《World Advancement》


 Prologue: The Beginning of Everything

    All prologues have been rewritten and merged.


    Please comment with any thoughts you have on the rewrite.


    Enjoy!


    <hr />


    Prologue 1:


    Since humanity gained the capacity for reason there had been one overreaching question that has haunted the greatest minds of every age.


    How did everything come to exist?


    This question, above all others, has always been a source of debate and disagreement between minds great and ordinary alike.


    For the majority of the history of mankind this question was answered through belief in a greater power or guiding force. These beliefs came to be known as religion. There existed many of these religions and all of them had their own explanations as to how the world came into existence. Depending on which group of people you asked, the world had been created by a certain deity or group of deities.


    However as time passed humanity began to discover that through observation of the world around them they could think of explanations for every day phenomenon such as fire and water. After conducting an experiment they could then confirm whether their idea was correct. This process of solving the mysteries of the universe became known as science and the ones who practiced it, scientists.


    An important characteristic of science is that when something is learned about the universe any future research can build off of the existing knowledge and probe deeper into the mysteries of natural laws. This allowed mankind¡¯s knowledge of the natural world to increase unceasingly which gave rise to benefits in all aspects of human achievement. As science progressed countless new technologies were born but science didn¡¯t stop, it continued chasing the secrets of the universe.


    By the twenty first century, using the culmination of all existing knowledge on the physical world, science had found a theory on how the universe began. They named it the big bang theory.


    According to the big bang theory, the universe began with a massive explosion of space and matter.


    Time started and space began expanding outward, increasing the size of the newly born universe.


    As space expanded the matter that had been created in the big bang began to spread outward.


    While the universe got larger and larger matter began to attract other matter with the force of gravity, forming stars, planets, asteroids, moons, comets, nebula, and other heavenly bodies.


    Four point five billion years ago the majority of one of those clumps of matter came together to form a yellow star.


    The remaining matter condensed over a period of time to create a host of planets and smaller objects that orbited around that star.


    This star would later become known as the sun and the planet in the third orbit from it would be named the earth.


    Because of the very specific conditions under which this star and planet were formed, the planet, earth, gained the capacity to support life.


    In its early days, however, the earth was a barren wasteland covered in molten rock. It took many years before the earth had cooled enough to begin the process toward life.


    Once the earth had cooled and formed its surface, the crust, large bodies of water formed in the parts of the crust that were lower in elevation.


    It was in these bodies of water where the first traces of life developed.


    Over an immense period of time the chemical elements contained in the oceans interacted and formed the first form of life, microorganisms.


    Once life began a process, called evolution, began adapting life into different forms to survive in different environments.


    Over time many new forms of life evolved, mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, arachnids, marsupials, amphibians, and many other groups of organisms.


    Somewhere along the way a type of organism evolved that was unlike any other so far.


    This organism wasn¡¯t the fastest, it wasn¡¯t the strongest, it couldn¡¯t breathe underwater, it couldn¡¯t fly in the sky, it wasn¡¯t a master of stealth, it couldn¡¯t scare other species away.


    But this organism had something going for it that other species did not. Something that would eventually remove them from the natural order of predator and prey, strong and weak.


    This species, humans, had a brain that gave them great mental capabilities and reasoning. They also had specialized appendages that allowed them to shape the world to their convenience.


    Creating languages that allowed them to pass knowledge from one individual to another, humans began amassing knowledge on how to overcome the natural world.


    Soon humanity had created communities and cultures, surpassing nature with their collective efforts.


    The more humanity learned the more they hungered for knowledge, inventing new tools, refining old ones, collecting knowledge, and seeking answers.


    The human hunger for knowledge eventually gave rise to the sciences, humanity¡¯s search for the truth behind the world.


    With science¡¯s discovery of the big bang theory many believed that the mystery of the universe was solved.


    But there were those that were not satisfied.


    This group of people believed that no matter what something cannot come from nothing.


    To them when they hear that the universe, the bubble of space they live in, began at the big bang they wonder, ¡°If the big bang was the beginning of the universe then what was before it? If we live in an expanding pocket of space called the universe, what is outside it?¡±


    This is the story of a man who found the answers to these profound questions.


    This is the story of a man with a second chance at life.


    This is World Advancement.


    <hr />


    Prologue 2:


    Scott¡¯s eyes slowly opened and he groaned dejectedly as the alarm clock situated on the small table near his bed continued to play him the song of its people.


    Scott was tempted to take a play out of old fashioned cartoons and break the damned thing, but he realized that it wouldn¡¯t do him any good.


    ¡°Man¡­ I know this is my dream and all but for some reason I just can¡¯t get any enthusiasm for this job. Oh well, I guess it¡¯s almost complete anyway.¡±


    Currently Scott was working on building the world¡¯s largest and most advanced particle accelerator, which he had designed himself.


    This technological marvel had taken years of his life to design and build, it encompassed a large section of the continent of Australia.


    ¡°The big day is almost here, when my creation will be activated for the first time. I just hope it is worth it.¡±


    In a way you could say that the accelerator was the meaning of Scott¡¯s life. After all, there hadn¡¯t been much else that meant anything to him.


    When he was young Scott was just an ordinary kid like anyone else.


    As a young child, he laughed, cried, made messes, and played just like any of the other babies.


    He grew up normally, with no indication that anything was wrong, he attended preschool and got along well with the other children.


    However, when Scott began attending primary school, he began to display a characteristic of great curiosity always asking questions and searching for answers.


    This curiosity of his led him to ask his mother a particular question one day. A question that would eventually cause many problems in his life.


    It was one day after he had come home from first grade.


    He came home and put away his lunchbox, then he walked up to his mother and asked, ¡°Hey mom, I had a question, how come the teacher never talks about those dots you see everywhere?¡±


    At first his mother wasn¡¯t concerned, she absent-mindedly replied with, ¡°Dots? Oh, you mean polka dots, like on people¡¯s shirts?¡±


    ¡°No mom, not those, I¡¯m talking about the really small dots that are moving around. See they¡¯re all over the table, the chair, and everything else. You can see them right?¡±


    This time his mother became a little concerned. ¡°Is he in the phase where he makes up stories or is it something else?¡± she wondered to herself.


    ¡°Scott, are you making this up?¡± his mom asked.


    ¡°Of course not mom! Can¡¯t you see them they¡¯re right there!?!¡± Scott yelled back getting a little scared.


    His mother gave him a hug and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, we¡¯ll go see the doctor, he¡¯s smart, he can tell you what the dots are.¡±


    ¡°Really?!?¡± Scott exclaimed.


    ¡°Yes.¡± His mother replied.


    His worried dispelled, Scott happily ran to his room.


    Once he had left his mother¡¯s expression crumbled and she collapsed to the floor.


    ¡°Please, no! Not him!¡± she whispered as she lay on the floor crying.


    Scott¡¯s question had brought out her greatest fear that Scott would be born with a mental disability.


    Normally a parent wouldn¡¯t be plunged into despair due to suspicions of mental disability in their child however, she had had a close and traumatizing experience with mental disability.


    Her family had always believed that her brother was an ordinary child.


    He performed about average in his classes in his earlier years, however, as the years went by and the school material got harder his grades began to slip.


    His family gave him encouragement and helped him to study and for a while it seemed to work.


    But when he entered high school things took a turn for the worse, the work was much more difficult and no matter how hard he tried his grades continued to drop.


    Then in his second year he ended up last in his class and was told he would have to repeat the grade. He felt hopeless like nothing he tried helped him succeed.


    Then the other students found out about his grades.


    They sneered at him and called him names like the stupidest in the school.


    Once he found out about what they were saying it was his point of no return. He no longer had any hope for his life.


    He went to the top of the tallest building in his school and threw himself from it.


    After the fact his family learned that it had been an un-diagnosed learning disability that had caused his grades to drop.


    This was the reason Scott¡¯s mother feared mental disabilities and the reason for the actions she took next.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let him end up like my brother, I¡¯ll definitely get him checked out and if I need to I will get him help so he can learn properly.¡±


    A month later Scott¡¯s mother took him to the doctor to get a brain scan because she believed that would be the easiest way to find any abnormalities in his brain.


    The doctor had Scott lie on a white table that slid into a white tube.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The doctor explained, ¡°This is an MRI machine, while you are lying in the tube it uses magnets to take a picture of your brain. We just need you to stay still, okay Scott?¡±


    Scott confirmed that he understood and got onto the machine bed.


    As Scott was getting the MRI his mother was talking to the doctor.


    ¡°After talking to Scott earlier from what I can tell he seems to be a normal kid other than those dots he talks about.¡± (Doctor)


    ¡°Yes, I hope that the scan comes back clear, how long until it''s ready?¡± (Scott¡¯s mom)


    ¡°It¡¯ll be ready in about three days, you can come get the results while Scott is at school.¡± (Doctor)


    Three days later Scott¡¯s mother came back to get the results.


    She walked into the doctor¡¯s office and sat down to wait for him.


    Soon he walked in carrying a stack of images.


    Impatient, she frantically asked, ¡°Doctor, is my son¡¯s brain normal?!?¡±


    The doctor motioned for her to sit back down and he sat at his desk.


    He began to speak, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to have to tell you this, but there is an abnormal structure in your son¡¯s brain.¡±


    Scott¡¯s mother was speechless, in fact, she actually stopped breathing momentarily from the shock of it.


    The doctor set down the scans and elaborated, ¡°However, I am unable to tell you what effect this abnormal structure will have on your son. I have never seen anything like it before. Just from its placement I would guess that it will affect his senses and his learning capabilities.¡±


    To Scott¡¯s mother those final words were like a nail in the coffin.


    Here expression turned lifeless and she picked up the scans, halfheartedly thanked the doctor, and headed out the door.


    She got in her car and for a while just sat there crying and repeating over and over, ¡°What am I going to do? What am I going to do?¡±


    After a while the shock began to wear off and she became able to think of an answer to the question she had asked herself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put my son in the group for special needs children so that if any learning problems arise, he can have help to overcome them.¡±


    From that day forward Scott would become part of the special needs group at school.


    Unfortunately, his mother¡¯s intention to help him succeed in school backfired on Scott.


    Being in the special needs group distanced him from all the other students at the school and he slowly became more and more isolated as the other students became more wary of him.


    Being young and immature, the other students saw being part of the special needs group as different and they thought of him as weird and scary.


    Eventually the teachers realized that he was learning just fine, if not better than the other children and moved him back to the regular group but it was too late.


    Even after he returned to the regular class, he was seen by the others as someone strange, someone different. They all kept their distance from him and eventually Scott lost his trust in other people.


    He decided that he would focus solely on his studies, especially science as it was his favorite subject.


    Then one day in third grade, he learned something that would set the course of his life.


    Scott was sitting in science class listening to the lecture.


    (Teacher) ¡°¡­everyone knows that the sidewalk is made concrete, the ground is made of dirt, and this table is made of wood. But what are concrete, dirt, and wood made of?¡±


    (Random Student 1) ¡°Rocks?¡±


    (Random Student 2) ¡°Trees?¡±


    (Random Student 3) ¡°Isn¡¯t dirt made from poo? Hehe¡±


    (Teacher) *Sighs ¡°Technically, you are all correct. However, everything in the world is made up of something much smaller¡­¡±


    This phrase catches Scott¡¯s attention ¡°This sounds really familiar¡­¡± he mumbled to himself.


    (Teacher) ¡°Everything in this world is made up of very small particles that are invisible to human eyes. These are called atoms.¡±


    Shock runs through Scott. ¡°That sounds exactly like the dots that I can see everywhere I look. I was always told that it was nothing but a hallucination and to never speak of it to others. But maybe what I am seeing are the atoms that make up the world! If that¡¯s true, then it means that I actually possess a sense that others don¡¯t. I shouldn¡¯t say anything about this until I know for sure.¡±


    (Teacher) ¡°One example of this is oxygen molecules enter your lungs when you breathe in and carbon dioxide exits your lungs when you exhale.¡±


    Scott looked around and noticed that he could observe the process happening. Small pairs of dots, which must be the oxygen atoms, were being inhaled and larger groups of dots, CO2, were being exhaled. ¡°It¡¯s true, I can observe these things called atoms.¡±


    Scott decided in that moment that he would use this unusual sense of his to the best of his ability and he would work hard and study chemistry, physics, and biology.


    With Scott¡¯s dedication to his studies and his strong aptitude for science, he quickly completed elementary and middle school often skipping grades.


    He focused solely on learning as much as he could as quickly as he could, never slowing down to make friends or even for leisure.


    By the time he was twelve he was starting his first year in high school.


    Two years after that he had completed all of the necessary high school courses and some basic college classes on the side.


    People would often say to Scott, ¡°Wow, you really are amazing, but you should slow down and take some time to be a kid.¡±


    However to Scott, because of his mistrust of people, saw those words of concern as words of jealousy and he began to think that he was better than everyone else and that they just wanted to bring him down.


    He began avoiding people more and more until he entered college and realized that he could take online classes for the majority of his education.


    With online classes he could complete them faster than normal classes with the added bonus of not having to be around people.


    It only took Scott four years to get a triple major in chemistry, physics, and biology. He graduated college with doctorates in chemistry and physics and a bachelors in biology.


    Scott¡¯s ability allowed him to directly observe atomic processes and often applied to physics and chemistry. This helped him to understand these subjects easier and thus earn doctorates.


    In the case of biology the atomic processes were often too complex for his ability due to sensory overload and so he only made it as far as a bachelor¡¯s degree.


    During Scott¡¯s time at college he was practically a full time shut in, only leaving his apartment when necessary.


    When he began to look for his job, however, Scott realized that he would have to interact with people at least on a professional level.


    So Scott created a front, he would only talk business and nothing more while keeping his true thoughts locked away.


    Upon his graduation Scott soon became a topic of discussion as he had completed three difficult major and at such a young age.


    He was featured in science magazines as a young genius that would surely change whatever field he decided to enter into.


    Because of this there were many companies that sought to hire him. Biotech companies, government contractors, and even universities attempted to bring him on board with all the tools at their disposal.


    He was offered high paying jobs, jobs in top positions, excellent benefits, and luxury items such as fancy cars.


    However, Scott turned them all down, and often in a curt and condescending matter.


    This arrogant attitude gained him a collection of enemies who saw him as nothing more than a spoiled, arrogant, child.


    To those who thought poorly of him he was known as the terminator in reference to his single-minded determination, his sense of superiority, and the fact that he seemed to shun human relationships.


    To Scott, he simply didn¡¯t care which companies wanted to hire him.


    This was because he already knew where he wanted to work.


    Because of his ability Scott could sense atomic interactions and because of this he decided to work in the area of particle physics.


    There he could truly use his ability to its fullest extent as it allowed him to perform better than the traditional sensors used in particle experiments.


    Wanting to work at the forefront of particle physics Scott chose CERN as his place of work.


    Soon after starting his job at CERN Scott quickly rose through the ranks.


    Utilizing his ability to its fullest he made many scientific discoveries which quickly propelled him into the spotlight of the scientific community.


    For many scientists the disdain they had for Scott¡¯s arrogance curdled into jealousy of his accomplishments.


    As usual Scott simply ignored everyone else in pursuit of science.


    Soon enough though, Scott began to become dissatisfied with the work environment at CERN.


    There was too much red tape, strange rumors flying around for example something about a ¡°Jellyman¡±, but most of all CERN simply wasn¡¯t pushing the envelope enough.


    Sure, they made many discoveries but they were all incremental in nature.


    Scott yearned to make a monumental discovery, to attempt something no one had attempted before.


    So he decided to leave CERN, packed up and moved to Australia.


    With the help of the Australian government and various private backers Scott began work on the largest scientific project the world had ever seen.


    A massive circular particle accelerator encompassing a large swath of Australia.


    Its purpose?


    To create space-time fluctuations in order to test Einstein¡¯s theory of space-time.


    The accelerator works by accelerating gravitons through a space devoid of dark matter.


    The absence of dark matter allows the removal of the universal speed limit, the speed of light.


    The gravitons accelerate infinitely until they collide producing space time fluctuations.


    The accelerator was at the bleeding edge of technology, taking ten years for a team of Scott and the world¡¯s best engineers to construct.


    Millions of dollars and many sleepless nights later it was finally complete.


    At present, it was just before the initial activation of the accelerator.


    Scott was making the final adjustments in the flux chamber, the site of the space-time fluctuation experiment.


    However his nostalgic trip into the past was interrupted by the blaring of a loud klaxon.

 Chapter 1 part 1: The Death of The Foolish Genius

    /Author''s Note\


    This is chapter 1 part 1. I had originally planned to post the whole chapter at once, but I decided that since I have a class I would post the first half before and the second after. Anyway, this chapter is pretty tragic, but don''t expect there to be too much of that in this story.


    Enjoy The Chapter!


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    The klaxon blared ringing in Scott¡¯s ears and the lights dimmed.


    Instantly Scott¡¯s heart filled with dread.


    He knew what that sound meant, he had designed the accelerator after all.


    Thousands of miles away on the other side of the continent of Australia subatomic particles were accelerating around the smaller injection accelerator preparing to be sent through the main collider.


    Scott knew there was no way out.


    Thick radiation shields had been lowered at the same time the first alarm sounded.


    These were designed to provide maximum safety to the people operating the experiment.


    Safety. Ha. Those great tools of ¡°safety¡± that he had designed himself had trapped him in here.


    Obviously Scott wasn¡¯t an idiot and had designed a safety measure that was supposed to prevent the accelerator from activating when there was any extraneous material inside the collider.


    However, something seems to have gone wrong and it had started up anyway.


    Scott knew he was going to die.


    This project was the culmination of his life¡¯s work and it ended up that he had dug his own grave.


    Literally. Scott decided that if he was going to die anyway, he wanted to stay out of the way of the colliding particles so that the space-time fluctuation, that he had spent his whole life to create, would actually occur.


    Scott laid down underneath the impact site. ¡°At least I¡¯ll be the first person to die by space-time anomaly. Haha.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    There were four minutes left till the particles would enter the main accelerator, travel at near the speed of light, and proceed to collide.


    As the minutes ticked by Scott began to feel many emotions he hadn¡¯t had in a long time.


    It was as if a bottle came uncorked.


    First, he felt pride and accomplishment for all the things he had done in his life, but then his mind drifted to all the things he had not done.


    He had never reached out to others.


    His entire life he had been alone, and now he would die alone.


    He had pushed away anyone who ever reached out to him.


    Never accepting any offers of friendship or love.


    He even pushed away the one person who cared about him more than anyone.


    After discovering his power and learning that he was not crazy, he had blamed his mother for the hardships in his life and drew away from her.


    Thinking about it now he finally realized that everything she had done had been for his sake.


    He regretted more than anything that he had not loved or cared about anyone other than himself.


    It was that moment that he realized that even his life¡¯s work was nothing more than a self-satisfying ego trip.


    He did it because he could.


    He bent an entire country to his will for no greater reason than to prove he could.


    As Scott fell into despair the klaxon stopped sounding, there were mere seconds before the collision.


    In his last moments Scott had one thought, ¡°If I could do it all again, I would remember to live and to help others to live.¡±


    Then for a split second Scott felt a great force and the world cut to black.

 Chapter 1 Part 2: When Possibility Becomes Actuality

    /Author''s Note\


    ElPsyKongroo28 here. World advancement is officially one day old. Wooo! Thanks everyone for reading my fiction and to all of the people who followed.


