After staying in the City for quite some time, it feels weird going back to where I started.

Alone in the caves, I don't have to worry about my eyes or zoning out because I have a conversation in my head.

On top of that, I improved some of my skills, so I don't feel as pressured as before.

I always had to avoid anything of a higher level than a goblin until now. I only killed one thing more potent than that, and I almost died that time.

With this, I mean the crocodile thingy, which suddenly turned out to be even stronger than I expected.

If Gabriel didn't intervene, I would have been dead for sure.

In theory, I would be able to cheat my way through many things by just handing over the control of my body to one of them, but this is still my body.

I want to earn my progress myself.

So because of this "selfishness" of mine, I'll endure some hardships, but to me, that's worth it.

So far, it might have seemed like it got a lot easier for me to endure out here,

but that was mostly because I started hiding in certain spots to lure prey into a trap. I always avoided fighting directly.

But all of this will change now. I want to improve my skills as fast as possible, and I want to feel the satisfaction I felt after defeating that "brute" Sven.

Brute is such a fitting class for him. It packs his non-existing intelligence and plump and dumb fighting style into one word.

I still regret not being able to kill him there. His level was way higher than mine, so he should have been worth quite some XP.

And I don't know if I'll get this lucky again. I could defeat Sven not because I was stronger than him but because that brute underestimated me insanely much.

If he had just kept an eye on the fireball, I wouldn't have been able to hit him in the back.

So the next time I fight him, I need to be even stronger. I need to use my unique advantages. I can level up by simply killing monsters, and I have experience points that no one else has.

Those guys have to spend their time running around in circles to enhance their endurance or lift weights to improve their strength.

On top of that, they don't even know when precisely they will level up.

And now that I think about it, my levelling process is entirely different from other people. Usually, they improve their stats further and further.

Then their level follows along to add up their total amount of stat points. For me, I first level up and then get the stats.

The level gets more expansive each time, but still, I think I can get stronger faster than anyone else. And the only way to prove this theory is to kill.

I have to kill lots of beasts, demons and monsters.

But I also have another goal. I want to go back to the Sanctuary to see something. A few months passed, and I now am ready to return there.

On my way there, I plan to kill everything that looks fightable. I don't plan to use sneak tactics this time. I want to work my way up there in frontal battles.

I set out two days ago with this plan, and it worked mediocrely.

I never realized how many monsters are out there, which still are way too strong for me. I can only fight every tenth enemy or so,

and those weak guys don't give enough experience to satisfy me. But at least my skill mastery constantly improves with this.

Hmmm...

Maybe I avoid too many enemies? Perhaps I am stronger than I thought? Should I try fighting stronger monsters?

Somehow I am still scared of them because I simply can't precisely measure their strength.

Or maybe I can? But since that one time where my system showed me Svens Skills, it never did that again.

And I learned first-hand that skill mastery is as vital as high stats.

{Did you ever consider the possibility that those weak monsters just don't have any skills?}

"Wait, are you for real? I thought everything has at least one skill!"

[Oh, just because it is easy for you to acquire skills, it isn't for everyone else. Most humans don't have any skills. This is something I learned while conducting experiments on human prisoners.]

"Wait, you conducted... No, wait, now that I think about it, I don't really wanna know about it. Just keep that to you.

But do you really think those monsters really have no skills? How come they are this terrifyingly strong, then? Their stats don't seem that high."

/That is probably because of the difference in species. A single point of strength can signal different actual values.

For instance, when I said I had stat points in the millions a few weeks ago, I meant that my stats would amount to that much in human relations.

In fact, all my stats added together scraped at the 50k border./

Ok, I don't understand if he just got stronger or weaker in my imagination. Still, at least some things got more evident to me.

But the problem of not being able to judge the strength of my non-human enemies still exists.

While I think about this and talk to my "imaginary" "friends", I encounter another of those rabbits I met on my first day in the caves.

Now that I know the different evaluations, I try to put the stats into perspective. Man, this whole analysis thing just got way more complicated.

Why couldn't they just all be evaluated in the same way?

First, I check the stats of the rabbit, then I'll fight it to put the stats into perspective.

#Killer Rabbit#

#Trivial Beast#

#Level 9#

#Vitality: 3 | Strength: 3 | Agility: 18 | Dexterity: 19 | Intelligence: 1 | Willpower: 1 | Magic: 0#

It is again white with red eyes. Its fur seemed too long for a beast of that size. Its legs and teeth were too big, and it was generally quite misproportioned. I only notice this now that I observe it calmly without fearing for my life.

"What an ugly little thing you are," I say as I swing my sword down.

Defeating it was pretty easy now, but I'd still say every stat point of that rabbit was at least twice as potent as humans'.

Defending it with my sword wasn't that easy, although its strength stat is that low, and it was tough to hit while jumping around.

"Now I can at least judge the value of those stats, but how about other monsters? Are their stats the same? Or are there monsters whose stats are worth more?"

[Hmmm... I don't know much about weak beings, but I guess it should be the same as stronger beings. They are generally categorized into different classes.

