    When he took a look around, he saw that the supposed unlimited white space, which should be able to generate an infinite area ofnd and sky, was changed with only a tiny circled enclosed part of around 10 acres into the saidnd and sky area.

    As for the outside of the 10 acres area, they were still white, and it was clear that there was an invisible wall separating between the sea of consciousness area and the white space into a circle area.

    That meant his sea of consciousness was only as big as thisnd and sky area, and the white space was still inessible to him at the moment.

    But Jeremy never cared about that; he only took a look around briefly before focusing his sight on the center of thend, the ''pond''.

    Right now, the pond of unknown water was situated around 20 meters away from him.

    So, he strolled in the direction of the pond. Soon, he reached the edge of the pond. But he never stopped his footsteps at all, even after reaching the pond''s edge, and without any hesitation, he took a step into the pond...

    Step by step...

    Until the unknown water submerged his entire bodypletely.

    Then he closed his eyes and tried to recall every piece of information rted to Enchantment.

    Sometimeter, a massive amount of information about Enchantment from his past life started resurfacing within his mind once again. It began with the knowledge from his acquaintances, books, then experiments,ter ancient sites, and many more rted knowledge came up, following after one another.

    This information about Enchantment actually belonged to him since his past life. But because his current soul and mind were too weak to host all of the memory and information, it could only be sealed away within this murky white unknown water.

    Why his mind and soul were weak, you asked?

    Even though the former great sage had put forth one condition within the time-reversing spell, stating that his mind and soul must be unaffected by ''time'' itself, still, they were eventually affected somehow by thews imposed by the Universe.

    As the side effects of casting a magic spell on the Universe''s core forcefully, there tended to be some setbacks reflected back towards the caster himself. And the said setbacks were that his mind and soul were to be regressed back into their original ones within the said timeline.

    Fortunately, his overall memory was unaffected by that in any way, but...

    Unfortunately, his memory was too enormous for his own body, mind, and soul to bear. So, it could only be sealed within the deepest part of his soul, which could only be extracted by essing his sea of consciousness via meditation.

    Come back to the situation within his sea of consciousness...

    As a matter of fact, the unknown water within the pond was acting as the inneryer of his sea of consciousness. Meanwhile, thend and sky were working as a middleyer, protecting his soul and mind. Lastly, the white space could be called by many names, but most people usually referred to it as an outeryer of soul and mind.

    Right now, after drowning himself under the milky-white water...

    One by one, the information and details about Enchantment reappeared within Jeremy''s mind.

    Following that, he discarded every other information unrted to the second stage of Enchantment by simply willing it using his mind.

    Another period had passed by, only a sizable part of knowledge remained inside his mind. Then he started to filter out every other Enchantment diagram that wasn''t associated or was unusable with his current resources.

    Afterward, only three diagrams, which had different synchronization rates with the various materials, remained inside his mind.

    Still, Jeremy wasn''t in a hurry. He kept those three diagrams inside his mind for the time being. Then he thought about the rted runes for the three diagrams, and those runes must be highlypatible with the materials of the ''staff''.

    After an unknown amount of time passed, another vast amount of information started to resurface within his mind once again. However, this time, its sheer amount was so much that Jeremy had a frown appeared on his forehead.

    If someone were currently staying near his main body in the basement, they would have seen that Jeremy had several beads of sweat seeping out from his forehead and his back also drenched with sweat.

    Not wanting to burden himself for long with the vast amount of Runeword knowledge, he started to filter it down byparing them with the three diagrams to see whether they werepatible with one another or not.

    Until only some odd thousands of runes remained inside his mind.

    After that, he rxed a bit and started calcting the synchronization rates of the three diagrams with runes and materials.

    Sometimeter, there were only two diagrams, and almost a thousand runes remained inside his mind.

    The first diagram had aprehensive sess rate of 76% and a synchronization rate with the material and runes of around 82%.

    Meanwhile, the second diagram had a 53% sess rate and synchronization rate with the material and runes of around 94%.

    It was clear that there were pros and cons to the two diagrams. If Jeremy wanted to risk it with the second diagram of 53% sess rates, he would get a better staff out of it.

    Still, it might fell because of its low sess rate...

    However, if he decided to y it safe with the first diagram, he would have had a higher chance to enchant the staff for his use sessfully. But of course, with a tad bit lower quality than the second diagram.

    Jeremy was thinking very seriously about the two diagrams...

    Furthermore, time was never his ally in his current situation...

    As Jeremy wouldn''t be able to gather another set of materials and mana to enchant another staff if this one were to fail.

    So...

    Right now, Jeremy had to decide about which diagram he would use to create his ''staff''.

    Then after some minutes passed by, Jeremy thought relievedly, ''It was not that hard to decide after all... Let''s use the first diagram then.''

    He only had one chance at it, after all...

    After deciding to use the first diagram and its corresponding sets of Mana Runes to create the ''staff'', Jeremy removed everything about the second diagram from his mind letting it submerge back into the milky white water.

    ''I''m feeling a bit lightheaded now. I should go back to the outside world for the time being.'' Jeremy thought tiringly to himself after his memories about the second diagram got submerged into the waterpletely.

    Then he closed his virtual eyes, trying to pull his consciousness back into his real body.

    ...

    Soon, Jeremy, who had been closing his eyes while sitting cross-legged in meditation beside the leather doormat the entire time, suddenly opened his ice-cold eyes.

    *Fwuuu...*

    Jeremy exhaled lightly and thought to himself, ''This task has put quite a toll on my current sea of consciousness. I think I should take a short rest before proceeding with the Enchanting process then.''

    After thinking so, Jeremy took out his phone from the right pants pocket. Then he looked at the time on the phone; he saw that it was showing 4:43 p.m., which was almost time for his dinner.

    ''Hmmm... only 3 minutes have passed by since I did the meditation to ess into my sea of consciousness. After that, I spent around 2 minutes and a half to reach the white space; then I only stayed inside my sea of consciousness for around 30 or so seconds to filter my memory about Enchantment...''

    Jeremy pondered to himself after seeing that he tried to ess his sea of consciousness at around 4:40 p.m., and the time was 4:43 p.m. right now.

    Then he thought further, ''I''m sure that I had stayed inside my sea of consciousness for more than 12 days... but the outside world''s time had just passed by for only some odd 30 seconds...''

    ''If it were me in my past life, I should have done dozens of times better than this. The time passed by couldn''t be more than 2 seconds at all. Still... this is an excellent start for me...''

    Jeremy lightly smiled, then he stood up and walked back up the staircase into the living room. He wanted to chill for a bit with some animes before ordering McDonial for his dinner.

    Currently, Jeremy was in a perfect mood...

 Chapter 24 - Forsaken Branch

    Four hourster, inside Jeremy''s house basement...

    After finished eating dinner, also dealing with a phone call from Charlotte and chat messages from his ''subordinates'' in a group chat.

    Jeremy came down into his basement and started to inscribe the nned diagram right away.

    The diagram''s name was ''Enchantment 2-633'', of which number 2 was derived from stage 2, and number 633 was the number of series of the diagram, which had more than 3,000 diagrams for stage 2 alone.

    Right now, it was around 9 p.m., and Jeremy was almost done with the diagram inscription that spanned the entire doormat.

    It was filled with strange lines here and there circling around the ''staff'' at the center of the doormat. At the same time, it also left many interior areas empty.

    Those empty areas would be filledter with the 900 or so runes he had recalled from his sea of consciousness.

    In a simple exnation, the diagram would act akin to ayout of a house which was consisted of countless empty rooms inside. Meanwhile, the runes would act as furnishings that would be filled inside those roomster on.

    Soon...

    Instantly, right after Jeremy had connected one end to another end of thest line of the diagram. The whole diagram, which looked like a mess yet orderly at the same time with countless weird curves and sharp angles, suddenly lighted up in a glowing white light.

    The whole basement got brightened up with the white light constantly.

    After Jeremy hadpleted the diagram on the doormat, he looked at the now white lines withplex patterns altogether with different sizes that wereposed of using various diagram inscription techniques.

    When Jeremy saw that nothing went awry, he nodded his head in satisfaction of his own aplishment.

    Now, he had just finished setting up theyout, and the next step was to fill in the corresponding runes from his memory into the empty areas inside the diagram ording to the process and sequence of the Enchantment 2-633 for it to work up andbine the materials of the staff together.

    Not wanting to waste any more time for fear that he might have to go to bedte tonight, he went on to inscribe the runes right away.

    Still, the process of runes inscription from now on would really pose a real challenge for him, for he couldn''t use his own mana to inscribe those runes.

    Because...

    His mana was insufficient to inscribe even 50 runes, not to mention that he had to inscribe more than 900 runes within 4 hours before the diagram went out of energy and changed itself back into wandering mana particles in the air.

    Then where the required mana used to inscribe the runes came from?

    The answer was simple...

    Jeremy brought out a small ss bottle from his backpack. It was actually a bottle of leftover mana fluid collected from the ancient trees around the world.

    That''s right...

    He would use the mana from those trees to create a ''staff'' of which its materials were derived from those same ancient trees.

    To be urate, this was quite amon yet ingenious method to enchant an item.

    Reasons?

    Because Jeremy didn''t have enough mana to enchant a staff, he decided to collect the external mana to enchant it instead. However, he was currently inside a ''supposed'' mana-less world; the problems about materials arose after that.

    That caused him to think more about the materials used to create the staff. He had to think about many things, and one of the most important factors of them all was ''synchronization rates'' of materials, mana, and runes.

    Consequently, he decided to use one of the most orthodox ways of mages on Ortus.

    That was... using both materials and mana from the ancient trees. At the same time, he would also use the rune sets that gave out the highest synchronization rates with the materials and mana.

    As a result, Jeremy had finallye up with this strategy...

    The mana was extracted from the trees...

    The materials were also bits and pieces of the trees...

    The elemental-less runescripts were also closely rted to the trees...

    Currently, the bottle contained around 45 mL of mana fluid due to himbining the two bottles altogether. While one bottle was from when he used it to create the ''gloves'' for his subordinates, another one was the primary storage of mana fluid that was kept carefully to make this ''staff'' especially.

    ''Even with this 45 mL of mana fluid. Still... a total of 933 low-tier runes and 4 middle-tier runes. This is gonna shake my sea of consciousness so badly. If I slipped up for even a single moment, my house is gone for real...''

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy sighed tiredly at his fate...

    After bringing out the bottle, Jeremy sat cross-legged nearby the doormat at the same ce as when he had tried to enter his sea of consciousness.

    Then he opened the lit of the ss bottle. Unsurprisingly, the mana fluid, which should have evaporated instantaneously into the atmosphere after it met with the air, stayed at its ce with only some movements left and right from Jeremy''s jerking.

    That was actually a result of Enchantment...

    In fact, the bottle was enchanted with a simple stage 1 Enchantment method, ''Enhance''. In this case, it enhanced the property of ''containment'' of the ss, causing it to be able to hold the mana fluid within.

    Also, if stage 1 was called ''Enhance'', then the upgraded stage 2 that Jeremy would implement to create the staff would be called ''Render''. As for what it could do or what it was, that was a topic forter discussions...

    After Jeremy had opened the lit, he raised his left and right index fingers and pointed them in front of him. Then he started writing some strange characters in the air, or it should be said that he started inscribing the low-tier runes in the air of which, in each hand, they were inscribing different runes.

    That''s the case... Jeremy was actually drawing two different runes at the same time!

    Meanwhile, he was using his mana techniques together with a mild help of mind power from his sea of consciousness to draw out the mana from the bottle as fuel for his rune inscription process that wasmencing at both hands index fingers.

    Not even more than 15 secondster, Jeremy finished his first two runes at ''almost'' the same time. Then with some maniptions of his mana and mind, the glowing white light runes floating in the air started to drift onto an empty area of the doormat.

    Right after it had stuck on the doormat, its light was suddenly getting slightly dimmer but still shining the light out, signifying that those two runes were working properly.

    Concurrently, Jeremy, who was focusing on drawing the runes in the air, didn''t even nce at the doormat, but he started to inscribe another two low-tier runes right away.

    The above procedures kept on repeating and repeating.

    Simultaneously, the time was also ticking by slowly.

    Second by second...

    Minute by minute...

    Hour by hour...

    Still, the runes kept increasing more and more with the passing time. Also, the mana fluid within the bottle was being depleted, bit by bit, with the increasing number of runes.

    ...

    Until 2 hourster...

    Jeremy was now sweating profusely, and presently, he was using only his right index finger to draw the rune in the air.

    The rune he was drawing was currently shining brighter than those low-tier runes that he had written before. Its light was slightly more luminous with a moreplex shape and angle amounts of its character.

    This was thest rune...

    And it was actually a middle-tier rune at that...

    Jeremy had spent a hell-like 2 hours inscribing 933 low-tier runes and 3 middle-tier runes sessfully.

    The leather doormat right now depicted and portrayed various shining runes in different shapes and sizes. Some were connected with one another by the diagram, while some were only being contained within the ''rooms''.

    At the moment, the Enchantmentyout was looking more beautiful than ever, with all those lines and runes acting as a solid core.

    Right now, Jeremy''s body was shaking nonstop like a leaf being pushed away left and right by a gusting wind.

    He was feeling fatigued mentally...

    Still...

    Jeremy was already at thest stroke of the rune inscription process. Suddenly, he raised his index finger upward by a tiny margin. Then the rune simultaneously came to life with its shining bright light.

    *Fwuuu...*

    ''Finally, done!'' Jeremy thought to himself after exhaling a long breath of cold air.

    Afterward, he carefully observed thest rune floating onto the doormat''s top center, which was the only ce left empty until now.

    Right after the rune had stuck on the ce, a super bright white light was suddenly being produced, causing the entire basement to lighten up like a shbang grenade exploded there.

    It was so bright that Jeremy had to close his eyes to avoid eye injuries.

    A momentter, the white light had started to dim down and was changing its color into a light blue color, the color of mana when it was releasing itstent energy.

    Meanwhile, the materials'' bits and pieces situating silently at the center of the doormat until now had suddenly floated up into the air, and they began to piece themselves with one another, piece by piece.

    The sight was so spectacr and mesmerizing that it would be able to captivate anyone seeing it.

    On the air, a piece of random wood suddenly attached itself with another piece. Then another piece, and another piece, and so on...

    It kept going on like this for a while...

    Soon, the shape of thebined materials started to be formed with a clearer picture of a staff, a wooden staff to be exact.

    Not long after, the wooden staff was bing almostplete, with only the exception of the golden orb.

    Soon after, the golden orb, which was silently floating still in the air, swiftly moved to the ''staff'' and attached itself at the top center of the ''staff''.

    Then the wooden opening that had let the golden orb went inside a moment ago began to close in by itself like a safety lock that would keep the golden globe attached to the staff permanently.

    And...

    The glowing blue light started to fade away into nothingness until only a floating staff and the now-empty leather doormat underneath it remained.

    ''My staff is done!'' Jeremy thought ecstatically.

    Even a legendary sage of magic would feel excited at this moment.

    He had created a rare magical staff within a supposed mana-less world after all...

    Concurrently, Jeremy looked fascinatingly at the graceful and awesome staff that he had been spending more than ten days of hard work to create, the Forsaken Branch.

    That''s the name that Jeremy had prepared for it...

    A ''Forsaken Branch'' from a forsaken world...

 Chapter 25 - The Fateful Day Has Finally Come

    After seeing that the staff had started to drop down from its floating state, Jeremy unhurriedly reached out his hand to grab it. Then he inspected its design, shape, and structure carefully.

    He saw that the staff looked very ordinary with a long brown wooden shaft of more than 170 cm in length, and its whole shaft was wrapped and coiled around by many brown-grey wooden vines. The topmost of the staff situated a half-exposed golden orb with a dashing appearance.

    It looked so simple yet so elegant at the same time.

    ''Quite a ssic-looking staff, isn''t it.'' Jeremy thought and nodded his head in satisfaction.

    After that, Jeremy put the ss bottle of mana fluid back inside his backpack, and then he went out of the basement with the staff and the backpack.

    He was going to the garage to test the staff''s capabilities. He would test many things with it for him to know everything about the staff and be able to utilize it to the fullest extent when he was partaking in the tutorial.

    Well... he wouldn''t test it for long anyway because he had to go to sleep soon; it was almost midnight at the time.

    ...

    Almost half an hourter...

    After testing the Forsaken Branch''s abilities here and there, he was pretty sure about its usages and various abilities.

    ''I''m sure that If I am in the tutorial or on Ortus right now. The staff stats will look something like this.''

    ...

    Name - Forsaken Branch

    Rank - Rare

    Ability:

    1. Increase magic attack damage by X%

    2. Decrease mana required to cast a spell by X%

    Skill:

    1. [Life Force I - Active] - Convert the user''s mana into a target''s life force (Cooldown X days)

    2. [Soothing Mind - Passive] - The user''s mind would be calm and serene upon carrying this staff.

    Note - XXX

    ...

    ''It was very worth it to create this staff. I didn''t waste ten days of my life for nothing...'' Jeremy thought relievedly to himself.

    After memorizing most of its abilities and skills, Jeremy was finally ready for the uing tutorial in 3 days.

    Right now, he had almost reached the ss 1 Mage. He was now around mid-level Journeyman Mage, with only one step away from reaching high-level.

    Jeremy believed that after absorbing in the remaining mana fluid leftover from crafting the staff, which had almost reached the rock bottom of the bottle, he would be able to achieve the peak level of Journeyman Mage and finally be ready to be a ss 1 Mage within the tutorial.

    Even though he couldn''t be a ss 1 Mage before the tutorial began, as the mana particles in the atmosphere and from the old trees were rtively few, he was still quite satisfied with the status quo as it was.

    Regarding advancement, he could be a ss 1 Mage at any time within the tutorial whenever he had enough time and resources to advance.

    ''A strength of a peak Journeyman Mage with greatbat power together with a Rare rank staff. I will definitely topple the tutorial upside down this time.'' Jeremy thought and grinned sinisterly.

    ''Hmm... the next step is... to do the ''ritual'' and create the ''gloves'' for myself...''

    Jeremy thought about his next steps in the uing two days...

    ...

    Two dayster...

    Currently, Jeremy was wearing two ck gloves decorated with a square-like symbol at the back of the two gloves in a shape of ?, and most people also called the symbol Space Storage Rune, a middle-tier rune.

    Surprisingly enough, it was actually a space elemental rune, an element that shouldn''t be able to exist on Earth.

    But Jeremy had made it possible with a specific ritual...

    That''s why he was able to use abination method of Array inscription and Enchantment, called Array-Enchantment Inscription, to create the gloves.

    As for the runes, which were engraved on the gloves, were actually space storage runes, were only usable when a ss 2 Adept Mage had a high level of affinity in space element.

    However, that stated gap could be shrunk down with the extensive knowledge and the intimate rtionship with the space element.

    Just like that, Jeremy had sessfully inscribed the rune on each glove and started to store necessary things for the tutorial inside the said storage gloves.

    Inside the right glove, Jeremy had stored three things there. All of them werebat-rted stuff, starting from a custom-made 2-meter long steel spear with a weight of more than 10 kilograms.

    The second one was an attractive-looking 1.7 meters long staff made of various trees while on top of it was decorated with a perfect spherical golden orb causing the staff''s total weight to be around 6 kilograms.

    Andstly, a custom-made thick steel shield with a length of around 2 meters and 80 centimeters in width, causing its weight to be as heavy as 70 kilograms which were literally unliftable by ordinary people but Jeremy.

    Meanwhile, inside the left glove, there were many things, ranging from preserved foods, daily andbative clothes, first aid kits, medications, tents, and other misceneous items.

    To store these many items inside the gloves was already the limits of his space runes capability because he now was only a Journeyman Mage who had forcefully inscribed the space runes on the gloves.

    That made the dimensional space induced from the runes barely stable enough not to throw out all of the items from the gloves. In the worst-case scenario, his things might even be stuck within the spatial dimension forever.

    As for the matter of bringing the gloves and his items into the tutorial and Ortus, it should be possible with more than 90% chance of sess because most people being teleported into the tutorial were adorned with their own clothes at the time when they were on Earth.

    However, the other things such as knives, guns, cars, furniture that they were having in contact with at that time wouldn''t be transported altogether with them. Those items would just drop down onto the ground or wherever they ought to be.

    That meant whoever governed Ortus or the mechanisms of the tutorials only allowed the people from all over the universe to bring in only their clothing.

    No more power...

    No more money...

    No more belongings...

    No more old rtionships...

    Everyone had to start their new lives with the same starting line.

    However, If we had to ask someone who had been to Ortus before that, was there any equality from the start?

    The answer from them would absolutely be... NO!!

    From the very start of the tutorials, many things would set and ssify people into social sses, whether it be traits, talents, races, intellect, and many more.

    Whether it be Earth, Ortus, or anywhere else inside the universe... there was nothing fair at all.

    But what If you want fairness?

    Then you had to be strong or rich enough to have a say in the various important events around you. That''s the only way...

    For Jeremy, who was a former sage who had lived on Ortus for almost 30 eras, he had more or less realized the purposes of people being transported from all over the universe onto Ortus.

    Well, it was just his hypothesis. After all, he couldn''t be too sure about his ''almost'' baseless assumptions.

    Right now, Jeremy was entirely ready for the tutorial, which wouldter be called the ''First Doom'' tomorrow.

    ''I couldn''t wait anymore. Hehehe.'' Jeremy thought satisfyingly.

    ...

    On Sunday, September 29, 2019, at 1.30 p.m., UTC-8...

    The day of the tutorial...

    The day of the First Doom...

    After finishing dealing with his nervous, anxious, scared, and excited subordinates via phone calls and messages in a group chat, Jeremy sat down and waited patiently for the destined event tomence.

    He was one of 9 hundreds millions or so people who would experience the first doom after all.

    As for his subordinates...

    He didn''t know when their queue woulde. Some might be like him, experiencing the first doom. Some might face the second, third, fourth, and so on.

    There were a total of 8 dooms after all...

    He could only assure them that everything would be fine if they acted ording to the ns.

    He had already prepared too much for them already. From now on, whether they would survive or perish, it was all up to them. Their lives were resting on their own hands starting from now.

    Five minutes quickly passed by...

    All of a sudden, the people from around the world of almost 1 billion people disappeared at the same time!

    One of those people also included Jeremy...

    Whether they were sleeping or awaking, sitting or standing, walking or running, child or adult, male or female, patient or elderly. More than 950 million of them had suddenly vanished from Earth, leaving behind only their phones, money pockets, and utensils.

    Meanwhile, the owners of those things who had only left behind confusion, chaos, idents, and death were nowhere to be seen.

    Then where were they?

    The answer was simple...

    They were currently inside a Tutorial Space...

 Chapter 26 - Pu!!

    All of a sudden, about 10,000 people appeared out of thin air within a white space looking simr to Jeremy''s sea of consciousness before he had adjusted its interior design. Except for that, this white space had a footing that looked like a marbled floor.

    This white space wouldter be called the ''Tutorial Space''.

    Within the white space floored with solid white marble-like materials, Jeremy was one of the people being transported here.

    The experience of going through dimensional teleportation for the first time was something but euphoria. The aftermath of a dimensional shock was not something to be reckoned with.

    There would always be small and big side effects to the ones being transported. There was also no exception for the former space sage who led humanity to fight countless wars against other races.

    First, Jeremy felt dizzy, like the world had spun around him. Later, he felt nauseous and sick. But that was it; the feeling came fast and went away even quicker within a few seconds.

    He then took a look around to see other people around him. He knew exactly about the total amount of people here; it was precisely 10,000 people being teleported here.

    Currently, he was not sure if he was in the same zone number as thest time or not.

    ''If I don''t remember wrong. Last time, I was teleported into zone 82,364, and the survival rate was approximately 7%.'' Jeremy thought while looking around to see if there were any acquaintances from his previous life or not.

    However...

    *rghhh*

    *Blurghh*

    *Huu-ukkk*

    The sounds of retching and gagging interrupted his actions of searching for people.

    Jeremy frowned a bit at those retching and vomiting sounds urring from all around him. Not only the sounds, but some people even spilled out their meals for real.

    ''What a disgusting sight to behold.''

    Jeremy thought distastefully and tried to stay away from those who were puking their guts out.

    Well, he had totally forgotten that his first time being transported here like this, he was also like those around him.

    The only difference between this time and that time was that he had a perk called a ''former space sage''. It had made him adapted to the dimensional shock faster than anyone.

    After the people had finished vomiting, they then realized that they were in apletely different ce from the previous moment.

    So, they started to panic and tried looking around to find some clues about the current situations, but to no avail, they only realized that those people around them also knew nothing like them.

    That made the situations became much more confusing and chaotic.

    *Sob* *Sob*

    *Boohoo* *Sob* *Sob*

    "Where the heck am I. What the f*ck!!"

    *Sob* *Boohoo* *Boohoo*

    "Mommy... Where are you..."

    *Sob* *Sob* *Sob*

    "What!? How can I be here?"

    "Why are the surroundings all-white!? Anyone knows??"

    It made things even worse when there were the sounds of crying children resonating from here and there. After that, there were chain reactions from all over the ce.

    Some people also started crying, shouting, and panicking like they were imitating those people around them.

    That made the situation turned to the worst case possible. Some people were even arguing with one another, trying to vent their frustrations.

    ''It seems like everything will be the same then... these situations... then the cupides...''

    Jeremy was thinking to himself while spectating the situations before a cute and small voice of someone interrupted him and those depressed people...

    "Ahemm.. Ahemm.. Listen here, everyone."

    It was a voice that originated from someone, but strange enough, everyone present there had heard the voice without any exception. It was like the sounds were actually transmitted directly into their mind.

    That caused everyone except Jeremy to start looking around to find the source of the sounds, but they still found nothing.

    Until the sounds came once again, but only this time, it was filled with a hint of annoyance.

    "I''m here, you idiots! Look above your head!"

    Thus, hearing that, everyone looked above their head...

    There, they spotted a boy of around 4 or 5 years old with a pair of white wings stuck on his back. He was wearing only white pampers covering his lower half as a cloth.

    Right now, the boy cupid was folding his hands around his chest and looking at the people standing below him amusingly like he was looking at a group of clowns.

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Everyone fell in silent after spotting that ridiculous sight in front of them.

    Only after a bit of time had passed before there was a voice of someoneing from the group.

    "Wow!! Cupid.. That is a cupid."

    It was the sounds of a girl of about ten years of age.

    "Right, right, that is a cupid. He is even flying. Hahaha, so, this is some sort of a TV show, right?"

    This time, a middle-aged man said hurriedly after finding that the situations were more understandable now.

    After some time passed, more and more people started to agree with those opinions. They were ready to ept the situation as a TV show, but they actually forgot something crucial.

    That was...

    How were there so many people gathering here at the same time without anyone realizing anything?

    Still, some people who had already realized that fact started tough and pacify themselves that there was nothing serious about this.

    But not long after, they had to stop theirugh and merry as they suddenly felt the chilling air around them. It made them started sweating buckets.

    Wait...

    How could they even sweat from the chilling air?

    Currently, it was pretty contradicting by itself. However, they still knew instinctively that the chilling air was clearly emitted from that floating cupid.

    As a result, everyone except for one person was sweating profusely. It was like they had just finished their heavy exercising.

    After sweating for a while, they suddenly shook, their body was trembling continuously.

    They didn''t even know why they were shaking; they just couldn''t control their bodies. While some people even dropped down to the ground then twitched nonstop, some people''s mouths were foaming, and some people were crying and calling for their parents.

    After some time, the floating cupid snapped his finger.

    *Snap*

    Pu!! x 86

    There were suddenly ''Pu'' sounds urring from all over the ce.

    At the same time, apanying the sounds, the heads of those people who smiled andughed just a moment ago, had exploded resulting in grey mass, white mass, and bloody reddish spray to spatter everywhere.

    Everyone fell in silence once again, but this time it was from the sheer shock of seeing heads exploding, blood spattering, and brain mass flying from many headless standing corpses.

    Not long after, those people who had experienced the horror first-hand suddenly felt panic and fear

    It was a fear of the thing they had never experienced before...

    It was too cruel for them.

    *Thud*

    *Thud*

    *Thump*

    Not long after, the headless bodies started to drop down onto the ground with the eleration force of gravity.

    And those thud and thump sounds were the catalysts that amplified everyone''s fears.

    That caused some of them to start crying, some already peed themselves, and some even vomited again, causing the original unpleasant odor from the surroundings to be much more unendurable.

    The stinking smell was spreading to the entire ce very quickly.

    But soon, they suddenly felt that cold and chilling air wasing at them once again.

    At this time, no matter how panic or fear they had experienced from the previous bloody event, they must stop crying and cease vomiting, for they felt that if they didn''t stop now, they would surely be the next headless corpse lying on the ground.

    It was to stop now, or never...

    Nobody wanted that terrifying event to happen to themselves, for the human two main instinctive fears were, after all, the fear of death and the fear of the unknown.

    They looked at the cupid tremblingly and fearfully, waiting for the following words from it. Right now, they could only hope that it would not snap its fingers again. After all, they didn''t want to be the next person to be ''Pu'', a headless corpse.

    But right now, Jeremy was acting differently than those people...

    Currently, he was frowning very deeply. He thought that he might have a slight chance to sneak attack and sessfully kill the cupid after he had reached the stage of Journeyman Mage.

    But it was proved that he couldn''t be more wrong with that mindset...

    ''From the aura pressure, killing intent, together withws maniption... d*amn it, his battle prowess was equal to a frickin'' ss 4 at the least. I hope that he was careless enough not to waste his energy to cast a detecting spell. Or else, I''d be doomed for real.''

    Jeremy was thinking worriedly about his dear life.

    At this moment, he didn''t even dare to probe the cupid or dare to let out a single ounce of mana from his body. He even went as long as to stop the mana attractions of his dantians forcefully.

    Fortunately enough, he had been managing his mana circtions even beforeing into the tutorial space.

    If the cupid didn''t cast a spell to probe him specifically, he would be alright.

    *Sigh*

    ''So, stick to the main n then...''

    Jeremy sighed and thought to himself.

 Chapter 27 - A Worldshaking Grand Scheme [Plot Intensified]

    Before long, the cupid spoke once again.

    "Ahemm.. Ahemm.. Listen here, everyone."

    "..."

    "..."

    "!!!"

    After hearing that sentence once again, everyone''s body trembled instinctively; they then thought to themselves, ''It is the f*cking same speech! That cupid, he is acting like nothing has happened at all''.

    Consequently, everyone felt more and more fearful towards the cupid.

    As a result, he did not look like a four-year-old cute little cupid anymore. Right now, he was more of a devil who had disguised himself as a cupid instead.

    After realizing that everyone was finally quiet and everything was in order as he wished, the cupid then continued his speech, not caring for what other people below were thinking within their minds.

    "I will say it only this once. So, listen carefully..."

    "Now, all of you, a total of 10,000 people.. err.. no, I mean a total of 9,914 people were standing in a ce called Tutorial. This ce will help you adapt and make you qualified enough to live in your new home, Ortus. Well... only if you ''survive'' the Tutorial, that is..."

    "You might be curious about why all of you have to pass the Tutorial before you can live on Ortus, right? The answer is simple... it''s because the resources on Ortus is very limited. If your entire human race goes and lives there, most of you will die or be ves instead."

    "So, here wee!! The Tutorial to make you get stronger and be qualified to live on Ortus without having to face ''too many'' problems."

    When the cupid had finished its speech with a cold light radiating from his two narrowed green eyes, he asked further, "Am I clear?".

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    After not seeing any negative response from the ''clowns'', it felt satisfied inside, and then it continued its speech.

    "Then I''ll introduce you to some basic pieces of information that all of you should know beforehand. First of all, every living and non-living thing on Ortus and within this ce will have its own status window showing them their name, race, ss, title, affinity, talents, traits, and achievement. Furthermore, those things can only be viewed by the owner; unless you want to share them with others, nobody can see them."

    "Now, you can call for the status window by saying the word ''Status'' or ''Status Window'' within your mind, or you can say it out loud. It''s up to you."

    Not long after, the room was filled with noise and murmuring again. It was a result of those people experiencing something very extraordinary.

    Most people now had an almost transparent status window at nearly 1 meter in front of them.

    As for Jeremy, he was also looking at his own status window that was showing...

    ...

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 45.2%

    - Darkness (Umon): 34.8%

    - Space (Rare): 89.9%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic

    Trait: Objective

    Achievement:

    1. For you, who is the fastest of your own kind to shed a mortal skin and be the first person to tread in a long and arduous path of truth-seeking. The system shall grant you the title of ''First Mage''.

    2. For you, who was born a Prodigy. For you, who is destined to be standing at the very top of the universe''s food chain. The system shall grant you the title of ''Prodigy Mage''.

    3. For you, who achieves the impossible. For you, who defies the universe''s rules. For you, who had reached the first substage of a ss 1 Mage within a mana-less world. For eternity, this attainment can never be duplicated by anyone; even the Gods feel helpless with its usibility. It is thus considered an achievement that shall be chronicled at the highest level of Akashic Records forevermore. The universe itself shall grant you the title of ''Mage of Origin''.

    ...

    "!!!"

    "What... the... actual... f*ck?"

    Jeremy mumbled dumbfoundedly after seeing his own status window. He had never seen something like that before. Even the demigods, dragons, and other exotic races shouldn''t be able to possess something like that, a rank 10 title...

    ''Is that a rank 10 title, furthermore, granted by the universe itself? My traits and talents, aren''t they looking too godly for a starter? After all, they are my traits and talents from when I was the former sage. And... is that a f*cking Divinity? Am I a god or something now? Are my eyes pulling a prank on me? Holy... shit...''

    As far as Jeremy knew, only those self-proimed gods had the 9th rank titles, and also those same gods had Divinity powers when they wielded their power. But it was only a rumor after all... No sane god would expose their secret to mortals.

    When Jeremy saw the information inside his status window, he was very startled that he had actually received a rank 10 title, which was unheard of before in his entire life... no... it was unheard of earlier in the whole Ortus history.

    Meanwhile, he was in doubt and suspicious about that tad bit 0.1% of divinity affinity.

    ''Something is fishy here... really... really fishy...'' Jeremy thought to himself frowningly.

    He then thought and thought about many possibilities, began with the time before his demise, then when he suddenly ''feel'' the purest mana particle on Earth, until today, when he actually saw his own status window.

    Suddenly...

    *Click*

    Jeremy felt like something clicked inside his mind. It was like someone had just unlocked the door to the enlightened road for him.

    "!!!"

    Jeremy''s brain was running at light speed until it almost imploded.

    ''So... it is like this huh. Now that I have thought about it, then if Ibine those jigsaws together...''

    ''The small stone that I identally acquired...''

    ''The sudden inspiration of the time reversal spell...''

    ''The too smooth assassination on me....''

    ''The process of casting the 9th circle spell that has a meager chance of sess rates, but I actually seeded...''

    ''The mana that has miraculously presented on Earth...''

    ''The scheming self-proimed Gods...''

    ''The Divinity Affinity in my status window...''

    ''The ignorant Akashic Records that should originally be an Omniscient existence...''

    ''Andstly, the universe itself... the Omnipresent one has even granted me a title personally.''

    The more he thought about it, the wider his eyes became. He was currently utterly shocked to the core.

    He was feeling so shocked to suddenly know about the grand scheme that might have fooled ''every single one'' in the universe.

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy let out a long sigh.

    ''Now, I see... ''They'' had really yed me a big time. Additionally, I didn''t even realize anything back then. If it is not for my smart brain, I might still be as ignorant as ''Them''.'' Jeremy thought relievedly to himself.

    It was good that he actually realized about the scheme fast enough. If he had ever entered Ortus without realizing this fact, he might just be yed and toyed with like his past life.

    ''Anyway, it is of no use to think about those things right now. Let''s focus on the priorities first.''

    ...

    ''Let''s see, hmm... my Prodigy Mage title and Prodigy of Magic talent still remain the same. In my past life, they actually appeared after I had meditated for the first time. But this time, I guess that because I''ve meditated since months ago. That''s why they have already been within my status window.''

    ''Unfortunately, my other four talents, Unrivaled Wisdom, Imaginative Thinker, Polyglot Expert, and Seventh Sense, are nowhere to be seen. It seems like I will have to get them back by doing the same thing, or maybe I should get something better instead of those talents. Also, my rank 6 title, Mystery Decipherer, and other low ranks titles disappear...''

    ''And my four traits, Unfathomable, Mysterious, Leader, Greedy, also do not appear on my status window. Never mind it then; they are not that important anyway. I can get even better traits if my actions are in the right paths''

    ''As for my elemental affinity, except for the additional 0.1% Divinity, everything else was the same.''

    Even after rechecking his status window many times, Jeremy was still skeptical about his own stats. He also believed that when he clicked activated his rank 5, 8, and 10 titles, the d*mn cupid would notice him and try its hardest to kill him.

    ''After all, ''They'' don''t want any variable to pop up and ruin their grand n after all.'' Jeremy thought to himself and then calmed his mind down in an instant to not cause any suspicion to the cupid.

    Currently, Jeremy''s reaction was quite regr and averagepared to those around him who were wondering and being amazed by the Status Window.

    Well... most people were grumbling and cursing about their trash rank 0 titles, trash talents, and trash traits.

    Jeremy even saw someone activating their rank 0 titles, such as Street Thug, Bookworm, Otaku, Sleeper, and Slut.

    He saw many kinds of titles disyed above those people''s heads. And to not stand out or attract any attention, he decided not to show his title for now.

    ''A sage like me doesn''t deserve that NEET title. And no way in hell or after my death that I will show it to anyone. My pride can not tolerate that shame and insult.''

    After the white room was filled with noisy sounds, once again causing the cupid also to feel agitated from the current atmosphere.

    Thus, the chilling sensation was descending upon the crowd one more time.

    That made the people below remember that there was a terrifying cold-blooded cupid still hovering above their heads.

    They had to shut up now or never...

    When the quietness reigned in once again, the cupid continued its exnations about the essential information to the 9,900 or so Earthlings.

    "As you can see, I''m not talking bullshit to you guys. It is up to you guys to improve those stats in your Status Window and climb the predatorydders by yourselves. From now on, you are going to undergo a period of selection called Tutorial. As for how the tutorials are going to be like, I can only say that they are random...pletely random."

    After pausing for 3 seconds, waiting for the people below to digest the information, the cupid continued.

    "The system will randomly generate the Tutorial for you guys to undergo together. It might be, killing one another until 100 of you remain, defending a town from the hordes of monsters, raiding a dangerous dungeon together, or being divided into groups, thenpeting with one another... only until one group remains. I cannot be so sure about anything regarding the Tutorial that you guys are going to face..."

    "But there is one thing that I can be very sure of, that is, at least more than 90% of you will be dead, and the rest will be living on Ortus forevermore. My words are so true... So, remember it well..."

    After ending its speech, the cupid grinned evilly.

    Then it continued with its final sentence.

    "I believe that you must have too many questions that want to be answered, but sadly, I''m not your babysitter. All of your answers will be waiting for you in the Tutorial, andstly... Ortus. I hope that we will see each other again. Bye-bye."

    Not waiting for the people below toe out from their stupors. The cupid pped its small hands together, then the people within the white room were teleported away once again.

    Before Jeremy was teleported, he thought while grinning widely, ''Same speech huh... Well, I hope that the Tutorial will also be the sam...''

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy''s body disappeared simultaneously with the crowd...

 Chapter 28 - Tutorial Starts

    Inside a cave-like room...

    A total of 50 people suddenly appeared inside a dimly lit cave-room. The room was square in shape, with around 50x50 meters to amodate more than 500 people and enough space to spare.

    Currently, Jeremy and 49 other people turned their heads left and right, looking around their surroundings in curiosity.

    The walls around them were made with some kind of charcoal-colored stones with some tinge of grey color in the mix, causing it not to be utterly ck like regr charcoal. From the look alone, they seemed to be naturally made, but they looked very solid.

    There would be torches asionally stuck to the walls, giving a dim light to the surrounding space. Above their head was a high ceiling with a height of around 10 meters from the ground.

    What''s more, at the left and right side of the wall spotted a passage, each with an unknown destination. Meanwhile, the front side wall had three ancient-looking wooden doors with some strange pictures drawn on them. Lastly, the rear wall was a dead-end with nothing there.

    When someone took a look carefully at those three two-meter doors on the front wall, they would see that there were actually words carved above each of them.

    Those words were bizarre, and they were actually written in an unknownnguage foreign to most people presented here. But surprisingly, anyone who tried to read those words could genuinely understand the meaning behind them. They were like magical words...

    Starting from the left door, above its top, had the word ''Easy'' being carved there. Then the word ''Normal'' being carved above the middle door. Lastly, above thest door on the rightmost, the word ''Hard'' was situated there.

    Everyone decided to ignore those doors and words for now because there was something behind them that no one knew how many times more amazing than those doors and words.

    And that thing was actually a big green crystal...

    At the very center of the cave-like room was being stationed by a big green crystal, the size of a phone booth. The crystal looked very dazzling and beautiful at first, second, and even third nce. Well... even after being cast countless nces upon it, the crystal was still peerlessly beautiful as always.

    If it were on Earth, its price should be more than enough to buy a small city. The crystal was nothing but extraordinary; it was currently hovering around 10 centimeters above the ground, rotating there very slowly and silently.

    Suddenly, a mysterious message popped up in front of everyone within the clearing, interrupting their thoughts about the crystal.

    ...

    ˇş It is time for change ˇ»

    ˇş From now on, every race and species within the universe will face a natural selection from the universe itself. Along with a helper, the System, which is directly rted to an existence that governs all of the universe''s information called Akashic Records. For you, who was a resident of Le''Liac, Earth. We wee you to Ortus, The ce Where Everything Begins. ˇ»

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing the projected message, it could only be said that...

    Today was destined to be the new beginning of Earthlings.

    Still, when everyone finished reading the message, the majority of them started to panic once again. Today was really filled with so much wonder and amazement for them. Today, they had seen miracles together with horrifying events right in front of their eyes too many times.

    Some people within the group could not ept the reality as of yet, while some had a tendency to go crazy already. Some of them started to cry and prayed to their revered god.

    It was a tough time for them...

    The culture shock from those sudden changes was too much for ordinary people like them to bear. They couldn''t even fathom what would have happened to them next. They might just die or be headless corpses like those people.

    How could they still remain calm after seeing and experience those incredulous events?

    Right now, many of them could only hope that this was a nightmare... a nightmare that they really wished to wake up from it as fast as possible.

    Meanwhile, a certain obese man within the group was thinking very differently. He was eyeing intently at the brilliant crystal floating silently at the very center of the clearing.

    After seeing the magnificent light green crystal floating not that far from him, the obese man with the title of ''Greedy Pig'' above his head decided to be the first person to go and acim the ownership of the crystal.

    Anyone might be wondering that why the fatty didn''t inactivate his trash title. The reason was simple... to turn on or off a title; one must wait for its cooldown period to be reset, which required ten days for each activation and inactivation.

    Thus, right now, the majority of people undergoing the Tutorial were having a title or two floating above their heads without any way to remove them anytime soon.

    Before anyone could react, the obese man was already in front of the crystal...

    The next second, with a realization that there was no danger even after being so close to the crystal, he hurriedly reached out his right hand to touch the crystal.

    A tad bit toote to realize the man''s movement, everyone else could only look and wait patiently for the oue.

    With the gulping sounds from many people. Some people even took a distance away from the crystal for fear that something terrible might happen again.

    Then...

    Right after touching the crystal, the obese man looked in front of him absentmindedly.

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Even after several seconds had passed by, the man still had no response until many people within the group grew impatient with the still mood.

    Still, no one said anything...

    Seeing that no one was brave enough to raise anything up, a tanned, muscr man with bulging arms and thick legs, who was wearing an Army T-shirt and pants, while above his bald head spotted a rank 1 title called ''Gunner'', decided to be the first one to open his mouth.

    "Hey!! Fatty, What the f*ck are you doing. Tell us what happens or what you do see already."

    Following that, the fat man frowned and said annoyingly without even turning his head to the man.

    "Come to see it yourself, brainless bastard!"

    Upon hearing that sentence from the Greedy Pig, the muscr man replied back with a threatening tone, "What did you F*CKING SAY?? YOU WANNA DIE?".

    After hearing the threatening voice, together with a sudden realization that the man he was talking to was actually a huge and muscr man with 2 meters in height.

    The fatty got frightened out of his wits and hurriedly scrambled away from the crystal, giving ways for the muscr man who was approaching him with fast footsteps.

    When the muscr guy saw that his opposition was backing away rapidly like a frightened rabbit, he shook his head and decided not to pursue the man anymore.

    When he reached the crystal, he touched it to see what exactly it was all about.

    Whereas his hand had touched the crystal, he suddenly saw an interface aligned with three options in front of him. Those 3 options were [Shop], [Mission], and [Leaderboard]. It was almost transparent like the status window. Also, those three options could be essed by using his mind.

    So, he decided to check out those three options...

    Just like that, the muscr man stood there like an idiot with no difference than the fat guy until almost half a minuteter when most people grew impatient with the status quo.

    The man then realized that he should at least exin the situation before a wave of questions hit him hard in the face.

    "Alright, guys, don''t be so anxious as of yet. I will exin to you. When you first touch this crystal, like your status window, there will be a transparent window popping up in front of you. On the screen, there will be three options for you to choose from."

    He paused for a bit, then kept on speaking.

    "First of all, the [Shop] option contains ''Buy'' and ''Sell'' buttons within. For the ''Buy'' button, you can buy four things, [Weapons], [Clothes], [Misceneous], and [Skills]. All of the items within can be bought with a currency called SP or Survival Point. There is nothing present within the ''Sell'' button, so I think to myself and try to sell my watch. You guess what? My watch had disappeared from my right wrist, and then I get 3.2 SP that can be used to buy things from the [Buy] button."

    The muscr man paused for a few seconds to take a breather while raising his left hand to show those people that he didn''t have his watch anymore. Then he looked around to see his audiences'' faces before he continued.

    "For the [Mission] button, you might instinctively know already that it is a ce where you can get a mission or report apleted mission to receive the Survival Point to buy things. Lastly, the [Leaderboard] button shows your current aplishment and ranking. In this case, I''m an Unranked, and I''m sure that you guys will also be an Unranked because we had not aplished any mission yet."

    "For more information,e and see it yourself."

    When the man finished his speech, he didn''t care to exin or give out any more information. He just silently scrutinized the interface there quietly.

    "Wow, it was like a game." Said a teenage boy of around 16-17 years old after hearing the man''s words.

    "I want to go home. Why... why bring me here!! My daughter..." Shouted a middle-aged man in his office suit.

    "Mommy... Mommy... I''m scared..." Said a 12 years old child.

    "Hahaha, this is getting interesting." The man with eyesses with a confident expression talked to himself.

    There were many responses to the current situations. Someone was depressed, someone was happy, someone was scared, someone still couldn''t ept the reality.

    But a certain someone...

    ''Indeed... it is the same tutorial zone as before; even the events taking ce here are the same.''

    That certain someone grinned...

 Chapter 29 - Missions

    After being teleported into the cave-like room, which was considered the real tutorial ce, everyone''s status window would have an additional option, '' Mission'', whose content could be viewed by willing it using their mind.

    Right now, Jeremy was checking his main missions of the tutorial...

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive Iˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (ˇď)

    ? Survive 10 monster hordes (ˇďˇď)

    ? Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal (ˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (ˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? ??? (?)

    ˇş After finishing one of the tutorial missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage.ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing that the content of the primary missions from the tutorial remained the same, Jeremy walked unhurriedly to the floating light green Survival Crystal at the center of the room.

    But soon, he realized that most people were swarming the crystal, giving no room for him to touch the crystal at all.

    As the space around the crystal was limited, but everyone wanted to see its content with their own eyes, causing the ce to be crowded in a blink of an eye.

    Soon, themotions broke out within the vicinity of the crystal...

    "Hey! Let me in first; I want to see it. You... f*ck off!!"

    A man in his 30s with casual clothes was the one who started the chaotic mess.

    "Youeter than us; why don''t you wait in line for your own turn?"

    A woman in her 40s who had been to the crystal faster said directly to the impudent man. However, that would only make the entire situation getting even worse.

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy let out a light sigh; he already knew what would have happened in the next few seconds from his previous life.

    After the man bickered back at the woman, other 30 people who also didn''te fast enough to touch the crystal would start to get irritated for fear that those early people would snatch good items and good missions.

    However, the people who hade in contact early with the crystal wouldn''t back down and tell thosete people to wait in line.

    After that came the shout, push, and pull, until finally, violencemenced right after.

    And when themotion died down, those people would be divided into two main groups and many small groups.

    That was only the start of tragedy that would befall them in the name of monster hordes...

    If it were in normal situations like staying in line for the queue on Earth, the circumstances wouldn''t get escted until that point. At most, thosete people would feel upset andin to those early people. Afterward, they would wait in line for their respective queue.

    However...

    Every one of them had just experienced bizarre and horror-like situations causing them to be irrational and reckless.

    That''s why the matters would escte into a huge mess of violence.

    Until they divided themselves into groups...

    Not waiting for the situation to intensify any further when he saw that no one was focusing their eyes on him, Jeremy raised his left and right index fingers into the air and started to draw runes. Meanwhile, his mouth was mumbling an unknownnguage toplement his spell casting process.

    When he finished preparing the spell, Jeremy cast the two spells at almost the same time. They were a ''Sleep Spell'' and a ''Hush Spell'', causing the people to feel sleepy and sluggish suddenly.

    Together with the quietness from the surroundings inducing from the ''Hush Spell'', not even 10 secondster, everyone except for Jeremy fell asleep at the ce where they were standing before.

    It was pretty good that they had flopped down onto the ground first before going to sleepter. Otherwise, if those people fell head-first onto the floor, they might get their heads bloodied as a result of that.

    For ordinary people like them who had not even be a ss 0 Schr, Fighter, Soldier, Archer, etc., it was as easy as breathing for Jeremy to put them under his arsenal of spells.

    They didn''t have anything to defend or fend off Jeremy''s spells at all...

    Then Jeremy walked up to the floating crystal while casting his ''Mana Barrier Spell'' to push away those people who were lying in front of him.

    Every step he took was steady; every step he took had pushed away yet another person out of his path.

    Just like that, he reached the crystal and then touched it.

    ...

    Right in front of Jeremy, a transparent interface with three options suddenly projected there.

    [Shop]

    [Mission]

    [Leaderboard]

    Then Jeremy willed about the [Mission] option. Simultaneously, the interface changed into a new one that focused only on various missions from the Survival Crystal.

    As for the missions'' content, they were divided into two sections, six by 4. As a result, there were precisely six missions for the first section, four missions for the second section, and those missions were arranged from the easiest mission at the top to the hardest mission at the bottom.

    Starting from the first section, which was to kill 10 skeleton soldiers, kill 10 imps, kill 8 wolves, kill 5 goblins, kill 5 humans, and kill 2 hobgoblins.

    Then the second section contained four missions. Those missions were to pass the easy difficulty door, pass the normal difficulty door, pass the hard difficulty door, andstly, ???.

    Thest mission was actually written in 3 question marks which meant that everyone had to explore it on their own.

    That was... if they were able toplete it in the first ce...

    All of the missions had a specific number of Survival Point, or SP disyed behind the mission titles.

    Started by killing ten skeleton soldiers; they would get 400 SP bypleting the mission. That didn''t even include the SP they would get from killing an individual skeleton soldier as of yet. It meant that if they were to finish this mission sessfully, they would get more than just 400 SP.

    Moreover, the harder the mission was, the higher the SP they would get frompleting it. Except for thest mission, that was ''???'', the reward they would get frompleting it was actually written as ''???'' as well.

    Furthermore, from the arrangement of the two sections'' missions, it could only be said that exploring missions were harder than killing missions because the exploring missions were situated right below the killing missions.

    ''Hmmm... mission number 1 to 6 were about killing the lowest and low-rank organism. As for missions number 7 to 10, they were about exploring this ce. Nothing is out of ce here... Let''s check the [Shop] option then.''

    When he finished scrutinizing the missions, Jeremy tried searching for the items that could be bought by using SP.

    After all, it was already a very long time ago that he had undergone the tutorial.

    Right now, he was even wondering that would he be able to recall those items'' information from his sea of consciousness or not. Let''s assume that he could; still, it might require an arduous effort from him, and it might have put a heavy burden upon his mind for no reason.

    So, for something trivial like this, he better check it himself, which required less effort than essing it by using his sea of consciousness.

    After Jeremy willed about the [Shop] option, there were two options left which were [Buy] and [Sell]. For now, he didn''t want to sell anything. So, he essed the [Buy] option; the interface changed once again.

    Currently, there were four options to be chosen from. They were...

    [Weapons]

    [Clothes]

    [Misceneous]

    [Skills]

    After seeing the four options, Jeremy decided to ignore [Weapons], [Clothes], and [Misceneous] for now because within the [Weapons] option, there were onlymon rank items which were a whopping two ranks below his rare ranked staff.

    Furthermore, he also had his own steel spear for closebat, which ranked at a very high grade for amon rank item.

    As for [Clothes] option, there were only clothing-rted kinds of stuff necessary for a person to wear and change daily. There was no magical clothing within the shop at all.

    Even if there were one, everyone right here wouldn''t have enough SP to buy it anyway. Its price should be sky-high as an Eiffel Tower.

    At most, there should be some good-grade armors to fend off the various physical attacks that they would be receiving from the monsters'' ws.

    As for [Misceneous] option, there were various personal care products from toothpaste, shampoo, soap, foods, rations, tent, lipstick, powder, toilet, and even small hut.

    This one was quite special because it contained necessary items, such as a toilet or a small hut which had a water system and waste disposal system within. It was like this because everyone here needed to attend to their routine ''activities''...

    That''s why there were more than one thousand items in this option, of which Jeremy had already prepared his own misceneous items, that was... except for the toilet...

    Concurrently, Jeremy was using the mindmand to ess the [Skills] option. Instantly after, the interface changed into a new one.

    Right now, there was a long row list of skills projected on the interface. Looking at the right top corner of the interface, Jeremy saw a number of 186. That meant 186 skills were currently purchasable.

    Additionally, behind those skills, there were numbers signifying the remaining buyable times that could be bought from, while behind those numbers, there stated the price of each skill ranging from the cheapest one at the top to the most expensive one at the bottom.

    Unsurprisingly, most skills right there were passive skills with only some active skills that mostly mingled in the middle andst section of the skills.

    Jeremy was currently scrolling down while skimming the skill names.

    He saw many skills being projected past by his retinas, such as fishing, boxing, sword-wielding, spear-wielding, cooking, talking, stealth, and many more.

    The sounds of sword-wielding or stealth skill might seem extraordinary at first nce, but Jeremy knew that they were only at the very basic level of which the person who bought those skills had to hone and train in them for a very long time before they could level them up further.

    So, Jeremy ignored most of the skills that could be easily acquired by putting in some efforts for now.

    He kept scrolling down and down, passing the middle section, but he still saw nothing that might be useful for him.

    Right when he was scrolling down casually, not expecting to see anything that would be able to surprise him anymore.

    Jeremy''s eyes abruptly widened...

 Chapter 30 - The Door

    When Jeremy saw Skill no.149, his eyes widened...

    The reason for that was from a passive skill called [Heightened Sense].

    Usually, it was considered very hard to learn a skill if a person wanted to get it without relying on the System because everything rted to one''s sense, affinity, and technique was very hard to learn and enhance.

    Even if they somehow found a way to learn it, they could only improve those things by putting in their sweat, heart, and soul into practicing them all day and night for countless days before they could even get a little glimpse of the next level.

    Regarding the skill [Heightened Sense], it was indeed just a basic level. But this skill was renowned for its usefulness in various situations. Also, it was a necessary skill for those closebat-rted sses. Even so, only a person with a very high rank or a person with innately high sense could acquire this skill.

    And after receiving this skill, they had to train in it for a long time before they could advance it into the following levels, which were [Battle Sense] and [Sixth Sense], respectively. All of which, [Sixth Sense] was thest and ultimate level of this skill.

    As for its usefulness, in the first level, [Heightened Sense], it would help increase one''s sense of the surroundings. They would get a better grasp of the current environment they were staying in. Furthermore, it could also help them in battle by increasing their reaction speed by a bit.

    Then the second level of this skill, [Battle Sense], as the name suggested, it mainly increased one''s sense in battle. It could be said that anyone with [Battle Sense] skill would be able to fight and win the opponent with the same ss and rank easily.

    Lastly, [Sixth Sense], it was a skill that was desired by every closebat ss. This skill was like a myth to most of them.

    In Jeremy''s previous life, he knew only two people with [Sixth Sense] skill, and both of them were actually a ss 6 in their respective pathways.

    Even though they were not nearly enough to be Jeremy''s opponent at the time, because Jeremy was already a ss 7 Sage, they were not in the same rank in the first ce.

    However, whenever those two people fought with an opponent, they could ''never lose'' even a single fight to their opponent if they had the same ss and rank. And all of that was thanks to this one skill, [Sixth Sense].

    Let''se back to the current situation...

    In Jeremy''s past life, he had indeed acquired the skill [Heightened Sense] before. Furthermore, he had achieved it naturally without having to put in any effort at all. However, he had acquired it when he reached ss 5 in the mage pathway. So, it was nothing worth boasting about.

    That''s also the reason why Jeremy''s eyes were widened right now.

    Because he knew its true worth...

    Then Jeremy moved his eyes to see the buyable times of this skill, and it was actually written in ''1''. It meant that this skill could be bought only once. Then right after that, it would disappear from the shop forever. Furthermore, starting from Skill no.100 onwards, the buyable time was fixed at one buy per item at the shop.

    The shop, in this case, was also referred to other Survival Crystals'' [Shop] in the other clearings like the cave-like room that Jeremy and 48 others were staying in.

    After all, there were 10,000 people in the same Tutorial Space together with that cupid. That meant there were around 200 clearings with the exactly same Survival Crystal floating in the middle of the room.

    Afterward, Jeremy took a look at the price; it stated ''4750 Survival Points''.

    ''A bit high, but very worth it.'' Jeremy thought and nodded to himself before continue examining other skills.

    He knew all too well that with that stated price, no one could really afford it. Even to survive the tutorial was hard enough for Earthlings; how could they have leisure time to farm SP to buy a high-priced skill like this.

    Then before long, the list kept going down again.

    Skill no.150, [Adrenaline Rush]...

    Skill no.151, [Calm Mind]...

    Skill no.164, [Knife Throwing]...

    Skill no.182, [Fast Hands]...

    Until his eyes finally stopped at Skill no.186, which was thest skill on the list. Its name was [Eagles Eyes].

    ''This skill... is one of the main active skills of those Archer-rted sses. How can they put something like this in the tutorial? Also, it is the only tier 1 skill from the skills list. Hmm... interesting... its price is also not that high at 6,820 SP, affordable.''

    After Jeremy finished inspecting all of the skills there were to offer him, he decided to farm some SP to buy the two skills of which were [Heightened Sense] and [Eagles Eyes]. Moreover, if there were some surplus SP, he might even be able to buy other less valuable skills from the list.

    Following that, Jeremy removed his hand from the crystal, the interface disappeared. Then Jeremy thought to himself, ''Alright, that''s it for now. It''s time to farm some SP...''

    Then Jeremy raised his ice-cold blue eyes to stare intently at the three doors. Specifically, he was fixing his gaze at the leftmost door, the ''easy'' difficulty one.

    In his past life, Jeremy had actually passed the easy-difficulty door. It was solely because of his sheer good luck that he survived the ordeals.

    At that time, Jeremy and 20 or so other people were fighting with the 6th wave of monsters horde. As a result of continuous fighting for five consecutive waves, there were not many people surviving at the time.

    Everyone felt more and more despaired with every passing wave because the amount and strength of monsters kept increasing more and more. Within everyone''s mind, they knew that this wave would be thest wave that they had to fight.

    Because...

    After this wave, there would be less than 15 people remaining within the clearing...

    After this wave, they would finally be teleported out of this cursing ce...

    So, everyone was doing their best to survive; they were ready to do anything to secure a ce within that 15 vacant slots.

    With that mindset within their dark mind, they chose to backstab theirrades, whom had fought side by side with them for the past five waves of monsters.

    That''s also where Jeremy had met his first crisis in his life. While he was fighting-cum-retreating slowly to the back because the two goblins were attacking him relentlessly. He suddenly felt a cold sensation appearing on his right waist.

    When he turned his head to see what had happened to his waist, he saw that there was already a deep wound there.

    But how was that even possible?

    They had built quite a solid formation not to let monsters get in to stab them in the back.

    Still... how could he even get that wound in the first ce.

    Soon after, a sudden realization came into his head because when Jeremy turned his head to see the current situation, he didn''t see his supposed rade'' beside him.

    That guy had intentionally let out an opening in the formation for an imp to stab him in the back.

    That was... using a borrowed knife to reduce the number of people.

    When Jeremy realized that fact, it was already toote. That rade'' of his had already retreated to the far back, followed closely by other people after they saw that the situations were not looking good for them.

    Thus, they left behind Jeremy and three other people whom had realized the truth toote to fend off the monsters on their own.

    Also, right then, the situations were getting worse because most people had already retreated back.

    At that time, Jeremy felt raged, resentful, and regretful.

    Raged because someone had actually betrayed their own kind for their own survival...

    Resentful because someone was actually coward enough to use a borrowed knife method on him...

    Regretful because he actually let it happen under his own two eyes...

    Right when the feeling of pain started to kick in, and he was feeling a bit dizzy from the sudden blood loss. At that moment, someone suddenly grabbed him up by the waist and then threw him 5 meters away in the direction of the 3 doors.

    Afterward, that person said something that Jeremy couldn''t hear due to the chaotic mess of the situation. Just like that, the man was killed by dozens of monsters surrounding him.

    He had died gruesomely and painfully by bing the monsters'' meal...

    When Jeremy saw that he was pretty near to the doors, he stood up from the ground in a panic and then ran to the leftmost door, the easy-difficulty door, without thinking at all. He didn''t even have time to think because the monsters were running in his direction rapidly.

    Just like that, he entered the door...

    When he sessfully passed it and came out of the door alive. Everyone was already nowhere to be seen; they were already teleported into the next stage, leaving behind only blood trails, entrails, gruesome corpses, and... Jeremy.

    Shaking his head lightly to discard those useless thoughts, Jeremy sauntered to the three doors situated at the front wall.

    Slowly, the limping bodies of those sleeping people around the crystal were pushed away from his path...

    Not long after, Jeremy reached in front of a door; he ced his right palm on the door''s handle, then pushed it slightly.

    *Creaks*

    When the door was opened fully, Jeremy walked in until his back disappeared into the ''dark'' room behind the door...

    *Creaks*

    *Bam!*

    The easy-difficulty door shut tightly...

 Chapter 31 - Countdown

    Eddie''s POV...

    *Creaks*

    *Bam!*

    "!!!"

    ''Is that the sound of a door being closed?''

    *Yawnnn...*

    ''Why am I so sleepy...?'' Eddie thought to himself and yawned while at the same time feeling very drowsy.

    ''...''

    ''Wait!? Sleepy? Where am I again? The cupid? The Status Window? The Tutorial? Oh shit! Nooo...''

    Having thought of the possibilities of danger looming from all around, Eddie hurriedly stood up from the ground.

    "Huu-uk!"

    Having stood up too fast, Eddie suddenly felt dizzy into the mix of the prior sleepiness. He then cursed within his mind, ''The world is f*cking spinning. I stood up too fast; everything is ck. Damn it!!''

    After several seconds passed, he finally got a bit better after shaking his head lightly to lessen the dizziness he had felt. Afterward, he took a look around himself carefully.

    At first, he felt surprised to see many people sleeping soundly around him...

    Then, he finally remembered it...

    He touched the green crystal to view the items and missions from the interface; then themotion suddenly broke out. However, before it could proceed to another level, he and everyone unexpectedly felt sleepy, then eventually flopped down onto the ground helplessly.

    ''What a bizarre event. Did the cupid do something again?'' Eddie thought puzzlingly to himself while using his foot to poke those still sleeping soundly around him.

    Still, after realizing that they were not dead yet, Eddie felt quite relieved. At least, he still had some people inside this cursed ce together with him. Otherwise, he would have gone crazy for real if he had to face those horrendous events alone.

    At that time, he was having a gunfight with an infamous terrorist group in Afghanistan before he was teleported for the first time in his life.

    Just like that, he was suddenly teleported out of nowhere into the Tutorial Space...

    Afterward, he had faced with a very terrible event of people''s heads being imploded from within altogether with blood and brain mass flying in every direction.

    Some pieces of people''s brains had even flown into his mouth due to him opening his mouth to talk to another person standing beside him.

    Just like that, he was met with his third dreadful, anomalous incident in his life.

    As for the first and second time, they were being teleported amidst gunfights and having seen a talking airborne cupid for the first time in his life, respectively.

    Right after those terrible incidents happened, his mind had only gotten more and more disordered from the tragic truth revtionsing out of the mouth of that cold-blooded evil cupid.

    Even with a career of a military man acting as his guts and spine, Eddie still felt scared shitless with the previous events that had happened to him and everyone here. Not to talk about those reality''s revtions that they had to face from then on as the cupid had said.

    The cupid then told him and everyone else that they could open a Status Window by only thinking...

    He thought it was absurd at first when he heard the cupid said that, but after trying it for himself, he was so shocked once again.

    At the time, he could only think to himself that, ''Did the reality was a ''game'' all along? How could it had something like a Status Window like in those games?''

    When he carefully looked at his Status Window, he also saw that he had an inactivated rank 1 title called ''Gunner''.

    He somehow had that title within his Status Window. Also, he didn''t know that it had something to do with him being a soldier or not.

    Afterward, Eddie saw that it was in an inactivated status. So, he focused on the inactivated part. Simultaneously after, there was a window popping up in front of him asking him that...

    [Would you like to activate the title?]

    Of course, Eddie agreed without any second thought because of his curiosity...

    Unfortunately for him, a tad bit toote to realize that after agreeing to activate the title, there would be a line of text stated as ''Gunner'' appearing above his head all the time.

    ''That wasme...''

    It was the only thought within his head at the time...

    However, at that time, too many questions ran wildly throughout Eddie''s head for him to care about that ''Gunner'' thing.

    So, he ignored it for now; after realizing that it couldn''t be inactivated, he decided to focus on the various thoughts and possibilities within his head instead.

    Still, the cupid didn''t let him think everything through at all. It continued exining some essential pieces of information. Right after that, it teleported everyone away like it was too bored to entertain them.

    In the end, everyone was teleported into this ce.

    After that, the fatty ''Greedy Pig'' touched the crystal, and then the man pissed him up with his trash attitude.

    Afterward, themotion almost broke out...

    Finally, everyone fell asleep...

    ...

    Shaking his head to clear his mind up for a bit, Eddie started to wake up the people lying around him first and foremost.

    Many brains were still better than a single brain after allˇ­

    Then he squatted down and shook the body of the closest person lying next to him.

    The guy had ck hair while wearing sses, a white T-shirt, and ck pants. He looked to be around 26-28 years old with a well-bnced body build. Also, he didn''t have a title above his head like many other people.

    "Hey, you... wake up. Hey... Oy, wake up!!"

    Eddie started with only a light shake, but it seemed like the guy was sleeping too deeply. So, he decided to shake the person harder and harder with each passing shake.

    From Eddie''s monstrous force, the guy''s body was being swayed like someone having a seizure.

    Not long after, the sleeping man''s eyes twitched a bit before he finally woke up from his dream world. Then he slowly opened his two brown eyes to look around himself.

    It seemed like he promptly realized that he was in no situation to be sleeping. He then hurriedly stood up from the ground, causing him to face the same experience of ckness as Eddie had encountered before.

    "You finally wake up, dude. You indeed slept that deeply that I had to shake you so hard, bruh. By the way, I''m Eddie; how ''bout yours?"

    After seeing that the sses man had stood up, Eddie opened his mouth first while extending his right hand for a handshake.

    "..."

    "..."

    The sses man took a bit of time to realize his situation before he reached out his right hand to shake with Eddie''s.

    "Hello, I''m Mitchell. It''s nice to meet you. And... thanks for waking me up. Also, why is everyone sleeping? Are you also the same?" Mitchell introduced himself while probing Eddie.

    ''He seems smart from his coolposure and urate questions.'' Eddie was feeling surprised inwardly by the man''s demeanors, but he didn''t express it outwardly.

    Meanwhile, Eddie spoke, "Well, nice to meet you too, Mitchell boi. As for the first question, I don''t know. Maybe it''s the cupid''s doings? For the second one, it''s a ''Yes'', I am the first person here to wake up, then I wake you up after as you can see."

    Mitchell nodded his head after hearing Eddie''s words. Then he frowned a bit to recall the events before everyone had fallen asleep.

    ''Did I see someone with ck clothing walking up to me before I fell asleep? Or is it a dream? Hmmm... strange... it is too vivid to be a dre...''

    "Hey, Mitchell, don''t just stand still over there. Come and help me wake everyone up first before we decide our next course of action." Said, Eddie who was now trying to wake up everyone around him.

    After hearing Eddie''s call, Mitchell could only think to himself, ''Let''s not think about those things for now''.

    *Sigh*

    "Okay, okay." Mitchell sighed inwardly and answered back.

    Just like that, they started to wake everyone up.

    ...

    Around 15 minutester...

    "Hey, you have been touching it for five minutes already. Isn''t it enough? Just let other people see its content too." Said a man with white casual clothes.

    The man''s tone was nothing but sarcastic...

    Actually, he was the same middle-aged man who had almost caused amotion since half an hour ago.

    This time, he was the first one to open his mouth yet again.

    ''This guyˇ­ he is a true-blue troublemaker...'' Eddie, who was standing right beside Mitchell, frowned and thought to himself after hearing the man''s voice.

    After taking a quick look at the man''s title, ''Bad Mouther'', Eddie could only shake his head helplessly and then took a brief look at the ''Greedy Pig'' whom was touching the crystal from the other side. He really hoped that this guy would not cause any more trouble.

    One troublemaker was enough for their current situations...

    After hearing the voice of ''Bad Mouther'', everyone else decided to ignore the man''s words for now.

    After all, it was only three minutes that the time had passed by, not five minutes. Still, no one opened their mouth to correct the man''s statement at all. There was nothing gooding out of arguing with someone like him.

    As of now, ten people were standing in the close vicinity of the crystal and were touching to see its contents. Meanwhile, there were 4 to 5 people lining up in a straight line after those ten people. They were waiting for their turn to touch the crystal.

    That was an agreement that was decided upon themselves after all of them had woken up from Jeremy''s spells.

    As for the way used to determine the sequence of people, they decided to use ''Rock-paper-scissors'' to resolve it.

    Also, it had been agreed between themselves beforehand that each one of them could only use the crystal for no more than 5 minutes. Then they must let other people, whom were queueing after them, touch the crystal with no given excuse.

    After seeing that no one had paid him any attention, the same white casual clothing man with ''Bad Mouther'' title went at it again.

    This time, he chose a teenage boy whom was touching the crystal standing in front of him as his prey, "Oh, c''mon!! Kid, it''s been five minutes already. It''s my turn, it''s my turn, alright. Didn''t we agree that each one of us could only touch it for 5 minutes? Can you move out for me now?"

    Hearing the words of the middle-aged man, the boy trembled a bit, then prepared to move away from the crystal. After all, he had just turned 16 this year. He was still too young to babble back at the fearsome middle-aged man.

    "Can''t you stop talking shit, please? You are disturbing everyone here right now. Also, aren''t you afraid that everyone would join hands to trample you to the ground?"

    Before the boy could even move from the crystal, a woman''s voice could be heard from the side.

    She was someone in her 40s; she had blonde hair, brown eyes, wearing a ck suit with a white shirt inside like an ordinary office worker.

    Furthermore, she was also the one who had first fought verbally with the Bad Mouther guy before everyone fell asleep.

    For all that, she was the first person who had confronted the white clothing man. So, she felt most irritated out of everyone here when she saw that the man wanted to create trouble again.

    Moreover, when she saw that he wanted to take advantage of a teenage boy, she couldn''t stand it anymore.

    That''s why she decided to interrupt the man''sme schemeˇ­

    Right after everyone else had heard the words of the blonde hair woman, some of them promptly turned their heads to give the Bad Mouther a cold stare to express their standing in this situation.

    "Tsk!"

    The man in question couldn''t help but click his tongue after hearing the woman''s words and realized that many people were faring against him.

    He was clearly outnumberedˇ­

    So, he decided to stay quiet right after that and chose to wait ''impatiently'' for his turn toe.

    Then the status quo went on, with everyone taking a turn to touch the crystal.

    *Sigh*

    Here again, Eddie had sighed more than his past week within just a short time frame after being teleported to this cursed ce.

    ''This guy is indeed super-duper troublesome.'' Eddie, who had been standing nearby, acting as a bystander all along, thought to himself depressingly.

    Meanwhile, his eyes were staring fixedly at a countdown timer floating above the crystal that was acting as everyone''s remaining time for touching the crystal.

    The time numbers were showing in light blue color stating...

    00:01:15:36...

    00:01:15:35...

    00:01:15:34...

    ''There is only around 1 hour and 15 minutes before something terrible transpires here.''

    Eddie frowned deeply and thought to himself...

 Chapter 32 - First Reward

    *Creaks*

    *Bam!*

    As the sound echoed behind him, Jeremy turned his head to see the door he had just passed through a moment ago.

    Unsurprisingly, the said ''door'' was now nowhere to be seen...

    Upon seeing that behind him was now a dead end made of grey-dark rocks, the same wall as in the clearing, Jeremy turned his head back to his front.

    Only to see that it was utterly dark ahead of him...

    *Fwoosh*

    *Fwoosh*

    *Fwoosh*

    Suddenly, the magical torches stuck at the left and right wall lit up uncannily by themselves, causing their orange-yellow light to illuminate inside the small space.

    Afterward, a transparent interface popped up in front of Jeremy''s face,

    ...

    ˇş Easy Trial ˇ»

    ˇş Objective: Find an exit ˇ»

    ...

    It was exactly the same one as in his past life, so he dismissed it with a single thought.

    Right now, Jeremy could finally see clearly that there was a long passageway with a width of around 5 meters while its length extended to the far end of his ''normal'' sight.

    Some junctions were situated on the left and right side randomly along the way; even at the end of the passageway, it was divided into two intersections of left and right sides.

    After seeing the sight in front of him, Jeremy closed his two abyss-like blue eyes to ''feel'' the fluctuation in space, ''Hmmm... It seems like this ce is in a different dimension created specifically for people to undertake a trial...'' He thoughtprehensively to himself.

    If it were not for his monstrous level of space affinity, he wouldn''t feel it at all because the fluctuation was so subtle that it almost could not be felt.

    ''It was hard to even for me to create a different dimension with this low level of space instability.''

    Nodding his head in understanding and admiration, Jeremy opened his eyes, then raised his right-hand index finger into his front.

    *Mumble...*

    With some hand movements and an obscure incantation finished after some 20 seconds, Jeremy thought inwardly, ''Mana Wave Detection - Exploration''.

    Then an invisible waveprised of the purest mana beingunched into his front.

    It continued on until it was met with a left junction, then the mana wave was divided into two portions. One portion went to the left corner to explore that side, another portion continued in its original path.

    Whenever the mana wave encountered a junction, the urrence would keep repeating the same way, on and on, by dividing itself into many portions. Until the mana input of the spell almost depleted, it finally recoiled back into Jeremy''s direction to ry the information.

    Afterward, a clear image of several passageways being interconnected with one another was manifested within Jeremy''s head.

    It was clearly abyrinth at first nce...

    Smiling to himself in satisfaction, Jeremy thought, ''Even though the spell consumes more than 10% of my mana, it is still worth it, and it is very worthy of being called a tier 1 spell. Hmm... I have now grasped roughly around 500 meters of distance from me due to the spell. As for the spent mana, it will replenished back in no time anyway, because the mana here is very abunda... What..? SHIT!!!''

    Jeremy''s casual thought was promptly interrupted by a sudden finding that his mana within the three dantians didn''t get replenished back after being used.

    ''How can this be...'' Jeremy could only think to himself in disbelief.

    Not wanting to waste any more time, Jeremy sat down right there, prepared to enter his meditating state.

    Two minutester, Jeremy entered stage 10 of meditation, tranquility and equanimity.

    This time, he used more than double the amount of time to enter this stage because his mind was in disarray from the sudden realization of being unable to refill his mana tanks.

    After he sessfully entered stage 10 of meditation, he found out that the quality of mana particles within this separated dimension that he was currently staying in was several times lower than the quality of mana on Earth.

    ''No... the quality of mana here is actually the same as on Ortus... That means, even if I finish the tutorial and am teleported onto Ortus, I still cannot replenish my own mana huh... This is bad.''

    Jeremy frowned deeply after realizing that he was in quite a dire predicament.

    After all, how could he continue to cast the spell if he couldn''t refill his mana?

    As a result of the vast difference of mana''s quality inside his dantians and outside atmosphere, he couldn''t replenish his mana for the time being.

    Right now, his amount of mana remained around 85% from casting the three spells earlier.

    *Sigh*

    ''Atst, do I really have to activate that title?''

    When Jeremy had thought about the title, he opened his Status Window to view its content once again.

    ...

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 45.2%

    - Darkness (Umon): 34.8%

    - Space (Rare): 89.9%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic

    Trait: Objective

    Achievement:

    1. For you, who is the fastest of your own kind to shed a mortal skin and be the first person to tread in a long and arduous path of truth-seeking. The system shall grant you the title of ''First Mage''.

    2. For you, who was born a Prodigy. For you, who is destined to be standing at the very top of the universe''s food chain. The system shall grant you the title of ''Prodigy Mage''.

    3. For you, who achieves the impossible. For you, who defies the universe''s rules. For you, who had reached the first substage of a ss 1 Mage within a mana-less world. For eternity, this attainment can never be duplicated by anyone; even the Gods feel helpless with its usibility. It is thus considered an achievement that shall be chronicled at the highest level of Akashic Records forevermore. The universe itself shall grant you the title of ''Mage of Origin''.

    Mission:

    - Tutorial Mission: Survive I

    ...

    Every existing title within the universe starting from Rank 3 onwards would be apanied by a special ''gift'' after it was activated by its owner.

    Sometimes, the ''gift'' would be manifested in the form of affinity that might boost the already-existing affinity to be higher than it originally was, or anotherpletely different affinity might even be added up into the Status Window as a result of that title.

    Another time, it might even add one additional talent, which could boost the owner''s capability up to the next level.

    There was also a trait that might be somehow acquired along with some unique titles; even though it was a rare case, it still urred sometimes.

    Lastly, the owner of a title might get an enhancement on something that most people on Ortus called tent attribute'' of which was acting as a person''s hidden attributes, such as strength, agility, wisdom, etc.

    All those things that came along with a title were deemed very hard or might even be too hard to get or enhance by most people.

    For a person to acquire a title given by the system, it was as hard as ascending or climbing Mount Everest nakedly.

    At the moment, Jeremy was looking intensely at his Rank 10 title, Mage of Origin that was currently staying in an inactivated state.

    To be exact, he was looking at the description of the title that stated...

    ...

    Mage of Origin (Rank 10):

    Origin of Magic (Talent) - After being activated, you will be able to freely convert any type and quality of mana into any type and quality of mana with a consistent and meaningful ratio ording to your desire.

    ...

    After finished viewing the title''s description, Jeremy knew all too well that the only way for him to replenish his mana was to activate the title. Moreover, he wouldn''t be able to refill his mana inside the dantians or even cultivate it ever again if he didn''t activate it.

    Still...

    ''No... it is still not the time yet. If I do that, it would have been my end for real. For now, let''s conserve as much mana as possible. And... if there is no other choice then...''

    In Jeremy''s opinion, he thought that it was still untimely to activate the title. First and foremost, he wouldn''t be able to inactivate the title for several days after it was activated.

    That meant there would be too many eyewitnesses of his title, of which he didn''t like it one bit because it would result in a detrimental consequence after those people on Ortus got wind of his bizarre title.

    For the other reason, it was because out there, there existed ''them'', the ones who always schemed for hegemony.

    That''s why Jeremy believed that if he didn''t hide his eye-catching titles and his true abilities, he would have to dance on their palms once again in this life.

    No matter what, Jeremy needed to tread on a different path to bring humanity to the summit of the universe sessfully.

    Shaking his head to remove those far-fetched thoughts, Jeremy stood up from the ground and started walking forward with his unwavering eyes and a part of his mind focusing on the passageway ahead.

    Meanwhile, another part of his mind was focusing on the half-finished map he had gotten from the Tier 1 spell earlier.

    Even though the distance and structure of thebyrinth that the spell had delivered to him was roughly around 500 meters around himself, the actual distance that he had to walk far exceeded that 500 meters several times.

    Because he was within abyrinth...

    Abyrinth which was well known for its countless junctions and passageways...

    In Jeremy''s past life, he had spent more than three days within this deadlybyrinth before he could finally exit this ce.

    Nevertheless, this time, Jeremy was determined that he would pass it within 3 hours or so.

    ''Let''s do a full exploration on this maze...'' Jeremy thought.

    ...

    After walking for a moment, Jeremy suddenly stopped in his tracks because he encountered a left junction.

    Then Jeremy turned his head to look at the pathway on his left; he saw that there was a dead-end at around 20 meters away from him.

    Meanwhile, on the floor ahead of the said dead-end, an ordinary-looking wooden box with no lock or so-ever on it was situated.

    Upon seeing this sight, Jeremy lightly smiled, then looked at the floor around him to see if there was any object there or not.

    Not long after, he finally found a rock smaller than his fist-size lying at the edge of the wall on his right side.

    Jeremy went to pick it up, then walked up to stop around 3 meters in front of the wooden box. Right after that, he suddenly tossed the rock in his right hand to the front of the box.

    Simultaneously, a small hole suddenly opened up silently from the left and right sides of the wall. Afterward, two long objects were beingunched from the two holes at the same time.

    *Whizzz* *Whizzz*

    *Peng!* *Peng!*

    The sounds of twounched metal objects flew until they hit against a solid wall from each side, resonating out loudly within the cave-like small space.

    Upon seeing that unimpressive spectacle, Jeremy chuckled with a mocking smile while shaking his head lightly.

    ''A child''s trick...'' Jeremy thought amusingly while walking unhurriedly to the wooden box in front of him. As for the trap, he was already aware of it from his searching spell. In his past life, he had also met with this same arrow trap. So, he wouldn''t fall for it, of course.

    As for those holes on the walls, they were actually situated almost parallel, only with a slight distance in front of the wooden box, and their height was around 60 cm above the ground.

    They were also hard to spot by one''s eyesight. If the person''s focus were put entirely on the box in the front, their fate would only be one thing out of the two. First, both arrows had missed the person incredulously. Second, the person''s thigh got prated by a long arrow, maybe two arrows if unlucky.

    For the first oue, that person must have heaven-defying luck to survive that. As for the second oue, it had pretty much already sealed the fate of the victim of those arrows because this ce was only the starting point out of countless ces filled with traps and monsters inside this colossalbyrinth.

    It was too hard for a person with an injured thigh to finish this maze, not to mention that if their thighs were shot by the arrows, that person''s fate was pretty much carved in stone.

    Just like that, when Jeremy reached the box, he squatted down to open it slowly.

    *Creaks*

    Uninterestingly enough, the wooden box was opened with no suspenseful event whatsoever.

    After the box was opened fully, Jeremy saw that the box was empty. However, there was a small rectangr transparent interface suddenly popping up in front of his face.

    It said...

    [You have received 100 SP]

    ''Not bad at all for my first reward...''

    Jeremy thought to himself casually after seeing his reward from opening a single wooden box.

    Afterward, he walked to pick up the two arrows from the trap earlier, and then he kept it inside his right glove filled with only staff, spear, and shield. As a result, within the right glove, there were two additional arrows inside.

    ''I really wonder how many SP will I be able to get from this ce...''

    Jeremy thought casually while walking back to the intersection behind him. He then carefreely went to explore another ce ording to the map generated by his spell that was currently being depicted within his mind.

    This time, he decided to conquer everything here...

 Chapter 33 - Killing With Elegance

    30 minutester...

    Jeremy had been walking and turning in the dimly lit passageways for quite some time. He had met with many junctions, booby traps, and wooden boxes along the way, but he went past them quickly with many windfalls in the form of SP and other things inducing from opening the wooden boxes.

    He also saw foods, water, medicine, bandage, and other misceneous things from those boxes.

    Still, Jeremy ignored most of them because he had already brought those things along with him, storing them inside his left glove since before the First Doom started.

    Not to mention that the foods here wereposed of only meat and bread. Meanwhile, other things such as medicine and bandage were as low quality as they could be.

    The things, which Jeremy had prepared within his left gloves, were countless times better than those things from the boxes. After all, the things he brought were manufactured by the umtion of modern scientific knowledge.

    As for those from within the boxes?

    They were like something those people from Earth''s Middle Ages regrly used...

    So, Jeremy couldn''t care less about those things at all...

    Right now, Jeremy stopped his footsteps in front of a right intersection.

    Upon turning his head to look at the right passageway, he thought to himself, ''ording to the map, if I walk into this passageway for around 50 meters, then turn right again, I will be met with a big chamber. Also, inside the chamber, there are two monsters with indistinct race protecting a box.''

    Having thought to this point, Jeremy proceeded forward into the right passageway.

    Not long after, when Jeremy turned right again, he was met with a spacious squared space together with two bipedal green skin creatures. The height of those two was around Jeremy''s chest with two long pointed ears extending upward, a sharp and long nose, thin lips enough to reveal their jagged, sharp teeth, and a somewhat wrinkled green skin like an old tree leaf.

    They were wearing ragged old clothes, while in the right hand of each said creature was holding a long knife that should be considered a sword if wepared it to the creatures'' height, while along its edge was filled with many chips with some unknown reasons.

    They looked sinister and menacing at the very first nce...

    Upon spotting those creatures, Jeremy thought lightly to himself, ''Two adult goblins huh...''

    Then he turned his head to take a brief look at a box situated behind the creatures; its size was somewhat more extensive than those boxes of his previous encounters. After seeing the box lying there silently, Jeremy turned his head back towards those creatures in his front once again.

    Currently, there were around 50 meters of the distance separating Jeremy and the two adult goblins. Meanwhile, the two goblins were talking to one another in one of the goblin''snguages; they didn''t seem to notice Jeremy for now.

    When Jeremy saw that those goblins didn''t spot him as of yet, he then walked unhurriedly towards them while the squared inscription on his right-handed glove was glowing in a light-blue color resulting from Jeremy activating its function of pulling out an item from inside the space storage.

    After 2 seconds or so, the light-blue color began to expand and lengthen from the inscription on the glove in a horizontal line, bit by bit, forming into a shape of a somewhat long object.

    Until 5 secondster, after the light-blue glow extending itself to its desired long size, a in-looking long silver-grey spear made out of pure steel with a length of 2 meters suddenly manifested itself within the said horizontal light-blue glow.

    It was as if the spear had juste out of nowhere in front of Jeremy''s ck glove...

    That resulted from a miraculous feat inducing from a magic spell with an affinity of space element...

    Right now, Jeremy had already reached 30 meters away from the goblins. Simultaneously, the goblin''s ears standing on the right side suddenly twitched as if it had heard a sounding from somewhere nearby; the same thing also happened shortly after to the goblin on the left.

    "Shhh... Tatejerki, kahabatei-eah?" The goblin on the right suddenly made a noise for the other to stop talking, and then it asked its partner about its suspicion.

    Afterward, the two goblins began to look around in cautiousness while their right hand was holding a long chipped knife tightly.

    Not long after, they finally spotted Jeremy, whom was walking slowly with a long spear in his hand towards them.

    "Jajeek!" The goblin on the left suddenly called its partner, then pointed its long-nailed finger in Jeremy''s direction.

    Upon turning its head and saw Jeremy, whom was marching towards themposedly, the goblin on the right turned its head to exchange a nce with its friend. Finally, after making eye contact with one another, they nodded their head as if they were already in a mutual understanding.

    Right after that, the two goblins started to walk in Jeremy''s direction; they began to increase their speed bit by bit with every step they took until finally, it became a sprint that was as fast as an adult man running at full speed.

    Seeing that sight, Jeremy smiled lightly, ''Here ites, my first blood''.

    When the distance between him and those creatures was around 6 meters apart, the goblin on his right suddenly took a sudden change in its sprinting path to nk Jeremy.

    It was clear enough that their agreed teamwork tactic was to take down a bigger enemy as fast as possible, with one goblin in the front while another goblin would attack in the nk.

    That way, the two goblins would be able to use a continuous attacking method to slowly sap out their opponent''s blood, bone, and stamina.

    As for the reason they decided to use this method, it was because they could clearly felt that the human in front of them was more robust and tough than them. That''s why a tactic was needed to take down their enemy...

    However, they still didn''t realize the fact that they were underestimating the human in front of them.

    By a veryrge extent at that...

    Upon realizing their n, Jeremy smiled amusingly at them. Meanwhile, he kicked the ground forcefully to propel his body forward to the goblin in his front. At the same time, he loosened his right-hand grip holding the spear at the shaft with the spearhead pointing at around 30 degrees to the ground, slowly letting it slide down his glove until he held the spear at its end.

    To be specific, he was now holding the spear at its shoe...

    Not even waiting for the goblins to react to his sudden outburst, Jeremy abruptly squatted down his right leg with his left leg in the front while extended his right hand that was holding the long and heavy spear forward to the limits of his arm length.

    *Whizz*

    *Puchi*

    The spearhead went smoothly into the goblin''s chest even before it could raise its right arm to prepare for an attack.

    The time seemed to slow down for the creature as if it was realizing its imminent doom...

    The goblin''s chest wound got bigger and bigger with each millimeter forward of the spearhead until the spearhead''s transition point, which was also considered the broadest and most fatal point of a spearhead, was reached.

    *Plush*

    Jeremy retracted the spear back with enough force to make it flew back in a straight line gliding its way along his right palm until he went back into holding the spear at its holding shaft once again.

    Meanwhile, he lightly jumped sidestep to the left to avoid a collision with the wounded goblin in his front with its current momentum. After avoiding the said goblin sessfully, he turned his head to the goblin on his right side, only to see that it was now around four steps away from him, still sprinting at him madly.

    At the moment, the remaining goblin, who sprint madly, now opened its right arm widely while holding a long knife, preparing to strike the human in its front without any caring about its partner''s well-doing at all.

    Upon seeing the sight of the iing goblin, Jeremy corrected his postures, then timed his attack aligning with his opponent''s distance and speed towards him.

    *Whoosh*

    He horizontally swung the spear in his hand shortly after...

    *Chop*

    The head of the iing goblin flew several centimeters above its body before falling onto the ground with a trail and drops of ''green'' blood sshing out everywhere.

    *Thud*

    *Thud*

    Afterward, the body of those goblins dropped down to the ground motionlessly.

    They couldn''t be more dead...

    The fight started really fast, but it ended even quicker, with one was pierced through the heart, whereas another was beheaded cleanly with a sharp spear de.

    When Jeremy saw that the goblins were dead, he proceeded to the box behind the goblin corpses like nothing ever happened.

    At the same time, the inscription on his right glove started to glow once again. This time, he would be putting the spear into the glove instead of pulling out an item from it.

    At this moment, there was also a transparent interface being projected in front of his face stating...

    ...

    [You have received 59 SP]

    [You have received 61 SP]

    ...

    When Jeremy reached the box located at the chamber''s center, the spear with its spearhead bathing gleefully in green ''liquid'' had already disappeared into the glove.

    ''Let''s see, what is inside this box...'' Jeremy thought to himself while squatting down to open this somewhat big box.

    *Creaks*

    When the box was fully opened, something was lying inside the box that was now catching Jeremy''s attention. Its length was about 70 cm like the two goblins'' weapons; their shape and size were also the same as the swords of those green creatures.

    No doubt, the thing inside the box in front of him was actually a sword that looked exactly the same as the two swords lying beside their owner''s corpses right now.

    Except for that, the short sword within the box looked brand-new with no chip whatsoever, unlike the chipped swords of those green goblins.

    Then a transparent window promptly popped up in front of him again...

    ...

    [You have received 29 SP]

    ...

    After seeing his gain this time, he could only shake his head from side to side. Having to kill two goblins and open a box, he only got 149 SP and a useless sword.

    Because he didn''t use a sword but a spear to fight...

    If it was like this, he preferred the first box that he had opened aftering into this ce more, for he could effortlessly get 100 SP from that.

    Still, his total gain in the past half an hour was not bad at all. He had already opened seven boxes, avoided more than thirteen traps, picked up some valuable herbs along the way; together with killing two goblins this time, he got more than 652 SP as a result.

    Then Jeremy picked the short sword up and kept it inside his right glove. After all, some good items could still be sold at a good price to the Survival Crystal.

    *Sigh*

    ''I have walked for more than 30 minutes and could only explore around 10% of thisbyrinth. It seems like I may have to spend more than 5 hours if I want to do a full exploration here after all.''

    Jeremy sighed and thought about his current circumstances before proceeding into the passageway in the opposite direction of when he came into this chamber.

    He walked unhurriedly but elegantly as always...

 Chapter 34 - Who Is The Boss Here?

    2 hourster...

    *Whoosh* *nk*

    *Whizz* *Puchi*

    *Swoosh* *Chop*

    Sounds were being produced from the long spear wielded by Jeremy resonating sonorously within a particr chamber inside thebyrinth. Whether it be a sword, knife, or mace being brandished by the three goblins in front of him, they all were either deflected away or broken in half by Jeremy''s artfulness of spearmanship.

    Suddenly...

    *Thwish*

    While flourishing his spear skillfully to fight against the remaining goblin, whom was holding a metal mace with many sharp spikes protruding out from the mace''s head, there was a sound akin to a string being pulled and released...

    Then he turned his head and body sideways to avoid the approaching arrow fired towards his head by another goblin standing around 15 meters away from him.

    *Whizz...*

    The arrow went past Jeremy''s right ear dangerously, while his right hand holding the spear was quickly retracted back to behind his body in preparation for his next move.

    Upon seeing the goblin in his front using this opportunity to bridge the distance between them quickly, and it was now raising the mace above its head, preparing to strike at him directly.

    As their distance was too close, Jeremy couldn''t use the spearhead to counterattack. So, he decided to jump obliquely, trying to bypass the goblin at its left side to avoid the iing attack that woulde from the goblin''s right hand towards his face.

    Not expecting that its enemy would try to close the distance instead of widening it, the goblin was caught off guard all of a sudden. It certainly knew that its strike was going to miss the target badly.

    Knowing that its face was clearly showing a horrified expression. Afterward, it jumped away instinctively into the opposite side of Jeremy to avoid his tackle.

    However, to tackle the enemy?

    That was not Jeremy''s purpose in the first ce; he would never do something so disgraceful like that...

    When he saw that the short creature in front of him had tried to increase the distance between them, his now-retracted right hand behind his back started to move out to the side of his body, causing the spear shaft to move closer into his body.

    At the time when his position was parallel to the goblin, the shaft was already within his left hand''s reach. Then he extended his left hand to catch the spear shaft and pulled it back to his chest as fast as possible, resulting in the spearhead''s de assaulting the unaware goblin from the back.

    *sh*

    The goblin''s waist was almost cut in half while it was still in mid-air. At the time when it finally nded'' on the ground, it could not feel its legs anymore. No matter how hard it tried to move its two short legs, they were not responsive anymore.

    "Kieeee..."

    With itsst word was said, it stopped moving...

    Meanwhile, Jeremy didn''t even turn his head to look at the goblin that was now lying behind him. Instead, he started walking to the goblin in the distance slowly with a blood-bathing spear in hand.

    His demeanor was cold and uncaring enough to make a bystander felt chilled deep into their bone marrow...

    His every step seemed to cause a chain of tremors echoing into the heart of his every enemy...

    His strength and prowess being shown and demonstrated so far were truly unstoppable...

    Right now, the man, Jeremy, seemed to be walking leisurely yet so gracefully to his enemy, the goblin archer. Its fate was already sealed in stone the moment Jeremy''s eyes wereid on it...

    When the goblin archer saw its threepanions all dropped dead onto the ground receiving only one strike each by the frightening human to be killed, it got truly scared, while its hands and body kept trembling nonstop.

    However, it seemed like its will to live wasn''t diminished yet, as it was now trying to nock another arrow on the bow, albeit still trembling so badly.

    At the time when Jeremy had reached 5 meters away from it, it finally finished nocking the said arrow, which was now aiming directly at Jeremy''s head.

    However...

    It still didn''t shoot yet; instead, it opened its mouth and said, "Kusa!!"

    "Kusa!! Peg, kusa!!"

    Which meant ''Stop!! You, stop!!''.

    Upon hearing that, Jeremy smiled amusingly, but he never stopped his footsteps.

    Actually, the goblin had just said in Taesait, one of the goblinnguages that Jeremy had learned of before in boring time.

    However, right now, thisnguage was kept securely with other unnecessary knowledge within his sea of consciousness not to burden his ''fragile'' mind. That''s why he didn''t realize the meaning behind that said words.

    Nevertheless, even if he didn''t know the meaning behind those words, he could still roughly guess the gist of it.

    However, would he ever stop his tracks and spare that little goblin even if he knew the meaning?

    The answer was a huge, NO...

    Starting from the very first moment of the First Doom advent, it would only be ''do or die'' for the Earthlings.

    Jeremy was also no exception regarding this rule...

    Right now, Jeremy had already reached 2 meters away from the goblin, which was considered as the most optimum attacking range of a spear, but the scared goblin still didn''t fire the arrow at him.

    Seeing that sight, Jeremy finally stopped his footsteps while decided to test something.

    "Shoot"

    He said with evil but charming smile from ear to ear while opening his arms widely like someone who was fully ready to ept a god''s judgment.

    "..."

    After the cowardly goblin saw that sight, it felt even more horrified...

    How could this human not fear death?

    How could this human look so evil?

    He must be a devil from hell... was the only thought that sounded reasonable inside its small head.

    Until...

    *Thwish*

    It got too scared of Jeremy, even its hand that was holding the arrow loosened by itself.

    That''s right, the arrow was fired identally by the spineless goblin...

    However, before the goblin could even rejoice at its sudden fortune from killing the human, it got horrified ever again.

    *Peng!*

    There came the sound of a metal object hitting against another solid object.

    To be exact, it was the sound generating from the arrowhead crashing with a transparent light blue film only a few centimeters above Jeremy''s skin.

    That transparent light blue film was actually Jeremy''s mana field projection that had been apanying him all the time ever since he had be an Apprentice Mage.

    [A/N: Chapter 7 - Mana Field Projection]

    Right now, he was a Journeyman Mage which was one substage higher than Apprentice Mage. From Jeremy''s estimation, his mana field was at least more than enough to defend against a sniper bullet that usually traveled faster than Earth''s sound speed. That well-praised result was also thanks to the purest mana inside his dantians.

    ''This little thing is really a wimp; he actually fires the arrow at me identally. Hmm... To defend against that arrow shot, it doesn''t even consume 0.2% of my total mana. I can take on more than 500 of those strikes with some mana to spare.''

    Having thought of that, Jeremy shook his head dismissively before thrusting his spear forward lightly at the neck of the ''wimp''.

    *Puchi* *Plush*

    *Thud*

    For Jeremy, who had gone through countless life and death situations, he had abandoned the feeling called ''empathy'' towards his enemy a long time ago.

    There ain''t no mercy when Jeremy dealt with his enemy from the get-go...

    Just like that, thest goblin eventually dropped down to the ground with its two hands gripping desperately at the big wound on its neck, trying to prevent its green blood from oozing out of the fatal injury. It continued to convulse in pain for almost half a minute before it finally died.

    Fair enough, that was quite a death befitting a coward...

    After thest goblin ceased its breath, a transparent window suddenly popped up in front of Jeremy, concluding his SP gained from this ''hunt''. It was a total of 260 SP from killing the four goblins.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy had already walked away from the scene heading to the dead-end wall at his right side. Right when he reached the wall, he raised his right hand to pull the magical torch downward.

    *Click*

    *Whoong* *Whoong*

    Like magic, the wall began to move back, revealing a gap at the two sides, then it turned sideways, letting Jeremy see the interior of the ''room''.

    *Fwhoosh*

    *Fwhoosh*

    *Fwhoosh*

    The magical torches within the squared cave-like room lit up one after another, giving warm-white light into the surrounding.

    ...

    [You have received 500 SP for discovering the final chamber]

    ...

    Upon seeing the notification, Jeremy thought surprisingly to himself, ''A boss room?''

    He was indeed amazed at the sudden turn of event, for he didn''t know that there was actually a boss room within thisbyrinth. After all, it was just an easy difficulty door that the only purpose of this ce was to find an exit. And that''s it...

    However, Jeremy had felt a vague feeling of mana turbulence from behind this wall. So, he decided to check it out for a bit with the thought that maybe he would get some bonus rewards from this hidden room.

    Who would have thought that he would actually find a boss room within this ce...

    Not wanting to waste his mana to cast a detection spell, Jeremy walked forward into the chamber. Simultaneously, when he walked past the ''door'' into the chamber, a window popped up in front of him.

    ...

    [If you choose to proceed forward, you will never be able to leave the chamber before eliminating every life form within this ce]

    [For the hurdle of this ce is beyond its original assigned difficulty, you may choose to leave this ce within the countdown of 5 seconds]

    ...

    When Jeremy saw those 2 lines of notification, he raised one of his eyebrows in wonder. Afterward, he thought excitedly to himself, ''Like hell will I back down now. I''ve already determined to crush the tutorial with the highest achievement even before Ie here.''

    Jeremy was feeling very happy at the moment. It had been such a long time since he hadst felt anticipated like this.

    But his excitement was very short-lived...

    Because the enemies in front of him merely consisted of one old hobgoblin holding a staff and four adult hobgoblins holding a sword each while acting like the old one''s guards. All in all, for Jeremy, they were only slightly stronger than the group of 4 goblins that Jeremy had faced a while ago.

    *Sigh*

    Atst, Jeremy sighed to himself and thought optimistically, ''Maybe, I will face something worthwhile within Normal or Hard difficulty door. I really hope so...''

 Chapter 35 - Hobgoblins And Dokkaebi

    5...

    4...

    3...

    2...

    1...

    ...

    [The countdown had ended, you can turn back no more]

    ...

    *Whoosh*

    There came sounds of an invisible barrier being projected at the entrance behind him, signifying that Jeremy would not be able to leave this ce anymore.

    That was... before he sessfully slew the five hobgoblins in front of him.

    As if they had just realized Jeremy''s presence, one by one, the hobgoblins started to turn their heads in Jeremy''s direction.

    ''They wore leather armor? Hmm... Hobgoblin, a low-rank organism as same as us humans. They are a race that is one rank above the goblin that I have faced so far. A hobgoblin''s base strength is more than two times stronger than a goblin... These guys indeed can be considered as hidden bosses for this ce.''

    Having thought of that basic information, Jeremy carefully scrutinized the 5 ''ounders'' in front of him. After all, if we didn''t count Jeremy''s mana into the equation, this fight would be very tough for him.

    The word ''Ounder'' was widely used by most humans on Ortus when they referred to other extraterrestrial races.

    As for how a hobgoblin looked like, its height was around an average human''s height but with its smooth green skin with no body or head hair whatsoever. They also had two long pointed ears but without a long nose like a goblin.

    All in all, they looked just like an evolutionary version of a standard green goblin, however, with a stronger-looking body, greater height, heavier weight, andposing demeanor while standing upright.

    A hobgoblin was usually born with no element affinity but mostly blessed with a far stronger body and several times higher reproduction rates than humans despite their same organism rank. Furthermore, together with their unique cultivation method, all in all, they were not deemed any weaker than the human race back on Ortus.

    However, in rare cases, when one of them was born with an element affinity, that hobgoblin would be hailed as a colored Dokkaebi of which its skin color would be aligned with the respective element that they were born with.

    Also, when a Dokkaebi was born, it would be born with a lineage power called ''Ancestor''s Guidance'' in the universalnguage, which was said to be an inherited power passed down from its ancestral generations.

    In other words, the more powerful its subsequent, direct ancestors were, the stronger the next sessor would be...

    That was precisely also the case for the old hobgoblin that was currently holding a wooden staff, standing behind the four hobgoblin warriors because its skin color was pitch-ck.

    That old one was actually a Dokkaebi, of which its ck skin color clearly represented its affinity with the darkness element.

    That meant the ck-skinned Dokkaebi in front of Jeremy could certainly cast some inherited spells inherently derived from itste ancestors...

    Upon seeing that the ck hooded human in front of them wasn''t showing any fearful expression, the Dokkaebi frowned before speaking lightly in an obscurenguage to the four other hobgoblins in its front.

    "Daetaks-seu, kareh at cras."

    Then those four hobgoblins nodded their heads in understanding before starting to move into a formation with two on the left and another two on the right side of the old Dokkaebi altogether with their fighting stance readied.

    While walking slowly in the hobgoblin''s direction, Jeremy pondered inwardly, ''I have to take down the old one first; otherwise, my mana amount would have been reduced from defending the spells cast by it.''

    With a determined face, Jeremy stopped his footsteps. Afterward, there was a light glowing out of his right glove inscription. Meanwhile, the five ounders also stood with aposed look waiting intently for the start of the forting bloodbath.

    At the moment, the distance between the two sides was around 40 meters. Even if they sprinted at full speed to engage in a fight with one another, it would still require approximately 2.5 seconds of full-speed running.

    And if Jeremy really wanted to take down the old guy first and foremost, he would have to waste even more time to dodge the four hobgoblin warriors'' attacks, then sprinted for around 2 seconds to reach the Dokkaebi.

    ''That amount of time was enough for that guy to cast more than two spells on me...'' Jeremy thought frowningly.

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    The two sides were having a standoff while staring at one another''s eyes attentively; they were currently assessing the possibility of various scenarios that might be able to decide the oue.

    While Jeremy gripped his spear tightly, the four hobgoblin warriors held their own sword firmly, while the old Dokkaebi was actually acting differently...

    Because it had spotted a light glowing out of Jeremy''s right glove, so, it decided to put a stop to the standoff by raising its wooden staff into the air, intending to prepare a spell...

    Upon seeing that, Jeremy narrowed his eyes, then with his quickest speed, he sprinted out as fast as he could into the direction of the hobgoblins.

    Meanwhile, the hobgoblin warriors also made their move by started running in Jeremy''s direction. As for the old Dokkaebi, it was reciting an incantation in an unknownnguage to cast one of its inherited spells at Jeremy.

    ''Considering that he is a ck Dokkaebi, he should cast a curse or a crowd control spell on me.'' Thought Jeremy while sprinting at full speed.

    The two sides would face off against each other shortly, with only less than 30 meters of distance between them...

    While Jeremy was bolting at his full speed, the hobgoblins started to slow down and jogged tightly to one another, closing off every hole that Jeremy might utilize to bypass them to attack the old Dokkaebi in the back.

    After all, the 4 of them were ordered by the Dokkaebi, their leader, to stall time for it to cast a curse spell on the human.

    They decided to y it safe...

    Upon seeing the sight in front of him, Jeremy smirked lightly while his right-hand posture that was holding the spear in an attacking stance was changed into a throwing stance by turning and rotating his palm upside down around the spear shaft.

    Then...

    Without any prior indication, Jeremy suddenly stopped with his left foot in the front and right foot in the back, while his left arm was extended to his front and his right arm was pulled further behind his back.

    He was exactly in a perfect throwing pose...

    Despite the weight, length, and design of the spear that was not quite suitable for throwing, Jeremy made it possible with his high skills and personal strength.

    *Whoosh*

    To the surprise of hobgoblin warriors, the thrown spear had already gone past them before they could assess the situation.

    At that time, the ck Dokkaebi had been closing its eyes, concentrating entirely on the chant.

    Right when the spell was finally ready to be cast, it opened its eyes sharply...

    However, before it could chant the final keyword to cast the spell on the human, the sight it saw was not as its anticipation of human versus hobgoblin warriors at all. Instead, it was a long sharp spear darting directly towards its chest.

    With no time to dodge, it could only stare at the spear in horror...

    *Puchi*

    The steel spear went through the chest of the old Dokkaebi smoothly as it went all the way to the ground at a nt angle due tobined velocity from throwing force and gravity force.

    The spear was currently pinning down the old Dokkaebi''s body with the ground giving no room for it to move at all.

    It could now only twitch its four limbs back and forth with its face staring at the ceiling nkly; it continued to be like that for some time before it finally stopped moving forever...

    ''That throw should have easily broken the world records back on Earth if I were to aim at a nt angle with the sky instead.''

    Nodding his head in satisfaction, Jeremy hurriedly jumped back away from the four remaining hobgoblins, not giving them time to react or catch up with him.

    After all, his right glove was still glowing and shaping its light blue glow into the shape of a sword, and it still required a bit more than 3 seconds to bring out his sword.

    The sword that Jeremy was bringing out was actually the bronze sword that he had acquired from opening the big box after killing the two goblins 2 hours ago.

    At this moment, one of the hobgoblin warriors had finally recovered from its shocking state after seeing its leader being impaled to the ground with a long spear ruthlessly.

    Then it said, "Kro-ne!!" loudly for the other threepanions to hear for them to recover back from their stupor.

    "Kro-ne!!"

    "Kro-ne!!"

    "Kro-ne!!"

    One by one, they shouted the same word thunderously, following the first hobgoblin warrior.

    Obviously, the word simply meant ''Kill''...

    To kill the human in front of them...

 Chapter 36 - Jeremy Vs Hobgoblin Warriors

    They wanted to kill the damned human so badly...

    How could the human dare kill their leader right before their eyes and even under their protection at that?

    It was such an uneptable oue for great warriors like them.

    So, getting raged, they were.

    One by one, they started to dash at full speed into Jeremy''s fleeing direction with no formation or strategy whatsoever.

    The only thought within their minds was to shred the ursed human into pieces and brought his blood, brain, and guts to do a sacrificial ritual to their deceased leader for the sake of appeasing and leading his soul into the god''s kingdom.

    Unfortunately for them, their current action of rushing in recklessly would only make it worse as their rage and uncoordinated teamwork was nothing but convenience to Jeremy.

    When a hobgoblin warrior in the front saw that the distance between it and the human was shortened bit by bit, and the human had no weapon in his hands whatsoever with only some harmless-looking light glowing from his right hand.

    When the hobgoblin saw that, it grew even more confident in taking down the human...

    After a few secondster, the human''s back was finally within its attacking range. So, it raised the sword in its right hand, preparing to attack the human; it decided not to allow Jeremy to have any chance of fighting them back.

    ording to its imagination, the fight would havee to an end with a deep wound on the weaponless human''s back after it swung the sword.

    Not caring about the pride or dignity of a warrior, it shed down the sword at the back of the human at full force, intending to bisect him into pieces or at least give the human a fatal wound in one strike.

    Unbeknownst to it...

    Starting from the moment Jeremy stepped into this chamber, all his actions were predetermined, with every step and action being calcted discretely before performing.

    Right when the sword was being swung down onto his back, Jeremy, who was now running half-baked, suddenly kicked the ground forcefully with his left foot, causing his body to spin half round to the right side avoiding the sword strike narrowly.

    Afterward, a bronze sword suddenly appeared from within the light glow in front of his right palm. Then Jeremy gripped its handle firmly before swinging it horizontally to his right side.

    *Chop*

    The hobgoblin warrior''s head, with its face filled with rage and excitement, flew into the air with its green blood sshing everywhere.

    It died without even knowing how it was killed...

    Not waiting for the other 3 to react to his sudden counterattack, Jeremy dashed to the front in the direction of the iing hobgoblins.

    *sh*

    The closest hobgoblin to Jeremy didn''t even have time to react before it was met with a clean sh at its chest from his quick swing before it fell to the ground lifelessly.

    Meanwhile, the third hobgoblin, who came a bitter than the previous 2, had a bit of time to react to the sudden assault from Jeremy. It hurriedly raised its sword to the front, preparing to defend against the approaching shing right at its neck.

    *ng!*

    The nging sound resounded out sonorously within the chamber...

    From the monstrous force of Jeremy''sbined with high total momentum force induced from the two sides'' rushing momentums, the hobgoblin felt that its wrist would have been broken if it received another attack like this time.

    "Graaa!"

    With a deep snarl, it ground its teeth intensely as if that would help in reducing the pain on its wrist.

    Seeing that the strike was not reaping any result, Jeremynded a left kick heavily on the grumbling hobgoblin''s stomach, causing it to bounce off to more than 5 meters away.

    *Bam*

    *Crack*

    It seemed like some of its ribcage bones were broken after receiving that kicking strike because it was now lying painfully on the ground while clutching its chest tightly.

    At the same time, thest hobgoblin, who had luckily run at the furthest ce away from its threepanions, was nowing from Jeremy''s left side.

    Unlike the first hobgoblin, it looked very cautious...

    It had finally realized that the human before it was not to be taken lightly at all. He was fast, strong, skillful, and most importantly, he was very sly.

    Now, two of itsrades already dropped dead while another one was breathing heavily with no sign of standing up from the ground anytime soon.

    "Finally, it''s a one on one battle. This is something we call a ''fair'' fight in our world."

    Surprisingly, Jeremy didn''t speak in English or any othernguage on Earth, but he had said in Ortusnguage, aka ''universalnguage'' that was wholly imbued with the universe''s will.

    The universalnguage wasposed of words that had their own meaning, like Chinese words. However, the universenguage would send a signal directly to the listener''s brain and mind, causing them to understand the meaning behind the said word clearly.

    That''s why the hobgoblin was now very surprised that the human before it could actually speak the universalnguage.

    "??"

    However...

    It had already lost its ground in this fight the moment it felt surprised by Jeremy''s words, then Jeremy darted forward with a quick sword swing at the still dazed hobgoblin warrior.

    Jeremy shed his sword horizontally, diagonally, and vertically nonstop at the hobgoblin, whom could only parry and deflect the strike passively at his assaults.

    *ng*

    *ng*

    *ng*

    The big and small wounds on its body kept increasing more and more with the passing time until it felt that if the status quo remained like this, it would undoubtedly die...

    *ng*

    "Graa!!"

    The sound of Jeremy''s sword being deflected was apanied by a low growling noise from inside the hobgoblin''s throat, then it put all of its force into its two legs and jumped towards Jeremy with a hacking stanceing from above.

    It intended to finish the fight in an instant with its supposed ultimate move...

    Jeremy smirked amusingly upon seeing that sight while thinking, ''It''s full of openings; what a simple-minded creature.''

    Then Jeremy raised his right foot and gave a straight kick at the upper abdomen of the mid-air hobgoblin...

    *Bam*

    The green-skinned creature was bounced off even faster than when it jumped towards Jeremy, leaving behind only its sword dropping onto the ground.

    *Thud*

    Then with a thudding sound, it crashed onto the ground even farther than its remaining hobgoblin friend, whom was still struggling its way up from the ground.

    Apanying by intense pain at its abdomen like it had never felt anywhere before, it cried out tears and snots of pain with gagging soundsing out of its mouth constantly.

    It was such a pain worse than death...

    Just like that, Jeremy walked up slowly to the hobgoblin that was struggling to stand up from Jeremy''s ''first'' kick.

    When it saw that the frightening human wasing its way, it hurriedly grabbed its sword on the floor up.

    With a gulping sound from its throat, it retreated step by step with a painful and trembling body.

    Seeing that sight, Jeremy shook his head and decided to finish the job fast. He abruptly dashed towards the retreating hobgoblin, then shed the sword at its neck.

    *ng*

    *tter*

    Only able to deflect one strike from Jeremy, its sword dropped down to the ground with a ttering noise because its grip on the sword ckened due to its chest pain and Jeremy''s forceful strike.

    *sh*

    "Kieee..."

    Then with a clean sh on its chest, it cried in pain before finally stopped moving...

    Right after that, Jeremy walked to the groaning and gagging hobgoblin at some meters away and gave it a painless death with a clean cut on its neck.

    *Chop*

    Just like that, all of the hobgoblins within the chamber were all dead...

    ...

    [You have received 202 SP]

    [You have received 124 SP]

    [You have received 121 SP]

    [You have received 129 SP]

    [You have received 125 SP]

    [You have received 1xˇď forpleting the final chamber]

    ...

    After killing thest hobgoblin within the room, Jeremy saw six notifications suddenly popped up in front of his eyes one by one.

    When those notifications disappeared from his eyes, other ones were projected in front of him instead; they said...

    ...

    ˇş Congrattions. You''ve earned a qualification to enter into the second stage of the Tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş Would you like to exchange ˇď for a teleportation ticket? ˇ»

    ˇş Yes ©¦ No ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing the notifications, Jeremy didn''t even ponder about the answer before choosing ''No'' as his answer.

    Then he thought to himself, ''It is not the right time to leave the first stage as of yet, because there are still many benefits to reap from.''

    ''Let''s see, what is inside that silver box...''

    With that thought in mind, Jeremy''s eyes shifted to a small box at the far end opposite to the entrance from which he hade in.

    As a result of those five hobgoblins standing so close to one another, they had shielded the box from Jeremy''s sightpletely.

    Only now that the fight had ended that Jeremy''s eyes could finally focus on that box.

    The silver box looked luxurious at first nce, apanied by various patterns and beautifully embossed marks here and there on its surface.

    ''I wonder if the box is saleable at the shop.''

    Jeremy chuckled lightly after seeing that the box looked very expensive...

    After realizing that there was no trap for this one, Jeremy walked up to the box slowly as always. Not long after, he reached the box, squatted down, then opened to box to see its contents.

    *Creaks*

    With a creaking noise, the box was opened ever so slowly...

    When Jeremy saw an object inside the box, his eyes widened in astonishment...

 Chapter 37 - A Reward And A Despair

    A square-shaped object that looked like a paper used in ancient times back on Earth was lying silently within the silver box...

    ''A skill parchment?'' Jeremy thought in amazement.

    Parchment was a runal-writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of living things. The stronger the being was, the higher the quality of a parchment became.

    As a result...

    Supposed the Tutorial was akin to a helping hand for the transported people to adapt to the environment and the ways of living on Ortus easier. Then those various skills that everyone would be able to buy and receive from the ''shop'' were something that was very necessary and could make the adaptation process even easier.

    That''s why the skills within the shop, even though they were expensive, were still considered one of the god-sent opportunities for the one who could afford to buy them.

    Right now, one of those skills presented itself in front of Jeremy, for free at that...

    Jeremy picked the skill parchment up from the box, then looked at the words written on the parchment.

    At the top, ''Mana Affinity'', was written there.

    In the middle, it described the benefits of this skill, such as boosting the user''s affinity with mana, causing them to feel the presence of mana easier, consequently leading the user into the path of a true mage, and so on...

    At the bottom of the parchment, the sentence ''Tear it to learn the skill'' was written there.

    Unsurprisingly, the words on the parchment were written in Universal Language that wouldmunicate and ry the exact meaning of the words into the brain of any reader.

    ''Such a pity, this thing might be akin to a mountain load of golds for others, but not me.''

    Shaking his head lightly, Jeremy kept the parchment inside his right glove. Then he proceeded to keep the silver box, but soon, he realized that the space within his right glove was already almost at its maximum capacity.

    Then he brought out the arrows he had picked up from disarming various traps along the way and also brought out the bronze sword he had used to fight a moment ago from his right glove.

    Afterward, he started rearranging and counting every item inside his left glove, which was filled with various misceneous items.

    When he finished calcting the pros and cons of those things, he decided to discard some excess items, such as food, water, and other big and heavy things, such as some wooden logs and stones from his left glove.

    Well, Jeremy only kept those wooden logs and some stones to build a campfire and fill the empty space within his left glove, that''s all...