    This chapter covers Scott''s transition to another world.


    |WARNING| Contains HEAVY Sci-Fi and Mind-Fuck |WARNING|


    As such, if you don''t like such things please skip this chapter and assume Scott made it to the other world for no good reason.


    Please comment your thoughts on the chapter and/or submit a review on the fiction page.


    Here''s the Chapter, Enjoy!


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    Scott was in complete darkness, a darkness that could not be described as deep and endless night. This darkness felt flat and truly empty, nonexistent.


    No, he was standing on an endless meadow, long green grass rippling in the wind, the smell of fresh air lingering in his nostrils.


    Again he was somewhere else, it was a futuristic city that was completely devoid of people. Strange vehicles askew and scattered about.


    Scott continued to be transported to various places that were as diverse as the sun and the moon. The only thing the places all had in common were that had no other person but him.


    Finally, Scott arrived at a small park with a large gazebo. Something felt different about this place than all the others. There was a distinct feeling of something other than himself watching him.


    He was walking up to the gazebo when suddenly a loud voice came from behind him.


    (????) ¡°WELCOME! TO BEFORE THE UNIVERSE! Also after, and outside. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t say welcome, you have been here for eternity, you also just got here a second ago.


    Scott turned around and saw a man standing where he had walked through a moment before.


    (Scott) Who the hell are you!?!? Are you crazy or something?


    (????) ¡°I am everything and everyone, nobody and no one. Although inside this instance I am Instance 4,964e^99: Einstein.¡±


    Now that he mentioned it, he kind of looked like a younger version of Einstein.


    (Scott) ¡°How can you be Einstein? And what do you mean by Instance?¡±


    (Einstein?) ¡°To explain that I first must explain where you currently are. To be blunt, you died in your universe and at the same time you exited the universe through the space-time anomaly that your accelerator caused.¡±


    (Scott) ¡°So you¡¯re saying that I¡¯m dead and outside the universe?¡±


    (Einstein?) ¡°No, you are dead in your universe and an instance of you exited your universe.¡±


    (Scott) ¡°Huh?¡±


    (Einstein?) ¡°To put it as simply as I possibly can outside of the universe possibility becomes actuality¡±


    (Scott) ¡°Possibility becomes actuality?¡±


    (Einstein?) ¡°Inside the universe, everything is relative. Light is the fastest thing in the universe. Stars are light years apart. However, outside the universe relativity does not exist, causing all possibilities to be simultaneously true. These possibilities are called instances. For example, I am standing here talking to you as Einstein, but at the same time another instance of me is currently murdering another instance of you.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    (Scott) ¡°So if all possibilities are actuality does that mean there is a simultaneous reality where I am you?¡±


    (Einstein) ¡°Yes, that''s true, however there is something special about that particular instance of you. Unlike all other instances outside the universes, this instance of you is not connected to any of the other instances. You retain the individuality inherent to residents of a universe.¡±


    (Scott) ¡°Wait, so if all possibilities are happening simultaneously how are you and I having a regular  conversation right now?¡±


    (Einstein) ¡°That is because right now we are in a pocket universe and not subject to the true chaos of the outside. This is possible because Instances are not just people. This pocket universe is another instance of me. In fact, all universes are instances and as such there are an unlimited number of them with an infinite variety of structures and laws. Universes are created when an instance explodes. This is the reason they always start with the big bang. At the moment of the big bang time starts up, space expands, the matter native to that universe is created, and the physical laws are applied.¡±


    (Scott) ¡°This is fascinating and all but why are you telling me this and what does it have to do with me?¡±


    (Einstein) ¡°Hahaha! The reason I am telling you this is because I find you interesting, an instance apart from the rest, and as for what it has to do with you it is because of your special characteristics. Because you retain the qualities of a being born of a universe you are inherently incompatible with the Outside. As such you are being drawn back into a similar universe to the one you came from. This universe will be about 99.99% identical to the one you lived in previously. However, as you will find out that 0.01% difference will have a huge impact. Furthermore, as time does not exist outside the universes there is no way to predict which time period you will arrive in. Once you are pulled into this new universe, as your body both exists and doesn¡¯t exist at the same time you will simply be born from the matter of that universe.¡±


    (Scott) ¡°So essentially I will be reincarnated¡­¡±


    (Einstein) ¡°Essentially, yes. When you are reborn you will lose your memories of anything before, however, you will retain your knowledge, your base personality, the strongest emotions from your last life, and your ability. This has to do with an incompatibility of the memory data between worlds and is not really that important to go into further detail on.¡±


    (Scott) ¡°So when exactly will this happen?¡±


    (Einstein) ¡°As soon as I take us out of this pocket universe. Which is right about now. Well, good luck in your new world! Bye!¡±


    (Scott) ¡°Wait!¡±


    As Scott yelled everything went black¡­ for the second time.

 Chapter 2: On gods, devils, and the beginning of the new Universe

    /Author''s Note\


    ElPsyKongroo28 here, This is chapter 2. This explains the history and workings of the universe that Scott will be assimilated into. Sorry, no plot yet. I promise, it''s coming. I hope you enjoy the chapter.


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    To the inhabitants of this universe, everything in existence was created by the god that they respectively worshipped.


    One group believed that the universe was created by the earth, sun, and moon gods.


    Another believed there were as many gods as there were natural occurrences.


    One thought the universe was planned and built by one god.


    However, some believed that there were no gods and the universe created itself through natural processes.


    The residents of this world were all incorrect.


    However each of the groups had a piece of the puzzle.


    Each had gained a fragment of the truth without being able to understand the true significance.


    The closest of all the groups were the last two mentioned.


    The true origin of the universe was that a single ¡°being¡±, an instance from outside the universes which could be considered to be an all-powerful god, had exploded.


    This event was the big bang that created this universe.


    Due to the characteristics of this instance the explosion created the unique matter of this universe and wrote the natural laws.


    This new universe was 99.99% identical to the universe Scott came from.


    All the matter and all the natural laws were identical save for one really small, extremely important, difference.


    This difference was, in one word, magic.


    A natural phenomenon that did not exist in the other universe.


    However, like all other matter and natural processes magic did not happen for no reason.


    There are mechanisms and laws inherent in magic.


    The function of magic in this new universe was to bend the other laws of the universe.


    One inherent property of magic was that it required stimulus in order to be used.


    Without direction magic was inert, not able to do anything.


    In most cases the stimulus required to actually use magic was a will.


    This meant that normally in order for magic to be used there first needed to be life.


    However, in the early universe, there was an exception.


    Alongside the matter created from the big bang there was magic.


    As the universe expanded and planets, stars, and other bodies formed, magic began to form something as well.


    The initial stimulus from the big bang caused magic to interact among itself clustering and interacting in various ways with other magic.


    Once these clusters became large enough the magic forms a continuous reaction of mutual exertions.


    These clusters became the first ¡°life¡± in the universe.


    The clusters were the first of a type of life that was called gods.


    A god is nothing more than a life form made of magic instead of regular matter.


    These early gods had no will or consciousness, they didn¡¯t even have instincts.


    They lived passively drifting through space, attracting and repelling matter and absorbing any other gods that ran into them.


    Once these passive gods gained enough magic they reached a critical state where they began to compress.


    Once the cluster compresses to a single point it forms a magic singularity, much like a black hole, that begins to generate gravitational force and produce new magic.


    The gravitational force, however, could not be compared to that of a black hole.


    It was only enough to draw nearby matter around it.


    These magic emitting gods gathered matter and formed planets.


    The magic from the singularity then permeates through the planet.


    Earth, in this universe, was a planet that had a magic singularity in the center.


    The early development of earth proceeded like the development of earth in the other universe.


    The planet went through many environmental and physical changes.


    The development of land features and environments, the oceans and the atmosphere.


    Magic has no impact on these early stages of development.


    It isn¡¯t till the advent of life that magic reveals its first real effects.


    Once life arises magic is revealed to have the property of accelerating evolution.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Every organism absorbs at least a little magic from its surrounding area.


    These early organisms were very similar in function to the early gods, no will or instincts.


    These organisms survive by repeating certain actions over and over.


    The magic absorbed by these organisms is released when they perform these actions.


    Depending on the environment they find themselves in the magic effects their composition and allows them to adapt better.


    These early effects simply increased the adaptability of life and sped up the development of evolution.


    This slight effect changed with the advent of the brain.


    In this universe nerve cells evolved with an additional function the storage and release of magic.


    When the nerves were fired in a certain way they would release magic causing a change in the world.


    Because of this, when an organism with a brain that had absorbed magic became endangered they had a chance to use magic to overcome it.


    However, because this was simply a response to an instinct the effects were random and could be beneficial or detrimental.


    This allowed animals to directly manipulate their genes in order to have a better chance of surviving.


    This causes evolution to speed up considerably and in the course of a few thousand years the first humanoid race came into being.


    These humanoids were the first to have a certain special ability, to use conscious thought in order to use magic.


    Because these humanoids had the intelligence to create tools and clothes magical evolution stopped applying to them.


    Instead of overcoming trials with instinctual magic they overcame it with knowledge and tools.


    As the humanoids multiplied and started to create cultures a new form of magic began to exert itself.


    It turns out that any strong thoughts and ingrained beliefs unconsciously released magic.


    This magic was like regular magical evolution in that it directly changed the DNA of the humanoids.


    This caused the humanoid cultures to become the driving factor behind this second wave of evolution.


    This magical evolution by design created the various humanoid races.


    A culture of ingenuity and versatility became the human race, a sort of jack of all trades race. Having potential to succeed in various different areas.


    A culture valuing hunting and the ability to make use of nature above all else became the beastmen race absorbing genetic characteristics from nature around them.


    A culture that valued craftsmanship became the dwarves.


    A culture that valued reason and efficiency became the elves.


    A culture that valued surviving in the harshest environments became the titans.


    These first five cultures became the largest and oldest of the races. Other races formed over history, but are generally less in number.


    After the advent of humanoid culture, religions started to form in order to explain the universe.


    This development caused the birth of a race that would be more problematic than any other.


    Religions would for the most part gather in areas with high magic levels.


    Just like cultural ideas caused the forming of the different races, religious ideas caused the evolution of gods.


    Large concentrations of magic when bombarded with magic released by the ideas of the humanoids of a religion caused the magic to cluster and interact with the initial idea as a catalyst.


    This created the conscious gods.


    One religion who believed in a god of fire caused a magic cluster to form into a god with the aspect of fire.


    These gods, unlike the ancient gods, had been created by human consciousness and developed their own will.


    However, they were limited by the ideas that created them.


    A similar phenomenon occurred in the organisms that were non humanoid.


    When an animal experienced an extraordinarily strong instinct there was a chance that magic would create a reaction that would cause the animal to become consumed by that instinct and to rapidly evolve to serve that instinct.


    Once this occurs in an animal, or in some rare cases, humans, these beings become known as demons.


    This is not to be confused with monsters. Monsters are simply a type of animal that evolved in a harsh environment with high magic density.

 Chapter 3: Second Life

    /Author¡¯s Note\


    ElPsyKongroo28 here, Chapter 3 introduces Alric and the Mana Titan Race.


    Please comment your thoughts on the chapter.


    Eria spent her days teaching her son how to manipulate the magic that was inside him. These days he was progressing at an exceptional rate, becoming the most advanced child in their entire race.


    However, she realized that that fact was not really as grand as it sounded.


    Eria and her son, Alric, were members of the Mana Titan race.


    Contrary to the popular misconceptions of other races, titans were not all giant humanoids. There was a group of titans that lived in an environment with large forms of life and as such grew to become as large as they were, but there were many types of titans that had various features determined by their environment.


    Mana Titans are a species of titan that evolved inside the great mana cave. The great mana cave was an extremely large cave the size of a city that was formed by the collision of multiple mana wells. Mana wells are formed when large bursts of concentrated magic, emitted from the core¡¯s magic singularity, collide with the crust of the earth and bore through the rock. Over time these mana wells begin to extend upwards from the mantle. The great mana cave was created when 3 of these mana wells collided. This caused the mana to pool and swirl carving out the cave and other caverns branching off.


    In the great mana cave the entire ecosystem is based on mana. Light is provided by mana crystals which are pieces of quartz that have absorbed a specific amount of mana to produce light. Plants that found their way into the cave survive by using the light produced by these crystals. Due to a frequent amount of cave-ins the herbivores in the cave became highly armored with massive strength. This features of the herbivores caused the predators to  develop claws or fangs that were insanely sharp in order to cut through the plate armor. Because the predators could not take the armored approach to defending against cave-ins they became fast enough to escape them. The Titans were, physically speaking, the weakest of all the creatures in the mana caves.


    Mana Titans, in appearance, greatly resemble the elves. They are small in stature, the tallest among them just approaching 6¡¯. They have pointed ears a slender body. In terms of muscles Mana Titians are much weaker than all the other races. Their bones however are made out of metals and natural carbon fiber. The reason for their extremely strong bones is because of the mechanism they evolved to cope with their lack of muscular strength.


    Due to living in a high mana environment Mana Titan¡¯s cells evolved the ability to store and release mana. In other races mana can only be stored, released, and emitted as magic from the nerve cells. In Mana Titans mana can be stored in any cell even though it can only be emitted through the nervous system. Alongside this the Mana Titans developed the ability to passively use body strengthening magic. This magic gives the Mana Titans monstrous strength to go alongside their tough bones and powerful senses.


    Because of the small area of the cave and the harsh environment the mana titan race is really small, numbering at only a few hundred, of which only about 70 are children. Out of these 70 children the one that excelled the most was Alric. Mana Titans may be born with the ability to store magic and to use body strengthening but that didn¡¯t mean that they could use either perfectly. Every child went through training in order to increase their mana storage capacity, their control in manipulating mana, and the effectiveness of their body strengthening.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Alric really is exceptional.¡± Eria thought.


    Alric had always progressed faster than the other children in his training. He seemed to instinctively understand the flow of mana. However, it wasn¡¯t until Alric was seven that he truly became extraordinary. For some reason, unknown to everyone, at that age he suddenly began to progress much faster. Currently he was only nine years old but he had progressed in his training to the level of a 25 year old.


    Eria wondered about just how far Alric would go in his life.


    ~~~~~Alric¡¯s POV~~~~~


    This year Alric was seven years old. He was a Mana Titan who lived in the great mana cave with his mother Eria. He had spent the seven years before this day learning how to use mana. It hadn¡¯t taken him long to realize that unlike the other kids he was able to see mana and other small particles. For some reason he felt like he should not tell anyone so he decided to keep it a secret.


    That day however, something was different. Ever since he was awoken by his mother that morning he had this really unusual feeling. The best way to describe it was an itch in the back of his mind. He felt like there was something that he had forgotten that he was on the verge of remembering. Like when something slips your mind and is just on the tip of your tongue. Alric concentrated intensely trying to remember whatever it was he forgot and was rewarded with one word, a name.


    Scott.


    A name that filled Alric with nostalgia and a tinge of sadness. But he was sure that he had never before heard that name. There was no one in the cave by the name of Scott and not even anyone with a similar name. Alric wondered why he knew this name and what the significance of it was. Then he noticed that the itch in the back of his mind had not gone away, if anything it had gotten stronger. Alric decided that he would continue to probe this strange feeling in order to solve the mystery behind the name.


    From that point on Alric spent any time not training on unlocking the secrets within his mind.


    By the end of the first week he learned that Scott was the name he had in his past life in another world


    By the second he had learned of the significance of his power.


    The next three weeks he spent unlocking his knowledge of physics, chemistry, and biology.


    Week six he remembered the truth behind the universes and the reasons for his rebirth.


    By week seven Alric realized that even though he remembered this knowledge from another world he did not remember how he had learned it or even why.


    At the end of week seven Alric remembered something that was different from all the knowledge that he had recalled previously.


    What he remembered this time were emotions and a solemn oath.


    He remembered what it felt like to be alone, to be helpless, and to have no purpose.


    The final words rang throughout his mind filled with emotion, ¡°If I could do it all again I would remember to live, and to help others to live.¡±


    Alric decided that he would live by these words.


    ¡°That¡¯s good and all but what should I do?¡± Alric wondered.


    He thought about what he wanted to do.


    He had always been curious about the world outside the cave and now that he had remembered his knowledge from the other world he was even more eager to learn more about this world.


    But before that he needed to learn about the process of magic using his knowledge from the other world.


    He decided that when he turned 15 he would go out of the cave to adventure around this new world.

 Chapter 4: Training

    /Author''s Note\


    ElPsyKongroo28 here, Longer chapter this time.


    P.S. I don''t hate foxes.


    Please comment on the chapter or rate the series


    And as always, enjoy the chapter!


    Chapter 4:


    During the years before his fifteenth birthday Alric spent his time preparing himself for the journey to the surface. The only way to leave the great mana cave was to scale the near vertical wall on the northern side of the cave and enter into an offshoot cave that sloped upward. In order to do this a mana titan had to have a great amount of proficiency in their body strengthening magic. So in order to leave the cave Alric spent the majority of his time training his power.


    The body strengthening magic of the mana titans, while instinctual, is not an easy thing to master. There are a few different aspects that need to be trained in order to master this magic.


    The first aspect that must be trained is the ability to manipulate the flow of mana through the body.


    First in order to circulate mana an organism must first absorb it from its surroundings.


    For the majority of life this mana is absorbed through consumption and follows the food chain.


    First the mana emitted from the planet¡¯s core is absorbed into the crust of the planet, eventually making its way up to the soil on the surface.


    From there it is absorbed by the plants that grow there alongside the other nutrients in the soil.


    Then it is consumed by herbivores which are, in turn, consumed by predators.


    Depending on the environment and the animals in question the amount of mana absorbed is different.


    However because of the mana titans unique level of control over mana a secondary method of acquiring mana became possible.


    Generally speaking this second method was nowhere near as efficient as absorbing mana from food but the mana titans are able to absorb ambient mana from the air.


    This ability became stronger as a result of the training of using the flow of mana.


    Alric began his training with this manipulation of mana.


    He would start every day by gathering mana rich plants and hunting mana rich animals inside the branch caves.


    After eating these sources of mana he would retreat to a small branch cave unknown to both animal and titan and begin his training.


    ---Alric¡¯s POV¡ª


    I thought back over the events of yesterday.


    About the recollection of the vast amount of information that was stored in my head.


    About how I had originally come from another universe.


    About my unique ability.


    And about my new life goal.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to start my training. I¡¯ll start by examining what this mana exactly is.¡± I mumbled to myself.


    I closed my eyes and began to shut out my main 5 senses, focusing solely on my ability to sense molecular interactions.


    I could sense the silicates in the rock beneath me that comprised the surface of the cave. I could sense the water and carbon compounds that composed my body. I could sense the various gasses that made up the air I was breathing in and out.


    However there was something different. Something buzzing in the background filled with energy. But I could not sense it.


    ¡°It must be the mana that I am looking for. It¡¯s most likely a very small particle and will take more concentration for me to observe it.¡± I thought to myself


    I narrowed the focus of my ability to the air surrounding me and increased my level of concentration.


    Soon I was able to sense something I had never sensed before. It was similar to other types of matter but there was nothing else like it.


    Mana turned out to be a type of sub-atomic particle.


