“I wonder if I can just take whatever portal? Better not.

Will there be people on the same or similar quest as mine?”

“It would be rare for our hero to meet people on his quest as his level is too low and people this low leveled would usually not have access to facilities such as these.”

“So you’re telling me there's a chance?

Forming a hunting group could be cool.”

“In the ominous room of portals, our hero starts stretching his body. These are Oh clan’s extreme stretches.

The movements are familiar to us, but the two strangers who were previously whispering to each other, have now fallen silent.”

“Hey! Didn’t see you two in here.”

‘It’s talking to us.’

‘Don’t answer it.’

‘But it's looking right at us!’

‘Shh! Not so loud! What if it hears us?’

‘So what if it hears us?’

“Guys. It’s fine, I’m cool.”

‘Cool? What does it mean!? Is it talking to us!? What is cool!?’

‘Be careful brother, it might be trying to lead us astray! Remember what Papa told us!’

‘Never trust anyone, ever.’

‘Right!’

“Without blinking, our hero continues his bizarre an inhumane movements. A brilliant smile on his face as he observes his two new friends.”

“So where you two headed?”

‘Here, brother. Use these!’

‘How ingenious, brother!’

“After stuffing their ears with a gelatinous substance the two blood-bound creatures continue their conversation through various hand signals, leaving our hero out in the cold.”

“What in the world is wrong with these two?”

‘They’re Fithers.’

“Finally! What kept you so long?”

‘The thousands of people outside.’

“The outside and inside of the whole facility has been flooded with children and adults of all ages, every soul with a lust for power or a thirst for adventure have landed on Tio’s doorsteps.”

“Ah. Alright.”

“The sad expression on the little lady is hard to miss, yet our hero looks oblivious as he finishes up his exercise routine. A thirst of something different has been surging through him.”

“Don’t look so sad, I shouldn't be too long, right? It just one quest.”

‘But, going alone.’

“It’s fine. Besides, I still got Narry with me.”

“True solitude is perhaps the only future our hero can achieve without fighting fates encompassing grasp.”

‘Just promise me to be careful! Remember Uncle Ki’s warning! With each step forward, ready three steps back!’

“I’ll be fine.”

“Without a doubt our hero has the abilities of a vermin, hard to catch and harder to kill.”

“That’s a bit too much, right? Also, if I were superstitious, that’d be a giant red flag.”

“We do not worry, for even in death, our hero will persevere.”

‘Ji.’

“Ah, sorry. So which portal is it?”

‘Where did you want to go?’

“The quest says; Travel to the appropriate wildlands and cull the malignant fiends scouring the land.”

‘Wildlands. I’ll open a portal for you.’

“With reluctance, Tio opens a portal. Our hero’s eyes widen as if he were trying to gleam into the secrets of the laws.”

“You never know!”

“As we enter the dimensional gateway, we can again sense the powerful and awe inspiring laws used to create and maintain the portal.”

“It just feels so right. Like a mysterious blanket hugging me.”

“Even moments of monumental importance are belittled into such mortal acts. Blankets! Overwhelmed by the mysteries of the multiverse and he describes as hugs and blankets!”

“Ehrm. Why are you so mad?”

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“Why couldn’t he wake up during one of the great der ankh Nar Kel wars! To have slept through the great devouring!

Yet wake just before the great awakening! The beginning of the grand prosperous Era!”

“I’m a bit confused. I’m actually trying to enjoy this dimensional travel; can you quiet down a bit?”

“Woe! Woe! An Era of great balance wasted on this whittling dog tail of a hero! The ambient mana practically subservient, the laws welcoming and the world in a grand state of equilibrium!”

“Shhh! I’m so close, I can almost touch it.

Bah! I almost had it! You ruined it.

Definitely would have broken through and discovered spatial laws and stuff.”

“They told me death was a gift, they told me life could be eternal. I didn’t take it to heart then, and to ponder upon it now is torturous. Gifted with tragedy, blessed for eternity.”

“I’m so confused.

Oh! Look what you did! You wasted the ride! We’re already here.

I hope your happy, Narry. I could have learned teleportation! Maybe!”

“The wildlands. Or more accurately, a wildland. The name may seem significant but merely means abandonment. A land left to its own devices.”

“Is this still in our world? Last time we went to a different world.

That reminds of that old bastard. Still have no idea where he ran off to.”

|Optional: Back to the grind|

*

“The prophet said to the wanderer ‘Swim against the water or be swallowed by the tide.’ The wanderer took this advice and escaped drowning.”

Travel to the appropriate wildlands and cull the malignant fiends scouring the land.

Capture, kill or purge thirty tier nine undying that are corrupting the area.

Optional: Find and report the source of the infestation.

Optional: Kill the source of the infestation.

Optional: Create a foothold in the hills and set up a waypoint formation.

Location: Within the Mer-erk mer-erk wildlands

Difficulty: Medium.

Reward: Tier appropriate weapon.

“Alright. No idea how to create a foothold or a waypoint formation, not even sure what a waypoint is.

But from the items in my inventory I can see how I’m supposed to be make a foothold. Like a few tons of lumber.

I can’t believe it is expecting me to build a foothold.

Ah, it is optional.”

“The Mer-erk mer-erk wildlands could be considered a rather safe area relative to the average strength of the world.

Yet it would be near impossible to reach, unless half the world’s population set out to fight a great war.”

“The air here is pretty nice. I can feel a really nice flow of ambient mana around. Very refreshing.

Okay, let’s get moving then. Maybe I can find a nice location to camp before I start hunting.”

“Although these lands are not important to our hero, they have the potential to create a magnificent expansion and training ground for generations to come.”

“Alright, you continue thinking about that. I’m going to go explore a bit.

Enormous trees, check.