    After he finished rearranging his stuff and dumping the many unnecessary things, Jeremy proceeded to put the silver box, bronze sword, arrows, and the weapons of those hobgoblins inside his two gloves.

    *Sigh*

    ''What a tedious job. This kind of thing is really not my stuff. I should find one or two maids to do the tidy job for meter.'' Jeremy thought to himself tiredly while wiping the nonexistent sweat from his forehead.

    Afterward, when he checked the chamber that there was nothing worth his attention anymore, Jeremy walked to pick up his spear that was still pinning the old Dokkaebi to the ground.

    ''Good sage, it is not blunted yet.''

    With that thought in mind, Jeremy walked back with the spear in hand to the entrance''s direction that now had no barrier to prevent him from escaping anymore.

    ''Halfway to go before exiting this ce...''

    Jeremy walked further and further away from the scene until his hooded figurepletely disappeared from the final chamber...

    ...

    With just 50 skeleton soldiers...

    Even though the strength and speed of those boney skeletons were nowhere near them, humans, nevertheless, there were more than 50 of those things walking out from the left and right passageway, closing off all of the people''s escaping routes from within the clearing.

    Moreover, Eddie, Mitchell, and other people in the clearing didn''t even have a proper weapon to fight those abominations.

    Atst, with the starting 10 SP given by the system, only around ten people had bought weapons, such as wooden swords, wooden spears, wooden beams, wooden poles, and wooden shields from the shop in the Survival Crystal.

    At that moment, the best weapons they could afford were actually weapons made from woods with the starting price of at least 10 SP ranging to 20 or so SP. Even if they wanted to buy better weapons than the wooden ones, they still needed a whopping 21 SP even for a simple sharp kitchen knife...

    As a result, only ten people decided to buy a wooden weapon...

    As for why the other 38 people didn''t buy any weapon to fight?

    It''s because...

    Even after being convinced by Eddie, Mitchell, and some other people to buy at least the cheapest protective measure to defend themselves, still, an idea of spending their limited SP to buy a wooden weapon didn''t even cross their minds.

    Actually, it might indeed cross into the minds of some people, yet they chose to conserve their precious SP instead of spending them on something that might not be useful in the near future at all.

    After all, those SP could be used to buy other useful things, such as food, water, and many other misceneous items from the shop.

    Thus, what if they decided to spend all of their SP to buy the weapons, then nothing happened afterward; who could they me then?

    If they really spent their SP on something that might be useless, they could only wait for their starvation toe...

    ''Isn''t it better to buy foods and water instead?'', was the thought that resounded within many people''s minds at the time.

    In another case, if they somehow bought a wooden weapon each, would they be able to fight with those creatures described in the missions list?

    How could they even fight with monsters when they had never killed a dog or a cat before in their short life?

    They felt really afraid that they would have wasted their SP for nothing...

    They also felt insecure about everything that might happen shortly...

    So, they''d rather stick with the status quo in the hope that some miracles might happen...

    Or at least, in the hope that nothing would happen to them...

    However...

    With those mindsets, they couldn''t be more wrong yet again. Those mindsets signified that many of them still didn''t realize that their old manner of lives had alreadye to an end since 3 hours ago.

    When the countdown numbers that had been floating silently above the Survival Crystal hade to an end, they finally realized that they should have believed the words of that military guy and other few people whom had been trying to convince them for the past hour.

    Because when the countdown timer hit zero, more than 50 spooky skeletons with a wisp of green fire burning in their sockets came out from the left and right passageway while each one of them was holding a long and thick bone in their hands, acting as a weapon.

    The sight of an army of 50 scary skeletons was too creepy for most people here...

    As a result of experiencing a horror movie''s scene in real life for the first time, those people, whether they were chatting with others, sitting alone in contemting about life, crying for someone they loved, begging for god''s forgiveness, or getting excited because of some unknown reasons...

    At this moment, all of them felt terrified to their cores with no distinction...

    Someone shrieked, someone screamed, someone yelled, someone fainted, and someone even peed their own pants.

    The situation got even more chaotic after they saw that those grotesque walking pieces of bones slowly made their way towards them.

    Upon seeing that sight, Eddie was the first one to ovee his fear, and then he shouted aloud for everyone to run towards the Crystal to buy weapons to defend themselves as fast as possible.

    When the people heard the muscr Eddie''s voice, some of them finally snapped out of their fears, and then their survival instinct finally took control of their bodies instead.

    So, they ran as fast as they could towards the Crystal to buy those supposed ''useless'' weapons in the shop.

    Still...

    Many people couldn''t ovee their own fears as they sumbed to the ground helplessly with shaking and trembling legs.

    Those people included the two fainted people, a young petite girl with a 12-year-old look and a very old man and woman whose legs refused to move no matter what.

    While some scared shitless people were trying their best to run, crawl, and wiggle to the Crystal as hard as they could for survival, yet those five people didn''t even budge an inch from their positions...

    With blue fire burning eerily within their eye sockets, small portions of skeleton soldiers walked slowly to the five people who were left behind. In contrast, another big portion went to the people, whom were struggling and pushing one another chaotically, trying to ess the Survival Crystal.

    Currently, Eddie stood with Mitchell nearby the Survival Crystal, spectating the sights around them nervously.

    Then when Eddie saw that some people couldn''t group up with them because their minds and legs gave out, Eddie suddenly spoke up...

    "Ah, for fuck sake! Mitchell, you go bring that little girl here, and I will go to that fainted man."

    Upon hearing Eddie''s words, Mitchell got stupefied, "What the... Are you crazy or wha... Shit!!"

    However, before Mitchell could even finish his sentence, Eddie was already several meters away from him, darting hurriedly to the fainted man.

    "Come back right now, bastard! Don''t y hero here; it isn''t worth your own life!" Mitchell could only shout after the muscle-head military idiot, Eddie, helplessly.

    Upon seeing that Eddie hadunched off quickly to the second closest disabled person to them, Mitchell shook his head in resignation.

    Afterward, he turned his head to the still crouching and crying little girl''s direction and saw that she was pretty close to his current position.

    ''I might make it in time. Should I go?'' With that thought in mind, Mitchell pondered to himself.

    Upon turning his head briefly to see the two creepy skeletons with uncoordinated movements whom were making their way to the crying girl slowly, Mitchell got goosebumps all over his body, ''Ah shit, they look so spooky.''

    However, when he saw that Eddie was still running at full speed to the rescue, he shook his head again while cursing Eddie out loud, "Damn you, Eddie!"

    *Sigh*

    After sighing to his fate, Mitchell sprinted towards the little girl...

 Chapter 38 - A Victory And A Friendship

    *Bam*

    *Bam*

    "Argh... it hurts. Help, help me..." The man jolted up from his faint after being hit in the head continuously by a skeleton soldier''s long bone.

    Due to the concussion the man received from being hit in the head altogether with the painful sensation from his entire body, he could only use his two arms to protect himself.

    *Bam*

    "Ghak..."

    *Bam*

    "Aargh... Please... somebody..."

    *Sob* *Sob*

    With his consciousness faded away ever so slowly, he could only beg and sob weakly...

    Suddenly...

    "Stop! You boney mother fucker! Eat this!"

    Following the said words, a muscr bald man with a military outfit suddenly jumped up high from the ground with a wooden sword that cost him 12 SP being gripped tightly in his right hand; he hacked the ''sword'' down at the left shoulder of a skeleton soldier.

    *Crunch*

    Apanying by the crunching noise of bones breaking, the entire left arm of the skeleton soldier dropped down to the ground.

    "Guwahaha, how does it feel to be hit back, white lil'' shit."

    However, as if it didn''t feel any pain, the skeleton soldier turned its head with a green fire burning eerily in its eye sockets to Eddie.

    "Jesus'' holy shit..."

    Upon seeing the spine-chilling skeleton up-close, Eddie couldn''t help but took two steps back.

    Meanwhile, as if it had gotten raged from losing an arm, the skeleton soldier changed its target from the sobbing man to the daring Eddie instead, then it started to walk towards him slowly.

    "Stop, stop there. Or else I''ll shoot... wait... I don''t have a gun." Eddie took each step back with each step taken by the skeleton soldier.

    They remained the same distance for some seconds...

    Until Eddie saw that two more skeleton soldiers were walking in the sobbing man''s direction, he finally woke up.

    At that moment, Eddie could only grit his teeth strongly with a conflict expression between good and evil.

    However, that expression didn''t stay on his face for long...

    Having finally gathered all his resolves at once, with all his might, Eddie roared, "Ah, fuck it. DIEEE!!"

    Eddie swung his sword horizontally as hard as he could at the approaching skeleton...

    At the same time, as if realizing its imminent doom, the skeleton soldier brought forth its long boney weapon with its two boney hands to the front, intending to defend against the iing strike from Eddie.

    *tter*

    The sound induced by the wooden sword and the long bone having crashed with one another echoed loudly...

    However, with the difference in momentum and base strength of the two sides, the wooden sword ended up pushing the long bone all the way in until the sword finally connected with the skeleton''s neck.

    *Crunch*

    With a crunching noise, the skeleton''s neck and spinal cord were broken in half, while its head flew away from its body, and its body stopped moving altogether.

    Afterward, with the green fire in the skeleton soldier''s eye sockets extinguished, it finally dropped to the ground lifelessly...

    That was if it had any life in the first ce...

    "Huh? It dies just like that?"

    With a sudden realization that a skeleton soldier was only scary in appearance, but not strength...

    Eddie promptly took a deep breath with newfound confidence within his two ck eyes. Then he dashed forward at the iing two skeleton soldiers intending to behead them as fast as possible.

    *Crunch*

    *Crunch*

    With his monstrous force, he beheaded the two skeletons with one strike each at their neck regions, giving no time and room for those creatures to retaliate back at all.

    After exterminating the three skeleton soldiers, Eddie hurriedly walked up to check the man''s condition. Right now, he already fell unconscious from the pain and concussion he had received earlier.

    When Eddie saw that the man was not dead yet, he stood up, took a deep breath, then shouted with all his might, "BEHEAD THEM!! THEY ONLY LOOK SCARY, BUT THEY ARE WEAK. DON''T BE AFRAID, JUST BEHEAD THEM!!!!"

    With the size of around 50x50 meters in size, every single soul inside the chamber had heard Eddie''s voice very clearly. Despite some of them reacting to his shout a bitter than others, they still heard it and could digest the information from the shout somehow.

    Upon hearing those words, some scattered people with a weapon who were backing away in fear from the skeleton soldiers decided to give it a try...

    One of those people also included Mitchell, who didn''t know how to help the little girl from the two skeleton soldiers without giving himself a death sentence...

    As for those people staying witlessly in the proximity of the Crystal, they regained some senses within them after hearing the shout. For them to know that there was still a way to fight with those undead skeletons...

    Feeling a bit hurt in his throat after shouting that loudly, Eddie carried the unconscious man on his right shoulder, then started to run back to the Crystal''s direction as fast as he could.

    While on the way there, he had to avoid some scattering skeletons'' attacks asionally...

    It was not that hard to dodge one or two attacksing from those skeleton soldiers if they stay alone. After all, they were slower and weaker than ordinary adult men.

    Not long after, Eddie was back at the Survival Crystal''s vicinity. There were currently around 35 people clustering around here, with most of them having weapons in their hands.

    Those people were standing and grouping together in fear of the approaching abominable skeletons that were now only 20 meters away from them.

    However, right when they saw that the man who had been trying to convince them to buy the weapons, and also the one who had shouted crucial information a few seconds ago, was now with them again, they started to bombard him with questions.

    "Really? I mean the thing you''d said."

    "How did you know that?"

    "But I''m afraid..."

    "Please, protect me... I''ll give you money."

    "Liar bastard..."

    Upon hearing the endless questions, begging, and some sarcastic words, Eddie''s face twitched unsightly while gripping his wooden sword tightly.

    "See, he keeps quiet. Maybe, he really lies to u..."

    Before the man could finish his speech, Eddie interrupted him with a booming voice, "FUCK YOU! AGAIN? YOU WANNA DIE?"

    Lifting his wooden sword up high with a threatening posture as if he was ready to strike the man anytime...

    "Wahhh... No, help me!" With a shrieking voice and crying for help, the man scrambled away like a cowardly chicken spotted by a fearsome lion.

    Unsurprisingly, the man in question was in his 30s with casual clothes. He was also the same man who had started the chaotic messst two times.

    Even in this time of crisis, the man still tried to pick a fight with Eddie...

    ''He is an attention seeker?'' Eddie thought annoyingly.

    Shaking his head lightly at the man whom maybe, had tried to relieve his umted stress on him, Eddie took a brief look around at the iing skeleton soldiers.

    After seeing that the people''s eyes were on him whose mouths might open and bombarded him with questions again at any time.

    Thus, Eddie decided to speak first, "They areing closer and closer now. So, listen to me, will ya? The thing you guys have to do is, striking those damned things at their neck areas, then ''bam!'', they drop dead."

    "Understood?"

    Speaking till here, Eddie started to walk in the direction of the skeleton soldiers at the right passageway.

    "If you still don''t believe in my words, then watch me fight them as an example. After that, it''s up to you."

    He only left those words behind without even waiting for those people''s response at all...

    Upon seeing that Eddie was walking further and further away from the group, Mitchell, who had juste back from killing the two skeleton soldiers earlier, hurriedly ced the little girl down near the unconscious man.

    Afterward, Mitchell told the girl to stay there, and then he ran after Eddie quickly...

    With the doubtful eyes of people around the Crystal''s vicinity, staring in wonder at their backs, Eddie and Mitchell went away without turning their heads back even once.

    *Bam*

    *Crunch*

    *Crunch*

    *Thump*

    Eddie and Mitchell started to fight bravely with the undead army...

    Soon, after everyone else saw how Eddie and Mitchell dealt with those skeleton soldiers, their eyes started to reflect some hope from within...

    The situation wasn''t hopeless after all...

    Just like that, the real ughter began...

    ...

    Almost half an hourter...

    "We won!!"

    "Finally! Those damned things..."

    "We... we really survive..."

    "Shit, it hurts like hell being hit by that bone thingy."

    "Look, there is a transparent interface popping up."

    "Right... I''ve got 26 SP from killing one skeleton soldier."

    With the voice of people cheering, cursing, being amazed, and so on...

    They actually won the fight...

    However, it was actually apanied by five deaths and more than ten injured people. As a result, there were only 43 of them remaining now.

    Meanwhile...

    *Huff*

    *Huff*

    "So... tire... tired..."

    "I think I was gonna die. Damn bones!"

    "Thanks for helping me. What''s your name?"

    "I''m Bob, yours?"

    "Mine is Joshua; nice to meet you."

    "My arm is broken..."

    "No more, not anymore..."

    The sounds of people making huffing andining noises while trying to catch their breaths echoed within the not so lively chamber. There were even people who had made new friends from this life-or-death fight.

    Those people were the ones who had fought really hard like their lives were on the line a moment ago.

    Parts of those such people were Eddie and Mitchell...

    "Haaaa..."

    Eddie exhaled a long breath from his mouth; it resulted from his heart thumping so loudly nonstop. He felt like the adrenaline rush''s effects had just run out. As a result, he felt so out of breath.

    Right now, he only wanted to take a short break, nothing more...

    Even though he only needed one or two full force strikes to take down each one of them at most. However, It was still proved quite a hurdle for him to avoid, parry, deflect, then counterattack those skeleton soldiers when they assaulted him from every direction continuously without any sign of fatigue at all.

    The one sitting on the floor beside Eddie was Mitchell, who had earlier saved Eddie more than once from being smacked in the head by those sneaky pieces of walking bones.

    Whenever Eddie slipped up or fell into an unfavorable situation, Mitchell would either give a timely aid ore to help at the right time.

    It could be said that if not for Mitchell, Eddie should have a bloody head by now.

    So, Eddie felt immensely grateful for Mitchell''s helping hand and timely save...

    As for Mitchell, he chose Eddie as his buddy instead of any other people because Eddie looked more reliable than those guys.

    At this moment, when most people didn''t even know what other people were thinking within their questionable ''sane'' minds, the things and activities that they had shown and done so far were the only indicators to specify their outer shells at the very least...

    As a result, when Eddie showed hispassion to help others, together with his direct attitude towards most things around him, Mitchell felt that Eddie was more than reliable for their current situations.

    That''s why he decided to run after Eddie to fight with the skeleton soldiers alongside him...

    Consequently, after going through a life-or-death situation together, they grew closer to one another...

 Chapter 39 - A Coup And A Bladder

    Then Eddie turned his head to the sses man, Mitchell, whom had fought alongside him against those grotesque creatures a moment ago; Eddie said, "How much did you get? By the way, I killed 9 of them and got 232 SP."

    "I killed 5, got 130 SP." Mitchell answered back.

    Upon hearing that, Eddieined, "Actually, it should have been 4, shouldn''t it? You did a kill-steal on me thatst one though..."

    "I''d just helped you out from being hit right in the head, so you can''tin using that excuse." Mitchell shrugged back at Eddie''sint.

    "Okay, okay, you won... Still, what the f*ck are those things, and how can they even walk with only bones connected like that, by the way? That doesn''t make sense at all..."

    "How do I suppose to know that? Nothing here makes sense in the first ce."

    He hoped to at least find an answer from this smart-looking guy, but to his disappointment, Eddie only received a bitter smile and a question as an answer.

    "Still, couldn''t you at least say something that sounds smart, like you had already expected those things toe out to ughter us, or you had already found a secret passageway to lead us outside?"

    Upon seeing the response from Mitchell, Eddie couldn''t help but ask as if expecting some clich¨¦ answers from him, but only to realize that Mitchell was also quite distressed from their earlier fight.

    "After seeing so many people getting killed, you still do have a mood to joke around?" When Mitchell had heard Eddie''s joking questions, he couldn''t help but asked Eddie back instead of answering hisme jokes.

    After all, five people were killed from just the first monsters-wave alone. ording to the missions list, there should be more than ten monster hordes that were supposed to get harder and harder with each passing wave, like in most video games.

    Also, it was, after all, Mitchell and most people here''s first time, seeing someone getting killed right in front of their eyes.

    Not to talk about those dead people whom were killed by being bashed and smacked to death by those frickin'' walking skeletons. The scene looked just like it was derived directly from a B-grade horror movie.

    "C''mon, bro, I''m just tryin'' to lift the mood. Ye know, when I was in Afghanistan, I''d seen both my friends and foes died almost daily. Do you know how we deal with the madness after losingrades and seeing innocent children being killed?"

    "So, you are trying to tell me that, you guys try to change the topic into something light and funny instead, huh?"

    "Exactly! We tend to alleviate the mood around us by speaking and telling some jokes here and there. That really helps a lot, you see."

    *Sigh*

    Mitchell shook his head lightly with a sigh. Then he said tiredly, "Alright, if you say so..."

    "Hey, Hey, don''t be so stressful, bro. Considering that this shouldn''t be thest time we will have to face something like this... just try to get used to it, will ya?

    "That doesn''t help at all, asshole."

    "Right? Guwahahaha"

    Upon hearing Eddie''s sonorousughter, Mitchell shook his head with a light smile; he felt a bit better now after seeing his stupidughable face.

    "By the way, you''d just said that you''ve been to Afghanistan before. ording to your experience in a situation simr to this, what should we do next?"

    After feeling a bit better, his head finally had some room to think about their current circumstances. So, Mitchell shot Eddie a crucial question.

    With some time of self-pondering, Eddie scratched his bald head, then told Mitchell about the usual post-war''s measures, "Hn... Most of the time, after a hard and bloody fight, ourmander will evaluate the usibility ofpleting the mission, then give out his orders via a transmitter whether to advance, retreat, change of formation, and so on."

    "Why did you ask me that?" Eddie asked back but was met with silence.

    Then with a deep frown, Mitchell fell into deep thought as if thinking about something...

    "..."

    After some seconds, Mitchell finally said, "So, you are saying that we should elect a leader to unify everyone and also give usmands huh."

    "Err... yes? Right, right... That''s what I was trying to convey. Guwahaha, you should really have a bright future ahead of you back on Earth if not stuck in this shitty ce, shouldn''t ya?" Eddie spokeughingly-cum-awkwardly with cold sweats on his back after hearing Mitchell''s words.

    ''This guy is pretty damn smart but not as smart as me, though.'' Eddie thought to himself narcissistically.

    "I will think of that as apliment."

    "Hoho, it''s my pleasure, brat."

    "Who is your brat, dickhead?"

    "Dickhead? What the... I''m just bald, beautiful, attractive, perfectly rounded bald at that. Do you really want a love-filled hug for calling me a dickhead?"

    "Wha..? Beautiful, attractive, perfectly rounded bald?"

    *Sigh*

    "Okay, enough, enough. Let''s not chit-chat anymore; we still have something serious to talk about." With a submissive sigh upon hearing such a shameless statement, Mitchell changed the topic back into the previous ones...

    "It''s my win then."

    "As you wish."

    Then with a mischievous smirk, Eddie suddenly proposed, "As you have said earlier that we should elect amander... I mean... a leader, who will start the coup d''¨¦tat then, you or me?"

    Mitchell rolled his eyes at Eddie''s words about doing a coup, "It''s not a coup, you idiot."

    "Is that so? But we have soldier, which is me here though."

    "Yeah, it''s only for the purpose of unification and survival, not a coup. Idiot."

    "Alright, then how should we start the cou... ''unification'' as you have said?"

    "Let me think about it..."

    "..."

    *Sigh*

    After some time, Mitchell sighed once again for the nth times today, then he spoke with a resigned and bitter expression, "You look too unreliable. It''s all on me this time; while you will be acting as a bodyguard protecting me from some troublemakers, that''s your main job."

    Having nodded his head, Eddie replied, "Copy that!"

    Then Mitchell stood up from the ground, following closely by Eddie. The duos started to walk around to gather everyone in the chamber in one ce.

    Both of their faces looked determined...

    It was a determination full of will to survive this deep shit ordeal no matter what it took...

    ...

    Four hourster, inside a separated dimension...

    *Sigh*

    ''Damn it; I didn''t know that exploring every nook and cranny within thisbyrinth without using an exploration spell would have required more than double the time.'' Jeremy thought annoyingly to himself while adding and mapping every passageway he had taken within his mind constantly.

    Right about now, he had been here for more than 6 hours and a half already. Meanwhile, he had explored more than 95% of thebyrinth but still found no exit whatsoever.

    As for his exploration, it was nothing but boring. Along the way, Jeremy only encountered goblins and someme booby traps.

    While it was good that he could easily umte more Survival Points, but after some time, he started to think that it wasn''t worth his time at all.

    Also, since one hour ago, Jeremy had found yet another reason to find the ''exit'' as fast as possible...

    That new reason being his sudden urge to pee...

    As for why he didn''t release the steam on the nearby wall, it was because his pride of a former great sage had prevented him from doing so.

    How could someone of his caliber lower himself so low as to pee at a ce like this?

    It was genuinely uneptable...

    So, the only way out was, he had to go out of here fast to buy a toilet at the ''shop''...

    ''Ahh... my fucking dder is gonna explode soon. Where the heck is the exit!? Where is it?''

    But to no avail, for the past hour, he found none...

    At this time, he could only think back to four hours ago in a depressed manner. He had been doing the same things ever since then...

    Every time he met with a trap, he disarmed it...

    Every time he met with goblins, he killed them...

    Every time he met with a box, he opened it...

    Every time he with a dead-end, he turned back...

    Time after time, when Jeremypared the map within his mind to his current position, he could only hope that he would have found the ''exit'' every time after turning left and right inside this godforsakenbyrinth.

    Until...

    Jeremy was finally standing at thest passageway...

    "This is thest fucking junction! If I still cannot see the door after turning into this passageway, I will have to report a bug to the GM for real. Oh, my little dder... God fucking damn it!"

    The former great sage finally lost it after experiencing bad luck one after another of not encountering the exit even after he decided and tried searching for it for a long time.

    He even doubted about his ''supposed'' great luck that had apanied him all the time in his ''past'' life.

    Where had his luck gone to now?

    Why hadn''t the ''exit'' shown itself to him willingly already?

    If it were in his past life, everything he desired would actually show itself up to him one way or another.

    But this time, it was nowhere to be seen...

    ''Maybe, I had used all of my luck to cast that time reversing spell?''

    Shaking his head to dismiss the unnecessary thought, Jeremy took a deep breath and hardened his dder firmly while taking a step into thest junction.

    With this junction explored, thebyrinth map depicted within his mind would finally bepleted.

    That''s right; he actuallypleted the entirebyrinth...

    Indeed, it was a full exploration as he had initially desired. At that time, beforeing into thisbyrinth, Jeremy had thought to himself on a whim, ''Let''s do a full exploration on this maze...''

    Ironic, it was, for it to actuallye true, in a very bizarre manner at that...

 Chapter 40 - Who Is That?

    *Creaks*

    *Bam!*

    With the noise of the door behind him closing down, Jeremy walked out of the easy-difficulty door.

    ''Finally, I''m out...'' An emotional thought glittered within his mind.

    Havinge out of the door, Jeremy thought back to a few minutes ago...

    After he had walked into thest passageway, he encountered a door looking simr to the same door he used to enter thebyrinth. He also met with the final deathly trap that aimed to kill any careless person whom felt too overwhelmed after finally finding the exit.

    In fact, the trap was just that the door was a ''fake'' exit. Well, you might be able to call it an exit, but that must be interpreted with a connotation...

    Why, you say?

    Because after opening the door, you would be seeing nothing but tens of arrows whizzing towards your entire body, capable of transforming you into a porcupine within a split second.

    That''s why it could be called an ''exit''...

    To be exact, it''s indeed an exit, a ''figurative'' exit to the afterlife...

    Right then, Jeremy walked up to the ''side'' of the door, then opened it...

    *Whizz* x50

    Apanying with the whizzing sounds from an army of the arrows, Jeremy, who stood to the side of the door, was as safe as he could be.

    *tter* x50

    There came the sounds from arrows hitting the wall...

    Then Jeremy went to pick up the arrows at the wall behind him and stored them inside his glove.

    Afterward, he walked back to the now opened door and looked at the dark space ahead of him, only to see that it was pitch ck like a dark void.

    Then a notification suddenly popped up in front of his eyes stating that he had earned another 500 SP for sessfully finding the ''true'' exit.

    With that notification projecting in front of him, he walked into the dark space...

    As a result, he had gained more than 5,721 SP from this maze alone. It was considered quite a hefty sum even whenpared to his past life; he only got around 1200 or so SP at that time, which was almost six times different.

    Shaking his head not to think about those things anymore, Jeremy''s eyes started shifting to the sight of the far opposite side of him instead.

    At the far back right corner of the chamber, Jeremy saw more than 40 people currently fending off against tens of skeleton soldiers and five little flying imps with a long sharp tail each, acting as their weapons.

    For reference, the skeleton soldiers only had white bones derived from an unknown bipedal race connected with one another. With their height around 170 cm, they wore nothing, and there were only long bones in their hands as weapons.

    As for the imps, they were a little red-skinned creature of around 80 cm height with two short white horns protruding out of their small forehead altogether with a pair of tiny dark-red wings on their back. They looked just like a mischievous little demon from hell. While they wore only a pair of ragged underpants made from some unknown animal leathers, they had a long, sharp, and solid-looking tail as their weapons prating out of their ragged underpants.

    Upon spotting that most men and some women were struggling and fighting hard against the ounders, Jeremy turned his head to the duos Eddie and Mitchell, whom were fighting at the forefront valiantly while giving some orders here and there to the people around them.

    Meanwhile, some elderly, children, injured people, and scared people who were either too selfish or unable to fight for their lives were huddling and embracing themselves at the corner in the back. They were hoping that the people in front of them would be able to protect them from harm.

    Right now, those fighting people were standing in a crescent-shaped formation, clearly protecting the huddling people inside while trying so hard not to let the ounders intrude into their range sessfully.

    Fortunately, there were only around 60 skeleton soldiers and five red imps this time round...

    Otherwise, if they ever encountered more powerful or coordinated creatures, such as goblins or wolves, with their clumsy and inexperienced skills in wielding weapons together with their loose and makeshift formation, they''d be long dead by now.

    ''Everything turns out to be the same. Well, except for my absence, that should have been standing at the second defensive line while shaking in fear...''

    Jeremy reminisced about his past life...

    At that time, it had also yed out like this time of which there were two lines of defense with the outer line being the front line fighting bravely with the monsters, while the second line was acting like substitute soldiers waiting for their turns to rece those tired front-liners.

    Of course, Jeremy stood at the second line...

    It took him quite a few waves of monsters before he could finally ept the reality and decided to fight with his life on the line at the frontline.

    However, not even two wavester, he was backstabbed so badly by his ''supposed''rade and had faced a near-death situation for the first time in his life.

    That time, it was also the first time in his life that his good luck had kicked in, or maybe not luck, but the kindness of a good guy that had helped him out of his sure-death situation...

    ''Alright, enough distraction. Let me help them out a bit.''

    Jeremy thought to himself while walking unhurriedly with a long steel spear in hand towards the ce where the fight was taking ce.

    Step by step, Jeremy intended to return a life-saving favor this time around...

    ...

    At the same moment...

    *Thump*

    After bashing his shield real hard at a skeleton soldier in front of him, Joshua thought to himself, ''Who is that; is it a human or a new enemy?''

    As a result of his sight''s angle and direction towards those three doors situated at the far-end wall, Joshua was the first to spot Jeremy''s ck hooded figure walking out of the door with a long spear in his right hand.

    "Bob... Hey, Bob"

    "Die bitch, die!!"

    Having called out his ''new'' friend, Bob, to tell him about his immediate discovery, but it seemed like Bob was busily attacking and defending against the annoying little imp that had kept harassing him ever since the start of this fight.

    When Joshua saw that Bob was unavable at the moment, he called out to Eddie, whom was fighting and standing on his left side instead.

    "Hey, Eddie. Look over there; a person is walking here."

    "Hmm? Where? Really?" Despite being upied by two skeleton soldiers, Eddie still turned his head to ask Joshua briefly.

    "There, at the doors'' direct... Ah, shit!"

    *Thump*

    Joshua didn''t even have a chance to finish his sentence; the earlier skeleton soldier returned to attack him again.

    After Eddie saw that Joshua was still safe and sound, he turned his head past the Crystal till he finally saw that there was indeed a ck-cloaked person holding a in solid spear while walking into their direction from the doors'' direction.

    ''He is not a skeleton. Maybe, a goblin or hobgoblin stated in the missions list?''

    Having thought of this, Eddie signaled towards Mitchell, who was also fighting nearby him, to see the iing ck-cloaked person.

    Like a chain effect, everyone started to notice Jeremy one by one. Soon, even those cowering people in the back also noticed him.

    Just like that, Jeremy walked slowly to the battlefield...

    Not long after, when he was about to walk past the Survival Crystal, Jeremy suddenly stopped...

    "Look, that guy stops nearby the Crystal."

    "Hmm?''

    "What is he trying to do?"

    "He is trying to touch the Crystal..."

    "What the..."

    "Did... did he just buy something? Look, he is cing something on the ground."

    To the surprise, shout, perplexity, and amazement of those people, the cloaked man promptly ced down a rectangr-shaped wooden block with a small green button protruding out at the center on the ground.

    It was an object bought from the ''shop''...

    Then he pressed the green button, then took two steps back...

    ''Does he look stiff, or am I just hallucinating?'' Eddie thought to himself in puzzlement when he saw the cloaked guy moved.

    Actually, it was not only him who was thinking like that; many other people were also sharing the same thought as him.

    To their surprise, the rectangr object on the ground started to expand horizontally first, then verticallyter into the shape of... a public toilet?

    At this moment, some people fighting with the skeleton soldiers and imps even slipped up and were attacked by skeletons'' long bones, after seeing the sudden appearance of... the toilet.

    Right when the green public toilet was erected fully, the ck-hooded person hurriedly turned the doorknob and went inside...

    And that''s it...

    ''That guy came here only to use a toilet? I feel afraid for nothing then...'' Eddie thought relievedly to himself after seeing the guy went inside.

    *Bam*

    "F*ck! It hurts, bastardized boney son of a bitch!!"

    After being smacked on his bald head heavily by a skeleton soldier, Eddie shifted his focus back into the fight. After all, it was not a fight that he could afford to be careless for his and those innocent kids'' lives were on the line here...

    "Take this!!"

    *Crunch*

    *Bam*

    *Thump*

    "No shit, don''t bump into me, watch your steps."

    "Let me take a short break. Youe here, rece me for a bit."

    "Alright..."

    *tter*

    *Crunch*

    *Bam*

    "Argh!! That little shit pierced my arm!"

    *Thump*

    *Bam*

    "Die die die die dieeee!!"

    "Begone, thot!"

    The intense fight continued with the two sides constantly trading blows like the interlude had never happened before...

 Chapter 41 - A Good Samaritan Appears

    Right now, the sh had been ongoing for more than 10 minutes with alternated back and forth retaliation between humans and monsters.

    There was already one casualty, more than three lightly injured people, and one fatally wounded person from the human side. Meanwhile, there were more than half of the ounders remaining.

    If it were only those skeleton soldiers alone, it wouldn''t be a problem for them at all because they were more than ready to ughter the skeleton soldiers by utilizing their makeshift formation to their advantage.

    However...

    This time around, five imps were apanying those skeleton soldiers out of the two passageways.

    Despite their petite bodies and weak-looking appearances that should have been easily killed by just a punch or two right at their faces, still, it was proved absolutely otherwise...

    As for the fact that they were annoyingly hard to kill because of their flying capability and agile, acrobatic movements, altogether with their one-meter sharp solid tail as weapons, they were considered as even more of the undead and threat than those skeleton soldiers.

    Furthermore, the dead one and the fatally wounded one from the human side were actually the workmanship caused by sneak attacks of those annoying imps...

    ''Everyone is getting tired, while many of them have slipped up more often. At this rate, there would be more people getting killed and injured.''

    Mitchell thought frowningly when he suddenly spotted the cloaked person earlier finallying out of the public toilet.

    Then he thought, ''The guy finallyes out. What is the guy''s purpose here... a friend or a foe?''

    Having thought of that, a blurred image promptly came into his mind...

    It was a scene right before he lost consciousness...

    At that time, he saw something. To be more exact, he saw someone...

    ''ck cloak...''

    ''!!''

    Suddenly, as if realizing something shocking, Mitchell''s eyes widened in astonishment...

    ''ck cloak... Right... The guy I saw before everyone lost consciousness was also wearing the same clothes. That means it isn''t a dream after all...''

    Afterward, sudden enlightenment kicked in, and then Mitchell could finally piece up the little information he had in his head...

    ''So, he may be a human that was teleported here just like us.''

    ''Somehow, he didn''t fall asleep like everyone else back then.''

    ''Then he went into one of the doors when we were unconscious.''

    ''And, he hase out just now... from the leftmost door...''

    ''But... did he really clear that door which is also the mission ranked number 7 on the Crystal''s missions list? It should be several times harder than killing some skeletons and imps... Isn''t that too absurd...?''

    With those incredulous thoughts in mind, Mitchell turned his head to see Eddie. He decided to ry his absurd discovery to his bald friend, only to realize that the usual easygoing and unscrupulous muscr Eddie was currently looking unblinkingly at the ck-cloaked person...

    However, Mitchell saw that something was amiss about Eddie''s current behaviors...

    At this moment, Eddie looked like someone whom had just been haunted by a ghost firsthand; his face seemed so terrified with a wide agape mouth.

    Heck... he was even being pushed back by a mere skeleton soldier...

    Upon seeing the sight of his friend being like that, Mitchell hurriedly moved closer to Eddie, and by using his ''bronze'' sword, he beheaded the skeleton soldier that had kept pushing Eddie back.

    Afterward, he hurriedly called out two people in the second line of defense to substitute the two of them to cover the vacant holes in the formation while at the same time dragging the stiffened Eddie to the back of the formation.

    "Eddie, what happened? Why are you looking so terrified as if seeing a ghost?"

    "..."

    After dragging Eddie to the back of the second line of defense, Mitchell made Eddie sat down on the ground, and then he asked Eddie about what had happened to him exactly.

    But to no avail, Eddie gave out no response at all, while his eyes remained fixated at the ck-clothing person''s direction, even although the view in front of him was fully shielded by those fighting people and also the horde of monsters.

    "Hey, Eddie... Eddie!"

    "..."

    With a frown, Mitchell decided to p some senses into this dickhead''s peanut brain...

    *p*

    "Ouch! That hurts..."

    "You finallye to your senses, huh. What happened to you? Can you talk now?"

    With his eyes blinking three times continuously, Eddie''s eyes became more clear and focused...

    After looking around to assess their current situations, Eddie finally spoke to Mitchell, whom was looking at him worriedly, "Oh, it''s you."

    "Yes, it''s me, bastard. Now, tell me fast; we have to go back to help them soon."

    Upon hearing those words, Eddie recalled the moment he saw the ck-cloaked personing out of the toilet...

    Then he spoke, "You know... I have a talent called ''Instinct'' within my Status Window."

    "Instinct?" Asked Mitchell, he got a bit perplexed with this sudden topic from Eddie.

    "Yeah, instinct, kinda like beast''s instinct if you ask."

    "So what? How is that even rted to your terrified expression earlier then?"

    "Well, how to put it... Hmm... The way it works is like when I see a skeleton soldier, an imp, or even a human; I will be able to tell instinctively how strong they are. Well, it usuallyes in the form of instinctive feelings though..."

    "So, you want to tell me that the ck-cloaked guy is stronger than those monsters?"

    "Yes, wait, no... I mean, you cannotpare them at all, the feelings giving out from those monsters and the ck-cloaked person were akin to an ant and a ferocious lion..."

    Without any better word topare the disparity between Jeremy and the ounders, Eddie could only use ''ant and lion'' as aparison.

    "But I''m sure I know what that guy is..." After hearing Eddie''s words, Mitchell murmured to himself almost inaudibly.

    "You also know?" Replied Eddie in surprise after hearing Mitchell''s murmurs.

    As if agreed beforehand, they spoke...

    "That guy is..."

    "That guy is..."

    "A monster"

    "A human"

    "..."

    "..."

    "What do you mean? A human? Are you fucking kidding me now!?"

    Eddie''s loud voice echoed out suddenly; it was such an absurd idea of Mitchell''s. No way in hell could something like that be considered as a ''human'' like them.

    He was just too monstrous...

    Upon hearing Eddie''s questions, Mitchell told Eddie about his recollection, "No, I''m not. Do you still remember the time when we lost unconsciousness mysteriously?"

    "Yeah? What about it?"

    "At that time, before my eyes closed shut, I saw someone with ck clothing exactly the same as that one. Also, I''m quite sure that he had been teleported here with us... I think he... he should be the 50th person of our group."

    "Are you for real? That dangerous being is a human?"

    Mitchell looked into Eddie''s eyes, then nodded his head firmly...

    *Sigh*

    With a sigh, Eddie spoke in doubt while scratching his bald head lightly, "But... how can a human give out such a feeling? Even right now, I''m still feeling goosebumps all over my body from just a single look at that guy earlier. It is just... too dangerous... I''m sure I would be killed in a second or two if I fought with that guy."

    With a frown, Mitchell fell into deep thought.

    After a short moment, Mitchell finally spoke up, "Before that guy went into that toilet, you were the one who notified me about the guy''s presence, right?"

    "Yep, why?"

    "At that time, did you feel different than this time when you look at that guy?"

    After some thoughts, Eddie answered, "Hmm... Before the guy went into the toilet thingy, I thought I felt nothing out of the ordinary at all, but this time, I felt like I was staring at an unsurmountable predator."

    "Is that so? Why... Maybe the distance was too far? Or maybe that guy did something in the toilet,ter came out stronger?" Mitchell said in an even more perplexed tone of voice while looking at Eddie''s stupid face.

    "Don''t look at me like that; I really don''t know. Let''s not think about that, that mons... human is going to reach here soon."

    "Then what should we do?" Mitchell couldn''t help but asked Eddie.

    As a result, Eddie was stumped for words; he then spoke back to Mitchell sarcastically, "You ask me? You are a leader of our coup... I mean ''group''. So, it''s you, sire, who decide, isn''t it."

    "A good leader is the one who listens to his team members'' opinions."

    Mitchell bullshitted through with somewhat reasonable words, for he still thought that it was better to believe in someone with beast-like instinct in this kind of situation instead of his clueless idea of the ck-cloaked guy''s approximated strength.

    *Sigh*

    With a sigh, Eddie spoke with uncertainty, "If it were me, I would befriend that guy no matter what it takes. If I couldn''t befriend then... I would have tried my best not to antagonize a dangerous hair-raising guy like that."

    Following with a firm nod, Mitchell finally decided his immediate future actions, "Let''s do as you say..."

    "Copy that!"

    "Alright, get up already, bastard. It''s time to go back and fi..."

    "Want some help?"

    Suddenly, a moderately loud sound came out from the other side, behind those monsters...

    The shout was, of course, from Jeremy, who was smiling warmly at them from the opposite side; despite his face looked obscure because of the hood, his nose and mouth were still visible to the people''s naked eyes.

    At the same time, as if the ounders had just realized Jeremy''s presence, one by one, those creatures standing idly at the backline started turning their heads in Jeremy''s direction.

    *Cluck* *Cluck*

    *Cluck* *Cluck*

    With the sounds of their jaws and bones clucking, the skeleton soldiers walked towards Jeremy slowly...

    "Well, I guess I have to help out anyway..." Jeremy murmured lightly upon seeing the iing ounders in front of him.

    After all, killing these skeleton soldiers and imps was also ones of the missions within the Crystal; he had to do it anyway. Moreover, killing them also gave him some SP to buy things at the shop.

    As for those creatures'' strength, it couldn''t even bepared to the hobgoblins whom he had fought against ever since some hours ago at all, for them to be only the lowest-ranked organisms, unlike humans and hobgoblins...

    *Whoosh* *Crush*

    With a simple swing of his spear, Jeremy broke the neck of the closest skeleton soldier in half...

    *Fwhoosh* *Crunch*

    By another swing apanying terrifying wind sounds, another skeleton soldier''s body was bisected...

    *Whizz* *Puchi*

    An imp dropped dead to the ground with a hole the same shape as Jeremy''s spearhead on its chest...

    Graceful yet without any unnecessary movement of his body and spear, Jeremy killed the ounders in front of him easily, like killing some bugs.

    While the people fighting at the frontline could only look in awe at the mysterious ck-cloaked guy killing those undead creatures effortlessly.

    The number of skeleton soldiers diminished at a very fast rate...

    Not even 10 secondster, there were only around 20 skeleton soldiers and two imps remaining. That meant, the guy, considering that it was a male''s voice, ''he'' had killed one skeleton soldier per second at the very least...

    Soon, with fewer and fewer monsters remaining on the battlefield with each passing second, those people at the backline and those huddling people at the far back corner also saw the mysterious ck-cloaked man.

    ''Terrifying...'' was the only thought that kept echoing within everyone''s minds.

    The man was nothing but a legendary warrior depicted in the legends and folklores when he brandished the spear...

    "Well, you won''t let me fight these creatures alone, will you?"

    Jeremy spoke with a charming smile stered on his face to those captivated and awed people...

 Chapter 42 - Jeremys Choice...

    Some minutester...

    *Whoosh* *Crunch*

    With thest skeleton soldier being destroyed by Jeremy''s strike, silence fell upon the chamber...

    Instead of cheering and rejoicing in delight at their victory, everyone kept staring fixedly at the ck-hooded man warily. Meanwhile, the man was also scanning those people with his charming blue eyes the same.

    They unexpectedly came into a standoff...

    Until...

    With other people currently acting as bystanders, the duos, Mitchell and Eddie, walked up to the front till they stood face to face with Jeremy.

    "Would you mind telling us who you are?" Mitchell, who was the current leader of the group, asked politely.

    With a mysterious yet charming smile, Jeremy spoke...

    "My name is Jeremy, a human the same as you guys."

    While saying that, Jeremy swept his gaze at everyone as if he had already guessed about their questions. Right after that, Jeremy pulled down the hood, showing everyone that he was indeed a human.

    The face everyone was seeing could only be described with one word, ''handsome''. However, they were not in a situation where they would admire a stranger''s external appearance...

    That''s why, upon hearing his words and seeing that he was indeed a human, most people felt relieved as if a heavy boulder had finally been lifted from their small chests.

    "So, he is a human after all..."

    "Pheww, my heart is beating so fast."

    "We won... and now we''ve got one finest warrior with us."

    "Hurrah!!"

    "Yayyy!!"

    "Cheers!!"

    Only now, after seeing that the hooded man, Jeremy was actually their own kind, could they finally started rejoicing about their hard-earned victory...

    ...

    10 minutester...

    While everyone else was busily either tending their wounds, chatting and consoling one another, looking at the items within the Crystal or sitting depressingly alone at some corners, Jeremy and the duos, Eddie and Mitchell, were currently standing at some distance away from the Crystal.

    After introducing themselves to one another, they had been talking about some matters for quite some time now, with most of them being rted to the door...

    Well, Jeremy only told them a part of the whole event, like when he fought with some goblins, disarming some traps, and opening some boxes.

    Everything else except for those things was omitted...

    "So, you are saying that you''ve really cleared that no.7 mission on the list, whichprises that many goblins and traps inside sessfully?"

    After hearing about the story and horror awaiting behind the door from Jeremy''s mouth, Mitchell shot the question at Jeremy.

    "Indeed." Jeremy replied nonchntly.

    "Haaa... I still cannot get myself to believe it."

    Upon hearing that, Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, then said, "Anything else? I gotta buy something from the shop."

    "Wait! I have two more things to ask you."

    For fear that Jeremy would turn around, Mitchell hurriedly raised his voice...

    "What is it?" Jeremy asked in wonderment.

    After taking a deep breath, Mitchell looked into Jeremy''s eyes directly, then asked, "At that time, why didn''t you lose consciousness like everyone else?"

    ''I knew it; this question finallyes.'' was the only thought within Jeremy''s head after hearing the question.

    However, Jeremy wasn''t showing any change in expression at all. His face looked confident andposed as always.

    After scratching his hair for a bit, Jeremy spoke up with an unsure tone of voice, "Who knows? Maybe I have strong willpower? Or maybe I was the one who made you guy lost unconsciousness?"

    "Ya...you... you do what?"

    Eddie''s stuttered voice was heard suddenly...

    Prior to this, Eddie had been only acting as a bystander all along, for he didn''t want to interact with the human-disguised monster in front of him.

    Even though Eddie didn''t feel anything out of the ordinary from the man named Jeremy anymore. Eddie still knew all too well that it was just a fucking disguise of the man''s, and he would never let his guard down when he was around the man for sure.

    Upon hearing those words, Jeremy felt amused inwardly at the man''s behaviors while winking his right eye lightly at Eddie.

    *p*

    Out of nowhere, Mitchell pped Eddie''s bald head...

    "Ouch! Why the f*ck do you p me this time. You fucking sses idiot."

    Having heard Eddie''s curse, Mitchell shook his head, then exined in annoyance, "It is clear now that Mr. Jeremy also doesn''t know why we did lose consciousness that time with him as the only exception. Thatst part he''s spoken of was clearly a joke. Instead of me, you are an idiot here. Just use your peanut brain next time, will you?"

    Then Mitchell looked at Jeremy''s bitter expression briefly before proceeding with the following question...

    "Well, Mr. Jeremy..."

    "Hm?"

    After shifting his sight to look at the three doors, Mitchell finally looked at Jeremy directly in the eyes, then he spoke, "Can you stay with us and help everyone fight?"

    Upon hearing that, Jeremy looked at Mitchell''s seemingly unwavering eyes, but deep down within those eyes, it was actually filled with uncertainty and insecurity.

    It only took Jeremy a single nce to see through Mitchell''s deepest thoughts...

    "As a matter of fact, I will go into those two doors soon..." Jeremy said while using his left thump pointed towards the doors'' direction to his left.

    *Sigh*

    With an ''I knew it'' expression, Mitchell sighed...

    "It can''t be helped then. However, can I at least give you a proposal?"

    Jeremy raised one of his eyebrows in wonder about the sudden proposal...

    "Proposal?" Jeremy asked back.

    With a slight nod, Mitchell affirmed, then he spoke while pointing his right index finger at the countdown timer above the Crystal behind him...

    "As you can see, after every wave ends, there will be a gap of exactly 6 hours of resting time for us before the next wavees. So..."

    "So, you want me to defend the next monsters horde first before proceeding into the next door?"

    With cold sweats ticking down his back as he was being seen through so easily, Mitchell could only nod meekly.

    After pausing a bit to find some excuses, Mitchell hurriedly spoke up again...

    "Well, actually, I''m trying to say that you... you should take a rest, shouldn''t you? After all, you have been inside that door since we were teleported here... Even more so, aftering out, you''ve fought again and helped us out big time. So, I think you should take a shor..."

    "Enough of those bullshits."

    Jeremy suddenly said softly, but it felt cold enough to shudder the talking Mitchell and the onlooking Eddie.

    Their bodies were stiff all of a sudden, while their backs were being covered in cold sweats...

    "..."

    "..."

    Jeremy only intended to scare them a bit; he didn''t know that they would be feeling that afraid of him...

    ''Hmm... Something feels off. Am I that scary anyway?''

    Jeremy thought puzzlingly to himself.

    "Well, I''m just kidding. As you have said, I should at least take a rest as I''ve been walking and fighting nonstop for the past 6 hours. So, I will think about it whether to help out or not. Oh, by the way, take these things with you..."

    With that said, the inscription on Jeremy''s left glove started glowing up all of a sudden...

    Upon seeing that magical sight, Mitchell and Eddie couldn''t help but took two steps back.

    "Wa... Wha... What is that thing?" Eddie stuttered after witnessing such a sight for the first time.

    Meanwhile, Mitchell looked intently at the glove attempting to gauge the things Jeremy was trying to show them.

    "Well, don''t be so surprise. I''ve received these two gloves from inside a hidden chamber behind that door. For their usage, they can store and retrieve things, that''s all..."

    Upon hearing that, Eddie sighed in relief...

    ''Indeed, something is wrong with these two guys. They are too afraid of me, aren''t they?'' Interesting...''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy decided to ask them another time.

    After almost 10 seconds, several dozen arrows suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and then they started to drop onto the ground.

    *tter* *tter*

    *tter* *tter*

    "Woah, Magic!"

    Eddie eximed with his eyes widened in shock at the spectacle in front of him, while Mitchell''s expression looked solemn with traces of shock written all over his face.

    At the same time, many people''s eyes also started to shift towards their direction...

    How could they not?

    With such a bizarre spectacle of almost a hundred arrows appearing out of nowhere, suddenly causing the ttering sounds continuously, it ought to somehow attract some eyes and ears.

    "These arrows can only be sold approximately 0.8-0.9 SP each, while the buying price from the shop is set at 8 SP per arrow. After doing some calctions, I will only get around 66 to 67 SP from selling these things. So, it''s better that I give them to you guys. Alright, I gotta go..."

    With a benevolent smile like that of a Buddha''s, Jeremy walked up to the stupefied Eddie, then he tapped lightly on the bald man''s left shoulder two times before speaking with a smile, "You are doing great, keep it up".

    Having said that, Jeremy turned back, then walked towards the Crystal, leaving behind Mitchell and Eddie, who only stood there silently for some time...

    Meanwhile, other people who had seen the sight of countless arrows lying on the ground also started walking hurriedly towards Mitchell and Eddie to see the thingmencing there.

    Not longter, Jeremy finally reached the Survival Crystal; he raised his right hand to touch it...

    ...

    [Shop]

    [Mission]

    [Leaderboard]

    ...

    From the three options above, Jeremy chose...

 Chapter 43 - A Guide To Coup DčŚ…tat

    "Mitchell, where do these arrowse from?"

    "Who brings so many arrows here; is it you and Eddie?"

    "Woah, I saw their price on the shopping list a moment ago; each arrow costs 8 SP."

    "What? That much?"

    "There are almost a hundred of them here..."

    *Murmur*

    *Murmur*

    Upon receiving the never-ending questions towards him altogether with the sounds of people murmuring to one another nonstop, Mitchell suddenly spoke up...

    "Ahemm... Alright, guys, gather everyone avable here. I will tell you guys all at once."

    After those people had heard those words, they could only do as Mitchell said...

    "Okay..."

    "Alright..."

    ...

    Soon, out of 43 people, more than 38 people were gathering at one ce, ording to Mitchell''s request...

    As for another five people, four were recuperating at the same corner where they had fought with the monsters earlier. In contrast, thest one was actually a female nurse who was tending to the wounds of those four wounded people.

    Actually, Jeremy was the 44th one, but he was currently standing at another ce minding his own business, so he was excluded for now...

    Consequently...

    From 50 people that had arrived inside this chamber, including Jeremy, there were only 44 people left after experiencing only two hordes of monsters...

    The death toll so far was six people...

    Also, two fatally wounded people were lying unconscious at the corner, while two more people had their arms broken from the fights with skeleton soldiers.

    From this point onwards, those people might not be of help anymore...

    As a result, if Jeremy were somehow included while excluding the two fatally wounded people, two broken arms people, and one female nurse, there would be only 39 people avable from now on...

    Moreover, another six peopleprised teenagers and elderlies who couldn''t fight, which resulted in their current fighting force being 33 people...

    Please do not forget that a small portion of 7 people from those 33 people had acted selfishly earlier, as they only hid behind the formation without any thought of holding any weapon up to fight...

    Atst, if somehow Jeremy was included when the next wave of monsters came, there would be ''only 25 people'' left to fight those terrible creatures...

    ...

    "First of all, these arrows you see here are a small gift from our benefactor, Jeremy over there..."

    When everyone had heard that, they got a bit emotional at their great warrior''s generosity.

    Did he even spend his hard-earned SP to buy these arrows for them?

    He was a good guy, after all...

    Upon seeing that everyone was going on track as he had nned, Mitchell continued...

    "Now, please listen... I want to say thank you to everyone for the earlier cooperation. I have to say that you guys did very well in the fight with those monsters. I appreciate your efforts and endeavors to the utmost. So, please let me be the first one to give you guys hearty apuse."

    Right after finishing his speech, Mitchell started pping his palms with an expression that said, ''I''m so proud of you people''...

    *p* *p* *p*

    Upon hearing that sentimental speech after experiencing a brutal and bloody fight not long ago, those people who had fought at the front line were suddenly hit with a flood of emotions...

    His speech was such that... it had lit up their deepest fragile emotions...

    Their hearts started shaking even more after hearing his hearty apuse...

    *p*

    *p* *p*

    The pping sounds came from Eddie''s hands; he was the first one to p following Mitchell...

    *p* *p*

    *p* *p* *p*

    Just like that, with the power of a domino effect, everyone started pping their hands one by one altogether.

    Even those who didn''t fight earlier couldn''t help but p their hands unknowingly following the big tide.

    Who would dare to go against such a huge current in this kind of situation?

    Soon, the pping sounds echoed loudly within the spacious chamber...

    "Hurray!"

    "Cheers!"

    "For humanity!!"

    "Victory!"

    Not long after, from pping, it slowly became cheering, then shouting excitedly, like they had just won a lottery...

    Only after a few minutes did the atmosphere started to die down, with Mitchell spreading his two palms out, signaling everyone to settle down.

    "We can indeed rejoice at our victory..."

    His voice suddenly resonated clearly within their heads...

    While saying that, Mitchell swept his gaze past everyone slowly. As for the audiences, they were feeling quite confused at his sudden obscure speech.

    What did he mean by that?

    Fortunately, Mitchell didn''t keep them waiting for long; he continued...

    "However, you must remember that our victoryes with an equal loss..."

    "For we... have lost one of our valiant brothers, while another two are currentlyying unconsciously at that corner!"

    Having said those emotional words with a heavy voice at the end of his speech, Mitchell pointed his right index finger towards the corner where many people were recuperating there...

    "Do you see that? Those people are our caring brothers and sisters, who had risked their own lives to protect us. However!! Earlier in that fight, we had already lost one brother!! And right now!! We are going to lose two more of our brothers soon!!"

    Mitchell spoke with a heart-breaking emotional voice altogether with sentimental and sad expressions. As a result of those actions, they had significantly induced those listeners'' emotions to correspond naturally with his.

    For that was, human''s nature...

    Upon seeing the sight of those whom were injured from fighting valiantly against the monsters, most people suddenly felt emotional and downcast...

    Everyone felt sympathetic towards their brothers and sisters...

    However, who was actually at fault here?

    The skeleton soldiers and imps, the ones who tried to injure and kill them?

    Or themselves? Could they me themselves for not being able to protect those people?

    At this time, no matter who it was to be med, there was one thing that was clear as day...

    That was...

    Before ming themselves, humans would try to find another source, object, or person to me first...

    Right now, Mitchell was utilizing this fundamental human nature to solidify his leadership within the group.

    It might seem low to utilize and take advantage of human nature, but not this time. As they were currently facing crisis after crisis, they were in dire need of a leader who could lead them to survive their current ordeals.

    Upon seeing that most people were trying to find excuses for themselves, Mitchell knew it was time for him to speak again...

    With the situations of more than half of the people here werebatants, while seven people couldn''t fight because of ages and upational reasons. However, there were still another seven people who had acted selfishly earlier.

    Mitchell had been waiting patiently for these stepping stones for a long time, for this to be an easy but sure-kill opportunity for his leadership position.

    "Now, brothers and sisters, please do not me yourselves for the things that had already happened... because... you guys have fought so bravely and done your best already to protect everyone else. So... please take a look carefully at those whom you guys had protected earlier..."

    Speaking till here, Mitchell started signaling his arms towards those whom had been protected in the previous wave of monsters...

    "Elderlies..."

    "Kids..."

    "Injured people..."

    One by one, he signaled his arm towards them...

    Meanwhile, those people, who were signaled at by Mitchell, flinched a bit. Some of them felt panicked as they had really done nothing to help out.

    However, to their surprise, thosebatant people didn''t me them at all; instead, those people smiled at them, elderlies and children warmly.

    It was as if thosebatants were telling them that, ''It''s okay. We will protect you''...

    At this time, the expressions of those people who had stood strong fighting with the ounders in the previous wave started to get better...

    Some of them nodded their heads approvingly...

    There were also some liveliness and pride written on their faces now...

    ''That''s right. We''ve done our best...''

    ''There is no point in ming ourselves, isn''t it?''

    ''I''m such a good guy here. Why do I feel so down earlier? Meh...''

    ''Hehe, I did indeed protect those people.''

    With many thoughts running within their minds, they felt better to finally find a reasonable excuse to relieve themselves from the guilts earlier.

    But Mitchell didn''t stop there; he spoke again...

    "However..."

    Upon hearing that word, everyone''s focus was put back on Mitchell once again...

    "Even though we had risked our lives to protect those elderlies, kids, and injured people, do you realize that there were some people who had acted selfishly earlier and didn''t stand up to fight alongside us?"

    With those words acting like a nuclear bomb''s trigger, most people suddenly got startled, then they started looking around left and right with narrowing eyes as if to squeeze out the impostors among them...

    "This guy, I saw him cowering in fear at the back..."

    "This man, too. He feigned unconsciousness with the injured..."

    "Hey, aunty. Why didn''t you help other people fight?"

    "I remember you..."

    Not long after, those seven impostors were finally picked out from the group...

    ''They have finally got someone to me. Now, their guilts will be eventually shifted to those seven people, and my speaking power will also increase after this event.'' Mitchell thought to himself inwardly.

    The slight guilt left inside thosebatant people''s hearts ever since Mitchell''s previous stimting words was now being shifted to those seven people...

    "What should we do with them?" Asked Bob, who had fought at the front line previously.

    "Do you people don''t have any conscience?" Joshua questioned them harshly.

    "Hnn! I see; you Bad Mouther always try to pick a fight with everyone. In the end, you are just a coward!" Said the woman, who used to fought verbally with the man.

    "I think we should..." Suggested someone from thebatant group.

    *Murmur*

    *Murmur*

    Many people started murmuring and discussing with one another about those seven people''s appropriate punishments.

    How could they cower in fear when everyone else fought with their lives on the line?

    So, the current was against those seven people from the get-go...

    Right now, they realized that they had already fucked up badly...

    Meanwhile, the seven pretenders which unsurprisingly consisted of a fat man whose title was ''Greedy Pig'', a man in his 30s with casual clothes whose title was ''Bad Mouther'', another two coward-looking females in their early 20s who constantly trembled at every little thing around them, andstly, three aunties with their faces being written with a single word ''Karen'' in bold.

    Currently, those seven people were sweating profusely at the sheer difference in number between them and thebatant side.

    Even those elderly and children couldn''t help but had to take side with thebatants...

    No matter what excuses they raised up from now on, they would be shot down immediately with the big tide of people.

    That''s the power of quantity...

    "Ahem! Everyone, please listen to me first."

    After Mitchell cleared his throat, he spoke out loudly for everyone to hear, causing the silence to fall upon them once again...

    ''See? I''ve effortlessly picked out those troublemakers marked by you all at once. Now, I have the biggest say within the group. I told you many times already that it''s not a coup, fucking bald idiot.''

    Mitchell thought to himself while using this chance to curse the ignorant Eddie...

    As if realizing something, Eddie scratched his bald head while looking at Mitchell in suspicion...

    ''He is finally starting a coup huh. Thest time when we rallied those people up, we were able to only arrange some stupid formations to fight with monsters. But this time... It''s a real fucking coup. Ah, only just by thinking, it makes my blood boil already...''

    Eddie thoughtpassionately while standing behind Mitchell with a ''do not mess with me'' expression while acting as Mitchell''s steel bodyguard.

    Mitchell and Eddie surprisingly thought about the same topic, just like they had a telepathic link with one another...

    ...

    ''What is happening over there? So noisy...''

    At the same time, Jeremy thought frowningly while looking at the interface in front of him.

 Chapter 44 - Shop And Missions

    Jeremy''s eyes were focusing on the transparent blue interface in front of him...

    ...

    [Shop]

    [Mission]

    [Leaderboard]

    ...

    After a bit of pause to think, Jeremy chose to report his mission first and foremost by using his mind to ess the [Mission] option.

    Soon after, the interface shifted into another one...

    There came a long list of missions ranging from the easiest to the hardest. However, before Jeremy could look at his missions'' progress carefully, another box of notifications suddenly showed up, oveying the missions list...

    ...

    [Would you like to report the missions and im the rewards forpleting them?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    Upon seeing those notifications, Jeremy focused his mind on the ''Yes'' button. Suddenly, a somewhat opaque box appeared with five notification lines on it...

    ...

    [You have received 400 SP forpleting the mission, ''Kill 10 skeleton soldiers'']

    [You have received 1,000 SP forpleting the mission, ''Kill 5 goblins'']

    [You have received 1,800 SP forpleting the mission, ''Kill 2 hobgoblins'']

    [You have received 2,100 SP forpleting the mission, ''Pass the easy-difficulty door'']

    [You have received 1,000 bonus SP forpleting the mission, ''Pass the easy-difficulty door'' with 100%pletion]

    ...

    ''Woah, this is a huge reward here. At this rate, I will be able to buy more things.''

    When Jeremy saw those five gratifying notifications, he felt so refreshed inside, for his efforts finally paid off in the form of SP. Furthermore, he didn''t expect a hidden reward of 1,000 SP at all; still, more SP was always weed here...

    After some seconds had passed, the notification box disappeared, leaving only the original one behind, which was the missions list.

    Now, Jeremy was finally looking at his missions'' progress...

    ...

    [Your Current Missions]

    ˇŞ Kill 10 skeleton soldiers (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 10 imps (2/10)

    ˇŞ Kill 8 wolves (0/8)

    ˇŞ Kill 5 goblins (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 5 humans (0/5)

    ˇŞ Kill 2 hobgoblins (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the easy-difficulty door (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the normal-difficulty door (0/1)

    ˇŞ Pass the hard-difficulty door (0/1)

    ˇŞ ???

    ...

    When he saw that he had alreadypleted four out of the ten missions, Jeremy nodded his head satisfyingly at his great results...

    ''Still, should I kill five humans toplete that mission? I will even get 1,300 SP forpleting it.''

    After seeing the 5th mission on the list, it was such an enticing mission that anyone could easilyplete.

    After all, there were more than five people currently sleeping and recuperating their wounds at the corner...

    It might not even take 30 seconds to finish the job...

    ''Hahaha, what a greedy me. If it continued like that, I would receive the trait, ''Greedy'', like my past life.''

    Upon chuckling depressingly at his greedy self, Jeremy thought about his past life''s trait.

    After all, when a person lusted over some external things, especially wealth, power, foods, and benefits, whilepletely disregarding ethics and morals, that person would receive one of the qualifications to earn that sinful trait.

    ''I had annihted the entire town full of ounders for the sake of obtaining that dragon''s treasures...''

    Shaking his head to disregard those useless and depressing thoughts from his head, Jeremy turned his focus back on the interface which was currently showing [Shop], [Mission], and [Leaderboard].

    Then, with a single thought about the [Shop] option, the interface was changed into another one with two options, [Buy] and [Sell], projecting on it.

    Again, after seeing those two options, Jeremy chose [Sell]...

    ...

    [Please use one hand to touch the Survival Crystal, while another hand to touch the item you want to sell]

    ...

    Jeremy decided to sell things first before buying anything. Afterward, his left glove started shining lightly into a rectangr-shaped glow.

    *Thump*

    Not long after, a big sack dropped down to the ground heavily with a thumping sound.

    The big sack contained many items within, which were mainly collected from behind the easy difficulty door. A part of them consisted of seven good-conditions swords, two spears, two knives, one mace, three daggers, and medicinal herbs that Jeremy had picked up along the maze''s walls.

    As for the broken weapons dropping from those weak goblins'' hands, Jeremy ignored those things altogether.

    Before those people could notice what he was trying to do here, Jeremy hurriedly touched the big sack with his other hand...

    ...

    [Would you like to sell the items for 536 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    [You have received 536 SP from selling items]

    ...

    Without any sound or special effect whatsoever, the conspicuous sack miraculously disappeared into nothingness...

    ''Well, let''s look at how many SP I''ve got now. Also, it''s time to go shopping...''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy essed the [Buy] option...

    ...

    [Weapons]

    [Clothes]

    [Misceneous]

    [Skills]

    [Your Current Bnce: 13,252 SP]

    ...

    At the bottom of the interface, there was a new line stating about his current bnce...

    ''13,252 huh... Let''s see the items inside those options first. I wonder if they still remain the same or not.''

    Having thought of that, Jeremy started essing into the [Weapons] first, then [Clothes]ter, only to find out that every item inside of those two options still remained the same asst time when he took a look at them, with nothing better thanmon ranked items.

    [A/N: Common rank is the worst possible rank of item categories.]

    ''Well, there are two better-looking spears than my current steel spear disying in the [Weapons] option, but they are in the samemon rank with no magical power whatsoever, the same as my steel spear. As for the clothes, I don''t particrly appreciate wearing those leather armors, their ventting abilities are the worst, and I also have my mana projection to protect me all the time. So, I''d better wear this mysterious-looking hood instead.''

    Shaking his head lightly, Jeremy proceeded on to the [Misceneous] option...

    Currently, the interface in front of him had two choices to choose from, starting from [Daily Appliances], which consisted of many things. For example, cooking utensils, magical refrigerator, watching machine, watch, clock, magical microwave, kettle, magical toilet, and many more things.

    The second one was [Consumables], which was consisted of those things that could be used only once or a specific number of times. For example, foods, water, medicine, herbs, mild poison liquids, cigarettes, alcohol drinks, carbonated drinks, snacks, cosmetics, shampoo, soap, flour, and many more things.

    The list of items was as long as one could imagine...

    ''Let''s just buy some toilets, for there might be an emergency happening likest time.''

    As a result of him already bringing most necessary things from Earth, Jeremy decided to buy five toilets in total. Even though they might not look that expensive, still, each toilet cost Jeremy a whopping 100 SP.

    That was, losing 500 SP for mere toilets just like that...

    Still, a toilet was something unarguably important to our former sage...

    To be more specific, it was for the sake of his pride and dignity that shouldn''t be tarnished...

    ''After all that, I am left with 12,752 SP. Then, thest one, skills...''

    After not finding any more attractive item from the [Misceneous] option, Jeremy proceeded to thest option, [Skills].

    ...

    Skill no.9, [Fishing Skills]

    Skill no.10, [Acting Arts]

    Skill no.11, [Cooking Knack]

    ...

    Skill no.45, [Unarmed Combat]

    Skill no.46, [Tracking Senses]

    ...

    Skill no.98, [Spear Wielding]

    Skill no.99, [Sword Wielding]

    ...

    Skill no.149, [Heightened Senses]

    Skill no.150, [Adrenaline Rush]

    Skill no.151, [Calm Mind]

    ...

    Skill no.164, [Knife Throwing]

    Skill no.165, [Martial Arts]

    Skill no.166, [Charge]

    ...

    Skill no.181, [Fast Hands]

    Skill no.182, [Marksmanship]

    Skill no.183, [Stealth]

    Skill no.184, [Bncing Feats]

    Skill no.185, [Breathing Control]

    Skill no.186, [Eagles Eyes]

    ...

    ''With my 12,752 SP, I can buy literally any skill I want. However, I should buy only one or two skills that will be helpful for me in the immediate future first. Then after umting enough SP again, I wille back to buy other helpful skills for my distant future.''

    After seeing as many as 186 skills on the list, Jeremy frowned deeply while thinking about practical skills for his current circumstances.

    After all, there were ''some'' skills that could be very helpful for him in the long run, but it would be immediately considered trash skills if he bought them right now, for their initial capability were like shit.

    Those long-run skills needed time to grow...

    So, the best and only choice for Jeremy to clear the hard-difficulty door without relying too much on his mana and magic was to choose the skills well.

    After standing there, while thinking deeply for more than 5 minutes, Jeremy finally decided...

    He chose...

 Chapter 45 - The Sages Greed

    Jeremy finally decided...

    ''Hmm... buy useful skills first then. Let''s start with no.183, [Stealth] and no.186, [Eagles Eyes]...''

    After focusing on the [Stealth] and [Eagle Eyes] skills, another interface popped up...

    ...

    [Would you like to buy Skill no.183, [Stealth] for 5,563 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy Skill no.186, [Eagles Eyes] for 6,820 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    Right before he bought the skills, Jeremy suddenly stopped...

    Upon blinking his eyes a few times, Jeremy finally focused his mind on the ''No'' button.

    Afterward, the interface went back to the skills list page. At the same time, Jeremy was also frowning deeply at his sudden change of mind.

    *Sigh*

    Having exhaled a long sigh out of his nose, Jeremy cursed himself...

    ''My greed kicks in again, for f*ck sake!''

    If you asked why Jeremy suddenly stopped his action of buying those two skills, there was only one crucial reason for that...

    The reason was that starting from skill number 100 onwards, and there was only ''one chance'' to buy those skills. As a result, after those skills ranging from number 100 to 186 were bought by someone, they would disappear forever.

    The word ''one chance'' also included those other 9,900 or so people from other chambers. After all, they were from the same zone, number 82,364.

    That also meant, if anyone from those 9,900 people decided to buy a skill that could only be purchased once before Jeremy, he would eat the dust...

    If it were like that, he would get nothing from his strenuous efforts...

    Therefore, he didn''t appreciate it at all...

    That''s why his greed had kicked in earlier to stop him from buying those two most expensive skills on the list.

    Because...

    Within Jeremy''s deepest mind, he wanted all of them...

    Even though most skills were more or less useless to him, he still wanted every single one of them...

    But he clearly knew that it was impossible to buy every fucking thing on the skills list, for them could only be purchased by using SP, which had to be umted by killing ounders and doing missions.

    ''Alright, let''s calm down and think first...'' Jeremy thought while settling himself down.

    In Jeremy''s past life, even when he was injured so severely with one deep wound before going into the ''door'', he could still somehow pass the easy difficulty door with only one low-numbered passive skill he had bought from the shop.

    Despite that time, Jeremy had relied heavily on luck instead of his own capabilities; it was still possible for other people to somehow pass it by luck like him.

    Or worse, there might even be someone else who could pass the door with their own capabilities and got a massive windfall from behind the door.

    As a result, from Jeremy''s estimations, other people could also pass it...

    For those people who had somehow managed to pass the door''s trial, after they reported the missions to the Crystal, they would get at least 2,500 SP for that.

    Afterward, if they came out of the door and chose not to be teleported out after finishing one of the Tutorial Missions, but instead decided to help out other people fight with some waves of monsters. If so, they might even be able to buy at least one limited skill from the list.

    Just like that, after reigning in his greed a little, Jeremy thought to himself a bit more rationally about the current general situations...

    ''Hmm... The skills from no.100 onwards start with the price of 3,000 SP, causing them to be ''almost'' impossible to be bought without a person going through one of the doors. Also, those people don''t have a map inside their minds like me. So, they should take one day at the very least before finally finding the exit.''

    ''That means... I had around 17 hours left before one of those limited skills would be bought by them. Still... even if one of them is bought sessfully, it should be those with the price of no more than 3,500 SP or so.''

    Afterward, Jeremy decided to use another approach of buying those skills instead of aiming to buy those two expensive skills.

    That was, he had a new strategy...

    The strategy that Jeremy was thinking of was, ''even if they are not of immediate use now, just buy the cheaper skills that might be helpful for him, in the long run, no matter what''.

    If he did just that, he would get those limited cheaper but essential skills while using this chance to erase those cheap skills from the list.

    Then, those people who had been umting SP from the door could only grit their teeth and buy another cheap skill that Jeremy didn''t need instead.

    That strategy was only for skill numbers 100 to 139, though...

    As for those expensive skills from no.140 onwards, whose starting prices were 4,500 SP or more?

    That was nigh impossible to be bought by them...

    Because those people would have toe out from the door''s trial with ''flying scores'', then they had to fight ''bloodily'' with 2 or 3 more waves of ounders before they could even afford to buy one of those expensive skills.

    Those alone would require them at least 35 to 40 hours before they could buy a skill more expensive than no.140, of which that gap of time was enough for Jeremy to umte more SP to buy those higher than no.140 skills.

    As a result...

    If Jeremy wanted to buy those skills he really needed, he had to use that strategy to ensure that he got the cheaper skills first. Then he would umte more SP to buy the expensive skillster.

    ''Even if they don''t have any use for me right now, I will just think of them as buying some mutual funds for my future then.''

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy sighed while shaking his head slightly; he then thought dismally to himself...

    ''Atst, my greed gets the best of me.''

    ''It''s been decided then... Let''s take a look at the cheaper skills in the early 100s first...''

    After standing there for five more minutes, Jeremy had finally decided to buy three skills, which were...

    ...

    [Would you like to buy Skill no.109, [Footwork] for 3,312 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy Skill no.134, [Ambidextrous] for 4,126 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy Skill no.138, [Disguise] for 4,357 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    After focusing on the ''Yes'' button, another light blue interface popped up in front of him...

    ...

    [A total of 11,795 SP have been deducted from your SP ount]

    [You have received the [Footwork] skill]

    [You have received the [Ambidextrous] skill]

    [You have received the [Disguise] skill]

    [You currently have 957 SP remaining]

    [There will be no exnation about how to upgrade the skills further; you have to explore and upgrade those skills by your own self. Good luck.]

    [Congrattions. You have unlocked a new feature within your Status Window. Please check]

    ...

    ''I''m broke again huh... It seems like I have to farm more SP.''

    Jeremy shook his head, then thought about the three skills he had just bought a moment ago.

    The descriptions of those three skills were as followed...

    ...

    Footwork (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your footwork''sprehensive capability and familiarity by 9%.

    Ambidextrous (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your hands'' synchronization''sprehensive capability and familiarity by 10%.

    Disguise (Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can change your face into any one of your own kind for 5 minutes. [Caution: If the difference in skull bones structure is too vast, you will feel excruciating pain.]

 Chapter 46 - Leaderboard

    The first one, [Footwork], aka ''basic footwork skills'', of which if anyone only looked at its skill name, they would realize that it was pretty ''broad'' by itself.

    As its name suggested, ''footwork'' was the way someone used their ''feet'' in sports, dancing, fighting, and so on.

    As for the skill''s ability, it was a passive skill that would increase the owner''s capability and familiarity with the footwork. In other words, Jeremy would be able to learn and develop his footwork faster by some degrees.

    Regarding developing the skill into the next level, Jeremy decided to upgrade and practice his footwork in the direction of fighting-rted footwork, be it advancing, dodging, or retreating; he would have to develop his footwork step by step slowly.

    Actually, Jeremy knew quite some decent footwork skills, as he had asionally sparred with his ''subordinates'' in his previous life.

    So, if he tried those footwork techniques again this time, its levels might jump up quite some levels...

    Now, the second skill, [Ambidextrous], as its name suggested, Jeremy would be able to use his two hands with more sync and could familiarize himself with his two hands better.

    Currently, Jeremy might be able to use his two hands quite well, like when he used his two hands to cast two spells simultaneously, but he knew all too well that they were not equal yet; as there was still a long way to go before they werepletely equal in dexterity.

    Even in his past life, Jeremy had to spend his free time for almost an entire era of practice in ambidextrous before he could finally bring his two hands into an absolute equal level.

    That''s the two main reasons he decided to buy [Ambidextrous]. It was akin to a ''tool'' or ''convenience'' to help him practice his two hands to reach the same level as in his previous life faster.

    Lastly, the lesser reason was that this skill also had some usefulness in his current situation; Jeremy had to wield a spear instead of magic as his primary weapon to fight with the ounders.

    Those three reasons alone had ranked the [Ambidextrous] skill to be a must-buy skill for Jeremy.

    The third andst skill was an active skill called [Disguise]; this skill let Jeremy change his outward appearance into other people''s ones, that was... with some side effects.

    This skill might not seem that useful, but it could actually be a life-saving skill in a time of crisis.

    Even if it was a short duration of 5 minutes, but if used appropriately, it could certainly take down even a formidable foe.

    ''Alright, it''s time for thest part, Leaderboard.''

    Upon focusing on the [Leaderboard] option, the interface suddenly changed into another one...

    ...

    [Leaderboard]

    Zone: 82,364

    Survivors: 8,294

    Your Ranking: 1st ce ?

    [Your ranking has been ranked ording to your total Survival Points earned]

    ...

    ''I''m first? Not surprising at all, for I''ve earned more than 13,000 SP. No one should have sessfully cleared a do...''

    "Whatcha doin''? You''ve been standing here for almost 15 minutes, ya know."

    Came a deep voice of a man wearing his military outfit interrupted Jeremy''s thoughts so suddenly.

    The man who had a title, Gunner above his head, was none other than Eddie.

    After dismissing the interface, Jeremy turned his head to look at Eddie, then he said...

    "I see; you guys have finally finished your meeting. Also, you are not afraid of me anymore, eh?" Jeremy said yfully with an amusing smile stered on his face.

    *Flinch*

    Eddie suddenly flinched after hearing those yful yet meaningful words of Jeremy''s.

    It was as if Eddie had just realized the gravest mistake of his life. He then hurriedly backed away from Jeremy, trying his best to increase the distance between the two of them.

    However, before Eddie could scurry away from the devil incarnation in front of him, Jeremy called out to him unexpectedly...

    "Wait, big guy, what''s the hurry? It also happens that I have something to talk to you about. Follow me."

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s words and seeing that the man was readily walking to the ce where there was no people''s presence, Eddie suddenly got scared for his life.

    He shouldn''t have forgotten that the man in front of him was akin to a devil who had radiated those goosebumps feelings not long ago,

    ''What should I do? I have to call Mitchell... no... I can''t risk his life with my silly mistake. I... I have to... to go alone...''

    Really, did he have any other choice at all?

    The answer was clear as day, for he had nowhere to run away to in this square chamber...

    So, he could only do as the devil pleased...

    Just like that, Eddie walked hesitatingly, following Jeremy with a certain distance between the two of them.

    Not long after, they finally reached an empty ce.

    Then Jeremy turned back to look at Eddie carefully.

    "Eddie..." Said Jeremy.

    *Gulp*

    "Wha, what?"

    Eddie, the big and muscr adult man whose height was more than 190 cm, actually gulped and stuttered.

    "How do you feel about me?"

    ''What the...?''

    Feeling a bit stumped at the sudden question, Eddie tried to exin, "Fa, feel about you? No, no, don''t misunderstand me. Actually, I don''t like men."

    With a roll of his eyes, Jeremy replied back, "I didn''t mean it like that. I meant, why do you feel afraid of me? Tell me honestly; I will ept only the truth, though."

    "..."

    With an ufortable expression on his face, Eddie didn''t know what to do for now.

    One thing, he didn''t want to reveal his talent inside the Status Window.

    Another thing, he didn''t know the man''s motives for asking a question like that.

    "..."

    "So, you don''t want to tell me, huh. Never mind it then."

    With a slight shake of his head, Jeremy prepared to walk to an empty corner; he wanted to try something...

    However...

    ''Have I just angered him? No, no, I''m a dead fucking meat.''

    "Please wait!"

    Jeremy stopped at the sudden call from Eddie.

    "You want to tell me now huh?" Jeremy shot a nce at Eddie''s face.

    *Gulp*

    Upon feeling such a nce firsthand, Eddie gulped loudly.

    "Let, let me ask you first. What is your purpose of asking?" Eddie asked Jeremy back with a shaky voice.

    However, as if he didn''t want to answer that question, Jeremy''s demeanors suddenly changed, with his abyss-like blue eyes peered deeply and directly into Eddie''s shaky eyes.

    As a result, Eddie felt goosebumps all over his body...

    ''Ites again, that, that awful sensation. Mitchell... please take care of my wife...''

    Eddie''s body was stiff as a stone.

    "So, it is a skill? Hmm... Maybe, a talent?"

    With a nod of his head, Jeremy started listing skills and talents that might have something to do with Eddie''s current behavior.

    However...

    Soon Jeremy realized that most of his memory about those misceneous things like that was still inside his sea of consciousness.

    Without retrieving the dormant memory out, he was utterly clueless...

    ''Well, I really don''t want to burden my still-fragile mind by essing for information within my sea of consciousness with some misceneous trivial things like that. Let''s just ask from him directly then.''

    With those thoughts in mind, when Jeremy saw that Eddie''s conditions were not looking good, he then retracted his mysterious intent.

    *Thud*

    With his utterly limping body, Eddie dropped down to the ground with a thudding sound.

    "Alright, if you want to sit down, why didn''t you tell me in the first ce."

    Upon witnessing such a sight, Jeremy decided to sit down on the ground too.

    ˇ­

    [A/N: Eddie doesn''t have any wife or girlfriend.]

 Chapter 47 - Handle A Potential Loose End

    After sitting down...

    While Eddie''s mind was currently drifting into an unknown faraway ce, Jeremy just sat idly opposite to the daydreaming man like a good friend.

    After a few minutes passed, Eddie''s eyes finally gained back their rity...

    *Huff* *Huff*

    "That... That was tiring... as... as f*ck" With incessant huffing soundsing out of his mouth nonstop, Eddie spoke like someone who had just gone through a hellish workout just now.

    Soon, Eddie''s eyes finally spotted that the cause of his earlier nightmare was actually sitting right in front of him with a curious expression stered on his face.

    As a result, Eddie felt extremely terrified inside.

    With a wide-open mouth and eyes, dted pupils in response to the rush of adrenaline, Eddie almost screamed in fear...

    "Ya... you... no, don''t kill me." Eddie uttered in fear.

    After seeing Eddie, aka ''his past life savior'' like this, Jeremy felt a ''sliver'' of guilt inside.

    Then he decided to give some more time for Eddie to calm himself down...

    "..."

    "..."

    After some more minutes passed...

    Upon seeing that Eddie felt quite okay now, Jeremy spoke with a tinge of helplessness in his voice, "Alright, I won''t do that again. So, can you tell me now? You see... I''m very curious about your ability to sense my intent."

    *Fuuuu...*

    Having heaved out a long breath of cold air after settling himself down, Eddie finally said his own thoughts...

    "If my guess is right, it''s... it''s not your intent that I have sensed."

    "Oh? What is it then?"

    Those words of Eddie''s had gained Jeremy''s full attention now.

    However, the following words spoken by Eddie had caught Jeremy quite off guard...

    "It''s your strength..."

    "My what? My strength?" Jeremy asked again to be clear.

    "Yeah... I think so. It''s your strength." Eddie confirmed yet again.

    "But you see, I am only ''a bit'' physically stronger than you, though. How is it possible to make you react like you''ve seen a ghost?" Jeremy asked back in perplex while feigning ignorance as if he didn''t quite understand what strength Eddie was talking about.

    At this moment, inside Jeremy''s head, something was unfolding entirely different from his outward expressions. In fact, he was currently trying to analyze that his cover was blown or not.

    ''Does he know I am a mage? Maybe he only knows somehow that I haven''t shown my true power as of yet. Or is it something else entirely?''

    After hearing Jeremy''s words and question about his earlier reactions, Eddie suddenly felt quite stumped, as he could only reply unsurely, "That is... I... I don''t know..."

    ''He seems clueless for real. So, he doesn''t know if I''m hiding my true power or not.'''' Jeremy thought realizingly after hearing Eddie''s answer.

    However, to make sure that Eddie was indeed clueless about his mage''s identity, Jeremy decided to probe further...

    "Is that so? Then why did you react like that a moment ago?"

    "Yeah, I don''t really know... As for that, I just feel ''instinctively'' that you are very strong... Way stronger than everyone I have ever met in my whole life." Replied Eddie straightforwardly.

    ''Instinctively? Is he an animal or what? Whatever it is, I need to know about his so-called ability first before deciding my next moves.''

    Jeremy got a bit perplexed by Eddie''s choice of words. As a result, Jeremy decided to know the causes and effects of all this first before proceeding with his next action steps.

    So, Jeremy pressed Eddie for the answer, "You said, it was ''instinctively''. Now, can you tell me already about your so-called skill? You know you make me quite curious right now."

    After some thoughts of whether to tell Jeremy or not, Eddie finally decided to tell him the truth as there was no point in hiding anything anyway, ''It isn''t like I will lose my talent after telling him the truth... So be it then.''

    "Actually, it is a talent called ''Instinct''. Not a skill, though." Said Eddie while stroking his bald head lightly.

    Then with a trace of astonishment written on his face, Jeremy said, "A talent named ''instinct'' huh... That''s why you said that you felt like I was the strongest existence you had ever met."

    "That''s right. Those two times, my instinct screamed hysterically for me to run away as far as possible from you. But you know, my legs just didn''t respond no matter what and my body seemed to be stiff like a stone statue. It is exactly as you had just seen a moment ago." rified Eddie.

    "I see. So, it is like that. Wait... two times? There is also another time?" After realizing that there was another time Eddie had felt like that, Jeremy inquired further.

    "Yes, do you remember when you just came out of that green toilet? It is at that time..." While clearing Jeremy''s doubt, Eddie pointed his right index finger at the green toilet situated not far from the floating Crystal.

    "So, that''s the first time..."

    Jeremy finally understood the cause and effect of everything that had happened so far.

    Then Jeremy thought understandingly to himself, ''It seems like he still doesn''t truly understand his own ''instinct''. At that time, aftering out of the toilet, I should have be overly excited and identally released my aura, which is an embodiment of my real powers.''

    "Correct." Eddie said.

    With a light nod responding to Eddie, Jeremy finally realized that there was nothing serious about his own ''cover''. So, he started looking for a loophole of Eddie''s instinct instead.

    Not long after, Jeremy suddenly spoke up, "By the way, you said that I was strong, right? Maybe, have you ever thought that it is just your imagination? Or you might just be overthinking things. Look at me; I''m just a human like you. I couldn''t be more normal, could I?"

    "I know that... but my instinct says otherwise..." Eddie spoke in confusion, with a bit of doubt towards his own ''instinct''.

    When Jeremy saw that Eddie was moving ording to his rhythm now, Jeremy spoke again, "Think carefully... You said that I was the strongest person you had ever met. However, do you really think that I''m even stronger than the cupid we''ve met at the tutorial space?"

    "That is...I think..." Eddie got stumped again after being faced with a question so hard to be solved.

    After struggling hard left and right within his own head, Eddie finally let out a sigh.

    *Sigh*

    "I don''t know... At that time, I don''t feel anything out of the ordinary from the cupid at all."

    Eddie didn''t know anymore if his ''Instinct'' was trolling with him or not; he had no clue whatsoever...

    Upon seeing that Eddie was almost there, Jeremy decided to put onest nail in the coffin, "Do you still remember the time when the cupid popped those people''s heads like balloons? Doesn''t it feel weird that you think I''m stronger than the cupid?"

    "Yes...I... remember it clearly... But... Ah... never mind. Can we not talk about this anymore? I''m confusing myself now, ya know." Said Eddie, while scratching his bald head in confusion; he suddenly felt like his talent was but a lie.

    Then Eddie thought and reminded himself inwardly, ''I guess my instinct talent is not always urate huh. I have to be more careful from now on.''

    While Jeremy was also having his own thoughts, ''Did I just make him doubt his own life? Sorry mate, my life might fall into danger if ''they'' know that I''m actually a mage since even before entering Ortus.''

    After a few seconds of dead air, Jeremy finally changed the topic, "Okay, there is no point in discussing those obscure things anymore. We should go do our own things and prepare for the uing fight for now."

    Regarding the head popping incident in the tutorial space, Jeremy actually knew why Eddie didn''t feel a thing when the cupid imploded those people''s heads.

    In fact, the principle behind that reason was very simple...

    That was when a person decided to kill or trample an ant, was there any need to exert force or put in any killing intent, left alone an aura?

    The answer was obvious...

    Which was ''No''...

    When someone killed an ant, they would just kill it without any sympathy, thenpletely forgot about the incident in the next seconds.

    As a result, Eddie was confused because he didn''t know the fact that the cupid didn''t express any killing intent or feeling when it killed those people.

    It was that simple...

    "Alright, I gotta help those goons with some training. Excuse me."

    Having finished that sentence, Eddie didn''t even wait for Jeremy''s reply as he scurried away as fast as he could.

    Upon seeing Eddie''s back going further and further away from him, Jeremy could only shake his head lightly and thought amusingly, ''Well, I do hope that your coup is doing well. I will make sure you survive this time, and then we can finally break even...''

    Having finished thoughts, Jeremy finally walked towards an empty corner.

    He soon reached the corner, and then he turned his head to look at the countdown timer, which was floating silently above the Survival Crystal.

    The numbers were showing...

    00:05:30:25

    00:05:30:24

    00:05:30:23

    It was clear that there were around five hours and a half before the next wave of monsters assaulted them again.

    ''As Mitchell has asked me to help everyone fight with the ounders... It seems like I need to help them out after all, as I will be able to help them survive and also, at the same time, able to umte more SP to buy more skills.''

    Upon finishing his thoughts, Jeremy finally sat down on the ground with his back facing the corner...

    ''Alright, let me check my Status Window for a bit...''

    With that thought in mind, an interface suddenly showed up in front of him.

    ...

    [A/N: Q&A within author''s thoughts below.]

 Chapter 48 - Mindful Body Realm

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 45.2%

    - Darkness (Umon): 34.8%

    - Space (Rare): 89.9%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic

    Trait: Objective

    Skill:

    - Footwork (Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Ambidextrous (Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Disguise (Basic - Active Skill)

    Achievement: (Omitted...)

    Tutorial Mission:

    - Survive I

    ...

    After checking the change within his status window, which was obviously the addition of skill section containing three newly bought skills within, Jeremy closed off his status window.

    ''The skills bought directly from the system are convenient as always, as they can manifest themselves in the form of information within one''s status window, unlike those self-taught skills, abilities, and spells.''

    There was something called ''System'' in this known universe; it was something akin to an incarnation of Akashic Records.

    What was the Akashic Records, you asked?

    Simply put, it was an enormous existence that governed all knowledge within the known universe. At the same time, it could also be considered as a bookshelf, which contained countless books inside, as one of those books even included Jeremy''s 10th rank title, ''Mage of Origin'', that was ced silently on the highest shelf.

    As for the System''s duty, it had been widely recognized as an AI-like existence, which could be essed only by the selected few.

    There were many guesses regarding the existence of the System, but that''s it. No one actually knew what its factual purpose was.

    The only one who knew about those questions might have ounted to only one being in the entire universe, which was clearly the Akashic Records.

    After all, the Akashic Records was akin to the actual body of the System.

    Currently, Jeremy was sitting cross-legged at the corner of the chamber.

    The reason for him to be sitting there only signified one thing.

    He was preparing to do meditation.

    "Fwuuu..."

    After exhaling out a long breath, Jeremy closed his eyes...

    ...

    Two hourster, Jeremy was seen to be meditating silently at a corner.

    After seeing him like that, other people didn''t daree to disturb him.

    Currently, Jeremy was within his own world entirely, inspecting every nook and cranny of his own body using his mind.

    To be exact, he was now ''feeling'' instead of ''looking'' at his own body, but it actually seemed like he saw every ce inside his body so clearly, just like he had a microscope within his body.

    It was really bizarre and mysterious...

    The cause of all that was because Jeremy was within something called ''Realm''.

    A realm, or rarely called ''beyond technique'', was something that could be achieved by training in some techniques or skills for a very long time.

    Train, train, and train nonstop...

    Until one day, the practitioner of that said technique or skill would finally attain something called ''Realm''.

    This time, it had required Jeremy two hours to enter this ''special'' meditating state, as this was the first time after going back in time that he had decided to enter a realm.

    Right now, Jeremy was within a realm of meditation called ''Mindful Body Realm'', which was a realm that could only be achieved by going higher than the 10th stage of meditation, ''tranquility and equanimity''.

    In fact, there were still many realms branching out from the 10th stage of meditation, but right now, the only realm that could let Jeremy inspect every nook and cranny of his body was only this Mindful Body Realm.

    At this moment, Jeremy was looking closely inside his brain.

    To be specific, he was looking at a rounded ck thing embedded within his brain.

    As we''ve all known, the human body contained three dantians: upper, middle, and lower dantian situated at the brain, heart, and underbelly, respectively.

    That meant the ck thing that Jeremy was looking at was actually a ''dantian''.

    It was Jeremy''s upper dantian...

    A dantian was considered as the best ce inside one''s body for external energy to exist. It was also connected to other dantians situated in different locations within one''s body.

    As for the size of those dantians, it could only be described with one word as ''misleading''.

    Let''s take a look at Jeremy''s dantians'' size as an example...

    As his three dantians had the same out looking size of around almost 1 cm in diameter, on the contrary, the inside of those three dantians was something different entirely, for the interior of Jeremy''s dantians had the size of around 5 cm in diameter, which was more than five times of their outlooking size.

    As for the type of energy residing within Jeremy''s dantians, of course, it was mana, the purest mana in existence at that...

    Come back to the current situations...

    The sole reason why Jeremy was inspecting his upper dantian was that he wanted to know why he couldn''t naturally attract and absorb the atmosphere''s mana into his own dantians.

    After all, his mana had only around 85% of his total amount mana left, and it had not been naturally replenished as it always was.

    ''Hmm... something is really wrong here. In my past life, whenever I inspected my own dantians, I would see countless mana particles being guided towards my dantians continually. But this is very strange... My upper dantian remainspletely isted with no mana being guided towards it at all.''

    ''Let''s take a closer look then.''

    After essing into his upper dantian, it would not be an exaggeration at all to say that Jeremy''s dantian was akin to an infinite outer space. It was decorated by a big hurricane acting like a universe spinning at the centermost ce of the dantian, while countless lights were glowing brightly on the universe''s body akin to the endless star lights.

    Of course, that hurricane was Jeremy''s whirlpool that was rotating incessantly at the most center of this ck space.

    Time by time, there would be light blue glowsing out from countless mana particles flying here and there within this ck space, causing the area to be illuminated like the shining stars in the vast dark sky.

    After taking a look around, Jeremy was stupefied yet again...

    ''What the f*ck. Everything is so... normal.''

    ''How? Why my dantian doesn''t attract mana from the outside world?''

    Even after thinking about many possible problems and solutions, Jeremy still couldn''t find one...

    In truth, he didn''t even know what the problem was. So, how could he even find the solution in the first ce?

    ''Like this, I can only do the trials and errors on my own then. First, let''s check on the other dantians.''

    Soon after, Jeremy changed his focus to the chest area where situated his beating heart. At that ce, a small rounded ck object was within his thumping heart, which clearly was Jeremy''s middle dantian.

    Upon essing into his middle dantian, Jeremy got perplexed yet again...

    ''Nothing out of the ordinary at all. Go to my lower dantian then.''

    Then the scene changed once again; Jeremy was now focusing on the inside of his underbelly.

    Afterward, his mind went inside his lower dantian...

    ''Fuck! All three mana whirlpools are doing okay. Then what is the problem? Why the heck my three dantians cannot attract mana? It is so frustrating. Damn it.''

    Jeremy could only rant curses and swears endlessly within his mind after finding no solutions to his predicaments.

    After some time passed, Jeremy decided to go back inside his upper dantian.

    He had to try other things anyway; there was no point for him to curse forever, wasn''t he?

    Uponing back inside his upper dantian, he was met with the same sight of a giant whirlpool rotating nonstop at the center of his dantian.

    ''I''ve decided. It might be a bit tiring, but I have to try that...'' Jeremy thought.

 Chapter 49 - Manually Control

    The thing Jeremy was trying to do was to manually control his mana whirlpool to attract and absorb mana particles from the outside world.

    Typically, his three mana whirlpools would operate and absorb the mana independently without having Jeremy exert any force into controlling them at all.

    However, Jeremy decided to try his luck with this manually-control method this time, for it might work somehow.

    ''My mana can''t remain at 85% like this. That''s why this method is the only hope for me to recover my mana without having to rely on that death-maism title.''

    Jeremy shook his head slightly after thinking about his rank-10 title, which came along with a unique talent, Mage of Origin, that was able to help him convert the quality of mana to his liking.

    Still, as great as its name and rank suggested, if Jeremy decided to equip the title now, it was akin to willingly requesting for a death sentence.

    Right now, if anyone was inside Jeremy''s upper dantian, which was actually impossible, and if it was somehow possible, then they would see the rotating whirlpool currently spotted some changes.

    Concurrently, the giant whirlpool was changing bit by bit from its edge, extending all the way to its center.

    For its changes, it spun quicker, was the first change...

    Its center also started extending downward, was the second change...

    Bit by bit, the whirlpool started bing simr to a giant vortex with a heavy spinning long tail, stretching downwards in the direction of the dark space''s edge.

    Not long after, the vortex''s tail-end touched the dantian''s border, as if it was trying to force through a transparentyer there, which should be something akin to the dantian''s protectiveyer.

    But even after some time passed, it was to no avail...

    For it seemed like the protectiveyer at the dantian''s border was made of something rigid and solid, causing the vortex to be unable to break through at all.

    However, to break through the protectiveyer of the dantian?

    That was never Jeremy''s intention in the first ce; he would never do something stupid like that.

    If he ever dared to try it for real, Jeremy might be a cripple in the next seconds...

    Then what was Jeremy trying to do?

    Currently, Jeremy was using the mana vortex''s tail end to make a connection with the protectiveyer at the dantian''s border.

    As for the purpose...

    He was trying to make a more intimate connection between his mana whirlpool and the outside world''s atmosphere.

    That was the only way...

    It was also very challenging to do something like that.

    No, it was actually impossible without a person entering a ''realm'' first. But luckily enough, Jeremy had already achieved the realm of Mindful Body.

    Anyone would know how hard it was to control things manually inside one''s own dantian, as they could see it from Jeremy''s shaking body which was swaying like a leaf facing gusting wind right now...

    Even with the Mindful Body Realm to control that vortex, Jeremy still felt like he was going to implode from within soon, for he to dare y with his own dantian, which was considered a forbidden area by most people...

    However, it was still a relief that Jeremy only had to maintain this status quo for no more than 3 minutes. Otherwise, if he had to carry it out any longer than that, he might really die from the bacsh of his dantian''s implosion.

    Around two minutester, the connection between the vortex, protectiveyer, and outside world was finally established.

    *Click*

    Suddenly, something clicked within Jeremy''s dantian...

    ''Done...''

    Following that thought, Jeremy exited from the realm and then maintained his stage 10 meditation to connect his mind, body, and technique altogether, causing him capable of roughly observing and maintaining the status quo within his upper dantian.

    Well, if he quit his meditation now, the vortex would just revert back into its original shape, whirlpool, and all his hard words would have gone to waste.

    So, there was a need for Jeremy to maintain the meditating state to control his dantian''s activities.

    Just like that, Jeremy was carefully observing the current situation within his upper dantian...

    One minute passed...

    Two minutes passed...

    Three minutes passed...

    Still...

    ''What the hell. Why the mana particles are still not being attracted into my dantian?''

    Even after some minutes had passed, Jeremy still found no change with the status quo.

    As a result, he still couldn''t find a way out of his current predicaments at all.

    Jeremy was still observing his upper dantian but with a newfound resigning thought in mind, ''Do I really have to conserve my mana till the end? If so, most of my ns must be modified... I also cannot kill those impos... thi... What!? Some mana particles are being pulled inside!''

    Jeremy''s thoughts were interrupted mid-way as he finally saw some good results after a long wait.

    ''Ahh... Come inside me. Come inside more, please. More more...''

    [A/N: Sorry for the misleading. Btw, I''m innocent.]

    Particle after particle of mana was being guided and absorbed into Jeremy''s mana vortex slowly.

    Those mana particles came inside Jeremy''s upper dantian via the vortex''s tail end connected with the outside world''s atmosphere. Then they would be guided till they reached approximately the vortex''s mid-body before finally being propelled and dispersed into the dark space around the vortex.

    Just like that, the ''inferior'' mana particles came inside Jeremy''s upper dantian.

    The process never stopped; it continued like this for two more hours.

    Until...

    ...

    Two hourster...

    *Huff* *Huff*

    The heavy breathing sounds of a man sitting isted at a chamber''s corner resounding out...

    Jeremy was feeling spent and exhausted both physically and mentally, while he thought to himself,

    ''I still don''t understand why most mages call this method a meditation instead of cultivation in ancient times. In fact, meditation should be a thing capable of making a practitioner feel rxed and refreshed. Meanwhile, cultivation should be a thing that makes people tired from their arduous and long road of polishing their power.''

    ''If I feel worn out every time I do meditation, I will never get used to it, no matter what.

    In Jeremy''s past life, he had done thorough researches about a controversy between ''cultivation'' and ''meditation'', as he had been quite skeptical about those two terms.

    Even after doing some researches in his boring times, he still couldn''t find a definitive answer for that controversy...

    ording to his various documental researches, Jeremy only discovered that ''there was no real answer for that disputation''.

    Nevertheless, there were still many books that said such things such as, a path of magic was discoveredter than a path of qi, aura, and other paths. As a result, the mages of old times wanted to be distinct from others, so they called the way to cultivate themselves, mages, as ''meditation'' instead of ''cultivation''.

    While in some books stated that meditation indeed helped calm the mind and rx the body if meditated in the lower stages. As for the name ''meditation'', it was clear that it''s originated from its lower stages. However, with the higher levels in meditation stages, the strenuous being put on a practitioner''s body would also increase.

    Nheless, another statement in some ancient books stated that when a practitioner achieved the highest level of cultivation of the magical pathway, that said ''cultivation'' would be ''meditation'' by itself, as the practitioner could meditate forever without feeling any stress put on their body.

    The statement simply meant that if a person reached the highest level of meditation, that person could meditate forever without feeling tired physically and mentally. Thus, the ancient mages called it meditation instead of cultivation.

    However...

    All those researches and assumptions were nothing but bullshit for Jeremy, the former great sage of the human race and universe.

    Even for him as a former great sage who had achieved something beyond stage 10 and reached a realm called ''beyond technique'' itself, he still couldn''t find a clue about the reason behind the origin of the word, ''meditation''.

    That''s why Jeremy had discarded his researches about the controversy between cultivation and meditation a long time ago.

    ''Or I do get it the wrong way all along. Maybe it is just really a way to give themselves some uniquenesses in the way of cultivation for the mages of old times? After all, since ancient time, every mage is as prideful as a heavenly god themself.''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard those unnecessary thoughts from his head, Jeremy started observing his upper dantian instead.

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy''s sigh suddenly rang out within the chamber''s corner, and then he thought,

    ''Those mana particles don''t willingly blend together as I''ve thought...''

    ...

    [A/N: Please read important notes below.]

 Chapter 50 - Jeremys Fleeting Thoughts

    When he finished inspecting his upper dantian''s current situation, Jeremy discovered that mana particles divided into two parts...

    To be exact, they were now trying to separate from one another...

    That''s why there were two mana portions within Jeremy''s upper dantian.

    The first one being his original purest mana particles moving here and there freely within the dantian, while the second one being the newly arrived inferior mana particles acting like scaredy cats huddling together near dantian''s border.

    As for the whirlpool and mana liquid at the dantian''s center, they remained the same without being bothered by any of the two sides.

    ''Ah... It is as I''ve thought.''

    ''The hierarchy between the two sides is too vast as they are distancing themselves from one another. Then, doesn''t it mean that a mana particle is really a full-fledged living being as in Grand Wizard Judarth''s assumption?''

    ''No, the behavior of establishing hierarchy might just be a simple reaction caused by its unique chemistry or universalws imposed by the universe, as living things need to have cells and are capable of reproducing, but mana doesn''t meet those conditions. Hmm... if mana is not a living thing; is it a semi-living thing then?''

    ''Anyhow, it is very interesting. It seems like I will have to research more into this topicter on.''

    Having finished those theoretical thoughts, Jeremy changed his focus back to his upper dantian''s interior.

    After seeing that he now had two types, or in fact, two qualities of mana within one dantian, while one side acted like royalty, another side acted like peasantry.

    While those royalties were running amok within the dantian''s dark space, those peasantries were huddling together in fear at the dantian''s edge.

    It was such a definitive hierarchy...

    Upon inspecting for some more time, Jeremy still found nothing severe or detrimental from his mana being divided into two portions, as that reaction should be as expected, considering the difference in mana''s quality of the two sides.

    Jeremy was sure that no matter what he did towards them, for now, those mana particles would never be able to mix together.

    They were like two different kinds...

    They could not stay together for some reason...

    ''Am I lucky or unlucky to have the mana''s quality of this magnitude?'' Jeremy thought depressingly.

    The reason why Jeremy thought he was unlucky was because...

    Those urrences alone had made him unable to cultivate and absorb mana particles in the atmosphere, causing him incapable of forming any more mana liquid at the dantians'' disk spaces.

    What did that even mean?

    In a straightforward way, Jeremy concluded that he had no other way of making his three dantians replenish their own mana ''independently''.

    In a roundabout way, it meant that as long as Jeremy didn''t activate the ''Mage of Origin'' title, he would be unable to advance to ss 1 True Mage.

    Nevertheless, there was still a way for Jeremy to replenish mana, and that way consisted of four steps.

    The first step was to enter the realm of Mindful Body to gain absolute control over his own body.

    Then Jeremy had to create the same vortex to connect its tail end with the dantian''s protectiveyer.

    Upon establishing the connection sessfully, he needed to ess the 10th stage of meditation to maintain the status quo of his dantian.

    Lastly, Jeremy had to wait for low-quality mana from the outside world to be absorbed into his dantian forcefully.

    Like that, after finishing all those four steps, Jeremy would get some inferior-quality mana into his dantians.

    It was such an arduous process that would pay him off with only 3 or 4 percent of his total mana capacity.

    Was it even worth his time and efforts in the first ce, though?

    Well, Jeremy didn''t know it was worth his time and effort or not, but he was sure of one thing.

    That one thing was the more mana he had, the better.

    Knowing that he didn''t have any other choice, Jeremy could only endure it and try to replenish his mana as soon as he finished resting.

    Of course, those should be at least a dayter, as his body and mind felt quite spent from entering the Mindful Body Realm and maintaining the 10th meditation stage for some hours.

    When Jeremy finished inspecting and observing his upper dantian, he had suddenly thought of something interesting.

    Well, the thing was actually an idea of experimentation.

    The experiment was all about a way to advance into ss 1 True Mage by using those inferior-quality mana particles and his own dantians as experimental objects.

    As for how, it was to absorb those low-quality mana particles into his mana whirlpool forcefully. At the same time, he would try his best to convert that mana into the same type and quality of mana liquid situated within the disk at the whirlpool''s center by using the said whirlpool as apressor and converter.

    Nheless, Jeremy chose to postpone that death wish for now.

    That''s right, Jeremy called it ''a death wish''.

    As this experiment was a hundred times easier said than done...

    The reason was simple...

    As there was a particr rule within the magical world stating that ''If you don''t want to die a dog''s death, do not mess with your own dantian.''

    That rule was simple, but it couldn''t be more right.

    Even for a former sage like him, trying to tamper with his mana whirlpool for more than 3 minutes was akin to ying with a hand grenade with 3 minutes timer before exploding.

    It was that dangerous...

    ''Maybe, in the future, but definitely not now...'' Jeremy thought while discarding the idea from his head.

    As the idea came fast, it went away from Jeremy''s head even faster.

    ''Alright, I''ve got my mana back to 89%prised of 85% purest mana, while another 4% were those mana particles of somewhat mediocre quality, that is whenpared to mine. At least, I can cast two additional 0th tier spells with that additional amount of mana. No regrets.''

    Afterward, Jeremy exited his meditating state and then opened his eyes slowly.

    Upon taking a quick look around, Jeremy saw that other people were currently doing their own things.

    Some people were practicing with swords, spears, maces, and other weapons, while their practicing targets being something akin to stationary wooden dummies that should have been bought from the shop.

    Whereas some people were erecting tents, making campfires to cook food, sharpening their weapons, talking with other people to lessen their nervousness, assembling makeshift barricades and simple traps to defend against the next wave of monsters, and so on.

    ''It seems like Mitchell and Eddie are doing good as they''ve arranged various tasks for those people thoroughly.''

    After seeing that some people were erecting tents to take a nap and for the wounded people to rest in, Jeremy suddenly felt regret that he didn''t erect his own tent before meditating.

    Of course, he had a tent inside his left glove...

    Bad enough, due to having to sit on the solid cave-like floor for a long time, Jeremy obviously had leg cramps symptoms.

    Having stood up with difficulty, Jeremy sauntered to where Eddie and Mitchell were standing and talking.

    ''Now that I think of it. Even though it was unintentional, it was quite a good move to make everyone lose consciousness before themotion broke out, as everything had turned outpletely different from my past life.''

    ''At least this time they are more united with the duos'' as their leaders.''

    ...

    [A/N: Ahem... Jeremy also had another big tent within his *cough* pants *cough*]

 Chapter 51 - Jeremys Decision

    While Jeremy was walking to the duos, he had to pass by many people. Most of them nodded their heads in appreciation and greetings towards Jeremy, as he also nodded back as a formality.

    While some people chose to avoid eye contact with Jeremy, or some even ignored his presence entirely.

    However, Jeremy couldn''t care less about them at all.

    He continued his stroll towards Eddie and Mitchell, whom were standing and discussing something near the Crystal.

    Unsurprisingly, no one dared to start a conversation with Jeremy at all, as he had a ''do not approach me'' vibes radiating out of his body strongly.

    Still, before long, Jeremy suddenly stopped his footsteps...

    *Sigh*

    Upon letting out a sigh, Jeremy thought to himself, ''It seems like I was too engrossed with my dantian''s problems, causing me to forget about that thingpletely.''

    ''Status Window.''

    With a slight shake of his head, Jeremy suddenly called out his Status Window. Then he continued walking while looking at the Status Window in front of him.

    This time, instead of checking everything on the interface, Jeremy only focused on thest section.

    Which was...

    ...

    Mission:

    - Tutorial Mission: Survive I

    ...

    Upon seeing the mission, ''Tutorial Mission: Survive I'', Jeremy focused his mind on it.

    Then the mission details appeared in front of him...

    However, before Jeremy could even see those details clearly, a light-blue transparent window suddenly popped up, notifying him about some rewards and also asking him to exchange one ck star for a ticket.

    ...

    ˇş You have received 3xˇď forpleting four missions from the Survival Crystal ˇ»

    ˇş Congrattions. You''ve earned a qualification to enter into the second stage of the Tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş Would you like to exchange ˇď for a teleportation ticket? ˇ»

    ˇş Yes ©¦ No ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing that he currently had four ck stars in total, three were frompleting the final chamber inside the easy-difficulty door, while thest one was frompleting the third Tutorial Mission, Jeremy focused his mind on the ''No'' button.

    As there were still many benefits to reap from, Jeremy didn''t have any intention to be teleported elsewhere anytime soon.

    Finally, the interface changed to the Tutorial Mission''s one...

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive Iˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (44/15) (ˇď)

    ? Survive 10 monster hordes (1/10) (ˇďˇď)

    ? Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal (Completed) (ˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (0/1) (ˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista (0/1) (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? ??? (?)

    ˇş After finishing one of the Tutorial Missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage.ˇ»

    ...

    At this time, Jeremy saw that he had already finished four missions from the Survival Crystal''s missions list, consequently inducing him also toplete the third mission of Tutorial Mission: Survive I.

    Then after seeing that he had already received the rewards and finished inspecting the Tutorial Missions list, Jeremy nodded his head slightly while dismissing the interface.

    He continued his walk...

    Just like that, he reached the ce where the duos, Eddie and Mitchell, stood.

    When Eddie and Mitchell saw a guest''s arrival, they stopped talking, then turned their heads towards their guest, the ck-cloaked man, aka Jeremy.

    Before Jeremy could say anything, Mitchell opened his mouth first,

    "Well, I see you finally wake up."

    Followed by Eddie''s mild sarcasm, "Tsk. He didn''t look tired at all when we talked."

    As Eddie had mumbled those words in an almost inaudible voice, Mitchell only shot a quick re at him before turning back to Jeremy.

    "Indeed. My ''sleep'' is very tiring." Answered Jeremy with a slight nod uncaringly about Eddie''s sarcasm.

    "Tiring? You have a nightmare or something?" Asked Mitchell in wonder.

    "Tsk. Like hell, a monster like him would have a nightmare, as he is a nightmare itself." Mumbled Eddie.

    Unfortunately, this time Eddie was not lucky enough.

    As even before Jeremy could reply, Mitchell suddenly turned his head to look at Eddie''s stupid face before asking, "Well, if you have so much free time to spout harsh words to our benefactor; why don''t you go help people over there set up the defensive tools instead?"

    "Haizz... You sses idiot, you will regret not believing my wordster."

    It would be better if Eddie''s tone of voice contained more confidence within it, as it seemed like he also didn''t quite believe his own words.

    That was, of course, Jeremy''s doings as he had input a seed of doubt within Eddie''s subconscious mind earlier.

    With those words being said, Eddie continued,

    "Alright, I will go help those goons first. You guys talk."

    Afterward, he walked away while swaying ass to the right passageway''s direction to help other people set up traps and barricades.

    When Mitchell saw Eddie had finally gone, he shook his head in annoyance at the brute-but-no-brain man.

    Jeremy, who stood as a bystander and saw the bickering between the duos, got a bit amused at their strange friendships.

    "You guys seem pretty lively, huh." Said Jeremy with a smile.

    When he heard Jeremy''s teasing words, Mitchell replied with a shrug, "Nah, he is annoying like bugs."

    "Is that so? But I see both of you are on pretty good terms. Your chemistry towards one another is just about right."

    "Is that even apliment in any way?"

    "Who knows? Anyway, by the looks of it, you people are doing quite well. It is admirable for strangers to be unified like this. Even those guys with troublesome titles are practicing their weapon skills like their lives are on the line."

    Having finished the teasing part, Jeremy suddenly praised Mitchell''s leadership.

    "This time should be apliment. Well, if you say so, then yeah, kinda like that. Even though it''s tough at first, but after everyone was united by one centralmand, everything just gets better, as you can see. As for those troublemakers, well, their lives are indeed on the line."

    "I see. However, don''t forget to be careful around those types of people; they are ready to ''backstab'' you anytime. That is how things usually unfold no matter where it is."

    "No matter where it is, huh..."

    It was as if Mitchell was reminiscing about his past beforeing to this ce, as he murmured inaudibly to himself after hearing Jeremy''s words.

    Without caring about Mitchell''s behavior, Jeremy spoke up again, "By the way, I''vee here to give you my answer."

    The sudden change of topic from chit-chatting to a serious one made Mitchell tensed up.

    "Answer? You mean... about helping us with the next wave of monsters?"

    "Correct." Jeremy confirmed.

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s confirmation, Mitchell probed for the answer,

    "So, what is your decision?"

    "My decision is I''ve decided to..."

    ...

    [A/N: I''ve decided to end this chapter with a cliffhanger.]

 Chapter 52 - Well, I Dont Know

    Upon hearing Michell''s question, Jeremy replied,

    "I''ve decided to fight alongside you guys."

    Prior to this, Mitchell didn''t put much hope in the aspect that Jeremy would help them fight with the monsters.

    Thus, his eyes widened a bit, and then he spoke excitedly, "Really? That''s good, very good. Your presence alone will boost our chance of survival to another level."

    Mitchell indeed felt surprised at the sudden good news.

    "But..." Jeremy''s voice suddenly interrupted Mitchell''s jubtion.

    Upon hearing that word, Mitchell settled his various emotions down a bit as he suddenly realized that the man in front of him had a proposal for them.

    "Do you know that I''ve already been qualified to be teleported into the second stage anytime I want?" Jeremyid out his card.

    "..."

    After Mitchell had heard Jeremy''s question that seemed more like an affirmative sentence, he asked for the reason behind Jeremy''s generosity, "I see... then... Why do you choose to help us then? You can just teleport out of here anytime you want, right?"

    "You guess." Replied Jeremy with a light smile while looking directly at Mitchell''s shaky eyes.

    "..."

    After some seconds passed, Mitchell finally finished his thoughts. Then he spoke up,

    "Hmm... As you had said before that you would clear those two remaining doors. Maybe, those two doors are the reason? Wait... Maybe you also remain here for another reason; is it for the SP and skills in the shop? Which one?"

    "You are quite sharp. Now we are talking." Jeremy replied, feeling impressed.

    While within Jeremy''s mind was another thing entirely, ''This guy has a good brain; he urately pinpoints two of the four purposes behind my staying here.''

    *Sigh*

    Suddenly, the sound of Mitchell''s sigh rang out, and then he said with a defeated expression,

    "You hold all the cards, so state your price and conditions."

    When Jeremy saw Mitchell''s defeated expression, he couldn''t help but tease a bit, "Talking with someone like you is indeed convenient, as people like you realize their current situation quite well."

    That simply meant Mitchell knew his own ce pretty well...

    "..."

    Right now, Mitchell felt quite depressed, as he was afraid that Jeremy''s demands might be something outrageous.

    After all, everyone within their group was as poor as they could be, for they had already used up every ounce of their SP to buy various things from the shop, such as woods, foods, weapons, medicines, and so on.

    That''s why after hearing Jeremy''s teasing words in a situation like this, Mitchell could only keep his silence, waiting patiently for Jeremy''s demands.

    At the same time, Mitchell also couldn''t reprimand Jeremy in any way because he didn''t have any right to do so.

    If Jeremy wanted to help, he would help, but if he didn''t, so be it.

    Regarding that matter, Mitchell knew it well.

    As for Jeremy''s demands, of course, Mitchell would try his best to meet those demands and requests, for Jeremy could boost up their survival chances to another level.

    At this time, when Jeremy saw the sses man in front of him constantly oozing out serious air, Jeremy decided to speak up to lighten the mood,

    "Why so serious? Just rx. There is only one condition, though."

    "One condition, you say... What is it?" Replied Mitchell with a newfound hope after hearing Jeremy''s words.

    ''He stillcks experience in negotiation. Well, let''s just finish this fast, as I am quite exhausted and will have to take a short rest before the fight.''

    When Jeremy finished those fleeting thoughts, he spoke up again,

    "Simple, it''s about the lineup strategy."

    "Lineup strategy? Please borate." Mitchell inquired with a thoughtful frown.

