Chapter 66: The Formation of New Mana Circles

“Seris…?”

As soon as I returned to the pioneers’ base, the first thing that greeted me was Selion’s shocked face.

She stared at me in disbelief, then slowly approached and started touching me here and there.

Her expression suggested she was questioning whether the sight of me was some kind of illusion.

“Selion, it’s me. I’m real.”

I gently moved her hand away from my cheek and looked around.

The base was bustling with activity, likely due to the return of teams that had recently ventured into unexplored territories.

Among them were a few people who kept stealing glances at me.

“Where on earth have you been? No contact for a month… and where’s your gear?”

“A month…?”

I furrowed my brow, trying to piece things together.

Before being swept up in the mana storm, it had taken me two weeks just to reach the rocky mountain.

If I considered the time I spent in that strange place after being caught in the mana storm, it seemed a significant amount of time must have passed.

But even then, it didn’t make sense.

In that place, I neither slept nor consumed food or water.

Could it be… that space had a different flow of time?

“You’re a mess. How about washing up first?”

“Oh, right. Sure.”

Shaking off my tangled thoughts, I followed Selion.

After arriving at the lodging, I unpacked my things and washed up.

Then, I changed into comfortable clothes and went outside to clean Nightmare.

As I brushed his fur, Selion approached me.

“What happened to you all this time?”

“I got caught in a mana storm.”

“A mana storm…?”

I nodded while scrubbing Nightmare’s fur with a large brush.

He seemed to enjoy it, lying on the ground with his belly pressed against the floor, his eyes closed in contentment.

“Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie about something like that?”

In a light tone, I began recounting everything that had happened.

I told her about how I had been caught in the sudden mana storm after reaching the rocky mountain for a mission.

“Wait… so you’re saying you returned unharmed after being swept into the storm?”

“That’s right. I’m standing here, aren’t I?”

There was still much to explain.

As I sprayed water onto Nightmare’s back, I continued, “After being swept up, I opened my eyes to find myself in a strange place.”

“A strange place…?”

“There were no moons, stars, or even a sun. Just a pitch-black sky, dimly illuminated by an unknown light source.”

Selion looked skeptical.

I couldn’t blame her—it sounded unbelievable.

If someone like me, a young girl, claimed to have wandered through a bizarre space filled with deserts, forests, swamps, snowy mountains, lava fields, and every kind of terrain imaginable, I wouldn’t believe it either.

But it was all true.

“And I saw a turtle carrying a forest on its back.”

“A turtle… carrying a forest?”

“Yes. One of its legs was larger than the Radon ship we arrived on.”

“Hm…”

“Hard to believe, right?”

Selion, deep in thought, suddenly stood up and headed toward the lodging of another team nearby.

I silently watched her leave as I focused on brushing Nightmare’s tail.

She returned after quite a while, bringing with her a man with a tired expression.

As they approached me, I looked up at the man with a furrowed brow.

He seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t recall exactly where I’d seen him.

“You’re Seris?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“I’m Balder.”

Ah, the moment he introduced himself, a flash of recognition hit me.

Balder—a Gold-ranked swordsman like Selion and the only one to have ever returned alive from a mana storm.

It seemed Selion had brought him to confirm the truth of my story.

“Hello.”

“I’ve heard from Selion. You survived a mana storm?”

“Yes.”

“What did you see in there?”

I condensed the story I had told Selion and explained it to Balder.

When I described the dark forest, the desert, and the massive turtle, he showed no particular reaction.

However, when I mentioned seeing a giant’s shadow in the snowy mountains—one far larger than the mountains themselves—he finally reacted.

“A blizzard so fierce you couldn’t see ahead…?”

“Yes.”

“And you saw the shadow of a giant larger than the snow-covered mountains?”

“Yes.”

After hearing my answer, Balder turned to Selion and silently nodded.

“Seris is telling the truth. She seems to have spent far more time there than I did and seen much more.”

“My goodness…”

“She must be exhausted. Let her rest.”

Leaving those words, Balder returned to his lodging.

Left alone with Selion, I dried Nightmare’s wet fur with a towel and spoke.

“Now, do you believe me?”

Selion responded to my question with an awkward smile.

I followed her lead and smiled as well.

Two days after returning to the base.

My experiences were set to be included in a guidebook for the pioneers.

Not immediately, of course, but once new recruits joined the next batch, the guide would be created alongside their induction.

After providing detailed explanations to the scholar responsible for compiling the book, I dragged my weary body back to the dormitory.

“I’m back.”

“Oh, welcome back.”

