Human ‘Hoppy’ Lv. 3 killed.

Awarding experience. Bonus experience for killing a Sentient Race while being a monster. Reduced experience for killing something five or more levels below you.

Human ‘Aiden’ Lv. 2 killed.

Awarding experience. Bonus experience for killing a Sentient Race while being a monster. Reduced experience for killing something five or more levels below you.

Lava Ball Lv. 1 → Lava Ball Lv. 2

I didn’t gain a level due to the low levels of the humans and the reduced experience. I did however earn a level for [Lava Ball] making it the first spell I have leveled up.

It doesn’t seem like there’s much use in killing the weaker humans. The stronger ones like Lota are worth it but it takes time to create the spell I used.

Now then, what exactly is this blade?

[Identify]

Manasteel Sword: A simple sword that conducts mana more efficiently than a normal steel sword but is otherwise the same.

Manasteel? Steel is a type of mixture of metals but how do you get manasteel? Perhaps Simon knows, although his knowledge that he gives me can’t be entirely trusted.

Now then, I need to spend my Skill Points and Stat Points.

15 Skill Points and 3 Stat Points. Ten points into Intelligence, three into Wisdom, and two into Agility. So what do I spend the Skill Points on?

I can spend it on a level of [Lava Ball] or a level for either of my Illusion spells but that doesn’t seem useful. [Ancient Enchanting] needs four points and I can’t level up [Self Reality] for the time being. [Identify] and [Inspect] both need more than three points as well.

I suppose I can keep them for later when I have more.

Alright, so I’ve learned that there’s no point in killing the weaker people. Now I need to go back to the dungeon in case Simon comes back. I’m not really sure how to find him otherwise.

*****

“So how exactly did you escape?” Simon asked using his [Telepathy].

“I walked out.” I’m not really sure how else I can explain it to him.

Simon was back at the dungeon when I returned and he seemed fairly angry. I’m not entirely sure why, all I did was leave and come back.

As if knowing my thoughts, Simon said, “You were placed here because you broke the law. Being here is your punishment and leaving means you went against your punishment causing you to have more punishment. You aren’t supposed to leave.”

Punishment is a bad thing, but I came back so why do I still get more punishment?

I asked and Simon replied, “You won’t receive as much extra time because you came back but because you left without permission you’ll still get extra time in here.”

I see no reason to come back after leaving. I would receive extra punishment even if I came back rather than if I just didn’t come back and had no punishment.

I don’t think Simon would like me saying that however so I kept it to myself.

“You have to stay here for at least a week. I’ll see if I can lower the sentence but I can’t make promises. Now, be good and don’t leave.” Simon told me before he left.

I saw no reason to stay here. I also didn’t make a promise to stay here so I left.

I used [Shift Form] to transform into my mana form and walked through the wall again.

Where should I go? Didn’t Simon say something about a war here? A war should be two large groups of people fighting each other but I haven’t seen anyone fight each other beyond Simon and Lota and the group of people between the buildings.

Perhaps it's not in the city but is instead outside. That would make some sense but shouldn’t there be more signs of a war occurring?

Well, first I need to check outside of the city so I’ll just walk forwards until I reach the outside.

*****

Interesting. There seems to be no space outside of the city that isn’t fighting.

The sky has different types of magic flying back and forth. The ground has groups of people directly attacking each other while some metal creatures move around. Even the underground has battles going on as groups dig tunnels.

So why is the actual city completely fine?

As I wonder about this peculiarity, a spell misses its original target and comes towards me.

However, instead of hitting me or flying close to me, the spell hits a wall that appears from nowhere and dissipates.

Ah, so they can’t enter the city so they’re fighting all around it. But what are they trying to achieve and how exactly does this wall work?

I try going through where I saw the wall and find that I can easily do so but entering through the wall back to the city takes some time.

So it’s meant to keep things outside rather than inside. That makes sense but why are the people fighting outside of it? Do they have a way in already?

Ah well, I should go around and see what I can learn.

So I wandered above where all the people on the ground were fighting but below where the people in the sky were fighting.

So what exactly can I do here? I don’t have much of a purpose for coming here besides learning so I should probably make a goal.

I think one of these groups is a friendly group but I have no clue which and I don’t think anyone would be happy if I killed part of the friendly group.

Hmm, there isn’t really much I can actually interact with is there? Oh well, I can just watch and learn until I think of something.