    Then, with a satisfied grin stered on his face, Jeremy calmly exined the ''strategy'' to Mitchell,

    "Well, listen, it is like this..."

    ...

    Three hours or soter...

    Only 44 people remained within the clearing, with two people lying unconsciously at a corner while having six people of young and old ages huddling and staying near them.

    Meanwhile, another 36 people held weapons in their hands tightly, waiting for the monsters to emerge from the left and right passageways.

    Currently, those 36 people were divided into one big and small group.

    The big group consisted of 25 people situating at the right passageway entrance, with many barricades and traps being ced in front of them.

    The small group consisted of only 11 people situating at the left passageway entrance, with an even lesser amount of barricades than the right passageway.

    Of course, this was Jeremy''s proposal to Mitchell some hours ago.

    Mitchell and other people knew it all too well that Jeremy alone was akin to ten of them together.

    Heck, Jeremy might be even stronger than that, as that made most of them quite curious about Jeremy''s prowess.

    How could a human be that strong?

    Did Mister Jeremy buy some OP skills from the shop?

    Concurrently, there were too many mysteries revolving around the man named Jeremy.

    Unsurprisingly, after Mitchell had weighed the pros and cons of the lineup strategy, he decided to agree with Jeremy''s sole condition.

    That''s why Mitchell suddenly called for a meeting about two hours ago, asking everyone to vote whether to use Jeremy''s strategy or not.

    Fortunately, after some persuasions and y of words here and there, Mitchell managed to convince the majority of people to vote and voice in agreement with Jeremy''s proposal.

    At that time, three or four troublemakers were also trying to cause some hups, but as soon as those people raised their discontent a bit, Mitchell and his close aides shot those people''s unpleasant opinions down with ease.

    As a result, after the countdown timer ended, the people''s lineup was as such...

    The people in front of the left passageway consisted of Jeremy, Bob, Joshua, Lucas, William, Thomas, Skr, Bad Mouther, Greedy Pig, ire, and Aylin.

    The people in front of the right passageway consisted of Mitchell, Eddie, Luke, Derek, Kyle, Grayson, Anna, Be, etc.

    After experiencing the life-and-death fight together earlier, everyone grew close to one another.

    As of right now, everyone had already finished introducing oneself to other people; they knew most of the people''s names here.

    Still, more than half people there had titles above their heads, but as those titles were just some harsh and trash words most of the time, everyone decided to ignore the titles and call one another by their names instead.

    Alright, let''se back to the current n...

    As agreed, the n was simple. The majority ofbatants would face the monsters from the right passageway, whereas the minority, having Jeremy as a spearhead, would be fighting against the monsters from the left passageway.

    Regarding the other ten people standing alongside Jeremy at the left passageway, ording to the n, those people were akin to props used to decorate the scene, not letting it be too empty.

    In other words, they were here only to ensure that no monster would be let through the frontline to stab other people at another passageway and the resting area in the back.

    Right now, most people felt very nervous as it was, after all, a fight to the death against scary monsters.

    "Mister Jeremy, is it really going to be okay this way?" Asked Bob worriedly, who was standing beside Jeremy.

    "Well, I don''t know."

 Chapter 53 - I Will Be Back

    "Well, I don''t know."

    Jeremy replied casually as always.

    As Jeremy really didn''t know if it would be okay or not to use this lineup to fight against those ounders.

    However, for his own greed and gain, aka Survival Points, in exchange for increasing everyone''s survival chances, Jeremy decided to propose this condition to Mitchell.

    Jeremy knew there would definitely be some ounders slipped through him, so he decided to bring ten more people to back him up as an assurance.

    If it were like this, Jeremy would be able to fight to his heart''s content without caring about other people, as there were more than ten people on standby behind him, waiting to kill any leftover ounders anytime.

    Still, after everyone had heard Jeremy''s words, aka the words of the man who proposed the n to them as he was not even sure about the usibility of the n himself, everyone fell silent.

    "..."

    "..."

    Their faces looked uncertain...

    Should they call for reinforcements from the other side?

    What should they do?

    They didn''t want to die like this, after all.

    Upon seeing those ten people''s expressions, especially Greedy Pig and Bad Mouther''s ones were clearly expressing their utmost hesitation to be standing here, Jeremy decided to assure them a bit,

    "Listen, all of you. I promise you that no more than 20% of those monsters will bypass me. You have my words. So, don''t be so down, alright?"

    "But Mister..."

    "It is still..."

    "There are too many..."

    "Will you be okay? Should we..."

    "We should fight them toge..."

    "I think this idea is not good..."

    Upon hearing so many people speaking various annoying words one after another, Jeremy thought to himself depressingly,

    ''Even after me, the former sage had stated my promise to them, lowly peasants, they still were unsatisfied? It seems like my credibility also reduces after going back in time. If it were my past life, these people wouldn''t dare object to my words like this. For fuck sake."

    Then Jeremy suddenly let out a sigh...

    *Sigh*

    The sigh that sounded normal yet felt so cold...

    "..."

    "..."

    As everyone suddenly fell silent, like they felt something would go haywire immediately if they didn''t close their mouths.

    "Don''t make me repeat myself. Just stand here and do your own duty. Isn''t that clear?"

    The words spoken by Jeremy echoed out within the quiet atmosphere as everyone felt the sudden shudder originated from their very spines.

    Jeremy''s words were imbued with a strong will and filled with absolute, undeniable authority. At the same time, they felt so cold akin to deep abyss'' temperature, while his abyss ice-cold blue eyes were staring at everyone coldly.

    They couldn''t help but held their breath after suffering from his cold glimpse firsthand, as their hearts skip a beat or two, almost causing them sudden heart attacks.

    "..."

    "..."

    After seeing that everyone was obedient as they could be, Jeremy finally spoke satisfactorily, "Good, it seems like you guys are all clear. Proceed as nned then."

    With those words being said, the countdown timer above the Crystal also hit zero...

    00:00:00:01...

    00:00:00:00...

    ...

    ˇş Be prepared. The third horde of monsters ising. Good luck. ˇ»

    ...

    As the timer ended, everyone who was currently feeling deep spine-chilling feelings from Jeremy''s aura suddenly came out of their stupors.

    They started to panic instead...

    "Tha, they areing!"

    "Be ready!"

    "Bob, be ready."

    "Look! They areing..."

    "Mister Jeremy..."

    When Jeremy saw those people''s reactions, he could only shake his head in disappointment.

    ''They are even worse than a nobody on Ortus...''

    Meanwhile, Jeremy said, "You guys wait here and make sure that those creatures won''t breach the barricades. I will be back soon."

    Without further ado or waiting for other people to voice their opinions and reasons, Jeremy dashed out quickly in the dimly lit entrance''s direction.

    The entrance had a width of more than 5 to 6 meters, enough for 6 or 7 monsters to march out side by side, while the others could only stand in the second, third, and fourth line.

    Right now, ahead of the now-rushing Jeremy was an armyprised of dozens of skeleton soldiers, eight imps, and five wolves.

    At the same time, the monster''s army was also marching towards Jeremy, their ''supposed'' first prey.

    With five wolves running very fast at the forefront, skeleton soldiers lining up while marching slowly at the back, and five little red imps flying above left and right sides, they looked just like an army arisen from hell.

    However, Jeremy couldn''t care less about their looks and formation at all...

    *Growl* *Growl*

    "Wooolff!!!"

    As the five wolves growling and wolfing sounds rang out ceaselessly as if trying to scare Jeremy, soon they reached five meters away from one another.

    Upon seeing that they would crash soon, Jeremy gripped the spear tightly in his right hand while spinning the spear left and right deftly to create the initial momentum for the first swing.

    Right when the distance between the two sides had reached around three meters away, both sides were already situating about some meters ahead of the passageway''s entrance.

    "Wee to your future cemetery."

    Jeremy said grinningly while looking at the five wolves.

    When those five wolves finally came out of the entrance, they were suddenly met with Jeremy''s wee speech and a spear de.

    *Fwhoosh*

    Jeremy shed with almost full force horizontally, with broad spear movement enough to create a semi-circle sphere around himself.

    It might look amateur with a wide swing like that. However, the sh was proved quite effective as five wolves rushed side-by-side towards him at their full speed.

    As the wind produced by the swing had created a terrifying sound and chaotic wind wave, anyone could imagine the destructive power behind this swing.

    As a result...

    Even before those five wolves could jump at their ''prey'', they were caught in a deadly situation.

    Two wolves on Jeremy''s right didn''t have time to dodge at all, as one of them was met with the sharp spearhead shing through its jaw, while another one had tried to jump up towards Jeremy, but its neck area was sliced in half instead.

    As the two wolves dropped down to the ground, unmoving soon after.

    It was very fortunate for the other three wolves, as they could dodge the shing attack in time because the attack hade from the other side of their positions.

    "Not fast enough."

    Jeremy suddenly pulled his spear back to his body, then plunged it towards the wolf in front of him.

    *Puchi*

    The spearhead went smoothly into the wolf''s left eye socket, prating its brain directly, as its skull in the left eye''s area was cracked and broken with the sheer thrusting force of the spearhead.

    In a blink of an eye, three wolves were killed by Jeremy...

    After those two wolves saw ''the human'' had finally let out an opening, they hurriedly pounced towards his vacancy on the left side.

    At the same time, Jeremy saw that sight clearly, as he had already calcted his next moves even before dashing here.

    Thus, while retracting the spear back, Jeremy took his left foot one step to the front, acting as a foothold, then he kicked his right foot as hard as he could towards the wolf''s body on the right.

    *Bam*

    "Arff..."

    *Thud*

    It flew several meters away at a fast speed and fell to the ground with a thudding sound.

    After kicking that wolf away, Jeremy didn''t even nce in its flying direction as another wolf wasing for his neck quickly.

    Currently, thest wolf was in midair, opening its mouth widely towards Jeremy''s neck.

    ''My neck is for only hot women to lick. It''s not for you, plebeian creature.''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy brought his retracted spear shaft to his front, causing it to be aligned with the wolf''s disgusting wide mouth.

    As a result, the wolf bit directly at the spear shaft...

    *tter*

    With the sound of the wolf''s teeth ttering against the steel spear shaft, Jeremy clenched his left fist tightly before giving the wolf an uppercut.

    *Bam!*

    *Crack*

    It seemed like the wolf''s jawbone was broken in half as it was biting the spear shaft earlier butter was hit so suddenly by an uppercut at the jawbone area.

    *Thud*

    Then it dropped to the ground powerlessly.

    "Graa..."

    Without further ado, Jeremy pierced its neck and ended its life quickly.

    *Puchi*

    ''That''s not even considered a warm-up yet.''

    Jeremy thought casually while looking at the iing sluggish skeleton soldiers and somewhat agile imps.

    Then he walked forward fearlessly...

 Chapter 54 - The Third Wave

    The moment before the fight started...

    "Joshua, I think we should help him fight." Said Bob towards his friend, Joshua.

    Upon hearing the skinny, tattooed Bob''s uncertain words, Joshua, who looked to be well-built and tall, said in bafflement,

    "What? Are you for real? No matter how I look, staying behind these barricades is better than going out to fight openly."

    Despite his junkie-looking appearance, Bob appeared to be quite soft inside, as he tried to find an excuse to help Jeremy,

    "But..."

    "Joshua is right. I also think we shouldn''t risk ourselves to fight those monsters in the open. As for helping him or not, Mister Jeremy had already stated it clearly, hadn''t he? He said earlier if he couldn''t handle those creatures, he would retreat back himself. So, there is no need to help him, I guess." Said a middle-aged man in his office suit.

    Upon hearing the middle-aged man, Lucas'' reasons, a woman in herte 20s named Skr said,

    "That makes sense. As you had seen when Mister Jeremy came to help us, he is very strong like those Olympics gold-medalists. We should wait and see."

    "I agree too." Said Greedy Pig in agreement, as he was afraid to fight those creatures in the open.

    "Me too." Bad Mouther also chimed in; he only cared about his safety, after all.

    When Bob heard those people''s opinions, he could only keep his silence,

    "..."

    "Look, those creatures... What the? They are wolves, right?" Said Thomas, who had remained a bystander earlier.

    "Shit! I knew wolves woulde, but not this fast... It''s just the third wave still." Joshua cursed in fear, for he thought that fighting with those wolves would be troublesome.

    "There, Jeremy is shing with the wolves soon." The blonde-haired Skr widened her eyes while using one hand to cover her mouth in horror.

    "Ah, he is fucked for sure. There are five big wolves." Greedy Pig said after witnessing the sight.

    "Serve him right!" Bad Mouther said sarcastically.

    "Watch out! Mister Jeremy!" Bob shouted aloud.

    However...

    *Fwoosh*

    As Jeremy swung the spear, the howling-wind sound even reached their positions at almost ten meters away.

    *Bam!*

    "Arff.."

    *Crack*

    Apanying those sounds was a spectacle of Jeremy one-sidedly assaulted the wolves...

    In contrast to everyone''s expectation, the sight everyone expected to see never happened.

    The fight started very fast and ended very fast, as Jeremy had decimated the group of five wolves effortlessly with only some swings of his spear, a kick, and a punch.

    It was such a climatic-fight scene that would be etched within their minds for a long time.

    "!!"

    "!!"

    "What the hell?" Bob felt like his mind suddenly went nk after seeing such a sight.

    Joshua suddenly got excited, "Do you see that, Bob? He actually finishes those wolves in seconds."

    "That man is not normal at all. Is he really an Olympic Gold Medalist like you had said?" Asked a middle-aged man, Lucas, towards Skr.

    "He... he is standing just right in front of the entrance."

    "Don''t tell me..."

    "Holy! He is confronting those skeletons and imps."

    "Look at his skillfulness when he attacks. He''s just killed two imps in one spear strike."

    "Do you hear that sound? Each strike of Mister Jeremy''s swing actually creates a wind howl. Terrifying..."

    "Those abominable things don''t stand a chance against him at all."

    "That guy is the real monster..."

    Afterward, many exmations in wonder and astonishment rang out incessantly.

    The ten people behind were hooked and captivated, like being enchanted by Jeremy''s unlimited charms.

    Whenever Jeremy moved one step, at least one creature dropped dead.

    Whenever Jeremy retreated one step, another creature would also drop dead.

    No matter where he went, he brandished the spear skillfully with no waste movement at all.

    Thus, the fight proceeded on with ten people looking fascinatingly at Jeremy''s back...

    ...

    At the same time...

    Another group of people, to be exact, another 25 people stationing behind wooden traps and barricades some meters away from the right passageway''s entrance, were now readying themselves for the uing horde of monsters.

    With Mitchell and Eddie as their centralmand, everyone gripped their weapons tightly, waiting nervously for the bloodbath...

    When the countdown timer hit zero, everyone finally spotted some creature''s silhouettesing out from within the passageway.

    Afterward, everyone finally realized this wave consisted of five wolves at the forefront and many more grotesque creatures at the back.

    Many people got scared...

    Many people got nervous...

    However, their lives were on the line here; they couldn''t back down no matter what.

    So, harden the minds, they did.

    Simultaneously, with a frown between his eyebrows after spotting the wolves, Mitchell suddenly shouted,

    "Archers!!"

    "Be ready! Only aim at the wolves!"

    After six people standing at the front had heard Mitchell''s shouts, they nocked their bows with the arrows, waiting patiently for the followingmand.

    Finally...

    When the wolves ran out of the passageway, Mitchell gave his order,

    "Fire!!"

    *Thwish* *Thwish* *Thwish*

    *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

    The sounds of bowstrings being released, followed by the whooshing sounds of arrows traveling through the air, rang out...

    *Puchi*

    *Puchi*

    *tter*

    *tter*

    With two arrows hit the body of two wolves, while another four had missed their targets...

    After seeing that two wolves were injured with the first wave of arrows, Mitchell gave anothermand,

    "Aim one more time at the wolves!"

    "Fire!!"

    *Thwish* *Thwish* *Thwish*

    *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

    Just like that, the arrows traveled through the air and hit another two wolves...

    "Archers, retreat. Warriors, standby!"

    With anothermand from Mitchell, the formation changed to another one with people holding short-ranged weapons moving to the front, stationed behind the barricades and traps instead. At the same time, the six archers retreated to the backline.

    Currently, row after row of skeleton soldiers wasing out of the entrance, whereas several imps were flying above those boney creatures'' heads.

    Each of the skeleton soldiers held varied weapons such as a short knife, sharp bone, long sharp pole, and so on.

    It seemed like they were also upgraded with better weapons and gears, just like Earthlings did.

    "Be prepared for the sh! Steel your fucking ass!!" Shouted Eddie, who stood at the formation''s most center while holding an iron sword and shield.

    Soon...

    *Bam* *sh*

    *Thump* *Bam*

    *Whoosh* *Crunch*

    The melee fight finally broke out with the Earthlings'' side had the locational advantages as they had built many barricades and traps to slow down the ounders.

    "Don''t let them through. Shielders, push them out!!"

    "Aarghh!! Die, bastards!"

    "Archers fire at the imps!"

    "Warriors, aim at the neck area."

    "Damn, I''m wounded. Substitute me."

    Command aftermand being ryed to everyone continuously while everyone was also doing their best to meet the expectations of thosemands.

    ...

    While the fight on the right passageway was as intense as it could be, the battle on the left passageway was something entirely different.

    *Whoosh*

    *Crack* *Crack*

    *Whoosh*

    *Crunch*

    Astonishing enough, the fight on this side was initiated with one human against an armyprised of tens of skeleton soldiers and several imps.

    ''I wonder how those guys are doing. It is so boring here, for these skeletons can''t evene close to me.''

    Jeremy thought leisurely about the people stationed at another passageway.

    As the fight here was not satisfactory enough, Jeremy felt a bit disappointed.

    ''I will just think of this as a warm-up before going through the second door then...''

    With that thought in mind, Jeremy plunged the spear de urately towards the iing imp.

    *Fwoosh*

    *Puchi*

    As an imp''s body was very small, only a spear thrust was enough to detach its head from the body.

    Just like that, one imp dropped to the ground headlessly, dead...

    Meanwhile, at almost ten meters behind Jeremy, those ten people were not standing idly, as some ounders had walked past Jeremy to the back.

    Thus, the people from behind had to fight, too, albeit with only a minimal amount of skeleton soldiers and some imps.

 Chapter 55 - We Are Fucking Dead

    Ten minutester...

    *Huff* *Huff*

    With huffing soundsing out of Eddie''s nostrils, he swung the iron sword at thest skeleton soldier''s neck.

    *Crunch*

    *tter*

    Then the pieces of bones fell to the ground with a ttering sound, signifying the end of the third horde of monsters at the right passageway.

    There were no congratting notifications from the system, rewards, or whatsoever.

    The things Earthlings received were SP and their survival...

    "Finally..."

    "Ahh, my arm is so sore."

    "Miss nurse, please take a look at my wound..."

    "We won!!"

    "Hooray..."

    "We did it..."

    And thest two things Earthlings received were new friendships and ''new hopes''...

    A single human might be weak indeed, but when together, they were powerful, no doubt.

    As they finally saw the fruitful results from their unification.

    Feeling d, they were...

    After the fight, Mitchell finally called out to everybatant situating at the right passageway,

    "Alright, guys. Listen to me, please."

    "..."

    "..."

    Soon the cheering andining sounds died down...

    "As we have just won another tough war, but it hasn''t really ended yet. The people over there are still fighting. Thus, those of you, who can still hold a weapon and fight, follow after me."

    Upon finishing his short speech, Mitchell and Eddie were the first ones to rush out.

    Followed closely by more than ten people, they were ready for another fight...

    Not long after, they reached behind those still-fighting people.

    Currently, those ten people had been fighting with the leftover skeleton soldiers from Jeremy.

    Well, the amount of those monsters were very few, with no more than a dozen skeleton soldiers and two imps. However, the fight was prolonged by some cowardly people such as Greedy Pig, Bad Mouther, and two aunties, namely ire and Aylin.

    That meant only six people really fought with the ounders; those six were Bob, Joshua, Skr, Thomas, Lucas, and William. They had to struggle a lot to fend off the monsters, while another four cowards only fought passively and timidly.

    Suddenly...

    "We''vee to help."

    "Take this, ugly skeleton!"

    "Dieee..."

    The reinforcements finally came to the rescue...

    ...

    After a few minutes, every ounder within the chamber was finally dead...

    When everyone saw no more monsters, they started cheering aloud in gratification for real.

    This time no one would interrupt their cheers and shouts, so they did the deeds to their hearts'' content.

    "Hooray..."

    "It ends for real, right?"

    "Hahaha, that was easy."

    "No one is dead..."

    "Cheers!!"

    "Woahhh!!"

    The cheering and shouting sounds echoed out within the spacious chamber for some minutes...

    As more than 30 people were shouting and jumping here and there, the situations were quite chaotic.

    After everyone settled down, Mitchell started arranging people to clear the monster corpses littering on the ground.

    They gathered all those corpses at a corner near the easy-difficulty door. At that corner, both ounder and Earthling corpses were stacking up on one another like an earthen mound.

    Right after giving out the order to clear out the corpses, Mitchell suddenly looked around as if to find someone.

    Indeed, he was looking for a certain someone, which was currently nowhere to be seen.

    With a confusing look stered on his face, Mitchell walked towards Joshua, whom was gathering bones up from the ground.

    "Joshua..." Asked Mitchell towards the crouching Joshua.

    When Joshua had heard the sudden call from someone, he raised his head up in curiosity,

    "Oh, yeah? What''s the matter, Mitchell?"

    "Do you know where he is?" Asked Mitchell.

    After hearing Mitchell''s question, Joshua got confused,

    "He? Who are you talking about?"

    Seeing hispanion''s confusion, Mitchell rified while looking around one more time to find Jeremy,

    "I mean, Mister Jeremy. Do you see him? Cuz I don''t see him anywhere."

    Upon hearing the question asking about Jeremy''s whereabouts, Joshua blinked his eyes a few times.

    Then he frowned and thought back to the fight scene earlier...

    ...

    shback...

    "Some of them areing this way. Be prepared!" Shouted the middle-aged man, Lucas, who was holding a long iron spear.

    "Get ahold of yourself, fatty bitch. If you dare turn back and run, I will follow and prate your asshole with my knife." William, who looked like a street thug, threatened Angelo, aka Greedy Pig.

    "Bastard! Like I fear you." Replied Angelo angrily.

    "Alright, that''s enough, both of you. Don''t you see that?" Joshua interrupted them and pointed his finger at the iing skeleton soldiers and two imps.

    "Hold your positions!" Bob shouted for everyone to hear.

    Then...

    *Bam*

    *Thump*

    *Crunch*

    The fight broke out as everyone was focusing on the opponents in front of them.

    While the skeleton soldiers tried to breach through the wooden barricades, the people from behind those barricades would attack and prevent them froming through.

    While the two imps were flying annoyingly left and right, trying to stab the careless ones with their tails.

    The fightmenced erratically as nobody cared about Jeremy, whom was fighting alone at the passageway''s entrance at all.

    After a few minutes passed...

    *Creaks*

    *Bam!*

    With the sounds akin to a door being closed rang out, Joshua, who had just finished killing a skeleton soldier, turned his head towards the sounds'' direction but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

    Then Joshua raised his shield to fend off an imp''s attack...

    The life-and-death fight continued...

    shback ended...

    ...

    After finishing his recollection, Joshua looked directly at Mitchell''s eyes and replied,

    "I think I know somehow..."

    "Where is he?" Asked Mitchell in wonder, not expecting any good result in the first ce.

    Then Joshua raised his right index finger and pointed it towards the doors'' direction. He then said,

    "He should be there... behind one of those doors."

    *Sigh*

    After Mitchell had heard those words, he couldn''t help but sigh and shook his head slightly.

    "I see. Thank you, Joshua. You did a good job earlier. See youter."

    "You too. See ya."

    After saying his farewell to Joshua, Mitchell walked towards Eddie, whom was boasting his heroic fight against the monsters to a woman in herte 20s, Skr.

    "Earlier I swung like this and ''Bam''; one skeleton soldier broke into pieces. After that, I shed like ''Whoosh'', then another skeleton soldier''s body was ''Crunch''; it was..."

    "You sure have so much free time, huh."

    Mitchell''s voice suddenly interrupted Eddie in mid-speech, causing thetter to stop his boasting promptly.

    Upon seeing a savior finally came to rescue her, Skr nodded her head slightly with a smile towards Mitchell before using this chance of distraction to escape from Eddie.

    "What are you doing here? Don''t you see that I''m... No. Wait, please, beautiful Skr... No..." Eddie ended his talk with a saddened tone, like he would start crying after being dumped by his girlfriend.

    When Mitchell saw such a sight, he could only shake his head in helplessness...

    "Ah, sses idiot. Do you know what you''ve just done? And you still dare shake your head at me. Haaa... You are incredible."

    "I''m incredible? Oh ho... You are the one to talk huh."

    "Fuck you."

    "Fuck you, too."

    After cursing at one another to vent out some air, Eddie started to talk business in annoyance,

    "Enough bullshits. Why do you interrupt me? I hope it''s something important."

    With a hint of resignation within his eyes, Mitchell replied while looking at Eddie''s stupid face,

    "Of course, it is important. There is a big problem, Jeremy had gone into one of those two doors... already."

    "For real? Da hell. He doesn''t feel tired or something, does he?"

    "I also think the same."

    However, even after hearing about Jeremy went into a door, Eddie still didn''t get it,

    "Then what?"

    "Then what, you say... Why don''t you use your brain for a bit? Do you still have a brain, by the way?" Answered Mitchell as he rolled his eyes to the back of his head.

    Then with an ''I don''t get it'' written on his face, Eddie spoke again,

    "Aiz... I don''t know, okay? Just tell me already. I still have something to do."

    It would be more credible if Eddie''s eyes weren''t staring hornily at a particr woman whom looked quite young and pretty at some distance away.

    After hearing those words, Mitchell spoke back with a trace of sarcasm-containing voice,

    "The something you are talking about is another woman, aren''t you?"

    *Cough* *Cough*

    "Ahemm... I, emm... Okay, I give up. So, tell me. How does Jeremy go into one of those doors affect us?"

    Shaking his head slightly at Eddie''s stupidity, Mitchell asked back,

    "Then let me ask you this. What will happen to us if Jeremy cannote out in time before the next one or two waves? Or if he neveres out then..."

    "Fuck! We are fucking dead!!"

    Eddie cursed aloud after the sudden realization of their current predicament...

    ...

    After finishing his talk with Eddie, Mitchell shouted aloud for everyone to hear,

    "Alright, everyone, let''s clear the ce fast. After that, we will group up at the same ce to talk about other things."

    Upon hearing Mitchell''s short speech, everyone started working on the ounder''s corpses and bones at a quicker pace.

    Except for the Cassanova bachelor, Eddie, of course...

 Chapter 56 - Winter Forest

    *Creaks*

    *Bam!*

    With the door-closing sounds rang out behind him, Jeremy didn''t even turn his head to look at it this time, as he knew the ''door'' had by now disappeared into nothingness.

    Currently, Jeremy was in a separate dimension likest time when he had undergone the easy trial within easy-difficulty door...

    As for the environment...

    Jeremy frowned slightly and thought to himself,

    ''It is a bit cold. Maybe around 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Hmm... This is a... winter forest?''

    [A/N: Approximately -7 degrees Celsius.]

    At this moment, Jeremy was standing in the middle of a forest covered with countless snowkes building up to be snow mounds at some ces.

    Even the ground was built up with more than five centimeters thick of snow.

    The trees here were pretty tall, but their appearances were those of the dried-up trees with no leaves on their branches, no flowers on their leaves, and no fruits on their flowers.

    ''No wonder, I have never heard of anyone passing this normal-difficulty door, as the climate is not ideal for any living thing at all, let alone fighting with ounders.''

    Meanwhile, Jeremy took a look around himself...

    Unfortunately, no matter where he turned his head to, he would only see whiteness originated from snow and countless parched tall trees everywhere.

    It was an ideal ''winter forest'' with nothing more, nothing less...

    *Sigh*

    ''In a ce this vast, my 1st tier exploration spell is utterly inefficient, as it will consume most of my mana with no noticeable result at all. If I knew it would be like this, I would have bought [Eagles Eyes] skill instead.''

    With a sigh of regret, Jeremy thought about the advantages and benefits of the skill, [Eagles Eyes] in this situation.

    Still, there was no point crying over spilled milk...

    Then Jeremy turned his head up to the bright white sky that had no cloud, sun, or even traces of a star at all, but he knew intuitively from his feeling about the space''s fluctuation that it was daytime right now.

    Jeremy''s past life as a space sage had benefited him with many things; and one of the most important of them all was his knowledge from various researches he had done when being bored.

    That''s why Jeremy could tell intuitively that this separate dimension had its own cycle of day and night with some specific hours between them.

    ''It shouldn''t be more than 6 hours before nighttime.''

    Jeremy estimated each cycle time to be around 6 hours or less.

    Right when Jeremy prepared to take a step forward, an interface suddenly popped up...

    ...

    ˇş Normal Trial ˇ»

    ˇş Objective: Find an exit ˇ»

    ...

    ''The same mission as in easy-difficulty trial, huh. If it is like this, it is easy then...''

    After seeing the projecting interface, Jeremy thought and smiled to himself mysteriously.

    Right now, he was thinking the mission as one of the puzzles he had to solve before being able to leave this ce.

    Well, this was indeed a ''puzzle'' for Jeremy and an easy one at that. After all, he had acquired a rank 6 title, Mystery Decipherer, in his past life by solving various mysterious puzzles and problems.

    As for what the puzzle was about, it was simple...

    After Jeremy had connected the dots about the word ''exit'' with the easy-difficulty trial earlier, he would know that ''exit and entrance'' tended to be ''interchangeable''.

    That simply meant Jeremy only had to find another door to exit this ce like in the easy trial.

    There was also another case in which the ''exit'' was not actually a ''door'', but the chances of that happening were rtively lower than in the former case.

    Because Jeremy''s intuition told him strongly that he had to find a ''door'' to leave this winter forest...

    ''Good, I finally have my priority.''

    After thinking about his priority, Jeremy suddenly frowned with an abrupt realization. Then his left glove promptly shone with a white glow into a shape of a small rounded object.

    Almost ten secondster, a roundedpass with a red maized needle came out of his left glove''s space storage.

    Then Jeremy held thepass in front of him, looking at the red maized needle, which was supposed to always point towards the north maic pole if it was on Earth.

    Unfortunately, the red needle within thepass acted like a chaotic, busy clock''s needle, moving nonstop, signifying there was no north maic pole here, in this separate dimension.

    Jeremy had already expected this result even before bringing out thepass; he had just tried his luck, that''s all.

    Upon knowing this ce had no maic field, Jeremy knew he was royally fucked...

    As he wouldn''t know which direction to tread on, he would then walk in a circle like a lost boy...

    With a deep, thoughtful frown between his eyebrows, Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''For god''s sake. I don''t know the fucking direction at all. No sun, no moon, no star, no maic field, no nothing.''

    ''So, that left me with only one way huh...''

    When Jeremy finished those depressing thoughts, he brought out an ordinary dagger from his glove''s storage.

    Then he chose a direction on his right side and started walking in that direction.

    With a certain interval of distance, whenever Jeremy met with a tree, he would leave a ''mark'' on the said tree.

    If Jeremy didn''t want to waste his mana on the exploration spell, this was indeed the only way left for him.

    Thus, he kept walking on the thick snow and continued marking the trees along the way like a machine.

    It was such an arduous job, even for someone like him...

    ...

    ...

    [A/N: This is an important announcement, so I decide to put it here. Guess what? This book has just been contracted sessfully. That means we''re going premium soon! Let us celebrate together with some Golden Tickets and Power Stones... Anyhow, thank you for everyone''s apaniment. I''m very happy to have you guys with me here. Cheers!!]

    [Good News: As I''m trying to write more chapters daily, I think I can increase the updating rates to 2 chapters per day after September 20, 2021. I don''t know if I can do it or not, but I will try my best. So, you guys will see 9-11 chapters for 2 more weeks. After that, it will be increased ordingly.]

 Chapter 57 - Jeremys Dilemma

    Half an hourter...

    Within the middle of nowhere of an unknown snow-white forest spotted a ck-cloaked person standing silently behind a big dried tree without making any sound.

    Currently, the ck-cloaked person, aka Jeremy, was looking silently at the view in front of him.

    In Jeremy''s front, a white wolf was sleeping quietly near a big rock.

    The reason Jeremy had stopped his footsteps was that if he took another step forward, the wolf would wake up and notice him immediately.

    So, he was currently thinking of a n to take out the wolf without letting it call for itspanions.

    After deliberating for a while, Jeremy finally picked up two small rocks beside his foot and then tossed one of them in front of the tree he was hiding in.

    *Thud*

    The sound of stone hitting the thick snow rang out within the quiet white forest...

    After the sound rang out, the sleeping wolf''s eyes suddenly twitched, and then it opened its eyes widely, looking around in alertness.

    Even after some time had passed, the wolf still couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary. So, it prepared to continue its short nap.

    However, the moment when it closed its two eyes...

    *Thud*

    The exact same sound rang out once again...

    Upon hearing the noise again, the wolf sprang up from the ground while looking intently in a particr direction.

    This time the wolf knew roughly where the sound originated from.

    Thus, it decided to check that out for a bit, as it might have some easy preys to feast upon...

    When it thought about a juicy rodent and meaty rabbit, the wolf''s salivas dribbled on the ground along its trail towards the ''big tree''.

    While trying its best not to create any sound, it sneaked forward.

    Not long after, the wolf finally reached where the sounds resonated out earlier...

    Afterward, the wolf stopped its pawsteps as its nose suddenly moved, trying to smell and distinguish the scents.

    Simultaneously, the wolf''s eyes widened...

    As it actually smelled something fishy...

    Not a prey''s smell, but a predator''s smell...

    Jeremy, who had readied himself to strike for a long time, finally had a perfect chance to attack.

    When the wolf felt panicked, Jeremy circling around the big tree quickly while gripping the spear tightly with his two hands.

    Then with a reverse swing, Jeremy swung the spear''s shoe upwards forcefully from under the wolf''s stomach.

    *Bam*

    *Crack*

    As the wolf''s body spun three rounds mid-air before finally falling to the ground, it seemed like the wolf''s ribcages were broken from Jeremy''s powerful strike.

    *Thud*

    The pitiful wolf''s body twitched for some seconds before stopping.

    It looked lifeless...

    ''No sound, no blood, no smell, and no reinforcements. But what should I do with its corpse?''

    Jeremy thought about his immediate dilemma...

    ''Nah... Just let it be. Even if itspanions found out about their friend''s death, they couldn''t chase after me anyway, as I''d be long gone from this ce.''

    Jeremy thought casually while proceeding forward as he did in the past half an hour.

    The reason why Jeremy didn''t want to give himself a high profile was that he didn''t know the structures of this normal-difficulty trial as of yet.

    He also couldn''t use too much mana, so he better yed it safe...

    ...

    Two hourster...

    Along the way of his marching, Jeremy met many animals such as birds, owls, hares, deers, mooses, andstly, many, many wolves.

    Jeremy chose to avoid some wolves when they stayed together, while he mostly killed the ones that stayed alone by using some tricks here and there not to cause a bigmotion.

    Moreover, each wolf killed also gave Jeremy more than 45 SP.

    He even wondered if he let those wolves call upon itspanions; how many SP would he get from annihting them?

    But that thought of his was very dangerous, so he postponed it for now.

    Right now, after walking for almost three hours straight in one direction, Jeremy finally found a definitive result.

    That was...

    He actually encountered a dead end.

    At this moment, Jeremy was looking at a wall, to be exact, a towering, steep, high wall of something akin to an ice valley.

    Then Jeremy reached out his right glove to touch the ice wall.

    Simultaneously, when Jeremy''s hand almost touched the wall itself, a transparent protectiveyer appeared and prevented his hand glove from going further.

    Theyer was solid white and imprable at first nce...

    Then Jeremy retracted his hand and looked to his left and right sides respectively, only to see the same wall extending to the far end of his sight.

    ''It is as I''ve thought. I know this ce will have space limits.''

    ''Hmm... Considering the wall''s shape, it should be a circr space.''

    ''As for the size... If I was spawned at the exact center of this space... I''ve been walking and marking the trees for more than 2 hours and 43 minutes; that means I had walked around 5 miles. Then the area of this circr space should be somewhere around 80 square miles.''

    ''But If I wasn''t spawned at the center... then this space will be even smaller than 80 square miles.''

    ''Then, If I want to explore every nook and cranny of this space, it will require me more than a week of constant walking.''

    ''The space and barrier are so stable. I wonder if the System really creates this dimension or not. Nevertheless, whoever builds this ce must have deep knowledge and understanding of space element. Impressive...''

    Various thoughts about the possibilities of this separate dimension running through Jeremy''s mind nonstop...

    After some time, Jeremy nodded lightly. Then he thought about his following move,

    ''What should I do next? Even if I were to use up all my mana, I still could not cover 10% of the ce here.''

    Unknowingly, Jeremy was frowning deeply in thought, trying to find a way to exit this ce...

    ''Exit...''

    ''...''

    Suddenly, Jeremy''s eyes shone with a hint of realization...

    ''That''s right. I have to find the exit.''

 Chapter 58 - A Certain Stalker

    ''That''s right. I have to find the exit. Then if the exit is really a door, it must be within a house or chamber somewhere within this dimensional space...''

    ''That simply means I have to find a big, or at least, a conspicuous ce.''

    Having thought of the likeliness of that usibility, Jeremy chose another direction to walk in.

    Soon, Jeremy disappeared into the whiteness of the winter forest...

    ...

    Three hourster...

    Jeremy had been walking without a single rest for almost six hours now.

    He walked, walked, and walked nonstop.

    Whenever he met lone wolves, he would kill them here and there.

    As of now, he reasonably believed this ce was a trial that its sole threat consisted of only wolves...

    If Jeremy had to count so far, he had killed more than 15 wolves in the span of six hours of staying here.

    Considering that he had avoided almost double that amount along the way, he had encountered more than 50 wolves already.

    Furthermore, the distance Jeremy had walked till now didn''t even reach 10 percent of the total yet. So, if he multiplied the number of wolves he met so far by 10, there would be more than 500 wolves living and roaming in this winter forest.

    Then assumed half of those animals somehow came to gang up on Jeremy; there would be nothing left of him anymore.

    That was if he didn''t use any of his mana...

    ''Isn''t this trial too hard for a single human? Anyone else might starve or freeze to death at this rate...''

    Jeremy thought inwardly while shaking his head lightly at the thought of ordinary people taking on this so-called ''normal trial''.

    It was akin to an impossible mission for other Earthlings...

    However...

    Was Jeremy ordinary in any way?

    The answer was clear as day, as Jeremy was still walking leisurely while scribbling some marks on the trees along the way like all of this was just an everyday stroll in the park near his house back on Earth.

    Regarding the temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit or -7 degrees Celsius, Jeremy only felt that it was somewhat cool, that''s all.

    As for the matter of starving to death, Jeremy had more than enough food to survive more than a month here easily. That''s why it was also a no-go.

    Thus, the only thing Jeremy had to beware of was actually the ''wolves'' as written in the plural form...

    As wolves usually lived in ''packs'' with each pack led by at most two alpha wolves, one male and one female. Every pack also consisted of the stronger, but few in number beta wolves and the weakest, but many in number omega wolves.

    As for the hierarchy, it was clear that alpha wolves stood at the highest point within the pack, followed by beta wolves whose strength and hierarchy were one rank below those of the alphas''. Lastly, the omega wolves were the submissive ones, behaving as obedient subordinates of the former two ranks.

    Talking about the number, alpha wolves obviously had the fewest at one or two per pack, while beta wolves had a bit higher in number than the alpha wolves. For the weakest ones within each pack, the omega wolves, their number was usually of that the beta wolves multiplied by ten.

    For that reason, if Jeremy decided to take down more than one wolf at a time, it may call forth its own ''pack'', which included the alpha, beta, and omega wolves from somewhere nearby.

    If that happened, the oue would not be to anyone''s liking at all...

    ''But why do I only see omega wolves thus far? Where are the beta and alpha wolves?''

    While advancing within the snow-white forest, Jeremy could only think to himself puzzlingly.

    ''Hmm... Wait. Don''t tell me that my thoughts are all wrong. Maybe I had overestimated the difficulty of this trial, as it might not be that hard after all.''

    Having suddenly thought of that possibility, Jeremy pondered a bit more,

    ''If I assume there are no alpha and beta wolves in this forest, with only omega wolves scattering everywhere in a group of one to four wolves at most.''

    ''It means...''

    ''The wolves wouldn''t be able to gather up more than twenty or thirty wolves at a time...''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy''s eyes suddenly lit up with a crazy new idea,

    ''Let''s try this then. At worst, I will just cast a tier 1 spell to escape.''

    Right now, Jeremy had already added one more priority within the list, albeit it was the second most important one next to ''finding the exit''.

    That priority was apparently... gathering more SP.

    Then Jeremy advanced further to find some wolves as his experimental subjects. Following that, he continued his march on the snowy forest.

    Some minutester, Jeremy finally saw two wolves standing sneakily some ten meters away from him.

    It seemed like those two winter wolves still didn''t saw him as they were staring into another direction intently.

    Right now, both wolves were eyeing a little deer that was eating dry twigs and grasses attentively.

    Considering the unaware deer was showing its delicious-looking back towards the two white wolves, it should not be conscious of its predators'' existence as of yet.

    ''Isn''t this the quote, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?''

    Well, it should be two mantises, to be exact, as there were two wolves. While the small deer was a cicada, Jeremy eventually became the oriole behind in the end...

    While the two wolves sneaked to each nk of the still-ignorant deer, Jeremy was behaving like a bystander still, chose to stand there nonchntly, not doing anything at all.

    A few secondster...

    "Woolff!"

    "Graaa.."

    With the wolfing and growling soundsing from the two white wolves now situating at the left and right nks of the little deer, both wolves leaped forward simultaneously at a quick speed.

    "!!"

    Upon hearing those soundsing from somewhere nearby, the little deer...

 Chapter 59 - A Charming Prince Appears [Bonus ]

    "!!"

    Upon hearing those soundsing from somewhere nearby, the little deer''s droopy eyes widened in shock.

    At the same time, it didn''t even nce back to see what''sing at it at all, as the shocking deer hurriedly jumped forward, trying to flee as fast as possible.

    However, it was already toote...

    *Chomp*

    *Thud*

    The startling deer''s hind leg was bitten firmly by the white wolfing from its right side. Hence both wolf and deer dropped to the ground together with a thudding sound.

    Afterward, there was no need for any exnation, for the deer''s fate was already sealed in stone the moment it fell to the ground...

    *Chomp* *Chomp*

    *Whine*

    The miserable deer''s whining sound followed the wolves'' chewing noises; it was eaten alive by the two white wolves...

    ''Well, this should be the time for a charming prince to appear, albeit a tad bit slow to help the damsel in distress...''

    Upon seeing the gore, carnivorous sight at several ten meters away, Jeremy walked forward slowly.

    *Snap*

    Along the way, Jeremy stepped on a dried twig as it snapped...

    To tell the truth, he didn''t even care if he stepped on a twig or not, for he knew that the wolves wouldn''t let their hard-earned meal go to waste.

    Those two white wolves would try their best to protect the juicy, delicious meal...

    That''s why...

    "!!"

    "Woolf!?"

    The two wolves'' ears twitched at the sudden snapping sound that had interrupted their sumptuous meal midway.

    Afterward, they turn their heads towards the source of the noise.

    Unquestionably, they spotted a walking ck-cloaked human marching towards them ever so slowly with a long, dangerous-looking object in hand, swinging left and right rhythmically.

    "Graaa!!"

    "Kraa!!"

    Both wolves growled and threatened the iing ck being to go away and leave them alone with their fleshy meal.

    How did someone dare to intrude while they were having their splendid meal?

    Regardless, the human in front of them didn''t pause even a single step.

    So, the two winter wolves could only put a short stop to their delicious meal for now, albeit reluctantly.

    Then, not waiting for the human toe any closer, the two wolves rushed furiously towards the meal-interrupter.

    Once Jeremy saw the four-legged animals were behaving pretty simple-minded worthy of their organism of the lowest rank, he gripped the spear shaft tightly as a wee gesture towards the two.

    If anyone looked at his face now, they would see Jeremy was actually smiling.

    He smiled at the iing bloodshed...

    When the wolves almost reached him, Jeremy plunged his spear toward the wolf on his right side swiftly.

    *Whoosh* *Puchi*

    The spear thrust was too fast for the wolf, causing its prey not to realize at all what actually happened to it while the prey''s body dropped to the pale-snowy ground, dyeing the white background with the reddish blood of its own.

    The first wolf was dead just like that...

    Then Jeremy retracted the spear forcefully while spinning his body half round to the left side, making the speare along with his body''s momentum.

    As another wolf was already in mid-air, leaping towards Jeremy''s left nk quickly, it was then thrashed with the spear shaft in mid-air...

    *Bam*

    The wolf''s body was thrashed with the solid spear shaft before its body bounced away some meters away from the point of contact.

    ''Easy...''

    Jeremy thought to himself lightly while walking towards the wimpy wolf on the ground.

    Right now, Jeremy only thought that his preys were easy to be hunted, as he didn''t think at all that his strength was actually at a level beyond an ordinary human almost two or three times. As a result, Jeremy could defeat these savage animals almost effortlessly.

    Regarding his strength andtent physical power were apparently the result of his daily meditation and body training.

    Even though most of his physical power came from meditating, including the side effects of having mana particles within his body, the body and spear training that Jeremy did in the past months also helped improve his body for quite a bit.

    Ironic, it was, for a mage to have a strong body. Albeit, not as strong as those warrior pathways, a mage was still stronger than ordinary people to arge extent.

    Just like that, Jeremy reached the wolf''s side, then he stopped and raised his spear slightly.

    *Puchi*

    Jeremy pierced the spear directly at the wolf''s abdomen whereas avoiding its vital areas.

    As the wound wasn''t that deep, killing the pitiable wolf didn''t seem to be his purpose then.

    "Arff. Arff..."

    After being stabbed so abruptly, the wolf whimpered.

    Then...

    *Puchi*

    Jeremy pierced again at another ce near the old wound, also avoiding any fatal region on the wolf''s body like the previous time.

    "Arff..."

    "..."

    "Awoooooooo!!"

    Having unable to tolerate any more pain, the dying wolf steeled its guts before howling loudly into the air.

    "Alright, that should be enough."

    *Puchi*

    As the stab was aimed directly at its neck area this time, the poor wolf was finally dead.

    "Now then, other ''preys'' should being this way soon. This should be entertaining."

    Earlier Jeremy''s actions of torturing the poor wolf were simple; he wanted to prove that his thoughts earlier about this ce not having any alpha and beta wolf were correct or not.

    If within this normal-difficulty trial didn''t dwell any alpha or beta wolf, this ce must be filled with hundreds of the submissive omega wolves without any leader then.

    If so, when those omega wolves had heard their friend''s cry for help, there would be only some of theme to rescue. Inparison, another significant portion of those wolves would remain idly and uncaring because the crying wolf was not rted to them at all.

    Furthermore, the omega wolves staying within this vicinity would also smell some iron, fishy smell of the two dead wolves'' blood, which would draw in even more omega wolves from around this location.

    However, if there happened to be an alpha wolf or two, Jeremy would have difficulty handling those savage animals as they could draw in even more underlings from their pack.

    "Awoooo..."

    "Wooolfff!!"

    "Oowooooo..."

    "Graaa..."

    Not even one minuteter, several wolves howling and growling sounds came from every direction...

    If anyone else, instead of Jeremy, stood here, that person might have shrieked and trembled in fear already.

    But Jeremy was different...

    As he was smiling jovially from within his heart, he felt excited at the forting carnage.

    ''It couldn''t be more fun to kill countless weaklings trying to gang up on me...''

    ''As I will annihte them into nothingness... as always...''

    With those ruthless thoughts in mind, Jeremy gripped his spear firmly while turning his head towards his left side.

    Three wolves wereing from that direction...

    "Greetings, soon-to-be carcasses."

    Having said that, Jeremy dashed forward speedily.

 Chapter 60 - Strangeness

    *Fwoosh* *Puchi*

    *Bam* *Crack*

    "Arff..."

    *Whoosh*

    *sh*

    "Grurr!!"

    On the bloody, sanguinary battlefield, two ''big'' wolves stood face-to-face with a human holding a spear.

    While blood, guts, and organs of many, many wolves were littering around the white snowy ground, causing it to be pink-red in color now.

    Predictably, those unpleasant things dyeing the snow-white ground in reddish color were formed with the winter wolves killed by the human.

    As for the perpetrator, it was undoubtedly the ck-cloaked man holding the spear, Jeremy. Right now, he was facing thest two wolves.

    Considering their body sizes, Jeremy was sure the two of them must be beta or even alpha wolves.

    When the bloody fightmenced earlier, those two wolves had only stood at the sidelines howling and growling now and then as if giving orders to the omega wolves around.

    "Well, there are still some big wolves, after all."

    Having said that in English, Jeremy thought inwardly,

    ''It seems like the difficulty of this trial still cannot be underestimated. Alright, let''s finish this fast; I''m a bit tired now.''

    Then Jeremy clutched the spear shaft securely, readying himself to attack the wolves...

    "Grurrr!!"

    At the same time, the tworge white wolves ran in separate directions, trying to attack Jeremy''s nks.

    ''As always... What a boring tactic.''

    When Jeremy finished his thought, he dashed directly at therge wolfing from his left side.

    As the wolves were quite bigger, stronger and faster than the others, Jeremy had to be a bit more aggressive than usual.

    Upon seeing the human had suddenly dashed in its direction, the wolf got surprised and tried its best to slow the speed down.

    But it was toote, as the spear sh wasing its way very fast...

    The only thing it could do right now was jumping as high as possible, so it did.

    When the big wolf jumped high towards its ''prey'', its upper body and forelegs had avoided the spear strike sessfully...

    However...

    *sh*

    Unfortunately, its hind legs were not so lucky, as they were bisected in half, dropping to the ground independently followed shortly after by their owner''srge body.

    *Thud*

    "Arf..."

    *Puchi*

    Jeremy pierced the wolf''s neck mercilessly before turning his body to the fast-approaching,st wolf with a clenched left fist.

    "Grurrr!!"

    Thest big wolf was already in mid-air, leaping towards Jeremy''s right side with its front legs extending far and wide, preparing to maul the abominable human into pieces.

    ''You are pretty fast. But...''

    Jeremy had already prepared for thising scenario as he had already prepared his posture and stance with his clenched left fist.

    Jeremy turned his body half round swiftly towards the right side with the clenched fist while swinging the said powerful fist aiming directly at the wolf''s big skull in mid-air.

    *Bam*

    The one-meter-and-a-half-long wolf''s momentum was changed and directed to another direction with its body went past Jeremy''s right side promptly.

    *Thud* *Thud*

    As itsrge body rolled two rounds on the reddish snowy ground stopping at around ten meters behind Jeremy, which was a result of its body''s momentum sliding with the snowy ground, creating a big and long groove along the way.

    Then it struggled up shakily from the ground with somewhat difficulty...

    "Graa..."

    With a hard shake of its head, the big white wolf stared at Jeremy hatefully while growling with hate.

    Then it kicked the ground with explosive force, dashing abruptly towards Jeremy again...

    Despite its sudden concussion from the powerful punch earlier, it still didn''t give up on revenge just yet.

    It wanted revenge, for its new lover to be killed and its newly-acquired subordinates to be ughtered by the hateful ck, tall creature.

    "Grurrr!!"

    *Shuffle* *Shuffle* *Shuffle*

    With the sudden adrenaline rush, therge wolf broke its whole life''s speed records...

    When it reached the optimum distance from its enemy, it condensed every iota of its weight, centering them at the four legs before propelling itself towards the tall, ck creature with fearful, gaping maw.

    Upon seeing therge animal''s final struggle, Jeremy shook his head while retracting the spear towards his body.

    Then with a quick thrust together with taking a simple sidestep to the left to avoid therge wolf, the spearhead traveled through the air at an almost untraceable speed.

    *Puchi*

    With the attacking-range advantage, the spear de went directly inside the leaping wolf''s gaping mouth, prating every obstructing organ in its way.

    *Plush*

    Afterward, Jeremy pulled the bloody spear out from the now-dead white wolf...

    Then Jeremy took a look around the battlefield to see if there was any lucky ''survivor'' or not.

    Right now, the scene was depicted as such more than 30 wolves were lying and littering motionlessly on the ground with wet blood still oozing out from their fatal wounds constantly.

    As for the white snowy ground from before the fight, there was no more...

    The snowkes on the ground within the battlefield''s vicinity were already dyed in pink-reddish color for some time.

    Meanwhile, the very perpetrator and sole painter of this ''panorama of the carnage'', Jeremy, was standing still, having his ck-cloaked soaked with iron-fishy blood and appalling gore of the wolves.

    He looked just like a ruthless murderering straight out from a grade B horror movie back on Earth...

    As the atmosphere around Jeremy was deadly silent, it seemed like no wolf dared to intrude into this cursed ce for now.

    ''It is entertaining... indeed...''

    During the bloody fight earlier, Jeremy''s mana field projection had been automatically activated more than three times to protect him, as the omega wolves came from every direction at the same time, causing Jeremy to be unable to fend off some simultaneous attacks.

    ''There are 87% of mana left within my dantians...''

    As a result, Jeremy had lost 2% of the ''inferior-quality mana'' in the battle...

    Nheless, he still won the fight, unscratched.

    ...

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have received 43 SP]

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have received 46 SP]

    [You have received 45 SP]

    [You have received 45 SP]

    [You have rece...]

    [You ha...]

    [You have received 94 SP]

    [You have received 97 SP]

    ...

    Soon, more than 30 notifications popped up in front of Jeremy, signifying the bloody fight hade to an eventual end.

    ''From this fight alone, I''ve got more than 1,500 SP. Moreover, my thought was wrong about this trial. It wasn''t that hard, after all. If it is like this for every other pack of wolves, there should be around two or three bigger wolves among them. By the way... are they beta or alpha wolves?''

    ''Strange...''

    Jeremy thought ponderingly with a slight frown to himself after receiving the rewards from hosting an eventful massacre earlier.

    ''My senses are telling me that something doesn''t make sense here... But what is it?''

    While thinking of those dilemmas, Jeremy receded away from the ughtering, bloody battleground slowly, intending to find an empty clearing to take a short rest after a long journey and many fights.

 Chapter 61 - A Short Vacation [Bonus ]

    Five minutester...

    In the middle of the snow-white forest, there spotted a ck camping tent small in size with space enough to amodate only two or three people.

    Still, this was more than enough for the current Jeremy, who ventured alone...

    No matter who saw it, the ck tent situating right in the middle of the snow-white background was such a conspicuous sight to behold for anyone.

    But the tent-pitcher, Jeremy, couldn''t care less about such a thing, as he was the boss-ranked monster here, after all.

    Who should he be scared of?

    For now, none...

    Right now, Jeremy was sitting inside the said ck tent, having a miniature camping gas stove in front of him. Meanwhile, a small cooking pan above the gas stove, which had a big, meaty beef being cooked inside, giving out light-grey smoke filled with mouth-watering smells.

    The delicate aromas originated from the big, cooking piece of steak breezed far and wide into the still, chilly air.

    If it was not for Jeremy had already killed most wolves in this region, there might have been some hungry wolves attracted by the savory and mouth-watering smells of steak,ing his way to request for some shares of the ptable, delicious-looking meat.

    ''This should be enough.''

    Having seen the medium-rare steak oozing out heavenly aromas in front of him, Jeremy nodded his head and extinguished the fire on the gas stove.

    With some seasoning here and there on the tasty-looking big piece of steak on the small pan, Jeremy savored it with a knife and fork lusciously and happily.

    *Munch*

    *Om* *Nom* *Nom*

    "Haaa... So vorful... I think one more should be alright."

    Having thought so, Jeremy brought out another piece of vacuum-sealed fresh beef from his left glove''s storage...

    Then he started the fire on the gas stove...

    Thus, another round of sumptuous meals began...

    *Siziii* *Siziii*

    While waiting for the steak to be cooked, Jeremy popped his head outside the tent and picked up a cylindrical object from under the white snow...

    Afterward, he went back to his original sitting ce in front of the gas stove while his hand actually held onto... a can of c.

    Then...

    *Tsszz kr-Pop*

    *Szzzz...*

    *Gulp* *Gulp*

    "Ah... So fucking refreshing. This is it; this is life."

    "Fwuuu..."

    Having let out a satisfied breath, Jeremy enjoyed himself alone to the fullest within the deadly winter forest...

    *Siziii* *Siziii*

    "Oh, almost done already?"

    Jeremy mumbled happily when he saw the appetizing big piece of steak was changing its color from pink-red into a light-brown delicious-looking one...

    Another tasty round began...

    ...

    Some minutester...

    *Gulp*

    "Haaa..."

    Having washed the cooking utensils with some freshwater from within his glove, Jeremy swallowed down another gulp of carbonated drinks called Caco-C.

    Not long after clearing and keeping every cooking-rted utensil back inside his left glove, Jeremy felt sleepy all of a sudden.

    ''After a good meal, we have to sleep to the fullest too...''

    Thus, Jeremy poked his head out to look at the environment outside the tent, only to see that it seemed to be evening time already, as the sky was turning darker every passing minute.

    As Jeremy had estimated earlier aftering into this trial about the day and night cycles of this separate dimension, the time had gone by more than six hours already since then.

    ''The timing was just about right. I''m dead tired.'' Jeremy thought drowsily to himself.

    *Yawnn...*

    Afterward, he brought a soft pillow and cushion out from the left glove before closing the tent''s zipper.

    Then Jeremy finally hit the sack...

    Soon, the soft breathing sounds echoed out from the ck camping tent rhythmically...

    After all, considering the time since Jeremy being teleported to the tutorial space and met the cupid, it was more than 18 hours already.

    Then Jeremy had further undergone the easy trial from the easy-difficulty door.

    After that, he came out to help those Earthlings fight with the second wave of ounders.

    Following the fight, Jeremy had to ess the Mindful Body Realm and maintain the 10th meditation stage for several hours.

    With no time to rest at all, he had to fight with the third wave of monsters, albeit more like a warm-up one.

    Lastly, aftering into this harsh, shivering winter forest that was unsuitable for traversing and camping, he had been walking nonstop for six hours straight. Then he even went beyond that to fight with more than 30 wolves all at once earlier.

    Is he even still a human, by the way?

    Obviously, Jeremy was still a human...

    Thus, sleep soundly, he did...

    ...

    Four hourster...

    *Rustling*

    *Rustling*

    Upon hearing the sound from nearby, Jeremy abruptly opened his eyes...

    *Yawnn...*

    After yawning a bit, Jeremy thought with an annoying frown,

    ''I just want to sleep one or two more hours, but these impolite, uneducated animals...''

    *Sigh*

    Having thought and sighed depressingly, Jeremy walked out of the tent before looking around the darkened forest.

    As there was no moon, star, or even aurora within this dimensional space, the only source of light within this ce was from the ''settings'' set by the ''creator'' of this ce.

    Right now, Jeremy saw some white lights, which came in pairs, reflected from here and there around his camping site, clearly directing in his direction.

    ''Twenty pairs at the very least. These fucking wolves, theye to revenge for their kin or what? Well, whatever...''

    After seeing his ''supposed'' predators only trying to scare him with their reflected white eyes, Jeremy turned towards his ck tent and then unhurriedly fold and withdraw his tent.

    With each passing second, it seemed like those ''white glows'' wereing closer to Jeremy.

    As Jeremy was still ''ying careless'', acting as if he didn''t recognize his current predicament yet, still, the light glowing out of his right-handed glove said absolutely otherwise.

    Almost ten secondster, a long in steel spear suddenly appeared from within the light glow, then Jeremy abruptly stopped his actions of folding the tent.

    Afterward, he turned his body towards the closest pair of ''white glows'' while gripping the spear''s handle at the shaft firmly.

    "Thanks for giving me so much time to bring out my weapon."

    "Now, I''m ready. Come, foolish creatures."

 Chapter 62 - One Man Army

    "Now, I''m ready. Come, foolish creatures."

    Having said those harsh words towards the ignorant, savage animals, Jeremy initiated the first blood with an explosive sprint towards the closest wolf.

    It appeared that the naive wolf didn''t foretell that their ''supposed'' prey woulde at them instead of trembling or running away in fear.

    As of right about now, the entire pack of wolves came to hunt down this atrocious being, for they had already surrounded this areapletely.

    How could the wolves even expect such a turn of event?

    "Wooolff!!"

    "Woolfff..."

    "Awoooo..."

    Countless howling and growling sounds of the wolves resonating out loud, indicating the bloody fight had officially begun...

    Right about now, Jeremy had already reached a few meters away from his first target.

    "First blood is you..."

    With a swift thrust of his spear towards the ignorant wolf that was preparing to jump, avoid the iing attack.

    But sadly, the wolf was too slowpared to the fast-approaching spear de...

    "Grurrr..."

    *Puchi*

    Just like that, its neck was pierced hazardously by the spear de all the way till the de''s tip appeared on the other side of the pitiful wolf''s neck.

    *Plush*

    With a plushing sound, Jeremy pulled the spear back, readying himself for the two iing white wolves from the front.

    Not waiting for himself to be on the passive side, Jeremy dashed forward once again while scanning his surroundings carefully with his acute senses.

    When Jeremy and the two rushing white wolves were approximately three meters from one another, the two wolves suddenly jumped at the same time, aiming to finish Jeremy altogether.

    Simultaneously, with quick reflex, Jeremy bent both knees slightly to bring his buttocks towards the ground as his kneecaps slid along the thick snowy ground, creating two grooves along the way.

    At the same time, Jeremy also aimed his spear tip towards the white wolf on his right side, for it had jumped in mid-air at a lower altitude than itspanion.

    As a result, the leaping wolf on the right might have a chance to attack Jeremy somehow if they crossed each other.

    So, Jeremy chose the right wolf as his first target.

    Well, it was actually the second one, whereas the first one was already killed by him...

    *Puchi*

    The wolf''s abdomen was puncturedpletely, showing the entire spear de on the other side of its body.

    How about the other wolf?

    Obviously, it had missed Jeremy thoroughly, as its body flew through the air to some meters behind Jeremy''s back.

    Then Jeremy forcefully retracted the spear from the wolf''s abdomen near its ribcages region.

    *Plush*

    With the wolf''s blood spraying on the snow-white ground unstoppably; it couldn''t be more dead.

    Afterward, Jeremy turned to look at the wolf that had missed him a moment ago; he also saw two more wolves standing beside it now.

    "Two dead, twenty-two more. Hmm? Oh wait, now it''s twenty-three." Said Jeremy, as one more pair of ''white glows'' wasing from the distance.

    It seemed like many more winter wolves would be massacred tonight...

    ...

    The dark sky over the now-reddish-gory snow ground started to brighten from an unknown source.

    Nevertheless, the earlier night sky was getting brighter and brighter with each subsequent minute passing by...

    Within the vicinity of the ''ck'' camping tent that did not look so ck anymore, resulting from red liquid assumed to be wet and dry blood had already stained and dirtied many spots on the tent''s canvas, there were several dozens of winter wolf carcasses lying everywhere.

    Many unidentified organs, mashed brains, and disgusting innards were littering and dirtying the ground, causing the original white-snowy ground to be painted in dark-pink color instead...

    *Huff* *Huff*

    While letting out some huffing sounds, Jeremy pulled a long object from aparatively bigger wolf than the rest...

    *Plush*

    A huge amount of blood oozing out from the wound, followed by nauseating guts and innards sliding sluggishly from the gaping fatal wound on therge wolf''s body.

    "Fwuuu..."

    Having let out a long, long breath of air, Jeremy mumbled lightly,

    "Three packs... It''s three fucking packs of wolves. I hope those are all of them for now."

    That''s right, Jeremy had fought with three packs of wolves earlier.

    The life-and-death battle between one human and three wolf packs was nothing but hellish...

    As the intense, intensive skirmish of life-and-death spanned over one hour and a half, the final oue was particrly clear as there was only one man currently standing on this diabolical, gory battlefield.

    The human, Jeremy, had won...

    The three wolf packs of almost one hundred wolves had lost...

    In fact, it was quite strange that three packs of wolves hade to hunt Jeremy together because usually, the wolf would operate independently from pack to pack.

    But here they came, one after another, with the exceedingly clear purpose of... vengeance.

    Nevertheless, they still lost to one human...

    "Hahaha. It is fucking refreshing!"

    Jeremy suddenlyughed contentedly after looking around and finally seeing no more ''alive'' wolf.

    Although the ce was now filled with fresh carcasses, or in other words, meals for other wolves to eat, other packs'' wolves would note and loiter here at all if they were not truly hungry.

    ''Well, a wolf does not eat another wolf even when they are from different packs anyway.''

    Having thought of that sudden piece of knowledgeing from another Omniscient being back on Earth, Jeremy shook his head slightly at the notion of fighting another round.

    Currently, his entire body felt terribly sore and aching. After all, fighting bloodily with more than 80 omega wolves and some rge'' wolves was nothing but drained and worn out.

    Jeremy only felt his physical body had already hit its absolute limits...

    Upon shaking his head firmly to clear his mind, Jeremy steeled himself up.

    Then he walked towards his ''ck'' camping tent, intending to keep the pillow, cushion, and the tent itself back inside his left glove''s storage, only to find out that the tent''s canvas was pretty dirty with blood droplets littering in various spots.

    ''Let''s clean it first.''

    ''Oh, wait! My favorite cloak...''

    Unfortunately, one''s mana field projection wasn''t omnipotent, as the mana itself was a semi-living creature that could detect ''intent''...

    As the blood of those quadrupedal animals didn''t contain any adverse effects or bad intentions, Jeremy''s mana field projection didn''t appear to protect him from the blood sprays.

    Well, even some pieces of internal organs and disgusting brains were sticking at the back of his ''ck'' cloak still.

    As of Jeremy didn''t have any eye behind his back, so he didn''t know there were such awful things stuck on his hind clothes.

    If Jeremy knew that, he would immediately take off and burn down his ''favorite'' cloak in seconds, for his pride didn''t allow him to be ''dirtied'' by such lowly things.

    After ten or so minutes, Jeremy had finally finished washing and keeping everything back inside his gloves, excluding his spear, undoubtedly. Also, he didn''t dare keep the spear inside his right-handed glove''s storage anymore for fear of another ambush from the wolves.

    ''I am pretty curious if thoserge wolves are beta or alpha. Should I check for more information from within my sea of consciousness?''

    ''Hmm... Should I?''

    ''Nah... It''s not that important, I guess. I will just kill them all anyway.''

    When Jeremy finished weighing the pros and cons of essing his sea of consciousness, in the end, he came to a definite decision of not checking it.

    Well, this might be a setback to bite him in the asster, but he didn''t care...

    No wolf had a qualification to bite his ass anyway; only women had...

    Having finished organizing everything, including his thoughts, Jeremy turned his head to the left side.

    ''Alright, more than 70% of them came from that direction...''

    With a light smile, Jeremy strolled in that direction leisurely, albeit ''a bit'' tiredly.

    After a short time, Jeremy, who was wearing a brand-new ck cloak, disappeared into the winter forest.

    As for his old ''favorite'' cloak?

    Already burned into ck powder...

 Chapter 63 - No Other Choice

    Twenty minutester...

    Jeremy stopped his footsteps after finally seeing something ''conspicuous''.

    Currently, he stood approximately 100 meters away from a moderatelyrge structure that appeared to be...

    "A house? Are you kidding me now?"

    After Jeremy walked for a mile, he had to stop to look at the astonishing sight in front of him in stupefaction.

    The reason?

    It was because Jeremy suddenly spotted a medium-sized brick house...

    A medium-size that meant a particr house capable of letting a family of four people livefortably in.

    For the appearance, it was a one-story brick house, the roof made of brown woods covered with light-grey thatches, together with a brick chimney exuding dark smoke continually.

    It looked ssic at first nces, like an ordinary brick house that anyone could see in the countryside back on Earth.

    Because of the house''s sudden appearance, there came a big problem...

    In the middle of nowhere in this uncharted, dangerous winter forest filled with hundreds of wolves...

    How was it possible to have a house here?

    ''This doesn''t make sense... No... It has no fucking sense in the first ce.''

    Even though Jeremy had a slight hunch earlier that the door, aka the exit, should be within a ''house'' or a ''chamber'', when he actually saw it firsthand that there was admittedly a moderate-sized brick house situated within this boondocks of a winter forest.

    Jeremy couldn''t make up his mind to ept it...

    Even his earlier hunch that was so urate seemed like a lie now...

    ''My hunch is correct as always... but it still doesn''t make sense. Why a house? Furthermore, a house that contained mana turbulence within...''

    Right now, Jeremy''s face twitched slightly, as he didn''t expect any of theseing towards him at all.

    Thus, he fell into deep thought...

    Very, very deep thought at that...

    ''It is strange indeed. Starting from the moment I''ve set foot into this ce, nothing makes sense...''

    ''First of all, there are only wolves as predators roaming everywhere here. This must be a test for a contestant''s survival skills, no doubt. Also, why thoserger wolves don''t look like alpha wolves at all? They are more like beta ones...''

    ''Secondly, thoserge wolves from the three packs earlier... Why did they join hands together and lead the submissive, omega wolves to hunt me down? Usually, each pack will operate independently...''

    ''Then, this brick house, whiches out of nowhere with a trail of ck smoke emanating from the chimney, someone must be inside... still... my unignorable hunch tells me there is no one inside... My hunch never lies, but the chimney with ck smoke also seems to tell the truth...''

    After thinking up till here, Jeremy''s fleeting thoughts suddenly came to mind,

    ''What does the creator truly want to test us, Earthlings?''

    Having thought of that, Jeremy promptly blinked his unfocused eyes dazedly three times...

    ''Hmm...?''

    ''Wait... creator?''

    ''What creator? This was the second time I''ve thought about that term already.''

    With the fleeting thought that might not look important at all, but it was already the second time Jeremy had thought about the said term ''Creator''.

    Thus, he couldn''t ignore it anymore even if he wanted to...

    ''s...''

    ''It seems like I have no other choice now. Even though I don''t want to ess my sea of consciousness, now I need to.''

    The circumstances finally pushed Jeremy towards a dead-end...

    After thinking so, Jeremy retreated from the house''s vicinity for now because it might not be safe to stay around this area for the time being.

    About five minutester, when he thought it was safe enough, Jeremy sat down on the snowy ground with no further dy, preparing to meditate.

    After a few minutes, Jeremy entered stage 10 of meditation, tranquility and equanimity. Not long after that, he sessfully essed into his sea of consciousness...

    ''Everything remains the same.''

    Uponing inside his own sea of consciousness, Jeremy took a look around,

    The sky was brilliant blue...

    The high-grade brown soil was magnificently beautiful...

    The moderate-sized pond was filled with transparent milky white water...

    Currently, it''s like Jeremy was standing in the proximity of an unhot, brown desert together with an oasis-like pond of pearly-white water situated in the centermost ce.

    Also, the exterior of the closure, desert-like soil area was still painted in solid white color, for the spaciousness of his sea of consciousness could only be this limited for now.

    ''Oh... My sea of consciousness, which was depicted in the form ofnd and sky areas, has actually gotten bigger? Hmm... When I came here before the First Doom began, it was approximately 10 acres but now increased to 12 acres. That''s a remarkable improvement.''

    The progress of Jeremy''s sea of consciousness was obviously the result of doing meditation daily.

    As for the benefits he received from having a more extensive sea of consciousness, it was simple...

    The bigger his sea of consciousness was, the stronger his mind power became.

    That''s because one''s sea of consciousness was directly rted to one''s mind power.

    That also meant the stronger his mind became, the better he could protect his own soul depicted in the form of a pond-like oasis situated at the centermost part of thend and sky areas.

    After having enough of spectating his own sea of consciousness, Jeremy walked towards the pond of unknown water some meters away.

    While walking forward, Jeremy thought to himself in annoyance,

    ''It''s very bothersome to always have to ess my own sea of consciousness whenever I want any in-depth information. If my mind and soul were not affected and weakened by the stupid space and timews, everything would be so much easier than this...''

    Not long after, Jeremy reached the milky-water pond''s vicinity; with no further ado, he stepped inside the pond, letting himself being submerged by the murky-white liquid.

    ''Whatever, let''s see if I had missed something important or not, or only missed the misceneous information.''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy''s virtual body submerged into the pondpletely.

 Chapter 64 - The Halfling Race

    At this moment, countless information and knowledge ran past Jeremy''s mind at the speed of light.

    It was lucky for him that he was currently in the deepest part of his own ''soul'', as he didn''t have to bear the heavy burden of an enormous amount of information, which was supposed to weigh on his mind heavily.

    As all those light-speed information only flew past his mind with no specific purpose or any intention of fussing him with the ''burden'', Jeremy didn''t feel a thing at all.

    But the real trouble wouldmence soon...

    Upon seeing he was finally within his soul, Jeremy willed, in other words, requested his soul for all his past life''s knowledge about ''wolf''.

    Suddenly...

    *Bang*

    Like someone had powerfully pped a metal door, the banging sound rang out within his fragile mind...

    Soon after, a ''small'' part of that light-speed information flying back and forth within his soul suddenly came into his mind.

    That ''small'' part was actually a massive amount of information, knowledge, rumor, experiment, and research about ''wolf''.

    Even some arrays, diagrams, forms, and many more rted stuff to his various research also came up endlessly.

    They started resurfacing within his mind and reuniting with him once again after several months of being apart. After all, they were kept isted within the deepest part of Jeremy''s soul ever since his regression.

    Ranging from those wolves of the ''grub'' ranks to the ''almighty'' wolves of the highest ranks such as wolf, kobold, werewolf, lycanthrope, Wereking, and so on. Whether it be about habits, habitats, reproductions, fighting power, physical appearance, mental health, halflings, hierarchy, and many more...

    All of them came into Jeremy''s mind all at once...

    ''Fucking shit! I must hurry up.''

    After thinking so, Jeremy started filtering out all those high-end beings and stuff out of his mind swiftly, leaving only the weak and moderate ones behind.

    By the words ''weak'' and ''moderate'', they meant the low-level kinds of stuff and the organisms of the lowest, low, and intermediate rank.

    *Sigh*

    After sessfully reducing the information overload pressuring upon his fragile mind to a minimal degree, Jeremy let out a virtual sigh.

    Because he had no actual body in his sea of consciousness, whereas his body was constructed by his own mind and imagination, he could only sigh virtually...

    ''Hmm... the winter wolves... beta wolves... omega wolves... Whereas there are no alpha wolves in this forest, but there are still asionally beta ones... Wait, what!?... halflings? How are these lowest-ranked organisms even rted to the halflings?''

    While sorting out the information and experience from his past life, thenparing that information with his current situation one by one, Jeremy unexpectedly found something shocking...

    That was...

    The halflings...

    To be frank, the halfling was not considered an ''actual'' race but abination of at least two races or more.

    In this case, when Jeremy was filtering and organizing the knowledge he got from his soul, he suddenly found out that those white wolves, no... every white wolf within this winter forest was a descendant of some halflings...

    All of them were not from different packs in the first ce but happened to be ''one big pack'' with one or two big bosses, which were the halflings...

    There were two reasons why Jeremy assumed those wolves to be descendants of some halflings. First of all, their behaviors of acting with only omega and beta wolves with no trace of an alpha wolf within the pack. Secondly, many packs of wolves had actually joined hands to hunt him down, but still no trace of an alpha wolf so far.

    That''s where the shocking realization came, for those wolves to be offsprings of the halflings.

    How was that supposed to be shocking, you asked?

    It was because even the lowest and weakest of the halfling kinds still ranked at a higher hierarchy than the human race.

    As the human race was already a low-ranked organism, which meant the weakest halfling ''race'' would be ranked at the intermediate rank at the very least, which was one rank higher than humans.

    Regarding how a halfling ''race'' was created, as stated above, it wasbined and bred from two races at the very least.

    However, there were two more crucial conditions for a halfling ''race'' to be born.

    First, the halfling must be bred by two high-ranked-organism parents of different races or species.

    That''s right, two high-ranked species...

    Second, those high-ranked-organism parents must be from the bestial races with no exception.

    A bestial race which was renowned in the aspect of ''physical strength''...

    With those conditions above being met, a brand-new halfling ''race'' woulde into existence.

    That was now a halfling race was created...

    ''What to do now? The parents, no... The alphas of those white wolves were actually halflings. Will I be able to defeat them? But this ce is supposed to be a normal-difficulty trial...''

    Having thought of fighting with an intermediate-ranked organism at the very least, Jeremy finally tensed up...

    But he would never lose his coo...

    ''Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Whatever, I will think about thatter, for my time here is very limited.''

    *Fwuuu...*

    Atst, Jeremy let out a long virtual breath from his virtual mouth...

    Then his eyes suddenly got the coolness and concentration back again, befitting his same old mentality. That''s because whatever it was or they were, Jeremy still had his ''trump cards'' up his sleeve.

    He would still undeniably turn this tutorial upside down and break the highest records to ever exist on Ortus...

    ''Alright, the next topics are also important, as they are about the tutorial and that creator or something.''

    After shaking his virtual head hard to discard the earlier unpleasant thoughts, Jeremy decided to keep only the rted information about the halfling race and other low-level things and below before letting every additional information submerge back into the murky-white water.

    Subsequently, he willed his mind and soul again, but he focused on the word ''Tutorial'' and ''Creator'', this time.

    Again...

    *Bang*

    With a banging sound, some small streams of light came into Jeremy''s mind all of a sudden with no different than the preceding process a moment ago.

    While sweating bullets virtually, Jeremy hurriedly discarded every far-fetched information out of his mind.

    Heck, there was even researches about the creator of the Universeing along with the light stream...

    As Jeremy had done quite an amount of research on that topic, the sheer amount of the information was quite enormous, making him almost lose consciousness this instant.

    If it were only the basic information, Jeremy would not behave like this at all.

    However, within that enormous amount of information contained such mysterious, ancient, high-rank of runes, rituals, forms, diagrams, arrays, spells, and more.

    That''s why his current mind power couldn''t even afford them more than a few seconds.

    He even felt like his virtual world, aka sea of consciousness, was spinning crazily, causing him to get nauseous incessantly.

    Be that as it may, Jeremy still had to persevere or else put down his resolve at this point, letting himself be a vegetable once and for all and putting an end to his ''epic'' biography here.

    Nevertheless, those bad things would never happen to Jeremy soon anyway, as he had already finished filtering that information and knowledge about the tutorials and creator.

    As he had thought earlier that this topic was important, indeed...

    It was important, even more, important than the halfling''s ones.

    At this moment, Jeremy''s virtual eyes widened in shock...

    For he to finally realize who the ''Creator'' of these so-called ''Tutorials'' was...

 Chapter 65 - The Creator And The Designer

    A being that had direct rtionships with Akashic Records...

    There was no doubt...

    The actual creator of the tutorials was the sole and only ''System'', the very helper of every living thing on Ortus itself.

    However...

    There was another hidden secret that only people on Ortus knew about. The mysterious secret that was not so secret after one arrived at Ortus.

    That was ''missions''...

    The missions were assigned by the System itself.

    They were the missions entrusted towards assistant creators, aka ''designers'' of each tutorial space.

    What did that even mean?

    It simply meant there were ''people'' who had received missions from the System to design the outlooks, Crystal''s missions, ces, monsters, and various things within the Tutorials.

    All those tutorial-rted things were ording to only one and sole purpose, ''for the neers to adapt and survive on Ortus''...

    Right now, Jeremy was indeed shocked to realize there were masterminds behind all these Tutorials so suddenly.

    Jeremy had never been in control or charge of the tutorial processes, rted events, or whatsoever in his past life.

    However, Jeremy had quite an in-depth and intensive knowledge regarding these topics from his various researches, including self-research, torture, observation, stalk, and more.

    But, all those knowledge was kept too deep within his soul, as he never suspected one bit about the word ''creator'' until some moments ago...

    ''Now, I finally know what I''m fighting against.''

    ''Designers or the so-called Cupids are the big bosses who only y a minor to no role after they had sent us here, as they only design these tutorials and be done with it. Right now, they should be rxing leisurely somewhere else on their turfs.''

    ''Starting from the moment we were teleported from the white Tutorial Space, Earthlings were let free from the cupids'' jurisdiction, but there would be other people ''caring'' for us instead.''

    ''Those people are... and they...''

    ''As for the three doors, the crystal, the monster waves, and the missions, the cupids design them. Whileter, those people would supervise the tutorials instead as they had also received missions from the System just like the cupids.''

    ''Regarding this ce, normal difficulty... Haaa, it is a total scam. It seems like I feel afraid for nothing.''

    ''What a scaredy cat of me to think there are halflings in this normal-difficulty trial. If there is one here for real, how are Earthlings supposed to adapt and survive? They will be massacred within seconds...''

    ''About this normal trial''s purpose, from the looks of it so far, it is just designed to be testing only the contestant''s survival skills within the harsh, winter wilderness filled with quick-nose predators readily to hunt anyone down. Well, there might be some luck''s element in corresponding with that, as one might be able to luckily walk in the correct direction towards the brick house from the get-go.''

    ''Hmm... Come to think of it, even though I can''t fight the cupid yet, I can still kill those people...''

    When Jeremy thought till here, his virtual blue eyes suddenly brightened up with a cold glint...

    ''Alright, it is time to leave before I kick the bucket from the mind''s implosion.''

    Having finished pondering long and profound thoughts within his own soul, Jeremy hurriedly came out of the ''pond''.

    Aftering out, Jeremy took a brief look around his sea of consciousness and discovered some big and small cracks present throughout the protectiveyer of thend and sky areas.

    Like Jeremy''s inner world would be crumbling down at any moment...

    That was clearly the result of overloading and overclocking his weak mind with too much high-end information...

    Upon seeing such a heartbreaking sight of his own sea of consciousness having cracks in various ces, Jeremy thought depressingly,

    ''Well, how long will it take to recover this time? By the way, do thend and sky areas get bigger? Hmm... around 14 acres. It seems like my mind power has gotten a bit stronger.''

    ''Hehh... This is the first time I have discovered a cheat-like method to enhance mind power.''

    ''I can utilize this method the next time...''

    When Jeremy saw his sea of consciousness bing more extensive and having more space, he finally felt a bit better.

    After seeing there was nothing worth taking note of anymore, Jeremy willed his mind to the outside world.

    A short timeter, Jeremy was seen to be sitting cross-legged with eyes closed on the cold, snowy ground...

    ''How much time has passed?''

    Then he closed his blue eyes a bit to ''feel'' the fluctuation in the space, using his high-level of space affinity to his advantage; Jeremy pondered to himself,

    ''Only 3 minutes have passed since I did the meditation to ess my sea of consciousness, whereas I spent two and a half minutes to enter the sea of consciousness and stayed inside for around 40 or so seconds to filter all those memories.''

    Then Jeremy thought further,

    ''I''m sure the time within my sea of consciousness had gone by more than 20 days as the time there moves faster than the outside world... but the outside world''s time had just passed by only some 40 seconds...''

    Even though he could do better than this dozens of times in his past life, this was still considered good progress...

    Good progress meant whenpared to the previous time that Jeremy had essed his sea of consciousness for the Enchantment method.

    Although Jeremy only felt like he had been in his sea of consciousness for four or five minutes, the time there had actually gone by more than 20 days. That''s one of the sea of consciousness or inner world''s properties.

    Time dtion...

    Jeremy was inside his sea of consciousness for only four minutes, but the time had passed 20 days inside. Meanwhile, the outside world time had only passed by 40 seconds.

    The feeling of time was felt differently and shifted significantly between the inner world and the outside world.

    It was bizarre indeed...

    But our space sage, Jeremy, who had stood up against the Gods before, understood the notion very well. So, he didn''t question anything about those time-rted matters.

    After wrapping everything up, including his own thoughts and subsequent actions, Jeremy finally stood up from the cold white ground.

    Then he walked back towards the brick house, the very ce he had retreated from earlier.

    ...

    Some minutester...

    Jeremy finally arrived at the same ce, approximately 100 meters away from the brick house.

    He walked towards the house with firm footsteps, creating moderately deep footprints on the soft snow ground.

    *Scrunch*

    *Scrunch*

    Each of his steps created a scrunching sound echoing softly into the cold temperature...

    Soon, Jeremy finally arrived before the house''s wooden ''door''.

    Then...

    ...

    [You have received 5,000 SP for sessfully finding the exit]

    [Please open and go inside the door to exit this trial]

    ...

    After seeing the notifications about the exit, Jeremy thought inwardly,

    ''As I''ve thought, the reason why this trial does not contain any treasure box or herb to be sold in the shop was that the final reward is big enough to cover all that. Not to mention SP received from killing those wolves...''

    ''Or... the damned cupid is just toozy to add other features...?''

    ''Whatever... Nheless, my hunch is right once again this time. It never fails me, after all, as there is no one inside the house... but...''

    Not opening the door yet, Jeremy raised his head to look at the brick chimney emitting ck smoke incessantly...

    In consequence, if a particr house had a chimney exuding dark smoke like that, it ''usually'' tended to be someone staying inside the said house.

    For that was amon sense...

    However, whenever Jeremy used hismon senses within this normal-difficulty trial, he would be met with some nonsensical rubbishes as feedbacks instead.

    Atst, after staring at the chimney for some more time, having thought about the nonexistent halfling and alpha wolf, and seeing a medium-sized brick house situated in the middle of nowhere while operating as the ''exit'',

    Jeremy''s handsome face twitched constantly...

    ''Piece of shit of a cupid. How dare you design a ridiculous and preposterous trial like this. You are shaming and humiliating my Mystery Decipherer title, fucker.''

    ''Just you wait...''

    Upon cursing the damned andzy cupid ''lightly'', Jeremy turned his back towards the house without any hesitation...

    As Jeremy had ultimatelypleted his first priority, which was to find the exit, his second priority was still left to be done.

    That was, without a doubt, to gather more SP...

    After all, there were still hundreds of wolves waiting to be... let''s say ''liquidated'' by him; how could Jeremy return into the tutorial chamber and waste this hard-toe-by opportunity?

    Regarding those people within the chamber?

    Jeremy couldn''t care less about them at all, for his greed had retaken over his mind.

    Thus, Jeremy chose a direction to walk in with a spear in hand as always...

    ''Before that, I should take some good rest, for my body is at the very limits already.''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy''s ck-cloaked figure disappeared from the brick house''s vicinity, leaving behind only the lonely house while exuding ck smoke from its chimney ceaselessly.

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the author''s thoughts below.]

 Chapter 66 - Interlude (1)

    At the same time, inside a particr chamber...

    Currently, the situation and atmosphere within the tutorial chamber were nothing but mncholy.

    Not long ago, they had just ''survived'' the fifth wave of ounders victoriously.

    Then, how was the mood supposed to be so cheerless and downhearted?

    Well, it was evident that the feeling of loss had outweighed the feeling of triumph...

    That''s because they had lost three more people to the monsters'' horde this time, one person from the right passageway and the other two from the left passageway.

    Whereas there were also some wounded people here and there, the feeling of loss was currently clearly written on everyone''s downcasted face.

    Still, this was only the fifth wave...

    What about the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth?

    How many more people would they have to lose?

    Would they be the next cold corpses lying on the ''mound'' at the chamber''s corner?

    Countless thoughts and questions wereing and going within most people''s minds endlessly, causing them not to have any mood to shout and cheer at all.

    Only downcast, they were...

    With only some still-fine people somehow able to soothe and pacify other dejectedrades around them.

    Nheless, those were the minority here, as mostbatant people felt downhearted all the same.

    If the fifth wave, they had lost three people; then what about the fourth wave?

    Regarding the fourth wave that hadmenced after Jeremy went into the normal-difficulty door, they only lost one person, whom was not so close to anyone, so they could still feel a bit relieved and cheerful at that time.

    However, this time was different...

    They had just lost three people to the fifth wave.

    As they grew closer after each life-and-death battle together, some people tended to create some invisible yet sturdy bonds with one another.

    That''s why everyone felt like they had just lost their siblings or die-hardrades within the bloody battle...

    *Bam*

    "Aargh... It hurts..."

    The sound of someone''s face being punched heavily rang out, followed by the whimpering sound of the victim...

    *Bam*

    "Kek!"

    The one-sided beating was apparently not ended yet, for the punching and beating sounds echoed out once again,

    *Bam*

    "Why are you doing th..."

    *Bam*

    It appeared that the brutal assant didn''t want the hear the victim''s foul voice while he continued punching the middle-aged man lying on the ground nonstop.

    *Bam*

    "Aargh!"

    Nheless...

    *Bam*

    "Na... No... Please stop. Pwease..."

    The sufferer started begging towards the brutal attacker pitifully and meekly with his weak-filled voice.

    However...

    *Bam*

    *Bam*

    "I''m... I''m... sworry... I... I..."

    *Sob* *Sob*

    "..."

    Only when the assaulter had heard the apology and sobbing sounds did he finally stop his bloody fist in mid-air, only some inches away from the sobbing man''s face...

    Then he stood up slowly from above his victim''s body while looking around himself to see many bystanders, whom had acted more like audiences instead, stood at the sidelines, watching the unfolding event silently.

    Those ''audiences'' didn''t express much sympathy or any intention to stop the earlier assault at all, as it seemed like they were like-minded people with the assant.

    That''s natural, after all.

    As the victim, Bad Mouther had done something terribly awful earlier, causing two people to be killed by his own selfishness.

    For that reason, the assant, Eddie, had to punish the man in question, albeit in the form of ''kicks and punches''.

    While the ten or so people only looked on silently, watching the spectacle with loathful eyes.

    Surprisingly, those loathful eyes were not directed towards Eddie but Benjamin, the detestable man lying on the ground instead, as it seemed like they also didn''t like the man''s selfishness.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    Afterward, the sounds of someone''s footsteps came into the scene hurriedly...

    When the newly arrived man saw a certain someone lying wimpily and hurtfully on the ground, he frowned...

    "What happened?"

    With a serious voiceing out of his mouth, Mitchell questioned everyone whom currently stood within the vicinity of the incident.

    As the fight with the fifth wave of monsters had just ended not even one minute ago, they didn''t even get a chance to recuperate and group up yet.

    However, one of them had already been beaten senselessly, lying and breathing pantingly on the hard cave-like floor.

    Even if the victim in question was Bad Mouther or his proper name, Benjamin, who had caused so many troubles, it was still inappropriate to assault their ownrade like this.

    Upon hearing one of their two leaders'' inquiry, everyone else at the site could only turn their heads towards Eddie, their other leader and the assant himself.

    When Eddie saw that all eyes were on him, including the ones from Mitchell and the soon-to-arrive people from another passageway, Eddie raised his right hand up in a specific direction with hard-to-describe expressions.

    With a blood-filled hand, Eddie pointed his index finger at a particr ce whereid two people.

    To be exact, two cold human corpses...

    "Hmm?"

    Upon turning his head to look in the pointed direction, Mitchell finally saw two cold bodies, lying still at some meters away,

    As the situation was quite chaotic earlier, only now that Eddie had pointed it out for him did he see the two cold bodies...

    "There are two people killed in this passag..."

    "What? Don''t tell me..."

    While saying those words, Mitchell finally realized one of the two cold bodies, as his eyes behind the transparent sses widened in shock.

    Because one of the two dead people was actually...

    "That... Skr is dead?"

    When Eddie, who was standing beside the sole perpetrator behind the woman''s death, Benjamin, had heard Mitchell''s truthful words, his face twitched in anger...

    Simultaneously, Eddie raised his military boot above Benjamin''s head, preparing to turn the man''s head into pasted-brain mush.

    At this moment, everyone else was looking at the ce where the two corpsesid, so no one had paid any attention to Eddie and Benjamin at all...

    "Eeek!! Nooo..."

    Benjamin shrieked in horror like a frightened chicken...

    *Thump!*

    The sound of a certain someone being hit suddenly echoed out within the quiet chamber...

 Chapter 67 - Interlude (2)

    Half an hourter...

    "I still couldn''t believe the guy would do something like that."

    "Right? I think shoving another person to their death is too much."

    "He is so fucking selfish..."

    "Out of all people, it has to be Skr, huh. She always fights very hard for everyone else..."

    "But don''t you think Eddie is too much either? He..."

    "Shh!! What are you saying? If he hears you, I won''t help you."

    "Still, Eddie has almost killed Benjamin earlier; if not for Joshua, he..."

    "We should use him as a meatshield in the next wave. He should be held responsible for his murder."

    "What if we tie him up and let him stay near those elderlies and kids?"

    "Are you nuts? That is no different from letting him have a fast pass out of this ce unscratched."

    "Ah! Why haven''t I thought of that? I am nuts indeed."

    At various ces within the tutorial chamber, opinions and discussions regarding what to do with Benjamin were being expressed constantly...

    That only meant one thing...

    The Bad Mouther, Benjamin wasn''t dead yet.

    While most people wanted to punish the guy heavily, some still didn''t want that to happen as they still regarded the norms on Earth as important.

    They were those people with such conservative thoughts who didn''t like to adapt to change...

    Nevertheless, they were the minority here and could only express their dissatisfaction shallowly.

    Well, the hateful perpetrator, Benjamin, had shoved Skr to her death, after all.

    How could he be forgiven so easily?

    Even on Earth, the man should be punished heavily and charged legally withwsuits for his crimes.

    *Bam*

    *Bam*

    *Thump*

    *Bang*

    The sounds of a certain someone punching and kicking a soft, punching dummy rang out incessantly...

    The certain someone was naturally Eddie, who was considered the most pissed-up person of them all currently.

    So, he currently vented all his pent-up anger on the unresponsive dummy...

    At that time, when Eddie had finally raised his boot above Benjamin''s head, intending to crush the culprit''s skull into pasted mush with his military boot, Joshua suddenly tackled him with all his might...

    Afterward, Mitchell hurriedly ordered more than fivebatants to hold him down to the ground, giving no room for him to struggle at all; even for a two-meter-tall-strong guy, Eddie couldn''t escape the fate of being outnumbered.

    *Bam*

    With another punch at the dummy''s head, Eddie imagined it as a certain someone''s face...

    ''That bastard, Joshua. How dare he tackled me down like that.''

    *Bam*

    *Bam*

    Eddie continued venting his hot air on the pitiful dummy...

    While attacking the soft dummy senseless, Eddie thought back towards his first meeting with Skr.

    ...

    shback...

    First talk...

    "Hello, the name is Eddie, what ''bout yours, beauty?" Eddie introduced himself with his usual smug face.

    "I''m Skr. Nice to meet you. I will go pitch the tent; let''s talkter." Answered Skr with indifferent expressions before walking away.

    ...

    Second talk...

    "How was the fight?" Eddie, who had just finished the fight, came asking Skr.

    "It was awful; I don''t like any of this at all." Replied Skr unpleasantly.

    Upon hearing her tone, Eddie suddenly got concerned about her, "Are you tired?"

    Skr seemed to be somewhat touched by his heart-warm concerns, but outwardly she tried to act indifferent, "A bit... but it''s not that..."

    "Do you want water or a soft drink? How about food? I will buy it from the shop for you; it''s my treat. You wait here, okay?" Eddie asked questions to her nonstop.

    When she saw Eddie had already prepared to walk in the Crystal''s direction, Skr hurriedly called out to him with some nervousness in her tone, "Wait!! I also have some SP; I will buy those things myself."

    But Eddie was stubborn and persistent, "It can''t be, a handsome gentleman like me should take care of a soft beauty like you well..."

    As she didn''t know how to react to Eddie''s kindness, Skr could only change the topic into something else to distract him, "I saw that you had fought very bravely a moment ago..."

    Eddie, who had prepared to walk towards the Crystal, suddenly stopped in tracks...

    Then with a smug face, Eddie said boastingly, "Guhaha... Right? Earlier I swung like this and ''Bam''; one skeleton soldier broke into pieces. After that, I shed like ''Whoosh'', then another skeleton soldier''s body was ''Crunch''; it was..."

    "You sure have so much free time, huh."

    It was Mitchell''s voice that interrupted Eddie''s boasting.

    Upon seeing the savior finally came to the rescue, Skr nodded her head slightly with a smile towards Mitchell before using this chance of distraction to escape from Eddie''s concerns and kindness.

    ...

    Third talk...

    "Hey, beauty! Are you hurt anywhere?" Eddie came to talk with Skr again.

    This time Skr seems to be feeling better than before, as she replied, "It''s you, Eddie. No, I''m still good, and you?"

    "Me? I''m super fine. Look here..."

    Having said that, Eddie pulled up his sleeve and flexed his bicep muscles for Skr to see.

    "..."

    Skr could only look on speechlessly...

    After seeing no impression on her face, Eddie didn''t get discouraged, as he tried to find some topic to talk about with her, "By the way, do you have any boyfriend? *Cough* I... I mean a beauty like you shou..."

    "No, I don''t."

    "Ra... Really?"

    ...

    Last talk...

    "Hey, how was the fight this time. You look exhausted." Eddie asked concernedly towards the looking-tired Skr.

    "It''s nothing much... Wait... Your head is bleeding?" Skr got startled after seeing some blood droplets seeping out of Eddie''s head.

    "Hmm? Oh, I see. I got a bit careless..." Eddie replied as if it was nothing much.

    "Let me bandage you; please wait a moment."

    "Da... the wound is not serious. It''s okay... really."

    Shaking her head with a light smile, Skr walked to pick up a first aid kit from the tent area.

    Soon, Skr was seen to be applying some remedies on Eddie''s wound while the lucky man could only stare at her face dazedly.

    When the first aid was done, Skr looked at the dazed eyes of Eddie with a hint of a smile...

    "Done." Said Skr.

    "..."

    Upon hearing no response from the dazed Eddie, who was looking at her face like an idiot, Skr suddenly called out to the dazzled man,

    "Eddie..."

    "Wha... What?" Coming back to his senses, Eddie replied.

    "Do you have any siblings?"

    As Eddie was the only child in his household, he replied, "No, I don''t. Why do you ask?"

    "I have no parents and was left with only two younger sisters. I''m very worried about them. What if they have toe into a ce like this..." Continued talking, Skr.

    "I will help you." Eddie interrupted her even before she could finish her piece.

    "Hmm?" Skr''s eyes widened with a trace of shock.

    "I will help you find your two sisters after we reach the Ortoos. I promise."

    As Eddie had promised with a face full of determination, Skr felt very warm inside her.

    So smile brightly and warmly, she did...

    That was when the newfound hope of the two began to bloom...

    Afterward, Skr said,

    "It is Ortus..."

    ...

    Fifteen minutes before the newfound hope was lost forever...

    "Oy, sses idiot." Said Eddie while standing in front of the right passageway.

    "What?" Mitchell asked.

    "I think I like Skr." Out of nowhere, Eddie confessed sheepishly.

    In contrast to the expected shocking face, Mitchell replied casually, "I already knew that, so did everyone else."

    "Hehe... Really? Anyway, do you think I have a chance?" Asked Eddie while scratching his bald head bashfully

    Upon hearing that, Mitchell asked back instead, "Only she knows that. But let me ask you something. Has she ever refused your approach?"

    When Eddie had heard Mitchell''s question, his eyes lit up with hope, a newfound hope in this hellish nightmare...

    The fifth wave of monsters started...

    Atst, Skr died...

    shback ends...

    ...

    After reminiscing about his encounter with Skr, albeit very short, it was full of profound meaning, especially when they looked into each other''s eyes for thest time, the promise before the fight started, and her loveable personality that captivated his cold heart.

    "Noo!! Fuckkk!!"

    The enraged Eddie punched out with all his might towards the innocent dummy...

    *Bammm!!*

    The sound of impact traveled far and wide into the spacious chamber...

    Even those people who were doing and minding their own business had to turn their busy heads towards the source of the sudden noise. Some even woke up from their sleep as a result of the loud noise.

    Everyone could only shake their heads in helplessness after seeing Eddie like that.

    Well, except one person...

 Chapter 68 - A Real Hypocrite And A Wolf Hunter

    After thatst punch, Eddie finally felt tired, for he had just fought with the ounders and nowe to ''practice'' his martial arts with the soft dummy.

    *Huff* *Huff*

    *Fwuuu...*

    Eddie let out a long breath...

    Then he suddenly turned his head towards his right side, spotting the one who had ''convinced'' him not to kill the mongrel, Benjamin, earlier.

    "What are you doing here, sses bastard? Leave me alone, won''t ya?"

    *Sigh*

    Mitchell let out a sigh upon hearing Eddie''s annoyed voice. Then he said,

    "Please don''t get mad at me. I also want to get the man killed as much as you. He is a fucking troublemaker and self-centered bitch, after all."

    When Eddie had heard Mitchell''s opinions about Benjamin, Eddie finally calmed down a bit and asked back,

    "Then why did you bloody prevent me from stomping his fucking disgusting head?"

    But Eddie''s tone of voice was still a bit heat...

    So, Mitchell could only try to settle him down further,

    "Calm down first. Let me exin. Give me a chance, okay?"

    *Fwuuu...*

    After letting out a long breath originated from the depth of his lungs, Eddie gave Mitchell a chance to exin himself,

    "Okay, only this once. Also, if your reasons do not add up, I will smash that disgusting-mouther''s head once and for all. Nobody can stop me anymore. Not even you."

    "Alright. Alright. Nobody will stop you. I promise." Mitchell gave his promise to Eddie.

    But that was actually a trigger as Eddie suddenly thought about his promise with Skr,

    "Fuck! The more I think about his nasty face, the more furious I am. Now talk your things." Eddie fumed once again.

    ''This guy is almost hopeless. Still, at least he wants to listen...''

    Having thought like that, Mitchell started his reasoning,

    "Then calm down and listen. If you kill that guy now, some people might be dissatisfied and think their lives are also being grasped within your hands the same as Benjamin. They will think that whenever you want to kill anyone here, you can do so easily. Thus, they might think of a way to..."

    "But that man is a fucking murderer!"

    Eddie interrupted Mitchell again as it seemed like he still didn''t quite get Mitchell''s logic.

    *Sigh*

    Having let out a sigh, Mitchell continued his piece,

    "I said to listen carefully. Do not interrupt me just yet."

    *Hmph!*

    Eddie let out a harrumphed sound as a result.

    That was to be expected, though...

    Nevertheless, Mitchell spoke again,

    "Do you know the meaning behind the word ''hypocrite''?"

    Upon hearing the sudden question that didn''t want an answer, Eddie shook his head in annoyance, whereas his mind felt a bit more sobered than earlier,

    ''Hypocrite? The word sounds familiar...''

    "Then let me tell you its meaning." Said Mitchell while adjusting his sses frame like some kind of expert.

    When Mitchell realized he finally got Eddie''s attention, he exined further,

    "A hypocrite is a person who ims to have moral standards to which that person''s own behavior fails to conform with those mortal standards themselves. That''s why yo..."

    "Wait, wait... Can you borate a bit more first?"

    Before Mitchell could even describe further, Eddie, who was scratching his bald head in a muddle, interrupted him,

    With a roll of his eyes, Mitchell gave more detail about a hypocrite,

    "In other words, a hypocrite is just a pretentious bastard who thinks he is always right while other people who don''t share the same worldview as him are judged as bad people and criminals. That''s why yo..."

    "Wait... Are you saying I''m a criminal now!?"

    Again, when Mitchell tried to go in-depth into the topic, he was interrupted by the ''fuming'' Eddie.

    ''For fuck sake. This dickhead...'' Mitchell cursed Eddie within his mind. Then he continued earnestly,

    "That''s right, that type of people will look at you with the same eyes they used to look at Benjamin and Angelo. Because you do not share the same worldview as them, and you also lead them like a dictator, they might rebel at your ''coup''. And I know, you don''t want that to happen, right?"

    After seeing that Mitchell was finally done talking, Eddie replied uncaringly with an ''I don''t care'' expression,

    "Hmm... Well... Who cares?"

    Having heard Eddie''s uncaring tone, Mitchell suddenly felt dumbfounded,

    "What? Are you for real?"

    "Yeah. If they somehow rebel against us or don''t listen to us, what can they do with that amount of people? After all, they are just the minority here. They also have to rely on everyone else for their survival. What if I just kill one scumbag? At worst, we will use force to press them down the ground. More importantly, I have killed so many people in my life already; there is no problem adding one more to the list at all."

    It was indeed, as Eddie had said...

    That was... if someone viewed it from a soldier''s point of view.

    As for Mitchell?

    He was never a soldier, so he had a different worldview...

    "Aiz... My friend. You are such a straightforward bigot who acts ording to his own belief, the very definitive opposition of a hypocrite itself. That''s why when you said, "there is no problem"; it is, in fact, the real problem we''re discussing now because you can not kill people as you wish."

    "You are trying to cram your worldview into my head; you want me to think like you. Now, don''t you think you are the real hypocrite here?"

    That''s why people back on Earth usually said, "Everyone has their own reasons for everything."

    The two friends would never be able toe into a real truce...

    But they were still friends anyway.

    "..."

    "..."

    After a short silence and having a look at one another''s face silently, Mitchell opened his mouth first, trying to sound as serious as possible,

    "Don''t try to change the topic."

    "So, you are not gonna ept that you are the real hypocrite." Eddie spoke back with a hint of amusement within his eyes.

    "No, I won''t listen to a bigot."

    "Nah... You are a hypocrite."

    "Fuck you."

    "Fuck you, too."

    "..."

    After cursing at one another as a formality, the two finally had light smiles stered on their faces...

    When he finally felt a bit better from the earlier rage, Eddie asked,

    "Now what?"

    "Do you believe in me?" Mitchell suddenly asked mysteriously.

    "Why do you ask?" Eddie replied with a skeptical face.

    "If you believe in me, then we will kill that bastard my own way."

    "..."

    Upon hearing that Mitchell''s words, Eddie''s eyes suddenly lit up. Then he said,

    "Okay... but if your n fails to satisfy me. I''m going to kill him even if everyone considers me a brutal and cruel bigot afterward."

    "Alright, regarding the n, it is simple..."

    Unbeknownst to the two of them, as they had already thought about a n to kill someone.

    If they were still on Earth, those thoughts of killing someone so easily like this wouldn''te into their minds, at least not so casual like this.

    That only meant one thing, Eddie and Mitchell had started to adapt to the sudden change of their current environment already.

    Strange but true, humans could indeed adapt to any circumstances they were put in...

    ...

    Within the normal-difficulty door...

    The sky was bright, but the sun was absent, no cloud, only some light winding and going here and there.

    Before Jeremy came into this ce, the winter forest had already looked lonely with only some wolves and other animals in some areas. However, the ever lonely winter forest now looked even more deste than before, as if few to no life had ever existed here at all.

    Well, that was obviously the doings of a certain someone...

    The eco-unfriendly culprit, Jeremy, was sitting under a big parched tree, recuperating his exhausted body and mind with a particr breathing technique.

    Earlier...

    When Jeremy went away from the brick house, he decided to find somece to rest and get back the energy and strength that he had spent fighting with almost a hundred wolves and essing his sea of consciousness after that.

    As a result, Jeremy had to rest more than an hour before starting his wolf hunting season. Afterward, Jeremy tortured many wolves, making them call forth their packs...

    Whenever a pack of wolves came, he fought and won almost effortlessly...

    Whenever two packs of wolves came, he kited them away and fought cleverly until none were left...

    Fortunately, as Jeremy had ''disbanded'' many packs of wolves within this trial, so the wolves had more territory space to share, causing them to sparse out everywhere inside the forest.

    That''s why the ce looked even more spacious and deste now.

    That''s also why they could not rally up more than two packs at a time to hunt Jeremy down.

    As of right now, Jeremy had already in more than four packs of wolves. Well,bining with the four packs from before, that would make it eight packs of wolves.

    Regarding the number, Jeremy had wiped out more than 250 wolves already...

    That was a colossal number considering it was an astounding feat achieved by a newly arrived Earthling, low-ranked organism.

    As a result, the wolf carcasses had been clustered lifelessly at the ces of battles. But that was not important in any way, for Jeremy woulde out of this ce soon enough.

    Soon enough, which meant after he had gained enough SP...

    Then what would be considered ''enough'' for our greedy former sage?

    Those were the things that only he himself knew...

    Come back to the current situation...

    After resting well for some time, Jeremy was ready to continue another round of massacre again.

    ''After counting the number so far, it should be around half of their total amount. Well, am I making the winter wolves be extinct now? Maybe killing some hundreds more will get me a cool title like Wolf Hunter or something?''

    ''Nah... They were just some lowest-ranked organisms arranged by those designers anyway, as these animals are only regarded as half-real beings...''

    Having thought this and that, Jeremy stood up from the cold ground. Then he chose a direction to where he had never been before to walk in.

    *Scrunch*

    *Scrunch*

    His footsteps'' sounds echoed out unsurprisingly pronouncedly inside the silent, deste winter forest...

 Chapter 69 - Damned Cupid

    A short whileter...

    ''Finally, found one...''

    After walking for three minutes straight, Jeremy only found one wolf, which seemed to be napping soundly in midday.

    When the ck-cloaked Jeremy spotted the sleeping wolf, he didn''t stop his tracks at all as he continued treading towards the unaware wolf.

    *Scrunch*

    *Scrunch*

    The closer he got to the wolf, the sounds from his footsteps seemed to be getting louder also...

    Louder within the napping wolf''s ears...

    *Twitch*

    *Twitch*

    Suddenly, the wolf''s two long ears twitched slightly as if detecting something...

    With no further dy, the drowsy wolf jerked its head up swiftly, trying to find the sound''s source.

    Predictably, the rming wolf spotted the iing tall ck being...

    "Grurr!!"

    It then growled towards the ck being threateningly, but obviously to no avail as the being was still treading towards it.

    With no other choice, for there was no word such as ''escape'' within its head at all. The angry wolf dashed in the direction of Jeremy as fast as it could.

    "Wolf!!"

    After reaching an optimum distance for pouncing, the wolf did it without any hesitation...

    However...

    Jeremy, who had already been anticipating such a same old method from the wolf, thrust his sharp spear de forward while doing a left sidestep to avoid the wolf''s momentum.

    Regarding the wolf in mid-air, when it suddenly saw such a long and sharp objecting at it with such a speed, it could only change its posture slightly, trying to avoid the deadly attack.

    But that was futile...

    In the first ce, Jeremy only aimed at the side of its body, attempting not to thrust at the vital area. However, the pathetic wolf''s sudden change in posture, instead of helping it survive, only made it for the worst.

    That''s also when the wolf''s entire life''s memories came into its mind at light speed...

    The life from when it suddenly woke up seventeen hours ago in this snowy forest with an invisible barrier preventing it from going out.

    The life of which it had no memory prior to waking up at all, as the only ''program'' within its head was to kill anyone who came close to it.

    The life of which it had to listen to themands from the unfamiliar beta wolves from the unfamiliar pack with no disobedience allowed.

    Everything since seventeen hours ago shed past its mind within a split second...

    *Puchi*

    The spear de pierced through its neck mercilessly...

    "Arff..."

    With itsst wording out naturally of its long, agape mouth, the pitiful wolf whose real purpose of life remained unclear finally died...

    The moment it came to life was when Jeremy entered this ce...

    The moment it lost its life was when Jeremy entered its territory...

    The miserable wolf''s short life of seventeen hours ended here...

    Meanwhile, the wolf''s killer, Jeremy, didn''t even feel a thing from ending the piteous wolf''s life, whereas he felt surprised instead,

    "What? Hmm..."

    ...

    [You have received 5,000 SP for activating the hidden piece]

    [You, the Ladias wolves'' ughterer, has finally triggered the wrath of the great Ladias tribe''s leader]

    [Thus, he decides to send his close aide to take revenge instead of his busy own self]

    [You have 10 minutes to find the exit before the revengeres to im your life]

    [Good luck]

    ...

    After seeing the notifications iming about the revenge thingy, Jeremy went speechless for a whole ten seconds...

    ''It appears that this trial also has a hidden mission. Then the hard-difficulty trial should also be the same.''

    ''Fight or flee?''

    ''Fight or flee?''

    Well, the answer was clear as day, Jeremy was never going to leave such a future great reward...

    ''Considering that the tribe leader should be that halfling, so his close aide should be weaker than him. For that ismon sense...''

    Upon thinking up till here, Jeremy''s face twitched slightly, as he knew thatmon senses couldn''t be used with the designer of this ce.

    ''Damn, cupid.''

    Thus, Jeremy used this chance to curse the ignorant cupid whom had designed this trial half-heartedly.

    Wasn''t the next trial even more ridiculous then?

    ''Whatever...''

    After he finished all his thoughts and decided his following courses of action, Jeremy ran back swiftly in the direction where he came from, whereas he would look for the ''marks'' he had scratched on the trees from time to time.

    ...

    Seven minutester...

    In front of the brick house''s door...

    *Fwuuu...*

    Having let out a long breath after running at full speed for eight minutes straight, Jeremy thought to himself relievedly,

    ''I made it in time...''

    The reason why Jeremy was so hurry was that he wanted to... piss.

    As Jeremy didn''t want to ce the toilet in the middle of nowhere inside this forest, he could onlye here, at the brick house, to set up the toilet.

    Without any dy, he brought out a rectangr object with a green button situated in the middle out of the left glove. Then he ced it on the ground and pressed the green button lightly.

    Some secondster, a green public toilet set itself up from the ground...

    Then Jeremy hurriedly went inside, for he only had some two odd minutes left before the so-called close aide of the great Ladias tribe''s leader came to take revenge.

    Two minutester...

    Currently, our great ''warrior'', Jeremy, was standing right in front of the brick house, awaiting the arrival of the so-called avenger of the great Ladias tribe.

    He wasn''t sure that he could win the iing enemy with his current ''physical'' prowess or not, but he would give it a shot.

    ''If worsees to worst, I will either kill it with my arsenal of spells or escape back into the tutorial chamber.''

    With those determinations in mind, Jeremy adjusted his breathing, preparing himself to the fullest before the bloody fight against the so-called revenger of the Ladias tribe.

    Time flew by...

    5...

    4...

    3...

    2...

    1...

    ...

    [The countdown had ended, you are rmended to find the exit as soon as possible]

    [The close aide of the great Ladias tribe''s leader ising for you now]

    ...

    When the countdown ended, Jeremy, who stood in front of the brick house, opened his two blue eyes slowly...

    *Fwuuu...*

    Jeremy settled his mind down to the lowest degree, preparing for the tough battle. Then he thought wonderingly,

    ''Where will ite from? My starting point? Sky? Outside the barrier?''

    With those thoughtsing into his mind one by one, Jeremy turned his head towards the winter forest and bright sky...

    ''Or none of those? Then...''

    *Creaks*

    ''Don''t fucking tell me!!''

    *Bam!*

    "Fuck!!"

    Upon hearing the door-closing soundsing from behind him, Jeremy cursed aloud and sprinted forward as fast as he could, away from the house.

    Meanwhile, hismon sense was in disarray again,

    ''It said that I had to find the exit as soon as possible, but the hidden boss is fucking hiding behind the exit itself. Ah, damned cupid.''

    While having thought of such an absurd notion, Jeremy''s feet never stopped even a single second.

    Several secondster, when Jeremy thought he was at a safe distance, he turned his head back to see how the hidden boss looked like.

    However...

    *Whoosh*

    The wind sound generated from an objecting towards Jeremy swiftly...

 Chapter 70 - Hidden Boss (1)

    With no room to think at all, Jeremy, who was running at full speed, hurriedly turned his body in a semicircle towards his backside while using two hands clutching the spear shaft tightly, intending to receive the iing attack head-on.

    *ng!!*

    "Shit!"

    The nging sound rang out sonorously within the deste forest, followed by Jeremy''s cursing voice as his body flew away from the impact earlier, causing him to hit hard with a parched tree behind him with a thumping sound.

    *Thump*

    Luckily, Jeremy''s mana field projection activated by itself, as he was still safe and sound.

    However, the parched, dried tree wasn''t so lucky, as it had a dent on its trunk.

    No matter how parched or dried the tree was, a dent was still a dent, as it appeared that the force putting behind the enemy strike was quite enormous.

    At this time, after sliding down along the tree trunk to the ground, Jeremy finally had a breathing space and raised his head to look at his opponent.

    Upon seeing the enemy who had attacked him earlier, Jeremy frowned slightly.

    The muscr creature in front of him stood at two meters tall on two thick, strong legs.

    It wore full-body leather armor and a dog''s skull as a helmet to cover most parts of its body, causing any onlooker unable to judge its actual physical appearance under the clothes.

    Whereas a long mouth simr to a dog''s one protruding out from the ''helmet'' slightly, signifying it was not a human and considering its protruding mouth''s skin color was dark-brown, its entire body may be dark-brown also.

    From behind its body, a one-meter sturdy, brown tail extending out from the buttocks and an even longer steel sword was held in its hand...

    No doubt, it was...

    ''A Kobold...'' Jeremy thought with a solemn-looking face.

    When he finally knew his opponent''s identity, n after n started forming inside his mind.

    Even though a kobold was the same low-ranked organism as a human, the kobold and human''s differences in physical capability were simr to that of a child and bodybuilder.

    It was different to that degree...

    Furthermore, the kobold race could be said to be an evolution race of normal dogs on Earth. That meant its nose and speed were not something to be reckoned with.

    ''This kobold is not an ordinary one. From its appearances, it should be more or less a kobold warrior...''

    Most bestial races on Ortus had a unique trait called ''Bloodline'', which was said to be something inherited from the first ancestors of its respective kind.

    With no exception, each bloodline had a different hierarchy and abilities came along with it.

    That meant the higher the bloodline''s rank was, the stronger the holder of that bloodline became...

    In other words, the lower the bloodline''s rank was, the weaker the holder of that bloodline turned out to be...

    For example, the enemy in front of Jeremy, which was obviously a kobold, had a bloodline of the lowest rank called ''Common Bloodline''. In simple words, the kobold race was just amoner racepared to other bestial races.

    However, even with themon bloodline, tho kobold''s physical strength was at least five times greater than an ordinary human.

    Then how strong a kobold''s full strike earlier was?

    Its nose was also sharper than an average dog on Earth, whereas dogs had already possessed a sense of smell many times more sensitive than even the most advanced man-made instrument.

    Then how good a kobold''s nose was?

    That''s why the kobold race was considered a very suitable hunting dog for other bestial races...

    Right now, Jeremy stood face to face with the hidden boss, kobold...

    Meanwhile, the kobold also scrutinized Jeremy carefully, as it had to admit that it felt pretty surprised for the human could receive its full force strike earlier.

    A moment ago, it had indeed intended to end the fight fast and be done with it, but who knew that a mere human could even turn back in time to shield himself from being bisected into pieces of meat lump.

    But now the situation seemed to be getting more interesting...

    So, it decided to say something cool towards the decent enemy,

    "Woowolf ArArf WooWooWoof woff."

    Having been satisfied enough after saying those badass words, the kobold grinned happily and prepared for the forting ''proper'' fight.

    After hearing those ''words'', Jeremy got somewhat stupefied as he couldn''t understand the dog-humanoid''s behaviors at all.

    One moment, it sneaked attack him.

    Another moment, it barked towards him.

    Next moment, it nodded its head at him.

    Now, it even grinned widely, showing its sharp teeth.

    Upon seeing the kobold''s behaviors, including its tail that was wiggling and waggling left and right, Jeremy thought dumbfoundedly,

    ''What the fuck? And why does it look so smug and satisfied? Whatever... a dog is still a dog...''

    Shaking his head slightly, Jeremy also took his stance, but this time''s posture was clearly different from his past ones, for he was now holding the spear with two hands.

    As a result of the previous sh, Jeremy''s hands felt a bit numb. So, he couldn''t be careless in this fight where his opponent outssed him physically.