    Like a neutrino, mana had no mass. However it had high energy.


    When these particles received even a little more energy they would begin to effect the matter around them.


    The basic function of mana, or magic, is nothing more than the imparting or deprivation of energy.


    The thing that made magic special from other physics is that it could impart or deprive energy from anything, be it matter or physical laws themselves.


    If you wanted heat matter with magic it would impart energy in order to make it vibrate faster. Conversely if you wanted to cool something it would deprive energy slowing the vibration.


    Magic could also be used to affect usually intangible things such as electromagnetic radiation, or light.


    Finally magic could be used to affect physical laws. For example magic could be used to counteract or strengthen gravity.


    For living beings magic was limited by the scope of their understanding. The more complicated the magic process the harder it was to perform.


    The simplest class of magic is the movement of mana through the body, otherwise known as flow.


    Flow is simply the transfer of mana from one cell to another.


    When someone first learns to manipulate flow they are extremely slow and only are able to move a small amount of mana at a time.


    However the more they use flow the faster they will be able to use it and the more mana they will be able to transfer. This works much like water flowing over rocks crates groves in them.


    After discerning the nature of mana I started by training my flow.


    I spent day after day with my senses other that my particle sense turned off just moving the mana about my body and observing the flow.


    Because I was able to sense the mana circulating I was able to make adjustments that an ordinary person could not and I quickly increased my proficiency in flow.


    Once I had reached a satisfactory level of flow I began the next phase of my training, my body strengthening magic.


    Body strengthening magic is basically an advanced version of flow.


    It consists of moving mana between cells just like flow. However, while doing so the magic would also move the cells of the body imparting extra strength.


    Technically speaking, the mechanism behind body strengthening is extraordinarily simple. Just pushing and pulling. As such it would be classified as a class 1 magic.


    Class one magic is simply the pushing or pulling of something with the use of magic.


    However, because body strengthening works on the cellular level it is really the simultaneous use of a massive amount of class 1 magic and as such it has been labeled as a unique class magic.


    Due to the complexity of this magic only the mana titans, who could use it instinctually, and great masters of magic could use it.


    Instead most people just used class 1 magic directly onto whatever they were trying to move.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Many people don¡¯t see why body strengthening would be useful because of this. They would reason that ¡°why would you need to make yourself stronger to lift a boulder when you can just lift a boulder with magic?¡±


    The advantage of body strengthening is that it uses a lot less magic.


    If you were to lift a boulder with magic all the mana you used to do so would leave your body but with body strengthening the majority of the mana simply stays inside the body and can be utilized again.


    In order to practice this I began by lifting rocks, running long distances, and other various physical exercises while my strengthening was active.


    As both my flow and strengthening improved I became able to shatter boulders with my bare hands and run at high speeds.


    Eventually I realized that even though I was able to do these things here, in the mana rich caves, I may not be able to do them in the outside world where mana was scarcer.


    So I began to hone my body without strengthening as much as I could and also began increasing the amount of mana I could store in my body.


    As a couple of years went by I became stronger and stronger in all aspects of my training.


    Soon enough I had become one of the strongest members of my race.


    I would assist with clearing cave-ins and hunt the armored herbivores that lived in the caves.


    But the truth was I had not yet had a chance to put my strength to the test.


    That chance came one day when I was hunting in an unexplored cave.


    My first run in with a predator.


    That day I was hunting for armored hares. A fellow member of the village had told me that he had caught one in the area a few days ago.


    The meat from an armored hare was exceptionally delicious and contained a high mana density so it was seen as a luxury food.


    Because they travel in small groups I knew that there must be more out there so I decided to go looking for them.


    Generally the other villagers stayed away from unknown areas and because of this nobody had caught the other hares.


    I carefully walked down the cave path until I heard some faint scraping and munching noises.


    I immediately knew it was the hares because they liked to eat the roots of plants.


    I continued as cautiously as I could because armored hares are easily scared and will escape by leaping in random directions.


    I creep around the corner and select my target, a hare that is eating away from the rest of the group.


    I ready my dagger made from the fang of a mana wolf and turn on my body strengthening.


    I leap towards the hare using my full power. Before the hare knows it the dagger is protruding from the side of its body and it breathes its last.


    The rest of the hares quickly flee but I got what I came for.


    I pull out the dagger and prepare to put away the carcass when suddenly I feel a great impact on my shoulder.


    A fraction of a second after the impact, before I could even react, I heard a loud crackling noise and smelled burning flesh.


    I was thrown into the cave wall but I quickly got up knowing that I am being attacked.


    When I saw what had attacked me my mood turned grim.


    It was a fox with midnight blue fur and bright golden eyes.


    This creature was a Volt Fox or as nicknamed by the people of my village, the hunter¡¯s peril.


    The Volt fox is a solitary creature that mostly hunts small prey.


    If you were to run into one normally it would just pass you by ignoring you.


    However, the volt fox had a particular behavior where it would lock-on to its prey and kill it or die trying.


    Because of this if a hunter were to kill prey that the volt fox had locked on to it would become enraged like a middle schooler playing call of duty and attack the person or creature that killed it instead.


    I knew that there was no way to get away. Now that it had its sights on me it wouldn¡¯t back down.


    I quickly remembered the specifics about the volt foxes.


    They were very fast like many predators in the cave, they had small very sharp claws that they would puncture their enemies with and worst of all once they punctured the opponent they would release a powerful electric discharge charring the surrounding skin and possibly stopping the heart.


    ¡°It¡¯s defiantly a lot faster than me, even with my body strengthening. But, I am a lot stronger. If I can just manage to hit it I can win.¡±


    Suddenly the volt fox pounced.


    With a speed that made it difficult to follow, even for a mana titan, the fox leapt toward me.


    I quickly activated my strengthening and attempted to stab the fox with the knife as it flew through the air but I was too slow.


    The fox landed on my arm digging its claws into my skin and let loose its signature electricity frying my arm.


    The pain made me drop the knife and leap back.


    The damage from the shock was not too bad but I had lost my only weapon.


    I was quickly forced on the defensive.


    I put all my efforts into dodging the fox as it leapt.


    At first I sustained some more minor wounds and eventually I became used to the movements of the fox and continued to doge it.


    However by the time I had seen through the fox¡¯s movements I was pretty battered, all the minor wounds had piled up and I was in a lot of pain.


    I need to finish this and fast or else I¡¯m done for.


    I started increasing the body strengthen in my arm alone to the absolute limit and observed the fox.


    I looked at the tensing of his muscles and the direction of his gaze.


    I¡¯ll put everything I have into this one strike and just maybe I¡¯ll survive.


    The fox jumped and I swung my arm in a chop as hard as I could.


    Time seemed to slow down.


    The fox flew at me with outstretched claws and eyes that seemed to stare into my soul and say ¡°this is the end for you.¡±


    My arm swung through the air as the fox approached and the blow landed on the spine of the fox.


    For a fraction of a second I swear I saw the look in the eyes of the fox change to that of accepting defeat.


    And then the blow, with all my strength, passed through the center of the fox¡¯s body separating it into two pieces.


    As the halves of the fox fell to the ground I collapsed as well, the toll of the battle had reached me.


    With the last of my mana I applied my body strengthening and forced myself to shamble back to the village.


    I collapsed at the gate and everything faded to black.

 Chapter 5: My weapon breaks too easily

    Chapter 5:


    Following the battle with the volt fox, Alric spent a couple of months recuperating from his wounds.


    He spent these months working on his flow, mana storage, and his reaction time, so that the outcome of the battle would not repeat.


    If he wanted to be successful in his trip to the surface, he had to be completely prepared as there were even stronger creatures lurking in the winding caverns that he must pass through.


    As the years before his journey passed Alric continued with his regular training.


    However, after the incident with the volt fox he began to train his combat skills against many of the predators that were known to the mana titans.


    He learned his lesson from that first conflict and whenever he would pick a new target he would first spend time getting information about it from the other villagers beforehand.


    He faced a variety of opponents, some with magical attributes, some with extreme physical prowess, some with extraordinary cunning, and some that were simply unpredictable.


    As the time of his fifteenth birthday drew near he became more and more of a skilled fighter, bringing down many creatures that no other mana titan would dare approach.


    But as the fights continued Alric became aware of a problem that only got worse over time.


    Because of the immense physical strength of his body strengthening he had become practically unable to use any sort of weapon.


    Whenever he either used a sword or a dagger he would always end up losing it somehow.


    Sometimes they would be crushed by his grip or shatter under the strength of his blows.


    Sometimes they would become lodged inside the creature and be unable to be used.


    Because of this he had begun to just fight bare handed.


    But if he wanted to leave the cave he would need a weapon that would suit him.


    ~~~~Alric¡¯s POV~~~~


    ¡°The biggest problem is how to make a weapon that will be able to withstand the power of my body strengthening¡­¡± I thought to myself.


    ¡°At my current strength even boulder tortoise shell wouldn¡¯t be tough enough unless I used a good inch of it.¡±


    ¡°I need to find a suitable material, I¡¯ll go ask the elders if there is any such material.¡±


    So I went to visit the elder who, when he was younger, explored more of the caves than anyone else.


    ¡°Elder Vareth! I have a matter I would like to discuss with you, can I have a bit of your time?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Alric, yes I have some free time. What can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°I have a question about your travels when you were younger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to answer but it has been quite a long time.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever come across a material that is extremely tough, even tougher than boulder tortoise shell?¡±


    ¡°Well I did run across a very tough crystalline material that could not be scratched by any blade, known as diamond.¡±


    ¡°I did consider that but even though it is very hard it can shatter relatively easily so it wouldn¡¯t work for my purposes, creating a weapon. I need something that can survive heavy impacts.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, there may be something. In the days I spent exploring the uninhabitable caves I happened across a strange plant with metallic flesh, I called it Living Steel. In the uninhabitable caves the stone is weak and there are frequent cave in¡¯s, much more so than where we live now. Upon finding the Living Steel I witnessed a small cave in. The falling rocks bounced off the plant instead of breaking it.¡±


    ¡°Where is this cave? I have to check it out!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to the south, just be very careful when you go, its not called uninhabitable for no reason.¡±


    And so I spent the next month searching for the Living Steel.


    I finally found it in small cave deep in the winding maze of passages.


    I almost missed it because, at first glance, it looked identical to an ordinary tree.


    It had a dark trunk and branches and dark green leaves.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The floor of the cave was made up of a pile of rubble from the rocks that had fallen from above.


    In the celling there was a large opening lined with mana crystals that gave off light. This seemed to be where the debris came from.


    The tree¡¯s trunk and branches were made up of a dark gray, almost black steel, it was very dense and sturdy. The surface was pitted and rough and felt similar to the bark of an ordinary tree except for the fact that it sucked away the heat from a touch and had the characteristic feeling of metal.


    I experimented with the material by hitting it with the full force of my body strengthening.


    The material was fantastic, it escaped my blows completely unharmed.


    This was the perfect material to use for my weapon, the steel must consist of microstructures that make it even stronger than forged steel.


    Not wanting to waste any of this amazing substance I quickly set to work digging the tree out of the rubble, roots and all.


    Once I had removed the tree I had to decide how to get it back to the village.


    With my strengthening it should be no problem to carry this much weight however, right now the tree is just too bulky.


    I began to disassemble the tree by removing its leaves.


    It was then that I made an amazing discovery.


    When I tore off a leaf I became shocked because the leaf was as flexible as a piece of cloth, however it was extremely strong, I had to use a fair portion of my strength just to tear one leaf in two.


    It seems that because the leaves needed light to enter in order to survive it was impossible to have tough steel like in the trunk and branches.


    But if the leaves were weak then they would easily get destroyed in the cave in¡¯s.


    So, the leaves made small interlocking rings of steel on the cellular level.


    These leaves were natural cellular chainmail.


    The leaves would be perfect for light armor.


    Back at the village I began the preparations to create my new equipment.


    Because at its core living steel was a plant and I didn¡¯t want to walk around in a mail set made of decomposing leaves I began by using an acid that would not harm the metal in order to rid the leaves of plant matter without destroying the steel microstructures.


    When I was done the leaves looked like scraps of metallic fabric that were the same shade of gray as the trunk and branches.


    Using magic to join the leaves together I created a full light mail set.


    Then from various hides I created a simple set of leather clothes to go with the mail.


    I then proceeded on to the main event, my weapons.


    Because of the natural structures forging any weapons from the material would only weaken its strength, so I decided that I would carve out my weapon using magic.


    Because I was accustomed to fighting close range hand to hand combat and because I eventually wanted to learn more magic I decided that anything long range was out.


    I wouldn¡¯t be able to use a spear, a polearm, or even a longsword.


    Probably the longest weapon I could use would be a short sword, but even that would be different from my current fighting style.


    So I decided that I would make a pair of bladed gauntlets.


    This would allow me to continue using my fighting style that was a combination of punches and chops while increasing my damage.


    The knuckle portion of the gauntlet consisted of a large wedge that tapered to a blade, allowing a punch to penetrate the body of an opponent.


    On the outer side of the gauntlet, extending from the wedge was a blade that followed the length of the forearm.


    This gave any chopping attacks the ability to slash the opponent and it also allowed the wielder to block any strikes from the opponent.


    Now that I had prepared my new equipment I was finally ready to begin my trip to the surface.

 Chapter 6: The Ascent

    /Author''s Note\


    ElPsyKongroo28 here,


    I created a new cover for the fiction this week and updated the description. Please comment your thoughts on them or complete the poll.


    Enjoy the Chapter!


    --------------------------


    Chapter 6: The Ascent


    As the day of his birthday drew near Alric began stockpiling his mana.


    He stopped using his body strengthening and focused on training with his new gauntlet blades.


    The original design of the gauntlets with the knuckle and forearm blades, while effective, had a few flaws.


    While wearing the gauntlets the hand would be unable to fully open so they were unusable outside combat.


    So he modified the gauntlets so that the blades would be detachable.


    The blades would be holstered against the sides of his thighs and could be slid onto the gauntlets to ready them for use.


    Using some of the leftover Living Steel he made a few alternate attachments for the gauntlet.


    Some claws modeled after a certain side-burned mutant, a medium length spike protruding from each side of the gauntlet for stabbing, a set of padded knuckles for non-lethal takedowns, and a small mounted crossbow.


    He prepared some meat preserved in salt and other rations.


    He also gathered tools for fire starting and other survival items.


    To solve his lack of currency in the land he will find himself, he packed a few mana crystals which he should be able to sell.


    Finally, it was the day of his fifteenth birthday and he was completely ready for his journey.


    For the Mana Titans the age of fifteen is very special.


    It is the age at which most complete their development period and stop growing.


    Because of this it is tradition for the fifteenth birthday to be the day each person chooses their future role in the colony.


    Because there are so few children a large ceremony is held whenever one turns fifteen where the child in question announces their decision and officially becomes an adult.


    ------------Vareth¡¯s Perspective-----------


    ¡°Today is going to be an interesting day.¡± I chuckled while thinking.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the look on everyone¡¯s faces when Alric becomes an explorer like me. He¡¯ll be the first child to do so in the 80 years since I chose to become one.¡±


    ¡°Surely because of his exploits the other elders will assume that he will become either a warrior or a hunter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always had my suspicions, with him always disappearing somewhere or another, but after he asked me about the Living Steel I became sure.¡±


    ¡°That boy has the eyes of someone who seeks the unknown.¡±


    I laughed to myself just a bit too loud


    ¡°Vareth! Be quiet, it''s almost time.¡± (Other Elder)


    As if on cue a young Mana Titan walked out onto the center of the open space.


    He had jet black hair and piercing blue eyes that were filled with determination and passion.


    At 5¡¯11¡± he was taller than most other mana titans.


    He had the characteristic pointed ears and slim build of the mana titan race, looking much like a very tall elf.


    However, unlike the others gathered here there was something different.


    I noticed it after hearing the mumbling of someone in the crowd.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with his muscles?¡±


    He had well defined muscles that, compared to the other Mana Titans, were like heaven and earth.


    Surprise ran through me. ¡°Why would he waste his time on that? Doesn¡¯t he know that he can just use body strengthening?¡±


    The Eldest of our race called out. ¡°State your name and tell us the path you have chosen.¡±


    A determined voice rang from the youth¡¯s lips.


    ¡°I am Alric! And as of tomorrow I will be leaving The Great Mana Cave to journey to the surface!¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The whole audience was silenced.


    Where there should be applause and congratulations there was instead confusion from the younger members and extreme shock from the elders.


    The younger ones were mumbling, ¡°The surface? What is that?¡± while the elders were angrily conversing saying, ¡°The surface? Is he a fool? An Idiot? Or is this some kind of joke?¡±


    One of the elders yelled, ¡°Boy! The surface is a place that is spoken of in only the oldest of our legends. You mean to say that you will actually go to this place that may be no more than fiction?!¡±


    Alric, without hesitating in the slightest, responded, ¡°I will.¡±


    -------------Alric¡¯s Perspective-------------


    After I uttered that final word the assembly once again descended into shocked silence.


    I was just about to make it absolutely clear to them when¡­.


    ¡°AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!¡±


    Every person turned to face the sudden laughter.


    The crowd parted to reveal Elder Vareth.


    ¡°Alric!¡± Vareth yelled, ¡°You truly are remarkable!¡±


    ¡°Everyone! I came here today with the expectation that Alric would announce his path as that of the explorer, one who descends into the caves, mapping them, and preparing the way for their use.¡±


    ¡°Instead, my expectations were blown away! Alric has decided not to become an ordinary explorer, but the greatest explorer in the history of the Mana Titans! As of tomorrow he will set out to that place of legends, the surface, where light and life are boundless!¡±


    ¡°Alric! I¡¯ve watched your remarkable progress over the course of your life. You truly are the best of us. Unmatched in body strengthening and mana storage, with an insatiable desire for knowledge. You now carry the hopes of our race. If there is anyone who can reach the surface, it is you!¡±


    ¡°Our celebration today is coming to an end. However, tomorrow we will have another! Gather at the foot of the great vent as we send off the greatest explorer of all time!¡±


    Vareth¡¯s speech had lit a fire in the eyes of all those gathered there.


    I yelled back, ¡°Thank you Elder Vareth! Your words of encouragement are worth so much. Thank you all for supporting me.¡±


    I yelled one final thing with all my might, ¡°I WILL REACH THE SURFACE!¡±


    Then I went home to prepare for the following morning.


    The next morning, with all my supplies, I made my way to the foot of the great vent.


    Along the way the rest of the villagers had lined up to send me off.


    They all wished me luck in their own way.


    Some simply with a nod of the head, others with a hug, some gave me parting gifts, and one woman even yelled, ¡°Marry me!¡±


    When I reached the vent the elders were waiting for me.


    They gave me a journal and told me to record my experiences on the surface in there.


    Elder Vareth stepped forward and said, ¡°There¡¯s one more thing.¡±


    He took out a bag that held some object the size of my hand.


    He handed it to me and I took it out.


    The object was a massive diamond.


    But it wasn¡¯t an ordinary diamond, it was filled with mana.


    ¡°Is this¡­¡± I trailed off.


    ¡°It is.¡± Vareth replied ¡°This is a piece of the Heart, A massive diamond in the middle of a mana well.¡±


    ¡°It is filled with a massive amount of mana. You may use it when you are in need. Be warned, however, because there is so much once activated it will all flood out and may only be used once. Also, do not try to use it for something like starting a fire, you¡¯ll just blow yourself up.¡±


    I give them my thanks, pull out my climbing picks and begin scaling the sheer cliff into the unknown.


