From the jaws of death to...

Even if Aiden knew that opening his mouth and crying out loud would not produce a single sound, he couldn't help it. The pain of every bone in his body being broken one by one is not something that can be endured.

And it was much more painful when he was forced to hear the sound of his breaking bones. Aiden was just trying to drown the insufferable sound, and he was successful.

"What are you crying for?" asked the voice. The voice made him shudder a bit. He dared not to shout again, but to accept the pain in silence.

But there was no pain... Only to be even more surprised, Aiden opened his eyes. However, he was forced to close his eyes again due to irritation.

It wasn't endless darkness; it was the cavern. The three beasts were here. So was the black-eyed man. And the pile of dead bodies and the deep stench of blood reminded him of the hopeless reality.

He looked up and found the man with black eyes smiling at him. "Maybe you thought I'd kill you." Looking at Aiden, who couldn't dare answer, his smile grew bigger, "If you wish I could help you with that."

Aiden had no such wish, or he dared to joke with him. He understood the difference between their strength is similar to heaven and hell. More than that, he had no intention of going through that pain again.

"That is the attitude I like." Looking at submissive Aiden, the man's smile grew bigger. He said, "Now come here."

Those words were like a death sentence to Aiden. Aiden wanted to escape, he knew what the outcome would be if he tried.

'Only if I was stronger…' He clenched his fist, 'if I had more power…' Many 'if' resonated inside his mind as he walked towards the man, 'I swear, if I meet this bastard again I will…

The man raised his hand and placed it on his head. Aiden gritted his jaw in pain, but it never came. However, Aiden's eyes lost focus and his body went stiff. Aiden's clenched grip loosened on its own as the man spoke again.

"Your party was attacked by monsters and the cave collapsed. You're the only survivor." As the man spoke, his black, seamless eyes turned into a reflection of a starry night for a moment, before it returned to normal.

Aiden nodded like a puppet to his words. And the man went on to say, "Now, run as fast as you can." Aiden did as he said, and ran away on the path that led them out of the cavern.

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

[The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]]

[The host has activated innate skill [Zone]]

[3.8578]

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]

A string of notifications appeared inside his mind, but Aiden's body moved like he couldn't hear anything. Aiden vanished in the darkness at the next moment.

"Hey, where are you going now?" The black man asked. Not to Aiden, but to the blood-beaked flying beast who had the intention of following him.

{Author's note: The man was speaking in the language of Ifrinn.}

"@#@#@&#@" the beast answered impatiently.

"No, Don't." The black man shook his head. "If you go out now, you will die due to the lack of mana. This desolated land hasn't matured yet. With the amount of mana you need every minute, you won't even survive a full day."

"@#@@@$@#"

"After a long sleep, I know you're hungry." The black man sighed as he said. "Okay, you can go to one of the lower planes," he said. And as soon as he did, the flying monster went into the path that led to Ifrinn.

Looking at his excited subordinate, he couldn't help but smile. But soon he realized that someone else was also staring at him. It was the armless beast.

"@#@#@#@##"

"I know that." The man gave a nod. "But it's the way I told Adurag. The mana in the outer words is so low that I would have had a hard time surviving there. Even if I want a piece of new land, the land needs at least 2-3 years to mature."

"@#@#@@@@#"

"Yes, those Ent bastards." The man frowned as he said, "But they're different. They can survive with a little mana, unlike us. But to think that these humans have been able to take down two of the three Ents, it's rather surprising."

"@#@&@"

"No, no. Even that greedy Ordog might have had a hard time surviving in those lands." Remembering what Aiden had told him, he said, "I bet it is not her first body. She may have changed vessels several times. But…" The man turned to the armless man and asked, "Are you not talking too much today?"

The beast did not answer this question and went into the tunnel, too. The black-eyed man smiled and looked at the path that Aiden had taken, before going down the same path that his subordinates had taken.

"@#@#@," he said to the four-armed skeletons, before leaving the cavern.

The skeleton put the shamshir in his buckler and held the glaive with both hands. At the next moment, the glaive was radiating heat.

*Boom* *Boom*

The crystals inside the cavern began to burst like popcorn as the grey cloud rushed to the blade of the glaive. From the initial silver, the colour of the blade turned to grey and then black. And it was the skeleton that brought it down.

In a blink, the bright light crystal on the roof shattered into dust. The dark grey mana crystals were no exception. And with the aftershock of the explosion, the whole cavern crumbled.

**************

Many had already gathered at the first cavern. They have already excavated the amount they needed. As Lord Arcid was checking the amount, none of them was allowed to get out of the mine.

And the quake shook the whole cavern. Few unsuspecting ones even fell off their asses. Loose crystal fell from the roof and shattered. And with it, the panic spread.

"What was that?" That was the question of most of them, but none of them could answer.

"Can it happen that some kind of mana beast has appeared?"

"How could a mana beast do that?"

"What are you talking about? How could a mana beast be so powerful? Don't you know that the mana beast is super weak?"

Many of them have different opinions, but none of them knew what the real reason was. Few of them were so scared that they wanted to get out of the mine as soon as possible.

"What are you so afraid of?" the loud voice of Lord Arcid silenced all the whispers. "Don't you dare to go anywhere. I'll check it myself."

"Kajiba, check the amount first. Don't let anyone get out until I come back." Lord Arcid ordered the mercenary leader as he led five of his people along the path that Aiden and his group had taken at the beginning.

"Boss, what could that be? Could this be some kind of beast?" All those who came with him were from the skull forest bandit. Arcid was no lord to them, but their boss.

"I'm sure some idiot must have hit the mana crystal in the wrong way and ended up creating an explosion," said another bandit.

"But it wouldn't be better if it is the mana beast." They could all see that their boss was excited. More than mana crystal, Lord Arcid had come to mine in the hope of finding a mana beast. Alas! Even if he had taken four different routes, he couldn't find one.

Lord Arcid had a strange habit of collecting the beast essence of the mana beast of the mine. In his collection, he has almost 42 types of beast essence. Still, every time a mana beast is found, he would spare no effort to collect it.

"These beasts are far stronger than the outer mana-beasts. If one can absorb it, he'll be at least ten times stronger." That's what he always says. Nobody knew whether or not it was true, but they had no way of finding it, as none of the slaves injected with the essence had ever survived.

"You have brought the tools, right?" Arcid asked, as his speed continued to rise. And the other continued to follow. They soon found the cavern with five different paths, and there was a naked body in the middle.

'It is not mana beast.' The frowns on his face made his thought obvious. Yet he moved in and shook the body with his leg. But there was no movement. As the body was lying on his chest, none of them could identify the person.

One of the men moved in with caution with Arcid's sign and touched the body. "It's hot. He might be alive," said the man as he turned the body around and checked the pulse. "He's still alive."

But before Lord Arcid could say anything, two of the lackeys voiced their thoughts at the same time.

"Could he be the one that the city lord guard is looking for? He's got the scar above his heart."

"Boss, this is the one from the western mountain who killed the bully. He attacked the young boss, too."