In a small, dark cave tucked away deep within the mysterious Corrupted Rainforest, a young teenager found himself at the center of something incredible. Strange energy emanated from his body, creating a fascinating show of changes. If you could see his special gem from outer space, you would notice it was greedily absorbing lots of grayish and light magic.
As the gem hungrily absorbed more magic, it emitted a bright glow that grew stronger over time. Cracks suddenly appeared on its surface, as if it were bursting with energy from within. The light became even brighter, and more cracks formed. The teenager, huddled in the cave, began sweating and clenching his hands in pain as he struggled to withstand the intense ache of his breakthrough.
Finally, the light reached its peak, and the outer layer of the gem shattered into pieces. The shiny gem inside burst out and rapidly grew larger, as if it had been unleashed. It stopped growing after becoming 1.5 times its original size. The light faded, and the gem solidified. After a few minutes, the glow completely vanished, leaving behind a solid and gleaming gem.
Unbeknownst to the teenager, his successful breakthrough inadvertently unleashed a powerful surge of magic throughout the surrounding area, attracting many magical beasts. The magical beasts were now looking with red eyes towards the direction of the tiny cave where he resided in.
Matthew opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. It had been four days since the little unicorn left, and he had been striving to reach the second stage of becoming an Official Mage. He almost failed, with his energy almost being depleted, but with the unicorn's gift and his determination, he had succeeded barely. "I bet even the most skilled mages can't beat me now," Matthew thought proudly , stretching his arms. Normally, it took even the most talented mages over four months to advance one stage in the Official Mage , while regular people could take up to a year. However if people had heard of his achievement of advancing to the second stage of the Official Mage in only about 2 months they would probably be shocked.
After stretching for a while, Matthew left the small cave. He checked for any magical beasts nearby before deciding which direction to explore the rainforest. He walked at a relaxed pace, hoping to find a way out or come across other people. After all, now that he was at the second stage of the Official Mage not many magical beasts could hurt him. However, young Matthew, would soon realize his mistake
After exploring the Corrupted Rainforest for several hours, Matthew started feeling uneasy. Along the way, he encountered five magical beasts of modest power, which was unusual since they usually lived alone. "Could there perhaps be a gathering of beasts somewhere?" Matthew grew more suspicious and looked around for more beasts when suddenly he felt the ground trembling.
"Oh no," thought Matthew, "It's a stampede of beasts." He quickly activated his ability to absorb magic and started running as fast as he could. But after a few seconds, he heard the trees behind him crashing down as tens of magical beasts, ranging from weaker to slightly stronger, stampeded through with angry eyes. These beasts were part of a stampede, a group that had gathered and gone wild after fighting each other. In this case, they were attracted by Matthew's powerful release of magic during his breakthrough.
After running for a while, Matthew began to feel desperate as the stampede of beasts closed in on him. He had almost used up all his magic, and if it hadn't been for his breakthrough, he would have run out of mana and faced certain death. Just before he ran out of magic, he spotted an ancient temple ruin where he could seek refuge. Overjoyed that he had found a potential sanctuary, he used his remaining magic to leap into the temple's inner courtyard.
As the enraged beasts followed him into the temple, they quickly ran out with severe burn wounds, howling in pain. It was as if they had been scorched by a fiery blast.
Upon reaching the inner courtyard, Matthew suddenly felt a surge of energy surrounding him. It felt similar to the energy from the little unicorn but carried a familiar quality, as if it originated from the same source of the energy the little unicorn had given him. Nonetheless, it soothed his injuries and healed him. Feeling relieved, Matthew took the time to heal and, after a few hours, he finally returned to his peak condition.
Feeling fully restored, Matthew's curiosity was piqued by the enigmatic temple that possessed energy similar to that of the little unicorn. After pondering for a while, Matthew made up his mind and headed toward the temple's entrance, eager to uncover the mysteries that lay within its ancient walls.