71:59:59

A thin line of blood appeared along Arcid's throat. Drops of blood came down from the wound, but that was all. The branding iron was still pressed against Aiden's chest, and the man in front of him was still smiling.

"To think you can penetrate the skin of rhinoceros! You're not a simple person," said Arcid. He put more pressure on the branding iron as the red blood glow of the branding iron grew stronger.

Even if the blood came out, Aiden knew it was nothing but a skin wound. He tried to hold the branding iron in his desperate struggle, but he was a little too late.

[Then the host will be in an immobile state for 5 minutes.]

[Time till recovery: 4:59]

'Shit.' He cried out in his heart, losing the strength of his hand. The lackeys, who were thrown into the air with the [Wind Burst], were quick to get into action. Almost all of their body weight was on Aiden's hand, making sure he couldn't move again.

'I've got to do something.' Although he knew that, it was also the truth that he was out of options. 'I need to restart [Zone] again. I need to...' Even before he was able to complete his plan, the ESS gave him the bad news.

[Forcefully initiating [Zone] will mess up the mana channel. The physical status of the host will be permanently reduced. In the worst case, the host will lose the ability to use the mana…]

'Shut up.' He cried out in his heart, 'What do you want me to do? Do you want me to become a…'

He couldn't complete it before his thoughts lost its track. As soon as the blood mana penetrated his heart, it was too late. His body arched up like a bow as if he was in pain.

As the blood mana had entered his heart, Aiden felt that his heart had been cut off from his body. There was no physical pain, but the feeling made it hard for him to breathe. It was like he didn't have any heart at all.

The blood mana slowly wrapped around his heart, and at the next moment, the blood mana burst out of his heart.

[The wind mana circulation in the host's body is interrupted...]

[The host's recovery process has been interrupted...]

…

Strings of notification appeared in his mind, but Aiden could not hear any of it. With the blood mana flowing through his mana channels, his body was not under his control at all.

Intrinsic marks began to form on his heart. While Aiden felt that someone had engraved his heart with molten lava. At the same time, the mana began to accumulate around both of his wrists.

Nobody knew if it was because of the blood mana or if he wasn't recovered from the side-effect of mana exhaustion, but Aiden couldn't make a single sound.

Aiden was conscious through the whole ordeal. He could feel the pain while his heart was chained by the blood mana. The feeling that something was weighing down his heart or the burning sensation around his wrist, he could feel it all, but he was no longer in control of his body.

"Stand up." Only when Aiden heard those words did he regain control of his body. But it was still too painful for him to stand up, neither he had any intention of obeying the order.

However, with each passing moment, the blood chain that was wrapped around his heart began to constrict and his body began to heat up.

"What? Do you want to die?" With a bright smile on his face, Arcid asked, "If you don't stand up, you might die in ten seconds."

Even as Arcid spoke, the chains around Aiden's heart did not stop shrinking. Although he didn't want to believe the man in front of him, he knew it was the truth.

'Dying? It might be better.' Although he was thinking along the line, he stood up by instinct. As soon as he stood up, the chain around his heart loosened.

"Where are you from?" Even before I could breathe a sigh of relief, with the question the chain began to constrict again.

With a frown on his face, Aiden replied, "From the western mountain." And the burning sensation that spread out of his heart forced Aiden to his knees.

"Don't lie to me. Otherwise, you're going to die faster. Come on, tell me, where are you from?"

Clutching his chest, Aiden was staring at Arcid. No matter how much he wanted to beat this guy up, he was powerless. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I am from Planet Will."

His words fell like a bomb. The silence deepened in the cave. Even if Arcid wanted to say something he couldn't help looking at Aiden again.

'Are all the people on the new planet so powerful?' That was what Lord Arcid was most curious about, but before he could ask, the two lackeys who went into the cave ran out.

"Boss, the cave collapsed. We couldn't get inside."

"Collapsed, huh?" Arcid muttered the words before turning to Aiden. He asked, "what happened inside the cave?"

The chains on his heart began to constrict again, but Aiden could not answer. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it; he didn't know it. There was nothing when he tried to remember it.

He remembered that they had gone into the cave and found the path on the other end of it. Even if Kaiser said he shouldn't go, he chose to go in and ...

That was all he could remember about it. The next thing he remembered was that he was on the cold cave floor, with hands and legs grabbed by someone. This son of a bitch smiled at him as he pressed the branding iron on his chest.

"I don't know." That's what he wanted to say, but what came out of his mouth was, "My party was attacked by monsters and the cave collapsed. I'm the only survivor."

Aiden did not know why he had said that, nor did he know how it happened, but to his surprise, the binding on his heart was loosened again. 'Is that the truth? Why can't I remember it?'