    From below me Elder Vareth yells, ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear what you discover!¡±

 Chapter 7: Companion

    /Author''s Note\


    Great news everyone! My college classes are finishing up and I will soon have more time to spend writing chapters so there should be more frequent updates.


    Also, I just started my second fiction, it''s a Post- Apocalyptic Sci-Fi called Age of the Mad Gods</a>. I would appreciate it if you guys gave it a look.


    Please consider rating the series and commenting any thoughts you have on the chapters. I am always willing to consider incorporating your ideas into my story.


    As always, enjoy the chapter!


    Chapter 7:


    Alric continued to climb upwards toward the darkness of the great vent, leaving behind the only place he had known for the past fifteen years.


    Although he had knowledge from a past life he had no memories of it and the Great Mana Cave was truly his home.


    As he continued his ascent Alric reminisced about his time with the Mana Titans.


    The Mana Titans are a very serious, survival minded people.


    Every person, from the young children to the elders, had a duty to perform to ensure the survival of everyone in the colony.


    They had very business minded personalities, when they weren¡¯t sleeping they were always completing some task.


    Although some may consider it a fault the Mana Titans were hardly sentimental and did not have a concept of leisure.


    That¡¯s not to say, however, that they did not have emotions.


    Some of Alric¡¯s best memories were of laughing and smiling alongside the other colony members as they worked.


    One time, while tending crops with a farmer, a sponge cow wandered in and began eating away. A sponge cow is one of the stranger creatures in the caves, having a body that is spongey and resistant to impact. Try as they might Alric and the farmer could not scare the cow away. The farmer then angrily rushed up to the cow and pushed it over. Alric began laughing after he saw what happened next. The cow bounced. Seeing this Alric suggested, in between fits of laughter, that they bounce the cow out of the area. With a grin and a chuckle the farmer said, ¡°Let¡¯s do it boy.¡± Later the story spread among the other Mana Titans who saw the two of them bouncing the cow along the cave, laughter following in their wake.


    Another day, when he was out hunting with a couple of hunters they happened upon one of the rarest of prey. An iridescent stag. He was six feet tall with antlers that spanned three feet. His fur was naturally interwoven and glimmered all the colors of the rainbow in the light. They all held their breaths, an iridescent stag had extremely good hearing and could even tell the change in heart rate when a predator is about to attack. The three remained calm and impassive. One of the hunters slowly raised his bow without allowing himself to become excited. He carefully took aim, and fired. By the time the stag heard the snap of the bowstring it was already too late. The arrow flew true and hit the mark right in the stag¡¯s chest. The hunters yelled in joy, iridescent stag meat is extremely delicious. That day they returned in triumph bearing the rare delicacy.


    But to Alric the best memories were of his mother, Eria. His mother¡¯s job was to take care of all the young children and because of this she was always really busy. Alric and his mother did not spend much time together but that did not mean they were not close. His mother was a quiet and calm person. When Alric would return from hunting, training or any other task his mother would always be there to greet him. She would always receive him with a smile and eyes shining with pride, and she would always say the words, ¡°Good Job Alric.¡± To Alric his relationship with his mother didn¡¯t need to be filled with words when she always showed him how much she cared with her actions.


    As he reached the great vent he spoke out loud, ¡°I will definitely see them all again.¡±


    Eria stood at the base of the great vent watching as Alric disappeared into the darkness.


    ¡°Good Luck on the surface.¡± She whispered, having no doubt he would reach his destination.


    ----A few days later----


    Alric walked through the unexplored caves following the subtle airflow that was his only clue to reaching the surface.


    He had no way of telling how far he had come or how much longer he had to go.


    He spent most of the time practicing with his new attachments.


    They could be a bit unwieldy at times but in general he liked the way they worked.


    For in the caves he mostly used the configuration of having the small crossbow attached to his left gauntlet and the spikes attached to his right.


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    In order to hunt fast moving animals he would begin by shooting a bolt into one of the legs then rushing forward and finishing it off with the spikes.


    One day while walking down the tunnel Alric heard a faint roar in the tunnel ahead of him.


    He knew right away what creature the distinctive roar belonged to.


    It was a cave bear.


    A massive ten foot long killing machine covered in armor tougher than iron.


    Massive claws that could cleave a person in two.


    Extremely intelligent, the cave bear is the deadliest creature in the cave system.


    Alric knew there was no way around it.


    He took out the bladed claws attachment, it was the only attachment with enough reach to actually penetrate the bear.


    As he approached the sound of roaring he noticed the sound of growls and yelping in the background.


    It seems that the bear was currently fighting a group of stealth wolves.


    Stealth wolves were practically identical to ordinary wolves, however, they had the ability to use light magic.


    The main use of this was to create optical camouflage, effectively becoming invisible.


    This was useless against the cave bear though because its sense of smell was good enough to pinpoint the wolves¡¯ locations.


    By the time Alric reached the bear the noise from the wolves had faded away.


    The bear noticed his approach and their eyes met.


    Instantly both Alric and the bear took off running.


    Roaring with bloodlust, claws outstretched, the bear lunged at Alric.


    Using the full power of his body strengthening Alric dodged, launching himself off the cave wall.


    The bear¡¯s sharp claws narrowly missed Alric¡¯s leg as he flew through the air.


    Alric continued using the technique of pushing off the walls to launch himself at the bear trying to get a strike in.


    But the bear was wary and whenever Alric would get close the bear would be waiting to strike him with his paw.


    Alric had no choice but to abort each strike at the last second.


    This game of chicken continued for a couple minutes until the bear made a mistake.


    Alric took the chance flying, blades falling down to cut at the bear¡¯s neck.


    But Alric too, made a mistake.


    The blades bounced harmlessly off the bear¡¯s thick armor.


    The bears paw descended like a wrecking ball and knocked Alric across the cave and into the wall.


    Alric, the wind knocked out of him, focused on avoiding the bear¡¯s attacks so he could recover.


    As Alric flitted from one place to the next he pondered what he could do to defeat the bear.


    Then he was struck with an idea.


    Alric began using magic to vibrate the bladed claws.


    He put all his strength into one jump and rocketed from the cave wall toward the bear.


    This time Alric was too fast and the bear could not react in time.


    The vibrating blades once again descended upon the bear¡¯s neck.


    Like a hot knife through butter the blades cleaved through the armor and sliced off the head of the giant bear.


    Alric collapsed on the floor his stamina drained.


    For a few minutes Alric went in and out of consciousness.


    When he finally regained his senses he heard a faint noise that had been unnoticeable before while the bear was roaring.


    There was a faint whimpering sound.


    Alric looked around the cave and found the source of the noise in the corner.


    It was a stealth wolf puppy.


    It was the only one that had survived the attack of the cave bear.


    The puppy had deep black fur and bright golden eyes.


    Carefully Alric picked him up.


    The pup was cowering in fear but Alric held it close, attempting to calm it down.


    He decided that he would keep the puppy and raise it to become his traveling companion.


    He decided to name it Shadow.


    Over the next few weeks Alric continued on his journey taking care of shadow.


    Eventually shadow warmed up to him and began to faithfully follow him around.


    Then approximately two months after he had left the Great Mana cave, there was a glimmer of light in the tunnel ahead of them.


    Alric ran forward and finally left the cave.


    ---------------------------------


    -----Age of the Mad Gods</a>-------


    ---------------------------------

 Chapter 8: The way forward

    /Author''s note\


    Here''s Chapter 8.


    Enjoy!


    Chapter 8:


    Alric rushed out of the cave, eager to see what awaited him on the surface.


    For a couple of minutes Alric was blinded, having never seen sunlight before, but soon enough his naturally enhanced eyes adjusted.


    What he saw caused him to stop and stare, speechless.


    The cave let out about three quarters of the way up the side of a mountain, just above the tree-line.


    Alric laughed to himself, realizing that he had actually passed the ¡°surface¡± quite some time ago.


    Higher up the mountainside the peak was covered in white snow.


    Starting a little lower on the mountain and continuing outward from the base was an expansive pine forest.


    The forest was so large that even from the height of the mountain Alric was unable to see a place where it ended, instead meeting up with other mountains many miles away.


    What really caught Alric¡¯s eye, however, was a line where there were no trees growing continuing from a nearby mountain pass and across the tree-filled valley.


    In the middle of this line there was a mostly circular section where there were no trees growing.


    From his vantage point Alric could not visually confirm what the voids were but he knew without a doubt that it was a village and a road.


    ¡°I really got lucky that there was a village this close to the cave.¡±


    Alric, eager to meet the people who lived in this village set off toward the closest point of the road.


    As he hiked down the mountain and approached the forest Alric realized that there was something different about the trees.


    The trees were massive, some of the tallest reaching heights of approximately 500 feet.


    The reason he did not notice earlier is because these trees were proportioned identical to regular pine trees.


    The lowest branches of these trees were twenty feet off the ground.


    As he walked through the gargantuan forest Alric heard the sounds of birds chirping and other sounds of life.


    Alric was ecstatic, there were so many things around him that he had never seen, heard, or smelled before.


    With all the stimulation Alric became more and more excited and by the time he made it to the road his curiosity was in full control.


    That¡¯s when he saw it.


    A giant golden mushroom the size of a four year old child.


    Right away he wandered over to it and began to inspect it from every angle.


    He reached out his hand and just as he was about to touch it he heard a rush of air, felt an impact, and was knocked over.


    He quickly jumped to his feet, expecting to fight at any moment.


    He scanned his surroundings for any potential enemies.


    When his eyes found what had knocked him over his hostility disappeared and quickly returned to curiosity.


    It was a woman in her late thirties with lightly tanned skin.


    She had shoulder length brunette hair and green eyes.


    Her body is slightly plump, enough to tell that she was well off, but, she couldn''t even be described as chubby.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    But her most striking features were her large brown squirrel tail and squirrel ears.


    He stood there staring intently as the woman got up and began to speak.


    ¡°Hey! Are you an idiot or something? Do you want to die?¡± said the unidentified squirrel woman.


    It took Alric a few seconds to process what the woman had said because she had an accent.


    However even once he understood all he was able to reply was, ¡°Die?¡± in a tone of bewilderment.


    ¡°What hole did you crawl out of?¡± she replied. ¡°That is the deadliest mushroom in this forest and you were just going to touch it!¡±


    ¡°Uhhhh...¡± Alric stuttered in reply, taken aback that here figure of speech was so close to the truth.


    He soon regained his composure and followed up with, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not from around here so I didn¡¯t know. Anyway, thank you for saving me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡± She replied. ¡°But be more careful, there are other dangerous things in this forest.¡±


    ¡°By the way, your accent is pretty weird. Where exactly are you from?¡± (Squirrel-Lady)


    ¡°Ummm.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s how it is. Sorry, just pretend I never asked.¡± (Squirrel-Lady)


    ¡°Thanks, By the way I¡¯m Alric. Thank you again for saving my life.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Oh gosh, I never introduced myself. I¡¯m Catherine.¡± (Squirrel-Lady Catherine)


    ¡°Would it be fine if I asked you a question?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Sure, shoot.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°What do you know about the village down the road?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Oh, Berrik.  That¡¯s actually where I am headed right now to sell my medicine.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Do you mind if I accompany you then? I don¡¯t have any money on me but I have stuff to sell in town and I can pay you afterwards.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m running a little behind now so let¡¯s hurry up and leave.¡± (Catherine)


    Alric and Catherine set off down the road toward Berrik.


    Catherine¡¯s medicines were carried in a small wagon pulled by a donkey.


    After they walked for a while Catherine asked, ¡°You have been staring at my tail this entire time, is this your first time seeing a Beastman?¡±


    ¡°Beastman?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°So you have never even heard of us huh. You must have been really isolated. People who have animal traits, like me, are Beastmen. Our legends say that a long time ago our ancestors wished to be closer to nature and god granted them their wish, giving them animal spirits.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°And you¡¯re an elf right? You have those pointy ears and slim build. Although you have black hair and are a little taller than most elves. Ah, you must be a half elf!¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah, something like that.¡± Alric replied, not wanting to give away his true nature just yet.


    Interested in her work, Alric turned the conversation to the medicine she made.


    The rest of the journey to Berrik passed uneventfully, filled with idle conversation.

 Chapter 9: The town of Berrik

    /Author''s Note\


    Hey guys I¡¯m back, this last month has been pretty hectic for me between losing my job, getting a new one, and paying my bills I haven¡¯t had much time or energy to write.


    The good news is things are calming down now and I¡¯m looking forward to writing some new chapters.


    Due to my financial situation, I¡¯ve been considering putting up the option for donations to lessen the burden on my wallet so I can focus a little better on writing.


    That said, I would first like to know the opinions of my readers on whether it is worth doing so.


    I would greatly appreciate it if you guys took the time to answer the poll with your opinion.


    Also, If you know how to add a way to donate on this site please pm me.


    Either way I¡¯m returning to releasing chapters.


    Also, in my previous chapter I received a lot of feedback regarding character interactions and I would appreciate it if you commented your thoughts at the end of the chapter.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Chapter 9: The town of Berrik


    As Alric and Catherine walked along the road toward the town of Berrik Alric mainly inquired about the various plants and animals that they happened across along the way.


    However, Alric realized that he was being slightly anti-social and decided to steer the direction of the conversation into a different area.


    ¡°Catherine, you said you were headed to Berrik in order to sell medicine, do you run a shop in town?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯m actually a traveling physician. I spend my days journeying from town to town selling my medicine. That allows me to help more people and it also makes it easier for me to gather the ingredients for my medicine as they don¡¯t all grow in the same area.¡±


    ¡°Wow! That sounds really great being able to travel and meet new people. Is that a common job from where you come from?¡±


    ¡°Actually, no, my people, the squirrel tribe, are normally a very tight knit and solitary people, obtaining their resources through their powerful foraging ability. Actually, it is that ability that is the secret to my success as a physician. A squirrel Beastman will never mistake one plant for another and once learned they will be able to remember all the characteristic signs that a certain plant is growing nearby. Most squirrel tribe stay in their communities gathering and stockpiling resources instead of having any formal occupation. The only times they would interact with other races is to obtain resources unavailable through gathering.¡±


    ¡°What prompted you to leave your community and take to the road as a physician? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡±


    ¡°In my case it was simply that I was born a little bit more intelligent than the other tribe members. When I was young I was just like everyone else. However, when I began to learn about the plants around our community I realized that I had an emotion the others did not. Instead of simply learning in order to provide for the community I also had a yearning to learn more about other plants simply for the sake of knowing. Thus, I decided that I would set out and lead a wayfaring lifestyle, in pursuit of knowledge.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s truly inspiring. In my case my goal is more ambiguous, I simply have the desire to leave my mark on the world. To change it for the better in a way that only I can do. I admire how put together and focused you are. I only hope that I can learn my own goal soon.¡±


    ¡°I thank you for your words of admiration. But to me, I also admire your way of thinking, you dream big which may have risk of failure, but when you complete your goal it will be that much sweeter. I have a feeling that you will be able to achieve that goal of yours.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Thanks, I truly appreciate your words of confidence.¡±


    ¡°By the way we are almost to the town. Alric, will you be staying in the inn?¡±


    Alric groaned and shook his head.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t realize it, but I don¡¯t have any money.¡±


    Catherine laughed, ¡°You sure are a strange one. I have an idea, I need to sell my medicine, but I also need to deliver some herbs to the alchemist in town. It would save me a lot of time if someone were to deliver them for me. How about it? I¡¯ll pay you enough to stay at the inn for a couple nights if you deliver them for me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, I think I¡¯ll take you up on that offer.¡±


    ¡°Just meet me at the inn at sundown after you deliver the herbs, you should also have enough time to explore the town.¡±


    Alric and Catherine rounded the corner and the town of Berrik came into sight.


    In the large clearing amidst the towering pines there was an expanse of fields surrounding a small town.


    The small town was surrounded by impressive walls ten feet high hewn from wood.


    Most impressive of all was the main gate which was carved out of a single stump forty feet in diameter.


    Unconsciously Alric stopped to take in the enormous walls that seemed out of place around such a small town.


    Catherine chuckled and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t they impressive? In fact the entire wall and gate are all made from a single tree.¡±


    Alric¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°How? And why does such a small town need such grand walls?¡±


    ¡°This town was founded on an important trade route as a rest stop for merchants by an enterprising wizard. Originally this clearing was home to a single massive tree whose roots spread across the open area you see in front of you. The wizard chose this spot for two reasons. The first was that, for him, it was easier to chop down one large tree than many smaller ones and the second was that due to the size of the tree the wizard suspected that this area had a higher mana concentration which is believed to improve the general wellbeing of the town.¡±


    Alric looked around at the clearing and found that it was, indeed, the case. There was a higher density of mana than the area that they had traveled through previously if only by a little.


    ¡°The wizard chopped down the tree using a special water magic known only to him and formed it into the walls you see today. As for why the town needed walls, in those days there were a large number of vicious beasts known as greater timber wolves. Four feet tall and able to leap another three, ten foot walls were required to keep them out.¡±


    Alric and Catherine reached the gate.


    ¡°Here are the herbs to deliver to the alchemist, just meet me at the inn tonight.¡±


    Alric took the herbs and parted ways from Catherine, setting out to find the alchemist.


    He asked a resident to point out the way to the alchemist''s shop and proceeded to head over.


    As he walked through the town, he observed that the state of the living conditions was rather good.


    There were many sturdily built wooden houses, as there was no shortage of timber.


    There seemed to be no cases of homelessness or unemployment.


    Children played happily in the streets and the residents greeted each other in a friendly manner.


    All in all it seemed a prosperous, peaceful town.


    Soon enough Alric was standing in front of a homely building two stories tall christened with a sign that read Alchemist¡¯s shop.

 Chapter 10: The Alchemist

    /Author''s Note\


    Back into the groove, should be able to release another chapter tonight.


    -Correction- Will release tomorrow morning.


    P.S. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter.


    /IMPORTANT\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    The magic incantations and names used by the residents of this universe will all be from google translated words as I do not wish to make up some gibberish every time a character uses a spell. As for why languages from the original world exist in the second it''s really just for my convenience and sanity, please forgive me. Furthermore, there will not be a universal magic language due to one of the properties of magic which will be further explained in subsequent chapters.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    World Advancement Chapter 10: The Alchemist


    Alric entered the two story alchemy shop and was greeted by a waft of various smells.


    Covering the walls were shelves filled with various liquids, preserved animals, and minerals.


    From a glance Alric could see primitive versions of chemicals such as sulfuric acid and ammonia, which were still impure and not at full strength.


    As he walked further into the store he was greeted by a woman who appeared to be in her late fifties.


    She was rather ordinary looking at first glance, she was around four and a half feet tall with brown eyes and hair.


    Upon looking closer however there were signs that spoke of her experience as a great alchemist.


    Her brown eyes that could be described as ordinary gave off a feeling that was anything but.


    Great wisdom and knowledge radiated outward from those eyes giving off the impression of a master of her trade.


    The clothes she wore appeared as if they were shabby but with closer inspection the long robe was made from sturdy materials.


    The robe was covered in stains from various alchemical experiments and a fair amount of scorched areas.


