Beneath the dark forest Klover leapt through the giant tree branches with uncomfortable ease. With the fear of him slipping through, he knew the goblins were all but lost in his senses, but it couldn't hurt to atleast be paranoid right?

 

But one thing that he just couldn't ignore for a few moments is that his head just started hurting all of a sudden. His mind on sudden vertigo made him significantly slowened his pace. He made breaks here and there, his vision in discrepancy.

 

He closed his eyes, he shaked his head.

 

'Gotta keep going.' He thought, his determination rose the swarm remained but a distant ambient in his ears a sounds of nature overcame him. Peaceful as it may be, you should never judge a book by its cover.

 

To stop losing his balance, he pivoted his right arm to adjust from a missing limb. Weights shifted but this is simple enough from his constitution to do.

 

"...." He looked at the main source, a small hill now full of cracks. Debris rose among the ground, a sense of worry flew to his head.

 

"Just what happened here?" Worry turned in to fear. Ana didn't do this right....? If she didn't do it, then who did? The jagged twisted geography did nothing to stop him in his tracks.

 

Another jump he pivoted his right arm. Minutes later, he found himself on the hill he and Ana found themselves earlier. Only one thing is for sure, she's missing.

 

'Crap, that ain't good.' He thought, losing her is just like losing how your body functions as a whole. She was the only one who could keep him safe, but he knew he shouldn't rely on her too much.

 

He grunted. Then sighed, the mysterious anomaly from earlier made him feel another sense of familiarity. Just like Ana's but couldn't put his finger into it. Another case of deja'vu.

 

It'll just fade away to dust as time passes anyways, so he let that thought pass by. He cautiously scanned his surroundings, only to met by...

 

What to say about this?

 

"....." Disgust, is what he felt. Met by a wave of disgusting smell of rot, a swarm of flies hovered all over the dead bodies. A few, felt like someone just swiped them like how a paint color can get smeared by another opposing one.

 

"Shit." He cursed. This wasn't normal at all, all of them belong to race called goblins, as what you can guess-

 

Green rough skin, along with a pointy ears and nose, and eyes that mimick that of a primal predator. Though that impression was now long gone, now that their eyes shone nothing but death.

 

He refused to step in the pool of blood, assumingly thinking that this was a trap set up by another predator.

 

'I shouldn't have came.' He regretted his decision. The stampede earlier, there must be a link to it. He procastinated for what felt like a minute. Klover shook his head, he sighed.

 

He rebuffed what Ana had asked of him earlier, this must be a test. He internalized, he went his way back.

 

To where the stampede occured.

 

.

 

Rays of light flickered in wanton, reflected in the long marbled curved hallway that slowly stretches onto a grandiose gate. He, orange haired and yellow eyes- was donned in a white military uniform, metals of different variety of shapes hanged onto his uniform.

 

"Come in, Knight Ransol." The voice behind the gate bespoked with solemn tranquility. He obliged as he raised his hands in an attempt to push the metal gate adorned with jewelries reminiscent of a dragon.

 

The noise became an echo throughout the vast hallways. Each step presented an echo- Ransol founds himself in the presence-

 

Beneath the "Valley of Gold", it's presence radiated the prosperous aura- far encompassing the riches of the nobility-

 

"Knight Ransol meets the "Keeper of the Golden Valley", Your Majesty." He kneeled- loyalty ingrained into his pose. After a few moments, the keeper spoke.

 

"You may now raise." The keeper rose his hands, Ransol stood up immediately. His calm tone betraying the raging fear inside his core.

 

"...If I may ask, what kind of act did I incur to had raised the ire of My Majesty?" He spoke in a calm manner, but the fear of death had shot straight through his mind.

 

"I'm afraid not," The keeper spoke, he looked at the enlarged 6 column window- tone that of a distant. The keeper sighed.

 

"Execution, is but an unclear way- perhaps too unclear for us to do. To stain your hands with blood- even in proxy- will always damn you in eternity,"

 

"Unless you're an apath of course- with greed running through your veins, that sin overcomes the morality of being... a human being." He gently tapped his fingers on the golden arm rail.

