The land beyond the cave...

Kaiser broke two sticks and made a cross out of them, before plunging it to the ground. It was the place where the remains of the three slaves had been buried.

'Religion continues to be strong in this world.' Aiden sighed. After the Federation came to power, all religions were strictly prohibited. But now that the head of power has shifted to another planet, the hidden religion is growing up again.

Aiden had no intention of becoming concerned about it. He found the last survivor of the fight as he looked around. Although he had lost his hand in the fight, he was able to regenerate it under the influence of his power and potion.

'The ability to re-grow limbs is not bad. Even if he's not strong, he still has a very good ability. Should I also absorb the essence of a spider? Who knows, I can awaken the power of another urban myth, Spiderman.'

Even if he was contemplating his future courses, he was keeping an eye on everything that was going on around him. And the first thing he'd noticed was that the slaves were stealing glances of him from time to time.

It was what he had expected, especially after that mana breath did not affect him. On top of it, that breath not only corroded his clothes but also the illusion necklace, thus exposing his actual face.

Without the upper garment, the scar on his chest and abdomen attracted a lot of attention. It wasn't like they didn't have a shirt, but they're too big. It's going to hinder the movement in the fight, so Aiden chose not to wear it.

"What are you going to do now?" Hearing Kaiser's question, Aiden couldn't help but sigh.

"I don't know." Aiden looked at the dark path that led out of the cave, "I think I should go there."

"Wouldn't it be dangerous?" Kaiser was visibly worried. Though he still didn't know how Aiden escaped from the mana breath, "Don't think you're going to be lucky every time."

Aiden smiled, receiving his concern. "Why are you so worried about me?" even if Aiden wanted to ask him, he knew it would be like disrespecting his intentions.

"I don't know the reason, but that kind of mana doesn't work on me," Aiden spoke after Kaiser sat beside him.

"What kind of mana? The dark grey cloud?" Kaiser wasn't sure what Aiden was saying, "But when you tried to absorb it, you almost died."

"It's the Death Mana." Aiden said, "That's what I call it. Do you know the Devil in the Dark Forest? She also uses this type of mana. As soon as it touches humans, it corrupts life out of them."

"The Death Mana? The Devil?" that information was too intriguing for him, but he asked with a smile, "How do you know it is she?"

Aiden went on with a smile, "The devil couldn't kill me, and she even tried to give me her totem."

"And you refused," Kaiser was sure about it. Because there was no totem in his body. "But to say 'no' to the devil's face, you're fiercer than I thought."

"She was surprisingly understanding." Aiden had no intention to say more about it. He continued on the main topic.

"You can see that the mana breath of Cerebus doesn't work on me either." Aiden continued with a nod from Kaiser, "And I think if I go there, I might find an answer to all these questions."

"Are you going?" Kaiser asked. Taking his smile as a confirmation, Kaiser said, "Wouldn't it be better not to go? Even if the mana doesn't affect you, you still don't know what's inside. It might be too powerful to handle."

'I might find a way to get stronger.' And it was a chance that Aiden didn't want to give up. Aiden smiled as he stood up, "If I can't fight it, I can run. They're not going to be able to surround me inside the path."

Aiden walked towards the path, but before he could enter the path, Kaiser said, "Let me go with you."

"You should stay here. They might need you." Aiden said with a smile and walked into the path. And in a flash, Aiden was swallowed by darkness.

It was like a simple path, like the one he'd taken to get here. Dark and cold with mana crystal coming out of the ground and the walls.

He would have thought that nothing would be different, if not for the notifications from the ESS ...

[The mana concentration is increased by 75%]

[Mana circulation rate 59% higher than normal.]

[Mana recovery rate: 4 mana/minute]

Looking at the notification, Aiden frowned. He could feel that the concentration of mana in the air had increased, but what confused him was the decrease in the recovery rate of mana.

'Higher mana concentration generally helps to restore mana, yet...' Aiden couldn't help becoming more vigilant.

[Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 12]

[Skill [Wind Skin] activated. Mana used:2/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: 10]

He unsheathed his blade and put the light mana stone in his pocket. Aiden knew that if an ambush was set, a bright fire crystal could act as a beacon.

It took a few moments to get his eye used to the darkness of the cave. And with the help of his heightened hearing, he had no trouble moving on. Although the expected attack didn't come, Aiden couldn't stop frowning.