    Her arms too, had faint traces of burns. No doubt caused both by fire and chemical.


    The woman spoke up with a surprised voice.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t every day one as young as you visits my alchemy shop, to what do I owe the pleasure?¡± (Alchemist)


    ¡°My name is Alric, and I¡¯m here to deliver some herbs from Catherine the physician.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Wonderful! I had be hoping those would arrive soon. I am Meredith by the way. Just bring the herbs over to the counter over here.¡± (Alchemist)


    ¡°By the way how did you create that sulfuric acid you have on the shelf over there?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Sulfuric acid? I don¡¯t know what you speak of? Could you point out which flask you are referring to?¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°That one over there, with the slight yellowish tint.¡± Alric said while pointing at the flask of sulfuric acid.


    ¡°Ah that one I found at a distant volcano, I hadn¡¯t determined the exact properties yet so there wasn¡¯t an official name but I was quite partial to Inedia fluid referring to the ravenous hunger it displays when coming in to contact with other substances. But you say it is called sulfuric acid?¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Ah yes, where I come from that is what it is called.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Then tell me the properties so that we can be sure you are referring to the same substance, as I was looking forward to naming a new substance.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°When put into contact with any living or formerly living material it rapidly dissolves becoming black as if burnt, when applied to a metal rapid corrosion occurs, and when water is introduced it produces heat.¡± (Alric)


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.¡°That does indeed sound to be the same liquid¡­ Boy, are you a fellow practitioner of alchemy?¡±(Meredith)


    ¡°No, I never practiced alchemy which takes into account the way magic interacts with substances, however I do know quite a bit about the physical properties of substances which is known as chemistry.¡± (Alric)


    Alric realized that he was taking a risk by revealing some of the knowledge he gained from the other universe, but he decided to just play it off as something he learned from an isolated community.


    Meredith was quite shocked by the amount of knowledge the young boy revealed and furthermore she was eager to learn more about this new concept the boy had introduced her to, chemistry.


    She was about to inquire as to the origin of his surprising expertise when the door flew open with a bang, shaking the shelves and threatening to knock the multitude of alchemy supplies onto the floor.


    ¡°Damn it! Who the hell do you think you are barging into my shop like that! Don¡¯t you know alchemy ingredients are dangerous¡­¡±


    Meredith trailed off as she saw who had come bursting through the door.


    Alric, too, was shocked.


    Standing in the doorway disheveled and gasping for breath was the physician Catherine whom he had separated from not more than two hours before.


    Between sharp intakes of breath Catherine attempted to gasp out her urgent message.


    ¡°Meredith¡­.slums¡­.dying¡­..help¡­.no time¡­.¡± (Catherine)


    Catherine¡¯s message was mostly unintelligible due to her current distress but it was enough to tell the situation was dire.


    Alric sensed Meredith¡¯s mana concentrate in her body and she loudly spoke a word.


    ¡°Sublevabuntur!¡± (Meredith)


    Alric sensed the condensed mana flow from Meredith to Catherine, instantly Catherine¡¯s breathing began to calm down and she became able to speak properly.


    Seeing external magic for the first time Alric wanted to inquire as to how its use works but he realized that this wasn¡¯t the proper time.


    Catherine spoke up after catching her breath.


    ¡°Meredith, from one of my customers I learned that in the next city over the poor residents of the slums have fallen ill to a mysterious ailment. Furthermore because they are poor the local specialists refuse to help them as they are greedy people. Quite a few have already died and the people of the slums gathered their meager resources to send out someone to get help from Berrik. I¡¯ve already decided to go myself but I realized that although I can help heal the people, if it is caused by a toxin or foreign substance I won¡¯t be able to prevent them from becoming worse again. Will you come with me to help?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Aye, I¡¯ll come. I can¡¯t stand those snobs that believe that alchemy is nothing more than a way to sell random concoctions for exorbitant prices.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. We need to hurry to the stables and get the fastest horses they have. Sorry Alric I¡¯ll just have to pay you now. I won¡¯t be able to meet you at the inn tonight. ¡° (Catherine)


    ¡°Hold on! Catherine, did you know this boy is proficient in something he calls chemistry? I think he can help us so I say we take him with us.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Ok. Alric, what do you say, will you come? We don¡¯t have time for deliberation so please choose with haste.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I want to help those people, I will come with you.¡± (Alric)


    Meredith locked up the shop and the three of them rushed to the stables and picked out the fastest horses on hand.


    Wasting no time they saddled up and rode out of town at top speed.

 Chapter 11: The Sickened Slums

    /Author''s note\


    Good News Everyone!


    Longer chapter this time. Please comment your feedback on the chapter and rate my fiction.


    Enjoy the chapter!


    World Advancement Chapter 11: The Sickened Slums


    Once Alric heard about riding horses to get to the next city he realized that this time the stealth wolf, Shadow, would be unable to keep up.


    Alric had trained Shadow to use his optical camouflage at all times other than when he was alone with Alric.


    Although he was incapable of speech the stealth wolf was highly intelligent and able to pick up on the basic meanings of various words.


    Alric trained him to respond to various words and commands.


    ¡°Hide¡± meant to activate camouflage and do everything possible to escape detection.


    ¡°Hunt¡± signified allowing Shadow to roam free and pursue prey


    ¡°Until I Say¡± is added onto any other command to perform until Alric whistles.


    ¡°On My Mark¡± is the opposite, to wait to complete a command until Alric whistles.


    ¡°Stay Nearby¡± tells Shadow not to stray too far from the location the command was given.


    Commands like stay, attack, and follow are self-explanatory.


    Alric, before leaving Berrik, used a combination of these commands to tell Shadow to remain there while he was in the city.


    ¡°Shadow, Stay nearby, hunt and hide until I say.¡± (Alric)


    With that Shadow would stay in Berrik and provide for himself until Alric returned and whistled for him.


    Additionally Shadow was trained not to hunt any humanoids or livestock in order to prevent conflict.


    The horses that the three rode were much faster than ordinary horses.


    Originally from the endless plains the horses were stark white and nicknamed the white wind after their unbelievable speed.


    These horses could run at speeds of up to sixty miles per hour.


    As Catherine said it would take four hours to reach the city Alric estimated the riding distance to be about two hundred miles.


    As they rode down the path the trees of the forest gradually began to get shorter.


    Alric assumed that this was caused by both the ambient mana level, which was lessening the further they got from the mountain above the great mana cave, and the amount of rainfall the land received.


    The large mountain Alric had emerged from served to cause the clouds to break and release their rainfall upon the forested area, leaving none for the area further from the mountain.


    Roughly halfway along the journey the trees died out altogether and the mountainous terrain gave way to flat, rolling plains.


    On these plains there could be spotted groups of wild horses, although there were none of the white winds, and occasionally in the distance there would be a brown cluster that looked suspiciously like a herd of buffalo.


    After three and a half hours their destination came into view.


    ¡°That is the city of Eben, our destination.¡± (Catherine)


    As they rode closer to the city Alric examined the layout.


    The city was situated between two small lakes and was set up like a layered cake.


    Near the larger lake was the main body of the city, consisting of three levels.


    The outer, and lowest, level contained ordinary houses and shops.


    The middle level contained large estates and gardens.


    And the highest level contained one large building that probably housed the lord of the city.


    Stretching out from the main body of the city toward the second lake was the slums.


    Shabbily constructed homes with a lack of organization spread outward from the main city.


    The trio decided to stop off in the outer ring of the city to house the horses in the stable and to gather some information from the residents.


    -----Eben, Outer Ring-----


    Catherine was talking to a local about the condition of the people of the slums.


    ¡°Do you know anything about the ailment of the people of the slums? I am a physician sent to help treat the illness and to help prevent any further spread.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°It started a couple months ago, during the summer. The people of the slums began feeling weak and were affected by headaches. Many figured that they were simply not drinking enough water so they drank more often. However, this didn¡¯t help anything. On the contrary, the people of the slums began getting worse. These days many of the older and younger slum dwellers are so stricken that they are unable to get out of bed and the first deaths have already occurred. Merchants and people from the main city will no longer enter the slums for fear of getting the sickness.¡± (Random Local)


    ¡°Thank you, we will do all in our power to heal those people and keep anyone else from getting sick.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Make sure you do. No one around here gives a damn if those worthless slum dwellers die but we can¡¯t have them getting any of us sick.¡± (Random Douchebag)


    Catherine replied curtly, ¡°We will stop this sickness,¡± and the group quickly walked away.


    Catherine was fuming.


    ¡°Is everyone in this city like that despicable man?!?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I¡¯m sure there are people who care. But it seems that his opinion is shared by many. Eben has fallen on hard times in recent years and many believe that the slum dwellers are wasting land that would be better served for farming.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Then it¡¯s possible that this is no random sickness, but intentional by someone looking to claim the land.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Possibly, but we don¡¯t have time to think about such things now we must make haste to the slums and put an end to this sickness.¡± (Catherine)


    -----Eben Middle Ring-----


    The man stood outside the large doors waiting to give his report.


    ¡°Come in.¡± (????)


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± (Man1)


    ¡°What news do you bring today?¡± (Noble)


    ¡°Today a group of three physicians entered the outer ring and began asking questions about the slum dwellers. What should we do with them?¡± (Man1)


    ¡°Leave them be, they will leave just like the others once they learn there will be no compensation.¡± (Noble)


    ¡°Even if they don¡¯t leave they won¡¯t be able to cure the villagers. The method I¡¯ve prepared is undetectable.¡± (Noble)


    ¡°Very well, I will take my leave.¡± (Man1)


    ¡°Hahaha! Those stupid slum dwellers, in a few more weeks that land will be mine and any of them that survive will have no choice but to become my slaves!¡± (Noble)


    -----Eben Slums-----


    As Alric, Meredith and Catherine walked through the slums their mood became grim.


    There were only a few people up and about, silently working sluggishly.


    Occasionally they would stop only to clutch their heads and groan but despite their pain and suffering they worked on in order to feed their worse off family members.


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    Catherine spoke to Meredith and Alric, ¡°I need to begin diagnosing these people and working on a treatment you two look around for any possible sources of disease or contamination.¡±


    With that they split up.


    ¡°Alric, do you have the ability to use magic?¡± Meredith asked.


    ¡°Yes, I do however I do not yet know any spells.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, it¡¯s easy enough to learn if you have the mana. Just think of what you want to do and speak the incantation. I will be teaching you a spell that tells you if a substance is contaminated by something harmful. The drawback is it does not tell you the type of contamination.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Alright, what¡¯s the incantation?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Explico Periclum, once the incantation is spoken any mana is released the targeted item will briefly glow either green, for harmless, or red, for harmful.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Another drawback of this particular spell is that it requires that you recognize the substance as harmful. The less knowledge one has about harmful substances the more likely it is to miss a harmful substance. Since you have knowledge of chemistry I decided to teach you this spell to act as a backup for me checking to see if there are any harmful materials I may have no knowledge of.¡± (Meredith)


    Alric tested out the spell on their supplies.


    As expected of a pharmacist and alchemist all their supplies were safe, except for the alchemy materials which obviously had dangerous properties.


    After using the spell multiple times Alric learned he could memorize the way the mana flowed in order to replicate the magic without speaking the incantation, however, he did not share this fact with Meredith.


    Alric and Meredith spent the day wandering through the slums searching for dangerous substances.


    Mostly the things they analized glowed green and were deemed harmless and there was the occasional red.


    Milk that was too old and had become spoiled, bread that had been pooped on by a rat, rotten fruit.


    But they couldn¡¯t find anywhere that had a contaminant that could be causing the sickness.


    Thus they asked one of the slum dwellers where they get their water from.


    ¡°The main city gets their water from the large lake, but here in the slum we get ours from the small one.¡± (Slum dweller)


    To Alric this fact seemed very suspicious.


    Only people living in the slums had been getting sick thus far.


    There were no cases of someone who just visited getting sick, and there was no cases of the sickness spreading.


    The slum dwellers got sick over time so it is likely that the water from the lake is the culprit.


    Alric and Meredith went to the lakeside and, sure enough, when the spell was applied to the water it glowed red.


    The slum dwellers were told to spread the news that the water was poisoned and to stop drinking it.


    ¡°I have a spell to cleanse water, however because there is so much it will use up my entire mana capacity and I will not be able to use magic for a few days. If this does not work I will not be able to try again for at least a week.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Aufero Malum Aqua!¡± (Meredith)


    A massive amount of mana flowed out of Meredith and the water became unclouded.


    Meredith collapsed, exhausted.


    ¡°Alric, check the water.¡± (Meredith)


    Alric used the spell on the water and it glowed¡­..


    Red.


    The dangerous substance had not been removed.


    That meant that it was something Meredith recognized as dangerous but not as a conventional water contaminant.


    Alric inspected the water closely with his ability.


    Now that much of the impurities of the water were removed by Meredith¡¯s spell Alric was quickly able to identify what was contaminating the water.


    ¡°Damn! So that¡¯s it! The water is contaminated with lead! The slum dwellers have lead poisoning!¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Meredith, I can remove this contaminant from the water but to do so I need you to promise never to tell anyone what I am about to do.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Alright, as long as you can save these people I will keep that promise. (Meredith)


    Alric called up, in his mind, all the knowledge he had of the element lead.


    Concentrating a large portion of the massive amounts of mana stored in his body Alric used class 1 magic on every speck of lead simultaneously, grabbing each particle and pulling it out of the water.


    -----Meredith¡¯s POV-----


    When the light cast on the water turned red my heart was filled with despair.


    I had tried my best and gave up all my mana in order to save the slum dwellers.


    But still I failed.


    In that moment I had given up.


    However Alric did not he went over to the water and after inspecting it was somehow able to identify what the contaminent was.


    Something called lead.


    Then he told me that he had a way to remove it and that I had to promise to keep it a secret.


    I was so relieved.


    Honestly I would have agreed to any condition if it had meant cleansing that water.


    After I promised I noticed an amazing phenomenon begin to occur.


    I felt a tremendous amount of mana, more than I had ever seen, form around Alric and I realized why he had made me promise to keep it a secret.


    I wondered, what exactly was this boy to have this much power at such a young age?


    Then something even more astounding happened.


    Without even speaking an incantation mana began flowing out from Alric and what looked like black sand began rising from the water.


    I realized he was doing something that was thought to be impossible.


    He was using class 1 magic on every single particle of this lead substance to pull it out from the water.


    ¡°This boy just might be the greatest magic user that ever lived.¡± Meredith thought to herself.


    ----End POV----


    After all the lead had been extracted from the lake Meredith confirmed that the contamination had left the water when the spell returned a green light.


    Meredith asked Alric, ¡°What is this black sand you call lead? Apparently it is something I have knowledge of or my detector spell would have not been set off.¡±


    ¡°Go take a look, just be careful not to touch it or inhale any. Then tell me what you know it as.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Gods! This is cursed iron! What the hell is it doing here! Cursed iron can¡¯t be found within five hundred miles of here. What¡¯s more it is never in this fine grain form.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Aye, it is as I feared someone imported this lead ground it down to fine pieces and put it in the lake to kill the slum dwellers.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°We need to get back and tell Catherine.¡± (Meredith)

 Chapter 12: Repercussions

    ETA on Chapter 13 is tomorrow.


    World Advancement Chapter 12:


    Alric and Meredith ran back to the slums to find Catherine in order to tell her about what they had found at the lake and to assist her in any way possible.


    What they found when they returned was the Squirrel-Woman frantically rushing around the main square, from person to person, administering medicine, performing healing magic, and handing out food.


    Alric and Meredith stopped Catherine to find out how they could help.


    ¡°Catherine, we¡¯ve found and cleared the source of the sickness. It was the lake, it had been contaminated.¡± (Meredith)


    Meredith left out the part about the contamination being intentional because she was aware that the square was a crowded place and that there may be someone listening in. Furthermore, she did not want Catherine to stress out worrying about the situation.


    ¡°You seem stretched thin helping all these people, how can we help?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Alric, hand out this medicine to anyone who has not received it yet. It helps the body remove any foreign materials. Meredith, are you able to use basic healing magic?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I can but right now I am out of mana.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Ok, then I will continue using the healing magic. Meredith you hand out this food to anyone I heal. It is very important that each person do this in the right order. First the medicine, then the magic, and then the food.¡± (Catherine)


    They quickly organized the slum dwellers into three lines.


    First they would take the medicine, then they would head over to Catherine to receive the healing magic.


    Alric observed as Catherine cast the magic on the sick slum dweller.


    ¡°Renovo!¡± (Catherine)


    Using his ability to sense the flow of the magic and the state of the recipient¡¯s body Alric noticed that the magic was simply stabilizing and speeding up the man¡¯s metabolism.


    The medicine, which would have taken much longer to work had the spell not affected it, quickly stimulated the man¡¯s cells to release the lead built up inside.


    Following this the man became very hungry and required the food that Meredith was handing out.


    They continued this process for a few hours until all the slum dwellers had been treated.


    This method would not heal them of the symptoms immediately, but with both the source and the contaminant itself gone their lives were no longer in danger.


    Worried about the culprit behind the poisoning Alric and Meredith refrained from speaking about the events that had transpired and kept on their guard until they left the city.


    Once outside the city Alric spoke up.


    ¡°Catherine, that sickness was no accident. Someone poisoned the lake with this.¡± (Alric)


    Alric took out the pouch of lead shavings and showed them to Catherine.


    ¡°Cursed Iron! Only someone with connections could get this out here.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I believe we may be dealing with someone who is in a place of power and influence, we should watch our backs we may already be in their sights.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°I would have to agree. Still, how were you two able to get it out of the water, I believe a simple cleansing spell would not have removed this.¡± (Catherine)


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Uhmmm¡­¡± Meredith¡¯s voice trailed off unsure of what to say.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I planned to tell her anyway.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°I used my most powerful cleansing spell, but it didn¡¯t affect the cursed iron just like you guessed. In the end I used up all my mana cleansing the lake.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Then how did you do it?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I did it. I used class one magic to pull this lead out of the water.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Are you kidding me? You pulled one substance in many pieces from a body of water that size using only class one magic? That would require both tremendous magic control and mana. That¡¯s just not possible.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°It¡¯s true, I was there. He really did do it, the amount of mana was more than I had ever seen in my life and he was even standing afterwards.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°How?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I plan to fully explain to the two of you once we return to Berrik. You both selflessly helped the slum dwellers even though you stood to gain nothing so I believe I can trust you. For now I will just say that it has to do with my race. I am sorry for leading you to believe otherwise when we first met Catherine, but I am not actually an elf.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°That¡¯s okay I¡¯m sure you had a good reason for doing so.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Anyway lets hurry back to Berrik, I have a bad feeling about this situation. (Meredith)


    -Eben, middle ring, Soon after Alric cleansed the lake-


    The man nervously stood outside the door to his master¡¯s study, waiting to deliver the bad news.


    As his master did not take well to any bad news he was worried that his anger might be taken out on him.


    ¡°Enter.¡± (Noble)


    The man walked into the study.


