The Savagery Forest...

An area located far west of Natunnia also known as "Golds' graveyard."

Despite the title. Gold ranked adventurers or higher still ventures on Forest of Savagery which is an unforgiving area where hundreds of powerful monsters roams, all of them fighting to the most brutal survival of the fittest ever known in the land.

And deep in this forest are two men trying their best to survive, each carrying a log as their only weapon. Both of them assisting each other's back on the constant barrage of monsters trying to turn them into source of food.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Mateo screams at the top of his lungs as he slams the log he carrying on the group of 1 meter Hunter Ants, splattering guts and fluids on the ground.

Meteo is breathing heavily. Recovering his strenght that got drained by the heavy log he just used as a weapon.

"Bro! Are you done there?" Mateo screams, waiting for Beltrand's response.

Beltrand kicks a Hunter Ant that almost got here abdomen with it's huge pincer. The kick manages to snap the Ant's neck.

"Yeah! I'm done here!"

"We need to leave immediately! If these fuckers are here! Their nest must be nearby!"

Hearing the implications, Beltrand agree and the two runs away. They just barely escaped the now horde of Hunter Ants that smells the pheromone of their dead comrades.

After some time, Mateo and Beltrand are now walking after leaving the Hunter Ant's range. They don't know how much distance they just traversed since day 1 of getting thrown in the depths of Savagery Forest.

With Point Compass on their hand as a navigation tool. There's only one objective on their mind: To walk west and reach the location pointed by the tool they using.

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Night time comes and the two are now camping after hunting a Shrwine as their dinner. Beltrand takes a bite of the roasted Shrine and chew for few minutes. After swallowing the food, Beltrand just sigh with discontent.

"This is the best if only there's seasonings available." Beltrand's sad words as he takes another bite of the meat with little fanfare.

"Well. If only our herbalist knowledge is not limited to medicinal herbs." Mateo's response. He also eating the unseasoned meat with no happy reaction.

It's not their first time on Savagery Forest and they already did numerous quest deep in the trees. But the supposed easy stroll is now a battle for survival with few rules set-up by Gilmore.

Bringing with them is their own big logs of wood which is a requirement for the challenge. If they abanddon the log, it means failure of the challenge thus Gilmore cancelling their training.

They can't bring their own Bag of Storage but it's not like they didn't have tools given to them. Gilmore gives them the Point Compass that guides them to the target location, a butcher's machete and a water bag for both of them.

They need to survive with only the Heavy logs, Point Compass, Butcher's machete, water bags and thick clothes they wearing. Pretty much a suicide for inexperienced people.

But Mateo and Beltrand are not inexperienced instsad are Gold ranked adventurers. Their knowledge and combat experience makes them survive despite the restrictions set to them by their trainer.

"Bro. Remember what Shirna said before we go here?" Mateo asked why looking at the heavy log they always carried for 1 week now.

"Yeah... No wonder this roll of wood is so heavy. To think that we carrying an Elven Ironwood since the beggining of our training."

"But I'm curious on why Gilmore puts us on these strenght training? To be honest I expecting that he teach us a sword skills or two."

Beltrand laughs after hearing Mateo's wishful thinking.

"Why are you laughing?" Mateo asked with a confused and annoyed look on his face.

"Bro! Do you really believe that the current Vandril Family head would teach us Vandril Swordsmanship?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong to believe that's the case right?"

"I agree that learning Vandril Swordsmanship is amazing but it's also a suicide. Once we show a sword skill exclusive to a Noble family bloodline, the said family are now wants us dead." Beltrand's explanations as he waits for the meat to get cooked.

"Because Nobility and stuffs?"

"Yeah, Nobility and shits."

"But why he put us in this training to begin with?"

"That's for Gilmore to answer once we finished this training. But in my opinion as a former Knight, Gilmore is probably just put us in this intense strenght training as the next one might be worse."

"I can see that's the case." Mateo agrees.

The two continues their feast while telling stories until they decide to finally sleep.

The next morning. The duo wakes up because of the sounds of two monsters fighting to death near them

A Giant Devourer and Forest Cockatrice fighting to decide on who's going to become the food.

"Should we also join their fight?" Beltrand asked.

"We don't have the tools to to fight one left alone 2 infamous gold rank monsters."

