How did things turn out like this?

This was so sudden that I can’t even process properly.

I only wanted to go breathe the air of civilization again after a hard time of training. I didn’t want to be thought as a 21 year old low level weirdo after all.

But I got attacked by a group of random people on my way. Thinking that it was because they mistook me for a Blood Bear, I showed them I was human. But they were actually aiming for me, there was no mistake from the beginning. I got chased and chased, I managed to ward them off with my traps and safe myself from using skills but, for some reason…

“I was led to this place”

I couldn’t help but think that way.

The movements of the group were pointing to that possibility. Especially that Mystic Fencer, I couldn’t see his level, if my game knowledge is correct, that must mean that his level is too high for me to recognize. He was the one that moved the most suspiciously, he would block the escape routes I had and forced me on a certain path.

In the end, he was the main reason I was led around. I feel like a herded sheep, how unpleasant.

I look at the cave I am in, the walls were wide and seems to be pretty deep. I could feel slight traces of mana flowing to the deeper areas of it. This is the place where all the mana has been flowing into, the sensation I felt when I first entered the forest.

Of course, I have seen this cave before, but the cave has been sealed off this whole time by a barrier of some sort. I have heard there is a prohibited area in the forest, this must be it.

I walk deeper inside while I ponder. I didn’t hurry because there were no signs of the previous group trying to chase me.

“The walls of this area are incredibly beautiful”, I couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

It shone a pale blue light and even without any source of light, the cave was well lit and didn’t cause any pain to my eyes. More like, it was a treat to the eye.

When I touch it I could feel a kind of humid sensation that was different from water, it was denser and yet it had no form.

This is definitely not a normal cave.

But, was the objective really only to lead me to the cave? No matter how I think about it, their movements didn’t point to that. The only one that gave me the impression of ‘leading’ was that Fencer guy.

The other ones might have truly wanted my loot along with the Blood Bear one.

I check my inventory.

Here it is. The Blood Bear loot.

Claws, eye, meat, bones, wow… They really disseminated it.

“Hm?” I saw one object that was different from any other.

“A core…”

I take out the [Blood Bear Core (Mature)] from the inventory. A red crystal the size of my thumb fell on my hands. I put it in between my fingers and get a closer look at it.

This is…

I could feel a slight aura emanating from it. It had the same feel as the walls in this cave, but this crystal was a bit denser and was deep red.

And… I don’t why but, I had the urge of tasting it.

*Lick

I really licked it. The crystal was unexpectedly sweet, no good, my urge is getting bigger now.

*Nom

I threw the whole crystal into my mouth. It was hard so I couldn’t bite it, I just ate it as if it were candy. It truly felt like candy, it was sweet and delicious. The weird moist sensation that I felt from the walls, I could feel it flowing as I roll the crystal around the insides of my mouth.

And… *gulp

I swallowed it.

A strange sensation ran through my body as I felt it enter my system. My body began to turn hot and my heartbeat grew faster. It was as if my heart was pumping that ‘something’ that was flowing rapidly inside of me. But I knew that ‘something’ wasn’t a bad thing so I let it do as it pleased. I even looked for a suitable place to sit down and close my eyes.

I concentrated on the source that was quickly spreading from my stomach, it was flowing to different parts of my body but in the end most of the energy flowed to my head, to be more exact, my eyes.

When all of it ended, I felt reinvigorated.

That was the best bite I have had since coming here. If I have the chance I want to do it again.

---

You have consumed a [Core]. Obtained the skill [Instincts of the Predator]

The following stats have increased:

+3 Strength

+2 Dexterity

+5 Vitality

+10 Magic

+1 Luck

---

Yep, this was definitely the best bite I have had.

So the Core of a Blood Bear had such an effect. It must be a rare item as this is the only core I have gotten. No wonder those guys wanted to hunt me for it. Leaving aside the boost in stats, the skill was really tempting.

<Instinct of the Predator: Enables you to feel the presence of living beings in a 20 meter radius. Depending on the danger, the enemy may be displayed in different colors: gray, yellow and red>

This is definitely a skill the Blood Bear once had. With this he was able to catch any pray he wanted and was able to gauge the overall strength of them.

What a frightening creature, a skill fitting for a predator.

I immediately activate the skill [Instinct of the Predator].

There are is no one following me, at least in a radius of 20m.

“Well, it’s not like I can go back anyways”

I get up and continue walking inside the cave.

The cave was incredibly big, I had been walking for a while and yet, aside from a few splits here and there, there was no clear change in any of them. If I had to say anything it would be that in some parts I could see scratches in the walls but that is all.

Until I reached that one door.

Yes, it was a giant door inside a cave. It gave off a very sacred feel to it, it was pure white with intricate designs made of gold. The door was filled with lots of weird drawings and writings that I couldn’t make out.

Or at least I thought I couldn’t make them out.

<World Shrine, the one true god>

Such dangerous words were written there.

It seems a notification popped out and it has translated it for me. What a convenient system.

But for such a religion to exist… One that takes the world as a God huh. If I remember correctly, the god of the humans in this world is called Izara, I have seen a lot of merchants and workers greeting and giving their thanks while mentioning the words ‘blessing of Izara’. This world may have deep religious beliefs. I don’t think the people would find it pleasant to find a door calling the World as the true god.