So I looked down at the ground as I walked through the air. Most of the people fighting seemed to be better than those I saw between the buildings but they still weren’t very good.

Some people were wearing different clothing than most of the other people and they seemed to be much better at something than the other people.

Some of these differently clothed people were able to cast magic while others were capable of using their weapons in ways I didn’t think was possible. I used [Identify] on one to see if I could learn anything.

Name: Merg Oyl

Level: ???

Race: Half Elf

Title: Mage Commander of Glyn

A Half Elf? I think Simon told me about them before. They aren’t common but they’re usually more talented at magic than a normal Human although worse at magic than a normal Elf.

I don’t really know how different they look from a normal Human. They seem to look the same to me but I know they’re supposed to be different.

But enough about that, this person also has the title Mage Commander of Glyn. I think that’s similar to Simon’s Officer of Talvisota title but I don’t really know what it means.

Merg has been casting spells for a while while also making noises. Whenever she makes a noise the people around her move to make changes I can’t really understand. One moment standing in a triangle and the next they make a half circle.

Maybe these changes are used to fight against the other people but I don’t see how changing where you stand affects how well you can fight...

Why exactly did she stop moving and have the people around her form a circle? Perhaps she’s tired and needs to rest? Then why did she decide to rest next to all the people who want to kill her?

Wait, why do I have the feeling that I am in a lot of danger? What exactly is she doi- [Assimilate Self]!

Assimilate Self Lv. 2 → Assimilate Self Lv. 3

As soon as I meld into the natural mana, a ball of fire the size of a house flies through where I was. It was extremely uncomfortable as I had to suffer being pushed around by an extremely hot ball of mana.

Well, at least I know why I felt danger. That would’ve killed me if I hadn’t used [Assimilate Self].

Skill acquired: Danger Sense Lv. 1

And a new skill which probably lets me sense when I’m in danger. Now then, I need to leave before I run out of mana and have to cancel [Assimilate Self].

*****

That was quite close, I wonder what spell Merg used to create that fireball, I doubt the normal [Fireball] can make it.

Now then, how low is my mana?

Mana: 238/600

That is really low, [Assimilate Self] uses too much mana still for me to use it for a while.

[Assimilate Self] is actually really risky for me to use since I’m pretty sure if I run out of mana to sustain it I’ll be absorbed into the natural mana while if I run out of mana after deactivating it I will at the very least fall asleep for a while or perhaps die, I have never ran out of mana before.

Now then, where am I? I just went in a random direction to escape that Mage Commander.

There’s still fighting everywhere so I can’t have gone too far but I mostly need to return to the city so I need to find where there isn’t fighting...

*****

How big is this battlefield exactly? I think I’ve wandered for around seven hours and yet I haven’t seen anything too new.

I haven’t tried to use [Identify] on anyone else due to what happened last time. At least I’ve regained all of my mana again, having too little is very annoying.

Now then, what is this? It has no fighting around it but it isn’t the city, it’s too small.

There are people walking around inside the walls that surround it and there are buildings but it seems very… unnatural.

Everything seems like it was made in a rush but it also seems perfect. Like it was made somewhere else but moved here.

Hm, who exactly is in control of this strange place? Hopefully [Identify] doesn’t get me killed.

I used [Identify] on the most extravagantly clothed person in the place.

Name: Aidan Carren

Level: ???

Race: Wood Elf

Title: Supreme General of the Highest Army

A Supreme General? What’s that? Also, what is the Highest Army? Hmm, didn

Oh well, he’s a Wood Elf so he most likely is not friendly as well. Although, he could be friendly so I’ll wait.

So I waited, and waited, and waited until I saw some people in chains walking through the place.

Who are these people? Hmm, [Identify].

Name: Arge Tum

Level: 12

Race: Human

Title: Private Rank Soldier of Talvisota

Name: Silvett Poll

Level: 9

Race: Human

Title: Private Rank Soldier of Talvisota

Oh? Soldiers of Talvisota? Does this mean that this place belongs to Talvisota?

As I soon learned, no. This place did not belong to Talvisota.

The two prisoners were forced to kneel on the ground before Aidan walked towards them.

He made some noises while the two soldiers stayed silent. Then Aidan took out his sword. It seemed much nicer than the one I saw before used by one of the people I killed. I didn’t have enough time to use [Identify] on it because it was quickly used to cut off the heads of both soldiers in a single slice before being put back into its sheath. Aidan proceeded to enter one of the buildings.