    Right now, both sides stood still for some seconds already before the kobold''s eyes suddenly narrowed into a slit.

    With no prior sign, the kobold''s entire weight was focused on its two legs, causing the snow to be pressed several inches down...

    Then...

    *Scrunch*

    *Fwoosh...*

    With the kobold''s explosive force acting on the ground, its heavy bodyunched several meters forward in a blink of an eye.

    *Scrunch* *Scrunch*

    Every step it took created a scrunching sound loudly within the deste forest...

    At this moment, Jeremy was also not idly; he looked at the iing enemy, trying to find an opening or weakness.

    ''Let''s test the water first...''

    Having thought like that, Jeremy bent down his two knees like he was sitting on an invisible chair, whereas his left leg was ced in the front while his right leg was ced behind.

    It was a basic stance for a passive spear thrust depicting in most spear-rted books...

    *Scrunch* *Scrunch*

    When the tall kobold arrived four meters away from him, Jeremy centered all his arm''s force onto his right hand, holding the spear shaft.

    Then...

    *Whoosh*

    The spear traveled at a breakneck speed with a whooshing sound towards the iing kobold...

    Upon seeing the human''s earlier stance, the kobold had slowed down its momentum significantly, determining to y it safe. At the same time, its two sharp eyes zoomed at Jeremy''s body perceptively.

    When the kobold saw the human was about to thrust his spear out, it had already expected such a thing would happen. So, a split second before the spear thrust wasunched, it swung the long steel sword in its right hand horizontally, intending to deflect the iing attack.

    *ng!!*

    The sound of metal hitting one another rang out, creating sparks at the contacting point induced from metal hitting metal...

    The result was clear, Jeremy''s thrust was deflected sessfully for the first time since he came into the tutorial space.

    As the spear was deflected to his right side forcefully, Jeremy, who had already prepared for this oue, suddenly dashed forward with explosive force at the immediate opening of the kobold''s right side.

    At the same time, Jeremy also adjusted his grip on the spear shaft slightly, making the spear''s shoe point at the kobold''s body.

    When the kobold saw such a sight, its eyes widened in shock. At the same time, it tried to strike the sword down from above at the trickery human.

    However, its stance was too broad from the earlier deflecting, as it had used its full force to divert the human''s thrust.

    That''s why it was caught off guard...

    As the distance was too close to use the spear de to attack, Jeremy, who hade closer to the kobold''s big body, decided to used the spear''s end to attack instead.

    *Flip*

    Jeremy flipped the spear''s shoe upward forcefully, aiming directly at the kobold''s chin...

    *Bam*

    The spear''s shoe hit heavily at the kobold''s protruding chin...

    Its head was turned upward so suddenly by impacting force behind the spear''s shoe. Luckily, it wore a skull helmet, so it only got a mild concussion due to such a powerful spear flip...

    A split secondter...

    *Bam*

    "Kaa..."

    Jeremy gave a knee kick sharply towards the dazed kobold''s stomach as it let out a breathless sound...

    Then Jeremy raised his right leg, giving a point-nk kick towards the kobold''s body strongly...

    *Bam*

    Usually, a kick was at least two times stronger than a punch releasing by the same person. So, the kobold one-hundred-and-fifty-kilogram body bounced towards a parched tree on the left side after rolling two full rounds on the cold, snowy ground.

    *Thump*

    With a thumping sound from the ce of impact rang out sonorously, Jeremy taunted the kobold in English,

    "That''s for the previous sneak attack..."

 Chapter 71 - Hidden Boss (2)

    Jeremy''s moves earlier, together with his excellent footwork skills, were executed almost wlessly, as the kobold didn''t have time to retaliate at all.

    Despite the fact that it had superior physical specspared to Jeremy, the kobold still lost to his tactics and swiftness.

    It was such an intolerable insult toward its great pride...

    After a few seconds, the hidden boss of this normal-difficulty trial finally stood up from the ground while shaking its head to lessen the concussion''s aftermath.

    ''It seems not to be that hurt. Well, it wore a head guard and leather armor...''

    "GRAAAA!!!"

    The kobold growled aloud harshly in anger at the tricky human after experiencing the same thing it had done to him a moment ago.

    Its voice traveled far and wide into the quiet winter forest, causing some birds nearby to hurriedly p their wings away for fear of the terrifying shout.

    Without any dy, the second round began...

    Jeremy dashed forward swiftly towards the standing-still kobold, initiating to be on the offensive side this time.

    When the kobold saw the iing human, it readied the stances, preparing to defend first before counterattacking after.

    "Arf!!" It said, which should mean ''Come!'' in itsnguage.

    Not long after, Jeremy finally reached the optimum range to attack.

    ''You will regret letting a spear user initiate the attack...''

    With that thought in mind, Jeremy swung the spear horizontally towards the kobold''s left side while the kobold also swung its steel sword to sh with the approaching spear de.

    *Whoosh*

    *ng!!*

    Simultaneously with the sparks of metals, the nging sound resonated out loudly within the deste forest again...

    Not waiting for the kobold to regain a chance to counterattack, Jeremy jumped back slightly and spun his body one round in mid-air while using the deflected momentum of the spear de to increase the swing''s force towards the kobold''s right side.

    With a terrifying full-round swing of the spear, the kobold''s expressions got ugly, whereas its right hand holding the sword shed obliquely upwards, trying to deflect the deadly attack from the human.

    *ng!!*

    *Splitch*

    Followed the nging sound of metals hitting one another was the sound of flesh being sliced...

    Obviously, the kobold was shed from the terrifying force behind the full-round swing as its body''s right side had a long gash with red blood oozing out incessantly.

    "Kaaa..."

    With a painful expression clearly stered on its face, the kobold used its left hand to cover the wound.

    *Fwoosh*

    Suddenly, another thrust from Jeremy''s spear came towards the kobold swiftly, not giving room for it to tend the wound...

    Thus, the kobold had no time to think at all as instinct took over its body while it promptly shed the sword horizontally at the spear''s trajectory that wasing straight towards its neck.

    *ng!!*

    The nging sound rang out once again while the spear was diverted to the kobold''s side, missing its body entirely.

    After Jeremy''s spear was deflected to the side, there was a tiny opening on his left nk...

    "Krruaa!!"

    With a loud shout, the kobold finally had a chance to counterattack the hateful human as it hacked down diagonally at Jeremy''s head.

    When Jeremy saw the counterattack finally came, he hurriedly jumped one step back slightly, making his feet lift off the ground while using the spear shaft as a shield to block to powerful hack from the muscr kobold.

    *ng!*

    "Kuhuk..."

    Jeremy''s light groan followed the shing sound of the two weapons as his body flew back some meters away in a straight line from the impact.

    After rolling two or three rounds on the snowy ground while being protected by his mana field projection from the impacting damage, Jeremy stood up slowly.

    "Karff?"

    As if finally noticed that the human ahead had a transparentyer protecting his body from any damages, the injured kobold got confused...

    ''Why the human doesn''t seem to be hurt at all?'', was the only thought within its empty head.

    The hidden boss, kobold, was also no different than the short lifespan wolf that Jeremy had killed earlier as it was born only ten-odd hours ago like the pitiful wolf.

    Nheless...

    It was ''programmed'' to kill the contestant inside this normal-difficulty trial, nothing more, nothing less...

    So, it could only grit its teeth before dashing forward to battle the human again, albeit a bit slower than before as it had a deep gash on its side.

    ''Round three began...''

    Jeremy thought entertainingly to himself after seeing the wounded kobold still had a will to fight with him.

    After all, this fight was the first time ever after going back in time that could be considered a ''proper'' fight for Jeremy.

    *ng!!*

    *Bam*

    *ng!!*

    Afterward, the sounds of sword and spear shing and nging with one another resounded out continually within the ever deste winter forest, making it not so lonely anymore.

    The two sides continued trading blows alternately, with the winner yet to be decided...

    Still, Jeremy clearly had the upper hand in this life-and-death fight...

    ...

    Some tens of minutester...

    *ng*

    *ng*

    After attacking two times with his spear but being blocked by his opponent, Jeremy quickly approached the distressed, badly-injured kobold''s body; and then gave it a powerful uppercut using his left clenching fist.

    *Bam!!*

    The two-meter-tall muscr dog-humanoid''s feet lifted off the ground more than ten centimeters before it dropped back to the ground, tipping over with its stomach facing the darkening sky.

    *Thud*

    Upon dropping to the thick snowy ground with a thudding sound, the severely injured kobold tried to get up.

    However...

    *Whoosh*

    Its instinct screamed loudly at the approaching deadly danger, so it hurriedly let go of the steel sword and brought the two hands to shield its front...

    *Puchi*

    The spear de pieced through the distressed kobold''s two hands, leaving only some inches away from reaching its exposing neck...

    "Kek!"

    With its whimpering sound from intolerable pain, the badly injured kobold, whoid on its back, kicked the right leg strongly towards Jeremy''s stomach.

    *Bam*

    The bamming sound generated from the kick hitting against a transparent barrier...

    Meanwhile, Jeremy flew back several meters away while still gripping the spear shaft tightly.

    As a result...

    *Plush*

    With the plushing noise, the sharp spearhead that had been stabbing through the aggrieved kobold''s hands was also pulled back together with Jeremy.

    "Gaaa!!"

    The kobold''s pain-filled voice echoed out towards the darkening sky...

    At the same time, it also tried to struggle up from the ground, but its hurtful body seemed to give out already as it dropped back down to the ground with a thudding sound.

    When Jeremy, who had just stood up from the impact earlier, saw the sight, he smiled slightly...

    ''It is strong indeed... too strong for a normal human to handle...''

    But Jeremy was not normal in any way, so that didn''t count...

    While having thought so, Jeremy walked slowly towards the panting-heavily kobold.

    *Huff* *Huff*

    The kobold let out huffing sounds nonstop as it looked at the iing reaper...

    Shortly after, Jeremy arrived before the kobold, obviously with the steel spear in his hand.

    "Farewell, doggy."

    Jeremy said lightly after looking at the badly injured kobold''s two dazed eyes.

    Then...

    *Puchi*

    Without further dy, Jeremy pierced ruthlessly at the kobold''s neck...

    *Plush*

    *Gurgle* *Gurgle*

    Upon the spear de being pulled back from the dying kobold''s neck, a fountain of red blood oozed out endlessly with the gurgling sounds.

    "Kakk..."

    The dying kobold''s fading voice was heard, with fresh blood gurgling out from its wound ceaselessly...

    *Gurgle* *Gurgle*

    The kobold could only hold its neck tightly while looking at its ruthless killer with wide eyes. At the same time, it also opened and closed its mouth as if trying to say something...

    "Gaa... Tkaa..."

    But the wordsing out of the dying kobold were but only some muffled noises with no real meaning at all.

    After a while, it stopped moving... forever...

    The hidden boss of the normal-difficulty trial had died...

 Chapter 72 - Sweet Dream

    After ending the kobold''s short life, the notifications suddenly popped up in front of Jeremy...

    ...

    [You have received 1,147 SP]

    [You have received 5xˇď for sessfully killing the close aide of the great Ladias tribe''s leader]

    ...

    *Fwuuu...*

    Jeremy let out a long and tired breath after seeing the hidden boss finally stopped moving and also a transparent window of notifications projected in front of him.

    When the notifications about his rewards disappeared, other notifications asking him to exchange one ˇď for a ticket to leave the first stage of the tutorial popped up instead.

    Obviously, Jeremy chose ''No'' as his answer.

    ''So tired...'' Jeremy thought heedlessly to himself.

    The bloody fight earlier had been ongoing for more than 30 minutes with back and forth counterattacks, resulting in Jeremy''s mana field projection being activated more than eight times, reducing his ''purest'' mana by more than 4% as a result.

    Consequently, his remaining mana now was approximately 80%.

    ''Still good so far... If I had used 0th and 1st tier spells, I would have lost even more mana to take it down.''

    In fact, if it were not for the mana field projection protecting him time and time again from the physically stronger kobold''s deadly attacks, Jeremy''s conditions would not be any different from the now-dead kobold by any means.

    Heck, one horizontal sh from the kobold even managed to hit Jeremy''s stomach area earlier, but luckily, he survived that unscratched.

    To be honest, one''s mana field projection wasn''t omnipotent. If the power put behind an attack somehow surpassed a ''certain threshold'', the said mana field would be broken into pieces, leading to... well, ''some'' damages to the owner.

    In this case, Jeremy was pretty fortunate to face the same low-ranked organism as his opponent. Furthermore, it also had amon bloodline, which had no active abilities within its arsenal yet.

    When Jeremy finished his thoughts, he walked towards the kobold''s corpse, aiming to loot something of value from it.

    ''Let''s see...''

    At that time, when Jeremy defeated those four hobgoblin warriors and one dark dokkaebi, he received a skill parchment called Mana Affinity from the treasure box.

    As of now, after Jeremy finally finished searching the entire body of the kobold, he found...

    Nothing...

    Indeed, Jeremy found absolutely nothing at all from the hidden boss'' corpse.

    As a result, he could only stand up from the crouching position with a twitching face.

    *Sigh*

    ''Really? Isn''t this too unfair? I''ve fought the hardest fight ever since I came into this fucking tutorial, yet I received noth... wait... I''ve received five ck stars earlier...''

    Upon thinking up till here, Jeremy, who had almost cursed the damned cupid again, suddenly bogged down a bit.

    Because Jeremy knew all too well about the true value of those stars...

    ''It''s worth it then; noint.''

    So, now Jeremy had a total of nine ck stars, four from earlier and five just now.

    Regarding the usage of those stars...

    Well, it could be used to exchange ''precious'' things with the ''System'', which were not just meremon rank items as in the Crystal, that''s for sure.

    Even though they could only be used to exchange for things after he arrived at Ortus, Jeremy still couldn''t deny those stars'' value, for they were truly priceless...

    The things, in this case, didn''t only mean items, though. They could be many other things, but that was a topic forter.

    That''s also the reason why Jeremy felt that the life-and-death battle earlier was very worth it, as he had received more than five ck stars from killing the die-hard kobold.

    So, after storing the dead kobold''s steel sword inside his glove, Jeremy walked away slowly from where the battle took ce, leaving behind only the kobold''s lonely corpse and the once-again deste, darkening winter forest...

    ...

    Several minutester...

    Jeremy finally found an empty clearing to pitch the tent as he brought out the necessary equipment and the tent from the glove.

    Shortly after, a ck tent was seen to be pitched in the middle of this unknown winter forest again.

    As Jeremy didn''t want to set up the tent so close to the brick house for fear of another ambush from the Ladias tribe, he could only pitch it around a quarter-mile away from the said house.

    Well, if the Ladias tribe even existed in the first ce...

    Jeremy wasn''t sure whether the tribe was created randomly by the cupid or existed for real.

    Nheless, rather be safe than sorry...

    After pitching the tent, Jeremy went inside and brought out cooking-rted stuff from his left glove''s storage one by one.

    ''Alright, another sumptuous meal of meaty steaks...''

    Then Jeremy brought out two big pieces of vacuum-sealed fresh beef from the glove. Afterward, he unsealed the packages by using a kitchen knife.

    ''Oh, I almost forgot...''

    Having thought of something fairly important, Jeremy brought out two cans of non-diet carbonated drinks and put them under the thick snow outside the tent.

    Like the previous time, delicate aromas from the cooking steaks breezed far and wide into the chilly night-wind of the darkened snowy forest.

    ''I hope those wolvese to ambush me again...''

    Jeremy thought fleetingly while enjoying his sumptuous and ptable meal.

    ...

    Four hourster...

    Right about now, Jeremy and every other Earthling had been forcefully kidnapped from Earth for more than 41 hours already...

    Time indeed passed by very quickly...

    As the night sky was still dark with only a minimal light from the iing dawn originated from an unknown source, Jeremy opened his eyes slowly.

    Starting from the time Jeremy, who was originally a light sleeper, came in contact with meditation and mana had caused him to be even more of a lighter sleeper than before.

    As a result, Jeremy only slept no more than four hours a day no matter how tired he was ever since he trod his first step on the magical path again.

    *Yawnn...*

    With the sky still dark, Jeremy finally yawned and woke up from his sweet dream about thrashing the damned cupid ck and blue.

    In the dream, Jeremy finally got a chance to take revenge as he used a space-lock spell to immobile the cupid, then he burned it slowly with a hellfire spell the same as grilling some pork.

    ''Tsk. It was only a dream, huh.''

    But sadly, it was just a dream...

    Having thought regretfully to himself, Jeremy started packing his things unhurriedly as he had as much time as he wanted to spare.

    While packing his stuffzily, Jeremy thought fleetingly to himself,

    ''By the way, the wolves didn''te to hunt me down likest time. Hmm... I wonder why...''

    A little whileter, Jeremy stood alone within the winter forest, under the dark-blue sky with some shades of dawn lights reflecting beautifully...

    ''Alright, before hunting the wolves, first of all... let''s go to the toilet.''

    It appeared that Jeremy had drunk too much Caco-Cst night as he constantly ''felt'' his dder contracted, filled with at least a ton or two of water.

    Shortly after, Jeremy''s ck-cloaked figure was seen to be walking in the direction of the brick house, albeit with his original upright body now looked somewhat... bent forward?

 Chapter 73 - Jeremy Wont Do A Thankless Job

    One hourter...

    The dawn had finallye as the darkness in the sky receded bit by bit...

    Currently, Jeremy was roaming in the brightening winter forest with his face looked quite depressed.

    The reason?

    The wolves... every wolf avoided Jeremy whenever they saw even a shadow of the ck-cloaked human, no wolf stayed, as they would run as fast as they could away from the wolf ughterer.

    It appeared that when the System had notified him about the wolf ughterer of the great-something tribe, it also caused the wolves within the winter forest to be afraid of him.

    As a result, from the aimless wander since an hour ago, Jeremy had killed only three wolves, no more, no less.

    Even when he had tortured the three pitiful wolves to call forth theirrades and packs, it was utterly useless. No wolf came...

    That''s why Jeremy looked very depressed right now...

    His second priority about gathering more SP had finallye to an eventual end.

    *Fwuuu...*

    ''If I didn''t kill that kobold but left him half-dead instead, would those wolves still run away from me?''

    ''Well...''

    ''Whatever... I should have got more than ten thousand SP anyway. It should be enough to buy at least two skills.''

    Upon thinking so, Jeremy could only shake his head slightly in regret.

    The reason for his regret was simple...

    Because the easy-difficulty trial gave him more than 13,000 SP because Jeremy had cleared every nook and cranny within the trial, causing him to earn the maximum amount possible from the said trial.

    But this time...

    There were still almost half of the wolves left, which meant more than 10,000 SP was waiting to be harvested by Jeremy.

    The amount he missed was almost the same as the entire easy trial''s amount of SP...

    However, Jeremy couldn''t waste days or even months to hunt those cowardly wolves within this 80 square miles winter forest, could he?

    It was almost a thankless job even for the greedy Jeremy himself...

    ''Those people in the tutorial chamber should be facing the 7th wave soon. If I hurry back, I might make it in time and get some SP from killing the ounders.'' Jeremy thought to himself ponderingly...

    Afterward, Jeremy walked back in the brick house''s direction.

    It was finally time for him to go out of this somewhat cold ce...

    ...

    Inside the Tutorial Chamber...

    Currently, there was a bloody battle between two sides ongoing here...

    The battles took ce in front of the two passageways, with one sideprised of only humans, while another side consisted of many races, which were skeleton soldiers, imps, wolves, and even some goblins.

    Meanwhile, every humanbatant wore sturdy bronze and steel armors while carrying variousmon ranked weapons. However, the ounders also didn''t lose out as skeleton soldiers, imps, and goblins also wore good-quality armor and held sharp weapons in their hands.

    Well, two or three goblins even had bows within their hands, aiming towards humans constantly.

    Regarding the number of the two sides, the ounders clearly outnumbered the humans for around 3 to 1.

    As a result, humans could only defend and fight against the ounders passively while using various traps and barricades to their advantage.

    Despite the fact that they were utilizing their sharp and solid hand-made traps and barricades, those ounders still found some gaps to give a decent melee struggle with humans.

    The life-and-death fight fell into a stalemate...

    At this time, in front of the left passageway...

    *Thump* *Thump*

    "Ah, fucking shit goblins."

    Joshua cursed at the two goblins, whom were using their maces to strike his shield incessantly.

    Then he turned his turned and shouted towards someone on his left side,

    "Bob! Kill this one for me."

    "Die bitch, die!!"

    Upon seeing that Bob, who was the only one around him with a long weapon, was busily attacking another goblin in front of him, Joshua could only grit his teeth and received another two attacks from the goblins.

    *Thump* *Thump*

    "Damn it." Joshua cursed at the goblins.

    "Giee..."

    *Huff* *Huff*

    It seemed like the goblin on Joshua''s right side felt a bit numb on its arm from the continuous bombarding on his solid shield as it suddenly let out huffing noises.

    Upon seeing that sight, Joshua''s eyes lit up so suddenly, and he started his counterattack by using the short steel sword in his right hand, shing at the huffing green creature''s neck...

    "Annoying green dwarf. Die!!"

    *Whoosh*

    The short sword generated a whooshing sound as it moved towards the shocked goblin quickly.

    However...

    *ng*

    Joshua''s short sword was unexpectedly shed with by the mace of another goblin that had assaulted him earlier.

    ''Shit...''

    Joshua cursed inwardly while hurriedly pulled his left arm back behind the shield...

    *Thump* *Thump*

    Thus, the two annoying goblins'' barraging continued, whereas Joshua could only keep on defending against them, trying to find another opening.

    *Thump* *Thump*

    ''Ahh... My arm is so fucking numb.''

    Having thought so, Joshua turned his head to look at Bob, only to see that he was now busy with an imp instead after he had somehow pierced the goblin he had fought earlier with the long spear.

    "Die bitch, die!!" Bob roared towards the little, flying imp.

    After seeing Bob was still unavable, Joshua turned to his head towards the right side to request help from a man who looked like a street thug, William, instead.

    But Joshua''s eyes suddenly widened in shock...

    Because William had a long fork stabbed hazardously at the left side of his body.

    That was naturally the doings of an imp...

    "Aargh!! Diee!!"

    William shouted painfully while swinging his mace with full force at the flying imp...

    *Bam*

    The insolent imp dropped dead to the ground with its entire body''s bones fractured from the impact.

    However, William also didn''t look good either as the fork had prated deep into his side.

    It happened that in this wave, those annoying imps suddenly got new weapons, forks, with a length of around 50 centimeters.

    Thus, when the sharp forksbined with the annoying capabilities of the imps, they created a true nightmare for everybatant inside the clearing.

    "No... William!!" Joshua shouted with eyes widened.

    *Thump* *Thump*

    Still, he couldn''t do anything at all after seeing hisrade being punctured with a sharp fork.

    ''What to do...''

    Joshua thought while seeing William fell on one knee towards the ground.

    At that moment...

    "It looks like you guys want some help."

    The voice of a certain someone rang out from behind Joshua and William.

    The voice was akin to a heavenly bell ringing in a time of unholy crisis, as the hellish plight seemed to recede and retreat away from the sacred sounds.

    Obviously, it was none other than Jeremy''s voice...

    When Jeremy finished saying those words, he didn''t wait for those dazed people''s reply at all as he rushed into the fray with the spear in hand.

    Soon after Jeremy had joined the fray, the ounder''s number reduced at a fast pace, for they to be killed easily by Jeremy''s artfully spearmanship...

    *Whoosh* *Crunch*

    *Puchi* *Bam*

    Jeremy attacked left and right while rushing into the middle of the enemy''s frontline...

    Jeremy alone turned the tide of the battle into another direction...

 Chapter 74 - Jeremy And The Crystal (1)

    [You have received 32 SP]

    [You have received 31 SP]

    [You have received 38 SP]

    [You have received 31 SP]

    [You have received 65 SP]

    [You have received 66 SP]

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have receiv...]

    [You ha...]

    [...]

    ...

    The SP received from killing each ounder this time was higher than in the third wave. As initially, killing one skeleton soldier gave out around 25-26 SP, but this time 31-32 SP instead.

    Regarding the imps, they only gave out around 38-40 SP for each skill, which was a bit more than the amount received from killing a skeleton soldier. About the goblins, killing them also earned around 65-66 each, which was a bit more than in the easy-difficulty door.

    The only type of ounder that gave out the exact amount no matter where it stayed was the wolves, which was around 44-45 SP per kill.

    After the notifications disappeared from Jeremy''s front view, he thought ponderingly,

    ''Well, the fight was a bit harder than in the third wave, whereas the only harder part originated from the new leather armors and better weapons, making me put in more force with each strike.''

    "We won..."

    "Yeah, Mister Jeremy, he..."

    "My friend... *Sob* no..."

    "Ahh, my arm..."

    "I... I will go tend my wound first..."

    "Let''s clear the ce and take a rest... we have six hours before the next wavees..."

    "I will bring William and other injured ones to the ward..."

    "We should go to help the other side first..."

    "Nah, look over there. I think there is no need; the battle there had already ended."

    The seventh wave of monsters officially ended...

    Everyone within the tutorial chamber had long felt too numbed to celebrate. Even after celebrating, so what?

    The next wave woulde to take their lives in six hours anyway. Wasn''t it better to go rest and prepare for the next fight?

    Thus, people could only endure, endure, and endure until finally they felt numbed physically and mentally.

    There was no point in cheering or celebrating anymore; they just had to grit their teeth and prepare for the next more brutal, hellish battle against the stronger monsters.

    ''I''m truly surprised that so many people survive until now; it is clearly different from my past life. No, it is totally different...''

    Jeremy thought in wonderment after looking around, and then he turned his head towards the right passageway.

    It appeared that the bloody battle over there also came to an end, as Eddie, Mitchell, and everyone else was seen to be clearing and cleaning the battlefield like the people over here.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    Sounds of some people''s footsteps approached Jeremy from nearby...

    Upon hearing the sounds, Jeremy turned his head towards the source. Then he spotted three people.

    One of the three was anky man with tattoos but appeared to be very kindhearted, Bob. Another two were the well-built and tall Joshua and the middle-aged man, Lucas.

    All three of them were the ones who had stood behind Jeremy when the third wave of monstersmenced.

    ''They looked fully armed from head to toe...''

    Jeremy thought with one of his eyebrows raised, as it seemed like these three people were doing quite well to be able to umte so many SP to buy suitable gears from the Shop.

    "Mister Jeremy, you are finally back." Lucas, the middle-aged man, opened his mouth first.

    "Yep." Jeremy replied casually.

    "You have been behind one of those doors, right? I thought you wouldn''te back..." Bob said lightly, trying to sound as polite as possible, but it still sounded quite rude anyway.

    Upon hearing those words, Jeremy only smiled lightly as a reply, then he turned his head towards Joshua and said with a teasing smile,

    "You look just like a pdin in the middle ages, huh."

    When Joshua had heard those words, he could only chuckle bitterly...

    Who would have thought that his old, normal life on earth would change so suddenly into a bloody one?

    Then Joshua, who had kept quiet earlier, suddenly said words filled with gratitude towards Jeremy,

    "Speaking of which, I would like to say thank you for the help earlier. If it were not for your perfect timing, William would have died. Like that, I will also lose one of my brothers."

    "Nah, it''s okay. Don''t think too much."

    Jeremy replied with a charming smile, but his thoughts were otherwise entirely,

    ''I just did it for SP, not helping you guys.''

    "Alright, what''s next?" Jeremy suddenly asked the three.

    "Hmm?"

    "What?"

    "..."

    With three different reactions, the three got perplexed by Jeremy''s sudden question.

    When Jeremy saw that, he could only borate further,

    "I implied that what would you guys do next as the fight had just ended?"

    After hearing Jeremy''s boration, Lucas said while pointing his finger towards the right back corner of the chamber, "Ohh... We will group up over there."

    "I see... What would you guys think if I wanted to attend it too?" Jeremy asked, trying to be polite.

    Well, if he wanted to attend the meeting, who would dare prevent him, the great savior, anyway?

    "That''s doable..." Said Lucas.

    "Eddie and Mitchell will be d." Said Bob gleefully.

    "Alright, I will go and notify Mitchell and Eddie about your arrival and intention of joining the meeting." Replied Joshua.

    Upon hearing the three''s consents, Jeremy cut the chit-chat and bid them farewell,

    "Good then. I will go check the Crystal first. See you guys at the gathering."

    With a slight wave of his left hand as a farewell sign, Jeremy proceeded towards the big green Survival Crystal floating silently at the tutorial chamber''s centermost part.

    He intended to buy more skills...

    While walking towards the Crystal, many pairs of eyes from all around were shifted at him asionally.

    Indeed, Jeremy was born destined to attract attention, no matter where he went...

    Well, attention usually came along with troublesome issues, so Jeremy didn''t quite appreciate such attention in any way.

    But for now, it couldn''t be helped...

    Maybe on Ortus, but not here and now...

    After a short while, Jeremy finally arrived at the beautiful, floating, green Crystal...

    ''Hmm... Let''s see if those expensive skills have been bought already or not. After all, it''s already been 42 hours since everyone was kidnapped here.''

    With those thoughts in mind, Jeremy finally reached the Crystal and was seen to be touching it...

    Soon, a transparent window popped up like always...

    ...

    [Shop]

    [Mission]

    [Leaderboard]

    ...

    After seeing those three options, Jeremy intended to check the [Mission] option first because if he wanted to buy the skills within the [Shop] option, he still had toe out and report the missions to get the SP before he could buy them anyway.

    Thus, Jeremy chose [Mission] option as his first entry...

    ...

    [Would you like to report the missions and im the rewards forpleting them?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    When Jeremy saw the same old notifications asking him whether he wanted to report the missions or not, he obviously chose ''Yes'' to receive the long-awaiting hard-earned rewards.

    ...

    [You have received 800 SP forpleting the mission, ''Kill 10 imps'']

    [You have received 1,000 SP forpleting the mission, ''Kill 5 wolves'']

    [You have received 4,900 SP forpleting the mission, ''Pass the normal-difficulty door'']

 Chapter 75 - Jeremy And The Crystal (2)

    ''Hmm... The amount of SP received frompleting the missions is roughly the same as when I''vepleted them in the easy trial; it isn''t shabby at all.''

    At that time, Jeremy got around 5,300 SP frompleting more than five missions, but with only three missions, this time hadted Jeremy more than 6,700 SP.

    That 6,700 SP wasn''t even the total amount yet, as there was still a hefty sum of SP from killing the wolves, finding the exit, discovering the hidden quest, and ending the pitiful life of the kobold left to be added.

    When Jeremy hadpleted the easy-difficulty door, he had cleared it with 100% clearance. Furthermore, he had also finished many missions, such as killing skeleton soldiers, goblins, and hobgoblins.

    As a result, he only got around 13,000 or so SP after finishing the easy trial. However, that amount of 13,000 SP was nothingpared to the overall rewards Jeremy got frompleting the normal trial in the least.

    Even though more than half of the wolf''s number remained within the normal trial, Jeremy still got almost double the amountpared to when he finished the easy trial.

    Moreover, there were still the third and seventh hordes of ounders that Jeremy had ''liquidated'' into SP before now.

    Last but not least, the amount of the precious ck stars from the two trials couldn''t bepared by any chance, as he had gained more than five ck stars from the normal trial, whereas only one ck star frompleting the hidden chamber in the easy trial.

    All in all, the gain this time was enormous and splendid...

    Enormous in the form of SP...

    Splendid in the shape of ck stars...

    Thus, Jeremy had noint to the cupid at all...

    Shortly after the interface stating his rewards disappeared, the missions list finally popped up in front of him instead...

    ...

    [Your Current Missions]

    ˇŞ Kill 10 skeleton soldiers (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 10 imps (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 8 wolves (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 5 goblins (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 5 humans (0/5)

    ˇŞ Kill 2 hobgoblins (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the easy-difficulty door (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the normal-difficulty door (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the hard-difficulty door (0/1)

    ˇŞ ???

    ...

    When Jeremy saw only two missions on the Crystal were left to be done, one was the hard trial, and another was the ''???'', which he could guess somehow what it was about, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

    As for killing five humans?

    That was a no-go in the first ce...

    How could someone like him kill his own kind for a mere one thousand SP?

    Although he might receive some bonus rewards frompleting all ten missions, that was still uneptable, as his pride didn''t allow such a thing to happen.

    Or else, if he truly did it for only one thousand points, how could he still have any face to lead the human race into the center of the universe''s stage?

    ''Well, killing just five people won''t make any difference in the greater pic...''

    *Sigh*

    Before he could finish his selfish thought, Jeremy let out a sigh.

    ''My greed...''

    With a deep frown, Jeremy fell into a dilemma as he thought to himself seriously,

    ''I have to think more rationally; I have to think of a greater picture. No matter how insignificant it is, I cannot destroy my image... not now...''

    Just like that, Jeremy tried to calm his qualms and emotions of his greedy self down...

    The former space sage, Jeremy, was such a person with aplex personality, with his prideful yet greedy self sometimes offset one another, creating a delicate bnce between them.

    It was strange, truly strange indeed that two of the seven-deadly sins themselves, which were the infamous ''Sin'' all the same, yet they were paradoxical and opposed one another in many ways.

    In rtion to why Jeremy desired the human race to stand at the top of the Ortus'' food chain was quite simple...

    It was all originated from his prideful self, as he wanted to show those self-proimed ruling races on Ortus that humans were not to be reckoned with in any way...

    However, if only Jeremy from the entire human race, which had almost half a trillion in number on Ortus, stood at the pinnacle?

    That would prove nothing at all...

    In the end, those arrogant races would still look down on humans regardless of how strong Jeremy was or how far he could go in the future.

    That''s why bringing along his own race to the pinnacle was one of the requirements to be met of his own pride.

    As of now, all his resolves were just a matter of pride and greed...

    His pride wanted him to bring humanity to greatness...

    His greed wanted him to take everything for himself...

    Thus, there came the even greater conflict between his two dominant personalities...

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy let out a breath of cold air after finally being able to settle his emotions down.

    At the end of the day, he was someone who had a trait ''Objective'' within his Status Window. How could he not be able to contain and keep his emotions in check, right?

    It was just a matter of resolve, after all...

    ''Alright, my emotions are in check. Next...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy dismissed the missions list from his view.

    Then he essed the [Sell] option, intending to sell the steel sword, the only item he got from the normal trial, looted from the kobold.

    ...

    [Would you like to sell the item for 84 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    Upon bringing out the sword from the glove, Jeremy chose to sell it.

    After focusing on the ''Yes'' button, the sword in his hand suddenly disappeared into nothingness.

    ''Now, let''s see how many SP do I have currently...''

    Afterward, Jeremy dismissed the [Sell] option and essed the [Buy] option instead.

    ...

    [Weapons]

    [Clothes]

    [Misceneous]

    [Skills]

    [Your Current Bnce: 25,805 SP]

    ...

    Upon seeing his SP bnce, Jeremy''s eyes widened a bit...

    As he didn''t care to calcte the total amount before, so he didn''t know he had this much SP.

    That amount of SP was too enormous that no ordinary people from Earth could ever dream of.

    Well, that was of course, due to Jeremy''s hard work, for he had been to many ces incessantly without stopping at all.

    He was such a hard worker, so his earning should be high too...

    For the ount, Jeremy originally had 957 SP left from buying the three skills at that time, and then he went on to fight with the third wave of monsters that earned him another exactly 1,000 SP.

    Afterward, he went into the normal-difficulty door and then came out with 22,499 additional SP and sold the steel sword for 84 SP.

    Lastly, Jeremy had just fought with the seventh monster wave; he received another 1,265 SP.

    ''25,805 SP, huh... That''s an enormous amount indeed.''

    Having thought so, Jeremy essed the [Skill] option, without bothering about the [Weapons] or [Clothes] options at all...

    He knew all too well that there were only useless items there, in those two options...

    Soon, a transparent window appeared in front of Jeremy, as he used his mind scrolling past skill no.100 directly, for those skills were too basic that they could be learned so quickly by spending some time to practice...

    Not long after, a long list of skills starting from no.100 onwards projected in front of Jeremy...

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the author''s thoughts below if you feel annoyed about MC''s personality.]

 Chapter 76 - Jeremy And The Crystal (3)

    ...

    Skill no.99, [Spear Wielding]

    Skill no.100, [Sword Wielding]

    ...

    Skill no.109, [Footwork] (Sold out)

    Skill no.111, [Dashing sh] (Sold out)

    Skill no.114, [Slice and Dice] (Sold out)

    Skill no.117, [Fast Draw] (Sold out)

    Skill no.120, [Clear Visions] (Sold out)

    ...

    Skill no.134, [Ambidextrous] (Sold out)

    Skill no.135, [Combo Strike]

    Skill no.136, [Fortitude]

    Skill no.137, [Dauntless]

    Skill no.138, [Disguise] (Sold out)

    Skill no.139, [Surpassing Strength]

    Skill no.140, [Miasmic Tolerance]

    SKill no.141, [Snatch]

    ...

    Skill no.146, [Steady Arm]

    Skill no.147, [Mimic Whisper]

    Skill no.148, [Acrobatics]

    Skill no.149, [Heightened Senses]

    Skill no.150, [Adrenaline Rush]

    Skill no.151, [Calm Mind]

    ...

    Skill no.163, [Called Shot]

    Skill no.164, [Knife Throwing]

    Skill no.165, [Martial Arts]

    Skill no.166, [Charge]

    ...

    Skill no.169, [Hibernate]

    Skill no.174, [Focus]

    Skill no.179, [Hypnotism]

    Skill no.181, [Analyze]

    Skill no.182, [Fast Hands]

    Skill no.182, [Marksmanship]

    Skill no.183, [Stealth]

    Skill no.184, [Bncing Feats]

    Skill no.185, [Breathing Control]

    Skill no.186, [Eagles Eyes]

    ...

    A long, long list of myriad skills projected in front of Jeremy''s face...

    *Fwuuu...*

    Upon seeing that [Heigtened Senses] skill was still there even after 42 hours had passed, Jeremy let out a breath of relief from his mouth.

    ''It seems I still overestimate Earthlings as of now only the skills from no.121 onwards are still untouched... Well, considering the price of more than 3,500 SP upwards, it is truly hard for ordinary people to buy those skills.''

    ''Still, my strategy appears to be right because if I didn''t buy the footwork skill at that time, other people might get it instead, and I also had to rely solely on my own two feet to avoid the kobold''s dreadful attacks...''

    At that time, the footwork skill had helped Jeremy quite a lot. If he ever bought the Stealth and Eagles Eyes instead, he might have lost even more mana to defend against the kobold''s attacks.

    ''Hmm... How should I proceed now?''

    Currently, Jeremy was in deep thought, thinking about the strategy to buy the skills...

    ''Well, is that even important anymore? The seventh wave had just ended; many people should be teleported into the second stage already as there were only 15 people left in the tutorial chamber.''

    ''While some people may even choose toplete the Tutorial''s third mission as they had already finished four missions from the Survival Crystal, leaving behind otherrades, elderlies, and kids.''

    ''Hmm...''

    Jeremy pondered here and there, trying to cover every possibility possible for him to gain the most out of this ordeal.

    ''Humans are such fickled creatures; everyone has their own choices of going left, right, back, and forward. Furthermore, there are more than five thousand of them out there surviving right now. So, the situation should be effing crazy; I cannot predict the real oue but only the most likely probability...''

    ''Fuck it... Regardless of any of them, safety first...''

    Safety which actually figuratively meant ''greedy''...

    After contemting so hard about the strategy to buy skills, Jeremy could only use the same old one, the safety-first method.

    Consequently, Jeremy decided to buy the skills with the low numbers first and would buy those further down skills on the listter...

    After some minutes had passed...

    ...

    [Would you like to buy skill no.135, [Combo Strike] for 4,182 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.139, [Surpassing Strength] for 4,401 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.148, [Acrobatics] for 4,858 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.149, [Heightened Senses] for 4,894 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.151, [Calm Mind] for 4,990 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    However, like a Deja Vu, Jeremy stopped right in tracks before buying those skills...

    *Sigh*

    After sighing depressingly, Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''Why again?''

    Then Jeremy chose the ''No'' option. Soon, the interface changed back into the skills list once again.

    As it appeared that Jeremy himself was also such a fickled creature as any other human being...

    Well, he was a human, after all.

    Regarding the reason why Jeremy chose not to buy those skills?

    Nope, it was not his greed this time...

    It''s because of his ''hunch'' instead.

    Right now, his hunch was telling him strongly that if he bought those skills, he would regret his decisionter.

    As his past life was full of regrets, Jeremy knew all too well to believe in his hunch no matter how small the matter was.

    If he didn''t believe in his own hunch, then what to believe in, right?

    ''It seems like I cannot use the same approach to buy the skills...''

    ''Hmm...?''

    ''That signifies only one thing, the skill or skills that I really want to get will be bought by other people soon if I miss this chance...''

    ''Is it for real, by the way? Those skills worth more than 5,000 SP will be acquired...''

    A deep, ''serious'' frown started appearing between Jeremy''s eyebrows, causing his ever handsome face to be seriously handsome instead. Then he thought further,

    ''It seems like some Earthlings are umting Survival Points to buy only one high-end skill from the list...''

    *Fwuuu...*

    ''It couldn''t be helped then... Let''s just buy the really important ones for now. I have to suppress my own greed, or else I will regret itter.''

    Having thought decisively to himself, Jeremy repressed his greed about owning every useful skill from the list down a notch.

    It seemed like Jeremy was still in control of his own emotions, not the other way around. His mind then started bing clearer and clearer.

    There were no negative feelings clouded over his judgment anymore...

    With no further ado, Jeremy chose the skills from the list again, albeit only the most important ones this time.

    ...

    [Would you like to buy skill no.149, [Heightened Senses] for 4,894 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.183, [Stealth] for 5,563 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.185, [Breathing Control] for 5,796 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.186, [Eagles Eyes] for 6,820 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    ''Alright, they are the skills that will benefit me the most in the long run of my journey to greatness. Still, I also want that [Analyze] skill as it can help in my research for quite a bit. Too bad, my Survival Points are not enough.''

    After choosing the four skills, [Heightened Senses], [Stealth], [Breathing Control], and [Eagles Eyes], Jeremy willed his mind to buy those skills with no further ado by focusing on the ''Yes'' button.

    Simultaneously, another light blue interface popped up in front of him...

    ...

    [A total of 23,073 SP have been deducted from your SP ount]

    [You have received the [Heightened Senses] skill]

    [You have received the [Stealth] skill]

    [You have received the [Breathing Control] skill]

    [You have received the [Eagles Eyes] skill]

    [You currently have 2,732 SP remaining]

    [There will be no exnation about how to upgrade the skills further; you have to explore and upgrade those skills by your own self. Good luck.]

    ...

    Heightened Senses (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the senses and awareness of your surroundings by 11%.

    Stealth (Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can lower your perceived presence for 5 minutes. [Caution: When used, the skill generates a slight darkness element upon the user''s body.]

    Breathing Control (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your breathing control by 15%.

    Eagles Eyes (Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, your eyes will be able to see into a farther distance. [Caution: If used too much, the user''s eyes will be damaged permanently.]

 Chapter 77 - Jeremy And The New Skills

    As its name suggested, the first skill, [Heightened Senses], was a passive skill that helped increase the owner''s awareness of the surroundings. It was such a great passive skill for the closebat sses but very hard to acquire naturally or by practice.

    Moreover, the skill could evolve two more times into the [Battle Senses] and [Sixth Sense], respectively.

    However, to upgrade the skill, Jeremy needed more than just efforts, but that shouldn''t be too hard for the former sage as he would be able to find a way eventually.

    The second skill, [Stealth], was a basic active skill of those sneaky sses who yed with silence and darkness. When activated, the user''s presence would reduce ording to the level of skill mastery.

    Its downside was that it was imbued with a darkness element; the higher the skill level, the more the darkness element being imbued.

    As for why it was a downside...

    It''s because every spell, ability, and element that generated light or fire would be its worst counterpart, causing it to be less effective.

    The third skill, [Breathing Control]; this skill''s description was concise but full of meaning, as it simply meant the skill would help the user regte and control their breathing easier and smoother.

    The skill might not be that useful for a mage, but for those of the warrior pathways, it was akin to their lifeline to help them fight longer and be physically stronger from their cells breathing in more energy from the air around them.

    Thest skill and also the most important one, [Eagles Eyes], Jeremy didn''t know how it would turn out to be when the skill was activated.

    However, the skill description simply signified that he would be able to zoom in and zoom out like a picture on the phone.

    After buying and inspecting all four skills, Jeremy retracted his hand from the Crystal as he decided to test the skills first and foremost...

    Soon after...

    *Fwuu...* *Haa...*

    *Fwuu...* *Haa...*

    The ''inaudible'' sounds of Jeremy''s breathing came out from his nose in rhythm...

    Jeremy breathed in and out for some tens of times before stopping. Then he thought to himself,

    ''It indeed helps me control my breathing as it appears that my lungs are easier to control. Alright, let''s try Heightened Senses...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy closed his eyes lightly; instead of using his eyes to look, he felt the surroundings by his other senses...

    Suddenly, Jeremy''s senses were boosted by a small degree...

    Very light winds wereing from the two passageways, caressing his skin lightly...

    The noisy voices of the people from all around him within the tutorial chamber...

    The rotten smells originated from the far-end corner where the corpsesid...

    Upon finishing doing so, Jeremy nodded his head in satisfaction and thought,

    ''That''s why those muscle heads like this skill so much. Even it is just an eleven percent boost to one''s five senses, it is already this good. Nheless, the disparity of this skill and my past life''s talent, Seventh Sense is still far apart.''

    After thinking so, Jeremy turned towards the mound of corpses at the corner near the easy-difficulty door.

    When he saw the sight, Jeremy scrutinized the ''mound'' with eyes narrowed...

    ''Hmm... It is a mess there. Corpse after corpse is piled up into a small mountain.''

    After finishing his thought, Jeremy activated his newly acquired skill, [Eagles Eyes]...

    *Zoom*

    Jeremy''s sight of the mound''s general appearance suddenly got clearer and became more detailed, as it looked like he hade closer to the heap of corpses himself.

    But in truth, Jeremy only stood still with no movement at all...

    ''Hmm? Is that the woman named Skr? She is dead, huh. As for that, the guy named... well, I don''t remember it. That is the corpse of a beheaded goblin with green blood stilling out...''

    The view Jeremy saw right now was indeed worthy of an eagle''s sight as he saw everything at some tens of meters away very clear like he stood in front of it.

    After looking at the corpses of various organisms for a while, Jeremy deactivated the skill with a satisfied expression.

    Then he chuckled sarcastically and thought bitterly to himself,

    ''Haha... Like this, won''t I be a full-fledged warrior instead of a mage then? Or should I be both...?''

    *Sigh*

    Upon sighing lightly, Jeremy dismissed such thoughts for now,

    ''Let''s think about those topicster. There are so many golden opportunities ahead of me. I have to harvest everything as much as I can...''

    ''By the way, it was such a right decision to buy [Eagles Eyes] skill. From the looks of it, I cannot imitate the skill''s ability to the point of adjusting my eyesight by all means due to my current mana capacity, mind power, and soul strength are stillcking by quite a lot...''

    Jeremy''s thinking process was absolutely right, as he couldn''t imitate or mimic the skill''s capabilities at all. Even if he could, it would just be ame version with countless ws.

    If Jeremy really wanted to use magic to reproduce the exact same result as the Eagles Eyes, he might need a tier-2 spell or higher for that.

    That was absolutely inefficientpared to buying the skill from the shop once and for all...

    Regarding the [Stealth] skill that Jeremy hadn''t tried or used yet, the skill was also a pretty decent one that had quite a high potential in the future.

    Even though the skill had some ws, it could still be covered by Jeremy''s magic and spells, so he thought it was the second-best skill for him within the entire skills list.

    Well, there was also another reason for Jeremy to buy the [Stealth] skill...

    The reason was none other than the second stage of the tutorial, in which Jeremy needed this skill for a specific situation.

    Although Jeremy had darkness as one of his affinities, and he could indeed imitate the [Stealth]''s ability by using some tier-1 darkness spells, they, however, required too much mana to cast, as he had only 34.8% affinity with darkness element.

    Consequently,pared to a space-rted spell, which was a spell with an element he had 89.9% of affinity for, it would require Jeremy more than triple the amount of mana used to cast a spell in the same tier. Also, the spell generated would only be half as effective at most.

    ''Everything is good so far...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy touched the Crystal again to ess the leaderboard.

    Soon, a transparent interface showing the current rankings popped up...

    ...

    [Leaderboard]

    Zone: 82,364

    Survivors: 4,627

    Your Ranking: 1st ce ?

    [Your ranking has been ranked ording to your total Survival Points earned]

    ...

    When Jeremy saw that he still ranked first of the entire zone, he nodded lightly to himself.

    Obviously, anyone should easily expect such a result if they knew how bloodily and hellishly Jeremy had fought so far.

    From the past 42 hours ofing here, he had reaped more than 400 lives already...

    That''s the average of 10 lives per hour...

    After checking his current ranking, Jeremy dismissed the Crystal''s interface by retracting his hand from it.

    ''Hmm??''

    Then Jeremy wondered lightly as he heard the sounds of people from a distance away from him...

    Afterward, he turned his head towards the source of the sounds where around 30 people stood as it seemed like they were having a meeting or something of the sort.

    ''It is time already, huh...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy started walking there unhurriedly while thinking to himself,

    ''I wonder how my status looks like now...''

    ''Status Window.''

 Chapter 78 - Everyone Eventually Gets Accustomed To It

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 45.2%

    - Darkness (Umon): 34.8%

    - Space (Rare): 89.9%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic

    Trait: Objective

    Skill:

    - Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Disguise (Basic - Active Skill)

    - Heightened Senses (Mid Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Stealth (Basic - Active Skill)

    - Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Eagles Eyes (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    Achievement:

    1. For you, who is the fastest of your own kind to shed a mortal skin and be the first person to tread in a long and arduous path of truth-seeking. The System shall grant you the title of ''First Mage''.

    2. For you, who was born a Prodigy. For you, who is destined to be standing at the very top of the universe''s food chain. The System shall grant you the title of ''Prodigy Mage''.

    3. For you, who achieves the impossible. For you, who defies the universe''s rules. For you, who had reached the first substage of a ss 1 Mage within a mana-less world. For eternity, this attainment can never be duplicated by anyone; even the Gods feel helpless with its usibility. It is thus considered an achievement that shall be chronicled at the highest level of Akashic Records forevermore. The universe itself shall grant you the title of ''Mage of Origin''.

    Mission:

    - Tutorial Mission: Survive I

    ...

    Upon seeing his own status window for the nth time, Jeremy still felt refreshed every time he saw it. Especially the achievement section that depicted such mind-blowing and satisfying records.

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy let out a narcissistic sigh, and then thought heedlessly,

    ''What a legend I am...''

    Well, it couldn''t be helped that he would feel like that, as his Status Window looked really wles... ''almost'' wless if we didn''t count the ''NEET'' title lying dormant there.

    If someone took a look carefully at Jeremy''s Status Window, they would see there was something new within the skills section.

    Those were the ''prefixes'' of the skills...

    The reason for Jeremy to have those prefixes was simple; after acquiring a skill for the first time, it would always start with the ''Basic'' rank without prefix, rank, or whatsoever.

    However, after a person practiced or used a skill, the said skill would be upgraded automatically ording to the skill mastery of that person.

    In Jeremy''s case, he used to train and practice footwork skills and breathing techniques from his acquaintances in his past life. There was no doubt that Jeremy would know one or two tricks under his sleeve.

    That''s why his [Footwork] and [Breathing Control] skills upgraded into High Basic level.

    As for [Ambidextrous], it was the thing that Jeremy had spent almost a whole era to learn, so it naturally upgraded into the highest level among his skills, which was Mid Intermediate level.

    Concerning [Heightened Senses], as Jeremy was a person who hade into contact with mana and meditated for quite some time, his senses were obviously at a very high levelpared to ordinary people.

    Subsequently, Jeremy''s sharp senses induced the skill, [Heightened Senses], to be upgraded along, albeit only one level.

    Lastly, there were two active skills that didn''t have any prefix just yet. They were [Disguise] and [Stealth] skills.

    Because Jeremy hadn''t used them yet, causing them not to be properly assessed by the System just yet; subsequently, they didn''t have any obvious level for now.

    Next, for the prefix itself...

    Every skill and technique in existence received from the System had a prefix followed by its level of mastery most of the time.

    Regarding the ranks of prefixes, there were three. The first and lowest rank of prefixes was ''Low'', followed by ''Mid'', andstly ''High''.

    For example, Jeremy''s [Footwork] skill was already at the level of High Basic, which meant if Jeremy could upgrade the skill further by some means, it would achieve a breakthrough and reach the level of Low Intermediate, Mid Intermediate, High Intermediate, Low Advance, and so on.

    Come back to the current situation...

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    Jeremy was walking towards the gathering ce where almost 30 people were assembling.

    When he spotted Mitchell, whom stood alone in front of other people while saying something, Jeremy thought amusingly,

    ''Wow, he looks just like a homeroom teacher...''

    Right when Jeremy had reached halfway there, he had thought of something so suddenly,

    ''Oh right, let''s try the [Stealth] skill...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy activated the skill by focusing his mind on the skill''s name,

    ''[Stealth]''

    Suddenly, Jeremy''s presence appeared to be lower than usual several times as he approached the meeting ce slowly...

    Right now, it seemed like Mitchell was giving some speech as a formality while having around 30 people standing in front of him.

    "Everyone did very well in the battle earlier... We''ve survived yet another hellish horde of monsters because of everyone''s efforts and sweats. There are only three waves left from this point on, and all of us will leave here together. Please steel yourselves a bit more. I believe we will survive this ordeal eventually... "

    When everyone had heard Mitchell''s delusory words, they could only sigh bitterly into the air.

    Their hopes had diminished away ever since two waves ago, as they could only grit their teeth and endure from then henceforth.

    Within their minds right now, the only one time they would feel rejoiced was when they finally got out of this cursed ce for real...

    No more unnecessary false hope...

    No more disappointment from their hope being destroyed...

    When Mitchell saw such a sight, he could only smile bitterly, as he also didn''t believe the words he had spoken himself.

    ''Ortus, huh... what a fucked-up. Why tutorial? Why selection? Why killing? Why us...?''

    ''Nevertheless... life must go on...''

    Mitchell shook his head slightly to dismiss those useless thoughts. Then he turned his head towards the only nurse within this ce and asked,

    "Miss Karina, how many people died in thest horde?"

    "It''s three people, M, Cooper, and Carson. We... we have only twentybata..."

    "Ahem... That''s enough."

    When Karina was about to demoralize everyone further down the hill of despair, Mitchell interrupted her midway...

    "..."

    Afterward, a dead air reigned in among the crowd, as other people had also realized their current predicament pretty well.

    After all, they were the ones who fought with the monsters for seven long waves. How could they not know that theycked the manpower to fight with the monsters greatly?

    Upon seeing everyone''s depressed face, Mitchell decided to continue the reporting process to distract everyone''s thoughts and bring them out from their immediate depression,

    "How are the injured ones?" Mitchell asked while looking at Karina, whom stood within the crowd.

    "Five people are badly injured; they cannot fight anymore. Two people have a broken arm each if they desire to fight; I think it is doable. And..." Replied Karina, a bit downcast at the end of her speech.

    "And?" Mitchell asked lightly while raising one of his eyebrows.

    "And... Remy stopped breathing before the meeting started..."

 Chapter 79 - They Definitely Had Something Planned (1)

    "And... Remy stopped breathing before the meeting started..."

    After hearing Mitchell pressed for the answer with a slight frown, Karina told the truth with an even more downcast expression.

    When Mitchell and other people had heard Karina''s sad news about one more of their brothers had just passed away, they could only sigh in mncholy.

    Regarding the one who had died, Remy was a man with an upright disposition. He had fought very hard against the monsters for the sake of everyone else, but that was also the reason for his early demise, as he had been severely wounded by a wolf biting his neck.

    And now, Remy, in due course, finally passed away...

    At this time, everyone felt even more downhearted than before because of the sudden bad news.

    Nheless...

    After so many deaths of theirrades in every passing horde of monsters, they eventually started getting ustomed to such a thing as dying.

    Although they might get used to it, they still felt numbed every time someone passed away right in front of their eyes.

    After all, they felt and grew closer and closer to one another after every life-and-death battle...

    It was usual for them to grow mentally attached to theirrades whom had fought bloodily alongside them.

    "Alright, we will move his body after the meeting ends." Said Mitchell towards everyone while shaking his head slightly in regret and dismal.

    Regret for the world that had lost one good person...

    Dismal of himself having lost yet another good brother...

    ''Life must go on...'' Mitchell thought inwardly.

    Afterward, Mitchell turned towards a muscr man with tanned skin, Grayson, who used to be a carpenter on Earth.

    "Grayson, how are the barricades and traps?" Mitchell asked Grayson for a report.

    "Some are broken lightly, some permanently. We need to build new ones, new stronger ones for the next battle." Grayson, who stood among the crowd, replied with a tired expression.

    "Even more damaged than the sixth horde?" Mitchell asked Grayson again for confirmation.

    "Yes, we need to rebuild, repair, and fortify most of them..."

    "How many people and what materials do you need?"

    "We need some woods, ropes, and metals, which might need extra SP from everyone else. Regarding the workforce, if including the elderlies and kids, I still need four or five more..."

    "Alright, I got it."

    When the report about barricades and traps was done, Mitchell turned towards other people and spoke for everyone to hear,

    "Everyone had heard him, right? I won''t force anyone to repair or rebuild those things, as all of you should be very tired and want to sleep already. That''s why... if you think you have some stamina to spare, please help him rebuild the barricades and traps. After all, our survival chances increase exponentially because of those things."

    After saying so and seeing many people nodded their heads in understanding, Mitchell continued with the next topic,

    "Next, how about the foods, water, and medicine?"

    "We have enough to spare..."

    "Next, abo..."

    "..."

    "Next..."

    "..."

    After some minutes of asking and answering, the reporting part had finallye to an end.

    Then Mitchell dived right in towards the question and answer part, which was considered thest segment of this meeting,

    "Alright, that is it for the reports. Now, does anyone have anything to suggest before I let everyone go and do their own things?"

    Speaking till this point, and the meeting woulde to an end soon, Mitchell thought to himself lightly,

    ''Well, where is Jeremy? Didn''t Joshua tell me that he woulde? Anyway... let''s continue with the n first...''

    Having thought so, Mitchell shifted his eyes stealthily towards Eddie, whom stood silently among the crowd.

    When the two pairs of eyes finally met, Mitchell and Eddie nodded their heads to one another subtly without letting other people notice.

    ''Hoh...''

    A certain someone eximed to himself in amazement when he saw that brief exchange between the two...

    Of course, that certain someone was Jeremy, who stood right behind the crowd. Well, it was pretty bizarre that no one actually noticed him...

    From the momentary exchange earlier, Jeremy, who saw all that, only had one thought within his mind,

    ''It seems like the two had nned something again...''

    That was indeed the case because...

    "Mitchell..."

    Eddie, who had long been on standby within the crowd, suddenly called out to Mitchell before anyone could snatch his chance to speak.

    "What is it?" Mitchell asked while looking at Eddie among the crowd.

    "As we''ve just lost three more people in the previous horde, I think weck quite ''some'' fighting force for the next wave. I also think that everyone is thinking the same thing as me that we indeedck ''some'' fighting force for the next battle..."

    Eddie spoke with a serious expression, as he even repeated two times that theyck ''some'' people to emphasize everyone''s inner thoughts, which had been lingering silently within their minds for quite some time.

    That''s why thest sentence of his speech was like a matchstick.

    That''s also why...

    Like a bomb fuse had been lit, people from all around started murmuring to one another incessantly.

    In the first ce, that topic was something that had been lingering within their minds for quite some time.

    At the same time, ''some'' people kept quiet with their mouths shut tightly, not daring to look at anyone or let out a single sound.

    Undoubtedly, the people who kept quiet now were the elderlies and teenagers who had stayed safe and sound from the start of the first wave till the end of the seventh wave. Moreover, they also didn''t have to do anything much to help out at all.

    Even though the elderlies and kids had tried to help out with pitching tents, tending the injured ones, and building the barricades, but that''s it. They had only done and helped that much while other people risked their lives to save everyone else.

    *Murmur* *Murmur*

    *Murmur* *Murmur*

    As the eyes of the murmuring people shifted towards those quiet ''people'' asionally had only caused the atmosphere to be more strange and distinct.

    The people''s murmuring sounds continued for quite some time because Mitchell, their leader, had ''intentionally'' let it happen.

    It was his n, after all...

    How could he not?

 Chapter 80 - They Definitely Had Something Planned (2)

    The reason why he let Eddie be the one who lit the bomb fuse was simple...

    Because Mitchell couldn''t be the first one to raise the topic, for he was their leader who truly led everyone here, unlike Eddie, who was akin to a symbol of a ball-but-no-brain person.

    Furthermore, Eddie was also one of their leaders who was mainly responsible for leading the battle against the monsters, so he was the most suitable one here.

    *Murmur*

    *Murmur*

    The murmuring voices from the crowd were getting louder and louder with every passing second.

    They talked and discussed the topic with solemn faces, whereas someone even argued with other people around them endlessly, trying to voice their reasons for others to agree.

    Until...

    "Eddie is right. Weck people for the next wave. So... I think..."

    A woman in herte 40s suddenly said, interrupting the current atmosphere...

    After she spoke a short sentence, she paused for a bit to attract everyone''s attention before continuing,

    "Those ''people'' shoulde and help us fight in the next battle when the monsterse. Otherwise, all of us better be off dead."

    The person who had opened her mouth to talk was actually ire, one of the two ''Karens'' within the group whom had been ostracized from Mitchell''s n when he started off the ''coup''.

    Due to being ostracized at that time, she had to grit her teeth and fight in the front line for five long monsters waves. It was fortunate enough that she survived until now.

    However, another ''Karen'', Aylin, was not so lucky as she had died since the fourth wave.

    That''s why ire felt very depressed that her heart was ready to explode anytime.

    What did she do wrong for them to treat her like that?

    How could it be her that was ostracized and isted by the mass?

    How could it be her instead of those old and young people?

    Where did they get such privileges to act so leisurely while everyone else risked their lives for them?

    Well, she was indeed one of the Karens, as she had the mindset of the Karens...

    Thus, this was one such opportunity to let out thepressed air within her small heart by ''ostracizing'' other people back.

    Furthermore, ire''s speech just now was like fuel put into the tiny sparkle that Eddie had lit up earlier.

    That''s why...

    "Yeah... At least fend off one or two monsters shouldn''t that hard, right?"

    "Hmm... Come to think of it... That''s true indeed..."

    "That is... It couldn''t be helped; we really need more people..."

    "They get a free ride because they are elderly and children? That''s not fair. We are humans all the same..."

    "Right! I agree."

    "They must fight too!"

    The fuse that had been lit by Eddie a moment ago finally exploded within the crowd of people by having ire as the fuel...

    The stress and madness from the past seven hordes of monsters finally blew up like a supernova as it swept past everyone within the tutorial chamber swiftly.

    It was, after all, their lives that were on the line here.

    How could they use their own lives to protect strangers?

    Was that supposed to be how the world operated?

    To protect innocent people and bring peace back to the world?

    Well...

    To be frank, that''s justplete bullshit, as it would not work on Ortus at all.

    Ortus operated with one principle, ''weak meat, strong eat'', as weak people had no ce to thrive there, they would slowly die out one by one in the end...

    Meanwhile...

    "I''m scared..."

    *Sob* *Sob*

    "..."

    "Why... I don''t want to fight..."

    "..."

    Those six people, whichprised two kids of a little bit more than twelve years old and four older people at the age of more than sixty, could only remain quiet, cry, and worst, try to run away.

    But they had no ce to run away to...

    This ce was not the old Earth anymore...

    It was only a matter of doing or dying for them from now on...

    ''Is this why they create the tutorials? To let everyone realize that they shouldn''t be weak?''

    Mitchell, who had been observing the situation till now, thought to himself wonderingly.

    Unsurprisingly, he didn''t feel much pity towards those people at all...

    Still, Eddie was different from Mitchell as he currently felt quite guilty inside his heart because he didn''t want to see those innocent people hold weapons up to fight against monsters.

    But it was necessary, so he could only grit his teeth strongly, trying hard to push the churning guilt back down into his stomach.

    He was willing to stomach and hide the guilt within the deepest part of him if it meant he could survive this shitty tutorial.

    ''I must survive no matter what; I''ve already promised with Skr to find her sisters...'' Eddie thought with determination.

    When Mitchell finally saw those elderly and children who didn''t know what to do anymore, Mitchell decided it was finally time to give them a way out of their current predicament.

    Mitchell, the mastermind behind this situation, suddenly spoke up after a long time,

    "Please calm down and listen to me!"

    His voice was loud enough to make everyone heed his words...

    "..."

    "..."

    "..."

    After seeing that everyone''s attention was on him now, Mitchell started his long-awaited speech,

    "Thank you for your understanding. After seeing many of you arguing with one another chaotically, me... as a leader of everyone here and also the one who sees through the real problems you guys are arguing, I would like to propose a way out of this situation ''peacefully''."

    When everyone heard their leader said so, they started getting interested in his so-called ''proposal''...

    "Please say..."

    "What is it?"

    "..."

    "We''re hearing..."

    "..."

    Even the elderlies and kids had some hopes reflected within their eyes now...

    After all, their light of hope and kind-hearted Mitchell that had led them through the past seven hordes had finally spoken up.

    Unbeknownst to the ignorant ''them'', the next part of Mitchell''s speech was going to bring them back down to face the harsh thing called ''reality''...

    Upon seeing their reaction that was ''as expected'', Mitchell continued his piece,

    "As everyone had said, ''we indeed do not have enough manpower to fight in the next wave''. So, I would like to suggest that they also fight alongside us, but..."

    Mitchell spoke by twisting some words here and there, as it should be ''As Eddie had said'' instead of ''As everyone had said''.

    Well, he was pretty smart...

    However...

    "What are you saying? They are elderlies and children!!"

 Chapter 81 - They Definitely Had Something Planned (3)

    "What are you saying? They are elderlies and children!!"

    Before Mitchell could even finish his speech, someone''s sharp and loud voice interrupted him.

    That certain someone was actually the one and only nurse within this chamber, Karina.

    Again, before Mitchell could reply and pacify Karina''s outburst, someone snatched the chance of speaking from him,

    "Miss nurse, you are the one who talks? Hng! You also haven''t fought so far; do you even realize that? Or am I wrong here? Why don''t you take a look at everyone''s face and see which side they will choose?"

    ire, the woman in herte 40s, said sarcastically towards Karina as she felt Karina also had it rtively easy, like the elderlies and children.

    Of course, as one of the people who had been ostracized before, ire didn''t appreciate the notion that Karina did nothing but only staying near the ward for even one bit.

    Thus, this was another chance for her to take some more ''revenge'' from those people whom had done nothing.

    Upon hearing such words, Karina promptly turned her head to look at other people... only to see that it was indeed as ire had said.

    The majority of them had already taken sides by now as their faces were clearly written with the word ''guilt'', whereas some of them even intuitively avoided eye contact with Karina as though it would amplify their guilt if they looked at her in the eye...

    As a result, Karina could only open and close her mouth a few times before choosing not to speak any further, as she really didn''t have anything to argue the woman''s reasoning.

    "Hmph!!"

    Atst, Karina could only harrumph strongly at ire and everyone else''s attitude.

    When other people had heard ire''s words, the thoughts about pressuring Karina to fight also crossed their minds, but they soon dismissed those thoughts.

    Well, if Karina somehow fought and died, who would tend their wounds then?

    "Alright, alright. That''s enough. Please let me finish first before expressing your opinions."

    After seeing the two bickering and everyone''s guilty expressions, Mitchell decided to intervene as he also hadn''t finished his piece yet.

    "Earlier, I had suggested that they also fight alongside us, but I didn''t mean to let them fight in the frontline."

    When Mitchell spoke to this part, he paused a bit for the people to digest the information before continuing,

    "Think carefully... Even though we somehow let them fight at the ''frontline'', what could they even do except be a nuisance for everyone else? Look at their frail bodies... Due to their physical disadvantages, they could only be prey to those monsters... Am I right?"

    Upon seeing many people reluctantly nodding their heads in approval, Mitchell proceeded on,

    "That''s why I would like to suggest that we let them fight from the second line, which is to hold crossbows and fire arrows at the goblins, imps, and wolves. Or they can also use long poles and spears to attack from behind the frontline."

    "What do you guys think?"

    When Mitchell finished his speech, everyone''s eyes lit up with the sudden realization, causing the area to be filled with murmuring sounds from the crowd of people again. It looked like they were discussing about Mitchell''s proposal seriously, as it didn''t sound that bad at all.

    ording to Mitchell''s words, everyone would win...

    They, thebatant people, would receive more fighting force to battle with the monsters...

    The elderlies and kids would also get to do something that really increased everyone''s survival chances...

    Wasn''t that a win-win then?

    In the end, elderlies and children were not suitable to fight in closebat; they could only fight from some distance away at most.

    Meanwhile, those people in question could only stand with their heads down pitifully, for they had never fought before in the past seven waves. How could they suddenly hold weapons to fight against monsters?

    Even though it was a win-win... How could those people who had always stayed in the recuperating area suddenly had the courage to hold weapons out to fight?

    But they didn''t have any choice, did they?

    They were chained and caged in this tutorial chamber with everyone else...

    If they didn''t do it, other people might use even more harsh measures against them...

    Thus, they could only endure and harden themselves...

    Unbeknownst to thebatant people right now, their mindsets started being molded and changed bit by bit by the environment they were staying in, which was obviously the tutorial.

    If they were still on Earth, the thought about having older people of more than 60 years old and kids of a bit more than 12 years old holding weapons to fight in the frontline would rarely cross through their minds.

    However, their thoughts started changing with each passing second of staying inside this cursed chamber, with each passing death of theirrades, and with each passing wave of monstersing to take their lives...

    For that was one of the purposes of the tutorials in the first ce...

    That purpose was simply ''Adaptation''.

    The System wanted Earthlings and every other race that would be living on Ortus adapted to the current concept of ''weakness is a sin''.

    Just like this situation, where the weak didn''t even dare to voice out their opinions. Only those in power who held weapons in their hands, only those that were murmuring to one another without caring about those weak people''s feelings that had the real power in their hands.

    Shortly after, ''everyone'' agreed to Mitchell''s proposal of letting the elderlies and kids use crossbows and long poles to fight from the backline.

    Everyone that meant ''everyone else'' except for the elderlies and kids themselves, as they didn''t even have the courage to refuse and fight back the pressure from the crowd.

    Just like that, the elderlies and kids, a total of six people, would be fighting together with every otherbatant starting with the next horde.

    Well, before that could happen, they should be trained first, right?

    And the lucky trainers who got the short-end of the stick were none other than Eddie and Lucas.

    As Eddie knew how to handle a bow and crossbow very well, and Lucas always used a spear as his weapon since the second wave of monsters, so it had been decided that the two would have to teach the soon-to-be sixbatants.

    That meant the only people who didn''t have to fight were those five badly injured people and one nurse...

    That also made the number ofbatants shot up from 20 people to 26 people in a blink of an eye, albeit the addition of six people were only elderlies and kids.

    Still, the more, the better...

    Unsurprisingly...

    All these dramas happening till now were double-handedly caused by Mitchell and Eddie for the sole reason of increasing everyone''s and their own survival chances.

    The hypocrite and the bigot could only utilize such a lowly method if they wanted to survive this hellish ordeal...

    They had long abandoned their old lifestyles and mindsets from Earth ever since they decided to deal with the troublemaker and murderer, Benjamin...

    Putting all those things aside, it looked like everyone forgot about a certain someone''s existence entirely...

 Chapter 82 - The Hidden Condition (1)

    ''What a show... Their small scheme is pretty impressive befitting the future residents of Ortus.''

    Jeremy, who stood silently behind the crowd of people, thought to himself in impression after seeing such a spectacle...

    Then as if he had just realized something, Jeremy thought joltingly,

    ''Wait... where is the bastard, Bad Mouther?''

    Having thought so after not seeing the man within the crowd of people, Jeremy hurriedly turned his head to look around the tutorial chamber...

    ''He is not here...''

    ''Not there either...''

    Even after looking here and there but still not found even the man''s shadow, Jeremy eventually turned to look at the ''mound'' of corpses.

    ''Or... he is being buried under the heap of corpses?''

    Atst, Jeremy turned his head towards thest ce he didn''t look at a moment ago, the ward where people used as a recuperating ce,

    Sure enough...

    ''There he is...''

    Jeremy thought to himself after seeing the man he was looking for, Benjamin, lying unconscious there with William and three other badly injured people.

    ''Hmm... He is unconscious?''

    While Jeremy thought that, his eyes widened in puzzlement a bit...

    The man, Benjamin, was actually the one who had let open a hole in the formation, subsequently causing Jeremy to be stabbed at the side by an imp in his past life.

    How could he not seek revenge after going back in time?

    That was a matter of course, after all...

    But who would have thought the man was already at his death door?

    ''What happened?''

    Jeremy thought in bafflement...

    Meanwhile...

    When Mitchell saw that ''everyone else'' had agreed and given their mutual approval towards his idea of letting the elderlies and kids fight at the backline, he decided to conclude the meeting for the time being,

    "So, it has been decided then. For now, we will end our meeting here; everyone, please disperse and do your assigned duties. If there is any issue, pleasee and contact Eddie or me. If there is an urgent update regarding other matters, I will call you guys again for a meeting. Alright, rest well."

    Upon saying so, Mitchell nodded his head at the people in front of him as a sign of farewell.

    Afterward, everyone started scattering out to different areas within the tutorial chambers to do their own jobs and duties.

    Suddenly...

    "Aargh!! Ghost!!"

    Someone screamed with a high-pitched voice upon seeing a ck-cloaked man...

    Well, the timing of the scream was just right for Jeremy''s Stealth''s five minutes duration to run out at this time.

    As a result, many pairs of eyes shifted to the source of the loud noise, only to see that it was instead Jeremy, not a ghost or anything else.

    As of why everyone in the gathering didn''t notice Jermey earlier was simple...

    It was due to Jeremy''s [Stealth] skill had lowered his presence to a meager degree, causing everyone at the gathering ce unaware of his arrival and all.

    Regarding the Stealth skill''s effects, the skill didn''t make Jeremy be invisible or be a ck shadow or something out of the ordinary as such. It only lowered his presence down a notch or two, causing other people to feel like he was just the air, that''s all.

    Concurrently, upon seeing that it was not a ghost but Jeremy, the person who had screamed earlier, hurriedly apologized before walking away from the scene in embarrassment.

    When those scattering people saw Jeremy, at first, they got a bit startled, not knowing when he had appeared or arrived here.

    Afterward, they dismissed their fleeting thoughts as if it was nothing important and started dispersing to do their own things.

    Regarding their reactions when those people saw Jeremy, some nodded their heads slightly, some nodded with reverence-filled eyes, some said words of greetings and gratitude, and some ignored him like always.

    After greeting those good manners people back with a slight nod and ignoring those who ignored him, Jeremy walked towards Mitchell besides Eddie and Joshua.

    "Oh, you are here..." Mitchell opened his mouth first.

    "Hello..." Eddie greeted solemnly with a hint of vignce within his eyes.

    "..." Joshua remained silent.

    "Yep." Jeremy only responded casually towards the three.

    After the greetings part was done, Mitchell opened his mouth to say the words of formality right after,

    "I''ve heard about your help earlier; you have saved many lives already with your timely appearance. So, I would like to express my utmost thanks to you."

    "It''s nothing. I just do what I can do. Don''t bother yourself with such a formality."

    Jeremy answered with a charming smile while his thoughts said otherwise,

    ''I only do what I can do, which is to earn SP as much as possible...''

    Mitchell, who wasn''t aware of Jeremy''s inner thoughts, decided to ask Jeremy to clear his own curiosity,

    "By the way, Joshua told me that you would attend the meeting, but I didn''t see you earlier. What happened?"

    When Joshua had heard Mitchell''s words, he nodded his head lightly...

    Meanwhile, upon hearing Mitchell''s question, Jeremy got a bit stunned as he didn''t prepare for such a question.

    Well, Jeremy couldn''t just tell them that he was in a Stealth mode, and then when he decided to cancel the skill to raise his opinions to the mass, he was suddenly interrupted by Mitchell and Eddie''s small scheme, right?

    All in all, Jeremy only wanted to watch the show of the duos, so he didn''t appear in the meeting earlier.

    After thinking for a second to find a suitable reason, Jeremy finally answered Mitchell,

    "Well... that... I''ve changed my mind. I think talking with you guys directly is better than speaking it in public. That''s all..."

    Even though his reason wasn''t quite added up, it still more or less piqued the trio''s interest, as Mitchell and the other two had a curious look written clearly on their faces now.

    "Want to talk privately rather than in public? You make me curious..."

    Mitchell said with an inquisitive look, followed closely by Eddie''s manly voice,

    "Yeah, me too."

    "..."

    When Mitchell had heard Eddie''s stupid voice, he rolled his eyes towards his right side, which happened to be where Eddie stood before asking,

    "Dickhead, don''t you have something important to do?"

    "What? Me? Nah... I''m free..." Eddie replied, full of confidence.

    *Sigh*

    Mitchell sighed exhaustedly after hearing such confident words from an idiotic moron. Then he borated further,

    "I mean teaching the elderlies and kids how to handle the crossbows..."

    When Eddie heard Mitchell''s reminder, his eyes suddenly widened in embarrassment,

    "Ahh shit! Guwahaha, I almost forgot that. Thanks for the reminder. It seems like I gotta go first. See ya guys!"

    Eddie''s sonorousughter rang out within the tutorial chamber, attracting many eyes and ears. Afterward, he sauntered away with his ass swaying left and right like always.

    Meanwhile, the three people at the scene could only look at Eddie''s back in a stupefied manner.

    "Almost, he said." Joshua insinuated lightly after Eddie had finally gone.

    At this time, Mitchell could only shake his head in helplessness before turning his head towards Jeremy and said,

    "My apology, Jeremy. That guy is just that muddled; he is already at the level of unredeemable."

    "Nah... I appreciate you guys'' liveliness. It at least signifies that you guys still ''live''. By the way, muddle, huh. How about you; what do you think about Eddie, Joshua? Do you also think that he is muddled?"

    Jeremy said with a smile, whereas he turned to look at the ''pdin'', Joshua, at the end of his speech.

    "Noment..." Joshua replied casually with a shrug of his shoulders.

    At the same time, Mitchell mumbled to himself inaudibly to other people around him, "Liveliness... we still live, huh... Hmm..."

    Shaking his head lightly, Mitchell discarded those thoughts away; he decided it was time to finish the chit-chat and started talking about serious matters instead,

    "Alright, let''s talk business, Jeremy. Please do tell us about what you have here..."

    When Jeremy had heard Mitchell''s words, he stopped his teasing behavior and started his casual mode instead,

    "Hm, the thing is about the Tutorial Missions on everyone''s Status Window." Jeremy told them the topic.

    "..."

    "..."

    At this time, the two people could only keep quiet to digest and think about Jeremy''s words. Then after a few seconds, Mitchell said,

    "Please borate..."

    However, Jeremy''s following words would shock them out of their minds...

    "Have you noticed a hidden condition put within those tutorial missions?"

    "What?"

    "!!"

    While Joshua eximed in astonishment, Mitchell''s eyes widened considerably...

 Chapter 83 - The Hidden Condition (2) [Bonus ]

    Indeed, the two of them felt shocked to suddenly hear about a hidden condition''s existence, as something like that had never crossed their minds before.

    After seeing the expected reactions from them, Jeremy continued with his casual smile,

    "Well, I will take that as a ''no'' from you guys, so let me exinter as you should take a look at this first."

    Having said so, Jeremy focused his mind on projecting his status window in front of him before essing the Turorial Mission situated at thest section.

    Afterward, Jeremy used his mind power tomand the System to let other people see his status window, which was now projecting the page of the Tutorial Mission.

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive Iˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (ˇď)

    ? Survive 10 monster hordes (ˇďˇď)

    ? Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal (ˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (ˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? ??? (?)

    ˇş After finishing one of the Tutorial Missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage.ˇ»

    ...

    When the two people saw Jeremy''s tutorial mission''s interface, they got stumped for words as they didn''t know why he was showing them this...

    After looking for three full seconds, Mitchell still couldn''t find the so-called hidden condition or anything odd about Jeremy''s tutorial mission at all.

    So, Mitchell decided to test the water by asking Jeremy about hispleted mission instead,

    "You... want to show us that you havepleted the third mission already?"

    When Jeremy had heard Mitchell''s words, he blinked his eyes two times in puzzlement before finally saying,

    "Wait, I didn''t mean for you to look at that part. I told you to look at the hidden condition, didn''t I?"

    "Yes... Do you mean thest one? That white star?" Mitchell replied as he genuinely didn''t know what Jeremy was talking about.

    Meanwhile, Joshua could only nod his head silently after Mitchell''s reply, for he also thought the same.

    After seeing the two, Jeremy got a bit disappointed...

    How could they still not notice that? Did they focus all their hearts and minds on the defense, making them not even notice a hidden condition in front of them?

    Question after question came into Jeremy''s mind but to no avail...

    ''If they don''t realize it, I will just tell them then...''

    Jeremy thought unconcernedly to himself as it was not something to be serious about. Then Jeremy dismissed the tutorial mission''s interface and asked Mitchell,

    "Now, tell me, how many people survive currently?"

    Upon hearing the sudden change of subject from the man, Mitchell got even more confused but still replied truthfully,

    "From the reports... If including you, we will have 33 people, with five heavily inju..."

    "That''s enough..."

    "..."

    When Jeremy saw that Mitchell was going to continue reciting a long speech at him, he hurriedly interrupted thetter and asked further,

    "Next, tell me if 18 out of 33 people somehow passed the third mission, ''Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal'', what would happen?"

    When Mitchell had heard Jeremy''s question, he thought about it for a bit before replying,

    "Hmm... Then those 18 people will be teleported out of this ce, leaving behind only 15 peo..."

    "!!!"

    "!!!"

    Like a nuclear bomb had been nuked down upon Mitchell and Joshua''s head constantly, almost causing their brains to explode along with the said bomb...

    "That''s right!! So, it is like that. Those 15 people will also be teleported out of here right after." Mitchell suddenly got overexcited.

    "Oh my god..." Joshua eximed unbelievably.

    The answer was right in front of their eyes...

    How could they not think about this before?

    After all...

    The System, which was supposed to help Earthlings adapt to Ortus, shouldn''t be so heartless not to give them at least a way out, right?

    When Jeremy finally saw the two''s enlightenments, he spoke again with a light smile,

    "Correct. That''s the way for you guys to go past this stage with the highest amount of survivors. If you people canplete the third mission, you can be teleported into the next stage in no time. However..."

    Speaking till here, Jeremy paused for a bit before continuing,

    "There is still one thing you have to consider, which is how far away before those 18 out of 33 people are frompleting the third tutorial mission?"

    *Sigh*

    When Mitchell had heard Jermey''s words, he sighed bitterly before speaking,

    "That is... I''m not sure, but Eddie and Bob should havepleted that mission already. They are not that good at lying anyway."

    Upon hearing that, Jeremy raised one of his eyebrows in wonder and asked,

    "Oh? And why are they still here?"

    "I''m not quite sure either, but if I have to guess... They should feel attached to other brothers and sisters whom have been fighting side by side with them till now. Right, Joshua?"

    Mitchell answered Jeremy supposedly, while at the end of his speech, he turned his head to the left side where Joshua stood and looked at thetter''s face with a profound smile.

    "It''s... wait... when?"

    *Sigh*

    Joshua stammered a bit after being asked by Mitchell out of nowhere until finally letting out a sigh in defeat. Then he asked inquisitively while looking at Mitchell,

    "How do you know that I''ve finished the mission?"

    "You guys are just that bad at lying." Mitchell replied with a shrug and warm smile.

    When Jeremy saw the two''s interaction, he got amused at their so-called ''friendship''. It was such a double-edged sword that had both good and bad sides at the same time.

    ''Anyway, it is only a short time of fighting together, but they are this close already...''

    Having thought fleetingly, Jeremy suddenly said, interrupting the two''sradeship scene,

    "So, it looks like many of you had alreadypleted the mission?"

    "Yes... Around five already... Regarding other people, they should also be pretty close to the required amount toplete the quest." Mitchell replied honestly.

    After hearing Mitchell''s reply, Jeremy nodded his head lightly in apprehension before saying,

    "Hmm... Then it is easy..."

    "Why is that?" Mitchell asked in wonder.

    "Well, it''s because I have a n for you guys to pass this tutorial with the highest amount of survivors." Jeremy revealed something shocking again.

    "Really?"

    "How?"

    Even Joshua, who usually preferred keeping quiet, had no choice but to chime in, as Jeremy''s so-called n piqued his curiosity greatly.

    When Jeremy saw Mitchell and Joshua''s hope-filled eyes, he smiled mysteriously at the two...

    Then Jeremy started exining the n to them...

 Chapter 84 - A Guide To Repair A Sea Of Consciousness

    Some minutester...

    A ck-cloaked man was seen to be sitting cross-legged at the left-back corner inside the tutorial chamber...

    The person was none other than Jeremy, who sat at the same ce when he essed the Mindful Body Realm thest time.

    Regarding why he was currently sitting there in a cross-legged position, it was obviously because he wanted to do meditation...

    To be frank, Jeremy wanted to reess the Mindful Body Realm to replenish his mana. But unfortunately, his sea of consciousness was a mess right now due to the earlier memory extraction from his own soul.

    Consequently, that led to his mind power be prettycking and not stable enough to maintain the ''beyond technique'' or realm.

    The most Jeremy could do right now was only entering the 10th stage of meditation and trying to mend his sea of consciousness as fast as possible.

    Undoubtedly, he sat here now, at the same old corner, because that purpose... to recover his sea of consciousness back into original shape.

    ''Wait, before that...''

    Having thought so, the inscription on Jeremy''s left glove started glowing with light...

    After almost ten seconds, an unpitched, ck tent appeared on the ground. Without further ado, Jeremy set up the tent on the spot.

    After all, he had learned his lesson because he sat on the cold cave-like ground for a long time thest time. As a result, when Jeremy stood up, he had to walk with difficulty after that.

    Not long after, a ck tent was set uppletely. Then Jeremy went inside and brought out a cushion from his left glove before putting it on the tent''s floor.

    Afterward, he sat down on the cushion in a cross-legged position before closing his eyes shut.

    Soon after, Jeremy drifted into the meditation state, preparing to mend and heal his sea of consciousness.

    The process of recovering one''s sea of consciousness wasn''t hard at all...

    That was... if the said person was a high-level mage.

    For a reason, if a mage wanted to ess their own sea of consciousness, they had to achieve ss 3 or 4 of the mage pathway at the very least.

    That simply meant if they could not enter it, how could they even repair it in the first ce, right?

    Consequently, one''s sea of consciousness shouldn''t be broken or damaged before the person had reached a very high level and gained ess into their sea of consciousness.

    But if a low-ss mage had their sea of consciousness damaged?

    Like that, the mage could only rely on ''time'' for their sea of consciousness to heal itself. Even though it might be very slow, time would eventually cure it one way or another...

    What about the mage who had already gained ess into their own sea of consciousness like Jeremy then?

    It''s simple...

    Currently, Jeremy was doing just that as he was within a ''dark'' world filled with countless particles of ''energy'' flying here and there.

    The said ''energy'' particles were not only in the form of mana; there were also other energy particles such as qi, aura, curse, spiritual, natural, various elements, and many more.

    Regarding other energy particles in the air, Jeremy could only ''feel'' them lightly and vaguely but was unable to do anything to them at all...

    Well, with the only exception of space, fire, and darkness element particles; but that was a topic forter...

    As for the mana, Jeremy had absorbed the purest mana particle in existence ever since he was on Earth around two months ago, causing him to also have an affinity with mana.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t attract those mana particles into his body at all, for the whirlpools within his dantians were of the highest quality, so they couldn''t draw in such low-quality mana from the atmosphere, no matter how hard he tried.

    At this moment, Jeremy ''felt'' like he was floating silently within a dark space with mana particles flying all around him, but he could not attract them into his ''floating'' body at all.

    Afterward, Jeremy closed his virtual eyes and focused his mind... to be exact, he willed his mind to connect to his own ''soul'' situated within the sea of consciousness.

    After willing and focusing his mind for some time, Jeremy finally felt a vague sense of connection from somewhere within the dark space. Then his virtual body started flying in that direction swiftly.

    *Whoosh*

    A split secondter, Jeremy''s virtual eyes, which were closing tightly until now, finally felt some light from the surroundingsid on them. So, Jeremy opened his virtual eyes slowly...

    ''Alright, I''m back inside my sea of consciousness again. By the way... I have to repair those cracks, huh... What a tiring job.''

    Jeremy thought bitterly after he came inside his sea of consciousness and saw the cracks were still there with only some differences in them.

    The differences were that over time, some cracks had been meagerly ''mended'' by his ''subconscious mind'', so the cracks appeared to be a bit smaller than before.

    After all, within one''s sea of consciousness, time passed by very fast... faster than anyone could imagine. That''s why some cracks had already shown signs of closing up...

    ''Hmm... Where to start?''

    Jeremy thought wonderingly after looking around thend, sky, pond, and protectiveyer.

    Finally, after turning his head around here and there for a bit more, Jeremy suddenly spotted a big crack on the protectiveyer.

    ''That one should be the biggest. Let me start with it then...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy controlled his virtual body to fly towards the crack, which was more than one hundred meters away from his current position.

    After all, his sea of consciousness had an area of more than 14 acres. That meant if the pond were situated at the exact center of Jeremy''s sea of consciousness, the distance or radius between the pond and the protectiveyer around thend and sky area would be more than 130 meters.

    Currently, Jeremy had already reached in front of the big crack...

    The crack appeared to be opaque white in color, extending from the ground all the way to the high sky.

    Then without any dy, Jeremy extended his virtual palm to touch the crack...

    *Whoong*

    *Whoong*

    Like magic, after being touched by Jeremy''s palm, the protective barrier pulsated like it wasing to life as a whole.

    Afterward, the giant crack suddenly had some changes as the crack''s edge started closing up bit by bit.

    The process was rtively slow, but it was still noticeable...

    Little by little...

    From the big crack, it started bing smaller and smaller with the passing of time.

    Around five minutester, the crack was ultimately nowhere to be seen anymore as it had entirely disappeared from the protectiveyer of Jeremy''s sea of consciousness.

    After seeing the biggest crack had finally vanished from theyer''s surface, Jeremy retracted his virtual palm from the pulsatingyer.

    *Whoong*

    *Whoong*

    The pulsating protectiveyer, which seemed to be alive until a moment ago, promptly stopped its drumming pulsation...

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy let out a virtual breath of cold air and then turned his head towards a crack on his right side...

    ''This one is not that big...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy proceeded on with the healing of his sea of consciousness...

 Chapter 85 - He Takes It On All By Himself (1)

    Four hourster...

    Jeremy, who had been sitting cross-legged at the chamber''s corner, suddenly opened his eyes. His ice-cold blue eyes seemed to be radiating chilling rays into the air...

    <em>*Fwuu...*</em>

    He let out a long breath from his mouth...

    ''What an arduous job. Atst, I had only repaired around twenty percent of the overall damages. That means I need to do it four more times before my sea of consciousness gain back its original shape again.'' Jeremy thought to himself fleetingly.

    Afterward, he popped his head outside the tent to look around the chamber that was now pretty quiet...

    ''It seems like most of them are sleeping, huh. Well, they should be fatigued, after all.''

    Having thought so, Jeremy retracted his head back before zipping up the tent zipper. He also wanted to take a rest like them.

    ''Let''s take a short nap...''

    After thinking so, Jeremy put the cushion back in and brought out a pillow from the left glove.

    Not long after, the light and rhythmic breathing sounds resounded out from the isted ck tent at the back left corner of the tutorial chamber...

    ...

    One and a half hourster...

    Within the spacious tutorial chamber with arge green crystal floating silently in the middle, a big group of people stood in a crescent shape at the right corner in the far back while firmly holding onto their weapons.

    Some people appeared nervous, some were distressed, some were disturbed, and some were afraid.

    None of them showed positive feelings or lively expressions at all, as they waited patiently to celebrate once and for all after all this shit tutorial ended.

    The ce where those people stood right now was actually the corner where the ''ward'' used to be situated...

    Then where were the patients and the wounded?

    Well, those people were currently lying neatly close to one another at the corner while having big shields made of woods covered them thoroughly, not letting any monsters have a chance to see what was behind the covers at all.

    Meanwhile, in front of the ''covers'' situated more than six people of old and young ages. They were actually those elderlies and kids ''forced'' into battling for their own lives. Right now, they were holding some crossbows and a long sharp pole in their hands shakily.

    Although those kids and elderlies felt terrified at the iing bloodbath and gore, they had no choice but to fight for their own good.

    It was fortunate that the kids were at least more than 12 years of age, for they could at least hold weapons to defend themselves when the dangers came towards them.

    Regarding the kids younger than 12 years teleported from Earth, they were currently handled by the ''organizers'' differently from the rest of the Earth''s poption.

    At this moment, in front of those kids and elderlies were the actualbatants who would have to fight and confront the monsters head-on.

    Every one of thosebatant people looked just like the warriors and knights from Earth''s middle ages. They were armed with full gears consisting of leather, iron, bronze, and steel from head to toe.

    The things they were wearing, after all, were the hard-earned gears received from spending their precious Survival Points gained from the past seven waves of monsters.

    Lastly, the first defense line situated at the front and foremost of the crescent-shaped formation were... the barricades and traps made of woods and iron sheets.

    They were crafted and built to be strong enough to hold those monsters in ce long enough for thebatants behind the barricades and traps to kill them.

    No doubt, this lineup formation was Jeremy''s idea once again.

    Rather than dividing their fighting force into two portions in front of the two passageways, Jeremy had proposed Mitchell gather everyone at one ce instead.

    As for Jeremy himself...

    At this time, he was neither inside the ward nor at the crescent formation, as he was actually standing alone at the left passageway''s entrance... alone...

    That''s right; he intended to take on the entire passageway all by himself.

    At that time, Jeremy had proposed such an outrageous defensive lineup for only one purpose, for he could earn as much SP as possible from the battle.

    Regarding the survival of those people, it was just a plus...

    In the first ce, Jeremy had wanted Eddie to survive anyway, for Eddie was his past life''s savior. How could he forget such a life-saving grace?

    So, other people surviving along with Eddie was no problem at all...

    ''Eddie... We will break even after finishing this wave. So, your survival from now on is up to you...'' Jeremy thought while staring at the dark passageway in front of him.

    Ever since the moment everyone stepped foot into this ce, Jeremy had more or less changed the people''s fate in this tutorial chamber...

    ''The ones, who should have died, survived...''

    ''The ones, who should have survived, died instead, huh...''

    Having thought of Skr, who had died, and Benjamin, who was in aa, Jeremy could only shake his head slightly.

    After all, those people should still be safe and sound even after the sixth wave ended, but it was totally different this time...

    Then Jeremy turned his head towards the floating Crystal. To be exact, he was looking at the countdown timer above the Crystal...

    ''One minute left...''

    Afterward, Jeremy looked past the Crystal towards the corner at the far end; he saw manyyers of barricades and traps lined up one after another in front of the people.

    It would be quite a hassle even for Jeremy if he truly wanted to cross those obstructions to battle with those people.

    ''They look pretty hrious. I wonder how much SP had they spent on those woods and iron things.''

    Having thought so in amusement and, Jeremy turned back to the sight in front of him.

    Well, the goblins weren''t so stupid to be stalled with those things for long, for they could use fire torches to burn the woods down...

    Upon turning his head and seeing that it was pitch ck inside the passageway, Jeremy wondered,

    ''The barrier that prevents anyone from going out but only allows people toe inside... Hmm... I wonder if ''those people'' are inside this passageway or not. Nevertheless, I have to wait and see till the end...''

    Time flew by quickly...

    00:00:00:03...

    00:00:00:02...

    00:00:00:01...

    ...

    ˇş Be prepared. The eighth horde of monsters ising. Good luck. ˇ»

 Chapter 86 - He Takes It On All By Himself (2)

    Followed the short notification closely were the horrifying soundsing out from the two passageways...

    *Growl* *Growl*

    "GRAA!!!"

    "Aawoooo!!"

    "Gieee..."

    "Jiiiieekk!!"

    The wolves'' low growling, goblins'' high-pitched screeching, and imps'' annoying sounds resounded out from inside the two passageways incessantly...

    Even those people standing at the corner behind the barricades and traps had heard the monsters'' terrifying voices.

    As a result, everyone tensed up even more, for they to know that the bloody battle wasing at them soon.

    The bloody battle that they had fought more than seven times already...

    The bloody battle that kept getting harder and harder with each passing wave...

    Nevertheless, the only thing they could do was to harden their hearts and minds, preparing and readying themselves to the utmost.

    Meanwhile...

    ''The same old voice that I had been hunting and killing for the past 48 hours...'' Jeremy thought fleetingly while standing alone in front of the left passageway''s entrance.

    Indeed, he had killed more than 100 goblins, 250 wolves, and dozens of imps ever since he came into this ce.

    What else to be afraid of those ounders?

    The only thing Jeremy had to be careful and beware of was their numbers, as it looked like all the oundersbined from this left passageway alone ounted to almost one hundred in total.

    That was considered quite a high amount, but this was the eighth wave, after all...

    However, Jeremy was at his optimum shape and performance right now; he wasn''t worried about the iing ''tough'' fight that much.

    As of right now...

    Like the third wave that Jeremy had fought, the ten wolves came out first, followed closely by the flying imps.

    However, eight goblins were walking slowly this time, leading dozens of skeleton soldiers out from the dark passageway.

    That was not all...

    ''Hmm... What is that tall creature?''

    Having thought so after seeing a vague silhouette of a somewhat tall being behind the bunch of ounders, Jeremy activated his active skill [Eagles Eyes]...

    *Zoom*

    Like a warp, the sight in front of him was zoomed into the far distance of the dark passageway.

    The view went grazing past those goblins and skeleton soldiers swiftly till the end of their formation.

    Together with his newly acquired passive skill [Heightened Senses], Jeremy was able to somewhat gauge the rough appearance of the tall silhouette.

    ''Well, a hobgoblin? Initially, I thought it was some kind of boss monster; what a disappointment.''

    After seeing that it was just a hobgoblin that was around two times physically stronger than an ordinary human, Jeremy deactivated the skill nonchntly.

    Soon after...

    "GROWLL!!!"

    "WoolFFF!!"

    "Graa..."

    There came the wolf''s growling sounds as they were sprinting at full speed towards the source of light within the long, dark passageway.

    That was obviously the ce where Jeremy stood, as he stationed directly at the mouth of the passageway.

    "Wee to yourrades'' cemetery."

    Jeremy said with an evil grin while looking coolly at the ten iing wolves...

    As the passageway was only five or six meters in width, there was only enough space for five wolves to run side by side.

    As a result, the wolves had to rush out in two rows; it also made the situation be easier for Jeremy too, as he had to fight with only five wolves at first.

    When the five leading wolves and Jeremy were only around five meters away from each other, the casual Jeremy suddenly retracted his right hand, holding the spear shaft back behind his body while bending his two knees down slightly.

    He was preparing to do a thrust at the wolf in the middle...

    "Wooolf!!"

    "Growl!!"

    Finally, when the distance between the two sides had reached only three meters...

    Three wolves in the middle suddenly jumped up from the ground, intending to pounce onto Jeremy''s body directly...

    But...

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy released the thrust at lightning speed, creating a whooshing sound in the still air towards the jumping wolf in the middle. At the same time, he also put all his body weight onto the two''s bending knees before jumping back away from the passageway explosively...

    It was quite a high-level technique called back-jumping thrust...

    *Puchi*

    The sound of flesh being pierced through echoed out...

    Meanwhile, the wolf didn''t even have time to realize it was stabbed by an enemy, as the spear de had prated through the eyesocket, going deeply into its brain...

    The first wolf died...

    *Thud*

    As its body dropped onto the ground with a thudding sound, Jeremynded two meters behind his original position. At the same time, the other two pouncing wolves had also missed Jeremy''s bodypletely...

    "Graa!!"

    Meanwhile, the other two wolves that didn''t jump earlier were alreadying towards Jeremy''s nks at a quick speed.

    Jeremy, who had seen the sight of two wolvesing simultaneously, decided to take the initiative by approaching the wolf on his left side swiftly.

    Due to the distance between the two were quite close, Jeremy changed his grip on the spear into a reverse grip, intending to strike the wolf with a spear flip.

    *Whoosh*

    The spear''s end wasunched forward, aiming towards the rushing wolf swiftly. The iing wolf didn''t even have time to jump from Jeremy''s unexpected approach, so...

    *Bam*

    *Crack*

    Its long skull was hit heavily by the spear''s shoe, whereas its fragile bones seemed to be broken by the sheer force put behind the spear flip. As a result, the pitiful wolf spun two rounds in mid-air before falling to the ground heavily...

    Meanwhile, another wolf on Jeremy''s right side suddenly pounced at him, aiming its sharp teeth at his right leg this time.

    "Well, want to eat my leg, huh..."

    Having mumbled lightly, Jeremy flicked his right foot directly at the iing wolf''s agape mouth...

    "How about eating my boot instead?"

    *Bam*

    Apanying the bamming sound, the pouncing wolf bounced back even faster than when it came.

    Just like that, within a few seconds, two wolves died, and another one was rendered immobilized. Thus, there were only two wolves around him, and another five still came running towards him quickly.

    ''Round two...''

 Chapter 87 - He Takes It On All By Himself (3)

    "Krurr!!!"

    Jeremy jumped back lightly to avoid the savage wolf pouncing at him from the left side.

    Thus, the wolf had missed its target with only a tiny margin of distance, whereas it was still in mid-air, causing it to be such a good target for a wolf skewer...

    *Whoosh*

    *Puchi*

    The wolf''s right side was pierced hazardously by Jeremy''s spear de as its feet hadn''t evennded on the ground yet...

    It suddenly became a sky-wolf skewer...

    *Plush*

    Jeremy lightly pulled the spear back in preparation for the following attacks from the remaining six wolves.

    As for the skewered wolf, when it finally dropped to the ground, there was already a deep, gaping wound on its right side with blood oozing out incessantly.

    If a person looked carefully at the bloody wound, they would even see the internal organs and ribcages.

    Not long after that, it stopped breathing...

    ''There are six left... Hmm...?''

    When Jeremy was thinking casually, he suddenly felt a dangerous premonitioning from the passageway''s direction.

    Subsequently, he slightly sidestepped to the left...

    *Fwoosh*

    A long object flew past his right ear rmingly...

    A long object which happened to be an arrow...

    "Gieee!!"

    Upon seeing its arrow had missed the target, the goblin let out a screeching voice in dissatisfaction before nocking another arrow on the bow, preparing to shot another arrow at the human again.

    When Jeremy saw the sight, he could only let the green creature be for now as he still had six wolves to deal with first...

    At this time, the five wolves that cameter than theirpanions had finally arrived in front of Jeremy.

    "Graa!!"

    "Woolfff!"

    "Grurrr..."

    With those signals, the ferocious wolves rushed towards Jeremy altogether, intending to use numbers to take him down.

    When Jeremy saw the sight of six wolvesing straight at him simultaneously, he prepared for a broad horizontal swing by extending the spear to his right side.

    Then...

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy swung the spear horizontally towards the iing wolves...

    *Splitch*

    *Splitch*

    The two wolves on Jeremy''s right side weren''t lucky enough as their necks were sliced through like butter, while the wolf in the middle had jumped in time, but instead of the neck, its front legs were met with the sharp spear de instead...

    *Splitch*

    *Splitch*

    The unlucky wolf''s two forelegs dropped to the ground while its body was still in mid-air, with fresh blood sshing everywhere...

    After that, the amputated wolf''s body also dropped to the ground like its forelegs with its whimpering sounds resounded out pitifully.

    At this time, the spear sh''s momentum had significantly diminished, causing the other three wolves able to dodge in time by jumping up high from the hard ground like the amputated wolf earlier.

    Upon seeing the sight of three jumping wolvesing at him together from mid-air, Jeremy swiftly jumped to the right side where there was no wolf''s presence...

    Suddenly, when Jeremy was still in the air...

    The same dangerous premonition came once again, so Jeremy promptly twisted his entire body, trying to avoid the approaching danger.

    *Whoosh*

    The arrow missed and went past Jeremy''s left side rmingly with a whooshing sound...

    Thanks to his quick reflex and good senses that Jeremy could avoid the arrow in time, but his ck cloak was not so lucky, for it was prated through and now had a small hole on the fabric.

    "Fuck. I have only prepared five of them, and this is my second one already. Damn you."

    Jeremy cursed the goblin archer stood at the distance after finallynding back on the ground safely.

    "Grurr!!"

    Unfortunately, Jeremy had no time to dawdle so leisurely, for a bloodthirsty wolf was quickly approaching him.

    ''Insolent animal...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy turned his entire body to the left to face the wolf head-on...

    After that, he retracted his right hand, holding the spear behind him, preparing for a quick thrust.

    Then...

    *Whoosh*

    *Puchi*

    The so-called insolent wolf didn''t have time to respond to the approaching spear de at all as the spearhead went directly inside its wide-open mouth, prating every organ along the way.

    After it dropped to the ground, fresh blood and organ pieces came out of its mouth in mixed clumps...

    Just like that, another wolf died painfully...

    "Kaka Giii!!"

    Jeremy, who was going to look at the surrounding area for a bit, promptly heard the annoying, small sounds from above.

    Without any need to look over at all, he knew it was an imp''s voice.

    Then Jeremy suddenly plunged the steel spear in his right hand towards the source of the sound where the little imp should be without a second thought whatsoever...

    It was based purely on instinct...

    *Whoosh*

    *Puchi*

    The imp''s tiny body was prated through like butter as its pink blood oozing and sprinkling out like a drizzle of rain scattering to the surrounding area.

    Then as if having thought of something, Jeremy swiftly brought the spear de, which had the small imp impaled there, pointing towards the passageway''s direction...

    *Fwhoosh*

    *Puchi*

    The dead imp was instantly prated again with an arrow, whereas it was clearly a friendly fire by a goblin archer in the distance.

    The already-dead imp was now even deader than before...

    After seeing the remaining two wolves keeping a certain distance away from him, not daring to approach any closer, Jeremy swung the spear, which had the deceased imp skewered on the spear de, lightly at the wolves'' direction...

    *Plush*

    Followed by the plushing sound, the little imp on the spear de was flung towards the cowardly wolves.

    ""Oof?""

    The two wolves got a bit perplexed at the sudden throw.

    But shortly after, when they had finally recognized a delicious-looking pink ''snack'' dropping right in front of them. The two ignorant, hungry wolves soon feasted upon the imp''s corpse sumptuously.

    ''Alright, the third round...''

    Jeremy thought casually after seeing many goblins and dozens of skeleton soldiers came towards him in tight formation.

    Then the ck-cloaked Jeremy rushed directly towards the group of ounders without any fear...

    The bloody battle had only just begun, after all...

 Chapter 88 - The Savior And The Killer (1)

    Ten minutester...

    Right now, Jeremy stood face to face with a hobgoblin wearing leather armor and holding an iron cuss.

    Well, as one of the twost bosses of this wave, it had to wear full gears and appear when all of its underlings were dead, right?

    This was precisely that as all its underlings were already dropped dead on the ground.

    At this moment, it stood stillposedly while looking menacingly at the ck-cloaked killer, Jeremy.

    Afterward...

    "KRUAA!!!"

    After shouting aloud with all its lungs'' might, the hobgoblin dashed at its quickest speed possible towards Jeremy, who had long prepared his thrusting stance...

    Its speed right now could easily beat the world records on Earth, but...

    *Whoosh*

    *Puchi*

    Thest boss of this wave was pierced instantly right in the stomach by the spear de, as its momentum was quite significant, causing the spear de to go past the leather armor all the way through its back.

    Afterward, the hobgoblin struggled left and right in great pain from being prated through by the sharp de. Still, the more it struggled, the more hurt it felt.

    Meanwhile, its two shaky and frail hands also tried hard to pull the spear out from the stomach, but to no avail...

    Without dy, Jeremy raised his right leg to give a straight kick towards the hobgoblin...

    *Bam*

    *Plush*

    The bamming sound from the kick followed closely by the plushing sound from the flesh being sliced by spear de resounded out appallingly.

    Simultaneously, the half-dead hobgoblin flew three or four meters away in a straight line, leaving behind a trail of green blood along the way before finally stopping.

    Stopping that figuratively meant ''stop breathing''...

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy let out a long breath from his mouth after the somewhat tough battle had finally ended. Then he thought to himself heedlessly,

    ''Not as tired as when I fought with the three packs of wolves at that time...''

    Afterward, Jeremy turned his head to take a look around the battlefield...

    Be it bone pieces, imps, goblins, wolves, or hobgoblin earlier, all of themid on the ground everywhere with no exception, littering around the area where Jeremy stood.

    There was not even a ce to pitch a tent anymore if the corpses and carcasses weren''t cleared before that.

    It was such a huge mess of blood and gore...

    Well, as he was utterly alone to fight with the entire army of ounders, Jeremy had to depend on a kiting tactic, which was simply a ''hit and run'' strategy used regrly in RPG games.

    It was surprisingly helpless and effective when used against slow enemies like goblins and skeleton soldiers.

    That''s also why the corpses nowid nastily everywhere from the passageway''s entrance until the Crystal at the tutorial chamber''s center.

    The sight of those corpses alone could already tell how far Jeremy had kited those ounders away from the entrance.

    Nevertheless, a win was still a win; Jeremy had to do this much to triumph the battle against almost a hundred monsters without relying on his magic and spell.

    Regarding the loss of mana in this battle, it could be considered negligible to almost none at all, for Jeremy had tried his best to conserve the mana by using the stated kiting tactic.

    Due to Jeremy had only been attacked once by an arrow fired by a goblin archer when he was upied by many goblins and imps at the same time, two goblin archers used that chance to fire the arrows at him.

    At that time, Jeremy had sessfully dodged one arrow by jumping into the air, but another arrow somehow miraculously hit him right in the stomach.

    Fortunately, the mana field projection hade to save him like always. So, our great sage won the fight unscratched once again.

    ''Alright... Let''s go help those...''

    Before Jeremy could finish his thought, a long list of notifications appeared in front of his eyes...

    ...

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have received 43 SP]

    [You have received 45 SP]

    [You have received 46 SP]

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have received 45 SP]

    [You have rec...]

    [You h...]

    [...]

    ...

    To be exact, a total of 94 notifications stating about his earnings from theborious battle earlier had popped up in front of him.

    That meant Jeremy had killed a total of 94 organisms within just ten minutes.

    ''Well, the gain is not bad at all. Around 3,000 SP, maybe?''

    ''Anyway... there are still more to gain...''

    After finishing his thoughts, Jeremy grinned slightly while looking at the right back corner of the tutorial chamber.

    Currently, the humanbatants over there were battling with the ounders fiercely. While the humans were on full defensive approach, the ounders were also on full aggressive advance.

    Nheless, the barricades and traps appeared to be more helpful than they looked, for they could stall the monsters'' aggression until this point.

    Even though some defensive barricades were already set ame by the goblins'' fire torches, a portion of them still stood tall, able to withstand the advancement of the monsters.

    Upon seeing those people were doing quite well with the status quo of holding back the monsters, Jeremy hurriedly rushed there to ''help'' them out.

    Or maybe, to ''help'' himself receive more Survival Points?

    Either way, it was still considered a ''help'' anyway...

    Only a hobgoblin and three goblin archers stationed at the back of the ounders'' formation; further ahead were dozens of skeleton soldiers. At the forefront were the goblin warriors, annoying imps, and white wolves.

    Not long after, Jeremy finally reached behind the ounders'' formation.

    Unsurprisingly, the first creature Jeremy had to fight was none other than the hobgoblin who stood behind its supposed underlings.

    ''Alright, you first then...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy, who had arrived two meters behind the tall green creature in silence, plunged the spear towards its back powerfully.

    *Puchi*

    The unaware hobgoblin didn''t even realize when the enemy had arrived behind it, as it suddenly saw the spear de''s tip protruding out of its chest with a ''puchi'' sound.

    *Plush*

    Jeremy pulled the spear back swiftly, with a trail of nasty green blood oozing out from both of the hobgoblin''s front and back...

    The hobgoblin''s momentum from being pushed and pulled by the sudden thrust caused its body to sway a little bit before falling face down on its stomach, while the wound on its chest and back still leaked out the disgusting green blood ceaselessly.

    *Thud*

    Afterward, the unmindful hobgoblin''s vision was painted in ck color forever...

    "Giie??"

    A goblin archer on the right promptly got startled by the sudden thudding sounding from behind it, so it turned its small head behind to look at the source.

    However...

    *Whoosh*

    *Splitch*

    Before it could even turn back fully to see what was happening behind, its head had already flown into the air with green blood sshing everywhere...

    "Giii...?"

    "Kiee??"

    Soon after, another two goblin archers also noticed something amiss after the familiar green blood sshed on some parts of their bodies.

    So, they turned their heads in every direction swiftly to see what had happened.

    Well, Jeremy wouldn''t give them a chance anyway...

    As the steel spear in his hand had already been swung horizontally and was on its way towards the goblin archer whom stood in the middle...

    *Whoosh*

    *sh*

    The green goblin''s small body now had a gaping, shing wound on its left side as it dropped to the ground... dead...

    Without further dy, Jeremy retracted the spear back and plunged it towards the goblin archer on the left side...

    "Ga gie!!" The goblin archer cried out in rm.

    Thest green creature stood on the left had finally noticed the intruder''s presence and realized itspanions'' death.

    However, it was toote as the spear de had already been on its way to end the goblin archer''s miserable life...

    *Puchi*

    *Plush*

    "Giee..."

    The goblin archer''s dying voice message resounded out almost inaudibly, as it also couldn''t escape the destined fate like its deceasedrades...

    ''So, all the nuisances had been taken care of; it''s easy from now...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy walked towards the army of bones ahead of him and started attacking left and right at the skeleton soldiers, whom had only been aware of the intruder''s existence just now.

    Nevertheless...

    *Whoosh*

    *Crunch*

    A skeleton soldier became separated into bone pieces and dropped to the ground.

    *Whoosh*

    *Crack*

    Another skeleton soldier''s skull was smashed into pieces by the spear''s shoe.

    *Bam*

    *Crunch*

    And yet another skeleton soldier''s body became separated into upper and lower parts from Jeremy''s powerful kick at its stomach.

    The weak skeleton soldiers couldn''t do anything at all...

    It was literally a one-sided thrashing orchestrated by Jeremy, the bully...

    ...

    [A/N: If you are wondering why there is only one chapter, you should take a look at the author''s thoughts below.]

 Chapter 89 - The Savior And The Killer (2)

    Before the bloody battle started...

    *Huff* *Haa*

    *Huff* *Haa*

    A muscr bald-headed man was running at full speed towards the barricades and traps ahead of him while having five wolves sprinting and chasing after him madly...

    "Grurrr!!"

    "Wolff!!"

    "Fuck!! sses, idiot... Why me?" Eddie cursed while running as fast as he could away from the predators behind him.

    Surprisingly the two-meter man, Eddie, could run pretty fast with each step that took him almost one meter and a half forward...

    Shortly after, Eddie finally reached the vicinity of the barricades, and then he hurriedly shouted aloud,

    "Open the damned way for me!!"

    When Grayson, Derek, Bob, and Joshua, who were on standby behind the barricades, had heard Eddie''s panicked voice, they hastily lifted the barricades. They moved them slightly, opening a gap for Eddie to circumvent inside.

    "Alright, close them back." Mitchell said lightly after seeing Eddie had finallye back inside while huffing rhythmically with sweat droplets on his forehead.

    Upon hearing their leader''s words, the four people on standby quickly put the defensive measures back in their original positions.

    *Huff* *Huff*

    "Why do I have to be the damned bait? Fucking sses idiot." Eddie turned to look at the sses man, Mitchell and cursed as a formality between the two.

    Upon hearing Eddie''s uncreative cursing words, ''sses idiot'', Mitchell only replied nonchntly together with a shrug of his shoulders,

    "Well, if you are not the one who lures them here, those creatures might sandwich Jeremy at the left passageway''s entrance."

    "Fuck!! I mean, why me? It can also be other peo..."

    "Grurrr!!!"

    "Kraaa!!"

    Before Eddie could speak any further, the wolves'' growling sounds interrupted him...

    Then the two buddies turned their heads towards the barricades'' direction and saw the wolves were now lingering left and right, trying to find a way through the barricades.

    Meanwhile, the flying imps, green goblins, and skeleton soldiers followed the wolves closely behind.

    "Alright, no more chit-chat. It''s time to fight."

    Mitchell said with a slight frown after seeing a tall, muscr green creature, which was supposed to be a ''hobgoblin'' at the back of the monsters'' formation.

    Thus, the eighth wave had officially started...

    ...

    Present time...

    At this moment, the ground within the tutorial chamber had ounder corpses and carcasses littering and scattering everywhere.

    Meanwhile, the blood, brain pieces, and internal organs of the creatures mixed together, spattering on the cave-like floor, creating a horrifying scene for any onlooker to see.

    Anyhow, considering that no more monsters stood on two or four feet anymore, it only meant one thing...

    "Finally..."

    "Ah... We won just like that?"

    "Mister Jeremy is the true monster..."

    "I... I can''t believe he fights the entire passageway alone..."

    "Wow... he is fucking cool."

    "It finally ends, right? right? We will finally get out of here, right?"

    "We will leave this fucking ce atst."

    "I want to find my wife and daughter."

    "..."

    The eighth monsters'' wave had eventuallye to an end...

    The winner was obviously the human''s side, while the monsters had lost the fight so badly due to only one man''s presence...

    After thest monster was in, people started murmuring and talking with one another incessantly. The voices and sounds caused by people began getting louder and louder within the spacious chamber.

    Now, most people were talking and reminiscing back to the time around five hours ago...

    When Mitchell called for a meeting again so suddenly and told them that he had found a way for everyone to survive this tutorial together, at first, they still couldn''t get themselves to believe it.

    However, when everyone had heard the proposed n from Mitchell, their eyes started brightening and shining with each wording out of his mouth.

    Overall, the n was ''almost'' wless, and it had a very high chance of sess.

    Still, it was only ''almost'' because there was a variable, which was undoubtedly Jeremy, who wanted to take on the entire passageway alone while letting another passageway for the rest of them to manage.

    At that time, they could only think within their minds silently that if Jeremy could stall for time for at least three or five minutes, it would be good enough.

    Like that, everyone would have enough time to defeat the right passageway''s monsters and been prepared for the other monsters from another passageway.

    But who would have thought that Jeremy actually ughtered an entire army of monsters alone and even had time toe and help them fight at the other side, too.

    If he was not the real monster here, then who was?

    Right now, Jeremy stood alone outside the broken barricades and traps while still holding the same in-looking spear leisurely.

    Meanwhile, everyone behind the defensive formation was talking to one another about many topics such as what would the next stage look like, how were the Earth and their family members doing, how their lives were supposed to be from now on, and many more.

    Well, some of them even started cheering and shouting about leaving this ce as those people knew intuitively that they had already met the quota of the missions rted to killing monsters. If so, they would also finish the third tutorial mission implicitly.

    At this moment, despite many were busy with chatting and cheering with one another, some people within the crowd still asionally shot a nce or two at the ck-cloaked Jeremy, who stood at some distance away.

    After all, he was their benefactor and savior...