Anyways, this door is already giving me the creeps. Even though it’s very beautiful, the drawings on it were truly vexing. When I concentrate on the drawings a notification popped out again.

<The World made a place where life could exist, filling it with abundant air, food, water and mana. Using the mana that is the energy of World, it created the first inhabitants in it, the 5 true residents of the world called Eledea. These 5 residents were the venerated Izara, God of Humans; Burgantos, God of Beasts; Mirfana, God of Spirits; Dreitch, God of Dragons; Mulzafar, God of Demons…>

Ugh… I stop reading for a moment. Honestly, I could care less about the past. Ok, let’s skim through this.

…

So, it seems that the story is basically the same, all of the Gods began their own strives, created individual races, showing their superiority in traits and began to fight over who had the right to lead. World, what were you doing?

Anyways, the neutral one, Dreitch, managed to appease the sides and all of them made some sort of pact. Dreitch, as the neutral, divided himself in 4 in order to supervise the whole of the races while Izara, Burgantos, Mirfana and Mulzafar, all of them went into deep slumber as the core of life creation.

So the reason why there was no concrete dragon race was because Dreitch sacrificed those rights in order to keep the balance. All the other Gods fulfilled their roles as catalysts and continued the creation of living beings on the order of World.

…

Really, can I just, not open this door?

It’s giving me a really bad feeling. Like when you are at the end of a dungeon and see a big door that signals the room of the boss, that kind of feel.

Well, I have already checked this cave and this is the only place left. I just pray that there is an exit on the other side.

I place my hands on the door and… push it!

*Creak!

A heavy sound reverberated inside the cave as I push open the heavy door. It was really heavy. Seriously, it’s a mystery how I am able to push this kind of door when I only have 10 of strength outside combat mode.

What I saw inside the door was unexpectedly… nothing.

It wasn’t that there was no change, but I was expecting a room of some sort. What I got was the continuation of the cave. It seems this cave went even deeper.

The area beyond the door had an even denser feeling of mana and the walls were now filled with writings and drawings. I can even see destroyed objects here and there that have clearly been here for a long time, it’s like I am in a ruin of some sort.

As I walk, I check out the drawings in the walls.

It looks like the story is now centered on this area, the human part.

<The rise of Fantasica>

What an embarrassing name.

Anyways, this seems to be the old kingdom, the kingdom that the first humans had built. That first civilization was a truly striving one, it created everything based on the principle of mana and researched on it. The humans utilized their special trait, intelligence, to make best use of their resources and combined magic and mana in order to create fantastic structures.

With the advance of all this, the magic was the one that saw the most evolution.

They created summoning magic. It wasn’t a simple transfer one like using one magic circle to transport to another nor was it the summoning of creatures and monsters. It was the connection of different universes.

Using the essence of the world, mana, they created a tunnel that connected with another world.

“So that world is apparently the one I was in”

Through a medium World gave them a warning, saying that the max amount of people that could be summoned were 5. Of course, the humans accepted that condition.

The people that were summoned had the same appearance as that of humans. They could speak the language and even write and read. Not only that, they also had outstanding strength. It’s said that in between the transference, the summoned person is affected by a torrent of mana and because of that the mana, that was normally inactive in their bodies, was released and empowered.

But they not only carried power, they also carried knowledge. The knowledge of the heroes, their strange wisdom, they led the human race to several advances. Magic, technology, construction, business, art. The human race went from one of the weakest races to one of the strongest ones.

After that part, I saw a strange division in the story.

<The fall of Fantasica>

Talk about a spoiler title.

…The humans thought that the power of the heroes was tremendous. They could single handedly defeat dragons, they could fight against whole armies by themselves and they could destroy a city with a single spell.

“… I can only see them as monsters. Will I end up having that much power as well?”

That’s why, they wanted more. The humans wanted to summon more heroes in order to increase their position. They broke the taboo.

“The temptation was too strong huh”

Not only did they summon 1, they summoned various heroes. At first, there didn’t seem to be any problems, they were as strong as the last ones and some were even smarter than the previous or more powerful than others. But that didn’t last long.

The mana that the heroes brought from their own world was too much and it began to be released into this world. In order for the world to release all that overflow of mana, the world created storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes… all of them having Fantasica as the origin point.

Fantasica could only meet its end taking along the majority of the heroes with it.

…

“This story, if it’s true then it’s no wonder that this place was sealed off”

If this were to leak out to the outside it would become a complete mess. It could even affect the standing of the human race. Taken that the other races don’t know about it already.

Such a large event must have affected not only the humans but the others as well.

And because of that, the things called mana beasts were born. A disaster that not a single one will forget.

Human race, messing things up even in other universes…

Anyways, the story stopped here, but the cave continued. It was getting wider and wider. I feel that I might reach something really soon.

… Steps, I could hear heavy steps from somewhere.

I activate [Instinct of the Predator]. When I do so, I find out two… three, four red shapes! Three from the front and one at the back. I was caught in a pincer!

When the figures got closer, I could see what they were.

Blood Bears. 4 Blood Bears.

Is this their nest? Is that why I didn’t see a single Blood Bear aside from the one I defeated?

I take out my long sword. I could only smile wryly as I was forced to use [Limit Break]

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