 

"Th-then, for what reason is me being invited into your...." He looked around at the room, guards in row of the red carpet were donned in golden armor- weilding weapons of different variety. The area was almost a size of a basketball stadium- ten marble pillars of different shapes supporting the entire structure was arranged in order just a few meters away from the guards standing just a few millimeters in the red carpet.

 

"Think of it as a favor." He laughed, "You can't hide your true feelings in front of a king- you can think of me as- but an ordinary person, how would you react to it?" The amused keeper said.

 

"....I would treat you as what a knight should do."

 

"Oh really?" He another tapped resounded. Ransol felt like he was weighing the entire world on his back. What should he answer?

 

Aren't citizens the one that they should protect? And not just bribed by some higher to do their bidding? He shakily nodded.

 

"Ye-yes." The only word that he could muster.

 

"Well, enough pleasantries for today. I'm asking you favor- as what I've said earlier." A guard was summoned upon the keeper's side. He smiled in sataisfaction as he picked the glass of wine from the tray.

 

Ransol nodded.

 

"Do you know about the situation in Magmeis?"

 

"Yes, Your Majesty. The royals had isseud an emergency announcement to their people, while we- no us knew it was an act, a pretense of some sort to obfuscate the real threat that they've been facing."

 

"An emergency announcement. A matter so sudden that it caused a scant few outrage from the citizens, they knew they couldn't keep this up forever." The keeper added.

 

"....at the very least, they gave their people a chance to evacuate in a temporary refuge, or migrate onto on the that said country as well." Lofren was prosperous, although the endless snow was what kept the majority people from migrating or visiting it, most of the buildings in the outer walls had a small population.

 

"Quiet knowledgeable, I must say."

 

"It's important to know the current happenings as my duty as a high knight, Your Majesty." He held his head down. A sigh was released from his mouth.

 

"Well, most of the things are being kept confidential to the public. No one knew the real cause- just that "An upcoming invasion is happening for the second time in centuries.", they must've assumed that the real cause of the migration or a case of temporary refuge was due to monsters evolving due to the nature of the cracks."

 

"Yes, that is all that they had speculated." After a few seconds of silence the keeper spoke once again.

 

"Do you know? That the crack can affect us humans too?"

 

.

 

"Ah shit." Klover cursed, the nasty environment made it much more harder to traverse to the location Ana wanted him to. He is still fizzled out from the sudden stop in reality shit happening just a few moments ago. He slowly moved on onto another pile of debris, he knew he should've had climbed in those large tree branches, but he denied it.

 

Making one jump after another was extremely taxing on his stamina. Not to mention that damn headache that kept coming from a few minutes or so.

 

The moment they occur another wave of that weird "Static Waves", appears on some random parts of his body, or so how he named it. The moment the "Static Waves" hits, the headache is gone almost immediately.

 

He actually tried experimenting on while traversing the debris. One thing he noticed in a happenstance was that he can materialize them the moment the "Static Waves" occur.

 

He tried hitting it into some random shit, aside from that he also regrew his left arm, he was ecstatic- but that hope turned to dust when it did nothing. It was like an almost useless and an increasingly annoying cosmetic.

 

His made in "Static Waves" arm disappeared soon thereafter.

 

A few minutes of venturing deeper into the forest, he slowed himself down. This is where he hid when the stampede occured, he raised his eyebrows. Something isn't right...

 

'She's following me. I knew it.' He thought, this was a damn test. Through of being an almost outcast- feeling the gaze of other people felt like breathing.  He can almost tell, who's and where's that direction came from.

 

But this is another world, so logic doesn't matter. It did it's job, but his body is too slow to react. She's good at hiding.

 

He walked straight into the pathway, lots of Flyzei Genoe threatened poison him drunk but that "Static Waves" did it's job well, which surprised him. He might even want to show this off to Ana right now that he's immune to this kind of thing.

 

"I'm kinda figuring this out." He said, this so-called "Static Waves" happen when some negative mental debuffs starts coursing your brain, probably.

 

"Although Flyzei Genoe is popular- it is expensive as well." Due to the risks that you have to take in order to pluck it out from it's stem. Failing to do so will make you poisoned drunkard, slowly rotting at death's door.

 

He grunted in annoyance as he spotted a herd of lizards just a few dozen meters away from him. Ana is really willing to push him this far, he clicked his mouth. A dozen of them.