'Attacked by a monster? How strong could the monster be, so that even Kaiser could not handle it?' Similar to Aiden, Arcid was also confused. But thinking that it might be a mana beast, a smile appeared on his face, "What a monster? Was it a mana beast?"

"I don't remember." The intended word didn't come out again. Aiden said, "My party was attacked by monsters and the cave collapsed. I'm the only survivor."

As he spoke those words, Aiden realized that he couldn't control his mouth. 'What could have happened?' Aiden was curious about the abnormal behaviour of his body, but there was someone else who was more amazed.

"Listen to me boy, I'm going to ask you for the last time. What happened inside the cave? Was it a mana beast that attacked you?"

"My party was attacked by monsters and the cave collapsed. I'm the only survivor." Aiden's answer was no surprise.

"Are you fucking with me?" And the sudden punch from Arcid sent Aiden flying. His body slammed on the wall and fell. Aiden's body was weak, to begin with, and wrathful of punch did more damage to it.

Aiden coughed up some blood. But by the looks on his face, it wasn't like Arcid didn't care much about Aiden's health. "Just because you're a slave, don't think I'm not going to kill you." As he spoke, he landed another kick on Aiden.

The pain almost forced Aiden to faint, but with the hatred in his heart, he persisted. His stare angered Arcid more, he was about to unleash hell on Aiden but…

"Boss, he has a blood tattoo, there's no way he could lie," the man checked the Arcid's face before adding, "We should leave, too. There's not much time left before the time is over."

"What? Maybe there's a mana beast in there. And you want me to give up on that?" The cry of Arcid resounded in the cave.

'I know you're going to say something like that.' The lackey frowned in his heart but dared not to show it on his face, "even if there's one, I don't think it's going to survive the collapse. At the top of that, I don't think we've had enough time."

"You, stay here. Don't you dare to move." Arcid yelled at Aiden before he ran into the fallen cave.

The sighs of the five lackeys resonated with each other as soon as he left. They all knew that once their boss had found the trail, there was no way he would give up. And there is nothing they can do about it.

"Hey, put on a robe on him. And give him an illusion necklace, too. It's not like we can get him out of here while looking like that."

Aiden wanted to resist as they put a robe on him, but his body was too weak to listen to him. And all his resistance did not produce any result. He became a puppet without enough strength.

Every struggle was corroding the strength out of him. And with the pent-up fatigue and tiredness, Aiden soon fell asleep.

It was almost six hours, according to the ESS, when Aiden woke up again. To his surprise, Arcid had not yet returned. The pain was bearable; he recovered his mana.

For a moment he thought it was just a dream, but soon he realized that there was a chain that still bound his heart.

Looking at the cave Arcid had taken, Aiden wondered, 'What could have happened there? ESS, do you know what happened?'

[The event log was saved in the database. Do you want to see the host? ]

'Yes,' Aiden almost said but decided otherwise. 'Let's not think about it, it's better to think about the way to escape.'

As Aiden thought of a way to undo the shackle on his heart, Arcid came out of the cave. His hand and his dress were dirty. There was dirt on his face, too, and the effect of failure was on his eyes.

As soon as their eyes met, Arcid charged him like a hungry beast. As if he had no problem identifying Aiden's changed appearance. But before he could begin his torture, one of the lackeys came to Aiden's rescue.

"Boss, we're supposed to go. Otherwise, it's going to be too late. We don't have a problem taking him with us. After we get out of the mine, you can do whatever you want."

The anger and the reluctance on Arcid's face were obvious. But the lackey added, "If we're late, the city lord might decrease the payment."

Arcid snorted and said to Aiden, "Don't you talk to anyone. Just follow me."

This time, however, the bindings did not constrict his heart. But Aiden knew what would happen if he tried to talk or run away. Aiden didn't have any other way, even if he was reluctant to follow him.

Soon enough, they came out to the outer cavern where everyone was resting. Six hours were enough for the mercenary leader to check the mana crystals.

As soon as one of the lackeys declared that one of the caves had collapsed, and Kaiser and others had been buried, whispers rose in the cave. But looking at the angry frown on Arcid's face, none of them dared to say anything aloud.

But most of them had no interest in the misfortune of others, as long as it did not affect them. They were satisfied that they didn't have to wait any longer and that they could get out and enjoy the fruit of their hard work.

So they came out of the cave with the lead of Angry Arcid. But as soon as the sun shone on Aiden's fake face, a notification popped up.

[Special Ranked Mission completed]

[Mission: Explore a mana crystal mine.

Condition: 1. Find a mana crystal mine.

2. Find Grade A or above graded mana crystal

3. Explore the mine.

Rewards: 500 credit points. +2 Authority.]

[Team EP00 has completed all the basic and special grade missions].

[Congratulation to all the operatives. Please reach your nearest shuttle pod to leave Earth within three days.]

[Remaining time: 71:59:59]