Ragryno and Zack were walking through the dark thickets. They had already left the camp, having warned Catherine to prepare with Alex beforehand. Stepping over another massive root, Ragryno once again noticed the trees around him. They had changed quite a bit compared to what they looked like when he first entered the forest.
Right now, their bark was a dark purple color, and it looked very dry and cracked. But that wasn't what caught his attention—what really made him pay more attention to the trees were the runes, which were etched into nearly every one of them. Zack was walking ahead, talking about something, but it wasn't anything important, so Ragryno just pretended to listen.
Attempting to scan the trees with his senses, Ragryno discovered something interesting—there was mana in them, and a rather strong presence at that. While the trees at the start of the forest gave off no energy at all and seemed completely ordinary, these trees could prove the exact opposite. Still, Ragryno felt a little disappointed, as he couldn't learn anything more about them or the runes that were carved into the bark.
Turning his attention back to Zack, Ragryno finally decided to ask one important question.
"Hey, so what about that anomaly involving me—about the arm and time?" He honestly didn't fully understand what made him anomalous, so this question was pretty important to him.
"Oh! About that, yeah, I have a few theories, but I can't give you a definitive answer just yet," Zack replied, turning his head halfway.
"Don't you feel time? Or what do you sense instead of mana?" The elf asked, slightly puzzled, as he made sure to watch his step to avoid tripping.
Zack scratched his head lightly and remained silent for a moment. In the end, he simply shrugged.
"You see, I could tell you for sure if I were stronger. Maybe if I were at the second rank or something, but right now? Pfft. I already told you, all I feel are minor shifts in specific time points. Honestly, I'm not even sure if your arm is exactly five months old, the same amount of time we've been here. I just sensed that its time is roughly the same as mine and the others'. But you… You're something else entirely."
Did Ragryno understand what Zack was talking about? Partly, yes. But did he fully grasp what the time mage meant? Not really. If he was different from his arm, then how exactly? How did Zack even sense time?
"Man, could you explain it in simple terms? I don't quite get what you're saying. Can you just explain how you actually perceive time?" Ragryno asked hopefully, genuinely curious.
Zack went quiet again for a bit, seemingly picking the right words for the uneducated guy from the slums, and finally satisfied Ragryno's curiosity.
"Alright, alright… Since someone skipped lessons at the temple, I'll explain, but it's gonna take a while. Deal?" Zack said, slowing his pace.
Ragryno saw no harm in diving into the concept of time and how the time mage saw it. After all, magic intrigued him greatly, and it could be useful to him as a mage. At the very least, if Zack ever became his enemy, it wouldn't hurt to know how to counter such magic.
"Well, it's not like I'm the one leading us who knows where. So, if we have time to discuss this—go ahead," the elf said with noticeable enthusiasm, also slowing his pace and moving to Zack's right side so they could walk in sync.
"Then listen. First of all—what is time? To you or anyone else, it's an abstract concept. You can't see it, you can't hear it, but you can feel it. For me, it works a bit differently. See my eyes?" Zack pointed to his violet eyes, where instead of pupils, he had something like two arrows, one of which moved almost immediately as Ragryno looked at it. Ragryno simply nodded to indicate for Zack to continue.
"So, in my understanding—time is mana, which I can see. Or at least, that's how I interpret it. When you scan something, you probably feel the general rank of a being, right? I don't have that ability. Instead, I get completely different information when I scan—time. Even without scanning, I see time around you, around me, around everything. My magic is all about manipulating that." The mage explained, pointing to his eyes again.
Ragryno nodded, signaling that he understood what the time mage was saying.
"But this knowledge doesn't give me much else in other aspects. For example, I can't precisely determine the time of something higher ranked than me. And here we get to what I was talking about earlier. Your arm is ranked higher than both you and me, whatever that means," Zack said, pointing to the elf's wooden arm.
Ragryno was taken aback. How could his arm be of a higher rank? Or was that normal? He understood that it hadn't originally been part of him, but wouldn't that have caused some kind of malfunction in his body or mana? If someone asked him how he felt with it, he would have immediately said, "No different." Yes, the arm hadn't affected his mana levels, his magical abilities, or anything at all. Zack noticed the elf's pensive expression and sighed.
"I'll explain it like this… You're simultaneously two completely different beings and at the same time, the same." Zack said, hoping Ragryno would understand. But upon seeing an even more confused expression on the mana mage's face, he sighed in frustration.
"That's exactly why I said it's better for me to reach the second rank so my theories don't fill your head with unnecessary information. Right now, as I see it, I need to understand the concept of time long before the moment I gained magic in order to learn to manipulate that time."