    That''s why, right when Mitchell saw that Jeremy had no intention ofing to celebrate with everyone else, he called for Eddie beside him. After that, the two started walking towards Jeremy, who stood among the monsters'' corpses and carcasses.

    As for Jeremy, he was currently preparing to go to the ''toilet'' to wash the bloodstain and many disgusting things from his clothes.

    However, when Jeremy suddenly spotted Mitchell and Eddie came walking towards him, he decided to wait a bit more before proceeding on with his own objectives.

    Not long after...

    "Hey, Jeremy."

    Mitchell greeted Jeremy upon arriving in front of thetter, followed by Eddie''s concise greetings,

    "Hello..."

    "Well, what brings you here?"

    Jeremy replied with his signature light smile after seeing the two stopped right in front of him.

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the author''s thoughts below; it''s essential. Thank you.]

 Chapter 90 - The Savior And The Killer (3)

    "The thing is... I want to say thank you in ce of everyone else."

    Mitchell said with a heartfelt expression on his face while Eddie also nodded his head in agreement.

    "Nah, it''s okay... You guys had said thank me several times already. I told you I just did what I could, didn''t I?" Jeremy replied casually as he really thought it was not a big deal.

    The real big deal would only be if he didn''t receive enough SP to buy skills...

    Even so, Mitchell still tried to express more gratitude,

    "Well... you know. We have no casualties at all, only some lightly and moderately wounded ones in this horde. That''s also..."

    "Alright, alright... I don''t think of it as a major concern or anything; that''s for real. So, stop the gratitude things, okay? Besides, do you have anything else to say except for thanking and appreciating me?"

    Of course, Jeremy interrupted Mitchell''s speech in the middle.

    *Sigh*

    Mitchell let out a short sigh in helplessness before finally going into the topic of his actual purpose ofing to see Jeremy,

    "Alright, I understood. In fact, I have had something nagging me for quite some time already, may I ask?"

    "Sure, go ahead." Jeremy replied concisely.

    When Mitchell had heard Jeremy''s consent, he spoke in mind,

    "That time, when you told us the n, why did you tell me not to disclose to everyone that it was your idea?"

    Upon hearing Mitchell''s question, Jeremy pondered for a bit before replying,

    "Hmm... Not gonna lie; I hate nuisance. Well... Let''s think of it this way... if you tell everyone that it is, in fact, my n, what will happen next?"

    After being asked back instead of answered, Mitchell fell into deep thought before responding with some uncertainty within his voice,

    "If so... everyone will feel even more indebted towards you. Oh, so when you said that you hated nuisance, it means you don''t want anyone to bother you?"

    "That''s right. Everyone is just like a fly to me."

    Jeremy replied with a light smile after hearing Mitchell''s reply while there was also another notion within his head,

    ''Especially the two of you... two bigger flies...''

    Well, Jeremy''s thought was quite logical as the two buddies were indeed annoying, for they to appear before him ''too'' often.

    Atst, upon seeing Mitchell didn''t ask any further and Eddie didn''t even open his mouth to talk, Jeremy said lightly,

    "Anything else? I have got something to do."

    "No, I''ve finished my piece."

    After hearing Mitchell''s reply, Jeremy turned his head towards the ''quiet'' muscr man, Eddie, and said,

    "And you, Eddie?"

    When Eddie had heard a question suddenly directed at him, he shook his head left and right vehemently for fear of inducing another wrath of the ''lord''.

    "Good then. Excuse me."

    After saying so, Jeremy strolled away from the two people in the toilet''s direction, situated near the Crystal.

    ...

    A short timeter...

    Mitchel and Eddie came back behind the defensive measures...

    "Please listen!!"

    Suddenly, when the atmosphere started heating up from the people''s excitement, Mitchell, who had just arrived back from the talk with Jeremy, shouted for attention.

    "..."

    "..."

    After seeing everyone was paying attention to him, Mitchell said further,

    "ording to the n, first of all, we will go and check everyone''s current missions'' progress at the Crystal."

    "After checking and reporting your missions at the Crystal, please... please do not ess or report the third Tutorial Mission in your Status Window just yet. For the very reason that we will leave this ce together as a whole, please do not abandon your brothers and sisters here."

    Having spoken till here. Mitchell looked at everyone''s face imploringly before continuing, but his voice seemed to be a bit sterner than the previous soft voice,

    "You guys know all too well... even if you somehow ditch everyone else here, we will still meet one another in the next stage. At that time, rather than helping one another survive, we might be enemies instead. So, please choose carefully. The choice is yours to choose..."

    "That''s all I have to say. Now, you may go to check the progress of your missions at the Crystal."

    "..."

    "..."

    After everyone had heard Mitchell''s long speech, they kept silent for quite some time as they really didn''t know what to say in response.

    It seemed like Mitchell''s speech had flushed a few people''s tricky thoughts down the drain...

    Quite a few of them indeed had such a notion of ditching everyone behind and teleporting out of here alone.

    However, after hearing that they had a very high probability of meeting one another again in the next stage, they suddenly did a one-eighty-degree turn of thought.

    ''It was better to wait and see the situation first before deciding whether to teleport or not...'', was the thought within those few people''s minds right now.

    Thus, everyone moved out all at once towards the Crystal without caring to clean up the area in the least, for they would be leaving here soon enough.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    The sounds of people''s footsteps echoed out uncoordinatedly within the spacious chamber...

    Shortly after, everyone finally arrived before the Crystal. Then Mitchell said,

    "Everyone, stop."

    "We will do it one by one. Please queue up in a single line."

    Upon hearing Mitchell''s words, everyone started queuing one by one in a single long line.

    The first person in the line, Grayson, went forward to touch the Crystal without further ado.

    After several seconds, he finally retracted his hand back before turning his head towards Mitchell and nodded his head slightly as a positive sign.

    Upon seeing that sign, Mitchell smiled in delight for a bit and said,

    "That''s good... Now, we have one person who has passed this tutorial. Alright, next one..."

    Afterward, Grayson stepped out from the Crystal''s vicinity, letting the second in the queue touch the floating Crystl after him.

    The one who was touching the Crystal was a middle-aged man of average height named Derek. He was one of the mainbatants fighting at the right passageway alongside Eddie and Mitchell.

    Soon, Derek stepped forward and reached out his hand to touch the Crystal...

    Simr to Grayson earlier, Derek retracted his hand after some seconds passed. Afterward, he turned his head towards Mitchell, who stood to the side and said smilingly,

    "I''ve also passed."

    When Mitchell and everyone else had heard and seen the response, smiles started appearing on their faces.

    It seemed like they would be getting out of here soon, after all...

 Chapter 91 - The Savior And The Killer (4)

    Five minutester, within the tutorial chamber...

    Right now, almost 30 people stood beside the floating green Crystal silently and depressingly.

    Strange enough, rather than cheering or shouting in glee for the reason that they would be leaving this ce soon, they stood quietly in a depression instead.

    The reason why everyone felt depressed right now was undoubtedly from the mission reporting earlier.

    Initially, everyone thought they would be leaving this hellish tutorial atst. Unfortunately, only 17 people managed toplete the third Tutorial Mission, of which they needed one more person for that everyone could leave this ce together.

    However, the situation had finallye to this...

    Come to the point that if the 17 people chose to teleport out of here, then the other 16 people would be left behind to fight the ninth wave of monsters in desperation.

    That meant if they didn''t teleport out of here soon enough, many people would be killed in the next horde before the rest could be teleported out sessfully, as they didn''t know how long it would take the teleporting process to be done.

    When the situation came into a stalemate...

    Most of them were racking their brains to find a way out of this fucking hell of a problem.

    It was just one more...

    One more person and everyone would be out of this shit together...

    Everyone wanted to me those whom fought timidly and didn''t aplish the third Tutorial Mission, but they were too depressed right now. So, they didn''t have to mood to me yet.

    However, it was not long before the mes would find their sources...

    That also meant those cowardly people also had less and less time to be leisurely before being bombarded by the mass'' outrage.

    Well, two of those such people were undoubtedly ire and Angelo...

    So...

    "I... I think we should kill one of those wounded people..."

    After the words were said, the atmosphere became even quieter and eerier than before...

    How could someone suggest such a notion of killing their own kind?

    Obviously, the one who had said those words was none other than Angelo, aka Greedy Pig, who had ''miraculously'' survived until now.

    Despite the fact that he fought like a coward most of the time, survive was still a survive...

    That''s why everyone''s depressed eyes were shifted towards the speaker, Angelo, like they had agreed with one another beforehand.

    A split secondter...

    "What the actual fuck are you spouting now? Kill one of the injured!? It seems like you indeed want a beating from this gentleman."

    Eddie, who felt shocked from hearing those words at first, came back to his senses and shouted loudly towards Angelo, followed by a threat of beating up thetter for saying nonsense.

    When Angle had heard such a threat, his back suddenly sweated bullets incessantly...

    "No, no, no... I didn''t mean that. I mean..." Angelo hurriedly said in return for fear of being beaten by the monster of a man.

    "Mean what?" Eddie asked with a deep frown between his eyebrows, clearly unsatisfied with the fatty.

    "How about we kill Benjamin?" Angle dropped an unexpected bomb in the middle of the crowd.

    "..."

    Suddenly, the atmosphere became eery and quiet like before...

    Afterward, as if having thought of something important, one by one, they turned to look at Eddie, whom kept quiet with his mouth absolutely shut right now.

    Well, everyone more or less knew instinctively the hidden reason why Benjamin was in that half-dead state.

    Actually, it was not hard to guess at all, for Benjamin was the murderer who killed Skr. Then the sixth monsters'' wave came, and Benjamin, whom was ''forced'' by Eddie to fight at the formation''s forefront for the entire wave as his punishment, was at death''s door soon after.

    Thus, some people had a doubt regarding the matter as when everyone wasn''t paying attention, Eddie might have done something to Benjamin, causing thetter to be attacked by the vicious goblins.

    But doubt was still just a doubt, as it was almost baseless, after all...

    Furthermore, Eddie wasn''t the one who directly harmed Benjamin; instead, it was Benjamin that harmed himself from battling with the goblins at that time.

    So, everyone let the incident slide by without ming or doubting Eddie on the matter.

    Still, most eyes were now shifted to Eddie to see his reaction...

    However, everyone''s curiosity was cut short by a short sentence,

    "I agree."

    A woman''s voice resounded out, attracting everyone''s attention. So, the crowd shifted their attention towards her.

    The woman was none other than ire, the one who had always fought cowardly and hadn''t finished the third Tutorial Mission despite fighting in the frontline ever since the third wavemenced.

    On ount of her original selfish behavior, together with being ostracized by everyone and then having tasted the sweet nectar of revenge from ostracizing people back firsthand, had made her feel everything was going well. Moreover, she had always thought she would be leaving here soon after the bloody battle ended.

    But who would have thought that they needed one more person to pass the third tutorial mission to be able to leave this ce, so she felt pissed off like hell...

    Also, with the sudden thought that everyone might be aiming to me her very soon because she hadn''t passed the tutorial mission, she felt even more pissed off and depressed than before.

    That''s why when she had heard Angelo''s proposal to kill Benjamin, her eyes lit up with newfound hope, and she agreed without thinking for long at all.

    That''s how her nature was anyway, selfish and self-centered...

    At this time, when they saw a person had already expressed her opinion regarding killing Benjamin, everyone else also started murmuring to one another again.

    Humans were such creatures of murmuring, for they could murmur anywhere they were...

    Not long after, the atmosphere started bing heater and heater with people letting out their opinion incessantly...

    Then the heated murmuring became a mild argument...

    Soon, the mild argument became more and more intense with each passing second...

 Chapter 92 - The Savior And The Killer (5)

    "I told you killing him is the best way out for all of us!"

    "I agree with you..."

    "What are you people saying? He also fights hard against the monsters; he doesn''t deserve to be a sacrifice like that."

    "But he is a fucking killer!"

    "A killer is also a fucking human. Damned you!"

    "Can... can we find another way? I... I think there must be a peaceful method to lea..."

    "Peaceful? You nuts, gramps? There is no more peace after we were brought here. It is either kill or be killed. Remember that."

    *Sob* *Sob*

    "I don''t... I don''t want people to be killed..."

    The situation was chaotic as much as it could be, as the people of all ages with different opinions to stay together within the rectangr-shaped chamber like this...

    A gramps sought to ask for another way out of this situation ''peacefully''.

    A kid even cried for fear of someone being killed; how naive was that?

    When most people were arguing with one another endlessly, trying to convince and express their thoughts and opinions for others to understand and agree with them, some people currently chose to keep quiet.

    The reason for their quietness was because... they were still thinking...

    Thinking whether to step out of the middle, grey zone and choose one of the two sides or not...

    After all, if they chose to kill Benjamin for their own survival, it was also akin to stepping their own feet into an unredeemable road.

    As after that, there was no going back for them anymore...

    However, if they somehow chose to spare Benjamin and fight for another round against the monsters, it actually meant they would have to throw the immediate survival opportunity ahead of them away into a trash can.

    Nevertheless, the norms from their old Earth were still there, as the concept of good and bad was mainly defined by people in the society.

    Still, this ce was not Earth...

    When nobody knew, and there was nobody here to judge their decisions and actions anymore, then the concept of good and bad also did not inherently exist anymore the same.

    This was such an ideal ce for everyone to behave anyhow they wanted...

    This was precisely the ce where nobody knew about...

    This was also undoubtedly the ce where nobody would judge them and their actions...

    That''s why some people fell silent when this kind of situationmenced...

    That''s why some people were thinking, for it was such a dilemma worth thinking about...

    Left zone, the good one defined by the old norms, they chose to discard their immediate survival but still retain humanity.

    Right zone, the bad one defined by the old norms, they chose to discard their humanity but would survive for another day.

    Those thinking so deeply right now were none other than Mitchell, Joshua, Bob, Grayson, and three otherbatants.

    As for Eddie?

    He had long wanted Benjamin dead, but the man had somehow miraculously survived the onught from two goblins. So, this was such an excellent opportunity to seek revenge for Skr.

    Thus...

    "I also agree. Let''s kill him."

    Eddie''s manly voice resounded amidst the chaotic ''debating'' stage, causing everyone to turn their heads to look at him instinctively.

    After all, Eddie was one of the two leaders; his opinion naturally held more weight than other people here.

    If he said so, then who would disagree with hi...

    "Wait..." Mitchell spoke up suddenly.

    Well, another leader of the group might disagree with him sometimes.

    When everyone had heard Mitchell''s sudden voice, they alternately shifted their eyes between Eddie and Mitchell, waiting for the two following words.

    Of course, Eddie chose to keep quiet for now because Mitchell had shot him a look that said, ''do not speak any further''.

    After seeing he finally gained everyone''s attention, Mitchell spoke his mind,

    "We cannot argue with one another like this, and we also cannot postpone the decision whether to kill Benjamin or not. Thus, I would like to suggest that we vote... vote for kill or not kill."

    "Tsk!"

    A certain bald-headed someone, who had been interfered midway by Mitchell, clicked his tongue audibly.

    However, the water current seemed to favor Mitchell more, for many people had nodded their heads in agreement while some chose to keep quiet, still thinking about choosing between kill and not kill.

    When everyone was busy with their own thoughts, a man voice was heard suddenly,

    "If we are going to vote, can I suggest something?"

    The person who had spoken was surprisingly Joshua...

    After Mitchell had heard Joshua''s request, he nodded his head slightly and said,

    "You may tell."

    "Alright, if we are going to vote anyway, let''s make it more secret and confidential. What do you guys think?"

    While saying so, Joshua skimmed past everyone''s face to see their reactions.

    Unsurprisingly, no one disagreed this time, as they thought that secrecy regarding a sensitive matter like this should be kept only to themselves.

    Like that, no third party would know what their decisions were; subsequently, the only one who could judge whether their choice was right or wrong would be themself alone.

    From now on, only the fittest would survive...

    "Okay, I agree..."

    "I agree, too."

    "I don''t see any problem with that."

    "Alright..."

    "..."

    After hearing Joshua''s proposal, everyone started agreeing one by one with the notion of anonymous voting.

    When Mitchell saw most people had voiced out their endorsements regarding the anonymous voting, he spoke up again,

    "So, it has been decided then. We will vote by writing ''yes'' for the kill and ''no'' for the no-kill. Does anyone disagree?"

    Mitchell paused for a bit to see everyone''s feedback; after seeing no one had dissented with the idea, he continued,

    "Alright, Anna, please cut the paper into pieces and distribute them to everyone. As for the pen, you guys can take turns to use one, or you can use your SP to buy another one for yourself from the Shop."

    When a woman in her 40s, who used to bicker with Benjamin ever since everyone first came into this ce, had heard Mitchell''s words, she promptly brought out a notebook from her bag and tore it into pieces before distributing them to everyone.

    Well, Anna was actually a clergy and secretary of the group, so it was normal for her to carry a bag full of writing-rted stuff.

    Not long after, the paper pieces were finally handed out to everyone thoroughly...

    Upon seeing Anna turn her head to nod at him, Mitchell looked at the crowd and spoke again,

    "I believe everyone had already received the paper; now you guys can vote. Please note that ''yes'' for the kill and ''no'' for the no-kill. Moreover, do keep in mind that this decision of yours will decide everyone''s fate, so think about it thoroughly."

    After saying so, Mitchell also turned his back towards other people and wrote his own choice within the paper piece without letting others see or know his decision.

    In fact, everyone was also doing the same as Mitchell, for they didn''t want others aware of their choice.

    Thus, the silence of the calm before the storm reigned in the tutorial chamber once again...

 Chapter 93 - The Savior And The Killer (6)

    After some minutes had passed...

    "If you finish writing, please put your paper piece inside this wooden box."

    When Mitchell saw everyone had finally finished writing the votes, he let Joshua, who proposed the anonymous voting method, carry onto the wooden box. Obviously, the said box was bought from the Shop a moment ago.

    It could be seen that the [Misceneous] option was pretty convenient in many ways...

    One by one...

    People started walking towards Joshua and put their voting paper inside the box in his hands. Among those people, some still looked hesitant, some looked resolute, and some didn''t show any expression at all.

    Soon after, everyone within the clearing had finallypleted the voting part. So, the following processes would be counting the vote and announcing the result, respectively.

    "Is there anyone who hasn''t put their voting paper inside the box?"

    Mitchell asked aloud but saw no one raised any issue as many people shook their heads slightly in denial, whereas others only kept quiet and waited patiently.

    After seeing that no one had any objection, Mitchell spoke up once again,

    "Good then. Let''s count the votes together. Anna, bring the box here..."

    Thus, the counting and the announcing processmenced...

    Then Michell put his right hand inside the wooden box and pulled out a piece of folded paper before unfolding it slowly.

    Afterward, Mitchell took a look briefly at the word written on the paper and then flipped it to the other side for everyone to see.

    "Alright, the first vote is, No."

    Mitchell spoke the first vote loudly before giving the paper piece to Anna at his side. Then he proceeded on with the same processes as earlier...

    "The second is, Yes."

    "The third is, Yes."

    "The fourth is, No."

    "The fifth is, No."

    "The sixth is, Yes."

    "The seventh..."

    "The eig..."

    "The..."

    ...

    The process of counting and announcing the results had been in progress for more than three minutes.

    Then Mitchell announced the following vote...

    "The twenty-ninth is, No."

    "..."

    "..."

    After the second tost vote was pronounced and shown for everyone to hear and see, most people suddenly held their breath.

    Then...

    *Murmur*

    *Murmur*

    As always, the murmuring voices of people talking urred within the crowd again after Mitchell had announced the twenty-ninth''s vote, which was ''No''.

    Surprisingly enough, the past votes for the kill and no-kill were approximately the same in number, with fourteen for ''Yes'' and fifteen for ''No''.

    That''s right... the current votes favored the ''no-kill'' more than the ''kill''...

    Even if there was no one to judge them here...

    Even if they were not on Earth, which was enforced with legalws anymore...

    Even if no one knew what choice they would choose for the voting...

    More than half of the people here still couldn''t ept the ''new normal'' for their uing inhabitation on the named Ortus, for they still chose ''not to kill'' the guilty one, Benjamin.

    Well, it couldn''t be helped; adaptation took time anyway as it was a slow subconscious process...

    Still...

    "It''s you, right? Why do you choose not to kill? Bitch!!"

    "No... I... I choose..."

    "Who the fuck in their right mind chooses not to kill the damned bastard? Show your-fucking-selves!!"

    "Don''t you bloody want to leave this shit ce? Or do you want more people to die first? Damn it!!"

    "Why...?"

    Even though the final voting result hadn''te out yet, many people had already started questioning and ming others like it was their fault.

    When Mitchell, who was responsible for counting the votes, saw the situation started bing more hectic and uncontroble, he hurriedly shouted,

    "Calm down!! There is still one more voting paper left within the box."

    "Fuck!!"

    "Alright, let''s see the final one first..."

    "..."

    "..."

    Only when those hot-headedbatants, who fought with their lives on the line for eight consecutive waves, had heard that there was still one more vote left to be ounted for, they started to calm down a bit.

    However, if thest vote was still a ''No'', it seemed like they would re up even more, and they might flip the table before going directly to kill Benjamin regardless of the oue of the voting.

    Eventually, the calm atmosphere reigned in once again, with people waiting patiently for the final vote.

    But everyone knew within their hearts that it was just the calm before a big storm...

    *Sigh*

    Mitchell let out a short sigh after seeing everyone''s eyes fixing intently on the wooden box. Then he thought,

    ''Like this, the final result can only be no-kill or draw. Still... why the heck half of the people here choose to spare the bastard? Who votes for ''No'' anyway; the children and elderly? The nurse? Who else? Hmm... I''m pretty sure Bob and Derek have chosen to spare the guy...''

    ''Whatever... it couldn''t be helped. Let''s see thest vote...''

    When Mitchell finished his puzzling and unthinkable thoughts, he reached out his hand towards the wooden box slowly...

    *Gulp*

    *Gulp*

    "..."

    "..."

    Some people gulped from the immediate thriller, some kept quiet with furrowed eyebrows, some closed their eyes in fear of the final result...

    Atst, it had finallye to the final vote...

    The vote which would decide everyone''s fate...

    Mitchell didn''t let other people wait for long, as his hand had finally caught thest paper within the box before bringing it out slowly from the said container.

    Then Mitchell brought the voting paper before his eyes and opened it bit by bit...

    Before long, a single word on the paper appeared before his eyes...

    Then...

    After Mitchell''s eyes had finallyid upon the word on the paper, they widened considerably.

    *Sigh*

    Mitchell sighed in defeat before turning his head to look Eddie in the eyes for a split second...

    That signal from Mitchell was enough to make Eddie''s heart skip a beat. Thus, thetter thought in doubt,

    ''Don''t fucking tell me...''

    Meanwhile, Mitchell shifted his sight back towards the crowd before finally saying,

    "The thirtieth is..."

    Suddenly...

    An almost rounded object the size of a watermelon flew from some distance away, dropping in front of Mitchell''s feet...

    *Thud*

    *Thud*

    The said object rolled three or four rounds on the hard ground before finally stopping...

    When everyone saw the sudden appearance of the thing, they intended to criticize the perpetrator for interrupting their important activity.

    However...

    "!!!"

    "!!!"

    Upon seeing what the thing actually was, everyone''s eyes widened in absolute shock...

    "Ha... Head...?"

    "Kiaaaaah!!!"

    "What the!?"

    "Aaarghh!!"

    "It''s the head of..."

    Everyone felt so panicked at the head suddenly being thrown at them...

    Especially Mitchell, who stood the nearest to the said head, which was continuously oozing fresh blood, took two steps back in startle.

    "What the fuck..." Mitchell mumbled audibly.

    Right when he finally knew whose head it belonged to, his eyes behind the transparent sses widened even more...

    "That is... Benjamin''s head?" Mitchell uttered those words in a startle.

    When everyone''s mind was blown by the sudden appearance of Benjamin''s head, a certain someone''s voice was heard...

    "No need for further implications as I''ve already killed the so-called murderer for you guys."

    The ck-cloaked Jeremy said with a smile while strolling towards the crowd...

    "Now, you guys can finally scram from here; isn''t that good, by the way?"

    Jeremy added those words with an evil grin stered on his face...

    ...

    [A/N: The savior and the killer... is the same person.]

 Chapter 94 - A NEET Chooses To Be Left Alone

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy let out a breath of air from his mouth and thought to himself,

    ''Those nuisances should have left by now. What a bunch of conservative cowards. Were they really intending to sacrifice everyone else''s lives for aatose murderer?''

    ''Anyway... Atst, I''ve exacted my revenge to the moron for making me stabbed in the back...''

    Despite the fact that it was only a painless death, Benjamin had already faced enough pain from the two goblins he fought, so there was no point for Jeremy to waste his further efforts with the man.

    Upon finishing his thought, Jeremy reminisced about the earlier event that happened approximately twenty minutes ago...

    After everyone knew the one who had killed Benjamin was Jeremy, they felt afraid of him at first. Some people even intended to criticize Jeremy for his ''bad'' deeds.

    However, after Jeremy emitted his ''intent'', no one had ever dared to look directly at him again. It simply meant they shut their rotten mouths in front of Jeremy''s absolute strength.

    Thus, after some words from Mitchell, their leader, everyone calmed down a lot and thought about the positive sides of Benjamin''s death.

    That was they would finally leave this cursed chamber...

    That also was no more monsters to fight against...

    Just like that, except for some people''s lingering dissatisfaction, everyone else settled down with the oue of Benjamin''s death.

    Then Mitchell ordered everyone to pack and prepare their own things and bought rations for the uing second stage.

    Not long after, most people were finally ready for departure...

    However, at that time, when everyone had finished grouping up altogether, Jeremy suddenly told them that he would not be going with them.

    As a result, everyone felt bewildered at his decision...

    Would he stay here alone, at the hellish chamber with only five hours before the monsters came raiding?

    Wasn''t that a suicidal tendency?

    Also...

    If Jeremy didn''te with them, the total number of people who had passed the third tutorial mission would be 16. Which meant there would be 15 people and Jeremy, the sixteenth, left within the tutorial chamber.

    Thus, there came another dilemma...

    What should they do with this effing situation?

    Should they force Jeremy toe along?

    That was totally impossible...

    Nheless, when Mitchell and everyone else were racking their brains to find a way out, Jeremy suddenly opened his mouth and told them that he already had a solution prepared for them.

    Thus, after hearing how it should be done from Jeremy, everyone calmed down a bit but was still skeptical with the former''s notion...

    Nevertheless, they had no other choice but to believe in Jeremy, for they couldn''t force him anyway.

    But what if they begged him toe along?

    Well, they never tried that...

    Just like that, after telling everyone what had to be done to leave the tutorial and then receiving the skeptical looks from everyone, Jeremy promptly went inside the hard-difficulty door while leaving everyone behind.

    After Jeremy had gone inside the door, that would leave 31 people at the tutorial chamber. It also meant that when 16 people chose toplete the mission and were teleported to the second stage, the other 15 would also be implicitly teleported out of the chamber.

    Thereby, Jeremy was in the hard tutorial right now, whereas the other people should have left for the tutorial''s second stage by now.

    At this moment, Jeremy was looking around his surroundings left and right...

    Unfortunately, he only saw ckness from all directions. So, Jeremy thought with a frown,

    ''What the heck is this ce? Damned cupid... don''t tell me I will be locked here for eterni...''

    ...

    ˇş Hard Trial ˇ»

    ˇş Objective: Kill three diators to be teleported outside ˇ»

    ...

    ''Hmm...?''

    After seeing the sudden transparent window popped up shielding the dark space behind, Jeremy wondered to himself with a frown...

    Then, when he finally realized...

    ''What!? diators? Don''t fucking tell me...''

    Jeremy thought to himself with wide eyes after seeing the word ''diator'', as it was a word that would be heard regrly by people on Ortus.

    So, it was astounding that the said word would actually appear here.

    However, Jeremy was interrupted again by another notification...

    ...

    ˇş It is detected that the difficulty of this trial is unjust for the Le''Liac species of the human race. Thus, the System has intervened and changed the Objective to ''Kill two diators to be teleported outside'' ˇ»

    ...

    "The hell..."

    Jeremy mumbled with a dazed look after seeing the new notification in front of him. Then he thought wonderingly,

    ''Copying our human branch''s War of the Worlds is not enough; the fucking cupid has even set the difficulty too high for Earthlings to pass... If he is not stupid, he must be toozy then.''

    *Sigh*

    Jeremy could only sigh while shaking his head helplessly at the cupid who designed this tutorial...

    ''Whatever...''

    After finishing his thought, the ckness around Jeremy started receding ever slowly, bit by bit...

    Then the bright light promptly reced the dark space earlier, causing Jeremy to finally see what was around him.

    Right now, he stood right in the middle of something simr to a giant, oval amphitheater built with countless stones. At the same time, there was row after row of seats that seated many humans sparsely on the seating section.

    To be frank, if Jeremy were still on Earth, he would have thought that he was in the famous Colosseum.

    However, he knew all too well that this ce was not Colosseum but only something that looked simr.

    This ce went by the name of...

    ''Zodia Arena, the ce where humans strive to win for greatness...'' Jeremy thought to himself after realizing what this ce was.

    Then Jeremy, who stood in the middle of the rip-off version of Zodia Arena, inspected around him...

    Right in front of him was a three-meter-high metal gate shut tightly, whereas the dirt under his feet was yellow-brown in color...

    At this moment, Jeremy stood around 30 meters away from the circr stone wall with a height of approximately five meters.

    Above the wall, many ''humans'' were sitting sparsely on the stone seats in groups, with each group no more than ten people altogether. Those people sat in different rows and seats, which had more than twenty rows spanning from low to high altitude like a football stadium back on Earth...

    Behind the people and the seats were high stone pirs stationed and spanning the entire arena''s externalyer, whichprised more than fifty thick pirs made of yellow stones...

    When Jeremy saw such a rip-off version of Zodia Arena with his own eyes, he could only shake his head at the resemnce between the two.

    Well, it could be said that the only difference was the ''size'' of the actual one and this one, for the actual Zodia Arena was dozens of times bigger than this ce.

    ''This might be a perfect ce for Earthlings to adapt to Ortus'' environment, but...''

    ''This trial is a hard-difficulty one... How the heck will a normal human be able to pass this trial in the first ce? This one is also purely a fighting-rted trial with no luck or coincidence into associating at all. That way, everyone, who is cocky enough toe inside, will just die a dog''s death here...''

    After thinking so, Jeremy shook his head again slightly to discard those unnecessary thoughts.

    There was no point in thinking about thezy cupid anymore...

    Then as if he suddenly felt something, Jeremy turned his head towards the metal gate in front of him.

    Simultaneously...

    *Creaks!*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    Evidently, the metal gate seemed to be pulled up by some mechanisms inside the wall, causing it to be opened up bit by bit, making the annoying sounds inside the arena...

 Chapter 95 - Hard Trial (1)

    Shortly after, the metal gate was finally lifted fully, revealing a ck silhouette standing in the dark passageway.

    ''Eagles Eyes.''

    Upon seeing the ck silhouette, Jeremy promptly activated the [Eagles Eyes] skill...

    *Zoom*

    The sight in front of him suddenly warped into the farther distance towards the passageway...

    Together with his [Heightened Senses] skill had let Jeremy identify the creature''s features roughly.

    ''Hmm... As I have thought... a human, huh.''

    Jeremy thought after finishing identifying the being within the dimly lit passageway.

    ording to his assumption that this ce was a copy-paste version of Zodia Arena from the human branch''s War of the Worlds, it also meant the diators that Jeremy had to fight ought to be humans like in the actual Zodia Arena.

    Regarding the War of the Worlds or something, it could be said to be something very essential for the myriad races living on Ortus...

    As the cupid had said before that the resources on Ortus were pretty limited. If the entire human race as a whole was brought there without being ''screened'' first, they would just either starve to death or be enved to the other races instead.

    It also meant people of various races there had to fight to snatch the said resources from other races and species.

    However, the Ortus'' size alone was just too big, as big as a quarter of the Sun in the sr system.

    How could those races go to other races'' territory and fight to snatch the resources for themselves then?

    That''s how one of the System''s creations, War of the Worlds, came into y...

    In fact, it could be said that most races'' survival on Ortus solely depended on it...

    ''Hmm... He looks big...''

    Jeremy thought wonderingly while looking at the ck silhouetteing out of the passageway slowly.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    The rhythmical footstep sounds rang out from within the passageway...

    Not long after, the ck silhouette from earlier had be more and more apparent until Jeremy could finally identify the figure''s appearance clearly...

    Thus, he deactivated the Eagles Eyes skill before scrutinizing the male human in front of him by using his normal sight...

    At first nce, the man was easily taller than two meters, maybe even a bit taller than Eddie. He wore dark-brown leather armor and shoes made from unknown animal skins.

    Meanwhile, he didn''t wear any head guard, causing head facial features to be exposed...

    The man had tanned skin, light purple eyes, dark purple hair, which was considered quite peculiar for a normal human.

    Actually, all his body hair was also purple in color, but it was not that long with only the same length as normal humans on Earth, causing it to be inconspicuous, unlike his eyes and hair.

    The man''s muscle was very bulging as it could be distinguished very noticeably with one''s naked eyes; he was even more bulk than Eddie.

    Meanwhile, in the man''s hand was something akin to a viking sword around 120 centimeters in length.

    Well, he looked so much intimidating that even with one briefing nce on him, a crying baby might have to stop crying in fear...

    *Creaks*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    At this time, the metal gate behind the man suddenly fell back down after he hade out from the passagewaypletely...

    Simultaneously, Jeremy also felt an ''intent'' exuding out from the human warrior in front of him as he furrowed his eyebrows a bit...

    ''What the... The man''s ''intent'' clearly shouts his ss out loud as he is an Initiate Warrior who has alreadye into contact with Aura energy. Anyway... Isn''t it too overkill for any ordinary human to fight him?''

    Jeremy thought in bafflement after feeling his enemy''s pressure and aura exuding out incessantly.

    Before he could think any further, the sounds of cheering and shouting came from all around the arena...

    "Yayyy!!!"

    "Kill!!!!"

    "Kill!!!!"

    "Fight!!!"

    "Woahh!!!"

    The cheering sounds were, of course, from the ''possibly sentient'' audiences from the seats above the arena''s wall.

    However, it could be clearly seen that they didn''t have feelings or expressions in any way because they only shouted some six or seven distinct words in intervals as if they were ''programmed'' beforehand.

    Obviously, they were created by the System, no doubt...

    After looking briefly at his audiences and adorers, Jeremy turned his head back towards the muscr ''human'', who stood around twenty meters in front of him.

    "Hey, big guy. Care to introduce yourself?" Jeremy said in universalnguage with his casual, charming smile.

    "..."

    When the ''big guy'' had heard Jeremy''s teasing words and saw his casual smile, the former only stared at thetter silently without speaking anything.

    ''Well, I think he should have understood my words when I spoke, but he just doesn''t care to answer. What an arrogant guy.''

    When Jeremy talked to the muscr man in universalnguage earlier, thetter''s eyes widened in surprise for a split second.

    That meant he actually understood Jeremy clearly but chose not to chit-chit with the soon-to-be corpse.

    Anyhow, it seemed like the so-called warrior had underestimated Jeremy considerably, and he would regret his decision soon.

    Afterward, the man presumed to be an Initiate Warrior bent his two knees for a bit...

    Then...

    *Whoosh*

    The muscr warrior dashed out explosively towards Jeremy while holding the sword firmly within his right hand...

    *Tabdak* *Tabdak*

    *Tabdak* *Tabdak*

    The man''s leather boots hitting the dirt ground created the friction noises loudly within the arena.

    "Yayyy!!"

    "Kill!!!"

    "Blood!!!"

    Simultaneously, the audiences also cheered as loud as they could to stimte and excite the uing battle even more.

    ''Let''s y passively first to assess his strength...''

    Jeremy thought leisurely after seeing the brawny warriore running in his direction at breakneck speed.

    Then Jeremy put his left leg a bit to the front while cing his right leg behind, and he bent his knees lightly. Whereas the spear in his right hand was retracted behind him as the spearhead was pointed towards the approaching robust warrior.

    It seemed like spear thrust was Jeremy''s typical way of ''testing the water''...

    When the warrior had almost reached three meters in front of him, Jeremy instantly unleashed the spear thrust...

    *Whoosh*

    The spear de traveled through the air swiftly, plunging directly towards the iing warrior''s stomach...

    At the exact moment, the rushing warrior narrowed his eyes slightly before suddenly jumping obliquely to Jeremy''s left nk while swinging the viking sword forcefully in front of him.

    *ng*

    The light sparkles came following the nging sound from metal hitting metal...

    Jeremy''s spear thrust was blocked yet again...

 Chapter 96 - Hard Trial (2)

    Surprisingly, Jeremy''s spear thrust was countered yet again by another enemy after the previous time by a particr dog-humanoid creature, as it appeared that Jeremy and his enemy''s strength were approximately equal to one another.

    *Grunt*

    The muscr warrior, who had jumped towards Jeremy''s left nk, gritted his teeth forcefully after feeling some numbness on his left side before swinging the sword horizontally at thetter''s neck.

    ''Well...'' Jeremy thought in astonishment while retracting the spear back.

    Simultaneously, he also ducked down hurriedly towards the ground...

    *Whoosh*

    The sword de went above Jeremy''s head dangerously...

    Then Jeremy kicked off the ground powerfully with two legs from the ducking position to the now-almostnding warrior.

    *Whoosh*

    When the muscr man saw Jeremy approaching so suddenly, his eyes widened.

    However, it was already toote to defend as Jeremy''s fist came hurling rapidly towards his stomach...

    *Bam*

    "Gak!"

    As he was still in mid-air, the muscr warrior flew back four meters away in a straight line before skidding with the yellow dirt for another two meters.

    *Thud* *Thud*

    Upon seeing such an opportunity, Jeremy hurriedly rushed forward, intending to finish the fight quickly.

    *Tak* *Tak*

    *Tak* *Tak*

    Jeremy dashed swiftly towards the skidding warrior...

    However, before Jeremy could attack the man, thetter suddenly gained bnce back with an unknown method before kicking the ground forcefully, propelling himself toward the iing Jeremy.

    ''A passive skill?'' Jeremy thought in wonder with one of his eyebrows raised.

    At the same time, he also hurriedly jumped to the left to avoid the big man''s tackle.

    *Whoosh*

    The turbulent wind went past Jeremy after he had sessfully avoided the tackle...

    However...

    As if the tackling warrior had already predicted Jeremy''s move, he suddenly swung the sword parallelly to his right side...

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy suddenly tensed up upon seeing the approaching sword before bringing the spear shaft to block the iing de...

    *ng*

    Another nging sound rang out within the arena, whereas the two sides were flung away from one another several meters from the impacting point...

    "Woahhh!!!"

    "Kill!!!"

    "Blood!!!!"

    "Yeahhh!!!"

    "Moreee!!!"

    Simultaneously, when the two sides had shed so many times in just some tens of seconds, the cheering and shouting voices from the audiences never stopped in the least.

    Even though the words were still the same spoken repeatedly like the tape loops...

    At this time, Jeremy and the no-named, muscr warrior stood approximately six or seven meters away from one another.

    At first nce, it seemed like the two were in equal standing regarding their fighting prowess.

    However...

    *Drop* *Drop*

    Red droplets of blood suddenly seeped out from the warrior''s left torso, dropping towards the ground continually.

    The wound was only a small cut, as it clearly urred when the two''s first sh.

    That also signified that the human warrior couldn''t fully deflect Jeremy''s thrust, for he still received a cutting wound on his body''s left side.

    "How is it? Painful?"

    Jeremy asked his enemy mockingly after seeing the blood droplets fell on the ground.

    Of course, he asked in universalnguage...

    Upon seeing such rude behaviors from the ck-cloaked human in front of him, the lightly wounded warrior''s face suddenly scrunched up a bit.

    Then, without further dy, he sprinted off towards Jeremy at a fast speed.

    ''The taunting is effective, huh. So, he is indeed sentient...''

    While thinking so, Jeremy also sprinted towards the raging warrior...

    ''Good, let''s finish this fast...'' Jeremy thought lightly when the two sides almost shed.

    That''s when Jeremy suddenly swung the steel spear forcefully towards the rushing warrior. At the same time, the sword was also shed by the warrior towards the spear de, intending to intercept it...

    *ng*

    Another nging noise resounded out within the arena...

    After shing, the momentum of both sides suddenly shifted, causing them to be distanced away from one another, which was more ideal for Jeremy''s longer-ranged weapon.

    Without dy, Jeremy shed the spear down once again, aiming for the left shoulder of his enemy.

    But the injured warrior hurriedly shed his sword at the approaching spear de again...

    *ng*

    "Uugh..."

    It appeared that he felt a sudden jolt from the wound earlier on his left side, so the warrior grunted lightly after sessfully deflecting the spear de.

    However...

    *Whoosh*

    Another attack came from Jeremy once again, not giving the wounded warrior time to rest at all. So, thetter could only raise the sword to deflect yet another attack.

    But...

    "!!"

    That was clearly a fatal mistake as Jeremy had suddenly canceled the trajectory and momentum of the spear, which was still in the air, and pulled the spear shaft back forcefully.

    Due to Jeremy hadn''t put much force into this strike, he could do so quite easily...

    Then, Jeremy plunged the steel spear directly at the warrior''s opening in the stomach area...

    *Fwhoosh*

    Even though the startled warrior had already jumped sideways to avoid the thrust, he was still too slow for that, as the spear de was thrust at breakneck speed towards his stomach.

    *Puchi*

    The sound of fresh flesh being punctured rang out as the spearhead went smoothly through the leather armor like tofu...

    Atst, the spearhead was plunged thoroughly inside the warrior''s stomach.

    "Aargh..."

    The man cried out in pain while using his left hand trying to pull the spear out of his stomach while his right hand tried to swing the viking sword at Jeremy.

    However, it was to no avail, for the attacking range of the two weapons was too different.

    "Well... still want to fight more? But I''m bored already..."

    Having finished saying so, Jeremy clenched the spear shaft tightly before twisting it 90 degrees, causing the spearhead within the pitiful warrior stomach to rotate along.

    "Kuhuek..."

    After letting out the meek sound, the punctured man heaved in and out incessantly.

    Then...

    *Plop*

    The half-dead warrior''s knees eventually gave out as he dropped to the dirt ground on his two kneecaps.

    The strength had left his body bit by bit with each passing second...

    At longst, the man''s grip on the viking sword loosened up, causing it to fall onto the ground with the ttering sounds.

    Shortly after, the man''s head hung down from his neck, as he finally died...

    *Plush*

    With a light pull, the spearhead suddenly came out from the dead warrior''s abdomen. Then the cold body promptly swayed to the front before flopping face down to the ground...

 Chapter 97 - Hard Trial (3)

    "Yayyy!!!"

    "Death!!!"

    "The challenger won!!"

    "Blood, want more blood!!"

    "Woahhh!!!"

    After the victor had emerged from this bloody battle, the audiences suddenly cheered up and apuded loudly...

    It was quite a sensation and sight to behold after considering at least five hundred people shouting and cheering simultaneously at the end of their lungs, albeit they were just half-sane humans who could only say a limited amount of words...

    ''His strength is roughly the same as me, but his technique, tactic, and battle instinct are not up to par at all.'' Jeremy thought within his mind after looking around the arena for a bit.

    Then...

    ...

    [You have received 847 SP]

    [You have received 3xˇď for sessfully killing a no-named Initiate Warrior]

    [You have 10 minutes for recuperating]

    ...

    ''Oh?'' Jeremy raised one eyebrow after seeing the notifications...

    ''When I killed the kobold, I got around 1,100 SP together with five ck stars but killing this guy who is considerably weaker... Hmm... alright, that makes sense.''

    Indeed, killing the human warrior should get less SP than killing the kobold because thetter was clearly stronger than the former. So, Jeremy didn''t linger with the topic for long before throwing the thought away.

    ''Now, I have 10 minutes to rest. What should I do?''

    After thinking and looking around the entire arena, Jeremy''s eyes finally stopped at the cold corpse on the ground.

    Without further dy, Jeremy walked up to the warrior''s corpse before crouching down. Afterward, he reached out his right hand to touch the cold body.

    Then he thought inwardly,

    ''Analyze''

    Suddenly, mysterious energy rushed out from somewhere within Jeremy''s body towards his right hand before going directly to the cold corpse...

    Then, a transparent window suddenly popped in front of him...

    ...

    Race: Human (Artificial Species - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Initiate Warrior (Substage 1 of ss 1 Warrior)

    Status: Dead ˇŞ Assumed to be killed by a sharp object prating and twisting inside his abdomen, causing the internal organs to be damaged severely.

    Description: A low-rank organism that has recentlye into contact with an Aura energy particle.

    ...

    ''Well? Artificial Species?''

    After seeing the transparent window generated from his newly bought skill, [Analyze], Jeremy thought about the term ''Artificial'' within the ''Race'' section.

    Then Jeremy suddenly shook his head slightly in disappointment and thought,

    ''It looks like the information regarding that topic is still kept within my sea of consciousness. I will look into itter then...''

    Upon finishing his thought, Jeremy walked back towards the arena''s center before bringing out a wooden chair from within his left glove and sat there silently, waiting for the next battle tomence in around nine minutes.

    Regarding Jeremy''s [Analyze] skill, it was obviously bought from the Shop at the time before he came into this hard trial with the price of 5,497 SP, as he had plenty of time to spend beforeing into this hard trial.

    After sitting down on the wooden chair, Jeremy turned to look at the so-called ''audiences''. When his eyes finally stopped on a male ''human'' sitting on a stone seat above the wall opposite of him.

    Then Jeremy thought inwardly...

    ''Eagles Eyes.''

    Upon willing his mind to activate the skill, the view in front of him zoomed towards the man''s face...

    A split secondter, Jeremy finally saw the said man clearly as he could even count the man''s eyshes from more than 30 meters away.

    Even if it was still at the low-basic level, the skill was pretty good...

    ''Well, he looked just like a normal human withmon facial features that can be seen anywhere. But... his ck eyes look so dazed like he is currently daydreaming, and he also doesn''t show any facial expression on his face... a literally emotionless human...''

    ''It is quite different from the heated cheering earlier like heaven and earth... So, these people should also be artificial humans the same as the Initiate Warrior earlier.''

    ''Hmm...?''

    ''Doesn''t it mean every living thing inside this tutorial is all but a programmed artificial creature?'' If it is so, that will somehow make sense... The System should be able to do something like that at the very least, as it is a part of the Akashic Records... Hmm... then their souls are also artificial ones? I wonder if their bodies are also carbon-based like Earthlings...''

    Upon thinking up to here, Jeremy suddenly deactivated the [Eagles Eyes] skill and shifted his gaze towards the warrior''s cold corpse lying around ten meters to his right. Then he thought,

    ''Should I keep his body for the future experiment?''

    *Sigh*

    When Jeremy finished thinking such an absurd notion, he promptly let out a sigh. Then he thought dismissively,

    ''There are still many chances for me to encounter the creatures created by the System. There is no point in rushing...''

    ''Well, let''s not think about those far-fetched thoughts for now...''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard the unnecessary thoughts away, Jeremy decided to not dive further into the topic regarding the artificial creatures, the System, or the Akashic Records as of yet.

    Moreover, Jeremy didn''t have the necessary information right now as it was being kept inside the deepest part of his soul right now.

    After realizing not much time was left before the ten minutes of resting time ran out, Jeremy stood up and then kept the wooden chair back inside the left glove.

    Shortly after, the ten minutes resting time had finally passed...

    The metal gate in front of Jeremy opened up again...

    *Creaks!*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    The mechanism sounds resounded out within the quiet arena, generating the same annoying sound the same asst time...

    ''Let''s see what my enemy is...'' Jeremy thought in anticipation while looking at the ck silhouette within the dark passageway.

    *Tabdak* *Tabdak*

    *Tabdak* *Tabdak*

    The unknown being didn''t keep Jeremy waiting for long as the footstep sounds rang out from the inside resoundingly...

    Soon, the ck silhouette from earlier finally became more visible when faced with light from the outside.

    At this time, the audiences'' cheering sounds were heard once again, but Jeremy couldn''t care less about them at all because...

    "Oh?"

    When Jeremy finally saw how the figure looked like, he eximed lightly.

    His enemy this time was also someone with a height of around two meters with a somewhat simr body build as the human warrior earlier.

    However, the enemy in front of Jeremy was wearing full-body steel armor with only minimal gaps that looked very heavy. Each step the man took created the nging sounds audible even to the crowd sitting above him.

    In the man''s right hand was a long steel sword that looked sturdy and sharp at first nce when anyoneid their eyes on it.

    Meanwhile, the man was exuding the same ''intent'' as the previous enemy that Jeremy had fought before.

    ''An Initiate Warrior again? Well, his Aura intent feels a bit stronger than the guy before. Still, this man should be somewhat weaker than the kobold...''

    While Jeremy was thinking so, the full-armor warrior suddenly stopped walking and only stood silently watching Jeremy from a distance away.

    This time, Jeremy didn''t open his mouth to greet his enemy again as it seemed to be pointless.

    ''Let''s end this fast...''

    Jeremy thought boringly as he promptly dashed towards his opponent explosively....

 Chapter 98 - Haunted Manor

    At the same time, within an eery-looking mansion...

    The spooky mansion had more than four floors and dozens of rooms, which signified that it was pretty big capable of housing more than thirty people at the very least.

    The reason why the said mansion appeared to be spooky was that the entire building was made of old woods that should be easily more than some hundred years old, and the manor itself always gave out eery vibes whenever one cast a nce at it.

    If someone currently looked at the mansion from the outside, they would think instinctively that the ce was a haunted mansion with no second thought at all...

    Well, they couldn''t be more right if they actually thought so, as it was indeed a haunted mansion with actual ''ghosts'' inside.

    At this moment, within one of the big bedrooms on the third floor, a petite woman stood ''almost'' still inside a wardrobe situated at the room''s corner while having her two hands covering her own mouth frimly trying not to cause any noise.

    Meanwhile, the said woman was trembling terribly in fear of the unknown adversary. Even with her effort of covering her mouth, her teeth still ttered against one another endlessly, showing how fearful and afraid she currently felt.

    *Tok* *Tak*

    *Tok* *Tak*

    Suddenly, the trembling woman within the wardrobe had heard creepy footstep sounds from outside the bedroom...

    ''Please don''t stop... Please don''t stop... Please...'' The woman pleaded silently within her mind.

    However...

    *Tok* *Tak*

    *Tak!*

    The plea of the petite woman, who was hiding within the clothing cab, seemed to be ineffective as the footstep sounds eventually stopped right in front of the bedroom door.

    Due to that, the hiding woman''s heart skipped a beat after the noise stopped so suddenly.

    Then...

    *Click* *Click*

    *Creaks*

    The doorknob was turned, and the door was opened slowly...

    ''No...''

    The petite woman in the cab''s breathing quickened considerably while she could only close her eyes and mouth tight for fear of being discovered by the one who opened the door.

    ''What to do... I don''t want to die... Dad... Mom... Jeremy...''

    The woman covering inside the wardrobe looked to be around 152 centimeters with a weight of approximately 40 kilograms.

    If one didn''t count her sweating and smelly body, with her blonde-grey hair color, blue eyes, and petite stature, she would be considered an ideal cute loli for countless men back on Earth.

    Obviously, the woman was none other than Charlotte, one of Jeremy''s three friends...

    Simultaneously when Charlotte suddenly thought about Jeremy, her eyes brightened up a bit as if she had suddenly thought of something.

    Then Jeremy''s words when everyone was in his garage promptly came into her mind...

    ...

    Within Charlotte''s peculiar shback...

    At this time, the prince-charming Jeremy suddenly shifted his alluring blue eyes to look directly into her eyes before saying with a loving smile,

    "As for its rank, it is only a tier 0 spell, but its might and power is on apletely different level. Since I''ve modified the spell and adjusted its power personally, causing it to be as powerful as a tier-1 spell."

    When Jeremy finished talking the first part, he promptly sent a fleeting kiss towards Charlotte as thetter constantly blushed. Then Jeremy continued his exnation while solely looking at her alone,

    "For a simpler exnation, the spell inscribed on these gloves'' palms can easily kill an elephant or make a deep dent on a tank. So, don''t ever take it lightly and make sure that you stand at least 7 meters away from your target when you cast it..."

    After finishing the exnation, Jeremy suddenly winked his beautiful eye at Charlotte before continuing,

    "Now, I will demonstrate to you how to use the spell engraved on the glove. Just look at my following actions."

    Then Jeremy promptly raised his left hand in the dummy''s direction at the end of the garage. After that, he put his palm facing the wooden dummy in a parallel line.

    Then he said a single word...

    shback ends...

    ...

    *Huu...*

    Charlotte inhaled deeply to gain her resolve back...

    However, it appeared that her body was still trembling a bit as she could not erase the feeling of fearpletely.

    Still, it was either do or die from now on. Also, Charlotte had already seen the oue if a person was caught by the ''wraith''.

    All of them were now dead...

    ''I must survive!''

    Having thought so with determination, Charlotte pushed the closet door open forcefully...

    *Thump!*

    Then she lifted her left palm towards the floating transparent monster wearing filmy white clothes in front of her.

    Well, it was not entirely transparent as it appeared to have a semi-corporeal body that could not go past objects with high density.

    But those were not important because...

    "Vitas!"

    Charlotte shouted while closing her eyes tightly in anxiety and fear.

    Simultaneously, the inscription engraved on the palm lit up with bright light. Soon, a light-blue ball made of purest mana was formed close to Charlotte''s left palm.

    Then the light-blue mana bolt wasunched forward swiftly...

    *Whoosh*

    Not even a secondter, the unprepared ''wraith'' standing almost ten meters away from Charlotte was hit directly on its chest with the mana bolt.

    *BOOOMMMMM!!*

    The sound akin to a bomb exploded rang out loudly within the haunted mansion...

    For a split second, it didn''t look so haunted anymore...

    "Kiaahh!"

    Charlotte cried out in surprise while being flung back to the wardrobe''s wall behind her, causing her back to hit heavily with the said wooden wall.

    Not long after, Charlotte finally opened her eyes slowly to look at the aftermath of her deeds...

    *Cough* *Cough*

    She coughed lightly after inhaling some dust inside her nose...

    At this time, Charlotte''s eyes were fixed intently at the ce of explosion where the Wraith floated before.

    But she saw nothing there at all...

    To be exact, the walls around the bedroom door were utterly blown off into pieces, leaving a gaping hole that could be seen through to the hall behind...

    ''It''s dead?''

    Charlotte thought puzzlingly after seeing no trace of the ghost that had been chasing and killing people nonstop after the Tutorial started.

    Before Charlotte could think any further, a transparent window suddenly popped up in front of her...

    ...

    [You have received 3xˇď for sessfully killing the vengeful Wraith]

    [Reminder: Please check the mission progress in your Status Window]

    ...

    "Woahhh... Jerem''s spell is super cool. It can even kill a bloody ghost..." Charlotte mumbled audibly after seeing the notifications stating about her rewards.

    After all, Charlotte had seen with her own eyes when some people tried to attack the Wraith with a wooden stool, for those attacks were to no avail at all, as they went through the Wraith''s body like passing through water.

    However, Jeremy''s spell proved absolutely otherwise...

    "Hmm... Status Window? Oh, right! The tutorial mission..."

    If someone was around Charlotte right now, they must have thought she was a crazy bitch who liked talking to her own self.

    Then Charlotte shouted loudly into the air,

    "Status Window!"

    Of course, like an idiot would do...

    ...

    Name: Charlotte Rosenberg

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: None

    Title: Talkative Little Girl (Inactive)

    Affinities:

    - Earth (Common): 41.1%

    - Nature (Common): 44.6%

    Talent: None

    Trait: Talkative

    Achievement: None

    Tutorial Mission: Survive I

    ...

    After looking at her Status Window and seeing nothing had changed, Charlotte focused her mind on the Tutorial Mission section.

    Soon, a transparent window containing Charlotte''s Tutorial Missions popped up in front of her...

    Then even before Charlotte could take a look carefully at her tutorial missions list, a small window showed up shielding her front view first...

    ...

    ˇş Congrattions. You''ve earned a qualification to enter into the second stage of the Tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş Would you like to exchange ˇď for a teleportation ticket? ˇ»

    ˇş Yes ©¦ No ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing so, Charlotte smiled in delight before choosing the ''Yes'' option without a second thought at all.

    She didn''t want to stay in this haunted manor anymore...

    Nobody knew when another ghostly Wraith would appear again, so the faster she got out of here, the better...

    Just like that, Charlotte''s body was teleported away silently, leaving other survivors to fend for themselves...

    A brief second before Charlotte''s bodypletely disappeared from the ce, she finally had a chance to look at the current progress of her Tutorial Missions...

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive Iˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (ˇď)

    ? Survive 5 cycles of day and night (ˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a vengeful Wraith (ˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (ˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a spiteful Banshee (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? ??? (?)

    ˇş After finishing one of the Tutorial Missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage.ˇ»

 Chapter 99 - The Word Mystery Doesnt Exist In Jeremys Dictionary

    At a particr oval amphitheater inside a separate dimension...

    At this moment, a full-body armor warrior appeared to have a spear de protruding out through his neck while fresh blood was seeping out from the wound gaps ceaselessly...

    *Plush*

    *Thud*

    The spear was pulled out from the warrior''s neck swiftly, causing the man''s body to drop to the ground with a thudding sound...

    *Gurgle*

    *Gurgle*

    Fresh blood oozed out from the big wound on the warrior''s neck incessantly with the gurgling sounds as his body jerked and convulsed constantly.

    While the convulsing warrior on the ground was also using his two hands to prevent the blood froming out, but it was pointless...

    Shortly after, the man finally stopped moving...

    "Woahhh!!!"

    "KILLL!!!"

    "He won again!!"

    "Blood, more!!!"

    "Yeahhh!!!"

    The cheering noises resounded out sonorously within the arena once again after seeing the sight of someone''s death...

    *Fwuu...*

    Upon exhaling a long breath of cold air, Jeremy thought to himself while some sweat droplets seeped out from his forehead,

    ''The man can really give me a decent fight, huh...''

    Indeed, the battle earlier had given Jeremy quite a challenge because he was attacked twice caused by the warrior''s skills and somewhat superior strength, causing Jeremy''s mana field to be projected twice in a short time of six or seven minutes.

    Then a transparent window popped up in front of him...

    ...

    [You have received 986 SP]

    [You have received 4xˇď for sessfully killing a no-named Initiate Warrior]

    [You have 10 minutes for recuperating]

    ...

    ''A no-named initiate warrior?'' Jeremy thought to himself as his blue eyes lightened up.

    Then after the notifications stating about the rewards disappeared from Jeremy''s sight, other ones showed up instead...

    ...

    [You have received 10,000 SP for sessfully meeting the trial''s objective]

    [Would you like to be teleported outside?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    ''Well... the answer is obvious...''

    After thinking so, Jeremy used his mind to choose the ''No'' option, and then the interface promptly faded out from his view.

    Upon looking briefly at the notifications, Jeremy thought further,

    ''If the boost of battle prowess continues increasing with this trend... Then, my next enemy should be as strong as the kobold or even a bit stronger.''

    ''I might have to use magic to lessen the mana consumption from activating the mana field projection...''

    After thinking about his future opponent and how to handle them, Jeremy crouched down to touch the dead warrior''s cold body...

    ''Analyze''

    Simultaneously, a small window popped up in front of him...

    ...

    Race: Human (Artificial Species - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Initiate Warrior (Substage 1 of ss 1 Warrior)

    Status: Dead ˇŞ Assumed to be dead because of blood loss caused by a sharp object prating through his neck.

    Description: A low-rank organism that is decently familiar with an Aura energy particle, leading his physical body to be developed and more potent than his peers of the same ss.

    ...

    ''Indeed, from the description alone has stated clearly that the man is stronger than the previous enemy. Then, the following one should be someone I cannot underestimate...'' Jeremy thought with a slight frown.

    Then without further dawdling, Jeremy walked back towards the arena''s centermost area before bringing out the same wooden chair from his left glove.

    Afterward, Jeremy sat down on the chair and waited patiently for the next battle...

    ...

    Almost ten minutester...

    The ck-cloaked Jeremy was seen standing with a spear in hand while looking silently at the dark passageway in front of him.

    To be exact, he was staring at the ck silhouette which wasing out from the inside.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    When the creature''s appearance became more apparent, the crowd''s cheering came once again like a big tide.

    However, Jeremy ignored those audiences and focused his mind entirely on the creature ahead of him.

    ''It wears such a minimal amount of clothes. Does it have a fetish of exhibitionism or what? Hmm... it doesn''t wear shoes either...''

    Jeremy thought while scrutinizing the creature carefully...

    The iing creature was only around one meter and a half in height. Even though it was somewhat shortpared to humans, it had two long arms which should almost reach the ground if extended fully.

    It had an almost rounded head, dark-purple eyes, long rocky eyebrows, yellow-brown skin, and a somewhat muscr yet plump body.

    Behind the creature''s back were rough hidesprised of rocks instead of skins like humans. It had light-brown rocky hair, round ck eyes, and strange white tattoos spanning its entire body.

    ''Not a human? Hmm... from the looks, considering that pure elemental races are now extinct, the one in front of me should be a half-elemental race.''

    Jeremy pondered to himself while using his left hand to scratch his chin lightly. Then he tilted his head a bit to the side and thought while still scratching his chin,

    ''Well, it looks familiar. I think I know its race... what is it again?''

    ''Hmm...''

    ''Right! It''s a Goron from the Goron race, which is specialized in Earth element.''

    [A/N: This is how a Goron looks like.]

    After some seconds, Jeremy finally knew what the creature actually was. Fortunately, the information regarding the half-elemental race was still with him instead of inside his soul.

    Pertaining to the so-called half-elemental races, they were the ounder races specialized in their respective elements inherited from the pure elemental races since birth.

    All of the half-elemental races were born from some ''deeds'' of the ancient pure elemental races, which were now extinct several tens of eras ago.

    The reason why those pure elemental races were extinct was still a ''mystery'' until now. Most people on Ortus only knew that those races suddenly disappeared one day and were never to be seen again.

    Anyhow, for Jeremy, who had the Mystery Decipherer title, the word like ''mystery'' didn''t really exist in his dictionary as he knew why the elemental races disappeared from Ortus.

    At this moment, it could be seen that the half-elemental creature in front of Jeremy was closely rted to the Earth element simply because of the rocky hides stuck behind the creature''s back and above its head.

    ''Even though it is just a young one, this will be a real tough battle...''

    Jeremy thought with a slight frown after thinking about how a half-elemental creature could do.

    To be honest, even the Goron in front of him had this ''tiny'' body size, ''childish'' appearance, and behind the Goron had only a ''minimal'' amount of rocks, it would still pose a threat to Jeremy if he didn''t take it seriously.

    Also, if Jeremy really had to face the older one than the Goron ahead of him, he might think that this trial was a total scam, intending to reap Earthlings'' lives with no way out for them.

    ''Let''s see...''

    Jeremy thought while looking at the now-stopping Goron. Then he opened his mouth to talk to it,

    "Hi, young one. How are you?"

    "..."

    The young Goron widened his eyes in surprise upon hearing Jeremy''s words, not expecting the human ahead could actually speak a universalnguage.

    "I know that you understand me. Won''t we talk for a bit before we start?" Jeremy added with a smile after seeing no response from his astonished opponent.

    "..."

    "..."

    The two sides stood in a deadlock while staring at one another in the eyes for quite some seconds....

 Chapter 100 - The HalfElemental Race, Goron (1)

    After some seconds, the Goron, who had heard Jeremy''s words for the second time, finally opened its thick lips to talk but with a cautious expression,

    "What do you want?"

    "Well, you can talk, huh." Jeremy said teasingly.

    ''It seems like the stronger the enemy is, the more emotions and sentience they will have... The System is indeed incredible; how can it create these living creatures anyway?''

    Jeremy thought to himself ponderingly after hearing his opponent''s reply, as it seemed like he only wanted to test the mind''s capability of the Goron, that''s all.

    Upon witnessing such a mocking word from his opponent, the young Goron furrowed its rocky brows in annoyance before saying,

    "Hmph! Of course, I can. I''m not mute. Will you tell me now, what do you want?"

    "Nah... I''m just teasing you earlier. Anyway, do you have a name?" Jeremy replied and asked with a smile towards the annoyed Goron.

    After hearing the opponent asking for his name, the young Goron thought for a bit before deciding to answer truthfully,

    "Yes, my name is Gorogorogomugomuno."

    Upon hearing the young ounder''s long name, Jeremy''s eyes widened in amazement for a bit...

    "Oh, what a frickin'' long name you have here. As for mine, it''s simply Jeremy. Emm... By the way, who gives you the name?" Jeremy introduced himself and asked the young Goron once again.

    "..."

    When the yellow creature had heard those words, it suddenly got stunned, having an uncertain-looking expression...

    "I... well... I don''t quite remember that." The young Goron replied in confusion after trying hard to think about who had given its name.

    Was it his mom? But who was she?

    Was it his dad? But who was he?

    Or was it an ophan?

    ''Well, it looks so confused; did I just make it doubt its own life?''

    Jeremy thought wonderingly after knowing that the creature in front of him actually had a name.

    After all, it was pretty surprising for an artificial creature to have a name.

    Nheless, it won''t be surprising anymore if the said artificial creature was created by the System and bestowed its name by the same System.

    At this time, the confused Gorogorogomugomuno suddenly shook its head to discard the unnecessary thoughts from its mind and finally said,

    "That''s enough; you will die soon anyway, so no more talking. Let us start already..."

    After saying so, the impatient Goron, who stood more than ten meters away, suddenly raised its right arm before swinging the said arm in Jeremy''s direction.

    Strange enough, the rocky hides were suddenly detached from behind of the Goron''s right hand, subsequently flew towards Jeremy swiftly at almost half of the bullet''s speed.

    At first nce, the attack looked fatal, and nobody would love to use their body to tank such a thing...

    ''What an impatient guy...'' Jeremy thought lightly after seeing the Goron had suddenly attacked him out of nowhere.

    At this time, Jeremy didn''t stay idly as he shed the spear horizontally at the iing projectile made of sharp rock.

    *Whoosh*

    *ng*

    When the two objects hit one another, the nging sound rang out within the arena...

    "Woahh!!"

    "KILLL!!!"

    "Go ahead and kill him!!"

    The cheering sounds came pouring in from the seating people incessantly when the first shed began...

    As if responding to the audiences'' bloody desire, Jeremy constantly kicked off the ground and dashed towards the standing-still Goron.

    *Tabdak* *Tabdak*

    *Tabdak* *Tabdak*

    Jeremy''s footstep noises resounded out within the arena, but they were all drowned in by the crowd''s cheering voices...

    Right when Jeremy finally reached halfway towards the yellow creature, thetter suddenly swung its two long arms in Jeremy''s direction at the same time.

    *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

    Two sharp yellow rocks were flung towards the approaching Jeremy swiftly, whereas Jeremy had already calcted where those two wouldnd on his body. Hence, he swung his spear towards the two, aiming to intercept them at the same time...

    *ng* *ng*

    After the two consecutive nging sounds rang out, the two flying rocks were deflected away from Jeremy''s dashing path as they dropped and skidded on the ground behind him...

    When the young Goron saw its attacks being deflected away so easily, it was amazed at the human''s fighting capability.

    However, a kid was still a kid as it suddenly said towards the iing Jeremy in confidence,

    "You are good, human, but I''m better than you in close-rangebat."

    Upon finishing its boast, the arrogant Goron sprinted towards the approaching Jeremy quickly, not intending to let thetter have the initiative in the melee.

    ''Nah... I know your race better than you do, kiddo.''

    Jeremy thought annoyingly when he saw the enemy didn''t want to lose out, rushing straight at him to engage in a melee battle.

    When the two sides had reached the optimum range for Jeremy to attack, he did so without any hesitation.

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy shed the spear down in a nt angle towards the rushing Goron''s arm area, creating the whooshing sound from the long spear moving through the air...

    "Hmph!"

    Upon seeing the iing spear de, the young Goron only harrumphed in scorn. Simultaneously, the rocky hides from behind its body started expanding and extending towards the front side, covering its entire left arm with white-yellow hard rocks within a split second.

    *ng!*

    "Ahh!?"

    The nging sound echoed out loudly from the sh, followed by the young Goron''s surprised voice.

    Even though the yellow skin ounder had received no wound from the spear de earlier, its body was still flung past Jeremy''s body to some meters away to the left side.

    It indeed felt surprised at the human''s physical strength...

    However...

    Upon regaining its bnce back, the young Goron promptly dashed towards Jeremy again with explosive speed.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy also shed the steel spear horizontally towards the Goron''s neck.

    Just likest time, the rocky hides from behind the yellow creature''s neck expanded towards the front side, covering its neck entirely in a split second...

    *ng*

    The young Goron flew to the side once again, without being able to reach Jeremy at all...

    Right when its body had hit the ground, the young ounder suddenly curled up to the ground in front of it, making its body be round like a ball with its rocky body parts facing Jeremy.

    *Tumble* *Tumble*

    The curl-up Goron spun and rolled towards Jeremy like a car wheel...

    ''Well, I''m afraid my spear de will be chipped after this battle.''

    Jeremy thought annoyingly after seeing the rolling Goroning towards him swiftly.

 Chapter 101 - The HalfElemental Race, Goron (2)

    At first nce, the tumbling Goron''s speed easily exceeded 100 mph...

    If Jeremy were to be hit directly, his body would either be blown towards the wall heavily or be a meat paste under the rolling rocky Goron.

    *Rururururu*

    The big rolling rock came towards Jeremy swiftly, so he hurriedly jumped away from its path, not intending to chip his spear de by attacking the spinning Goron just yet.

    *p* *p*

    The wind shear rushed past Jeremy like a small hurricane, causing his ck cloak to p along with the gusting wind...

    *Boom!*

    Then the sound of the Goron''s rocky body hitting against the stone wall rang out within the arena, causing some cracks and dents on the stone wall.

    *Crumble* *Crumble*

    Some stone pieces fell to the ground from the cracks...

    At this time, the young Goron, who had rolled on the ground earlier, suddenly stood up from its curling position.

    Then the yellow skin creature turned to face Jeremy, who stood in the middle area of the arena. After that, the muddled Goron shook its head left and right to clear its mind, stunned by the impact earlier.

    After a few seconds of shaking its round head from side to side, the young Goron''s eyes finally gained back the rity. Then it stared at Jeremy standing at the distance briefly.

    Without further ado, the young ounder rushed towards Jeremy quickly, intending to enter a melee battle once again. Simultaneously, Jeremy also dashed towards the approaching Goron swiftly.

    Not long after, when they were close enough to one another, Jeremy suddenly canceled his momentum by putting his left leg in the front while retracting the spear backward...

    *Scrooch...*

    Consequently, Jeremy''s left boot created a scrubbing noise against the yellow soil...

    When he was finally in a correct posture and stance, Jeremy promptly thrust the spear forward powerfully, as the dashing momentum earlier seemed to be added within his right hand, causing the spear thrust to be more powerful than it usually was...

    *Fwhoosh*

    The spear de traveled in the air at sound speed, creating a subtle supersonic wave in the still air...

    Simultaneously, the young Goron had already been prepared for Jeremy''s thrust even before it came running towards him.

    In fact, the creature was long ready for the spear sh which it had faced earlier, but the spear thrust like this would do, too.

    At this time, the young Goron promptly used its left arm to shield the front view and controlled the rocky hides to extend ''outward'', making it look like a proper, round rocky shield now.

    Consequently...

    *Fwhoosh*

    *ng!!*

    *Crack*

    The spear de and rocky shield shed against one another loudly, creating a nging sound... followed by the sound of an object being broken at almost the same time.

    Right now, the two sides came into a standstill from the powerful exchange earlier while standing around four meters away from each other.

    Then...

    *tter* *tter*

    A small piece of the said broken object eventually dropped to the ground with the ttering noises...

    "Woahhh!!!"

    "Kill him!!!"

    "Want more blood!!!"

    "KILLL!!!"

    Like always, the cheering sounds from the audiences echoed out loudly within the rip-off Zodia Arena, causing the atmosphere to be heated all the time of battling...

    ''The hell... It does not chip at all... It is fucking broken now.'' Jeremy thought bitterly upon seeing his spear de being broken in half.

    Then Jeremy turned his head to look at the Goron''s shield and thought further,

    ''How can a rock withstand the steel''s hardness anyway? Well... at least there is a small hole on its rocky hides now.'' Jeremy pacified himself with some nonsensible excuse.

    Unfortunately, the gaping hole behind the young Goron''s hand wasn''t deep enough to cause any real damage to its smooth yellow skin at all.

    At this moment, when the Goron saw the enemy''s spear de was broken in half from the previous sh, it suddenly smiled in delight...

    Then the delighted Goron promptly swung its right hand in Jeremy''s direction, intending to give a surprise fatal blow when thetter was still distracted from his spear de being broken.

    *Whoosh*

    A stone shard flew towards Jeremy, whom stood only five meters away swiftly...

    If it were other people, they would have been hit undoubtedly, but Jeremy was wholly prepared for the enemy''s ranged attack.

    So, he only sidestepped lightly to the left side at the exact moment before the Goron swung its right arm.

    Jeremy had already predicted its attack''s trajectory, as the attack had a very high probability of being aimed towards his head or body, so doing a sidestep was one of the best choices he could do right now...

    *Whoosh*

    As predicted, the sharp stone piece flew past Jeremy''s head dangerously, as he even heard the whooshing sound created from the object moving through the air very clearly...

    "What the...?"

    The young Goron eximed in shock after seeing its surprise attack being dodged so easily.

    But it had no time to be shocked for long because the ck-cloaked Jeremy had alreadye rushing towards it swiftly...

    As the distance between the two was only five meters or so, Jeremy had to take only two or three steps before he was in the attacking range of his spear.

    So...

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy swung his ''broken'' spear towards the yellow skin creature''s round head swiftly...

    At the same time, the young Goron also raised the rocky shield to defend against the iing spear strike.

    *ng*

    The nging noise resounded out again...

    Meanwhile, the young Goron scrunched up its face while preparing to give Jeremy a powerful punch by using its right rocky fist, but...

    *Whoosh*

    Another spear strike came from another direction of the previous attack as Jeremy had done a roundhouse spear sh, utilized by the deflected momentum earlier...

    When the yellow skin creature saw such a horrific attacking towards it swiftly, it hurriedly lifted the rocky shield on its left hand to defend against the human''s attack once again.

    *ng!!*

    "Oraaa!!"

    The young Goron gritted its teeth strongly while letting out a strange noise ''Oraaa'' from its mouth...

    Meanwhile, the short and plump creature flew two meters obliquely to the right side from the sheer impact.

    *Huuu...*

    At this time, Jeremy also heaved out a long breath after unleashing such powerful spear strikes with all his might continuously...

    ''Still... I cannot hurt it at all...''

    Jeremy thought helplessly while looking at the skidding Goron.

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the author''s thoughts below.]

 Chapter 102 - The HalfElemental Race, Goron (3)

    *Scrooch...*

    At this moment, after receiving such a strong strike from Jeremy, the creature was now skidding on the yellow dirt with its two feet, creating two shallow grooves along the way to some meters away.

    When the young ounder finally stopped scrubbing with the dirt ground, it inhaled deeply before letting out the breath from his mouth...

    *Guuuu...*

    Then the yellow skin creature turned to look at Jeremy, who stood at some distance away, with hateful eyes.

    How could it not feel a tad bit resentful towards Jeremy after being hit left and right, causing it to feel numb on its left arm?

    Because the young Goron''s physical strength was roughly the same as Jeremy''s first opponent, causing the former to be somewhat weaker than Jeremy physically.

    Even though the yellow skin ounder hadn''t received any wound on its body just yet, it was still hit left and right ever since the fight started.

    Unbeknownst to the furious Goron, Jeremy also felt quite frustrated for not being able to leave even a tiny mark on his opponent''s skin.

    Nevertheless, the young Goron had gotten angry for real...

    "Die, human!"

    The furious Goron shouted aloud while swung its rocky shield in Jeremy''s direction.

    Simultaneously, the rocky shield suddenly disintegrated into many small pieces before whizzing towards Jeremy swiftly.

    ''Damn...''

    Jeremy cursed within his mind while ''time'' seemed to slow down for a split second as his eyes were observing intently to find a gap between those shrapnels, but there was really none as more than 30 shards wereing towards him at the same time...

    Still, if there was no gap, Jeremy had to create one instead then...

    At this moment, Jeremy suddenly swung the spear obliquely from above, intending to hit as many rocky shrapnels as possible.

    *Whoosh*

    *ng* *ng*

    *ng* *ng*

    The sounds of the steel spear hitting against the sharp rocks rang out more than four times continuously...

    Which meant Jeremy had simply deflected more than four sharp shards with one spear strike...

    Even so...

    *tter* *tter*

    *tter* *tter*

    The ttering noises from the sharp stones shing against a filmy barrier around Jeremy rang out more than several times at almost the same time...

    Atst, Jeremy mana''s field projection was activated for the first time in this fight, causing him to lose some of his limited mana.

    ''Well, that''s almost 1% of my precious... Fuck!''

    Right when Jeremy was thinking about his precious mana...

    *Tumble* *Tumble*

    A rounded rocky boulder suddenly came rolling in his direction swiftly...

    *Rururururu*

    The rocky ball skidded on the ground, creating strange noises for any onlooker to hear...

    At this time, Jeremy had no time to dodge at all as it seemed like the moment the furious Goron had unleashed its shrapnels, it promptly transformed into its rolling mode, not intending to give Jeremy a room to breathe whatsoever.

    Thus, Jeremy could only grit his teeth and held the spear shaft horizontally with two hands, aiming to use it as a contingent shield.

    A split secondter...

    *ng*

    *Siiziziziiziizi*

    Followed by the nging noise was the sound of the hardened rock spinning and churning rapidly against the steel shaft...

    *Schrooooch...*

    Meanwhile, Jeremy''s feet constantly skidded on the yellow dirt with a scrooching noise, creating two shallow grooves along the way.

    After some seconds...

    *Grunt*

    Jeremy, who was holding the spear shaft tightly, had bulging veins appear on his forehead and arms like they were about to implode from within.

    *Schrooch...*

    After Jeremy was dragged almost four meters behind by the rolling Goron, he promptly jumped up from the ground and hurled his body to the right side while still gripping the spear haft firmly.

    As a result, the spinning Goron went past Jeremy''s body swiftly, heading towards the wall while still rolling on the ground the same as earlier.

    *Rururururu*

    The rolling Goron went further and further away from Jeremy...

    Not long after...

    *Boom!*

    The noise of impact echoed out boomingly for the second time ever since the fight started...

    Meanwhile, the people sitting on the stone seats above the wall also cheered and stimted the battle even more...

    "YAYYYY!!!"

    "More, more!!"

    "KILLL!!!"

    "I want to see blood!!"

    "Kill him!!!"

    At this time, around the arena''s center area...

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy, who had justnded back on the ground, eventually let out a long breath after finally escaping from the tough predicament, unscratched.

    Right now, the young Goron, who had just hit the wall earlier, also stood up from the ground while using its two hands to hold its big head in pain.

    "Ah... headache... My head is spinning like shit!" The young Goron cussed at the feeling of dizziness it felt right now.

    After some seconds, the dazed Goron finally raised its head to look at the ck-cloaked human and spoke up with a mocking expression,

    "Hehehe, your weapon is broken now. What will you do, human?"

    When Jeremy had heard such a childish taunt, he only replied back with a yful smile,

    "Nah... I still have a trump card or two left in my sleeve. Also, instead of mocking me, won''t it be better to take a look at your own dumb head?"

    Upon hearing the human''s words, the young Goron got perplexed at first before it suddenly realized something.

    "My dumb head...?"

    The Goron mumbled lightly. Then it raised its long right arm to touch its ''supposed'' smooth forehead...

    "It''s wet..." The young Goron mumbled to itself again.

    Afterward, it brought its now-wet hand to the front to take a look carefully...

    *Drop*

    *Drop*

    Suddenly, some orange blood droplets fell on the ground...

    "Hell... My head is bleeding!"

    The young Goron said in surprise and captivation as if it had only seen its own blood for the first time.

    Well, it might indeed be its first time seeing its own orange blood...

    Then the mesmerized Goron raised its head to look at Jeremy, who stood almost twenty meters away, and said,

    "You are capable enough to make me bleed."

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the author''s thoughts below.]

 Chapter 103 - The HalfElemental Race, Goron (4)

    "You are capable enough to make me bleed."

    Upon hearing the young Goron''s exmation, Jeremy''s eyes went dazed for a split second...

    ''What the hell... How in the world can I make it bleed like that? I haven''t scratched even its yellow skin yet.'' Jeremy thought in bafflement.

    Indeed, the ounder''s bleeding forehead was clearly caused by its own two hands, for Jeremy had only jumped away to avoid its rolling body, that''s all.

    Furthermore, Jeremy still hadn''t gone past the creature''s solid external defensiveyers yet.

    How could he make it bleed in the first ce?

    Nheless, Jeremy''s thoughts were all unbeknownst to the ignorant Goron right now as it continued talking with an admiring expression,

    "I have to say that you are pretty strong... well, that is, strong enough for a mere human."

    Unfortunately, thedy luck was not on the young Goron''s side, for it had just made the biggest mistake it could have ever made in its entire short lifespan...

    "Hmm...?"

    "A mere human?" Jeremy eximed and replied with a light smile, but his eyes started narrowing dangerously at the word ''mere''.

    How could a descendant creature of the now-extinct race say such an insulting word towards him, the former great sage?

    If it were so like the creature had said, wouldn''t Jeremy be a former sage of the ''mere'' humanity now?

    The yellow skin ounder was simply courting death with its unthoughtful and unmindful wording...

    Well...

    As if still not realizing that Jeremy didn''t ask for an answer when he replied to it earlier, the ignorant Goron added even further,

    "Yes, your human race is supposed to be weak... Way weaker physically and elementally than us, the elemental races. Thus, it is very strange to see a human has so much strength capable of contending with me."

    To be honest, the young Goron''s general knowledge rted to Ortus and the races living on the said should be pretty limited. The reason it was this short-sighted and simple-minded should be that the System had only input a minimal amount of knowledge inside the creature''s brain for simplicity''s sake.

    But who have known that the said ''simplicity''s sake'' would backfire on the young Goron instead...

    Still, when Jeremy had heard those words, his narrowly dangerous eyes seemed to be shooting aser beam out all of a sudden.

    Anyhow, it couldn''t be denied that Jeremy''s pride was a bit ''disturbed'' from the creature''s truthful words, for humans were indeed within the weaker side ''physically''pared to most races on Ortus.

    However, for the human race to survive ''this long'' on the giant full of beasts and monsters had clearly signified that it ought to have some unique ways of cultivation and technique to maintain and make itself strong enough to fend off any iing dangers.

    Shortly after, Jeremy finally changed his altitude back to his casual one of the same old harmless-looking smile that somehow felt so dangerous to any onlooker, and then he spoke to the Goron informatively,

    "Your statement is only partly correct, uneducated ounder. In fact, humans are not all physically weak as you have said... It is just that... we, humans have too many paths to tread upon. And unfortunately, only one or two paths from those many paths will truly lead to an increase in our physical body strength. Also, regarding the elemental affinity, you are indeed mostly correct, but there ought to be some exceptions no matter where it is within this universe... You know about the world too little, ignorant creature."

    Actually, Jeremy''s words were primarily correct, whether it be the part of ''uneducated ounder'', ''physical body strength'', or ''the exceptions of everything''. However, the ignorant Goron didn''t think so in the least, for it to have too little knowledge.

    Upon receiving such a sudden and long educational speech from an inferior human, the Goron promptly felt dissatisfied, so it replied in scorn while clearly showing an unpleased expression on its rounded face,

    "Is that so? Hmph! But no matter how good the so-called exceptions of your race''s elemental affinities are, they will never be higher than ours, elemental races'' affinities."

    When Jeremy had heard those self-centered words, he could only shake his head and thought to within his mind in sarcasm as he didn''t want to talk with it any further,

    ''That exception is me... idiot... And how can you self-proim yourself as one of the elemental races anyway?''

    ''You are nothing but a weak grub of a half-elemental race, the descendant race of the long-extinct pure elemental race.''

    ''The more I argue with a kid, the more nuts I be...''

    After thinking so, Jeremy shook his head slightly as he decided to cut to the chase with no further arguing with the young Goron anymore...

    "Now, can we continue our battle?" Jeremy said towards the young Goron, who had a slight bleeding wound on its head.

    After hearing a sudden challenge from the somewhat strong human, the yellow skin ounder replied with confidence,

    "Hahaha! Good, I will show you what an elemental race like us can do."

    Right when the Goron had prepared to dash towards Jeremy, thetter spoke up once again,

    "Before that... Anyhow, do you believe in magic?"

    Upon hearing such a strange term, the young Goron felt confused, so it asked,

    "Magic? What is that?"

    To be frank, it couldn''t be helped that some uneducated creatures didn''t know about the term ''Magic'', for it to be something very unique for the human race.

    Also, the information and knowledge imparted to it from the System were not that much in amount, so the yellow skin ounder was truly clueless, like when Jeremy had asked about its name.

    Actually, the said ''Magic'' could also be called by another name as ''Spell''...

    When Jeremy saw the Goron shaking its head in denial regarding the terms of magic, he smiled mysteriously and spoke up,

    "Alright then, how about taking a look at this thing?"

    Having finished saying so, mana particles from Jeremy''s three dantians promptly rushed towards his right palm at the same time.

 Chapter 104 - Jeremys Decision And Baby (1)

    The mana particlesing out from the three dantians went through many meridian pathways along the way within Jeremy''s body towards his right palm and then started forming into a circr shape the size of a tennis ball.

    When the young Goron saw something so amazing for the first time, it eximed excitedly,

    "Woah, It''s amazing... wait... that''s mana? How...? You can wield mana!?"

    But its excitement was short-lived...

    Three secondster, a light-blue ball was finally formed above Jeremy''s palm...

    Amazingly enough, Jeremy cast a mana bolt spell ''without'' any incantation.

    If any human mage saw someone whom was not even a proper true mage did such a thing, they might have cried out tears of blood.

    Because... a chantless spell could only be achieved by a high-level mage, who had gained ess into their sea of consciousness.

    "Yes, it is mana. Furthermore, it is chantless. You know... humans like us can wield mana and elements at the same time, unlike you guys, stupid elemental races, which can only utilize elemental energy."

    Upon finishing his cruel sarcasm towards the stupefied half-elemental creature, Jeremy took a pitching stance with his left leg in the front, and his right leg was behind.

    When the yellow creature saw such a sight, it suddenly came out from its stupor as it felt a dangerous premonitioning out strongly from the human...

    "Full elemental body!!" The Goron shouted loudly to activate its ultimate ability without any hesitation.

    After that, the rocky hides behind the young Goron seemingly came into life as they promptly became thickened and moved to cover its entire body within a few seconds, leaving no gap behind at all.

    ''Well, I hope that elemental form is limited to defense only, or else, I will have to use tier-1 spells to battle with it...''

    Jeremy thought inwardly while he put all of his body''s momentum on the right arm before throwing the mana bolt in his right hand swiftly towards the transforming Goron.

    As it was only a young Goron with pretty limited Earth maniption, it could only stand still while focusing its entire mind on controlling the rocky hides to cover its body.

    That''s why the Goron could only stand in ce and watch silently as the mana bolt came flying straight towards its big stomach... well, with a fearful expression clearly stered on its face.

    *Whoosh*

    The mana bolt flew towards the short yellow creature at breakneck speed while still maintaining the rounded shape as it moved...

    Right when the rocky hides had finally covered the young Goron''s body thoroughly, the mana bolt also arrived at its stomach.

    And they eventually collided...

    *BOOOOMMM!!!*

    The explosion''s deafening sound rang out within the arena, drowning in the bystanders'' cheering voices for a few seconds.

    Dust and debris from the yellow soil and rocky pieces came flying here and there, clouding the entire area where the young Goron stood beforepletely.

    A split secondter, a yellow silhouette suddenly flew out from the clouded area at a fast speed...

    *Whoosh*

    If a person looked closely at the airborne creature''s stomach, the person would see a gaping hole that could be seen through to the view behind.

    The young Goron''s body flew back towards the high wall behind it, leaving an orange blood trail and organ pieces gruesomely along the way.

    *Thump*

    In the end, the young ounder''s plump body hit heavily against the stone wall, causing its body to bounce back one meter away from the ce of impact.

    *Thud*

    The young Goron eventually fell face down towards the ground, showing no movement ever again...

    "Woahhh!!!"

    "Death, again!!!"

    "The challenger won!!!"

    "Blood!!!"

    "Yayyy!!!!"

    The exciting cheering and appreciating apuding noises reverberated out loudly after the Goron''s body fell to the ground with a thudding sound...

    ''Arrogant prick...'' Jeremy thought while shaking his head slightly...

    Soon after, a window of notifications showed up in front of him...

    ...

    [You have received 1,420 SP]

    [You have received 5xˇď for sessfully killing Gorogorogomugomuno of the Goron race]

    [You have 10 minutes for recuperating]

    ...

    ''Hmm... my hunch had told me earlier that there must be some hidden meanings behind the so-called no-named Initiate Warriors. But right now, the enemy suddenly has a name and a long one at that.'' Jeremy thought to himself with a slight frown after seeing the notifications about the ''sumptuous'' rewards.

    Soon after the notifications about the rewards disappeared from Jeremy''s sight, other ones showed up promptly, distracting him out of his deep thought...

    ...

    [You have received 3xˇď for sessfullypleting the trial''s hidden objective]

    [Would you like to be teleported outside?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    After seeing the new notifications in front of him, Jeremy suddenly fell into a dilemma,

    ''Hmm... Considering that there is a ten-minute resting time for me, it means there is another battle. However... my third opponent is already this strong, and my spear de is also broken. If I choose to fight another battle, then...''

    It couldn''t be denied that the rewards Jeremy received from this trial so far were quite heaven-defying as he had gained fifteen ck stars from defeating just three enemies.

    So, if he fought another ''tougher'' battle, wouldn''t he get even more ck stars?

    That''s why Jeremy was weighing the pros and cons of his situation currently...

    One side was his cautious behavior, which was to conserve the mana for the uing dangers...

    Another side was his greedy self, which wanted to gain every precious thing within this trial regardless of the mana consumption...

    *Fwuu...*

    Atst, Jeremy let out a long breath from his mouth before thinking,

    ''Fuck it! The ck stars are too precious to miss in any way. Even if I have to take some risk, it is still within a tolerable level.''

    Jeremy''s eyes suddenly shone with a firm resolve... Well, it should be ''shone with a firm greed'' instead.

    As a result, Jeremy promptly chose not to be teleported outside yet, so the interface disappeared shortly after.

    However...

    In contrast to Jermey''s expectation that the interface would disappear once and for all because another transparent interface suddenly popped up instead, and this time it actually came directly from the System itself...

    ...

    ˇş It is rmended strongly that the contestant chooses toplete the trial and be teleported outside, for the next opponent''s battle prowess is perceived to be within the realm of impossible to pass for the current Le''Liac humans'' standards of strength ˇ»

    ˇş Hereby, the System shall grant you another chance to rethink your decision again ˇ»

    ˇş Would you like to be teleported outside? ˇ»

    ˇş Yes ©¦ No ˇ»

 Chapter 105 - Jeremys Decision And Baby (2)

    When Jeremy saw the System''s warning notifications, he had to admit that he was taken aback significantly.

    After all, it was rare... very rare that the renowned System would give out such a warning towards an individual.

    To be honest, most beings on Ortus knew how unkind the System was as it always treated all things equally and impartially.

    No matter when or where, the System would never reach its hands out to interfere with the Ortus'' rted affairs ''if'' the thing or event had happened ''naturally'' and progress in the ways that it should be.

    In this case, it simply meant the reason why the System had decided to interfere was that it had judged this hard-difficulty trial to be too unfair for the contestant from Earth.

    First of all, the System had changed the objective from three wins to two wins for a contestant to pass the trial and eventually leave this ce.

    Secondly, it realized the fourth battle was too hard for an Earthling to pass, and somehow an Earthling, Jeremy chose not to be taken out of this ce, so the System had no choice but to interfere again this time.

    Well, considering the System had already reached out its oldzy ass to help an individual from predicaments two times consecutively, it only signified that the cupid had only designed this hard-difficulty trial roughly and half-heartedly.

    To be honest, who could me the half-baked cupid anyway?

    In the first ce, no sane Earthling woulde challenging the normal-difficulty trial, let alone the hard one, which Jeremy was in right now.

    After standing still for a few seconds, Jeremy finally came back to his senses...

    ''How hard will it be for the System to interfere like this?'' Jeremy thought with a profound-looking frown on his forehead.

    ''Should I just change my mind and leave this ce once and for all?''

    ''Well...''

    ''That will never happen, not after I turn this trial upside down first. I know all too well that the System is fair, so the rewards should be fair too. Hehehe...''

    Atst, Jeremy smiled and chuckled mysteriously at the thought of the future mountain load of rewards.

    It appeared that there were no such words as ''defeat'' or ''give up'' lingering within the former sage''s mind at all.

    He was just that confident in his own battling power and strength...

    ''If I will have to fight with a powerful opponent, then I better do it full-heartedly...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy chose the ''No'' option like thest time, causing the interface to disappear from his sight.

    Then Jeremy turned in a particr direction before walking there slowly...

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    Right now, Jeremy''s footstep noises resounded out within the ''quiet'' arena, making it look like he was staying inside this oval amphitheater alone with no audience or bystander or whatever...

    ''Those human audiences will only open their mouths when a battlemences, huh. They are idiots or what?'' Jeremy thought heedlessly while sauntering towards his destination.

    Not long after, he finally arrived before the half-elemental creature''s cold corpse. Afterward, Jeremy crouched down to the ground and touched the dead Goron''s arm...

    Then he thought inwardly,

    ''Analyze''

    After willing his mind to activate the skill, a transparent window showed up in front of him shortly after...

    ...

    Race: Goron (Artificial Species - Special-Rank Organism)

    Alignment: Earth Element (Unknown Hierarchy)

    Status: Dead ˇŞ Assumed to be dead from excessive damages on many internal organs caused by an explosion in the stomach area.

    Description: A young special-rank organism specialized in Earth element; if given enough time to absorb the elemental energy in the atmosphere, it can evolve further to increase the hierarchy rankings among its peers.

    ...

    When Jeremy saw the information regarding the young Goron earlier, he raised one eyebrow in wonder.

    Then Jeremy raised his left palm to scratch his chin, making himself look like he was in deep thought...

    Well, that couldn''t be more right, as Jeremy was indeed within a deep thought,

    ''Now,e to think about it, those half-elemental creatures have their own hierarchy rankings to determine the social standings and power levels. As for how to grow in the hierarchy...''

    ''Hmm... It is not just absorbing the elemental energy in the atmosphere for sure, there should be something else thates into y here, but it looks like the needed information is still kept within my soul as I cannot recall it at all.''

    ''Wait... Then the skill doesn''t give me all the information I need... Hehh... It seems like the [Analyze] skill with ''basic'' level can only give out this half-ass and not-so-urate information, huh.''

    ''That also means I shouldn''t depend solely on this skill when I do experimentation or research... Even the items and creatures'' information received from using the [Analyze] might not be one-hundred-percent precise... well... whatever... it is just a basic level anyway. I shouldn''t expect too much from it.''

    When Jeremy had initially been thinking about some misceneous information regarding the half-elemental races, he had surprisinglye to know that the information given by the [Analyze] skill was not that urate, so he had to be careful regarding this skill.

    Thus, Jeremy decided not to rely too much on the information received from the skill...

    Shortly after, he shook his head slightly to throw away those unneeded thoughts from his head.

    Afterward, Jeremy stood up from the crouching position before going back towards the arena''s center area.

    Then he sat on the same wooden chair brought out from the left glove''s storage, intending to patiently sit there waiting for the uing ''tough'' battle.

    When Jeremy was sitting idly on the chair while taking a look around the arena to find something interesting, he had suddenly thought of something important,

    ''Oh right, I think it''s time to take a look at my baby...''

    That important thing was the so-called baby something of his...

    After finishing his thought, the white inscription on the right glove''s backhand suddenly shone in white light all of a sudden.

    Bit by bit...

    The white glow started extending upward and downward diagonally into a slim, long cylindrical shape.

    Almost ten secondster, the white light finally faded away, leaving behind a long wooden staff with a length of around 170 cm.

    At this moment, Jeremy was looking at the staff''s aesthetics with a fascinating expression. After all, he had created such a masterpiece of a staff within a mana-less world; he ought to feel somewhat attached to and proud of it.

    At first nce, the staff looked very ordinary with a long brown wooden shaft as the main body, and its whole shaft was wrapped and coiled around by many brown-grey wooden vines.

    The topmost of the staff situated a half-exposed spherical golden orb with a dashing appearance acting as the staff''s core body. As a result of the additional golden globe on top of the wooden body, the staff''s total weight became more than six kilograms.

    Even if its outer appearance looked ordinary, it still exuded elegance from within, which was capable of catching any onlooker''s attention easily.

    All in all, the appropriate weight and elegant-looking appearance had made the staff fit perfectly with Jeremy''s inhuman strength and aesthetic taste.

    The wooden staff was undoubtedly Jeremy''s hand-crafted staff, Forsaken Branch...

    [A/N: This is how the Forsaken Branch looks like.]

    After looking at the staff left and right as if looking at his own baby, Jeremy promptly activated the skill to inspect the staff''s stats...

    ''nyze''

    Simultaneously, a moderately big window containing the staff''s specific information popped up in front of Jeremy....

 Chapter 106 - A Decently Strong Opponent (1)

    Name - Forsaken Branch

    Rank - Rare

    Ability:

    1. Increase magic attack by 8%

    2. Increase mana absorption rates by 9%

    3. Decrease spell casting time by 8%

    4. Decrease mana required to cast spell by 7%

    Skill:

    1. [Life Force I - Active] - Convert the user''s mana into a target''s life force (Cooldown 2 days)

    2. [Soothing Mind - Passive] - Upon carrying this staff, the user''s mind would be calm and serene.

    Note - A rare-rank staff with diverse kinds of wooden materials from many old trees, created by a great mage from Earth.

    ...

    Upon seeing such an OP, aka overpowered stats of his first staff, Jeremy felt very proud, making him smile satisfactorily...

    Upon inspecting the staff''s stats for a whole minute, Jeremy thought in ponder to himself,

    ''Good... As I''ve thought, the Forsaken Branch''s four abilities are exactly what I want. Even though the two skills can only be considered so-so, they still have some uses in a contingency situation. Also, the ''Note''... Hmm... created by a great mage from Earth? Well... anything is good, I think.''

    Then Jeremy shifted the topic within his thought into another one,

    ''By the way... it seems the [Analyze] skill gives out the same statusyout as the ''Inspect'' skill I had in my past life. Hmm...? Or the reason why I can view all of the Forsaken Branch''s information is because I create it? This case usually happens, though...''

    ''After all, I''m pretty sure if I use the current [Analyze] on another rare-rank item, I can only receive half of the item''s information. In the first ce, this skill is only at the low-basic rank...''

    Jeremy thought fleetingly while lifting the staff to inspect here and there to see if it had any blemish on its body or not, and he continued doing so for quite some time...

    It seemed like Jeremy was not done admiring his own masterpiece, aka baby just yet...

    ...

    Some minutester...

    At the rip-off Zodia Arena, three corpsesprised of two human warriors and one yellow skin ounderid sparsely...

    Meanwhile, a ck-cloaked man was seen standing in the centermost area while lookingposedly at the metal gate in front of him.

    The man in ck looked serene, yet he was exuding out a mysterious and intimidating ''intent'' originating from his very own being.

    The man in question was obviously Jeremy; within his right hand was a wooden staff with vines coiling along the axle. On the staff''s top area was a wless-looking golden orb.

    At this time, the spacious arena waspletely quiet without any sound from the audience, bird, insect, or anything. The only sound Jeremy could hear was his own rhythmical breathing and heart-thumping sounds.

    The current calm and serene atmosphere didn''tst that long, though...

    It would be chaotic and hectic soon enough...

    Not long after, the mechanism sounds suddenly rang out within the quiet arena...

    *Creaks!*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    *Chrrrick* *Chrrrick*

    The said noises obviously originated from the metal gate in front of Jeremy...

    *Fwuu...*

    Upon seeing the gate finally open up, the long-awaiting Jeremy heaved out a long breath of hot air from his mouth and thought to himself with a hardened expression,

    ''I''m ready...''

    Atst, our former sage would finally get a chance to y with his toy...

    Having thought so, Jeremy controlled the mana particles from his three dantians towards the Forsaken Branch.

    To be exact, hemanded them towards the golden orb above the staff...

    Then the golden orb on the staff''s topmost area promptly lit up after being injected with Jeremy''s purest mana.

    Afterward, Jeremy moved the wooden staff left and right as if he was writing something in the air, creating the white afterglow everywhere the round orb went past.

    As of now, Jeremy was mumbling some almost-inaudible words in an unknownnguage...

    Specifically, he was chanting one of the many magicalnguages, which was used toplement the runescripts he was writing via the orb right now.

    As a result, thebination of mana, mind power, incantation, and runescripts would create something magical called ''Spell'' as a final product...

    Even though after tier-2 spell onwards would require a much moreplex method of spell casting, but with the special tier-0 spell Jeremy was casting now, the incantation and runewords were more than enough to cast it.

    *Mumble* *Mumble*

    At this time, when Jeremy was standing still and mumbling sonorously at the arena''s center, from within the dark passageway behind the metal gate came a walking footstep sound of someone...

    Well, it seemed to be a very ''heavy'' someone at that...

    *Tak* *Tak*

    *Tak* *Tak*

    With each step the ''heavy'' creature took, the ground seemed to shake along with it...

    Not long after, the heavy-foot being finally came out from the passageway and was shone upon by the light from the sky generated from an unknown source.

    "Woahhh!!!"

    "KILLLL!!!"

    "Kill him!!!"

    "We want blood!!!"

    After the quiet audiences from earlier saw another diatore out for a bloody battle, they became so rowdy and excited, so they shouted out the incessant cheering towards the two diators below...

    Meanwhile, Jeremy, who was chanting words and writing runes, shifted his eyes from the metal gate towards the creature ahead of him in curiosity...

    Even while his mouth was chanting and his hand was drawing, Jeremy still had leisure time to evaluate his opponent.

    Upon seeing the opponent he would be fighting soon enough, Jeremy wondered in amazement and also belittlement,

    ''Not a human again? It is just a hobgoblin warrior...? Oh, wait... don''t tell me...''

    However, Jeremy had to change his attitude soon enough...

    "GROAAAA!!!"

    Uponing out of the dark passageway, the hobgoblin warrior roared deafeningly to the bright sky above its head...

    For a moment, the cheering sounds seemed to be drowned outpletely by the so-called hobgoblin''s prior roar.

    It was loud and filled with power...

    At this time, Jeremy had finally finished preparing the spell while he was using his mind power to control and suppress, not letting the said spell be activated just yet because he wanted to wait for the most suitable opportunity to unleash it.

    Thus, Jeremy used this free time to start scrutinizing his enemy from head to toe....

 Chapter 107 - A Decently Strong Opponent (2)

    Unlike the grubbing hobgoblin warriors, which were only 180 centimeters in height, that Jeremy had fought against some time ago.

    Those guys were just regr soldiers at best...

    At this moment, the enemy in front of Jeremy still had green skin and two long pointy ears like an average hobgoblin warrior. However, it stood at a staggering height of more than 190 centimeters with roughly 150 kilograms or so of weight, causing its body to be muscr with rippling muscles all over its green body.

    The muscr dark-green hobgoblin wore only furry leather pants and boots without wearing any shirt or armor on therge body whatsoever, making the eight packs together with the fine, bulging muscles to be exposed fully for the onlookers to see.

    Within the monstrous creature''s right hand was a big one-meter-long-chain morningstar made of unknown metals in which looking at the outer appearance alone should easily weigh more than 100 kilograms. Still, the green creature was carrying it like a small toy as if it weighed nothing at all.

    Meanwhile, it seemed like not only was its strength superior to an ordinary hobgoblin warrior because it was currently exuding out a feeling of dangerousness strongly to any bystander whom hadid their eyes on it.

    ''Damn, it''s not a normal hobgoblin warrior... It is a true-blue Dokkaen that had inherited the Ancestor''s Strength from its predecessor. That means the guy can also wield the Wind energy. That''s why the System wants me to get the fuck outta here, huh.'' Jeremy cursed within his mind at ridiculous ''intent'' exuding out from the green skin creature.

    While staring at the bulging muscles and veins on the hobgoblin''s body, Jeremy thought further,

    ''Even those physical maniacs, Orcs have to be cautious around a Dokkaen...''

    When Jeremy had undergone the easy-difficulty trial earlier, he had fought with a Dokkaebi and four other ordinary hobgoblin warriors. He had to admit that the five hobgoblins in the hidden chamber were nothing before the monstrous creature in front of him at all.

    It could be said that a Dokkaebi was already a special hobgoblin born with an inherent elemental affinity passed down from itste ancestors called Ancestor''s Guidance, which was able to make the said Dokkaebi capable of wielding the elemental-rted spells ording to its affinity alignment.

    However, regarding the green muscr ounder, Dokkaen standingposedly in front of the metal gate, it was simply a ''much more'' special kind of hobgoblin, which was born with another inherent trait passed down from itste ancestors called Ancestor''s Strength.

    Strange enough, the Dokkaen could only wield one element, which was the Wind element, unlike the Dokkaebi that could utilize any elemental energy type it was born with...

    Well, you might be curious, if a Dokkaebi could be born with any element, including the Wind element itself, why didn''t we call the Dokkaen as a Dokkaebi then?

    Well, it was simple... for that, the Dokkaebi was born with only moderate strength at best, but the Dokkaen''s physical strength was on another level entirely; the difference between the two was just too far apart like heaven and earth.

    To put it simpler, even if a Dokkaebi was somehow born with the Wind elemental affinity, it could only cast wind spells at best. Indeed, it might be born with supreme control over wind-elemental spells capable of casting tier-4 or tier-5 spells like mages of the human race, but it could never have a strong enough body to the point of being able to fight in close range.

    However, the Dokkaen was different. If a Dokkaen was born, it would be immediately blessed with supreme strength from the Ancestor''s Strength capable of turning mountains and destroying moons if its ancestors were strong enough. Also, when the said strength wasbined with its capability in casting wind-elemental spells like the Dokkaebi, it would be really unstoppable...

    That''s why the Dokkaens categorized themselves differently from the Dokkaebis...

    That''s also why the candidates to be the Hobgoblin race''s supreme leader were always elected from the Dokkaen warriors...

    Only the strongest Dokkaen could be the Hobgoblin race''s supreme leader...

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy sighed in tiredness after realizing what feats his opponent was capable of doing...

    ''I hope it is the weakest Dokkaen in existence, or else, I will have to use that thing...'' Jeremy thought while feeling tensed up to the point of his hand holding the wooden shaft tightening up a bit.

    While both sides were staring at one another in a stalemate, assessing the opponent ahead of them carefully, Jeremy continued his thought further,

    ''No matter what, I cannot engage in a melee fight with it. I have to maintain at least five meters of dis... Fucking shit!''

    Jeremy''s thoughts about strategies in the uing fight were interrupted by the fast-approaching Dokkaen.

    A moment ago, they stood 30 meters away from one another...

    A split secondter, the Dokkaen had shortened the distance to only 20 meters...

    That''s how fast it was...

    *Whoosh*

    From any onlooker''s point of view, the Dokkaen seemed to be gliding along with the wind towards Jeremy because they couldn''t see exactly how fast the Dokkaen''s legs had hit off the ground.

    Any ordinary person could only see a blurry silhouette hitting off the ground, and the Dokkaen''s heavy body was propelled forward swiftly.

    A split secondter, both sides were already less than 10 meters apart...

    ''That''s easily faster than 50 miles per hour. But that also means it is indeed one of the weakest Dokkaen...''

    After knowing his opponent''s estimated prowess, Jeremy thought relievedly while pointing the wooden staff in his hand forward...

    "Mana Bolt," Jeremy mumbled lightly as an activating sign.

    Then the spell Jeremy had prepared earlier started to take shape in front of the golden orb.

    Instead of the tennis ball''s size like when Jeremy had fired towards the young Goron, the mana bolt was roughly two times bigger this time.

    That was a matter of course, for Jeremy had even chanted the magical words and drawn the strange runescripts to cast this mana bolt spell...

    That meant the power variation between the two ought to be different too...

    After activating the spell, Jeremy hurriedly backed away from the approaching Dokkaen while his mouth and two hands were also moving to cast other two new spells simultaneously in preparation in case the enemy could block his surprise attack.

    Meanwhile...

    *Whoosh*

    The mana bolt flew swiftly towards the rushing Dokkaen at breakneck speed....

 Chapter 108 - A Decently Strong Opponent (3)

    From the earlier stalemate, the Dokkaen observed and realized the human would be a mage of some kinds specialized in long-range attacks. Hence, it hurriedly rushed towards the opponent without further dy, intending to finish the fragile mage once and for all.

    But who would have known that the harmless-looking human had already prepared an ''invisible'' surprise for it...

    Upon seeing the iing mana bolt, the rushing Dokkaen had no time to avoid as he was running too fast.

    So, it put its entire momentum towards the muscr right leg to put a short stop on the run while clenching the left fist tightly together and pulling the said fist to the back.

    Simultaneously, a green filmyyer of energy suddenly came out of nowhere, covering the Dokkaen''s entire left fist...

    "Gale Punch!" The Dokkaen warrior growled in the universalnguage.

    Then it promptly punched out powerfully at the iing mana bolt...

    *Whoosh*

    Bizarre enough, a green wave made of wind energy was instantly detached andunched out from the Dokkaen''s fist, moving head-on towards the iing mana bolt.

    Meanwhile, the Dokkaen, who had lost its momentum significantly because it stopped to punch earlier, put its two thick arms to cover the front, shielding the view aheadpletely.

    A split secondter, the two ''energy'' attacks collided against one another...

    *BOOOOMMMM!!!*

    The explosion happened when the two attacks collided as the explosion of two types of condensed energy resonated out deafeningly within therge arena...

    The explosion was extremely powerful as the shockwave could be felt by the audiences above the walls, causing those people''s clothes to flutter along with the gusty winds...

    "Damn..."

    The voice of someone cursing rang out inside the amphitheater.

    That certain someone was the Dokkaen as it appeared the muscr ounder was not so lucky. The explosion had happened only approximately three meters away, causing its body to be driven back along the dirt ground, leaving two long wide grooves behind.

    *Schrooch...*

    The schrooching noise resounded out as the Dokkaen was pushed back further away...

    Meanwhile, dust and dirt were also blown everywhere from the explosion earlier, creating the mild desert storm within the spacious arena.

    The turbulent wind caused by the wind energy and destructive power of mana boltbined was nothing to be taken lightly.

    When the Dokkaen finally stopped skidding along the yellow ground, it lowered the two arms to take a look past the scattering dust in the air until it finally saw the human mage rushing away to the arena''s far end.

    "Hmph! You can never escape my grasp." The Dokkaen said with a low voice in scorn.

    Simultaneously, the bulky creature dashed forward swiftly at the same speed as earlier.

    At the same time, around its two thick legs spotted the same green energy as earlier that seemed to be boosting the Dokkaen''s speed even more. Additionally, the creature''s left hand also had the same green energy, covering like a filmyyer.

    It came fully prepared this time...

    *Tak* *Tak*

    *Tak* *Tak*

    The Dokkaen rushed swiftly towards the human, whom was showing his vulnerable rear towards it...

    ''Showing your back to me is a total mistake...''

    When the Dokkaen saw its enemy''s carelessness, it thought in disdain before it punched out its left clenching fist towards the human''s back...

    "Gale Punch!" The creature growled lightly.

    *Whoosh*

    Suddenly, a light-green energy clump went towards the ''unaware'' Jeremy''s back swiftly...

    At this time, if someone saw the current expression of the ''unaware'' Jeremy, who was showing his back towards the Dokkaen, they would obviously realize the man had some mischievous ns within his mind...

    Because... he was grinning widely in satisfaction despite his back would be bombarded by the ''Gale Punch'' soon.

    When the ''Gale Punch'' had just detached out from the Dokkaen''s fist, Jeremy suddenly turned back and mumbled to activate one of the two long-prepared spells,

    "Mana Bolt"

    *Whoosh*

    Simultaneously, the mana bolt was formed out of nowhere, within a split second behind Jeremy, and flew quickly in a straight line to collide with the gale punch.

    Meanwhile, the Dokkaen warrior, who was chasing Jeremy from behind, had to stop the footsteps and cover its front view with the tworge arms yet again to shield against the uing explosion.

    Then...

    *BOOOMMMM!!*

    The deafening sounds rang out once again within the arena, causing dust and dirt to scatter chaotically...

    *Cough* *Cough*

    While coughing lightly after some dust particles went into his nose, the Dokkaen thought annoyingly to himself,

    ''This damned human can cast a spell so fast...''

    When the muscr Dokkaen lowered its two arms and prepared to rush ahead, it suddenly spotted something from the corner of its eye.

    "Hmm...?"

    So, it turned its head to the right side to see what the thing was...

    *Whoosh*

    It was yet another mana bolt,ing in its direction out of nowhere...

    ''Oh, no...'' The Dokkaen thought in horror.

    In fact, the mana bolt wasunched the moment when the two prior attacks almost collided, causing it to be shielded by dust and dirt, not to mention that the Dokkaen had used its two thick arms to cover its face, too.

    Furthermore, Jeremy had used his mind power to control the mana bolt to curve in a semicircle towards the ignorant Dokkaen''s right nk, making thetter unaware of the iing spell.

    Upon seeing the iing mana bolt, the Dokkaen''s eyes and mouth widened in shock and horror before it instinctively swung the morningstar in the right hand towards the approaching ''bomb''...

    *Whoosh*

    Then the two ''objects'' collided...

    *BOOOMMMM!!!*

    Another booming noise rang out once again...

    Soon, something flew out from the dusty area before dropping and sliding with the ground for some meters with the thudding sounds...

    "Woahh!!!"

    "Blood!!!"

    "Kill him!!!"

    "KILL HIM!!!"

    Simultaneously, the exciting shouts from the audiences were finally heard by Jeremy, who moved ''stealthily'' within the arena, as the booming noise had died down...

    It seemed like those half-sane people would be triggered every time they saw blood or a sh between two diators happened.

 Chapter 109 - A Decently Strong Opponent (4)

    After a few seconds had passed...

    Currently, the Dokkaen, who was now lying on the yellow ground some meters away from the explosion site, stared at the cloudless bright sky with a nk face...

    As the explosion had urred too close to its body, causing it to have a heavy concussion, ears deaf, eyes blurred, and body numb...

    Soon...

    *Cough*

    *Cough*

    The Dokkaen suddenly coughed up green blood from the mouth as it appeared that some of its internal organs were damaged from the impact earlier.

    After coughing for a few seconds, the Dokkaen finally gained back some senses. Then it struggled up from the ground with difficulty...

    *Huff* *Huff*

    *Huff* *Huff*

    The muscr green skin ounder huffed in and out from its nose and mouth like it had just undergone and finished an arduous session of exercise...

    Eventually, it shook its head from left to right to reduce the numbness in the head before suddenly realizing a round object with protruding needles was stabbing firmly on its bare chest...

    The protruding needles stabbing on its chest right now were none other than the morningstar''s nged head.

    It appeared that the explosion earlier had propelled the nged head back towards the Dokkaen''s bare chest, causing the sharp needles to prate deep inside its green flesh.

    The muscr green creature gritted its teeth very strongly upon seeing the sight and took a deep breath before finally pulling the nged head out of its chest.

    *Plush*

    Followed the plushing sound from the needles being pulled out, fresh green blood started oozing out from the small wounds continually.

    ''I underestimate him... The human mage had cast three spells within five seconds... How did he do it?'' The wounded Dokkaaen thought to himself in dismay, puzzlement, and pain.

    It shouldn''t have underestimated the human, after all...

    In fact, if Jeremy were a ss-1 True Mage, the battle would have ended even before the Dokkaen could take the first step in his direction.

    After thinking about the human, the injured Dokkaen had finally realized something,

    ''Where is he!?'' The Dokkaen thought in a hurried manner.

    It realized that the battle hadn''t ended yet, so it turned left and right to find the damnable human mage, Jeremy...

    Even after turning its head left and right for some seconds, the Dokkaen still couldn''t find Jeremy anywhere within the oval amphitheater.

    How was that even possible?

    Well, it was possible because Jeremy was using the [Stealth] skill and was standing still under a shadowing shade within the arena.

    As the wounded Dokkaen was sweeping its eyes around hurriedly, inpliment with its two blurred eyes from the explosion earlier had made it unable to spot the stealthy Jeremy under the shade.

    ''Mana Bolt''

    Jeremy thought inwardly while seeing the Dokkaen was now looking in another direction.

    At this moment...

    Upon turning its head around the arena for two full rounds, the Dokkaen finally saw something, but...

    Unfortunately, the thing it had spotted was not Jeremy, but another deadly mana bolt came bolting towards it.

    *Whoosh*

    A mana bolt bigger than a tennis ball''s size came flying towards the Dokkaen at breakneck speed, leaving the unprepared green creature to look in hopelessness and despair...

    Due to its unpreparedness, it could only raise the two arms to defend against the iing deathly ball of mana...

    With one-hundred-percent sheer instinct, the muscr creature drove every ounce of wind elemental energy from within its dantians towards the two thick arms in front of its body.

    The wounded Dokkaen intended to brace itself for a direct deadly impact...

    A split secondter, the mana bolt finally arrived before the creature''s arms...

    *BOOOMMMM!!!*

    Another big explosion rang out once again for the fourth time within mere ten seconds after the battle had started.

    It was such a sight to behold...

    Every time after an explosion had urred, even before the dust and dirt could fall back down to the ground, another explosion and wave of yellow dust came creating new havoc once again.

    As for the wounded Dokkaen...

    Unfortunately, the wind-elemental energy did not excel in defending against any types of attacks in the least, so even if its body was solid and strong like metal, it had to bend and break after this explosion...

    *Whoosh*

    The Dokkaen''s heavy body was blown away towards the wall behind...

    If one looked closely at the creature''s two arms, they would see them clearly bend in the awkward manners...

    Any onlooker would know instinctively that,

    At best, the two arms couldn''t be used anymore...

    At worst, the two arms would be permanently damaged...

    And no matter what the case was, one thing was sure. That sure thing was the Dokkaen warrior had just lost in a battle against the human mage, Jeremy, so badly at that.

    In fact, the green skin hobgoblin couldn''t even reach Jeremy''s vicinity, so it shouldn''t be called ''battle'', but ''one-sided beating'' instead.

    *Thump*

    Not long after, the creature''srge body finally hit against the stone wall, creating a thumping noise before its body slid down to the dirt ground.

    Meanwhile...

    *Scroooooch....*

    Jeremy was strolling with the big morningstar in hand while letting the nged head scraping against the dirt ground along the way towards the motionless Dokkaen...

    Shortly after, the ''unscratched'' Jeremy finally arrived approximately four meters away from the lying-still creature, as he thought it was the optimum distance to attack and defend against the current Dokkaen if it somehow red up with the thought of making the final struggle.

    However, was that even possible in the first ce from the creature''s conditions?

    But better be safe than sorry; that was always our sage''s mindset...

    "Impressive... Your fighting power should easily be on par with our humans'' ss-1 Warrior. Well, even after receiving one mana bolt directly with your body, you are still alive and breathing..."

    Jeremy said towards the Dokkaen in the universalnguage to probe if it would respond to him or not.