[The mana concentration is increased by 100%]

[Mana circulation rate 19% higher than normal.]

[Mana recovery rate: 2 mana/minute]

'What the hell?' Even if he cursed, he could feel a change in the air. The more he progressed, the cooler it became. The amount of crystal has also increased.

The walls and the roof were completely covered in crystal. Apart from the thin strip on the ground, there was no place Aiden could touch.

But the pressure mana was exerting on his body had also increased. It was like his body was now filled with lead and running took a lot of effort.

He had a hard time breathing, as his chest felt too tight. Even the blade in his hand was heavy. Yet Aiden dragged his tired and tired body with sheer willpower.

Whether it was an hour or two, Aiden didn't know how long he had been walking. The sweat that dripped from his body made his pants wet. The massage from the ESS appeared in his mind again.

[The mana concentration is increased by 157%]

[Mana circulation rate 34% below normal.]

[Mana recovery rate: 1 mana/ 9 minutes]

'Should I just give up?' Aiden was even having a hard time thinking. All he wanted to do now was lie down and sleep. Yet he dared not to do so. 'This may be why they never found the end of the cave.'

Aiden's body wasn't listening to him, and he gave up going forward. Aiden never knew whether it was coincident or not, but just his legs stopped moving and a cool wind blew from the front.

'What was that?' Aiden was amazed. 'ESS check for the mana concentration.'

[The mana concentration is increased by 161%]

[Mana circulation rate 39% below than normal.]

[Mana recovery rate: 1 mana/ 10 minutes]

'The mana concentration didn't decrease, then how?' Aiden was confused. More than anything, it was the wind that made no sense to him. 'How can there be wind inside a cave?'

The moment he realized one of the reasons, he was elated. He gathered all of his energy and ran. After 20 short seconds, he stood under the dark sky with a large blue moon and a green meadow beneath him, stretching out to the mountain on the horizon.

'The wind felt so nice.' Aiden flopped on the soft grass beneath him. All the fatigue and tiredness washed over him as he lay down on the ground. His eyes were about to close, but…

'Wasn't the moon blue a moment ago?' Aiden jumped back up. And when he looked above… 'It is not earth.'

Aiden was quick to grab his blade as he whispered to ESS, 'Can you identify the star system?'

Even without the confirmation from the ESS, Aiden was certain that it could neither be earth nor Planet Will. 'Neither of them had two moons.' Aiden looked at the giant blue moon and the normal red moon in the sky as ESS confirmed.

[0.92% similarity with earth's sky and 0.046% similarity with Planet Will is observed.]

'So it is a new planet.' But fear overshadowed his excitement. Aiden looked back to confirm that the mouth of the cave was still there. 'But how? I just passed through a cave, and...'

[Discovery of a new star system is confirmed.]

'Shut up.' Aiden cried out in his heart. Even if he knew it, he has no way to explain such a supernatural phenomenon.

On top of that, the feeling that was dragging him here disappeared as soon as he came to this unknown land. Aiden had no idea what had caused it to happen. Yet as he tried to return, he found a sign of civilization.

There was a statue about ten meters from the cave entrance. An animal with a pair of wings that he had never seen before. It had a beak of a bird, the head of a lizard, but a human body.

Its entire body was covered with feathers like a bird, but the scales covered the parts under its knee and elbow. What was most surprising was the small mana crystals that sprouted from all over his body.

'It looks like it's carved out of wood, but...' Aiden couldn't help himself from touching it, 'its wings are made of stone.' With its feathery wings spread outward, it was ready to take the flight.

'Come on, it's not the time to appreciate art.' However, by the time he realized it, it was too late. A low growl forced Aiden to turn to the cave entrance.

And there stood the three-eyed dog between Aiden and the entrance to the cave. Looking at that, Aiden sighed in relief. 'It's a D-grade beast. I should go back as soon as I take care of it.'

After making a mental note, Aiden crouched down and was about to pounce towards the dog, but...

[Mana concentration is 200% above normal.]

[Wind mana unavailable]

[Due to the suppression effect of foreign mana, the host is unable to initiate any magic skill.]

'Shit' Aiden cursed. [Wind Burst] didn't activate, but he was calm. Even if the magic spell didn't work Aiden was confident as long as he could activate the…

[Mana circulation 62% below normal]

[All the mana dependent innate skills are inactive mode.]

On the other hand, the three-eyed dog didn't give him the chance to reorganize his strategy and pounced towards him.