After buying a jade crystal and two health potions, I immediately put the two potions in the bag.

I pocketed the small jade crystal, feeling it from time to time.

'Time to put this crystal on a test.'

A guard abruptly stopped me as I was making my way to the gate and said, "I advise you to not head outside the gate for the time being. We received reports of stray demon sightings near the cliff."

"I dropped my wallet on the fields earlier. I'm just going to see whether it's still there."

'With my acting skills, they'll definitely believe me.'

Adrian's expression turned sad and his voice became a bit hoarse.

"I promise that I'll immediately run if I see any demons or monsters outside. It's my birthday tomorrow, I need that wallet..."

"Ok." The guard that was blocking my way stepped aside as he let me pass.

"Be careful, report to us if you spot anything strange."

Adrian nodded and smiled at the guard as he passed by him.

...

Adrian Inhaled the smell in the air as he dashed into the fields. 'How I miss the scent of the fields.'

He spent minutes of enjoying the field until he unknowingly arrived at the front of the forest.

'I definitely shouldn't travel deep into the forest... Even though the town's adventurers routinely hunt creatures here, a few beasts that can probably kill me still survive.'

Adrian wandered around the forest for a bit, before taking a seat on a random tree log.

'The mana density here is acceptable. I should practice here, but first I should probably organize my thoughts.'

'First, I need to raise my stats and rank. And with the [Devour] skill, increasing my stats should be fairly simple.'

'Second, I need a job. My talent limit is already removed so joining any organization or the adventurers guild is easy.'

'Third, the named dungeon Lucia. When that named dungeon initially arose in the first timeline, I was serving the church of Light.

Even though I wanted to join the raid since there were tales of an elixir of longevity being found there, I was forbidden by the church.

'I really want to get that elixir for old Vince...'

'Speaking of the church of Light, I don't really know why the pope chose me to undergo that ceremony on the first timeline.'

'There are many people there, that are much more better than me, that enlist that day.'

'I guess that they think that I was the easiest to manipulate...'

'I need to avoid the church of light for a while.'

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'...'

'Those were the ones I needed to get done quickly.'

Thinking about the events that may occur in the future, I realize that I am still too weak to participate in them. So I put them first on the back of my mind.

'And the last one... I don't have information or a clue about my regression...'

'All that I know is that an existence; probably a god brought me back in time and gave me the mysterious skills that I have.'

As I opened the system, A skill could be seen reflecting in my eyes: [Embrace the darkness].

That was the last thing I heard before I died. Or maybe I was already dead when I heard it, and I'm already in the process of regressing.'

'I need to solve this regressor phenomenon of mine and the motive of that existence that brought me back in time.'

'I don't believe that he did all of that out of pity. After all, everything has a price.'

After organizing my thoughts, I swallowed the small piece of jade crystal.

Now the crystal inside my body will act as a catalyst to convert the mana in the air into my body, Training my mana stats to increase mana capacity, quality, and my rank.

Mana is always one of the different conditions needed to rank up. Some may need specific stats because of their profession, but Mana is always needed to rank up.

That's why Mana conversion techniques are extremely sought by the Masse, but it is very expensive.

That's why everyone is not a ranker. Apart from talent, huge funds are needed too for techniques and manuals.

'...'

Clearing my mind from any thoughts, I sat up

straight and muttered the word [Jade flow].

I could instantly feel the mana from the surroundings coming inside my body as if they were attracted by it.

[NOTICE]

[Mana +1]

[Mana +2]

[Mana +1]

.....

'That felt great...'

I didn't even realize the passing of time because I was so preoccupied with increasing my mana.

'Now let's check how much my mana has improved.'

[--Stats--]

[Strength]: 10

[Agility]: 15

[Endurance]: 7

[Intelligence]: 18

[Stamina]: 10

[Mana]: 53 [Quality]: F

[Luck]: C

[talent]: (???)