"Got it."

Mateo and Beltrand picks up their stuffs quickly and then leaves. The two monsters didn't noticed their small pressence as they see each other as the biggest threat at that time.

Once in the distance. The two watches the monster fight until the Devourer finally manages to entangle its serpentine body to the Cockatrice. The Cockatrice screeches until it become more muted as it proceeds to get choked to death.

"Yup. The chicken is dead." Beltrand's comment.

The two walks away, leaving the Devourer to enjoy its feast on solace as the Devourer rips his price piece by piece before swallowing each part.

~~~~~~°~~~~~~

"Hmmmmm....?"

Claustrine is in deep focus as she sits in front of her desk. Struggling to think of an idea that would change her in the future.

Using the knowledge she learned from Monica about Unique Magic. Claustrine seems can't decide on what kind of Unique Magic she should create.

"Should I focus on fire? No no no no... There's already too many Unique Magic base on fire." Claustrine is talking to herself.

"How about Earth magic? Hmmm?"

Claustrine slumped her back on the chair for a moment before taking a sip of her 3-in-1 coffee. After taking a few sips, Claustrine stand up and stretches her body.

Claustrine is engulfed by a single thought - She wants a REALLY Unique Magic. Claustrine finds the name "Unique Magic" ironic due to the fact that these types of magic can still be teach and learned by multiple people at the same time as she sees inherited magic before.

And because of Unique Magic being a recent trend among wizardry. All of them are pretty much just different spins of basic elements: Fire, Water, Ground, and Air. Only powerful mages truly created a magic that only unique to them as they have the power and capacity to maintain such complex magic.

Claustrine can cast any basic magic but she's specialized on Fire and Ground. At first, Lava would be cool but she remembers that there's already a Platinum-ranked adventurer in Natunnia that uses Lava as Unique Magic.

"This is a lot harder than I expected." Claustrine returns to her desk and look on the stack of books containing magic knowledge. But something caught her attention.

In the bookshelve in front of the desk, lies most of the books she got from Earth. Claustrine stares on the books. Until something caught her attention.

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Three books labeled Chemistry. Each book have its own color and numbered.

Because of being stranded in the Reverse Tower and her dbusy schedule, Claustrine don't really have time to read the books she left on her home. Claustrine picks the 1st book and starts to read the pages. After some time, Claustrine makes a huge smile on her face.

"This is it!" Claustrine shouts in excitement as she look on the periodic table.

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3 days later...

"AHHHHHH!!!!" Claustrine screams out of frustration, brushing her hair aggressively until it becomes messy.

"How the fuck they even manage to see such processes?! I don't understand!"

Claustrine slumped on her bed, cooling her head off after intense thought session.

At first, Claustrine is excited as she reads the book and discovers a thousand years worth of knowledge from another world many times more complex than what her world's library have.

The fact that there's 118 elements on the world and completely different to the known 4 main elements makes Claustrine ecstatic especially when reading the history and descriptions of each elements.

Some are already common to her like Gold, Silver and Iron.

While most of them are completely alien to Claustrine. From metals that probably undiscovered to her world, to different forms of colorless and oderless gas.

But the mood change when Claustrine learn the complex building blocks that creates the elements - The Atom.

"How I supposed to visualize a thing that's literally invisible to the naked eye?!"

Despite the book providing visual representation of how the molecules and atoms might look like. Claustrine even tried to recreate the simpliest element in the Periodic table but she can't conjure it whatever how much she tried. The only thing she can produce are just bright blolbs of light caused by the mana she wasting.

Claustrine stand up and walks towards her little kitchen and pours drinking water to a clear glass.

Claustrine stares at the glass of water and remembers what water is, pondering the thing she read on the chemistry book.

"Still surprised that water consist ot two elements instead of being a single one." Claustrine said to herself before drinking the water.

Then she conjures a blob of water in the air.

"Then if water is consist of two elements, how we can conjure water?"

In her short time living in Earth. Claustrine can only say that magic is the only thing that's truly unique in her world.

In fact, the magic that her world would break the established natural laws of Earth in hundred ways.

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"!!!"

Claustrine eyes widen. The water she conjured falls to the ground then it disappears as she watch the event unfold.

"The same natural laws still applies to us! It's just that unlike Earth, we have a tool to bypass the laws even though temporarily!"

That's why the mages in Grimael can just conjure and manipulate things. They just need further knowledge on the things they want to use as the foundation of their personal magic.

Magic is an anomaly.

Claustrine takes another glass of water but instead of drinking it, she take the water to her desk.

"Instead of trying to conjure the Periodic table using magic without prior knowledge. I should learn the fundamentals of elements first using magic. But how?" Claustrine thinks to herself.

She pause for a moment until an idea comes on her mind.

Arcane Detection, a simple spell used to detect nearby mana sources either from items or other people by sending a mana shockwave around the user. Claustrine used it when she's spying on Mateo.

"What if I use Arcane Detection? But it can only detect mana and magic."

And then she remembers another spell.

Pressence Seeker, a spell related to Arcane Detection but instead of searching for mana, it instead extends the user's mana to be used as an extended awareness to feel anything the mana touched on its path.

But using Pressence Seeker requires the user to be in absolute state of tranquility and focus in order to manipulate the extended mana with ease, which leaves the user vulnerable. It also drains huge amount of mana depending how far the user streches her mana is, waste mana on each second the spell is used outside the user's body and opponets with mana awareness can use the mana as a trail to find its source just like Arcane Detection is. That's why despite knowing the spell, Claustrine rarely even considered using it.

"If I modify Pressence Seeker and use it just to study the atoms, it should not have a huge toll on my body right?"

Claustrines slowly goes into state of tranquil. Closing her senses and focusing her mind on her mana. At first, her mana spreads on the entire room so she tried to manipulate it. Making the mana closer and closer and more compressed. Until it's just spreads one meter on her body.

But the process takes a toll on her body as it takes a long time. She was surprised that it takes a lot of energy to make the mana pressence more compact and potent in an area outside her body.

And her plan is to make the concentration of the mana for Pressence Seeker to be more compact and potent that she can use it as a makeshift microscope to study molecules.

After compressing her mana in just a small area between her hands, she can really visualized what naked eye can't.

She can clearly see the dust particles vividly. Some very small insects that she only see for the first time. Weird looking organisms in different shapes and sizes.

"T-this must be the bacterias that M-Mateo is so paranoid about hehe..."

Claustrine cancels the Pressence Seeker. She was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Physically and Magically exhausted, Claustrine goes to her bed and lies down defeated, but determined.

"If I want to see the molecules or if I'm bold enough, the atoms. I need to compress and increase the potency of my mana. Even by exhausting myself."

Despite being tired. Claustrine chuckle as she imagines the prospect of learning a completely different field.

"How exciting."