 

A dozen of them

 

A dozen of the-

 

"Crap." He cursed, he looked at the sky as he breathed in with all his might. This is gonna be a long day.

 

He settled off. Also, where did his "A mission can go away when life is on the plate." went.

 

.

 

Ana saw Klover looking at the sky with the feeling of tiredness. She sneered, you want to protect someone or something and you won't even try to get a singular effort in order to protect them?

 

Maybe she's going too far. May common sense is too foreign for her, she was trained this way- from a frail little girl, into a fierce warrior with a responsibility to protect and save her people.

 

She felt relieved that she saw him unharmed by her doing, she almost broke reality- no more like she was the catalyst that almost broke reality. The muscly green meat was no small fry that she can just nonchalantly walk by.

 

As long as they have their leader- the onslaught remains but a wanton. She never expected that goblin she counterattacked to have that much impact- so much that it almost looked like a meteor just shot out from the sky, into the ground itself.

 

Matters aside, her troops- more like her comrades had already been garrisoned to scout on certain parts of the world. Parts of these was most likely to explore the very edge of the planet, she can discern the hidden curiosity in their tone- but that's just part of human nature.

 

*riiiiinnnnnng* Her communicator silently chimed. She tapped one of her earlobes.

 

"What is it?" She said, still observing the boy. "[Representative] Ana, we've reported unusual..... sightings based on the current findings in this.... new terrain." It seemed like a grumpy male voice had established a connection to her.

 

".....continue...." She said.

 

"Most matters relate to the biology of every living being that inhabits this planet. Had you ever heard of Mana?" The voice spoke.

 

"Never in my life." She responded, clearly uninterested in this specific subject.

 

"I know, however as a captain of Squad 601- we levy the rights to inform you of these happenings that will and will probably not offer any type of significance in our mission." She remained silent.

 

"I... guess I'll take that as a yes?"

 

"Well, care to inform me?"

 

"....we had some of our troops garrisoned in each country, acting as ordinary citizens in the pretense of them being the sources of information that will aid us greatly in our conquest." 

 

"Hmmm..... that's good. What about the former?"

 

"Right. More of our findings had gathered clues as to how this thing called "Mana" works..." She traversed onto one of the debris, keeping her eyes to the boy's action.

 

"Due to the lack of our Chromatic Spectrum- we knew our suits would then become a liability in the near future. In order to circumvent this said liability however- we plan to harness this "Mana" to it's fullest."

 

"The problem is," He hesitated for what felt like a moment. "We don't have the neccessary equipment to extract "Mana". However- we had taken quite a large amount of habitats with the same species as us,"

 

"That's why you will be the acting "Representative" to take authority from our actions- which will bore great impact in the current predicament."

 

Another of moment of silence passed by.

 

"Surely, you must have a plan of action in the case should an emergency occur?"

 

"That, we approve. As long as you- the "Representative" is here to lead us in this conquest- we do not take full authority as to what kind of action we take without asking permission from you."

 

Thinking about it, although their supplies are sufficient enough- even Ana knew they wouldn't be able to last long. One such happenstances was that one soldier had encountered by something that looks like a giant reptile with wings, infiltritating one of their bases in fury as that soldier- with his curious ignorance got his head.

 

Furthermore, one of their comrades had been found missing, only to be found dead in the posters according to their spies- furthering increasing the unease of the humans residing. If they wouldn't be able to up this situation to their favor-

 

There must be a way, currently mana can only reside in habitats residing in this world- meaning they won't be able to absorb it.

 

In last act of desperation, maybe.... maybe-

 

"Maybe, we aren't looking too much at the bigger picture. For now, find alternatives that will help us harness this thing called "Mana". If no such alternative are available within our scope- hereby switch to dissection."

 

.

 

"Really, what the hell should I here?" Klover scratched his head, contemplating on what plan of action should he take. A small blob of "Static Waves" had resided a small part in his leg.

 

"Come on...!" He inwardly swore, this thing had been but a liability. He fought his headache with furious wanton, he sighed.

 

But he can manage a single shake in his head is enough to cause ripples in his system. But he persevered, he suffered much more than this. He became slightly acquainted with death. Skull almost exposed lost by a goddamn ogre and a left limb being slowly ripped off that made him feel like he wanna die.

