《Secret of the Fog》 Chapter 1: World in chaos Fog is a natural phenomenon. Sometimes it is soft and ethereal, other times dense and oppressive. Fog can generate a haunting atmosphere that compels one to pause and explore the enigmas it conceals... ..... The world is in chaos. An unknown fog spreads across the land. An eerie creature, an ethereal sound, and a mysterious item emerge from the fog. Panic and disorder grip the people as fear takes hold. The eerie creature is terrifying, indescribable in its form. It has a twisted body, sharp fangs, and hundreds of eyes covering its head and body. Some walk on two feet, while others crawl. They spit out a foul-smelling gas and attack anyone nearby. The ethereal sound is hauntingly beautiful, with a flawless rhythm, melody, and tone. But anyone who hears it becomes entranced, stunned into a frenzy where they turn on each other. Beneath the enchanting music lies a bloody battle. The unknown item is a tiny blue sphere, covered in flowing binary code. Atop it is a countdown ticking down from five seconds. "Beep," "beep," "beep," "beep," "beep." When the countdown reaches zero, it detonates in a massive explosion. The news plays on a huge TV screen. The reporter, a golden-brown-haired beauty, speaks with fear, concern, and urgency. "The eerie creature is killing everyone nearby! If you see it, you must hide or run away as fast as possible! Military troops have been dispatched!" The screen switches to another location, showing blood splattered on the walls of buildings. The ethereal sound echoes, marking the site of the initial bloody conflict. "Ahhh!" A scream pierces the air, abruptly cut off, perhaps belonging to someone who has just died. The camera is positioned low, capturing only the ground, leaving the fate of the person unknown. The news transitions once more, this time to a street where a crowd gathers around the tiny blue ball. Confusion reigns as they hear the "beep" and notice the countdown. Beep, Beep "Wait... run!" Someone finally realizes the danger, but it''s too late. The explosion occurs, and the camera cuts off instantly. A few moments later, a new image appears: the area where the explosion happened is now barren, with a one-kilometer radius of devastation. ..... Inside a mall, only two young men remain. The mall is deserted because everyone else has evacuated to shelters as ordered by the government. The power has been cut off, leaving the interior dimly lit by the afternoon light filtering through the glass doors. "What the hell is happening in this goddamn world?" one man shouts, frustration evident in his voice. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He is Jonas, with light brown skin and brown hair, visibly agitated because they are in the same place where the eerie creature emerged. "Jonas! You better not shout! If that monster hears us, we''re going to hell!" Falkmar warns in a hushed tone, covering Jonas''s mouth. Falkmar, with slightly darker skin and black hair, rolls his eyes at Jonas''s reckless behavior. "Hmph! I''ll go to heaven, not hell!" Jonas retorts, his voice still low but defiant. Falkmar falls silent, shaking his head in disbelief. They are scavenging the mall, filling a large plastic bag with snacks, meat, and vegetables. Although the shelter has plenty of supplies, they prefer to gather resources for Jonas'' underground refuge. "You know, I thought you were crazy for wanting to build an underground shelter, but now it seems like your decision was smart," Falkmar admits as he reaches for more snacks. "Ha... I was just joking around, but when my dad heard it, he took it seriously and started building," Jonas replies with a smirk, flaunting his fortunate situation. Falkmar rolls his eyes again, thinking to himself, "Is this the world of rich people?" "By the way... Did you see that news? What do you think is causing all these unknown things to emerge from the fog?" Jonas asks. "I don''t know, but maybe the fog connects to another world?" Falkmar speculates, drawing from the many novels he has read. Jonas glances at Falkmar, considering how unrealistic that sounds, and thinks that Falkmar might be a bit naive. "Maybe..." Jonas replies, his voice deepening. Suddenly, a sharp, loud noise pierces the air from a distance. Both Falkmar and Jonas wince in pain, covering their ears as the sound assaults them. "Ah! What the hell is that?" Jonas cries out, losing his balance and falling onto the supermarket floor. "I don''t know! Who the hell is making that goddamn high-pitched noise? Ah!" Falkmar also falls, snacks and supplies scattered everywhere. The piercing noise continues for a moment before fading away. Slowly, they rise, their heads still aching from the assault. "Finally... Who was making that noise? It might attract the monster," Falkmar says, confusion in his tone as he gathers the fallen plastic bag. "Fuck this shit! Agh!" Jonas curses, picking up his own bag. "Alright... Stop scolding. Maybe we should head back to the shelter now..." Falkmar suggests, worry etched on his face. "Fine... Let''s go back!" Jonas agrees, gripping his plastic bag tightly as they make their way out of the mall. As they step outside, the sky is overcast with dark clouds, and debris litters the streets. The road is deserted, covered in blood, remnants of the chaos that the fog has unleashed. Walking through the empty streets, they see broken cars and the aftermath of destruction. The buildings resemble a war zone, dust swirling in the air as bricks and tiles litter the ground. The city is shrouded in silence. The scene, coupled with the gloomy sky, casts a heavy mood over them. Falkmar and Jonas gulp hard, momentarily stunned by the devastation, despite having seen it before. Their pace slows, expressions somber and breaths heavy. They seem to mourn the loss of life in this ruined city, the atmosphere pressing down on them like a mountain. They navigate through the desolated streets, turning corners as the echo of their footsteps is the only sound breaking the silence. "Did everybody die...?" Falkmar asks weakly, his voice trembling with despair. "Probably, since there''s no one but us," Jonas replies, his tone nearly a whisper, the weight of the situation sinking in. Both young men realize just how fortunate they are. They saw the news on television and the fog rolling in and immediately sensed something was wrong. Jonas quickly alerted his parents, and they all fled to his underground shelter just before chaos erupted, escaping the horrors outside. Inside the shelter, they listened in horror as the screams of the populace filled the air¡ªdesperate cries for help that eventually faded into chilling silence. When the screaming finally subsided, Falkmar and Jonas cautiously opened the trap door, revealing a world turned upside down. The streets were stained with blood, and the remnants of a society they once knew lay in ruins. Chapter 2: Blood-red wolf In the deserted street, Falkmar and Jonas''s footsteps echo in the city, and the cold wind blows on their bodies, making their minds feel colder. The silence shrouds the city but won''t last too long. "Do you... have any plan?" Jonas breaks this silence. "What plan?" Falkmar is confused by Jonas''s question. "The plan about the future... Now the world is in chaos caused by goddamn fog," Jonas sighs. The atmosphere falls into silence again. It seems there is no solution because of the many strange and deadly things or creatures in the fog. Whenever they come out, it makes a disaster, if they don''t, it means they are going to make a huge disaster. These desperate facts make them doubtful. They can''t help but think of a question and try to get the answer. "Can humans win against the unknown?" They feel a little bit confident. After all, human civilization is advanced, and guns, missiles, and even nukes could deal with those creatures. "Do we have something to go against that ethereal sound that makes everybody lose their sanity?" "Easy, just headphones." "Then how about if there is something that can go against the nuke?" Soon, another question floods their minds. After that, many desperate questions flood their minds one after another. "Hope the god will help us..." Falkmar sighs helplessly. The gray sky is covered with dark clouds, revealing no trace of the sun. Falkmar and Jonas walk together and head to their shelter, which is full of hope and warmth. "Woah..." Falkmar and Jonas exclaim suddenly. A sudden bloody scene appears in front of them after they turn a corner. It is a severed arm lying in blood, its bone with the stench of blood exposed outside. The muscle looks thick, seeming from a man. They are stunned, their expressions stiff, frozen by the scene before them. "Why is there a broken arm...?" Jonas takes a hard gulp and asks with a trembling voice. "I don''t know! Let''s just ignore it and quickly go back to our shelter!" Falkmar immediately makes the decision. Falkmar walks around the broken arm, and Jonas quickly follows closely behind him. As they realize the shelter is still far away, they quicken their pace. Beep¡ª! Beep¡ª! A loud horn sounds behind Falkmar and Jonas. Their eyes widen with surprise as they look back. They see a convoy behind them, six gray Humvees drive toward them. "Military convoy?!" Falkmar can''t help but shout. As the first gray Humvee flashes its light at them, Falkmar and Jonas stand aside on the road subconsciously and wait for it. The first Humvee passes through the road, then the second, the third, fourth, fifth... Until the sixth, which stops. A dusty gray Humvee with an old appearance, with an open top and a soldier holding a machine gun, three soldiers inside the Humvee¡ªone to drive, one sitting beside the driver, and one sitting in the back. The soldier with the gray helmet, mask, eyeglasses, and armor. The soldier''s suit matches the location, acting like a protective color that is easy to hide. The soldier holding the machine gun on top of the Humvee stares at the severed arm and then shifts his gaze to Falkmar and Jonas. He scratches his head, and the black eyeglasses prevent Falkmar and Jonas from seeing his eyes, but they can guess his eyes must be filled with confusion, worry, and alertness. "Ugh... Sir, we don''t know anything about this severed arm," Jonas tries to explain. "We just turned a corner and then saw that," Falkmar adds. "Ah, I see..." The machine gunner speaks, his voice deep. At this moment, the window at the front seat descends. The soldier pokes his head out from the car window and asks, "Hey! How do you guys survive from the big wolf?" Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "The wolf? What wolf?" Falkmar doesn''t answer but asks a question. The soldier who pokes his head out exchanges glances with the other soldiers. He retracts his head inside and seems to be talking about something with them. "The wolf that ruined this city! Where are you guys while the wolf is massacring?" He pokes his head out once again. "A-at our shelter...! I have an underground shelter," Jonas answers him. "You have an underground shelter?!" All the soldiers exclaim. "Whatever, you two better hide. We''re here to kill the wolf, we will report that there are survivors in this city. The rescue will come soon," the machine gunner says to Falkmar and Jonas. "Hey! They are leaving! We spent too much time, you two hide now! Don''t let the wolf notice you!" The soldier driving the Humvee shouts. Once the driver shouts to Falkmar and Jonas, he doesn''t wait for their response and stomps on the accelerator hard. The Humvee speeds toward the convoy like a wild horse. Dust flies behind the Humvee, getting into Falkmar and Jonas''s eyes, prompting them to close their eyes instinctively. When they open their eyes, the convoy has disappeared, having turned a corner. Falkmar and Jonas cough slightly. "Alright... are we going to hide?" Falkmar asks Jonas. Jonas doesn''t answer, he stares in the direction the convoy went. Falkmar turns his head back as he notices Jonas is standing, gawking. "Jonas?" Falkmar softly calls his name. "Falkmar... the direction they go is the direction of the underground shelter..." Jonas says, stunned. "What?!" Falkmar exclaims. As Falkmar stares towards the direction the convoy is heading, he suddenly takes off running, releasing the plastic bag from his hand. "Hey! Wait for me!" Jonas shouts as he sees Falkmar running. Jonas quickens his pace to catch up with Falkmar. They run... and run... and keep running. The surge of adrenaline spreads through their bodies, energizing them. "Ahh! Fuck!" Jonas shouts, feeling a rush of power that helps him catch up with Falkmar. This proves that sometimes shouting out loud gives you an added burst of strength, even if the words are far from refined. Ahh! A sudden piercing shriek travels through the air and pierces their ears again. They are sure it is the same sound they heard in the market. The wailing seems to penetrate their eardrums. Falkmar and Jonas stop and kneel as they hear this sound again, lying on the ground in pain with their hands covering their ears. "Not again!" Falkmar shouts in agony. "Are those soldiers making that noise?!" Jonas asks loudly, his voice tinged with sorrow. "How can they make that sound?!" Falkmar responds, panic rising in his voice. The piercing shriek is brief, lasting only a few seconds before it vanishes. Falkmar and Jonas slowly rise, feeling light-headed and weak. "Well... at least our eardrums are safe..." Falkmar manages a wry smile. "Ha... That..." Jonas''s discourse is interrupted by a huge sound. Bong! A massive fog that engulfs the horizon appears ahead of the city. The fog rolls in like a vast, silken tsunami, an undulating wall of gray that swallows the landscape whole. The sight is spectacular, yet it makes their legs tremble. The most chilling part is the giant humanoid shadow moving within the fog, walking toward the city. At this moment, their entire bodies tremble. "The fu..." Falkmar and Jonas shout simultaneously. Beep! Beep! The familiar horn sounds once more, pulling Falkmar and Jonas out of their stunned state. They look in the direction of the sound, and another wave of surprise washes over them. A gray Humvee chases a blood-red wolf, the size of the wolf towering to the height of two adults. It has two heads, eight feet, and a tentacle tail, devoid of skin and fur, ending with a terrible appendage. Falkmar and Jonas are stunned yet again by this horrific sight. A soldier in the Humvee holds a machine gun, firing at the blood-red wolf. Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat... The wolf bellows in pain as bullets slam into its body, revealing that its fur is not actually red but stained with blood. Right now, they are rushing toward Falkmar and Jonas. The machine gunner yells at them. "Get out of there!!!" Falkmar finally comprehends the gravity of the situation. He quickly grabs Jonas'' hand and runs towards the nearest building. Jonas, nearly tripping, shouts behind him, "Wait! You''re almost making me fall!" "Quick! Run inside the building!" Falkmar urges, anxiety fusing urgency into his voice. "Let go of my hand! Falk! If you keep pulling me like this¡ª!" Jonas protests, but Falkmar pays him no mind, knowing it''s a life-or-death moment. Falkmar''s decision is sound, hiding inside the building is their best chance as it can offer some protection against the monstrous wolf. The four black-red eyes of the wolf gleam with a cunning light as it sees Falkmar and Jonas sprinting toward the building. The wolf quickly expedites its pursuit but cannot reach them before they get inside. Panting heavily, Jonas kneels on the floor, hands pressed against the ground. "Ha... Ha... We''re safe now... right?" "Maybe..." Falkmar murmurs, also panting as he leans against the wall, glancing nervously at the entrance. Once inside the building, the wolf doesn''t stop, it charges forward. The gray Humvee closely follows, bullets still flying. But then the situation escalates. The wolf leaps into the air, crashing into the wall. Using its eight powerful feet, it kicks off to launch itself in a powerful backflip, landing behind the gray Humvee. "What the fu..." The machine gunner''s words are cut off as the wolf opens its bloody maw and bites off his foot. The soldier is torn in half in an instant. Within moments, the wolf bites the back of the Humvee, crushing the driver between the vehicle and the wall. The other head of the wolf doesn''t allow the driver to escape, it lunges forward and rends him to pieces as well. The last soldier in the Humvee, panic-stricken, pokes his head out to fire at the wolf, but it is futile, the wolf retaliates by throwing the Humvee aside with a swipe of its massive paw, crushing the soldier inside. Falkmar and Jonas take a desperate gulp as they witness the blood-red wolf effortlessly slaughter the soldiers. The wolf turns its gaze toward them, stepping forward with its four menacing eyes glowing with intent. Falkmar and Jonas know one undeniable truth: "If they don''t figure out a solution, they''re fucked." Chapter 3: Killed the wolf Falkmar and Janos catch a metallic scent in the air, recognizing it as the smell of blood. The pungent odor causes them to frown involuntarily. The smell doesn''t matter too much right now, their biggest problem is how to kill or escape from this big, weird wolf. The creature bares its teeth and stares at them. The wolf doesn''t give them much time. It starts walking toward them slowly. As they see the monster approaching, their legs tremble, their hearts pound, and their minds race, trying to devise a plan. "Falkmar, I''ll try to lure that wolf. You go take the gun from those soldiers!" Janos whispers urgently. "Are you crazy?! How do you lure that wolf? It could lunge at you, and you''d be done for! You can''t even react!" Falkmar protests, not wanting Janos to risk his life. "Come on! We don''t have much time!" Janos insists, glancing at the wolf, which is now closer. "Dang it!" Falkmar grits his teeth, realizing they have no other choice. He reluctantly accepts Janos''s plan. "I''ll run to the left side, there''s a building to cover me. You go to the back of the store, there''s a hole in the wall. After that, you grab the gun," Janos instructs, keeping his tone steady. "If I die¡­ if I die, then run. Run to the shelter. Please take care of my parents if it happens," Janos adds, looking firmly at Falkmar. "Janos¡­ you won''t die," Falkmar''s eyes fill with tears. "I hope so¡­" Janos smiles weakly and glances at the wolf. "Quick! Go now!" Janos pushes Falkmar and bolts to the left side. When Falkmar is pushed and sees Janos run, it feels like the starting gun has fired. His heart pounds in his chest, and every fiber of his being screams at him to run fast and reduce Janos''s risk as much as possible. Now, Janos is on the second floor of the left-side building. He moves quickly and shouts to attract the wolf''s attention. The wolf, noticing him, quickly runs to the left-side building, eager to catch him. However, its size prevents it from entering the building but allows it to reach the second floor easily. It uses its claws to swing at Janos. His eyes widen as he sees the claw coming. He dashes toward the back of a pillar, but before he can make it, the claw reaches him. With one swing, the claw tears the clothes off Janos''s back, leaving a scratch. Fortunately, the wound isn''t deep, but it begins to bleed. A chill runs down his back, quickly turning into severe pain. "Aaahhh!!" Janos cries out, his heart racing and his body trembling. Falkmar feels chills run down his spine as he hears Janos''s desperate scream. He is running toward the soldier who has been cut in half by the wolf. Upon reaching the soldier, Falkmar quickly unequips the gun sling and straps it on himself. It''s an HK416, an assault rifle. He not only grabs a gun but also a grenade. At that moment, Falkmar notices the broken gray Humvee leaking oil. He is stunned for a moment, then smiles. He glances around, then looks at the big wolf with a gleam in his eyes, realizing he has a plan. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Meanwhile, things aren''t going well for Janos. The wolf is now using its tentacle-like tail to attack. Janos has new wounds from the tail, and it''s throwing debris at him. "Ahh!" Janos screams again as a piece of debris strikes him. His head and body bleed, and he feels the bone in his right leg snap. He collapses to the floor, feeling his fate creeping closer. With his eyes closed, he shouts desperately, "Falkmar! I''m gonna die today! Ru-" ..... Bang! Bang! Bang! The loud gunfire and the wolf''s painful whimper reach Janos''s ears. The sudden sound makes him open his eyes. His vision blurs with tears as he sees a man in gray clothes kneeling at a distance, shooting at the big wolf. "Falk!" Janos shouts in his mind. Falkmar is at a building near the gray Humvee, which has been thrown by the wolf. He shoots at the beast. "Come here! You little shit!" Falkmar yells at the wolf and fires again. Bang! Bang! Bang! The wolf is hit once more and lets out a pained howl. Its blood-stained fur turns a deeper red. Its eyes gleam with murderous intent and hatred. But it doesn''t just stand there and let Falkmar continue shooting. It quickly uses its heavily injured body to move. The blood-red wolf sprints toward Falkmar. When Falkmar sees it coming, he remains calm, continuing to pull the trigger. The HK416 has two firing modes: semi-automatic and automatic. Falkmar is using automatic mode, but since he struggles with shooting technique, he purposely only fires three bullets at a time. Bang! Bang! Bang! Unfortunately, the wolf isn''t stupid. Instead of running in a straight line, it zigzags, making it impossible for Falkmar, who isn''t skilled in shooting, to land a hit. "Dang it!" Falkmar curses under his breath. He looks at the blood-red wolf getting closer, grits his teeth, and empties the magazine, his heart racing with both adrenaline and frustration. As the magazine clicks empty, Falkmar refuses to panic. Instead, a cunning glimmer lights up his eyes. He pulls out a DM51 grenade from his pocket and watches the approaching wolf. He quickly pulls the safety pin and hurls the grenade toward the damaged Humvee, hoping for a perfect shot. It falls into the leaking fuel tank, and Falkmar can''t help but grin. He counts down in his mind, knowing the DM51 has a five-second delay. "Five!" "Four!" "Three!" "Two!" "One!" Falkmar''s grin widens. Ignoring the wolf that leaps into the air, about to pounce on him, he focuses on the Humvee and prays his idea will succeed. Time seems to slow, and his heart pounds wildly as he anticipates the explosion. Suddenly, from the damaged fuel tank, a flicker of orange light flashes ominously. "I won!" Falkmar thinks triumphantly. Boom! The explosion erupts from the Humvee, sending a shockwave through the area. Dust and debris fly everywhere, and Falkmar and Janos shield their eyes against the onslaught. The blast prevents the wolf from reaching Falkmar just in time, knocking it against the wall with a sickening thud. After a few moments, the dust settles. When they open their eyes, they see flames engulfing the Humvee and the blood-red wolf sprawled out nearby, blood leaking from its body. Fragments of the Humvee are embedded in its flesh, and one of its heads lays severed on the ground, while the other whimpers weakly. The creature is down to three legs, its tail flicking weakly, and its belly is torn open, exposing its internal organs. "I¡ªI¡ªI¡­ I did it! Hahahaha! Jonas! I did it!" Falkmar cries out in sheer ecstasy, his heart racing and his body trembling with adrenaline. He can hardly believe he has succeeded against such a fierce opponent. "Hahaha! Falk! You''re the best! Hahaha! You killed that little shit!" Janos echoes, slowly rising to his feet, ignoring the pain radiating from his back. Then, a sudden, piercing shriek shatters their celebration. They widen their eyes and cover their ears against the high-pitched noise erupting from the wolf. "Dang it! The high-pitched noise is coming from this goddamn wolf!" Falkmar shouts, trying to make sense of the situation. "How can the wolf still cry out?!" Janos asks, bewildered. The shriek only lasts a few seconds and then fades. As they make their way down from the building, they carefully approach the wolf. It closes its eyes and lies still, seemingly lifeless now. The combined stench of gasoline and blood fills the air as the sun begins to set, casting an orange hue over the scene. Falkmar and Janos suddenly drop to the ground, as if they have lost all their strength. They exchange exhausted yet triumphant glances and break into wide, relieved grins, realizing they have survived a monster. In that moment of sheer relief, they know they fought against overwhelming odds and emerged victorious together. Chapter 4: Collapse At this moment, their adrenaline fades away, the air mixed with the stench of blood and gasoline. They sit on the ground and stare blankly at the wolf''s mangled body. "Finally... Oh, by the way, you made a nice boom," Jonas says, his voice exhausted. "Haha... Thanks for the compliment," Falkmar replies with a wry smile. Dong... Dong... Dong... A loud, deep sound travels through the air to their ears. Their eyes widen and fill with dread as the giant humanoid shadow in the huge fog that covers the horizon draws near, every step making the land tremble. Now the fog creeps into the city, shrouding the ruined buildings. Falkmar and Jonas are far from the huge fog, but its incredible speed is alarming. "Run!" Falkmar shouts, his voice filled with fear. He rises anxiously, quickly pulls up Jonas, and they run. As their adrenaline surges, their exhaustion fades, and their pace quickens. They turn a corner and run in the direction of the underground shelter. Right now, the race has begun. "The speed of that fog is too fast!" Jonas shouts desperately, but his pace doesn''t slow down. "It''s far from us! And our shelter is near! Keep it up!" Falkmar shouts to encourage Jonas. They run and jump over obstacles in the road. Feeling their lungs burning and legs aching, they are determined to reach the shelter before the huge fog engulfs them. Time passes little by little, and the fog gets closer and closer. The giant humanoid shadow appears to control the fog because it keeps following him. Dong... Dong... Dong... The giant humanoid shadow takes a few steps forward, pauses, then repeats the pattern. If they were watching from the side, they would see many tentacle-like shadows and hand shadows pulling the giant shadow to stop. Far away in the city, the giant shadow leaves huge footprints wherever it passes. Its footprint resembles a human''s foot but with twelve toes. Falkmar and Jonas sprint down a ruined street, their hair flying and sweat streaming down their foreheads. "It''s near! It''s near!" Falkmar thinks. "Finally almost there!" Jonas thinks too. They are afraid to shout it out, fearing a lack of oxygen. They have already been running for a long time, and their adrenaline is starting to fade. But now the fog is right behind them, engulfing everything relentlessly, moving incredibly fast, and starting to reach their feet. When the fog touches their feet, they feel a cold sensation spreading from the soles of their feet to their whole bodies. Their hearts race as they realize the fog has touched them. "Oh shit!" Jonas thinks, his eyes widening as he glances down at his feet. With that, he immediately speeds up. Jonas is running behind Falkmar, so he is the first one touched by the fog. The fog gives him the motivation to speed up and overtake Falkmar. "What the?!" Falkmar''s eyes widen as he sees Jonas overtake him. In his opinion, this is impossible. Jonas'' stamina has always been worse than Falkmar''s from elementary school to college. An abnormal sight makes Falkmar look back. When he looks back and sees the huge, heavy fog just a few feet away, his face changes from confusion to fear. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "Fuck you!! Jonas!!!" Falkmar shouts in panic. "Why scold at me?!" Jonas shouts in grievance. "No why!! Just wanted to fuck you!!" Falkmar yells, immediately speeding up. The fog behind them feels like a grim reaper pursuing them. They want to escape it, but their adrenaline is completely gone, and the distance between Falkmar, Jonas, and the shelter is just a few hundred steps more. "Keep it up! I see our house now!" Falkmar yells to Jonas. Jonas doesn''t respond to Falkmar. His vision starts to blur, and he feels dizzy. The long run has already drained his energy, and he won''t last much longer before fainting. Falkmar notices something is off and turns back, realizing Jonas is lagging and looks unwell. Just as Falkmar slows down his pace to wait for Jonas to catch up... Jonas faints. "Jonas!" Falkmar quickly runs to him and catches him. His clothes are soaked with blood and sweat, his breathing is weak, and his face looks pale. A wave of worry rises in Falkmar''s heart. After catching Jonas and carrying him on his back, he runs toward their shelter. However, Falkmar''s actions bring the fog closer to them. Now the fog touches Falkmar''s feet again, almost engulfing Jonas. Falkmar''s heart races in his chest, and his legs tremble from exhaustion and the weight on his back. As he steps into the forecourt of Jonas'' luxury villa, he feels a surge of ecstasy. But the fog follows closely. Jonas'' villa has a second floor with a swimming pool and a garden. Once beautiful and luxurious, it is now ruined. The villa has collapsed, the water in the swimming pool has drained, and the flowers in the garden are withered. Falkmar sees this view and doesn''t stop but runs inside the collapsed villa because the shelter is located there. The door to the shelter is concealed beneath a carpet at the entrance of the villa. Falkmar, carrying Jonas, quickly runs to the carpet, but his eyes widen with desperation and sadness upon seeing that the carpet is gone and the shelter door is open. "What...?" Falkmar''s eyes fill with surprise, and his voice trembles as he speaks. "Dad! Mom! Are you guys there?" Falkmar shouts. The light in the shelter seems off or broken, so it''s entirely dark. A few seconds pass, and Falkmar doesn''t receive any response. The fog stops right at the villa''s forecourt as if also waiting for a reply from Falkmar''s parents or Jonas'' parents. "Mr. Jeckrew? Mrs. Mila? Are you there?" Falkmar doesn''t give up and shouts again, this time calling for Jonas'' parents. A few seconds pass again. Falkmar wants to go down and check, but his reason warns him not to. Dread builds inside his mind as he stares into the dark. Boom! A sudden sound scares Falkmar. The sound is a stomp from the giant shadow inside the fog; it seems the shadow is mad. This stomp causes the hands and tentacles on its back to vanish while also accelerating the movement of the fog. The fog suddenly moves toward Falkmar, leaving him no choice. He anxiously considers whether to step into the fog or descend into the dark shelter. Just as Falkmar is about to carry Jonas down into the dark shelter using the ladder, a sudden exhale carrying the stench of blood wafts from the entrance of the shelter. "Huh...?" Falkmar is stunned and smells the stench of blood from the exhale. His hand, which is about to carry Jonas, freezes. "Who''s down there?!" Falkmar whispers, his voice heavy with fear. He carries Jonas and subconsciously walks backward. Because of Falkmar''s actions, the fog behind them engulfs both him and Jonas. Falkmar''s eyes fill with desperation as the fog envelops them; he doesn''t know if their parents are still alive. After they are engulfed by the fog, not only is the grass on the forecourt gone, but so is the ruined villa. Falkmar knows it''s not because the fog is too thick; it''s because the fog transports them to another space now. Just when Falkmar sees the blood-red wolf, it further confirms his idea that the fog is connected with other worlds. After all, there is no creature like that on Earth. Now the space where they stand is entirely white. It seems boundless, and there is nobody here but Falkmar and Jonas. Falkmar suddenly sits down as if he has lost all his strength. Killing the blood-red wolf and the long run have already exhausted him. "Ahh...!!!" At this moment, Falkmar cries, tears begin to fall from his eyes, blurring his sight. Falkmar slams his fist into the ground, not stopping until blood appears. He doesn''t know if their parents are alive or not. Seeing Jonas lying fainted beside him in this boundless white space, Falkmar''s eyes fill with tears and desperation. Right now, he feels helpless. He doesn''t know what to do and sits on the ground with his hands covering his face. "Ahh!!!" Falkmar shouts until his voice becomes hoarse. "What the hell happened to this shit world!!!" "Everything is the best arrangement? Fuck your asshole arrangement!!!" "Why! Why!! Why!!!" Falkmar shouts angrily, venting all his feelings of fear, helplessness, and madness in this space. He hates, he fears, he despairs, and he loses all motivation to live. "Jonas... I''m sorry..." Falkmar says in a low voice, using his hands to cover his face as he cries. A young man''s mind collapses. The weight on his back feels like a mountain pressing down on him. He sits on the ground and cries for a long time. Chapter 5: Voids gaze After a long time of crying, Falkmar rises. He calms down and seems to determine something. His eyes are filled with the desire to survive as he carries Jonas on his back and starts to walk in a direction. Falkmar examines Jonas''s wound and finds that it has stopped bleeding. After that, he carries him on his back and resumes his long journey. "Alright, Jonas... I won''t leave you here!" Falkmar says with a steady and hoarse voice. Falkmar glances around this space after finishing checking Jonas''s wound. This place is entirely white and boundless, just like the universe, and he can''t see any exit. This confuses Falkmar, making him wonder how creatures, sounds, and things go to other worlds. Right now, he doesn''t know where to go, he is just walking forward without any purpose or reason. He carries Jonas and walks for a long time. "Agh... Jonas, you''re heavy..." Falkmar complains softly. Falkmar stops and sits down again to rest, placing Jonas beside him. Right now, he needs to restore his energy. Falkmar can''t think of any solution and feels very helpless, but the desire to survive keeps him from falling here, and besides, he can''t leave Jonas behind. When Falkmar looks at Jonas, he feels something weird, an indescribable strange feeling in his mind. This strange feeling lingers and remains there. Falkmar doesn''t overthink it and is shocked by the next view he sees. His bloody hand is healing, the wound is recovering, and blood is returning inside. "What the?" Falkmar''s voice is filled with surprise as he realizes something. At this moment, he looks at Jonas''s wound with joy. As expected, the wounds on his back are healing. "This space can recover the wounds!" Falkmar thinks happily. He quickly crawls over to Jonas, checks his breathing, and finds it no longer weak. Realizing this, Falkmar feels happy and knows that Jonas is out of danger. "Alright, now the only problem is getting out of here," Falkmar says, hope filling his eyes. After that, he walks for a long time again. The strange feeling hasn''t gone, making Falkmar more confused. "Looks like I forgot something?" Falkmar voices his uncertainty, but soon he gets the answer from an unknown being. "Yes, you are forgetting it," a strange voice sounds in this boundless space with weird echoes. "Who is it?!" Falkmar''s eyes widen as he shouts. He quickly glances around but doesn''t see anyone, he also can''t determine where the sound comes from, as it seems to come from everywhere. The strange voice makes his head hurt, and he feels nauseous. "A very lucky person... Oh, my bad, it''s two. Well, I see you and his potential. Mortal, I permit you to ask me three questions," the disembodied voice echoes. "Three questions...?" Falkmar endures the hurt and nausea and thinks. Many questions flood his mind. Falkmar quickly realizes that this might be key to leaving the place. "Who are you?" Falkmar asks the mysterious voice. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "I am the destination of all things, the death, and oblivion, the Void, S???????????c??????????h??????????i?????????v????????e?????????r?????????s????????z?????????w???????????e????????????n?????????????," Void says with a majestic voice. "Destination of all things? The death? And oblivion? Void...? What did it say at the end? A god?" After hearing those words and realizing this mysterious existence seems to be a god, Falkmar frowns, feeling intense pain and nausea rather than holiness. But soon, Falkmar is stunned. "Ahh!!!" Falkmar suddenly cries out in pain. He drops Jonas, kneels, and holds his head. Veins pop up on his forehead, and he feels like there are tens of thousands of worms burrowing inside, the pain excruciating. Just as Falkmar cries out, the Void bursts into laughter, mocking him. "Hahaha... what a fool dares to know the name of a deity," the Void taunts, its voice echoing mercilessly through the white expanse. The sharp laughter and cruel mockery deepen Falkmar''s headache, making him feel as if his mind is about to explode. In that moment, his hatred for the Void reaches its peak. "Fuck you, Void! You''re an asshole!!!" Falkmar scolds in his mind, his eyes burning with hatred. "Tiny mortal, the soul without ambition, ugly waste. Now you have two more questions to go," the Void says monotonously, devoid of any emotion. "How do I get out of this place!?" Falkmar yells desperately, wanting nothing more than to escape the torment. "I can give you an exit to go back to your original world, or would you prefer to go to another world?" the Void asks, amusement lacing its voice. "I want to go back to my original world!" Falkmar shouts, but as the words leave his mouth, the sense of pain in his head suddenly dissipates. "Oh, sorry, but I don''t want to let you choose. I''ll give you an exit that connects with another world. Hahahaha!!!" the Void tricks him again, its maniacal laughter ringing in his ears. A wave of anger surges through Falkmar''s mind. If Jonas weren''t here, he would yell and scold the Void without care, his rage boiling over. "Last question. Think carefully before you ask," the Void says slowly, its tone maddeningly calm. Falkmar grits his teeth, feeling the weight of the moment. He tries to choose wisely. "...Where are you?" he asks, knowing that this answer might be crucial. This time, the Void doesn''t respond immediately. After a few agonizing seconds, it finally answers. "Above you," it says hoarsely with a hint of chilling excitement. Falkmar doesn''t look up. After all, hearing its voice and knowing its name almost broke him. He asks this question just to guard against the urge to glance at the Void. "Where is the exit?" Falkmar finally asks, rising to his feet. "Oh, you want to leave already? Fine, the exit is in front of you. The most beautiful world ever... go enjoy it," the Void replies, its voice full of mockery. Falkmar sneers, not believing the Void''s words. Just as he turns to carry Jonas and escape this place, he is stunned once more. Jonas is no longer an adult but a child. Falkmar''s eyes widen in shock, and he looks at his own hand, only to find that it too is that of a child. "The exit is there. Go now, or else you both will become younger and eventually turn into nothing!" the Void teases, its tone dripping with malice. Realization crashes over Falkmar like a wave, and he finally understands that the strange feeling he had been experiencing was the sensation of them being turned back into children. This space isn''t just healing their wounds, it is reversing time! Panic surges through him, compelling him to act. He quickly grabs Jonas''s arm and sprints toward the exit, the path of strange, beautiful flowers stretching before them, their fragrance intoxicating. As he steps onto the flower-covered path, the delightful scent almost overwhelms him, threatening to pull him into a dizzying stupor. Suddenly, everything shatters like glass, and they are falling. Falkmar feels the overwhelming sensation of panic gripping him once more as the white space fades away, leaving only boundless darkness. The darkness transforms into a starry sky, yet Falkmar cannot appreciate its beauty. The intense weightlessness of falling fills him with terror, and he screams, a brief sound swallowed by the void. Before he loses consciousness, the last echoes he hears are his own screams mingling with the sharp laughter of the Void. ¡­.. As the scene shifts, the vast white space appears again, a giant white eye floating in the air. It is almost indistinguishable, its color blending seamlessly with the surroundings. This is the Void, the architect of chaos. In this white expanse, a fog envelops them, a manifestation of the Void itself. Underneath this colossal eye, Falkmar and Jonas''s sculptures lie, their tiny forms dwarfed by the Void''s immense presence. However, this isn''t a deliberate act of diminishment, it captures their original sizes. If Falkmar looks up, he will truly understand the magnitude of the Void. Void''s eye gazes down at the sculptures with an emotionless expression, as if examining lifeless objects. A cloud of fog materializes, revealing scenes that display where Falkmar and Jonas are. The Void watches with twisted delight. "The show has started... Chaosborn. At least one of them is Chaosborn. Let''s see how will they struggle in this flawless world," it muses, anticipation glinting in its vast, white gaze. Chapter 6: A new world That night, many people see two shiny meteors fall into the vast landscape. ..... A morning star rises as gentle sunlight brightens the vast landscape. In a huge forest, the sun shines on a young boy who lies there, appearing to be six years old. As the gentle sun shines on his eyes, he frowns and opens them. "Agh...! Why does my body hurt so much...?" a childish voice sounds. As he sits up, an intense pain surges through his nerves, radiating throughout his body. He raises his head and looks up at the ray of sunlight. The ray of sunlight illuminates him. His face is adorable, framed by messy black hair, and he wears clothes and pants that are too big for him. "Where is here...?" His big eyes fill with confusion as he speaks. "Agh...! My head..." A sudden pain strikes his head, making him rub his temple instinctively. "Falkmar? Oh yeah... that''s my name... and Jonas... who''s that deity again...?" Every memory before he finds himself in this strange place shatters like glass in Falkmar''s mind. "Wait! Where is Jonas!" Falkmar suddenly shouts as he realizes Jonas isn''t beside him. "And where the hell is this place!" As Falkmar speaks, he quickly glances around the environment. Using his pure eyes to survey the forest, he feels a surge of confusion and curiosity. He sees many things that don''t exist on Earth in this forest. This forest is filled with weird black trees. The trees are black, long, and straight, reaching at least five stories high, their deep verdant leaves spreading on top like umbrellas. These trees grow densely, their leaves covering the sky. Flowers blanket the ground, obscuring the soil. The fragrance of flowers wafts into Falkmar''s nose, bringing him a sense of mental comfort. Some flowers look beautiful and lush, while others appear ugly and withered. "What a strange place... do such flowers and trees exist on Earth?" Falkmar strokes his chin, looking at the leaves as if pondering something. Suddenly, a scene flashes in Falkmar''s mind. It is the moment everything shatters when he steps on the flowery path. After that, he falls, his cursing and Void''s laughter being the last scene he remembers. "Ahh, that little brat, it sent me here," Falkmar mutters, his voice tinged with anger. The laughter of Void lingers in Falkmar''s mind. He suddenly slams a fist onto the flowers, his fist passing through them and hitting the ground. After that, he rises but feels a strong itch and pain in his fist from slamming it onto the ground. When he stares at his hand, he finds it red and swollen. "Poisonous?" This word immediately pops into Falkmar''s mind. With that, a wave of fear floods his thoughts. Now, he doesn''t dare to touch those flowers. The big pants and shoes protect his feet well enough that he doesn''t need to worry about the flowers touching him. Falkmar starts to walk in a direction, hoping to find a way out of this forest. "Hello? Is anybody there?" Falkmar shouts while walking. Nobody responds. This forest envelops him in eternal silence, yet many dim lights shine through, making the view incredible. His shout travels through the air, reaching far away. The longer he walks, the more he feels a growing hunger and thirst. "Oh shit, am I going to die here today...? No... I don''t want to die! I have many things I haven''t finished yet!" Falkmar thinks unwillingly. "And where the hell is Jonas?" he adds in his mind. Falkmar''s body, mind, and memory undergo a slight change because of the white space reversing time. His body becomes that of a six-year-old child, while his mind retains a hint of maturity. As for his memory, it blurs after he arrives in this world. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Right now, Falkmar sees many trees but no exit. He doesn''t feel too disappointed and keeps walking in one direction as if an exit might appear. But the longer he walks, the more desperate he becomes. An hour passes, and the forest grows hot due to his clothes and pants, intensifying his hunger and thirst. From the start, Falkmar doesn''t see any creatures in this forest, but the flowers grow bigger and taller. The flowers now reach the height of his waist. "Am I going deeper...?" Falkmar glances around the towering flowers, his tone worried. The height of the dense flowers feels like a deep ocean that threatens to suffocate him. His hunger and thirst sap his energy, but the height of the flowers ignites a flicker of energy within him. Suddenly, invisible things brush against his cheeks as he weaves between the trees. It feels thin like silk. When he reaches out from his long sleeve and grabs the invisible things, he discovers it is spider silk. "Spider?!" Falkmar shouts in fear. Spiders are the scariest creatures in his mind. After realizing it is spider silk, his heart races wildly, and he can''t help but imagine spiders crawling on his legs and back. This sensation compels him to change direction, but perhaps because of the persistence of a six-year-old''s mind, he continues moving forward. Soon, however, he regrets it. The flowers grow even taller, and he encounters more spider silk, intensifying the dread building inside his mind. He feels something behind him as he pushes on, a distinct presence that he is sure isn''t just in his head because he hears a noise coming from behind him. Falkmar hesitates. In front of him, the flowers are so high that they nearly reach his neck. Behind him, something horrible lurks. "Mama..." Falkmar whispers helplessly, fighting back tears. The forest is warm, but his mind feels ice-cold. As he prepares to turn back, the atmosphere shifts, becoming heavy and tense. He slowly turns his head, his heart racing as every fiber of his being screams at him to flee. He knows his instinct is right, if it''s something big, his only chance is to run into the flowers. Falkmar''s head turns agonizingly slow as if an unseen force is trying to stop him. When he finally manages to look back, the sight before him is filled with nothing but flowers covering the ground and the towering trees. But there''s something peculiar. The ground beside him is awash in radiant rays of sunlight, while the area in front of him remains dark as if obscured by something. "Is there something up there?" Falkmar whispers, his voice trembling. As he gazes up, he sees the source of his deepest fear, a giant black spider. It has ten legs and six eyes, two large sky-blue circles on its black back resembling monstrous eyes staring intently at him. This spider stands about two stories high. At that moment, Falkmar is completely stunned, his eyes wide with terror. He remains frozen in place until the shock gives way to overwhelming fear. His heart races, and he falls to the ground. The giant spider starts to move down the tree, its gait slow and deliberate. When it approaches him, Falkmar is so terrified that he nearly loses control of himself. The spider''s six eyes fixate on him, but Falkmar mirrors its gaze, entranced by the sheer size and presence of the creature. Its massive fangs and sharp legs loom threateningly. "Shit..." Falkmar mutters under his breath, panic consuming any semblance of courage he has left. His mind races with thoughts, desperately trying to find a way to escape, but every option feels impossible. Under the unwavering gaze of the spider, he senses his fate is grim. He exhales a sigh of resignation. "If you dare then eat me! You little brute!" Falkmar suddenly stands, raising a hand to point defiantly at the spider. To his astonishment, the giant spider doesn''t attack. Instead, its eyes fill with confusion as it tilts its head slightly, seemingly puzzled by the little child standing up to it. The spider even reaches out one of its legs and scratches its head, almost like it''s trying to comprehend Falkmar''s challenge. Falkmar blinks in surprise. The spider''s anthropomorphic behavior prompts a question that slips from his lips without thought. "C-can you talk...?" he stutters, half-expecting a response. The spider pauses, attempting to understand his words. Then, with a swift motion, it swings one of its legs toward the flowers, slicing through them as if they were nothing. The flowers fall to the ground, leaving patches of exposed soil. Seeing the spider write in the dirt with its leg, Falkmar squints in an effort to decipher what it''s trying to communicate. However, the symbols it creates seem like nothing he recognizes, the words appearing foreign and impossible to translate. Falkmar takes a hesitant step back, fear mingling with curiosity. The giant spider''s intentions seem uncertain, and he wonders if this creature might be more than just a mindless predator. "What are you trying to say?" Falkmar asks, his heart rate starting to slow slightly as the immediate panic recedes, replaced by a lingering sense of caution. The spider ceases its writing and tilts its head again, observing him closely with its many eyes. It seems to be assessing Falkmar, perhaps weighing whether he is a threat or something else entirely. The tension hangs in the air, a fragile balance of fear and curiosity. Finally, the spider taps the ground with its leg, creating an outline that resembles a crude map of the forest. It seems to indicate directions¡ªperhaps showing him the way out or warning him about dangers lurking nearby. Falkmar''s eyes widen with realization. This creature, in all its terrifying majesty, might be trying to help him. "Wait... are you trying to save me?" Falkmar''s voice quivers, a blend of disbelief and trepidation. To his surprise, the spider nods its head, dramatically cranking its huge form. A tangle of mixed feelings swirls within him¡ªthe fear of the unknown battling against the possible aid of this strange creature. As the sun continues to rise and the light filters through the leaves above, Falkmar wonders if he might not be alone in this daunting forest after all. Chapter 7: White ruined palace Falkmar crouches on the ground, his eyes gleaming with incredible light as he watches the spider writing. Soon, he realizes there is a unique language in this world, and a sudden wave of tiredness washes over him. If he wants to live here, learning their language is undoubtedly important and necessary. "So I''m going to learn their language to communicate?" Falkmar says with a resigned tone. Learning a language is quite a hard challenge. It requires a lot of time to memorize vocabulary and grammar. A sudden wave of drowsiness hits Falkmar''s mind. He doesn''t know what happens, but he feels his body become very light, like he is floating. "Ugh... What happens...?" Falkmar instinctively holds his forehead. As he shifts his gaze downward, he notices his touch on the flowers and his arm is rotting. Fear grips his heart as he watches his hand decay, yet he feels no pain. "Fuck..." he shouts weakly in the last moment of his consciousness. After that, his sight blurs and turns dark as his whole body falls into the flowers. ..... ..... "Where is this place...?" Falkmar opens his eyes and speaks. He finds himself in a white space, foggy and boundless, as vast as the ocean and as deep as the starry sky. Falkmar feels overwhelmed by this familiar yet strange, boundless, and bizarre scene. His heart beats wildly in his chest, and he shivers in the cold air surrounding him. "This seems not heaven..." he glances around and whispers. Confused about why this place feels familiar, he rises and starts to walk in a direction subconsciously. "I have to say, it''s too cold here." The chill makes his body tremble uncontrollably. "Huh? What''s that?" Falkmar exclaims as he sees something far away, so distant it appears as a black dot. Suddenly, a wave of fear overwhelms him. Breathing becomes difficult, and he feels a mountain of weight press down on him. Every fiber of his being screams, really screams. "FOOL! DON''T STARE AT IT!" "DON''T LOOK OR WE''RE GOING TO DIE!" "ARE YOU DUMB? DO NOT LOOK AT IT!" Numerous voices echo around Falkmar, intensifying his confusion and anxiety. His eyes widen as many mouths grow on his body, shouting and screaming. His body mutates from gazing at the black dot in the distance. Not only do mouths sprout all over him, but eyes do too. This causes his sight to become strange, appearing rounded. He now sees in three hundred sixty degrees, even parts of his body he couldn''t see before. Once Falkmar closes his eyes, his vision darkens, and he sees nothing. After that, he no longer hears any voices and feels his body return to normal. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. As he opens his eyes, instead of staring at the black dot, he chooses to look at the ground. "Auer quekit..." a strange voice sounds in the boundless white space. "Huh? Who''s talking?" Falkmar raises his head and glances around instinctively. When he looks back, he finds the white space behind him collapsing, leaving an eternal darkness. "Oh shit!" Falkmar rises quickly and runs, but he can''t outrun the collapsing space around him. Soon, he falls into the darkness. ..... "Ahh!!" Falkmar screams and wakes up, sitting up instinctively as he opens his eyes. Just as he does, he sees a beautiful face right in front of him. Bong! It''s too late to stop, his head collides with hers. "AHH!!" Falkmar screams again, tears rolling in his eyes as he feels the pain from the impact. "Why do I keep getting hurt!" he shouts in his mind. After a few seconds, the pain fades away. Falkmar gently rubs his forehead and sits up, looking at the beauty before him. He is stunned by her appearance. Her hair is a gradient of blue and black, her features are exquisite and surreal, and her slender neck complements her light brown skin. She wears a dark blue, high-waisted dress adorned with expensive-looking decorations. Her azure eyes, framed by glasses, peer at him with confusion. Falkmar can''t help but be captivated, his face flushes, and he swallows hard as he unconsciously glances at her chest. "H-hello...?" he says with a voice that sounds childish and pure. "Meoy?" the beauty replies. "...Fine." Falkmar sighs, realizing he needs to learn the language to communicate in this world. He glances around and discovers he is in a small, messy room. Papers litter the floor, and there is a small wooden table with two chairs and a bookshelf against the wall. A luminous stone emits a soft yellow light, illuminating the space. "Ugh... Can you understand what I''m saying?" Falkmar gathers his thoughts and asks. The beauty hears his question, tilts her head, and seems to think for a moment. After a few seconds, she sighs and shakes her head, indicating she doesn''t understand his language. She stands up and takes Falkmar''s hand, leading him outside. As they step out, brilliant sunshine lights up Falkmar''s face, causing him to instinctively raise a hand to shield it. Falkmar realizes he is in a white, ruined palace. His eyes widen in awe as he takes in the ancient, mythical, and majestic sight amidst the surrounding forest. The palace is square-shaped and has three floors, though a large hole in the roof reveals the sky. Vines wrap around the top, while flowers and weeds grow wildly on the ground. Each entrance has a graceful arch. In the middle of the ruins is a flower garden, illuminated beautifully by sunlight streaming through the leaves and gaps in the roof. The scene is so breathtaking that Falkmar momentarily forgets to breathe. "So beautiful..." Falkmar whispers. The beauty continues to hold his hand as they walk past the flower garden. Rows of human-shaped stone statues line the walls of the hall beside the garden. Each statue holds a sword that is plunged into the ground, showing many cracks and signs of damage. After turning a corner and crossing the hall, they arrive at a different area of the ruined palace. Here, Falkmar no longer sees beauty, instead, a swarm of dog-sized spiders crawls around. His face paled in fright at the sight, especially because they resembled the giant spider he previously encountered. However, the beauty seems undeterred by the spiders and leads him deeper into the area. Sensing Falkmar''s hesitation, she turns back to him and notices his frightened expression and trembling body. She chuckles softly and extends her arm to one of the spiders. It jumps onto her hand, then crawls up her arm and perches on her head. "Huh...??" Falkmar exclaims. The spider on her head seems harmless and even adorable. However, this doesn''t change his mind, he has no desire to step further into the area. Sensing his resistance, she sighs and suddenly lifts him off the ground, carrying him like an infant. "Ah..?" Falkmar exclaims, surprised. Leaning against her chest, he feels a wave of shyness wash over him. The softness of her chest ignites a spark of desire in his mind. "So soft...! And it smells so good...!" he thinks, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks as heat rises in his lower body. "Wait...! Not now!" Falkmar panics internally, anxious about the situation. He thinks quickly to calm himself, realizing how rude it would be to react inappropriately at this moment. As the beauty carries him to the next area, all the spiders watch with curiosity, making him feel strangely exposed. Eventually, they arrive at a corridor that seems to mark the end of the ruined palace. It is broad and long, filled with cobwebs covering the ground and ceiling, tangled together in various-sized circles. Two rows of stone statues line the walls of the corridor. Unlike the earlier statues, these are large and depict figures kneeling on the ground, each holding a sword. At the end of the hall, a staircase leads up to a throne, made of stone and covered in a layer of dust. Chapter 8: Four years of study Falkmar draws in a deep breath, standing in the corridor. The spectacular scene overwhelms his thoughts, making him appear dazed. A giant spider walks out from the nest at the top and gazes at Falkmar. The giant spider jumps from the top and walks over as the beauty whistles. It seems the giant spider is harmless but friendly; those eyes seem so innocent, just like the eyes of a child. "I guess I can''t judge a book by its cover..." Falkmar says. Initially, it scares Saze when he sees the spider, but for some reason, these spiders exude a friendly and curious aura that makes him not scared anymore. The beautiful woman stretches out an arm and opens her palms; the giant spider does the same with her, stretching out a foot to shake hands. After that, the beauty shifts her gaze to Falkmar, who immediately understands her intention; she wants him to do the same with her to alleviate his dread. After all, the best way to face your fear is to confront it. "I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!" Falkmar keeps giving himself psychological encouragement. With that, Falkmar slowly stretches out an arm, and his heart starts beating wildly. His arm stops in the air, open palm. Another foot of the giant spider raises gently and places it on Falkmar''s palm. Under the witness of the beauty, Falkmar and the giant spider shake hands. Time seems to stop at this moment; they hold this position for a long time. Falkmar breathes heavily, his chest rising and falling significantly while staring at the giant spider. "So furry," Falkmar whispers. This sensation sends chills down Falkmar''s spine. However, it greatly reduces his dread in his mind. The handshake lasts a few seconds, and a finger pokes Falkmar''s shoulder slightly, pulling him out of his daze; it also breaks their handshake. Falkmar turns his head back and sees the beauty with a smile. She walks around the giant spider and heads toward the stairs and the throne. As she steps onto the stairs, her brown high heels echo in the corridor. The top of the corridor is open, and the amber sunlight lengthens her shadow on the stairs. Click... Click... Click... At this moment, all the spiders come out of their nests to welcome their queen back. Her gradient blue and black hair sways with her dress in the breeze. First step... second step... third step... Every step she takes brings her higher and closer to the throne. Finally, she reaches the throne, sits upon it, and tilts her head, her hand resting on her cheek. Her smile is alluring and elegant, reflecting the temperament of a queen. Under her gaze, many spiders emerge from their nests and lie on the ground. Falkmar sees so many spiders and starts to feel nervous, but the giant spider gets closer, and he leans on it, making him feel a bit safer. "Auer hikowem! wuoy!" a sudden voice sounds in the corridor; it is a girl''s voice. A naked girl comes from nowhere and flies to the beauty. The naked girl pounces into the beauty''s embrace and nuzzles wildly. "What the fuck?" Falkmar blushes deeply. This scene makes Falkmar turn his head to face the giant spider, close his eyes, and bury his face in the fur. "Gruu..." the giant spider murmurs softly in confusion. Suddenly, an invisible power grips Falkmar''s body, dragging him from the swarm of spiders. This unknown power frightens Falkmar, making him scream. "AHH!!" A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. In the eyes of all spiders, Falkmar flies quickly from the ground to the throne. The source of this invisible power is the beautiful woman. As