~~~~~~°~~~~~~

Back in Savagery Forest. It's been a week since the first day Mateo and Beltrand entered the woods. Since then, they already defeated hundreds of monsters with varying strenght.

But they still have their limits especially without their gears.

Staying in the branches of a very huge trees, Beltrand looks down and watch the sea of one meter Flood crabs rushing inside the the forest for their yearly reproduction cycle.

When in their reproduction cycle. Thousands of Flood crabs goes deep in the woods to feast on whatever unfortunate creature got caught on the swarm, even the larger monsters are no match against it as there's no way for them to fight such horde.

After they eat and reach a suitable spot, the Flood Crabs then returns to the sea.

"I want to snatch one of those crabs." Beltrand says as he drools, he's already hungry just imagining the taste of the crab meat.

"I have an idea."

Mateo cuts a very long vine in the tree they staying with. She cuts the excess leaves and then give it to Beltrand. Beltrand laughs really loud.

"I really hope that really works."

Beltrand lowers down the vine until it reach the Flood Crabs. He shakes the vine to provoke the crabs. After some time.

"Ok they took the bait!" Beltrand screams as he watch one of the crabs snips the vine with its pincer.

"Quick! Pull it up!"

Beltrand follows Mateo and pulls the vine with a Flood Crab still hanging on it.

But when it's already in the middle, the Flood Crab purposely detached its pincer and falls back to the horde. Beltrand continues to pull and then looks down the pincer that still clamped on the vine.

"Is this enough?" Beltrand asked.

"We need more than that. Fish for more, i'm going to prepare the fire."

