“Time. A subject of obsession for most. We, the adept, may discard it. But we recognize its purpose. Yet our hero seems to have relinquished any worry and abandoned it.”

“…”

“Days have passed without a word uttered. An odd spectacle. Only occasionally eating, relieving himself and collecting more branches.

Never stopping the ever changing cycle of orbs. Their pathing appearing random and their substance slowly being altered.”

“...”

“It is hard to argue against such methods. The progress, terrifying. For a human. While in many worlds, such stringent ways of training are commonplace.

However, in our hero’s world, such disciplines are severely lacking. This can only be considered adequate.”

“…”

“This has a lot to do with previous calamities, internal conflict and an overabundance of ambient energy.

This has allowed for relatively easy progress, in terms of personal cultivation. At least when speaking of lowborn such as these people. Our hero included.”

“I can still hear you, you know? Lowborn? Excuse you. I am almost royalty. I was technically some sort of noble.

Also. You are incredibly distracting. But you gave me an idea.

I’m going to gather as much energy as I can. Both my internal mana and ambient mana. And force a ninth orb.”

“The twisted mind of humanoids. Desperate, so hungry for power that they risk all for a near negligible amount of strength. A trait, both beneficial and detrimental.”

“This is beginning to be a bit harder than I expected. I can still feel my control over the ambient mana. The energy feels like flowing water or wind.

But it’s almost as if it’ll just take a bit more and I’ll start to lose control. I’m not actually sure how to explain it. It’s almost like a pressure of some sort.

But! It’s not like a strong wind or being underwater. Gah! How do I get this into words? Okay. Imagine holding a giant water balloon. But also, you are a giant water balloon.”

“Extraordinary stupidity takes form. Such boundless potential, squandered by the simplest of minds. Even a heaven shaking groan cannot express one’s frustration.

The nearby earth shakes, our hero oblivious to the catastrophe close to descending.”

“…”

“Our hero appears to have devoted all his attention to his blunder of an experiment.

If it wasn’t for his mana saturated body, there is not a doubt one’s mind that his body would have collapsed by now.”

“...”

“To the more adept, the gathering of energy surrounding our hero is clear as day. The more astute can differentiate between the ambient and internal.

Even the simplest of us, can predict the outcome, in the event that our hero fails. Even if the world build that sanctuary, one doubts it’ll go unscathed if our hero’s attempt, fails.”

“...”

“The nearby wildlife has already scattered, their primal instincts warning them of the awesome power congregating.

The earth and air trembles and has even begun pulsing in an odd display of synchronization. Our hero’s bodily functions projected into the internal and ambient mana.”

“…”

“With every heartbeat, the surrounding quakes. Every exhalation, an illusion of the world expanding, appearing distorted. Only to rebalance with his inhalation.”

“…”

“Eight orbs, larger than usual have taken shape.

They have now taken to a pattern, familiar to all. While called by many names, most often goes by the term, flower of life. This seems to be a subconscious action on our hero’s part.”

“…”

“Even if such a pattern has no benefit to this specific circumstance, it is surprising.

The orbs have begun slowing down, the more observant of us, will see the orbs making room for the ninth addition.

This again, seems subconscious. Either that, or we have underestimated our hero’s capabilities.”

“...”

“As the ninth orb is begins to take shape, the surrounding area falls prey to further illusive distortions.

The collected energy starts losing its flow, it gives of a near inaudible sound. This is the energy trembling, a sign of instability. We are but moments from certain destruction.”

“…”

“Even our hero has close to no chance to survive such a chaotic explosion, perhaps if it was only kinetic force he may be able to scrape by, but this will eviscerate his entire being.

And yet, there he still sits, serene as still water.”

“…”

“As the ninth orb goes from illusive to tangible. One can’t help but to draw a deep breath. Our hero broken through a border. Years ahead of his predicted abilities.

This has little to no effect on his bodies biological bomb. It may allow him to reach places that will.”

“Oh god. Hello?”

“The orbs continue to flow in an orderly pattern. Giving one the sense of balance. Our hero reaches for his ears and yells out in frustration.”

“Hello!? Narry? What is that damn sound? Hello?

At least I succeeded. And wow, I can feel my control over my mana. Almost feels like it’s a part of my body.”

“To reach these levels of control. A typical humanoid would require years, perhaps decades of arduous practice.

That however only applies to the average humanoid. There are still hundreds of gifted and nurtured individuals, capable of exactly this.”

“Narry? I heard something! Was that you? Hmm. The buzzing is going away. I can hear myself speak as well. A bit muddled but I’ll probably be fine.”

“Unbeknownst to our hero, his body on the verge of collapsing. It vehemently tries to repair itself.

Meanwhile our hero ponders his newfound creation. Nine floating ball of energy. They may not hold immense power capable of great destruction.

They do pave the way for such opportunity. Proving our hero’s capabilities in creating and manipulating new abilities.”

“Narry? I can hear you mumbling something! You better not be bad mouthing me. I know how you are.”

“It would appear that something is about to enter the razor stone campsite. Has the world finally begun making it’s moves? It seems to be quite the sizeable group as well.”

“Huh? What is that? Something happening at camp? Hmm should I keep all these wands?”

“On all fours, our hero squirms around collecting his ‘collection’ of questionable sticks. One’s skin crawls at the visage.”

“Hey! I heard that! Wands! Wands! Oh crap. Something is definitely happening at camp.”

“A visible tear breaks through, quickly forming into an eloquent doorway, adequately taking the shape of a transparent and grey, razor stone.”

