Ch. 31..40

Chapter 31 - Memory Loss

'Duke?' Alex thought in surprise. 'That means that this world, or this country at least, operates on an aristocratic basis probably. As far as I remember, a duke was pretty high up in the chain of command.'

'Additionally, he said he was a High Mage. He said Mana Sources are important for Apprentices to become Adepts. I can guess with quite some certainty that Apprentices probably reflect Mages in the First Realm, while Adepts are Mages in the Second Realm. The Third Realm should logically be a Mage, which would make the Fourth Realm a High Mage, probably.'

'According to what he said, the hedgehog and the octopus are creatures of the Third Realm. The fact that he is in the Fourth Realm also explains how he could take care of them.'

'This is probably a real big-shot! Fuck, I can't believe I greeted him with a yo!' Alex thought.

"I'm sorry for my earlier disrespect, Duke Whirlwind," Alex said with a respectful tone.

Duke Whirlwind smirked a bit. "You know, it's customary to refer to a duke as your grace," he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, your grace," Alex said. "I haven't talked to any nobles before. Please, excuse me for my negligence."

Surprisingly, the duke chuckled for a bit.

"You really don't get under people much, do you?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

"No, I don't, ehm, your grace," Alex said.

The duke chuckled again.

"You know, the your grace thing is antiquated. No one talks like that anymore. Referring to me with my title or simply by sir is already enough," the duke said with a slight smile.

The duke had been rather cold towards Alex at the beginning, but after he saw how innocent, gullible, and naïve Alex was, his mood brightened a bit.

It was rare to see a youngster that didn't try to lick his boots to get into his good graces.

"Oh, okay," Alex said, uncertain of how he should proceed.

"What's your name, young man?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

"I'm aargh!" Alex tried to say, but before he could even think about his name, a pain came from his mind. Alex grabbed the side of his head in pain.

Duke Whirlwind was surprised when he saw Alex's actions. The young man was genuinely in pain. Even his veins were seemingly popping out of the side of his head. This was a sign of pain and stress, and something like that couldn't be faked.

"Are you injured?" Duke Whirlwind asked neutrally. The young man obviously wasn't critically injured, which was why he wasn't very worried about him.

"No, it's just something that happens from time to time," Alex said as he took a deep breath.

"My name is Shang," Alex said.

"Shang?" Duke Whirlwind repeated with interest. "I've never heard of such a name. What about your last name, or is that your last name?"

"That's just my name," Alex said with a defeated voice.

He really didn't want to abandon his old name, but there was really nothing he could do.

How long could he even remember his old name?

By now, Alex hadn't thought of his actual name in forever. Whenever he thought of it, the pain would return.

This meant that essentially no one, not even he, had spoken out or thought about Alex's name in half a year.

When Alex wanted to introduce himself, his mind automatically went to the part in his mind where his actual name was located without even thinking about it.

It was like a closed door, suffused with powerful electricity.

Alex knew what was behind the door, but whenever he touched it, he would get hurt.

How long would it take for him to forget what was behind that door if he could never check it?

How long would it take until the door seemingly vanished into obscurity?

Alex knew that he still knew his name, but he actually didn't truly remember his name since he couldn't think about it.

This feeling was difficult to describe.

"Shang is my entire name. I don't have a first or last name. I am only Shang," Alex said.

Duke Whirlwind combed his beard in interest. "Someone with only one name. Are you from a farmer's or criminal's family?" he asked.

Alex sighed.

"I don't think I have a family," Alex said. "Ever since arriving in this world, I have been alone."

These words sounded very different to different people.

To Alex, it was the truth. This body had probably been created out of nothing. So, logically, this body couldn't have a family. He also hadn't met a human since arriving in this world, making him alone.

However, these words would be interpreted by different people differently.

Someone might think that Shang had had a clash with his family in the past, separating them.

Someone might think that Shang's family had died.

Someone might think that Shang was an orphan.

Someone might also think that Shang was simply a weak-willed child drowned in misery.

How did Duke Whirlwind interpret Alex's words?

He wasn't sure, but he guessed that Shang had probably lost his family in the past.

"That would explain why you don't have a last name. Who gave you the name Shang?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

"It was a man. I talked for him for a bit, and he bestowed the name upon me. There was no other name I could use, so I accepted his name," Alex said, carefully navigating the question with deceptive truth.

Maybe the God was known in his world?

Maybe the God was not very popular in this world?

What if someone knew the God and tried to experiment on Alex to find out more about the God?

Alex didn't want to talk about the God.

There were simply too many unknown variables.

Duke Whirlwind combed his beard in thought. "That's quite an unbelievable story, but I can't sense any falsehood coming from you."

"There's no reason for me to lie to you," Alex said.

Duke Whirlwind nodded.

"Why are you in my garden?" he asked.

"That's a difficult question to answer," Alex said. "The first thing I remember of this world is this wilderness. It's like this was where I started existing. I don't know anything about the world beyond this garden."

"However, I think I know the reason why I am here."

"I think I'm supposed to train in this wilderness and become more powerful before entering human society again," Alex said.

Alex had decided to go with a mixture of memory loss and training.

His answers were vague enough that a lawyer could interpret Alex's word in many different ways, allowing him to get out of any future questions by continually adapting the meaning of his words.

Duke Whirlwind raised one of his eyebrows as he kept combing his beard.

Then, Duke Whirlwind spoke more confusing words.

He was casting another spell.

Alex became more nervous since he didn't know what that spell would do.

When the Duke finished his spell, Alex felt some Mana enter his mind.

Casting the spell hadn't taken more than a second.

After a second, the Mana left Alex's mind again.

Duke Whirlwind's expression changed into a concerned one.

"Something's wrong with your mind," Duke Whirlwind said. "I don't have enough knowledge in the field of Soul Magic, Mind Magic, anatomy, Flesh Magic, or any other related Magic Category to pinpoint the issue."

"I can just say that something doesn't feel right when I glanced at your mind."

Alex's eyes widened.

"You can read my mind?!" he asked in shock.

Duke Whirlwind slowly shook his head. "No, I'm not nearly powerful enough to do that. I also don't specialize in these fields. The spell I used simply sends Mana through your mind. I can see what form the Mana takes when it goes in and when it comes out."

"I don't know what happens inside your mind, but I can infer some things based on how the Mana looked when it came out again. Some of the Mana came out differently than expected, which means that some things in your mind are not as they are supposed to be. That's the extent of what I can find out."

"So, I lost my memory?" Alex asked.

"That's a possibility," Duke Whirlwind said. "Your mind has been changed, either by a person, by an injury, by trauma, or by whatever."

Alex looked worried, but he was actually ecstatic inside!

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ This was just the excuse he needed!

With this, he could simply say that he lost his memory, and even doctors and powerful Mages would be able to confirm his words.

It was perfect!

"Can my memory be recovered?" Alex asked.

"Unlikely," Duke Whirlwind said. "You would need someone very proficient in Mind Magic and Soul Magic. Such powerful Mages only work for the truly wealthy Mages. It would even prove to be a heavy strain on my finances to summon someone like that."

Alex sighed again, but he was actually happy that basically no one could take his excuse away from him.

"Anyway, you said you wanted to become more powerful?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

Alex nodded. "Yes, sir," Alex answered. "I think I can't practice Magic, but I also don't want to be a normal person. I want to become powerful!"

Duke Whirlwind nodded.

"I think you made a very wise decision in the past," he said. "I don't know if you have been born in my territory or not, but whatever the case, you are in the best territory for your goal."

"What do you mean, sir?" Alex asked.

"My close friend is the most powerful Physi in the world, and he has an academy for warriors and similar jobs not far from here. My presumption is that, before you lost your memory, you probably came here to train your combat experience before applying to the academy. It's a good decision."

"The academy's entrance exams are notoriously difficult for a reason."

Alex became a bit uncertain. "Should I train more for the entrance exam?"

Duke Whirlwind scoffed.

"You took down a High-Rank Ice Spear Bear."

"That's more than enough to join the academy."

Chapter 32 - Leaving The Wilderness

Alex was quite surprised when he heard that.

Hadn't the God said that Alex should spend more time in the wilderness? As far as Alex could recall, the God had said that Alex should remain in the wilderness for about two years.

Had Alex progressed that quickly?

Alex's ego wanted to accept that reasoning, but he refused to underestimate a God.

The God probably wanted Alex to gain even more experience in combat.

However, Alex honestly didn't want to spend even more time in the wilderness.

He wanted to live among humans again!

"How can I get to this academy?" Alex asked.

"Go towards the eastern end of the garden. You will find a service entrance there. That entrance is for the keepers and the gardeners, and it has a couple of guards stationed there. When you leave the garden, you will quickly find a bigger village. Ask around for directions to Warrior's Paradise. That's a city, and when you get there, it will be easy to find the academy," Duke Whirlwind said as he took out a piece of paper and a pen.