Ridiculously large mountains in the distance, check.

Grass and bushes taller than me, check.

How am supposed to move in this!”

“To be such a tiny being has finally caught up with our hero.”

“Tiny!? Since when was the world so exaggerated?”

“Our hero turns slackjaw when he sees a flying insect.”

“Dear lord. Did you see that? I’m not supposed to hunt something like that, right?

Almost reminded me of a bumble bee.

I’m starting to think I should have brought people with me.”

“It shouldn’t take our hero long to out level in this place.

Even if the world system tries to stay fair and judge people evenly. Our hero has managed to somewhat bolster himself to a point of trivializing creatures of similar level.”

“Huehuehue. That’s right, this is where my water kung-Fu comes into play.”

“Although physical techniques do have their place in combat, especially when it comes to being aware of one's surroundings and reactions.

Our hero has excelled in a different field. One may even call it obscene, grotesque or vile.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Due to his prolonged stay in the Oh-clan household, drowned in ambient water laws.

As long as our hero wasn’t recovering from various self-inflicted wounds, he would be training his magic. His body a virtual black-hole, devouring everything it can without end.”

“Now that you mention it, I was spending most of my time lying down playing with water magic.”

“Millions of mana enthusiasts would feel their blood boil at the thought of our little ignorant hero’s experiences in this world.”

“Such a drama queen. That actually reminds me!”

“As our hero’s eyes shine with blue and white splendor it appears to have hold an awe inspiring sea within them. Water starts gathering into a something of an eight legged water-fiend.”

“What’s a water-fiend?”

“The creature conjured by our hero looks awkward but stable. It seems his insight into the laws have inspired him to create something primal. Something familiar to the earliest water sprites.”

“This will work out nicely.”

“Sitting on top of the rather tall creature our hero starts traveling without direction, his excitement hidden but eyes flicker with a certain expectations of adventure.”

“Your eye-reading is always as impressive. What do your eyes spy, Narry?

“hmph!”

“What was that!? That was definitely directed toward me!

Feeling a bit more open, Narry?

Narry, Narry, Narry.

Talk to me, Narry!

Why won’t you let me inside your world. Imagine the things we could together!”

“In his unhibitive bout of insanity, our hero manages to stumble in to an area containing not one but two tier eight undying creatures.”

“Where? Tier eight? I need tier nine or higher. What level is tier eight again?”

Eight times thirty is what? Math man.

Eight times three is twenty-four. Add the zeros and we got two-hundred and fourty.

Eh? That’s higher level than me.”

|Ji Aleksy. Elementalist. Mana fiend: Level Two-hundred-thirty-eight|

“Just two levels though. No wait. Isn't tier eight a whole thirty levels?

So tier nine is two-hundred-seventy to three-hundred?

That’s way higher, I got to be careful. Hmm.

Narry, what do you think? This seems strange.”

“…”

“What? Feeling shy because you slipped up? It’s too late to go back now!”

“It would appear our hero has made a breakthrough in mathematics, allowing him to deepen his understandings area’s potential threats.

His eyes flicker about and his stance changed the sixth stance of the Oh-clan’s martial arts, ready to react to any potential danger.”

“What if that freakishly large honey bee went to get more of its friends? The only option would be to burn this entire forest down.

This is why cutting down the forest is the only right choice! And people cry about the rainforest.”

“A small flame starts gathering from our hero’s shoulder to this finger tips.”

“I´m ready to set this whole place up in flame!”

“His child like flame would only be strong enough to burn dead branches or withered grass.”

“What?! Damn, plan a has already failed. Plan b it is.”

“We can only imagine how monumentally stupid this rumored plan b is.”

“Pah. Plan b is bullet-proof.

Alright lil’ water-fiend, you keep your eyes open as well.

Ah, I forgot. No eyes. Well, be ready to run, just in case.

Should I dig a hole? A good hole is always useful.

I know I’ve said this before, but the world truly has changed.

What was that? You hear something, Narry? Lil’ water-fiend?

Ah, I forgot, no ears. It’s okay just be ready to run, lil’ guy.”

“The rigged but consistent movements of the conjured water creature continue without a change but we can see it a gentle ripple.

This is a primitive communication method. We the more cultured of course understand its message and can’t help but to cheer for it.”

“Oh? What did the little guy say?

You see something over there?

Ah! It’s water. Running water.

Let’ check it out lil’ water.”

“As the trek through the spacious forest continues, our hero finds a small river, snaking its way through the wildland’s forest.”

“Spacious forest is an understatement, and small river? This thing is over twenty meters wide, at least.”

“The small river originates from a two different springs located in the mountains some distance away.

Rich in nutrients, the water is a natural source of energy, appearing to travel through at least two or three areas with high concentrations of mana.”

“Isn’t it strange we haven't seen many animals on the way here? It’s only been twenty or thirty minutes though.”

“The wild creatures are of course more in tuned with their environment and can easily detect a mana spewing monster such as our hero.

Such a beacon of mana would be hard to ignore, this of course applies both to the wild beasts and the undying.”

“Huh? Didn’t know I was so conspicuous.

I think I’ll build a small camp around here.

I’ve got to make use of the ridiculous amount of materials this quest gave me.”

“With enough materials to build a village fit for a hundred people, our hero begins his careful inspection of the nearby area, before cutting down a seven-hundred-year-old tree.”

“I’d build it up in the trees but I have no idea how to do it. Maybe I can find an architect in the city.

Hey, Narry. Can I return to the city without abandoning the quest? Is there a time limit?

Can I fail a quest? Hey? You there?

This tree is going to be some trouble. It just fell onto a different tree.”

“We who question our path will find ourselves lost.”

“Should I take up that woodworking profession? Loads of woods around.

Hmm.”