After some time, Beltrand manages to fish two dozens of pincers and 3 whole crab that stupid enough to not detached themselves to the vine. They're now cooking the crabs in the fire pit specially created by Mateo.

The fire pit consist of fresh moist logs placed between two forking branches on the tree. And then above the fresh logs, Mateo makes the fire using the dead branches. All of it he cutted on the same tree they staying with.

"OOOOOOOHHHHH!!!" Beltrand screams with delight after he takes a bite of the crab meat.

"Amazing. The meat is even tasty without seasoning. No wonder these crabs are very valued." Mateo commented.

As the two eat. They watch as the thousand of crabs below them fights something.

"Another monster got caught?" Beltrand asked.

"No. I see Savage Ants fighting the crabs. The crabs probably trampled a nearby colony so the ants fights back." Mateo answered as he observe the battle unfold.

"A war then. Which side do you think is going to win?"

"The crabs of course, unless all the Savage Ants in this god forsaken forest gets united." Mateo answered then he cracks one of the whole crab and eat its content.

"Just victory by sheer numbers then. Speaking of forest, something is bugging me since the beggining."

"What is it?"

"I know we already did numerous mission on this forest but why even with this huge handicap set to us by Gilmore, you still can remain calm and use the vast knowledge you have to survive here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I observed Mateo. You know which monsters to avoid, what plants and fruits to forage, how to fight monsters some of them I just fought for the first time and you even know most of dangerous hazards like this Flood Crabs. Hell, you even easily fit yourself in this survivalist lifestyle without problems." Beltrand explained.

"Wait? I didn't told you?"

"The fact I asking you this question says otherwise."

"Oh..."

Mateo smiles, his eyes full of bitter nostalgia.

"Well, there's no way I would tell you that. But now that you know that I'm from another world, I guess its fine to tell you how."

Beltrand just continue to feast on the crab as he wait for Mateo to continue talking.

"The door is not really the way on how I got transfered to this world. In fact that door only appears 4 years ago after my first time being here."

"How is that related to my question?"

"You see. I just suddenly transfered by an unknown force. That day, I'm walking to the moutain mine where my father works and also get bamboo shoots and papaya. Then boom. I just find myself in the middle of this forest with only my clothes and a machete."

Beltrand eyes gets wide, his face full of grim realization.

"What... the... fuck?"

"Yeah. Absurd right?"

"And what happened after that?"

"I tried to survive in this place with my own abilities. The observations you see on me are the skills I learnt for doing my best to stay alive for what I remember is 6 months."

Beltrand sigh and smiles.

"You're a monster for surviving this forest for that long, and in your weakest form."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not but thanks anyway." Mateo smiles.

"But how you manage to leave this forest?"

"Hmmm... I believe after 6 months, I met Claustrine here and I finally decide to leave this forest for good and enter civilization."

"I see..." Beltrand said then takes a bite on the crab meat. But he almost choke when he realize something.

"WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE?! Claustrine?!"

"Yeah... What's the matter?"

"Isn't Claustrine just a Copper ranked adventurer at that time?! What the fuck she's doing in this forest?!"

"I don't really know to be honest. I think she's here to gather some stuffs like herbs." Mateo answers as he shrugs.

"You know what, both of you are nuts."

"Why?" Mateo raise her eyebrow.

"Claustrine just casually visiting this dangerous forest just to gather some herbs and you! You said that you finally decide to leave this forest. What does that even mean?!"

"Yeah. Exactly like that."

"But why?!" Beltrand is in disbelief, Mateo just chuckle as he watch his friend's confused reaction.

"Well, I don't also know. Maybe I just more feel at home here at that time." Mateo's unserious answer.

Mateo notices that the stampede sound of the crabs slowly fading away. He looks down and see the end of the Flood Crabs slowly fading away in the distance.

"Looks like the flood is over. Let's go and continue this challenge."

Mateo clean himself from the fragments of crab shells. He extinguish the flame on the bonfire using the water in his bag before scattering the charred wood below.

Beltrand just watch Mateo do his job before making a deep sigh. Just accepting everything that Mateo said.

The two then finally jumps down on the tree and picks the logs that they buried on the ground so the Flood Crabs could not push them away.

Mateo looks on the compass and walk on the pointed direction to continue their rigorous training