Then, Duke Whirlwind started scribbling on the piece of paper and put his thumb on the bottom of the paper.

A second later, he gave Alex the piece of paper.

"Show that to the guards at the service entrance. The guards will confiscate it and destroy it according to protocol, so don't be worried. You can leave after that," Duke Whirlwind said.

Alex looked at the paper.

Scribbles.

Alex couldn't discern anything on the paper, and he started to panic a bit.

'Wait, so I can understand and speak the language of this world, but I can't read it? Do I actually have to learn to read again?!' Alex thought.

Duke Whirlwind looked at Alex's face in confusion, but he chuckled a bit later.

"It's written in code," Duke Whirlwind said. "You can't read it."

"Oh!" Alex shouted in relief.

After releasing a sigh, Alex bowed politely to Duke Whirlwind. "Thank you for your kindness, sir. Also, I am sorry for the damage I have done to your garden while living here. When I have money, I will repay everything."

Duke Whirlwind waved dismissively. "You can't eat and kill enough to do any form of damage to my garden. Additionally, you said you exchanged food for the Earth Fruit Hedgehog's fruits. That's usually the job of the keepers of this area. After all, the Earth Fruit Hedgehog needs to expend a lot of Mana to create its Mana Source. In a way, you actually worked for me."

"You don't need to repay me for anything," Duke Whirlwind said.

"Thank you, sir," Alex said.

However, he now felt even guiltier.

Sure, the duke might not care about the small things, but Alex had also taken the Ice Mana Source. Additionally, without Alex, the Old Ice Octopus would still be alive.

'I'll find out the cost of a Pure Ice Mana Source in the future and repay the duke according to its market value,' Alex thought.

"Then, I will see you in the future, Shang," Duke Whirlwind said. "I visit the academy occasionally. I'm certain we will see each other again."

Alex bowed again. "Yes, and thank you again for your kindness. It means a lot to me, and I won't forget it. I'm looking forward to seeing you again!"

Duke Whirlwind nodded and started on reciting another spell.

It was that very long spell from earlier again.

After a couple of seconds, Duke Whirlwind flew away from Alex and vanished into the mountains.

Alex looked at the sky for a while, just imagining how it would be like to fly.

Would he ever be able to fly?

Would he ever reach such a level of power?

He wasn't sure.

Then, Alex looked at the piece of paper in his right hand.

"This is my ticket to human society," he said to himself.

'The God has really placed me at the perfect location. I remember that he said that there was one human in the world that reached the Fourth Realm, and Duke Whirlwind said that the most powerful physical fighter of the world was in his territory.'

'They are probably talking about the same person.'

Alex looked towards the east.

'I wonder what kind of person that man is. Why did he create an academy? Is it a way to make money to fuel his own desire for more power? Is it a way to amass a loyal following of powerful people? Is it to disseminate his knowledge of becoming more powerful via a physical path to more people?'

'Is he old? Is he young?'

Alex thought about this person for a while. After all, this person represented the current peak of the physical path.

Eventually, Alex left and traveled to the east.

It only took him about an hour to find the place Duke Whirlwind had been talking about.

Between the mountains, Alex saw a high but narrow gate. It was barely three meters wide but over 30 meters high. However, it perfectly filled out the gap in the mountains.

"Halt!"

A voice came from the top of the gate, and Alex looked up.

Alex saw three people with drawn bows pointed at him.

Alex became a bit nervous, but he was pretty sure that Duke Whirlwind hadn't directed him to a death trap.

"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" one of the guards shouted from a distance.

Alex slowly extended his arm into the air to show the note.

"Duke Whirlwind has told me to come here! I just talked to him an hour ago, and he told me that I could leave via this service entrance!" Alex shouted.

The guards squinted their eyes and looked at the note.

A normal human wouldn't be able to read such a tiny note from a distance of 200 meters, but these guards weren't normal humans.

The guards talked amongst themselves for a couple of seconds.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "Approach the gate at a normal pace! Don't go for your sword, or you will be riddled with holes!" one of the guards shouted.

"Okay!" Alex shouted back.

Then, Alex walked forward, his hands still in the air.

"Halt!"

Alex stopped.

He was now about 30 meters away from the gate.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers jumped down from the top of the gate.

The soldier fell for a couple of seconds until he hit the ground with a loud impact.

Then, the soldier stood up like nothing had happened.

Alex was quite impressed.

'30 meters are quite an impressive height. I can survive such a fall, but I would need to land correctly with my legs. Still, I would at least feel a bit uncomfortable.'

Alex knew what he was talking about. In a sense, Alex was the supreme authority when it came to jumping and falling from high places.

Alex was pretty sure that the guy in front of him had a more powerful body than him.

Alex could see the guard now. The guard wore simple metal armor, and he carried a sword and a shield with him.

His equipment didn't really look special, but Alex wouldn't underestimate a soldier.

Alex was very good at fighting against beasts, but he hadn't fought another human in this world yet.

Alex had fought humans in his past life, but that was in MMA matches.

Fighting with a weapon was very different.

"Don't make any sudden moves!" the guard ordered as he walked closer.

"I only want to exit," Alex said.

The guard came closer.

"Lower your arm and hand me the note," the guard ordered.

Alex did just that, and the guard took the note.

The guard brought the note to the gate.

A tiny panel moved to the side, showing a pair of eyes with glasses on them.

The guard held the note to the pair of eyes.

The glasses started to shine in complex runes, and the eyes passed over the note.

After that, the guard and the person behind the gate talked for a bit.

Some seconds later, the guard took out a piece of flint from the side of his armor and rubbed it firmly on his metal glove.

The note quickly started catching fire and completely burned away in two seconds.

This was obviously special paper.

Then, the guard turned around and looked at Alex.

"Name!" he ordered.

"Shang," Alex answered.

"Full name!"

"Just Shang!"

The guard turned to the gate again.

"Open the gate. He can pass," he said.

The atmosphere relaxed as all the tension vanished.

The guard turned around as the gate behind him slowly lifted.

"Welcome to Green Wind County!"

 

Chapter 33 - Bad Habit

After the gate opened, Alex stepped through it.

Society!

Finally, he was back amongst humans!

"Did you get a good harvest?" the guard from earlier asked Alex with a smirk.

Alex immediately became nervous.

Would they confiscate his belongings?

When the guards saw Alex's reaction, they laughed. Obviously, after confirming the authenticity of Alex's document, they had all relaxed.

"You don't need to worry. If the Duke wanted us to inspect your belongings, he would have written it down on your document," one of the guards said. The guard walked closer and put his hand on Alex's shoulder.

At least, he tried to.

Alex stepped away from the hand out of reflex.

After living in the wilderness for such a long time, Alex became careful of any physical contact.

The guard blinked in confusion as he saw Alex step away, and he awkwardly lowered his hand.

"Man, you're a suspicious one," the guard said with a bitter smile.

Alex became a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. I've been in the wilderness for six whole months. I'm not used to talking with other humans."

The guard smiled and nodded. "That's understandable. We also have to live in the wilderness as part of our training, but we have our team with us. I can't imagine how lonely it must have been to be all alone in a forest."

The entire feeling and atmosphere the guards gave off had changed.

The guards had appeared stalwart, careful, and aggressive when Alex had come.

But now, the guards didn't feel any different than the police on Earth.

They simply talked to Alex casually.

"That's a nice sword," one of the guards said as he looked at Alex's sword. "Who made that?"

Alex subconsciously protected his sword. "I don't remember," he said.

Surprisingly, the guard nodded understandingly. Apparently, Duke Whirlwind had written about Alex's memory loss in the document he had handed Alex.

"Too bad. Hey, you really don't need to be that careful. Our equipment is good enough, and if it gets out that we are trying to steal from one of the Duke's guests, our heads will roll," the guard said.

Alex wasn't sure how he should respond to that.

He had already said sorry earlier, and saying sorry again would sound awkward.

Instead, an awkward silence came down on the camp of guards.

"Let me show you where you need to go," another guard said, pointing towards the mountains.

"Yes, thank you," Alex said, happy that the awkwardness vanished.

"Have fun outside, kid," one of the guards said with a wave.

"Thanks, you too," Alex answered.

He was really unused to talking to people.

Back on Earth, Alex had been a very extroverted person. He loved going out with his friends, and he had had no issues with crowds.

But after living in the wilderness for such a long time, Alex became a bit uncertain about his people skills.

Alex's eyes subconsciously darted to the guards' weaknesses and their weapons.

It was like Alex was ready to break out into a fight at any moment.

Alex and one of the guards left the camp behind as they followed a dirt road between the mountains.

However, after around two minutes, the guard in front of Alex stopped, and Alex took a step back.

