Chapter 26 | Mana-Core

The Tower of Fracture, an obsidian obelisk of a hundred meters piercing the blue skies of the World Renovael, sailed right past them. Or to be more precise, they were falling next to it.

They had been ejected out of the tower’s fifteen-meter-wide body in different directions, but all from the same height. Fortunately, Satou and Long Tian were ejected close to him.

Theo pushed away the notifications, the majestic view filling his vision once again. But the excitement quickly gave way to bitter reality.

He was falling from at least fifty meters, and would embrace the sweet grass underneath in a couple of seconds.

So he immediately got to work. He spread his arms and legs wide, facing the ground. He felt himself slow down. Well, at least his acceleration slowed down.

But still, he didn’t feel confident in making it without breaking some bones. He couldn’t afford that. Not in a place he couldn’t access proper medical care. Especially not when he would be dealing with God knows what in the upcoming days.

Having no spell that could deal with this situation, or the ability to produce one so quickly, Theo had a single way out.

[Endurance: 3.381 –> 4.381]

[Free points: 1 –> 0]

As he was about to hit the ground, Theo felt his body tighten. He bent his knees and readied himself for the impact.

When he slammed against the soft soil, he did his best to roll forward. Although it was a clumsy attempt, he managed to soften the landing slightly. A dizzying pain exploded from his ankles. His organs lurched inside his body. He didn’t know if he had any fractures, but he could feel his ankles strain and heat up.

If not for my endurance, I would have probably broken something, Theo thanked himself for keeping the point before shuffling to his feet.

[Archetype: That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime and Had to Save Monsterkind]

[Archetype: I’m a Goblin Now, So What?]

[Archetype: I Have Gained The 10x Attribute Talent, So Now I Will Live As I Want!]

[Archetype: I Have Gained The 20x Attribute Talent, Living The Slow-Life]

[Archetype: I Have Gained The 30x Attribute Talent…

[Archetype: I Have Gained The 50x EXP…

[Archetype:…

Okay, okay! I get it! Stop bombarding me! Theo shouted in his head. When he turned to look, he noticed the cultivator to be fine too. Somewhat. Although he spat out a mouthful of blood, he didn’t lose consciousness.

He looked around. Goblins, monsters of all kinds, beastmen, humans, all factions imaginable were duking it out. And it seemed more like a free-for-all rather than a war with different groups. Every person was fighting randomly. But amidst the chaos was an area everyone steered clear of. And right in the middle were two people.

“Fuck… Why is that bastard Klein still here?” Satou muttered under his breath, a terrified frown hanging on his face. Theo followed his gaze and noted a very young man. A kid, even. Fifteen if he had to guess.

[Archetype: The Hero’s Journey]

A system panel floated above his head, strangely readable even from this distance.

His golden, shoulder-length hair shone against the sun. Blue eyes sparkling like gems on his face. Snow-white skin accompanied by lightweight plate armor radiating regality.

And his sword…

It was beauty manifest. Golden vines lining the guard, a pure white handle with a blue pearl pommel that reflected the light. The blade itself wasn’t that weird, a classic longsword, but the aura that billowed from it was…

“Holy shit…” Theo muttered. He didn’t know what had happened between Satou and the kid, but he could understand why he frowned at the sight of him. Because whenever the kid swung that sword of his, it would unleash tens of meters of golden aura like it was nothing. Not to mention the way he moved around, barely registering as a blur when he dashed, even to Theo’s inhuman perception.

He must have been the person who attacked us back at the cubic room. But Leila is still alive, at least somewhat…? Or was that really someone else? Then what just happened?

Funnily enough, the person fighting him didn’t seem fazed by Klein’s power. Not at all.

[Archetype: Salaryman to the Demon King’s Left Hand: Isekai Story]

It was some middle-aged Japanese man wearing a strangely intact suit, as if he hadn’t been fighting a walking, talking natural catastrophe. He had a black, unassuming suitcase in his right hand, dodging the three-story-building-sized attacks of the blond young man with practiced ease. He wasn’t even that fast; he was more like a leaf, dodging with the wind of the Hero’s attacks.

Then, in the middle of the fight, he turned his head and locked eyes with Theo. His brows rose for a moment, then he smiled. His lips moved to utter a phrase, but there was no way for Theo to understand what he was saying from that distance, especially with so much noise around them.

He adjusted his tie with his left hand, flourished his suitcase with the right, dodged another strike, spoke a few words with the blond teenager, then immediately phased out of existence. Disappearing as if he had never even been there.

With a gulp, Theo looked around and spotted the mountains Satou had previously spoken of. He took off into a dash in the opposite direction. Long Tian followed by his side, Satou carrying Tanaka and whizzing past them, creating quite the distance.

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He probably doesn’t want to be noticed by Klein, Theo guessed as he did his best to keep up. They entered the forest. Theo and Long Tian managed to spot Satou after running a couple of hundred meters more. He had stopped under a tree root, taking deep breaths. Once he saw them, he ushered them into a little crevice behind a trunk.

They were surrounded by trees and shrubbery from every possible angle, making them practically invisible unless someone specifically looked for them.

Theo sighed and sat down cross-legged, stretching his shoulders.

“That was quite something,” Theo muttered with a sigh. Satou nodded but didn’t speak. Theo, however, wanted some answers. “Say, what is up with Klein? What happened between you two?”

Satou frowned deeply. He didn’t quite seem interested in answering. His mouth opened and closed a few times, indecisive. In the end, however, he gave in.

“Not much I can say. We don’t personally have any grudges against each other. It’s just that… Klein is an actual good kid. Unfortunately, he is… a bit easy to manipulate. And the people around him know how to do that really well. The New King was that way too. He didn’t like my presence, so he asked for help from Klein…”

Theo frowned. In the end, Klein was a dangerous weapon in the hands of the wrong people.

“That’s… unfortunate.”

“Yeah…” Satou’s voice trailed off. “Let’s rest here for a while. Then we set off once again.”

Theo and Long Tian nodded. They laid Tanaka down onto the grass and settled against the trees making the outer ring of their little hiding spot.

The slight wind caressed his greasy hair; an earthy smell filled his nose. Now that he had the time to think, he could only now realize he was truly outside.

I thought I would never get to see the sky again.

But for the first time in a long while, he truly felt he deserved every breath that filled his lungs.

And now that he was outside, his options were endless. This would be the true start of his isekai adventure. Obviously, the first thing he had to do was to deal with his rewards.

He looked around. Satou and Long Tian both had their eyes closed, meditating to recover.

Holding his palm up, Theo summoned the notification list and started browsing it manually, with his hands. The feeling of using a touchscreen was strangely relaxing when compared to simple mental commands.

After skipping the plethora of new main character notifications, he finally managed to find what he was looking for.