“Sometimes it’s hard to turn away my eyes, but when I do, I shall no longer be a human. “

Third chapter – I jump into the pit of mud

(Outside of Ghamp Village) Eloiya’s POV

The red leaf enhanced by The Order was carrying us over the land with a smooth sail. All of us maintained a heightened awareness on our path back to the City of Roh after the event in Ghamp Village. Over the years, cities fought to gather mana crystals for their land. Mana crystals were getting lesser and lesser in amount. So, when we received news from Ghamp Village about their crystal, the kingdom dispatched their elite troops to investigate the cause. It is not unusual for other territory to leech mana from crystal for their own use.

But for a mana crystal that stores mana to replenish by itself is unheard of.

Eloiya was thinking about the same thing when Lord Sainde asked through telepathy, “Eloiya, what is your thought about the mana crystal in Ghamp?”

“I’m not sure,” Eloiya replied, “There was a book I used to read about the heart of Arcturus. It is written that the heart could control mana of Arcturus at will.”

“That’s right.” Sainde nodded, “But there was never a case where we encounter a direct contact with the heart.”

“Is there a way to communicate with it?”

Sainde shook his head, “That is unheard of. The Dark cult tried it, but I don’t believe they have succeeded.”

As we were approaching the forest of Enti, the far east of Ghamp Village, a loud roar interrupted our conversation. We stopped in our track, anticipating an incoming attack. Sainde waved in different directions giving out silent command to each knight.

A gigantic monster with three horns on its head pushed through the thick trees. Its wings spread wide open at the sight of us.

“It’s a corcorn!” One of the knights shouted.

A corcorn is a mystical beast attracted to mana. It is often hibernating in the woods absorbing mana from its surrounding. They get stronger the older they are. Our mana combined shouldn’t have attracted a corcorn this big. There is no way we can match against this beast.

“Here’s the plan, I will distract it.” Sainde pulled out his long sword, “Surround the beast each side and wait for my signal. Get ready for battle!”

(Back in Ghamp Village) Alan’s POV

After the knights left the village, I came upon a kitchen where they used to prepare the feast. Beside there was an outdoor lobby for the humans to register into the village the when they come to Ghamp Village.

I must say, the food they were preparing was way different than the ones I’ve had back on Earth. They were bubbles inside the horn that were used as a paste for the main dish. Liquid were squished out from the beast after they had dried them. Berries were added into those liquid until they changed color.

With so much spare time on hand, I took the time trying out my ability. The moment I thought about that, specks of mana started gathering in front of me. Like little stars smiling up at me, it floated on my palm waiting for me to tell them what to do.

I decided to start with something simple. Watching the shape changes, the form evolved into a round persimmon that fitted right into my hand. Following my memory, the mana orbited around the fruit evolving its color and taste. Does this world have persimmon? I used to love eating persimmons before they started to rot when my fridge broke down.

Deciding to take a bite, the mana specks left the fruit. All of a sudden, my nerves started tingling uncomfortably.

I felt alarmed. When I raise my head at the opposite direction, I could sense a large usage of mana being used from a distance away. The clash of the intensifying mana tells me that there are people having a fight against one another.

Closing my eyes, I focused on finding the source. I was led to the outskirt of the village near the forest. Four weakened mana bodies emerged from my vision.

Familiar faces of the knights brought out my attention. Each of them had their swords and shield ready. They were battling against what I knew is called a corcorn. The beast had the size of a two-story house. Unlike normal beast, a corcorn is able to use magic to take down their opponent.

The corcorn swung his horns toward the knights. Flinging them away like flies with an overpowering force. The man with a golden long sword rushed toward the corcorn and charged at its upper neck. His sword covered with lightning, clones of the sword made of mana aimed toward the corcorn.

The corcorn turned his head seeing this action and blocked the incoming attack with its three horns. When the side of the beast is unprotected, the other knights launched their magic circle with a short chant.

“Grant me power. Arise, the woe of shadow!”

Shadow of chains encircled the corcorn’s horns to restrict its movement.

Seeing the beast chained down to the ground, the knight spoke up, “Sainde, kill the beast now!”

“Good job, Eten.” Sainde cheered on, “Leave the rest to me.”