Then, the guard turned around and threw Alex a concerned look. "You really need to stop looking at other people like this," he said.

"Like what?" Alex asked carefully.

The guard pointed at Alex.

"Like that!" he said. "You're following behind me in total silence. Your footsteps even copy my footsteps! Then, you constantly inspect my body all over. You don't act like a warrior, but like an assassin."

"Do you know how awkward it is to walk in front of you? Every five seconds, I need to turn around since I can't hear you, and I always think that you vanished or something. On top of that, whenever I turn around, I see how you're inspecting my body with narrowed eyes. It's like you're trying to find the best spot to kill me!" the guard said with annoyance.

Alex looked away from the guard with an uncomfortable expression.

That was exactly what he had been doing.

Of course, Alex hadn't truly planned on attacking the guard. It was simply a reflex born out of being around nothing but enemies.

When the guard saw Alex's expression, he relaxed a bit and sighed. "Listen, we warriors can deal with that. We know how it feels to be among normal humans again after a long period of fighting. However, normal humans can't deal with something like this."

"Any normal guy you can find in a village, town, or city will think that you are a shady creep. You give off this thief or bandit vibe. Honestly, I'm fairly sure that you will find plenty of women pushing their child away from you and plenty of men that will put a hand over their sacks of gold."

"Try to get acclimated to human society again," the guard said.

Alex didn't like what he was hearing, but he had to admit that the guard had a point.

Alex had to get used to being amongst humans again.

"Sorry, and thank you for the advice. I'll try to work on that," Alex said.

"Let's work on that right now," the guard said.

Alex lifted an eyebrow in uncertainty. "How?"

"Simple," the guard said as he walked to the side. "Walk in front of me for the remainder of the way."

Alex immediately became nervous.

This guard was probably a bit more powerful than Alex.

If the guard tried to attack Alex from behind, there was a high likelihood that Alex would die.

In Alex's mind, this was stupid.

The guard saw Alex's hesitation and silently shook his head.

"Shang, that is your name, right?" he asked.

Alex nodded.

"I've been walking in front of you this entire time. How do you think I feel?" he asked.

Alex was surprised by the guard's words.

"Imagine walking in front of a guy that copies your footsteps and constantly eyes your back like you're a piece of meat. You think that's fun?" the guard asked.

"Yet, did you see me have a problem with it? No! Not every human wants to kill you."

"Listen, I'm a guard employed by Duke Whirlwind, and my colleagues saw me leave with you. Do you honestly think I would even dare to do anything against you? If I did, chances are high that the Duke would find out very quickly. What then?"

"I would be executed."

"For what?"

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "For a sword and some scraps of fur?"

Silence.

Alex felt like he was being led into a trap.

Alex definitely didn't want to turn his back to the guard.

However, Alex's logical mind also realized that everything the guard had said was true.

So, in the end, even if Alex didn't want to, he still passed the guard and walked in front of him.

"Just continue down the road. As soon as we pass the mountains, I'll show you where to go," the guard said from behind Alex.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Alex heard the guard's footsteps behind him. Without noticing it, Alex had started to walk as silently as possible to make it easier to hear the guard's footsteps behind him.

Alex's mind was going wild with possibilities.

This was far more stressful than he had thought.

Clank. Clank…

BANG!

Alex jumped forward and looked back.

He hadn't heard the latest step of the guard!

Alex saw the guard standing a couple of meters away from him, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was looking at Alex with a concerned look.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You stopped walking," Alex said awkwardly.

"Yeah, humans stop from time to time," the guard said. "Guess what, sometimes, we also accidentally make shorter or longer steps. Don't try to attribute bad intentions to a mere habit."

Alex put his sword away again and continued walking.

'I might actually have a problem,' Alex thought.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Clank. Clankclank.

Alex's hairs stood on end, and he turned his head back.

The guard had kicked a small pebble to the side.

Then, the guard gestured to the path ahead with his head.

Alex continued walking.

In total, they walked for nearly ten minutes.

This might have been the most stressful walk in Alex's life.

When Alex passed the last mountain, he walked to the side and looked at the guard.

The guard leisurely walked forward and stopped beside Alex.

"See? Was that so bad?" the guard asked.

Alex didn't answer.

He only grimaced.

Meanwhile, the guard pointed towards the distance, at the foot of another mountain.

Chapter 34 - Money

The outside world didn't look much different from the basin. It basically only had fewer trees.

There was still a lot of snow everywhere, and the majority of trees were conifers.

One difference of note was the general changes of elevation. The basin had only had mountains around it, and the inside of the basin had been rather even.

In contrast, the outside had far more mountainous terrain. Hills stretched across the landscape, and Alex could see some mountains.

Alex hadn't been to Alaska on Earth, but he assumed that Alaska would look a bit like that.

In the distance, Alex saw a small village.

The village was built on the side of a hill, and he could see around 100 houses made of stone.

Obviously, it was a rather small village.

"That's Coldew Village. You can ask for directions to Warrior's Paradise there," the guard said.

"How did you know that I want to go to Warrior's Paradise?" Alex asked.

"The Duke wrote in his letter that you wanted to join his academy. By the way," the guard said as he remembered something. "You might want to stay at Coldew Village for a while and earn some money."

"Money? Why?" Alex asked.

"The yearly exams for the academy have only recently finished. You either need to wait about eleven months or get some money for a special exam."

Alex didn't like what he had just heard.

This really was bad timing.

"Money, huh?" Alex said.

The guard laughed. "Yep, money is always a problem. It doesn't matter how powerful you become or what job you have. You always need money," the guard said.

"How much do I need?" Alex asked.

"Five gold coins," the guard answered.

Alex was a bit surprised. "That doesn't sound like a lot," Alex said.

The guard scoffed. "100 copper coins are a silver coin. 100 silver coins are a gold coin. One average apple costs one copper coin. Do the math yourself."

Alex did the math, and he took a deep breath.

Five gold coins were equivalent to 50,000 apples!

One apple, on average, had cost around 20 cents on earth. So, five apples were the equivalent of a dollar.

This meant that Alex would have to pay around 10,000 dollars to enter the academy!

That was a lot of money!

"Why is it so expensive?" Alex asked.

"Two reasons," the guard answered. "First, the academy also needs money. Second, if you want the academy to hold a test for only one person, you better not be a weakling. Strong warriors can earn a lot of money rather easily. For them, getting the funds shouldn't take more than a month."

"More power means more money, and the more money you have, the less it's worth in your eyes. A weak warrior that can't earn any money will think that this is far too much money, but a strong warrior can deal with the expense," the guard explained.

Alex nodded.

That was actually quite a smart policy.

However, that didn't stop Alex from hating the fact that he had to get so much money just to join some academy.

"How should I go about earning money?" Alex asked.

"Coldew Village doesn't have much money," the guard said. "However, Coldew Village is famous for its Ice Wood. Ice Wood comes from a tree called the Dripping Cold Tree. The Dripping Cold Tree absorbs a lot of Mana and converts it to Ice Mana, which is then stored in its wood. Ice Mages need that wood for a plethora of different things."

"So," Alex said, "you say I should get some of that Ice Wood and sell it at a nearby town?"

"Yes," the guard said. "Get a sled and a ton of Ice Wood. Transport it to Warrior's Paradise and sell it to a woodworker. That should be enough to cover your entrance fee."

"And how am I supposed to get my hand on a ton of Ice Wood?" Alex asked.

"Exchange your services for resources. Coldew Village is in the wilderness, and there are plenty of beasts that make issues. Ask the mayor for any troublesome beasts and kill them. Say you want to be paid in Ice Wood, and everything will be fine," the guard explained.

Alex scratched his chin in thought and nodded. "That should work. Thanks!" Alex said with a smile.

"No problem," the guard answered, but then, he extended his right index finger to show that he had one more thing to say.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "Keep one thing in mind," he said. "There are a lot of bandits around. It's okay to kill a bandit. In fact, it's even encouraged!"

"Don't die an early death because you feel pity for someone that just tried to take your life," the guard said.

Alex took a deep breath.

His death on Earth flashed through his mind.

He had already killed a human before, and he had certainly not enjoyed it.

Alex became a bit nervous when he thought about killing a human, but he knew that it was a necessity.

This world ruled on strength alone, and such a world couldn't possibly be peaceful.

Would Alex kill someone for more power?

Probably.

So, if Alex was willing to think about a human for power, others would certainly think like that too.

"I will keep that in mind. Thank you again for your advice," Alex said.

"No problem. Wish you luck in your entrance exam!" the guard said with a smile and a wave before going back to the pathway between the mountains.

Alex watched as the guard left and then focused on the village in the distance.

'A village, huh?' Alex thought. 'Back on Earth, such small villages are incredibly rare in very developed countries. I don't think I've ever been to such a small village before.'

Alex took a deep breath and jumped forward.