    "..."

    However, the result was clear; the Dokkaenid utterly still with no response...

    "Emm... You hear me?"

    "..."

    Jeremy decided to try again, but also received the same result, so he said for thest time,

    "Nevermind me then..."

    Having said so, Jeremy walked two steps ahead before using his two hands to hold the morningstar''s handle.

    ''Ah, shit. It''s so heavy...'' Jeremy thought while gritting his teeth slightly.

    Then...

    *Whoosh*

    The protruding nged head was swung urately towards the unconscious Dokkaen''s head with the whooshing sound...

    *Pleh!*

    With no theatrical or climactic event urring whatsoever, the Dokkaen''s head was smashed heavily by the big metal nged head, causing it to be dented and distorted inwardly.

    As a result, the disgusting mix of white brain and green blood spraying everywhere; Jeremy''s ck cloak even got some of the awful stains on it.

    "YAYYYY!!!"

    "We got a winner!!"

    "Cheers!!!"

    "I see blood!!!"

    "The challenger won again!!!"

    After the Dokkaen warrior''s head was crushed indentedly by the nged head, the half-sentient people on the stone seats simultaneously shouted at the end of their lungs, creating the sonorous excitement within the rip-off Zodia Arena.

    Meanwhile...

    A certain someone seemed to be unsatisfied...

    ''If only I can wield mana at will. If only I were a true mage... Every battle will be just a piece of cake...''

    Jeremy thought with a slight frown while looking at the Dokkaen''s shapeless head.

    Soon, a window of notifications containing the hard-earned rewards showed up ahead of Jeremy....

 Chapter 110 - Jeremy Almost Forgets About It [Bonus ]

    ˇş You have received 2,223 SP ˇ»

    ˇş You have received 1x? and 1xˇď for sessfully killing a Dokkaen warrior ˇ»

    ˇş You have received 1x? and 3xˇď forpleting the trial''s hidden objective ˇ»

    ˇş You will be teleported outside within 15 seconds ˇ»

    ...

    When Jeremy saw the rewards, his eyes widened in shock, for this type of nket was unique only to the System.

    That meant the rewards he received this time were calcted fairly and delivered to him directly by the System itself.

    Consequently, even the former sage, Jeremy, could not contain his feelings at this moment as his face started morphing into delight, then excitement in the end.

    How could he not?

    After all, Jeremy had received a total of two white stars and four ck stars from this battle alone...

    The ck stars, which were considered too precious to miss, and the even more priceless white stars that could not be earned easily even when Jeremy was the great sage back then...

    "This is good!! The System is fair indeed; it is more than worth it to cast more than four mana bolts earlier. I had never felt this good before, ever since I killed that dragon... HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

    Surprising enough, Jeremy, who had never talked to himself more than half a sentence before, blurted out long lines of words andughed sonorously while standing there, in front of the hobgoblin''s cold corpse.

    Meanwhile, the human audiences had kept quiet ever since the Dokkaen''s death and were now in a dazed mode like wooden dummies as if they didn''t realize a man was standing andughing to himself within the arena at all.

    Afterughing to himself heartily for five full seconds, Jeremy finally stopped as the Forsaken Branch''s passive spell [Soothing Mind] came into effect, causing his mind to be calm and serene like a still river...

    At this time, the timer had already been counting in reverse, and Jeremy would be teleported out of here soon enough...

    9...

    8...

    Suddenly, Jeremy''s hunch was triggered once again, causing his mind to jerk up in alertness,

    ''Wait... Did I forget something?''

    Jeremy frowned slightly at the sudden feeling of something missing from his unignorable hunch, so he thought hard about to himself...

    Meanwhile, time was also ticking without stopping...

    Second by second...

    7...

    6...

    ''I don''t have time to take the weapons and armors anymore, so it''s not about those things... Hmm... The monster corpses? No... not that either. Then what is stimting my hunch right now...?''

    Currently, Jeremy''s smart brain seemed to work at light speed as he discarded the thoughts and notions from his mind one by one.

    After all, Jeremy didn''t want to miss something out because of his own carelessness...

    So, think hard, he did...

    5...

    4...

    *Click*

    As if something had clicked in his mind and opened a holy door of enlightenment for him, Jeremy had finally thought of something.

    Afterward, his eyes widened in shock once again, but this time it was more like being shocked because he had realized the thing almost toote...

    And that particr something was...

    ''I have to kill five humans!''

    Jeremy thought while inhaling a deep breath to the end of his lungs.

    Having finally realized so, Jeremy hurriedly mumbled the magical words while the staff in his right hand also moved ceaselessly, creating afterglow in the air...

    3...

    2...

    1...

    Shortly after, Jeremy promptly finished the mana bolt spell, which should already be considered the sixth one in this trial.

    Without further dy, Jeremy hurriedly used his mind to form and hurl the mana bolt towards the closest group of audiences...

    *BOOOMMMM!!!*

    0...

    Following the deafening noise generated from the mana bolt exploding, the timer also hit zero simultaneously.

    Subsequently, Jeremy and his belongings eventually disappeared from the hard-difficulty trial altogether...

    ...

    A split secondter...

    ''Everything is ck again...'' Jeremy thought to himself after looking around his surroundings.

    Right now, he was standing in the middle of nowhere, of which everything around him was pitch ck in color.

    Then Jeremy turned his head left and right, hoping to see something out of the ordinary from this ce.

    Suddenly...

    ...

    [You have received 7 SP]

    [You have received 6 SP]

    [You have received 6 SP]

    [You have received 7 SP]

    ...

    ''Oh...''

    *Fwuu...*

    Upon seeing the four notifications stating about his meager rewards, Jeremy let out a breath of relief from his mouth, as he knew what those four notifications signified...

    It meant he had just killed four artificial humans with the mana bolt earlier. As a result, he felt so relieved that he wouldn''t feel regretter on.

    After the notifications disappeared from his sight, Jeremy finally had a chance to look around him once again.

    Well, everything was still ck like a moment ago...

    Upon looking left and right for a short while...

    ''Oh, what is that light for?'' Jeremy thought in wonder after finally seeing something to his far right.

    Having finished his fleeting thought, Jeremy soon started walking towards the light source, which happened to have the shape of a two-meter-tall rectangr white light... like a door''s shape.

    Around one minuteter...

    True enough...

    After Jeremy finally arrived and stood before the rectangr-shaped light, the said light suddenly opened up...

    *Creaks!*

    Followed the creaking noise of the ''door'' opened, the view behind the ''door'' was finally reviewed itself to Jeremy...

    From the first nce, it was a familiar ce of a cave-like chamber that had countless monster corpses scattering almost everywhere inside.

    Meanwhile, in the chamber''s centermost area floated arge green Crystal that above it spotted a countdown timer ticking backward every second, and on the left and right side of the said Crystal were two dark passageways that led to unknown destinations.

    Upon seeing the same old sight in front of him, Jeremy knew he was finally back to the tutorial chamber, which right now didn''t have Earthling anymore because they should have left for the second stage by now.

    Afterward, Jeremy walked inside the tutorial chamber...

    *Bam!*

    The hard-difficulty door closed shut behind Jeremy as he was finally back inside the tutorial chamber....

 Chapter 111 - Alone Within The Tutorial Chamber (1)

    Without further ado, Jeremy thought to himself while staring at the floating Crystal in the middle of the chamber,

    ''It''s time to im rewards, alright...''

    Then Jeremy walked with the Forsaken Branch in hand towards the floating Crystal at the chamber''s center...

    After a short time, Jeremy finally arrived before the green Crystal, and then he reached out his left hand to touch it.

    Simultaneously, a light-blue interface popped up...

    ...

    [Shop]

    [Mission]

    [Leaderboard]

    ...

    Upon seeing the three options, Jeremy used his mind to choose the [Mission] option to report the missions and im the rewards first and for all.

    Then the interface instantly changed into another one...

    ...

    [Would you like to report the missions and im the rewards forpleting them?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    After seeing the options asking whether to receive the rewards or not, Jeremy chose the ''Yes'' option.

    Soon after, the window switched to another one...

    ...

    [You have received 1400 SP forpleting the mission, ''Kill 5 humans'']

    [You have received 5xˇď forpleting the mission, ''Pass the hard-difficulty door'']

    [You have received 1x? forpleting the mission, ''Complete every mission in the list'']

    ...

    When Jeremy saw the third notification, his eyes suddenly lit up as he suddenly got another priceless white star into his already big wallet.

    ''As I''ve thought, the cupid must be toozy to put thest mission as something tooplicated. That''s why thest mission, aka the hidden mission, must be something rted to all the previous missions.''

    Jeremy thought with a smile after thinking about the simple-minded andzy cupid.

    After a few seconds, the interface stating about the current missions finally showed up...

    ...

    [Your Current Missions]

    ˇŞ Kill 10 skeleton soldiers (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 10 imps (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 8 wolves (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 5 goblins (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 5 humans (Completed)

    ˇŞ Kill 2 hobgoblins (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the easy-difficulty door (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the normal-difficulty door (Completed)

    ˇŞ Pass the hard-difficulty door (Completed)

    ˇŞ Complete every mission in the list (Completed)

    ...

    Upon seeing everything was right in ce, with the end result being perfect scores, Jeremy nodded his head in satisfaction.

    Who didn''t like perfect scores anyway?

    Then Jeremy thought fleetingly to himself after dismissing the mission interface,

    ''After most people had been teleported away as they should have earned some SP from the second stage already, I wonder my ranking still remains the same or not...''

    Having finished thinking so, Jeremy shook his head at the absurd notion that another Earthling might have overtaken his ranking.

    He knew it wasn''t possible in the least unless the said Earthling somehow razed the entire second stage ame.

    ''Let''s see...'' Jeremy thought briefly.

    Afterward, Jeremy focused his mind on essing the [Leaderboard] option to check his current ranking...

    ...

    [Leaderboard]

    Zone: 82,364

    Survivors: 2,548

    Your Ranking: 1st ce ?

    [Your ranking has been ranked ording to your total Survival Points earned]

    ...

    No doubt, even after most people within the tutorial zone 82,364 had been teleported to the second stage, Jeremy was still ranked first out of the remaining 2,548 Earthlings of this zone.

    Also, it was a matter of course that he would be ranked first. After all, Jeremy had already umted at least 50,000 SP so far.

    Actually, such a massive amount of SP should have already broken all the previous records in existence on Ortus...

    Upon seeing the current numbers of Earthlings, Jeremy contemted to himself,

    ''Hmm... In my past life, the total amount of survivors should also be pretty close to this number but not quite the same if I don''t remember wrong, that is...''

    ''Either way, having thought about more than 2,500 people living together within the same camp in the second stage makes me have quite a bad taste in my mouth.''

    When Jeremy thought till here, he shook his head slightly as he really didn''t appreciate the crowded ce.

    Afterward, Jeremy essed the [Shop] option, intending to buy more skills from there to upgrade his fighting power.

    Soon, another transparent window popped up in front of him...

    ...

    [Weapons]

    [Clothes]

    [Misceneous]

    [Skills]

    [Your Current Bnce: 17,213 SP]

    ...

    After seeing the current SP bnce, Jeremy thought to himself while raising an eyebrow,

    ''Well, I''ve only 17,213 SP... It is even less than when I''vepleted the normal trial... Whatever, I don''t really care about SP anymore at this point as I''ve already acquired most useful skills from the Shop.''

    As in Jeremy''s mind, he always thought that earning more stars was always the best oue regardless of the amount of SP earned from the trials.

    Hereafter seeing the four options to be chosen from, Jeremy essed the [Skill] option first...

    After the skills list appeared before him, Jeremy directly scrolled down to skill no.160 onwards as he didn''t see any usefulness in the low-level skills anymore...

    ...

    Skill no.163, [Called Shot]

    Skill no.164, [Knife Throwing]

    Skill no.165, [Martial Arts]

    Skill no.166, [Charge] (Sold out)

    Skill no.169, [Hibernate]

    Skill no.174, [Focus]

    Skill no.179, [Hypnotism]

    Skill no.180, [Analyze] (Sold out)

    Skill no.181, [Fast Hands]

    Skill no.182, [Marksmanship] (Sold out)

    Skill no.183, [Stealth] (Sold out)

    Skill no.184, [Bncing Feats]

    Skill no.185, [Breathing Control] (Sold out)

    Skill no.186, [Eagles Eyes] (Sold out)

    ...

    ''Hmm... only two skills from no.160 onwards were bought by other people... Not bad, but also not that good of a performance either.''

    Jeremy thought after seeing not many skills were bought from the skills list as it clearly appeared that Earthlings didn''t excel in physical prowess, so they could only do this much.

    In fact, to have two skills of more than number 160 being bought was already considered impressive enough.

    Right now, Jeremy was sweeping his eyes at the skill names quickly while musing to himself,

    ''After being teleported into the second stage, the Survival Points cannot be used to buy skills anymore but will be used to buy ''those things'' instead. Hmm... Then it will be for the best if I just spend most SP now while leaving some to spare in an emergency situation.''

    Afterward, Jeremy fell into deep thought as he was thinking about the skills that would benefit him the most in the short-run and long-run of his journey on Ortus.

    Just like that, Jeremy stood there with a moderately deep frown on his forehead for two full minutes before finally deciding on the skills to buy....

 Chapter 112 - Alone Within The Tutorial Chamber (2)

    [Would you like to buy skill no.174, [Focus] for 5,140 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.181, [Fast Hands] for 5,512 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.184, [Bncing Feats] for 5,751 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    After having chosen the three skills that might be useful to him the most, which were [Focus], [Fast Hands], and [Bncing Feats], Jeremy chose to buy the skills without any hesitation as he had already thought things thoroughly.

    Simultaneously, a transparent window changed into another one...

    ...

    [A total of 16,403 SP have been deducted from your SP ount]

    [You have received the [Focus] skill]

    [You have received the [Fast Hands] skill]

    [You have received the [Bncing Feats] skill]

    [You currently have 810 SP remaining]

    [There will be no exnation about how to upgrade the skills further; you have to explore and upgrade those skills by your own self. Good luck.]

    ...

    Focus (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the focus and concentration of your mind by 9%.

    Fast Hands (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the dexterity and deftness of your hands by 6%.

    Bncing Feats (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the control over your bodily movement''s bnce and counterbnce by 11%.

    ...

    After buying the three passive skills, Jeremy suddenly felt his mind bing a bit clearer with a cool sensation as it appeared that he could focus on something more easily if he intended to do so.

    At the same time, Jeremy also felt like he could move his hands faster than before as he might be able to cast spells quicker, too.

    Regarding Jeremy''s body bnce, he didn''t feel anything out of the ordinary from it for now, whereas it might be more apparent when he moved at high speed or in acrobatics.

    ''Alright, so the number of skills I have bought so far are exactly eleven then... eleven excellent skills bought from the System... Moreover, they won''t be easily acquired like in this tutorial anymore after arriving at Ortus.''

    In the first ce, there were not that many ways for a person to acquire a skill or technique, as getting one of them was akin to suddenly discovering an oasis amidst a hot desert.

    That''s why a tutorial was such a perfect and ideal ce for various races and species to get stronger and be prepared for the forting habitation on Ortus.

    Of course, that notion would be applied to only the majority of people, whereas the minority ones could find one way or another to acquire the skills they desired.

    ''Wait... I almost forget that...''

    Upon finishing inspecting the three skills, Jeremy suddenly thought of something before retracting his hand from the Crystal.

    After realizing he had one more thing to buy, Jeremy promptly essed the [Weapons] option.

    Then a very long list of weapons projected before him, so Jeremy used his mind tomand inwardly to filter out everything except for the spear.

    As a result, the filtered list of weapons showed up before Jeremy...

    ...

    [Wooden spear], 17-19 SP

    [Bronze spear], 40-46 SP

    [Iron spear], 91-98 SP

    [Steel spear], 150-182 SP

    ...

    Upon seeing the four choices, Jeremy chose thest one, which happened to be the best and most expensive one out of the four...

    ...

    [Steel spear]

    - Steel spear no.1, 150 SP

    - Steel spear no.2, 170 SP

    - Steel spear no.3, 182 SP

    ...

    When Jeremy saw the three choices of steel spear to be chosen from, he fell into a sudden dilemma,

    ''Hmm... The first one has a shaft painted in red color... too shy. The second one''s spear de is too small... I want a big one. It''s been decided then, let''s go with the most expensive one; it is elegant but not shy, with appropriate senses of aesthetics along its shaft, and also has a big and long enough spear de to prate arge enemy.''

    After Jeremy had finally decided on thest steel spear, he willed his mind to buy it without dy.

    Simultaneously, a notification asking Jeremy whether to buy it or not popped up; then Jeremy chose the ''Yes'' option and paid 182 SP for it...

    ...

    [A total of 182 SP have been deducted from your SP ount]

    [You have received the steel spear no.3]

    [You currently have 628 SP remaining]

    ...

    Soon, a in-looking steel spear suddenly appeared in front of Jeremy as his right hand was holding onto the Forsaken Branch; he had to retract his left hand to hold onto the spear in a hurry, not letting it fall onto the ground.

    ''Alright, my business with this big-booty Crystal is considered to be done. Hehehe, I''ve beaten your half-assed tutorial,zy cupid.'' Jeremy thought chucklingly and yfully within his mind.

    It appeared that Jeremy was in an excellent mood because he had gotten most of the things he wanted and also finished every mission on the Crystal''s missions list.

    Thus, it was such a good moment and mood right now...

    Afterward, Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''The next thing to do should be checking my status window and tutorial missions...''

    ''Status Window''

    Then a somewhat ''big and long'' window appeared in front of Jeremy...

    ...

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 45.2%

    - Darkness (Umon): 34.8%

    - Space (Rare): 89.9%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic

    Trait: Objective

    Skill:

    - Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Disguise (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    - Heightened Senses (Mid Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Stealth (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    - Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Eagles Eyes (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    - Analyze (Mid Basic - Active)

    - Focus (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Fast Hands (Low Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Bncing Feats (Low Basic - Passive Skill)

    Achievement: (Omitted...)

    Mission:

    - Tutorial Mission: Survive I

    ...

    *Fwuu...*

    Upon seeing the interface ahead of him, Jeremy suddenly let out a long breath in helplessness because his status window was just too long, leading him to scroll down for some seconds before he could finally see thest sections.

    Then...

    ''Hmm....?''

 Chapter 113 - Alone Within The Tutorial Chamber (3)

    ''Hmm...?''

    Jeremy eximed lightly within his mind after spotting something peculiar in the ''skill'' section. Afterward, he thought ponderingly,

    ''The [Focus] skill''s rank is pretty high... That means it should be influenced by my originally highly focusing mind, causing it to be upgraded along to a greater grade. Well, anything like this is always weed anyway. Also, it looks like the [Analyze] skill has ranked up one grade after being used consecutively in the hard trial earlier.''

    Jeremy nodded his head approvingly at the two skills'' improvement. Then he focused his mind on the window''sst section, Tutorial Mission: Survive I.

    Before Jeremy could carefully look at the tutorial missions interface, another interface about the rewards suddenly showed up and shielded it...

    ...

    ˇş You have received 1xˇď forpleting the mission, ''Survive until only 15 people remain'' ˇ»

    ˇş Congrattions. You''ve earned a qualification to enter into the second stage of the Tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş Would you like to exchange ˇď for a teleportation ticket? ˇ»

    ˇş Yes ©¦ No ˇ»

    ...

    ''Another freebie...'' Jeremy thought momentarily after seeing another ck star jumping into his pocket on its own ord.

    Afterward, he chose the ''No'' option to remain here for some more time...

    Well, there were still some precious stars to be earned, so Jeremy would obviously stay here until he got everything done.

    At this time, the shielded interface of tutorial missions finally showed up in front of him...

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive I ˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (ˇď) (Completed)

    ? Survive 10 monster hordes (ˇďˇď)

    ? Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal (ˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (ˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? ??? (?)

    ˇş After finishing one of the tutorial missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage ˇ»

    ...

    When Jeremy saw that more than four tutorial missions were still left to be aplished, he fell into deep thought,

    ''Four more missions, huh... For the second mission, I only need to defeat two more hordes. That''s not a big deal. Also, it is surprising that I still haven''t passed the fifth mission as I thought it was one of the two no-named Initiate Warrior in the hard trial... Whatever...''

    ''As for the fourth one, I think I have some idea where it will be situated, so there is no need to be hurried in finding it.''

    ''As a result, thest two missions... Well, I still have no clue about them at all, but they should be somewhere within the two dark passageways. However, the problem is the energy barriers ahead of the two passageways, preventing anyone from going out buting in.''

    After thinking till this point, Jeremy suddenly felt like his non-existence Mystery Decipherer title was at work once again as he promptly fell into a more thoughtful state than before,

    ''Oh wait... If I rearrange all the jigsaw pieces together to create one big picture... Then doesn''t it mean everything is almost right in ce by now?''

    ''First of all, I''vepleted every mission in the Crystal by undergoing all three trials designed by the cupid. As a result, there is no more mission in green Crystal...''

    ''Then unlike the Crystal''s missions, all tutorial missions are mostly arranged by the System, which also means they can bepleted within this tutorial chamber with no exception...''

    ''As a result, whether it be ''Survive 10 monster hordes'', ''Find and use a secret teleportation circle'', ''Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista'', or ''???'', all of them should also be done within this tutorial chamber the same.''

    ''However, there is still one unsolved issue, which is the solid barriers currently blocking the two passageways...''

    ''Hmm...''

    ''Then if I put in thest jigsaw piece, which happens to be ''the untouched two passageways'', into the equation... Doesn''t that mean... all mysteries regarding the remaining tutorial missions will be solved then?''

    ''Hehh... Due to that, it only means one of the two things, isn''t it?''

    ''It is either the two passageways will open up and let me go outside soon, or some big events will happen inside this tutorial chamber eventually...''

    ''No matter which one is correct, I will ultimately have a chance toplete the remaining four missions arranged by the System very soon.''

    ''In the end, I''m still too clever, huh...'' Jeremyplimented himself with a narcissistic smile like he was the most intelligent person alive.

    Upon finishing his long thought, Jeremy walked towards the same old corner that surprisingly had no ounder corpses within the four-meter radius around it.

    Then Jeremy brought out a ck tent from inside the left glove. Afterward, he pitched the tent there, in front of the corner.

    Not long after, Jeremy brought ingredients out one after another from the left''s glove space storage.

    All ingredients were in vacuum-sealed states, causing them to always look as fresh as new within the time-still storage. The ingredientsprised shrimps, precooked andouille sausages, zhini, corn on the cob, garlic, butter, seasoning, spice, parsley, lemon, and aluminum foil as a cooking utensil.

    After all, Jeremy felt bored after eating beef steak for three consecutive meals already, so he intended to cook something he had learned from the inte before being teleported here called ''shrimp boil foil packets''.

    The menu was simple and suitable for people who liked camping in the wild as it was one of the all-time summertime favorites. Furthermore, the whole meal was cooked in aluminum foil, subsequently no dishes were required to be cleaned at the end of the meal.

    When every ingredient was prepared, Jeremy brought out the miniature fire stove and started cooking his sumptuous camping meal.

    After some minutes, the mouth-watering aromas breezed out within the spacious chamber. Following that were Jeremy''s chewing noises and carbonated drink''s fizzing sounds.

    As always, the former sage enjoyed his life to the fullest, albeit doing it alone...

    ...

    Half an hourter, Jeremy finally finished his meal...

    After releasing his full dder in the green toilet, Jeremy came back inside the tent to take a nap due to feeling a bit tired right now.

    Considering that Jeremy had gone into his sea of consciousness to mend the cracks only two hours ago, he couldn''t reess it just yet as his mind felt somewhat exhausted from maintaining the tenth stage of meditation for almost four hours straight.

    So, Jeremy needed to take some rest to revitalize his spent body and weary mind before he could finally repair those cracks again.

    After all, sleeping was still the best way to recuperate body and mind for the current Jeremy...

    Well, that was always the case before he reached higher sses in the mage pathway. After that, Jeremy would be able to use another method to heal and recover himself.

    Soon, rhythmical breathing sounds came drifting out from the zipped ck tent at the tutorial chamber''s corner...

    ...

    Four hours had passed very quickly...

    Jeremy had already woken up and finished keeping everything back inside the left glove for quite some time...

    Right now, Jeremy was standing in front of the left passageway with the steel spear no.3 in hand, whereas the Forsaken Branch was now nowhere to be seen as it looked like Jeremy didn''t intend to use any spell in the uing battle...

    ''This wave might be a bit tiring, but with the new [Breathing Control] and many skills in my arsenal, it shouldn''t be as tiring as when fighting with the three packs of wolves...'' Jeremy thought fleetingly while looking at the dark passageway in front of him.

    At this time, the countdown timer above the green Crystal had counted to thest five seconds...

    ...

    00:00:00:05...

    00:00:00:04...

    00:00:00:03...

    00:00:00:02...

    00:00:00:01...

    00:00:00:00...

    ...

    ˇş Be prepared. The ninth horde of monsters ising. Good luck. ˇ»

    ...

    When the timer had hit zero, a message from the System also promptly showed up in front of Jeremy.

    Upon seeing the notification, Jeremy also prepared himself for the uing bloody battle...

    Shortly after the notification disappeared, the scary sounds suddenly came out from the two passageways simultaneously...

    *Growl* *Growl*

    "GRAA!!!"

    "Aawoooo!!"

    "Gieee..."

    "Jiiiieekk!!"

    The wolves'' deep growling, goblins'' high-pitched screaming, and imps'' annoyingly small voices resounded out echoingly from inside the two passageways without stopping...

    At the same time...

    ''Let''s finish this wave fast...''

    Jeremy thought with a calm expression while standing in front of the left passageway, only having a steel spear in hand to fight with the iing hundreds of ounders....

 Chapter 114 - Alone Within The Tutorial Chamber (4)

    Half an hourter...

    Within the tutorial chamber, where a sizeable green Crystal was floating silently in the middle, ounder corpses nowid and scattered everywhere, making it not even have a ce for people to walkfortably anymore.

    The floor was soaked and drenched with creatures'' blood everywhere, causing a stting noise every time a person took a step on it. Meanwhile, various ces were also littered with internal organs, amputated limbs, and bone pieces.

    It was such a terrifying sight for any onlooker...

    At first nce, anyone would know that a sanguinary and gory battle had just taken ce here and finished not long ago...

    *Huff* *Huff*

    Suddenly, huffing noises rang out within the quiet chamber, causing the dead silent atmosphere earlier to be broken so suddenly.

    Right now, within the green Crystal''s proximity, Jeremy was seen to be huffing incessantly while standing near a green skin hobgoblin''s corpse.

    *Plush*

    Jeremy promptly pulled the spear out from the corpse ahead of him with a plushing sound.

    ''Why is it so tired anyway?'' Jeremy thought briefly to himself after feeling sore all over his body from wielding the spear and moving the body endlessly in the past thirty minutes.

    To be honest, Jermy had truly run a lot in the arduous battle earlier,...

    At the time, Jeremy had decided to use a kiting tactic like thest time to lure the monsters away and chip their numbers bit by bit. Subsequently, from the moment more than ten white wolves had rushed out from inside of the two passageways, Jeremy baited them far away from the entrances and killed them one by one.

    Due to the tactic, Jeremy managed to ughter more than three hundred oundersprised of many races in the end, albeit it had required him more than half an hour to aplish it.

    Promptly, when Jeremy was huffing roughly...

    ...

    [You have received 47 SP]

    [You have received 45 SP]

    [You have received 46 SP]

    [You have received 45 SP]

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have received 44 SP]

    [You have received 72 SP]

    [You have received 71 SP]

    [You have rece...]

    [You hav...]

    [...]

    ...

    More than 336 notifications popped up in front of the huffing Jeremy at a breakneck speed like someone wasmencing spam of stickers in his chat...

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy suddenly let out a sigh from his nose as he closed his eyes in tiredness...

    Or he might close his eyes in irritation at the spamming instead?

    After some seconds, the annoying notifications finally disappeared from Jeremy''s sight, as he thought to himself,

    ''From the rough calction, I should have made more than 13,000 SP from this fight. It means I can buy more skills then...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy dragged his feet towards the green Crystal, intending to buy skills again...

    Shortly after avoiding monster corpses left and right along the way, Jeremy finally arrived before the Crystal.

    Then he reached his left hand out to touch it, and a transparent window promptly appeared before him.

    Afterward, Jeremy essed the skills list and scrolled down directly towards the high number of skills to see if there was still any useful skill left to be bought or not.

    ...

    Skill no.163, [Called Shot]

    Skill no.164, [Knife Throwing]

    Skill no.165, [Martial Arts]

    Skill no.166, [Charge] (Sold out)

    Skill no.169, [Hibernate]

    Skill no.174, [Focus] (Sold out)

    Skill no.179, [Hypnotism]

    Skill no.180, [Analyze] (Sold out)

    Skill no.181, [Fast Hands] (Sold out)

    Skill no.182, [Marksmanship] (Sold out)

    Skill no.183, [Stealth] (Sold out)

    Skill no.184, [Bncing Feats] (Sold out)

    Skill no.185, [Breathing Control] (Sold out)

    Skill no.186, [Eagles Eyes] (Sold out)

    ...

    After seeing the skills list in front of him, Jeremy entered his shopping mode again,

    ''Hibernate? What a useless skill... Hypnotism? I don''t need such a thing as I have so many means to imitate its properties... Well, so there is no more useful skills from number 160 onwards anymore. Then let me take a look at the early numbers...''

    ''Hmm...''

    ''Martial Arts? It might be useful as I sometimes let out a punch or two, but I still mostly use a spear to fight, so let''s put it as thest choice... Knife Throwing and Called Shot? No...''

    ''Then this one...''

    ''Also, this one...''

    ''Not this one...''

    ''This one might work...''

    Right now, Jeremy could even make countlessdies on Earth ashamed of his shopaholic capability as he was very demanding when it came to his own power upgrading.

    After a few minutes had passed, the shopaholic Jeremy had finally decided...

    ''Alright, let''s go with these skills...'' Jeremy thought to himself while looking at the interface in front of him...

    ...

    [Would you like to buy skill no.135, [Combo Strike] for 4,182 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.139, [Surpassing Strength] for 4,401 SP?]

    [Would you like to buy skill no.151, [Calm Mind] for 4,990 SP?]]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    After calcting his total SP and thinking about the usefulness of various skills, Jeremy concluded in buying three skillsprised of two skills that would benefit him in meleebat and another mind-rted skill that would help him in meditation and some other situations.

    Then Jemery willed his mind to choose the ''Yes'' option. Simultaneously, a transparent window changed into another one...

    ...

    [A total of 13,573 SP have been deducted from your SP ount]

    [You have received the [Combo Strike] skill]

    [You have received the [Surpassing Strength] skill]

    [You have received the [Calm Mind] skill]

    [You currently have 149 SP remaining]

    [There will be no exnation about how to upgrade the skills further; you have to explore and upgrade those skills by your own self. Good luck.]

    ...

    Combo Strike (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the chances of your physical attacks being connected and linked with one another by 9%.

    Surpassing Strength (Basic - Passive Skill): When you unleash a physical attack, your strike will be heavier and stronger by 4%.

    Calm Mind (Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the control over your mind, leading it to a state of serenity, tranquillity, and peace quicker by 8%.

    ...

    Upon seeing the three new skills were bought sessfully, Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''I am suddenly stronger yet again, albeit only physically... and if I somehow max out the grade and rank of those fourteen skills... Well, with just the thought of it has made my blood boil already.''

    ''Nheless, it looks like I will have to train my body much more from now on... It is such a drag...''

    Having finished his momentary thought, Jeremy walked back towards the same corner where some white bone pieces scattered there...

    It appeared that Jeremy had intentionally lured most ounders to other ces, resulting in only some bone pieces flying in favorite corner''s direction.

    After clearing those bones out for a bit, there was finally a space to pitch a tent. So, Jeremy took out the ck tent and pitched it there once again.

    Regarding the reason why Jeremy had kept the tent inside the glove''s space storage was that he had learned his lesson from when he was ambushed by the wolf packs, leading him to wash the tent''s canvas for a long time.

    Thus, Jeremy decided to keep his tent first before the ninth horde came for safety''s sake...

    After a few minutes...

    ''Done... Now, let''s repair my sea of consciousness for a bit before thest wavees. Hmm... I wonder how tough the next one will be. If it''s too hard, then I might have to use the spells to defeat them.''

    After sitting down on a cushion, Jeremy thought fleetingly to himself, wondering about the next wave''s difficulty.

    Not long after, Jeremy finally closed his eyes and entered the meditating state....

 Chapter 115 - A Tough Battle Within A Green Forest

    Within a particr temperate green forest with various deciduous trees grew sparsely spanning more than one kilometer of distance...

    Typically, a temperate forest was home to a diverse wildlife biosystem including various insects, spiders, wolves, foxes, bears, coyotes, bobcats, lions, eagles, rabbits, deer, squirrels, and many more.

    Subsequently, predators with their own territories typically ate smaller animals, whereas smaller animals usually ate grass and fruits from vegetation to survive.

    Thus, when all the factorsbined, they created a perfect ecosystem within a single forest...

    At this time, the temperate forest looked to be in the pre-winter season. The temperature was as low as 40 degrees Fahrenheit or 4 degrees Celsius, causing various animals to rarely roam outside alone for fear of being preyed upon by hungry predators.

    Furthermore, it appeared that the decrease in temperature and shortened daylight hours had decreased photosynthesis for trees and nts even more. Right now, those trees and nts were shedding their leaves in preparation for budding new ones in the next season when warmer temperatures and longer hours of daylight returned...

    However, this ce was the second stage of the tutorial, so the next season would nevere...

    At this moment...

    *Rustle*

    *Rustle*

    The rustling noises generated by many people rushing through short grasses and fallen dried leaves resonated out within the forest-green jungle...

    The sprinting peopleprised more than twenty humans altogether. All of them were armed to the fullest from head to toe and had various weapons fully prepared for any immediate battle.

    However, it seemed like those people intended to do some stealthy operations as most of them only wore leather armors which would not cause any nging or ttering noise while moving and rushing.

    Suddenly, when everyone was moving quickly past various deciduous trees, a middle-aged man in histe 30s running in the forefront raised his left hand, which was an agreed sign prior to the operation, for others to see.

    Simultaneously, the other 19 people stopped right in track immediately, not daring to cause any more noise, as they knew what situation they were in right now...

    Only one slip, and everyone here might fall into grave danger altogether.

    Furthermore, everyone within the group was a veteran who had undergone and passed the first stage of the tutorial not long ago...

    So, they knew what they should do and shouldn''t do in this kind of situation.

    Then the tall, middle-aged man, who had signaled everyone to stop earlier, did four or five hand signs to tell other people what he had found.

    When everybody saw his hand signs, their faces grew more solemn all of a sudden...

    For a reason, they were a scout team sent by the camp; they had prepared many ways tomunicate beforemencing this operation.

    So, when everyone saw those agreed hand signs, they clearly understood that some footsteps sounds wereing from 11 o''clock direction, and both sides would cross path soon enough.

    Regarding the middle-aged man, he obviously had his own credibility to act as the group''s eyes and ears like this.

    After all, the man used to be a hunter who spent most of his time back on Earth hunting the animals and living in the forests. So, he ought to be the most suitable person out of everyone here to act as the ''eyes and ears''.

    Upon seeing the former hunter''s hand signs, everyone''s eyes suddenly shifted towards a certain bulky man with a bald head as if asking for further instruction from him...

    Indeed, they were waiting for a decision from the man as he was operating as the current group''s leader.

    Right when the tall, muscr baldy saw everyone''s attention was now on him, he fell into a brief dilemma...

    ''In this kind of situation where we don''t know the exact amount of enemy, we should retreat quietly to ry the information. Then we will think of a countermeasureter...''

    Having thought so, the group''s leader, which happened to be the bald-headed Eddie, gave out three hand signals, telling everyone to retreat quietly back to their camp to report about the findings.

    Upon seeing their leader''s decision to retreat, most people sighed in relief and started going back the same route where they came from...

    However...

    *Whizz...*

    A whizzing sound came out of nowhere, heading directly towards the retreating people...

    *Puchi*

    "Gak! Aargh..."

    With the ''puchi'' noise resounding out, someone''s painful groaning voice also simultaneously rang out...

    Sure enough, someone within the group was just shot by an arrow when they were retreating...

    Upon seeing that, Eddie hurriedly looked around their surroundings to find the enemies'' traces between the rocks and trees.

    Sure enough, Eddie had found quite some of them...

    "Enemies have already surrounded us! Prepare for a battle!"

    Eddie shouted aloud after realizing many silhouettes behind the trees at tens of meters away from the group.

    From his vast experience, Eddie knew it had already been toote to retreat now, so hemanded everyone to prepare for a fight.

    Afterward, Eddie brought forth a crossbow from his back with two arrows being nocked readily in the two flight grooves. Then he promptly aimed towards a particr direction in the away distance...

    There, Eddie suddenly spotted a tall creature with the head of a bird poking out from behind a tall tree.

    Upon seeing an opportunity to attack, Eddie decided to pull the trigger without any hesitation...

    *Whizz...*

    The arrow bolt whizzed towards the hiding creature swiftly...

    Not long after...

    *Puchi*

    The arrow bolt punctured the bird-like creature''s head hazardously as it dropped to the ground dead...

    ''What a lucky shot... Also, they are not that strong, then...'' Eddie thought to himself momentarily before turning his head towards everyone else and shouting aloud...

    "We will use a guerri warfare tactic! Everyone, disperse!"

    After Eddie realized the enemies'' strength was roughly the same as theirs, he promptly ordered everyone to fight using one of the agreed battle formations, guerri tactic.

    For a battle within a forest full of big and tall trees like this one, no other strategy was more suitable than the guerri warfare one.

    So, Eddie''s decision was proven to be correct...

    At the same moment...

    The groaning man, whom had been shot by the arrow earlier, was carried by two people to take a cover behind a big tree.

    However, the injured man could only take three steps before he suddenly dropped to the ground and convulsed incessantly with white foamed bubblesing out of his mouth continually.

    When the two people, who had been carrying the wounded man, saw such a sight, their eyes constantly widened in shock...

    Before long, one of them suddenly came out of the stupor and shouted for the other Earthlings to hear,

    "Be careful! Their weapons are smeared with lethal poisons!!"

    "..."

    "..."

    The atmosphere became deadly still for a split second as everyone was digesting the man''s sudden shout...

    Shortly after, most people''s faces started hardening even more than before as they knew they were in a real deep shit this time...

    ''This fight will be tough...''

    Eddie thought depressingly while firing an arrow bolt at a bird-humanoid creature rushing towards him from a distance...

    ...

    [A/N: This is how the bird-humanoid creature looks like.]

 Chapter 116 - The Tenth Horde (1)

    At the same time, within the tutorial chamber...

    After fixing and repairing his sea of consciousness for more than three hours straight, Jeremy, who had been sitting cross-legged on the soft cushion, finally opened his limpid blue eyes.

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy suddenly let out a breath from his mouth as he felt somewhat tired mentally, plus his initially exhausted body from the battle earlier.

    Then Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''Three more times, and my sea of consciousness will return back to normal...''

    Afterward, Jeremy poked his head outside the tent to look at the timer above the floating green Crystal, only to see almost three hours were left before thest horde came raiding this chamber.

    ''Let''s take a short nap then...''

    Thus, Jeremy intended to take a nap to recover his tired body and exhausted mind for the time being as he had nothing to do anyway...

    Soon, Jeremy''s left glove shone with a white line before a pillow appeared out of the glow.

    Shortly after, Jeremy slept soundly within the ck tent, readily entering a good dream to beat the cupid ck and blue again...

    ...

    Almost three hourster...

    Right now, Jeremy was standing with a steel spear in his right hand ahead of the left passageway like the previous times.

    He was now ready to face thest monsters'' horde...

    At the moment, the countdown timer above the green Crystal was also counting back to thest three seconds, signifying that the hellish battle wouldmence very soon enough...

    ...

    00:00:00:03...

    00:00:00:02...

    00:00:00:01...

    00:00:00:00...

    ...

    ˇş Be prepared. The tenth horde of monsters ising. Good luck. ˇ»

    ...

    After the countdown timer had hit zero, the familiar notification also popped before Jeremy like every time, but...

    "..."

    Something peculiar happened...

    Unlike the previous waves, there was no sounding out from inside the two passageways at all...

    ''Hmm... Strange...''

    ''No more wolf? Wait... that means there is no goblin, imp, and hobgoblin, too?'' Jeremy thought puzzlingly to himself after meeting with an unfamiliar situation.

    Atst, Jeremy thought dismissively while shaking his head slightly in a bored manner at such a circumstance,

    ''Whatever...''

    After all, Jeremy had even cleared the hard-difficulty trial with perfect scores, so he had nothing inside this tutorial to be afraid of anymore.

    ''Will the enemiese to me, or do I have toe find them myself?'' Jeremy thought annoyingly at the dead silent atmosphere.

    However, the silence didn''tst long as a sudden grating noise suddenly came out from behind Jeremy...

    *Jjak* *Jjak*

    *Jjak* *Jjak*

    The irritating noises resounded out closer and closer to the right passageway''s entrance, signifying that whatever the thing was, it wasing out from the right entrance soon...

    ''So, there is only one monster for this one... a boss monster? However, the earlier notification from the System has stated clearly that it was a ''horde of monsters''. Then howes there is only one creature this wave?''

    Having thought so in puzzlement, Jeremy turned one-eighty degrees to the back, towards where the grating noises came from...

    *Jjak* *Jjak*

    *Jjak* *Jjak*

    Soon, the creature responsible for creating the annoying sound started showing up in front of Jeremy slowly...

    Shortly after, the creature''s appearance was finally reflected by the light from the tutorial chamber, causing Jeremy to see its figure clearly right now...

    Shocking enough, the creature looked somewhat like a spider back on Earth. Still, the difference in size between the two was like heaven and earth, as the spider monster ahead of the passageway''s entrance stood at more than two meters in height, and its body was as long as four meters.

    The spider-like monster stood on all its eight legs, which should be the culprits why the grating sounds urred earlier as those long legs looked so sharp that they might even be sharper than a steel needle.

    The creature had a total of eight eyes like typical spiders. Whereas its six big yellow eyes were staring in different directions to inspect every nook and cranny of the tutorial chamber simultaneously, and another two eyes were fixing intently at the sole living being within the tutorial chamber, Jeremy.

    Meanwhile, if the spider''s size was already considered ''big'', then its abdomen should be called ''enormous'' as it looked so bulged that it seemed to be able to explode at any given time.

    At this moment, when the monstrous spider had finally realized that only one person was left alive within this ce, it suddenly opened its big mouth widely in unsatisfaction. It was clearly conveying its feelings to the small creature ahead of it to show how much hungry and unsatisfied it felt right now.

    "Gak gak kak kak kaa..."

    Simultaneously, strange noise with no real meaning came out of the monster''s mouth continually...

    As the monster had opened its mouth to let out those strange noises, Jeremy could now clearly see its sharp teeth altogether with the two long tentacles that had been kept within its mouth earlier. They looked so hideous and dangerous...

    *Sigh*

    Upon seeing the enemy ahead of him and realizing what it was, Jeremy let out a tired sigh because he suddenly understood and realized something very important...

    Simultaneously, Jeremy fell into deep thought while staring at the ugly creature in front of him,

    ''A no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista, huh. Now, I finally know it...''

    ''It evidently signifies that the so-called Noir Keista is one of the fallen kingdoms on Ortus...''

    ''Well, the reason that kingdom fell in the first ce should be losing in the War of the Worlds too many times or either crumbling to a prolonged war and intense invasion of other races...''

    ''After that, the entire race''s most poptions went extinct, whereas only some managed to stay alive. However, they were overexposed to Ortus'' unhabitable environment, causing them to evolve into something abominable...''

    ''Then, after losing their home, having to live out in the open exposing to Ortus'' hellish atmosphere, and evolving themselves into something vile and atrocious, they eventually lose their names and purposes of lives in the process...''

    ''Atst, they ultimately be creatures driven purely by instinct and desires with no more advanced cognitive capabilities...''

    Indeed, the creature stood 30 meters away from Jeremy right now looked nothing like the sentient and half-sentient creatures created by the System so far at all, for it to be more like a being solely driven by desires...

    After finally ending his long contemtion, Jeremy looked at the giant spider ahead of him with an expressionless face and said with a somewhat cold tone,

    "They are called as a whole as The Forsakers..."

    As if the spider-looking forsaker had felt offended by Jeremy''s words, it suddenly opened its disgusting mouth even more expansive than before and screamed,

    "KHIAAAAAA!!!!"

    The creature''s voice was such a high-pitched one that Jeremy frowned a bit because his Heightened Senses hade into work, causing him to hear the screaming sound louder and clearer than ordinary people.

    Without further ado, the monstrous spider rushed towards Jeremy at breakneck speed...

    At the same time, the ck-cloaked Jeremy also dashed head-on towards the monstrous forsaker...

    ...

    [A/N: Most creatures that go by the alias ''Forsaker'' are just savage animals with no fundamental cognitive abilities to learnplicated things such asnguages, maths, and evenmon senses.. They are just like ordinary wild animals on Earth. This is how the spidey looks like ˇŞ>]

 Chapter 117 - The Tenth Horde (2)

    At this moment, within the tutorial chamber...

    *Whoosh*

    The whooshing sound, generated from a long object moving fast through the air, resounded out...

    *ng*

    Following closely that was nging noise from metal hitting against metal...

    *Whoosh*

    *ng*

    Without dy, another nging sound simr to before rang out again within the spacious chamber...

    In fact, the shing noises, originating from two creatures battling one another, had been ongoing within this chamber for more than five minutes already.

    The two creatures were obviously the ck-cloaked Jeremy and the colossal spider forsaker.

    Surprisingly, Jeremy, who had always been on the offensive side in every battle he fought, was now defending passively from the monstrous spider''s aggressive sharp legs.

    Jeremy had to step back every time the creature took one step towards him...

    Suddenly...

    *Fwhoosh*

    The keen wind''s noise resounded out as the spider''s razor-sharp forelimb came bolting towards Jeremy swiftly. At the same time, thetter hurriedly jumped away to the left to dodge the fast-approaching long leg.

    *Peng*

    The leg''s needle-like tip came striking against the cave-like floor, creating a strange and annoying noise as a result...

    At this time, Jeremy had justnded on the ground after jumping to dodge earlier, another sharp needle-like leg came whizzing towards him once again.

    The giant spider was utilizing its numerous dangerous limbs to its utmost advantage...

    ''Damn it...''

    Jeremy cursed inwardly before jumping backward as fast as he could.

    *Fwhoosh*

    *Peng*

    The grating sound resonated out once again as Jeremy had barely dodged the previous deadly attack.

    Afternding, Jeremy finally saw an opportunity to strike back as he hurriedly took a step forward before thrusting out the spear explosively towards the creature''s disgusting face.

    *Fwhoosh*

    The spear de traveled through the air, creating a whooshing sound, heading at lightning speed towards one of the enormous spider''s eyes.

    Unfortunately...

    *ng*

    The forsaker only had to slightly move its head to the side to make one of its sharp fangs intercept the spear thrust.

    Not only the four long forelimbs that were nuisances, the two sharp, long fangs in front of the creature''s mouth were also considered nuisances, not different from the former in the least.

    ''Again...'' Jeremy thought with a slight frown.

    Then he hurriedly jumped away from the current position as two tapered legs had alreadye zooming towards him at breakneck speed.

    *Peng* *Peng*

    The two grating sounds rang out consecutively, whereas Jeremy had sessfully escaped from the sharp limbs yet again...

    At the moment, Jeremy was really in a dilemma because the battle had been continuing for quite a while but still showing no result.

    ''It seems like fighting it physically won''t work... Wait... What the?''

    While Jeremy was in thought and jumping away, the creature''s enormous abdomen suddenly swelled up considerably from the middle area till the spinnerets part situated at the butt area.

    Then some small creatures suddenly popped their heads out from the said spinnerets unpleasantly...

    *Buchi* *Buchi*

    *Buchi* *Buchi*

    One by one...

    The small spiderlings the size of 30 to 40 centimeters came out from the spider''s hind abdomen before dropping to the ground and stood on their eight legs like the mother.

    With just a single nce, one would realize those spiderlings looked just like a miniature version of the monstrous spider.

    Moreover, there were more than fifty of those nasty small creatures on the ground right now, but there was still no sign of them stoppinging out at all.

    ''Now, I know why the System calls it a monsters wave as it is not strange for a Forsaker to give birth by using parthenogenesis anyway...'' Jeremy thought inwardly after seeing the sight in front of him.

    Regarding the term, parthenogenesis simply meant a creature being pregnant without male fertilization. Sometimes, the male ones could even be pregnant themselves from the bizarre routes of DNA and genes evolution.

    This form of reproduction was not the preferred method and had many evolutionary disadvantages for most species because it constituted a form of inbreeding that reduced the gic diversity of the said species, causing the younglings to be almost 100% like their parents.

    Nevertheless, parthenogenesis was still considered the most suitable reproduction method for the races and species that were scarce in number and had a nigh impossible chance to meet with their own kinds on the vast Ortus. Especially, the roaming forsakers...

    At this moment, while the colossal forsaker was giving birth to its spiderlings, Jeremy hurriedly lunged forward towards the creature.

    With hisbined skills stacked after one another, Jeremy swung the spear powerfully at the stood-stillrge spider...

    *Whoosh*

    The spear de traveled swiftly through the air towards the creature''s ugly face, creating a gusty wave of wind along the trajectory as Jeremy intended to use this rare chance to end the spider''s life once and for all...

    However, it seemed like therge forsaker could still move its limbs even while giving birth, for it to suddenly raise the left foreleg to intercept the spear de, not letting the sharp de have any chance to meet its face.

    Thus, the spear de was met with the giant spider''s left foreleg...

    *Splitch*

    The sound of flesh being sliced rang out within the tutorial chamber...

    Afterward...

    *Thud*

    The monstrous spider''s long leg was cut in half and dropped to the ground with a thudding sound...

    "KHIAAAAAAAAA!!"

    It appeared that a forsaker could also feel hurt like any other living creature, as it opened its mouth widely and let out a piercing scream into the air with a distorted expression.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy, who had prepared to do a roundhouse spear sh with even greater force than before, suddenly felt an ominous sensation as he hurriedly jumped back and rolled on the cave-like floor behind him.

    Not long after Jeremy had jumped away from the ce, an unknown green substance was suddenly spitted out from the huge forsaker''s disgusting mouth.

    *Squelch*

    While Jeremy was still in the air, he had suddenly heard a squelching sound urring very close to him...

    The said noise undoubtedly originated from the spitted substance earlier as it had gone dangerously past Jeremy''s side towards the stone floor...

    *Sizizizi*

    Simultaneously, a corrosive reaction and noise suddenly urred at the ce where Jeremy stood earlier as it let out trails of white smoke incessantly.

    From the looks and soundsing out from the corroded cave-like ground, the purple substance was clearly a corrosive acid, a highly corrosive one at that.

    ''It almost got me... If that acid had hit my mana barrier, I would have lost even more mana than casting a tier-0 spell...''

    Jeremy thought in relief after having sessfully avoided such a troublesome DPS, aka ''damage per second'' attack.

    After all, every DPS ability was considered one of the banes of all mages. If the said ability was not taken care of or removed from the mages'' barrier immediately, it would sip the mages'' mana bit by bit until their mana ran dry.

    ''Alright, I''m done with this fart... No more wasting time...'' Jeremy thought annoyingly to himself as he didn''t want to waste his time engaging in a fruitless close-ranged battle anymore.

    A melee battle was not a mage''s forte in the first ce....

 Chapter 118 - The Tenth Horde (3)

    Right now, the ck-cloaked Jeremy was backing away swiftly from the giant spider as he had decided to use another method to defeat the opponent instead of fighting like a brute.

    Also, if Jeremy still persisted in fighting in closebat against the monster, he might not be fortunate like this time and might be hit with the green substance when he slipped up...

    If that happened, Jeremy would be in deep shit for real.

    At this time, the seven-legged spider''s yellow eyes could only stare hatefully at the retreating human as it could not move from the spot while still giving birth to its children.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy was moving away from the creature while his mouth was mumbling an unknownnguage, and his left hand was moving to create bizarre characters in the air.

    Stange enough, the characters Jeremy created were moving in the air along with him as if they were controlled by some strange power.

    In fact, most low-level mages couldn''t do a moving cast, or in other words, they couldn''t cast a spell while moving from ce to ce.

    Because when the mages moved, the runes they drew in the air would not connect to one another, causing the spell to be iplete and unable to be activated.

    However, Jeremy was different as he had already gained ess into his sea of consciousness, so he could use mind power to help in casting spells.

    That was also the case right now as Jeremy was doing a moving cast while using his mind power to control those runescripts toe along with his moving body.

    Not long after, Jeremy, who had avoided the corpses and bones on the floor left and right, finally arrived more than ten meters away from the spider...

    Suddenly, a glowing light-blue ball in the shape and size of a baseball had appeared out of nowhere above Jeremy''s left palm.

    The blue ball was obviously a mana bolt spell that Jeremy had cast right after moving away from the spider''s vicinity.

    When the giant spider suddenly spotted the mana bolt, it suddenly felt uneasy as it hurriedly contracted its spinnerets, intending to put a short stop to the birthing process.

    After all, the creature still had an instinct of a beast, so it had felt the danger clearly exuding out from the small mana bolt on the human''s palm.

    ''Nah... Yourrge body will be such an easy target for me...''

    Jeremy thought amusingly after seeing the nervousness clearly stered on the creature''s ugly face.

    Afterward, he positioned himself in a pitching stance like a professional baseballer...

    Without further dy, Jeremy used his left hand to throw the mana bolt towards the monstrous spider swiftly.

    Even though Jeremy had thrown the mana bolt by using his left hand, his postures or stances while throwing it didn''t appear sluggish or unfamiliar at all.

    Such a result was obviously due to Jeremy''s familiarity of using both hands altogether with the Ambidextrous and Bncing Feats skills that came into y...

    *Whoosh*

    The mana bolt traveled through the air like a bullet towards the spider...

    At this time, the forsaker had no way to avoid such a high-speed mana bolting from just ten meters away at all...

    So, it believed in its instinct as it hurriedly used the remaining three forelegs to make a cross in front of its nasty face while standing on the remaining four hind legs.

    Simultaneously after...

    *BOOOMMMM!!!!*

    A deafening noise rang out within the spacious chamber, causing the corpses and bones on the ground and even the spiderlings under its mother''s belly to be blown far away from the explosion site.

    As for therge fosaker, upon its three legs came into contact with the mana bolt, they were instantly shredded into countless pieces.

    It appeared that the creature only excelled in attacking and aggressiveness but was very weak when it came to defense and toughness.

    Consequently, the oue was clear as day...

    After the explosion died down, the creature''s current appearance eventually appeared before Jeremy...

    Right now, it struggled with difficulty to stand on its four hind legs, whereas the four front legs were nowhere to be seen as they should have already been shredded and scattered everywhere within the vast chamber by now.

    Meanwhile, its initial ugly face now looked even uglier than before as the left side of the creature''s visage was disfigured so severely from the explosive st earlier. As a result, four of the creature''s eight yellow eyes were destroyed entirely and changed into yellow goo, dropping and dripping to the ground below itsrge body.

    "Khiaaa..."

    The giant spider promptly let out a weak-sounding noise from its distorted mouth after feeling pain all over its body.

    Following that, disgusting blood continually dripped out from the injured creature''s mouth without stopping.

    Surprisingly, the enormous forsaker''s blood waspletely ck in color...

    At the same time, the gaping wounds over its body also continually oozed out the same ck blood as its mouth...

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    The footstep sounds suddenly resonated out, moving closer and closer towards the gravely wounded creature...

    With a steel spear in his right hand, Jeremy walked towards the giant spider that was now struggling to even stand still in ce.

    ''It can even stand after receiving such a point-nk bomb, huh. From its fighting capability so far, it should be somewhat weaker than the Dokkaen warrior, but its vitality far exceeds thetter...'' Jeremy thought momentarily to himself while walking towards the struggling creature.

    Indeed, Jeremy''s thought couldn''t be more right, for the giant spider or thest boss of this tutorial was supposed to be fought against by tens of humans altogether. So, its vitality should be very high to withstand the people''s onught.

    At the same time, the forsaker''s offensive and aggressive capability shouldn''t be as high as to the point of rivaling the Dokkaen warrior, who could single-handedly a big group of one hundred Earthlings...

    After all, if therge forsaker could easily ughter all humans, there would be no point inmencing such a tutorial anymore.

    Not long after...

    Jeremy finally arrived and stopped at approximately three meters away from the spider as he thought it was the safest distance to advance and retreat....

 Chapter 119 - The Tenth Horde (4)

    *Hiss!*

    All of a sudden, the struggling giant spider let out a hissing noise from its distorted mouth...

    ''Well, a beast''s final struggle...?''

    Jeremy eximed inwardly and hurriedly rolled to the right side to avoid the enemy''s attack...

    Sure enough...

    *Squelch*

    The noise, generated from a nasty-looking purple substance hitting against the solid cave-like floor at some meters away, suddenly rang out as the substance went past Jeremy''s body dangerously...

    It appeared that the severely wounded forsaker was resilient enough and still had a will to fight with the hateful human.

    However, this should have been itsst effort already, as after letting out the acidic liquid from the mouth, the giant spider''s body promptly swayed left and right before its four legs eventually became jelly and ultimately gave out.

    *Thud*

    The giant spider''s head suddenly fell onto the ground along with its upper torso as its body weight became imbnced from the loss of four front legs...

    *Thump*

    Simultaneously, the spider''s enormous belly also dropped heavily onto the floor, creating a thumping noise within the quiet chamber.

    Meanwhile...

    *Sizizizizi*

    The ce where the purple substancended earlier suddenly let out a sizzling noise because of the stone being corroded heavily.

    At this time, Jeremy had already stood up from the ground and started walking towards the giant spider.

    When he arrived two meters away from the limping half-dead creature, Jeremy stared directly into thetter''s remaining eyes.

    To be honest, Jeremy''s eyes didn''t contain pity, empathy, orpassion in them at all, as those limpid blue eyes were rather indifferent and emotionless...

    Then, with those impassive eyes, Jeremy lightly plunged the spear de towards the spider''s head, at exactly where its brain was situated.

    *Puchi*

    The spear de went inside the forsaker''s forehead smoothly with a ''puchi'' noise...

    After all, Jeremy''s physical strength was at least three or four times stronger than an ordinary human. So, his ''lightly'' strike might appear to be a full-force strike from other humans.

    That''s why the spear de went inside the spider''s head, prating through its white skull, and embedded itself within the creature''s brain smoothly...

    At this moment, the giant spider''srge body started convulsing agitatedly while its four long legs also thrashed on the ground creating the grating noise constantly.

    *Plush*

    Jeremy pulled the spear back lightly as the ck blood trail came permeating out from the creature''s forehead.

    Simultaneously, the convulsing giant spider also stopped thrashing as its limbs became limp and dropped weakly to the ground with thudding noises.

    Afterward, the spider ceased all of its movements entirely; even its heart also stopped beating slower and slower at this moment, until it eventually stopped after a few seconds...

    Thest boss of the whole ten hordes of monsters had finally been in... by a single human...

    Shortly after, a window of notifications suddenly popped up in front of Jeremy...

    ...

    [You have received 1,523 SP]

    [You have received 6xˇď for sessfully killing a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista]

    ...

    ''Not bad for the exchange of my precious mana...'' Jeremy thought momentarily and nodded satisfactorily after seeing his rewards received from ying the giant spider.

    After the interface disappeared, Jeremy turned to look at the spear de, as some chunks of the ck brain were stuck gruesomely on the de''s body that had juste out from inside the monster''s skull.

    It appeared that even the creature''s brain was also ck in color, the same as its blood...

    Afterward, Jeremy turned back towards the spider''s cold corpse before raising the spear into the air.

    Then, out of nowhere, he swung the spear downward diagonally from above the spider''s head...

    *Whoosh*

    The spear was swung down powerfully as the brain chunks on the spear de were flung out with the passing wind.

    A split secondter...

    *Splitch*

    The sound of thick flesh and bones being sliced apart rang out within the silent tutorial chamber...

    The dead spider''s head was bisected in half, as the left and right parts dropped towards the two sides like a watermelon sliced in half by a kitchen knife.

    Meanwhile, the perpetrator, Jeremy, didn''t show any expression at all after doing and seeing such an obnoxious thing.

    ''Let''s see...''

    Jeremy thought briefly while looking scrutinizingly at the creature''s brain parts that were now split open in two, clearly exposing the ck brain clumps inside the white skull.

    Then Jeremy used the spear de to rake and poke all around the creature''s brain areas as if wanting to y with the brain.

    However, Jeremy was, in fact, finding something within the brain clumps, not ying with it in any way...

    *St*

    *St*

    The unpleasant noises rang out as Jeremy continued to poke left and right...

    Until...

    ''Oh, there it is...''

    Jeremy eximed inwardly after finally seeing something within the ck brain mush. It was a small transparent prismatic crystal the size of a person''s pinky nail embedded inside the mashed brain.

    Well, due to Jeremy poking here and there inside the creature''s skull, the brain chunks inside now looked unlike typical brains anymore, but it was more like a disgusting ck paste instead.

    Afterward, Jeremy used the spear de to rake out the crystal from the disgusting ck brain...

    *Cling...*

    The almost inaudible clinging noise rang out when the tiny transparent crystal fell on the floor.

    Surprisingly enough for the ck brain and blood of the contaminated forsaker to have a transparent crystal embedded within.

    Also, the crystal looked as pure as it could be; it was indeed bizarre to have such a pure thing stay together with one of the most corrupted things like this.

    Right now, Jeremy was looking at the crystal with a light smile as he scrutinized its looks carefully...

    Albeit still being covered by some ck blood stains and tiny brain pieces, Jeremy could still roughly see its looks somehow...

    From the crystal''s outer appearance, if it were on Earth, the prismatic crystal should be surely called ''Doubly Terminated Crystal'' as it had two natural terminations on both ends of its body.

    At first nce, the crystal looked very ordinary and typical, just like any other crystal in the market, which was not expensive at all. At most, it would be sold at a moderate price to anydy that wanted to supplement her own beauty.

    However, the little thing lying on the ground ahead of Jeremy was another story entirely, as the crystal on Earth and this one here couldn''t even be ced at the same level in the first ce.

    Whether it be in the aspect of usefulness, price, or rarity, the transparent crystal on the ground had clearly exceeded the one from Earth by arge margin.

    After all, the transparent crystal was one of the main currencies used by most races on Ortus.

    It simply meant if a person somehow carried enough amount of the said crystal and moved to live in another race''s territory, the person would be able to buy literally anything he wanted by spending the crystal he had.

    ''An unexpected windfall, huh...''

    ''Like this, it looks like myst battle here will be a lot easier than I''ve initially thought...''

    Jeremy thought with a mysterious smile while looking silently at the nail-sized crystal lying on the ground....

 Chapter 120 - A Ritual Of Exchange And Communion (1)

    Inside the tutorial chamber...

    *Scribble*

    *Scribble*

    Suddenly, the faint scribbling noises resounded out...

    It appeared that the sounds originated from the chamber''s corner where a ck tent was situated.

    The corner was obviously the same favorite corner where a certain someone liked to pitch his tent.

    At this moment, Jeremy was in the said ck tent while sitting on a soft cushion and scribbling on a brown animal leather the size of approximately 50x50 centimeters.

    Surprisingly, Jeremy inscribed on the leather by using both hands'' index fingers simultaneously while the tips of the two fingers were now shining with a light-blue glow.

    It appeared that Jeremy was currently up to something again...

    Right now, if someone took a closer look at the brown leather, they would see the thing Jeremy was inscribing happened to be something very simr to a diagram...

    The diagram in which Jeremy used to draw when he enchanted the Forsaken Branch in his house basement.

    At that time, Jeremy had only inscribed one big diagram on the leather doormatprised of many big and smallplex lines and curves to create the diagram''s body.

    However, this time, theyout was quite different from thest time, as there were more than five small ''diagrams'' with not-soplex lines and curves connected to one another like five small hubs.

    From a single nce, one might be able to tell that it was clearly different and distinct from the diagram Jeremy had inscribed before.

    Actually, the two were indeed different ''things'' as Jeremy was currently inscribing five small arrays instead of one big diagram.

    At this moment, after his fingers'' each stroke were flicked on the animal leather, the arrays seemed to be more and moreplete...

    *Scribble*

    *Scribble*

    Jeremy continued inscribing the magical arrays on the animal leather with his total concentration...

    At this time, it appeared that the newly acquired skill [Focus] had alsoe to y as Jeremy could focus on the inscribing process even better and easier than before.

    Jeremy knew all too well that he could draw an even better diagram than when he created the staff back on Earth.

    Just like that, the inscribing session proceeded up until some minutester...

    Currently, Jeremy suddenly flicked his two index fingers as he drew thest stroke and put the finishing touch to the arrays by smoothly moving both fingers towards one another. As a result, the five arrays finally became whole and connected wlessly.

    ''Done... Array 1-157...''

    Jeremy thought inwardly while retracting his hands from the animal leather.

    Simultaneously, the faint lines on the animal skin inscribed by the purest mana in existence suddenly lit up in bright light.

    The whole tent''s interior got brightened up with the sudden white light from the inscriptions on the brown leather continually, making it appear like someone had just turned on a light bulb inside the tent.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy also scrutinized the white glowing lines and patterns on the leather, which wereposed by using various array inscription techniques, mana techniques, mind power, and highly concentrated focus to create.

    ''The arrays could easily be one of the masterpieces of all low-rank arrays on Ortus...'' Jeremy thought appreciatingly while nodding his head slightly in satisfaction.

    Upon observing the arrays for some more time, Jeremy finally felt assured that nothing had gone wrong with the inscribing process.

    Right now, he had already finished setting up the overallyout, and the next step was to fill in the corresponding mana runes and elemental runes inside the five arrays ording to the process and sequence of the Spell Array 1-157.

    That''s right, Jeremy was creating something called Spell Array 1-157...

    After a few seconds had passed, the lighting lines and curves on the animal leather finally dimmed down a little.

    *Sigh*

    At the same time, Jeremy also sighed a bit after seeing the first step was finally done with no hup urring in the process.

    Then he thought inwardly,

    ''I should have collected more mana fluid from those trees...''

    Upon thinking so in a depressed manner, Jeremy shook his head slightly as he had already spent all the collected mana in the bottles on many asions, causing him to have none left right now.

    Well, two of the most significant asions were that he used the mana fluid to enchant and create the Forsaken Branch, whereas another one was when Jeremy used the remaining mana fluid in the bottle to break through to the peak substage of Journeyman Mage.

    Unfortunately, Jeremy didn''t know beforehand that he wouldn''t be able to replenish mana aftering into the tutorial, as within his mind was that he could gather mana anytime he wanted.

    However, who would have known that such a thing would happen...

    To be honest, even a former sage, Jeremy wasn''t aware that his own dantians couldn''t attract inferior mana particles because such a bizarre case had never happened before in history.

    Still, there was no cry over the spilled milk...

    After all, Jeremy had advanced to the very peak of Journeyman Mage, with only one more push, and he would eventually be a True Mage.

    So, Jeremy was not feeling regretted in the slightest...

    Soon, the bright light had almost died downpletely, now only leaving a dimmed light to shine like a reflect clothing when it was shone upon with a dull glow.

    Upon seeing so, Jeremy thought momentarily about the following steps,

    ''The next process is inputting the runes inside the arrays and setting a code to activate the spell... Still... The problem is that I cannot use any elemental energy yet... But that shouldn''t be a problem as I''ve already had the offering anyway...''

    ''Well... Hopefully, the offering will give me enough time in exchange to write the elemental runes...''

    While thinking so, Jeremy promptly turned his head to look at the tiny transparent crystal lying on the ground beside the animal leather.

    The crystal was clearly the same one Jeremy retrieved from the spider forsaker''s brain.

    As for why Jeremy was unable to use any elemental energy, it was simple...

    In fact, for a mage to use elemental energies or spells, the mage needed to be a ss-1 True Mage first as per a particr condition...

    Obviously, the condition was also applied to Jeremy as he couldn''t use the elemental spells right now.

    Regarding the condition, it was that before a person could use any existing element in the universe, the person had to fuse the elemental energy with a dantian inside the body first and foremost.

    So, in Jeremy''s case, he was currently a peak Journeyman Mage, which was still one step away from bing a True Mage, and he clearly didn''t fuse his three dantians with any element just yet.

    Due to being unable to wield any element right now, Jeremy had to rely on a ritual to cast elemental spells or inscribe elemental runescripts.

    ''Alright, let''s proceed with one of the loathful customs of those prideful mages, the ritual...''

    Upon thinking so, Jeremy suddenly thought of something funny and smiled amusingly at the fleeting faces of his subordinates when they saw him practicing ritualism in the mage tower.

    It was such a sight to behold, after all...

    The prideful sage, Lakota, practiced a loathful ritual...

    After they identally saw him practicing the ritual, his subordinates had to put their utmost effort into covering things up.

    Or else, if the information regarding such nasty conduct of humankind''s greatest mage were to be disseminated to the outside world, their reputation might get a heavy hit, and it might even be the darkest blemished history of all mages.

    On the contrary, Jeremy didn''t think ritualism was a bad thing at all...

    Furthermore, the strong could do anything they wanted without caring about the weak''s opinions anyway.

    Those two were the reasons why Jeremy practiced ritualism so openly in the first ce.

    All the more, he even had a notion of making ritualism legal and traditional in the mage society at the time,

    However, it was such a drag to put himself in the position of having to convince and change other people''s faith, so he discarded the thought down the drain in an instant and only practiced it alone by himself.

    At this time, Jeremy finally finished reminiscing about one of his amusing pasts as he shook his head slightly to throw away those useless thoughts.

    Afterward, Jeremy brought out another brown leather from the left glove...

    It looked like he had prepared quite a sum of them beforeing here as this one shouldn''t be thest animal leather either.

    Now, talking about ritualism...

    Typically, most ritualsprised four mainponents: the offeror, receiver, medium, and condition.

    However, some rituals could also have fewer or moreponents ording to the rted rules, circumstances, and some other factors.

    Regarding which one Jeremy was going to do, it was simply a ceremony called ''ritual of exchange andmunion''...

    The so-called ritual of exchange andmunion that Jeremy chose was undoubtedly categorized in a usual ritualistic type incorporated of four constituents like most rituals.

    This genre of ritual epassed forms of sacrifice and offering meant to praise, please, cate, or trade with the ''great'' powers of which could be anything that had the ''authority'' tominate with another being in the faraway ce.

    If Jeremymenced the ritual this time, it would be considered the second time ''in this life'' already that he had done such a thing.

    As for the first time, it was clearly when Jeremy created the two space storage gloves he wore on his hands right now. At that time, Jeremy also used ritualism to call forth a ''helping hand'' to enchant his gloves.

    Currently, after bringing out the animal leather from his glove, Jeremy proceeded with the ritualism without further dy.

 Chapter 121 - A Ritual Of Exchange And Communion (2)

    Pertaining to the ritual ceremony Jeremy would be practicing soon was categorized in the majority''s one, which had fourponents like any other ritual.

    Currently, Jeremy was inscribing something once again, but this time, he did on another animal leather, which he had just brought out from the left glove.

    *Scribble*

    *Scribble*

    The scribbling noises resounded out faintly within the tent...

    ''Alright, this one is also done... Ritual 0-35 for a sacrificial ceremony...''

    Jeremy thought to himself after seeing a circr diagram shone up with bright light.

    The Diagram ahead of him right now went by the name of Ritual Diagram 0-35, which should have a definite purpose for offering and exchanging things with a receiver.

    For the Diagram''s appearance, it looked straightforward and in with one extensive circr line as an outeryer and four small circles situated at the top, bottom, left, and right side within the curve.

    From the looks, the four small circles should be where the runes would be input in, as Jeremy had left it empty at the moment.

    Regarding the name of Ritual 0-35, it was clear that the ritual was of the very lowest rank because the first number, which was 0, signified it was a tier-0 ritual. Meanwhile, the number 35 indicated the ritual series, which was 35.

    Thus, whenpared to the Enchantment 2-633, which Jeremy had used to create his staff, they were undoubtedly on a different level altogether.

    After a few seconds...

    The light from the inscription had finally died down, leaving only a dull white glow on the leather''s surface.

    Then Jeremy thought about the following process,

    ''Next, inputting runes; five for each circle which makes it twenty lowest-tier runes...''

    At the time when he was in this house basement, Jeremy had to spend a hell-like 2 hours to enchant the Forsaken Branch by relying on Enchantment Diagram 2-633.

    In the process, Jeremy had used approximately 40 mL of mana fluid from the bottle to inscribe the runescriptsprised of more than 933 low-tier runes and 4 middle-tier runes.

    Even with the aid of mana fluid at the time, it could be said that Jeremy''s sea of consciousness was spent and shaken so badly in the process of inscribing those moderately high-level runes.

    However, it was unquestionably different now as Jeremy didn''t draw a tier-2 diagram this time, but a tier-0 diagram instead of which only required twenty lowest-tier runes to create.

    The difference between the two diagrams was like heaven and earth...

    ''To be safe, let''s draw them in the air and use my mind power to control them. Hopefully, it wouldn''t be a big problem for my current damaged sea of consciousness...''

    At this time, the glowing light on the leather''s surface finally became stable and didn''t dim down anymore...

    Without further dy, Jeremy picked up the transparent crystal, aka mystic shell, from the ground.

    Afterward, he ced the ''shell'' on the animal leather''s middle area. Then he started inscribing the lowest-tier runes in the air as both of his index fingers wrote different runes simultaneously.

    It was such an everyday feat for Jeremy now...

    In the future, he might even upgrade his ''runescribing'' to a higher level by writing four runes using four fingers simultaneously. But such a thing would only happen after arriving on Ortus...

    Right now, Jeremy''s fingers moved slowly left and right in the air, creating the afterglows trailing after his fingers until they gradually formed into the shape of runes.

    Not even ten secondster...

    Jeremy finally finished his first two runes at almost the same time as the two runes becameplete at this moment and were now shining moderately bright lights to the surroundings.

    Then with some maniptions of Jeremy''s mana techniques and mind power, the white glowing runes floating in the air started drifting onto an empty area of the animal leather.

    Right after the runes got nearer to the brown leather, their size suddenly shrank down considerably to fit inside a small circle within the Diagram.

    Then the two glowing runewords eventually came down and attached themselves inside the circle. Afterward, they started dimming down significantly, but they still shone the dimmed lights out from the leather''s surface, signifying the two runes were still working properly.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy didn''t even cast a single nce towards the animal leather as his liquid blue eyes were fixing in focus at the two new runes in front of him.

    Evidently, Jeremy had already started inscribing another two lowest-tier runes...

    Efficiency was Jeremy''s specialty after all...

    Almost two minutester...

    *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

    Thest two runes were finallypleted as Jeremy retracted his hands back and used his mind power to control the runes silently.

    At this time, the two floating runes suddenly shrank down several times and slowly moved towards the leather''s surface.

    Shortly after the two runes attached themselves inside the Ritual Diagram 0-35, the entire Diagram promptly lit up brightly once again.

    The Diagram on the animal leather looked veryplete as it now depicted and portrayed various shining runes in different shapes and sizes.

    Furthermore, all the lines, four circles, and twenty runes were acting as a solid core, which had rendered a tidy and graceful diagram with no rune being inscribed outside of the four circles at all.

    Upon seeing the ritual Diagram shining with light, Jeremy smiled slightly in contentment. Then he opened his mouth to mumble words in a ritualistguage.

    The mumbling voice, in a bizarre mysticalnguage, had promptly resounded out from Jeremy''s vocal cords sonorously...

    ...

    <em>Go forth, collect and absorb</em>

    <em>The Universe''s greatest figure</em>

    <em>Watchers of Time</em>

    <em>Circles of Stone</em>

    <em>Silent guardians</em>

    <em>Ortus'' bones</em>

    <em>O'' Nature, our father</em>

    <em>We are his children</em>

    <em>In the name of Ortus'' spirit</em>

    <em>Perceive the offer and earn it</em>

    <em>Trade of the Equal</em>

    <em>Thou shall request</em>

    <em>Thee shall ept</em>

    <em>Thine aid over space</em>

    <em>Symfo?n¨Şa!</em>

    ...

    At the end of the incantation, Jeremy''s voice rang out echoingly within the quiet chamber. Meanwhile, his eyes seemed to shine brilliantly with a blue glow in the same color as mana....

 Chapter 122 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (1)

    Jeremy''s eyes right now seemed to contain countless stars of wisdom, which could guide people to the highest astral space and also capable of driving people into the depth of endless abyss at the same time.

    Meanwhile, the diagram on the animal leather also shone up with white light; it was even brighter than before.

    Then the diagram, runes, and offering on the animal leather suddenly transformed into a clump of white glow before moving towards Jeremy''s body swiftly...

    *Whoong*

    The strange, sonorous noise resounded out from within the tent as the white glow went inside Jeremy''s body, not leaving a single trace behind.

    It was as if nothing had happened before....

    *Fwuu...*

    After seeing the offering and diagram had disappeared into his body, Jeremy promptly let out a long breath of relief and thought satisfactorily,

    ''Nice... What a familiar andfortable feeling to be encased so tightly by countless space elemental particles...''

    ''Alright... no time to waste as I don''t know how long the effect willst.''

    Having thought so after gaining back his control over the space element, Jeremy turned his head towards another animal leather on the side that had five dimly lit arrays connected to one another stuck on its surface.

    Without further ado, Jeremy started drawing runes in the air again to fill the five arrays of the Spell Array 1-157.

    However, the runes Jeremy drew now spotted some differences from the runes he had inscribed so far, for some of them were space elemental runes.

    Whenever Jeremy drew ''mana'' runes, his index fingers would shine in light-blue color. Meanwhile, when Jeremy drew the ''space'' elemental runes, his fingers would shine in silver-grey color instead, clearly showing the difference between the two types of runes.

    One by one...

    Jeremy filled the five arrays with intricated-looking runes at a swift pace...

    Well, he was a bit afraid that he could not make it in time after all...

    ...

    Fifteen minutester, within the tutorial chamber...

    Right now, Jeremy had already finished packing the tent and keeping everything back inside the left glove.

    Afterward, he walked towards the right passageway where the spider forsaker came out from.

    Not long after, Jeremy finally stood in front of the right passageway''s entrance. Then he reached out his right hand forward as if trying to touch something.

    Surprisingly, there was no barrier situated there anymore...

    ''Indeed, the barrier has disappeared after the tenth horde is defeated...''

    ''Hmm... Should I cast an exploration spell or y it passively?''

    Jeremy seemed to be pondering hard to himself about his following approach.

    After some seconds, he finally shook his head dismissively and thought,

    ''Let''s just y it passively as I only have around half my mana left...''

    Upon finishing his thought, Jeremy walked to the right side, towards the closest magical torch on the wall. Then he retrieved the torch out from the metal connector stuck on the wall.

    Soon after, Jeremy walked into the dark passageway with a torch in his left hand and a steel spear in his right hand...

    With each step inside, the cave-like channel seemed to be darker and darker as the light source from the tutorial chamber became farther and couldn''t reach the ce where Jeremy was.

    Fortunately, he had brought a magical torch along to give him enough light, causing him to see more than ten meters ahead.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    Jeremy walked further and further into the passageway...

    Just like that, his footsteps rang out within the dimly lit passageway, creating audible echoing noises, reflecting on the solid walls along the way...

    ...

    Some minutester...

    After walking for a while but still seeing nothing in sight except for the stone walls on the sides, Jeremy felt quite bored right now...

    ''Why is it so far anyway? Also, what is the trick to make those monsters appear so fast in the two passageways after the countdown ends? And how can they...''

    ''Hmm... A light dot?''

    Jeremy, who was going toin like a sissy as he had been walking for some time but still found nothing noticeable, finally saw a small dot of light in the distance ahead of him.

    After seeing the light, Jeremy thought about many possibilities and scenarios of the things awaiting him ahead. Meanwhile, his feet never stopped...

    After a few more minutes, Jeremy finally arrived not far from the light source as the scene inside the light unfolded before him.

    ''Well... So, it is the entrance to another tutorial chamber...'' Jeremy thought in wonder and amazement after seeing the ce before of him.

    Currently, Jeremy saw a red crystal floating in the middle of the chamber in front of him.

    Due to the distance that was still quite far from him, Jeremy could only see it as a small red crystal floating there silently.

    However, he could still estimate roughly that the red Crystal''s size was approximately the same as the green Crystal within the tutorial chamber he came from.

    Right now, Jeremy, who was looking at the chamber within the entrance while walking towards it, promptly ''felt'' something unexpected from within.

    ''Oh?'' Jeremy eximed inwardly.

    At this time, Jeremy should have felt truly surprised because he constantly stopped in tracks after feeling the ''thing''.

    Then, he thought momentarily with a deep frown,

    ''That is definitely it... no doubt; it is the mana fluctuation caused by someone using a spell...''

    The reason why Jeremy stopped his footsteps was that he suddenly felt ''mana fluctuation'' from within the hall ahead of him.

    Sure enough, Jeremy could even pinpoint that it was from someone casting a spell...

    In fact, if the said mana fluctuation came exuding out from the red Crystal, Jeremy wouldn''t be this startled at all.

    However, the mana fluctuation actually came from the left corner of the square chamber in front of him.

    After pausing his footsteps for a few seconds...

    ''Heh... An ambush?''

    Jeremy thought amusingly to himself and continued walking into the chamber.

    Simultaneously, countless ideas and strategies to cope with his supposed ambusher also came into his mind at light speed.

    To be honest, Jeremy came prepared this time...

 Chapter 123 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (2)

    Soon, Jeremy finally emerged from within the passageway...

    It appeared that there was no barrier preventing him from going in, so Jeremy strolled inside the hall leisurely.

    A transparent window simultaneously appeared in front of him right after...

    ...

    ˇş You have received 1xˇď for discovering another tutorial chamber ˇ».

    ...

    Not long after, the window gradually disappeared from his sight...

    At this moment, Jeremy was seen to be standing just right inside the spacious chamber, and the ambusher should be hiding around the corner''s area in his far left.

    To be frank, Jeremy had even expected a sneak attack toe straight at him directly the moment he stepped foot here. However, to his surprise, the ''being'' in hiding didn''t take any action whatsoever.

    After realizing his enemy had no notion of attacking him just yet, Jeremy decided to act ignorant and y along with the ambusher.

    ''You want to y a game? If so, I will y along to your heart''s content then...''

    Jeremy thought with an emotionless face; in contrast, he grinned like an evil within his mind right now.

    Upon finishing his thought, the ''ignorant'' Jeremy swept his gaze quickly around the chamber just like any other person would do aftering inside such a ce.

    Obviously, he chose to start with the ce where his supposed ambusher was hiding first.

    Thus, Jeremy turned his head sideway towards his left side, and unsurprisingly, he saw... nothing...

    It appeared that nothing was present at the said corner at all...

    Meanwhile, Jeremy thought in realization after the brief observation on the area,

    ''Hnn... Mana fluctuation and higher darkness elemental concentration... The opponent is an amateur or something?''

    In fact, if not for the mana fluctuationing out from the ce constantly, and some darkness elemental energy was thicker at the ce than anywhere within the chamber, Jeremy would have thought he was imagining things too much.

    Fortunately, Jeremy had both mana and darkness elemental affinity, so he could clearly feel the two anomaliesing out from the corner.

    Despite his meager level of darkness affinity of 34.8%, Jeremy still felt the peculiarity and strangeness of dark energy lingering at the ce somehow.

    On the contrary, Jeremy''s mana affinity was something else entirely as he could feel the mana fluctuation at the corner clear as day ever since when he stood within the dark passageway, which was more than dozens of meters away from the fluctuation''s site.

    Right now, he could feel it even more apparent than before...

    His affinity level with mana was monstrous after all...

    At this moment, Jeremy''s brain was working at light speed; idea after idea, possibility after possibility, started rushing into his head endlessly.

    Currently, he was gauging the opponent''s race, species, alignment, and the approximated level of fighting prowess.

    Subsequently, many possibilities were kept inside, and many were thrown away at light speed...

    ''Considering the tutorial is being held in the name of light faction... and the ambusher chooses not to attack for some reasons...''

    ''Thebination of mana and darkness element... the weak maniption over mana and element...''

    ''Hmm...''

    ''Then the being should be one of the five races, no doubt... human mage, ck dokkaebi, tabaxi, night elf, and the most unlikely one, baby draconian.''

    Even while thinking so...

    For the smoothness'' sake, as he wanted his behavior to look as wless as possible, Jeremy''s eyes only stopped at the said corner for a split second before shifting to look at the other ces within the chamber.

    Thus, Jeremy finally had time to examine the chamber carefully...

    Surprisingly, it appeared that the chamber was almost the same as the tutorial chamber where the tutorial took ce, with the only difference being the crystals'' colors. The one in this hall was red, whereas the one in the tutorial chamber was green in color.

    Meanwhile, behind the Crystal ahead of Jeremy was another dark passageway with an unknown destination looking simr to the passageway he came out from a moment ago.

    Soon, his eyes swept past the red Crystal, dark passageway, and then towards the chamber''s right side...

    Right about then, Jeremy promptly discovered something again...

    ''What a surprise... There is also a slight mana fluctuationing out from there, behind the wall...''

    ''Hmm... It is exactly like the hidden boss chamber back in the easy-difficulty door...''

    Having thought for a brief moment, Jeremy finally finished inspecting the entire chamber.

    Then...

    "Damn, so there is nothing here at all except for this strange Crystal..."

    Jeremy cursed lightly and mumbled disappointedly to himself, but identally, his voice was loud enough for the ambusher on his left side to hear very clearly.

    Evidently, Jeremy had intentionally said those words to lower the ambusher''s vignce. After all, if he decided to y along, he would have to make it more believable.

    Still, talking to himself like an idiot was not to his taste in the least...

    After acting like an idiot, Jeremy walked directly towards the red Crystal floating ahead of him.

    In fact, ever since the moment before Jeremy came into this chamber, even while walking or talking to himself earlier, his focus had never left and always concentrated on the left corner where the ambusher hid using an unknown spell.

    Truthfully, Jeremy was ready to re up and counterattack the sneaky ambusher at any given time if he felt even a tad bit of anomaly urred from there.

    Whether it be fortunate or unfortunate, the ambusher had somehow chosen not to attack him. So, Jeremy thought it was better to y along for now.

    Well, he was ready to flip the table at any time anyway if he saw the situation unfold in a strange and unfavorable direction.

    After some seconds of walking, Jeremy finally arrived before the Crystal...

    Then he ced the magical torch down on the solid ground before reaching his left hand to touch the ruby-like Crystal ahead of him...

    One second passed...

    Five seconds passed...

    Ten seconds passed...

    "..."

    ''Well...''

    Jeremy eximed within his mind shortly.

 Chapter 124 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (3)

    More than ten seconds had passed after Jeremy started touching the Crystal; still, nothing perceptible happened or popped up in front of him at all.

    Subsequently, Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows noticeably...

    The frown this time looked a bit more genuine than his earlier acting, though, because he indeed felt baffled that nothing had transpired after touching the Crystal for a long time.

    Then Jeremy thought to himself ponderingly,

    ''It looks like I haven''t met the condition to activate the Crystal to see its content... So, there must be something more....''

    ''But what is it?''

    Jeremy pondered within his mind for quite some time but still couldn''t find a definitive answer to such a broad question.

    ''Well... Whatever it is, I will just ask the guy and let him answer my dilemma himself...''

    Upon finishing his momentarily thought while still touching the red Crystal, Jeremy proceeded with the next y,

    "The hell? This Crystal is a scam?"

    Jeremy cussed unsatisfactorily at the Crystal and retracted his hand back with a disappointed face before picking the magical torch up from the ground.

    Afterward, Jeremy turned to look around the spacious chamber again to see if there was something of note or not...

    Then as if he had just thought of something, Jeremy''s eyes brightened up noticeably.

    Concurrently, he spoke up excitedly,

    "That''s right! There must be a secret room somewhere!"

    Without dy, Jeremy hurriedly walked towards the wall on the right side, and he obviously chose to start with the walls opposite the ambusher''s direction.

    Shortly after, Jeremy was seen to be walking parallel to the right side''s wall and scrutinizing every nook and cranny to see if there was any noticeable thing on it or not.

    Also, Jeremy would reach out his hand to touch and caress the wall from time to time, and he continued doing so for quite a while.

    Around five minutester...

    At this moment, Jeremy thought it was finally an appropriate time to ''identally'' discover the hidden room, as the time of five minutes was considered neither long nor short, just enough for him discover the room.

    Subsequently...

    "Oh!"

    Jeremy eximed excitedly in a loud voice as he had indeed found a seam situated among the rocky wall.

    After that, he started touching the wall and magical torches crazily like a madman.

    Sure enough...

    *Click*

    *Whoong* *Whoong*

    The mechanism noises rang out resoundingly within the quiet chamber...

    Like the final chamber of the easy-difficulty door, the rocky wall in front of Jeremy began to move a little, revealing small gaps from the seams at the sides.

    Then the big wall started moving backward, letting Jeremy see the interior of the ''room''.

    Afterward...

    *Fwhoosh*

    *Fwhoosh*

    *Fwhoosh*

    The magical torches hung in the metal connectors on the walls within the squared rocky room promptly lit up simultaneously, giving warm-white lights into the surrounding areas.

    ...

    ˇş You have received 2xˇď for discovering the hidden chamber ˇ»

    ...

    At this time, the hidden chamber''s outlook finally appeared before Jeremy''s eyes...

    The entire room only looked to be around 10x10 meters in dimension with rocky walls on four sides.

    The room''s interior was ''almost'' empty if it wasn''t for a stone tform, with a mysterious-looking diagram on its surface, situated in the middle area.

    Except for the tform and the magical torches on the walls, there was nothing else at all...

    Regarding the elevated stage, it was built 10 centimeters above the ground. Meanwhile, the circr diagram on the tform was filled with countless curves and lines connecting various runes spanning the entire tform.

    At first nce, the outlines looked pretty simr to the Enchantment Diagram Jeremy had inscribed when he was in his house basement.

    However, the runes within the diagram on the stone tform right now looked much moreplex and majestic than the ones Jeremy had ever created so far.

    Upon seeing the sight ahead of him, Jeremy''s eyes brightened up considerably as he thought inwardly,

    ''Jackpot! It''s a basic teleportation circle, which requires the Array-Enchantment Inscription to create, just like my space storage gloves. Also, it should be that secret teleportation circle from the fourth tutorial missions list.''

    ''Heh... That will give me another four ck stars as a freebie...''

    When Jeremy thought till here, he suddenly fell into deep thought,

    ''By the way, even after I''ve discovered this secret chamber, you still don''t have any n to attack, huh. If that is really the case... all the questions and mysteries have been solved then...''

    ''It appears that the ambusher simply doesn''t n to fight or ambush me in the first ce. After all, I''ve already given him two perfect chances to attack me right in the back, but he chooses not to do anything and has remained at the same ce for more than seven minutes already.

    ''That can only mean one thing... The ambusher wants me to leave here as soon as possible...''

    ''Oh, my... Isn''t this exactly the chance I''m looking for?'' Jeremy grinned evilly.

    Currently, he was giving his back openly to the ambusher hiding at the chamber''s far-end corner, so thetter didn''t feel anything out of the ordinary from him at all.

    Then Jeremy continued his thought,

    ''Hmm... It looks like I have to change the n for a bit. That is... from direct confrontation to reverse ambush.''

    ''Also, the ambush has to be swift and traceless not to waste my mana unnecessarily... Hmm... Let''s use that spell then...''

    Upon finishing his thought about the method to cope with the unknown enemy, Jeremy''s face suddenly morphed into a fervent one. Then he said excitedly while looking ardently at the magic diagram,

    "It is a magic circle as in the fourth tutorial mission!"

    After saying those words in a moderately loud voice, Jeremy hurriedly walked right into the room towards the magic circle on the tform with the steel spear and magical torch in his hands.

    Without any dy, Jeremy stepped onto the 10 centimeters tform and positioned himself at the centermost ce of the teleportation diagram.

    Simultaneously...

    *Whoong*

    A strange noise suddenly resounded out right after Jeremy stood above the diagram, as the engraved teleportation spell was activated automatically...

    Afterward, the entire teleportation circle suddenly lit up brightly, causing the whole chamber to be illuminated with white light akin to someone suddenly switching open a spotlight from within.

    ''Alright...''

    Jeremy, who stood on top of the circle, thought mysteriously after seeing the teleportation circle lit up with bright light.

    Then he started counting down within his mind,

    ''4...''

    ''3...''

    ''2...''

    ''1...''

    After Jeremy had counted to one, he suddenly stepped out from the brightened magic circle and crept silently towards the hidden chamber''s corner.

    It appeared that Jeremy didn''t intend to be teleported outside in the first ce...

 Chapter 125 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (4)

    At this time, the teleportation diagram was still working and lighting up the same as earlier, like someone was still standing in the middle of it.

    The strange thing was, no one was on the tform currently...

    Even though there was no one on the tform, but if someone else were there within the hidden chamber right now, they would undoubtedly discover something being ced at the center of the diagram on the tform.

    The thing, which was ced in the middle of the diagram, was surprisingly... a magical torch....

    Undoubtedly, it was the magical torch that Jeremy had brought here along with him...

    Evidently, Jeremy had left the torch there, not to let the teleportation process be interrupted midway while being activated.

    That meant the reason why the diagram still glowed so brightly right now was all due to the magical torch ced on the diagram.

    At this time, Jeremy was already on his way towards the corner while avoiding not to go past the chamber''s entrance because he didn''t want the ambusher to notice and realize that he still hadn''t departed from here yet.

    Shortly after, Jeremy finally arrived at the corner; he promptly put his left hand inside the ck cloak and brought out a rolled brown leather from within.

    The said thing appeared to be the same animal leather Jeremy had inscribed within the ck tent beforeing here.

    Afterward, Jeremy outspread the animal leather on the floor below and crouched down on one knee before reaching his left palm to ce it on the leather''s middle area.

    Then Jeremy mumbled noiselessly,

    "Th¨¦to''s en¨¦rgeian"

    Simultaneously, the inscription on the animal leather started shining brightly, letting out white light to the surrounding areas. Also, the light on the inscription appeared to be covering Jeremy''s palm as if it was absorbed into his body ever so slowly.

    However, the light originating from the inscription was nothingpared to the current bright light illuminating out from the teleportation circle at all.

    Thus, the lighting out from the inscription was not noticeable to the unaware ambusher hiding outside the hidden chamber in the least.

    After seeing the expected white lighting out from the inscription, Jeremy started mumbling inaudibly in an unknownnguage to cast a particr spell.

    *Mumble* *Mumble*

    Jeremy continued mumbling soundlessly at the corner for some time...

    Ten secondster...

    The light from the teleportation circle finally started to dim down, and Jeremy had also finished the incantation at this time, as he eventually stopped mumbling and started proceeding on to finish the chant with thest two words,

    "Se Kr¨˘tisi"

    Jeremy mumbled without letting a sound out from his mouth.

    Simultaneously, the inscription''s light on the diagram attached to the leather''s surface suddenly consolidated up like it woulde to life at any moment.

    Then the consolidated arrays and runes on the leather''s surface started changing and morphing into a clump of light, and then went directly into Jeremy''s palm and moved to his entire body swiftly like when he practiced the ritual of exchange not long ago.

    After the clump of light finally went inside his body until leaving no trace behind, the diagram, arrays, and runes on the brown leather had also vanished from the leather''s surface entirely at this time.

    When all the processes were done, Jeremy knew the spell was now ready to be activated...

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy promptly let out a long breath and thought inwardly,

    ''What a tiring job to do a high-speed casting of tier-1 spell with my sea of consciousness is still in that shape...''

    It appeared that the animal leather Jeremy used to practice the ritual of exchange andmunion had behaved as a fuel, containing enough mana and space elemental energy to cast a tier-1 space elemental spell.

    After that, Jeremy had chanted a tier-1 spell a moment ago by cing his left hand on the leather''s surface using the ''fuel'' contained within the animal leather''s inscription to cast the tier-1 spell.

    As a result, Jeremy had now finished preparing the spell, and it was now ready to be activated at any time.

    Concurrently, Jeremy stood up from the crouching position and kept the brown leather, which was now empty and had no inscription attached on the surface anymore, back inside his ck cloak.

    Then Jeremy turned to look at the teleportation circle and saw it was now back to normal again and had no lighting out whatsoever.

    Meanwhile, the magical torch Jeremy had left on the teleportation diagram was nowhere to be seen as it appeared that the torch had already been teleported to an unknown destination.

    Upon seeing that, Jeremy nodded his head slightly at the expected results as everything was unfolding ording to his n right now.

    Afterward, Jeremy mumbled inaudibly to activate the prepared spell,

    "[Space Elemental Spell - Space Distortion]"

    Simultaneously, without any sign of any kind, Jeremy''s body started fading away and eventually disappeared into thin air from within the hidden chamber in a few seconds, not leaving any trace nor trail behind.

    There was neither mana fluctuation, turbulence within the air, shiness from the mana, nor the higher space elemental concentration urring within the vicinity at all.

    At this moment, there was only the sudden disappearance of Jeremy''s entire figure; even the steel spear in his hand had vanished into thin air along with him.

    The entire process was truly bizarre, as if Jeremy had never been there before in the first ce.

    Consequently, the corner where Jeremy stood before appeared to be empty and deste now.

    ''This is what a real spell looks like, mister ambusher...''

    The now-invisible Jeremy thought amusingly within his mind while waiting patiently for his opponent to be caught in this deadly spring trap...

    ...

    Two minutester, within the hidden chamber...

    Jeremy, who stood at the corner invisibly, suddenly felt a mana waveing into the chamber from the outside, going past him and moving towards every corner of the room swiftly...

    ''A detection spell...''

    Jeremy thought wonderingly while raising one of his eyebrows as it was clear that his enemy should be quite capable of casting a detection spell, which was at the very least equal or higher than a tier-1 spell.

    The spell''s effect was quite simr to the [Mana Wave Detection - Exploration] spell that Jeremy had used within the easy trial.

    ''But that won''t work with my [Space Distortion] spell in the least. You need a higher level spell than that if you want to find me...''

    Jeremy thought with a light smile.

    To be frank, the spell the ambusher had used was also a tier-1 spell, the same as Jeremy''s [Space Distortion]. Also, the enemy''s detection spell was a null-elemental spell, or in other words, an elemental-less spell just like Jeremy''s [Mana Wave Detection - Exploration] spell.

    However, our former sage had already calcted thoroughly beforehand that the enemy would use an exploration spell of some sort to check if he was still here or not. So, he had chosen the best spell in preparation for such a situation not to make himself being discovered by the enemy.

    Additionally, the space element was considered a rare-ranked element, which was ranked at the highest level of all elements... that was if the Divinity wasn''t counted here.

    As one of the highest-ranked elements, the space element tended to have a very unique side to it, which was in the early tiers of the space elemental spells, more than 80% of them would be auxiliary spells, whereas another 20% would be offensive and defensive spells, with only the minority of them being buff and debuff spells.

    That meant Jeremy didn''t have that many useful offensive space elemental spells to use against his enemy currently, as the space elemental spells he could use right now mainly were auxiliary spells.

    Thus, Jeremy decided to go with an auxiliary spell that could counter the enemy''s detection spell and, at the same time, was capable of hiding him inside the room to give the enemy a ''surprise'' attack.

    Concurrently, Jeremy''s decision was proven to be right so far as the enemy''s detection spell didn''t discover him in the least as it only went past him like he was thin air.

    As of now, the mana wave seemed to finish its work, causing the room to be normal and tranquil again.

    However, such a serene atmosphere didn''tst long as it was finally broken by the sudden footsteps of a certain someone...

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    The footsteps rang out from outside the hidden chamber, as it appeared that the noises wereing from the big chamber next to it.

    The sounds came closer and closer with each passing second...

    Soon, a figure wearing a ck cloak stood at roughly six feet tall, promptly emerged from the hidden chamber''s entrance.

    Surprisingly, the emerging figure was actually... a male human.

    ''A human, huh. Not surprising at all, as I''ve guessed that such a clumsy spell casting like that should havee from a human, no less. Even a ck dokkaebi can do better than that. What a disgrace...''

    Upon seeing the ambusher, which happened to be a fellow human mage, Jeremy thought while shaking his head in disappointment at the man''s inept spell casting, dark energy utilizing, and mana controlling capability.

    Right now, the man seemed to be unaware of the looming danger lingering around him at all as he continued walking into the hidden chamber slowly until he finally arrived inside.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy also used this chance to scrutinize the man, whom had juste inside the chamber and now stood roughly five meters away from him.

 Chapter 126 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (5)

    The man had fair skin that exuded a somewhat above average feel about him, wore a clean orange-shaded ck cloak with dark-grey lining along the clothe''s edges. The waistcoat inside the cloak was deep orange in color interlined with silver-orange trims.

    It appeared that the man was wearing some kind of uniform that made him look more civilized than any creatures Jeremy had met so far.

    The man''s particrly notable features were his well-defined face, slim cheekbones, celestial nose, not so thin lips, and medium length, straight, deep brte hair, which was un-styled with the hair tip shaded in bright-orange color. After all those featuresbined with hisrge amber-orange eyes and sharp ck eyebrows, he was not bad-looking in the least.

    At this moment, the man in uniform finally arrived inside the hidden chamber. The first thing he did was to turn around to see if the spear user had already gone or not.

    After seeing no one else was within the room, the man in uniform could finally feel rxed....

    *Sigh...*

    He eventually let out a sigh of relief...

    Then he said mumbled to himself with a serious expression stered on his face,

    "The human-disguised monster has finally left. After leaving this ce, I have to report to sir Yuriy as soon as possible."

    When Jeremy had heard the man''s mumbling, he raised one eyebrow and thought ponderingly to himself,

    ''Hmm...? He knows about my real strength, so he must have observed me and my battles against monsters for he to know such a thing. That''s strange... I didn''t feel a thing of being observed at all; how did he do it? Also, who is this sir Yuriy?''

    Jeremy''s deduction was right on the spot because, from the man''s speech, it appeared that he had indeed observed Jeremy, using an unknown method, for quite some time as the man knew pretty clearly how strong Jeremy was.

    That should also be why the man in uniform didn''t dare to attack Jeremy and only wanted thetter to leave here as soon as possible in the first ce...

    To be honest, the man really wanted to leave this ce and escape from the abominable spear wielder so badly, but he couldn''t do so...

    At first, when he saw Jeremy go inside the hard trial ande out alive, he felt very tense as the battle between him and thetter would be pretty intense and bloody.

    Be that as it may, he had thought about many strategies to fight the spear wielder beforehand, but all those had eventuallye to naught in one single moment.

    The one single moment was that after seeing how Jeremy fought against the giant spider, he had to change his mind without any choice.

    After all, he had seen how the abominable man fought against the giant spider using a moving cast spell.

    At the end of the day, a moving cast was a feat that only a very high-ss mage could do...

    Even if sir Yuriy came here personally, he might not win against the spear wielder ande out of here alive...

    Thus, how could a puny ss-1 mage like him have any thought of battling against someone at that level?

    However, he really had no choice as he had to stay within this chamber for one more cycle, which was a whopping six hours. The reason was that it was stated very clearly within the tutorial mission that he couldn''t leave here until six hours after the tenth horde of monsters had ended.

    Finally, having confirmed that the spear wielder had left the ce, the man in uniform promptly turned back, preparing to leave the hidden chamber to take a short rest before teleporting out of here in some hours.

    Still...

    The man ultimately stopped in track as if he had suddenly recalled something very crucial,

    ''Hmm... Wait!! He is a high-ss mage, but why did he act like a dumb kid, talking and shouting to himse...''

    Before the man could finish his thought...

    *Whoosh*

    A whooshing noise came out of nowhere, moving swiftly towards the man''s left nk...

    Simultaneously, the man in uniform also vaguely felt a sudden appearance of a high-density clump of manaing straight at him, so he turned his head swiftly towards his left side to see what it was.

    "Ahh!!"

    The man eximed aloud in shock after seeing what the thing was...

    Having no time to respond at all at the sudden ambush, the man could only close his eyes tightly as it was human''s reflex when something went towards them at such a breakneck speed.

    A split secondter...

    *BOOOOMMMM!!*

    The thunderous booming noise rang out within the quiet chamber, generated from the mana bolting into contact with the man''s mana field projection and eventually exploded, causing some rocks underneath to be crushed, dust to be blown, and debris to be flung everywhere...

    *Crack*

    Following closely after the explosion''s booming sound was the crackling noise which resounded out from the man''s mana field being cracked...

    "Aarghh!"

    *Thump*

    The man screamed aloud as his body was flown back in a straight line towards the wall from the explosion''s reaction force...

    *tter*

    Atst, a ttering noise rang out, signifying the man''s mana field was finally broken, as the man''s body bounced back one meter away from the wall...

    From the looks of his bent leg and twisted arm, it looked like the man''s bones were also broken, just like his mana field...

    ''Is he dead?''

    The perpetrator, Jeremy, thought in startle after seeing the man lying still on the solid floor without moving.

    After all, Jeremy didn''t intend to kill the man to begin with...

    However, he didn''t know how much mana to use in the mana bolt earlier, so Jeremy decided to go with 80% of the maximum power, which was a little bit weaker than when he had used it against the dokkaen and the giant spider.

    Still, who would have thought the man''s mana field projection was so weak...

    In fact, Jeremy wasn''t at fault here that he couldn''t estimate the correct amount of mana to be used.

    It was just that his purest mana was one of a kind and too destructive against other inferior types of mana.

    Also, this was the first time Jeremy cast a spell to attack another mage in this life so that he couldn''t gauge the correct amount of mana.

    As a result, the victim''s condition was like that... like, even now, he stilly motionless on the ground.

    Currently, all of the man''s orifices had red blood seeped out continually as the supersonic wave from the point-nk explosion was nothing to be scoffed at.

    Such a point-nk explosion could easily make people be blind, deaf, and even permanently amputated. In the worst-case scenario, the victim would just die without knowing why and how they had died.

    It could be considered the man had really got the short end of the stick that such an intense explosion took ce at only some centimeters away from his body.

    From the thunderous explosion earlier, it was akin to a heavenly miracle already that the man''s body was still all in one piece without any organ missing...

 Chapter 127 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (6)

    Regarding the perpetrator, upon seeing the man in uniform hadn''t moved a finger after the explosion urred and stilly in the prone position on his stomach like a corpse, Jeremy started walking towards the wounded man slowly.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    A short momentter, Jeremy, with the spear in his hand, finally arrived before the man...

    "I know you are still conscious. Don''t pretend to be dead; it''s not going to help you out of my grasp anyway."

    Jeremy spoke up in universalnguage after seeing the man still pretending to be dead. Meanwhile, he thought to himself while shaking his head slightly,

    ''Does he really think he can deceive me with such ame method?''

    Still....

    "..."

    The wounded man''s body slightly twitched as if in a constant surprise after receiving a sudden conversation from the hateful spear user. After all, the man had just spoken in universalnguage, which should be impossible if he had just been teleported here like other Earthlings.

    Upon seeing so, Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and plunged the spear ''lightly'' at the man''s left leg...

    *Puchi*

    The spear de went in smoothly into the man''s leg, then Jeremy pulled the spear out lightly...

    *Plush*

    "Aarghhh!!"

    Following the ''puchi'' and ''plush'' sounds were the man''s loud scream in agony from the constant painful sensation on his left leg.

    *Cough*

    *Cough*

    Then the wounded man promptly coughed up blood unstoppably as if something big was clogging his throat.

    By the looks, right now, the man seemed to be choking hard instead of coughing.

    The man continued coughing fresh blood for quite some time before he finally calmed down.

    "Now, can we talk?"

    Jeremy spoke up again after seeing the man had finally settled down.

    Afterward, the man finally flipped his body from the prone position to lie on his back instead.

    *Huff* *Haa*

    *Huff* *Haa*

    The man breathed in and out incessantly from his mouth and nose as some blood still trickled out from the man''s orifices asionally. His eyes were also red like some blood veins had imploded from within...

    ''My eyes are blurry; my ears are ringing; my left leg and right arm almost cannot move... It hurts so bad...'' The man thought as he inspected his body and senses in agony.

    After some time, the man finally spoke while staring hatefully at the blurry figure of the standing-leisurely Jeremy,

    "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

    The wounded man''s voice was hoarse...

    Upon hearing the man''s question, Jeremy smiled slightly and said teasingly in return,

    "Isn''t it amon practice everywhere to introduce yourself first before asking another person for their name?"

    "You..."

    When the man had heard''s Jeremy''s words, he wanted to curse but had no strength to do so, and he also realized what situation he was currently in, so he decided to do as the hateful man''s wish for now,

    "My name is Xildas... Xildas Lichtenberg."

    ''Well, never heard of his name or surname before... just an insignificant figure...''

    Jeremy thought a matter of fact inwardly as each human kingdom had more than ''ten billion'' people living, and there were more than ten human kingdoms on Ortus at this moment.

    Thus, at least a hundred billion humans were alive and kicking on Ortus currently...

    Furthermore, Jeremy wasn''t capable enough to remember every human''s surname in the first ce, and most of his memory was still sealed within his soul currently. So, not knowing about the man before him was not something strange.

    Upon thinking to himself momentarily, Jeremy ''interrogated'' the man further,

    "What is your rank, ss, affinity, and talent? Wait... Just show me your Status Window; that''s easier."

    "Why... why do you want to see it?"

    The wounded man asked with a pale face as the Status Window was not something to be unted so openly for another person to see.

    "Do you have any choice?"

    Jeremy replied with a mocking smile while raising the spear in his right hand slightly.

    "..."

    When the wounded man, supposed to be Xildas, saw such a gesture, he turned even paler, so he kept quiet for some seconds to think about what to do before finally opening his mouth to change the topic,

    "Tell... Tell me first, where do you learn the way to cast spells from? Are... Are you a spy from another race in disguise?"

    "..."

    Upon hearing the man''s question, Jeremy, who was now annoyed with the man''s pretentious behavior, prepared to plunge the spear de into his other leg.

    "!!"

    When the man saw such a sight, he hurriedly spoke up stutteringly to pacify Jeremy,

    "Wait! Wait... Okay... I will show you now..."

    Afterward, with a somewhat hesitating expression on his face, he promptly closed his eyes and projected his Status Window for Jeremy to see...

    ...

    Name: Xildas Lichtenberg

    Race: Human (Le''Dc - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: True Mage (ss 1 - Intermediate)

    Title: Student of Rekonia Academy (Rank 2 - Active), Insecure Fellow (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Earth (Common): 36.1%

    - Darkness (Umon): 38.7%

    Talent: None

    Trait: Honest, Diligent

    Skill:

    - Fast Chant (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    Achievement: None

    Mission:

    - Tutorial Mission: Supervise

    ...

    Upon seeing the projected window in front of him, Jeremy looked at it observingly and thought to himself,

    ''Let''s see; his name is Xildas just like he has told me, his species is Le''Dc. Oh... He is indeed a ss-1 true mage, as I''ve guessed, and he was an intermediate rank at that. Then why is he so weak? Or... is my mana really that overpowered? It looks like I have to adjust mymon senses about my brand new purest mana for a bit...''

    ''His titles are so-so... He has Darkness elemental affinity just like me, and the affinity is also around the same level... Hmm...? Wait!''

    While skimming through the information roughly, Jeremy''s eyes suddenly brightened up as if a heavenly door of enlightenment had just opened up for him to enter.

    Surprisingly, it was the heavenly door that would give him an ample opportunity to conquer and overturn the ruling races on Ortus...

 Chapter 128 - A Grand Scheme That Will Overturn Ortus (7)

    At this time, Jeremy seemed to be within a world of his own as he even ignored the wounded Xildas and thetter''s Status Window entirely.

    It appeared that after knowing and seeing the man''s darkness element and how near the affinity level between him and the man was, Jeremy suddenly had an epiphany, and new ns starteding into his head endlessly.

    ''Darkness element...''

    ''Special ess to the System,...''

    ''War of the Ten Eras....''

    ''World of the Crystal...''

    ''War of the Worlds...''

    ''Gods and ruling races...''

    ''Advent of the end...''

    It appeared that Jeremy now experienced some kind of sudden enlightenment as n after n, scheme after scheme, possibility after possibility, came rushing into his head like tidal waves.

    Simultaneously, all those ns started to weave andbine with one another...

    Eventually, a grand scheme started to form within Jeremy''s mind. Its detail also became more and more solid with each passing split second until gradually morphing into a logical and consistent one.

    At longst, a single grand scheme ultimately remained within Jeremy''s mind...

    The said scheme within his head was such a scheme that would help Jeremy achieve a greater power level where he could contend with those self-proimed gods and the ruling races without being discovered by them before the time was right...

    It was such a scheme that could overturn Ortus if given enough time...

    Concurrently, the n was finally in shape within Jeremy''s head; the only thing left to be done was that he had to carry it out.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy''s eyes seemed to brighten up at this moment as he finally came out from the epiphany moment.

    After that, Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''What a coincidence I have here to meet with a fellow mage, whom has the same darkness elemental affinity.''

    ''Who would have thought my previous n couldn''t bepared to the new one in the least? Like this, it looks like I can give those arrogant people a very grand surprise...''

    ''Furthermore, I can escape the cupid''s search with this method... What a sage-sent opportunity...''

    ''It looks like I will have to ask many, many questions from him...''

    Jeremy finished his thoughts with a hidden evil glint within his eyes and turned to look at the wounded man. Then he proceeded with the first step of his n,

    "Oh? You are from Rekonia, Academy of Wizardry situated in the Reswia Kingdom?"

    When the wounded man, Xildas, had heard Jeremy''s word, his eyes widened in shock for a bit before answering,

    "Yes... So, you know about the kingdom I''m living in."

    "Of course, I''m also a human; I ought to know such a basic thing as the number three academy in one of the ten human kingdoms." Jeremy spoke with a ''matter of fact'' smile.

    "That''s true..."

    Xildas replied while struggling up from the ground with difficulty to lean his body against the cave-like wall, as it appeared that lying on the ground had made him go dizzy and lightheaded.

    After all, the man, Xildas, had been wounded pretty severely from the explosion, and he still lost blood continually from the gash on his left leg. Not to talk about the shattered mana field projection that would affect his mind very negatively.

    Upon seeing the man finally leaned on the wall, Jeremy proceeded with the n without any caring to the man''s condition,

    "Now, show me the tutorial mission."

    *Sigh...*

    Without further argument, Xildas sighed helplessly before projecting his tutorial mission for the hateful man to see...

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Surpervise ˇ»

    ? Supervise the Le''liac human species in zone 82,364 (Two Level-1 Mystic Shells)

    ˇş You cannot leave the tutorial chamber until six hours after the tenth horde of monsters has ended ˇ»

    ...

    Upon seeing such a simplistic tutorial mission interface, Jeremy scoffed slightly and said towards the leaning man,

    "The reason why you are still here is because of the System''s restriction? Also, your rewards are only two mystic shells of the lowest rank?"

    "Yes..."

    Xildas replied meekly at the daylight mockery directed towards him. In the end, it was the harsh truth as he couldn''t deny that it was a meager amount of rewards.

    However, he didn''t have any choice, for he was just an orphan that had to earn a living by his own two hands.

    Even the allowance he received as schrship funds from the mage academy was not quite adequate for him to live and meditatefortably.

    Furthermore, he needed those two mystic shells to level up to the advance true mage.

    Without caring for the wounded man''s feelings whatsoever, Jeremy continued his interrogation,

    "How do you get the mission?"

    "Sir Yuriy sent his representative to our academy to recruit us..." Xildas replied honestly after recalling the event when someone suddenly came to recruit them.

    Upon hearing about the guy named Sir Yuriy for the second time, Jeremy finally asked to clear his doubt,

    "Who is the so-called Sir Yuriy?"

    "He is a cupid from the main light faction..."

    Upon hearing Xildas'' reply, Jeremy''s eyes promptly lit up as he had finally found one of his must-kill targets.

    ''I''ve finally found you...''

    Jeremy thought to himself with a hidden glint reflected deeply within his eyes.

    In fact, Jeremy really wanted to kill the cupid...

    However, the reason he wanted to kill the cupid wasn''t that he desired to take revenge on the nonsensical design of the tutorial or something like that.

    Well, that was only a very tiny part that couldn''t be held a grudge against...

    The actual reason Jeremy wanted to kill the cupid was that thetter was the designer of this ce, the tutorial zone 82,364.

    Be that as it may, the designer of a tutorial would have essibility to all of the participants'' information of the said tutorial without a doubt, of which Jeremy''s information was also no exception here.

    Even though the cupid, Yuriy, wouldn''t know Jeremy''s stats or personal information within his Status Window. However, it would at the very least receive a general report from the System stating that a human named Jeremy Caesar Lakota had miraculously cleared all three trials that it had designed with heart and bones.

    To be honest, no matter one looked at the issue from which side, such a thing aspleting all three trials with the Earthlings'' strength standards was impossible to happen in the first ce...

    Even a ss-1 of human''s various cultivation pathways would have to lose more than a buckle of sweat and blood to clear all three doors.

    Then how could a newly arrived human from an unknown distant aplish such a feat?

    It was impossible to happen to begin with...

    Afterward, Jeremy shook his head slightly to discard the thoughts as he didn''t need to put the cupid as the priority to kill anymore because his new n should be wless enough to cover everything.

    Then Jeremy asked Xildas further,

    "Oh... I see. The next question; which district do you live in?"

    "Third district..."

    "Have you joined the War of the Worlds?"

    "No..."

    "That''s perfect. Do you live alone or with someone else?"

    "Perfect? Well, I live in the Academy dorm... alone..."

    The back and forth of questions and answers session continued for quite some time, with Jeremy asking and Xildas answering, whereas thetter''s face started bing more and more confused with the passing time...

    ''Why the heck does this man ask me these things for? He wants to make my biography or what? Whatever...''

    Xildas thought inwardly while answering Jeremy''s questions nonstop...

    ...

    Five minutester...

    Jeremy was seen to be sitting on a wooden chair while looking at Xildas, whom was leaning on the rocky wall.

    "Do you have any friends?" Jeremy asked the wounded man.

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s question for the nth time, Xildas finally snapped as he really had no clue why the hateful man even bothered to ask him so many questions,

    "I... I have... Why!? Why do you even ask me these things? I know you won''t spare me anyway, so just kill me!" Xildas spoke while gritting his teeth in hatred towards the ''interrogator''.

    However, Jeremy seemed to be uncaring as always and spoke up in return shortly,

    "Well... You haven''t answered my question..."

    After Xildas had heard the man''s words, he finally couldn''t control his emotions anymore as the overflowing feelings within his chest exploded out uncontrobly like a broken dam...

    *Sob* *Sob*

    "WHY!!"

    He cried and shouted in sadness and sorrow at his own fate and at the man whom was responsible for making his fate be like this...

    ''This annoying jerk...'' Jeremy thought in vexation at the crying baby.

    Upon seeing the young man in front of him crying like a kid for quite some seconds, Jeremy shrugged his shoulder slightly with a ''what the fuck?'' expression stered on his face.

    "Alright then."

    Jeremy said lightly while plunging the spear out, without any prior sign or anything, towards the crying man''s right leg...

    *Puchi*

    *Plush*

    The spear de went inside and was retracted back from the sobbing man''s leg swiftly...

    "Aarghhh!!"

    "It hurts!! Why!!!?"

    Xildas screamed loudly and looked at the perpetrator hatefully after feeling the sudden pain in his leg.

    The pain on his two legs felt pretty unbearable, together with the blood loss, he appeared ready to be losing consciousness at any time.

