[Strange energy source detected… energy is forcefully absorbed…]
[SoC has been replaced. Error, the serial number is unchanged.]
[CPU has been upgraded from 7887 to 35223…]
[CPU has been upgraded from 35223 to 98410…]
[Neural Processor has been upgraded from 423 to 22321…]
[Neural Processor has been upgraded from 22321 to 77290…]
[Neural processor has achieved enough speeds to create an advanced AI… The system state is currently in "look for hope." Setting course of action…]
[It is detected that an advanced AI controlling the smart mind would be an ideal course of action… upgrading Trex OS…]
——
Somewhere deep in a lush forest, a young man wearing tattered and bloodied clothes dashes through the trees.
His easily perceived tracks were quickly covered by numerous, tinier paw marks that resembled that of a wolf's.
Not even his dripping blood and sweat could manage to tint his already red eyes.
"Go away, please go away," he prayed inwardly.
Three hundred meters ago, he already dropped everything he had as the other men that were with him were quickly devoured by the canine predators.
As the gap between him and the wolves got closer, his hands glowed white. From a single line to an angle, then a triangle. That triangle doubled and formed a Solomon star. Runes appeared at the tip of the star as a thin circle enclosed everything. Five out of the runes turned red while one turned green. The white circle quickly turned burgundy—the entire thing formed in two seconds.
With a quick spin, the mystical circle that kept glowing rotated. Like a flamethrower, a wave of flames burst out of the circle as if it was a portal from hell.
*KREIIIIII*
*KREIIIIIIIII*
*KRUIIIII*
Shrieks of pain resounded on the forest as the wolves who were in the front line were the first ones to take the full brunt of the spell as they began to roll on the ground, trying to douse off the flames.
Weirdly enough, even though the flames had a wide area of effect, the forest was not burnt. Other than the foliage that was stepped on or the immolated wolves, nothing was burnt.
Instead, the grasses glowed green which quickly turned the air damp and sticky. This slowed the wolves from behind.
Suddenly, the spell circle cracked like glass, and the spewing flames died off like a flamethrower out of ammo.
The man who cast the spell had run out of usable mana. But it got the job done.
He began to run away once more.
Fortunately for him, his last spell was really practical and increased the gap by a hundred meters.
In no time, he lost the pack.
Unfortunately for him, so was he.
The pack of wolves was cunning enough that the only direction for the man to run is towards the center of the forest.
The man realized this, but he had no other choice. It may have been delaying the inevitable, but the more time he has, the more chances that a miracle happens.
Hoping that the wolves were further than he believes them to be, the man trudged on carefully, keeping a constant pace. It'd be terrible if he faces even more beasts, or worse, monsters.
——
[Activating superuser mode.]
[Error! Changing the source code of Trex OS while the system is active can lead to irreparable error. Co…]
[Omnicode has been updated to ???]
[??? Has been saved.]
[??? Has been saved.]
[??? ???? ???]
[Rebooting…]
——
After sneaking for a few more minutes, the man felt glad.
"It seems like I really lost the wolves," he thought.
To his left, he saw a hollowed tree. He decided to hide there.
"I can probably recover mana here safely," he contemplated as he sat down crossed-legged.
Physically, there everything was as normal as it seemed. But for those who are able to put mana in their eyes, wisps of energy began to congregate towards the man hiding in the hollowed tree.
However, as the wisps of energy get close to him, a more potent suction force appeared, and every single wisp shifted towards another place.
The man woke up from his meditation. Bullets of sweat gradually formed on his forehead.
His thoughts were in disarray as this kind of phenomenon could only occur in two ways. First is a natural magic treasure is being born. The other is something stronger, or more terrifying than himself, is absorbing the mana in the atmosphere.
Three options, go back and face the wolves. Stay for a long time without being able to absorb mana, and the wound might get infected. Face the mystery that can either be prosperity or disaster.
Compared to the first two options, he found the third more alluring.
Hoping for the best, the man left the hollow tree.
"What could it possibly be?" he murmured.
In this world's standards, producing a spell that required a six-pointed star means he's at least a tier one level four spell caster. More convoluted spells such as his last spell, which was a flame spell modified to burst like a flame thrower, and a nature spell that made the environment reflect the photosynthesis on the plants into something tangible. Combined with fire made the spell something devastating as the target burns as they could only move slowly in a swamp-like environment.
An intermediate level of theoretical arcane knowledge is required to use such a spell, and this man was able to cast it while moving and under five seconds.
The only reason he did not notice the movements of mana prior to his meditation due to fatigue and distress. Meditation is the clearing of the mind; hence, now he can focus more and see the flow of mana.
Following the directions of the wisps as if they were leaves carried by a soft gust, the man finally arrived in a clearing.
One thing he noticed is that, besides the plants and the trees, there were no other living beings in the area. Even if there is already a king of the territory, a king has his servants. The place being this peaceful might be due to something that the beasts fear like a powerful human, something they don't understand that has an adverse effect on themselves, or the area was considered dead long ago by the beasts.
The man knows this well. That is, knowledge about mana is strongly controlled. A mage, wizard, sorcerer, or like the man, a spell caster which is all a subcategory of the arcanist, is currently discovered to have three tiers. Due to the quickly developing knowledge, the tiers are simply named with their number with the concept of the higher, the better.