The mountains were on a higher elevation than the valley below him, and the street going downward was relatively steep.

Luckily, Alex was no longer in a thick forest.

Now, a path was in front of him.

Alex became faster and faster as he accelerated down the mountain.

The wind violently brushed against Alex's body, and Alex had never felt this free before!

Alex could run as fast as a car! Well, not as fast as a car going full-throttle, but he was still as fast as a car that drove outside any settlements. It wasn't highway level, but still pretty fast.

Alex looked at the village in the distance, and he could only smile.

Power!

Speed!

Freedom!

Maybe coming to this world wasn't so bad?

Chapter 35 - Meeting The Village

Alex ran towards the village. He actually didn't need to run since he had plenty of time, but Alex just couldn't control himself after arriving in an area without an overwhelming number of trees.

'I can run so fast!' Alex thought with exhilaration.

As Alex ran down the hill, some birds living in cold climates flew above him. They were searching for prey, but there was not much prey during the cold.

The winter was slowly making way for spring, but spring wasn't completely there yet. If Alex had to put a month to the current weather, he would say it would be the end of February or the start of March.

Alex ran for about fifteen minutes, and he arrived at the village far too early.

In a sense, Alex had wished to run more.

'I can always run more later,' Alex thought with a smile.

As Alex came to the village, he noticed that there were no guards.

There were also no pedestrians.

In fact, there was no one.

Alex blinked a couple of times in confusion.

'That's weird. I was sure I saw some people walking around.'

Alex looked around the abandoned village and thought of something.

'Is it me?' Alex thought.

Alex looked around the village. It was currently in the middle of the day, and all the villagers should be working.

"Who are you?!" someone suddenly shouted.

Alex looked to the front and saw a burly, middle-aged man walking past a house.

He had a spear and wore some simple leather armor. His hair was brown, and a long and scruffy beard adorned his face.

Alex immediately associated that man with a smith.

He looked like the typical smith one would find in movies and shows.

"Hello, I'm… Shang," Alex said nervously. He had nearly wanted to say his original name again.

"What do you want?!" the man shouted aggressively. "We don't have any money, and we are protected by the Northern Wild!"

Alex smiled in embarrassment. "I think you misunderstood me. I'm not here to do anything to you."

"Lies!" the man shouted. "You charged at our village! Speak the truth, or I will kill you myself!"

Alex scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I ran because it felt good."

"It felt good?" the man asked in surprise.

"Yes," Alex answered. "I've been in a forest for the past six months, and this is the first time I'm at a place not filled with trees. Running down the mountain and feeling my new power after my trip just felt too good."

The man eyed Alex suspiciously. "Is that why you are dressed like a thief?" he asked coldly.

"Like a thief?" Alex asked in surprise.

Then, Alex looked down at himself.

Alex's body was surrounded by the cloak made out of Stalker hide. Even part of his head was hidden inside the black cloak.

Alex immediately felt like an idiot and quickly pulled his badly sewn hood down, revealing his black hair.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't thinking," Alex said with a bitter smile. "Honestly, I'm not here to do anything to you."

The man relaxed a bit, but he still spoke to Alex from several meters away.

"Then what do you want?" he asked.

"I'm here to earn enough money to pay for an entrance exam in that warrior school in Warrior's Paradise," Alex said.

The man got surprised, but his eyes quickly narrowed.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I think I should be 15," Alex said. "I didn't really count."

"You don't look 15!" the man shouted. "You look more like 30!"

Alex was taken aback by the man's words.

Then, Alex sighed. "Let me just take my cloak off. Maybe I look too intimidating with that cloak."

The man didn't answer and only looked at Alex warily.

Alex quickly pulled his cloak off and threw it to the side.

The clothing beneath his cloak was absolutely disgusting, dirty, stinky, full of holes, and old.

Not even beggars would wear something like that since they could find better clothing that had been thrown to the side of a street.

The man looked with disgust and pity at Alex. Surprisingly, his hostility lessened.

Bandits would normally wear quite good armor and good clothing. After all, their job was to rob people.

No bandit would wear something like that.

Additionally, the man noticed that Alex's body really looked like the body of a teenager, just far more muscular.

Teenagers had different bodies from adults. This was simply because they hadn't fully gone through puberty yet.

When asked, most people couldn't explain the differences, but with enough life experience, one would immediately see that Alex was a teenager, not an adult.

It was just a feeling.

When the cloak was removed, the man also saw Alex's sword.

Alex's sword looked weird.

It basically had no handguard, and the blade itself was way too straight and uniform. Swords usually went from thick to thin, thick at the hilt, thin at the front.

Yet, Alex's sword was just incredibly straight, except for the tip where the sword suddenly narrowed down into a tip.

However, the man could tell that the sword was very good.

Alex's story made a lot more sense now.

He truly looked like someone that had lived in the wild for a long time.

"Why have you lived in the wild for so long?" the man asked.

Alex released a sigh of relief when the man calmed down. "To become stronger."

Silence.

Then, the man put his spear away. "That's quite some determination," he said. "Can I see your sword?"

Alex simply took out his sword and threw it over.

The sword slid on the ground, and the man looked at Alex with surprise.

The man walked forward and lifted the sword.

However, the sword was far heavier than he had thought, and he had to put more strength into lifting it.

He managed to lift it with one arm, but he couldn't possibly swing it, not even with both hands.

The man looked at the sword and then at Alex.

"Why did you throw your weapon over to me?" the man asked.

"To prove that I don't have any bad intentions," Alex said.

The man furrowed his brows as he felt the weight of the sword.

He had seen how Alex had easily thrown it over with one hand.

It had been like the sword weighed nothing.

"Would you need this sword if you had bad intentions towards the village?" he asked slowly.

"No," Alex said with a smile.

"Then what worth is this display of yours?" the man asked.

Alex sighed in frustration and rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey, listen, I'm getting a bit annoyed here," Alex said in a relaxed manner. "I don't want to play these stupid games. Obviously, you now know of my strength. If I wanted to do anything to your village, I wouldn't be talking with you. I would just do whatever I wanted to do."

Alex was honestly getting annoyed at the constant suspicion.

The man looked at Alex for a bit longer.

Clank!

He threw the sword back with both of his hands, but it didn't reach Alex.

"You said you wanted to earn money?" the man asked.

Alex walked forward and put his sword away again.

Why had Alex thrown his sword towards the man without hesitation?

One reason was to show that he didn't intend to do anything bad to them.

Another reason was to show his power as softly as possible.

The last reason was that Alex wouldn't need a weapon against these villagers if they attacked him.

Alex wasn't helpless without a weapon.

"Yes, I want to earn money," Alex said.

The man walked closer. He had already put his spear away.

By now, only two meters separated them.

"How do you intend to earn money?" the man asked.

"One of the guards over there," Alex said as he pointed towards the Duke's garden, "said that your village might need a warrior to take care of some beasts. He told me that you don't have much money, but he also told me that you have Ice Wood. I am supposed to offer my strength to you in exchange for Ice Wood."

The man eyed Alex with an evaluation gaze.

Then, he looked at Alex's coat and then at Alex again.

"Did you kill the Pest Cat yourself?" the man asked, pointing at the cloak.

"Pest Cat?" Alex asked as he looked at his coat. "They are called Pest Cats? I always called them Stalkers."

The man looked with a weird expression at Alex. "They are called Pest Cats because they are all over this land. There's a lot of them, and they often hunt our livestock. No matter how many we kill, more come. That's why they are called Pest Cats."

"You can kill them?" Alex asked in surprise.

In his eyes, the man didn't look that strong.

The man sighed. "If we create a hunting group with about five men, we can, but someone will always die. Most of the time, a team of soldiers from the Northern Wild come here once a year to thin out the population."

"What's the Northern Wild?" Alex asked.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ The man looked weirdly at Alex.

"The nearest town. You're not from around here, are you?" he asked.

"No," Alex answered. "When was the last time they were here?"

"Six months ago. They come in the fall when all the Pest Cats have finished procreating. It would be bad if two Pest Cats had offspring just a couple days after the hunt," the man explained.

Alex scratched his chin.

"So, you're saying that I can earn some Ice Wood by killing some Pest Cats?" Alex asked with interest.

The man looked at Alex.

"No."

 

Chapter 36 - Old Man

Alex hadn't expected a no for an answer.

"Then why did you ask about my coat?" he asked.

"To gauge your strength," the man said. "So, did you take out the Pest Cat yourself?"

Alex nodded. "I took out several. They are not my opponent."

This took the man by surprise.

He knew that Alex was strong since he was able to wield such a heavy sword in one hand, but he hadn't known how strong Alex was.

"They are not your opponents?" he asked. "What Stage are you?"

"Stage?" Alex asked, but then he remembered the Duke's words. "I should be in the Late First Realm."