she raises her hand, many little spider silk threads rush out from her fingers and linger on Falkmar. Just a soft pull, and Falkmar flies toward her. "Agh!" Falkmar flies into the embrace of the beautiful woman. The girl blinks as she sees Falkmar land on the beautiful woman''s thigh. She steps closer and glances at him with curious eyes. Right now, Falkmar can see her clearly. She has doll-like facial features that perfectly match her youthful temperament with whole black hair. Her face is youthful, unlike the beautiful woman, whose face is aloof but elegant. "Hojek wourle?" The naked girl points at Falkmar with one finger. "Jwoke senazo," the beautiful woman says. Their conversation lasts a few seconds. During their discussion, the naked girl seems to get more interested in Falkmar and even steps closer to sniff him. Falkmar blushes more deeply. As the naked girl steps closer, he looks the other way and uses his hands to cover his crotch. After all, this naked girl has a good figure, but the gradient blue and black-haired woman is better Perhaps the beautiful woman senses that Falkmar''s cheeks are red and hot, so she gently pushes the naked girl away and tells her to do something. "Wowig..." the naked girl says in frustration. Her expression shifts to sadness as she turns around and leaves. She immediately disappears into the corridor, making Falkmar''s eyes widen in shock. "Flash step???" Falkmar shouts in his mind. "Sudei opinkwo warius," the beautiful woman says as she rises. As the beautiful woman stands, Falkmar follows suit, unsure of what is happening next. Just as he begins to guess what she said, a sudden yell from the spider swarm echoes in the corridor. "Gruu!" Every spider stretches out two forefeet and sways them in the air as if celebrating. The current scene feels like the birth of a queen''s child, and the spiders are celebrating him. Falkmar observes the spiders reveling at this moment, uncertain about what emotion he should feel. "This world is... pretty weird..." Falkmar whispers. Soon, the beautiful woman sways her arm, and the spiders stop celebrating. Some go to other areas of the ruined palace while others return to their nests, still gazing at Falkmar. At this moment, the girl returns, now wearing a black dress, black high heels, and holding a thick book. She runs toward him with a happy expression. The beautiful woman holds his hand as they walk down the stairs together. The girl halts before a statue and sits down, waiting for them. At this moment, the beautiful woman extends her hand and points at the girl, indicating for Falkmar to go to her. After that, she walks away, heading towards the pieces of the ruins. "Alright," Falkmar whispers. As he approaches the girl, she gives him the thick book happily. Falkmar looks at the book, and then opens it, causing many papers to fall out. He quickly bends down to collect the scattered papers. The papers contain many incomprehensible words and graphics, while the book seems to be a dictionary filled with numerous words. Click... Click... Click... At this moment, the sound of high heels comes from behind. When Falkmar turns his head back, the scene makes him begin to tremble slightly. The beautiful woman returns with a piece of ruin, a square block the size of a small table. It''s not very big but obviously not something a man, even if muscular, could carry easily. However, the beautiful woman lifts it effortlessly above her head. "How is that even possible..." Falkmar thinks, stunned. Bong! She places the piece of ruin on the ground, and it lands heavily, producing a huge sound that echoes through the corridor. Falkmar takes a hard gulp; the hand holding the book trembles slightly. The beautiful woman sits down on the ground and gestures for Falkmar to sit beside her. As he sits down, he places the book on the ruined block. Falkmar realizes that they are going to teach him the language here. He sighs but has no choice, astonished by the sight of the beautiful woman carrying the heavy block. "If I were disobedient, would she slap me? If she did, I''d probably die..." Falkmar thinks in his mind. Accepting his fate, he knows this will take a long time. Just like this, one year passes¡­ This world also has spring, summer, autumn, and winter. He becomes familiar with the roads and areas of this ruined palace, no longer getting lost. Two years pass¡­ He sits by the entrance of the ruined palace, reading the dictionary. It drizzles outside, and the combination of drizzle and sunshine creates a comfortable atmosphere in the forest. As for the language, he has developed basic speaking skills. Falkmar can converse with the beautiful woman, whose name is Finty Amon, and the other girl, called Moty Amon. Three years pass¡­ Finty and Moty finally learn that Falkmar is from another world and give him a new name, Saze Roker. Currently, Saze lies on the back of the giant spider, gazing at the sky. There is a big eye-like rune in the sky; it isn''t the sun, but the eye rune of the day. This world possesses arcane magic. When Finty says she will teach Saze an arcane, he becomes so excited that he can''t even sleep. Four years pass¡­ Saze now feels confident in his language skills and has no trouble communicating with others. Reading in the past few years has made him feel very depressed, but that sadness is now replaced by happiness. Saze''s strongest arcane is the wind arcane, which may evolve into the strong wind, gale, or even hurricane in the future. At night, he lies on the top of the mansion because it is the best spot to gaze at the starry sky. There is still that big eye-like rune; it is not the moon but the eye rune of the night. However, in these four years, he hasn''t left this forest. Staying here for so long has instilled in him a deep desire to venture out beyond the forest''s edge. Chapter 9: Fintys lesson The sound of turning pages, mixed with the sound of writing, fills a well-lit room. There is a table and two chairs, and a boy and a woman sit face to face. A boy who looks pretty handsome with messy black hair wears medieval-like civilian clothes: a light grey tunic and brown breeches with black high boots. A woman, who appears elegant, has a face devoid of emotion, which makes her look cold. She has gradient blue and black hair and wears a high-waisted dark blue dress with brown high heels. This is Saze and Finty. "Alright, I''m just going to teach you about arcane magic," Finty says, supporting her cheeks with one hand. "The most basic, easiest, and most common type of arcane magic is elemental magic, including flame, water, wind, and earth," Finty adds, and Saze listens carefully. "Also, learning arcane magic grants you arcane resistance. This resistance will help a little bit to resist any type of arcane magic," she explains. "For example, you learn wind arcane elements, and after that, you aren''t affected by touching those flowers anymore." Finty gives a simple example for Saze to understand easily. "Oh! That''s why I don''t feel anything after touching those flowers," Saze suddenly realizes. "Yeah, that''s how the resistance works. Also, your resistance improves as your arcane magic improves," Finty says, raising one forearm. "If your arcane resistance is not strong enough to be completely immune, it will still help a bit, but if the level difference is too high..." Finty snaps her fingers. Suddenly, the room changes. Everything inside is destroyed by a wave of water, the sudden cold water washing over Saze''s body. The floor of the room vanishes, replaced by bottomless blood-red seawater. The relentless pull of gravity drives Saze down into the depths of the ocean. "Gulugulu..." Saze chokes on the seawater. Saze''s eyes widen with fear as he struggles to get up. A sense of suffocation and cold makes his body tremble. He loses direction in the abyss where he can see nothing. A pair of giant yellow eyes appear silently before Saze. As he sees the enormous eyes, his heart pounds wildly in his chest, adrenaline flooding his body as he tries even harder to swim upward. However, Saze''s swimming is too slow, and the giant yellow eyes close in on him. At that moment, Saze finally sees the body belonging to the giant yellow eyes and discovers that it has not just one pair of eyes, but seven pairs in total. It is the overlord of the ocean, a seven-headed serpent. Its colossal form moves around Saze, creating a whirlpool that pulls him even deeper. Saze''s eyes fill with desperation as he is pulled down by the whirlpool. Suffocating makes him feel his lungs burn and his vision blur. The desire to live makes Saze want to try one last time. This time, he tries to use wind arcane to create a turbine effect to swim up, but soon, his plan is destroyed by the serpent. The serpent opens its mouth and swallows Saze. "Ahh!!!" Saze shouts, sitting up in fear and breathing heavily. "Finally back?" Finty asks calmly. "Huh...?" Saze looks up and notices a hint of mockery in Finty''s expression. Saze''s eyes glaze over as he glances around the room and realizes he is sitting on the floor. Everything is in its place, except for his chair, which lies on the floor beside him. After a moment, Saze''s thoughts finally return. He rises, pale and still trembling slightly, with heavy breathing. He grabs the chair, puts it back, and sits down, his movements a bit slow. "So... what''s that...?" Saze asks with a trembling tone. "Hallucination, also a type of arcane magic," Finty answers shortly. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "I''m surprised that you can still walk and talk normally; you have a strong will, that''s good," Finty praises Saze. "Hmpf! Can''t you just do a simple hallucination..." Saze whispers to complain. "Maybe next time," Finty chuckles softly as she hears Saze''s whisper. "Alright, it''s enough for today''s lesson; you''re free now," Finty says. "Hooray!" Saze immediately cheers and rises. Seeing Saze leave the room as if escaping from jail makes Finty chuckle again. She notices his notebook left on the table and picks it up. Reading the words in the notebook quickly, she rates his words. "Horrible." ..... Outside the room, in the long corridor leading to the throne, many spiders lie on the ground with a beautiful girl. "Mon! I miss you!" Saze shouts and pounces on the giant spider. This is the first creature Saze sees in this world and also the first one to scare him so muchthat he nearly loses control. This spider is called Mon, and it is the only spider that knows the human language. "Oh, you''re back!" the beautiful girl says happily as she sees Saze pounce on Mon. "Yeah, Moty, I''m back!" Saze answers while nuzzling Mon. "Gruu...?" Mon grunts with confusion as Saze nuzzles against him. The spiders here are called dark web spiders. As the name suggests, these spiders can create black spider silk but also normal spider silk. The smallest spider is about the size of a dog, while the biggest is about the size of a truck. "So how was your class today?" Moty asks while teasing a small spider on her thigh. "Horrible... Finty made a hallucination, and I saw the overlord of the ocean," Saze complains. "Finty is evil!" Saze adds. "Yes! She is evil! Let''s talk about her," Moty says happily. Saze sits down and listens to Moty''s discourse. He becomes bold and starts saying bad words about Finty. Moty just chuckles and encourages Saze to talk more. "One day! I will smash her into the ground!" Saze declares, raising a fist in the air. "Gruu!" Mon grunts in agreement. "Hehe... Mon, you agree that she is evil, right?" Saze looks at Mon and grins widely. "Yes! He probably agrees!" Moty says, laughing. This makes Saze keep complaining about Finty while Moty keeps smiling and Mon keeps grunting. As Saze sees Moty''s smile grow bigger, looking like she is about to burst out laughing, and hears Mon''s grunting become louder, he begins to feel weird. "Gruu! Gruu!" Mon starts to use his forefoot and pushes Saze gently. "What''s wrong?" Saze asks, confused, and turns back. A beautiful woman in a blue dress sitting on a ruined block comes into Saze''s sight. This beautiful woman is none other than Finty. Right now, she smiles warmly and gazes at Saze. Although Finty smiles warmly, Saze feels his whole body freeze. His body trembles, and fear makes him unable to move. "Hahaha!! You finally turn back," Moty bursts into laughter, tears falling from her eyes. "Do you think Mon agrees with your thoughts or just warns you that I''m behind you?" Finty asks with a smile. "Perhaps... the latter," Saze gulps and moves closer to Mon. "Well then, let me think about which legs of yours I should break," Finty says, supporting her chin with her palms and thinking deeply. Hearing those words sends a chill down Saze''s spine. He quickly rises and tries to run away to escape the consequences. As Saze stands, Moty stretches out a hand and points at him with her index finger. A white spider silk erupts from her finger and lingers on Saze, preventing him from moving. "Quick! Finty, I caught him! Go and break his legs!" Moty shouts happily, pressing Saze down onto the floor. "Traitor!!!" Saze yells. Saze tries to stand up and resist, but Moty is too powerful; he cannot get up. As Finty rises and steps closer, Saze''s heart pounds wildly in his chest. "Ah!! I''m sorry! Finty! Mistress! Spare me!!" Saze shouts out of fear. "Heh, starting to beg?" Finty crouches beside Saze. "Let me teach you another lesson: never say bad words behind someone''s back..." Finty whispers in Saze''s ear. ..... Night falls, the glowing stones shine brightly to illuminate the ruined palace. Many spiders form circles in the long corridor, and each of the circles has a campfire roasting meat. The smell of roasted meat wafts through the corridor, making Saze gulp. Moty, Saze, Mon, and two small spiders form a circle to eat their dinner. "How are your legs now?" Moty gets a roasted meat skewer and passes it to Saze. "My left leg is broken..." Saze takes the food from Moty with a sad expression. "Haha, seems Finty is mad. Just apologize, and she will forgive you." Moty grabs another piece of roasted meat and starts eating. "I was kneeling and bowing my head to beg her to spare my life..." Saze says as he eats. The sound of high heels walking reaches Saze''s ears. They don''t even need to turn their heads to see because they know it is Finty. "How are your legs now?" Finty asks, repeating the same question. "I-It''s good..." Saze''s body trembles obviously. "It''s good? Then later I make it worse." Finty sits down as she speaks. "Alright, Finty, just forgive this little cutie," Moty says in amusement. The word "cutie" makes Saze''s lips twitch a bit, but he agrees with her. After all, Saze is too weak to go against them; they can easily make him their plaything. "Fine... How is your memory now?" Finty changes the topic. "My memory? It has recovered a lot: earth... Jonas... and... fog," Saze replies. When Saze first comes to this world, his memory of Earth is vague. Then, a few years later, he finds that his memory is recovering. Every year, his memory recovers. Right now, Saze is eleven years old, so his memory recovers until he is eleven years old on Earth. "Earth is the place you lived before, Jonas is your friend, and fog is the last thing you saw before coming to this world," Finty whispers. In these four years, Saze has told them that he is from another world. At first, they doubt him, but the language he speaks and the clothes and pants he wears prove that he is from another world. "Mmm... Let''s just eat first; we can talk about that later," Moty suggests, giving more roasted meat to Finty and Saze. "Thanks," Saze and Finty say. Chapter 10: A bedtime story After finishing dinner, every spider goes back to their lair to rest, but some come out from their lair. It''s their guarding system¡ªa group of spiders works in the daytime while another group operates at nighttime. "Ahh..." Saze sits on the ruined block, yawning and stretching as he speaks. A wave of tiredness and drowsiness sweeps over his mind, making his eyelids feel heavy. His body begins to shake slightly, and Finty notices him. "Want to sleep now?" Finty glances at him. "Ah... yes..." Saze rubs his eyes slightly as he answers Finty. Today, Saze does many things, such as exercising, studying, cooking, and practicing arcane magic. The last task results in him getting beaten up by Finty. The physical and mental fatigue naturally makes him feel exhausted. After a simple bath in a pool area, Saze heads to his lair, an oval-shaped chamber that is open at the top. It was made by Mon, and inside are the clothes he wore when he was on Earth before transmigrating to this world. "Ahh!" As Saze turns in, he accidentally presses on his broken leg and screams in pain. He quickly fixes his position and closes his eyes. As he shuts them, his thoughts rush through his mind, focusing on his power. The power system in this world consists of the first stage to the sixth stage. The greater the number, the stronger the individual, and each stage has three levels: low level, mid level, and high level. To reach a higher stage, there are two ways: performing a ritual or practicing arcane magic. The ritual is the fastest method, but it lacks experience and technique in arcane magic, while practicing takes longer but provides a lot of experience and technique. Each stage brings immense benefits, such as improved responsiveness, increased maximum mana capacity, and enhanced arcane magic. As Saze realizes this, doubt creeps in¡ªmaybe he has transmigrated to a game world. Currently, Saze is at the first stage low level. He needs to improve his wind arcane magic through more practice. Although Finty and Moty can perform a ritual for him to quickly reach the second stage, he wants to advance through practice. Many thoughts flood Saze''s mind, making him giddy and unable to sleep. He opens his eyes with a heavy sigh and gazes at the starry sky. The leaves of the trees cover most of the sky, but they don''t block the brightest star overhead. "Agh...! I shouldn''t speak ill of Finty..." Saze whispers, feeling regret. His leg is broken, and he attempts to change his posture, but the pain prevents him. He silently complains that Finty used her power to break his leg. "I thought you slept," a cold voice sounds, making Saze tremble instinctively. "Finty? Why are you here?" Saze sits up and sees Finty standing next to his lair. "I''m here to heal your leg," Finty says with a smile. "Really?!" Saze exclaims in surprise. Finty doesn''t reply but steps into the lair. Although the space is small, it is just enough for two people, though it feels crowded. Finty crouches, stretches out an arm and opens her palms. A visible green wave emanates from her hands and flies toward Saze''s left leg. "Ah..." As the green wave approaches, a comfortable sensation washes over Saze, making him moan involuntarily. "Feeling comfortable? You can beg me, then I''ll give you more." Finty smirks with a teasing tone. "Pleas... um!" Saze covers his mouth with two hands as if he intends to beg Finty for more. Finty chuckles at his words, and after a moment, the green wave fades and Saze''s broken leg heals. Once the green wave fades, she presses and squeezes Saze''s left leg gently, then looks at him. "Alright, it''s done." Finty sits down and speaks. "Thank you, Finty! You''re the best! You''re the lord! I''ll do everything for you!" Saze shouts happily and tries to move his left leg. As expected, the bone reconnected, and Saze felt no pain while moving it. At this moment, he no longer hates Finty, his feelings shift to happiness. "If I ever find out that you complain about me to others, then next time it''s two legs," Finty sneers. "I-I won''t do that again! I promise!" Saze gulps and feels a chill run down his spine. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Well then... anyways, we can''t sleep; let''s just chat," Finty says to Saze. With that, Finty doesn''t give Saze time to talk and just pins him down and embraces him. This sudden act makes Saze''s brain stop working for a while. After a moment, he realizes what Finty has done. "Fi-Finty... c-can you... release...m-me...?" After being embraced, Saze starts to stutter when he speaks. "It''s more comfortable to lie down and talk. Aren''t you comfortable too?" Finty says with a teasing tone and embraces him even harder. "mmm! I can''t breathe...!" Saze''s voice is muffled by Finty''s chest. Apart from his mother''s hug, this is the first time Saze is hugged so tightly by a woman. Being pressed against a woman''s body makes him feel flustered. His heart beats faster, and his face becomes redder. "Alright, alright, I''ll stop." Finty chuckles and lessens her hold on Saze. "Ah... finally..." Saze takes a deep breath. "Since you''ve talked about your life in... Earth, are you interested in my life in this world?" Finty asked while stroking Saze''s head. "Yes! Of course! I want to hear about your story." Saze says and he finds out that he enjoying her touch. "I was a spider before..." Finty speaks slowly. Finty is a spider before, not a human. She is born in this forest, and at that time, the dark web spider is not that much; it is only twenty-three and lives in this ruined palace. Dark web spiders do not hunt while not adult, but they watch aside. Dark web spiders are spiders that have the same IQ as a ten-year-old child, which means they can think. This is their capital to survive in this forest and also their unity. "Wait... how do you become human if you are a spider?" Saze is confused and asks. "I am aberrant. Aberrant is when those creatures turn to human form; it is caused by a majestic mana event," Finty answers him. "Aberrant... but how does the majestic mana event happen?" Saze asks another question. "If a fifth-stage or higher-stage creature or a person dies, it will make a majestic mana event. Those mana erupt out from the body and fly in all directions; sometimes, it makes a huge disaster," Finty explains. "The aberrant are those creatures who encounter that event and don''t die. After that, they can gather those mana to make themselves stronger and turn to human form. Every aberrant is stronger than the people who are the same stage as them. A third-stage aberrant can fight a fourth-stage creature or person," Finty adds. Saze takes a hard gulp and says nothing but continues to listen to Finty''s story. After she is born in this forest, she learns about the power of the dark web and venom. Just like this, she practices for five years and turns into an adult, able to hunt with other spiders now. "At first, it is easy and quick; sometimes we have a strong foe," Finty says slowly. After a couple of times of hunting, they meet a strong foe. It is a third-stage mid-level flaming dinosaur. This dinosaur''s body is burning and uses flame elements. The flaming breath of the dinosaur burns all the spider silk. "That is a tough fight; however, in the end, we all pounce on the flaming dinosaur and kill it with venom, but many spiders die. After that fight, only four adult spiders are left," Finty says without any emotion. "I lose my parents in that fight. However, I don''t feel anything in my mind. I just eat their corpse," Finty adds. That tough fight makes the dark web spiders weaker in the forest. They take ten years to recover, and during these ten years, they only hunt at the edge of the story. "But soon another disaster... also an opportunity. The forest suddenly falls into chaos for an unknown reason; every creature in the deep of the forest seems to lose their sanity and starts to attack every creature they see." "A fifth-stage low-level bizarre deer comes with heavy wounds. The deer has black fur and white spots and is about the size of Mon right now. However, the deer still attacks us, but there are many spider silks around the ruined palace." Finty strokes Saze''s head again and hugs him tighter. The deer rushes in, breaking many walls; many broken walls right now are the traces of that fight. The strongest dark web spider at that time is Finty, a third-stage mid-level. She commands all the spiders to attack this intruder. After another tough fight, they win again, but suddenly the black fur deer''s corpse bloats and gleams with a dark blue light. Bong! That''s how the majestic mana event happens. At that moment, the powerful mana flies in all directions like a waterfall; it passes through the wall and hits the living things. All of them are going to die, but suddenly a wave of mana erupts out from those stone statues. It forms an arcane formation and protects every spider in the ruined palace. The arcane formation looks complex, with a circle as the outer edge and a pentagram with many designs and gleams with golden light forming and covering the ruined palace. These golden lights gather and create a light beam flying into the sky. At that moment, the powerful mana from the black fur deer and the golden light collide against each other. Soon, the mana becomes weaker; in the end, it becomes peaceful, and the huge arcane formation disappears. Those spiders cheer up and absorb the rich mana around them. After that, Finty''s body starts to twitch, and she cries out in pain. Other spiders notice it and try to help her; after all, Finty is the leader of the spiders at that time. Finty''s body starts shrinking and reshaping; her body becomes human, and her fur is replaced by pale skin. Her gradient blue hair grows, and finally, she becomes a human but faints. Three days pass when Finty wakes up. When she wakes up, she is shocked by her new body, which allows her to switch between spider and human forms. After that, it is just boring training and then going to see the human world. Finty travels to four countries, feels their different cultures, and learns about human thinking and emotions. When she returns to the forest, Saze appears in her world. "It has been seventy-two years since I was born, so... I am a seventy-two-year-old... aberrant. Alright, that''s all... hm?" Finty notices that Saze has already slept. Finty smiles lightly, hugs him tighter, and closes her eyes to sleep. Chapter 11: Terrible aura of coachman The forest gently awakens as the first rays of dawn penetrate the dense canopy of towering trees. The scent of earth and blooming wildflowers wafts through the ruined mansion. Moisture and the smell of rainfall linger in the air, where droplets of water gather from the hole in the palace, forming a small pool. It''s obvious that it rained last night. Water drips onto Saze''s forehead and slides off as he wakes up. He slowly opens his eyes, rubbing them lightly with his hand, his two black eyes gleaming with clarity. "Ahh~" Saze stretches and yawns. He raises his arms, makes fists, and begins to stretch his spine, twisting his waist left and right, listening to the crackling sounds of his joints. This feeling is very comfortable, but it leaves him wanting more. Now he imagines rotating his spine three hundred sixty degrees. "That might be comfortable..." Saze thinks to himself as a joke. After all, he doesn''t want to end up disabled. If he has to sit in a wheelchair forever, he really doesn''t know how to live happily. "Oh yeah, what year is it in this world...? I should ask Finty later¡­" Saze looks up at the huge hole in the ruined palace and whispers to himself. "1887," a cold voice sounds behind him. As Saze turns his head, he sees a woman with blue and black gradient hair, dressed in a dark blue gown, sitting gracefully before him. Finty''s face shows a faint smile. Her charming, mature smile slightly warms his heart as she repeats, "This year is 1887." Saze gulps hard, suppressing the rush of emotions within him. At his age, he has also entered puberty. In these four years, Finty teases him sometimes, but not too frequently. He quickly calms his mind and responds to her. "1887? So it''s the 19th century right now¡­" Saze contemplates aloud. "So you''ve been here for four years now. What other memories do you have from Earth?" Finty asks. "Oh, I''ve recalled my memories from when I was thirteen, so now I''m thirteen again," Saze replies softly. As time goes by, Saze''s memories return. Each day he spends here brings back fragments of his past life on Earth. Although the void has reversed his time, affecting both his body and mind, he knows everything will come back eventually. "Well then, you will have a long vacation soon," Finty says, playfully poking a small spider that crawls onto her thigh. "Eh,? why?" Saze asks in surprise. "I''m going outside of the forest to the human world, their country. I''m going to prepare your ID card for you, so you can live there among your kind." "Are you excited now? You can leave the forest and step into the world of humans," Finty smiles at him. Saze has been in this forest for four years, and the prospect of finally seeing humans fills him with excitement. Aside from Finty and Moty, who can take human form but are not entirely human, he hasn''t seen anyone else. "R-Re-Really?!! Hooray!!" Saze stammers, shouting with excitement. "Hehe¡­ However, you still need to wait for a month." Finty sees his happiness and can''t help but want to temper it. "It''s okay! I''ve waited for four years already! Just one more month!" Saze declares, clenching his fists with determination and showing no signs of his excitement dwindling. The light of yearning for freedom shines in his black-haired eyes, momentarily stunning Finty before she smiles again. "Well, staying optimistic isn''t a bad thing at all. Just don''t get too carried away," she advises. "Alright, what are we going to do today?" Saze asks, eager to know the plan. "Nothing much. You can take care of your own things while I prepare for my trip," Finty replies as she rises and walks away. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Then let me help you," Saze follows up. This act makes Finty glance at him. She doesn''t expect Saze to do this. To be honest, it is quite heartwarming. Sometimes the unintentional kindness of others is remembered in people''s hearts. This is the first time in four years that Saze offers to help. Of course, this is because he couldn''t help before. After all, he can''t lift huge ruined blocks or hunt. But Finty doesn''t say anything and just gestures to tell him to follow. After leaving the hall, they pass through many small areas and then see an old wooden door in an inconspicuous corner. Finty steps into the room as she slowly opens the old wooden door, and the creaking sounds. What comes into view is a huge red carpet covering the floor of the exhibition hall and a large white bed with tables and chairs next to it. There are also many decorations in this room, such as a world map hanging on the wall and books piled on the floor. There are shoe cabinets and many luminous stones to illuminate the room. When Saze steps into the room, a scent of fragrance hits his nostrils. At this time, he looks at the bookshelf on the side and finds that there are many flowers and plants in a row, and the fragrance comes from them. "I actually have prepared many things already, I''m just going to get my extra shoes and dress," Finty opens her wardrobe. The wardrobe has many dresses, shirts, and underwear, as well as the shoes that are at the bottom. As Finty starts to grab those things, she also tells Saze to get a flower. "Hey, Saze, get the dark blue flower on the bookshelf," Finty says lightly. "Alright... let me see... ugh..." Saze''s eyes glance at the row of the bookshelf that has flowers. "Aha! This one!" Saze finds it and takes it carefully. This dark blue flower is the same color as Finty''s hair, the flower has big petals and a thin stem. Saze holds the flowerpot and leans against the stone wall, and he suddenly sees there is a thin blue color energy that is like silk flowing on the petals. "Finty, what''s this?" Saze asks. "That''s the mana on the flower, didn''t I teach you that everything contains mana?" Finty rolls her eyes. "But I never see them materialize," Saze takes the flowerpot close to his face and gazes at the petals. "That''s because I use the mana to replace the nutrition," Finty answers. "Oh, arcane magic can also work in this way?" Saze says in surprise. "Yes, you can also use your mana to replace blood, so you can consider mana as extra blood," Finty explains. "If you use blood arcane, then it will be better because you can materialize the real blood," Finty adds after explaining. Saze looks up as if thinking about something. Memories of Earth appear in his mind, through watching anime, he imagines an evil arcane mage using blood arcane to harm people. "That seems like what evil people do..." Saze says in a deep voice. "Don''t let stereotypes slander others..." Finty''s lips corner twitch a bit. "In fact, those blood arcane are used to heal people, not to harm people. I have a friend who uses blood arcane, and he is a great doctor who saved a hundred lives," Finty adds. Arcane is a tool that can save others and harm others. No matter what arcane magic it is, the core is still the user. "Oh, that''s cool then! I want to learn it!" Saze says with shining eyes. Saze acts so excitedly because one of his dreams is to become a great doctor who saves people, and another of his dreams is to be an author, pilot, and lawyer. As for why there are so many dream jobs, it''s because he thinks that if he can''t do this, then he tries this. It won''t go wrong to leave more escape routes for yourself. "Ugh... I''m not sure that you can handle blood arcane. Commonly, our first arcane is elements arcane, just like your wind arcane, it is because we can contact them every day," Finty explains. "But isn''t it that we contact the blood every day? The blood is flowing in our body," Saze asks a difficult question to answer. "Ugh..." Finty is stunned for a moment and thinks deeply. "I don''t know, but what I know is elements are the basic and the first arcane magic awakened in people," Finty spreads both hands, meaning that she doesn''t know either. "I will ask that doctor about this question," Finty adds and puts everything in the small wooden trunk. After preparing everything, Finty and Saze go out of the ruined palace. Many spiders and also Moty are here, it seems they are waiting for Finty and Saze. "Oh, Finty, you''re finally done!" Moty says happily. "The carriage is here already," Moty adds. The rapid sound of horse hooves slowly amplifies a luxury carriage that has four brown horses controlled by a man. That man is young and wears a black robe, white shirt, and black pants. He has sharp eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips, which give him an arrogant aura. He glances around this area and gazes at Saze. At this moment, their eye contact occurs, and Saze feels an invisible pressure of a mountain as if it presses him down. Saze''s breathing becomes rapid, and his hair stands on end, as if he is alone and facing a strong enemy. At the next moment, the man looks away. Nobody sees that Saze''s body is trembling lightly. The black wooden carriage has ornate gold engravings and a metal wheel. Finty opens the door of the carriage, revealing the pure white leather on the seat and a small table connected at the end. "Alright, I will go now. Moty, take care of Saze," Finty smiles and closes the door. As the carriage fades away in the eyes of every spider and person, Saze moves, he suddenly falls to his knees and gasps for air, his clothes soaked with cold sweat. "Ha... ha... ha..." Saze pants. "Whoa... what happened??" Moty is confused and quickly walks to his side. "That man... is... freaking horrible..." Saze stammers. Chapter 12: Future or past Moty suddenly brightens as if she realizes what has happened. But in reality, she already knows. "Oh, you made eye contact with that coachman?" Moty says with a smile. "Oh... you know what happened?" Saze asks. Right now, Saze is already much better. He sits on the grass and takes a deep breath to relax his tight muscles and nerves. However, the fear in his heart and the blood in his veins are still surging. "That''s just an arcane spell. He was checking for danger, even though he was Finty''s bodyguard," Moty says lightly. "Eh? Finty seems strong. Wait, what stage is she at right now?" Saze asks. "...Fifth stage, low level." Moty thinks for a moment before answering. "Fifth stage, low level?!" Saze gasps. Saze knew Finty was strong, but he didn''t expect her to be that powerful. He is surprised, scared, and a little... proud. After all, he survived Finty''s hands. "No wonder Finty pinched my leg, and my bone broke..." Saze murmurs. "But why does she need a bodyguard if she''s already at the fifth stage?" Saze asks again. "Hmm... I don''t know. I don''t actually have much contact with the human world. Finty sometimes teaches me about human culture." "But I have a guess... maybe she needs a bodyguard because she needs someone to sacrifice themselves if necessary," Moty says thoughtfully. "Finty needs someone to... sacrifice? Let them die?" Saze''s eyes widen at her words. "Yes, just in case. If Finty uses some arcane spell that requires a sacrifice..." Moty says without any emotion. This sounds evil and completely dehumanizing. Saze is sure he could never order someone to die for him. This kind of thinking goes against his values, making him feel cold and uncomfortable. "This world is weird..." Saze murmurs. At that moment, Moty stretches out a hand to help Saze stand up. With Moty''s support, Saze rises effortlessly, though he wobbles for a moment before steadying himself. "Alright, since Finty left, I will take care of you in her place. The spiders will do the same," Moty says with a warm smile. "Gruu!" The spiders let out a high-pitched call, including Mon. Observing the spiders'' enthusiastic response near his feet, Saze feels odd but can''t quite explain why. However, their presence also reassures him, as if they are his protective shield. "Alright, so what are we going to do while Finty is gone?" Saze asks. "I don''t know. What do you want to do? We can plan around that," Moty replies, letting Saze decide. Saze thinks deeply, contemplating his next move. After a few minutes, he decides¡ªhe wants to improve his power and grow stronger. Even though he is safe in this forest, becoming stronger is never a bad option. In this forest, exuding green vitality, one human, one aberrant, and a group of spiders gather to discuss their plans for the next few days. Their discussion stretches on, and as time passes, the sky darkens. By dusk, they return to the white ruined palace and prepare dinner. A bunch of campfires burn brightly, surrounded by spiders. Over the fire, skewers of barbecued meat roast¡ªthe prey some spiders caught earlier in the day. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The aroma of barbecue fills the air. However, the palace is well-ventilated due to its dilapidation, allowing the smoke to disperse. Saze is no longer shocked as he watches the anthropomorphic movements of the spiders. After four years here, he is used to it. Although the scent of food might attract night predators, this is the spiders'' base camp. They have already laid numerous webs around the area and would be delighted if prey wandered in. After all, who would turn down a free meal, unless it''s poisonous? In the bright palace, some spiders play together, steal meat from one another, and even fight. They resemble a group of elementary school children¡ªno, even elementary school children are more well-behaved than these spiders. "Gruu!!!" A spider lets out a shrill scream. The sound sends a jolt through Saze''s body. He immediately gets up and looks toward the source of the noise, only to find that one of the spiders has been pushed into the fire during their fight. "....." Saze''s lips twitch slightly. "...Aw, come on. You guys, stop fighting," a girl''s voice calls out. It''s Moty. She grabs the leg of the spider that fell into the fire and conjures a water arcane spell to form a water sphere, dousing the flames on its body. Once released, the spider immediately points at the smaller spiders and lets out an agitated "Gruu Gruu" sound, as if complaining about their misdeeds. "Gruu! Gruu!" the spider cries. "Ah... I see... Okay... Alright, alright... calm down first..." Moty crouches down and comforts the spider. After a while, the spider forgets its grievances and starts playing again. The farce is over. "Hey, Moty, this kind of drama happens every night. Don''t you get tired?" Saze asks, passing her a skewer of meat. "Welp, I''m used to it," Moty sighs. After dinner, Saze sits atop the palace ruins, gazing at the enormous white eye rune in the night sky. A gentle breeze rustles his hair, and his eyes seem to hide something deep within. As footsteps approach from behind, his ears twitch slightly. He neither looks back nor stands, continuing to stare at the eye rune. "Moty... doesn''t this world have stars?" Saze''s voice is slightly hoarse. "Stars...?" Moty''s voice comes from behind him. "Saze... you know what? From the stories you''ve told me, I feel more and more like you stepped out of a legend," Moty adds. "Huh? Why?" Saze turns back, surprised. "Did Finty ever tell you about the legend?" Moty asks. "What legend?" Saze asks, confused. "Ugh... there''s a world described in an ancient legend that has the sun, the moon, and... stars. And the most shocking thing is... that world was also called ''Earth.''" "W-What?! Is this real? Do you know more about the legend?!" Saze''s eyes widen as he stands up anxiously. Moty explains that, in ancient times, this world was different¡ªit had the sun, the moon, and a boundless dark sky filled with countless stars. However, that world lacked arcane magic and mana. As she speaks, Saze''s breathing grows heavier, his heart pounding faster. His body trembles as he listens to the details of the legend. "The last part of the legend describes how ''Earth'' was destroyed... but maybe because the story is too old, those details are lost," Moty finishes. Hearing this, Saze''s eyes suddenly dim. Tears well up in his eyes. Moty feels a pang of sadness watching him. "It means... I didn''t transmigrate to another world. I traveled... to the future or past?" Saze''s voice trembles. "This... is just an old story. It should be... just a coincidence. You don''t need to dwell on it..." Even Moty doesn''t fully believe her own words. "Fine..." Saze sighs, sitting down again. He hugs his knees, his tear-filled eyes mirroring the dark night sky. This is his first real clue about Earth in this world. He has countless questions but doesn''t know how to express them. Instead, he keeps them locked in his heart. "At least... thanks for telling me about that." Saze thinks for a moment and thanks Moty. Saze knows he couldn''t sleep tonight because of this incident. ..... In a luxury noble mansion, two guards with whole black uniforms are standing and both holding a Musket long gun and guarding the gate. The guards heard the rapid sound of horse hooves, a black carriage with gold engraving coming. The carriage stops before the guards, as they see the coachman, the guards change their gaze and says. "Good evening Mr. Lloyd, how was the trip?" A guard smiles warmly and asks the coachman. "I have nothing to talk with you, now open the gate and get out of my sight, weakling." The coachman or Lloyd says coldly. "Hehehehe.... hahaha... alright, Mr. Lloyd, you''ve said the code. You may enter now." As Lloyd said the code, both guards'' faces twist into an exaggerated smile, and their mouths are open unusually wide. They open the gate with stiff movements, but the expressions on their faces do not change, which looks very strange or just like somebody using strings to control them. "Hmpf!" Lloyd snorts. As the door slowly opens, Lloyd also controls the carriage and enters. This noble palace is very luxurious, large, and beautiful. But in Lloyd''s eyes, it is just a prison. Many servants are here to welcome them back on this bizarre night. "Hehehe... Hahaha!!! Have fun, Mr. Lloyd!" Those guards close the gate and let out a shriek of laughter. After that, the guards take their guns aim at each other''s heads, and slowly pull the trigger. Bang! Bang! Chapter 13: Three factions After two gunshots, two guards fall to the ground with an exaggerated smile. Lloyd parks the carriage at the entrance of the mansion. There are two human-shaped stone sculptures at the door. They are two knights holding a sword and pointing to the sky. As the door of the carriage opens, Finty walks down slowly. Many servants stand beside the red carpet, once Finty stands on it all of them bow to her. "Welcome back, lady Finty." The servants say in unison. The servants salute Finty with numb bodies and flat voices as if everyone were being manipulates by a person. Every movements are unnatural and weird, and their eyes seems to reveal fear. Finty couldn''t help but sigh. "Walker, when are you going to get rid of the habit of manipulating others? Your manipulation skills are so bad... didn''t you notice that this servant''s arm is almost broken? Finty walked to the servant beside the door. This servant bows but the arm is twisted at an unnatural angle, with a look of pain on his face. As Finty swings his arm over the servant, several invisible silks break instantly. The servant is no longer being controlled, and his arm returns to its normal angle. However, because the silk controlling him broke instantly, he immediately lost his center of gravity and fell forward. Fortunately, Finty quickly grabs the collar behind the servant''s back and prevents him from falling to the ground. When the servant stabilizes his body, he immediately thanks Finty, but the fear on his face remains unchanged. Finty turns around, swings forward with a knife hand, and the silks that control them are broken. After the servants regain control, they thank Finty, and then some of them take the carriage to the stable, while others go to the gate, seemingly to dispose of the body there. "Ahaha... Welcome back, Finty!" The voice of a young sounds behind Finty. When Finty turns around, she sees a young boy open the door. The boy has pretty features on his face and black hair. His height seems like a child of nine years old and right now, he was looking at Finty with an embarrassed face. He wore a black beret and a beige jacket with a white shirt underneath, black pants, and black shoes. This color paired with his young face gives him a unique temperament. The name of this boy is called Walker. Walker talks first when Finty is going to speak. "Eh? Where is your rimmed eyeglasses?" He asks with a confused tone. Finty is stunned for a moment and suddenly realizes that she didn''t wear her eyeglasses, but it doesn''t matter too much seems she still can see clearly. "Oh I forgot it on the carriage, I was sleeping." "Here, I took it." Finty and Lloyd say at the same time. Lloyd is holding Finty''s wooden trunk and the dark blue flower in his hand, and Finty''s rimmed eyeglasses in the other hand. Lloyd reaches out and hands the glasses back to Finty. "Hehe... your relationship looks good." Walker says a joke. "Lloyd is a nice person, he can do many works, but he doesn''t smile at everyone..." Finty slowly wipes the lenses. "See? Lloyd you should try to smile, just like this... smile~" Walker does a warm smile. After that Walker stares at Lloyd, expecting him to do the same. The next second, Lloyd forced out a smile due to pressure from his superiors. However, it was uglier than crying. "...." Walker feels that Lloyd was doing it on purpose. "Alright, let''s get in and you better explain why you killed those guards." Finty says lightly while opening the door and leading them to go inside. "Ah... you know our identities are very sensitive and cannot be known to others. Those humans hate aberrant for no good reason, pretty dumb." Walker walks beside Finty and complains. "Humans are not dumb, they are quite smart." Finty refuses Walker''s opinion. "If they are smart then I won''t find out those two guards were replying to the military and other noble families." Walker sneers. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "I mean some of them are smart but some of them aren''t. Did they successfully reply to military and noble families?" Finty changes her words. "No, I have killed them, also I have warned other servants and given a little punishment to all of them." "But there is one person that I can''t control him, you should take care of him." With that, Walker glances at Lloyd, and Finty does the same. Lloyd also notices they are glancing at him, he knows that he is the one that Walker can''t control because Lloyd is Finty''s housekeeper and bodyguard. "As long as I won''t get threatened to death then I won''t betray you guys." Lloyd says coldly. Just like this, they don''t talk anymore but walk through the corridor and upstairs, then arrive at Finty''s room. Finty asks Lloyd to briefly sort out the things in the wooden trunk and then starts chatting with Walker outside the room. "But how do they try to contact military and noble families? I remember we knocked out all of them when transferred to here, they wouldn''t know where is this place." Finty says thoughtfully. "Look at this." Walker gives Finty a letter. Finty takes the letter and opens it, quickly glancing at it but the more she reads it, the deeper her frown becomes. Eventually, after finishing reading it, her hand burst out a powerful mana instantly burned the letter to ashes. "Seth nobility... Astor nobility... they are guarding at the forest where I live. As for the military, they hate aberrant, if they found that we are aberrant they will definitely use every resource that they can use to kill us..." Finty says in a low voice. "I''m sure with one thing, they are the first who contact our guards, seems no matter how low-key we are we will still be noticed by others." Walker sighs. "Fortunately, I have killed the guards before they send that letter, or else our identity is exposed already." Walker sighs and leans on the wall. "Well then... I have to do my things faster." Finty says lightly. "Oh, what are you going to do?" Walker asked. "Make an ID card." Finty replies. "ID card? Wait a second, who''s ID card you going to make?" Walker says excitedly with confusion. "I..." Finty''s voice is cut off by Walker. "Shh... wait! Let me guess! hmm... I''ve smelled something on you... it''s... it''s... human! But how? Do you go to other cities in these four years? I thought you just stayed in that forest." Walker asks. Finty sighs and decides to tell him what happened in these four years. From the first time they meet to this morning. Just like this, Finty tells everything about Saze but doesn''t include the Earth and the language problem, that''s quite sensitive. Walker was very shocked after hearing this. There was actually a child walking deep into the forest alone and he wasn''t even eaten by other monsters but caught by Mon and brought him to a ruined mansion. "B-But don''t you think is suspicious? Maybe he was a pawn of a faction? just military or noble." Walker asks with worry. This worry is unnecessary because the first time, Finty knows that Saze is not a person of any factions because of the language. Finty also knows that Saze''s secret might be true because of the "Earth" legend and his language is real, she has learned some English from Saze. "Don''t worry, he''s not." Finty replies shortly. At this time, Lloyd finishes sorting the things and comes out of the room. "Hey! Walker! Did you see the boy in the forest when you fetch up Finty?" Walker asks happily. "Huh? Boy...? Oh yeah, that boy was... special, I mean in his face, at least I didn''t see that kind of feature around these four empires, quite handsome and also gave me the feeling that he did not belong to this world, you know the transmigration novel? That boy was like transmigrated to this world from another world." Lloyd says a lot in one breath. "Whoa! I the first time heard you say so many words at once! Finty! Can you bring him here? I wanna see him!" Walker shouts happily. "I guess you will see him soon, after I get his ID card." Finty replies. "Hooray!!!" Walker cheers happily. The happy atmosphere washes away the worry about the three factions and the letter. After that Finty enters her room, there are more things and stuff than in the room where she lives in the forest. More design, decoration, and engraving on the wall. Finty sits on the wooden chair and gazes at the night sky through the window. "At this time... Saze might be sitting on the roof and watching to eye rune of night, or he just lie in the nest of spiders... Hmm.. I should give him a room after I go back." Finty murmurs, full of concern for Saze. "Saze...?" Lloyd suddenly sounds scared Finty a bit. "You know that you''re not an assassin of the military now, right? it''s okay to expose your footstep..." Finty turns her head and side glances at him. "...How do you not notice me that I''m near you? Because of that boy? Hmm, so you actually stay with him for four years. I thought that he was the human pet that you bought from the slave market." Lloyd says lightly. "I don''t have a hobby of treating humans like dog pets, I''m not those inhumane noble." Finty holds her anger in her mind. "Well then... sometimes I wonder, who the hell is the pervert that makes the human pet which treats slave like a dog..." Lloyd asks. "You should asked your kind, Mr. Human~" Finty smiles and says in sarcasm. "....." Lloyd was speechless. "Seems Saze is really important to you... You got scared by me because you were thinking of him and you used a sarcastic tone to talk to me." Lloyd ssays after a moment with an unknown-meaning glance. Seeing Lloyd''s glance, Finty rose up and started twisting muscle as if preparing to fight. Lloyd gulps and chooses the best choice in this situation. "Alright, I''ll check if those servants dispose of the body well..." Lloyd was going to leave. "It''s ok, Walker will check it..." Finty says in a low voice. Finty smiled warmly, but in Lloyd''s eyes, he saw the reaper waving its hand as if welcoming him to hell. If Saze was here he would know what Lloyd was going to face because when Saze talks badmouthing about Finty, she also does that to him. Bong! "Ahh!!!" A loud scream from Lloyd sounded. "Tsk tsk tsk, seems Saze was really important to her." Walker heard to scream from Lloyd upstairs. He doesn''t go to help him but takes a sip of red tea calmly and sit on the wide white sofa. Chapter 14: Hunt and being hunt On a bright day in a vast forest, many figures quickly shuttle between the trees, some are slow and some are fast, and below them, there is an animal running away from them, this seems to be a hunt The animal was like an ox that has rhino characteristics, a strong sharp horn stood on the tip of the nose, and its short fur was whole gray, with well-developed limbs, a strong tail, and a round head. It looks like a combination of a group of animals. Suddenly, a young boy stretches out a hand and gathers jade green mana upon his palm, jade green mana starts whirling and forming a finger-sized needle-like projectile, it cycling with raging wind and swift to his middle finger, ready to shoot. "Alright, cyclone needle... aim... and... fire!" The young boy shouts. The boy snaps his middle finger and launches the cyclone needle. The cyclone needle is shot out at high speed, and the strong wind roars past, flying close to the ground and even lifting the turf. The cyclone needle gets closer and closer to the prey, then impales from the belly to the heart and penetrates the head. The prey is splattering with blood, its eyes turn white and fall to the ground motionless. As for the cyclone needle, it loses its mana replenishment and immediately dissipates. "Aha! I got him!" The boy cheers. "Good job, Saze! You have slain 7 of kaulk now, impressive!" Moty gives a compliment, giving him a thumbs up and a wink. Seeing the bloody kaulk lying on the ground lifeless, Saze feels a bit of nausea. This animal wasn''t weak, it was strong and muscular and it''s actually hard to kill kaulk due to the thick and hard skin that protects its body well. Moty also knew that Saze couldn''t defeat kaulk by himself, so he brought other spiders to help. What''s more, kaulk is a social animal. The reason why this kaulk was alone was that Moty used her third-stage aura to scare them so there would be single ones. "But let me take a rest first, I need to recover my mana." Saze says lightly. With that, he sits instantly and sweeps off the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. He also raises his head and looks at the sky, the eye rune of the day is located at the center of the sky, it is noon right now. "Gruu gruu!" Three medium spiders jump off from the tree and land beside Saze. "Yeah, fair enough, you should take a rest. After all, you just did training with me and slain 7 kaulks this morning." Moty says lightly. "Moty, are we just heading to the east? Why don''t we go in another direction? Maybe north will be better or something new." Saze asks. "Nope, we are not heading north, there is more dangerous because its more deeper, the more deeper the more dangerous." Moty shakes her head. "Ah, okay... but I want to know that, what is the center of the forest? You said the deeper the more dangerous, will there be a lord of the forest?" Saze asks with excitement, two eyes gleaming with curiosity light. "Ugh... there is no lord of this forest but the center of this vast forest is a huge hole, a very very big and also very very deep hole. The size of that hole may be... hundredfolds of the ruined palace." Moty thinks deeply and says. Saze takes a hard gulp and doesn''t expect that huge also a question comes to mind with confusion but after thinking about it, he chooses not to ask. With a comfortable breeze blowing and the warm temperature, Saze closes his eyes comfortably and enjoy it. The flowers and plants sway in the wind, and the three spiders next to him also lie on him to rest. Suddenly, Saze feels a slight pain on his forehead, when he opens his eyes, he sees that it is Moty flicking his forehead. He gently rubs his forehead. "Ugh... why?" He asks. "What do you mean why? Here is a forest, there are many crises hiding everywhere and you are still enjoying with your eyes closed, maybe the next time you open your eyes you will find yourself in heaven." Moty is amused by Saze''s question. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Saze was enlightened by this, he touched his nose and tried to hide his embarrassment. What Moty said was right. He couldn''t refute it, so he simply admitted his mistake and apologized. "I''m sorry! I won''t do it again." Saze apologizes with a smile. "Alright, are you done resting now? I think we can go for another round." Moty chuckle. "Ah, yes, I''m done! Let''s go!" Saze says happily. The prerequisite for restoring mana is that you cannot fight. Mana cannot be restored during fighting, so you must cherish your mana and not waste it in fighting. A few seconds later, five figures were shuttles through the woods, heading east and looking for the next prey. As they moved eastward, Saze killed more prey, including kaulks, as well as other dangerous animals like a four-eyed python and a giant fire-breathing lizard. In this way, they hunted until nearly evening and then decided to go back. The three spiders dragged all the prey aside to sort it out, while Saze and Moty walked quite far away with some of the prey to choose a good place to roast them. Although the three spiders are not big, they are able to carry a lot of prey, and there are some remaining prey that they can''t carry away, so Moty starts roasting them with flame arcane. "Let''s eat, an afternoon tea without tea." Moty focuses on controlling the fire. "Heh ok, I bring those three spiders come here to eat with us." Saze says lightly and heads in the direction of those spiders. Saze trots all the way to where three spiders are handling their prey, but there is no trace of the three spiders on the prey that was wrapped in spider silk. Suddenly, an orb of orange mana forms a fiery fireball in the bush behind Saze and shoots it directly at him. The moment it was launched, the flames instantly burned the bush to ashes and the fireball quickly enlarged as it flew. When Saze turns around, he sees a fireball as big as his body flying towards him. Saze''s eyes widen and acts instantly and casts arcane to avoid. "Wind step!" Saze shouts in mind. Suddenly a gust of wind gathers at his feet and helps him up. With a thought and a little mana, the wind at his feet takes him back to the side to avoid the huge fireball. "Who the hell was there!" Saze shouts angrily. Boom! There was only a huge explosion in response to Saze. The shock wave at that moment almost knocks him down. When he looks back, he sees that the huge fireball seems to hit a tree and then explodes. The scope of the explosion was not small, and the wrapped prey had melted. "This is definitely the second stage!" Saze gulp and says in mind. Although the flames behind his back were searing, there was cold sweat on Saze''s back. "Gruu!" With that, a spider figure comes out from the top and then blasts out a poisonous black needle. It is one of the three spiders, the spider shoots a poisonous needle from the mouth to a bush and lands before Saze. When the poisonous needle was inserted, the bush shook a bit and then let out a scream. "Ahh!" It was a voice from a girl. "This brute! How dare you hurt me?! I will rip you to shreds, you ugly monster!" The girl shouts and charges towards the spider. At this moment, Saze also sees the girl''s appearance. She is surely a teenager that older than Saze a little bit, her face has exquisite features, fair skin, and brown long hair but her face twitches from the anger and pain in her arm which makes her seem an ugly girl. She wore a crimson attire with a great line design and a badge on her chest. The poisonous black needle has pierced her skin and is bleeding but her head was carried away by anger. Just when the spider is ready to attack again, Saze attacks the girl first. The jade green mana forms a cyclone needle on his fingertips and shoots it directly to the girl. "Cyclone needle!" Saze casts an attack. The girl is in disdain when she sees the green cyclone needle pointing toward her head. She stops and raises her arms and opens her palms as if casting a spell but nothing happens. She panics and tries to dodge the cyclone needle but it is too late. The girl closes her eyes subconsciously and just when the needle is going to hit her head an arrow suddenly hits the cyclone needle, the cyclone gets interrupted and dissipates instantly. "What...?!" Saze subconsciously look in the direction where the arrow comes from. But at this time a rapid sounds grass rustling sounds behind Saze, as if somebody is behind him. Saze''s mind rings with an alarm bell, and a strong sense of crisis fills his mind. His thoughts flash quickly, and then he cast the wind step to quickly move to the left. His intuition seems to tell him that the left side is safe. "Gru! Gru!!" The spider shouts to Saze. Before Saze figures out what the spider means, a cold metal blade touches his neck. Saze quickly realizes that it is a sharp knife and there is a person behind him. "Heya~ Little clumsy boy, where are you running at? You enjoy the hunt, right? How about being hunt?" A very seductive female voice sounds behind Saze. "Hahaha! Sophia, you got him! Nice one!" A laugh bursts out from the direction where the arrow comes from. A black hair male teenager comes out behind the tree with a mocking smile at Saze. He has a black wooden bow and arrow in his hand. The bow looks extraordinary and some parts are made of blue crystal. He wore a brown robe and white culottes. Saze didn''t look at the black hair boy but asked the girl behind him while placing a sharp knife on his neck. "Is that... Illusion arcane? You use illusion arcane to fake the sounds?" Saze asks. "Hm? Sadly it''s but that''s not arcane, I''m just using my arcane to fake the sounds." The girl chuckles. Just when Saze was about to ask more, the brown-haired girl spoke first, but her voice didn''t sound right. "H-Hey...! I feel dizzy..." The brown hair girl faints after speaking. Chapter 15: Seth nobility "Jessica!" The young boy shouts with worry and quickly runs to the brown-haired girl. "Poisonous needle? How to detoxify it?" Sophia behind Saze asks him calmly. She could see the problem at a glance. Although the black poisonous needle was small, it should be poisonous. Although there are many healing arcane spells in this world, they also require natural talent and adaptability to learn. "Hmph! Even if you kill me, I won''t tell you!" Saze replies angrily, his expression expressing that he would rather die than surrender. But there is a truth in this world and even on earth that as long as you are weak, you are cute even when you are angry. With the sneer of the girl behind him, a knee hit the back of Saze''s knee, causing him to kneel down instinctively, yanking his hair and pulling his head back. "Aw~ cute boy, now tell me everything, who is with you?" Sophia teases Saze. Saze is forced to look at her and then see her elegant face. He is shocked that the girl in front of him has a face similar to Finty''s. Although she doesn''t have the cool, mature temperament like Finty because of her youth. Her raven-black hair and wonderful appearance stun Saze for a long time. As for her outfit, she is the same as that brown-haired girl, who seems the same kind of person. "Hm? Hey, are you shocked by my beauty? Answer my question." Sophia gives a charming smile and pokes Saze''s forehead slightly. As she pokes Saze''s forehead his eyes change instantly, showing love and obedience in the eyes. His resistance disappears and the girl simply lets go of him, letting him kneel and face her. "There are a total of three second-stage spiders and a third-stage aberrant with me. As for how to detoxify the spider''s poison, it''s actually harmless, it will only let the people faint for a while." Saze says obediently. "Gruu!" the spider who had been hiding in the dark when the brown-haired girl was unconscious, screams in panic when he hears that Saze has exposed their own power so quickly. Sophia sneers and immediately throws the knife in the direction of the sound, it is the bush that is beside the tree. When the knife flows in, a black spider immediately jumps out, dodging the flying knife and attacking her with a thunder arcane spell. As the lightning balls lit up next to the spider, they immediately hit the girl. However, the girl would not fight the spider obediently. She was as agile as a cat and dodged the spider''s attack. Then she tries to get closer, but she immediately feels a sharp pain in her ankle. "Ahh!" Sophia immediately cries out in pain. When she pulls back her foot, a thunderball suddenly flashes in front of her. Because of the extremely fast speed, the girl could only watch the thunderball hit herself. Boom! The thunderball was neither big nor small, but it exerted great power. The huge boom even muffles Sophia''s screams. But just after the thunderball exploded, the thunder and lightning did not vanish. Instead, they form into little birds and let out a sharp scream before they all fly towards Sophia. "Sophia! Run!" The boy shouts raising the bow and aiming at the spider. "Saze!" Sophia shouts to Saze. At this moment, Saze rushes in front of her and protects her behind him. When the spider sees Saze, it stops attacking and lets the group of thunderbirds vanish into the air. "Gru! Gruu-" The spider roars angrily but is cut off by the sound of an arrow flying. If Moty was here then she would know what this spider talk. "Saze, you motherfu-" This spider probably or definitely said this. Swish, swish, swish Three arrows fly at the spider, these arrows are not normal arrows it is like shadows like snakes crawling in the air and rushing toward the spider. After the spider dodges, he finds that the three black arrows will follow them and speed up, so he has no choice but to use thunder arcane again to destroy the black arrows. "Wait! Barry! Don''t try to get close to that spider! That was a dark web spider, I have already been damaged by the dark web!" Sophia shouts as the boy or Barry tries to get close to the spider. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Sophia''s ankle was almost cut off, and the white bones could even be seen through the wound. Looking at Sophia, who was bleeding and in pain. Barry feels a chill all over his body. Then he looks at the spider and sees that he is also staring at him, but his body is slowly descending, melting into the shadow. Barry glances around quickly but does not dare to move forward, the black web spider''s silk is sharp and black. Although there is a lot of light shining in the forest, there are only flowers and grass outside the forest. There are many plants outside. Blocking it adds a lot of shadows. "Dang it! Jessica fainted and Sophia is hurt and not able to move, so... the spider might attack Jessica!" Barry analyzes for a moment and then immediately turns around and runs towards the fainted Jessica. As expected, the spider came out from the shadow beside Jessica and was about to bite her. However, Barry is already there, he quickly gets his bow, and the blue crystal shines and forms a blue sharp blade on the tips of the bow. Barry uses the bow''s sharp blade and swings to the spider. But when the blue sharp blade rips off the spider''s body, the spider immediately turns into a mist of shadow and vanishes into the air. After realizing that he had been tricked, Barry immediately became alert. At this moment, the spider could pounce from anywhere. "Wait no... Sophia! Be careful!" Barry yells to her. And this time, the true body of the spider has finally come out from the shadow beside Saze. The spider jumps in the air at this time Sophia panics as if the spider will attack her but the spider doesn''t attack, instead, it bites the neck of Saze. "Gruu!" The spider screams and bites Saze''s neck. The pain in the neck immediately makes his head wide awake. Saze let out a scream as the spider bit his neck. "Ahh! Hey! That''s hurt!." Saze shouts. "Gruu!" The spider shouts and kicked his head. "Agh!" Saze groans. Although the spider is medium-sized in the spider group, its size is half of Saze so the kick also has enough power to make Saze feel pain. However, it is understandable that the spider kicked him. After all, this pig-like teammate was controlled by the beautiful enemy, anyone would be angry. At this moment, a black arrow shot towards Saze''s head, which made him dangerous. Before the spider could make any other move, he had already shot a cyclone needle at the black arrow. However, the cyclone needle is destroyed by the black arrow. Saze has no choice but to use a wind step to avoid it, but a thunderball flies beside Saze to the black arrow and destroys it, it is the thunderball from the spider. Now he sees Sophia sitting next to him with a deep wound on her ankle. "Hmpf! Shoot one more time if you dare." Saze grabs Sophia''s waist and lets her block Saze''s body and also Saze''s fingerstip forms a cyclone needle that is ready to kill Sophia instantly. "If the spider wasn''t here... I will teach you the difference between the first stage and the second stage!" Barry shouts but doesn''t dare to shoot another black arrow. "Hey... It''s hurt, can you be gentle to a girl?" Sophia says. "No! And now you going to answer my questions! Where do you guys come from?" Saze pinches Sophia''s waist making her shout in pain. "Ah! Hey! Stop that! We are from Seth nobility!" Sophia cries out in pain and replies to him. "Seth nobility? Hey, spider, do you know what that?" Saze asks the spider beside him. The spider doesn''t answer Saze but turns its head and stares at Saze as if looking at and dumb guy. "...Oh yeah, you can''t talk." Saze smiles with embarrassment. Suddenly, the spider seems to notice something and looks up, a shadow reflects in its eyes and soon amplifies. A figure lands on the spider from the sky. "Gruu..." The spider groan. "What the hell?" Saze closes his eyes because of the soil flying in all directions and also lets go of Sophia. "AHAHAHAHA!" A burst of loud and rough laughter resounds throughout the place. When Saze opens his eyes again he sees a muscular man who is exposing his upper body and also the spider below his feet. The spider seems seriously injured, its mouth spitting with green blood and its body collapses. Also, several figures land from the sky, all wearing the same attire with Sophia and Jessica and another two spiders drop from the sky and fall heavily to the land. This makes Saze''s heart start racing with anger. "Oh my... Sophia! Your ankle!" A white hair girl runs to her. "Cyclone..." Saze holds out a finger to form a cyclone needle, even if it does nothing. "Hey, boy... want to have a taste of being fall heavily?" The muscular man flashed in front of Saze with a cruel smile. Seeing the muscular man flash in front of him with a cruel smile and a lethal gleam in his eyes made a shiver run down Saze''s spine. Before he could do anything, the muscular man already grabbed his waist and rose then slammed it on the ground. "Ahh!" Saze vomiting blood from his mouth. "AHAHAHAHA, you''re so weak!" The man stomp on Saze back of the head. "Fuck you..." Saze whispers. "Hey man where is that young boy? Oh, it''s under your foot." A girl''s voice sounds when Saze looks in that direction he finds that it is Jessica, and he woke up. "Move your foot, let Sophia sit on him, I''m going to heal her ankle." The white girl''s voice sounded and came while supporting Sophia to walk. "Alright fine!" The man moved his foot. The white hair girl quickly let Sophia sit on the back of Saze and Sophia couldn''t help but laugh when she saw Saze''s painful look. "Aw, little boy, you should surrender now. Actually, we have followed you guys already for a long time." Sophia talks with Saze while white hair girl is healing her ankle. "We know that girl is three-stage so our three teachers will handle her and for you and those spiders, it''s our prey." She adds. "Didn''t I say already...? She was... aberrant." Saze remembers what happened while he was being controlled by her. "Aberrant?!" Everybody shouts. "Oh no, I forgot-" Sophia gasps and panics and she doesn''t finish her sentence and is cut off by another sound that makes their heart colden. "Alright alright, so which of you guys want to die first?" Moty''s voice sounds around this place with three bloody heads falling down from the sky. They can recognize the owner of the head, it was their teachers. Three of them have the same face that have fear, panic, and desperation. Chapter 16: Destroyed the team of Seth nobility As the eye rune of day slowly sank into the earth, the eye rune of night slowly rose on the other side of the earth. The darkness begins to engulf the forest and the vision of the people in the forest begins to dim, but even so, they can still see the heads on the ground and the terrified faces of everyone. "So which of you guys want to die first?" Moty repeats coldly, voice dripping with venom. "Cough¡­ cough¡­ hey, Moty¡­ if they don''t choose then can I choose who going to die first?" Saze coughs and spits the scarlet blood. Saze pushes Sophia a little bit, letting her slide off his body and sit on the ground then rises up with difficulty. "Just sit down first and who hurt you?" Moty sees Saze''s injury, she walks out from the shadow and sits on the tree. "That man with no clothes! That bastard¡­" Saze says with a hoarse tone and was suddenly cut off by a painful scream. "AHH!" The muscular man cries out in pain because a fire suddenly ignites and covers his whole body. The fire lights up around with scorching heat. No longer, he is instantly burned into ashes and also restores the coldness in everyone''s body. "N-not even giving him a chance to talk¡­?" Saze whispers and is shocks, obviously didn''t expect Moty to kill him that quickly. "Alright, next one. This time¡­ let me choose." Moty says coldly with a cruel smile. She sits on the thick branches and chin with both hands as if a cheerful girl but her gaze into the soul makes Seth nobility member feel colder and more desperate. "D-dear madam, I-I am a healer¡­ I can... I can¡­ cure your friend and those spiders¡­ please¡­ just spare my life¡­" The white hair girl stammers. With that, Moty swift her gaze on the white hair girl, the white-haired girl greets the gaze of death with trepidation. The girl with white hair holds her hand tighter and tighter, and she doesn''t even feel her nails digging into her flesh until Moty chuckles. "Alright, go." Moty responds lightly. "T-thanks madam...!" The white hair girl immediately fell to her knees, as if she had escaped from the hands of death. Saze watches her crawl towards him and then uses the healing arcane and he breathes a sigh of relief. After all, Moty''s return mean that the battle was won. Her healing arcane was slower than Finty''s but thankfully there was no pleasure, otherwise, maybe he would moan again. "Well then, how about... you''re next?" Moty gazes at Sophia. Being gazed at by Moty, Sophia''s face immediately paled in fear, her will frantically expressed the idea of ????escape, but her body did not move at all, as if she was fixed. Her mind collapsed instantly, tears flowed down her cheeks, her hands continued to tremble, and the biting cold wind blew on her body. Suddenly there was a warmth from behind and a pair of hands hugged Sophia. When she turned her head then she saw that it was Saze hugging her, it seemed that the injury had been cured by the white hair girl. She looked to the side and saw that the white hair girl was curing those spiders. "Y-you..." Sophia was about to talk but Saze cut off her voice. "Hey, Moty... you can kill other people but not her... please..." Saze begs Moty to spare Sophia. "Hmmmm? Oh, that''s pretty interesting...! Did you just fall in love with her?" Moty takes one step forward in the air and flashes in front of Saze and Sophia with interesting gleaming in her eyes. "Ugh..! No! Probably no! I-I won''t fall in love with her!" Saze blushes and hugs Sophia instinctively tighter. "Aw... then why are you blushing~?" Moty smiles. "Ugh... it''s hot here...!" "Well, then I''ll make it more hot." Suddenly, the trees around them erupt in a fierce blaze, creating a ring that illuminates everyone''s view, and also a young boy is forced to go out from the shadow. It was the black hair young boy, Barry. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Ahh..! Dang it! W-wait please no!" Barry comes out from the shadow and sees Moty come to him. Fear spread to his heart and he lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground. As Moty gets closer and closer to him, he involuntarily steps back but is blocked by the hot flames behind him. "I''ll do everything!" Barry cries and it becomes his last words. Moty snaps her fingers and a flame bursts from his body and incinerates him into ash instantly, another noble member has died. "Moty... do you really have to kill them all?" Saze asked with worry while holding Sophia in his arms. "Yes, you know that they are noble member, you see their badge? It''s just like a tracker, their noble family can find them by this." Moty responded lightly and snapped her finger again, another noble member burned into ashes. "T-then... just destroy it?" Saze asks again, obviously not liking this killing. "No... If you just only destroy them and keep them alive, the noble family has another tracker to find them so killing them all and destroying all evidence is the best choice." Moty says with another snap of the finger again, this time, every noble member died." But except Sophia and the white hair girl. Right now, Three spiders bringing Saze, Moty, Sophia, and the white hair girl and heading to the white palace. On the way to the white palace, they chat a little bit and learn about the white hair girl. Her name was Orphea Seth and she was quite popular in the noble family relying on her excellent rescue ability and sweet appearance, her main arcane is saint''s mercy which is a divine type of arcane, she was now second-stage low level. As for Sophia Seth, she was second-stage middle level. She is also popular in the family because of her charming face, her main arcane is the same as Saze, the wind element. There are countless arcane in this world and also each of them can be the nemesis of another arcane. Just Barry used dark arcane but the spider was using thunder arcane. Although thunder is not a nemesis of the dark the spider used the characteristic of thunder which is light to beat the dark. There is even a legend that there was a kind of arcane that was the "Nemesis" in ancient times. The ancient age is the "Earth" that Moty said. This arcane spell can restrain any arcane spell, making it almost invincible. Such a powerful arcane spell is what all arcanists dream of, even Saze right now. "Alright, we''re here now." Moty said lightly. A huge, white ruined palace exudes a majestic atmosphere at night with the flickering of glowing stones. Many ruined towers remain standing also many plants grew inside and covered the entire palace. As they walk on the spacious road, many spiders appear. For a time, the entire palace was full of spiders, which scares the two girls. "Mon!" Saze shouts happily and runs to the giant spider, Mon. "Gru!" Mon also runs to him and uses two front feet to hug and raise Saze. The two girls watch Saze being carried high by the giant spider and then thrown up to catch it. It looked like a father playing with his child. In fact, no father and his child would play like this. It would be okay if the child was carried high but it would be "fun" if the father threw it and failed to catch it. When these groups of spiders see the new guests, they are very happy and run over, think that they are the same people as Saze. Until the three returning spiders yell a few times as if to tell them that they are enemies. The spiders immediately stop and run to them and even two giant spiders expose the third-stage power with a lethal aura. Just when they are out of breath due to the third stage aura, Saze runs over and stands in front of them and explains to them clearly. The two girls are shocks that these spiders could actually understand human language. "Hey you two, follow me." Moty says to two girls. The two girls follow Moty obediently, and Saze also follows behind them. They go deeper into the palace. After walking for a while, Moty took them to a corner where there was a row of rooms, all of which were empty. Moty opens the door and lets two girls move in. The room inside was very simple with a bed, a table, and a chair. "Wait?! There were many empty rooms that could actually? W-why didn''t you guys give me one..." Saze stares at Moty with a look of grievance. But Moty turns her head to face Saze with a confused look. "You didn''t ask." "....." ..... After an hour, after settling the affairs of the two girls, Saze returns to his old self, sitting on the roof and watching the eye rune of night. "Is it really that beautiful? The eye rune of night." Moty asks behind Saze. "No, I''m sick of it but I still want to see it." Saze replies lightly. "Hmpf, weirdo. Let''s talk about... that girl! Sophia! You loved her right?" Moty sits down and leans closer to Saze, asking him with an excited tone. "N-no, I just feel she looks like Finty..." Saze blushes. "Oh~ so you actually like~ Finty~?" Moty leans even closer and whispers in his ears. Saze''s face immediately heats up and turns red quickly. His ears are red like blood dripping and there seems a little bit of steam going out. "Hmm~? Are you shy?" Moty chuckle. "I! I didn''t!" Saze shouts, even though the cold breeze blows slightly on him but he still feels hot. "W-will you kill them? You said, the noble family could find them with the tracker. It will bring a disaster for you all, right?" Saze asks a question that he worries about. "Yeah... but maybe not that soon, we can just wait until Finty comes back, I hope she was here, then I don''t need to think so many problems..." Moty says lightly and suddenly rises up and smiles at Saze. "But at least I won''t kill them right now." Moty added. "Alright, have a good time with your love~" Moty said happily and jumped off the roof. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Saze shouted to Moty. After that, a slow footstep sounds behind Saze, when he turns his head he finds out it is a black long hair girl with her Seth nobility''s attire, it was Sophia. Under the light of the eye rune of night, she looks extremely beautiful. Chapter 17: Preparation for second stage "Ugh... how long did you hide here?" Saze asks softly. "Do you believe me If I say that I just got pulled up here a while ago?" Sophia says with a hand full of black spider silks. "....." Saze was speechless, he didn''t even need time to think, he was definitely sure it was Moty pulling her up here and letting her chat with him. Sophia doesn''t say anything but steps closer to Saze and sits down beside him. Her long raven black hair sways in the air by a gust and Saze is sitting next to her and looking at her blankly. "Your hair smells so good." Saze says with a deep blush on his face he sits with two arms holding his knees. "Thanks..." Sophia stuns for a moment and whispers. "What does Finty look like? You and that girl said I look like Finty." Sophia adds. "Your face shape and facial features are very similar to hers. If you grow up, I might not be able to tell you two apart." Saze says slowly. "Whao, I really want to see her right now." "But I don''t think you guys should meet." "Hm, Why?" "She might kill you." Saze closes his eyes and the memory flashes back. Saze lived with them for four years so he could know the personalities of Finty and Moty and most of the spiders inside and out. Moty is a girl with a personality as lively as those little spiders and bigger spiders, they are much more mature. As for Finty, she is a cold queen who barely smiles. But this problem was solved when Saze came. He seems to have a special charm that makes people happy. Even Moty will joke with him often. "Fortunately, you showed up, otherwise it would be harder to make Finty laugh than to kill her." In the past four years, Saze also asked Finty a question. It was a bright morning and Saze and Finty asked a question when they were watering the garden. "Finty, what if there''s a person who looks the same as you? And also having the same of your mind, talent, and thought." Saze asked after watering the flowers. "I might kill that person." Finty responded lightly. "May I know why?" Saze looked at her with confusion, expecting a reply. Finty rose and looked at the sky, she didn''t answer Saze instantly but she took a long time to though and eventually replied Saze. "If everyone is truly unique, then each person possesses their own irreplaceable value. But if uniqueness is stripped away, then we are just mere tools that are interchangeable, we can be replaced at any time. In this case, our value will be minimized, we will struggle to prove ourselves and we will need to try harder and pay more heavier price just to get noticed." "Let me give you an example: this flower is very beautiful, deniable, right? Its beauty draws your gaze, you want to take good care of it. However, there are countless flowers of this type in the huge garden, so you may not cherish this one flower because if you lose one, there''s another flower for you to take its place instantly. After all, it''s inexhaustible." "Instead of being the one flower in the same types of flower fields, we trying to stand tall, stand in a different place to not let our value be lost among the countless others, trying to not let ourselves fade into obscurity and wither in oblivion." At this time, Finty turned around and looked at Saze. She found out that Saze''s standing there blankly, his two eyes dulled, seems his brain couldn''t able to decipher the meaning of Finty''s words Finty chuckled and walked over and gently touched Saze''s head, preparing to take him away. But when she touched his head, his mind came back instantly. "Are you afraid of being replaced? It''s okay, nobody can truly copy us, even if there is, there will still be a person, a pet, or a place or group of people, pets, and places that need you and love you, just like us! Me, Moty, and those spiders! We all love you and need you!" "You see the flower that you used for your example? The flower is also getting noticed by us and not only that flower, but all the flower garden. After all, we always come here to give them water!" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Saze smiled with those warmful words stunned and shocked Finty, her eyes widened a little bit as if didn''t expect Saze will be said such an optimistic reply. "Haha, well then, I will stay with you guys." Finty chuckled. Her sentences still remain in Saze''s mind also Saze''s sentences remain in Finty''s mind. To this day, Saze sometimes still thinks about what Finty said. Saze opens his eyes and exits the flashback, returning to reality, Sophia is still sitting next to him but is obviously a little sleepy because she is stroking her eyes and of course, the same is true for Saze. "Then we''d better not meet." Sophia says. "Maybe that''s a good choice and... Ahh~ I''m going back to sleep, goodnight." Saze says lazily and stands slowly. "Alright, goodnight." Sophia replies lightly. When Saze turns around and leaves, she is the only one left on the roof of the palace. She looks down at the glittering palace in the night and then swift her gaze at the dilapidated towers. Sophia could still see those giant spiders staring at her with a hint of warning. After Sophia turns around and leaves, the glances from the tower fade away. As she walks back to her room and lies down on the bed, she closes her eyes, ready to face tomorrow. "Ah... please guys don''t come here too early... I don''t want to kill him yet..." She whispers in the air. Drowsiness expands in her mind, Sophia falls asleep quietly, and so does the Orphea in the other room, so does Moty, so does Saze, and most of the spiders. ..... Several days of hunting follow, during which everything is peaceful and no problems occur. There seems to be no movement from the noble family, which makes Sophia and Orphea feel abnormal. After the hunt, they return to the palace and discuss their noble family in the room. "It''s been so long and I haven''t seen any trace of our family. Don''t they have our mana and life tracking arcane? Or we are abandoned by them?!" Orphea says anxiously with worry. "Don''t overthink, they might just get into some bigger trouble so no time to find us." Sophia comforting Orphea gently. "R-really?" Orphea''s eyes fill with tears as if she is about to cry. "Y-yes, really..." Sophia keeps comforting, but in fact, she also feels unsure whether they are about being abandoned or not. Outside the room, Saze leans on the wall beside the door. He was listening secretly to what those two girls talking about. "Eavesdropping is not good." Moty appears beside Saze suddenly. "Ahh! What the hell! When do you get beside me?!" Saze gets scared by Moty and shouts. "While ago." Moty smiles. "Please next time don''t just walk so quietly..." Saze''s heart races in his chest. "Aw, fine. Tomorrow I will bring more spiders and also Mon will join us, they are right, Seth Noble is quite abnormal, after so many days they still haven''t even started the recruit." Moty says lightly and walks away. "Mon will join us? Hooray! But do you think Seth Noble really got into trouble or not?" Saze follows her step and asks. "Who knows? Maybe they are planning to get us in once, that''s the worst possibility so we have to prepare everything." Moty sighs lightly. "Well then, can I chat with Sophia? I want to know about the human world outside this forest." Saze asks. "Yeah, you may and I have to go now, I need to prepare something for tomorrow." Moty says with a nod. After Moty walked away, the sound of the door opening sounded behind Saze. He turned around and saw Sophia stood before him. "Well, seems someone eavesdropped other people''s conversation." Sophia says. "How do you know?" Saze asks. "Oh, do you think we can''t hear your scream?" Sophia rolls her eyes back and says with hands on her hips. "Eh hehe¡­ sorry, my bad." Saze scratches his head and says awkwardly. "What''s stage you on now? And how many months you stepped into this field?" Sophia asks. "First stage high level and I started one year and three months ago." Saze replies instantly. "Hmm¡­ one year and three months to reach the first stage high level, it''s considered as fast already, most people need at least one year to reach the next level in the first stage." Sophia says "Haha, then I''m a genius in the arcane field! By the way, how many years have you spent to reach the second stage?" Saze says proudly and asks. "One year only." Sophia replies to him with a sweet smile. "¡­.." Saze feels the words of Sophia like a pot of cold water to extinguish his happiness. "I have seen many geniuses in the arcane field, but also, everybody called me a genius." Sophia adds happily, her words like a knife, and stab into Saze''s heart. "O-okay¡­" Saze says powerlessly. "Well, let''s just talk in my room, come." Sophia walks and opens the door, inviting him to come in. "Ugh¡­ It''s okay, let''s just talk at another¡­ ah!" Saze was going to say more but was cut off by Sophia. Seeing Saze''s resists, Sophia immediately grabs his collar, pulling him inside the room, and after that, she sits on the bed. "What are you worried about? I won''t eat you." Sophia says. "B-but¡­ I¡­" Saze says shyly. "Just get the chair and sit down." "Ah¡­ ugh¡­ okay." This is the first time Saze enters a room of a girl. Here, he is as well-behaved as a puppy, very obedient, and acts cutely which lets Sophia can''t help but chuckle. "So what is the next arcane you want to learn?" Sophia asks after Saze sits down on the chair in front of her bed. "Next arcane? Why do I need to learn second arcane?" Saze asks. "You need two arcanes to break the limit barrier, they didn''t teach you before?" Sophia asks confusingly. "They just said that each stage has a huge gap, as for what need to prepare for stepping into the second stage¡­ they said they will teach me if I''m almost there." Saze explains. "Welp, whatever, you can choose what you want to learn now, you''re close enough." Sophia says. "What arcane I can learn?" Saze tilts his head and asks. "Hmm, I don''t know, I have some arcane but doesn''t fit on you. Do you have the arcane that you want to learn?" Sophia asks. Saze thinking about it carefully. Although it was easy for him to get the second elemental arcane now, however, he doesn''t want other elements that much. After thinking again and again, he asks carefully. "Is it possible for me to get¡­ blood arcane?" Chapter 18: Blood arcane potion formula "Blood arcane¡­?" Sophia says with a frown. "Yes, blood arcane, is it possible for me to obtain it?" Saze says. "I''m not sure. It depends on your adaptability to this arcane." Sophia explains. "And to obtain blood arcane you need to drink a potion, which requires a drop of blood. The stronger the owner of the blood is, the stronger your arcane will become. Of course, you might die because you can''t adapt." Sophia adds quickly. "Ugh¡­ Can I use my blood?" Saze doesn''t want to give up. "Yes, you may, that is also the most likely to adapt because it''s your blood." Sophia says. "Well then, what materials do I need to prepare for making potion? And how to make a potion?" Saze Asks two questions in a row. "You can ask a trustworthy doctor or potioneer to make potions if not, otherwise you will die without knowing how because they might tamper with your potion. Of course, learning to make potions is also very simple. If you collect the materials then I will teach you." Sophia says. Then Sophia told Saze the specific ingredients and quantities needed. However, they are generally basic and easy-to-obtain ingredients, and the final, amount is 500 milliliters of blood. With Saze''s tall but thin body, five hundred milliliters of blood should be enough to kill him. There are many limits to donating blood on Earth, at least for Saze, a thirteen-year-old child, it is absolutely impossible for him to donate blood. "I''m sure that I will die if five hundred of my blood was taken away." Saze gulps and whispers. "Then use other blood, don''t we often go hunting? You can collect the blood of the prey, or you can just collect it directly from spiders, the blood of that girl is a good choice, or those giant spiders" Sophia is egging on Saze with an evil smile. "No, I will just collect from the prey." Saze feels something goes wrong when he sees Sophia''s mischievous smile and becomes wary. "Tsk, what a pity, can''t see you die after drinking the potion." Sophia sighs. "After all, the blood of the owner was the third stage and venomous creature while you were just a little first stage weakling, their blood was too toxic and strong for you to absorb." Sophia explains. "Oh, I thought you wanted me to get their blood and then escape from here while they are weak." Saze says his thoughts. "....." Sophia supports her forehead with one hand and stares at Saze as one stares at a stupid. "Oh yeah, there are many second stage spiders here that can kill you both..." Saze realizes that he just made a dumb remark. Saze scratches his head with an embarrassing smile and Sophia lets out a heavy sigh. They stare at each other for a few seconds without saying anything. "I feel like if you leave this forest and go to one of those big cities, you might be kidnapped and sold." Sophia says. "Isn''t it that normal? Finty said if I have no ID card then there are many limits for me and I must have hidden it well to not let others know or else I will be sold in the slave market." Saze says lightly. "Well, that''s right, but where is Finty now?" Sophia asks a question. "She left... two weeks ago, she said she would make an ID card for me, it will take a month." Saze replies. "Well... I think you have to go now, it''s almost night, you should prepare dinner." Sophia says. It was true of what Sophia said, it was night now. When Saze walks out of the room, he sees that the glowing stone has begun to glow, which means that night has fallen. He looks at the night sky and discovers that the eye rune of night has appeared. After realizing this, Saze was about to go to the hall but suddenly a hand holding him from behind. Once he turns his head back he sees the owner of this hand, Moty, standing on the stone tile ceiling, her head facing the floor and her feet standing on the ceiling. "Hi~" Moty smiles. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "???" Saze is dumbfounding for a moment. "Hey, are you okay?" Moty jumps down and looks at him with worried eyes. "Y-yes, but why? Why did you stand on the ceiling?" Saze asks. "I eavesdropped on your conversation with her, I learned it from you, but you actually want to learn blood arcane... could it be that... you want to be a bad guy?" Moty tilts her head slightly and asks. "But it doesn''t matter, I support you. The ingredients are very simple. As for blood, you can use my blood. Just drink the potion next to me and I can help you fight against the power of my blood." Moty grins, exposing her white teeth. "Hehe, thanks but I don''t want to be a bad guy." Saze grins too. "Then that''s even better! Finty will be happy! But be careful about Sophia and Orphea too, they are our captives not friends, don''t trust them too much." Moty says. "Yeah, I understand. Don''t worry about it." Saze nods slightly. Moty''s eyes focus on Saze''s face as if finding any traces of lying. After chatting with a spider she went hunting with it and the spider says that Saze was controlled by a charm spell from Sophia. Seeing Moty''s face getting closer and closer Saze also feels a bit strange and unnatural. He pushes Moty lightly. "I''m fine, I won''t really trust her." Saze sighs. "Okay, let''s not go hunting tomorrow, but make potions. This is very simple, I will teach you." Moty says and then she quickly leaves with Saze. After having dinner together, Moty takes Saze to the study and gives him some books about knowledge for making potions and formulas for different potions. Some of these potions are like drinking the blood arcane potions to gain control over blood, and some are drinking to enhance one''s all-round abilities, but it will damage the body. Moty doesn''t recommend Saze to do these. These potions are colorful, some are bright and some are dull, some are transparent and some are colorful, and some potions will keep changing color. "Wow! This potion is so beautiful! Just like a galaxy!" Saze points at a potion that looks surreal, the paint on the page is a circle jar with dark blue liquid, and inside are many yellow colors like stars. "I don''t know what is a galaxy but I know those yellow things are the pistils of a flower, it''s very, very, and very bitter, I almost vomited when I drank this potion." Moty says lightly but eyes gleaming with hatred when she sees this potion. "How bitter is it..." Saze''s corner of lips twitches a bit. "Very bitter, I''ll make one for you tomorrow if you want to try." Moty says and turns to the next page. They read against a dusty wooden table and the light of the glowing stone, they flip through the heavy book over and over again to find the formula and method of making a blood arcane potion. Eventually, their eyes fall on a triangular container that contains crimson blood with some bubbles flowing on the surface. "Blood arcane potion!" Saze shouts happily. "Hooray! Finally, let''s see what''s the materials." Moty cheers. "Hmm... three petals and one leaf of blood lotus, ten to twenty of tree blood berry, one heart of any animals, and last one are five hundred milliliters of any arcanist''s or beast''s blood." Saze tells the ingredients one by one. "Alright, we have that in the storage room, let''s see how to make it." Moty says and looks at the making process. "After the blood is boiled, add a heart. After the heart is dissolved by the power of the blood, add other remaining ingredients. Then stir until the blood turns from bright red to crimson and it''s done. Drink it while it''s boiling and the people who drink it must be in extreme ischemia." Moty reads. "Drink it while boiling?! While I''m in extreme ischemia?!" Saze''s eyes immediately widen. "Yes, don''t worry, you pay attention to the heat because you will experience greater pain and nausea after drinking it." Moty smiles. "Y-You sure I will now die...?" Saze asks carefully. "So that''s why it required a strong adaptive on the arcane that you want to learn." Moty grins at Saze. "But also blood arcane will give you a huge benefit for your combat ability also recovery and health, so yeah, risk and reward are equal." Moty adds. "I-I actually wa-want to learn... other arcane." Saze stammers. "Don''t worry! I can save you if you fail to obtain the blood arcane." Moty encourages him to not give up. Saze ponders for a moment, imagining the feeling in his mind that makes him tremble. Then he folds his arms, closes his eyes, and begins to make a serious choice. "Moty... what are the chances that you can save me?" Saze asks in a low voice. "I promise, I can definitely save you." Moty pats her chest with a confident smile. "Alright! Then I accept this challenge!" Saze eventually makes up his mind. "That''s it! Be brave, little boy!" Moty grins again, exposing her white teeth. Now what Saze is thinking is that since he has come to this special world and is far away from the boring life on earth, he just studies and studies and studies every day. Now, he finally comes to this world that only exists in fantasy, of course, he makes crazy choices to not let himself live boring, otherwise he might as well go back to earth. Although Saze''s memory has not been fully restored yet, he doesn''t know what happened to Earth, or else he would rather die here than go back to Earth. At least he has a group of friends in this world but nothing is left on the Earth. Then when Saze made up his mind to choose blood arcane as his second arcane, Moty was also very happy, saying that she would give him something to relieve the pain and resist the power of blood. "Alright thanks, but I think I need to sleep now." Saze yawns and wipe out a tear in his eye. He had been looking for the blood arcane for a long time, right now, he already wanted to sleep. "Yeah, It''s late now, you can go back to the nest or just go Finty''s room to sleep if you want, she won''t mind it." Moty says. "I just go to sleep in the nest..." Saze says and walks out of the room. After closing the door of the study, Saze walks towards the hall. When he arrives here, some spiders are sleeping and some are still active. He casually picks up a small spider and holds it in his embrace. Years of getting along with him had allowed him to treat these spiders like cats and dogs. "Gruu?" The spider let out a confused sound. "Just sleep with me." Saze smiles, lies down on the nest, and falls asleep slowly. Chapter 19: Drinking blood arcane potion Knock, knock, knock. A series of knocks on the door sounded. The knocking was very urgent as if the people outside were in a hurry. "The door is unlocked, come in," Finty says lightly. The door opens and a young man enters, it is Lloyd, but his face is wrapped in a bandage. This injury might been caused by Finty a few weeks ago. When he sees Finty sitting on a chair reading a book, he immediately bends down and bows. "Members of Seth nobility come again. Walker and I have dealt with them, leaving some alive for interrogation." He says. "Well then, let me see it." Finty rises and closes the book. With the lead of Lloyd, they walk toward the cell under the mansion. When they reach the entrance to the basement, Lloyd struggles to open the heavy iron door. The cell located underground is very dark with no light coming in. The freezing temperature here is filled with despair and makes people tremble uncontrollably. Lloyd ignites a row of candles on the wall, lighting up the corridors and also illuminating the cells. There were people in every cell, not many of them, and everyone was dressed like a servant and looked like they had been caught before escaping. Without exception, they all had a look of fear on their faces. They do not dare to raise their heads and only dare to watch them pass by them with their peripheral vision. After they pass, they breathe a sigh of relief. After all, this means that Finty and Lloyd were not here to catch them. When they reached the deepest part, the last cell, there were two injured men. One only suffered a slight scratch, and the other was more miserable, his left arm was completely cut off. Beside them, a young boy sits on the ground and leans against the wall, it is Walker, his head is low, they can''t see his face. "Is it them?" Finty asks. "Yes." Lloyd replies shortly. Lloyd opens the door of the cell, it is not locked since Walker is here to guard them. The sound after opening the door wakes Walker up from his dozing sleep, and he sits upright instantly. "Dang it! How did I sleep?!" Walker shouts in mind. "Ah, you guys are finally here! I''ve been waiting here for a long time." Walker smiles and rises. "Yes I know, that''s why you slept a while ago." Finty says lightly and walks towards two men. Two men''s clothes are stripped off already but their pants are left on their bodies. They now are tied up on the wall by chains. "Then... you going to interrogate them alone?" Walker ignores Finty''s taunt and asks. "Yes, I just want to ask some questions, you two can stay here too." Finty says lightly and crouches in front of two men. The two men looked scared and their bodies were shaking constantly. They never said a word. When Finty crouches down in front of them, they subconsciously gulp and shrink their feet a little. "Three questions, first, how you do guys contact our guards before? Second, does Seth nobility know our identities? Third, say all the news that you guys know about Seth nobility." Finty asks. "...I-I won''t say anything! Kill me if you want!" The man who lost his whole left arm shouts loudly. Finty sighed softly and covered his face with one hand. After thinking for a moment, she decides to simply dissolve his head with the venom of the dark web spider. Finty always helps such stubborn people, if they want to die then she will send them to hell directly. Dark web spiders'' venom has a strong solubility but only for living things. The dissolve was fast, and his head was completely dissolved and gone. "Do you want to die with him?" Finty asks another man. "No! No! I''ll say everything! Please don''t hurt me!" The man shouts and shakes his head rapidly. "Then answer my question." Finty says lightly. "F-first, the guards are actually our people, a subsidiary force of the nobility. Second, my noble family doesn''t know the identities of you all, but they are angry because you took their subsidiary force and you also killed some of us. Third... there are many... the biggest problem was the territory dispute with Astor nobility." The man replies to three questions quickly. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Finty listens with a hand on her cheeks, tilting her head slightly, staring at him with focused eyes until he finishes speaking. After the man finished speaking, the air was silent for a few seconds. Finty''s hands quickly untied the shackles and handcuffs on the man''s body, but there was also a chain cuffed around his neck. "Say every news that you know about Seth nobility, then I''ll free you." Finty says. "Ugh... aside from the territory dispute, there is also about the missing team in the Loryn forest, the head of Astor and Seth nobility was sending members because they found the traces of an aberrant." The man explains. "Missing team in Loryn forest? Aberrant?" Finty frowns deeply. Loryn forest was the forest where dark web spiders lived, where Finty and Moty were born, and where Saze lives right now. Thinking of this, Finty started to worry about them. "The missing team''s last trace was at the outer ring of the forest and the also traces of fire all around... hey, where are you going?! Hey!" The man shouts as Finty rises and leaves the cell quickly. Finty quickly steps towards the entrance of the basement and goes out, Walker and Lloyd are standing outside, waiting for Finty to return. When they saw the anxious look on her face they immediately knew something was wrong. "Finty...? What happened?" Walker frowns. "Astor and Seth nobility discovered traces of an aberrant in the Loryn forest. Judging from the words of the captives, it is probably Morty..." Finty says with worry. "Are they going to there?" Walker asks anxiously. "Yes, they are sending members to go." Finty nods slightly. "Then quick! I''ll go prepare your things, Lloyd, you go take the carriage!" Walker immediately moves. As he moves, Lloyd looks at Finty to confirm the command, with a nod from Finty, he quickly goes out from the mansion. "Hope they don''t find them too early... and Moty... you''re too careless..." Finty sighed. ..... At Loryn forest. The white ruined palace hides in the woods full of life, Saze and Moty stand in the huge room of a dilapidated tower. The room is full of a medicinal smell, it''s not too strong or uncomfortable, and the medicinal smell is quite pleasant. There are vines growing wildly, intersecting, and many weeds growing under the wall. In the middle is a black pot that looks like a witch''s pot, many tables with different sizes and shapes, and many small cabinets that have many medicine materials. "Alright! It''s time to make a blood arcane potion!" Moty says happily. "Okay, let''s finally confirm the materials and method of making the potion." Saze says and looks at the book again. There are books and ingredients on the table. The books were brought from the study room. As for the materials, the ruined palace has a storage room, and there are many things inside such as ingredients, gold, and some artifacts. After confirming that everything was ready, Moty took out a triangular glass container and prepared to make it. "Alright, since you don''t have fire arcane then I will heat it, you will add the ingredients until I say so. Understood?" Moty asks. "Understood!" Saze nods. "Then let''s start!" Moty says, pouring the blood inside the triangular glass container. This was the blood of Moty, with Moty''s third stage power, she can indeed support a 500 milliliter blood draw even though her body shape is the same as Saze''s. However, her skin is paled a bit, exposing that she is weak now. On the stone table, Moty places the triangular glass container on the iron bracket letting it suspend, leaving a space below the container to use fire arcane heat up. "Alright, It''s boiled! Put the heart inside!" Moty commands as the blood starts to boil. Saze doesn''t say anything but takes the heart that was frozen in an ice cube and puts it inside gently. As the frozen heart fell inside, the ice melted immediately and the heart started to dissolve slowly. "At this time, just keep the temperature, don''t increase or decrease heat." Moty teaches Saze while waiting for the heart to dissolve. "Okay... the bubble is... attacking the heart?" Saze says confusedly as he sees the bubble doesn''t flow up on the surface but gathers around the heart. "It''s amazing, isn''t it? Many things in the arcane field violate science." Moty chuckles. "Well... it''s true..." Saze looks at this amazing sight and doesn''t want to take his gaze away. As the heart dissolves completely, Moty commands Saze to add the remaining ingredients to the container. Those ingredients fall into the container, they dissolve and become powders settling at the bottom. "Start to stir it." Moty says and passes Saze a glass stick. With a quick stir from Saze, the powders quickly dissolved by the blood. Even though the blood was in a boiling state it didn''t like water will emit a lot of hot water vapor so Saze could still stir it normally. "Hmm... those powders have dissolved... now I''m going to drink it." Saze gulps. "Yes, it''s still boiling so let''s just make you lose blood quickly." Moty says lightly and gives him a silver necklace that connects a small emerald. "What''s this?" Saze asks. "For you to reduce the pain, ready?" Moty''s fingers linger with dark spider silks. Saze gulps once again and quickly settles his mind. With a deep breath, his heart racing, and adrenaline flowing rapidly. He can feel the excitement, fear, and stimulation colliding in his mind. "Yes! I''m reading." Saze closes his eyes and says loudly. "Okay, don''t open your eyes if you scared." Moty says. "Hmpf! I never scared!" Saze opens his eyes and straight up his body. With that, Moty waves her hand forward, and several dark spider silk pierces directly into his body. She measures it just right and does not damage Saze''s organs, only the blood vessels. "AHH!" Saze cries out in pain, the pain causes veins to expose on his forehead. Moty slaps him in the chest, causing him to cough up a lot of blood. The heavy blow to his chest makes him want to scream, but he can''t. He can only cough up more blood, but this also accelerates his blood loss. His vision begins to blur and he slowly falls backwards. "Alright, It''s time to drink it! Hold the pain!" Moty supports him to stand. Moty takes the triangular glass container that is filled with boiling blood arcane potion, she opens Saze''s mouth and pours all the hot liquids inside. Chapter 20: Step into second stage and upcoming war As the boiling crimson liquid pours into his mouth, he experiences the searing heat and the heart-wrenching pain in his throat. The searing heat flows down to his stomach, making him burst into tears instinctively. "Ahh...!" Saze cries out in pain with a hoarse tone because of the pain in the throat making him even more painful while he shouts. With that, Saze''s body starts to twitch and his body''s heat increases rapidly. He shakes his head with his hands scratching frantically and leaves many red scratches. Suddenly, the red blood vessels all over Saze''s body bulge out, with thin and thick crimson lines spreading across his skin, giving him not only terrifying appearance like a devil rising from hell but also unbearable pain. "AHH!!" Saze shouts again, feeling that he would faint at any second. "If I had known it would be so painful, I wouldn''t have drank it! It hurts like hell! I might as well just kill myself! Ahh!!" Saze scolds in his mind. But soon, those blood vessels return before Saze collapses, once the blood vessels return to his body, his pain, his heat, and his desperate situation vanish at the same time. He put his hands on the stone table, lowered his head, and gasped heavily. After thinking that everything had passed, Moty says a desperate fact. "There is a total of three of that effect, so two more to go." Moty says. "WHAT?! AHH!" Saze''s eyes widened. Saze lets out another desperate scream, his blood vessels bulging out again, and this time the vessels are clear, crystal clear, Moty can even see the blood flowing quickly in his vessels. Moty stands aside and observes Saze rolling on the ground, seeing two kinds of blood slowly merging while flowing rapidly. One kind of blood is Saze''s own, and the other is the blood of the blood arcane potion. As the blood vessels bulge out a second time, the pain and heat become stronger and higher, almost killing Saze. He opens his mouth wide but can''t make any sound. Tears flow down his cheeks. Moty looks at his painful appearance and clenches his hands tightly. "Hold the pain! You can do it!" Moty encourages him. Saze''s physical pain is still increasing, and his clothes have already been soaked with cold sweat and blood. By now, if he hadn''t been blessed by the silver necklace, he would have died long ago. "Ah!" Saze shouts and that vessel returns again. "Finally... ha... ha... ha..." Saze breathes heavily. "Don''t be too happy, there''s still one last time." Moty says, with a tone that mixes with happy and worry. "Okay, you say you can save me, right? I hope you can really do it, because I think the third time will go over my limit..." Saze gulps, his body trembling lightly as he realizes there is a third time. "Yes, don''t worry." Moty promises with a confident smile. "But I''m worrying about that..." Moty was going to say more but was cut off by Saze. "Oh shoot! Here it comes!" Saze gasps as he feels the surge in his abdomen and it is very powerful and grand. It seems that as soon as it comes out, it might burst Saze''s body. As expected, the vessels bulge again, but something strange happens. The pain doesn''t go too strong, but instead, it goes weak, barely feel it. However, those red vessels that appear across his skin still make him look terrifying. "Ugh... is this normal? The pain is... so weak? And I don''t feel the heat." Saze asks carefully with a racing heart, he knows something might go wrong. "Hmm? Maybe..." Moty starts thinking with a deep frown as she sees this abnormal situation. Dong! With Saze''s heart suddenly beating hard, Saze is stunned for a moment and then begins to vomit blood crazily. "Gah..." Saze vomits, the blood isn''t the normal red, instead, it''s a dark color with a smelly odor. "Alright, this normal now, when the vessels appear the third time it is going to purify your blood, removing the poison, viruses, and... metabolite waste..." Moty hisses and covers her mouth with her hand. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "Metabolite... waste...?! Fu-" Saze scolds but vomits more black blood. "It''s okay, at least you are almost done, the pain and heat are no more because they finished cleaning your body, and now it just excretes it..." Moty steps backward to avoid the black blood splash on her. "B-But why I still feel there is something in my abdomen... Ah!" Saze shouts with black blood in his mouth and hands covering his eyes painfully. "Saze! Are you okay?! What happens?!" Moty quickly walks towards Saze and crouches. "Ah! My eyes!" Saze shouts painfully and crimson blood goes out from his eyes and hands. "The anomaly happens... should I...?" Moty thinks deeply with a hand on her chin. Moty didn''t dare to think for too long, so she could only stop taking the potion. She was very unwilling. After all, Saze is almost finished, but something abnormal happens. Moty had no choice but to give up all her and Saze''s efforts. "Is it still too risky? Never mind, let him change to another arcane later." Moty murmurs and places her hand on Saze''s head. "W-Wait! I feel... better... now..." Saze stops Moty and slowly uncovers his eyes with bloody hands. As the hands slowly descend, a pair of scarlet eyes appears and gaze at Moty. Saze''s once brown pupils have turned to scarlet red, like a vampire, but eyes gleaming with confusion, purity, and ignorance. "Ugh... Saze, can you see how many fingers is this?" Moty asks and holds out three fingers. "Three fingers, I still can see it clearly and even... clearly than before." Saze replies instantly. "Phew, well then, fortunately, the anomaly goes positive way." Moty breaths of sigh of relief. "Anomaly? You mean about my eyes? What happens to my eyes now, does it change?" Saze asks several questions. "Yes, there have been changes. This should be caused by you using this necklace to withstand the pain." Moty replies lightly. "B-But the pain is still strong even when I wore the necklace..." Saze says and slowly removes the necklace and passes it to Moty. "Ah yes, this is because blood arcane wasn''t for a first stage arcanist, because the pain might just kill them." Moty says with a smile. "Then why you..." Saze''s corner of the lips twitches a bit. "Because you want it, and also I can save you." Moty grins. "Alright, go try your new ability, blood arcane now. Try to feel it in your mind, just like what you do when you obtained wind arcane." Moty adds. Saze listens, closes his eyes obediently, and begins to sense the power of the blood arcane. In the darkness, a trace of blood floats up, climbing through the air like a snake. When he tries to focus on the blood, letting it come here, the traces of blood immediately follow his mind and move. Saze slowly opens his eyes and looks at the blood on the ground, he stretches out an arm, with a thought in mind, and casts a little mana, the blood floats to his palm and forms a blood ball. "This is my second arcane... blood arcane...!" Saze gazes at the blood ball on his palm and says with excitement. His hands trembling with excitement, and then he carefully hold the blood ball with both hands as if protecting a precious treasure. Suddenly, he raises his hand with the blood ball over his head. "Ahaha! I did it! I got my new arcane! Ahaha!" Saze cheers. "Alright, stop laughing, go break the limit, and step into the second stage." Moty says lightly, but her eyes are also gleaming with joy. "I-I can step into the second stage now?!" Saze stammers in excitement. Just obtain a powerful arcane and can step into the next stage instantly, this is the dream of every arcanist. After all, getting a powerful arcane needs to make a potion that requires many valuable ingredients and the most important is to stay hold the pain and not die when the potion starts working in the body. Moty smiles and says nothing, while Saze scatters the blood balls and sits on the ground, preparing to step to the second stage. He closes his eyes once again and feels that there are six chains that chain on his torso in the darkness of mind. There was the limit that Moty says, this is also the arcanist''s limit, breaking one chain to steps to the next stage but it requires a lot of effort. The chains work like a lock, sealing everybody''s potential and power. Right now, Saze has six chains on his torso, which means that he is in the first stage, if he breaks one and five chains left then it means he is in the second stage. Now, there was a chain that was already dilapidated, almost broken, seems it was the power of the potion. "Seems the potion also helped me break the chains." Saze murmurs in his mind. With that, he forms a fantasy body, which looks the exactly same appearance with himself on Earth. There is already a slight difference between his appearance when he lives in this world and his appearance when he lived on Earth before. "Ah... Falkmar, I almost forgot my name..." Saze sighs. With that, Saze raises his hand gathers mana, and forms two different arcane which are wind arcane and blood arcane. Without any hesitation, wind arcane forms many cyclone needles, and blood arcane forms many blood balls and attacks the dilapidated chain. Saze''s continuous attacks, regardless of the consumption of mana, finally break the chain. When the chain breaks, an extremely powerful mana rushes into his body. Saze also immediately feels that the capacity of the mana increases as if his capacity is transformed from a small room into a large villa. "Whoa... the changes are really huge." Saze whispers and opens his eyes, leaving the darkness of mind. "Done? I feel the mana is coming out of your body." Moty asks as she sees Saze opens his eyes. "Hehe, yeah! I just reached to second stage! I feel I''m so powerful, haha!" Saze grins widely exposing his white teeth. "Well then... hm?" Moty''s face from happy turns to a frown and raises her head. "What''s wrong? Moty?" Saze asks, he was going to check other benefits from the second stage but seeing Moty''s face, a sense of danger spread in his mind. Bong! A huge golden fireball breaks through the sky draws a beautiful arc and hits the tower