'Huge' is not the perfect word to explain. It was a giant, to be precise. Aiden wouldn't be surprised if anyone said that it was the same size as the skeleton that had knocked them out of the sky.

What was more wonderful was the top of the tree. It was so high that the cloud of the sky parted, making a giant whole in those dark grey clouds.

"This is the first time I saw the sun after I came down," Aiden whispered to himself.

"Yes, that's the source of our life." The man went up to Aiden. With each step, he had to tear off the root that had connected him to the earth in a brief moment of contact.

"You're almost 20 kilometres away from the tree, it still looked so mesmerizing," said the man, "when that thing happened, it protected us. All the green you see here is a gift. The dark forest behind it is also part of its territory."

"But, what are you? You're not human." After Aiden recovered his clam, he took another look at the man.

"I'm the one who saved you." As if Adi was smiling.

"Saved me!?" Aiden was confused. "Why?"

"Because she wanted it," said the thing, pointing to the distance.

Looking in the direction, a chill ran down his spine. He took a step back by instinct. 'The devil?'

Now that the devil was in the light, he could see his outline. It was the same height as Aiden, and the red rings were even brighter. The light had devoured as soon as it had touched it.

"Ha ha ha." Aiden burst into thunderous laughter. Even the devil was stopped in its tracks, "You saved me, so you can kill me? I thought that only humans had the same hobby."

The plant skeleton shook its head. "She wants to play with you."

"She?!" Aiden was surprised by its choice of words, "What does 'she' want to play? Tag to kill?"

It was hard to understand whether there was a smile on that vine face as it said, "Touch her, and you will understand."

*Dong* Dong*

The next moment the devil disappeared. Aiden wanted to step back but he found that his legs were wrapped with vines. He couldn't tear it even with increased strength.

"What are you scared of? You didn't want her to touch you? "Aiden wanted to reply, but it had appeared before. Same dark hand stretched out towards him…

* Khuuk *

The shackles on his legs vanished and he fell on his ass. He looked up to find a smile on its dark, expressionless face. He touched his cheek instinctively, and it was there, a little colder now.

But at the next moment, the devil jumped at him, wrapping itself around him.  It rubbed its head on his chest like a child who had found her favourite toy. Aiden couldn't believe that, other than feeling a little chillier, there was no feeling of pain.

"What? But how?" Aiden couldn't believe that 'is it a dream?'

"She was a human once, so she longed for human friends…"

"No, not that? Why didn't I die?"

"Sorry, I don't interact with human beings," Adi said with a stupid smile. "Well, there might be many reasons, but one of the most important is that ... you're no longer human."

Even if he was scared, he still pushed the devil out of his body as he stood up. "What did you say about that? Am I not a human being? Well, then what? A monster, huh? A mana beast?"

That thing shook his head, "You have a mana heart, as well as mana crystal. But you can't use them. So you are none of them."

"Mana heart? Mana crystal?" Nothing made sense to Aiden. He didn't know much about mana crystal, but he knew very well that it wasn't easy to cultivate the mana heart. Only one of the five could survive, but...

The devil was still clinging to him as if she was checking every part of Aiden. Even if he wanted to, he would not be able to remove her, so he decided to accept the invasion.

"Is that the heart of Alex?" Now that he's been thinking about it, he's seen Alex's element and passive skill in status.

On the other hand, the vine man sighed as he said, "Your heart was destroyed, so we replaced yours with the other boy."

"Alex," he couldn't stop his hand from touching his chest. For the first time, there was a tinge of sadness on his face, but it vanished on the next. Before turning to Adi, he shook his head. "Is it even possible to implant a water mana heart in the body of wind mage?"

"No, but the heart is different. That heart had a mana rejection effect. It can absorb mana, but it can't circulate through the body. That boy would have died soon, even if you didn't kill him."

'Why are you telling me this?' Aiden frowned, 'did I look like someone in need of your condolences?'

