As we left, I noticed my energy was depleting much faster than I’d anticipated. By the time we surfaced, the streets were littered with the corpses of countless Blood Bugs. Soldiers moved methodically, carrying heavy chunks of iron that continuously emitted that green gas.

The stench was unbearable, like a mix of vomit and rotting dog waste, left to bake under the sun for hours. No wonder everyone wore gas masks.

This old man, of course, still hadn’t given me one. Probably just to spite me.

As we exited the city, a man bumped into Hen. The old man didn’t apologize, didn’t even glance at him, just kept walking as if the man didn’t exist.

The stranger shot me a scornful look before turning away.

“What an asshole,” I muttered under my breath, glaring at his retreating.

“Hey, kid,” Hen said softly, looking around as though checking for eavesdroppers.

“What is it?” I snapped. “You dragged me out of the city for this? If it’s not important, I’m leaving you here.”

“If you go back to the city now, you’ll be arrested,” Hen replied, his tone unusually serious.

Before I could respond, he pulled out a rolled map and a sword—the same ice-elemental blade I’d admired countless times in his shop.

“Here,” he said, handing them to me. “This is the best map I could find of the surrounding areas. And this sword... I know you’ve been eyeing it.”

I hesitated, staring at him in disbelief. “Why are you giving me this? And why can’t I go back to the city?”

Hen sighed heavily, his gaze dropping to the ground for a moment. “The city lord has fled. He was attacked by the Dark Hawk organization, and now they’re about to launch a purge. They’ll wipe out anyone who opposed them.”

“A purge?” I repeated, my voice thick with disbelief. “You’re telling me they released those Blood Bugs just to distract everyone while they took over the city?”

He nodded grimly. “Exactly. The bugs were meant to throw the city into chaos and make people focus on survival instead of their schemes. And now, anyone who’s spoken against the Dark Hawk is a target—normal citizens, soldiers, even merchants. If you go back, you’ll be caught in it.”

My mind reeled at the implications. How many innocent people have already died because of this? From where we stood, I could still see green fog rising from the city, like a sickly haze of death.

“I... I can’t believe it,” I said, shaking my head.

Hen placed a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Listen, kid. Things are going to get much worse from here. You should leave this place entirely. Start fresh somewhere else. Me?” He gave a faint smile. “I’m heading to the upper realms. It’s time for me to move on.”

Before I could reply, Hen started to fade, his figure dissipating into the dim light as though he were never truly there to begin with.

“Wait, what about your smithy?” I asked, struggling to process the old man’s sudden departure.

Hen chuckled. “You’ll miss this old man, will you? Don’t worry about the smithy. My people will take care of it. But I can’t afford to be captured. That’s why I had to leave the city.” He paused, his expression growing stern. “And listen—don’t tell anyone you met me. Or that you learned elemental forging from me. Ever.”

Before I could respond, his body began to shimmer and dissolve into particles of light. Slowly, he ascended, the glowing fragments rising toward the sky.

I watched him disappear, realizing he wasn’t truly ascending yet. Instead, he was being transported to a place outside this realm—a safe space where the baptism for ascension could take place. A separate dimension is still under the jurisdiction of this realm.

And just like that, he was gone.

For a moment, I stood there, clutching the ice-elemental sword he’d given me. It wasn’t long before I realized the weapon was freezing my hand. Wincing, I quickly tied it to my waist to avoid frostbite.

Unfolding the map Hen had handed me, I was struck with disbelief. This wasn’t just any map—it was a detailed depiction of the entire known world.

Every city humans had explored was marked, along with rivers, mountain ranges, and the capitals of each alliance. Even forbidden areas, like the dense forest not far from here, were clearly labeled with ominous black skulls.

What surprised me most were the hideouts marked on the map. Hen had meticulously prepared this for me. Why?

Shaking my head, I dismissed the thought. Questioning his motives wouldn’t change anything. He’d left me a gift—a valuable one at that.

Tucking the map into my backpack and the gas mask away, I turned my back on the city. A pang of sadness hit me as I glanced at its fading silhouette, but I knew I couldn’t stay.

Chaos was everywhere, yet most chose to ignore it. That’s why the cries of those suffering never reached us.

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***

Five days later.

I trudged through the wilderness, clutching the map Hen had given me. The journey hadn’t been easy—monsters had chased me more often than I’d fought them. And on the rare occasions I did fight, it wasn’t the heroic slaughter of a conqueror. No, it was a desperate struggle for survival.

What kind of steroids are these beasts on?

Even now, the memory of a massive beast horde made my skin crawl. Led by several Elite-tier creatures, it was clear a Champion-class monster had been among them. Its mere presence radiated a suffocating aura of dominance.

It reminded me of that python I’d encountered before. I wasn’t ready to face something like that again.

Eventually, I arrived at the location of the first hideout Hen had marked on the map. Perched on the side of a cliff, it was well-hidden beneath a dense curtain of vines. The instructions Hen left made it easy to find, though, and I slipped through the greenery.

Inside, the cave was much larger than I’d expected. The chamber stretched roughly 8 meters wide, 9 meters tall, and 13 meters deep.

Putting everything down, I called up the system and purchased the Elite Gene Cap Potion.

The moment it appeared in my hand, I nearly dropped it. The potion looked like molten magma, radiating an intense heat that made my skin feel like it was burning just holding the bottle.

Do I have to drink this?!