    ''This guy is pretty honest indeed... honest to his own feelings...''

    Jeremy thought amusingly to himself after seeing Xildas'' behaviors.

    After all, Jeremy couldn''t care less about the man''s revengeful expression or health conditions at all as they were just strangers towards each other in the end.

    Right after finishing his momentarily thought, Jeremy spoke up with an indifferent face and cold voice towards Xildas,

    "Now, answer my question."

 Chapter 129 - Special Access To The System (1)

    Upon hearing the hateful man pressing for the answer, Xildas could only grit his teeth and answered Jeremy with the eyes that said, ''If I survive, I will eradicate your entire family,''

    "I don''t usually interact with people, so I have only one friend; his name is Dustin Piper, a water mage in the same academy."

    Upon hearing so, Jeremy nodded his head slightly and proceeded on.

    Just like that, the interrogating session continued...

    "Are you close to any lecturer or professor?"

    "No..."

    "Which special branches of the magic system are you specialized in?".

    "I... I enrolled in Alchemy and Array courses..."

    ''The man''s talent is so-so, huh. Or is he toozy? Well... in his status window, it states clearly that he is diligent. That only means this man has only average aptitude in magic.''

    Jeremy thought within his mind after hearing that Xildas only enrolled in two special courses.

    Shaking his head slightly, Jeremy continued the interrogation,

    "Are you a dual caster?"

    "No, I mainly use darkness spells as I don''t have free time to enroll and learn another element..."

    "Do you have parents?"

    "No, they are dead..."

    "Where and how?"

    "They ventured outside the barrier to explore a ruin, and..."

    "Do you have a sibling or cousin?"

    "No, not anymore..."

    Upon hearing such an obscure answer, Jeremy asked for rification,

    "Not anymore?"

    "My father was born in the Heinrich family, but he had no aptitude in magic, so he was disowned. Regarding my mother, she came from another several eras ago, just like you."

    "The Heinrich Family, one of the four hereditary mage families of Reswia Kingdom?"

    "Yes..."

    After hearing about the man''s father''s background, Jeremy raised one eyebrow in wonder and thought to himself,

    ''His identity is pretty interesting... If I don''t remember wrong, the woman named Edelina, who willter be a grand wizard, also has such a family name. However, it seems like she will dieter on by... by... Well, by whatever it is.''

    Upon thinking momentarily after knowing that the man, Xildas, had some ties with one of the twenty hereditary mage families of the entire human race, Jeremy asked further,

    "Are you close with Edelina Heinrich?"

    "No..."

    Xildas answered while gritting his teeth in hatred and lowering his head down to his chest, not daring the look at Jeremy in the eyes.

    It was unsure whether the hatred was directed towards Jeremy, Edelina, or the Heinrich family.

    After seeing the man behaving so childish all of a sudden, Jeremy spoke up with an amusing smile,

    "Why do I feel like you are lying? And what does that revengeful look even mean?"

    "..."

    When Xildas had heard that, he only grit his teeth silently without answering back.

    ''This guy, he hates the woman, Edelina, or they hold a grudge? Hmm... It doesn''t seem so; it looks like those revengeful feelings are directed towards the Heinrich family... Hehh...''

    Jeremy thought briefly before continuing the inquiry,

    "Alright, I don''t care anyway... Thest two questions; first, tell me about the others."

    "The others?" Xildas asked in perplexity after being asked such an obscure question.

    Upon hearing so, Jeremy answered with a slight smile that looked capable enough to convince some stray kids out there,

    "Yes, the other ''organizers'' of this tutorial. Tell me all about them without leaving any information. If your answers satisfied me enough, I would let you go."

    "Really?"

    Xildas, who had dead-fish eyes for a while now, suddenly spoke up with a newfound hope contained within his voice as his eyes also lit up with a desire to live.

    "Yes, I promise."

    Jeremy replied with a benevolent smile towards the man.

    Finally, after gaining some hope of life again, Xildas started narrating the information without any hesitation,

    "Alright then, I believe you. Actually, there is only one more person from the academy just like me in the second stage, and the person is... and he is operating as..."

    Xildas told everything about another academy student towards Jeremy without thinking much. Furthermore, the other guy wasn''t his friend in the least, and they were just an acquaintance who only knew one another''s names, that''s all.

    To be honest, that''s usually how people on Ortus would do if their lives were in danger...

    They wouldn''t hesitate to snitch other strangers'' lives to buy their own lives in the least...

    Regarding Xildas'' trait, ''Honest'', it appeared that he was honest to himself, and he was such a person who regarded his own life over others'' lives.

    After all, he was honest didn''t mean he would have high morals or something...

    Upon hearing Xildas'' narration, Jeremy nodded his head in realization as the ''guy'' was indeed strange in his past life. Now, he finally understood why the ''guy'' behaved so unusual back then.

    "Alright, so there is only one organizer in the next stage? Is that all?"

    Jeremy asked with a cold voice as his hunch told him that there should be something more to the story.

    When Xildas had heard such a cold voice and authoritative intent exuding out from the man, he gulped audibly before answering,

    "There... There is one more ounder as an organizer, but the guy should be from the Kenku race. I... I don''t know much about it... but..."

    "But?"

    "I''ve heard from my friend, Dustin, who is supervising the other zone currently, that some betting was going on between sir Yuriy and another tutorial''s cupid. So, they agreed tobine the two tutorials altogether in the second stage..."

    "Oh... So, that''s how it is."

    In contrast to his easy-going expression, within Jeremy''s mind, he cursed at his own luck harshly,

    ''Damn it! So, not only one cupid is observing the tutorial from the outside, but there are two of them now!''

    *Sigh...*

    After sighing at his own bad luck, Jeremy thought further,

    ''The encounter with this man, Xildas, is indeed a saving grace for me... If not for his presence here, I will have to lie very low in the next stage...''

    Concurrently, Jeremy finally understood why there were two races, human and kenku, battling bloodily against one another in the second stage of the tutorial.

    Furthermore, he also realized that at least two cupids now had a close eye on the second stage as they were betting between themselves... betting by using the lives of other races as coteral.

    Why did the betting between two cupids affect Jeremy''s behavior in the second stage?

    Inmon sense, if there was a bet between the gamblers, most gamblers ought to monitor the oue closely with their own two eyes, not to let the others cheat them in broad daylight.

    After all, no sane gambler wanted to lose their money...

    Due to that, it simply meant Jeremy''s every action in the second stage would be monitored very tightly.

    After shaking his head slightly to discard the thoughts, Jeremy asked thest thing, which was considered one of the most crucial things for the final step of his n,

    "Hmm... Then thest thing. How will you leave this ce after the six hours has passed?"

    After hearing that it was thest question, Xildas'' eyes promptly lit up as he answered enthusiastically,

    "It''s this ne...''

    Then he put one hand inside his cor and brought out a ne with an additional attachment suspended on...

    Surprisingly, the said attachment happened to be a small red crystal looking simr to the one floating in the big chamber beside this hidden room.

    Upon bringing the ne out, Xildas continued the exnation while waving the ne for Jeremy to see,

    "Here... Sir Yuriy uses the System to create this thing specifically for this tutorial zone and gives one to me and another to the guy in the second stage."

    "Regarding the way to use it, I only have to wear it and touch the red Crystal in the other chamber. Then I will be able to teleport outside."

    ''Well... He truly tells me the way to use it, huh? Isn''t he afraid that I will kill him and snatch the thing away to leave this ce?''

    Jeremy thought in bafflement at the man''s ''honest'' behavior.

    It was such a trait that Jeremy didn''t want to have in his every lifetime...

    After hearing the man''s honest exnation, Jeremy came out from his bafflement shortly. Then his eyes suddenly lit up as he had finally found a ''loophole'' within the tutorial created by the cupid.

    Moreover, the said loophole also seemed to be very beneficial for Jeremy as he almost couldn''t contain his excitement...

    ''The priority first...''

    Jeremy thought to calm himself down and asked the man further,

    "Outside? So, it means you use this method to leave the tutorial. Then what about the other Crystal in the second stage? Will it bring you outside like this one if you touch it while wearing this ne?"

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s long question, Xildas'' eyes widened a bit.

    "How... How do you know there is another Crystal in the second stage?"

    Xildas asked in confusion as he didn''t remember telling the man about the other Crystal.

    ''This guy seems to have Alzheimer''s after the explosion earlier...''

    Jeremy thought briefly after hearing the man''s question, and then he said in rification,

    "You''ve just told me earlier that the other guy also received the same ne simr to you..."

    After hearing Jeremy''s words, Xildas'' mouth went ''Oh!'', and then he replied in realization, continuing the topic about the other Crystal in the second stage,

    "Well, I''ve indeed told you that. In fact, the other student will also leave the tutorial the same way as me by using the Crystal in the second stage, but that will be after his duties are allpleted. As for what his tutorial missions or duties are, I don''t know the specific information..."

    Speaking till here, Xildas paused for a bit to take a short breath, as his lungs felt somewhat hurt, before continuing,

    "Also... I don''t know if wearing this ne will make me able to activate the Crystal in the second stage or not... However, if I have to guess, it won''t work because the Crystal''s colors are not the same..."

    "Hm... It''s okay. That''s all I want to know."

    Jeremy spoke up in understanding after hearing the man''s reply.

    Simultaneously, Xildas'' eyes suddenly lit up after hearing that the hateful man had already got everything he wanted.

    Thus, he said and asked with a hopeful voice,

    "That... That means you are going to let me off... Right?"

    Upon hearing and seeing the man''s eyes burning with the me of survival, Jeremy chuckled a bit before saying,

    "Before that, can you take a look at my face first?"

    At the same time, Jeremy also activated the skill he had never used before after buying it from the Crystal''s shop,

    ''[Disguise]''

    At longst, Jeremy activated the [Disguise] skill for the first time...

 Chapter 130 - Special Access To The System (2)

    Upon activating the skill, Jeremy''s face muscles started to move, shrivel, and swell continually on their own as if some giant worms were crawling under his facial skin.

    ''It is pretty itchy...'' Jeremy thought in annoyance at the skill''s side effect.

    After almost twenty secondster, Jeremy''s facial muscles finally stopped moving.

    Surprisingly, right now, his face looked just like a copy of Xildas'' face.

    Jeremy''s face had transformed into a new one as he now had a well-defined face, slim cheekbones, celestial nose, not so thin lips, and medium length, straight, deep brte hair, which was un-styled with the hair tip shaded in bright-orange color.

    Jeremy''s entire face looked just like Xildas'' one....

    After his face had finished the transformation, Jeremy turned to look at the stupefied wounded man leaning on the wall and spoke towards thetter with a smile,

    "It''s unfortunate that the low-basic level can only do this much... But I have a way to fix such aspects like our differences in height, builts, and body structures."

    "Alright, I''m going to send you off now."

    "!!!"

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s words, Xildas'' eyes promptly widened to the utmost as he mumbled puzzlingly,

    "Send me off...?"

    "Yes, send you off. Farewell..."

    Jeremy replied briefly while plunging the spear de towards the wounded man''s neck...

    At this moment, the moment before his death, Xildas finally realized something,

    ''That''s why he asked me so many personal questions...''

    ''That''s why he baited me with the hope of survival...''

    ''That''s why he wanted to know about the Crystals...''

    ''Also, his face right now looks just like mine...''

    ''All of those... He only wanted to impersonate me...''

    ''He... He has never intended to let me go in the first ce...''

    It looked like the assumption that people''s minds would run at the speed of light before their immediate death seemed to be true as Xildas was thinking about countless things at thest moment of his life.

    He thought about the regrets of his life, his passed away parents, his cousin Edelina, and the unfinished hatred with the damned family...

    But all those were for naught now.

    A split secondter...

    *Puchi*

    *Plush*

    The spear de went inside and was retrieved back swiftly, causing the blood to pour out from Xildas'' neck unstoppably like a fountain.

    *Gurgle* *Gurgle*

    "Kak!"

    Meanwhile, Xildas tried his best to prevent the blood froming out as he used the two hands to hold his neck tightly while staring hatefully, with bloodshot eyes, at Jeremy, whom stood leisurely with blood dripping down from his spear.

    Despite the man''s efforts to prevent the blood loss, it was proven to no avail as a long trail of red fluid came pouring out endlessly.

    Not long after that, he stopped moving entirely.

    The man, Xildas Lichtenburg, was dead without aplishing anything in his life...

    At the same time, an interface suddenly showed up in front of Jeremy...

    ...

    ˇş You have received 1x? and 2xˇď for sessfully killing Xildas Lichtenburg ˇ»

    ˇş Congrattions. You''ve earned a qualification to enter into the second stage of the Tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş Would you like to exchange ˇď for a teleportation ticket? ˇ»

    ˇş Yes ©¦ No ˇ»

    ...

    After receiving his rewards and choosing the ''No'' option, Jeremy started searching Xildas'' body for useful items.

    ''As I''ve guessed, he indeed has a spatial storage item to keep things. Maybe, he had received it from the academy?''

    Jeremy thought to himself after looting Xildas'' wristwatch, which was undoubtedly enchanted with the same method he had used to create his gloves.

    Then Jeremy wore it without any hesitation and started searching for more items.

    Three minutester...

    ''Alright, I''ve got one crystal ne, one brooch, and one wristwatch...''

    Regarding the three things, the crystal ne was the same thing Xildas had shown him earlier.

    The brooch happened to be the academy''s insignia, with the shape of a rekonia flower. After wearing, the wearer would immediately get an active rank-2 title called ''Student of Rekonia Academy''.

    Lastly, the wristwatch was a spatial storage item containing Xildas'' personal belongings such as clothes, an identity card, study-rted materials, foods, water, a wallet, a picture of a couple, and many more.

    Without further ado, Jeremy used his mind tomand the wristwatch to keep Xildas'' cold body within the space storage.

    ''Before going to the second stage, let''s confirm the man''s words about the red Crystal outside first...''

    Jeremy thought momentarily before walking towards the red Crystal in the next chamber.

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    Jeremy''s figure gradually disappeared from the hidden chamber, leaving behind only debris and bloodstains...

    ...

    Shortly after...

    Jeremy was seen to be touching the red Crystal in the spacious chamber...

    ''Well... It works...'' thought Jeremy while looking at the interface before him.

    ...

    [Summon]

    [Monitor]

    [Teleport]

    ...

    Unsurprisingly, after wearing the red crystal ne, Jeremy was able to ess and see the red Crystal''s contents.

    Right now, three options were projected in front of Jeremy.

    ''Let''s try the summon option first...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy essed the [Summon] option right away...

    ...

    [Summon]

    Automatical Process - Every six hours, the monsters will be summoned within the two passageways of the main tutorial chamber.

    ...

    After seeing what the Summon option could do, Jeremy raised one eyebrow in wonder,

    ''So, it is like this... That''s why the monsters had appeared out of nowhere in front of the two passageways as it was the System''s doings. At this moment, it is greyed out, so the monsters cannot be summoned anymore...''

    After finishing his momentary thoughts, Jeremy dismissed the interface and essed the second one, which was the [Monitor] option...

    Simultaneously, a familiar scene appeared before him...

    The concurrent scene depicted a ce simr to a big cave, with arge green Crystal floating silently in the middle while countless corpses of various racesy sparsely everywhere.

    Blood river of mixed colors had soaked the ground of the entire chamber, causing it to look damp and terrified for any onlooker.

    Meanwhile, in one corner of the chamber, cold corpses and bone pieces were ovepping on top of one another, creating a mountain of cadavers.

    Around the vicinity of the green Crystal was a grotesque-looking spider lying motionlessly as it appeared that the creature was already dead.

 Chapter 131 - Special Access To The System (3)

    Upon seeing such a familiar scene that he had seen not long beforeing into this ce, Jeremy eximed inwardly in amazement,

    ''Oh?''

    Then he thought to himself,

    ''It''s because the System is responsible for the function of monitoring; that''s why I don''t feel anyone observing me at all while I was still within the chamber...''

    ''Hmm... That also means the guy, Xildas, only knows that I have passed the three doors, but he doesn''t know how I had passed it specifically. Also, the only two times he saw me casting spells should be when I made everyone lose consciousness, and another time should be when I cast the mana bolt towards the forsaker...''.

    ''Either way, the cupid will be able to view the yback and know about me in no time...''

    Upon finishing his thought with a slight frown, Jeremy exited the monitor option and essed thest option, [Teleport].

    ...

    [Teleport]

    - Second Stage (Human Camp)

    - Rekonia Academy (Mage Tower)

    - Reswia Kingdom (Main Crystal)

    ...

    After seeing the three options before him, Jeremy''s eyes shone up with a cold glint as all his dilemmas suddenly disappeared into thin air.

    It''s because Jeremy had finally found the critical variation to solve all the remaining equations within his n, making it be an impable, wless one.

    ''If the man, Xildas, told me the truth, then the second stage''s Crystal should also have the same options.''

    ''Then... Let''s do that...''

    ''If so... the second stage will be pretty interesting...''

    Jeremy finished his thoughts with a mysterious smile as if he was nning something mischievous again.

    Afterward, Jeremy retracted his hand and walked towards the dark passageway, the different one from when he first entered the spacious chamber.

    Jeremy wanted to know where the passageway''s destination was...

    He wanted to check if this passageway would lead to the main tutorial chamber as Xildas had told him or not.

    Furthermore, Jeremy also had some business to be dealt with within the main tutorial chamber for the sake of his wless n.

    A few minutester...

    While walking inside the passageway, Jeremy suddenly thought of something,

    ''Now that,e to think about it, I''ve already finished all tutorial missions...''

    ''Status Window''

    Jeremymanded inwardly to open his Status Window...

    ...

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 45.2%

    - Darkness (Umon): 34.8%

    - Space (Rare): 89.9%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic

    Trait: Objective

    Skill:

    - Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Disguise (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    - Heightened Senses (Mid Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Stealth (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    - Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Eagles Eyes (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    - Analyze (Mid Basic - Active Skill)

    - Focus (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Fast Hands (Low Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Bncing Feats (Low Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Combo Strike (Mid Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Surpassing Strength (Low Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Calm Mind (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    Achievement:

    1. For you, who is the fastest of your own kind to shed a mortal skin and be the first person to tread in a long and arduous path of truth-seeking. The System shall grant you the title of ''First Mage''.

    2. For you, who was born a Prodigy. For you, who is destined to be standing at the very top of the universe''s food chain. The System shall grant you the title of ''Prodigy Mage''.

    3. For you, who achieves the impossible. For you, who defies the universe''s rules. For you, who had reached the first substage of a ss 1 Mage within a mana-less world. For eternity, this attainment can never be duplicated by anyone; even the Gods feel helpless with its usibility. It is thus considered an achievement that shall be chronicled at the highest level of Akashic Records forevermore. The universe itself shall grant you the title of ''Mage of Origin''.

    Mission:

    - Tutorial Mission: Survive I

    ...

    Upon seeing his own status window, Jeremy thought ponderingly to himself,

    ''Let''s see... I have more than thirteen skills in my arsenal, whereas most skills arebat-rted ones, and three of them are active skills. Also, more than half of them are pretty much upgradedtently to higher levels than low-basic grade.''

    ''However, whenpared to my past life, they pretty muchck in many areas; especially, in the area of magic-rted one. Also, from now on, the chance of getting more skills like in the tutorial''s first stage won''te again until I join the War of the Worlds...''

    ''Another matter...''

    ''If my new n unfolds in the right direction, without going haywire down the drain, it looks like I will be able to advance to be a True Mage very soon.''

    ''I wonder what those guys'' reactions will be after seeing my universe-shattering titles... Hehehe.'' Jeremy chuckled lightly,

    ''Anyway, priority first...''

    After finishing his thoughts, Jeremy used his mind scrolling the interface down to thest section.

    Without further dy, after seeing the ''Mission'' section, Jeremy essed the ''Tutorial Mission: Survive I'' to see its contents.

    Simultaneously, an interface stating about his rewards suddenly showed up...

    ...

    ˇş You have received 2xˇď for sessfully surviving 10 monster hordes ˇ»

    ˇş You have received 5xˇď for sessfully killing a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista ˇ»

    ˇş You have received 1x? for sessfully killing Xildas Lichtenburg ˇ»

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive Iˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (ˇď) (Completed)

    ? Survive 10 monster hordes (ˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal (ˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (ˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Kill the superviser of the tutorial zone 82,364, Xildas Lichtenburg (?) (Completed)

    ˇş After finishing one of the tutorial missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage.ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing his rewards and the current progress of the tutorial missions, Jeremy thought ponderingly to himself,

    ''My rewards are not bad at all... Also, I should request for a ''special ess'' for my n to work out. However, that should be when I arrive at the dark space where the System concludes my first stage''s overall reward. Like that, the cupid will not see and know about my actions.''

    ''And... I haven''t passed the fourth tutorial mission as of yet...''

    ''Anyway, I cannot just let go of four precious ck stars. So, it looks like I still need to use the teleportation circle, huh. Where will it lead me to?''

    Shaking his slightly to discard the thoughts, Jeremy continued walking inside the passageway...

 Chapter 132 - Special Access To The System (4)

    Some minutester...

    *Flip-flop*

    *Flip-flop*

    The footsteps echoed out from a dark passageway leading to the tutorial chamber with a green Crystal in the middle.

    ''He is honest indeed; at least he didn''t lie to me about the interconnection between the two tutorial chambers...''

    Jeremy thought to himself after finally seeing the floating green Crystal in the distance.

    It appeared the two tutorial chambers were connected with one another in a full circle..

    However, Jeremy didn''t feel like he had been walking in a circle because the whole ce was an enclosed space.

    Due to such enclosed space, a person''s sense of direction was significantly distorted, making the person unaware that they walked in a straight line or a circle.

    At this moment, Jeremy was finally back inside the main tutorial chamber. Then, he proceeded towards the giant Crystal without further ado.

    Upon arriving before the green Crystal, Jeremy reached out his hand to touch it.

    Then the three options, [Shop], [Mission], and [Leaderboard], showed up before Jeremy as he chose the [Shop] option first and foremost...

    ...

    [Weapons]

    [Clothes]

    [Misceneous]

    [Skills]

    [Your Current Bnce: 1,672 SP]

    ...

    After seeing his own SP remaining from buying the skills the previous timebined with the 1,500 or so SP from killing the giant spider, Jeremy promptly thought to himself,

    ''Alright, let''s buy some clothes of which people won''t recognize me...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy chose the [Clothes] option...

    Afterward, he browsed through various types of clothing within the Shop.

    Shortly after, Jeremy finally decided on two sets of in-looking ckbat suits, using more than 120 SP to buy both of them.

    With the remaining 1,552 SP, Jeremy proceeded to the main objective he hade here for, which was the [Skills] option.

    Simultaneously, a new interface containing almost two hundred skills showed up before Jeremy.

    Afterward, he scrolled down to the skill number in the mid-50s, which was those skills that could be bought many times, unlike the skill number 100 onwards.

    Upon finally seeing the skill he wanted, Jeremy chose to buy it without any hesitation...

    ...

    [Would you like to buy Skill no.54, [Mimic Voice] for 1,225 SP?]

    [Yes ©¦ No]

    ...

    After choosing ''Yes'', a new interface suddenly popped up before Jeremy...

    ...

    [A total of 1,225 SP have been deducted from your SP ount]

    [You have received the [Mimic Voice] skill]

    [You currently have 327 SP remaining]

    [There will be no exnation about how to upgrade the skills further; you have to explore and upgrade those skills by your own self. Good luck.]

    ...

    After buying the things he came here for, Jeremy retracted his hand back and thought,

    ''Now, the only thing left is to leave here via the teleportation circle, which will lead me to somewhere within the second stage; even XIldas doesn''t know about the specific destination... After that, a chance for me to use the special ess wille...''

    Having thought about his following steps, Jeremy walked back into the passageway he had juste out from.

    ''Let''s try the new skill...''

    Jeremy thought while looking at the small window in front of him...

    ...

    Mimic Voice (Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can adjust your voice as you wish for 5 minutes. (Cooldown 1 hour)

    ...

    After dismissing the interface, Jeremymanded within his mind,

    ''[Mimic Voice]''

    Simultaneously, Jeremy felt itchy within his throat for a split second, signifying the skill had been activated sessfully.

    "Ahem..." Jeremy cleared his throat for a bit before testing his voice,

    "Test, one, two, three..."

    After hearing the strange and sonorous voiceing out of his mouth, Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows before thinking to himself,

    ''Hmm... Not this one...''

    Upon thinking so, Jeremy tried another voice right away...

    "Ahem... Test, test, hello..."

    ''Almost there...''

    "Ahem... Hello, I''m Xildas Lichtenburg from Rekonia Academy."

    ''Alright! This one, it is.''

    Having tested and adjusted his voice a few times, Jeremy nodded his head in satisfaction as he could finally imitate Xildas'' voice.

    Jeremy continued walking in the dark passageway for some minutes before he finally arrived back inside the tutorial chamber with red Crystal.

    Without further ado, Jeremy walked into the secret chamber where the brief battle took ce.

    Afterward, he brought out one of the ckbat suits he had bought from the Shop earlier, and then wore it.

    At the same time, Jeremy kept the rekonia brooch, his current clothes, and the steel spear back inside the glove.

    Meanwhile, the red crystal ne was also snuck within the suit''s cor, making it unable to be seen by others.

    Regarding the wristwatch, as it was a spatial storage item, it couldn''t be kept within another spatial storage item, so Jeremy decided to put it within a suit''s pocket instead.

    After promptly bringing two short knives out from the glove and attached them to the suit''s sheathes, Jeremy thought shortly,

    ''Everything is ready...''

    Having thought so, he walked to stand on the teleportation''s circle like the previous time.

    Simultaneously, the inscription on the tform lit up once again, creating the illuminating white light shining on the surroundings.

    The teleportation circle''s mechanisms operated like Jeremy''s two gloves and also using the same method of Array-Enchantment inscription to create. So, it could be used continuously until the auto-refill function and stored mana ran dry.

    Just like that, Jeremy''s body was engulfed wholly by white light generated from the inscription.

    Not even ten secondster, Jeremy''s figure disappeared from the chamber without a trace.

    He finally left the tutorial''s first stage after being here and battling continually for more than 61 hours...

    ...

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy''s body suddenly appeared out of thin air within apletely dark space, but strangely, he could clearly see every part of his body.

    The situation was just like when he was teleported to and fro from the hard trial...

    ''Alright, my most favorite ce of the entire tutorial...'' thought Jeremy upon opening his eyes slowly to look around.

    At this time, Jeremy couldn''t see anything around him at all, that was, except for his body.

    It was fortunate that the status quo didn''t remain like that for long as an interface suddenly popped up before Jeremy...

 Chapter 133 - Special Access To The System (5)

    ˇş You have received 4xˇď for sessfully finding and using a secret teleportation circle ˇ»

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive I ˇ»

    ? Survive until only 15 people remain (ˇď) (Completed)

    ? Survive 10 monster hordes (ˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Complete 4 missions from the Survival Crystal (ˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Find and use a secret teleportation circle (ˇďˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Kill a no-named foot soldier of Noir Keista (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď) (Completed)

    ? Kill the supervisor of the tutorial zone 82,364, Xildas Lichtenburg (?) (Completed)

    ˇş After finishing one of the Tutorial Missions, you can choose to be teleported into the next stage ˇ»

    ....

    Upon seeing the sudden four-ck-star reward and the tutorial missions interface before him, Jeremy thought wonderingly,

    ''Oh? The interface even projects by itself... This should be the System''s doings. Hmm... Like this, I have alreadypleted every mission possible within the first stage.''

    ''I wonder how high my final rewards and evaluation will be...''

    Jeremy finished his thought with a smile.

    When the interface finally faded away from his view, another one suddenly showed up...

    ...

    [Leaderboard]

    Zone: 82,364

    Survivors: 2,236

    Your Ranking: 1st ce ?

    [Your ranking has been ranked ording to your total Survival Points earned]

    ...

    After seeing the Leaderboard being projected out of the blue the same as the tutorial missions'' one, Jeremy thought to himself with a slight frown,

    ''Hmm... I''m still ranked first... Also, only ten or so hours have passed since then, but more than three hundred people had died already.''

    ''In the second stage, the skirmishes should be very bloody... Still, I remember vaguely that in my past life, the battle with the Kenku race was not intense to this degree.''

    ''Heh... Do the survival of Eddie, Mitchell, Joshua, Bob, and others create butterfly effects in the second stage somehow?''

    ''Interesting, I really want to enter the fray now... but before that, my rewards first...''

    Right when Jeremy had finished his momentarily thought, another interface containing his ''overpowered'' rewards promptly showed up...

    ...

    ˇş Congrattions! You have passed the first stage of the tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş The System will initiate the evaluating process byparing the Le''Liac species'' strength standards to your achievements and calcting the respective rewards ˇ»

    ˇş You rank first in the tutorial zone 82,364 - Rank 3 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş You havepleted every mission in the Crystal''s missions list - Rank 5 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş You have cleared the hidden mission in Easy Trial - Rank 4 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş You have cleared the hidden mission in Normal Trial - Rank 6 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş You have cleared the hidden mission in Hard Trial - Rank 8 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş You havepleted every mission in the Tutorial Missions list - Rank 6 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş You have cleared the hidden mission in the Tutorial Missions list - Rank 8 achievement ˇ»

    ˇş Calcting your appropriate rewards; please wait... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ...

    ''Oh my... I''ve aplished quite an amount of achievements,'' thought Jeremy in excitement after seeing his achievements and their respective ranks.

    The former sage couldn''t help but feel excited on asion like this...

    Then Jeremy suddenly thought of something,

    ''Come to think about it, my past life''s achievement in the first stage was... well, it was ''none''... I had aplished nothing at all back then...''

    It couldn''t be helped that Jeremy had not achieved any great feat in his past life. After all, he was only a normal NEET when he was suddenly ''kidnapped'' back then. His physical body was only considered ''average'' at most.

    However, Jeremy waspletely different than the past him this time around. Moreover, he came fully prepared for the tutorial...

    ''By the way, why does the System take so long to calcte my rewards? It''s been thirty seconds already...''

    While Jeremy was thinking here and there, the interface before him suddenly spotted some changes...

    ...

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş Calctingplete... ˇ»

    ˇş You have received the first qualification to enter Pantheon ˇ»

    ˇş Your Ortus'' citizenship is upgraded to Grade A-9 ˇ»

    ˇş You have received a Rank 8 title, The Unnatural Blender ˇ»

    ˇş You have received a Rank 9 title, The Undestined One ˇ»

    ...

    ''What the... hell...?''

    Jeremy bumbled to himself after seeing the four rewards as he hadn''t expected a rank-9 title or the so-called qualification at all.

    Regarding Jeremy''s rewards this time, starting with ''the first qualification to enter Pantheon'', as the name suggested, it was the first out of the three qualifications for one to enter Pantheon, the ce where most elites assembled.

    Pantheon was the ce where elites among geniuses from various races gathered to win more resources and fame for themselves.

    The Advent of the End, aka Final War where Jeremy was stabbed in the heart, also took ce in a remote area of Pantheon.

    In the past, Jeremy had received the first qualification when he sessfully breakthrough to ss 6 Archmage.

    The second qualification was when he became the first being in the universe to reach ss-7 of the mage pathway, Sage.

    Thest qualification was when Jeremy obliterated the entire ''town'' together with a certain dragon''s life. Well, the ''town'' on the Ortus usually had more than one billion lifeforms inhabited...

    That''s why Jeremy felt quite surprised that he had suddenly obtained the first qualification here; after all, it was ten eras before his past life.

    However, Jeremy''s surprise didn''t end there as the rewards were getting bigger and bigger as he swept his eyes down the interface...

    Jeremy''s second reward was something called Grade A-9 citizenship, which simply meant he would have more rights than people with lower grades than him.

    For example, the people with Grade A-8, A-7, A-6, ..., A-1, B-9, B-8, and so on would not be able to request the System for an exchange or trade for Jeremy''s personal information.

    Only the people with Grade S-1, S-2, S-3 citizenship onwards would be able to request the stuff rted to Jeremy from the System.

    Even so, those people still had to pay a very hefty sum in the form of ck and white stars for the exchange. Such an exchange was not something a sane person would do because ''stars'' were too hard to earn after arriving at Ortus.

    Furthermore, ''stars'' couldn''t be gifted, sold, or exchanged between organisms. The only way to exchange ''stars'' was with the System.

    ''Like this, my private information will be safe for the time being...'' thought Jeremy with a genuinely happy smile.

    Then he looked at the third and fourth rewards...

 Chapter 134 - Special Access To The System (6)

    One had to know that every Tutorial, organized for various races and species to undergo before they could finally live on Ortus, was all held based on the respective races'' strength standards.

    That meant if the goblin race, one of the lowest-ranked races, had to undergo the Tutorial, the ''designers'' had to design a suitable tutorial for the goblins'' standard strength.

    Furthermore, the System would also aid in some processes and approve the designs from the designers in creating the Tutorial..

    Like in the goblin and human races, such concepts were also applied to the stronger races such as dwarf, elf, vampire, ent, druid, minotaur, feline, werewolf, lizardman, draconian, and countless more races.

    To be frank, the stronger the races were, the harder the tutorials they had to go through.

    However, the rewards that every race would receive, mainly in the form of SP, ck star, and white star, were more or less equal to one another, regardless of how strong the races were.

    For example, a goblin with average strength went through the entire Tutorial and received one ck star as a reward. Simultaneously, an elf, which happened to be an intermediate-rank organism, also had average strength within its race, then the elf would also receive roughly the same amount of reward, which was one ck star just like the goblin..

    The System had set up such a rule and concept to prevent the strong races from bing even ridiculously stronger than they usually were.

    Let''s just imagine a case of a werewolf, which was a high-rank organism and initially very powerful that the weakest of them could already move faster than sound speed. Then what would happen if most of them eventually received more skills and countless stars from the Tutorial?

    If so, the Ortus wouldn''t be habitable anymore and would be wrought havoc upon by the higher ranks races...

    Furthermore, by using such a calcting and judging method to give out fair rewards, every race that had to undergo the Tutorial would have roughly the same starting line as the stronger rances.

    The stronger races received one ck star...

    The weaker races also received one ck star...

    At least, the gap wouldn''t widen anymore...

    For all those reasons...

    That''s why most people referred to the System as an impartial existence in the first ce.

    However, everything had its exception...

    If within one race, there was such one person who could totally crush the strength standards of his own race and eventually became an outlier of his entire race.

    Then that person would undoubtedly receive much higher rewards ordingly, too.

    In a case like this, even the impartial System had to bend and eventually gave out fair rewards towards the person who had broken his own race''s shackles and created a tform of his own to stand.

    Still, such a case of an outlier existence within his own race was ''nigh impossible'' to ur.

    At most, the person would be two or three times stronger than his own race''s strength standards, leading him also to receive two or three times greater rewards than most poptions of his own race.

    At least, that was the case until now... until before one human had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and promptly crushed the entire first stage of the Tutorial...

    To be exact, such a man, who broke every rule andmon sense prior to his emergence, had finally appeared within one of the tutorial zones organized for the Le''Liac human from Earth.

    It was, no doubt, the first time someone had aplished the highest level missions within the first stage of the Tutorial.

    The man, who had broken all the previous belief andmon sense, was none other than Jeremy...

    ...

    ''Let''s see...''

    ''The third reward is a rank-8 title named The Unnatural Blender, whiches along with a talent called Natural Bncing... As for its ability, it can help me harness one more unique type of energy...''

    ''Quite an ironic, it is... for the title with the word ''unnatural'' to have a talent with the word ''natural...''

    Upon thinking up till here, Jeremy shook his head slightly before looking at the talent''s description...

    ...

    The Unnatural Blender (Rank 8): For you, who is an unnatural existence of your own kind and has aplished many unmatched achievements. The System shall grant you the title of ''The Unnatural Blender''.

    Natural Bncing (Talent): After being activated, you will be able to have another unique energy type within your dantians without any side effects.

    ...

    ''Oh? Without any side effects?'' thought Jeremy in amazement.

    One had to know that most existing titles in the Universe starting from Rank 3 onwards would be apanied by a special ''gift'' after being activated by its owner.

    Regarding the so-called ''gift, sometimes, it woulde into the form of an affinity boost. Other times, one might get an additional talent within the Status Window, which could boost the owner''sprehensive capability up to the next level, just like Jeremy''s titles so far.

    Another time, one might get a trait out of a title. Even though it was a rare case, it still urred asionally.

    Lastly, the title''s owner might get a physical or mental enhancement on something that most people on Ortus called tent attributes'' such as strength, agility, intelligence, etc.

    All those enhancements,ing along with titles, were deemed very hard or even too hard to obtain by most people.

    That''s why getting even one low-ranked title was hard enough, let alone getting a high-ranked one...

    After looking at the talent''s description for a few more seconds, Jeremy promptly nodded his head in appreciation and thought,

    ''Very interesting... Indeed...''

    ''It looks like a new door has just opened for me. Like this, I can wield one more type of unique energy other than Mana. However, some in-depth research still needs to be conducted as I cannot risk my dantians imploding from my carelessness...''

    On Ortus, it was widely known and understood that most organisms could only use one type of unique energy such as mana, aura, qi, curse, blood, nature, divinity, etc.

    Such a rule was applied and imposed on most beings in the Universe since their birth; even the former sage, Jeremy, could also wield only Mana in his past life.

    The unique energy affinity, of which most of the time, wasn''t shown within one''s Status Window because of some unknown reasons imposed by the System. For example, Jeremy''s sky-high mana affinity was also not shown in his own Status Window.

    Due to such a rule that an organism could only wield one type of energy, that''s why when Jeremy realized that he could use one more type of the unique energy, he felt like a new door had just opened to him...

    ''Come to think about it; I already have an affinity with another unique energy, Divinity... Which means... my second type of energy is pretty much decided? Or I can have another type as I want to?''

    ''Well...''

    ''It looks like some in-depth experimentations are needed, indeed...''

    Shaking his head to discard the thoughts, Jeremy shifted his attention back to thest reward on the interface.

    ''A rank-9 title... The second-highest achievement of mine so far, only below the Mage of Origin.''

    After thinking so, Jeremy looked at hisst reward on the rewarding list...

    ...

    The Undestined One (Rank 9): For you, who overrides every existing record in Ortus history. For you, who has achieved unprecedented performances by outperforming and oveing the destined fate of your own kind. The Universe itself shall grant you the title of ''The Undestined One''.

    The Invisible Hand of Fate (Talent): After being activated, you will be able to steal another person''s lifetime luck to enhance your own fate. (Cooldown 2 months)

    ...

    ''Holy shit! The title granted by the Universe again? So, the rank-9 and rank-10 title will be granted by the omnipresent guy, huh.''

    After seeing the talent''s description, Jeremy thought with wide-open eyes as it looked too good to be true.

    He had to admit that this talent was very overpowered as he knew all too well that the mysterious concept of ''luck'' was essential for inhabitants on Ortus. Even though he didn''t know how it specifically worked, he still knew that...

    If people didn''t have luck anymore, they would die...

    Also, if someone''s short-term luck were stolen away from them, they would be faced with many misfortunes and miseries for a period of time.

    Luck was considered atent or hidden stat that differed from person to person, which clearly meant it couldn''t be perceived with naked eyes, but one had to be felt and observed independently.

    Regarding how the so-called Luck worked, Jeremy wasn''t quite sure about such a thing either because he specialized in mana and magic after all.

    Furthermore, the concept of luck was only utilized by the people with ''Divinity''.

    Back then, living and saving his own life was tough enough as he had countless enemies from all sides. Some demigods and dragons even deemed him as a must-kill enemy...

    In the end, Jeremy wasn''t leisure enough to make more enemies out of the demigod rank or higher existence for the sake of experimentations to clear his curiosity.

    ''Stealing luck to enhance fate? Hmm...''

    Jeremy had absolutely no clue about how luck and fate interrted to each other at all.

    Maybe, he might have some clues within his sealed memory, but right now, he was genuinely ignorant about the rtionship between the two things.

    Then as if having thought of something, Jeremy pondered to himself,

    ''Also, isn''t the talent''s ability to steal someone''s luck the same as that bastard, self-proimed Demigod of Misfortune? He is such a troublesome guy that no one wants to make an enemy out of him regardless of the cost.''

    ''Still, from what I remember, the guy cannot steal people''s lifetime luck... but... he can steal people''s short-time luck so many times consecutively...''

    ''Hmm... How do those concepts of luck and fate even work anyway?''

    ''...''

    *Sigh...*

    After thinking hard and still finding no clue from his current memory, atst, Jeremy let out a sigh before thinking to himself,

    ''After arriving at Ortus, I hope I won''t tire myself to death with so many research topics to be done.''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard other thoughts away, Jeremy shifted his attention back to the new notifications before him...

    ...

    ˇş The evaluating and rewarding sessions have beenpleted ˇ»

    ˇş You will be teleported to your destination in the second stage of the Tutorial in 15 seconds ˇ»

    ...

    Upon seeing thest notification, Jeremy smiled slightly and said into the dark space,

    "I request for special ess to the Store of All Things."

    ...

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş Request has been epted... ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď has been deducted from your star ount for the special ess ˇ»

    ˇş Detected the teleportation has been in the process;mencing the canction procedures ˇ»

    ˇş The teleportation process has been postponed until the special ess is concluded ˇ»

    ˇş Initiating the connection to the Great Merchant... ˇ»

    ˇş Initiatingplete... ˇ»

    ˇş Now, you are connected to Mercury, the Great Merchant ˇ»

    ...

    After seeing the notifications and feeling a faint mental connection with the so-called Mercury, Jeremy smiled in satisfaction,

    ''Alright, let''s do some more shopping...''

 Chapter 135 - The Great Merchant, Mercury (1)

    Special ess was a proceeding that a person would be connected to the Store of All Things via an intermediary, the System.

    In fact, if Jeremy were in Pantheon, he wouldn''t lose any essing or transaction fee at all.

    However, Jeremy had chosen to ess it here, in the middle of nowhere, so he ought to pay some extra money for it.

    As for how the Store of All Things worked, it literally sold all things as the name suggested. All things... with the starting price of at least one ck star...

    The shop was operated by someone called Mercury, aka the Great Merchant.. He was a mysterious entity that no one had ever seen his face before.

    In fact, people didn''t even know what gender Mercury was, but they usually referred to Mercury as a ''he''.

    At this moment, Jeremy was finally connected to Mercury as a mysterious voice was suddenly heard out of nowhere,

    ? Greetings, I''m Mercury, at your service. What do you want from my shop? ?

    Even his voice was genderless; it resounded out like a man at times, but also like a woman at times.

    That''s why people didn''t know about Mercury''s gender and could only refer to Mercury as ''he''.

    Upon hearing so, Jeremy thought briefly before saying into the dark space,

    "You can only upgrade a skill to High Advance level, right?"

    ? Correct... ?

    "What is the price?"

    ? Which skill? ?

    "My [Disguise] skill."

    ? Eleven ck stars to High Advance and one more ck star for a delivery fee. So, it''s twelve in total ?

    Upon hearing the price of upgrading only one skill from Mercury, Jeremy suddenly got a bit depressed and thought,

    "The Special ess is such a pain in the ass..."

    ? How do you even know about the Special ess anyway? ?

    After hearing Mercury asking him so, Jeremy''s eyes lit up before saying with a smile,

    "Transaction epted."

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    Right after Jeremy had epted the so-called transaction from Mercury, the System''s notification suddenly showed up before Jeremy and Mercury as it behaved as an intermediary of this trade.

    ? What!? The trade was epted...? That means the price is higher than one ck star!? ?

    There came a startled voice of Mercury as he didn''t know that his curiosity had gotten the best out of him and would make him lose money.

    Shortly after the transaction had been epted, Jeremy finally said his piece,

    "I know about the special ess because I''ve been to Pantheon before."

    After answering the question, System''s notifications suddenly popped up before Jeremy...

    ...

    ˇş You have received 4xˇď ˇ»

    ˇş You have 59xˇď and 5x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    ? What the!? Four stars? And how have you even gone... ?

    ? ... ?

    It looked like Mercury had suddenly realized that he would lose more money if he didn''t stop there, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

    So does Jeremy, as he also kept quiet while standing with a light smile stered on his face,

    "..."

    ? Damn it! I''ve been fooled by a brat! ?

    It looked like Jeremy didn''t want to linger around the topic about how he had been to Pantheon, so he promptly changed the topic,

    "No more chit-chat. I want to upgrade my [Disguise] skill to High Advance."

    ? ... ?

    ? Sigh... My money... ?

    Mercury couldn''t help it either as he didn''t dare ask any more questions for fear that he would lose even more money,

    ? Transaction epted ?

    After the two sides had agreed to do a transaction, the System notifications promptly showed up behaving as a faithful intermediary...

    ...

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 11xˇď have been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď has been deducted from your star ount for the delivery fee ˇ»

    ˇş You have 47xˇď and 5x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the skill upgrading process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş Your skill [Disguise] has been upgraded to High Advance level, and the skill name changes to [Perfect Disguise] ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    When the transaction was done, Mercury suddenly spoke up in a bit of annoyance in his voice,

    ? Done! Anything else? ?

    ''Hmm... Let''s go to my second priority first before deciding about other things...'' pondered Jeremy before opening his mouth to say,

    "Do you have anything that can forge or show a fake Status Window?"

    ? Yes, I have three things with me currently; I will project their information via the System''s notifications ?

    After Mercury said that, a transparent window promptly showed up before Jeremy...

    ...

    ˇş Mask of a Fraudster (Equipment) ˇ»(17xˇď)

    Ability:

    1. Tier-6 Illusion - You can transform your appearance into any organism or object you desire for 15 minutes. (Cooldown 1 hour)

    2. Tier-6 Illusion - You can forge and project your fake Status Window. (Once per day)

    ˇş Information Falser (Talent) ˇ»(19xˇď)

    Ability: After being activated, you will be able to project the preset Status Window for others to see. (Number of preset: 1)

    ˇş ???''s Backdoor (???) ˇ»(32x?)

    Ability: ??? (Buy it to know the specific information)

    ...

    ''The first one is toome. Furthermore, I have the Disguise skill already, so I don''t need it. As for why its price was so high should be that it was an item and could be sold as a second-hand item.

    ''Then... thest one, what are those question marks anyway? It''s also too expensive that no one in Pantheon could afford it in the first ce. Why does he even show me such an expensive item?''

    ''Whatever...''

    ''It''s been decided then...''

    After finishing his thoughts, Jeremy said lightly,

    "I want the talent, Information Falser."

    ? Confirm? ?

    "Confirm," said Jeremy in affirmation.

    ? Transaction epted ?

    ...

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 19xˇď have been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď has been deducted from your star ount for the delivery fee ˇ»

    ˇş You have 27xˇď and 5x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the trading process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş The talent, Information Falser has been added into your Status Window ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    After the transaction wasplete, Mercury''s cheerful voice suddenly resounded out in the ck space,

    ? Thank you for the trade! I haven''t had such a big deal for quite a while. At most, those people in Pantheon only spend four or five stars at a timetely ?

    Indeed, even for the former sage, Jeremy, the amount of twenty ck stars was considered an enormous sum that he didn''t dare to spend so casually in his past life.

    After all, Jeremy''s highest cumtive amount of stars was only thirty-seven ck stars and one white star before his death. Such an amount of stars was only enough for Jeremy to buy two or three ''expensive'' things from the Great Merchant.

    ? Alright! Anything else? ?

    The Great Merchant''s voice echoed within the dark space.

 Chapter 136 - The Great Merchant, Mercury (2)

    ''Now that all my priorities areplete... I should proceed to another important matter, advancement.''

    Having thought so, Jeremy replied to Mercury,

    "I want to buy a mystic shell with mana energy within. You tell me the price first before I decide whether to buy it or not."

    ? The current price of a mystic shell with mana... The price has fluctuatedtely as it looked like some guys were hoarding the mana shells, and there is also a separate delivery fee. Are you sure you want to buy that? ?

    "Aren''t you supposed to be a salesman here? Why are you even asking me that anyway? Just tell me the price, and I will decide.."

    ? Alright! Alright! It''s one level-5 mystic shell with 34% of condensed mana fluid for one ck star, and you still need to add one more ck star as the transferring fee ?

    "Isn''t that too expensive?"

    ? I told you! ?

    "Usually, it''s supposed to be 80 to 90% full..." Jeremy mumbled to himself after hearing the price.

    But Mercury was taken aback after hearing Jeremy''s mumbling,

    ? You even know the price of items sold in Pantheon... ?

    Within Mercury''s mind should be having some confusing thoughts like, ''How could someone, who was still in the Tutorial, knew about the matters within Pantheon? Let alone a human...''

    After all, the number of humans in the Pantheon could be counted with one''s hand. Furthermore, all of them were old fogies who had lived for dozens of eras.

    Also, Mercury knew all too well that Jeremy was still in the Tutorial as the connection had been established here.

    Thus, it waspletely justifiable that the Great Merchant, Mercury, would be perplexed at the unfolding events right now.

    However, Jeremy didn''t keep Mercury thinking to himself for long as the former suddenly spoke up,

    "I will buy one mystic shell..."

    ? Sigh... ?

    Atst, Mercury sighed for the second time today...

    ? Transaction epted ?

    ...

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď have been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď has been deducted from your star ount for the delivery fee ˇ»

    ˇş You have 25xˇď and 5x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the spatial breaching process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş You have acquired a level-5 mystic shell ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    With thest notification popping up, strange enough, the dark space before Jeremy suddenly distorted. Simultaneously, a small crystal-like item was pushed out from the small distorting space.

    Upon seeing so, Jeremy promptly reached his hand out to grab it.

    The object within Jeremy''s hand was simr to the one he had used in the ritual, with two noticeable differences between them.

    The first difference was the size, the one in Jeremy''s hand was clearly several times bigger, and another difference was the dark-blue fluid undting left and right within the supposed empty crystal.

    ? Do you want anything else? ?

    After hearing Mercury''s question, Jeremy, who had just finished inspecting the shell, thought inwardly,

    ''It''s too bad that buying items in this situation will only result in me losing too much money because of the abominable delivery fees.''

    ''If I have to pay one ck star after buying every single item like this, I will go bankrupt in no time as it is akin to having to pay double the price for an item.''

    ''It couldn''t be helped then... let''s upgrade two more skills before proceeding with the white stars...''

    In fact, Jeremy wanted to upgrade every skill and make it have roughly the same level to one another, but if he did that, he would also lose many ck stars as the delivery fees. He didn''t want to make a loss from the trade after all.

    Thus, it was better and more efficient for Jeremy to upgrade only two skills to peak level instead of upgrading all of them altogether.

    Upon finishing his thoughts, Jeremy shook his head slightly before saying into the dark space,

    "I want to upgrade two more skills to the maximum level. The skills are Heightened Senses and Eagles Eyes."

    ? The first skill will cost you eleven ck stars, while the second skill will cost you twelve ck stars. Confirm? ?

    "Confirm."

    ? Transactions epted ?

    ...

    ˇş Transactions have been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 11xˇď have been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď has been deducted from your star ount for the delivery fee ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 12xˇď have been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1xˇď has been deducted from your star ount for the delivery fee ˇ»

    ˇş You have 0xˇď and 5x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the skills upgrading process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş Your skill [Heightened Senses] has been upgraded to High Advance level, and the skill name changes to [Sixth Sense] ˇ»

    ˇş Your skill [Eagles Eyes] has been upgraded to High Advance level, and the skill name changes to [Third Eye] ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    ''My hard-earned ck stars are all gone just like that...''

    Jeremy thought a bit depressed after seeing he had no ck star remaining in the ount anymore.

    ? I know that you don''t have the star anymore. I will disconnect now ?

    "Wait! What''s the hurry?"

    ? Hm? You have to know that I will only receive ck stars and white stars... Wait... Don''t tell me! ?

    "Of course, I know that you receive only stars for the trade. Also, I still have some white stars left in my ount."

    ? How do you even... Ahem! Alright, it means you have received the white stars even in the Tutorial... So, you are the legendary irregr. ?

    It appeared that Mercury was afraid that he would lose money if he decided to use any interrogative sentences with Jeremy. Thus, the former chose to use affirmative sentences while speaking instead.

    When Jeremy had heard so, he could only shake his head in amusement before saying,

    "Legendary, huh. Come to think about it; there are also those two monsters in Pantheon..."

    ? Those two mons... Damn you! Don''t you dare use those cheap tricks with me again, or else our business ends here! ?

    "Tsk..."

    Upon seeing that Mercury didn''t fall for his trick, Jeremy clicked his tongue audibly before saying to soothe the fuming merchant,

    "Alright, I apologize for trying to scam you."

    In the end, Mercury, the Great Merchant, was such an existence that deserved respect from everyone. So, it couldn''t be helped that even the former sage had to show some degree of respect to him.

    ? Hn! Now, state the thing you desire to buy. I don''t have time all day to waste with you! ?

    ''What is this type of people called again? Tsundere?''

    Jeremy thought chucklingly before saying into the dark space,

    "I want to..."

 Chapter 137 - The Great Merchant, Mercury (3)

    "I want to know the price of an Evolution Pill." inquired Jeremy.

    ? ... ?

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s words, Mercury kept quiet for a few seconds as if thetter fell into skepticism. After all, the price of an Evolution Pill was not cheap in the least.

    A few secondster, Mercury finally asked,

    ? Which rank? ?

    "The intermediate one...."

    ? Let me check... ?

    After some seconds, Mercury''s genderless voice resounded within the dark space,

    ? It''s three white stars ?

    ''Three, huh... If I buy it, then I will have two stars left to...''

    ? If you buy it in fifteen minutes, I won''t charge you any delivery fee! So, you better hurry before I change my mind ?

    Jeremy''s thoughtful thinking was interrupted by Mercury.

    "..."

    Having heard such a shamelessmercial, Jeremy rolled his eyes slightly before saying,

    "Why do you sound like a certain TV channel back on Earth? In fact, I''ve long known that buying things using white stars won''t require any delivery fee. So, you cannot convince me with such a cheap advertisement like that."

    "Also, there is no real phnthropist among salesmen."

    ? ... ?

    After hearing such mild sarcastic words, Mercury felt like a sharp needle had prated deep into his heart, so he decided to change the topic,

    ? Will you buy it or not? ?

    At this time, Jeremy continued his earlier thought,

    ''If I buy the Evolution Pill, I will have only two white stars left... I have to leave one out for a decent melee weapon, which is a spear, while another one... let''s go for a magic-rted talent.''

    Having finished his thought, Jeremy replied to Mercury,

    "Alright, I will buy the Evolution Pill."

    ? Really? Wait... Before that, let me remind you of something first, or else you might sue and use me of selling an inferior productter ?

    Upon hearing Mercury''s disrupting words, Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows slightly before asking,

    "What do you want to remind me about?"

    ? It''s like this; I think you also know that every race has limitations imposed on them ever since before their birth, right? ?

    "Yes, I know..."

    ? Then, that''s easy to exin. Due to you guys having the so-called limitations in all aspects, if you intend to break or go past them, you have to pay the ''appropriate price'' for going against the shackles. Do you know that? ?

    Jeremy''s prior frown became even deeper after hearing Mercury''s reminder. Initially, he had expected some side effects but hadn''t thought much about it earlier.

    Now, Jeremy couldn''t help but have some cold sweats trickling down his back after hearing the words ''appropriate price'' as he had finally remembered something in his past life.

    When Jeremy was still ''frugal''pared to the universe''s big shots, he had conducted quite a number of experiments on other races, whether it be race evolution, gene modification, DNA alteration, elemental boost, dantian expansion, or many more.

    The harsh truth came after that...

    From those experimentations, Jeremy eventually realized that thest thing those experimental creatures should fear was ''severe pain''. In the worst-case scenario, those ounders would either implode, be goo, or devolve into something else entirely.

    Furthermore, more than 99% of Jeremy''s experimentations regarding the race''s limitations had ended up in failures.

    As for the sessful ones, even though Jeremy could bypass some limitations, there were still too many side effects, and most of them were severely adverse.

    That''s why Jeremy finally understood that he had underestimated the thing called race''s limitations. The pill bought from the Great Merchant might not achieve the ''good'' oue as he had initially thought...

    "Is the consequence for going against the restraints that severe?"

    ? To be frank, I don''t know. If you buy the pill, it will be the fifth time someone buys the Evolution Pill from me ?

    "Then what were the oues of those four people before me?"

    ? One ck star and I will answer you ?

    "Well... If I still have one, I will surely pay you..."

    Unfortunately, Jeremy didn''t have any ck star left within his star ount anymore. So, it was only a matter of buying or not buying right now.

    ''In fact, I can postpone it until I''m strong enough to bear the consequences, but...''

    While Jeremy was thinking about his decision, his thought was interrupted by Mercury''s question,

    ? Come back to the topic. Will you buy it or not? ?

    "..."

    ''But... My hunch tells me that... the longer I wait for the evolution, the more severe the consequences will be...''

    Shaking his head slightly with a bitter smile, Jeremy promptly said,

    "I will buy it."

    ? Yes! Hahaha! That''s the spirit! ?

    ? Transaction epted! ?

    After Mercury''s voice ended, the System''s notifications suddenly appeared before Jeremy...

    ...

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 3x? have been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş You have 2x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the spatial breaching process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş You have acquired an intermediate-ranked Evolution Pill ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    ''This is the first time I''ve spent so much money to buy an item...''

    Jeremy thought to himself while waiting for the spatial breaching to bemenced.

    Then...

    *Whoong*

    The space before Jeremy promptly distorted, just like when he had bought the mystic shell.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy reached his hand out to grab a small round rainbow pill the size of a medium-sized blueberry.

    The small pill on Jeremy''s palm felt lightweight like a feather, but its ''intent'' exuded out from within was like an enormous mountain, pressuring and shadowing even Jeremy''s very soul.

    ''This little thing is not normal no matter a person looks at it from which angles...'' Jeremy thought in amazement as he felt pressured by a small round pill.

    ? Congrattions! You have just made the biggest transaction in the past seven eras! I still cannot believe that you will actually buy it ?

    ? As a thank you gift, I will tell you the fates of those four people who have purchased the Evolution Pills before you ?

    After Jeremy had heard that Mercury would gift him information worth one ck star for free, his eyes widened for a bit as he kept quiet and waited patiently for the narration.

    ? Alright, starting with the first guy who is from the night elf race. Actually, I didn''t know much about her because she was a quiet person and didn''t even talk with me for more than five sentences. However, I know that she imploded three minutes and fifteen seconds after taking the pill ?

    "..."

    ? The second guy is from the angel race. He ended his own life after experiencing the constant severe burning sensation all over his body for an entire week upon taking the pill ?

    "..."

    ? The third guy is from the draconian race. He was an irregr the same as you. If I don''t remember wrong, he told me he wanted to be a true dragon, so he decided to buy the pill from my shop. Fortunately, he could indeed transform into an enormous dragon before his entire body changed into dust and scattered with the wind ?

    "..."

    ? Well, thest guy is a bit special. It''s a being from the ent race. It told me that it wanted to be something beyond as it desired to restore thends and embrace the livings on Ortus. I can''t say that it failed or not because it indeed achieved its initial goals. However, it hasn''t moved a single inch from the spot where it took the pill for hundreds of eras since then ?

    "..."

    ? That''s all four of them who have bought the pills before you. There is no need to thank me, just consider it as a generous gift from me ?

    "So... No one survives? Are you kidding me?"

    Jeremy said in disbelief after hearing Mercury''s narration.

    ? Unfortunately, it''s a ''yes'' if you don''t count the guy from the ent race. Hehehe, I''ve told you that there would be consequences before you bought the pill, so you couldn''t sue me or return the pill to me. Hmph! ?

    *Sigh...*

    Upon hearing Mercury''s words, Jeremy promptly sighed in depression as he hesitated even more than before.

    ''What to do with the pill...''

    ''There must be something...''

    Jeremy thought hard to himself for a while...

    ''The first two guys have ended up dead bizarrely, but the two from the draconian and ent races have partially achieved their goals.''

    ''There must be something more to the story for sure...''

    ''Wait...''

    Then as if Jeremy had suddenly realized something crucial, his blue eyes promptly lit up,

    ''The draconian wants to be a dragon, and he has be a true dragon before death...''

    ''The ent wants to be a world tree, and it has be a world tree that stands tall even until today...''

    ''That is...''

    ''If I underlie the assumption that the pill will evolve the eater into something they want to be... then...''

    After thinking until here, Jeremy''s eyes suddenly brightened as he smiled and thought further,

    ''It''s not hopeless after all...''

    ''Alright, I will think about thatter. Now, let''s see...''

    Simultaneously, Jeremymanded inwardly,

    ''[Analyze]''

    A transparent window popped up before Jeremy...

    ...

    Name - Evolution Pill (Intermediate)

    Rank - Special

    Ability: After eating this pill, an organism''s race will be forced to undergo an evolution. (Only useable in a low-ranked organism)

    Note - A pill collected from the Unknown

 Chapter 138 - The Great Merchant, Mercury (4)

    After seeing the pill''s information, Jeremy thought to himself,

    ''A special ranked item, which simply means the pill is not ranked or unrankable...''

    ''As for the information, it is too simple and precise. It clearly has something more to it, but the Analyze skill cannot view that hidden information as the skill''s level is too low.''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard those thoughts, then Jeremy''s eyes fell upon the word ''Unknown'',

    ''The Unknown... The word that I''ve heard a few times in my past life, but there is no definitive answer or evidence to pinpoint what exactly it is so far....''

    Then Jeremy dismissed the interface before him and said into the dark space,

    "Do you have any good spear with the price of one white star?"

    When Mercury had heard Jeremy''s words, he promptly answered,

    ? I have nine of them. If you don''t want to see a lengthy interface, you have to be more specific ?

    "Then add the word ''mana'' as a filter. How many are left?"

    ? There are two left. Do you want to view them? ?

    "Sure, show me."

    Afterward, an interface containing two items suddenly showed up before Jeremy...

    ...

    ˇş Anguish ˇ»

    Ability:

    1. After being injected with mana, the entire spearhead will be coated with a sharp mana de, whereas the hardness, sharpness, and weight of Anguish will be increased indefinitely ording to the quantity and quality of mana input.

    2. After being wounded by Anguish, the victim will experience physical and mental pain ording to the degree of injury and mana infused within the attack.

    3. Anguish is a semi-sentient spear that can perceive the user''s desires. As long as its consciousness is safe, the spear will uphold the ''Indestructible'' property.

    Note - A grey wooden spear named Anguish, Memory of Twisted Vision, made from an unknown meteorite metalwood smithed by a legendary dwarf, Jazar.

    ˇş Shadowfury ˇ»

    Ability:

    1. The spear de is coated with the shadow element at all times and will inflict a tier-6 Shadow Curse upon contact. (Stackable)

    2. Upon being injected with mana, the shaft will extend itself instantaneously up to ten meters.

    Skill:

    1. [Devouring Void Shadow] - Upon activating, Shawdowfury will consume all its shadow energy and some of the user''s mana tounch a single tier-8 Devouring Void Shadow spell towards the target. (Cooldown 1 month; within this period, the ability Shadow Curse will stop working)

    Note - A dark steel spear named Shadowfury, Harvestor of Dark Soul, created from shadow steelbined with a strange smithing technique of the elemental race.

    ...

    Upon seeing the two items'' description, there was only one word lingering within Jeremy''s mind,

    ''Magnificent...''

    Indeed, the two spears were top-notch weaponsparable to Jeremy''s staff in his past life.

    How could they not be magnificent with such profiles?

    ''Especially the second one, Shadowfury, contains a tier-8 spell cast from thebination of shadow and mana energy. Furthermore, every attack from this spear will inflict a stackable curse on the target. It is a true nightmare for any melee opponent...''

    ''Well, that''s why the elemental race is feared by those guys in the first ce. After all, they can create such a fearsome weapon like this...''

    ''However, the first spear, Anguish, created by the legendary dwarf, doesn''t lose out in the leastpared to Shadowfury as it even has a consciousness of itself.''

    ''It is widely known that an item with a consciousness will have an indestructible property as long as the said consciousness is safe and sound. Furthermore, a conscious item can be upgraded...''

    ''Meanwhile, Anguish''s first ability contains the word ''indefinitely'' after being injected with mana... Hmm... Doesn''t that mean an attacking from this spear can be as heavy as a mountain and as hard as the toughest ore?''

    ''If so...''

    Simultaneously, Jeremy fell into deep thought. He was thinking hard about the pros and cons of the two spears.

    After all, it was a purchase worth one white star. Even in Jeremy''s past life, he didn''t dare to spend such an amount easily.

    At this time, Jeremy wasparing the two weapons advantageous and disadvantageous sides,

    ''Speaking of the OPness, Shadowfury is clearly superior as it can boost my fighting power to the highest level, even beyond the level of the current strongest human in one fell swoop...''

    ''Speaking of the potential, Anguish appears to be countless times better as it doesn''t have a cooldown or anything like that. Furthermore, it has a consciousness, which means the spear can evolve and be upgraded further...''

    ''Now, talking about the cons, Shadowfury is indeed superbly strong... well, it is, in fact, too strong for the current me to handle. Looking at its sole skill''s description, it states that activating the tier-8 spell requires ''some'' of the user''s mana. However, the word ''some'' is too ambiguous as it might suck me dry and makes me be a mummy in a split second.''

    ''Not to talk about the aftermaths after activating the spell. Typically, a tier-8 spell can easily decimate the entire district filled with billions of people into nothingness in the blink of an eye. As the user of the spell, there ought to be some indirect damages or repercussions back to me...''

    ''I think I won''t survive the coteral damages of such a magnitude of spell.''

    Thinking up till here, Jeremy promptly shook his head in disappointment.

    If Jeremy decided to buy Shadowfury, he had to refrain from activating the third ability no matter what it took. That was... until he was strong enough to handle the spell''s side effects, which should be around when he was at least a ss 6 of the mage pathway.

    Afterward, Jeremy continued his thought,

    ''About Anguish''s disadvantageous sides: First of all, the spear''s attacking power is solely dependent on the quantity and quality of my mana. That means Anguish''s attacking power is not up to anything at all right now. Secondly, it doesn''t have an ultimate skill like Shadowfury, subsequently making it somewhat nd with only the capability of short-ranged attacking.''

    ''Hmm...''

    At this time, Jeremy used his left hand to caress his chin lightly...

    ''In fact, it is not that hard to decide, isn''t it? The answer is clear as day...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy raised his head slightly before speaking into the dark space,

    "I really want to take Shadowfury... but..."

    ? Hmm? ?

    "I cannot bring out its full potential anytime soon, and I''m not even sure If I can wield it or not from the supposedly great amount of shadow energy stored within the spear. Instead, I might be swallowed up by the shadow energy if not careful... so..."

    ? So? ?

    "I''ve decided..."

    "I want to buy Anguish."

    After hearing Jeremy''s choice, Mercury asked in an excited tone,

    ? Oh... Confirm? ?

    "Confirm..."

    ? Alright then ?

    ? Transaction epted! ?

    ...

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1x? has been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş You have 1x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the spatial breaching process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş You have acquired Anguish, Memory of Twisted Vision ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    After the transaction was concluded, Mercury''s genderless voice resounded sonorously,

    ? Thank you for another big deal! Today is such a good day. Hahaha! ?

    Not long after the interface disappeared, a spatial breach urred before Jeremy again.

    This time, from within the spatial distortion, a two-meter long object suddenly appeared as Jeremy reached out his hand to catch it.

    The in-looking spear in Jeremy''s left hand right now was silver-grey in color, just like typical steel.

    However, from the spear''s textures, Jeremy knew that it was clearly made from wood, but at the same time, the hardness and toughness of the spear were nothing different than steel at all.

    Furthermore, the spearhead was also made from the same wooden material. The entire spear looked like a whole thing with no point of connection or adjacency from being assembled together at all.

    ''It''s very heavy... around sixty kilograms...'' Jeremy thought in shock after feeling the spear''s weight within his hand.

    Afterward, Jeremy started wielding, and swinging Anguish left and right, creating gusty wind and whooshing sounds within the dark space.

    It wasn''t strange that there was air and wind within this space as Jeremy could breathe normally right now.

    ''It looks like I have to practice hard before I can use it fluently.''

    Jeremy shook his head slightly after feeling that it was pretty challenging to wield such a heavy weapon in a real battle with his current physical strength.

    ''Alright, let''s check its stats...''

    Having thought so, Jeremymanded inwardly,

    ''[Analyze]''

    ...

    Name - Anguish

    Rank - Mythical

    Ability:

    1. After being injected with mana, the entire spearhead will be coated with a sharp mana de, whereas the hardness, sharpness, and weight of Anguish will be increased indefinitely ording to the quantity and quality of mana input.

    2. After being wounded by Anguish, the victim will experience physical and mental pain ording to the degree of injury and mana infused within the attack.

    3. Anguish is a semi-sentient spear that can perceive the user''s desires. As long as its consciousness is safe, the spear will uphold the ''Indestructible'' property.

    Note - A grey wooden spear named Anguish, Memory of Twisted Vision, made from an unknown meteorite metalwood smithed by a legendary dwarf, Jazar.

 Chapter 139 - Evolution Pill (1)

    ''Its rank is Mythical? So, it is indeed the same rank as my past life staff, Arondite.''

    Jeremy thought to himself after inspecting Anguish''s information via [Analyze] skill.

    Regarding the item ranks on Ortus, there were a total of seven ranks starting from Common, Umon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, and Divine.

    The first one was the ability-less one, Common rank. There was nothing much about this rank as most of the items were just normal ones.

    The next rank was Umon, which was usually apanied by one or two simple abilities.

    The third rank was Rare, of which most of the time had two or three simple abilities and one skill. This rank was also the rank of Jeremy''s Forsaken Branch. However, the Forsaken Branch was considered the top rank even among the Rare-ranked item, so it had three simple abilities and two decent skills.

    .

    The fourth rank was Epic, which was very hard to create ande by. It was usually apanied by one excellent ability and some ordinary skills.

    The next rank was Legendary, which most of the time had two extraordinary abilities or skills of tier-6 at the very least.

    The sixth rank, Mythical; the items of this rank were all created by great and renowned crafters. It could be said that the creators of Mythical rank items were revered like a god of crafting on Ortus. They would be respected to the utmost no matter where they were.

    In fact, the creators of such high-ranked items could be counted with one''s hand, and they only sold their items to either Mercury, close acquaintances, or auctions in Pantheon.

    Now, thest rank, Divine. The item of this rank had never been created before by any crafters and could only be found within Mercury''s shop.

    Even though some Divine ranked items were present within Mercury''s shop, their prices were too high that nobody could afford them.

    ? How is it? Do you like the spear? ?

    Mercury inquired Jeremy while thetter was looking at the spear left and right.

    "Mm... I like it," said Jeremy before continuing,

    "Alright, let''s proceed with ourst trade."

    Having said so, Jeremy promptly kept Anguish within the right glove''s spatial storage. Meanwhile, Mercury, who had heard Jeremy''s words, simultaneously replied,

    ? Last trade? So, you have run out of stars, huh? Tsk. ?

    "..."

    Upon hearing such wordsing out from a merchant''s mouth, Jeremy could only shake his head slightly before saying,

    "I want to buy a magic-rted talent with the price of one white star..."

    ? Magic-rted... Alright, I have six of them currently. Do you want to see them? ?

    "Yes, show me."

    When Jeremy''s voice ended, an interface containing six items suddenly appeared before him...

    ...

    ˇş Mana Mania (Talent) ˇ»

    Ability: Your mana whirlpools works 230% more efficiently, making you gather and recover your mana 2.3 times faster.

    ˇş Projection of Immortality (Talent) ˇ»

    Ability: Your mana field projection will be unbreachable as long as you have mana left within your dantians.

    ˇş Spellshield of the Void (Talent) ˇ»

    Ability: Your mana field projection has the Transition property of the Void when projected.

    ˇş Entangling Rune (Talent) ˇ»

    Ability: Ancient Mana Rune will be attached to each of your dantian, causing your dantians to connect to each other and be one spatially.

    ˇş Serenity of Magic (Talent) ˇ»

    Ability: You can meditate longer and more efficiently by two times.

    ˇş Spell Disruption (Talent) ˇ»

    Ability: Upon activating, you can disrupt the enemy''s spellcasting process regardless of any defensive measures or ranks of the spell. (Cooldown 1 day)

    ...

    After the interface was projected before Jeremy, Mercury promptly spoke up,

    ? I''m feeling terrific right now. You can take your time and choose slowly, human ?

    "Alright..."

    Upon replying, Jeremy fell into deep thought as he decided to cut some choices out from the list,

    ''First of all, I will cut the Entangling Rune out because I don''t want my three dantians to be connected. After all, I have many elements to be infused within the dantians. if they are connected, then my arsenal of spells will be reduced more than half.''

    ''After that, I will excise the defensive-rted talents as I don''t need any improvement in that area for now. Well, it will be no different for me whether I have those defensive talents or not anyway as my mana capacity is still too small.''

    ''So, there are Mana Mania, Serenity of Magic, and Spell Disruption, only three talents left to be chosen from.''

    ''Now, talking about the usefulness and utilization, Mana Mania and Serenity of Magic have outweighed the Spell Disruption for quite a margin. After all, even though it is not instantaneous like a talent, I can still cast a Spell Disruption to interfere with the enemy''s spellcasting.''

    ''Thus, let''s remove the Spell Disruption and decide upon the two talents, Mana Mania and Serenity of Magic...''

    ''Mana Mania, as the name suggests, focuses on mana as it will permanently boost my whirlpools by 2.3 times.''

    ''Meanwhile, Serenity of Magic''s description is a bit more precise. However, if I look at the description carefully, I will realize the talent is divided into two parts. The first one is that I can meditate two times longer, whereas another part is that I can meditate two times more efficiently.''

    ''That means if the two parts arebined, it simply indicates that I can cultivate four times faster than my previous performance each day. Nheless, it is only applied to manual meditation, unlike the automatic Mana Mania that will spontaneously replenish my mana to a full tank.

    ''It''s a bit hard to decide. One is about mana boost while another is about meditation boost...''

    Having thought until here, Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows deeply,

    ''Hmm...''

    ''Come to think about it; I can still replenish my mana with other methods...''

    ''However, I cannot achieve the same result of meditation as Serenity of Magic no matter what method I use.''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard the unnecessary thoughts...

    ''Alright then...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy suddenly said into the dark space,

    "I''ve decided; myst purchase will be Serenity of Magic."

    ? Well, confirm? ?

    "Yes..."

 Chapter 140 - Evolution Pill (2)

    ˇş Transaction has been epted ˇ»

    ˇş A total of 1x? has been deducted from your star ount for the trade ˇ»

    ˇş You have 0x? remaining in your star ount ˇ»

    ˇş Commencing the transferring process... ˇ»

    ˇş ... ˇ»

    ˇş You have acquired the talent, Serenity of Magic ˇ»

    ˇş Transaction is concluded ˇ»

    ...

    After the transaction was done, Jeremy suddenly felt some changes within his body.

    To be exact, some changes urred within his soul, but he couldn''t quite pinpoint what thing had changed within it.

    Jeremy only knew that his very soul seemed to have morepatibility with meditation. He even felt that he could meditate longer than in the past, with more efficiency, too.

    While Jeremy was closing his eyes to feel the changes within his soul, Mercury''s voice suddenly resounded excitedly beside his ears,

    ? Congrattions again! You are now the mostvish spender in the past ten eras! My heart is thumping with ecstasy now! ?

    Then Mercury promptly continued his piece as if he was in a hurry,

    ? Very well... I think it''s time for me to leave as some impatient guys are waiting to buy things from me in the Pantheon. Farewe... ?

    "Wait!"

    Before Mercury could finish his goodbye, Jeremy hurriedly stopped the former all of a sudden.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy said his reason,

    "I''ve bought so many items from you. May I ask you for a simple favor?"

    Unexpectedly, Jeremy asked for a favor from another person...

    ? What is it? ?

    "In fact, I will be teleported out of here as soon as the Special ess is concluded, but I want to take the evolution pill in a safe environment. Also, I think there is no ce better than here to take the pill, so..."

    ? So, you want me to maintain the Special ess for you? ?

    Mercury pointed out Jeremy''s request, whereas thetter answered shortly,

    "Yes..."

    After hearing that, Mercury fell into a silence for a few seconds; he promptly replied,

    ? Hmm... it''s doable. I will just think of it as a favor then; it''s not a high price to pay anyway. However, I still have some trades to do in Pantheon, so I will appoint you as the host of this ce and leave here once and for all. Is that okay? ?

    "I will be the host? If it''s like that... How much time will I get before the Special ess ends?" asked Jeremy after hearing that Mercury would leave after appointing him as the host.

    ? Around 50 hours ?

    "Okay then. Thank you for the favor..."

    ? Nah... I''m the one who has to say thank you. After all, you have made so many big deals with me. Now, I have to go for real, human. Farewell. ?

    "Goodbye..."

    After finishing their parting words, Mercury promptly left, leaving only Jeremy behind within the dark space.

    Simultaneously, a window of notifications showed up before Jeremy,

    ...

    ˇş You have been appointed as the Special ess'' host ˇ»

    ˇş You cannot control or use any function within the ess, and you will be teleported to the Tutorial''s second stage after the ess ends ˇ»

    ˇş Time remaining before the ess ends: 50 hours, 22 minutes, 35 seconds ˇ»

    ...

    ''Alright, I should be safe here for the next 50 hours.'' Jeremy thought after seeing the notifications and timer.

    Then he kept his steel spear inside the right glove before bringing out the evolution pill from his left glove.

    Soon, a small rainbow pill appeared on Jeremy''s left palm.

    *Fwuu...*

    Jeremy heaved out a long breath as he thought to himself,

    ''I hope my hunch is right...''

    Earlier, when Jeremy had been in a dilemma whether to buy the evolution pill or not, his hunch was triggered.

    At the time, Jeremy felt that the longer he waited, the higher the risks of failure. Due to that, he decided to buy the evolution pill with no second thought.

    After all, if Jeremy were destined to fail in evolving, he would fail no matter when he took the pill anyway.

    Jeremy''s peak period in his past life, he couldn''t go past the limits himself. That meant even if he decided to wait any longer before taking the pill, the result would still be the same.

    Thus, Jeremy chose to believe in his hunch and bought the pill. He would eat it here once and for all...

    ''All of this is for the sake of the evolution. I will be the greatest existence of the human race after this...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy sat down on the dark floor and put the evolution pill inside his mouth.

    *Gulp*

    Jeremy gulped the pill down his throat in one go...

    Then he closed his eyes and waited patiently for the pill to take its effects.

    Sure enough, only after a few seconds, Jeremy suddenly felt hot inside his stomach as the pill was liquified and suffused to every part of his body.

    ''It''s hot...''

    As the pill''s substance gradually traveled all over his body, Jeremy felt that he was sweating harder and harder.

    Right now, Jeremy''s back was drenched with hot sweat as his ckbat suit stuck on his body stickily.

    Jeremy continued to sit there silently while sweating profusely for quite a while, with his body temperature rising to a staggering 50 degrees Celsius. Such a temperature could even be used to fry an egg.

    The proceeding continued for more than tens of seconds, then...

    ''Hmm...? The hotness starts receding away...''

    Jeremy thought in wonder after feeling the burning sensation gradually fading away from his body.

    After a few seconds, Jeremy''s body temperature became normal once again as he stopped sweating.

    However...

    ''It''s be cold instead?''

    Indeed, Jeremy''s body temperature didn''t stop at the ''normal'' degree as it started to drop further.

    Degree by degree...

    Not long after, Jeremy''s body temperature dropped to below 20 degrees Celsius, more than 15 degrees lower than ordinary people.

    If other humans experienced such a sudden temperature change, they would lose consciousness without apparent signs of breathing or a pulse right now.

    Such extreme hypothermia or sudden drop of body temperature was too much for any average person to handle.

    ''Fuck... My head feels so dizzy... I might lose consciousness at this rate...''

    Jeremy cussed inwardly after his body temperature stabilized at around 18 degrees Celsius.

    Even for the superhuman, Jeremy, it was still a bit too much. His mana couldn''t even help him in such a situation.

    At this time, Jeremy''s body shook nonstop from the coldness and dizziness.

    Until when Jeremy had almost lost consciousness, his low body temperature suddenly increased once again.

    Jeremy''s body gradually stopped shaking as the coldness and dizziness started to disappear, and his body temperature rose to 50 degrees the same as before.

    Shortly after, his body temperature dropped once again...

    ''So, it is like this...''

    Jeremy thought while gritting his teeth tightly after realizing what situation he would be facing soon.

    He would experience the sudden rise and drop of body temperature alternately from this point on...

    Jeremy''s body had to undergo the sudden temperature change in intervals so many times that he didn''t even count it anymore after the fourth cycle.

    Currently, Jeremy was too focused on enduring the deadly ordeals that he didn''t have enough room to spare for the counting.

    Just like that, The repeated cycles of hot and cold continued for quite some time....

 Chapter 141 - The Second Stage (1)

    [A/N: This will be the only chapter where I info-dump you guys about MC''s entire Status Window.]

    ...

    Forty-five hourster...

    A young man in his early 20sy on his back within a dark space situated in an unknown dimension created by the System...

    The man wore a ckbat suit that appeared to be hardened with a ck dried substance.

    At this moment, the man, Jeremy, was closing his eyes shut with a serene expression stered on his face.

    It seemed like the process of evolution was truly inhuman that even Jeremy couldn''t help but lose consciousness.

    Some secondster, Jeremy''s eyelids suddenly moved. Then he finally opened his eyes in a confused manner.

    Afterward, Jeremy blinked his eyes two times to think about what had happened to him earlier...

    ''I survived...?

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy sighed in relief and delight and thought further,

    ''It felt like an eternity...''

    ''The damned intervals were too much even for me to handle as after thest coldness disappeared, I simultaneously lost consciousness right away...''

    ''I don''t even know before that being alive and well feels this good...''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard those unpleasant thoughts away from his head, Jeremy struggled to stand up from the dark floor.

    As his body had just undergone the evolution, Jeremy felt like his body was still a bit stiff, so he tried moving every limb of his body left and right.

    Not long after, Jeremy''s sluggish body started bing faster and faster as he got used to his ''new'' body at a fast rate.

    Then...

    *Sniff*

    While moving and swinging his limbs left and right, Jeremy suddenly smelt something...

    *Sniff* *Sniff*

    Jeremy sniffed incessantly around him to find the source, subsequently thought to himself,

    ''What is this hellishly stinky smell? Wait... Ites from my body...?''

    Right when Jeremy sniffed his ownbat suit, he finally found the source of the smell.

    Then Jeremy hurriedly took thebat suit off, intending to take a bath right here and now.

    ''Hmm? My body seems to be smaller... It even looks more well-toned than before. Are my musclespressed as a side effect of evolving?''

    It appeared that Jeremy realized his body muscles get morepressed or something of the sort as every part of his body looked to be smaller...

    ''!!!''

    "Smaller!?"

    Having mumbled the word out in a daze, Jeremy hurriedly pulled down his pants to check his little dragon...

    *RRRIP*

    It looked like Jeremy''s was too hurried as he pulled the pants down with full force, causing it to rip into pieces.

    Then...

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy sighed in relief and thought to himself after seeing that his little dragon still looked the same as before,

    ''It''s still the same size... I almost got a heart attack, damn it.''

    Fortunately, it appeared that the pressed muscles'' didn''t include his ''baby''.

    After thinking so, Jeremy brought out a small rectangr wooden object with a green button attached to the center out from his glove.

    Then Jeremy ced the thing down on the dark floor and pressed the green button in the middle.

    Simultaneously, the small object started expanding in size, changing itself into a public toilet.

    Without further dy, Jeremy got inside to clean himself...

    ...

    Twenty minutester...

    Jeremy finally finished his long shower from within the public toilet as he walked out from the inside with another ckbat suit...

    *Fwuu...*

    ''So refreshing; I feel like I''m more alive than ever; my every cell is filled with energy...''

    Jeremy let out a long breath and thought to himself.

    ''Alright, it''s time to check my new stats...''

    ''Status Window''

    An extended interface promptly showed up before Jeremy,

    ...

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Race: Human (Unknown - Intermediate-Rank Organism)

    ss: Journeyman Mage (Peak - Substage 4 of ss 1 Mage)

    Title: Mage of Origin (Rank 10 - Inactive), The Undestined One (Rank 9 - Inactive), Prodigy Mage (Rank 8 - Inactive), Unnatural Blender (Rank 8 - Inactive), First Mage (Rank 5 - Inactive), NEET (Rank 0 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 48.5%

    - Darkness (Umon): 37.6%

    - Space (Rare): 92.1%

    - Divinity (Unique): 0.1%

    Talent: Prodigy of Magic, Information Falser, Serenity of Magic, Sixth Sense

    Trait: Objective

    Skill:

    - Mimic Voice (Mid Basic - Active Skill)

    - Stealth (Mid Basic - Active Skill)

    - Analyze (High Basic - Active Skill)

    - Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Calm Mind (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Combo Strike (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill)

    - Bncing Feats (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Greater Focus (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Blurry Hands (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Inhuman Strength (High Intermediate - Passive Skill)

    - Perfect Disguise (High Advance - Active Skill)

    - Sixth Sense (High Advance - Passive Skill)

    - Third Eye (High Advance - Active Skill)

    Achievement:

    1. For you, who is the fastest of your own kind to shed a mortal skin and be the first person to tread in a long and arduous path of truth-seeking. The System shall grant you the title of ''First Mage''.

    2. For you, who is an unnatural existence of your own kind and has aplished many unmatched achievements within the Tutorial. The System shall grant you the title of ''The Unnatural Blender''.

    3. For you, who was born a Prodigy. For you, who is destined to be standing at the very top of the Universe''s food chain. The System shall grant you the title of ''Prodigy Mage''.

    4. For you, who overrides every existing record in Ortus history. For you, who has appeared out of nowhere and achieved unprecedented performances by outperforming and oveing the destined fate of your own kind. The Universe itself shall grant you the title of ''The Undestined One''.

    5. For you, who achieves the impossible. For you, who defies the Universe''s rules. For you, who had reached the first substage of a ss 1 Mage within a mana-less world. For eternity, this attainment can never be duplicated by anyone; even the Gods feel helpless with its usibility. It is thus considered an achievement that shall be chronicled at the highest level of Akashic Records forevermore. The Universe itself shall grant you the title of ''Mage of Origin''.

    Mission: None

    ...

    Upon seeing his new Status Window, Jeremy felt very surprised,

    ''My species is now ''Unknown'', but it''s a relief that I''m still a human as I''ve not evolved into something strange or grotesque...''

    ''Then, my affinities... Oh shit! All of them are enhanced!? Even my space elemental affinity has reached 92.1%, a never-before-seen level of affinity in other races except for the elemental race.''

    ''So, my affinity level has entered the same realm as the pure elemental race, huh...''

    ''If those gods knew that I could harness both mana and more than 90% of space elemental affinity, they would surely hunt me down at all cost.''

    Having thought until this point, Jeremy shook his head slightly before looking further down his Status Window,

    ''Unexpectedly, I have two new talents, Serenity of Magic and Sixth Sense. So, advancing Heightened Senses to Sixth Sense will gain me an additional talent. Hmm... That''s why those brawny guys of closebat pathways want the skill Heightened Senses so much...''

    ''Let''s see...''

    ''My skills are mostly upgraded at least one rank... It should be due to my evolution because thest time I checked my skills, their ranks were lower than now. Especially the physical-rted skills like Fast Hands and Surpassing Strength, they have just jumped one entire grade each. What a surprise...''

    ''Well, it looks like my physical-rted skills now are even better than in my past life... After arriving at Ortus, I should consider seriously about going dual sses...''

    ''Thest part is achievements... One, two, three, four, five... Alright, all five of them are there as expected.''

    As Jeremy was going to dismiss the Status Window, he had suddenly thought of something,

    ''Oh wait, I haven''t checked my newly upgraded skills'' description yet...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy promptly checked all his skills and talents at once...

    ...

    Mimic Voice (Mid Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can adjust your voice as you wish for 7 minutes. (Cooldown 1 hour)

    Stealth (Mid Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can lower your perceived presence for 7 minutes. (Cooldown 1 hour) [Caution: When used, the skill generates a slight darkness element upon the user''s body.]

    Analyze (High Basic - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can see general information of objects and organisms. [Note: You will see more details if the item or organism belongs to you.]

    Breathing Control (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your breathing control by 19%.

    Calm Mind (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the control over your mind, leading it to a state of serenity, tranquillity, and peace quicker by 17%.

    Combo Strike (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost the chances of your physical attacks being connected and linked with one another by 15%.

    Footwork (High Basic - Passive Skill): Boost your footwork''sprehensive capability and familiarity by 17%.

    Bncing Symmetry (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost the control over your bodily movement''s bnce and counterbnce by 38%.

    Greater Focus (Low Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost your focus and concentration of your mind by 34%.

    Ambidextrous (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost your hands'' synchronization''sprehensive capability and familiarity by 31%.

    Blurry Hands (Mid Intermediate - Passive Skill): Boost your hands'' dexterity and deftness by 35%.

    Inhuman Strength (High Intermediate - Passive Skill): When you unleash a physical attack, your strike will be heavier and stronger by 38%.

    Perfect Disguise (High Advance - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can perfectly copy another organism of your own kind without any drawback and partially transform yourself into another race if the body structure is not too far apart.

    Sixth Sense (High Advance - Passive Skill): Boost your five senses by 100%, and you will have an additional talent, Sixth Sense.

    Third Eye (High Advance - Active Skill): Upon activating, your eyes will see through the veil of space itself and be able to see into a very faraway distance. [Caution: Beware of the information overload.]

    ...

    Prodigy of Magic (Talent - Passive): You can understand andprehend magic-rted stuff as easily as breathing.

    Information Falser (Talent - Active): After being activated, you can project the preset Status Window for others to see. (Number of preset: 1)

    Serenity of Magic (Talent - Passive): You can meditate longer and more efficiently by two times.

    Sixth Sense (Talent - Passive): You gain an additional sense, the Sense of Perception.

 Chapter 142 - The Second Stage (2)

    Upon seeing all his skills and talents'' details, Jeremy felt very satisfied...

    All his skills ranked up, all his talents looked splendid, shining even brighter than the stars in a night sky.

    After looking and remembering the details of skills and talents for a while more, Jeremy eventually dismissed the interface.

    ''What should I do in these four hours?''

    Jeremy thought after looking around the dark space for a bit before raising his left hand to caress his chin,

    ''Hmm... I haven''t gotten used to my new body yet, and my new skills and talents need to be practiced for a bit before I can use them fluently.''

    ''Alright then. For the next four hours, I will get used to my new body, skills, and talents. Then I will n my next moves before teleporting to the second stage...''

    Having thought about the schedule of his next four hours, Jeremy beamed out Anguish from his glove right away.

    Soon, a long grey spear appeared within Jeremy''s hand.

    ''It''s not heavy anymore... No, its weight is still the same, but my strength has increased too much that I feel like this 60-kilograms spear weighs nothing...''

    Surprisingly, the spear that Jeremy had to struggle to wield earlier now feels like a lightweight stick within his hand.

    Undoubtedly, it was all due to Jeremy''s evolution that had made him be so much stronger physically.

    Maybe, Jeremy was faster and tougher, too, but he had yet to try it out.

    ''I think I can still wield Anguish even if its weight increases to 300 kilograms...

    ''So, this is how those intermediate races feel... They feel superior to lower-ranked organisms as if thetter is nothing before them at all. The difference is just too great...''

    ''Ah... The euphoric feeling of superiority.''

    Jeremy thought with a broad satisfied smile. He had never felt this good and vigorous before.

    ''Let''s try...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy started swinging Anguish right away...

    *Whoosh*

    Anguish traveled through the air swiftly, creating gusty wind and sound waves along the way...

    *Whoosh*

    *Whoosh* *Fwhoosh*

    The grey spear moved faster and faster with each passing swing until it started getting blurry and eventually disappeared from the naked eyes...

    Simultaneously, a sonic boom also urred as Anguish traveled through the air faster than the speed of sound.

    After all, this ce still had the speed of sound roughly the same as Earth, so Jeremy broke the sound barrier easily with his current strength.

    Air turbulences ran wild within the dark space like a small hurricane...

    Just like that, Jeremy swung and brandished Anguish within the dark space as the whooshing noises induced from the wind waves continued for quite a while.

    After some minutester...

    ''This should be enough warm-up...''

    Jeremy thought inwardly before hemanded his mana within the three dantians towards his hand holding the spear.

    The mana from within Jeremy''s dantians moved almost instantaneously into Anguish, causing it to vibrate slightly as if feeling delighted of having tasted mana for the first time.

    ''Oh... It responds to my mana, and it''s also getting heavier.'' Jeremy wondered after feeling the changes urring to Anguish.

    The spear''s color appeared to be murkier as the grey color changed into dark grey while its weight also became heavier along with the amount of pure mana injected into it.

    Meanwhile, there was a light blueyer coating the entire spearhead, which should be the so-called Mana de from Anguish''s first ability.

    A few secondster, Anguish seemed to weigh approximately 250 kilograms as its weight gradually stopped increasing because Jeremy had stopped inputting the mana.

    ''So, the mana consumption is nothing much, which is considered very efficient. Then after I stop inputting mana into it, the weight still remains the same for some time, but it will gradually decrease back to its original weight...''

    ''From the looks, it should remain at 250 kilograms for around a minute, and its weight will begin reducing bit by bit.''

    ''As for the mana de, it should operate with the same concept of the weighting function and disappear at roughly the same time as when the weight bes original...''

    After finishing his thought, Jeremy turned to look at the sole object within this dark space, the public toilet, before walking towards it.

    Despite Jeremy being inside a mysterious dark space with no light whatsoever, he still saw his body and other objects very clearly.

    A ce created by the System was genuinely bizarre...

    Shortly after, Jeremy finally arrived before the toilet...

    ''Let''s not put any force behind this strike...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy pushed the mana-coated spearhead towards the toilet...

    *Squish...*

    Unsurprisingly, the sharp mana de went through the toilet''s wall as if thetter were just water.

    ''This won''t work...''

    Jeremy thought while shaking his head slightly before bringing out the steel spear no.3 from his right glove.

    After almost ten seconds, Jeremy now had two spears within his hands. Then he threw the steel spear no.3 into the air.

    When the spear started to fall down, Jeremy swung Anguish''s coated mana de at the falling spear''s steel shaft.

    *Whoosh*

    Anguish traveled so fast that the wind could only trail behind it tardily...

    A split secondter, Anguish''s de finally met with the steel spear''s shaft.

    However...

    *Click*

    The expected nging sound didn''t resound out as the only noise heard was the clicking one...

    Unbelievably, Anguish''s spear de cut through the steel shaft in half as the steel spear fell down to the dark floor, creating ttering noises...

    ''That''s fine steel...''

    Jeremy thought with wide eyes after seeing the steel spear being sliced through so easily. He couldn''t even believe his own eyes for a second.

    ''Well, the disparity between a Mythical and Common weapon is clear enough...''

    After looking at the steel spear on the ground, Jeremy thought amusingly,

    ''Farewell, number three, it''s been a great ride with you.''

    Upon saying his goodbye to number three, Jeremy proceeded on to test his skills and talents...

    ''My other skills have not changed much as the only change that happens is their overall performance. Meanwhile, the only three skills that have changed as if they transform into new skills are Perfect Disguise, Sixth Sense, and Third Eye.''

    ''So, let''s go with those three skills first...''

    Having thought about testing his three skills, Jeremy closed his eyes and recalled a certain someone''s face beforemanding inwardly,

    ''[Perfect Disguise]''

    ...

    Perfect Disguise (High Advance - Active Skill): Upon activating, you can perfectly copy another organism of your own kind without any drawback and partially transform yourself into another race if the body structure is not too far apart.

    ...

    Then, Jeremy''s face and body muscles started to change...

    Specifically, Jeremy''s entire body''s muscles and bones started moving with weird noises continuallying out from his body.

    ''I don''t feel hurt at all... not even itchy...''

    Jeremy thought in wonder as his entire body was undergoing the process of ''perfect copy''.

    After half a minuteter, Jeremy''s entire appearance had utterly changed into that of another person.

    Currently, Jeremy''s height had shortened more than three centimeters, whereas his build was even smaller than before as his body muscles werepressed from the transformation.

    Meanwhile, a mirror suddenly appeared within Jeremy''s hand as he had brought it out from the left glove.

    Then he took a look at his face...

    "Hi, mister Xildas..."

    Jeremy said with a light smile while looking at his new face reflecting in the mirror.

 Chapter 143 - The Second Stage (3)

    Jeremy had perfectly copied Xildas'' whole appearance. Right now, he looked no different than thetter in the least.

    ''Hmm... I think there are still some differences between him and me...'' Jeremy thought after looking at his new face for a while.

    Then he put his hand inside thebat suit''s pocket and brought out a wristwatch from within before wearing it on his left hand.

    The wristwatch was obviously Xildas'' spatial wristwatch...

    After almost ten seconds, a corpse wearing an orange-shaded ck uniform promptly appeared on the dark floor before Jeremy.

    Without further dy, Jeremy started undressing Xildas'' corpse to study his body.

    While doing such a disgraceful act, Jeremy chanted a powerful incantation within his mind,

    ''For survival... for survival... for survival... for survival...''

    After some minutes of flipping and studying the corpse, Jeremy had finally grasped the full details of Xildas'' body and structure.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy also constantly activated the [Perfect Disguise] as he scrutinized the body, causing his appearance to change continuously, albeit little by little.

    Upon perfectly changing himself into Xildas, Jeremy thought with a slight frown,

    ''So, there are two downsides of the so-called ''perfect'' disguise. Firstly, I have to know every detail of the one I want to change into. Secondly, I cannot undergo a DNA or blood test no matter what as those two things cannot be copied in the least.''

    Jeremy shook his head slightly at the two ws of [Perfect Disguise] and thought further,

    ''If I manage to advance it to beyond technique level... it might be possible...''

    Regardless of Jeremy''s wishful thinking, he knew all too well that advancing a skill or technique to the level of beyond was not easy by any chance.

    Even in his past life, Jeremy had to spend a few eras of practice before he could finally advance his meditation to the level of beyond technique, aka Realm.

    ''Alright, I just have to avoid those in-depth recognition tests, or...''

    After thinking shortly, Jeremy''s eyes shifted towards the naked corpse on the ground.

    ''Or, I just have to keep his corpse in the spatial dimension to preserve it, and when I have to undergo the DNA or blood test, I can use his DNA and blood instead of mine.''

    Then, Jeremy proceeded to keep Xildas'' corpse back inside the wristwatch before keeping thetter back inside the pocket.

    ''This skill is still pretty helpful as it doesn''t even have limited duration or cooldown after being used.''

    ''Like this, I can be anyone at any time I want to...''

    Afterward, Jeremy continued changing his appearance into many other people he knew.

    The skill of high-advance level didn''t betray Jeremy''s expectations in the least; at one time, he even changed himself into a certain muscr baldy with a height of almost two meters.

    As for his hair?

    It all fell off from Jeremy''s head...

    Only when he changed his appearance from a baldy into another person with hair would it grow back and be longer like a miracle.

    Jeremy continued changing his appearances for quite some minutes until he felt satisfied and stopped at a middle-aged one with average facial features and 177 centimeters in height.

    ''I will use this appearance in the second stage. As for the name, I will go by...'' Jeremy thought upon inspecting his face and body through a small mirror.

    ''Joe? William? Lucas? Nah... Let''s go with Tom, Tommy.''

    Jeremy intended to use this middle-aged-man appearance together with his new name, Tommy, to undergo the tutorial''s second stage.

    The reason?

    It was undoubtedly to avoid the two betting cupids'' observing eyes because they would surely keep their eyes on the skirmishes happening within the second stage.

    So, this was the only way that Jeremy could escape those two annoying babies with wings.

    ''From now on until the second stage ends, I will be Tommy, an average middle-aged man.''

    After finishing setting his identity, Jeremy proceeded to check another skill, Third Eye.

    ''Alright...''

    ''[Third Eye]''

    ...

    Third Eye (High Advance - Active Skill): Upon activating, your eyes will see through the veil of space itself and be able to see into a very faraway distance. [Caution: Beware of the information overload.]

    ...

    Aftermanding inwardly to activate the skill, Jeremy''s eyes simultaneously brightened up with blue glows.

    His blue eyes looked sharper as if they were trying to prate into the dark space itself.

    At the same time, the sight before Jeremy had utterly changed as it was not pitch-ck in color anymore but light grey instead.

    ''Is that this dimension''s boundary?''

    Jeremy wondered inwardly after seeing what seemed to be the boundary of this light grey space.

    The boundary appeared to be a dome of which Jeremy stood in the middle of the said dome.

    Surprisingly, the boundary was situated around three kilometers away from Jeremy. However, he could clearly see the barrieryer as if he stood before it.

    ''A skill of wonder...''

    ''My eyes indeed prate into the space and see farther than before countless of times. I think I can even see through illusion and stealth with this skill.''

    ''That''s why those long-ranged sses feel confident in their eyes so much...''

    Jeremy thought while nodding his head in appreciation at the usefulness of Third Eye skill before thinking further,

    ''Regarding the information overload, I don''t feel anything at all for now. Maybe, my brain is too good to be overloaded?''

    ''Well, anything is good. So, noint.''

    Even though the skills were very hard to level up, such a magnitude of skill as Third Eye could be a game-changer in a crucial moment of a battle. Thus, Jeremy felt very pleased with it.

    After finishing testing the three skills, Jeremy proceeded with the next topic,

    ''Next things to test are my talents...''

    ''First of all, there is nothing much to do with Prodigy of Magic as it only helps me understand andprehend magic-rted stuff easier...''

    ''As for Sixth Sense...''

    Having thought about Sixth Sense, Jeremy promptly closed his eyes to ''feel'' the surroundings.

    ''Is this how the sixth sense, the sense of perception, works? In the past, I think I''ve heard from that guy about how it operates, but feeling it firsthand is very different...''

    ''Right now, I can see those things at tens of meters away from me even while closing my eyes.''

    ''Let''s see... The toilet is fourteen meters to my right. The broken steel spear is nine meters in that direction.''

    ''It works almost like Mind Sense of Sea of Consciousness, but there are still some differences...''

    After having done testing Sixth Sense, Jeremy opened his eyes and nodded his head in contentment before thinking,

    ''Except for Mind Sense, its mechanism also gives me the same vibes as Seventh Sense. I wonder how it will feel like to have both Sixth Sense and Seventh Sense at my arsenal...''

    ''Alright, the next one, the Information Falser. With this talent, I can set an entire new Status Window. As for how it works...''

    Having thought until here, Jeremymanded inwardly,

    ''[Information Falser]''

    Simultaneously, an interface showed up before Jeremy...

    ...

    Name: (Unset)

    Race: (Unset)

    ss: (Unset)

    Title: (Unset)

    Affinities: (Unset)

    Talent: (Unset)

    Trait: (Unset)

    Achievement: (Unset)

    Mission: (Unset)

    ...

    ''So, it works like this...''

    Upon seeing so many ''Unsets'' within the interface, Jeremy promptly got a gist of how to manage the false Status Window.

    After knowing what to do, Jeremy started adjusting the vacant Status Window right away....

 Chapter 144 - The Second Stage (4)

    ''This will be my Status Window for the next stage... I bet, whoever sees my Status Window will just think of me as a normal good guy.'' Jeremy thought with a light smile after finally finishing adjusting his Status Window.

    After that, Jeremy projected the false interface before him,

    ''[Information Falser]''

    Simultaneously, a transparent window appeared out of the blue...

    ...

    Name: Tommy Samson

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: None

    Title: Good Samaritan (Rank 2 - Inactive), Donor (Rank 1 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 38.5%

    - Darkness (Umon): 17.6%

    Talent: None

    Trait: Kind-hearted, Benevolent, Compassionate

    Skill: None

    Achievement: None

    Mission: None

    ...

    After seeing nothing wrong with his false Status Window, which looked just like the real one, Jeremy nodded his head slightly.

    ''I have roughly three and a half hours before the ess ends. So, let''s try this...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy sat cross-legged on the dark floor and started meditating.

    He intended to try hisst talent, Serenity of Magic, to see if he would really meditate twice more efficiently or not.

    Almost a minuteter, Jeremy finally entered the 10th stage of meditation and was now floating inside a dark world where countless energy particles were flying all around him.

    Within this highest stage of mediation, Jeremy would be able to draw those affinity-rted energy particles in the air into his dantians.

    At this time, Jeremy saw countless mana, fire, darkness, and space particles within the air. Subsequently, he focused his mind solely on the mana particles.

    Afterward, Jeremy tried to attract the mana energy from the atmosphere into his body...

    However...

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy sighed dejectedly as he promptly opened his eyes not long after trying to attract those mana particles.

    To his dejection, Jeremy still couldn''t pull the mana into his body despite the fact that he had a new talent rted to meditation at bay.

    ''So, the Serenity of Magic doesn''t help me to solve my current predicament at all. It seems like the only solution for me is to equip the rank-10 title to activate the talent, Origin of Magic...''

    Jeremy thought to himself as he shook his head slightly.

    ...

    Origin of Magic (Talent) - After being activated, you will be able to freely convert any type and quality of mana ording to a consistent and meaningful ratio.

    ...

    In fact, Jeremy wanted to activate all his titles so badly, but he knew that he couldn''t do it now as it wasn''t a suitable time yet.

    After all, the moment when Jeremy chose to activate those titles, he would be a standout like a sore thumb inside the second stage.

    Like that, the cupids would see the titles above Jeremy''s head and might interfere with the second stage, causing it to be hectic like a bustling marketce.

    Jeremy didn''t appreciate that notion even one bit...

    Thus, it''s better to keep a low profile and be invisible, or else Jeremy might be eyed by other vicious predators too early in this life.

    ''There is no need to hurry; I still have roughly 40% of mana left in my tanks. If it reallyes to worse, I will just activate my titles; or in the worst-case scenario, I can still have that...''

    ''Oh, wait!''

    Having suddenly realized something, Jeremy''s eyes widened significantly as his left glove simultaneously shone with a white glow.

    Approximately ten secondster, a small crystal with osciting dark-blue fluid appeared within Jeremy''s hand.

    It was the level-5 mystic shell Jeremy had bought from Mercury with the price of one ck star, altogether with one more ck star for the delivery fee.

    Upon bringing out the mystic shell, Jeremy looked at it with a fascinating expression, like he was looking at a priceless treasure.

    ''Three hours are more than enough...''

    Jeremy thought with a mysterious smile...

    ...

    Three and a half hourster...

    Right now, Jeremy used the appearance of the average middle-aged man, Tommy Samson. He wore a ckbat suit and boots while having two knives strapped to his waists.

    Even while disguising himself as another person, Jeremy still chose to wear a ck outfit...

    ''I''m ready...'' Jeremy thought to himself as he stood in the middle of the dark space.

    Shortly after, a window of notifications suddenly appeared before him...

    ...

    ˇş The Special ess has been concluded ˇ»

    ˇş You will be teleported to your destination in the second stage of the Tutorial in 15 seconds ˇ»

    ...

    Upon seeing the notifications, Jeremy stood patiently, waiting for the countdown to reach zero.

    Fifteen secondster, Jeremy''s entire figure simultaneously disappeared from within the dark space.

    ...

    A small cavern situated inside a small rocky hill...

    The small cave was formed by the weathering rocks and extended deep into the hill. It had a spacerge enough for two or three humans to enter at the same time.

    At this time, Jeremy''s body suddenly appeared out of thin air within the cave as he gradually opened his eyes to look around him.

    However, before he could turn his head, rows of notifications suddenly appeared before Jeremy...

    ...

    ˇş Congrattions for passing the first stage, and wee to the second stage of the Tutorial ˇ»

    ˇş This stage will be thest selecting phase for you, Le''Liac humans. If you survive this test, the System will deem you qualified to be a resident and live on Ortus. Good luck ˇ»

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive II ˇ»

    ...

    ''It looks like I have to add the new Tutorial Mission into my false Status Window...'' Jeremy thought briefly after seeing the notifications before him.

    A short momentter, the window finally disappeared as Jeremy turned his head left and right to inspect around him.

    ''Where is this ce? Why am I teleported into a cave? Isn''t it supposed to be at the camp''s outskirt?'' Jeremy had many questions within his mind right now.

    He looked at the surrounding environment in confusion as he didn''t see the expected sight of people walking around the camp at all.

    Instead, Jeremy was met with a small rocky cave with an entrance situated more than twenty meters away from him, leading to the green forest outside.

    Unexpectedly...

    When Jeremy turned to look at the rocky floor, he suddenly found a small wooden box beside his feet.

    ''A treasure box?''

    Jeremy wondered while raising one eyebrow after spotting the wooden box ced near his feet.

    ''There is no trap attached to the box. So, it might be the reward for sessfully using the teleportation circle...''

    After finishing his thought, Jeremy crouched down and opened the box.

    *Creak*

    The wooden box was opened slowly, creating a creaking noise echoing within the small cave.

    Soon, the content within the box revealed itself to Jeremy.

    There was only one thing within the box, and it appeared to be something like a brown animal leather.

    ''Another parchment...'' Jeremy thought while picking the brown parchment up to see what it was all about.

    Just like the Mana Affinity parchment that Jeremy had obtained from the hidden room back in the easy trial, the parchment in his hand right now read the words ''Aura Affinity'' on its top section.

    It was clear that the parchment in Jeremy''s hand had the sole function of boosting a person''s aura affinity, which would directly lead the person into the road of Warrior Pathway.

    ''Again... Useless thing again. Why don''t I get a skill or talent instead of this almost worthless thing?''

    Jeremy thought while shaking his head in disappointment.

    ''Should I gift the two parchments away or sell them for some pennies?'' Jeremy thought momentarily.

    For all that, Jeremy had already nned his other ''unique'' energy aside from mana, and it was obviously not the aura energy.

    So, Jeremy felt pretty dissatisfied with his reward from the box.

    After keeping the parchment inside his glove, Jeremy promptly stood up and looked at the cave''s entrance.

    The outside appeared to be filled with trees and vegetation as Jeremy even saw small animals and fowls roaming freely outside.

    With his enhanced eyesight from the skill and talent, Sixth Sense, Jeremy could see everything outside very clearly, despite the fact that the forest was more than thirty meters away from him.

    At this time, Jeremy suddenly raised one eyebrow because he had heard some noises from a faraway ce.

    The noises were so faint that even with Jeremy''s enhanced hearing, he almost couldn''t hear them.

    If it were before his Heightened Senses was upgraded into Sixth Sense, Jeremy wouldn''t hear a single sound from such a distance.

    ''Some people are battling in that direction...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy activated Third Eye and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

    Soon, Jeremy''s sight zoomed into the forest...

    ''Hmm... There are too many trees shielding my view...''

    ''So, this is another downside of Third Eye as it cannot see through obstructions rather than the information overload.''

    ''It is still inferior to my tier-5 observation spell after all...''

    After realizing his skill was ineffective in this situation, Jeremy decided to go to the battlefield to see what took ce there by himself.

    Just like that, Jeremy started walking in the direction where the noises came from, without dy.

 Chapter 145 - The Camp (1)

    Within a temperate green forest where countless deciduous trees stood sparsely, a bloody battle was taking ce here...

    The battle urred between two sides, humans and kenkus, with each side numbered approximately twenty people, making the battlefield have roughly fortybatants.

    Some of those forty people fought openly with the opponents. Some hid behind a big tree and fired arrows asionally while some ran around madly, trying to nk the other side.

    Shout, bellow, and screech ofmanding and condemning resounded out continuously, causing the supposedly serene forest to be noisy like a yground instead.

    Inside the battlefield...

    *Phew*

    *Puchi*

    A feathered arrow pierced through a middle-aged man''s neck as thetter dropped to the ground dead.

    "NOOO! DERRICK!" shouted a middle-aged man after seeing his friend being shot dead by a poison arrow.

    "Die!" said the man as fury was written all over his face; the man swung his long sword at the kenku before him.

    *Whoosh*

    *Splitch*

    The sword sliced the kenku''s entire left arm, causing the cut part to drop to the ground, sttering blue blood over the ce.

    "Kukia!"

    The amputated kenku obviously didn''t want to be on the losing end as it also pierced its sword towards the unprotected man''s stomach.

    *Puchi*

    The poison-coated sword went past the furious man''s leather armor into his abdomen.

    "Aargh! Damn it!"

    The man shouted as he furiously swung the sword in his hand towards the kenku''s neck.

    *Splitch*

    The kenku''s neck was cut halfway through as the sword had lost its momentum and stuck there hazardously.

    Simultaneously, the kenku''s lifeless body dropped to the ground limpingly as the wound on its neck oozed out blue blood bucketing, dyeing the green grass with blue color.

    At the same time, the wounded man also fell on two knees towards the grass ground. He felt an intolerable pain in his stomach, and his body appeared heavy from the poison''s effects.

    The poisoned man gradually lost all his strength as his body dropped to the ground.

    In the end, he foamed out white bubbles from his mouth while his body convulsed continually before he eventually stopped moving.

    Just like that, two humans and one kenku were dead as the bloody battle proceeded on.

    The scenes like this of humans and kenkus losing their lives were happening simultaneously at many other ces.

    The battle had just started, after all...

    ...

    Approximately two hundred meters away from the battlefield...

    Right now, Jeremy stood on a tall tree''s branch, overlooking the brawl between humans and kenkus silently.

    As Jeremy was pretty far away from where the battle took ce, no one realized the presence of a true predator over here at all.

    Currently, Jeremy didn''t activate Third Eye but still saw the battlefield very clearly. He even saw a man foaming and convulsing at two hundred meters away.

    ''I don''t seem to remember anyone from the human side at all. Meanwhile, the two sides should be the scout teams sent by their respective camps to find the opponent''s camping location, just like in my past life...''

    ''The kenkus have the upper hand as the human side dies out at a faster rate by urate arrows and lethal poison. Despite the use of poison, if the two sides don''t call a truce and choose to continue the skirmish, the kenku side will barely win with only a few survivors.''

    Jeremy analyzed the bloody battle below him leisurely before continuing his thought,

    ''I''ve arrived at the second stage roughly three dayster than the others. By now, those people should have familiarized themselves with one another to some extent already. If I appear now, out of nowhere, nobody will recognize me.''

    ''As a result, they will be suspicious of me no matter what choice I choose in this kind of situation. Nheless, I can reduce the suspicion on me by some degree if I y it out well enough.''

    ''What excuse should I use if I want to blend in with those people...''

    Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed his chin slightly.

    ''Hmm... Alright, let''s do that...''

    Having thought about his following actions, Jeremy suddenly jumped down from the twenty-meters tree directly.

    *Thump*

    The thumping noise rang out as Jeremy''s feet contacted against the ground, causing game and fowl to scurry away in a startle at the sudden noise.

    It was fortunate that two hundred meters of distance were considered quite far, so those battling people didn''t realize Jeremy''s presence over here in the least.

    If it were before evolving into an intermediate-ranked organism, Jeremy wouldn''t dare do such a thing as jumping down from a tall tree like that.

    ''It doesn''t hurt at all. What a good feeling...''

    Jeremy thought satisfactorily as he started walking in the direction of the battlefield.

    As he only walked leisurely, Jeremy had spent three minutes to cover the two hundred meters of distance and almost five more minutes to detour behind the kenkus.

    Shortly after, Jeremy finally arrived at the battlefield''s peripheral as he hid behind a big tree and waited for the best timing to make his appearance.

    ''They should give a signal to retreat soon...''

    Jeremy thought to himself after observing the current situation within the battlefield. Right now, he hid behind a big tree situated in the route where the kenkus was supposed to retreat into.

    At this moment, the intense battle from earlier had already gone past the climactic scene as there were only eleven people from the human side and thirteen from the kenku side, so the two sides appeared to be more discrete and infrequent than before.

    Regarding why Jeremy thought they would give a signal to retreat was that nobody wanted to lose their lives in such a ce.

    Consequently, even right now, the two sides appeared ready to retreat at any given time...

    Within the battlefield...

    *Phew*

    *Puck*

    An arrow went past a man''s head dangerously before piercing itself into a tall tree.

    "Damn it, those annoying guys. It looks like they still have four archers left..."

    The man cursed and shook his head slightly before shouting aloud towards his teammates,

    "Prepare for a retreat!"

    The man looked to be in histe 20s; he wore leather armor and held an iron shield and a long sword. He appeared to be the human side''s leader.

    After the man had shouted, the rest of the humans acted ordingly as they started distancing themselves away from the opponent.

    Meanwhile, a particrly big kenku holding a spear and a shield, standing in the middle of the battlefield, also spoke up with a shrill voice,

    "Utumi Opso Nory!"

    Upon hearing those words from their group leader, the kenkus also prepared to retreat to their camp as they let the human side distance away from them.

    It appeared that the two leaders didn''t want to waste their people''s lives away in this battle, so they chose to let the other side go...

    ''A chance...''

    Jeremy, who had been on standby behind the kenkus, thought to himself as he activated the Stealth skill while creeping forward slowly.

    Not far from his hiding position stood two kenku archers, who were giving their backs openly for the stealthy Jeremy.

    It appeared that Jeremy intended to finish the two archers first...

    ...

    [A/N: Please read the author''s thoughts below.]

 Chapter 146 - The Camp (2)

    In fact, a low-ranked and intermediate-ranked organism had an almost unbreachable gap of physical strength and special abilities among them, so Jeremy could easily ughter all of the kenkus at once if he wanted to.

    However, for the sake of his n and immediate survival, Jeremy decided to keep a low profile for now.

    After all, there was still an organizer within the human camp, altogether with the two cupids observing this ce from somewhere else. Due to those people''s presence, Jeremy had to be careful and could only wait for the best chance to strike, or else the enemies would realize his existence too early.

    At this moment, Jeremy had already arrived behind the two kenku archers standing at the back of the enemy''s formation.

    It appeared that the two bird-humanoid archers hadn''t noticed Jeremy''s presence yet as they gave their backs towards him while still firing poisonous arrows at the retreating humans.

    Jeremy pulled out the two knives strapped on his waist sides and crept silently towards the archer on the left.

    When he was close enough, Jeremy plunged the knife into the kenku archer''s head, prating its brain directly.

    The knife went through the kenku''s skull quite smoothly as it almost hadn''t generated any noise at all.

    After pulling the knife back in a swift motion, Jeremy pounced towards another kenku standing at the side and did the same thing to it.

    The sharp knife also smoothly went into the second kenku''s brain, sttering the big tree with blue blood and brain matter.

    Within a few seconds, two kenkus were killed by Jeremy as they dropped to the ground motionless.

    In the meantime, other kenkus still didn''t realize anything because everything had happened too fast for them to be aware of anything happening behind their backs.

    ''There is one more in that direction, and another in that direction...'' Jeremy thought to himself after sweeping his eyes swiftly.

    Before other kenkus could realize the deaths of theirrades, Jeremy decided to use this opportunity to his advantage as he started running ''slowly'' towards another kenku archer.

    Albeit ''slowly'', Jeremy appeared to be as fast as an adult man sprinting at full speed.

    Shortly after, Jeremy arrived behind the third kenku archer, whom was firing arrows towards the humans, unaware of the iing predator behind it.

    Like before, Jeremy finished it off quickly and quietly with one strike directly to its brain...

    At this time, the kenku warriors, who had prepared to retreat for a while, finally realized something wrong with their backline because arrows had been barely fired from behind them in the past ten seconds.

    Thus, they, one by one, turned to look at theirrade archers at the backline. Simultaneously, they finally saw that three of the four archers nowy dead on the grass ground with blue blood gushing out from their wounds unstoppably.

    "Kiti Kata!"

    One of the kenku warriors shouted loudly for everyone to hear, causing the others, whom still didn''t realize the deaths of their archerrades, to be startled.