where Moty and Saze stay, the tower immediately collapses, and the dust flies in all directions, leaving nothing but a ruined. At the same time, before those spiders could realize what was happening. A sharp laughter sounded. "Ahahaha! We found them! Kill the aberrant first before we solve our territory dispute." "Alright, we agree." Chapter 21: Nobility’s raid When the dust disperses, the tower immediately disappears into ruins, and a pile of remaining golden flames consumes the stones and burns them to ashes. There are many stones and medicine scattered here, but Moty and Saze are nowhere to be seen. At this time, Moty teleports himself and Saze out of the tower in an instant. They are currently standing on the huge and spacious walkway in the center outside the palace. "What just happened...?" Saze asks blankly, confused about being in the tower one second and then outside the next. "Look at the sky then you will know it." Moty gazes at the sky solemnly, her eyes gleaming with hatred and her brows are furrowed. Suddenly, the light of the eye rune of day illuminates the entire ruined palace. When Saze looks up, he sees that the tops of the trees that block the palace from the light have all been cut off, and the trunks of the trees are smashed down with huge leaves, making the dust fly and a huge sound. The sky is orange, seems the time is already at dusk. There is a huge turquoise magic circle in the sky, many people stand on it and look down at the entire palace. The orange light shone from behind them, making it difficult for Saze and the others to see them clearly. "It seems to be a third stage aberrant. Her head is mine, don''t try to steal it!" An old man''s voice sounds with a serious tone. "Tsk, yours? Let''s see who will get it first..." Another old man''s voice sounds with disdain. After saying that, the two figures rush down quickly and shout in mid-air with a huge sound that resounds throughout the palace. "Kill them all! The more you kill, the richer the rewards will be! This is also the time to train you! Go ahead!" Two old men''s voice shouts. "Kill them all!" "Haha, I finally can start killing again!" "Let''s go! Show those stupid spiders what we are capable of!" Once two old men''s voices say, many people shout, not only the people who stand above the magic circle but also the people who hide on the ground. At this time, everyone rushes towards the palace, but Moty will never let them simply set foot on every brick here. Moty raises her hand slightly and snaps her fingers, and then a burst of golden mana flies into the sky from the direction of the palace hall, forming a protective shield on the top of the palace that slowly lowers, surrounding the palace. Many people don''t have time to stop and directly hit it and were bounce back. Some people even entered before the protective shield completely surrounded the palace. Without reinforcements, their fate in the spider swarm was obvious. "Oh god, let me go out!" "Ah!" They shout, cry, and beg for mercy. However, those spiders know what''s happening now so they won''t show any mercy. They can only roar unwillingly among the spiders until they turn into a pile of bones. "Saze! Remember stay inside the shield, do not go out!" Moty stares at him and says with a serious tone. "Just stay in the shield, stay in the hall with those small spiders! Understood?" Moty holds Saze''s shoulders tightly, gazing at his scarlet red eyes. Boom! A group of golden flames continues to grow, and then turns into a golden dragon and slams into the protective shield, causing a huge explosion. However, the protective shield only shook a little bit. "It''s really a strong protective shield. It seems that aberrant can''t make it so strong. Is there another aberrant here?" An old man whispers he is the one who attacks the tower. He wears the same attire as Sophia, and Orphea observes that the old man appears to be from Seth''s nobility. He is tall and thin, his face marked by deep wrinkles, and he has white hair and a long white beard. Stolen novel; please report. "Agh! Dang it! Evan! Can''t you even see who''s around you?! You just cost many of our people injured!" Another old man groans with extreme anger. The golden dragon exploded and let out a huge shock wave rush to many people, es The old man wears purple attire adorned with intricate designs in contrasting colors and a bright white badge on his chest, signaling his noble lineage. The veins on his forehead bulge, just like what happened to Saze earlier, clearly displaying the fury that contorts his face. "Duke, I apologize for Astor nobility''s loss." Evan sneers. "After killing this aberrant! We will revenge!" Duke shouts and glares at him but soon calms down his mind. "This shield is made by Finty, and this shield allows spiders to go out and go in freely except humans! So, do not go out!" Moty says to Saze. "Fine, I will stay here! I won''t go out!" Saze nods. "Alright... go now, go to the hall and wait for us." Moty says and turns around, walking towards to the shield. Saze stands on the walkway blankly, watching Moty slowly walk out of the protective shield and then face the powerful enemy outside, a feeling of powerlessness surges into his heart. He had obviously reached the second stage but was still useless in this battle. When he turned his head, he saw many spiders passing by him. The weakest ones were all medium size spiders. Although each of them was in the second stage, the same as Saze, they were stronger than him also they could not retreat. After all, behind them was the survival of the race. "Why... why... why... I''m also a second stage arcanist!" Saze exclaims, tears welling in his eyes as he clenches his fists tightly, struggling to contain his emotions. "Gruu." Mon stops in front of him lets out a soft sound, stretches out a leg, pats his head gently, and crosses over him. The first time, Saze realizes he is so small, like dust, like ants, he stands on the wave of the spider swarm, they across him as he steps forward. Slowly, his pace from slow to fast, from fast to run, he knew that the battle was not a joke, if he didn''t want to be a burden, he had to be obedient. "Why did they know our place? They used the tracker?" Moty asks in her mind and stands on the ground, looking up at two old men. "Oh, you come alone against us? What a stupid." Duke says and sneers, his eyes fill with disdain. "Can you give me back those two survivors of Seth nobility?" Evan asks lightly. "Two survivors? You used the tracker to find them?" Moty doesn''t answer his question but asks a question. "Oh, honestly, no, one of our members found the message that was left by Orphea in the forest, there are many so we found this place easily." Evan explains. "Orphea? Oh no, ah! I should have just killed them all!" Moty scratches her head with both hands with an unkind look and regretful emotion. "Enough of talking! Now, give me your head!" Duke shouts and flashes to Moty, raising a fist with the power of dark arcane and punching Moty''s head. Just when Duke going to enjoy that Moty''s head going to explode like a watermelon, he feels extreme pain in his fist as if the fist was cut off. However, the fact is, his fist was really cut off by Moty in a second. "Didn''t somebody tell you that DO NOT underestimate an aberrant?" Moty says with increasing volume on word, do not. With that, her palms fly out several dark spider silk and whip it toward the neck of Duke. Duke shocks and steps back to avoid the fatal attack. "Duke, even though we are fourth stage, but she is aberrant, she is in the third stage but she has the power of the fourth stage, be careful." Evan warns. "That''s correct." Moty says lightly. With that, more dark spider silk flies out of her hands, and she holds them tightly. With a roar, she whips the silks in her hand at the enemy on the ground. The enemies on the ground were all in the second stage. They were helpless under the attack of the third stage aberrant, and many of them were directly cut into pieces of flesh by silks. "Hmpf! We are your enemy!" Evan shouts and flies to Moty. His hand gathering the golden mana, seems ready to form the golden fire dragon again to attack Moty. As the distance gets closer and closer, the golden flame in Evan''s hand gradually forms and becomes more prosperous, but Moty just stands there waiting for him to fly over. "Golden flame''s series: seventh, Dragon!" Evan whispers and casts the spell, a gold fire dragon flies out from Evan''s hand grows bigger, and opens its mouth. As the fiery temperature approaches, Moty does not try to dodge but shows a wicked grin and then snaps her fingers. "I will show you one of my arcane, and... here is it!" Moty grins wickedly. Suddenly, Moty disappears but Duke appears where Moty stays in the last seconds. Evan and Duke''s eyes widened, one trying to stop and one trying to dodge. However, it is too late, with a heavy slam of the dragon, it explodes and burns Duke. "Hahaha! Who said me stupid before?" Moty teases, and soon she flies to high altitude and her hands start to gather pure red mana, ready to do her attack. After a second, the mana has formed red fire and it grows bigger in cross way. Just when the golden fire was extinguished, Duke and Evan looked up and were shocked once again. The crimson blaze in the sky has transformed into a massive cross, the heavens illuminated in deep red by Moty''s arcane fire, and slowly, the sky starts to fall down some of the red fire of Moty''s arcane, which burns the forest and enemies, making them retreat and spiders were all hide into the shield already. "Here is another of my arcane, fire arcane spell and I name it... celestial crossfire, enjoy!" Moty says and forms a flaming arrow and pulls the firing string as if using this fire bow to impale the land. "We need to fight back! Golden flame''s series: ninth, Wrath of Vulcan!!!" Evan yells, pouring immense mana into the golden fire on his palm, making it larger and forming a massive dragon head that roars into the sky. "EVERDARK!!!" Duke roars as his body transforms into darkness, expanding upward as if to swallow the sky. Chapter 22: Saze vs Sophia The roaring golden dragon head flies up, the darkness follows quickly behind, expanding and trying to swallow the Moty''s celestial crossfire. Roars! The golden dragon head roars, in mid-air, it shines with dazzling golden light, illuminating all the shadows around. But it doesn''t illuminate the huge and extending darkness below. The darkness emits a terrifying humming sound, and it had grown so large that it covered half the sky already. The colossal firing crimson cross blazing on the red sky, The searing temperature distorts the surrounding space and at the same time, traces of flame slowly rises with the hot air to draw a beautiful arc. The colossal celestial crossfire dyed the sky crimson, and in the air there was a huge golden dragon head rushing towards the sky, flashing a dazzling golden light that made other people impossible to open their eyes, and then the black everdark was about to surround the sky above the palace. "Run!! If you don''t want to die then run!!" "Damn it! They do their ultimate move after a few rounds?!" "Careful of the fire that falls from the sky!" At one point, all the private forces of the noble families curse loudly and then use their arcane to escape from here. Anyone who stayed here would die with no doubt. "Moty¡­" Saze says softly. He stands on the roof of the palace, gazing into the sky, trying to see the figure of Moty in the chaos. The three types of majestic terror mana are full of crimson sky, The distance is getting closer, and finally colliding together. Bong! The sounds resounding the whole forest, and the arrow of celestial crossfire shot out, impaling the golden dragon and everdark within a moment, once the huge flaming arrow hit the land, it forms a huge explosion with a huge mushroom cloud. A flame tornado forms over the ground and rises spirally into the crimson sky, the clouds have been blowing away and leave a huge circle, the searing heat also ignites the trees and burns them into ashes with those private forces. At this time, the shield also gets damaged by Moty''s arcane spell, and obvious cracks appear on the shield. As the cracks grow, the spiders become bigger, and Saze grows more worried. As the fire tornado dissipates, a billowing hot mist that seems to be caused by the burning is left on the battlefield. For a moment, the hot mist fills the battlefield, making it difficult to see what is happening. Until the heat haze dissipates, the spiders and Saze discover that there is an oval-shaped darkness in the sky above them that is even larger than Moty''s celestial crossfire also the flames consume large quantities of trees and become a vast flat land. "Oh no, Moty¡­" Saze gazes closely at the oval-shaped darkness. "W-we still alive! Hahaha! Sir Duke save us!" The nobility''s forces cheer. "Gruu!" When the spiders see that their enemy is still alive, they immediately become murderous. "Kill them all!" The nobility''s forces shout and charge into the battle. Spiders and nobility''s forces launch a new round of melee. The battlefield is suddenly filled with arcane magic and mana. There were flames, strong winds, and ice crystals sweeping across, ruthlessly taking away every living life. On the roof of the palace, Saze stands on top and hears footsteps from behind, it seems to be two people. He naturally notices it but does not look back, or rather he does not want to look back. After all, they were enemies now. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Saze, if you surrender then we won''t harm you." Sophia says sounding lightly behind Saze, her tone seems irresistible. "Seth nobility and Astor nobility have come, you have no chance, just surrender, you can be our people after all you are human." Orphea says, wanting to convince Saze to join their side. "How do they find here...?" Saze asks with a trembling voice, so far, he has guessed some possibilities but wants to confirm them because he is not sure. "I have left several messages while we hunting together." Orphea says, confessing what she has done. "You, it''s you... why..." Saze asks again and can''t hold it anymore, the tears begin to fall from his tear-filled eyes. He doesn''t turn back, two girls watching his back, shaking from crying and feeling pity for him. Sophia sighs softly, then steps forward to comfort his worried and wounded mind. The breeze is blowing on her body, but the originally comfortable breeze suddenly turns into an overbearing wind, as if trying to stop she steps forward. "Hey, Saze...!" Sophia frowns and shouts to him but the sound of wind is louder than her voice. "Then we are enemies... not friends anymore." Saze whispers and eventually turns around, facing Sophia and Orphea. "S-Saze... what happens to your eyes?!" Sophia''s eyes widen and exclaims after seeing his scarlet red eyes. Now, the emotion inside the eyes of Saze is no longer friendly but rather malicious and hostile. "Don''t worry, my eyes are fine! You don''t need to worry about it!" Saze shouts and the wind blows even stronger. As the jade green mana floats out, Saze activates the wind step and condenses hundreds of cyclone needles behind him. The wind becomes stronger and stronger, revealing the emotions in Saze''s heart that were becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. "Stop being ridiculous, just with your first stage power, I can kill ten of you by myself. Surrender yourself now, you will just stay with us after this and you can also live like a normal person not living with those monsters!" Sophia shouts with a mixture of sneer, disdain, and promise in her tone. "I have no fear, and they are not monsters! They are my family! My friends!" Saze roars and charges toward Sophia with hundreds of cyclone needles shot at Sophia. "Okay! Then let me see what makes you confident to fight against me!" Sophia groans. She takes out a dagger from behind with one hand, then takes a stance and bursts out the same jade green mana as Saze. Her mana turns into a strong wind and blows towards Saze. Sophia''s strong wind is even stronger than Saze''s wind. "Damn it!" Saze exclaims internally, while Sophia''s wind sweeps away the cyclone needles at the back. Sophia''s wind makes Saze almost fall over, just when losing his center of gravity and falling backward. At the same time, Sophia has already come to him and raises the dagger, ready to swing it at him. Saze uses the wind step to move to the left and stabilize his body. But when he wants to fight back, he sees that Sophia has already disappeared. He suddenly panics, and his eyes sweep around trying to find her shadow. "Where are you looking at?" Sophia''s voice travels into the ears of Saze from his back. The sound behind him was like the most terrifying sound in the world, and Saze''s heart almost stopped in fear. He quickly turns around to prepare for defense, but the dagger behind his back has already scratched his back, leaving a long line of blood. "Agh!" Saze yells out in pain. He quickly distances himself and faces Sophia. His heart suddenly tightens when he sees her charming and deadly smile appear on her face. Being scratched in the back by a dagger, the pain brings his sanity back. "The roof of this palace is huge, let''s see how long you can run." Sophia sneers and takes a stance, ready to charge towards Saze again. When two arcanists fight, if both arcane are the same, the competition is no longer arcane itself but the mastery of arcane and other masteries. Just like now, Sophia''s mastery of wind arcane far exceeds that of Saze, and Sophia still uses physical skills to attack him. Now, Saze also feels regretful. He didn''t expect that even if he reached the second stage, he would still have to dodge and run away from Sophia, can''t even fight back. He wants to stop now, otherwise he will be playing to death by her if he continues like this. Moreover, Sophia is still just using wind arcane as a support, not an attack. If she uses wind arcane to attack, Saze may not even be able to resist or dodge. "Ready or not, here I come!" Sophia smiles wickedly and immediately disappears from where she stays. "Behind again?" Saze says to himself, condensing several cyclone needles in his palm and then turning around and shooting them out quickly. But there is nothing behind it, and the cyclone needles fly for a distance and then dissipate, leaving a faint jade green mana to fade into nihility. Suddenly a shadow appears on the ground, Saze knows it is Sophia''s shadow and immediately looks up into the sky. In the sky, Saze sees Sophia and dozens of blades flying towards him, Saze opens his arms to summon a strong wind blowing upwards and a group of cyclone needles flying towards the blades. Just as Saze was fighting those blades, Sophia rushed towards him after landing steadily. After Saze notices her, there is a panicked expression on his face, under the panic, he finally stops holding back. "I can''t hold back anymore!" Saze shouts in mind. With a roar, a crimson shock wave rushes out from Saze''s body and sweeps toward the surrounding environment under the shocked eyes of Sophia and Orphea. Chapter 23: Shield broke In the Everdark realm, three people stood erect, one girl and two elder, and they were all in bad condition. Moty''s injuries were the most serious among the three. Her mana was almost exhausted, her left hand was severely burned, one eye was cut, and there was a deep and large wound on her torso, which almost cut her in half, and her delicate body was leaving crimson blood. The two elders were not much better. Their white beards were stained red by the blood spit out of their mouths. They also had many cuts, both deep and shallow, and of course, more burns, especially Duke, whose skin was almost completely burned. "Fire arcane, reverse arcane, recovery arcane, and even space arcane! How terrible is this, this monster should be killed! She will be a huge threat!" Duke spits blood out and the blood falls into darkness and vanishes. "I also felt an aura on her body that was more powerful than her own. I didn''t expect that the dark web spider suddenly became so powerful under our noses! When we go back, we must report it to the military to come for reinforcements!" Evan says tiredly. The two elders change their gazes at each other and decide to kill Moty, who is a powerful scourge. They once again gather majestic mana in their hand to form an arcane attack and blast it towards Moty. "If you want to kill me, then come! If you have the guts, just force out my trump card!" Moty shouts hoarsely, despite the tiredness, she doesn''t give up. With a dry roar, Moty puts her hands in front of herself, and a light blue magic circle suddenly appears. The magic continuously amplifies, and the light blue mana slowly overflows. This is what Duke calls reverse arcane. This arcane is a defensive arcane, as long as the caster is strong enough, any arcane attack will be absorbed and then bounced back. Among the many defensive arcane, this is considered an outstanding one. However, the defensive arcane maintained by Moty, who had exhausted her mana, could not withstand their attacks. One was a magnificent flame lion, a combination of light and fire arcane, its golden light forms into a straight line in Moty''s eyes, and the other was several dark fists that were even bigger than the flame lions. In the next second, under the control of Evan and Duke, the flaming lion takes the lead and charges towards the light blue circular magic circle, while several huge black fists follow the lion, hitting the light blue magic circle with the most violent bombardment. Crack! A light blue magic circle suddenly appears a little crack under the relentless bombardment. Soon, it grows longer and wider like glass as if going to break and shatter into millions of species. With constant collisions and constant consumption of mana, there is no doubt that Moty will die. "Damn it... my mana..." Moty says in her mind, her body starts trembling due to exhaustion. ..... "Blood arcane?! You really did it? And you reached to second stage?" Sophia exclaims and her eyes widen. "It''s getting interesting, isn''t it? Perhaps, you are not weak anymore." Without any response from Saze, Sophia grins wickedly. She immediately lunges on Saze, not to be outdone, Saze controls his blood that falls to the ground, turns it into an arrow, and shoots it at Sophia. Blood arrows are shot one after another, forcing her to fight back, but the blood passes through her blade and hits her. "Gah...! What a despicable arcane." Sophia says lightly as the blood arrow shoots in her right arm. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Heh! It seems I''m winning right now! Perhaps, you''re the one who is going to surrender?" Saze raises an eyebrow and grins widely. Then those blood arrows all fly back to Saze and form into a ball, stretch, and shape, and a long blood-red sword appears in his hand. He grips the bleeding blood sword tightly, the blood keeps dripping, seemingly endless. The size of the blood sword did not change due to the continuous bleeding. "Let me surrender? Aw, please stop this foolish dream, you''re getting cocky now." Sophia can''t help but chuckle. In an instant, silver mana erupts from Sophia''s body, and the dagger in her hand suddenly shatters and turns into silver mana, leaving only the hilt in her hand, she throws the handle of the knife to the ground casually, then raises her hand, and the some of the silver mana suddenly turns into a silver revolver. "Revolver... is that create arcane?" Saze''s eye twitches a bit and he asks. "Yes, metal arcane, this is my second arcane." Sophia replies and points the black hole at Saze. "But why revolver? you know that you don''t have gunpowder inside, you can''t even sho..." Bang! Before Saze can finish speaking, Sophia pulls the trigger and lets out a loud gunshot followed by a silver bullet streaking through the air. Under his shocked gaze, he tried to dodge, but it was too late. The bullet shot through his abdomen at an extremely fast speed. The silver bullet shot through Saze with a trace of blood, and the blood flew into the air due to inertia and then scattered on the ground. He squats down because of the pain and covers the wound with his hands, controlling the blood to ensure that it will not flow out. "How...?" Saze raises his head and sees that Sophia already stands in front of him at a very close distance. "Use wind arcane to compress the pressure in the bullet''s case and burst out instantly, then it will work like gunpowder and shoot the bullet out." Sophia crouches and explains. She lifts Saze''s chin, forcing him to look at her. The muzzle of the gun was placed on Saze''s forehead, Faced with the threat of death and the huge gap in power, he has the idea of ??surrender in his heart. "Now, surrender or I knock you out?" Sophia grins widely. This grin is purely victorious and holds no bad intentions. At this moment, Saze''s eyes change when he looks at Sophia, but he is unwilling to surrender. Although he could escape the execution of the nobles as a human. However, the spiders'' perish was certain. In fact, Saze can still fight now. Although he can''t win, he might be able to hold for a while but that was meaningless. The more he thinks about it, his psychological defense slowly becomes looser, and the blood sword in his hand gradually collapses. The way Sophia looks at Saze makes her laugh a few times. Although she doesn''t know what the little boy is thinking, his hesitation means that he doesn''t want to surrender yet. "Well then, let''s just play longer." Sophia says in her mind. "Gru!" A sharp voice sounds behind Sophia. Before Sophia turns around, Orphea, who is standing far away, immediately uses light arcane to block the sneak attack on Sophia. The light arcane spell that was cast by Orphea lacks offensive power, but its defensive ability is very strong. After all, she is an auxiliary arcanist. "A group of weak spiders dare to sneak up on me?!" Sophia shouts angrily as she turns around and sees a big spider swarm coming. Although these spiders are only small spiders, the body of the small dark web spiders is about the same as that of a dog, which gives a little bit of shock to Sophia and Orphea. But they are all in the first stage which is weaker than Saze. "Hmpf! Since you all want to die, I will make it happen!" Sophia sneers and suddenly bursts out a cloud of silver mana that covers the whole palace''s roof. As Sophia thinks, countless blades gradually form in the sky, and the spiders are also ready. They seem not to be afraid even if they die, they are surrounded by their own mana, which is used to protect themselves and increase their survival time. The other part of their mana is condensing into arcane attacks to attack Sophia and Orphea. "If I kill them... Saze might be sad...? Wait, why I''m even thinking about this." Sophia hesitates as she ready to shoot out the blades into the spider swarm. At this moment, a blood arrow shot through Sophia from the waist. The moment the blood arrow shot through, her control over the arcane spell suddenly lost control. Part of the blade returns to the silver mana, a part loses control and falls to the ground, while the other part stays intact in the air. "Saze!" Orphea turns her head and shouts angrily. "I can''t just stand here and see you guys kill them all!!!" Saze roars and charges towards Orphea with the blood sword. A frightened expression appears on Orphea''s face, and then she immediately moves her hands forward, and the golden mana forms a light shield to protect them. However, with the slashing of Saze''s blood sword and spider''s arcane spell, the light shield immediately broke. At the same time, the protective shield covering the entire white ruined palace also broke at the same time. Both shields shatter like glass and fade in the air. Chapter 24: Overdraw life The shield shatters like glass, cascading to the ground and fading away. The battle among the spiders looks dire as they retreat into the white ruined palace. Everyone on the palace roof also watches the protective shield collapse. Orphea was happy, but Saze and the spiders were worried. As for Sophia, she doesn''t seem to care about it but stares at her wound as if thinking about something. "Sophia! We''re winning now! And after the fight, we can bring Saze... ugh... Sophia...?" Orphea says happily and turns to Sophia. Sophia''s back face to Saze and Orphea and says nothing, without any joy but a little sadness. Then she raises her hand back and forms a metal piece that blocks a sneak attack which is Saze''s blood arrow that was shooting at Orphea. "Hey! Saze just surrender, you will lose anyway, what''s the point of keeping fighting?" Orphea shouts angrily as she sees Saze trying to attack her. "I don''t want to give up!" Saze roars and lunges at Orphea. Suddenly, Sophia moves, she turns around and blocks Saze''s attack with a silver long sword grips in her palm. The collision of swords made a crisp sound pouring into their ears. Ring! "Alright, I understand now, Saze. Because of those spiders, you don''t want to give up. I''ll take this seriously against you." Sophia speaks with a deep voice, raising her other hand to aim a revolver at Saze. Saze notices the danger creeping out from the black hole, his eyes widen, and uses a wind step dash sideward to dodge the bullet. Bang! He successfully dodges the attack but suddenly a wicked grin appears on Sophia''s face. The next moment, many slender spikes appear beneath Saze and pierce his body. Fortunately, no fatal injuries were caused. "Sophia! Are you going to kill him?!" Orphea says anxiously with a worried face. "hehe, he wants to fight then he must have ready to face the death." Sophia chuckles evilly. "Gaaah!" Saze let out a roar and burst out the crimson shockwave again, destroying the spikes and blowing away the silver mana, leaving a small circle. This small circle is the safe zone for Saze. As long as the silver mana does not linger with Saze then Sophia can''t cast metal arcane around him. Despite Saze having many shocking holes in his body and face with an unyielding expression. He controls his blood to not flow out and accelerates the speed of blood flowing in his body to enhance his physical ability. He gasps, messy black hairs blowing back from the strong wind coming from Sophia and traces of blood stains on his face. He stands firm in the strong wind, gazing at Sophia with fearless eyes. Sophia''s long, raven-black hair sway freely in the strong wind. Her noble attire was stained with Saze''s blood. One hand holds the long sword and another hand holds the revolver. "You ask for this so... don''t die." Sophia whispers. "Hmpf! I won''t die!" Saze shouts with confidence. At the same moment, they charge towards each other. Countless blades clash and blood flows in the battle between the two. The swords keep colliding, the figures keep intertwining, and dozens of huge moon-shaped blood slashes strike Sophia. Sophia uses her flexible body to dodge and jump into the air, using her arcane properties to attack Saze from the air. The revolver in her hand fires round after round of bullets, and spikes begin to appear on the ground again. The difference from before was that these spikes would continue to extend, bend, and follow Saze closely. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. On the other side, Orphea uses light arcane to create a luminary staff, gripping tightly in her palm. She turns around and faces the spider swarm that is like an army, she holds the staff with her hands together, lowers her head, and closes her eyes as if praying. "Ah, please protect me, luminosity." She whispers. Two sudden light beams illuminate the sky and a vast battlefield, it strikes down from the sky and lands on the left and right sides of Orphea. As the light beams fade, two warriors with shining heavy armor and massive swords stand. Orphea''s appearance has changed, her hair is no longer white but now shines with a golden hue. Additionally, her black pupils have transformed into bright, shiny gold. Now, her appearance was holy as if a goddess of light. "Gruu!" Spiders shout loudly and cast their arcane. "Neutralize enemies." Two warriors say at the same time with a heavy, majestic tone. Both warriors were in the second stage. They immediately rush towards the spider swarm and swing their massive swords with the sharp scream of spiders. Orphea watches the massacre coldly from behind. During the fierce battle with Sophia, Saze hears the screams of the spider, which make him instinctively glance sideways. At this sight, he sees Orphea''s cruelty. His eyes widen and his body trembles because of the strong inner wave, he raises his sword and slashes out a huge moon-shaped blood slash. "Orphea!!!" Saze shouts angrily and slashes out more attacks. Oprhea notices Saze''s attack, but she ignores the fatal slashes. Suddenly, a huge metal shield materializes behind Orphea and blocks those slashes. "I am your enemy so don''t mind other people and also, don''t get distracted during a battle, except that you want to die." Sophia smiles. Three long swords materialize in the air and shoot toward Saze, but he is too late to dodge the attack. Long swords impale his body, there is even a sword that almost stabs in Saze''s heart. "Thanks for your lesson..." Saze says while dodging the next attack and struggling to draw the long swords. "Alright, then take this!" Sophia shouts. The silver mana cloud becomes restless, countless blades materialize and suddenly start spinning. The next moment, those countless blades turn into a blade storm rushing towards Saze. When Saze sees it, a rush of fear compels him to run, but the blade storm is already just a few feet away. Realizing that its speed far exceeds his own, he understands there''s no point in fleeing, he must stand and fight. "AH!!!" Saze grips the blood sword high with both hands and roars. Majestic crimson mana bursts from his body, enveloping the entire battlefield. Veins bulge beneath his skin, and his scarlet pupils gleam with rage. In his hand, the blood sword suddenly expands, reaching skyward, a towering manifestation of his fury and power. The air crackles with energy as he prepares to unleash devastating force upon his foes. "What the..." Sophia and Orphea''s eyes widen as they see the blood sword and see it keep rising. "Go to hell!!!" Saze yells and wields his blood sword, swinging towards Sophia and Orphea horizontally. As the colossal blood sword swings at them, their faces display fear and panic. Even Sophia does not dare to confront it and can only evade it. The blood sword slashes through the two luminosity warriors, cleaving them in half. It then collapses, and other towers are similarly split to the same height by Saze''s blood sword. This attack of this intensity is almost the power of the fourth stage. All the spiders and arcanists on the battlefield stop for a moment look in the direction of the palace roof, and then start fighting again. On the palace roof, Saze holds his blood sword against the roof to support his body. He looks at the roof and that his seven orifices were bleeding very scary. "Phew, you really scared me, you overdraw your life, right? Impressive, your attack has almost reached the power of the fourth stage." Sophia gasping, cold sweat wet her attire. "I-I''m still alive...?" Orphea says with a trembling tone, she collapses on the floor. "Gru..." Those spiders lie down on the ground, didn''t get split in half by blood sword. "Thanks for the compliment..." Saze collapses the blood sword turns into normal blood. "Lack of mana now, isn''t it?" Sophia walks towards him and raises her hand. As her hand rises, a huge metal cage materializes above Saze. He notices it and raises it with difficulty, jade green mana starts flowing out of his body. Sophia sighs heavily, looking at Saze''s severe injuries but he still refuses to surrender. "Can''t you just lie on the ground obediently, you can just sleep if you want to, Orphea will heal you..." Sophia persuades him to surrender. Saze doesn''t say anything but responds to her with several cyclone needles forming behind him. Regardless of the pain in his body and the lack of mana, he bravely stands up and faces the powerful enemy. "Just surrender already!" Sophia shouts angrily and aims with a revolver at Saze. Bang! The bullet shot into his body, the pain making him bend instinctively but at the same time, those cyclone needles launch and shoot it to Sophia. She deftly dodges the attack, then moves in on Saze and strikes him squarely in the face. The impact sends him flying, propelled by an overwhelming force. In a swift motion, she delivers a powerful kick that crashes down, creating a gaping hole in the palace roof as Saze plummets to the ground. "Oops, hope he didn''t die." Sophia says calmly and jumps off. Chapter 25: Finty return The rocks fall with Saze, slamming against the floor heavily. After the dust flies up, it slowly covers Saze''s body with rocks. The rock makes him unable to move, and only his head is exposed. Sophia jumps off the roof and lands just a short distance from Saze. She strolls over to him, her body marked with minor wounds from their earlier fight, but overall, her injuries are not serious. As her footsteps approach, Saze struggles to raise his head. This time, he looked at Sophia with fear in his eyes. After all, he was afraid of death too. After exhausting his mana, he could no longer control his blood. Many wounds on his body begin to bleed, forming a small blood lake. He could feel his life slowly draining away. Sophia squats down. As if aware of the approaching death, Saze obediently closes his eyes. But what follows is not a horrible cold death instead, a gently warm stroke on the head. He slowly opens his eyes and looks at Sophia kneeling and stroking him tenderly with an incredulous look. "There there, you''re defeated by me now and so on, you''re my captive." Sophia says lightly with a victorious smile. "Orphea! Come down quickly!" Sophia looks up and shouts. "Okay!" Orphea shouts and jumps off from the roof. Her eyes widen and gasp as she sees Saze''s situation. There was a small lake of blood underneath Saze and the rocks pressed him. "Oh my god... remove the rocks, I will let him stop bleeding." Orphea hisses, can''t help but feel pitiful. "How were those spiders?" Sophia asks while using wind arcane breaking those rocks into small pieces. "I prisoned them and I also cured those spiders that got slashed by the luminosity warriors." Orphea replies lightly. This sentence made Saze, who was worried about those spiders, immediately feel relieved. For a moment, gratitude and shame collide in his heart, making him not sure how to face Orphea. After all, he has sneak attacked her before, but now she helps him regardless of his previous act. In the golden halo, Saze''s external injuries were quickly cured, but the most important thing was the internal injuries. Sophia''s kicks caused many of his bones to break and his internal organs to bleed. "Orphea... I, cough!" Saze coughs and spitting of blood as he speaks. "Hey! Shut up don''t speak right now, you just making your injuries worse." Orphea stops him to speak. "Let''s sneak out from the back after completely curing him." Sophia says and uses metal arcane to materialize a handcuff and cuff on Saze''s both hands. It didn''t take long for Saze''s injuries to be completely cured. After that, Sophia hits him on the back of the neck with a knife and he faints. Sophia carries him on her back and immediately leaves with Orphea. The battlefield is changing rapidly, no one knows whether their location is always safe. Perhaps, you are hiding behind a structure, and the next moment you can be torn into pieces by a powerful arcane spell. ..... "Damn it! She is overdrawing her life!" Duke shouts. "Just hold on! Keep her contained until she dies!" Evan yells hoarsely. Both nobility elders are seriously injured now. Evan''s body completely disappears, but a transparent body stands in the Everdark realm, his boy was obliterated by Moty but he survived because of his soul arcane. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. As for Duke, his head is replaced by another head that is formed by darkness or his dark arcane. He stands in the Everdark realm and faces Moty with a trembling body. Moty stands alone, facing two fourth stage enemies, but remains invincible as if she were a heroic Valkyrie. Her blue veins bulge out and appear on the skin, and spider legs appear on her back, this is the sign of overdrawing life, sacrificing life to get stronger power and mana is the last choice against the strong one. "I had enough!!!" Moty roars and erupts orange mana. The orange mana suddenly erupts and fills the Everdark realm. The fiery flames start gathering in Moty''s palm and shaping into the celestial crossfire, the colossal flame crossbow. The Everdark realm trembling under Moty''s celestial crossfire, it is brighter than Evan''s golden flames powerful than Duke''s Everdark realm. Under their shocked gaze, she pulls the string and a flaming arrow forms. "Duke! Lift the Everdark realm!!!" Evan shouts loudly and panicky to Duke. Without any hesitation, Duke immediately lifts the realm, and the darkness vanishes but another darkness replaces it. It was nighttime now, the eye rune of night hung high in the sky, gazing silently at the world. In addition to darkness, there was also firelight, the firelight of the white ruined palace. Moty saw that the protective shield of the palace had been broken, the nobility''s force had entered, and now even the spiders who had not reached the first stage were fighting. Moty''s eyes fill with tears. The celestial crossfire in her grasp trembled, ready to be unleashed at any moment. However, the white ruined palace and spiders would definitely be wiped out in an instant. The colossal flaming crossbow shines in everybody''s eyes but can''t illuminate the sky. white ruined palace is nearly fallen and can''t be saved by only Moty. "Finty... I hope you''re here..." Moty cries and suddenly spits on blue blood. It was the repercussions of overdrawing life. The celestial crossfire immediately dissipates, and Moty loses her power and falls from the sky. "I''m sorry... Finty... Saze..." Moty whispers before she faints. After that, she hits the ground heavily. As Moty falls, the spiders roar, while the nobles continue to advance with high morale. "D-Did she die...?" Duke asks Evan in the air. "Probably not." The one who replies Duke is not Evan, but a cold, female voice. "Who are you?!" Duke turns his head. Duke''s mind rings with a loud alarm bell. His instincts scream that the owner''s voice is dangerously lethal. His heart races, his body trembles, and cold sweat beads on his forehead. Once he turns his head, he sees a beautiful female it''s almost surreal. gradient blue hair, exquisite face, and azure eyes with rimmed eyeglasses. She dresses with a dark blue long dress, dark blue high heels, and an azure jewel necklace. "Greetings, this is our first and last meeting, my name is Finty Amon, you?" Finty says lightly. "D-Duke Astor... Where is... Evan?" Duke replies obediently and asks. "Evan? Do you mean the one who uses soul arcane?" Finty asks rhetorically. "Yes..." Duke gulps. "Oh, I just send him to hell, and don''t worry. You will go there and meet him soon." Finty says calmly, announcing his death shortly. With that, Finty stretches out an arm and grabs his head. The next moment, under her cold gaze, Duke is torn into pieces of flesh, making a blood rain pour into the barren land. Duke doesn''t even get a chance to scream when he dies. After that, Finty glances around, seeing the white ruined palace that has fallen, Moty''s defeat, and the trees disappearing. The more she sees the more deeper her frown becomes. Finty lets out a deep sigh as the overwhelming aura of the fifth stage erupts around them. It engulfs everyone present, pressing down like an immense mountain, heavy and unyielding. Finty walks down from the sky, each step resonating through the heavens and the forest below. With every stride, she moves like a queen, commanding attention and grace. As she steps off the floor and onto the grounds of the white ruined palace, all the nobility forces present kneel in awe, gasping in disbelief. Not one dares to raise their head. Even those among them who are poisoned and gravely injured understand the peril, they know that to move would surely invite their demise. "How dare you block my way?" Finty asks coldly to a man who kneels in front of her. Just when the man is going to do something, Finty stomps his head heavily. The head of the man explodes like a watermelon, blood gushing everywhere but doesn''t go to Finty. Finty kicks the man''s lifeless body aside. "ugh... hrrk..." A woman vomits as the blood stains on her and a bloody eyeball rolls to her knee. The sound of vomit makes Finty glance over. The woman raises her head, and their eyes meet for a brief moment. Just as she is about to lower her gaze, her body explodes, and her organs fly in all directions. "You guys are worthless, die." Finty says calmly. Everyone''s bodies swell and then explode, showering the area with blood, but the blood doesn''t reach Finty. "Lloyd, put Moty here and go find Saze." Finty closes her eyes and takes a deep breath then commands Lloyd behind her. "Yes, mistress." Lloyd bows puts down Moty on the floor and flashes away. She watches Moty''s body and lets out a heavy sigh. She knows that she must have messed something up this time, otherwise, the nobles wouldn''t have discovered this place. But she can''t bring herself to scold her when she looks so exhausted. Chapter 26: Crow In the dark forest, a ball of light illuminates the surroundings, leading Sophia and Orphea. They follow the luminary orb and run through the forest, heading towards the outside world. "It''s near! There are so many plants growing chaotically here. It seems that we have reached the outer ring of the forest." Orhpea says happily with cheerful steps. "Finally, there will be no nocturnal predators here." Sophia exhales heavily. Her palm grasps a silver horse-chopping sword, the long blade stained with blood and it''s still dripping, the blade gleams with ominous light. Seems she had fought some monster while retreating. Another of her shoulders was carrying a fainted Saze, he seems sleeping peacefully. The mana consumed in the previous battle is also slowly recovering. "Hehe, thanks for protecting me. Let me give you my mana, take it to recover." Orphea thanks Sophia and smiles. With that, Orphea stretches out a hand and contacts Sophia''s shoulder gently. The mana in Orphea''s body distributes, the colorless mana which doesn''t contain any arcane goes out from her finger like thread silks creep into Sophia. "Of course I protect you, It''s too dark here so I need your arcane to go out from this forest." Sophia says lightly. "Aw, how ruthless, will you really abandon me when we fall in danger?" Orphea says, her head getting closer, and looks at Sophia pitifully. "If I couldn''t even protect myself at that time, I certainly wouldn''t care about the safety of others." Sophia sighs lightly and pushes her head back gently. Orphea''s cheeks bulge and she stares at Sophia with aggrieved eyes. After being pushed, she snorted and turned around to continue walking with the luminary orb. "So... what you going to do on Saze after we go back?" Orphea asks curiosity after walking for a while. Orphea glances back at Sophia, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. With each wicked thought that crosses her mind, the light in her eyes grows ever more peculiar. "Cough, We are not adults yet... Don''t think about that..." Sophia coughs lightly and a light blush also appears on her face. "Hehe, you blush~ It''s okay, time always flies fast." Orphea teases. Suddenly a voice broke their conversation. "I finally found you guys." A strange voice of a man sounds around. At this moment, Sophia and Orphea both stop, their expression solidified, and doesn''t dare to move. Meeting monsters in this place is not scary, what is scary is the people, and what is even more scary is that they are coming for you. A young man appears in front ghostly of them. he wears a black robe, white shirt, and black pants. He has sharp eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips, which give him an arrogant aura. His palm holding a shining blue crystal, the thin azure mana flows out and flies to Saze. His golden eyes gaze at them as if gazing into their deepest depths. "Good evening, gentleman... we don''t know each other and we have no grudge, right?" Sophia says with a trembling voice, gripping the horse-chopping sword tighter. "Yes, so can you give him to me? If you do, I will leave instantly." Lloyd asks coldly, without any emotion. Sophia and Orphea frown subconsciously, and after thinking for a while, they realize that this man might be here to save Saze. Neither of them was in a heyday state now and would definitely not be able to defeat the man in front of them. Orphea sighs and then glances at Sophia. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "Can I ask... who are you? Why do you want to get him?" Sophia asks carefully. "I may answer your question but also I will kill you." Lloyd says lightly. "Now, give him to me." Lloyd steps forward and says with an irresistible command tone. Sophia''s heart was beating fast and cold sweat broke out on her forehead. The pressure and coercion of Lloyd''s approach make her trembling uncontrollably. She grits her teeth, clenches her fist, and can only give up now. "Alright, sir..." Sophia says unwillingly. When she puts down Saze in front of Lloyd, a crow''s cry comes from the sky, and a black feather falls from Lloyd''s eyes. A strong sense of crisis sweeps through everyone. Powerful and boundless dark mana permeates the air, hiding in the night with the crows. At the same moment, Sophia and Lloyd both reach for Saze, but Lloyd''s strength overpowers Sophia''s. He lifts Saze onto his shoulder and quickly dashes backward to evade the black feather. Meanwhile, Sophia is unable to grab Saze in time, so she quickly takes Orphea''s hand and runs. away. Wong! A light green magic circle, with five-pointed stars and rune rings, accompanies the powerful resonant sound. Centered on the black feather, the magic circle keeps amplifying, covering everybody in the blink of an eye. Wong! Wong! Wong! Triple rune rings amplify, enlarging the magic circle. Many bright green chains emerge from the ground and bind everyone tightly. "Kra! Kra!" The crow let out unpleasant sounds. The crow condenses the overwhelming mana swoops down and lands on a branch. The jet-black feathers and eyes stare at them condescendingly. Its small body was like a terrifying grim reaper, and its invisible pressure spread out, pressing heavily on them. "Well well well, It seems there are three... no, four people here." The crow speaks in a tone that is a mix of sharp and hoarse. When it says this, its eyes flash with a strange light. and its gloomy voice makes everyone uncomfortable. The triple rune ring on the outside of the magic circle begins to rotate, and the green light becomes even brighter. Everyone was also shocked that this crow could speak human words. "Bastard, if you dare to kill the boy on my shoulder you will fall in trouble soon." Lloyd is outspoken as if no fear of the crow. As soon as these words come out, the pressure of the crow is instantly broken, turning the atmosphere into dead silence. The two girls narrow, look at him in shock, and begin to guess the power of the young man in front of them. "Oh? How?" The crow is taken aback, surprised by Lloyd''s unexpected bravery. It tilts its head, gazing at him with curious eyes, clearly intrigued by his boldness. "There is an idiom in the Orthan empire that says when one beats a dog, one must answer to its master." Lloyd raises his head, meeting the crow''s gaze, and says lightly. The atmosphere falls in silence again. "Hahahaha! Dog? Master? Hahaha! I haven''t heard such a funny joke in a long time, so you mean if I kill that boy you will cause me in trouble because you are his master?" Crow bursts out a sharp laugh and asks. "No, we both are dogs that have a powerful master." Lloyds says with a proud smirk. "Hahaha! How powerful is the master of you both? Can he can beat me?" With that, the crow exudes its aura, the aura of the fourth stage high level. "Yes... she is stronger than you..." Lloyd says difficulty, the aura of the fourth stage making him tremble and suffocate. "Oh? She? How strong is she exactly?" Crow asks. "I can''t say, she leaves a curse inside me, if I say her name or information about her I will die instantly." Lloyd sighs lightly. "Alright, fine. Let''s play a game, I will let you guys run for one minute first and then I will chase you guys. I need one female''s heart and one male''s heart." Crow says. "If you guys escape this forest or I can''t find you guys then it means you won and the timer starts... now!" After speaking, the light green magic circle dissipates with the chains. Just like firing a gun heralds the start of an escape game. Everyone is stunned for a moment, unable to react for a moment, and then starts running away the next moment. "Run! Escape from this forest!" Sophia grabs Orphea''s hand and runs quickly. "Hmpf!" Lloyd snorts but chooses to run deeper into the forest. Crow remains silent, watching Lloyd and Saze. It was thinking carefully about what Lloyd said. If what Lloyd said is true, then the crow will have to weigh its own strength. If crow can''t defeat their "master", then crow may not be able to survive in this forest. The crow hesitates, and his courage in speaking to Lloyd from start to finish doesn''t come across as an act. It feels genuine, even if the crow is angry and wants to kill him, he still has the means to survive. Moreover, instead of fleeing the forest, he runs deeper into its depths, which adds an air of authenticity to Lloyd''s words. "Ahh! But the heart is really important to me! Damn it, should I kill it?" Crow complains. As time flows, each minute passes swiftly. The crow takes flight, vanishing into the dark night, heading towards Sophia and Orphea. "Hmpf! Let me just get the female''s heart, as for the male''s heart... I''ll just test them a little bit." Crow snorts in the sky. This is human On a dark night, the crow searches for Sophia and Orphea. Crow can determine that although this is the outer ring of the forest, there is no way to get out of the forest in one minute unless there is a fast-moving arcane. At this moment, Sophia and Orphea run through the dense woods. Sophia counts to sixty in her mind, acutely aware that the crows are searching for them. "Orphea! We need to hide. The crows will probably come towards us first, and we won''t be able to escape from the forest in this little time." Sophia says anxiously. Without waiting for Orphea to respond, she immediately materializes a cleaver and then chops it into a tree. Sophia immediately opens a tree hole large enough for two people to hide inside and throws the wood far away but leaves a wood with bark. "What? Why... we''re near!" Orphea frowns and asks, unwilling to hide in. "The crow will definitely come towards us first and one minute has passed, we can''t escape from this forest within this little time!" Sophia says again in the tree hole. With that, she instantly grabs the Orphea''s hand and pulls her inside the tree hole. After that, she quickly covers the tree hole with the wood that has bark. The wood with bark perfectly fits with the hole and no gap can be seen. Inside the tree hole is a snug space, just big enough for two people to hide in if they press close together. In the darkness of the tree hole, Sophia and Orphea are so tightly entwined that their breaths mingle, and they can even sense each other''s heartbeat reverberating softly. "I-It''s so dark here..." Orphea stammers, trembling slightly, as she instinctively hugs Sophia tighter. "There is nothing to be afraid of, it is such a small place, there are only two of us." Sophia rolls her eyes. "Well then, why you are sure that crow will come to us at first?" Orphea asks. "Because we ran outside the forest, and the man took Saze and ran deeper into the forest. If the crows had gone to find them first, we would have run out of the forest." Sophia says quickly. "Well, that sounds reasonable. But...if we hide like this, the crows won''t be able to find it?" Orphea enlightens but asks again. "I''m not sure, I hope the crow will just pass through and leave." Sophia''s voice was uncertain. After waiting in the tree hole for a while, Sophia and Orphea feel a surge of majestic mana descending from the sky. They soon realize that the crow has arrived, and their hearts begin to race involuntarily. "Don''t speak and move." Sophia says calmly. Upon hearing this, Orphea immediately covers her mouth with her hands and presses tightly against Sophia. Clinging to Sophia, she doesn''t dare to move an inch out of fear, not even daring to breathe. Sophia is just as scared as Orphea, her body trembling slightly as she subconsciously hugs Orphea tightly. She holds her breath, not daring to move, silently hoping that the crow will fly past them without noticing. "Hm? Something weird here..." The crow flies in the sky says lightly. Majestic black mana descends, covering the area around it. Then the crow lands on a tree and uses its powers to look around and examine everything it sees. "A piece of wood that was cut down? Oh, hiding in the tree. It''s a good idea, but it''s a pity that their plan failed since I have the detect arcane." The crow says with a sharp voice. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Which tree is it~?" The crow hums softly as it searches for any signs of a cut on the trunk. As the black mana spreads around the trees, a series of images appear in the crow''s mind. The crow checks the images in his mind over and over again to see if there are any cut-down trees or any useful information. The heartbeats of the two girls inside the tree hole grow increasingly frantic, their bodies stiffening as breaths catch in their throats. Not only did they know that the crow had noticed their presence, but they even knew that the crow had landed on the tree where they were hiding right now. In this way, the crow uses its mana to examine the surroundings, but it overlooks the tree beneath its feet. As the mana continues to scatter, the crow begins to doubt itself and the piece of wood that has been cut down. "Did they leave that piece of wood on purpose to confuse me?" Crow asks in its mind confusedly. It flaps its wings and flies towards the piece of wood in the distance. After landing next to it, the crow lowers its head and begins to carefully examine the cut marks and remaining mana as it tries to find something. "Hmm... the cut marks are clean not broken by a beast, the silver mana remains on it... did I just miss something...?" Crow tilts its head. "Maybe it''s really used to confuse me, it''s really clever. I have to speed up now, I hope they haven''t escaped from this forest yet." The crow flaps its wings once again and rushes to the sky and further. When the crow flies away, it also takes away the majestic black mana. When the mana disappears, the two girls in the tree hole immediately feel relaxed, and then slowly pushing away the blocking wood. "Great! The crow didn''t notice us! It was just standing above us!" Orphea cheers in a small voice. "Don''t get too happy yet, we didn''t escape from this forest then means we are not safe." Sophia says and pushes the blocking wood. As the blocking wood falls, their eyes narrow by the things in front of them. A little crow stands in front of them, this little crow is all black, and even has eyes or no eyes. This is a clone condensed with mana. "Clone...?" Orphea asks. Kraa! The crow spreads its wing raises its head and lets out a huge scream resounding around. Orphea stuns but Sophia quickly reacts and moves. "Run!" Sophia grabs Orphea''s hand and runs again. Sophia immediately runs away in another direction towards the outside of the forest. As for the little crow, it screamed and was dispersed, only to be replaced by the scream of another crow. Kraa! As the shrill cries of crows fill the sky, Sophia and Orhpea''s hearts begin to despair. They were caught. If they want to fight, they can''t beat the crow. If they want to escape, they can''t run. They could only wait for death to take them away. "Ahahaha! I knew it! I knew that you guys were hiding there!" The sharp voice of a crow sounds in the sky. The crow slowly landed on the tree in front of Sophia and Orphea with majestic black mana. At this moment, the crow stares down at them and they also look up at the crow. "Alright, so where do you guys hide while I''m searching this area?" The crow asks. The inquiry is met with silence. The two girls shut their mouths tightly, showing no intention of answering the crow. Meanwhile, Sophia scans the surroundings, her eyes searching for something. "Don''t want to answer? What about this? Whoever answers first I will make sure that she walks out of the forest alive." Crow declares, thinking that one of them might answer it question instantly. However, things did not develop as expected. Sophia ignores the crow''s words while Orphea keeps her gaze fixed on it. Her lips parted slightly, but she grits her teeth and shuts her mouth tightly. "You want to answer? You can just say it, I won''t break the promise. I need only one female heart so just answer this simple question then you can survive." Crow says slowly. "I-I won''t betray my friend!" Orphea shouts loudly to the crow. The crow stuns for a while and laughs. "Ha... Ha... Haha... Hahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!!" The crow laughs maniacally as if hearing the funniest joke in this world. Under the dim light of the eye rune of night, the scene of the crow laughing towards the sky is like an evil villain. It laughs for a long time, its body unable to stay still as it moves, causing its feathers to fall off along the way. "Betray?! Hahaha! Aw come on, girl, you may not learn many things but at least one thing..." The crow stops a bit. "And that is... abandon your kindness and humanity! In this garbage world, kindness has no value! There is no place for survival! Everything...! Everything must be based on your own interests!" "So what are you waiting for?! While your friend wasn''t paying attention, just answer me quickly! You have to know! Betrayal is not a shame! Betrayal, surrender, corruption, and other dirty desires are not a shame! In fact, it''s normal... because this is your instinct! This is human''s instinct! THIS IS HUMAN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"