"Late Soldier Stage?!" the man asked in shock. "And you're 15?!"

"Soldier Stage?" Alex asked in confusion. "I thought the First Realm was called Apprentice."

"That's for Mages only," the man said. "The First Realm for warriors is the Soldier Stage. That's because nearly all soldiers are in that Stage."

"Oh, okay," Alex said. "And yes, I'm at the Late Soldier Stage then."

The man looked far more surprised than Alex had assumed.

"Is that high?" he asked.

"Are you from a noble household?" the man asked in shock.

Alex snorted. "Do I look like I'm from a noble household?" he asked.

The man looked at Alex.

"So, is it strong?" Alex asked.

"Warriors in the Late Soldier Stage are generally considered elite warriors," the man answered. "They worked for years for their power."

"Elite soldiers?" Alex asked in surprise, "but the guards I met at that mountain were all more powerful than me."

"You can't compare normal soldiers to the soldiers working directly under the Duke," the man said. "The men under the Duke are all in the General Stage. That's the equivalent to the Adept Realm for Mages."

"Oh," Alex commented. "By the way, how do you know all these things?"

"When I was young, I worked as a smith in Warrior's Paradise," the man said.

'Knew it!' Alex thought. The guy just looked far too much like a smith.

"Back to the topic," the man said. "You said that Pest Cats are not your opponents, right?"

Alex nodded.

"Could you elaborate on your power? How would the fight go down?"

Alex answered immediately. "One strike, one kill," Alex said. "As long as they don't jump me from several different angles, I can take out a group of them with ease."

Alex had truly transformed in the last six months.

When he had just arrived, one Pest Cat had already nearly spelled his doom. If he hadn't been lucky, the Pest Cat would have killed him.

Then, Alex had been able to fight one equally.

Then, Alex found it easy to kill one of them.

And after the incident with the Ice Bear and the subsequent strengthening with the fruits, the Pest Cats were no longer a threat.

In fact, Alex could break a Pest Cat's neck with a single punch.

His body was far stronger than a Pest Cat's body.

When the man heard of Alex's power, he was taken aback once again.

The man quickly fell into thought.

"If you are truly that powerful, we might have a lucrative job for you," the man said.

When Alex heard that, he immediately perked up.

"A job? What job?" he asked.

The man turned around and gestured towards the middle of the village.

"Follow me. You should speak with the Elder," he said.

"Okay," Alex said with a smile as he followed behind the man.

As Alex walked through the village, he could see curious eyes glancing at him through the windows of the houses.

The villagers were still wary of him.

They probably had bad experiences with strangers.

Not everyone was as courageous as the old smith.

After a minute, the two of them arrived in front of a normal house.

It didn't look any different from any other house in the city.

Just like every other house, it was made out of grey stone.

The man knocked a couple of times on the door. "Elder, I think we have someone that can take on the Ice Wood Pest."

'Ice Wood Pest?' Alex repeated in his head.

After some seconds, the door opened, and an old man looked at Alex.

The man was probably in his fifties or sixties, but he looked like he was in his seventies.

His frame was small, and he seemed to not have much strength in his body anymore. The man also used a long cane in order to stand relatively straight.

However, when Alex saw the old man, he became a bit surprised.

A bit of Mana was swirling around the old man!

Was he a Mage?

Of course, the old man couldn't be compared to Duke Whirlwind. When put into comparison, the old man felt like an old weed while Duke Whirlwind felt like a towering, ancient oak.

Duke Whirlwind had pulled in an incredible amount of Mana like a whirlpool, while this old man only pulled in a bit of Mana, one teaspoon at a time.

The gap was just too vast.

"You're a Mage?" Alex asked.

The old smith was surprised by Alex's words, but the eyes of the old man didn't react.

It was like he had expected that.

The old man looked at Alex, and he could see that Alex was pulling in quite a bit of Mana, even more than the old man himself.

"Are you confident?" the old man asked Alex.

"No," Alex answered.

The old smith was surprised by Alex's answer.

The old man only smiled a bit.

"Smart," he said. "Come in."

'How could I be confident in defeating an enemy I don't even know?' Alex thought.

The old smith waited outside while Alex entered the old man's house.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ The house was very simple and quaint. It looked like a cozy house of a villager.

The old man gestured to a chair, and Alex sat down.

The old man got some water from a bucket and warmed it over the fire, and while the water was warming, the old man sat down in front of Alex.

"Have you fought a High-Rank Beast before?" the man asked.

Alex thought back to the Ice Spear Bear and nodded. According to Duke Whirlwind, that Ice Spear Bear had been a High-Rank Beast. Back then, Alex had probably been in the Mid Soldier Stage, which meant that Alex had basically jumped a Small Stage or Small Realm.

"Did you win?" the old man asked.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Alex asked.

"You could have fled."

"I didn't," Alex answered.

"So, did you win?" the old man asked again.

"Yes, I won," Alex answered.

The old man nodded.

"Would you be willing to fight another one?" the old man asked.

Alex immediately nodded.

"I'm warning you. This one isn't easy to deal with," the old man said.

Alex looked with a concerned look at the old man. "What separates this one from other High-Rank Beasts?"

"It's the descendant of a beast of the Second Realm," the man said. "This means that this beast can use its Elemental Affinity. In essence, it can create rudimentary spells."

Silence.

The man was a bit surprised when he saw Alex's expression.

Alex looked at the old man like he was waiting for more info.

When Alex saw that the old man had stopped talking, he raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Can't all High-Rank Beasts do that?" he asked.

The man was surprised by Alex's question. "No, they can't. Only the descendants from Beasts in the Second Realm can use their Element in the First Realm."

"Oh, okay," Alex answered like it was no big deal.

The old man was a bit confused by Alex's lack of reaction.

He had expected that Alex would reconsider after hearing about his target.

Beasts that could use their Elements in the First Realm were on the rare side, and they couldn't be compared to Beasts that reached maturity in the First Realm.

Meanwhile, Alex was confused why the old man made such a big deal out of that.

Basically all of Alex's past opponents, except for the Pest Cats, had had some form of Elemental Attack.

Was this supposed to be rare?

"Young man, if I may ask, what kind of High-Rank Beast have you fought?" the old man asked.

"A High-Rank Ice Spear Bear," Alex answered.

Silence.

The man seemingly froze.

 

Chapter 37 - Frozen Lake Stag

A majestic stag slowly walked through an icy forest. The trees around it had a blue sheen, and some of their needles had seemingly transformed into icicles.

The Stag's body was only 1.5 meters high, making it only a bit taller than a normal stag. However, its antlers were majestic beyond compare. The antlers were a deep blue, and white veins seemed to travel through them, releasing a blue glow periodically.

The antlers stretched upward and to the side like a tree, making one believe that this Stag was some sort of envoy sent by nature.

Whenever the Stag passed an icy tree, the blue color of the trees slowly subsided until the trees no longer shone in any color, and after that, they simply looked like normal, almost lifeless trees made of ice.

The Stag absorbed the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood Trees as it passed them. The Ice Mana in the trees acted as the Stag's sustenance and energy.

Humans weren't afraid of this Stag.

Why?

Because this was a peaceful beast.

It was one of the few beasts that didn't consume meat.

One of the few?

But weren't there many herbivores?

Well, one had to differentiate between animals and beasts.

Beasts were animals that took their first step towards power. Beasts were the animals that managed to come into contact with the Mana in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, animals were just animals.

As beasts became more powerful, their diet slowly transitioned into one mainly made of meat. The reason for that was that there were not as many plants that came into contact with Mana.

Yes, the Ice Wood Trees were one of these kinds of plants, but the Ice Wood Trees were not powerful. A beast in the First Realm could become more powerful by consuming them, but they would be useless for beasts in the Second Realm.

This Stag would also only consume these trees while still being in the First Stage.

As soon as it became an adult, it would change its diet to water beasts.

This Stag was the very beast that the Elder had asked Alex to kill.

It didn't injure or endanger the villagers, but it consumed all the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood Trees, making them nearly worthless.

So, while the Stag didn't directly threaten the villagers, it was essentially softly pushing them into stagnation and poverty just by existing.

'That's it!' Alex thought as he narrowed his eyes.

In the distance, Alex saw the Stag consuming the Ice Mana of the Ice Wood Trees.

'That should be the Frozen Lake Stag,' Alex thought.

Alex watched the Stag for a while.

The majestic and peaceful gait of the Frozen Lake Stag gave the surrounding forest a kind of peaceful and tranquil feeling.

It was almost like this place was a holy ground for nature.

'Well, sucks for you. I need money,' Alex thought.

Alex inspected the Stag's antlers closer, and a frown spread over Alex's face.

'The Elder's fears have proven to be true.'

Alex remembered the words the Elder had spoken to him.

