Core

core

" Wait, something more important! " said Loli, interrupting. " How do we get those cores you gave me earlier? "

" The cores, " Lua explained calmly, " are mostly obtained by killing demonic beasts in the forest, but only the stronger ones can drop them. If you're lucky, of course. There's another way too: gathering fragments. "

" Fragments? " asked Loli.

" Yes. Every demonic beast, as it grows, absorbs mana and generates Mana Fragments inside its body. Ten of those fragments form a small Mana Stone. Then ten small ones combine into a medium one; ten medium ones form a large one; and ten large stones make a Demonic or Beast Core. Weaker beasts only drop fragments, and not always"only if you're lucky. "

Lua paused, remembering she still had a Mana Stone in her hand, then brought it to her mouth and continued eating it.

" Wait, that was...! " Loli exclaimed, surprised.

But her brother interrupted her, thoughtful and serious:

" Can you explain a bit how this world works and what we're supposed to do here? "

Lua nodded, knowing that if they wanted resources, they'd have to obtain them themselves.

" This world is called Drunai, and we're currently in the Ruins of the Spirit Kingdom. More than 200 years ago, we were nearly wiped out by the humans. You don't need to know much about them"just that if you cross paths with one, it's best to run. They're weak now. What you see over there is the Beast Forest, created by an ancient goddess to protect us, but it also traps us in. All kinds of dangerous and powerful beasts live inside. After the attack from humans and demons, the stronger beasts stayed on the far side to guard the entrance. The ones left here are a bit weaker"but if I were you, I wouldn't trust that. "

Lua pointed at the forest on one side and the sea behind them.

" And what you should do… I don't know. Survive, maybe. This world is surrounded by danger: in front, the forest; behind, the Sea of Death"home to sea beasts even more dangerous than the ones on land, but only in the water. Fortunately, they don't come out, or the world would already be extinct. "

Loli asked, a little afraid:

" Is there anything out here that doesn't want to kill us? "

" The only species that might not are our own. We grow in communities and evolve faster together. Keep that in mind. "

Gilbert reflected and said:

" Then for now, we'll hunt and gather resources. "

" No, " Lua corrected him. " Your top priority now should be to evolve at least once. Especially you two, " she said, pointing at the spirits. " As spiritual beings without physical bodies, you can't deal damage unless you attach yourselves to a demonic beast and drain its mana until it collapses. Spiritual beings are peaceful. "

" But… I'll still show you a few things so you don't get killed right away. Follow me, " Lua added as she walked toward the forest.

Gilbert asked:

" How big is this forest, and where are the human and demon kingdoms, so we know what areas to avoid? "

Lua replied calmly:

" The forest is enormous. Even running at full speed through the old channels we used to get here, it would take 50 to 100 days depending on how fast you are. The human settlements are far away, don't worry about getting close to them. "

As they entered the forest, Lua added:

" Inside, the sections change depending on what beasts live there. It's a deceptive forest, so don't get separated. "

Soon, the three felt a primal fear. Above them, among the branches, dozens of red-furred apes with sharp fangs and spines on their backs were watching.

Lua explained calmly:

" This is a good time to show you something more. "

The apes screeched and leapt at them.

Lua, unfazed, raised her hand and drew runes in the air swiftly. The symbols joined into a small circle, from which a blood-red flame burst out and scorched all the apes. Lua then canceled the spell.

A dozen scorched apes fell to the ground, almost charred"but still breathing, a clear sign they were alive.

" Good. Kill them. You'll probably get your first evolution from them, " Lua said without concern.

The three remained frozen in place, shocked.

In their world, magic always required a channeling item"something like a medium: wands, staves, rings, earrings. These objects had to be imbued with a mage's essence and magical materials. Without one, no one could manipulate arcane energy. That's why, ever since the invasion of the elves and humans, who stole all the knowledge and artifacts, no human had been able to use magic freely.

" Wait! How did you do that? Where's your medium? " asked Sig, confused.

" Medium? " Lua responded, puzzled by the question.

" Yes, to use magic. Where are your rings, earrings, wand, staff, broom…? " she tried to explain, but Gilbert cut her off.

" What was that thing you drew in the air before casting the spell? " he asked, focused.

" You mean the rune? " Lua smiled slightly. She was starting to see how different their knowledge was. Maybe she'd have to ask SIA to research more about their background.

Lua took a breath and began to explain in more detail:

" Magic in this world doesn't depend on objects to be channeled, although they exist and can be used. But they're very rare and hard to make"and honestly, I don't know how to craft them. Here, magic is summoned directly through two main methods: runes and casting"though one is much more practical than the other. "

Lua raised her hand and drew a series of glowing red symbols in the air. They formed a bright circular figure.

" Runes function like a coded language. Each symbol represents a command or concept. For example, this rune means 'fire', meaning the spell manipulates that element. Then you add the rune 'forward' to specify direction, followed by one that indicates range"say, 50 steps"and finally the command 'explode'. With just five symbols, you define a complete spell. Very efficient for combat. "

The runes connected into a small glowing circle, and a fireball shot forward to the marked distance and exploded powerfully.

