The sun began to rise, casting golden rays through the tent as Ren stirred awake. He stretched, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and prepared a quick breakfast along with some coffee to energize himself for the long day ahead. His muscles, however, were still sore from all the walking the day before.

"My body definitely wasn't prepared for this," Ren muttered, massaging his stiff muscles.

Before packing up his gear, he checked his status screen once more, ensuring he was ready for whatever the day might throw at him.

image [https://i.imgur.com/hOdtSpt.jpeg]

image [https://i.imgur.com/D0dkzrf.jpeg]

image [https://i.imgur.com/fCgu5Dy.jpeg]

"As expected, mana points recover much slower than everything else," Ren murmured as he examined his stats. Knowing his time was limited, he changed into a fresh shirt to start the new day.

After packing his gear, he took a deep breath and resumed his trek deeper into the Eldaron Forest.

"This is it, day two. I need to find that shrine today," Ren muttered with determination. As he ventured further, the mist thickened, making it harder to see, and the towering trees loomed above, casting shadows that seemed to play tricks on his eyes.

Just like yesterday, every time his cooldown ended, Ren used the limited time to train his swordplay and mana control. It wasn't easy, especially with his muscles still aching from yesterday's exhaustion, but he pushed through.

Swordplay was hard for Ren, but still manageable. His movements were sluggish and stiff, a result of his old habits as a gamer and a lack of working out in the real world.

“Ugh, now I regret not exercising more. The world really has a twisted sense of humor,” Ren muttered, frustrated, as he continued his training. His body resisted the swift movements he was trying to execute, but at least the weapon he wielded was incredible.

“This thing would've caused absolute chaos in the game. Players would have torn each other apart just for a chance to claim it,” he chuckled to himself. “I’m pretty sure there would've been a full-blown war over an item like this.”

As he battled the roaming creatures in the forest, Ren noticed something odd. He couldn’t see any progression in his experience points on his status screen. In fact, there was no indication that he was earning any EXP at all.

“So, I can’t see my level or my EXP progress? Then what’s the point of even showing me a level status?!” Ren exclaimed, baffled by the lack of information from the screen.

He sighed deeply, knowing that no one was around to hear his complaints. With no other choice, he pushed the frustration aside and kept training, focusing on improving his swordplay.

Next on his agenda was mana control—a skill he desperately needed to master.

Mana control, however, proved to be the more difficult task.

As someone who was not born in this world, Ren had no formal teaching on how to control the mana within his body. He didn’t even know how there was mana inside him in the first place.

In this world, most people have some mana in their bodies, but only twenty percent possess enough to cast spells. Out of that twenty percent, only half have the talent to become an official mage, and fewer still—just the elite—can rise to the level of an imperial mage.

There are also rare cases where someone with magical talent chooses a different path altogether, avoiding the life of a mage.

Mana itself is stored and centered around the human heart, much like a dormant engine when not in use. It constantly circulates around the heart, recovering slowly over time. The real challenge lies in how to use that stored mana effectively.

Just as the mana veins run beneath Eldaron’s forest, humans also have tiny mana veins inside their bodies, akin to blood vessels. These veins transport mana to key points within the body: the head, hands, and legs, each acting as a mini generator supplied by the central engine. To control mana flow, one must guide it precisely through these veins—this is where the real challenge begins.

"Moving the mana is the easy part," Ren muttered, frustrated as he continued practicing. "But controlling the flow so it doesn't surge through the veins like a raging river—that’s the hard part."

If someone fails to control the flow and lets the mana surge freely, their body will be wracked with pain, as the veins become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of mana rushing through them. In the worst-case scenario, the veins could rupture, permanently severing the person’s connection to mana and rendering them incapable of ever casting spells again.

Fortunately, such cases are rare, as the veins are relatively resilient. However, another danger looms: Mana Exhaustion.

Just as humans have a limit to their physical stamina, they also have a limit to their mana reserves. The heart’s "engine" isn't designed to store an infinite amount of mana; attempting to do so risks overloading the body, which could be fatal.

Over years of training, a person can increase their mana capacity significantly, but everyone has a limit. No matter how much someone trains, they will eventually hit a ceiling they cannot surpass.

Mana Exhaustion, on the other hand, occurs when someone uses all their mana reserves, causing the engine to stop its circulation entirely.

"That's exactly what happened to me when I used that imperfect technique to defeat the beast," Ren murmured, recalling the painful moment. "I never want to experience that kind of agony again."

However, there's a difference. If someone experiences mana exhaustion through normal overexertion, the pain is manageable. Passing out is likely, but it won’t be life-threatening—unless, of course, they’re in the middle of a battlefield.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

But Ren’s case had been far more severe. He had used up all of his mana reserves instantly, without any gradual draining. This could trigger a shock that would not only stop his "mana engine" but could potentially stop his heart as well.

"So, the fact I survived is either pure luck, or maybe that level up saved me," Ren thought, realizing how close he had come to death.

Now, he needed to find a way to control his mana flow within the limited time he had. But it was proving to be a difficult task.

Hours passed, and despite his efforts, the shrine continued to elude him.

As Ren continued his journey through the forest, his frustration began to build.

Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "Come on, where is it? It’s got to be here somewhere..." The endless mist and the identical trees made it impossible to tell if he was making progress. Walking wasn’t exactly his strength, and the fatigue was starting to wear him down.

With only two hours left before sunset, Ren still had no clue where the shrine was. Based on his knowledge of the game, he knew he was close, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact location.

"It’s almost like I’m near it but constantly circling around," Ren said, growing increasingly frustrated.

The forest seemed to stretch endlessly, and although the creatures and elements weren’t much of a threat, the real problem was getting lost. He knew that the only way out of this forest in time was to find that hidden piece.