Ragryno rubbed his brow, realizing that he'd have to learn more about time. He didn't understand many of the terms Zack was using, so it would be a good start toward becoming smarter. But even then, if he put himself in the time mage's shoes and substituted mana for time, he more or less got the gist of what Zack was saying. Still, it didn't really apply to him since how could he control mana before obtaining magic?
'I guess it's just time tricks.'
That's how he left the question open for the future. As for the future, the young man wasn't entirely sure either, as his wonder-arm, which apparently ranked higher than him, constantly reminded him that he needed to become stronger. But how the hell was he supposed to do that? What exactly was he lacking as a mana mage, and how could he reach the second rank?
He tried to recall the basics about ranks. The second rank required at least a basic level of control over magic and the creation of one's own techniques, but what kind of technique could he develop? Was it some kind of move, or was there something deeper in those words?
Right now, he had two techniques, one of which was basic for everyone. The first—mana explosion, as he called it—was the technique he used to destroy the wolf and his own arm. The second was mana scanning, which allowed him to observe the surroundings and sense mana from nearby creatures within a radius of 10 to 15 meters. And how to create something new from that, the young man had no idea.
Just like he couldn't quite understand why the trees were becoming more ordinary again. Their bark was lightening, and they were starting to look more normal, similar to how they did before... Oh, a lake?
Now Ragryno realized where Zack had been leading him all this time. They found themselves before the same lake where he had been yesterday. Since it was morning now, he could clearly examine the surroundings and the lake itself, though he first infused mana into his eyes. He also used his mana sense, and within his scan, he saw a single figure. Female.
Shifting his gaze slightly to the right, he saw a girl with silver hair standing at the far edge of the lake. He immediately recognized her as Livia. She was making strange motions, swinging her sword up and down repeatedly. The guy didn't quite understand the purpose of it—she wasn't fighting anyone… Then he simply thought it might be her training, but he still didn't see the point.
"Hey! Training monster! Are you going to finish soon?" Zack shouted toward the girl, who immediately stopped and looked at him with her usual cold stare. Then, she shifted her gaze to Ragryno, who was watching her body with his mismatched eyes.
The girl was dressed in light armor made of some sort of leather. The guy wondered where they got all this armor they were wearing. He, of course, found his on the corpse of a person who, judging by Zack's stories from five months ago, had died a long time ago.
He lowered his gaze to inspect his armor, comparing it to the girl's, and pressed his lips together in dissatisfaction. Numerous cuts made his armor look flimsy and worn-out. It seemed like it could fall apart at any moment, but for now, it was the best he could get, so he was partially content. Still, the question of where they had gotten it intrigued him.
"Hey, Zack…" the elf addressed the redhead, who was waiting for the girl to join them. Zack shifted his gaze from her to Ragryno, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't think you'll manage… at least not right now," Zack quickly responded with a cheeky grin.
Ragryno was slightly puzzled, not quite understanding what the time mage was referring to, until he realized what he meant.
"That's not what I'm talking about, I wanted to…" Ragryno began, but Zack interrupted him again.
"Oh, listen, sorry, but I'm not interested either," Zack said, clearly teasing the elf, and doing so successfully, as it was obvious from the vein bulging on Ragryno's forehead.
"That's not what I'm interested in! Just listen!" Ragryno said, clearly not amused by Zack's teasing. Finally hearing this, Zack fell silent and, still smiling, waved his hand.
"Where did you get all this gear? It looks pretty good, but I doubt there's a store around here selling equipment," Ragryno finally asked, frustrated at being interrupted so many times.
Zack looked at him. He glanced at the elf from head to toe and scratched his beard.
"Well, the answer is actually pretty simple. Caravans. To preempt your questions, I'll say this: we're not the only ones who have been attacked, judging by the increasing number of destroyed caravans we've seen. Ever since we entered the forest."
The elf was confused. He had a rough idea of what Zack meant but didn't fully understand. It wasn't something he could ignore completely, though.
"How do they end up in the forest?" Ragryno asked, clearly intrigued.
"Since only two days have passed for you, you've missed a lot. Honestly, we don't fully understand it ourselves, but even our carriages ended up in the forest after a while. Maybe the passing caravans were also caught in the trap of that creature that attacked us back then, and that's how you can find wagons with a lot of goods scattered throughout the forest. We stumbled upon a few of them ourselves," Zack said, pointing at his clothes. They were completely ordinary and unremarkable. They certainly weren't combat clothes. They were the kind of clothes most peasants wore—loose brown pants and a white shirt.
"What's all the yelling about?" interrupted the girl's voice, who had managed to approach them during this time.
