“Urgh…” I groaned as I got up from the ground.
My head was pounding, and light flooded my eyes. I heard birds chirping, bushes rustling, and the wind whistling by.
My gut told me that something was different – different and wrong.
When my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I found myself standing in the middle of an ordinary forest.
“…Where am I?” I mumbled out loud.
My fight with the Balor and the Phantom must’ve proven inconclusive, judging by the lack of any system messages.
‘Teleported away – that wasn’t how I expected that fight to end. In any case, am I in the Republic? None of the other four nations have forests, as far as I remember.’
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a squirrel emerged from a nearby bush and immediately held eye-contact with me.
“Hey there, cutie.” I chuckled and waved.
‘I should probably fly home and get new gear. But I should find something to cover myself with first. Going home naked probably isn’t the best of id-’
I threw myself to the side as the squirrel barreled right through where my head was, crashing straight into the tree that was behind me and shattering its bark.
“What the abyss?!” I cursed.
The squirrel emerged out of the shattered bark and stared me down once again.
Narrowing my eyes, I used [Appraisal] to see what manner of creature I was engaging with.
[Mana Born Carnivorous Squirrel Lv. 103]
HP: 421,696/421,696
MP: 73,529/72,529
SP: 115,734/115,734
Vitality: 15,621
Strength: 13,251
Dexterity: 17,324
Intelligence: 5,173
Wisdom: 4,247
Racial Traits:
[Lunge]
[Bite]
Skills:
N/A
Titles:
N/A
Rank S creature. Ordinary squirrel forcefully pushed up the evolutionary ladder by the dense ambient mana.
“Wha-?!” I gasped, only for the monster to lunge at me once again.
***
“Haah… Haah…” I panted in exhaustion.
Ahead of me was the carcass of the finally dead squirrel. It only cost me merely the vast majority of my mana and stamina.
I fell down on my rear and crossed my legs as I tried to piece together what just happened.
‘A mere squirrel was forcefully pushed up to rank S just by the ambient mana…?’
My memories went back to my conversations with mom, Aanat, the Goddess of Fertility, and Dimri, the Life Dragon. Creatures are only ever born at rank C at the highest, even dragons, because pushing them up further from within the womb or the egg would be too mana-intensive and dangerous on the mother, who has to supply all of the energy required.
And yet, this squirrel did just that – what everyone on the continent and the Isles failed to do. Then, it clicked in my head.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“…I am not on the surface, am I?”
I activated my mana sight through [Draconic Vision], and I nearly blinded myself. The entire forest was so dense with mana that I almost thought it to be physically present. If mana density was like air density, then the surface was like the empty void of space, the fifth floor was like a mountaintop, and this place was like a sea of viscous honey.
Deactivating my mana sight, I used [Appraisal] to determine where in the world this place is supposed to be.
My jaw dropped.
[Mana Saturated Dirt]
Dirt that is fully saturated with mana. Commonly found on the 25th layer of the Unfathomable Abyss, but also occasionally found below.
“The 25th layer…” I whispered in horror.
And there were even more layers below!
I stood dazed, trying my best not to freak out at the fact that I was five times deeper in the Abyss than what Mom deemed safe.
A literal forest critter had oppressively more powerful physical attributes than I did.
‘Calm down, Kiara. This isn’t the first time you’ve been out of your depth in the Abyss…’
***
As I walked carefully through the forest, I transformed into my true draconic form – all my weapons, tools, and armor were gone after all, so the stat boost and the powerful defensive scales were more than welcome.
I didn’t dare fly in the open in a place like this – any number of enemies could spot and attack me. Instead, using my long-neglected [Sneak] skill, I prowled silently through the forest in search of an entrance to an upper floor.
Just as I wondered how long this was going to take, I heard faint sounds in the distance.
Voices.
Suppressing any and all inquiries for now, I slowly crept towards the source of the voices. When I reached around a hundred meters away, I finally discerned who the speakers were.
[Kobold Lv. 13 – Berserker Lv. 4]
[Kobold Lv. 11 – Slinger Lv. 5]
[Kobold Lv. 12 – Spearman Lv. 4]
To both my expectation and surprise, the Kobolds were sapient, rank S creatures. Unlike beastmen, who shared a few traits with animals they were associated with, the Kobolds were truly canine-men through and through. All three had bloody maws and hands as they ripped apart their quarry and ate its meat raw.
On closer inspection, it appeared to be a humanoid as well.
[Elven Corpse]
I had no idea what the ‘Elven’ race was, but whatever its features were, I couldn’t tell. The body was too mangled for me to observe anything but gore. I do presume that the corpse was a rank S creature as well, judging by what I’ve seen from every other denizen of this forest.
I was too far away to actually hear the words the Kobolds said, but I wagered I wouldn’t understand it anyway, so I maintained my distance. There was no guarantee that I was strong enough to beat them, after all, despite their incredibly simple ability sets – the attribute difference was simply too oppressive.
Eventually, the Kobolds left. After waiting for a long time past their departure to ensure the area was clear, I approached the Elven remains.
The Kobolds had left nothing behind of the original corpse – not even its bones – but discarded its now bloody gear. With [Appraisal], I managed to get an idea of what the gear did.
[Elven Ranger Leather Armor]
Standard issue gear for Elven rangers. It provides its wearer with a minor boost to stealth and bow accuracy.
[Elven Oak Shortbow]
An Elven shortbow made from Elven Oak wood. Provides its wielder with a minor boost to firing speed.
As I rummaged through the leftover gear, I found a few arrows and a wooden dagger, but ultimately found nothing special.
“The gear’s enchantments and abilities are nothing special, even by the standards of the surface. But its raw materials are a different story…”
This bow, despite its simple make, required far more strength than I had to draw even partially – even when I tried to do so in my bipedal draconic form.
That, combined with everything I saw in my admittedly short stay on this layer, led me to a preliminary conclusion.
“If this trend applies throughout the 25th layer, then its natives are both terrifyingly more powerful than surface dwellers and more backwards and primitive in both class abilities and crafting.” I thought.
But it seemed too early to judge – there were still a plethora of unanswered questions left. Is there animosity between the Kobolds and the Elves, or was this an isolated incident? Are they the only sapient races on this layer, or are there more? Are they aware of the surface? If they are, why haven’t they made an appearance on it? What is their relationship, if any, to the Gods, who are said to have come from the lower layers of the Abyss? More importantly, what is their relationship, if any, with the dragons?
“Urgh. So much to think about.” I grumbled and shook my head.
‘For now, I should wear the armor; it’s better than walking around naked. But first…’
I summoned a torrent of water to wash the leather armor as best I could. Then, trusting in the strength of its raw materials, purified the small gaps in the armor and sterilized it with a breath of flames. With that done and the gore cleaned off the armor, I transformed into my humanoid form as I put the armor on.
‘If I am going to wear Elven armor, then I’d better make sure not to be mistaken for a kobold.’
I shivered at the idea of walking up to an Elven settlement in my bipedal draconic form – that would’ve been a disaster waiting to happen. I pocketed the dagger but tossed away the bow and arrows – they weren’t going to be of use to me.
***
Right now, I was faced with good news, bad news, and awful news. The good news was that I finally found my way out of the forest. Ahead of me were nothing but empty plains. The bad news was that I stumbled on a ridiculously short, armed-to-the-teeth, and furious-looking human called a [Dwarf]. The awful news was that he was already lunging at me, drawing out a shortsword that may as well have looked like a comically-oversized greatsword on him as he brandished my way and lunged.