Lord Sainde flung himself toward the now tangled beast. His sword is now blazing with fury. Victory seemed to be on the knights’ side. Its horn conjured up mana to weaken the chain. The corcorn roared. Angered by the fact the humans are forcing him down, the corcorn freed itself by using its strong leg and took a 360-full swing with all its strength.

When Sainde saw its horns clashed against his sword, he jumped away to break away as soon as he landed on the ground. The corcorn ran toward his direction head on. Unable to deflect this, Sainde resort to using both of his arms to minimize the impact.

He was flung far away bleeding from his lower half.

The atmosphere was intensifying. It further amplified by the power of the corcorn. The knights breathed out a sigh of relief when they heard the sound of coughs coming from their leader.

Eloiya, the mage archer, who had been supporting from the rear fired a few arrows to keep the corcorn from coming closer to Sainde. She fired her magic arrows that penetrates the thick skin of the beast. It got distracted for a few seconds before the attention turned towards her.

The knights shouted, “Protect Lady Eloiya!”

“Grant me power. Arise, the woe of shadow!”

“Come on! Grant me power. Arise, the infinity of shadow.”

The other knights tried to conjure another chain spell to no avail.

“Eloiya, get away from the beast.”

The knight stood beside Eten, bringing forth multiple fireball aimed at the corcorn, “Eten, cover Eloiya.”

The swordsmen rushed towards to cover their mage archer. With Sainde down, the formation of the knights has started to break away. They acted according to what they prioritize the most, that is, to protect their female comrade who is in danger.

The corcorn knocked against the knights, pushing through like a rocket thrown into the battlefield.

I watched the battle from above, hovering over the two humans. As the blood bled out from the knights into the ground, their voices resounded in my head. They were in pain. Struggling against the unconsciousness from taking over them.

Eloiya was left standing by herself. Against this beast alone, her chance of surviving slimed down to none. The girl, who is respected by many paled, at this realization. With no one fighting the corcorn up front, she was bared naked for the corcorn to attack her.

“Eloiya, run.” The injured knight muttered weakly, “You can’t win against this beast alone.”

“No!” She bit her lip, laying out an arrow on her bow. The corcorn took on its stance preparing to engage a battle with Eloiya. Eloiya aimed her bow at its neck and release it when the corcorn came close to her.

The arrow swept down its path, like a lightning, and found itself tearing through the thin skin of its neck.

The corcorn roared in pain. It stared at Eloiya with anger. Sucking mana from the air, the corcorn empowered its horn. Its wounds have already started to heal. The horns glowed as the mana enter and empower them. The horn became firmer and sharper than a rock. Like a sharp blade reflecting the ray of the sun, it could only bring death to any human who took hit from it.

“God dammit, I can’t die here!” one of the knights cursed.

Their lives were left in the hand of their female comrade, the only one that could still fight in this hopeless situation. They wished for her safety, and theirs.

“Please, someone help us. Don’t let us die in vain.” The last knight said before he went into oblivion. His wish was not voiced to anybody, nor could anyone present there heard him over the roar of the corcorn. It was seemingly prayed to the unseen.

As the corcorn charged onto their mage archer, Lady Eloiya knew she has met her end. The collision teared through her armor knocking away the girl with full force. She was flung away onto the ground, wounded and motionless. The corcorn move towards her to ensure a kill.

When I knew no one were watching, I poured in mana to create a physical body. It took a lot of effort to concentrate to carve every detail of a human body. The risk of taking mana from the surrounding is high.

As a designer in my past life, I worked on human appearance many times before to fit them like a model. I saw myself, the man who used to have little and the boy who used to dream he had everything.

Carving every detail of the eyes, the toes, and the body… It was impossible to create a perfect body that can fully contain the spirit of the heart. At most, I could reside in the body for a few weeks before the body gets heavily damaged. My breath became ragged and my energy drained from my spirit. I could feel myself collapsing any moment.

I could not control the amount of mana being used up, everything came together despite my effort. The air became cold as it was sucked into my creation circle. The plants around me started withering and the ground shook. The atmosphere began to reek of death as its mana got drained away.

Before the knights could bleed to death, I threw myself into the body as soon as it was complete and went down onto the living land of Arcturus.

“A damsel in distress, or a cool queen of the north.”

Fourth chapter- I learn the tongue of Roh