Hm, it seems that these people are enemies. I don’t think there’s a punishment for killing enemies right? I’m also pretty sure no one can find out it was me.

Now then, how do I kill them? [Dense Rock] is quite powerful but doesn’t have a big enough area and also needs a lot of time. [Lava Ball] is quick enough but it has nowhere near the right amount of size.

Could I perhaps use [Lava Ball] to cause something else to kill them all? Hm, there are a few metal creatures here and they seem to move after having a small container filled with mana put into them. Could I perhaps break these containers and cause some damage? Most spells are just combining mana, shape, and intent so what if the shape and intent were removed from the process?

Oh well, it’s worth a try.

So, [Lava Ball], and then send it towards a container.

It’ll take a little bit to reach there so I’ll leave the area in the meantime.

*****

It should be about time…

BOOM!

That should be it. Now then, what exactly happened.

Hm, it seemed like it only caused one-

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

*****

I don’t know how many explosions there were. I only know that once everything stopped, the unnatural place was no more. There were some people still around but they were mostly heavily injured with only one completely fine, the Supreme General.

You have killed a large number of Sentient Race creatures with various levels.

Awarding experience. Bonus experience for killing a Sentient Race while being a monster. Heavily reduced experience for killing something using an external power rather than entirely your own.

You have leveled up.

Level 8 → Level 10

You have reached the maximum level for a tier one monster. You are eligible to evolve into a superior Subspecies or Species depending on your achievements and experiences.

Please check the Evolution tab of the System at your earliest convenience.

Well, I learned that killing things not by myself isn’t as efficient as killing them by myself. I also am able to evolve when I want to. I do want to but staying near the explosion site doesn’t seem like a good idea.

I went in one direction and simply ran.

*****

In the lord’s manor of Pyrp, there were three people sitting and eating some small desserts.

“Well, I’m sure you know why we’re here sir.” One person who Salem would’ve recognized as Simon said.

“Yes, I’m quite aware that the king has no faith in my own military. Now then, what exactly do you plan on doing?” The City Lord replied.

“Simple, we’re going to attack the enemy’s forward camp and we need the location.” The third person answered.

“With just the two of you? Did the king not tell you that the Highest Army is stationed there?”

“He did, which is why he sent both of us instead of just one. Now then, do you have the location or not?”

“Yes yes, I have the location. It’s around 400 miles north of here. I would prefer you gentlemen not die so I don’t have to be responsible.” The mayor told the two men the location before a servant opened the door with a letter in hand.

“Lord, there’s a message from the guard captain. He said it was urgent.” The servant said, handed the letter to the city lord, and left.

The city lord didn’t seem too worried and said, “Miss Tum, one of the many Tum family members around the world. I heard one of her siblings is in the military and that’s the reason why she came here. Now then, what is in this letter?”

The city lord opened the letter and began reading. His expression quickly changed from curiosity, to confusion, before settling on shock.

“This- this- this is… impossible.” The city lord stuttered.

“What? What did the letter say?” Simon asked.

“I… The letter stated that there was a massive explosion around 400 miles north of here. It was as powerful as a compressed mana bomb.” The city lord said with fear.

“A compressed mana bomb… Powerful enough to level a city yet it was used on a mere forward camp. I doubt many survivors are left, if any.” The third man muttered.

“Sir, was there anything else mentioned? If it was caused by someone from our side there should be a record on the Contribution Wall.” Simon asked with a sense of urgency.

The city lord nodded his head quickly, “There was a change in the first and third place rankings. The first place is now held by someone named Salem while the third place is held by you actually. The only information given by the Contribution Wall is, ‘Destroyed the enemy forward camp and killed most soldiers stationed there through use of [Lava Ball].’ I’m not entirely sure what it means.”

Simon was even more surprised than the city lord, ‘Salem destroyed almost the entire forward camp with just a [Lava Ball]? How?’

“Sir Simon, you seem to have more knowledge of what happened. May we bother you to share it?” The city lord asked, causing Simon to come back to the present.

“Yes, well, Salem is my companion. I’m sure you know of my assignment to Crow’s Forest due to the strategic importance it had and the lumberjacks who were going missing? Well, when I first got there I started by searching the area…