"If the Frozen Lake Stag's antlers pulsate with a white aura, it is close to becoming a beast of the Second Realm. This would essentially make it a Peak-Grade beast. We haven't seen the Frozen Lake Stag in a while, so we're not sure if it's still a High-Grade beast."

Alex looked at the white aura emanating from the Frozen Lake Stag's antlers.

'I never fought a Peak-Grade beast before,' Alex thought. 'However, I'm actually glad that it became stronger. The God said that I should push myself, and I'm certain that the God knows more about becoming stronger than me. If he says that I should continually push myself, I should probably do so.'

'So, this Frozen Lake Stag came at just the right time.'

Would the Elder still want Alex to kill the Frozen Lake Stag if he knew that it was about to change its diet?

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ Yes!

Why?

Because the Frozen Lake Stag needed an incredible amount of Ice Mana to reach the Second Realm, and it was gathering this Ice Mana right now.

It wouldn't stop consuming Ice Wood Trees until a big part of this forest was without Ice Mana.

Alex checked his equipment.

His coat was on him.

His left arm was numb due to its low temperature.

His sword was in his right hand.

Everything was ready.

Alex took a deep breath to ready himself, and then…

BANG!

Alex exploded forward with his full speed!

The Frozen Lake Stag turned towards the explosive sound and saw Alex charging at it. As soon as it saw Alex, it turned away and ran into the distance.

Its speed was pretty fast, but its gigantic antlers made it difficult for the Frozen Lake Stag to navigate. It was powerful enough to ram through thick branches, but every branch destroyed by its antlers would slow it down a bit.

Because of that, Alex was slowly gaining ground, even though his body was weaker than the Frozen Lake Stag's body.

Was it fleeing?

No!

It was fighting!

Alex immediately jumped to the side as he felt Ice Mana gather below him.

SHING!

An ice spire shot out of the ground, and Alex had just barely evaded it!

This was how the Frozen Lake Stag fought. It transferred its Ice Mana into the ground and made it explode into mighty ice spires.

This was also how it would kill water beasts in the future. A water beast that came close to the shore would suddenly be penetrated by a gigantic ice spire, which would then keep the beast above the water.

The sudden appearance of the ice spire had slowed Alex, but he had expected it. After all, the Elder wouldn't send Alex blind into the fight.

As the Frozen Lake Stag galloped through the forest, the Ice Mana of the surrounding trees entered its antlers, refilling its Mana Storage.

Alex was fighting the Frozen Lake Stag in its most favorable territory.

As long as there were Ice Wood Trees, it wouldn't run out of Ice Mana.

SHING! SHING!

Another two ice spires shot out of the ground, and Alex managed to sidestep them.

Alex could always feel the Ice Mana arrive at the ground, which allowed him to evade.

When the Frozen Lake Stag saw that its attacks couldn't hit Alex, it increased the intensity of the attacks. Even more, the deployment of its attacks became smarter.

It became harder and harder for Alex to evade the icicles until he had to stop completely.

SHING!

An ice spire stopped just ten centimeters in front of Alex's face. This ice spire would have been inside his head if he had stopped only a bit later.

However, Alex still jumped to the side.

SHING!

The ice spire in front of Alex's face suddenly expanded one more time, but Alex had evaded to the side.

The Frozen Lake Stag had control over its ice spires, even if they had already been deployed. It simply had to send another pulse of Ice Mana towards them.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Another barrage of ice spires shot at Alex, but he managed to barely evade them.

The barrage of attacks continued, and Alex was stuck evading inside a constricting mass of ice spires.

The ice spires had shot out of the ground in many different angles, essentially creating a chaotic field filled with spires.

Alex kept an eye on the Frozen Lake Stag.

The Frozen Lake Stag had stopped running away and turned. It was circling Alex from about ten meters away as it deployed its ice spires.

Alex was stuck inside the ever-growing mass of Ice Spires, and he couldn't escape. He had already tried to destroy the ice spires with his sword, but it proved to be surprisingly hard. Whenever Alex's sword hit an ice spire, it would break into two, but Alex's entire body shook due to the force.

Cutting through the ice spires was not easy and required a lot of force.

That short moment of pause could spell Alex's doom, which was why he stopped cutting the ice spires.

After the Frozen Lake Stag had fully circled Alex once, it suddenly stopped and lifted both of its front legs.

At the same time, Alex felt that everything in a ten-meter radius around him suddenly glowed with a crazy amount of Ice Mana.

The Frozen Lake Stag had created over thirty ice spires that would shoot at Alex simultaneously!

Every spot around him would be filled with ice spires in a second!

Chapter 38 - Antlers

Alex jumped.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Everything below Alex was reduced into a mess of ice spires, all stretching into the middle of the circle from ten meters away.

Alex had jumped with his full power, and he had managed to jump forward with a height of five meters.

This was far beyond what a normal human could do.

The Frozen Lake Stag didn't panic when it saw that Alex managed to escape its attack.

Instead, it calmly infused one of the ice spires with more Ice Mana.

The spire began glowing and shot at Alex.

Alex was currently in the air, and he couldn't evade.

It was stupid to jump into the air when one was fighting someone with ranged attacks.

Only an idiot would do that.

Was Alex an idiot?

No.

Alex stretched his left arm towards the ground.

BANG!

A violent wind came out of Alex's left palm. The wind wasn't colder than the surroundings, but Alex didn't use the ability of his left arm because of the cold effect.

No, he was using it for the pushback!

A thick ice spire passed just below Alex, destroying a couple of fingers in the process.

However, Alex was used to worse pain.

Alex pushed himself over the ice spire until he started falling down on its opposite side.

Alex squatted on the ice spire's side.

Then, he pushed himself forward with all his power.

BANG!

The ice spire shook under the power, but Alex had seen how hard these things were. He was sure that it wouldn't break.

And sure enough, the ice spire only shook. It didn't break.

The force of Alex's push shot him towards the Frozen Lake Stag like a cannonball!

Alex reached the Frozen Lake Stag before it could deploy another ice spire or run away.

Alex lifted his sword and slashed down.

SHING!

Alex's sword cut through the Frozen Lake Stag's torso but was stopped somewhere in the middle.

The Frozen Lake Stag shouted in pain, and more Ice Mana gathered around it on the ground.

Alex pulled out his mangled hand and pointed it at the Frozen Lake Stag's head.

BANG!

Alex's left arm began smoking as an impossibly cold wind shot out of Alex's left hand.

At the same time, Alex used the force of the wind to push himself away from the Frozen Lake Stag.

Yet, something unexpected happened.

Alex had expected the Frozen Lake Stag's head to freeze over, but the cold wind was absorbed by its antlers!

The antlers lit up with bright white light, and the intensity of the Ice Mana around it increased by several times!

The spots of Ice Mana just half a meter away from the Frozen Lake Stag's body expanded until they even reached the ground below it.

BANG!

A wall of ice appeared just in front of Alex, but luckily, only his sword had been in the path of these absolutely massive ice spires!

Alex felt his sword being torn out of his hand, and at the same time, Alex felt like he had heard a painful cry.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ And the Frozen Lake Stag?

The scene was gruesome.

The Frozen Lake Stag was impaled on gigantic ice spires, its mangled body hanging down from ten meters above the ground.

Its cold blood ran down the ice spires and immediately froze, creating red icicles.

The scene was as brutal as it was bizarrely beautiful.

The Frozen Lake Stag obviously hadn't survived its own attack. Originally, it had only wanted to destroy the area around it to force Alex to retreat, but the uncontrollable growth of its spires had spelled its doom.

Alex was captivated by the scene for one second before an overwhelming burning sensation came from his left arm.

Alex grunted and rubbed his left arm across the ice spires in the surroundings to cool it down.

He had unleashed a severely cold wind in his last attack, and his left arm was paying the price.

After a while of cooling down, Alex looked around the area to find his sword. He had remembered in which direction it flew, but he couldn't see it immediately.

Alex felt nervous without his sword, and the first thing he wanted to do was to find it.

Alex ran into the distance and searched for some seconds, but some kind of connection made him look up.

Alex spotted his sword hanging on the branches of a tree, and he quickly retrieved it with a jump.

However, when Alex inspected his sword, shock spread across his face.

There was a crack!

The ice spire had hit Alex's sword on its side, and the force had created a crack on it!

Alex looked at the sword with a bitter expression.

The God had said that this sword would grow alongside him. He only had to feed it powerful ore.

'Has my power already reached a level that makes my weapon my weakness?' Alex thought.

Alex still remembered how easily his sword had killed the Pest Cat, or Stalker, which had assaulted Alex on his first day in this world.

Back then, Alex would have died if his sword hadn't been so incredibly powerful.

But now, Alex's sword had been damaged by one of his enemies.