 

Let's just say it made him proud a bit, but the traumas are always there to make him remember those experiences. But it can't be helped, that is life. The purpose of living is to overcome, and this is one of them.

 

Or so he believed.

 

"I don't have any ropes of my spatial sack, just some spare daggers in case my main one broke. That's bad as hell." He looked at the giant trunks, maybe he can kill them in one swoop- they're a bit slow after all

 

Or take just take advantage of the environment, this is just a small slope downwards, leading to another plain- then another slope upwards- leading into another mountain.

 

These fuckers are almost- if not twice the size of your average comodo dragon. Really, who the fuck birthed them in the first place? He grunted.

 

He cannot wait forever, he held one spare dagger into his mouth. He got an idea, he can maybe cause an infighting among the reptiles.

 

"I'll ask Marcos what's the name of this species when I get back." He seemed to be the most experience one when it came to hunting.

 

He waited for a few moments, coming up with different plans that bore low probably results, sometimes even imagining himself, as the almighty MC- killing everything in one swoop. He laughed at the thought, the next wave of headache brought him back again to his senses.

 

.

 

'First things first, create attention. That is, food.' A few meters ahead of the slope. He threw large piece of meat, he stole from a dead goblin's body. Threw it a few yards away to see the results unfolding.

 

The reptiles moved like snakes as the sudden speed in agility increased their speed a dozen-fold. Then, a hiss was heard.

 

The reptiles moved like snakes as the sudden speed in agility increased their speed a dozen-fold. Then, a hiss was heard.

As the rules of nature goes by, the strong emerged victorious, while the weak fades to dust. The reptile attacked their kin with wanton. Not caring of the world around them, they ripped apart their kins with their large maw, revealing razor-sharp teeth that can crushed metal to pieces with one snap.

Klover was awed by the sudden uproar, but immediately went into motion. With no time to feel happiness, he prepared his dagger. Imbuing his weapons with as much raw magic as possible.

He used hands, gripping his weapon his ran into a nearby giant trunk.

"Basic [Body Strengthening]." He whispered, using his entire body as a makeshift catapult, he gathered as much motion into his strike. As his swing reached it's zenith.

*SHIIIIINNGGGG* A blade so sharp, that the air screamed for it's life. Another wave of static coursed through his body, as if becoming a part of him.

A sound of  space screaming along with the metal screeching occured. It tore through the trunk like paper, as if it didn't exist in the first place.

'The hell was that!?' He didn't registered what happened just now. Mission be damned, he couldn't believe that just happened.

Unfortunately, a second after the slash. He felt a foreign energy seeped through his body, not that he felt tired or anything, just a headache much more severe than normal.

The tree responded in creaking roar, he fell into his knees at the same time. Pondering the earlier action he did.

The tree began it's fall, as the creaks became much more palpable and louder, splinters becoming many as it reached it's zenith.

He looked at the direction of the reptiles, still fighting among another. They realized something was wrong, as the shadow upon them became much more larger and pronounced.

The first thing they did, was to look at the perpetrator. Klover could already silently curse himself for doing something as reckless as this. But alas, the moment they looked at him, the trunk had smashed them to bits a few moments later.

With no further ado he ran with reckless abandon. Evading the obstacle that's mother nature itself. The ground slowly rumbled, cries of hiss are heard in behind him.

But some of them emitted a hissing roar of bloodlust, he clicked his mouth. It's not over yet.

Just like crocodiles- these fuckers can charge themselves up to almost equivalent to a cheetah for a few moments, they were gaining at him. He cursed himself.

'Crap, crap, crap.....' He muttered like a madman, his life on a thread as they were only a few meters behind.

'Crazy fast as fuck!' He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. Air now catching up with him, fatigue came...

"Basic [Body Strengthening]...!" A surge of energy coursed through his body. He began coughing like crazy.

'Whatever that weird power earlier, just save me out of this...!' He pleaded inside, yet his wish came unrealized.

*hissssssss* The large shadow of what resembles like a maw was upon him. He panicked, hastily speeding himself as he changed his direction.

To the far right of the clearing, where a natural intersection can be spotted. Almost tripping himself, serves a testament that slowing the reptiles down through any means can only do more harm than good.

But effective nonetheless, now he only has a few dozens of them to deal with.