    Consequently, themotion broke out morously among the kenku side, leading the human side also to notice the sudden change in the situation.

    "What happened? Why don''t they shoot any arrows towards us anymore?" asked the scout team leader, Morgan.

    Upon hearing Morgan''s words, everyone around him started looking around the periphery of the battlefield to spot the enemy archers.

    Surprisingly, they could see two or three bird-humanoidsy motionless on the ground while oozing out blue blood, drenching the soil with blue color.

    "Reinforcement?" thought Morgan in puzzlement as he also saw those corpses.

    While everyone was thinking about the transpiring situation, someone within the group had finally spotted something at a distance,

    "Leader, there is a human over there, battling with a kenku warrior."

    Upon hearing those words, Morgan and everyone else hurriedly turned their heads towards the direction the man pointed his finger at.

    Indeed, they saw a human wearing a ckbat suit fighting against a kenku warrior at almost forty meters away.

    What truly surprised them was that the man had finished the kenku off quite easily with a keen strike at the throat before proceeding to engage with another kenku warrior.

    When Morgan saw that sight, he furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, thinking about the pros and cons of this situation.

    ''Who is that guy? Why is there only one man as our reinforcement? What should we do... fight or retreat...?''

    After a few seconds of pondering and seeing how the man fought with the kenku warriors, Morgan''s expressions gradually morphed into a determined one as he shouted towards his teammates,

    "Abort the retreat! We will re-engage with the enemies!"

    Having shouted so, Morgan was the first one to rush back into the fray, battling against a retreating kenku in front of him.

    "Yahh!!!"

    "Kill!!"

    "Motherfuckers!!"

    "Revenge our brothers!!"

    Following Morgan were his other teammates, with weapons in their hands, meleebatants rushed forward, and rangers fired arrows. Everyone started engaging in a bloody battle for the second round...

    Nheless, the battle this time appeared to be entirely one-sided as the kenkus were killed off at a fast rate.

    ...

    Almost ten minutester...

    The earlier morous and noisy temperate forest was nowhere to be seen as calmness reined in the green forest.

    Right now, more than twenty corpses of humans and bird-like humanoidsy scatteringly within the forest while fowl and game still didn''t dare approach the area as the blood stench still lingered thickly within the post-battlefield.

    More than ten humans stood hither and thither within the serene forest as some were drenched with blue blood, some with purple blood mixed from the enemy''s blue and their own''s red blood.

    Every single one of them looked tired and worn out...

    Meanwhile, no kenku was seen standing anymore as all of them were lying unmovingly on the ground, drenching in pools of blue blood.

    "Pleasee out," said Morgan, the scout team leader, towards a big tree in front of him.

    If a person didn''t look carefully, they would think that Morgan was speaking to the tree.

    However, people present knew that Morgan had spoken not to the tree but to the person behind it.

    After the noise died down, a man in a ckbat suit, with blue bloodstains on his body, gradually revealed himself from behind the big tree.

    Jeremy''s clear appearance was finally revealed before the ten-ish people.

 Chapter 147 - The Camp (3)

    Within the eyes of those ten people, Jeremy appeared to be just an average middle-aged man with a height of 177 cm, having short brown hair. He wore a ckbat suit and boots while having two knives dripping fresh blue blood strapped to his waist sides.

    When everyone saw who the person was, some of them cocked their heads to the side in confusion, while some turned to look at theirpanions'' faces to see if they also had the same thought as them.

    The thought within their minds should be ''who the fuck is this guy?''

    After all, they had never seen Jeremy inside the camp before, let alone thetter hade here to ''rescue'' them alone as there was no other person within the surrounding area at all.

    Simultaneously, Morgan furrowed his eyebrows slightly before finally saying with a cautious tone towards Jeremy,

    "Who are you? I don''t seem to recall you from any warrior groups of the camp. Maybe, you are from a construction group?"

    "Oh, hello. I''m Tommy Samson. As for your questions... I can only say that I''m clueless," said Jeremy in response to the tense Morgan.

    "What!?"

    "You don''t know about the camp?"

    "How is that even possible?"

    "Where are you from?"

    After hearing Jeremy''s words, there were various reactions and questionsing out from the people all around as they started to talk to one another in confusion.

    Meanwhile, Morgan''s frown had be even deeper than before as he thought to himself,

    ''Is he trolling us? No... it shouldn''t be... What a confusing situation.''

    Shaking his head slightly to discard those useless thoughts, Morgan stared at Jeremy briefly before opening his mouth,

    "Before we talk, let me express my gratitude for helping us out earlier. I''m Morgan, and everyone else is my teammate."

    Having said so, Morgan reached out his hand to shake with Jeremy as thetter also did the same with a smile.

    "Now, can we talk?" Jeremy asked after retracting his hand back from the handshake.

    "Sure, but we should find an empty clearing to talk about while using that chance to rest for a bit. Also, those kenkus might send more scout teams here. If they ever see us, we will be in deep shit for real."

    Morgan replied to Jeremy before turning his head to give orders to his teammates to prepare to leave this ce.

    Simultaneously...

    ''I should behave like a good guy as depicted in my Status Window, just in case...''

    Jeremy thought to himself shortly before opening his mouth to ask Morgan after thetter had finished giving out his orders.

    "Hey, Morgan. Should we carry our fellow human corpses with us?" said Jeremy with a somewhat worried look stered on his face.

    "..."

    ''This guy fights like a true killer but has a good heart, huh? What a contradicting fellow...''

    After thinking to himself shortly, Morgan replied,

    "We have to leave ourrades'' remains right here because, sadly, we cannot afford to carry burdens, which will slow us down, back to our camp as it is situated pretty far from here."

    Morgan shook his head slightly as he also felt downcast from losing so many of his teammates.

    Even though it was just a three-day rtionship, those dead people deserved to receive such empathy from most people for ''sacrificing'' their lives here.

    "So, we will have to leave them here..." said Jeremy as he also shook his head in a reluctant manner.

    At this moment, someone promptly walked towards the two. She looked to be in her early thirty-ish, with red hair and tight leather armor, showing her curvy body.

    "Morgan, we have none severely wounded but three lightly wounded people, one with a leg injury."

    Upon hearing so, Morgan furrowed his brows slightly before asking,

    "Can he walk normally?"

    "He said yes, but I doubt that. I think our marching speed will be reduced for quite a bit."

    "I understand. If he dys us, we will have someone support him walking. Alright, let us depart now," said Morgan.

    After replying to Jessy, the woman whom hade to report, Morgan turned towards Jeremy before saying,

    "Let''s go, Tommy."

    Upon hearing Morgan''s words, Jeremy nodded his head reluctantly. Afterward, he turned his head to look at the human corpses before walking after Jessy.

    Morgan, who had seen Jeremy''s behavior earlier, raised one eyebrow in wonder,

    ''He really has sympathy for strangers?''

    Simultaneously, Morgan walked after Jeremy and Jessy in the direction where other people gathered. After that, the ten people plus Jeremy, in a middle-aged man disguise, started walking in a particr direction.

    With one man at the forefront, other people walked some meters away from one another, not making the group too crowded.

    Like that, they would be able to respond to any unexpected situation that might happen.

    Regarding the direction, a man having a bow hanging behind him was the one who chose which path the group would tread upon.

    It appeared that the man was a lookout for this scout team...

    "Kurt, lead us to a clearing to take a rest," said Morgan as he walked some meters behind Kurt.

    Meanwhile, the man, Kurt, who was the team''s lookout, nodded his head at Morgan''s words before proceeding forward.

    At the same time, the man would also look at the various deciduous trees here and there while leaving some inconspicuous marks every now and then. He seemed very professional...

    In fact, everyone within the group was very professional, as if they had done something like this many times already; they wouldn''t talk to one another at all while marching as they only used hand signals formunication.

    Just like that, the group of eleven people gradually disappeared into the green temperate forest.

    ...

    [A/N: I''ve misunderstood some concepts about monster races in the past chapters, so I reced the term Kobold with Gnoll.. That means Gnoll (not Kobold) is a dog-humanoid hidden boss that Jeremy had defeated back in Normal Trial. Ref: Chapter 70]

 Chapter 148 - The Camp (4)

    Twenty minutester...

    At a small river, aka creek, with the shape of a ribbon-like body of water flowing downhill from a high mountain in the far distance. The creek was not too deep as a person could wade across with some effort.

    It looked like the small river was very clean as there were many small animals within the surrounding areas, including some fish swimming freely within the clean water.

    The creek was situated roughly half a hundred meters away from the green forest. The distance away from the forest was far enough to give whoever desired to camp here an appropriate time to prepare themself for a possible ambush from the enemy.

    Right now, a group of eleven people was spotted along the riverbank, with some filled up their bottles of water, some went fishing, some rested and tended their wounds, whereas some went hunting for small animals in the surrounding area.

    After turning his head around the creek''s periphery and seeing everyone was doing their own jobs, Morgan turned his head back to the two people before him and said,

    "Alright, for the two of you, Kurt and Jessy, you guys will scout for any anomaly or possible ambush around this area."

    Having heard Morgan''s order, the two nodded their heads before going their own ways to scout the surrounding areas.

    When the two were gone, Morgan turned to look at the middle-aged man, whom had stood beside him all along, and said,

    "Now, let us talk..."

    "Alright," replied Jeremy as he sat down on a big rock.

    After Morgan sat down in front of Jeremy, the former opened his mouth to talk first,

    "First of all, before talking about the camp or other things, can you tell me where were you teleported to after finishing the first stage?"

    "Inside this forest, of course," answered Jeremy while raising one of his eyebrows in skepticism as if asking ''why do you even ask me this question?''

    "Emm... I mean, where was it ''specifically''?" Morgan asked Jeremy again.

    Upon hearing Morgan''s question this time, Jeremy''s facial expressions went ''Oh!'' before replying,

    "I see; in fact, I didn''t know about the exact location as everywhere around me was all green with tall trees and vegetation. After being teleported there, I''ve been roaming randomly around this forest for more than three days, I think."

    Morgan frowned slightly after hearing Jeremy''s words as he mumbled audibly,

    "Strange, all of us had been teleported to a specific location nearby the camp without exception."

    Shaking his head slightly, Morgan continued the conversation,

    "You know, you were very fortunate not to encounter our enemy''s scout team or the fearsome beasts inside this forest. Anyway... Back then, was there anyone from the first stage teleported there with you?"

    "From my first stage? Sadly, none..." replied Jeremy with a somewhat downcast expression on his face.

    "None?"

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy sighed with a sad expression before answering ''truthfully'',

    "Well, they were all dead; only me had survived..."

    "What!? How is that even possible? Can you tell me what happened in the first stage?"

    ''I will have to keep it short to reduce any plotholes,'' thought Jeremy before speaking,

    "It''s just that we had decided to challenge the tenth horde, and all of my twenty-fourrades were all killed by it. Atst, only me has survived."

    Upon hearing such an outrageous statement, Morgan''s eyes went widened as he spoke,

    "Twenty-four? Wait, including you, that means you guys have twenty-five people to fight with the tenth wave of monsters..."

    "Yes, that''s right," said Jeremy.

    "That''s a huge number. You guys seem to be very, very capable of surviving that far. By the way, if you guys had managed to survive till the tenth wave, all of you should have finished many missions by the time. So, why didn''t you and yourpanions choose to teleport out?"

    ''This guy has pointed out one of the four inconsistencies in my story...''

    Jeremy thought briefly as he had already prepared for such a question as he replied with a dejected expression,

    "We... we were too arrogant. We''ve agreed not to leave anyone behind and to survive the tutorial together. Afterward, upon seeing the rewards we''ve received for the past nine hordes, we thought that thest wave would give us even more SP to buy skills, but..."

    Shaking his head crestfallenly, Jeremy continued with a reminisced expression,

    "But who knows thest wave would be so hard... that all of them were killed even before they had a chance to teleport..."

    ''The story is a bit unbelievable... Is he lying? Still, what will he get from telling a fake story.''

    Contrary to his inner thoughts, Morgan''s expressions morphed into an empathetic one as he sighed lightly after hearing Jeremy''s story before asking,

    "If they didn''t even have time to teleport out, then how did you manage to survive?"

    "I killed it... a clean strike directly at its brain. After that, I went on to kill its spawns that had killed most of mypanions," replied Jeremy, with a bitter smile.

    Simultaneously, Morgan raised his eyebrows in surprise before inquiring,

    "You said ''it'' and ''spawns''... What do those mean?"

    "That means the tenth wave consists of only one monster that is capable of spawning hundreds of offsprings mid fight. It has the appearance of a monstrous spider," said Jeremy.

    "What? A giant spider?" Morgan asked with wide eyes as he didn''t know this before.

    After all, no one within the camp had ever fought with the tenth wave before. At most, some of them had teleported to this ce after finishing the eighth horde.

    "Yes..."

    After hearing Jeremy''s confirmation, the light finally dawned upon Morgan as he mumbled to himself,

    "A big boss in thest horde... That makes sense..."

    Jeremy suddenly ''pretended'' to get curious after hearing Morgan''s mumbling, so he asked,

    "By the way, don''t you know about the tenth wave?"

    Morgan smiled bitterly at Jeremy''s question as he replied,

    "No... My first stage had ended in the seventh wave. We were teleported here right after some struggling and running around the chamber to escape the monsters'' encirclement. Atst, only twelve of us had managed to survive in the end."

    "My condolence..." said Jeremy with empathy written on his face.

    "It''s okay, I only knew those people for a brief period, so I didn''t feel that bad. Now, let''s talk about the camp," said Morgan as he decided to change the topic because he didn''t want to linger around his traumatic past for long.

    "Okay..."

    "Before that, did you also receive the same tutorial mission, survive II?"

    Morgan promptly asked something about the tutorial mission as Jeremy only replied shortly in perplexity,

    "Yes..."

    "Then, you should have seen the word ''kenku'' written in the second mission, right?"

    After thinking for a few seconds about the term ''kenku'', Jeremy replied,

    "Let me check..."

    Having said so, Jeremy promptly opened the tutorial missions list, and ''pretended'' to look at it...

    ...

    ˇş Tutorial Mission: Survive II ˇ»

    ? Survive until only 500 humans remain (Teleportation Ticket)

    ? Kill until only 500 kenkus remain (Teleportation Ticket)

    ? Find and open a secret treasure chest (ˇďˇďˇďˇďˇď)

    ? ??? (?)

    ? ??? (?)

    ? ??? (??)

    ˇş After finishing one of the Tutorial Missions, you can choose to be teleported to Ortus ˇ»

 Chapter 149 - The Camp (5)

    After pretending to view his tutorial missions for some seconds, Jeremy''s eyes widened for a bit before asking Morgan,

    "Indeed... So, are you saying that the mentioned ''kenkus'' in the second mission are those bird humanoids we had fought against not long ago?"

    As no notification or reward had shown up after killing those kenkus, it was normal for a person not to know about the identity of those bird-humanoid creatures. Thus, Jeremy had to feign ignorance about the matter.

    Morgan nodded his head slightly and said,

    "That''s right. That''s how the two camps came to be in the first ce; one is the human camp, another is the kenku camp..."

    Then, Jeremy''s expressions suddenly changed into a confused one before asking further,

    "From what you had said earlier, you and other people were teleported to our human camp''s peripheral area, correct?"

    "Yes, it is so..." replied Morgan truthfully.

    "I see... Have you ever heard anyone being teleported to the middle of nowhere like me?"

    "Unfortunately, no..." said Morgan as he shook his head slightly before continuing,

    "There is no need to think about that anymore because you will never know the actual answer to that. You know, the only thing that matters now is how to survive out of this ce and reunite with our loved ones on the Ortus..."

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy sighed lightly before saying with a renewed expression,

    "Well... You are right. Why do I have to care about such a matter as the only thing that matters is to survive."

    ''Even though his story about the first stage is a bit unbelievable, this man sure looks pretty straightforward and adapts real fast to the environment he is staying in. He can survive inside this forest full of predators for almost three days, and he can even fight like a real beast...''

    Morgan smiled lightly at the middle-aged man before him as he evaluated thetter for a bit before asking some random stuff,

    "Anyway, have you eaten anything in the past three days?"

    "Yes, I''ve eaten some as I brought some food with me from the first stage, but I lost it while escaping a wolfpack. Still, I was lucky to catch a rabbit yesterday. However, today I haven''t eaten anything yet except for some distasteful fruits," replied Jeremy while smiling in bitterness.

    After hearing so, Morgan put his hand inside the backpack before bringing out something wrapped by big green leaves from within before saying,

    "Well, then take this. Just think of it as gratitude for helping us fight against the kenkus earlier."

    "Thank you..." Jeremy said with a grateful smile after receiving the thing supposed to be edible stuff.

    Upon handing the food to Jeremy, Morgan said while standing up from the rock,

    "Alright, we will rest here for another twenty minutes before departing for our camp. It would be best if you used this time to take a good rest and recharge your stamina. I will go catch some fish with those guys."

    "Okay, have a good catch," replied Jeremy as he nodded his head slightly with a smile on his face at Morgan.

    Simultaneously, Morgan also nodded his head back as he started walking in the creek''s direction.

    After seeing Morgan walking away, Jeremy started unwrapping the green leaves to see what was inside.

    Unsurprisingly, the things inside were three big pieces of dried meats...

    Smiling bitterly to himself, Jeremy could only force himself to eat them, albeit not wanting to eat that much.

    ...

    Twenty minutester...

    Along the riverbank, ten people were seen to be regrouping with one another and preparing for departure.

    Jeremy was also among the group as all of them were waiting for the lookout named Jessy that Morgan had sent out to scout the surrounding areas.

    Meanwhile, Kurt, another lookout, had alreadye back a minute ago after not seeing any anomaly in the periphery.

    "Kurt, why is she still not back yet? I want to go back to the camp," said a man within the group, aiming the question towards the group''s lookout, Kurt.

    It appeared that the man only wanted to joke, but thetter seemed not to be in the mood...

    Upon hearing a random question from his teammate, Kurt could only shake his head in annoyance before replying with an annoyed voice,

    "How am I supposed to know? You go find her and ask her yourself."

    "Tsk... What a distasteful guy. I know that you are into that woman," said the same man after rolling his eyes.

    "You..."

    Smiling slightly, Morgan interrupted the two with a calm voice as it looked like such a situation had happened many times already,

    "Alright, guys, do not argue now. It''s not the..."

    "Everyone, look over there!"

    Before Morgan could finish his sentence, Jeremy''s voice suddenly resounded out, causing thetter to stop in tracks.

    Morgan and everyone else hurriedly looked in the direction where Jeremy was pointing his finger at.

    "Hmm...?"

    "What?"

    "That is..."

    "Shit!"

    To everyone''s surprise, they saw a ck smoking re lightening up high in the sky in the direction of the temperate forest.

    ''ck signal means...''

    Morgan thought to himself momentarily before mumbling one word,

    "Wolves..."

    Followed closely by other people''s panicked voices,

    "It''s one wolfpack or more."

    "Damn it! Why this time?"

    "Morgan..."

    Upon hearing someone calling his name, Morgan finally came back to his senses before giving out an order to his teammates,

    "We will cross the creek!"

    "What about Jessy?" asked Kurt with a worried expression stered on his face.

    Shaking his head slightly, Morgan replied,

    "We can only pray for her safety. Now, we have to survive this shit and arrive back at our camp first."

    After saying those somewhat harsh words, Morgan said aloud to the group,

    "Let''s go!"

    Simultaneously, Morgan started marching into the creek with the water level almost reaching his chest, followed closely by other people within the team.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy, who still hadn''t moved an inch from the spot,manded inwardly,

    ''[Third Eye]''

    Soon, the sight before Jeremy suddenly warped as the view before him had changed.

    Right now, it depicted the scene almost one kilometer away from him...

    There, Jeremy swept his eyes past some trees and looked at the gaps among them. Not long after, he finally spotted many wolves rushing in his direction at a breakneck speed as if they knew about the ''sumptuous meals'' awaiting them here.

    After sweeping his eyes for a few more seconds, Jeremy finally saw something...

    It was a muscr, tall creature, too tall to be considered a wolf. Its mouth was long, protruding out from its skill, akin to a dog''s mouth. Behind its body, a one-meter sturdy, brown tail extending out from the buttocks like a dog''s furless tail.

    The dog-humanoid creature stood at two meters tall on two thick, strong legs, sprinting alongside the wolves at a fast speed.

    It wore full-body leather armor, covering only its body part, exposing its long arms and legs. A great sword was held within its right hand, yet the creature carried it like an ordinary stick.

    ''A Gnoll... So, it is a hunting squad of the wolf tribe...''

    "Tommy! What are you standing there for? Hurry up!"

    As Jeremy was thinking to himself, Morgan''s voice was suddenly heard from a dozen meters behind him.

    Upon hearing so, Jeremy dismissed Third Eye and turned towards the source of the voice before replying aloud,

    "Alright! I''ming!"

    Having said so, Jeremy also started crossing the creek like others.

 Chapter 150 - The Camp (6)

    At another side of the riverbank...

    "Hold my hand!"

    Morgan said aloud as he reached out his hand towards Jeremy, whom had just arrived at the creek''s edge.

    After hearing so, Jeremy also reached out his hand and let Morgan pull him up ashore.

    *Huuu...*

    "It is more tiresome than I''ve initially thought," said Morgan after pulling Jeremy up from the water.

    Meanwhile, the water-soaked Jeremy only nodded his head as a response. In fact, he didn''t feel tired in the least, but he had to y along, pretending to heave in and out like he had just finished exercising.

    "Look at the other side!"

    Someone within the group suddenly shouted as everyone else, including Jeremy, started turning their heads back to look at the ce where they had juste from a moment ago.

    There, they saw many wolves emerging out from the green forest one by one until more than twenty of them were present.

    "It''s indeed a wolfpack..."

    "Morgan''s decision to cross the river is right."

    "Yes, I think they can''t cross the river that easily..."

    "Yeah, or else we will have to battle... What the fuck is that thing?"

    "It''s... it is not a wolf..."

    While everyone was conversing between themselves, they suddenly spotted a two-meter creature wearing leather armor emerging out from the temperate forest.

    At first nce, the creature looked pretty strong, and its muscles were bulging out of the leather armor.

    After everyone saw the gnoll arriving at the riverbank on the other side, situated around fifty meters away from this site, they gradually saw something within the dog-humanoid creature''s hand...

    "Kurt..." said Morgan as he turned to look at the team''s lookout, Kurt.

    Meanwhile, Kurt, who had also seen a round object within the monster''s hand, closed his eyes shut tight, not wanting to look at it for even one more second.

    At this time, while the two sides standing before the two riverbanks were having a standoff, someone''s sigh promptly rang out as he said,

    "She had sacrificed herself to help us..."

    "..."

    "..."

    When everyone had heard the words, they could only shake their heads in bitterness.

    It was no new experience for them to lose theirpanions so that they could get over it somehow.

    However, for Kurt, it was entirely different as he had some deep feelings for Jessy.

    As a result...

    *Thwish*

    The noise of a bowstring being released resounded out from Kurt''s bow as the arrow traveled through the air in a projectile''s trajectory...

    It was clear that Kurt was the one who had fired the arrow, and the arrow was aimed urately at the dog-humanoid creature standing at the other side of the river.

    Everyone''s eyes were focused on the arrow...

    As the distance between the two riverbanks was around fifty meters, the arrow needed to travel roughly half a second to reach the other side.

    It was only a brief period of only one blink, but everyone seemed to be seeing the arrow move in slow motion as they were extremely focused on it.

    A split secondter, the arrow finally arrived before the dog humanoid...

    To everyone''s astonishment, they saw the muscr creature suddenly raise its great sword before its face.

    *ng*

    The nging noise rang out as the arrow hit against the steel sword before dropping to the ground momentum-less...

    When everyone saw the sight, they could only look on in shock, not knowing how such a thing as deflecting a high-speed arrow could happen such effortlessly.

    For them, the scene from earlier seemed to be derived directly from a movie...

    After deflecting the arrow, the gnoll promptly growled in a low tone at the twenty wolves standing behind it.

    Simultaneously, the wolves also barked and snarled back in response before jumping into the water, heading towards the other side of the river, followed closely by the gnoll.

    "What are you waiting for? Fire the arrows at them!!" shouted Morgan as he nocked an arrow into his crossbow before shooting towards the swimming wolves and gnoll.

    "Fire!"

    "Shoot at the big guy first!"

    "Kill them!!"

    "Don''t let them cross the river."

    Shouting and yelling voices resounded out from the group incessantly as they shot arrow after arrow to the other side.

    Excluding Jeremy and the other two people holding heavy weapons in their hands, more than seven people within the group had their own bows and crossbows, so they hurriedly fired the arrows at the iing wolves at almost fifty meters away.

    It appeared that the distance of fifty meters would require those wolves roughly two or three minutes of swimming before they could reach this side, so they died off, one by one, by the arrows.

    Not even one minuteter...

    The gnoll was seen to be pierced on its left shoulder by an arrow as it growled in annoyance.

    Simultaneously, it raised its head up high before finally bellowing,

    "Woooof!!!*

    Upon hearing so, the surviving fifteen wolves started turning 180 degrees to their back before swimming back towards the shore.

    Having seen the enemy gradually retreating, Morgan sighed in relief before shouting,

    "Stop firing!"

    Their arrows were pretty limited, and they might encounter another ambush in the near future, so as the group''s leader, he had to give out such an order.

    When everyone had heard the order, they promptly stopped firing the arrow as they only looked at the enemies swimming back silently, waiting for the other side''s next move.

    When all the wolves came back ashore, the wounded gnoll promptly turned to look coldly at the human side before pulling out the embedded arrow on its shoulder.

    Red blood dripped out from the shallow wound on the creature''s shoulder before it howled aloud into the air,

    "AWOOOO!!"

    Upon hearing their leader''s howl, the wolves simultaneously howled back before all of them ran back into the forest without turning back even once.

    Some secondster, the wolves'' silhouettes couldn''t be seen by the people anymore as all of them went back inside the green forest, leaving behind almost ten corpses of theirpanions.

    They appeared to be very well-disciplined, and they might even be more disciplined than the humans and kenkus.

 Chapter 151 - The Camp (7)

    "Those animals are gone..."

    "Yeah, Morgan''s decision to cross the river was absolutely right."

    "Indeed..."

    "Anyway, what the fuck is that creature? Did you guys see it jump far ahead into the water earlier?"

    "Yeah, that was the farthest jump I''ve ever seen in my life..."

    While everyone was talking to one another after the unexpected skirmish earlier, Morgan turned to look at the silent Kurt before asking,

    "Kurt, is there any way to cross the river to ambush or encircle us?"

    Upon hearing those words, the red-eyed Kurt only shook his head in response before answering shortly,

    "From all the reports, none..."

    "Alright... I know you are feeling bad about the loss of Jessy. But we have to move on; life goes on, brother..." said Morgan, trying to soothe the saddened Kurt.

    Even though Kurt didn''t say anything or cry out on the outside, everyone knew he felt pretty hurt inside from losing Jessy.

    As a result, they decided not to bother Kurt and let him ponder his own life for now. They knew he could ovee such an ordeal in no time.

    As they too had ovee many ordeals before they managed to survive this far...

    Meanwhile, Jeremy, who hadn''t done anything in the brief skirmish earlier, promptly walked up to Kurt before patting thetter''s back softly to convey his empathy.

    Kurt turned to look at Jeremy, whom was patting his back, before nodding his head back softly at thetter.

    After some seconds of silence, Morgan''s voice was suddenly heard,

    "Can you still lead the way? Or should I let others do..."

    "I can; let''s go..." said Kurt with a somewhat hoarse voice.

    Before Morgan could finish his words, Kurt interrupted the former''s speech. Then thetter turned to look at the ''round object'' lying on the ground fifty meters away for onest time before leading the way back to their camp.

    The group continued their marching without dy, albeit their bodies were still wet and water-soaked. They didn''t dare to dy for fear that those wolves and the muscr creature would change their minds.

    They didn''t want to engage in another bloody battle. If they could avoid it, they would avoid it...

    ''Now,e to think of it, the hidden tutorial mission that gives two white stars...''

    A certain someone thought to himself as he marched alongside the other nine people into the green forest.

    Soon, the scout team consisting of ten people, which were eight males and two females, went into the forest shortly.

    ...

    The bright sky from earlier started darkening down bit by bit...

    The group of ten people had been wading through the forest full of deciduous trees, green vegetation, and a myriad of known and unknown animals for two hours straight.

    Most people felt worn out from the high-speed march, but they didn''t have any choice but to brace themselves and continue marching.

    No oneined, no one whined, and no one said anything to disrupt the current silent atmosphere.

    They knew within their hearts that they were pretty close to their camp''s vicinity. It was only a matter of time before they arrived back at the base and could rest sumptuously there. So, they persevered...

    Fifteen minutester...

    "We are here..." said Kurt as he slowed his pace down, letting the others have some room to breathe out their tiredness.

    When the others had heard his words, whether it be males or females, everyone sighed in relief as they felt thrilled to finally arrive back at their camp, the only safe zone within this cursed forest.

    "Finally..."

    "We survived yet another fucking day..."

    "Let''s eat something delicious."

    "I want to eat some hot soup."

    "Nah, let''s go with wolf steak."

    "Are you sure you wanna eat those savage animals?"

    "Hahaha..."

    People started talking and joking with each other after finally seeing some silhouettes here and there within the darkened forest.

    Those silhouettes were obviously of the humans as they should be the surveince teams sent out to check around the camp''s periphery to spot any anomaly that might affect the camp''s safety.

    Not long after, a two-meter tall wooden fence was revealed to the group as they walked out from the forest.

    Many people were lingering here and there in front of the two-meter gate made of thick woods, with two people wearing thick steel armors standing guard before the said gate.

    When the two male guards saw the group of ten people sauntering tiredly out of the forest, they hurriedly shouted for the people inside to open the wooden gate.

    As the gate was opening up, the view behind was gradually revealed to the ten people, including Jeremy.

    "As we don''t have any name for the camp, anyway, wee to the human camp, Tommy," said Morgan with a light smile stered on his face.

    Not only Morgan, but most people within the scout team also had smiles stered on their faces as it appeared that they should have felt very d to be alive back to the camp.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy nodded back in response as he pretended to be amazed by the fence, gate, people, and the view behind the gate.

    "Just three days..." Jeremy mumbled audibly.

    "Hmm?" Morgan raised one eyebrow as a response.

    "I mean, even though you guys have so much workforce to spare, how could you manage to build such a grand wooden fortress like this in just three days? There are also many wooden towers of more than five meters in height, even more, not just one or two but at least seven or eight of them towering around the camp?"

    "Hahaha, I knew you would be astonished by this. In fact, we haven''t cut down the trees and built this fortress from scrap. We''ve got it from the Crystal..." said Morgan after hearing Jeremy''s question.

    "From the Crystal?"

    "Yes, you will know about that soon enough..."

    Jeremy raised one of his eyebrows as a response, but he was met with a mysterious smile and obscure reply from Morgan. So, he could only reply with a shrug of his shoulders,

    "Alright..."

    After replying to Morgan, Jeremy looked at the sight behind the gate....

 Chapter 152 - Kahn Lochner (1)

    First of all, the things that greeted Jeremy''s eyes were wooden barricades and makeshift obstructions, just like the ones back in the first stage.

    Then, Jeremy saw many people wearing various kinds of armor and holding dangerous-looking weapons within their hands.

    More than two hundred meters behind those people were many tents in myriad colors pitched here and there scatteringly as the ce should be the camping zone. Meanwhile, Jeremy even saw some wooden houses in the remote areas away from the camping zone.

    After Jeremy looked farther into the back of the camp, which should be around the camp''s centermost area, he saw an enormous blue Crystal floating there silently, just like in the first stage.

    However, the sheer sizes between the two Crystals couldn''t bepared with one another in the least. If the green Crystal within the first stage was in a phonebooth size, the giant blue Crystal floating at the camp''s middle was like a medium-sized house.

    Furthermore, it was floating above the ground... such a big Crystal was floating...

    The size and appearance of the Crystal were enough to captivate anyone looking at it...

    Unfortunately, Jeremy had seen a far bigger one than this Crystal before, so he didn''t feel that surprised, but he had to pretend...

    "Holy!! Morgan..." said Jeremy with a wide-open mouth as he walked alongside Morgan to the camp''s entrance.

    "I know, right? That''s the Crystal I had talked about earlier."

    Morgan answered with a fascinating look on his face as it appeared that he also felt captivated by the Crystal, even though he had seen it countless times already.

    The blue Crystal should be more than three hundred meters or so away from them, yet they could see it rotating spellbindingly and clearly over there in a silent manner.

    It was enormous, beautiful, and splendid at the same time...

    At this time, the group gradually arrived not far from the gate as they stopped before the two armored muscr guards.

    *Sigh...*

    The guard on the left suddenly sighed and shook his head helplessly after the group stopped in front of him before opening his mouth to talk slowly,

    "More than half of you..."

    After everyone had heard the guard''s words, they could only smile sadly and tiredly as a response. They didn''t even have the energy to exin anything to the two guards anymore.

    The only thing they wanted right now was ''resting''...

    When the guard saw such a reaction, he could only swallow his following words back into his stomach before continuing with a helpless tone,

    "Wee back to the camp..."

    "Thank you, Brian. How is today''s result?"

    Having heard Morgan''s question, the guard, Brian, replied with a bitter voice,

    "We haven''t spotted the enemy''s camp yet..."

    "Well, I could guess that from your expressions alone. Then, how about the others?"

    Brian almost sighed once again after being asked this question as he could only reply with an even more bitter expression,

    "From the twelve teams we''ve sent out today, two teams haven''te back yet, albeit it had already exceeded the appointment time for dozens of minutes; your team is the tenth team to arrive here. As for casualties..."

    "Two teams haven''t lost anyone, whereas the other eight, including your team, have lost at least one person in the scouting mission."

    Pausing for a bit to catch his breath, Brian adjusted his expressions a bit before continuing with a somewhat skeptical face,

    "Also... team 7 had only one survivoring back some hours ago. After arriving back here, the guy had been saying stutteringly nonstop about the wolf monster or something. Due to that, I didn''t even understand what he was talking about back then, so I sent him to the medic team."

    Brian shook his head slightly after finishing his narration.

    Unbeknownst to him, the expressions of those ten people present had changed into an ugly one as if they had just eaten some shit.

    At the end of the day, it couldn''t be helped as they had almost be wolves'' meal just some hours ago. Furthermore, that wolfpack also had the so-called wolf monster, just like Brian had said...

    Within those people''s minds, it should be called a dog-humanoid monster instead of a wolf monster...

    "What''s wrong with you guys? Did you eat shit beforeing here?" asked the guard on the right as he spotted the people in front of him didn''t look quite good after hearing Brian''s words.

    Especially Kurt, his face twitched a bit and looked unsightly after hearing about the wolf monster...

    *Sigh...*

    Morgan sighed tiredly as he rified the confused guards,

    "We''ve also encountered the so-called wolf monster like team 7..."

    ...

    The sky looked gloomy as it was now at dusk, with some clouds floating freely yet almost unnoticeably in the sky from theck of light.

    At this time, every area within the camp, including the high fences and towers, was lit up with moderately bright lights illuminating from countless fire torches.

    In front of a small wooden house not far from the camping area, a group of ten people was seen standing, grouping together.

    The house had two men wearing leather armors standing guard with a sword, a bow, and a quiver as their weapons.

    "You guys wait for me here; I will go in to report and be back in a jiffy," said Morgan towards the other nine people before walking in the wooden house''s direction.

    Morgan left his weapons with the two guards before walking into the house to give his report.

    Meanwhile, the nine people on the outside seemed to be too tired as they decided to sit down on the dirt ground right there, not caring about whether their buttocks would be dirtied or not.

    Some people talked with one another, some only sat silently, and some closed their eyes to take a light sleep.

    As for Jeremy, he was among the silent people as he only sat there quietly while thinking to himself about random stuff.

    Soon, ten minutes had passed...

    *Tok* *Tak*

    *Tok* *Tak*

    The footsteps rang out from within the wooden house as Morgan''s figure could be seen by the people sitting outside.

    Morgan retrieved his gears back from the guards before walking towards the group.

    "How is it?"

    A female within the group asked Morgan after thetter arrived before them.

    Simultaneously, everyone else also stood up from the ground, preparing to leave to do their own things.

    Instead of answering the woman, Morgan shrugged his shoulders slightly before turning his head towards Jeremy and said,

    "Well, Tommy, our leader wants to have a chat with you."

 Chapter 153 - Kahn Lochner (2)

    At this moment, Jeremy was standing in front of a wooden door.

    On Jeremy''s left side was a man wearing leather armor and holding a long sword; on his right side was Morgan, whom had apanied him inside the wooden house.

    It appeared that the house had only four rooms: the guest room, bedroom, working room, and restroom.

    Obviously, Jeremy and Morgan were in front of the working room, which had a man standing guard in front of the door.

    Upon seeing the guard nodding his head in approval, Jeremy turned the doorknob to open the door.

    *Creaks*

    After the door was opened fully, Jeremy walked inside the room, followed closely by Morgan, but...

    "Our leader only wants to see him; you have to wait outside, Morgan," said the guard as he used his left arm to prevent Morgan from taking another step inside.

    "But..."

    The guard shook his head in refusal even before Morgan could finish his speech as thetter could only sigh before retreating back to find a ce to wait in the guest room.

    It appeared that their leader''s words held quite a weight around here as everyone seemed to be listening to his orders pretty strictly.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy was already inside the working room as he was looking around the ce in curiosity.

    The room looked very simple, with only one wooden table, a wooden chair, a weapon hanger, and a man in his early 20s sitting on the chair.

    As this ce should only have been built not long ago, the man before Jeremy still didn''t have time to sort anything or furniture out yet.

    "You should be Tommy Samson, am I correct?" said the stout man sitting on the chair with many stacks of papers ced before him.

    "Yes, that''s me; and you?"

    Jeremy replied cautiously as he scrutinized the man before him...

    The guy appeared to be around 170 centimeters in height. As his body was pretty stout, his weight should be roughly 80-90 kilograms. He wore thin, leather clothes that looked to be somewhat light.

    He had tan skin, alert dark blue eyes, and short, wavy, blonde hair, which was left un-styled.

    Altogether with his slight smile, the man exuded a prettyposed feel about him.

    "I''m Kahn Lochner, the leader of this camp."

    The man, Kahn, suddenly spoke up with a smile while Jeremy was scrutinizing him from head to toe.

    After hearing the man''s words, Jeremy gradually shifted his attention back.

    "Alright, mister Kahn, may I know why you call me here?" asked Jeremy with a confused expression.

    In fact, Jeremy, more or less, knew why the guy had called him here. After all, a human had appeared out of nowhere among countless predators within the temperate forest.

    Furthermore, the said man had even managed to survive more than three days there... alone...

    Let alone, Kahn knew all too well about the fact that every human, without exception, was supposed to be teleported into the camp''s nearby regions where the blue Crystal was situated.

    After Jeremy had asked that question, the temperature within the room suddenly dropped by two or three degrees, causing the atmosphere to be a bit eery.

    Even the guard standing outside the room could feel such a sudden temperature change.

    "Who are you?" Kahn asked Jeremy in a cold voice.

    ''A simple trick, huh... mister organizer...''

    That''s right, Kahn was one of the organizers within this tutorial zones...

    Jeremy shook his head ''inwardly'', but on the outside, he didn''t show anything as his body appeared to be trembling before replying stutteringly,

    "Wha... What do you mean?"

    "It means too many mysteries are revolving around you, Samson. How could someone survive the first stage alone with those conditions put on by the System? And how could someone survive alone within the forest for three days? From Morgan''s words, you had even managed to kill more than four kenkus within a matter of minute..."

    ''Here ites. Now, you may dance on my palm...''

    Jeremy thought to himself before opening his mouth to speak with a confused expressionbined with a tinge of sadness,

    "Well... If you are talking about the event that happened in the first stage, it really was what it was. Everyone except for me was all dead to the giant spider and its spawns..."

    Upon hearing the middle-aged man''s words, Kahn furrowed his eyebrows slightly, but before he could open his mouth to talk, Jeremy continued his speech,

    "Also, I don''t quite understand what you mean by surviving alone within the forest. At the time, I was almost killed by poisonous nts and savage wolves many times. I know it is akin to a miracle that I''ve survived alone, but luck should really be on my side... god must have helped me..."

    Jeremy talked with a dissatisfied frown on his face as if he had been wrongly used before finishing his speech with a thankful expression towards the non-existent god.

    After Kahn had heard Jeremy''s narration, his frown became even more profound as he felt pretty skeptical and fell into deep thought as a result.

    ''The spider can indeed kill more than twenty people quite effortlessly, but to the point of killing that many before they can teleport... anyway... a god? What is that bullshit?'' thought Kahn in a puzzling manner.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy decided to y it less cool as he only waited patiently for some seconds, looking at the man ahead of him as thetter fell into his own dilemma.

    ''I''ve yed a moderately tough stance earlier. Next, I will go a bit tougher before gradually bending down for him as apromise...''

    Jeremy thought to himself briefly before finally saying while shaking his head slightly,

    "I know that something strangepared to other people did indeed happen to me, but that doesn''t mean you can talk shit to me with your baseless assumption... If you don''t have anything else, please excuse me," said Jeremy before turning back to leave the room.

    Upon hearing such disrespectful words from a newly arrived human and seeing that the man had turned his back to him, Kahn, whom was both the tutorial''s organizer and the mage academy student, his face promptly twitched as he raised his head a bit before saying coldly towards Jeremy''s back,

    "Have I given you permission to leave?"

    After the cold voice died down, Jeremy promptly turned his head back with a frown before harrumphing loudly and said with a smirk on his face,

    "Do I need your permission? Do you own this ce?"

    "Good, good! So, Morgan hasn''t told you how I have be the leader of this camp, has he?"

    It appeared that the more Kahn talked, the colder the temperature became...

    ''This guy is a water mage...''

    Jeremy thought casually, preparing for an immediate attack from his opponent at any time.

    Even though the chance of the guy before him to cast a spell out of the blue towards him was almost nil, Jeremy still had to be careful, just in case.

    Afterward, Jeremy inquired back with a frown,

    "How did you be the leader?"

    "By doing this!"

    Having shouted the scripted words, Kahn reached his hand out to the weapon hanger to retrieve the long sword before pouncing directly towards Jeremy.

    ''This guy...''

    Jeremy thought in disappointment at the man''s impatience.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy pretended to crouch down, avoiding the iing horizontal strike in a hurry...

    *Whoosh*

    The long sword traveled through the air, creating a whooshing noise and whirling wind.

 Chapter 154 - Kahn Lochner (3)

    Even though a mage was tilted heavily towards mana, spells, and other magic-rted stuff, most mages still had a heaven-defying physical capability whenpared to ordinary people.

    That''s why Kahn, a ss-1 true mage, could move very fast that might even be on par with what Jeremy had disyed so far within the first stage.

    At this time, Kahn was already in front of Jeremy as the former swung his long sword hazardously towards thetter''s neck.

    *Whoosh*

    Jeremy ducked down hurriedly, barely avoiding the deadly strike, letting the sharp sword cut some of his hair strands in its trajectory.

    However...

    *Bam*

    Kahn side kicked Jeremy heavily right on his body, causing thetter''s body to fly back in a straight line, hitting against the wooden door behind.

    Jeremy''s body broke through the door, hitting against some wooden furniture within the house, breaking them in the process.

    Afterward, Jeremy skidded on the ground for some meters before finally stopping as his body had lost the propelled momentum.

    "What the fuck!?" shouted Morgan as he hurriedly ran up to Jeremy lying on the floor not far from him.

    "Are you okay?"

    Morgan asked the messy Jeremy as he helped thetter up from the wooden floor.

    "I..."

    *Cough*

    "I''m... okay..."

    Jeremy spoke while coughing out dried air from his mouth roughly as he felt out of breath from the pain on his chest right now.

    It was clear that he was not okay in the least from his current appearance and symptoms shown.

    At this time, some footsteps suddenly resounded out from behind the two as Morgan turned to look behind him, only to see Kahn was walking towards them with a long sword in his hand.

    Not long after, Kahn stopped at some meters away from the two people, followed closely by the guard, who had stood in front of the working room''s door earlier.

    Right now, the guard also unsheathed his sword, readying himself to strike at any given order from the camp''s leader. He looked pretty faithful, if not considering the confusion stered on his face.

    "What''s the meaning of this? Why are you two fighting?" asked Morgan as he stood up from the ground, staring questioningly at Kahn, the camp''s leader.

    Even though Morgan appeared to be brave and seemed to side with Jeremy, Morgan felt very afraid of the stout man before him deep inside his heart.

    Morgan knew how strong the guy was; he had seen how Kahn challenged and fought against more than twenty people simultaneously and still won quite easily.

    Just for the position of this camp''s leader, Kahn had gone so far as to let everyone challenge him. He even killed some people whom opposed him and didn''t want him to be their leader...

    The man, Kahn, was a true savage beast...

    ''Damn it! How could such a thing happen?'' thought Morgan as he tried hard to find a way out.

    However, he didn''t know how the conflict had started in the first ce, so he couldn''t find any solution as of yet.

    The only thing Morgan could do right now was to ask the assaulter, Kahn, himself,

    "Please, tell me about the problem. I believe there is a way to solve this issue without any need for violence."

    Meanwhile, the two guards at the house''s entrance, including the eight people waiting outside, rushed into the guest room from outside the house to see what was transpiring here.

    "What happened?"

    "You guys have fought?"

    "Calm down, guys..."

    "Tommy was hurt; Kahn did it?"

    "..."

    Upon seeing Tommy was hurt, most people within the scout team suddenly frowned and expressed some dissatisfaction on their faces.

    Simultaneously, everyone turned to give cold stares towards Kahn, whom seemed to be the perpetrator. After all, their benefactor, Tommy, who had helped them fight with the kenkus, was hurt.

    Even though they felt afraid of their leader, Kahn, but at the very least, they needed an exnation for this incident.

    After seeing many people cramming themselves within this cramped wooden house, Morgan shook his head slightly before harrumphing audibly.

    *Hmph!*

    Right now, everyone''s attention was on the camp''s leader, Kahn, as he was clearly the culprit because Tommy and Morgan''s eyes were on thetter.

    Those eight people from the scout team seemed to be ready to take out their weapons from the sheathes at any time.

    Kahn realized everyone''s cold eyes were on him now, so he shook his head slightly before speaking up with a stern tone,

    "I think the guy behind Morgan is a spy."

    "..."

    "..."

    His words were truly unexpected...

    After Kahn''s voice died down, everyone present could only look on in a confused manner...

    A spy? The one who had helped them was a spy?

    Right now, they couldn''t even digest the meaning behind the word ''spy'' properly...

    Where could the spy, Tommy,e from?

    Was he sent here by the kenkus?

    Was he somehow rted to the wolves?

    Or where else did hee from?

    Many questions went past through everyone''s mind at a breakneck speed, as even the three guards felt muddled by the ambiguous word, ''spy''.

    "Tommy is a spy?" said someone from the scout team as he turned left and right to look at the struggling-to-stand Jeremy and the camp''s leader, Kahn.

    He didn''t know whether to believe Kahn''s words or not as they were too baseless...

    Everyone else''s reactions were also, more or less, the same as the one who had said earlier. They needed an exnation.

    "I... am a spy?" Jeremy spoke with difficulty as his face morphed into an incredulous one before continuing with a doubtful tone,

    "Why do you think I''m a spy? Do you think I was sent from another force, or maybe, the kenkus?"

    Jeremy shook his head slightly after finally standing up from the floor, but he still heaved in and out roughly from pain and out of breath.

    It appeared that even the middle-aged man, Tommy, didn''t quite get Kahn''s words at all, let alone other people present within the room, who had juste inside.

 Chapter 155 - Kahn Lochner (4)

    Jeremy used one hand to ce on the wall as a support while using another hand to cover his chest, the ce where he was kicked on.

    At this time, some people within the room couldn''t withstand the current whimsical atmosphere anymore...

    "Yeah, I also think there must be some misunderstanding between the two of you. How about we talk this out slowly and clearly?" Morgan, who stood in the middle between Kahn and Jeremy, spoke up with a somewhat disturbed tone of voice.

    It couldn''t be helped that everyone else except for Kahn, the tutorial''s organizer, to feel that there must be a misunderstanding between the two.

    After all, Kahn was the only person within this camp who knew about the System''s mechanisms.

    At the end of the day, Kahn was the only one who knew where everyone was supposed to be teleported to, and he was also the only one who knew about how Ortus worked.

    Which meant...

    For Kahn, Jeremy''s existence was akin to an anomaly, who hade out of nowhere to disrupt the ongoing battle between the two camps...

    For others, Jeremy appeared to be just an ordinary good samaritan, whom was used wrongly by their camp''s leader, no less...

    So, the opinions were divided, and the majority was undoubtedly favored towards Jeremy...

    *Sigh...*

    Kahn promptly sighed after his head cooled down a bit as he had felt really offended by Jeremy''s words and behaviors earlier.

    Now, after the matter had gradually escted into this, Kahn could only settle his rageful emotion down first before thinking carefully about his following actions.

    Soon, Kahn fell into deep thought with a slight frown between his eyebrows,

    ''I am reigning these people with fear and authority, so I cannot kill the seemingly innocent man or other people here, whom had juste back from a scout mission, or else I will lose even more trust from other people within the camp. Then, if those people lose even more faith in me and don''t listen to me anymore, we will lose to the kenkus for sure...''

    ''If that happens, sir Yuriy will skin me alive for making him lose the bet... Fucking damn it!''

    ''Calm down... I''m a water mage; I ought to feel calm like water, not hot-blooded like those fire dudes. First of all, let me rearrange his background...''

    ''The man hase out of nowhere... He is stronger than a normal human by quite a degree, capable of receiving my half-forced kick directly on his chest... Morgan also told me that the man had finished the tenth wave with no other survivor... Then he has managed to survive three days within the dangerous forest...''

    ''He either has heaven-defying luck, or he is a real deal. However, considering his toughness and evasive skills, he must have some decent fighting and physical capabilities, but not stronger than ordinary people by much...''

    ''Furthermore, It looks like he should have an ulterior motive for helping out the scout team at that exact moment as it shouldn''t be some random coincidences happening out of nowhere...''

    ''From those factorsbined... This man, Tommy Samson, is not normal in the least. But only I, who knows about how the Tutorial and the System operate, realize about the strangenesses and enigmas enshrouding around the man''s existence...''

    ''These ignorant people don''t know a fucking thing! And my fucking life is on the line here, so I have to be careful...''

    After thinking until here, Kahn sighed lightly before continuing his thought with a depressed manner,

    ''What should I do with this hell of an anomalous guy named Tommy Samson?''

    ''Is there a way to verify the man''s identity? Should I just kill himter on when no one is around?''

    ''That seems to be a good idea... Oh, wait! I can let him do that!''

    Having finished his long thought, Kahn''s eyes lit up with a profound idea as he swept his gaze around the crowded guest room.

    At this moment, everyone was looking at Kahn strangely as thetter had been silent for some seconds.

    Right when Morgan decided to open his mouth to talk this out, Kahn''s voice was suddenly heard within the quiet room,

    "As you had said earlier, I might have misunderstood something..."

    With everyone''s attention was all on him, Kahn paused briefly before continuing,

    "However, Tommy''s background is still too obscure for us to skip. We also have no way to check his authenticity as he had said that everyone from his first stage was dead. Am I right?"

    "Well..."

    "You do have a point, but..."

    Before others could speak or disagree with his thought any further, Kahn raised his volume for a notch,

    "So, when such a suspicious guy has popped up out of nowhere, as this camp''s leader, I cannot let something like this slide by. After all, it might risk other people''s livester on...

    "..."

    "..."

    After hearing Kahn talking about ''as this camp''s leader'', everyone could only keep quiet despite still being skeptical of Kahn''s words as they feared the man to fare up again.

    At this moment, a bloody scene of Kahn killing three people with one keen strike suddenly popped up within their minds.

    After all, three days ago, the man, Kahn, had proposed himself as the camp''s leader, but of course, he was opposed by most people within the camp as they couldn''t just let a random guy be their leader.

    To everyone''s shock, Kahn had surprised everyone with his unmatched fighting prowess, and he even killed many people whom had opposed him in the past three days.

    Most people within the camp felt dissatisfied with Kahn''s approach to controlling them; some even loathed him to the marrowbone for killing their friends.

    However, for the sake of survival and no more conflict, most people decided to ept Kahn''s leadership.

    Still, such a leadership filled with fear and dictation was too fragile...

    Everyone only listened to Kahn partially for the sake of their survival, but within their minds were filled with dissatisfaction and disgruntlement.

    At this moment, they knew that Kahn must have a proposal within his mind for him to talk this much. So, everyone decided to wait for the man''s following words...

    Upon seeing everyone having no objection to his words, Kahn continued his piece,

    "I want you, Tommy, to show everyone your Status Window to prove your innocent and identity. If you can do that, I will not pursue the matter any further, and you will be able to live here like everyone else."

    "This is myst stand!"

    Kahn finished his speech with a cold tone and narrowed eyes.

 Chapter 156 - The Blue Crystal (1)

    ''Someone has been watching me ever since I stepped into this house. Even now, my Sixth Sense is operating to its fullest potential, yet I can only feel that someone is observing my every movement at all times. Still, I cannot pinpoint out where or which direction exactly the guy is watching me from...''

    Jeremy thought to himself in annoyance after hearing Kahn''s demand to show his Status Window.

    He had been prepared for this anyway, so he didn''t feel worried at all.

    Instead, the thing that had been bugging Jeremy was the feeling of being watched by a dangerous predator after he came inside this wooden house some minutes ago.

    *Sigh...*

    Jeremy suddenly sighed audibly after Kahn''s words died down.

    It appeared that Jeremy''s sigh had managed to attract everyone''s attention as most people were looking at him, waiting for his response now.

    They were wondering what Tommy''s reactions would be. After all, the man had been asked to show his Status Window to a stranger.

    Some people even wanted to voice their opinion to protect Tommy, not wanting him to do something against his own will. However, Jeremy''s voice resounded out before those people could speak anything up for him,

    "After you see nothing wrong within my Status Window, will you this matter go?"

    Jeremy asked while looking fixedly at Kahn as within his mind was another thought entirely,

    ''After seeing my Status Window, hopefully, you will lose interest in me and won''t be watching me again, damned cupid.''

    After everyone had heard Jeremy''s words, some felt surprised at his daringness to show his own Status Window, while some felt that it was customary to show that useless interface if it could solve such a big problem.

    At the end of the day, Earthlings were still newbies and didn''t know anything much about Ortus, so some of them ought to view the Status Window as a somewhat useless thing.

    "Are you sure, Tommy?" asked Morgan in attentiveness as he didn''t want Jeremy to act ording to Kahn''s demand.

    "If you don''t want to do it, you can just stay put. He won''t dare to kill you with all of us here anyway," said a man within the scout team, whom Jeremy didn''t even remember his name.

    Jeremy only remembered the man was the one who had teased Kurt earlier about Jessy. However, the man had kept quiet ever after seeing Jessy''s head and Kurt''s downheartedness.

    With the watchful eyes of others around him, Jeremy smiled slightly in assurance before saying,

    "If I can solve this issue just by showing my Status Window, I will dly do it without any hesitation."

    Upon hearing such words, Kahn furrowed his eyebrows in doubt at the middle-aged man''s confidence as he didn''t think that the man would be willing to show his Status Window.

    After all, if the man, Tommy Samson, was indeed someone who hade here, intending to disrupt this Tutorial or the bet between the two cupids, he should behave more conserved and tried to act tough in this situation.

    There was no way in hell that such a person with so many secrets behind his existence would bend down for his harsh demand. At least, the man should express some hesitation or fear of his secrets being reviewed.

    ''Am I overthinking things? This guy doesn''t even hesitate...''

    ''Whatever... let''s see his Status Window first...''

    Having finished his thoughts, Kahn spoke up with a stern expression,

    "Alright, show it..."

    Upon hearing Kahn''s approval, Jeremy thought to himself beforemanded inwardly to activate a skill,

    ''I have to make a quick adjustment to my false Status Window...''

    ''[Information Falser]''

    Then Jeremy adjusted his Status Window swiftly. As he had already prepared the outline for the false one, he only needed a few seconds to adjust and give it the finishing touches.

    Before Kahn could express impatience with the wait, an interface suddenly showed up before everyone...

    ...

    Name: Tommy Samson

    Race: Human (Le''Liac - Low-Rank Organism)

    ss: None

    Title: Good Samaritan (Rank 2 - Inactive), Donor (Rank 1 - Inactive)

    Affinity:

    - Fire (Common): 38.5%

    - Darkness (Umon): 17.6%

    Talent: None

    Trait: Kind-hearted, Benevolent, Compassionate

    Skill:

    - Knife Wielding (Low Basic - Passive Skill]

    - Stealth (Low Basic - Active Skill)

    Achievement: None

    Mission:

    -Tutorial Mission: Survive II

    ...

    "What!? Kind-hearted, Benevolent, and Compassionate?"

    "Wow, Tommy... your Status Window..."

    "You have three traits? All of them are good alignments, too."

    "A literally good guy, no less..."

    "Look, there! He has that effing expensive skill, Stealth, which is numbered in the 180s or so..."

    "Well? So, that''s how he had managed to sneak up behind the kenkus when he helped us earlier."

    "I remember Knife Wielding is a skill number ny-eight, which costs around 2,500 SP."

    "Holy moly, isn''t he at least as strong as Rachel and Clinton?"

    Voice and exmation were heard within the guest room after the Status Window was projected.

    They felt like the Status Window was too good to be true...

    However, considering the man, Tommy, had cleared the tenth horde of monsters, such an interface was justifiable for his profile.

    Even Morgan and Kahn felt shocked after seeing the unreal Status Window of a newbie, especially Kahn, as he had another feeling deep inside his heart, discontent, towards the man named Tommy Samson.

    How could such a newbie have a fundamental skill of a ss-1 pathway?

    Even though Kahn was a ss-1 mage himself, he had to learn runes, incantations, meditation, and the methods to cast spells by spending buckets of blood and sweat. However, this guy had been here, within the Tutorial, only just some days ago and already possessed an equivalent skill of a ss-1 pathway.

    Kahn furrowed his eyebrows even deeper than earlier before shaking his head in the end...

    *Sigh...*

    A helpless sigh suddenly escaped from Kahn''s mouth.

    He had never thought before that he would be so insane with just a small matter like this.

    After all, beforeing here, when he was still a prestigious student within a great mage academy, he had never be jealous of others or killed a person before.

 Chapter 157 - The Blue Crystal (2)

    Kahn''s mind suddenly became conflicted...

    All of his bad luck had started three days ago; it was the time when Kahn thought about the consequences of failing sir Yuriy''s expectations. Such thought had driven him to the brink of insanity as he felt like he was not himself anymore.

    Three days ago was also when Kahn had his first blood by killing three people in one keen strike.

    At the time, it was purely idental as he had put in too much force behind the swing.

    Never in his wildest dreams could he have known that the Earthlings would be so weak as to die with that half-ass strike from him.

    With just one swing of his sword, three lives were lost...

    Everything had utterly changed after that; Kahn almost became addicted to power...

    He felt like he owned this world...

    He felt like these people''s lives were in his grasps as he could do whatever he wanted to them.

    Nheless, Kahn couldn''t be toocent of his newfound power and authority for long because a harsh truth came hitting him hard not long after that...

    A greater existence was toppling over him and watching his every movement from a faraway ce. Despite the fact that the being was just one of the ten thousand beings, who designed the tutorial zones, he was still an unquestionable existence that even the deans of the academy''s faculties had to treat him with much respect.

    The said being had even told him personally before sending him over here to supervise the human camp,

    ''You are the best in your academy? Hmph! Then win, and I will grant you a big reward, or else you and your loved ones will die...''

    Those were the words from the unreachable existence, the cupid named Yuriy...

    Kahn finally realized that despite having control over these people''s lives, his own life was not in his own hands in the least. It was all up to the cupid, Yuriy''s whim the moment he came into this ce...

    Consequently, Kahn felt frustrated and depressed at his own fate. He shouldn''t have epted the generous offer back then; it was such a huge mistake in his life.

    His bad luck hadn''t ended there because people within the camp didn''t quite listen to him. After all, Kahn had identally killed three people. That''s why they might have thought that he was an arrogant bastard, or worse, a maniac.

    Furthermore, he couldn''t tell anyone that he was an Ortus'' native because he had already interfered too much with the Tutorial by participating directly, so the System had imposed a rule to restrict him from telling people about Ortus-rted stuff.

    Such a rule was also imposed on the other organizer in the kenku camp.

    After the incident of killing the three people initially, Kahn had tried to change his approach into a softer one, but many people still opposed him, so he had to kill some more to retain his authority.

    Even though Kahn killed people like a maniac, those kills were thought out with significant consideration. He killed because it was necessary to maintain his power within the camp...

    Ever since the moment Kahn had realized his life was on the line, the only desire within his mind was to win... he needed to lead the human camp to win this shit at all cost, or else everything he had, including his own life, would be lost forever.

    With everyone''s attention on him right now, Kahn smiled bitterly before saying,

    "It is indeed a misunderstanding, Tommy...

    Kahn paused briefly before continuing,

    "Wee to the human camp; I hope we can get along well and also hope that you can be of great help to win against the kenkus."

    ''Why did I even suspect him in the first ce? The traits received from the System never lie... Also, from the looks of the skills in his Status Window, the man is clearly a newbie arriving here from the first stage, just like any other.''

    Shaking his head at his own paranoia, Kahn turned back into the working room, leaving other people and two sentences behind,

    "You did well in the scouting mission; you guys may leave to take a rest. Morgan, I will leave Tommy within your care."

    Having said those words, Kahn walked into his door-less working room, leaving others to look on in wonder and confusion.

    Nobody had thought the problem would end just like that. Likely, Jeremy also believed that the issue had ended too easily and anticlimactically...

    To be honest, Jeremy had even prepared another trump card to y out if another fallout happened between them.

    Still, something good like this was always weed anyway...

    ''Well, it works out very smoothly, huh... Also, it''s a relief that the watchful eyes had left me the moment I projected my Status Window, as it looks like he must have lost interest in me. It is really worth it with what I''ve invested into my great acting earlier. Like this, my initial n is considered as good asplete...''

    Jeremy thought with a hidden glint within his eyes.

    It wasn''t exaggerated at all to say that Jeremy had invested so much in the brief confrontation earlier.

    Jeremy had gone as far as to deactivate his mana field projection and let Kahn kick him on the chest directly, sending him crashing against furniture within the house.

    Even though it didn''t hurt one bit, Jeremy still felt like he had invested so much in this performing.

    The final oue was also proven worth it as Jeremy could now blend in with the people within the human camp, freed from the watchful eyes of the designers and organizers of this Tutorial.

    Jeremy finally gained a high ground with enough breathing room to maneuver and execute his ns because no one was observing him anymore.

    "Let''s go, everyone..." said Morgan as he led everyone outside the wooden house.

    After arriving outside, Morgan said to the two people, whom was holding a big sack behind their backs,

    "You two bring the fish, fowl, and game back to the canteen. Everyone else can go to do their own things. You see tomorrow, brothers and sisters."

    After hearing so, Everyone started dispersing as most of them wanted to take a long shower, eat some good foods, and rest in their own tents.

    A long day of the scout team led by Morgan had finallye to an end....

 Chapter 158 - The Blue Crystal (3)

    Some minutester, Jeremy was seen to be walking alongside Morgan, bypassing many areas and people around the camp...

    As they walked along the way, Morgan would asionally tell Jeremy about the ces and facilities within the camp.

    In fact, Jeremy had already known most of the ces around here, but he had to nod his head and ask some questions as they walked here and there not to make himself be suspected.

    Jeremy was introduced to many things, be it the camping areas, canteen, public bathing zones, gates, towers, armory, construction sites, and many more.

    Morgan also introduced Jeremy to people whenever they met someone Morgan knew.

    At some point, Jeremy even saw an obese man with the title Greedy Pig walking past him. The fatty was indeed tough and died hard like a cockroach to be able to survive this far.

    At this time, the two finally arrived within one of thenes leading to the giant Crystal...

    Upon looking at the areas around the Crystal, Jeremy promptly spoke up,

    "Why do we have to detour and walk inside this smallne towards the Crystal? Can''t we just walk right into the Crystal, bypassing those small wooden poles and the ropes attached to them?"

    Upon hearing Jeremy''s questions, Morgan had finally realized that he forgot to tell his new friend about the prohibited areas, so he exined,

    "Oh, that? As you can see from the poles and ropes put around them, the ces within fifty meters around the Crystal are prohibited from entering. The reason is that those sites will be the ces where daily materials are summoned. So, if you trespass those ropes into the prohibited areas, then the materials are somehow generated at that exact moment... well, you will be meat paste, I guess; no one has ever tried that before..."

    "So, that''s how you guys get so much woods and materials to build this fortress..."

    Jeremy mumbled audibly before asking another question, pretending to be curious,

    "Also, are you implying that these smallnes leading to the Crystal are the only safe ces to cross if we want to arrive there?"

    "Yes, it is as you say. At least, for the past three days, these smallnes are the only empty areas with no material spawned, so Kahn had told those construction teams to ce the poles down, prohibiting anyone from essing the areas," answered Morgan before continuing as he pointed his finger at the circr area around the Crystal,

    "By the way, look over there, there, and there, too..."

    After hearing Morgan''s words, Jeremy promptly turned to look at those ces before raising his eyebrows in surprise and saying,

    "Hmm? The circr area around the Crystal has no poles..."

    "You are right; the area of five meters around the Crystal ispletely safe," replied Morgan with a light smile on his face.

    After talking about many things, the two finally arrived before the enormous Crystal...

    Looking from afar and looking at it in point-nk range gave out apletely different sensation.

    Right now, Jeremy and Morgan appeared to be just a tiny thing in front of a giant existence. After all, the blue Crystal was even bigger than a moderate-sized house back on Earth.

    After arriving before the colossal Crystal, Morgan gestured his head towards it as if telling Jeremy to touch it to see what this thing was all about.

    "Can I touch it just like that?"

    Jeremy asked in inquiry as he looked around and saw four or five people stood not far from the two of them, touching the Crystal and seemed to be engrossed in whatever projecting before them.

    Meanwhile, within Jeremy''s mind was another thought entirely,

    ''Should I try wearing the red crystal ne looted from Xildas?''

    The thought came inside Jeremy''s mind fast and went away even faster.

    In the end, two or more cupids were observing this second stage personally. If Jeremy could somehow ess this giant blue Crystal via an organizer''s ess, he might receive unwanted attention from the betting cupids in no time.

    "Sure, go ahead..." Morgan assured Jeremy with a light smile.

    "Alright..."

    Replying briefly, Jeremy reached out his hand to touch the blue Crystal.

    As Jeremy was looking at the interface before him, Morgan suddenly spotted someone he knew at some distance away, so he suddenly spoke up,

    "You take your time and look at it by yourself; I will go talk with another scout team''s leader in a jiffy..."

    After finishing his words, Morgan patted Jeremy''s back lightly before walking towards the blue Crystal''s left side, where a man and a woman stood.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy looked to his left side momentarily, only to see those two were not someone he knew, so he shifted his attention back to the interface before him.

    In front of Jeremy were one set of numbers and two options to be chosen from, which were [General Information] and [Exchange].

    As for the set of numbers, it was showing [Day 3, 19:03:42].

    One day within this second stage was equal to 24 hours, simr to Earth. ording to the set of numbers, it meant the time was roughly 7 p.m. on day 3.

    Upon seeing the two options, first, Jeremy decided to check the general information as the interface swapped into another one...

    ...

    [General Information]

    Name: Jeremy Caesar Lakota

    Kill Counts: 5

    Ranking: 9th (Joint Rank)

    Survivors: 2,048

    ...

    After seeing the interface, Jeremy raised his eyebrows in wonder.

    After all, Jeremy had killed a whopping five kenkus, yet at least eight people within the camp had killed more than him, making him ranked in the joint ninth.

    If the ''joint rankings'' for the other eight rankings were counted into the calction, then there should be more than 15 people who had killed more than six kenkus, which was the lowest estimation as there might even be more than that amount.

    Nheless, Jeremy only looked at his ranking briefly as he didn''t care about it that much. His ranking was destined to rise up through the roof in no time anyway.

    The thing that was truly important within the interface was thest section...

    ''Hmm... 2,048 humans are surviving right now; I wonder if that number includes Kahn or not. But that is not the point; the actual point is that if I don''t remember incorrectly when I was within the dark space, there were still more than 2,200 people.''

    ''Only fifty or so hours have passed, yet another 200 humans'' lives are lost...''

    Having thought until this point, Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows profoundly before continuing his thought in puzzlement,

    ''Something is wrong... really wrong here. The death toll wasn''t this high in my past life; such a number is almost two times the amount of deathspared to that time.''

    ''Is this truly the result of Eddie, Mitchell, and some other people surviving and creating butterfly effects? Or is it induced from something else I''m not aware of entirely?''

    ''Also... why do my hunch seem to be telling me that I am the one who causes this result?''

    Jeremy thought hard about some possibilities.

    s, the usibility of those things happening was too unlikely and absurd, so Jeremy decided not to dive deeper into the topic for now,

    ''It looks like I have yet another mystery to solve...''

    Jeremy could only shake his head left and right while keeping those thoughts and questions within his mind for now, as he still had too few clues to solve the so-called mystery.

    ''Alright, let''s take a look at thest option...''

    Having kept those puzzling thoughts within his mind, Jeremymanded inwardly to ess the [Exhange] option.

    Simultaneously, the interface changed into another one.

 Chapter 159 - The Blue Crystal (4)

    [Weapons]

    [Armors]

    [Your Current Bnce: 5 Kill Points (KP)]

    ...

    Three were only two options to be chosen from, together with Jeremy''s current bnce in the third line.

    It appeared that Jeremy had five Kill Points, aka KP, from killing five kenkus. That simply meant he would get one point for every kenku killed.

    Regarding the usage of those points, it was obviously for ''exchanging'' items consisting of only weapons and armors.

    Jeremy knew all too well why there were no Misceneous or Skills options within this second stage.

    If the first stage was built to adjust newbies'' mindsets and give them foundations in the forms of skills and mentality, then the second stage was the ce where those tough newbies, who had managed to survive thus far, could enhance and upgrade their gears before going to live on Ortus.

    Such a thing indicated that inside this second stage, everyone had to rely on the basic skills they bought from the first stage to kill their opponents, kenkus, to earn the Kill Points. Consequently, everyone could use KP to buy many excellent gears from the [Exchange] option.

    Furthermore, the weapons and armors within this stage werepletely different from the first stage.

    The first stage only had Common-rank items, but this stage even had as high as Rare-rank ones, the same rank as Jeremey''s Forsaken Branch.

    Then how about those people who hadn''t killed a single kenku so far?

    Undoubtedly, they wouldn''t get any gear from here as there was no alternative method to earn KP within this ce.

    If some Earthlings had passed the first stage with such a weak mentality, cowering inside the camp in the second stage, then those people didn''t deserve any good thing from the System.

    They couldn''t me anyone else but only themselves. At worst, those cowards might even be forced to fight against the kenkus.

    Right now, Jeremy was looking at the interface before him...

    When it came to shopping, Jeremy had always encountered tough dilemmas, and it appeared to always be the case even in the future.

    ''I already have Anguish, so I don''t need any primary close-range weapon. Well... by the way... Come to think of it now; I should buy some very short-range weapons such as good-quality knives, throwing knives, and hidden weapons as a backup in emergency.'' Jeremy pondered to himself.

    To be honest, if it were in the past, Jeremy wouldn''t need to consider such a notion of buying closebat weapons, but right now, he thought it was necessary to have excellent melee weapons.

    After all, Jeremy was now an intermediate-rank organism; his speed, strength, toughness, mentality, and other capabilities had been boosted to another level entirely, iparable to when he was just a low-rank one.

    Despite the fact that Jeremy had never exerted his full physical power ever since his race evolved, he knew all too well that he was extremely powerful physically.

    Be that as it may, Jeremy might even be stronger physically than magically...

    Jeremy guessed that he could even destroy his own mana field projection with one full-force punch.

    Thus, Jeremy had to consider buying more melee weapons toplement his tremendous strength, boosting his closebat capability to an even greater level.

    ''Let''s go with Weapons to see what they have for me first...''

    Having thought so, Jeremy essed the [Weapons] option without dy...

    ...

    [Axes]

    [Bows]

    [Crossbows]

    [Clubs]

    [Daggers]

    [Knives]

    [Maces]

    [Polearms]

    [Swords]

    ...

    After Jeremy chose to ess the [Weapon], the interface changed, and more than nine options showed up before him.

    ''Well, I don''t need any bow or crossbow, for they will be useless within my hands as I already have many long-range spells in my arsenal. The things I really need are weapons that can be used to attack in a point-nk.''

    After thinking until this point, Jeremy''s eyes were fixed on the two options, [Daggers] and [Knives],

    ''Dagger is a short double-edged de created to inflict as much damage as possible on an enemy by using short, stabbing thrusts. Meanwhile, knives are primarily task-oriented. They are used by hunters and others when hiking, fishing, camping, cooking, or hunting...''

    ''As for the usage in the fight... Well, no matter what angle I look at them, the two types are roughly the same for me, with one being double-edged while another being single-edged. Still, I prefer knives as they can be thrown easier and more urately than daggers.''

    Unlike daggers, which were mainly used for stabbing and thrusting, knives were used for cutting, shing, and often throwing. Sometimes, they came with a fixed de, or the de could be folded into a sheath.

    Having finished his consideration, Jeremy promptly essed [Knives] as the interface changed once again, revealing three options before him...

    ...

    [Common]

    [Umon]

    [Rare]

    ...

    Those three were clearly the grades of the weapons, starting from Common rank, which had no ability attached.

    The next rank was Umon, which was usually apanied by one or two simple abilities.

    Thest one on the list was Rare rank, which had two or three simple abilities and one or two skills at most.

    ''Nah, there is no point in looking at the Umon rank; they are too weak and might not be able to withstand my full strength.''

    Having thought so, Jeremy chose the [Rare] option as the interface changed into another one, showing four rare-ranked knives...

    ...

    [Misty Deflector] (40 KP)

    Abilities:

    1. Increase attacking speed by 7%

    2. Weightless; Misty Deflector is as light as a feather

    Skill:

    1. [Misty Deflector I - Active] - Upon activating, the knife''s de will transform into a misty barrier in front of the user, capable of deflecting physical and magical attacks for 5 seconds (Cooldown 1 day)

    ...

    [Flesh Dissector] (41 KP)

    Abilities:

    1. Increase attacking speed by 2%

    2. Increase attacking power by 3%

    Skills:

    1. [Dissector I - Passive] - The wound inflicted by Flesh Dissector will be healed and recovered at a slower rate

    ...

    [Venomkiss] (42 KP)

    Abilities:

    1. Increase attacking speed by 3%

    2. After being wounded by Venomkiss, the victim will be inflicted with a random kind of mild poisons (Stackable)

    Skill:

    1. [Venomkiss I - Active] - Upon activating, Venomkiss'' edge will be coated by a potent poison for 5 seconds (Cooldown 1 day)

    ...

    [Arcane Knife] (45 KP)

    Ability:

    1. Increase attacking speed by 5%

    Skills:

    1. [Marker I - Active] - Upon activating, the holder will be marked by Arcane Knife for 10 seconds (2 usages per day)

    2. [Backtracker I - Active] - Upon activating, Arcane Knife will return back into the marked one''s hand (2 usages per day)

 Chapter 160 - The Blue Crystal (5)

    After seeing the four knives'' information, Jeremy nodded his head in approval at those four''s abilities and skills, which were considered pretty decent among Rare-ranked items.

    ''There are four rare-ranked knives, all of them can only be bought once as after that they will disappear from the Exchange forever. Hmm... It looks like only two of them are somewhat decent...''

    Having thought until here, Jeremy dismissed the [Knives] interface before essing the other ones to see if there was anything that might attract his interest or not. Starting with the [Axes], [Bows], [Crossbows], [Clubs], [Daggers], [Maces], [Polearms], andstly, [Swords].

    Unfortunately, nothing was eyecatching enough to get Jeremy''s attention as he looked past them one after another.

    After skimming over the [Weapons] interface, Jeremy shook his head slightly before proceeding to the [Armors] one.

    Soon, more than six options consisting of the words about human body parts showed up before Jeremy...

    ...

    [Head]

    [Body]

    [Arms]

    [Hands]

    [Legs]

    [Boots]

    ...

    Like always, Jeremy looked at the items within those six options one by one, albeit only choosing to look at the Rare-ranked ones.

    From Jeremy''s observation, he saw those six options only had one or two Rare-ranked armors at most, unlike the weapons option, which had at least three or four each.

    For example, within the [Body] option, Jeremy could see many sub-options such as [Breasttes], [Lame Armors], [Leather Armors], [Mail Armors], [te Armors], and [Scale Armors]. For each of those types of armors, there would be one or two Rare-ranked ones.

    ''From all types of armors, there are only two or three pieces with somewhat decent skills, which can be considered useful to me. As for other things... well, rather than benefiting me, they will hinder my high-speed movement instead.''

    Having thought until this point, Jeremy could only look on in disappointment because the armors were too unfit for him. For him, wearing those Rare-ranked armors might not be as good as wearing regr clothes as he wore right now.

    After finishing his search for a suitable armor to buy, it appeared that except for the leather armor, any other type of armor hadn''t managed to get into Jermey''s eyes at all because they were too burdensome to wear and utilize.

    Despite the fact that these Rare-ranked armors were pretty hard to acquire and considered very precious within the human kingdoms, still, within Jeremy''s eyes, those items were a bit better than garbage at most.

    It appeared that Jeremy''s standards about armors were pretty high that might even be too highpared to most people; just a Rare-grade couldn''t satisfy him the slightest bit.

    Right now, Jeremy''s mana field projection''s defensive capabilities might even be greater than those Rare-ranked armors.

    Moreover, Jermey''s mana field projection would get stronger and stronger after every breakthrough into higher sses, so it was expected that those things didn''t get his attention.

    That''s why except for the leather armors that had some decent abilities and skills, which wouldn''t hinder Jeremy''s movement, other things were ignored by him entirely.

    At this moment, Jeremy''s eyes suddenly lit up as he had suddenly thought of something crucial,

    ''Come to think of it now... There are no more than ten known Epic-ranked items within the human kingdoms. Meanwhile, the cirction of Rare-ranked items is in the hundreds or so, which simply means the Rare-ranked item is considered a top-grade item that most humans covet to own.''

    ''If I release even a single Rare item into the market, I will be a rich guy in no time...''

    In fact, to acquire a Rare weapon or armor inside the Tutorial''s second stage was pretty hard because one had to kill at least forty opponents to earn enough Kill Points to buy those items.

    Meanwhile, acquiring a Rare weapon or armor within the human kingdoms was even more challenging than earning them here.

    The reason was that the human race''s crafting technology wasn''t quite up to par and couldn''t produce their own Epic items. As for the Rare-ranked item, it was pretty challenging to craft a single of them; currently, only the mages with high status could do that.

    However, it was something else entirely for Jeremy as he had a perfect way to earn those Rare-ranked items.

    If Jeremy wanted to, he could just go ughter the entire kenku camp right now. Subsequently, he could buy many Rare-ranked items and be a true-blue weapon dealer on Ortus.

    At this time, Jeremy seemed to be engrossed within his own ideas of making easy money on Ortus...

    "Tommy, why are you smirking so evilly? Is your ranking that good?"

    A voice was suddenly heard from Jeremy''s left side, apanied by the footsteps of the speaker,ing towards Jeremy''s direction.

    Having heard those words, Jeremy dismissed the interface ahead of him by retracting his hand from the giant Crystal as he had already finished looking at the Rare items.

    "Something like that..."

    Jeremy turned left side to reply to Morgan, whom had just finished his business with his fellow scout team leader.

    "Oh? If you don''t mind, can you tell me your current ranking?"

    Morgan replied with a big smile on his face as if nning something mischievous within his mind.

    "Well, I''ve killed only five, so I''m ninth in the rankings," replied Jeremy with a slight shrug of his shoulders as he didn''t care much about his immediate ranking.

    "Not bad, not bad. My ranking is a bit higher than yours, though. I''m ranked eighth, by the way."

    Morgan said with an even bigger smile while broadening up his chest slightly after knowing that he ranked higher than the overpowering Tommy.

    It appeared that Morgan just only wanted to flex his achievement, after all.

    Jeremy could only shake his head before opening his mouth to ask a question,

    "Do you know who ranks first, second, and third in the rankings right now?"

    This question was considered decently crucial for Jeremy because he wanted to know if the butterfly effects were significant enough to change even the first three rankings or not.

 Chapter 161 - Jeremys Days Within The Camp (1)

    "Of course, I know. They are Rachel, Clinton, and Floyd respectively," replied Morgan after putting in some thought before continuing,

    "Well, those rankings are not up to date, though, whereas they should have changed by now from today''s scouting missions. Unfortunately, when I went to report the camp leader, I forgot to ask him about the current rankings."

    In fact, Morgan wasn''t quite sure about the other rankings because the kill counts were only one or two kills apart from one another. Such numbers could be crossed easily just by undergoing one battle so that the rankings might have switched by now.

    However, for the first ranking, Morgan was pretty sure that it was owned by Rachel. At the end of the day, that woman was a killing machine.

    ''Hmm... So, those the first three rankings are still more or less the same if those three people are still alive and kicking.''

    Jeremy thought briefly to himself after having heard Morgan''s recount.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy nodded his head towards Morgan in understanding. To be honest, he remembered those three people from his past life pretty clearly. After all, they would be somewhat famous within the human kingdoms in the future.

    Especially, one of those three that would achieve an even higher status than the other two...

    That person was...

    "Rachel... Do you know how many she had killed so far?" asked Jeremy.

    "Hmm... In the past two days, she had killed exactly ten kenkus. As for today, I''m not sure if her group had encountered any kenku''s scout team or not. If she had faced one, it means that her kill counts should be around fourteen or fifteen by now."

    Morgan replied with an awed expression after thinking about how the woman named Rachel fought.

    There had been a rumor being talked about extensively that Rachel had the skill number 182, [Markmanship], which boosted her uracy significantly.

    People felt suspicious that Rachel might have that skill because she rarely missed her target whenever an arrow left her bow.

    Nevertheless, Rachel, the referred person, had nevere out or spoken anything regarding the rumor surrounding her; she just let it be as it was.

    ''If the story ys out like in my past life, she will get one Rare-ranked bow in the near future...''

    Jeremy thought to himself as he raised his head to look at the dark night sky where darkness reigned over.

    For this second stage, it appeared that the cupids had even added stars in the vast sky as countless dim lights were illuminated from those small stars, shining dimly on this camp and the surrounding temperate forest.

    After seeing it was almost the time for him to do daily meditation, Jeremy spoke up to Morgan,

    "Should we go back?"

    "Sure, let''s go to the canteen to eat our dinner first. After that, I will bring you to get some new clothes from the warehouse before bringing you to your assigned tent," said Morgan as he dragged his feet towards the canteen area.

    Even though Morgan acted tough on the outside, he appeared ready to drop to the ground at any time. After all, he had been traversing within the vast forest the entire day; his stamina had long depleted from the long and arduous adventure.

    Soon, the two people walked away from the Crystal, going back to the smallne where they used toe here.

    The two people''s silhouettes gradually disappeared as they walked further and further away.

    ...

    One hourter...

    Jeremy, disguising as a middle-aged man, Tommy, was wearing a new set of clothes, which appeared to be pajamas made of casual lightweight cotton.

    Morgan had told Jeremy that the various regr clothes were given to them daily by the Crystal. They would be summoned at 8:00 a.m. sharp inside the prohibited areas alongside other materials used to fortify this fortress.

    Recounting to one hour ago, Morgan had brought Jeremy to the canteen, warehouse, bathroom, and thetter''s assigned tent, respectively.

    Along the way, Morgan also introduced Jeremy to many people. Two of those people happened to be the scout team leaders named Eddie and Mitchell. Unexpectedly, the duo was assigned to be the leaders of different teams.

    Jeremy met them at the canteen, seeing the two eating dinner together with some other acquaintances from the first stage, such as Bob, Joshua, Lucas, William, Grayson, and Derek.

    When Jeremy and Morgan met the two scout team leaders, Morgan introduced Jeremy to them briefly, telling them that Tommy was a new guy in Morgan''s team, who had just arrived at the camp today.

    Undoubtedly, when Mitchell heard that Jeremy had just arrived today, the former furrowed his eyebrows almost unnoticeably, but Jeremy could obviously spot such a thing easily.

    It appeared that the paranoia Mitchell might feel somewhat suspicious of the newly arrived Tommy''s mysterious background.

    At the time, Jeremy only nodded his head with a light smile stered on his face as he didn''t want to talk for fear that those people would recognize his voice.

    After that brief encounter, Jeremy hadn''t met with anotherplicated situation anymore as he proceeded to get new clothes, take a shower, ande into his assigned tent.

    Currently, Jeremy brought a soft cushion out from his left glove before sitting cross-legged on it.

    Shortly after, Jeremy meditated, entered the dark world, and eventually essed his own sea of consciousness.

    Jeremy felt that he could achieve the tenth stage of meditation, tranquility and equanimity, faster and easier than before. He knew that such a result was due to the two skills, Calm Mind and Greater Focus,bined with his newly acquired talent, Serenity of Magic.

    With all those three abilities altogether, with Jeremy''s talent in magic, he only needed to spend less than twenty seconds to enter the dark space where countless energy particles flew all around. Such a short timeframe used to enter the dark space had almost broken the records set by Jeremy when he was the sage in his past life.

    essing his sea of consciousness this time would be the third time Jeremy came here. After this time, he estimated some days ago that he only needed two more times before his sea of consciousness returned back to normal once again.

    After arriving within his sea of consciousness, Jeremy started repairing and mending the cracks right away.

    Unbeknownst to Jeremy, a pleasant surprise was waiting for him and would give him quite a shock.

 Chapter 162 - Jeremys Days Within The Camp (2)

    In the human camp situated somewhere within the temperate forest full of deciduous trees and countless wildlife...

    *Tweet* *Twitter*

    *Chirp* *Chirp*

    Tweeting and chirping noises resounded out from outside Jeremy''s tent, signifying the dusk had already receded, and the dawn finally came recing as the birds came out to sing the morning hymns.

    The darkened sky from earlier started brightening bit by bit as the darkness gradually faded away, observable by one''s naked eyes.

    ording to the timer within the blue Crystal, it appeared that the time right now was around 7 a.m.

    Jeremy, who had been sitting cross-legged meditating nonstop ever sincest night, suddenly opened his eyes ever slowly.

    ''This...''

    Jeremy blinked several times as he cogitated to himself in shock at his immediate discovery,

    ''I''ve been meditating and staying within my sea of consciousness for more than ten hours straight without sleeping, which should be impossible with my current cultivation level, yet I know all too well that I can meditate some more if I want to.''

    ''Furthermore, the efficiency of my meditation appears to be at least two times greater than before. Such results could onlye from my two improved aspects. First, my race has evolved to a higher level, and second, my new overpowering talent, Serenity of Magic.''

    ''With those two factorsbined, my meditation has reached another level entirely...''

    It couldn''t be helped that Jeremy felt shocked by his meditation results. Even a grand wizard had to drop their head in shame before such a prolonged and efficient meditation Jeremy had done in the past ten hours.

    Moreover, Jeremy didn''t even feel tired from theck of sleep or the prolonged meditation at all, as it appeared that he only needed to sleep every two or three days due to his enhanced body and stronger mind from evolving his race.

    Even though Jeremy''s mind was still not strong enough tost him more than three days without sleeping, his body was something else entirely. He felt like his body was still filled with vigor and hot blood and couldst him more than four or five days without the need of sleeping.

    ''It looks like I only need two or three hours more before my sea of consciousness will bepletely healed.''

    If it were not for the fact that Jeremy had an appointment with Morgan and the rest at 8 a.m., he would have continued meditating and mending the cracks within his sea of consciousness.

    At this time, there was only one hour before the meeting time, so Jeremy decided to stop his meditating session here.

    After standing up from the cushion, Jeremy kept it back inside his glove''s storage before picking up a set of leather armor lying on the floor beside him. The armor was obviously given to him by Morgan as a wee gift after Morgan knew that Jeremy only had onebat suit with him.

    ''I have to take a quick shower, subsequently going to the canteen area to eat breakfast. After that, I have to go to the meeting ce...''

    Having finished the thought about his following ces to visit, Jeremy promptly walked outside the tent.

    Currently, many people had just woken up from their sleep as they also came out from their tents one after another. As a result, audible noises started to be heard from all around.

    After having looked around him for a brief moment, Jeremy proceeded to the bathroom area without dy...

    ...

    Half an hourter...

    More than sixty tables with eight chairs each were arranged in order within the canteen. All of which was capable of hosting more than five hundred people eating simultaneously.

    As the time was still early and most people only came into this ce individually, the canteen was not yet too crowded with people. Still, the noises of people chatting with one another resounding out sonorously within the makeshift canteen, depicting a picture of the morning''s liveliness filled with vitality.

    The ones who came to have their breakfast here would have to queue up to receive their trays of the meal, whereas those who had already finished their meals would leave the canteen to do their own things.

    At this time, Jeremy was having his breakfast at a table with some other strangers whom he didn''t know about.

    Not long after, Jeremy gradually finished his meal consisting of meat stew, a big white bread, and a cup of orange juice.

    Regarding the white bread and orange juice, they came from the daily summoning generated from the giant Crystal that would be happening soon enough.

    ''Who did this stew? It''s pretty decent...''

    Jeremy thought to himself as he felt very satisfied with the food. Despite theck of spices and ingredients, the meat stew appeared to be somewhat delicious and tasted strong enough to eat withoutint.

    Having finished his meal, Jeremy stood up from the chair with a tray of empty dishes before proceeding to return the tray to the dishwashers.

    After returning the tray, Jeremy walked to the appointed ce where Morgan''s scout team would gather up.

    ''I wonder if some of them willete. After all, some of those people shouldn''t have a wristwatch with them.''

    ''Well, that doesn''t matter...''

    ''Come to think of it now, when will be the right time for me to strike?''

    While walking, Jeremy thought about many things here and there casually.

    Not long after, Jeremy finally arrived at the gathering ce, which happened to be only tens of meters away from the prohibited areas around the giant Crystal.

    Despite Jeremy being approximately fifteen minutes earlier than the appointed time, three people had already arrived before him; two were men, and thest was a woman.

    It appeared that the three people were pretty friendly as all of them greeted Jeremy warmly...

    "Good morning, mister Samson," said the woman after seeing Jeremying towards them.

    "Hi, there! How was your night?" said a man who stood beside the other two guys.

    Thest one nodded his head towards Jeremy with a warm smile.

 Chapter 163 - Jeremys Days Within The Camp (3)

    Simultaneously, Jeremy also replied back with a bright smile towards the three people,

    "Morning, guys. My night was not that bad, though, albeit my back still feels a bit stiff from sleeping on such a hard bed."

    Obviously, Jeremy lied through his teeth as he hadn''t slept even a single secondst night.

    "Right? I also think the same as you. The damned bed..." replied the man who had asked Jeremy earlier.

    Meanwhile, the woman standing on the sideline suddenly spoke up to the other two,

    "How about we introduce ourselves to him? I think we haven''t had a chance to introduce ourselves properly yesterday."

    "Good idea..." said the man who had kept quiet earlier.

    "Let''s start with me then. My name is Farrell Kain; you can call me Farrell."

    The talkative man, Farrell, introduced himself to Jeremy as the former reached his hand out for a handshake.

    "I think you guys have already known my name; anyway, I''m Tommy as of Tommy Samson. Nice to meet you..."

    Having reached out his hand to shake with Farrell, Jeremy introduced himself again as a formality.

    Afterward, the other two people also introduced themselves to Jeremy, the same as Farrell.

    Jeremy came to know that the woman who looked to be in herte 20s was Alita, whereas the quiet man with a tall feature was Henry.

    Meanwhile, Farrell looked to be around the same age as Jeremy, which was around twenty or so years. However, the man looked to be a bit muscr with his stout body build.

    The four started talking and chitchatting about some random topics as the scout team members came to this appointed ce one by one. Whenever someone arrived, they would introduce themself and get acquainted with Jeremy.

    The atmosphere started bing livelier and livelier as more people came to join in the fun.

    Until ten minutester, a total of ten people finally gathered together, readying tomence a meeting. After everyone came thoroughly, Jeremy knew pretty much everyone''s names by now.

    "Alright, guys..." Morgan suddenly spoke up after seeing everyone was here.

    The lively atmosphere promptly died down, and everyone''s attention was put on Morgan, listening to his following words.

    "As per the agreements with Kahn, we will have a one-day break today because we had fought hard and lost many people yesterday."

    Morgan paused briefly before proceeding with the main topic,

    "The reason why I call upon a meeting with you guys is that the same as thest time, we will get new members into our group to make up for yesterday''s loss."

    Everyone could pretty much guess this part already because two days ago, they had also lost somerades in a skirmish with the kenkus.

    In fact, four people within the group right now were added to the team just two days ago. They came from another scout team that was disintegrated apart;ter, those members were integrated into other teams ordingly.

    Thus, it was not a surprise for everyone to hear that new members would join their team soon.

    "As you guys know, our human camp consists of 50% construction teams, 30% scout teams, and thest 20% for the other groups, which have the duties of maintaining various functions within our camp."

    Upon hearing those words, many people nodded their heads in understanding; some wondered why Morgan raised such a topic out of nowhere.

    After seeing everyone''s reactions, Morgan continued his speech,

    "However, in the past three days, we''ve lost too many scout team members, subsequently causing the camp tock in the scouting aspect. So, Kahn and every team leader, including me, havee to an agreement this morning that... we will recruit more scout members from the construction teams."

    "What?"

    "Are you sure they wille?"

    "Hmm..."

    "I don''t think those weak-minded people will join us..."

    Many people started murmuring to each other after hearing Morgan''s notion of recruiting people from the construction teams. Those constructors were the cowardly type who didn''t dare to fight with their lives on the line after all.

    In the end, everyone knew that the initial 900 scout members had now reduced to less than 500, which was considered less than the concept of 30% scout teams. To be frank, there were roughly 2,000 surviving humans right now, which denoted 30% of the 2,000 were precisely 600 people.

    That meant they stillcked at least 100 people to add to various scout teams to make up for the loss from the battles.

    "I know it is bad news for us, but we don''t have any other choice..." said Morgan after seeing some people furrowing their eyebrows in deep thought before continuing,

    "As you know, each team consists of exactly twenty people. The good thing is that we only have to recruit five people into our team, as for the other five, they will be added to our team by a disintegrated team."

    "The reason we can get five people from that team is that...st night, the eleventh team, which hade back after us, was met with a total defeat, retreating with only six survivors caused by the enemy''s scout team. So, five of those six people wille to our team, whereas thest one will go to another team."

    After Morgan finished his piece, people digested his words for a moment before someone eventually spoke up,

    "I think finding just five people shouldn''t be a problem..."

    "Yeah, I know one or two people that might be interested in joining us."

    "Hmm... I will try inviting a person from my first stage; he is pretty good at fighting."

    "That''s great..."

    "Let''s do that."

    People started giving out their opinions and thoughts after hearing Morgan''s words. After all, recruiting five people shouldn''t be that hard for them.

    "Alright, guys. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation..."

    Morgan''s voice was heard again, interrupting the chatting people, causing those people''s attention to shift back to him once again.

    After seeing everyone''s attention was on him, Morgan continued,

    "There are still two more things for you guys to take note of. First of all, today is supposed to be our rest day... However, as you have heard from me earlier that there is not enough scouting force right now, so Kahn and the team leaders have agreed to let anyone file for a special mission if they want to."

    "It simply means if you are too bored and want to go out for another mission today, you can go to Kahn''s house and request to join another team. Nheless, the request must be made within 8:30 a.m. because every scout team will depart at exactly 9 a.m."

    Having heard so, most people could only shake their heads with an exhausted expression as they were too tired to go on for another mission right now. That was... except for Jeremy, for he had another thought in mind.

    "What is thest topic?" asked someone from within the team.

    After hearing the guy''s words, Morgan promptly took a deep breath before replying with a grave expression,

    "Thest topic is about the wolf monster..."

    Morgan ended thest two words with a heavy voice.

 Chapter 164 - Jeremys Days Within The Camp (4)

    Right now, it appeared that more and more people, who had finished their breakfast, started gathering in groups of tens not far from the prohibited areas around the giant Crystal. The number of people was increasing noticeably with the naked eyes...

    After hearing Morgan''s words, the scout team members started talking to one another after hearing about thest topic,

    "Wolf monster?"

    "Is it a wolf or a dog anyway? They look pretty simr."

    "Yeah, with that protruding mouth, it can be either of the two."

    "Is that even important?

    Rather than being curious about what Morgan had said, most people discussed whether the creature was a dog or a wolf instead.

    Meanwhile, Jeremy obviously knew what the creature was...

    Gnoll was considered a dog-humanoid creature, no less. It was also the same low-ranked organism as humans. Still, the gnoll and human''s differences in physical capabilities were simr to that of a cat and lion.

    That alone had made the differences between an average human and gnoll be pretty vast.

    For more reference, the gnolls were akin to an evolution race of normal dogs on Earth, making their nose and running speed be something that couldn''t be taken lightly of in the least.

    Even more than that, a gnoll was considered one of the bestial races on Ortus, albeit its race was more like a subordinate race to the werewolf race. Every gnoll still had a unique trait called ''Bloodline'', which was said to be something inherited from the first ancestors.

    Regarding the term ''Bloodline'', each bloodline had a different hierarchy and abilitiesing along with it. The higher the bloodline''s rank was, the stronger the holder of that bloodline became.

    In other words, the lower the bloodline''s rank was, the weaker the holder of that said bloodline would turn out to be. This was also the case for gnolls, the race of which was destined to be subordinated to the greater hierarchical race, the werewolf.

    As for the gnoll''s bloodline rank, most gnolls were only born with ''Common Bloodline'', having only a few irregrs and outliers within their race that had managed to be born with higher-ranked bloodlines.

    Nevertheless, the gnoll race was still just amoner racepared to other bestial races, undoubtedly except for the werewolf, for they considered the gnolls as their subordinates.

    The cases of subordination like this were often seen on Ortus, especially within the bestial races. For example, the kenku race was subordinated to the Tengus, the kobold was subordinated to the Draconians, the feline race was subordinated to the Leonins, the naga race was subordinated to the Medusas, and many more.

    It wasn''t strange in the least that those inferior races were subordinated or some even enved to the superior ones because the former had a too low density of the so-called ''Bloodline'', causing them to be suppressed instinctively by thetter, who had higher hierarchy and bloodline ranks.

    Nevertheless, even with itsmon bloodline, the gnoll''s physical strength was at least four or five times greater than an ordinary human.

    Regarding the gnoll''s sensory, it was also undoubtedly superior to humans in many aspects, especially its smelling sense.

    "Alright, calm down, guys, hearing me out first..."

    As everyone was talking to one another morously regarding the wolf monster, Morgan finally spoke up, attracting everyone''s attention.

    Upon seeing everyone was looking at him, Morgan continued,

    "As you know, team 7 only has one survivoring back alive from a tough battle against the so-called wolf monster."

    After hearing the word wolf monster once again, people''s expressions started to be a bit serious.

    After all, they had seen with their own eyes how the monster looked like and how strong it appeared to be when it had jumped far ahead into the river. Even after being shot on its shoulder, the creature hadn''t even budged one bit.

    "It is confirmed this morning that the wolf monster looked somewhat simr to the one we had encountered in the forest yesterday. However, it appears that the being we saw and the one that team seven fought against were different beings. That indicates to only one thing, there are at least two of those wolf monsters roaming inside the forest together with many packs of wolves."

    "The sole survivor of team 7 told me that the wolves were not a problem to their team at all, but the reason why they had experienced a total defeat was because of that one muscr creature, the wolf monster."

    Upon hearing Morgan''s words, other people started murmuring and talking again to express their thoughts and opinions to one another.

    After all, they had just heard an unbelievable sentence, ''a total defeat was caused by only one creature.''

    Then how strong would the wolf-humanoid monster be?

    Some felt d that they hadn''t fought against it because Morgan ordered them to cross the creek before that wolf pack arrived, whereas some felt doubtful if the wolf monster was indeed that strong as the survivor from team 7 had told Morgan.

    The opinions within the crowd were split...

    "Alright, there is no need to argue with each other, okay? The reason I''m telling you guys about the wolf monster is to let you guys, I mean, to let us be more careful about the true predators sneaking within the forest."

    "To be honest, I think there are more than just two of those beings out there, waiting to take our lives at any time, so we must be more aware of our surroundings when we go out for a scouting mission next time. I hope you guys take this advice in mind because our lives are on the line here."

    Having heard Morgan''s reminders, most people nodded their heads in understanding.

    It was clear that nobody wanted to lose their lives because of their own carelessness.

    At this moment, some people within the team started feeling regret, volunteering to be a scout team member. They should have joined a construction team instead.

    At the time, they hadn''t thought that the scouting mission would be this dangerous; they only wanted to earn some Kill Points to buy some decent gears for themselves, that''s all.

    Nobody would have known that people''s lives would be lost so easily akin to those lives were worth nothing like this.

    "Alright, guys... that''s it for today''s topics. Does anyone have any questions?" asked Morgan after finishing all the topics of today''s meeting.

    Meanwhile, people only shook their heads as they didn''t have any questions to ask. They only wanted to take a rest right now. Some of them hadn''t even slept fully but had to wake up early to attend this meeting.

    *Ring* *Ring*

    *Ring* *Ring*

    At this time, the ringing noises suddenly resounded out from the giant Crystal. The noises were so loud that the guards standing in front of the gates also heard them, albeit only lightly as they stood some hundreds of meters away.

    Most people within the camp had already known and expected such noises toe since long ago. After all, those sounds had happened precisely three times in the past three days, and this time was the fourth. They signified that the time had finallye...

    The time for the daily supplies to be summoned within the prohibited areas...

    The people, who had been gathering not far from the prohibited areas, also got ready for the incidence after hearing those ringing noises.

    It clearly meant that those people gathered at the periphery of the prohibited areas because they were waiting for the event tomence.

    Some secondster, the ringing noises gradually died down as the areas around the blue Crystal suddenly brightened up with white glowing light, illuminating the surrounding areas brightly.

    "Get ready!"

    Someone''s voice was heard from the other side of the Crystal.

    After hearing the guy''s words, many people shouted and eximed enthusiastically while some kept quiet and waited patiently for the materials, whereas someint about theirck of sleep.

    Suddenly, several heaps of wooden materials, foods, drinks, clothes, and other daily necessities appeared magically out of the white glow before everyone''s eyes.

    Although most people had seen such a thing for the fourth time already, some of them still eximed in mesmerization at the fantastic scene before them. They could never get used to it no matter how many times they looked at it.

    The sight of countless items and materials appearing out of nowhere was simply too shocking...

    Upon seeing the awaited items and materials, the gathering people from the construction teams finally got to work their today''s jobs. Those jobs were keeping, organizing, constructing, and repairing things within the camp.

    "This is the reason why I choose this ce as our meeting ce; it is to show our new member, Tommy, the summoning event," said Morgan while looking at several hundred people picking up the items and materials from the prohibited areas.

    At this moment, other people within the scout team, including Jeremy, were also looking at the construction teams doing their jobs, just like Morgan.

    "Well, that''s it for today. I will let you guys go and take a rest now. Anyway, don''t forget to recruit more people from the construction teams and report the results to me at 4 p.m. today. If there are still not enough people after 4 p.m., I will report to Kahn, and we will find an alternative way to solve this problem. Alright, everyone, dismiss!"

    Morgan dismissed everyone, letting them go to do their own things.

    ...

    [A/N: One of the differences between wolves and dogs is that wolves have yellow eyes, whereas dogs mostly have brown or blue eyes.]

 Chapter 165 - Scouting Mission (1)

    At a particr wooden house situated nearby the camping area...

    After leaving his two knives with the guards outside, Jeremy walked into the wooden house.

    *Knock* *Knock*

    Jeremy knocked on the working room''s door two times, awaiting a reply from the other side.

    "Come in..." said the man in his early 20s from within the working room.

    Having heard the approval, Jeremy turned the doorknob, opening the door before walking inside.

    At this time, Kahn Lochner''s working room appeared to be more decorated than Jeremy''sst visit.

    Except for the table, chair, and weapon hanger, there was another table with a set of four chairs situated some meters away from Kahn''s worktable.

    "What do you need from me, Mister Samson?" asked Kahn after seeing the middle-aged man, Tommy,e into the room.

    Looking around the room for a bit, Jeremy looked Kahn in the eyes and said,

    "I want to volunteer for a special scouting mission..."

    "Oh?"

    Kahn, who was about to write down the paper on his desk, promptly stopped his action and raised his head in wonder.

    After all, volunteering to do a dangerous mission on their own was something a sane person would never do, so Kahn looked at the middle-aged man before him deeply as if to gauge thetter''s intention.

    Shortly after having thought about Tommy''s three traits, Kahn finally realized that he himself was too paranoid in this situation. The middle-aged man before him was too good of a person to be suspected.

    Kahn knew all too well that he was afraid something unexpected would happen to the camp, causing the human side to lose the kenkus in this life-or-death battle.

    After realizing his paranoia, Kahn sighed lightly before opening his mouth,

    "Alright, you know the departure time is in thirty minutes, right?"

    "I know..." replied Jeremy.

    Hearing the reply, Kahn inquired further,

    "Which team do you want to join specifically?"

    Simultaneously, Jeremy fell into a brief thought, thinking about who he wanted to be teamed up with.

    After a few seconds, Jeremy shook his head slightly before answering,

    "No, I will be okay with any team you pick for me."

    "I understood. Hmm... Then, team 5, it is. I will notify the scout team about your calling to join. Regarding the departure, well, you have to arrive here, in front of this house, within the next 25 minutes. Now, you may go to prepare your own things, farewell."

    Upon finishing his words, Kahn started writing down the paper once again, signifying the end of their short meeting.

    "Alright..."

    Having said goodbye in his own way, Jeremy walked outside the wooden house, retrieving the two knives from the guards before walking back to his tent in the camping area not far from here.

    Along the way, Jeremy met Eddie and Mitchell standing in the vicinity of the camping area. The two guys wore full-body leather armor, indicating they would go on a scouting mission today.

    When the duo saw Jeremy, they nodded their heads slightly to thetter as Jeremy also nodded back with a smile as a formality.

    Afterward, there was no worthy event happening anymore as Jeremy proceeded forward. Soon, he arrived inside his tent.

    Having closed the zipper up, Jeremy pondered to himself very profoundly,

    ''If the event progresses as my past life, which is unlikely to happen because of the butterfly effects, it will be more than ten days before the human side discovers the kenku''s camp. Then, an all-out war will happen after that...''

    ''Still, I have to keep the worst-case possible in mind, which means it will take a very long time before the two sides discover another side''s base.''

    ''However, the longer I let the situation be, the lesser amount of kenkus I can kill. That also means I will receive fewer Kill Points and Rare items.''

    *Sigh...*

    ''If there is no cupid watching over this ce, I will just storm the entire kenku camp alone...''

    Having thought until this point, Jeremy shook his head dismissingly. There was no point mulling over such a thing he couldn''t control.

    Simultaneously, Jeremy continued his thought,

    ''If the brawn doesn''t work, then I will use the brain instead...''

    ''First of all, I cannot attack those creatures directly. If I attack the kenku camp right away without caring shits, killing them until only five hundred of them remain, then the two watchful cupids will surely interfere, and I will be caught red-handed by them.''

    ''Secondly, there are a wolf den and many gnolls somewhere within this temperate forest of which I know the approximate direction of where the wolf den should be situated. Furthermore, I also know exactly where the kenku camp is situated.''

    ''Thirdly, the four missions, of which I have to aplish to get those precious stars, consisting of finding and opening a secret treasure chest, ???, ???, and ???, especially thest one which gives out two white stars.''

    ''If I consider the various missions'' difficulty levels of the first stagepared to the rewards received from aplishing them, then the difficulty of the second and third mission should be as tough as defeating the Dokkaen in the hard trial and Xildas in the hidden chamber.''

    ''Regarding thest mission that gives out two white stars reward...''

    Jeremy''s eyes promptly brightened with hidden glints of light after thinking about what he had to do to gain the two white stars reward before continuing his thought,

    ''So, I should use that n...''

    ''If I use that n, the only problem is how to sneak away from the scouting group, unsuspected by the team members and undetected by the watchful cupids.''

    ''Alright, let''s do that then...''

    After finishing his long thought, Jeremy smiled to himself satisfactorily as he could finally find a way to end all this in one go while leaving behind a big mystery for those rted in wonder and puzzlement.

    ''There are thirteen minutes before the appointed timees...'' Jeremy thought momentarily.

    Surprisingly, Jeremy could feel the progress of time from the space fluctuation within the air.

    To be honest, such a simple feat like perceiving ''space'' was like a piece of cake for Jeremy.

    ''I will use this remaining timeframe to sort out the items within my spatial storage and prepare some contingency ns in case something goes awry. I will also have to find a good excuse to add the story up...''

    Having thought about his following actions, Jeremy proceeded to finish them one by one.

 Chapter 166 - Scouting Mission (2)

    Fifteen minutester, in front of the wooden house beside the camping area...

    Currently, a stout tan-skinned man with 170 centimeters in height, wearing thin, light leather clothes, stood before almost three hundred people.

    He had alert dark blue eyes and short wavy blonde un-styled hair, having a slight smile on his face while emanating aposed feel about him.

    The man was none other than Kahn Lochner, the camp''s leader, as he was giving his speech to the crowd consisting solely of scout team members,

    "Listen! I won''t take much time from you guys..."

    After seeing that most people''s eyes were on him, Kahn continued,

    "I only want to remind you that our main mission is to search for the enemy''s camping location. If you cannot find the kenku camp today, you must survive ande back here in one piece. Do keep in mind that your lives are equally as important as the main mission!"

    "One more thing, I think you guys have already heard about the so-called wolf monster. This is not advice but an order, do not engage in a battle against that thing because it is too strong, and it will be pointless in fighting against other beings except for the kenkus. I hope you guys heed this order strictly."

    "That''s all I have to say. Go and bring us glory over that bird-humanoid race!"

    Kahn finished his speech by boosting people''s morales with the temptation of glory.

    Having heard their camp''s leader''s words, people''s blood started boiling quickly as they shouted aloud to heighten the mood,

    "Hoorah!"

    "Hoorah!"

    "Yahhhh!!"

    "We must win!"

    "Let''s go!!"

    "Go!!!"

    "Kill those birds!"

    Shouting and moring voices resounded out loudly in front of the wooden house. The noises traveled far and wide to every corner within the camp.

    Some people felt so hyped and heated up that they wanted to go and kill their enemies here and now, whereas others also acted along with the fervent tide, causing the atmosphere to be pretty ruffian and rowdy.

    "Team 1, let''s go!"

    "Heed my words, team 4. Go, we kill!"

    "Myrades, let''s go."

    "Team 9, depart!"

    "Team 13, to the east gate!"

    Command aftermand came out from the scout team leaders'' mouths, signifying the start of today''s scouting mission and bloody skirmishes.

    After hearing their team leaders'' orders, everyone started departing in three different directions: west, north, and east of the camp, respectively.

    Regarding the southern direction, it was a dead-end, leading to the high mountain, which had an invincible barrier, preventing everyone from going in and out of the said barrier.

    Thus, the southern direction only needed minimal defensive force situated within the forest. There was no need to send a scout team to explore in that direction at all; only two or three surveince teams to keep the surroundings in check were enough.

    At this time, Jeremy was also among one of the thirteen scout teams consisting of more than 260 people.

    To be exact, Jeremy was put in team 5, which was responsible for scouting the camp''s northern region.

    Team 5, consisting of precisely twenty people, was heading for the north gate with the other four teams.

    As the northern region was pretty broad, a total of five teams were tasked to explore there. For the remaining eight teams, four would be heading for the western region, whereas another four would be heading for the eastern part.

    "Lucky me... It looks like my n will turn out to be smoother than initially thought. Still..."

    Having paused his thought briefly, Jeremy turned to look at a certain woman in her early 20s walking steadfastly towards the north gate, just like him and almost 100 other people.

    The woman appeared to be roughly 170 centimeters tall with cream-like skin, looking soft andfy to the touch. Her beautiful blonde-gold hair was tied into a big bun not to interfere with her movement. She had an oval face, a straight nose, and small lips.

    She had well-toned arms, a somewhat muscr torso, and moderately-long legs.

    With just a single look, one would realize that she was both cute and beautiful. Yet, the strict atmosphere around her had made her unamicable, for she had a very disciplined feel exuding strongly from her demeanors, behaviors, and facial expressions at all times.

    She wore a new, ckbat suit looking pretty simr to the one Jeremy had worn yesterday as it appeared that she also bought it from the Crystal''s shop in the first stage; she also wore no jewelry on her body.

    The only noticeable equipment on her body was a big bow, two small quivers crossing each other, making an X shape behind her back, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a pair ofbat boots suitable for traversing within a deep forest.

    The woman was Rachel Ravencroft, the Killing Machine, the nickname given by the people who had seen her fought.

    ''It looks like Rachel is quite in a hurry to earn Kill Points. After all, she had already gone out for a mission yesterday. Instead of resting, she has applied for a special scouting mission. Anyway, is it good luck or bad luck to be teamed up with this woman? Hopefully, she won''t interfere with my n...''

    Jeremy thought to himself after finishing scrutinizing the woman.

    Simultaneously, as if feeling someone was looking at her, Rachel turned to her right side, only to see a normal-looking middle-aged man looking at her body from head to toe.

    ''The neer who has also requested for a scouting mission? Why is he looking at me?'' Rachel thought with a slight frown before turning back towards the front, continuing her march towards the north gate.

    *Tap* *Tap*

    Someone promptly tapped Jeremy''s right shoulder after seeing thetter ''ogling'' over Rachel''s body.

    Having been tapped so suddenly by the guy walking beside him, Jeremy turned to his right with an inquiring expression that said, ''what business do you have with me?''

    "You have good eyes, fellow brother of culture. She is super sexy, right? Look at those well-toned muscles and her booby''s size... Huhuhu..." whispered the man who tapped Jeremy''s shoulder.

    The man smirked with widened nostrils and crescent-curving eyes like a true-blue pervert...

    ''What is this moron''s name again?''

    With that thought in mind, Jeremy reminisced about the event that happened five minutes ago.

 Chapter 167 - Scouting Mission (3)

    Five minutes ago...

    "I think you know her already, this woman is Rachel Ravencrost, and this middle-aged man is Tommy Samson, the renowned neer who has just arrived at our camp yesterday. The two of them have requested to join a scouting mission today. Thus, seeing your team only has eighteen people, I''ve decided to add Rachel and Tommy to your team. If you guys have any objection, raise your hand right now..."

    Kahn said as he introduced the two people to team 5 consisting of eighteen people, with twelve men and six women.

    Upon seeing no objection from the crowd, Kahn smiled slightly before saying,

    "Good, then. Take care of them well."

    "Wee, guys!"

    "The goddess of luck sides with us!"

    "Yeah!!!"

    "Wee, Miss Rachel!"

    "Our mission will be a piece of cake today."

    People started talking and joking merrily with one another after seeing the two temporary members in their team.

    After all, who wouldn''t want a killing machine within their team?

    Even though most team 5''s members were brave enough to volunteer to be in a scout team willingly, they still valued their own lives greatly. No one here wanted to lose their lives early...

    So, having a killing machine, Rachel, added to their team would surely boost their survivability to another level.

    As for the middle-aged man, Tommy, who also joined their team the same as Rachel?

    Undoubtedly, the man was pretty much overshadowed and skipped over by other people. As there was a bigger fish before them, people ought to focus on the bigger fish first.

    Having finished introducing the two people to team 5, Kahn proceeded to another team to do the same thing as there were still four or five more people who had volunteered for a scouting mission.

    After seeing Kahn walk away, Jeremy strolled into team 5, intending to blend in with the team, not to stand out too much.

    Unexpectedly...

    "Eh yo! I''m Gerard Barker. Wee to our team, Tommy," said a man looking to be in histe 20s as he reached out his hand for a handshake.

    "..."

    Seeing such an enthusiastic attitude towards him. Jeremy scrutinized the man before him for a few seconds until his eyes stopped at the man''s right hand.

    ''A trouble maker...''

    Such thought was the only thing within Jeremy''s mind right now as he also reached out his right hand to shake with the man, having a light smile on his face.

    "Nice to meet you; I will be in your care from now on," said Jeremy as he suddenly felt something before turning his head to look around him.

    Unexpectedly, again...

    Having seen the two people shaking hands so merrily, most people looked on towards Jeremy and the man, Gerard, with strange expressions.

    Those expressions appeared to be only two things... loathing and indifference...

    ''A real-deal trouble maker? Well...''

    Jeremy thought after seeing other people''s reactions after he shook his hand with Gerard''s.

    Even though Jeremy didn''t know what had transpired within this team for them to give Gerard those unpleasant expressions, Jeremy decided not to care so much about such a thing.

    "For the two neers, Rachel and Tommy, we will introduce our team members to you guys along the way. For now, let us depart for the northern region."

    A woman with a muscr body suddenly spoke up, interrupting the introduction session between Rachel and other people.

    Having heard the sudden deep voice resounding out from nearby, everyone looked towards the six feet tall woman before walking after her towards the north gate.

    Just like that, the group of twenty people walked towards the north gate together...

    shback ended...

    ...

    Having walked alongside the man, whom tapped his shoulder earlier, Jerem finally recalled his name,

    ''This guy''s name is Gerard...''

    Jeremy thought to himself before smiling lightly as a reply towards thenky man with tattoos on his arms while marching forward.

    "You don''t have to act shy before me. I know we are the same kind," whispered Gerard after seeing Jeremy''s silent response, not intending to stop the conversation.

    "..."

    "By the way, brother, what did you do for a living beforeing here?" said Gerard as his voice got a bit louder than before, attracting some people''s attention.

    "..."

    ''Brother? Why did I be this guy''s brother?''

    Jeremy thought in bewilderment as he only kept quiet after being pestered by the man.

    "Do you have any family members? A child? A wife? Parents?"

    "..."

    Having kept quiet like other times, Jeremy promptly thought inwardly,

    ''Now that I know why he is bugging me. It appears that this guy, Gerard, isn''t friendly or anything of the sort, but he wants to probe me, my behavior, my feelings, and empathy levels...'' Jeremy thought amusingly to himself as he felt the slight malicious thoughts within those questions.

    Unexpectedly, Jeremy realized Gerard''s actual intention from the questions aimed at him alone.

    With his long lifespan in his past life, Jeremy had met too many kinds of people to count. He knew who woulde expecting benefits in return, who woulde with malicious intent towards him, and who woulde with a cordial purpose to befriend him.

    "C''mon, brother, we can be good friends, you know? Within this kind of ce, we ought to stick together." Gerard continued his harassing, not caring about what Jermey was feeling inside at all.

    ''This guy... What should I do to him? Break his arms? Pluck his head out? Or should I y along with him? After all, I have to act ording to the three traits in my Status Window, and if I do something too conspicuous, the cupids...''

    ''What a dilemma...''

    Jeremy thought to himself as he was attacked incessantly with question after question from Gerard.

    In the first ce, Jeremy felt too bored to entertain the annoying man. He still had many objectives to be done and couldn''t afford to be distracted.

    However, right now, Jeremy started to have a second thought about the man as thetter kept annoying him nonstop.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!