For instance, that rabbit was a "Trivial Beast",

the lowest possible rank. After that should be the average beast rank, and then there are the monster ranks that are classified similarly to your skills. Here,

the lowest monster rank is the Basic rank and the highest in the Legend rank. The Legend rank is split into groups further, but those are way out of your league anyway.]

Ok, I think I get it.

Now I only have to figure out which category my current strength fits the best.

I start to advance further and scan every Monster I encounter for that purpose. I want to work my way up, so I first look for an average beast.

I know I can defeat rabbits or weaker goblins. But I know of one thing that was quite tedious to fight not too long ago.

The Hobgoblin, which I encountered some time ago.

The last time it was a tough fight, although I could beat him in the end after taking considerable damage.

This time I want to face a hobgoblin openly in a one on one, and I want to kill it within a small amount of time without taking any damage.

But first, I'll have to find one.

Navigating these caves can be challenging, but I know the general direction to where I met the goblins before.

All the goblins I met before were in the same general area, so I guess there is some kind of tribe near there.

The way there will take me about 2 days now that I retrace a path I've already taken once.

It's a strange feeling being back here after I enjoyed the pleasures of a luxury room and the safety of a town for a few weeks.

In the beginning, I never thought I'd voluntarily return here ever again.

But plans change all the time, I guess.

________________________________________________________________________

I finally arrived at the cave I used as an operation base before.

Home sweet home, I'd say if this wasn't part of my worst nightmares.

On the way here, I encountered a few weak beasts. Most of them were "Trivial", and only two wolves I met were "average" beasts.

The fights with them were challenging, but I had the situation under control all the time.

From this, I'd say my strength is on the weaker end of the Basic Monster scale.

This is acceptable but not really satisfactory.

I want to get stronger to a point where I can traverse these caves without fearing their inhabitants.

And then there's this other problem. Evolution is getting dangerously close. By now, I'm determined to take the risk, but I still fear its effect.

I kind of liked my humanity, although I was weak, so just abandoning it feels... weird.

Name: Civitas

Race: [Error]

HP: 390/390 | MP:34/60

Class: none

Level: 13

XP: 600/1300

Vitality: 39 | Strength: 39 | Agility: 35 | Dexterity: 35 | Intelligence: 20 | Willpower: 20 | Magic: 6

Available Stat Points: 0

Passive Skills:

Uncommon Sword-mastery (5%),

Dragon's eye,

Uncommon Magic Controlling Skill(5%),

Common Illusion Image Skill (79%),

Common Fire Magic Skill (35%)

Active Abilities: none

Innate Talent: [Error]

Evolution Progress: 9.200/10.000 XP

Weird but thrilling. The thought of getting stronger and proving myself to this world is just too tempting.

But before that, I have to face my not so long ago past. I want to face the aftermath of the berserk state I fell into when... the things happened.

And the Hiding Skill I suddenly got, which is levelling like crazy, will be of great help.

I don't understand why I would want to return to people who tried to kill me by making my body explode.

But I can't just forget the place I have lived in for my whole life.

Since I'm not too eager for my own death, I trained my Illusion skill as hard as possible so the surviving townsfolk wouldn't recognize me.

I take the appearance of someone I met in Anor.

The probability of someone here knowing this guy is almost nonexistent.

When I approach one of the gates to Sanctuary, I feel a cold chill creep down my spine.

There would be at least three or four guards in regular times, but now I see only one person who doesn't even look like a fighter.

He is standing there on the 5-meter high stone wall, seemingly tired.

The cave curves up to here in a slight downwards slope. I could already see some of the blueish light from the wall, typical for mana stones.

Because of the darkness of the cave, the man hasn't seen me yet. But to my Dragon Eyes, this darkness is nonexistent.

I head back and light a torch with my fire magic, so the man sees me approach from afar.

I just hope this makes me seem a bit more trustworthy. Trust is very much needed right now.

The man standing on the wall suddenly went stiff, visibly in fear of who, or rather what could be coming to this town.

I just continue walking until I reach a distance where I can comfortably talk to the guy, about 5 meters away from the gate.

"Um, hello there! I'd like to know what kind of place lays beyond these gates?"

I have to act like I don't know.

The man starts to talk carefully.

'This is the town of Sanctuary, and I am sad to tell you, but we don't want any visitors currently.'

Not unexpected, to be honest. Most of these people think Sanctuary is the last bastion of hope, and there are no other survivors anywhere.

So strangers are always thought of as demons camouflaging as humans.

This is all thanks to some plot of the teacher or priest or whatever he is.

I once was like this as well. But when I was out in the caves, I met travellers from Anor.

This makes me think... something doesn't add up here, but I'll have more time to think about that later.

First, I have to do something about this guard.

"I have been wandering these caves for weeks! Please just let me in! I don't want to be killed by some monster after all this time.

I am an adventurer from a town called Anor, but I got lost and have no supplies left!"

The guard seems to be in a dilemma. When I mentioned Anor, he flinched, which gave away that he knows of it.

But when did they discover the existence of Anor? Was it recently after I left? Or is this part of the priests' plot?