"Oh, you know, Ragryno just told me something about you… That he wants…" Zack began to say, but Ragryno quickly stopped him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
"What I want to know is where we're going and what the gathering is for," the elf quickly corrected himself, avoiding any unnecessary questions.
Ragryno should have asked this earlier, but he didn't regret discussing the topic of time with Zack, as that information might come in handy someday. Especially the part about caravans ending up in the shadow forest. Maybe he would go treasure hunting soon… But right now, none of that mattered. What he was most curious about was why the hell they had left their settlement.
"We're heading to the ruins. The ruins of an ancient civilization that once lived here," the girl said calmly, without any emotion. But unlike her, Ragryno's face was filled with emotions and even more questions.
But one way or another, the guy held back and simply nodded.
Soon, the girl returned to the camp with them, and they met up with Catherine and Alex. After a while, everyone checked their gear and was ready to move out, but Ragryno was feeling a bit frustrated. The others had weapons, and pretty decent ones at that, unlike… him.
Standing in front of the stone archway, preparing to leave the city, he examined his knife—or rather, its blade, which had broken during Livia's accidental attack on him. Right now, they were waiting for Alex to finish sharpening his weapon, and Ragryno had some time to reflect. He remembered how his bones had cracked when their weapons clashed, let alone the small blade of his weapon. He couldn't be angry at the girl… At least, not too much, as the whole thing had been a misunderstanding.
Besides, he didn't even want to imagine what would've happened if he hadn't managed to block in time. Suddenly, he felt Zack's hand on his shoulder. Zack was watching him and occasionally glancing at his knife.
"Hm, what's with that knife? Is that your weapon?" Zack asked with obvious curiosity. Ragryno quickly stashed the knife away.
"None of your business. Just tell me where I can get a new weapon, or at least some arrows," the elf said, making it clear that he wasn't going to explain what that knife meant to him. At the end, he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, where his bow was hanging.
Zack didn't react at all to the sharp reply and shifted his gaze to the elf's wooden bow, studying it for a few seconds, seemingly evaluating it.
"Arrows can probably be made later, with Livia's help and some other people, but right now we don't have time to focus on that. Can you even shoot a bow, since you're asking?" Zack replied.
"No. I can't. But I can learn if I have arrows," Ragryno answered immediately. He didn't care if they thought he was an idiot for asking about arrows without knowing how to shoot a bow. What mattered to him was that at least he had the desire to learn. That desire had appeared the moment the shadow fled from him.
It would've been nice to shoot an arrow into the shadow's body, at least slowing it down and giving him a chance to catch up. Besides, Ragryno remembered seeing many archers among the mercenary groups in the city. He was sure they were in high demand, as they could provide valuable support. Of course, it would've been easier for the guy to face an enemy in close combat since he was more experienced in it, but he wasn't ready to discard the idea of using a bow just yet.
What if the opponent was too strong for him and completely outmatched him in close combat? That's when he would need a bow—to strike his enemy from behind. Was it dishonorable? Yes. Would only a coward do that? Yes. Did Ragryno care about such judgments? Not at all.
That's exactly why he wanted to learn how to use a bow, in case he needed to take out an opponent quietly. Naturally, he wasn't talking about humans, since he outright refused to kill people.
"Hm, having the desire is great. You'll definitely learn, but since we don't have time right now, I think we can solve this in another way," Zack said and approached Livia, who had gone to find Alex after getting tired of waiting for the slowpoke. Ragryno didn't hear what Zack said to Livia, but she glanced at him with… irritation?
What the hell was Zack asking her? Well, the answer to that question came quickly, as Ragryno saw silver droplets forming in the air above her hand. He immediately activated his mana sense and could now feel what was happening. Mana was flowing out of Livia's body, creating a shape… the shape of a short sword, without a hilt.
Ragryno couldn't help but be amazed by her mana manipulation, as what he felt… was on a completely different level from what he could usually manage. The form she was creating with those droplets was incredibly solid. Even after an entire day, he wasn't sure he could create something as sturdy, and she was doing it with unbelievable ease.
Then, the girl began pouring mana into the short, curved blade. And her mana astonished Ragryno even more. Yes, he could feel that it wasn't as pure—compared to, for example, his own mana—but then again, he was manipulating pure mana itself—what could be purer?
But what the girl excelled at was density. The density with which she infused mana into the form of a sword was astonishing, and the fact that she spent so little mana on it surprised the guy even more.
'So that's what geniuses are like… Damn, now my mana explosion, which I considered my last resort weapon, looks absolutely terrible compared to such a simple technique.'