    ¡°What is it? Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m busy?¡± (Noble)


    ¡°My lord, it is pertaining to the matter with the physicians.¡± (Man 1)


    ¡°Ah, I assume they gave up and left?¡± (Noble)


    ¡°Just like all the others¡­ hahaha!¡± (Noble)


    ¡°My lord, I am afraid that they did not leave. Furthermore it seems that they successfully healed the slum dwellers and cleansed the lake.¡± (Man 1)


    ¡°Now I just have to¡­ WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY!?!?¡± (Noble)


    ¡°ARE YOU TELLING ME THOSE THREE PHYSICIANS SINGLE-HANDEDLY HEALED EVERY SLUM DWELLER AND CLEANSED THE LAKE!?!? WHAT THE FUCK!?!? THE CRIMSON RING SAID THAT METHOD WOULD BE UNHEALABLE!!!!¡± (NOBLE)


    The noble shouted as he drew his mace and began thoroughly destroying a nearby table.


    ¡°Damn! Now all my money is tied up in the preparation for that land! Those bastards are going to pay for getting in my way! (Noble)


    ¡°Servant! Tell me, how did they cleanse the lake?¡± (Noble)


    ¡°They seem to have had a powerful wizard with them, a young-looking boy who cast a powerful spell that pulled the cursed iron out of the lake.¡± (Man 1)


    ¡°Haha. I have a plan that will fix my problem and get revenge on those meddlesome bastards. Bring me info on their families!¡± (Noble)

 Chapter 13: Confrontation

    /Author''s Note\


    Yay, I managed to get past my writer''s block somewhat! Anyway, sorry that the chapter is a fairly short one, I wanted to get it out today. If things go well, I should be able to release the next one in the next couple of days.


    Please comment your thoughts, and enjoy!


    Chapter 13:


    Alric, Catherine, and Meredith arrived back at the town of Berrik as the sun rose on the second day.


    Finally released from the endless torment of riding, Catherine stretched and complained, ¡°Aghh, it was so much faster riding on those other horses.¡±


    ¡°I agree, someone else must have rented them while we were in the slums,¡± Alric said as the trio dismounted and led the horses to the stables.


    After arriving at the stables they quickly became surprised.


    There were the three horses that they rode to the city standing in the stables.


    ¡°That¡¯s a crazy coincidence, whoever rented those horses must have been headed to Berrik too.¡± Catherine said.


    Alric felt that it was too coincidental. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­¡± he mumbled to himself.


    Motioning for Alric and Catherine to follow her Meredith said, ¡°Come on lets head back to my shop, I¡¯ll make us something to eat after a long journey.¡±


    Unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong Alric followed after the others.


    When the alchemy shop came into view they began to notice that something was wrong.


    Where the door should be there was instead an empty doorframe.


    Meredith frantically ran toward the shop.


    Alric and Catherine chased after her.


    ¡°I knew something was up.¡± Alric thought to himself.


    Reaching the entryway they were met with an extremely pungent odor.


    The floor of the shop was covered in broken glass and the former contents of the shattered flasks and vials.


    Alric knew the noxious fumes coming off the various chemicals and substances were likely toxic, so he quickly pulled the other two away.


    Meredith was distraught and was crying over the destruction of her shop saying, ¡°Not my shop! Who did this?!?¡±


    ¡°Meredith, now¡¯s not the time, we have to get somewhere safe!¡± Alric exclaimed, snapping Meredith out of her grief ¡°Do you know anywhere safe we could go?¡±


    Still calming herself, Meredith managed to speak up, ¡°I have a cabin outside of town for when I refine my ingredients. We can go there.¡±


    ¡°Hoho, a cabin outside town eh? We didn¡¯t know about that one. You might have been safe if you went there. Too bad for you that you¡¯ll never make it there.¡± The sudden voice came from behind us.


    Standing there were three large men.


    Two of the men were ugly, heavily scarred, and wielding large knives; they looked like they emerged from a pirate movie.


    But the third man was different he was over two meters tall with bulging muscles.


    On his back was a massive sheath and from it he had drawn a large bastard sword.


    ¡°ARE YOU THE FUCKERS WHO DESTROYED MY SHOP?!?¡± Meredith yelled at them.


    ¡°HAHAHA, you have quite the mouth on you miss! Aye, it was us.¡± The meat tower man responded.


    ¡°You were sent by an Eben noble, weren¡¯t you?¡± Alric questioned.


    ¡°You¡¯re a sharp one lad. We¡¯re here to teach you a lesson for your meddling.¡± Meat tower man replied.


    Making a split-second decision to get rid of the two pirate-goons first Alric quickly activated his body strengthening and leapt to the first one.


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    Alric covered the distance in a fraction of a second plowing his strengthened fist into the face of pirate-goon number one.


    The goon went flying instantly knocked unconscious by Alric¡¯s punch.


    Goon number two had time to ready his knife and take a swing, but Alric quickly shifted his attention and kicked him in the abdomen.


    Having dealt with the goons he turned to face the meat tower man who was casually leaning on his sword watching the short fight.


    ¡°You sure are full of surprises boy. Not only are you a great mage and sharper than razor but you¡¯re also a strong fighter. We couldn¡¯t find any info on you, tell me what is your name?¡± The meat tower man asked.


    ¡°My name is Alric.¡± He spat out as he glared at meat tower.


    ¡°That is a strong name boy, I am Fels, allow me to be your opponent.¡±


    Fels, the meat tower man, lifted his bastard sword to the ready position and Alric equipped his gauntlet blades.


    For a second that seemed to stretch on for minutes the two fighters stared each other down daring their opponent to make a move.


    The first to move was Alric.


    He concentrated his body strengthening into his legs crouched down and sprang forward at a speed greatly surpassing his movements as he fought the goons earlier.


    Fels quickly brought up his bastard sword, moving it as if it was as light as a feather.


    The bastard sword and the gauntlet blades met with a loud metallic clang.


    Alric began to punch with his gauntlet blades in rapid succession attempting to penetrate Fels¡¯ defense.


    All of his blows were easily deflected by the bastard sword moving deftly in the hands of the massive man.


    In terms of power Alric far surpassed Fels, but his blows were somehow rendered useless by the large sword.


    Switching strategies Alric jumped over Fels attempting to attack from behind, but Fels yelled out, ¡°Too predictable!¡± and swung the bastard sword with all his might hitting Alric with the flat of the blade and sending him sprawling on the ground.


    Alric tried to get up, but Fels had already positioned the bastard sword at his neck.


    Alric waited for the end.


    ¡°Boy, you are really strong, but you fight like a wild animal. Even a beginner in swordsmanship could see through movements like those. That¡¯s why you lost.¡± Fels said as he lifted his blade.


    Alric was frozen.


    He was completely at the mercy of this man.


    He regretted how he had become conceited about his strength.


    ¡°I should have trained properly, then I could have won.¡±


    The massive sword descended.


    And buried itself in the dirt next to his head.


    ¡°Now you know boy. I can kill you at any time, so don¡¯t try anything again.¡± Fels said as he sheathed the sword. ¡°Anyway, my employer needs you alive.¡±


    ¡°Alric!¡± Meredith yelled as she ran over to check on him.


    ¡°The boy is unharmed, the one you should be worrying about is your apprentice.¡± Fels said to Meredith.


    ¡°Did you do something to Christy?!?¡± Meredith cried out.


    ¡°She¡¯s safe for now. If you do what my employer wants, he¡¯ll let her go.¡±


    ¡°You bastard! What would you have us do?¡± Meredith yelled in outrage.


    ¡°This is what my employer says, ¡®If you want to save your apprentice then have the boy-mage use his magic to destroy the Eben slums.¡¯¡± (Fels) ¡°Oh, and you have three days.¡±

 Chapter 14: Their Respective Pasts

    /Author''s Note\


    Hello Everyone!


    This week World Advancement got its first Advanced Review initially it was a little vague but the reviewer kindly clarified on his feedback and provided me with some very helpful thoughts on the story.


    So, long story short, if you post an advanced review please make it constructive so I can make this story even better.


    Chapter 14:


    ¡°This is what my employer says, ¡®If you want to save your apprentice then have the boy-mage use his magic to destroy the Eben slums.¡¯¡± (Fels) ¡°Oh, and you have three days.¡±


    ¡°What?!?!?¡± Alric, Meredith, and Catherine yelled out.


    ¡°Listen, normally I wouldn¡¯t be working for a guy like him but this time I have no choice. That said I¡¯m not a heartless guy so I¡¯ll give you a little bit of help. My employer said to destroy the slums, he didn¡¯t say to kill the slum dwellers. Sure he implied it but in the end all he cares about is his money so you should be fine with just destroying the buildings. I¡¯ll be leaving now, you have three days.¡± (Fels)


    Fels effortlessly picked up the two goons, slung them haphazardly over his shoulder and walked away.


    Alric was still laying on the ground in shock.


    His thoughts were running in circles, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I lost so easily. He was too strong. If only I were stronger.¡±


    The last of his thoughts leaked out and Catherine heard him.


    ¡°Alric, what are you talking about? You just fought THE Fels, the legendary mercenary said to be equal to a small army. I¡¯d say your pretty damn strong already but you¡¯re still young and he has had decades of real battle experience.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Fels is really that well known?¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Ah, I forgot that you have no common knowledge about the world. Although Fels raw strength is only on the level of twice the ordinary man he has extraordinary battle intuition, perception, and reflexes. On top of that he is a tactical genius. They say that, while hired by the kingdom, he singlehandedly destroyed a small army attempting to flank the kingdom¡¯s main army. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s exaggerated somewhat but I have no doubt that he was the one who brought about its demise. He¡¯s a warrior that specializes in heavy strikes and quick counters, for someone with no formal training, as you appear to be, a fight with him would end in a second.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Thanks, Catherine if you hadn¡¯t explained the difference between me and him I probably would have lost all confidence in my fighting abilities. Instead I will use my defeat today as motivation to get trained properly.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Now, we have to find somewhere to plan our next move, Meredith can you take us to that cabin you spoke of?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± (Meredith)


    The cabin was located next to a small cave a little ways away from the main town of Berrik.


    The cave was situated in a large rocky area that jutted from the forest floor, there seemed to be many minerals that would be useful for alchemy.


    Once they got near Alric called out to the other two, ¡°Listen, before we go in I¡¯d like to introduce someone to you. You could call him my companion, or pet. He¡¯ll guard the cabin for us while we are talking.¡±


    Alric whistled for shadow and called out ¡°don¡¯t hide.¡±


    Catherine and Meredith looked around for whatever would be approaching.


    When they saw the three foot tall wolf that was a black as a moonless night emerge from the tree line they stiffened and jumped backward.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯s trained.¡± Alric said.


    Catherine and Meredith, still wary, calmed down a little bit.


    ¡°Since when did you have a wolf? I didn¡¯t see one when we were traveling together.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°This is Shadow, actually he was with us the whole time we were coming to Berrik. As for why you didn¡¯t see him¡­¡± (Alric) ¡°Hide!¡±


    Shadow instantly turned invisible.


    The two stood dumbstruck, still not believing their eyes. Absentmindedly Meredith mumbled out, ¡°holy crap¡­¡±


    Soon enough though they began to ask questions.


    ¡°Where did you get a wolf like that?¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°What kind of wolf is it anyway? I¡¯ve never heard of an invisible wolf!¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions when we go inside, I promised to tell you about my past.¡± (Alric)


    Meredith and Catherine voiced their understanding and headed into the cabin.


    After instructing Shadow to guard the cabin he followed inside.


    ¡°Now, first of all, I said I will tell you of my past but there is a condition. In order to trust you, and get to know you better I¡¯d like for both of you to share your pasts as well.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, I have nothing to hide. I assume you¡¯re the same Catherine?¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Yep, I am fine with it.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Let¡¯s start off with names, races, and ages.¡±


    ¡°I am Catherine, a proud member of the squirrel tribe, and I am twenty-five this year.¡±


    ¡°I am Meredith Silas, a human, and I am thirty-two.¡±


    ¡°My name is Alric, I am sixteen years old, and my true race is called the Mana-titans.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a mana titan?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a mana titan is but I¡¯ve heard of giants that call themselves titans.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Titans are a race that have the ability to live in the harshest of environments. The giant titans probably live in an area with very large predators, A magma titan would live in a volcano, An aqua titan would live in the sea.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°So that would mean that mana titans live in an area filled with mana?¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°You are correct, my race lives in a large cave deep beneath the mountain outside Berrik. This cave was formed by intersecting mana wells and has a level of mana that would be harmful to ordinary living creatures.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°So you are from a race nobody has heard of before? Wow, no wonder you kept it a secret!¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Now I¡¯m going to tell you the two abilities inherent to my race. No matter what do not tell these to anyone.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°We promise to keep it a secret.¡± (Catherine and Meredith)


    ¡°One the mana capacity of mana titans is many times larger than that of any other race. Two we possess the natural ability to use body strengthening.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you were able to purify the lake and put up a fight against Fels!¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°On a personal level I have next to no knowledge about the use of magic and I have an abundance of knowledge on natural processes that do not involve magic, which I know as science.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Since we do not have much time I won¡¯t delve much deeper into the specifics of my past but those are the most important things to know for now. Catherine it¡¯s your turn.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Before I told you how I had left my home village due to my wanderlust, but I did not tell you the reason I became a physician.¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°Originally I had planned to just wander around living off the land and learning about new plants.¡±


    ¡°I decided to become a physician when I visited a small human village.¡±


    ¡°Upon entering the village I knew something was wrong.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°The streets were empty in the middle of the day and there was nobody working the weed infested fields.¡±


    ¡°Originally I believed that the village must have been abandoned so I decided to move on.¡±


    ¡°However, when I was about to leave I heard sounds of crying coming from the nearest house.¡±


    ¡°I entered the house and called out ¡®Is someone here?¡¯¡±


    ¡°I heard the crying stop and someone yelled ¡®No! Don¡¯t come here! I haven¡¯t heard your voice before. It¡¯s not too late for you, Leave!¡¯¡±


    ¡°For reasons I still don¡¯t know I ignored the yelling and continued forward.¡±


    ¡°What I saw in that house shocked me to the core.¡±


    ¡°There was a man lying in a bed, he was deathly pale and covered in blood encrusted lesions.¡±


    ¡°When the man saw me he cried out in mortal terror, ¡®GODS NO! PLEASE, PLEASE, I DON¡¯T WANT TO KILL ANYONE!¡¯¡±


    ¡°I ran to his side and said to him, ¡®please calm down, I am of the Beastman race, we can¡¯t get human sicknesses.¡¯¡±


    ¡°He coughed and weakly replied ¡®Thank god, I don¡¯t know what I would have done if I passed this hell onto another.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I asked him, ¡®Is the rest of the village like this?¡¯¡±


    ¡°He replied, ¡®yes, they all got the sickness, most likely many of them are already dead.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I said to him, ¡®I¡¯m going to stay here and help this village as much as I can. I probably can¡¯t cure you but maybe if I help you all to eat and drink help will come or you¡¯ll fight it off.¡¯¡±


    ¡°From then on I stayed at the village helping the dying residents hoping things would take a turn for the better.¡±


    ¡°But the days passed by and the villagers only got worse and no help came.¡±


    ¡°They started dying one by one and I gave up hope of them being saved.¡±


    ¡°Still I stayed until the end, keeping watch and whispering kind words as the breathed their last.¡±


    ¡°Soon enough I was all alone in that village of death.¡±


    ¡°Filled with despair I cried out against the world shouting, ¡®Why?!? Why didn¡¯t someone save them?!?¡¯¡±


    ¡°But soon enough I realized that I could have saved them if only I knew how.¡±


    ¡°After that I vowed to myself that never again would I sit by as people die of sickness and I set out from that empty village to become a physician.¡± (Catherine)


    As Catherine finished her tale the cabin was filled with silence.


    Apparently, even Meredith was unaware of this aspect of Catherine¡¯s past.


    Catherine attempted to force her usual lighthearted smile but as tears continued to roll down her face it wasn¡¯t convincing at all.


    *Sniff*Sniff ¡°J-just give me a moment I¡¯ll be alright.¡± Catherine said weakly and then proceeded to start sobbing.


    Meredith put her arms around Catherine to comfort her.


    After Catherine had calmed down Meredith began her story.


    ¡°My real name is Meredith Silas and as you can probably guess due to the fact I have a family name I was born a noble.¡±


    ¡°In my childhood I lived in a well off noble household.¡±


    ¡°While I was still young I enjoyed everything that being a noble had to offer. Good food, nice clothes, a beautiful house.¡±


    ¡°I had servants that would perform all the necessary duties in the house.¡±


    ¡°For a while I truly enjoyed being a noble.¡±


    ¡°However, as I was approaching my teens I learned something that turned everything around.¡±


    ¡°I heard from some of the other noble girls about arranged marriages and that someday I would be married to a man I didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I was worried, but I reassured myself that my dad would pick a good guy for me even if it was arranged.¡±


    ¡°I gradually became more nervous as my coming of age neared and I began meeting all the possible candidates for my marriage.¡±


    ¡°There were a few that were okay, but there were a lot of old men and even worse some of them already had wives.¡±


    ¡°Still I trusted my father thinking, ¡®Surely, he¡¯ll pick a good guy¡¯¡±


    ¡°That all changed after my coming of age ceremony.¡±


    ¡°My father called me into his office and said ¡®follow me you are going to meet your new husband¡¯¡±


    ¡°I followed him, nervous, but when I entered the room I saw that my worst fears had been realized.¡±


    ¡°The man was someone that my father had said was very important.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t care about that because the man was someone I had met before.¡±


    ¡°He was an old and arrogant man that had a sadistic personality.¡±


    ¡°I somehow managed to make it out of the marriage interview without breaking down.¡±


    ¡°But that night I grabbed what money I had stashed away and escaped from the house.¡±


    ¡°When I saw that man I realized that my father had never truly loved me, he had simply been trying to use me as a tool to sell away to obtain power.¡±


    ¡°I made it easy for anyone looking for me to follow me to the forest where I cut my self and spilled my blood over the ground and trees.¡±


    ¡°I then bandaged myself up and ran in the opposite direction.¡±


    ¡°I then made it to the next town over where I hired some travelers to take me to the academy.¡±


    ¡°Having faked my death, I started my life over as a student.¡±


    ¡°There I learned of my interest in alchemy and studied to become an alchemist until my graduation.¡±


    ¡°After graduating I moved around until I found Berrik and set up shop.¡±


    After Meredith had finished Alric only had one more question.


    ¡°Now, who is this apprentice that Fels mentioned?¡±


    ¡°My apprentice¡¯s name is Christy.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°She¡¯s fifteen years old and was born in the village.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°When she was little she was the biggest troublemaker. She had this insatiable curiosity that would always get her into trouble.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°One time she actually poked a bear with a stick, good thing it was tame or else she would have been chow.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°Anyway due to this curiosity of hers her parents were fed up. They realized she needed an outlet for her curiosity so they asked me to take her on as an apprentice.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°She took to it right away, absorbing all the knowledge I had learned over my life at an amazing rate. She truly is a genius.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°This brings us to our current problem. I want to save Christy, but there¡¯s no way I can destroy the slums to do so. We need to come up with a plan.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°I have a spell that can find out where she is but she is sure to be heavily guarded.¡± (Meredith)


    ¡°I have an idea. If I can use the same cloaking magic as Shadow I can get in to her with no problem. The problem is I could only use it on myself and not her so I would have to fight my way out.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Can you do that? What if Fels is there?¡± (Catherine)


    ¡°That¡¯s where I¡¯ll need Meredith¡¯s help. I can¡¯t train physically in the time we have left, but I can learn new spells. First I¡¯ll have to learn the cloaking spell then Meredith will teach me some of the spell¡¯s she knows.¡± (Alric)


    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s do this!¡± (Meredith) ¡°We¡¯ll save Christy!¡±

 Chapter 15: The Magic Physicist

    /Author''s Note\


    I''m officially back! Sorry about the long wait, I''ve been settling into my new job. I should be back to regular releases for WA, Age of the mad gods, however is still in teaser mode and will not have chapters come out very often.