Just as I thought something, the guard answered again with a lowered voice, which was hard to understand due to the distance.

'I can let you in, but you mustn't talk to anyone about where you came from! You HAVE to act like you are native to this place. If he finds out about me letting you in, he will kill us both!'

This confirms my theory. For some reason, the priest built an information blockage.

I thought it would be impossible for the warriors to have never met an adventurer from Anor. And the words of the guard could be called proof.

He throws down a rope.

'I can't open the gates. It would draw too much attention. I'm sorry, but you have to climb.'

This is very understandable, and I have to say I am impressed with the kindheartedness of this guard. He would risk his life for some starving stranger.

This also leaves me suspicious of a possible trap.

But I came prepared. Although I can't do it myself, Zabula marked a spot with her magic to where she can teleport me any time.

This will overdraw my mana, but this could save my life in an emergency situation.

After climbing up the wall, while acting as if I were tired, I assure the guard that I will keep my mouth shut and say words of gratitude.

Then I start walking towards Sanctuary. Tension starts building within me.

After a minute or so, the cave opens up into another more giant cavern, and I see the vertically built town again with its glowing mana rocks in the cave walls and the stairs I used to climb up and down daily.

I see the wooden constructs, which always seemed like they would break apart any moment, but never actually did.

Still, some things changed.

The upper floor's just... gone. This seems to be due to the ritual and my berserk state.

And I can feel the rich, pure mana that fills the whole giant room. A feeling I had never experienced before.

It's like a light tingling feeling all over my skin, and the air seems to taste like mana. A taste that is hard to describe. It leaves a fresh and cold feeling behind like ice melting super speed onto your tongue, gums and throat.

But I am not here to savour the feeling of rich mana.

I want to get up there as close as possible to face the things that happened.

I reflected many times about what happened that day.

I don't think this is my fault alone anymore, but I still want to know in detail what I did that day since my memories are a blurry mess.

So I pull up my hood and mingle with the people. All of this seems so familiar.

The many times I sneaked to the large mana crystals or the times where I was just too ashamed of my weak self.

This isn't the first time I have blended in with the busy crowd.

And it makes me feel relieved that there are still enough people left for me to not even notice a reduction of people. It felt like I killed every one of these people in my memories.

I proceed further up to see people blocking the path further up with weapons. This is something that I have never seen before.

Until now, everyone was allowed to go everywhere. This town was built on the principles of equality. Or at least I thought so until everyone chained me to an altar and tried to blow me up.

These guards couldn't stop me. Neither with force nor when I simply chose another way.

With illusions and hiding skills, in addition to my improved physical capabilities, I managed to climb up to a higher floor along some wood pillars.

Now I am close to the top floor, which is mostly missing.

I am now on the same level as the church. One of the few stone buildings.

And on top of that, this high up. I always wondered how it could remain standing there without crushing the wood pillars beneath it.

But now I can see invisible chains made of mana with my Dragon Eyes.

The church looks so out of place here. In this poor dilapidated town, this Chuch built from marble and with large glass windows seems like a mockery to me.

But people never minded because all this was for some kind of elusive god. The only thing I have ever seen is a priest with a god complex.

And this is the place where this priest lives. I have to be extra careful around here.

I double-check on my illusions and silently proceed up to the highest floor.

If only I had known, casting spells would be a dumb idea.

Someplace not far away, the silhouette of a person suddenly emerged from the shadows of the church.

When the person stepped into the light, one could see the disgustingly clean, white robes and well-trimmed hair of the one everyone calls "priest". He starts mumbling to himself.

'And I wondered who could be daring enough to cast spells in my vicinity. Who could be skilled enough to hide their presence to this degree?

So it was just you. Civitas. You returned to the place you successfully fled, just to return here. This time we will personally make sure this place becomes your grave.'

With this, the priest seems to fade away into black smoke.

When I reach the top, I can see the only place left standing is the altar I was bound to.

The altar is suspended on chains from the cave ceiling and is made from some unknown stone.

I always thought these chains were just some decoration when the wood around the altar was still there.

But it seems these chains have the purpose of securing the altar in place no matter what happens. Each of these chain links is thicker than a grown man.

This makes one wonder who even built this.

I climb up onto the altar and walk to the centre of it. And see it painted red and black. The colour of dried blood.

This gives the usually white altar a demonic and sinister feeling. The runes carved on top of it seem to wriggle alive beneath the blood as if they only now are satisfied.

{This is bad. These runes seem to be derived from one of our rune sets.

This is... dangerous. You have to leave, NOW!.}

I had never heard her this concerned before. Her voice seemed uneven and almost scared. Whatever this altar is. I have to get away from it.

Just as I was determined to go away, my body suddenly moved on its' own, and I jumped straight ahead, away from the centre of the altar.

Just a split second later, I hear a loud explosion from where I just stood.

Then there were extreme mana fluctuations

The one who moved my body away was dorminil.

/Shit, I didn't notice him until it was almost too late! Who the fuck is this?/

"I think I already know who this is. The priest"

I told them in my mind.

After regaining the control back from dorminil, I turn around to look straight at the priest.

But the one who stood there was someone else.