"You can use any language to write the runes; what's important is that each word carries the correct feeling and intention. But runes condense all of that, shortening the process to cast spells quickly."

Then Lua wrote the same spell, but using a language none of them could read. Just before the fireball formed, a floating translation appeared, showing exactly which words and emotions she was using. The fireball was identical, though the magic circle was a bit larger due to the number of words used.

Gilbert, intrigued, asked,

"And casting? How does that work?"

Lua calmly shrugged.

"Casting is the old way, used by primitive spirits who tried to connect with nature to invoke magic. It involves reciting full words or even long texts. But it's slow and impractical"powerful spells might require reciting entire pages. In truth, casting is just as powerful as runes, only much less efficient."

Lua sighed and grew more serious.

"I've explained enough. Now kill those beasts so we can get out of here. The smell of their burned bodies and the energy from the spells will attract more."

Sig, eager at the chance to kill something, stepped forward quickly.

"Wait!" said Gilbert, touching something in the air. Though he had no visible hands, it was clear he was interacting with something.

[Bert has sent you a party request.]

Loli and Sig accepted without hesitation. Then, health bars for all three appeared in a corner of their vision, along with something on the side labeled "Party Exp."

They quickly tapped to see what it was.

[When you're in a party, experience is multiplied by 0.1 per additional member. Current Exp x1.3.]

"Ah! That's why she said we could evolve faster together," said Loli, now understanding the benefit.

Loli picked up a branch from the ground and used it to hit the dying monkeys. After several strikes, a message popped up:

[You have killed Bloodthirsty Monkey.]

[You have gained 50 Exp. Since you're in a party, it will be divided among 3.]

[Would you like to collect the drop from Bloodthirsty Monkey?]

"Of course!" replied Loli excitedly"but Gilbert stopped her.

"Wait. If there's an option, there must be a reason," he said, thoughtful, turning toward Lua, who seemed impatient to leave, though SIA reminded her to be a good guide.

"Miss Lua, why do they ask if we want the drop instead of giving it automatically?"

Lua looked up at the sky, as if receiving information, which caught Gilbert's attention. Then she explained:

"You can accept the drop, which gives you beast-related items in exchange for the system absorbing 20% of the materials as payment. Or you can do it yourself"take the whole beast and extract every material personally."

"That's robbery!" protested Sig, annoyed.

Lua only shrugged. She hadn't created the system. Though unfair, it needed to absorb energy from somewhere.

"Then what's the point of using the drop if we can do it all ourselves?" asked Sig, sounding like a seasoned merchant trying to avoid extortion.

"If you do it yourself, you get everything"meat, hide, and if you're lucky, Mana Stones. Even leftovers from whatever it ate. But using the drop, the system transforms parts. For example, it might remove the meat and blood to give you a sword or more Spirit Stones"though that depends a lot on luck. So yes, it's kind of a scam," explained Lua, ignoring a system that seemed to nag her in her mind.

"I see. In that case, it makes sense," said Gilbert thoughtfully. "Then there must be professions for processing meat, hide, blood, and other parts, right?"

"Yes," Lua replied calmly.

"And we don't have an inventory?" asked Gilbert, realizing something important.

"No," answered Lua, just as calmly.

"That's all I needed, thank you," Gilbert concluded, now understanding the system's scale.

"If you need me, I'll be in the village," said Lua, turning around to leave.

"What did you realize, brother?" asked Loli.

"That this is a much more complex game than we thought. But with great potential"for commerce and survival. The existence of professions means labor and economy. If Mana Vials can be created from beast cores, then anything that produces power will become currency. Blacksmiths will make weapons from materials, hunters will use those weapons to access stronger areas, and so on."

Sig's eyes"though she didn't technically have eyes, being a magical gas sphere"seemed to sparkle with excitement.

"Hurry up, Loli! Kill the rest of the monkeys and let's find more entrances. That way we can bring in my boys"they work for me," she said, thrilled.

They were the first ones here, and had to take advantage of the opportunity. Shadow business didn't make as much money as people thought"most of it was low-grade mana vials and the constant threat of rival gangs. If not for her father's inheritance, Sig would have already left that business and gone into something quieter, like Loli, who wanted to be a teacher.

Motivated by Sig's enthusiasm, Loli used her branch to kill the rest of the monkeys, striking them one by one until twelve corpses surrounded her.

[You leveled up.]

Loli reached level 2, though the next level required 130 Exp, so she didn't advance again.

However, Sig and Bert both jumped ten levels, since their race had a much smaller initial XP bar.

That allowed them to evolve.

"Collect the drops, I'm going to evolve!" said Bert seriously, while his gaseous body began to shine with vibrant colors"just like Sig's.

Loli watched them with interest, then moved toward the corpses and pressed "Yes" without even checking what items were dropping to the ground.