When I opened the door to the dormitory, Selion greeted me warmly.

Noticing her putting on her equipment, I tilted my head in curiosity.

“Selion? Are you heading out somewhere?”

“I’m just going to visit my team for a bit.”

“Your team?”

“Yeah. They’ve set up a base camp near the uncharted zone and are working there. It’ll probably take about a month.”

“Where exactly is this uncharted zone?”

“Hmm… I’m not entirely sure, but it’s roughly in the middle of the island.”

“Could I join you?”

“What? You want to come? Balder said you should rest more. Wouldn’t it be better for you to just take it easy?”

I stroked the warm seed in my pocket and shook my head.

Initially, I had planned to move alone to find the westernmost end, but my thoughts had changed after being caught in a recent mana storm.

This Monster Island was far too dangerous.

While I had grown significantly stronger, there were still monsters here so powerful that my life could be snuffed out like that of a mere fly.

Though I relished the thrill of venturing into the unknown, that was only the case when my life wasn’t at imminent risk.

To reach the westernmost end safely, I needed strong allies by my side.

“I’m fine. And I’d really like to meet your team.”

“Hmm… okay, fine.”

Eventually, Selion agreed to let me join her.

I quickly suited up, stuffing the necessary items into my supply bag.

Together, Selion and I left the dormitory and headed straight to the stables, where my Nightmare was resting.

At first, the creature greeted me warmly, but upon seeing the large bag slung over my back, it turned away with a look of disgust and shuffled to a corner.

Snort!

The Nightmare stomped at the hay on the ground, as if protesting the tight schedule.

However, its tantrum was short-lived.

Once I grabbed its reins and stroked its head, it quickly calmed down, wagging its tail and following me obediently.

“All set?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s head out.”

Selion and I departed from the base.

We passed through a dense forest and entered a massive ravine.

On the surface, the area appeared serene, with streams running across the paths and wide, lush green plains stretching out before us.

But a closer look revealed a very different reality.

Thud!

“Shh…”

I swallowed hard and flattened myself against the ground alongside Selion.

Even the Nightmare lay low beside me, holding its breath despite its massive frame.

Thud!

With thunderous footsteps, a colossal monster emerged in the ravine.

Even from a distance, its enormous presence was overwhelming.

“What’s its name?”

“That’s Radon.”

“Radon? Isn’t that the name of the ship we came on?”

“The ship was named after it.”

Nodding at Selion’s explanation, I studied the creature named Radon.

Its overall appearance resembled a lizard, but the four horns protruding from its head and the massive wings sprouting from its back gave it the look of a dragon from imagination.

After quenching its thirst with the stream flowing through the ravine, Radon disappeared back into the gorge.

“Phew, lucky us. It was just thirsty.”

Selion finally stood up, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Seeing her tense like that, despite being a Gold-rank adventurer, made it clear just how formidable the monster Radon was.

That evening, after witnessing Radon, I took the night watch. Sitting by the campfire, I closed my eyes.

Since absorbing Kalvain’s mana, I had been unable to form any other mana circles.

The fiery ring rejected any intrusion from other mana.

But now, it was finally possible.

The blazing ring had completely integrated into my inner world.

Hoo…

As I exhaled slowly, dense, immense mana began to flow into me.

While the mana didn’t possess any special attributes, its density allowed it to move endlessly, adapting and transforming.

First, I began forming a new mana circle over the empty space.

The dense mana on Monster Island didn’t resist my guidance, peacefully following my lead to form a massive ring.

The newly created mana circle already seemed to be synchronizing with my mana as if trying to integrate seamlessly.

The mana’s transformation speed was unusually rapid.

But for me right now, there couldn’t be better mana. I continued working to increase my total mana.

Next came the second step.

I absorbed the same mana again and began forming another circle.

However, as the second circle took shape, I winced and clutched my chest.

The two rapidly spinning circles seemed to close in on my heart, constricting it.

Cold sweat began to drip down my forehead, and my left hand dug into the ground for support.

Then I noticed something strange happening to my body.

My nails, once rounded, began to grow longer and sharper, exuding a menacing aura.

“Haah…”

It wasn’t just my left hand.

My right hand, which was clutching my chest, also bore these claw-like nails, leaving white marks on my ogre-hide leather jacket.

But the changes didn’t stop there.

The pitch-black darkness surrounding me began to brighten gradually.

My vision oscillated between narrowing and widening, while a stabbing pain radiated from deep within my heart.

“Ugh…”

Gripping my chest tightly, I collapsed onto the ground.