"Shit, at this rate, I won’t make it to the capital in time," Ren muttered, glancing at his watch.

Sadly, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the day’s adventure seemed to be coming to an unproductive end.

Just as he was about to give up and set up camp for the night, the Origin Metal on his arm suddenly pulsed.

"What the—?" Ren froze, staring at the metal as it subtly tugged him in a specific direction.

"You want me to go that way?" Ren said, confused as he looked in the direction. "But we've been there before."

Despite his confusion, the metal continued pulling him, insisting on that direction. With no other leads to follow, Ren decided to trust the Origin Metal, hoping it would guide him to his goal.

After walking a few more steps, Ren suddenly passed through something. It was as if he had stepped through an invisible barrier, one that seemed to be covering a small area.

"So that's why I couldn’t find it. The barrier isn't meant to block the path; it's messing with my perception," Ren said curiously as he examined the invisible boundary. "But it seems like it didn’t affect you," he added, glancing at the metal on his arm.

It was a simple misdirection but quite effective to the human eyes.

But something felt off.

This barrier wasn’t present in the game. Something had changed once again.

"If this really is where the shrine is, then as I feared, the changes even affect the time before the Dark Ages," Ren thought, his brow furrowing.

The era before the Dark Ages was only mentioned in the game's lore. Players never had a visual representation of that time, just fragmented cutscenes and scattered notes that could be discovered throughout Illustria Chronicles. If something had truly shifted in that ancient era, Ren had no way of knowing for sure, beyond the knowledge stored in his mind.

"This is troubling..." Ren murmured, trying to process this unsettling revelation.

Yet the metal continued tugging him forward, as if it wanted to show him something important.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Ren sighed, following its pull.

A few more steps through the dense, mist-shrouded forest led him to what he’d been searching for: a desolate stone-and-metal structure, half-concealed by the mist.

"Finally," he exhaled, relief washing over him.

The Fallen Shrine.

Ren approached the crumbling structure, taking in its weathered condition. Despite its obvious age, the metal components looked strangely untouched by time, a testament to the advanced technology of the lost civilization.

"These people were on another level," Ren muttered, his fingers brushing against the smooth, untarnished surface of the metal.

While the shrine was an intriguing sight, it was merely a marker for something far more valuable hidden beneath it.

"Now I just need to find the door," Ren said, scanning the area with sharp eyes.

Although it appeared to be a place of worship, the truth was quite the opposite. The shrine served as a cover for a massive underground research facility, one that had been built to house a joint project involving all three major species of the world.

Humans, Elves, and Dwarves.

A project that should have catapulted them into a new era.

The Golden Age.

But, as history shows, that never came to pass.

In fact, the opposite happened.

The Dark Ages.

“Smart move, constructing a base beneath a shrine. No one would suspect a thing—it was easy to keep hidden from the public eye,” Ren murmured as he surveyed the area.

After some careful searching, he finally spotted the basement door, just as he remembered from the game. "This is it—the lab entrance." But the door was sealed tight, its keypad long dead and covered in dust.

"Figures… Time to put you to use again," Ren said, forming the Origin Metal into a greatsword once more. "I should get some exercise while at it."

Ren pressed the timer, and with a swift, decisive slash, the blade effortlessly cut through the lock, sending it clattering to the ground.

"Easy enough," Ren muttered, adjusting his sword.

The door creaked open, revealing a dark, foreboding stairwell leading deep underground. Ren hesitated for a split second, then steeled himself. "No turning back now," he muttered, descending cautiously. His footsteps echoed eerily in the silence.

At the bottom, he was greeted by a long, dimly lit hallway that stretched far into the darkness. "Still got power, huh?" Ren noted, glancing at the flickering lights above. The place felt abandoned but disturbingly intact. Along the walls, rooms were filled with rusted tools, corroded books, and dust-covered consoles.

The base was massive, sprawling beneath the surface with sections dedicated to a variety of specialized experiments. It was designed to be the epicenter of progress, meant to usher in a new era for all three species.

"Engineering, biology, energy production... and so many other sections," Ren muttered as he wandered through the dimly lit hallways, taking note of the plaques on the walls marking each area. "They even had living quarters and a cafeteria for the researchers," he added, impressed by the sheer scale of the facility.

Each step echoed through the desolate corridors, reminding him of the base's once-bustling life. Now, it was eerily quiet, a shell of what it was intended to be.

"It looks like they left in a hurry... but where are the bodies?" Ren couldn’t shake the creeping unease settling in his gut.

In the game, the base had been littered with corpses—the remains of researchers who hadn’t made it out in time. According to the lore, they had been brutally butchered by an unknown enemy. The notes found throughout the lab told the story of how the researchers had been left unaware of the impending attack, trapped inside with the enemy.

Ren spent the next hour scouring the base, searching for any signs of life or remnants of the people who once inhabited it. He checked the living quarters, the labs, and even the cafeteria, but found nothing—no corpses, no signs of struggle, not even a trace of the researchers that were supposed to have met a grisly end here.

“Did they manage to escape?” Ren wondered aloud, searching for any sign of the bodies. But aside from the thick layers of dust and grime, he didn’t find a single corpse.

This change… Ren wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing. All he knew was that he needed the hidden piece located here.

Navigating the labyrinthine corridors, Ren finally arrived at a massive, steel door. Beyond it lay the room he was looking for. "This should be it," he whispered, tightening his grip on the greatsword.

Pressing the timer once more, Ren swung the greatsword with all his might, slashing the door in half. The steel groaned under the force, and the remnants fell away, clearing the path forward. Dust filled the air, and Ren stepped through the threshold, his heart racing in anticipation.

As Ren stepped into the chamber, however, he immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong.

"What the hell is going on here…?" Ren muttered, gripping his sword tighter, his heart pounding in his chest.