“Ahh, I feel sorry for you. Alright, let’s set that aside for now. I want to know which direction the nearest town or city is located.”

“It’s about 100 miles southeast of here. You’ll find a town there,” Alisa answered quickly.

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Is that the truth? I have my ways of knowing when I’m being lied to.”

“It’s true! It’s really true,” she replied, her voice trembling.

“Alright then,” Alex said, satisfied for now. “Next question: Do you remember anything about mana or magic?”

Alisa hesitated, her brow furrowing. “No… most of my memories are disrupted. I do know some basic things, though. That’s how I’ve survived this long.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“In this world, there are 9 ranks, each with 4 sub-ranks: small, middle, upper, and peak. To advance, you need to absorb mana from the air into the mana core inside your body. But… when moving from one main rank to the next, you need to—” She paused, her eyes glazing over as she struggled to recall. “I… I can’t remember after that. I’m sorry! Please, don’t hurt me,” she stammered.

Alex took a step forward and gently patted Alisa’s forehead as though to comfort her. “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m a good person. You know, in all my life, I’ve never killed a human being. Just two beasts, that’s all. So, don’t worry, okay?” He smiled, his voice soft but unsettling. “You’ve had a tough life. I’m going to give you a gift that will set you free from this hellish existence.”

Alisa’s eyes widened with hope. “Really? You… you can free me from this? I can finally be human again, right?”

Her relief was short-lived. As Alex smiled wider, something sinister crossed his face. He raised his leg, now cloaked in a sharp wind aura, enhancing its strength beyond human limits. The realization hit her too late—what Alex meant by “freedom” wasn’t salvation. It was death.

Before she could react, his wind-enchanted kick connected with her skull. The force shattered her head with a sickening crunch, blue blood splattering across Levi’s clothes and spraying the walls of the cave.

Alex barely had time to process what he’d done when a howl echoed through the forest. He looked down at the blood, realizing his mistake.

“Shit,” he muttered, panic setting in. “The blood… it’s attracting the beasts!”

He sprinted out of the cave, but the sight that greeted him stopped him cold.

“Oh, fu*k,” he breathed.

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Dozens of glowing eyes blinked at him from the shadows of the bushes, watching with predatory intent. In the moonlight, a massive black wolf stood tall, its red eyes gleaming as it stared Alex down. Its fur shimmered with a dark, ominous aura—it was the Night Wolf, a beast of darkness.

Just as he registered the wolf, a colossal crocodile crawled out of the water with slow, deliberate movements. Its rough, scaly skin caught the faint light, shining as it moved with heavy, earth-shaking thuds. This was the Swamp Croc, a water-element beast.

Finally, the sky seemed to darken as a large eagle descended, wings flapping powerfully. Each beat of its wings stirred the wind around them, making the nearby trees creak under the pressure. Its feathers were a deep brown, and its sharp golden eyes locked onto Alex like a hunter to its prey. This was the Gale Eagle, a wind-element creature like Alex.

Alisa had mentioned these beasts to him before. Each was dangerous on its own, but together they were lethal.

Alex felt a chill run down his spine. “Night Wolf, Gale Eagle, Swamp Croc…”

He turned, eyes darting around as the circle of beasts closed in on him. His heart raced. He knew he was in serious trouble.

“I need to get out of here. Now or else I am as good as dead.”

Alex’s eyes darted around, trying to find an opening, but every side was blocked by the beasts, each one intently focused on him. The weight of their predatory gaze made his skin crawl, but then, a thought struck him.

“If I can make them focus on something else,” he muttered to himself, “I might just get out of this.”

Without hesitation, Alex removed his clothes and threw them far from his position. He reached for his wind magic, concentrating as he gathered all the blood from the cave floor and walls. Slowly, the blood lifted into the air, swirling into a large, floating ball held together by his magic.

Now hidden in the darkness, Alex felt more secure. “They can’t see me properly here,” he thought. “This is my chance to confuse them.”

Carefully, he separated the large blood ball into three smaller parts, each hovering silently in front of him. With precise control, he launched the first one at the Swamp Croc. The blood splattered across the crocodile’s rough scales, and Alex smirked as the beast immediately became restless, its eyes scanning for the source of the smell. Without wasting time, he sent the other two portions of blood toward the Gale Eagle and Night Wolf.

The moment the blood hit their bodies, the Gale Eagle screeched angrily, its feathers ruffling as it tried to shake off the scent. The Swamp Croc’s eyes locked onto the bird, sensing the fresh blood. The two creatures began to size each other up, instincts kicking in as they registered one another as threats.

Meanwhile, Alex tossed his clothes directly at the Night Wolf’s eyes, hoping to blind it for a brief moment. But the wolf, with its sharp reflexes, snarled and swatted the fabric aside effortlessly. Its gaze snapped back to Alex, still locked onto him, refusing to be distracted.

“Damn, this one’s more stubborn than the others,” Alex cursed under his breath.

But his plan was already in motion. The other two beasts—driven by the blood now staining their bodies—began to attack each other. The Swamp Croc lashed out with its massive tail, aiming for the Eagle, while the Gale Eagle retaliated with sharp, wind-enhanced gusts from its wings, sending leaves and branches flying in every direction. The chaotic noise stirred the Night Wolf, and soon it too was caught in the escalating frenzy.

Alex watched as all three beasts clashed in a wild, frenzied battle. The ground shook under the weight of their attacks, trees swayed and snapped, and the air became thick with the sounds of growls, screeches, and snapping jaws.

“This is my chance,” Alex thought. Without making a sound, he started climbing the mountain above the cave, as there were no other places to roam around.