“That’s a portal! You see that Narry? What is happening? When did that platform appear? Wait! There is more! Where did those new houses come from?

Kioske? What? Who is that?”

“Inside the circular building stand four individuals. Their smile seems dull. These must be artificial being of some sorts. Such a thing is apparent when examine the flow of their mana.”

“What did you say Narry? You really have to speak up. I think I blew a fuse or something. The buzzing sound is gone but now my ears itch. Is it because of the portal?”

“Once the portal stabilizes, tens of people stream out. Almost immediately they run towards the information stand, before rushing out of the campsite, disappearing into the distance.

Their decisive actions indicate they had firm instructions before arriving.”

“What the hell is going on? Who are these people? Narry, any ideas?”

“It would seem that the world decided to create a quest hub at camp Sharpstone. Almost undeniably due to our hero’s existence and actions.

Perhaps the world was waiting for him to reach his current state. Allowing him to compete fairly with these new arrivals.”

“Sorry? Compete? I didn’t quite catch that. If my whole lower body wasn’t numb I’d go check it out.”

“It is almost a certainty that our hero has received new objectives. Yet in his usual stupor he mindlessly lets his wandering mind carry him around.”

“Hey! I knew it! You were just slandering me this whole time. I’m calculating what to do next. And I was just about to check whether I had any new quests. Pft.

Let’s see. “

|Ji Aleksy. Elementalist. Mana fiend: Level Three-hundred-and-two|

|Quest log|

|Optional: The reformed city|

“The ancient city of Heo has been reformed, but by who and how?”

Travel to the free city Heo and find out how the city was rebuilt.

Location: Portal room.

Difficulty: Medium

Reward: Tier appropriate item.

|Optional: Back to the grind|

“The prophet said to the wanderer ‘Swim against the water or be swallowed by the tide.’ The wanderer took this advice and escaped drowning.”

Travel to the appropriate wildlands and cull the malignant fiends scouring the land.

Location: Portal room.

Difficulty: Medium.

Reward: Tier appropriate weapon.

|Optional: Camp Sharpstone needs|

“Help those about to fall, for when you descend, they will catch you”

Camp Sharpstone requires materials to expand and to shelter its new influx of pioneering explorers! Multiple portals have opened, connecting hundreds of humanoid cities to the Mer-erk mer-Erk wildlands. Speak to the handlers for further instructions.

Location: Mer-erk mer-Erk wildlands, Camp Sharpstone

Difficulty: Medium.

Reward: Temporary buff last four hours after leaving camp.

Reward: Beginner crafting materials of your choosing.

|Special – Optional: Dying Deliverance, stones to sharpstone|

“When the restless rest. The still, from the ground break.”

Set a up a revival shrine at Camp Sharpstone. Speak to the handlers for further instructions.

Location: Mer-erk mer-Erk wildlands, Camp Sharpstone

Difficulty: Hard.

Reward: In case of fatality, revive at Camp Sharpstone. Two additional |Life offerings|

Reward: Title that provides improved |Camp Sharpstone buff|.

“It was as predicted; the world has begun it’s ‘balance’. Not seen on such a scale for hundreds of years. Truly. Ji Aleksy can be considered the second coming of the great expansion.

Perhaps where this world failed before. It will succeed. We will wait patiently as always.”

“Your, whatever side story aside. Looks like I got two new quests. Still not sure about those malignant fiends. But a respawn point sounds amazing. But it’s labeled hard.

How hard is hard exactly? Actually, how hard is medium. I need some kind of metric to compare these things to.

That being said. As soon as I can feel my feet. I’m going to those handlers.

Ey? Are those guys coming towards me? What should I say? Stay cool, Ji.

Sup?”

‘Hello! I am Deve. These are my clan members, Keve and Leve.’

“Young eve heroes from the Eve clan. As reflected by their names, their simple ways often complicate things instead.

A tradition seen in many clans, their naming falls in lines with their ancestors. Rarely deviating from such conventions.”

“Ah. Hi! I’m Ji.”

‘Hi Ji!’

‘Hi J-.‘

‘Hi Jiii.’

“While it may be hard to distinguish the males and females of the Eve clan. It would appear that Deve and Keve are male while Leve is female.

This can be seen by the slight difference in pitch of their voices.”

“She is also wearing a light blue dress. That was obvious enough. Also her-. Ah.”

‘What?’

“Oh. Nothing. Sorry about that. Just talking to myself. What brought you guys over here?”

‘We were just curious why you were sitting here staring at the camp. Everyone else is in a hurry to be the first to clear their quests.’

“I see. I’m just recovering for a few minutes. I recently had a breakthrough in my training and I’m still a bit sore.”

“The sometimes metallic looking skin of the eve’s reminds one of their origin but also reveals their inexperience. Still unable to fully control their innate abilities.

The eve are considered a bit dimwitted. This is merely a misconception due to their both straightforward and simple ways.”

‘I see. What happened to this tree?’

“Nothing. What do you mean? It was like this when I came here.”

“Blatantly denying having anything to with the systematic destruction of this innocent tree. Our hero, his villainous tendencies.

How far will he descend before he no longer sees the havoc he has caused!? Even gods can fall. What is one little, Ji.”

“Please.

Would you guys like something to eat? I’m sure I have something, one second.”

“The growls, as primal as a harreri’s roar. Our hero’s stomach demands another sacrifice. The never-ending pit, never satisfied.”

‘Are you hungry, Ji? Leve give him some of our rations.’