    I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, please leave your thoughts in the comments.


    Chapter 15:


    [Serendar Fort, Outside of Eben]


    The woman laid on the single bed, staring at the empty wall.


    ¡°How long had it been?¡± she wondered.


    When she was first thrown into the cell she spent every moment searching for some weak point, attempting to escape.


    But as the days dragged on and hope began to fade time started to blend together.


    At times it felt like she had lived her whole life in that cell, many of her memories fading away.


    But at other times she recalled her most important memories it felt as if it were only yesterday that she was free and happy.


    She wished she could go back to those days, those days when she had adventured across the continent with her partner by her side.


    As her thoughts wandered off into her memories there was a change, quiet footsteps approached the door to the cell.


    The lock disengaged, the door swung open, and in walked her captor carrying a large burlap sack.


    The man roughly said, ¡°Here¡¯s your new roommate.¡± Then he closed and relocked the door.


    After his footsteps faded away the woman approached the sack lying on the floor.


    Inside was a young girl bound, and unconscious.


    She had long brown hair and a face with average looks.


    The woman untied her and laid her on the bed, then sat next to her waiting for her to regain consciousness.


    -----Christy¡¯s Pov-----


    She opened her eyes slowly and began examining the space around her.


    At first glance she could tell that it was not somewhere she was accustomed to sleeping.


    The ceiling was a rough, worn stone with the occasional patch of moss adorning its surface.


    Taking a deep breath she noticed that the air had a dank and somewhat stale feeling to it.


    This led her to conclude that she must be deep underground somewhere.


    However, she was currently lying on some form of bed so it wasn¡¯t one of the caves that she would search for alchemy ingredients in.


    Sitting up, she noticed two things.


    The first was that at the far end of the small cave she was in was a large barred door.


    She alluded from this that she had been taken prisoner and was currently in an underground cell.


    The second thing she noticed was that at the side of her bed was a woman in her thirties.


    The woman had long blonde hair that nearly reached her waist, her skin was smooth and pale, she had pointed elvish ears, and she was wearing a fine robe which was the trademark of a magician.


    All in all, she could be called a peerless beauty.


    However, her beauty was marred by her time spent in this cell.


    Her blonde hair was caked with dirt and dried blood, her skin had been scarred in multiple places, and her robe stained.


    How long had this woman been trapped down here she wondered.


    Christy reached out her hand and gently shook the woman to wake her.


    ¡°Heh?!?¡± The woman bolted upright in surprise.


    After seeing who had woken her the woman calmed down and spoke.


    ¡°Oh good, you¡¯re awake. Are you hurt anywhere?¡±


    Christy shook her head, ¡°No I¡¯m not injured. We seem to be imprisoned underground, do you know where we are?¡±


    The woman replied, ¡°Oh, yes, we are in a dungeon beneath Serendar fort.¡±


    Christy¡¯s face showed surprise as she mumbled, ¡°Serendar fort¡­ that¡¯s outside of Eben¡­ What am I doing imprisoned here?


    The woman spoke up again and asked, ¡°What is your name?¡±


    Christy turned away from her thoughts and answered, ¡°Its Christy, what¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°My name is Lyria Celis, but you can just call me Lyria.¡± [Note: pronounced Leer-e-uh Sell-iss]


    ¡°You have a very beautiful name, it¡¯s fitting for an elf like you.¡± Christy replied with a smile.


    ¡°So you noticed I am an elf? Between that and how you knew we were underground earlier you seem to be a very observant girl.¡± Lyria replied.


    ¡°Well I am an alchemist¡¯s apprentice after all, we tend to be observant people.¡± Christy replied with a laugh.


    A worried look ran across Lyria¡¯s face.


    ¡°You said you¡¯re an alchemist¡¯s apprentice? What are you doing imprisoned down here?¡±


    Contemplating, Christy replied, ¡°I have no clue. In the first place, last I remember, I wasn¡¯t even anywhere near Eben. And I don¡¯t remember doing anything that would get me thrown in a cell.¡±


    After pausing to contemplate Christy spoke again, ¡°Thinking about it now, you said we are outside of Eben, right? I heard recently that my master had taken a trip to Eben because of some incident, perhaps this has something to do with it.¡±


    Lyria responded with a look of concern, ¡°That may be so, perhaps your master did something to anger the lord of this fort and he took you to get back at them¡­¡±


    Lyria trailed off and a venomous look of hatred distorted her beautiful face and she spat out, ¡°Lord Renthar¡­ that bastard¡­ I will make him wish he could die!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming this Lord Renthar is our captor?¡± Christy questioned.


    ¡°Aye, in terms of political power Lord Renthar is nothing more than a speck to the rest of the kingdom, but unfortunately here in Eben he is a major player because he is in control of the fort we are now incarcerated under, fort Serendar.¡± Lyria replied.


    After taking a few seconds to put together the whole situation in her head Christy inquired, ¡°I understand that I may be here because of my master, but why are you here Lyria?¡±


    Lyria replied, ¡°I¡¯m like you, I¡¯m imprisoned here as a hostage so that my husband will work for Lord Renthar. My husband Fels and I are part of a famous mercenary team. Fels is known as the unyielding swordsman and I am embarrassingly called the maiden of ten thousand spells. Ugh, it¡¯s so frustrating! No matter how many times I told them to stop calling me that they just kept spreading it around! *Cough* getting back to the point. The despicable Lord Renthar ¡°hired¡± us to take care of a ¡°monster infestation¡± underneath Fort Serendar. However as we continued deeper and deeper in the passageways under the fort there seemed to be no end to them. Finally we ended up in the deepest room when suddenly from behind us came a swarm of monsters. We fought for a while and seemingly took care of them easily until I realized that I had exhausted all my mana in the fight. I collapsed and suddenly a group of thugs rushed out of a side passage and grabbed me. Just as I had almost lost consciousness I heard Lord Renthar tell Fels to do what he said or else I would die. The next thing I knew I was here in this cell.¡±


    After Lyria finished recounting her story, Christy asked, ¡°You said you are a well-known spellcaster right? How come you can¡¯t use magic to get out of this cell?¡±


    Lyria pointed at the walls and said, ¡°These walls are coated with a substance made with mana crystals, when ambient mana comes near them it gets absorbed. Because of this I haven¡¯t been able to recover any mana during my time spent here.¡±


    ¡°Mana crystals huh?¡± Christy mumbled and then a wide grin appeared on her face. ¡°I know how we can escape!¡±


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Lyria¡¯s face filled with shock, ¡°Escape?!? How?!?¡±


    Christy unbuttoned her outer robe revealing small inner pockets. ¡°That Lord Renthar is pretty stupid, just because I¡¯m a young girl that knows neither spellcraft nor blade doesn¡¯t mean I am helpless. We alchemists are known for being smart, why would we go around without the tools of our trade?¡±


    In the small inner pockets Lyria could see various alchemical ingredients in small quantities and a small flask.


    ¡°With these.¡± Christy said ¡°I can make you a potion that will restore some mana to you, and Lord Renthar graciously provided the final ingredient, mana crystals!¡±


    [Cabin, outside of Berrik}


    Alric sat outside the cabin in deep contemplation.


    The battle with Fels and his subsequent defeat kept replaying in his mind.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re going to rescue Christy I may have to fight him again.¡± Alric thought to himself.


    ¡°It¡¯s true, in that battle I just charged in without thinking striking as if I was a wild animal. But that wasn¡¯t the only reason for my defeat. Looking back the truth is I was holding back, afraid that if I were to truly go all out I would inevitably end up killing him. This next time will be different, I can¡¯t let those I care about suffer because I hesitate to take a life.  This time I will go all out.¡±


    Having gathered his determination Alric called Meredith over.


    ¡°Meredith it¡¯s time, please teach me the basic spells for fire, water, earth, and air.¡±


    Meredith taught the spells to Alric and he began to familiarize himself with them.


    Using his ability Alric began to analyze the effects of each spell.


    In the original form of the fire spell mana is used to directly bring forth a flame.


    After analyzing it however Alric was able to use his mana to directly manipulate heat.


    This was a large improvement because instead of simply throwing a little bit of fire Alric was now able to heat and cool anything at will.


    Basic Water magic simply manipulated water.


    Alric was able to expand on its principles to manipulate any matter in a liquid state.


    Earth magic was similar to water magic, it manipulated earth and rocks.


    Alric turned it into the ability to manipulate materials in a solid state


    Air magic was actually the opposite it simply grabbed the myriad gasses in the atmosphere and pushed them around.


    Alric used it to learn how to manipulate individual gasses such as oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapor.


    Solids, liquids, gasses, and heat.


    Using these four principles Alric began to design suitable magic.


    Using the manipulation of heat and gasses Alric created a magic that would produce a blade of superheated air which he called Furnace Blades.


    This would be used as a close combat spell.


    Using gasses and solids he created a magic to tie down and disorient an enemy, a small tornado filled with flying sand called Erosion Vortex


    Using heat and liquids he made a spell that would use heat to generate magma and manipulate the magma into a wave to attack multiple enemies.


    He called that spell Mantle Tsunami.


    The final spell he created used liquids, gasses, heat, and tier 1 magic to create an explosion.


    First water vapor, liquid water, oxygen, and hydrogen would all be gathered together.


    Then using tier 1 magic the molecular bonds would be broken.


    Finally it would be heated, causing a hydrogen explosion.


    This magic was designed as an anti-material, anti-armor spell and it was named Hydrogen Detonation.


    After finishing the development of his magic Alric called over Meredith and Catherine.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finished creating the spells I will be using when I go to rescue Christy, would you like to see a demonstration?¡± Alric said to the pair.


    Surprised Meredith said, ¡°You really created your own spells? If so how could I miss seeing them!¡±


    Alric laughed and got some meat from the cabin.


    ¡°This is my first spell, it¡¯s called Furnace Blades.¡±


    Alric released his mana and the air in front of his hand began shimmering in a vague sword shape.


    He tossed the meat into the air and swung his arm.


    With a loud noise the meat was instantly bisected.


    The two halves fell on the ground and the place where it was cut was cooked and steaming.


    From behind him Alric heard two small gasps, but he continued on.


    ¡°My second spell is called Erosion Vortex.¡±


    He activated his mana and a small tornado filled with sand flew out of his hand and sped across the field flinging up anything in its path.


    After activating this spell Alric heard Catherine let out a faint woah.


    ¡°The third spell is called Mantle Tsunami, for this one you¡¯ll want to take a step back.¡± Alric warned.


    He released a large amount of mana and a ten foot by four foot section of ground quickly heated up until it became lava then rose up and surged forward in a wave leaving destruction in its wake.


    Alric quickly used heat magic to cool down the lava and surroundings to prevent a fire from being started.


    This time after he finished he didn¡¯t hear anything.


    ¡°I saved the best for last, this is called Hydrogen Detonation.¡±


    Alric released his mana and for a split second an orb appeared at the edge of the forest then suddenly there was a massive explosion knocking down all the trees in a twenty foot radius.


    Finished showing off all his spells Alric turned to look at his two companions for the first time.


    Catherine and Meredith were standing there staring blankly at him, slack jawed.


    Meredith was the first to come out of it and began to struggle to speak, ¡°W-ww-what was that?? This morning I gave you four beginner level spells and by this afternoon you actually created two master level and two forbidden level spells?!?!?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I guess so I just used my knowledge of chemistry and physics with the spells you gave me to create these more powerful spells.¡±  Alric explained.


    ¡°Chemistry¡­ Physics¡­¡± Meredith mumbled ¡°Alright I¡¯ve decided! Please make me your disciple and teach me these chemistry and physics!!¡±


    Alric thought to himself for a moment then replied, ¡°That actually isn¡¯t a bad idea, but first let¡¯s go save Christy!¡±


    [Fort Serendar Dungeon]


    Lyria drank the potion and a small amount of mana flooded into her body.


    ¡°It¡¯s not much but I should be able to open the door and knock out any guards.¡± Lyria said to Christy.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡± Christy exclaimed.


    Lyria walked to the cell door and put her hand on the locking mechanism.


    Chanting a spell under her breath the cell door unlocked.


    The duo left the cell and began to carefully head down the hallway.


    After walking for a while however they began to feel something was up.


    ¡°Why are there no guards?¡± Lyria wondered out loud.


    Just then they turned the corner and her question was answered for her.


    The passageway opened up into a large cavern and sitting in the middle was an enormous armored beast.

 Chapter 16: The Infiltration

    Chapter 16


    [Outskirts of Eben]


    Alric, Meredith, Catherine and Shadow are currently in an abandoned building.


    Taking off her pack Meredith said, ¡°We rode all night to get here but we have no time to rest, today is our last day before the deadline so we have to rescue Christy today.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you said you have a spell to find her?¡± Alric questioned.


    ¡°Yes, here it is.¡± Meredith said as she took out a light blue translucent plate out of her bag.


    It was circular in shape and a centimeter in thickness with runic markings and four needles sticking up from the edges.


    ¡°What does that do?¡± Catherine inquired.


    ¡°This magic tool is used alongside a magic pulse spell to find someone holding a special receiver. First you pin a map to the surface of the tool in the correct orientation with your current position as the center. Next you use a magic pulse spell that sends out a wave of magic that can pass through anything except for the receiver. When the magic hits the receiver it bounces back and is absorbed by the magic tool. A glowing dot will appear on the tool where the receiver is and using the map above the tool you can tell where exactly it is.¡± Meredith explained.


    ¡°Ah! So it¡¯s like magic RADAR!¡± Alric exclaimed.


    ¡°What¡¯s RADAR??¡± Meredith and Catherine spoke in unison.


    ¡°Um, it¡¯s just like that except it uses these things called radio waves.¡± Alric explained.


    Alric quickly added, ¡°I¡¯ll explain later, for now let¡¯s find Christy.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡± Meredith replied and began to chant and infuse mana into the magic tool.


    Once Meredith finished the chant a light lit up on the tool right away.


    The light appeared north of Eben in a small fort.


    ¡°That¡¯s Fort Serendar! That means we¡¯re up against Lord Renthar!¡± Catherine exclaimed.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Lord Renthar?¡± Alric asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s a noble from Eben with the most military power, due to the fact he is in control of an actual fort. He is known for being vicious and unscrupulous with a nasty temper to boot, however he is a man of simple mind.¡± Catherine explained.


    ¡°Actually I wouldn¡¯t doubt it if the idea of us trying to sneak in and rescue Christy hadn¡¯t even occurred to him.¡± Catherine continued.


    ¡°Ok, now that I know where she is it¡¯s time I got going, there¡¯s no time to waste.¡± Alric said.


    ¡°I know you can do it.¡± Meredith said.


    ¡°Christy is as good as saved with you around.¡± Catherine said confidently.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be off. Next we meet I will be back with Christy safe and sound!¡± Alric stated then turned to shadow and said, ¡°Stealth. Follow.¡± First Shadow¡¯s figure faded away and then Alric¡¯s.


    The door swung open and a second later swung back closed.


    Alric exited the city and turned north.


    Using his body strengthening he ran as fast as he could toward Fort Serendar, Shadow keeping pace alongside him.


    [Serendar Fort] <Alric POV>


    ¡°Really, these soldiers are quite lax.¡± I thought to myself.


    ¡°They just leave the front gate wide open and what¡¯s more they are sitting off to the side gambling.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s like that why do I even need to be in stealth?¡± I thought and laughed to myself.


    I began searching through the buildings one by one but found no trace of any prisoners.


    Then I noticed that in one of the buildings there seemed to be an entrance to a basement of some sort that was locked and had a guard sitting outside it.


    The key to the door was hanging from his belt.


    ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll have to knock the guard out to get the key.¡±


    Thankfully, I had prepared for a situation like this.


    I pulled out from my pack a rag and a bottle of highly concentrated alcohol.


    After soaking the rag in the alcohol I snuck up behind the guard and clamped the rag over his nose and mouth.


    I held him down as he struggled and eventually he passed out as the potent alcohol vapors worked their way into his system.


    Under the influence of the alcohol the guard would be out for at least eight hours and if anyone else found him they would assume he had drunk himself to the point of unconsciousness.


    I grabbed the key from his belt, unlocked the door and replaced the key.


    I entered the basement and began to descend, keeping my eyes out for any prisoners.


    Seeing how this area was locked from the outside I¡¯m going to assume that there aren¡¯t any human guards in these passageways.


    However, that doesn¡¯t mean it will be unguarded.


    Most likely there will be traps and possibly even monster guardians.


    After continuing a ways I notice a fine crack in the wall that is too unnaturally straight.


    Picking up a discarded stone I roll it down the hall.


    When it reached the crack it seemed to hit a spot on the floor that sunk in and suddenly darts that were likely covered in poison were shot from the wall.


    A nearly imperceptible click alerted me to the trap resetting and reloading.


    Although I was able to see the area the darts fired from I am unable to tell where the switch to activate the trap is until it is activated.


    Clearly this is the work of a fairly skilled trap maker.


    I know the location of one of the activation switches thanks to the stone but that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t more.


    I¡¯ll just have to leap past the trap without touching the floor.


    I could just use magic to disable the trap but due to the unknown number of enemies I may have to face I need to save every drop of mana I¡¯ve got.


    I took a few steps back and broke into a run.


    Just before the trap I activated body strengthening for a fraction of a second as I jumped, soaring past the slot filled with the deadly poison tipped darts.


    I rolled on the ground and sprung to my feet quickly scanning for any other traps or monsters.


    From this point on I¡¯ll use body strengthening just on my nervous system to enhance my reaction rate as I won¡¯t be able to avoid every trap and I don¡¯t have enough time to painstakingly search.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    As I continued onwards the traps became more numerous and the intervals in torch spacing became further and further apart.


    Clearly the trap master who designed the place knew what he was doing.


    The increasing danger and dimness created an atmosphere that would have a psychological effect on any ordinary intruder.


    In the beginning there were mainly simple traps that were easy enough to avoid like bear traps and simple mechanical traps but as one further went in the traps began to have magical aspects to them.


    Walking down the hall suddenly I noticed a faint light coming from the walls, quickly I dropped to the floor and immediately tongues of flame erupted from tiny holes in the walls above me.


    If not for my reaction speed being enhanced I would have become instantly charred.


    Oddly enough I had yet to run into a single monster.


    On the fifth floor down the hall opened up into a wider room with doors on all sides of the room.


    In the center was a table with a piece of paper on it with the floor plan of the room on it.


    Walking up to the table I noticed that each of the doors had words next to them.


    One said to F4, another said to F6, but the others all said ¡°Monsters, Haha!¡±


    The moment when I stepped to the table and read the paper I heard the doors around the room swing open and suddenly a horde of monsters began rushing in.


    The monsters appeared to be human corpses in the late stages of decay.


    Their bodies were heavily decomposed with their putrid, rotten flesh hanging off their exposed bones.