[Rank]: F

[NOTICE]

[Jade flow] (S - E+ rank)

[Jade flow has leveled up]

-A Mana channeling technique created by Adrian Von Sinclair pouring his years of knowledge and hard work into a single technique.

- A technique that helps the host in converting Mana from the host's surroundings into the body by using jade stone as a catalyst.

I laughed internally as I saw the increase in my Mana.

'That much increase in mana. as expected of a technique personally created by me.'

'Even the quality increased. If I conjured a fireball using my [Mana Control] and knowledge of basic elements, I can now probably one-shot a very low-ranked beast around F rank.'

After training his mana for hours, Adrian got up and started stretching. "Time to test the results of my hard work"

Adrian walked around the forest in circles, In hopes of finding a single beast.

'Perhaps the Guild cleaned up this place already. I should probably go deep into the woods in search of a beast.'

Adrian's surroundings became darker and darker as he went farther into the forest, and after some exploring, he finally stumbled upon a beast. "A mutated goblin".

'If I recall correctly, the average rank of a mutated goblin is E-rank, and this goblin appears to have just entered adolescence. And From the looks of it, this goblin is presumably An E rank.'

Staring at the lone mutated goblin, Adrian muttered a word: "[One with shadows]."

Adrian blends seamlessly into the dark surroundings of the forest.

Concentrating his mana onto his feet with [Mana Control], his speed increased by twofold.

He suddenly appeared behind the unaware goblin. Then concentrating mana into his right arm, he slashed effortlessly at the neck of the goblin, beheading it.

Adrian chose to ignore the background sound of the system's alert notice in his head, Instead, he took a few long breaths to calm himself.

'That's so exhilarating.' he thought as he opened the system after a few deep breaths.

[NOTICE]

[AGILITY +1]

[ENDURANCE +1]

[ENDURANCE +1]

[STAMINA +1]

As I was about to head back home, delighted with the results.

I heard loud rustling sounds near me and turned my head to check where the sounds were coming from.

"kirkaa"

"keek..." Keeek" A group of goblins suddenly came into my view. 'Shit, run.'

I was wondering why a goblin would be alone in the middle of the forest earlier.

Goblins are weak and one of the lowest-ranked monsters, which is why they always move in groups.

And a mutant one is clearly far smarter than a normal one.

So that's why the goblin is alone. It's a trap, but I killed their bait so fast, so I didn't fall into it and they couldn't react quickly.

As time passed, the goblins pursued me, and more and more goblins started to join the fray.

I was slowly being cornered. 'These mutated goblins are fast.'

'I needed to think quickly, or the next time I woke up, I would be in a cooking pot of these goblins.

I calculated the possible actions that I could take to lose the goblins, and the best possible way I could think of was jumping off the cliff.

'I'm not going to die... I'm not going to die.'

After some reassurance that I would survive, I gathered my confidence and jumped from the cliff.

Falling after some trees reduced the damage that I received, But, I may have broken a few bones.

I quickly unlidded the other potion that I bought and put it in my mouth.

I felt a sudden sense of comfort as I drank the potion. And my injuries started to heal at a normal rate.

I pulled myself to a nearby tree and leaned against it. "I should've stayed at home."

"I just died, like yesterday, and got regressed..."

"And I almost died just a few moments earlier."

"To the being that regressed me, I don't plan to waste the chance that you gave me." Adrian laughed thinking about his carelessness.

"I really should've listened to the old man."

I slowly scanned my surroundings, to make sure that I was completely safe.

As I looked around, my gaze stopped at the dark figure that lay on the bush.

Every fiber of my body seemed to be screaming danger as I stared at the figure.

After a moment of shock, I quickly composed myself.

I once again examined the creature across from me.

A humanoid figure with a small frame that seems to be wearing a black cape. Its body is covered in blood and wounds and seems to be on the verge of death.

When you look at it from a distance, It might seem that the figure is human, but if you look closely, two horns can be seen on its head and a tattoo of an eye on its forehead indicates that it is a...

"An illusion demon from the dream clan."