It was as if Adi had been able to read his mind. He smiled at Aiden before continuing. "When she found you, you were already going through the process of becoming a beast, condensing the crystal of mana."

There was confusion in its eyes and voice, "Why didn't you cultivate it?"

"Cultivate?" Aiden spoke with doubt, "Mana crystal?"

Adi nodded, "If you had cultivated it, you would have been a mana general."

'Mana general? Is that a designation of a mana beast?' Again Adi didn't quench his curiosity.

"But it was too late, though. If I was a little late, your body would have exploded and died, leaving behind the crystal."

'He's the one who saved me.' Aiden now understands everything. Aiden wanted to say his own words, but first, he bowed to Adi.

"No, no. There's no need to thank me. If there was anyone else, he might have done better. And just one more thing. You don't have to try to cultivate. Neither the crystal nor the heart."

'Didn't you say I couldn't cultivate it in the first place? Why should I try it, then?' Aiden was a little confused by his choice of words.

"It may be because of my lack of knowledge of the mana heart, but the crystal and the heart have a very delicate balance of power between them. If you try to cultivate again..." the man sighed and bowed, "I'm sorry about that."

"No, no. I am alive because of you." Aiden said, "There is no need to think about that. If I don't cultivate I won't die. I'm very thankful to you."

Adi paused for a moment. As if he was aware of it, "There is a different way."

Aiden's heart thumped. Even if he had accepted his fate, he was sad. Who doesn't want to become strong? He was very eager inside, but outside he was calm, "What kind of method?"

"If somebody imprints you."

"Imprint?" Aiden was unable to understand the meaning.

"Oh! You're not from here, so you might not know that."

'Was that his whole plan? Is it to imprint me?' Aiden was surprised, but he understood after thinking about it. 'After all, there is no free lunch.'

"We call it the imprint. The human is calling it 'Totem.' If you've got a totem. You can cultivate it again. You could get stronger, too."

Aiden was tempted but never dared to make the same mistake again. If this 'imprinting' is the same thing as a slave collar, he'd choose to die now instead of becoming a totemic warrior.

"From the look of it, she'd be happy to give you the totem." Hearing Adi's word, Aiden turned to the devil, only to find the red rings that were pleading to him.

"Maybe she doesn't look like one, but she's a 'Mana King'." Looking at uninterested Aiden, Adi added, "She's a death elemental on top of that. Something very rare in this world, too."

"I'm sorry," said Aiden, surprising Adi. He didn't know how to respond, "Don't be like that. You don't have to make your decision..."

"I don't understand that. The totem, the imprint... " Aiden was curious about the way by which he could cultivate again.

"Totem is a contract for the soul. You, the one with the totem, can use the mana of totem origin. "Adi pointed to the devil," And she is the origin of the totem. The more she imprinted, the more mana she was able to gather. It'll be easier for her to become the 'Mana Emperor'."

"So the others are going to do the work for her? "Although Aiden wanted to use better words, he could find none.

"You can't cultivate mana from your mana heart or mana crystal. Yet, by cultivating her mana, you can make yourself stronger. "Adi pointed out the most important points.

He wanted to get stronger, who doesn't. However, Aiden was confused. The more Aiden thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. 'It's better not to accept than to pay the price after accepting it.'

Aiden shook his head, "I am sorry." He didn't even hesitate for a moment. He looked at his eyes and said, "I thank you again for saving me. But, I don't think I could accept her totem."

"It might be wrong for me to reject you after you saved me, but I don't want to get bound, "Aiden said those words loud and clear, without a hint of hesitation. And most of all, he said the truth, "I want to go back to my team. If I survive the mission, I want to go back home."

An angry outburst or more persuasion, nothing like Aiden had expected to happen. Adi was smiling when he looked at him. As if he understood the inner thoughts of Aiden.

"I want to leave this place." Aiden did not dare to hesitate after rejecting him.