Chapter 3: Unforeseen Arrival
In a plain filled with numerous trees, with mountain ranges forming a natural wall, and waterfalls cascading down from the mountains, a lone figure emerged from a blue portal. This man had black hair and his eyes appeared to be devoid of emotions. He wore a black hoodie paired with black shorts and white sports shoes. The most notable feature on his face was a deep scar on his left cheek. He was Lo.
As he surveyed the surrounding area, Lo realized that he had arrived in a forest plain. In the distance, he could hear the voices of a group of hunters who appeared to be recruiting others to join their party.
"Seeking a peak 0th mortal!, will be shari.."
"Recruiting a low 0th mortal to act as porter, the tea.."
"Need a 1st star rank tank....''
"Finding a.."
'It's like a marketplace,' Lo thought to himself as he scan the bustling scene of hunters recruiting others for their tasks.
Lo began weighing the pros and cons of joining a party or going solo. After several minutes of consideration, Lo ultimately decided to hunt alone.
Although joining a party would be safer and more efficient in hunting down beasts, Lo lacked the necessary AC to financially support himself within the academy. Despite Venes having paid off his tuition, Lo realized that he needed to prioritize his own financial stability.
If he joined a party, he would need to share the gains with everyone, but if he hunted alone, he could keep everything for himself. If he was lucky enough to find a hidden cave, Lo would be able to obtain relics and skill books that would cost him a couple of thousand ACs in one go.
'It's decided then,' Lo dashed through the forest, his eyes scanning the surroundings for potential targets.
As he ran, he was surprised to come across a few wild animals that had yet to be assimilated by mana, turning them into mindless beasts. He thought to himself, 'I've never expected that I would still find wild animals that still haven't assimilated by mana turning them into mindless beasts,'
The gates are formed due to the phenomena called 'Mana Compression'. When mana invades the planet, there is an overwhelming amount of mana from outer space due to millennia of mana accumulation within the outer atmosphere.
However, not all of the mana can invade the planet as it is suppressed by the laws of the universe. if there is a huge influx of invading mana, some of the mana will compress into a tight spot instead of invading the planet.
When this happens, a gate will randomly form throughout the planet. If the gate is close to a destroyed or runic structure, they will integrate and form a dungeon. Towers, on the other hand, suddenly pop out of the earth with an earthquake magnitude of 8.0 or higher due to the invading mana, that is assimilating within the world.
Lo dashed through the forest, lost in his thought about the nature of the gates, dungeons, and towers. He noticed that these structures were essentially pocket dimensions created by mana in order to prevent the world from being destroyed by "mana corruption," which occurs when a living being ingests too much mana. The laws of the universe that govern the world created these structures as a solution to this problem.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks as he spotted a beast in the distance. It looked like a white tiger with green irises and a golden slit for pupils, giving it the appearance of a snake. Its body was covered in white silver fur, making it look like a mythical creature from a storybook.
ROOOAAAARR!
'Fuck..., what luck, A peak 0th mortal rank White Silver Tiger and its even mutated..' Lo cursed under his breath as he lamented on his luck.
He swiftly deactivated [ Shadow Identification ] and unsheathed his short sword, holding it with two hands in a fighting stance. The majestic beast launched itself into the air and came hurtling towards Lo.
Reacting swiftly, Lo rolled forward just as the White Tiger lunged towards him.
BOOM!
The ground shook as the White Tiger lands in a crater created by its impact.
ROAAAAAAR!
It growled loudly, and charged towards Lo with lightning speed. Realizing the danger, Lo quickly activated his skill [ State of Calming Sea ], calming himself down.
Lo's mind raced as he quickly considered all the possible scenarios and strategy for defeating the White Silver Tiger.
'This strategy would work,' he thought
"However, I only have two minutes before I run out of mana. And I can only activate [ Mana Sense ] once during the battle. I need to end this quickly or it will become troublesome."
As the White Tiger approached him, Lo's enhanced senses allowed him to dodge its attacks with ease. With a swift movement, he slashed the beast's left leg, causing it to roar loudly in pain.
ROOOAAAAAAAAAR!
The cry echoed through the forest, Although Lo thought the attack was shallow, he remained calm and spokes. "The strategy should work now, as its speed will greatly decrease due to the wound I inflicted on its left leg."
The beast's eyes turned bloodshot, as it glared at Lo with a heavy, murderous intent. Despite its efforts to attack, the White Tiger's movements were now slowed due to its injury, making it easier for Lo to evade its attacks.
Lo gradually was able to see its movements, as he dashes within the area. he used the trees to separate away from the White Tiger.
The enraged beast gradually unable to keep up with Lo as it kept seeing a shadow moving within 10 meters around it. Lo abruptly changed his direction, and dashed towards the White Tiger back at an unfathomable speed.
Using the his sword on his hand, Lo diagonally slash down towards its left body, and immediately backed away from a safe distance.
ROAAAAAAAAR!
Blood splattered the ground, and a clean cut can be seen through its left body. the majestic White Tiger now soaked in blood growls in pain. it can't keep up with Lo's speed. Due to its pride as a White Tiger, the beast doesn't want to use magic against a mere human, however with its life on the line it begins to throw its pride out the window.