'My opponents will only become more powerful from here on out. This means that I have to upgrade my sword quickly. Otherwise, my sword will break as soon as it comes into contact with any attack.'

Alex stared at the crack in his sword for some time and put it away.

'Not right now,' Alex thought.

Alex walked back to the Frozen Lake Stag and looked at it for a bit.

The corpse had been separated into many different parts, and its head hung down from one of the ice spires.

Alex grimaced when he saw the scene. However, he grimaced for a different reason than one might expect.

'Seems like I can't sell that,' Alex thought. Then, he looked at the head and the antlers. 'Luckily, its antlers are in one piece. I bet they are worth quite a bit.'

Alex took out his sword. 'Sorry, you have to go through a bit more stress.'

Alex stabbed his sword into one of the ice spires and used it as a tool to climb the small wall of icicles.

His sword didn't make any noise during that process.

After a bit of climbing, Alex reached the hanging head.

Alex stepped onto his sword and grabbed the antlers. He wanted to pull the head and antlers off.

"Fuck!"

Alex immediately shouted in pain as soon as his hands touched the antlers.

Alex's right hand was nearly completely frozen over!

Luckily, Alex had reacted fast enough, and only the surface froze.

Alex activated his Ice Blast again to warm his left arm and then rubbed his cold and hot hands together.

After a while, Alex's right hand recovered, but it was still in quite a bit of pain.

Yet, as Alex was calming down, he realized something.

'My left hand didn't get frozen,' Alex thought as he looked at it.

'I also didn't feel any pain from it.'

Alex looked at the antlers again.

'Worst case scenario, I'll just heat it again.'

Alex touched the antlers with his left hand, and, sure enough, he felt nothing.

Alex used his right hand to throw the sword to the ground and hung from the corpse's head with his left hand.

Then, Alex pulled himself upward and let himself fall a bit to create enough force to separate the head from the body. The head was barely hanging on by a couple of threads of skin due to the ice spires.

A comical scene of Alex swinging on the hanging antlers of a nearly decapitated head took place.

"Come on! You can't be that hard!"

The sound of tearing flesh and skin could be heard as the head slowly separated, and soon enough, the entire head separated from the body.

BANG!

Alex fell to the ground while carrying the head by its antlers.

A ten-meter-fall was nothing to him.

Alex used his right hand to clean some of his clothes of the blood that had fallen on him during his mission.

However, Alex quickly became surprised as he looked at his right arm.

'Wasn't this supposed to hurt?' Alex thought.

Alex was surprised when he saw his right hand.

It was fully healed!

'Now that I think about it, my left hand also feels pretty good now,' Alex thought as he looked at his left arm.

Then, Alex noticed something.

Was the glow of the antlers growing weaker?

Also, was his body getting hotter?

"Oh, fuck!"

Alex immediately dropped the antlers, but it was too late.

His left hand had absorbed a ton of Ice Mana and had converted it to regular Mana, which now filled his body.

Alex was close to exploding.

Alex had to do one attempted suicide of training, at least!

Otherwise, he would explode!

Alex quickly looked around in panic.

No trees were high enough for him to get heavily injured!

"Fuck! Fuck!" Alex shouted.

Fear took hold of Alex.

"It can't be that hard to kill myself!" he shouted.

Then, Alex noticed the gigantic ice spires.

And then, he remembered how hard it had been to cut them with his sword.

Alex gritted his teeth, ran into the distance, turned around, went to his knees, and assumed a sprinter's position.

Then, Alex shot with all of his power at the ice spires!

 

Chapter 39 - Pity

Alex slowly stepped out of the forest, dragging a severed head behind him.

The Frozen Lake Stag's antlers had lost all their color by now.

Obviously, Alex's masochistic and power-hungry side couldn't let go of so much Mana.

Alex slowly stepped towards the village, a couple hundred meters away. Right now, Alex could finally see the villagers doing their business. They were tending to some farms while others cooked on the streets for the entire village.

Alex watched the village from a distance.

'Everyone is working together. Some people are tending to the crops. Some are cooking for everyone. Some are out gathering Ice Wood.'

'I've never seen anything like that on Earth. Sure, I've seen scenes like that in documentaries and movies, but not in real life.'

Alex silently watched the village.

'It has a kind of purity and innocence to it.'

After a bit, a boy noticed Alex. After looking at Alex with wide eyes, he walked up to a grown woman and pointed at Alex while pulling on her skirt.

The woman looked at Alex, and her eyes widened.

'Great,' Alex thought. 'Guess the villagers will all leave again.'

However, surprisingly, the villagers didn't retreat. Instead, they all called each other and pointed towards Alex, or, more accurately, towards the head of the Frozen Lake Stag.

Alex could see some shock and surprise in their eyes.

'Well, at least they're not scared anymore,' Alex thought. 'Might as well give them a display.'

Alex lifted the head and held it above himself.

The villagers continued to look at Alex while talking in hushed voices.

After a couple of seconds, Alex felt a bit awkward and lowered the head.

'Weren't they supposed to break out into a cheer or something?' Alex thought awkwardly.

Alex released a sigh.

'Well, real life doesn't work like that, I guess. They're probably all just happy and surprised. Who would expect a huge group of adults to loudly break out into a cheer?'

Alex continued walking towards the village, and the villagers didn't retreat.

When Alex came close to them, some of them walked up to him.

"Well done, young man!" one of the men said with a bright smile. "That beast has been a problem for a long time!"

"Yes, thank you for taking care of it," another man said with a respectful nod.

Several villagers gave their thanks, and Alex nodded back with a smile.

"No problem," Alex answered. "Where's the Elder?"

"I'm right here," the Elder said as he pushed himself through the gathered crowd.

Alex nodded at the Elder. "As you've seen, the Frozen Lake Stag has been dealt with."

The Elder looked at the head and nodded. "Good job. I knew that the Frozen Lake Stag wouldn't be a problem for you. After all, you already took down a High-Grade Ice Spear Bear. The Ice Spear Bear has an equally powerful ranged attack, but it also isn't helpless as soon as you get close to it."

"However, I also have to say that I was a bit worried for you. I hadn't expected you to be on the hunt for over a day."

Alex smiled bitterly. "Well, something came up that I had to deal with," Alex explained. "However, the fight definitely wasn't easy. The Frozen Lake Stag had already reached the Peak-Grade."

The Elder's eyes widened in surprise.

Then, he looked at the head in Alex's hand and frowned.

"Then, why is there no white glow coming from its antlers?" he asked.

"That's the thing I had to take care of," Alex said. "My body accidentally absorbed the Ice Mana."

The Elder's eyes widened in horror.

Then, he quickly looked at the other villagers and pulled Alex away with his hand.

Alex had almost attacked the Elder out of instinct when he touched Alex, but Alex managed to restrain himself.

The Elder pulled Alex into his house and closed the door.

Then, he released a deep sigh.

"Young man, you can't just tell people your affinity," the Elder said in a hushed tone. "There are ways to take advantage of someone's affinity. If an enemy knows about your affinity, they can use various gadgets to influence your Mana to hurt you!"

Alex blinked in surprise, but the scene of the Frozen Lake Stag getting impaled by its own ability appeared in his mind.

What if someone shot a lot of pure Ice Mana at Alex?

His left arm would absorb all the Ice Mana and fill his body.

Sure, Alex would be able to quickly recover from any injury, but what if he wasn't injured?

Wouldn't the additional Mana force him to injure himself at this very moment?

What if the Frozen Lake Stag had filled Alex with Ice Mana while running away and not attacking?

The Frozen Lake Stag wouldn't injure Alex, which would force Alex to injure himself.

Yet, when Alex injured himself, the Frozen Lake Stag would have gotten a perfect opportunity to finish Alex. After all, Alex could recover from heavy injuries in such a state, but it wasn't instantaneous.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ A half-dead Alex couldn't evade something like those Ice Spires.

What if a group of bandits threw some kind of bomb filled with Ice Mana at Alex?

Alex would either explode or need to hurt himself severely.

This would give them a perfect opportunity to finish him!

Alex immediately narrowed his eyes as he realized all of these things.

Many warriors and Mages wouldn't have come up with all of these scenarios in an instant, but Alex had gathered enough battle experience to come up with these schemes immediately.

Alex didn't know it yet, but his experience with battle was vastly superior to nearly every other warrior in the Soldier Stage.

"Thank you for telling me, Elder," Alex said with a thankful nod.

The Elder nodded solemnly. It was good that the young man realized the weight of his words.

The Elder had seen too many young geniuses die to their own inexperience.

"Now, tell me how you dealt with the surplus of Mana? A Mana Overload is usually a death sentence," the Elder said.

Alex looked at the Elder neutrally.

"I nearly killed myself several times," Alex said.

The Elder's eyes widened in shock.

For a while, the Elder didn't answer.

Then, the Elder released a deep sigh.