    As they exited the doorways they slowly shambled into the room leaving trails of mysterious fluid and bits of their decaying flesh.


    Their heads and small portions of their bodies seemed to be covered in white hair.


    However, on closer inspection it seemed to be some type of fungus.


    From these observations I guessed that it is some type of parasitic fungus that controls the bodies of the dead.


    Somehow sensing me the monsters began to quickly converge on my position.


    Infusing mana into my foot I used a thin Mantle Tsunami in the shape of an arc incasing the closest fungus creatures in rapidly hardening magma.


    This created a wall of stone that prevented any of the creatures from sneaking up on me.


    Generating a furnace blade around my right hand I rushed forward and began to decapitate the Fungus creatures that approached me.


    Soon the air was filled with the smell of burning corpses.


    The creatures put up no resistance to my strikes and were easy enough to kill but for every one I killed it seemed there were two more in its place.


    Furthermore the more appeared the worse my accuracy became, occasionally lopping off the creatures limbs instead of their heads which didn¡¯t faze them in the slightest.


    ¡°Damn¡± I cursed ¡°There¡¯s no end to them, I¡¯ll have to close the doors while fighting them off.¡±


    Using an Erosion Vortex to clear the path to the door I ran over and attempted to shut it.


    However the door wouldn¡¯t latch!


    Quickly I decide to cover the door in a layer of hardened lava and casted Mantle Tsunami.


    After cooling It with a gust of air magic I rushed to the next door and repeated the process.


    After sealing up the final, eighteenth, door it was just a matter of taking care of the rest in the room.


    Quickly running through I relieved the remaining creatures of their craniums.


    After the final one was taken care of I sat down on a spot without any corpses to catch my breath.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I trained my body as well as a child, otherwise this battle would have drained a lot of my mana reserve.¡±


    ¡°As it is there is a noticeable dip but all in all I think it went well. Furnace blades are low in mana consumption except for when attempting to cut through something hard and I limited my Mantle Tsunamis to small volumes of lava in order to conserve. I still have plenty of mana left for whatever is to come.¡±


    I got up, having caught my breath and headed toward the door to the sixth floor.


    <End POV>


    [Serendar fort, BF6 Cell]


    It had sixteen hours since Christy and Lyria had escaped from their confinement only to have their escape attempt halted by the ominous presence of a lesser earth dragon.


    The difference in strength between a lesser earth dragon and a true dragon is greater than that of a lowly flea and a majestic blue whale.


    In reality there was hardly any reason to call it a dragon at all, it would be more appropriate to simply call it a giant rocky lizard.


    However to Christy and Lyria who were next to powerless this lesser earth dragon was an insurmountable existence.


    So the two moved on to plan b.


    They spent all their efforts in concealing themselves so that when Lord Renthar next came they could ambush him and force him to let them out.


    After hiding they took turns keeping watch on the door at the other end of the lesser earth dragon¡¯s cave.


    Christy was the one on watch when the door cracked open and Alric stepped through.


    She quickly shook Lyria awake and whispered frantically, ¡°Is that Lord Renthar? Is he really that young?¡±


    Lyria shook her head, ¡°No, but be on guard. There is the possibility that he works for him.¡±


    At that moment Alric noticed the lesser earth dragon.


    His eyes opened wide and he froze in place, staring slack jawed at the sleeping behemoth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s with Lord Renthar.¡± Christy commented.


    Christy watched as the expression of shock melted away from Alric¡¯s face and he adopted an aggressive stance, preparing to attack the lesser earth dragon.


    With a sudden movement Alric shot forward, flying toward the giant beast.

 Chapter 17: Lesser Earth Dragon

    <Alric POV>


    I opened the door to the sixth floor and was once again greeted by a large open space.


    This time, however, instead of a room it was a large cavern.


    Judging by my experience in the last floor, large open spaces were bad news.


    Carefully, I observed the edges of the caverns for any doors that could release hordes of monsters again.


    Thankfully there were none.


    Honestly, I¡¯m a little apprehensive, all that is in this cave is a large pile of rocks.


    Who knows where some enemy is lurking?


    Out of the corner of my eye I notice a slight movement on the rock pile.


    My gaze snaps back to the rock pile and I watch closely.


    Suddenly I notice the rock pile expand slightly and then contract.


    For a moment I¡¯m shocked.


    What great camouflage!


    As I continue to watch, my eyes begin to unravel the optical illusion.


    A mass of randomly placed boulders slowly forms into the shape of a giant sleeping lizard.


    The beast looked similar in nature to a giant Gila monster, except its skin was composed of large, interlocking boulder slices.


    Right away I could tell that this was not an easy opponent.


    Because of the sheer mass and the nature of the opponent none of my magic would able to harm it significantly.


    However, instead of discouragement a different feeling began to well up inside me.


    Excitement.


    Truth be told, the enemies from the monster-house room on the last floor were just too easy individually.


    The spells I created simply overpowered them, no skill required.


    This fight will test how well I can utilize my new skills.


    I looked toward the beast, bloodlust filling my gaze.


    My muscles tightened in anticipation of sudden movement.


    Mana began circulating between my cells without reserve and body strengthening was activated.


    Using my full strength I pushed off the ground shattering the weak stone beneath my feet.


    The rush of acceleration blew back my hair and I closed the distance between myself and the beast in seconds with my face covered with a fiendish grin.


    Forming a meter long furnace blade in my hand, I slash at the skin of the monster.


    A loud grinding noise fills the air and I quickly jump back as the monster becomes aware of my presence and becomes enraged.


    Upon the spot I slashed on the beast¡¯s hide there was a short glowing red scar, but as it cooled I could tell that it was only a scratch.


    The beast whips out with its tail aiming to send me flying.


    Using a quick gust of air I push myself slightly out of harm¡¯s way and counterattack, using the momentum of the beast¡¯s tail to drive it into my furnace blade.


    Once again the creature was only left with a glowing scar and I realize that the furnace blade is a poor match up against it.


    The creature¡¯s body doesn¡¯t just look like rock, it is actually made out of rock!


    The vibrating air of the furnace blade, while sharp, doesn¡¯t have the penetrating power to cut stone very well.


    Even worse, the heat attribute actually causes molten rock to seal up any cuts that the vibrating air inflicts.


    If I replace the heat attribute with the solid attribute and fire sand through the blade, it will get rid of the healing problem and increase the cutting power against stone.


    I notice that after our initial engagement, the lizard began scoping me out just as I was scoping it out.


    It seems to be fairly intelligent.


    My eyes met the lizard¡¯s and by some unspoken agreement, we both moved.


    The lizard quickly spun around dragging its tail across the ground.


    A cloud of dust is knocked up and the room becomes hazy.


    Suddenly, a giant rocky foot with jagged obsidian claws comes hurtling out of the dust.


    Quickly, I launch into the air, hurtling toward the cave ceiling.


    Enhancing my mental perception, I flip over so my feet hit the ceiling.


    Pushing off again from the ceiling, I launch toward the lizard with the second type blade outstretched.


    Slashing into his flank I attempt to jump away, but the beast¡¯s tail is too fast and manages to land a glancing blow, sending me flying.


    I skid across the ground and quickly get to my feet.


    My living steel mail protects me from the worst of it, but my arms and legs are fairly scraped up.


    My biggest weakness in my body¡¯s innate defense, it¡¯s not much stronger than the average human.


    From that exchange I can tell, the lizard had great reaction speed and instantaneous attack.


    For now the best course of attack is to deal fast, glancing blows without stopping or slowing down.


    I use the surfaces of the cave to launch myself back and forth, from wall to wall, slashing at the lizard as I go by.


    I land a blow on the creature¡¯s flank, carving out a deep gouge.


    A moment later, another blow is struck against a leg.


    Next I strike the upper neck.


    Then the tail.


    Every time I fly past and strike a blow the lizard attempts to hit me with its tail, striking out with astonishing speed.


    But every time the tail misses.


    Despite how fast the strike of the massive rocky tail is I am just slightly faster and I manage to evade the blow each time, feeling only the wave of air pressure the large mass lets off as it swings by.


    The wounds begin piling up on the surface of the lizard¡¯s body and it seems to attack more desperately.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Then, I manage to land a blow on the snout of the beast.


    It roars in pain and becomes enraged, flailing its tail about with abandon.


    I momentarily stop my assault as the lizard goes berserk because I am unable to predict where the tail will strike.


    Soon the tail lashing peters out as the lizard calms down and realizes that it is unable to hit me with its tail.


    Coming from the gash I inflicted on the lizard¡¯s nose is a small stream of blood.


    It seems that before that last attack I was simply destroying the beast¡¯s rocky armor.


    There¡¯s no way of telling how thick the rocky armor on its main body is but it seems that its weak points are the eyes and the nose.


    However, now that I¡¯ve wounded it, it will likely be more careful in protecting its face.


    I resumed my assault, attempting to get close enough to strike at the lizard¡¯s face.


    But the lizard does something unexpected.


    Instead of striking with its tail the lizard tears a chunk of rock from the cave floor and throws it at me.


    Quickly, I cease my assault and retreat from the flying mass.


    Again and again, my advance is cut off by the flying boulders.


    Unable to approach the lizard, I am forced to rethink my strategy.


    ¡°I have to seal the lizard¡¯s movements somehow, the only way for me to get close enough to kill it is if its legs are no longer able to move.¡±


    Suddenly, I have an idea.


    Forming the image of what I want to do in my head, I release my magic and invoke Mantle Tsunami.


    The ground beneath the giant lizard grows red-hot and liquefies into magma.


    The heavy lizard begins to sink into the magma, displacing it upwards.


    Once its legs are completely submerged in the magma I release the magic and cause the magma to cool.


    The lizard is now buried up to its belly in rock and what¡¯s more the rock of the cave floor has fused with the rock armor of the beast making it impossible for the lizard to free itself.


    Having learned my lesson from the rock throwing I approach carefully, apprehensive of any tricks the lizard might pull.


    A minute later, I was glad I did.


    Just as I was nearing the lizard it opened its mouth and a stream of finger-sized obsidian shards came flying out.


    ¡°Damn!¡± I cursed. ¡°Now there is no way for me to get close enough to attack his face.¡±


    ¡°Close range is out of the question, I will just have to use a long range attack.¡±


    My two long range attacks are Erosion Vortex and Hydrogen Detonation.


    However, on a beast the size of the lizard those two attacks are not very effective.


    Erosion vortex is mainly for crowd control and slight over time damage, it is absolutely useless against this lizard.


    Hydrogen detonation has high damage, but is imprecise, at best it will simply knock off some of the beast¡¯s armor.


    I need a spell that is long range, does high damage, and is focused.


    As I thought about my next move the lizard was struggling to escape from the encased rock.


    I began to hear small cracking sounds coming from the ground surrounding the beast.


    ¡°It seems like the lizard won¡¯t be held down forever, I have to finish it off.¡±


    Suddenly, I had a breakthrough.


    ¡°Hahaha! This is perfect!¡± I shouted and laughed maniacally.


    (Meanwhile, Christy and Lyria were doubting his sanity.)


    I released a large amount of mana into the surroundings and began to attract hydrogen and oxygen, forming the base for a Hydrogen Detonation.


    A blue orb formed in the air beside me.


    However, instead of proceeding to the next step and detonating the orb I began to cool and compress the orb.


    The orb began to shrink until it formed a blue metallic spear that released a chilling air.


    When oxygen and hydrogen are cooled and pressurized enough, they form metallic solids.


    I use magic to levitate the spear and aim it for the lizard¡¯s eye.


    I launch the spear forward at blinding speed.


    It penetrates through the eye and enters the brain.


    Once inside the lizard it is released from my magic and instantaneously becomes depressurized.


    First the solid hydrogen and oxygen revert to gaseous state expanding quickly and destroying the lizard''s brain.


    But it isn¡¯t over.


    *BDOOOOOOMMM!*


    The rapidly expanding gasses ignite and explode tearing apart the lizard¡¯s head from the inside out, sending tiny bits of flesh and rocky armor flying thought the cave.


    Having predicted this outcome I had hidden behind a pile of rocks to escape the shrapnel.


    After the destruction was over I came out from behind the rocks to survey the damage.


    In the place where the Lizard had been stuck previously all that was left was the lower body and half of the lizard¡¯s torso.


    The lizard¡¯s head and neck could be found scattered across the room as small pebbles and bits of charred flesh.


    I sat down, exhausted from the long fight and pulled out a mana crystal the size of a fist and began to absorb the mana from it.


    ¡°I used so much mana in that fight, it can¡¯t be helped, but it really sucks that I have to recover by using a mana crystal, I don¡¯t have too many of them with me.¡±


    Having recovered from the battle I got up and began walking to the exit on the other side of the cave.

 World Advancement Rewrite (Divergence of Origin)

    It was a day just like any other. I was at my post on guard outside the city treasury. I was just one of multiple guards and due to how heavily protected the treasury was it ended up being a very laid back job. Occasionally we would deal with pickpockets and other petty crimes in the immediate vicinity but very few were unintelligent enough to commit such offenses so usually the days passed by without incident.


    I had been at this post for many years but I never slacked off, the ones who did were summarily stripped of their ranks and transferred to less savory positions. Even though I occasionally daydreamed about becoming a captain of the guard or even a knight I would always remember the family counting on me to provide for them and I remained content with the safe job I currently enjoyed.


    That day was as uneventful as the rest, there had been some rumors about some cult recently but no crimes had been linked to such a thing. A guard assigned to distributing orders and recent news arrived at the treasury and handed out a small roll of paper to each of the guards. Using my guard''s signet I unsealed the roll and it briefly flashed with the bright glare of magic.


    Written inside was a gruesome report. In a warehouse on the outskirts of the city a group of cultists had been found this morning after they had committed some sort of ritual suicide. The bodies had been drained of their mana. But what was more disturbing was the facial expressions of the cultists that had been preserved after their death. Their faces were frozen in expressions filled with absolute terror mixed with some perverse form of ecstasy. All guards were to keep a lookout for any people wearing similar cultist garb and anyone who looked like a mage, as it was possible that they were killed by a mind mage disguising the act as suicide.


    After reading such a story I looked up and glanced around wairily, praying that I wouldn''t see a strange cultist lurking in a dark side alley. Looking back now I wonder if it was fate that I would look up at that moment or if I had accomplished some great deed that saved me from what was to come. Looking around the square I sighed in relief when I failed to spot any shady characters.


    However something felt out of place so I checked again and noticed that Mrs. McCoy, a woman who was a regular at the nearby bakery, was kneeling on the ground with her hands covering her head. Concerned, I quickly walked toward her and called out, "Mrs. McCoy, are you alright?" She didn¡¯t answer and as I neared I began to hear her gasping as if out of breath and whimpering slightly. I called out to her again as I gently put my hand on her shoulder, "Hey, what is the matter?" Despite my physical contact she didn¡¯t look up but began to mutter between gasps, "the... the.. Daggers... they.. stabbed themselves.... daggers... stab... daggers... stab... daggers... stab... stab.. Stab..."


    My face filled with horror, remembering the news report, I realized she must have witnessed the act. Quickly forcing the expression off my face I began trying to calm her down, "It''s okay, it''s over now... It''s okay, it''s over now.." However my efforts bore no fruit as her breathing became more ragged and her mumbling grew more frantic. For the first time since I rushed over Mrs. McCoy lifted her head to look at me and, still repeating "stab" frantically, she stared right into my eyes.


    The rest of the world began to fade into a blood red haze as I stared into her unblinking eyes.


    Eyes that appeared as the gate to the abyss.


    Eyes with tears of blood seeping out of the corners.


    Eyes that seemed to suck the soul right out of my body.


    I had seen those eyes before.


    Eyes I had never want to remember.


    They were the eyes of absolute terror.


    The terror that gives birth to madness.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    I was desperate to look away but unable to do so. Fear began building inside me, overwriting my rationality. Fear so great it felt like it was seeping into me. It seemed as if I could feel the fear taking over my soul.


    Then like a flash a thought came rising up and pushed back the fear. The memory of my daughter''s smiling face. My soul cried out, "She needs me! I can''t become like him, I just can''t!" Willpower built inside me as I struggled with all my might to throw off the fear.


    But the fear seemed to have noticed. Something began flowing into me from the outside, strengthening the fear, helping it grow. My vision grew more and more red, leaving only those blood-filled eyes in my sight.


    Just as I was about to lose to the fear and succumb I felt a blast of pure mana flowing over me in waves. The mana shook my consciousness, threatening to knock me out. I managed to endure however and realized that the mana was pushing back the fear. It soothed my mind and I began to think of it as a song.


    My vision clearing, I realized I was in a similar state to Mrs. McCoy when I first saw her. I struggled to my feet and looked around for the source of the mana that saved me. Then I saw him, a tall man with bright blue eyes and hair, shimmering with the light of magic.


    He noticed that I was getting up and spoke, "You are quite impressive, here take this."


    He handed me a small blue pill the color of his hair and eyes.


    "What''s this for?" I asked.


    He replied, "I just blasted all the mana out of you, you won''t live much longer if you don¡¯t restore it a little."


    I quickly took the pill, knowing how bad it is to be out of mana, and stood up. When I looked around I noticed the carnage in the square. There were people running in fear all over. Some were still sane, while others had succumbed to madness and began attacking others around them.


    As time went by the first group dwindled while the second only grew. The man who saved me walked around the square firing a wavering beam of mana toward those who had lost themselves to fear. They would shortly collapse and he would walk up and feed them the small blue pill. I watched dumbfounded at the amount of mana the man had as he systematically repeated the process with all those remaining in the square.


    I broke out of my stupor as he finished and began to move to other parts of the city.


    I rushed up to him and yelled "Wait!"


    Although I yelled for him in such an undignified manner he showed no signs of irritation as he turned and asked, "What is it?"


    "Sir, please, I have to know, is the whole city like this?" I asked in a desperate tone of voice.


    "Unfortunately that is the case." He replied.


    I fell down on my knees looked up at him and begged, "Please sir, I know you have done so much for me already, but my wife... my daughter.. Please save them!!"


    He thought for a second and replied, "Ok, the whole city is infected anyway, I don¡¯t mind you deciding the path I take to help stop this."


    For a moment I was stunned speechless as I hadn''t expected him to agree so easily.


    Then he spoke up one more and threw me a large sack, "However if we are to make it there as soon as possible I need you to give out the pills."


    I was about to open my mouth to say something when he said, "Let''s go, lead the way."


    <hr>


    The old man paused his story and spoke to his grandson who sat across from him.


    "And that was how I met the greatest mage our world has ever known. He''s still out there somewhere, helping those who cannot help themselves."


    The young man spoke back, "Wow I can''t believe that really happened! That sounded super scary! But wait what happened next?!"


    A sad look ran across the grandfather''s face as he spoke once more, "We worked our way across the city saving as many as we could, however there were many we could not save in time. Eventually we managed to make it to my home where we saved my daughter, your mother. Alas, for my wife, your grandmother, we were too late. She had given her life to protect your mother."


    The grandfather paused tears filling his eyes for a moment before he continued.


    "As for the mage with the blue eyes and hair he parted ways with me there and continued throughout the city and eventually saved it completely by eliminating the source."


    The boy eyes filled with curiosity at his grandfather''s words asked, "What was the source?"


    The grandfather replied, "That is a story for another time."