Lo notices a sudden change around the area on the White Tiger, proceeds to use [ Mana Sense ] to figure out what is going on. Lo stared at the White Tiger with a stoic expression as he noticed the Mana density gathering around him.
"It seems like you are able to use mana arts just like any White Silver Tiger, I thought that mutation of yours makes you impotent to use mana." Lo scoffed
ROOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
The enraged White Tiger growled loudly, it used
Xiu!..
Xiiu!...
Xiiuu!..
Even after seeing this scene, Lo was still composed as he had already calculated the distance that the wind spear would accurately reach him.
The piercing power and speed of
The difference between a peak 0th mortal rank and a low 1st star rank hunter is not by no means small after all, most peak 0th mortal rank doesn't have classes and let alone traits, meanwhile after ascending through low 1st star rank, the system not only lets you choose a class but will also obtain a trait.
However there are a couple of major weakness when using
Quickly casting
And lastly there is the distance of the
As the five wind spears flew toward Lo's face, he stayed in his position and didn't move an inch.
10 meters...
9 meters..
8 meters..
...
2 meters...
WHOOSH!...
WHOOOOSH!..
The five wind spears disperse one by one within thin air. and Lo, who had already known its short distance, had use it in his advantage.
After all five wind spears have completely dispersed. The White Tiger realizes its mistakes and begins to fall in despair.
It doesn't have any chance to win against Lo at all, not only was it tired and heavily injured but also all of its mana reserves were used up against Lo.
"When you dash towards me, that's also when you fall into my trap."
Lo disappeared and re-appeared right behind the White Tiger like a ghost.
"Have a good night."
Lo slashes with his short sword right behind the neck of the White Tiger.
Splat..
Blood Splattered everywhere, and a decapitated tiger head rolling down on the ground.
Deactivating [ State of Calming Sea ], Lo uses a short dagger and stab it at the back of the decapitated tiger head and slit it open.
A deep purple colored crystal appeared inside the head, as Lo joyfully exclaimed, "Mana Crystal! I hit the jackpot!."
Picking up the bloodied mana crystal, he placed it in his pockets before continuing his journey through the forest.
Several hours later..
After killing seven more intermediate mortal rank beasts and a peak mortal rank White Silver Tiger, Lo had accumulated two intermediate rank mana crystals and a peak rank mana crystal.
As he heads back to the gate, he was still scanning his surroundings. When he noticed a mossy wall that appeared to be covering a cave.
Lo moved towards the mossy wall and unsheathes his sword, he swings his short sword to clear the mossy wall; once he cleared his way, he noticed a cave entrance.
"Hidden Cave!!" Lo exclaimed delightedly.
As he walk deeper into the cavern, Lo discovered a chest at the end. although he was suspicious as to why there was no beast guarding the chest, he ignored it as he just only wanted to open the chest right in front of him.
Lo opens the chest with his two hands. After opening the chest, he discovered a old black skill book, which puzzled him, causing him to mutter, 'black? I've never heard of it in the novel..' |
In the novel there are only 10 categories : White ( G ), Grey ( F ), Brown ( E ), Red ( D ), Orange ( C ), Yellow ( B ), Green ( A ), Cyan ( S ), Indigo ( SS ), Purple ( SSS )
Black was never one of the categories, Lo speculates that maybe its a hidden category just like any other novel out there, however without concrete evidence he cannot have 100% certainty this was the case.
Picking up the book, it suddenly glows, flashing the whole cavern in bright white light. Lo covered his eyes with his hands as he exclaims, "My Eyes!"
...
As the flash of bright white light fades away, the cavern returned to its original darkness.
"W-What happened?" Lo wondered, looking around he noticed that the black book disappeared and quickly called out system info.
[ User : Lo, ????
Rank : 0th(Intermediate) Mortal Rank
Title : Transmigrator of the Ruined World(Hidden), The ■■■■■
Class : None
Martial Technique : None
Blessing : [???]
< The Host is unable to interpret the concept >
Bloodline : [???]
< The Host is unable to unlock the Bloodline >
Talents : ??? - Blood Scarlet Eyes
Traits : None
Energy : None
Skills :
[ Active : State of Calming Sea ( B Rank ) ]
[ Active : Mana Sense ( G Rank )
[ Passive : Eyes of the Abyss ( ??? )
Tier 1 ( unlocked ) : Appraisal - The host can now appraise other individuals's status window.
>Restrictions :
~Individuals who are one rank higher than the host cannot be appraised.
Tier 2 ( locked )....
Tier 3 ....
Tier ....
]
'.....'
Silence descended, as Lo was speechless at the skill he obtained from the black book.
[ Appraisal ] a skill that didn't appear inside the novel. however to Lo, who have read countless novels back in my past life, he could confidently say that [ Appraisal ] is one of the most broken skill that he have encountered whenever he reads a novel.
After mulling over numerous scenarios for how he could make the best use of [ Appraisal ], Lo walk backed towards the gate where he had initially first arrived.
Lo hid himself by wearing a hoodie over his head. as he was about to walk through, a girl suddenly caught his eye.
He felt that he recognized her from somewhere inside the story, so he decides to use [ Appraisal ]
When Lo saw the girls' name, his eyes nearly popped out from his socket due to the shock and mumbled, "Eleanor Enes."