Regret hit me like a hammer. I glanced at the system interface, half-tempted to return the potion and get my money back. But it was too late for that—I was broke again, with only 50 silver left.

Slapping myself, I tried to snap out of it. I’m not poor! I started with just one silver, and now I had fifty times that.

...Still, that didn’t make me feel any better about drinking this thing.

With a deep breath, I yanked the cork out. The heat hit my face like a furnace blast. The potion bubbled violently, and a single drop spilled onto the ground.

Hissss.

The ground dissolved instantly.

Panic gripped me. This is what I’m supposed to drink?

My hands shook as I raised the bottle. Every instinct screamed at me to stop, to throw it away, but I knew there was no going back now. Closing my eyes, I tilted the potion back and drank.

The first drop hit my tongue—and I froze.

Literally.

It wasn’t as hot as I expected. It was the exact opposite. A bone-chilling cold spread through me, so intense it felt like my throat was freezing solid. The liquid moved agonizingly slow, inching its way down my throat like frozen sludge.

But as soon as I finished, the freezing sensation disappeared.

And then the heat came.

My body turned into a living furnace. I felt as though molten lava was coursing through my veins, melting everything in its path. The air around me grew thick with steam as my body began to vaporize every droplet of moisture in the room. The entire cave was filled with fog, the humidity rising with each beat of my heart.

Desperate for a distraction, I channeled my spiritual energy, forcing it through the threads I had painstakingly woven within my body. But that only made things worse.

The potion’s effects surged through me, wreaking havoc. My spiritual energy turned scalding hot, burning through my body like liquid fire. The icy elements that had lingered in my core vaporized instantly, and the threads of energy I’d carefully crafted over months began to unravel, melting under the heat.

Reforging. That’s what this was. The potion wasn’t just enhancing me it was breaking me down first.

The pain was unimaginable. My body screamed in protest as every fiber was destroyed, reshaped, and rebuilt stronger than before. But the price was excruciating.

Tears streamed down my face as I fought to maintain control, the spiritual energy coursing through me barely manageable. My mind blurred, overwhelmed by the endless cycle of destruction and creation.

My vision darkened.

My energy was depleted.

And then... nothing.

Everything faded as I passed out, consumed by the agony of transformation.

***

Opening my eyes, I looked around me hazily. I was in a small, cotton-walled room, my arms tied to the bed. When I tried to get down, everything felt smaller—not the room itself, but me. Where am I? Why does this place feel so familiar?

“Test subject 011, we are going in. Please fully cooperate with us.” A voice crackled from a loudspeaker in the top right corner of the room.

Soon, heavily armed people entered the room, their weapons intimidating. I tried to ask where I was, and what had happened, but my voice failed me. I couldn’t move as I wished. My body seemed to have a mind of its own now. What had they done to me? Who were they?

The soldiers picked me up, covering my eyes so I couldn’t see anything as they carried me into another room with other kids. There were many kids, all like me but strangers.

Another child approached me then—a little girl with boyish hair and a mix of red and orange hues. A small nose and lips, but a clean and beautiful face.

“Good morning, Dax. Did you have a good dream?” she asked, her voice cheerful.

“Yes, I did, Hera,” I heard myself respond—a voice that wasn’t mine, yet familiar.

I don’t know her at all, and I don’t remember anything from my past either. Is this a dream? A hallucination? No, it feels real, but I can’t shake the sense of familiarity.

“What did you dream about, Dax?” Hera asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“I dreamed… Mom and Dad brought me into a store and picked out the biggest teddy bear for me. I played with them all day and when I went to sleep they even told me a fairy tail.” I answered, feeling embarrassed about my simple dream and I could not even keep eye contact as I looked down at my shoes.

“Haha, I’m so envious! I can’t even dream or sleep here, yet you can dream about such beautiful places, Dax. I’m so envious of you,” Hera said, her voice tinged with longing.

“Hera, can you tell me something?” Dax asked, looking up to her with expectation.

“Of course, anything, Dax. We are friends after all! We should help each other if we want to live to see the next day,” Hera said, her words shifting the mood with a sense of urgency.

What does she mean by that? I thought, my heart skipping a beat. Is this a place where we have to fight to survive?

But unlike the older Dax, the little Dax didn’t react to her statement with shock. Instead, he asked his question.

“When will this be over, and can we go home?” he asked, looking at Hera with hope.

“I don’t know, Dax. But you shouldn’t want to go back to your family, do you? I also don’t want to go back—they sent us here! They did not want us,” Hera said, her voice growing angry and desperate.

Dax could only look down, sad and almost wheezing, but then I saw Hera trying to hug him. Well, she tried, but their arms were tied just like his.

As this happened, I felt a wave of guilt and endless regret wash over me. Why do I feel guilty? I don’t even know her!

But soon everything changed as the kids grew more restless. The loudspeaker crackled again.

“For today, to live, you need to escape the forest we have escorted you into. Those who do not come out in 24 hours will be eliminated. I hope you all pass this test.” With that, the voice from the loudspeaker stopped, and the doors beneath it slid open.

I looked around the room, my attention shifting away from Hera. There were hundreds of kids like me—no equipment, no explanations, nothing. Just how did I end up here?

Is this a lucid dream? Maybe, but that won’t explain the guilt in my heart toward Hera.

With the doors opening, I felt my legs moving again, compelled to follow the other kids as they ran toward the outside. Fear was in their eyes. Just what is this place?