After Alex's words, the Elder's eyes had changed.

Before these words, the Elder had looked at Alex as a talented, friendly youngster. Alex was very talented in the Elder's mind, and the Elder knew that Alex would go far. Alex had also offered to help the villagers instead of just directly forcing them to hand their supplies over.

But now, the Elder realized how naïve he had been.

Why naïve?

Well, how did a genius become a genius?

Being a genius didn't only mean having a strong body, powerful techniques, or powerful equipment.

A genius also needed a stalwart mindset.

Their will had to be unbreakable.

A talented youngster that didn't work would only reach mediocrity.

Yet, a genius would go very far.

Why?

Because they had a solid mindset, an iron will, and discipline.

Where did these things come from?

Experiences.

Mostly bad ones.

Everyone knew how they could overcome a Mana Overload theoretically.

Yet, how many people could put that method into practice?

How many people had the determination to destroy their bones and organs?

Nearly no one.

Some of them could jump over their shadow once, but as soon as they recovered from their first experience, they would be petrified with terror.

The pain wasn't the bad thing about nearly dying.

It was the fear and terror.

So, while some of the powerful warriors managed to severely injure themselves once, only a select few would be able to do it a second time.

The second time was far harder to overcome than the first time.

This was why the Elder had realized that he had been naïve.

The Elder knew that this young man was a genius, but he had overlooked the reason for why this young man was a genius.

The eyes of the Elder changed to pity.

What had this young man gone through to create such determination?

He had done something which would make nearly all grown men cry in fear.

Even more, the way this young man had phrased it had been neutral.

It almost sounded it was only natural to do something like that.

Meanwhile, Alex felt a bit awkward.

The Elder was looking at him with these weird eyes and wasn't speaking.

Alex had no idea what the Elder was thinking about.

Chapter 40 - Affinity?

"So, can I get my payment now?" Alex asked after several seconds of silence.

The Elder recovered and sighed.

"Sure," he said. "I'll make arrangements for your payment right now."

The Elder walked out of the house while Alex sat down and waited.

The pleasant smell of the room made Alex's mind relax, and before he noticed it, the Elder had already returned.

"The Ice Wood and a sled wagon will be ready shortly," the Elder said.

"Sled wagon?" Alex asked in confusion.

The Elder nodded. "A sled wagon is the best method to transport goods in this region. It's a sled that can be outfitted with four wheels when necessary. That allows you to transport things in the snow and on the ground."

"Oh," Alex said with some wonder.

That sounded like a practical vehicle.

Alex wondered why he had never heard of something like that on Earth.

"Thanks," Alex added after thinking about the sled wagon for a bit, "but why does it need wheels? Is Warrior's Paradise in a different climate?"

The Elder nodded. "We are in the Ice Wyvern Zone. Warrior's Paradise is in the Storm Eagle Zone," the Elder explained.

"Ice Wyvern Zone? Storm Eagle Zone?" Alex asked. "Why are the zones named after beasts?"

The Elder was taken aback by Alex's question.

"Because of the Ice Wyvern and the Storm Eagle," the Elder explained with a weird tone. It was like Alex had asked a stupid question.

"I've never heard of these two beasts," Alex said. "Why are the Zones named after them? Are they in the Zones?"

The Elder lifted an eyebrow in skepticism as he looked at Alex.

Was this young man joking with him?

However, Alex appeared genuinely curious about these two godly beasts.

"Powerful beasts dictate the climate," the Elder explained slowly. "The Ice Wyvern is an unfathomably powerful beast with an Ice Affinity. Its Ice Mana stretches over vast distances, lowering the temperature of the landscape."

Alex's eyes widened in surprise.

"Beasts can do that?" Alex asked in shock.

"Yes," the Elder said slowly, feeling weird about answering such a question. "Even children know about that."

Alex felt a bit weird about that comment. So, he decided to tell the Elder about his supposed memory issue.

The Elder understood and gave his condolences and some encouraging words after hearing about Alex's issue.

This young man had obviously gone through a lot.

"So, why are these beasts still alive?" Alex asked. "Are all the humans too weak to take care of them?"

"No," the Elder said. "There are humans even more powerful than these godly beasts, but these godly beasts are protected by them. These godly beasts transform Natural Mana into Elemental Mana. Elemental Mana is necessary for Mages to become more powerful. Even more, us common people have already adapted our lifestyle to these climates."

"If the godly beasts die, the entire climate will change. Our lifestyle is adapted to the climate, and if it undergoes a severe change, everything will break down, and many people will die," the Elder explained.

Alex nodded in wonder.

He had thought that he was somewhere in the north due to all the snow, but it actually turned out that there was simply a very powerful beast somewhere in the area.

This was truly a very different world from Earth.

pᴀɴdᴀ nᴏveʟ "What about the Storm Eagle Zone?" Alex asked.

"The Storm Eagle is a godly beast with a Wind Affinity. It absorbs Natural Mana and converts it to Wind Mana, which generates many heavy storms. Us common folk mainly avoid such zones due to the natural destruction happening constantly, but the Wind Mages and warriors love it."

"The Storm Eagle Zone is filled with canyons and mountains, creating an environment with a lot of uneven ground. It's difficult to create villages and towns in craters, canyons, and mountains, which means more space for beasts. The many brutal beasts living in such an environment help the young warriors to gain battle experience, which is one of the main reasons for why the academy is in that Zone."

"The other reason is that the Duke's castle is also in that Zone. Duke Whirlwind is a High Mage with a Wind Affinity. His family and most of his Mages have a Wind Affinity, which makes this the perfect place for them," the Elder explained.

Alex nodded along with curiosity.

The entire world had gained more wonder!

The climate wasn't dictated by the planet but by the mighty beasts.

This opened so many possibilities for different climates and territories!

The Pest Cats probably had a Darkness Affinity. What would the climate under a godly beast with a Darkness Affinity look like?

Would it be constantly dark?

What about a godly beast with a Water Affinity? Would that just be an ocean?

Would a godly beast with a Fire Affinity create a volcano or a desert?

There was so much to explore!

"Now that I think about it, it's actually logical that you would have an Ice Affinity," the Elder said. "You have been born into a Zone filled with Ice Mana. Many of our children have an Ice Affinity."

This gave Alex a thought.

"I have a question," he said.

"Yes?" the Elder asked.

"When Ice Mages use their powers, do their bodies heat up?" Alex asked.

The Elder looked at Alex like he had just said something stupid.

"No, of course not. We are simply releasing the Ice Mana. Why would that make us hot? Elemental Mana can affect the temperature, but the temperature doesn't immediately shoot to the opposite end when the Elemental Mana vanishes."

"For example, if you fill something with Ice Mana, it will cool down very quickly. After it has cooled down, when you pull all the Ice Mana out of it, it is still cold. However, it will warm up with time since there's nothing left that cools it."

"If you want to heat up something filled with Ice Mana immediately, the best method would be to replace the Ice Mana with Fire Mana," the Elder explained.

Alex listened to these words with deep interest.

His eyes appeared innocent, but deep inside, Alex was in deep thought.

'The same principle should apply to my Ice Blast,' Alex thought. 'The concepts of how an Ice Mage unleashes their power shouldn't be different to how a warrior with an Ice Affinity would unleash their power.'

'In short, using my Ice Blast shouldn't result in my left arm heating up.'

Alex wanted to frown, but he kept his expression under control. He knew that the Elder was not an enemy, but the Elder had just warned Alex about revealing his Affinity.

It was best to immediately put these teachings to use.

'So, do I actually have an Ice Affinity?'

Alex remembered that the God had said that Alex would get a very special Affinity and that Alex could maybe use it in the future.

Alex had been sent to an ice region. The God wouldn't have said maybe if Alex had an Ice Affinity.

'Judging by how my Ice Blast got absorbed by the Frozen Lake Stag, I'm certain that I'm not unleashing a simple cold wind, but a blast of pure Ice Mana.'

'Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I actually have Ice Mana in my body. I can use my Ice Blast without actually using any Mana. I can even use it indefinitely, as long as my arm stays cold.'

'Does this mean that whenever I use my Ice Blast, my arm gets filled with Fire Mana? Why else would it heat up?'

'Is it some kind of energy splitting or something?'

'However, I can feel Ice Mana, and that also only started occurring after I absorbed the Pure Ice Mana Source. I didn't feel the Earth Mana from the Pure Earth Mana Source back when the hedgehog wanted to reward me. I also wasn't able to absorb the Pure Earth Mana Source.'

'So, I can feel Ice Mana as if I had an Ice Affinity, but I don't have an Ice Affinity. Yet, my Affinity is somehow related to ice. On top of that, my Affinity is not related to earth. Lastly, my Affinity might be related to fire, but I can't be sure yet.'

'What kind of Affinity do I have then?'