But for the guy, this meant something else too. In a way, it was comforting to realize that he wasn't perfect—because if he couldn't create something like that now, it didn't mean he wouldn't be able to later. Something just as sturdy, just as strong as what the girl created.
Soon, the guy saw that very blade thrown at him, and he immediately caught it, gripping the twisted hilt. He had never seen a weapon like this, and it didn't sit very comfortably in his hand—but it was clearly better than even his short knife. A quick glance at the weapon made it clear—he would handle it much more efficiently than his old one.
He wanted to say thank you, but the girl and the others had already set off. So the guy just shrugged, secured the weapon at his waist—which came with the leather armor—and simply followed them.
At first, the atmosphere in the group was a bit… gloomy, just like the forest around them. Despite it being almost daytime, the forest was still somewhat dark due to the tall tree canopies blocking the sky. The longer they walked, the more the forest and the trees changed. Once again, runes appeared on them, identical to those Ragryno had seen earlier.
Right now, the guy felt slightly excited by the fact that he would soon see the ruins of an ancient civilization. He didn't quite understand why he was so eager to reach these ruins, as he had never been in such a situation before, but he simply accepted it as something new about himself. Perhaps on a subconscious level—he liked history and always wanted to learn something new.
Soon, the group's atmosphere lightened, becoming more relaxed. Zack and Ragryno were the reason for this, as they didn't forget to tease each other throughout the journey to the ruins. It helped—because despite everything, they all realized they weren't at a resort, but in a deadly dangerous forest, even though it was calmer during the day than before.
Along the way, they encountered various animals but avoided those stronger than their group, while the weaker ones simply fled. How did they manage that? Well, Ragryno turned out to be very good at detecting mana around him. He learned that Livia, Alex, and Catherine weren't as skilled in this area as the low elf. As it turned out, Livia's maximum range for detection was no more than five meters. Alex could sense mana within three meters around him, while Catherine was slightly better than Livia—seven meters. Out of all of them, Ragryno surpassed each by three times, and Alex by five times.
He felt pleased to know that he was still better than the others in something. Over time, he also realized that Alex was actually quite a pleasant guy, not as intimidating as he seemed at first glance. He was the son of an ordinary peasant who worked at a sawmill, which is why he wielded a massive axe, as he had spent his childhood chopping wood for winter preparations.
Catherine, on the other hand, was closer to Livia. She lived in a family that served the nobles of the city. Her childhood was relatively good compared to Ragryno's. She was quite shy and spoke little, but one thing the guy was sure of—despite her modesty, the girl had a decent talent for magic, though it was still below his own. Alex had ordinary earth magic, while Catherine wielded ice magic—or at least that's what they told him.
They mostly talked about trivial matters, exchanging stories of their pasts. Only two people weren't keen on discussing their backgrounds—Ragryno and Livia. Ragryno didn't want to talk about his past, as it was far different from the others, and as for Livia, he wasn't sure… He knew the girl was hiding something and that she came from a family where each member primarily controlled steel magic, as did she.
No one wanted to ask her about it since everyone noticed that she didn't like talking about her family or her past. The same went for Ragryno—except that he had never had a family, aside from himself.
'Hmm, I wonder if my hand now counts as a blood relative?' Ragryno joked to himself in his thoughts.
Soon, the forest began to change its landscape again, and this time the changes affected more than just the trees—everything. It started to feel noticeably more dangerous. Ragryno couldn't say for sure, but he began to feel a strange pressure from all around. The conversations immediately stopped, and now everyone tried to keep their eyes open. The ground beneath their feet became a bit firmer, and there were noticeably fewer leaves on the ground. The remaining ones had a purple tint, just like the trees, which had also changed.
Previously, there had been a single rune carved into them, but now—the entire trunk was covered in them.
There was another important change—the number of trees. There were far fewer of them now, so the group was no longer walking in a line but had spread out more. Ragryno was walking behind the leading Livia, as he still had the role of a sort of scout.
Soon, the changes took on a whole new level, and Ragryno began to notice stone around him. It wasn't something unique in the forest, but this stone clearly had many decorative carvings on it. This could only mean one thing.
They had reached the ruins.
Each minute, Ragryno encountered more and more stone, and after scanning it, he concluded that it was quite unusual, even oppressive. Every stone carried traces of shadow mana, which worried the guy a little, but seeing that the others were likely just anxious because of the surroundings, he figured this was probably how it was supposed to be. But even so, the guy realized—most likely, there had once been an entire civilization of shadows in this world, given that their mana traces still lingered in these ruins.
Finally, Ragryno saw something that was more or less intact—a building. And he immediately disliked it because the concentration of shadow mana in it was phenomenal. It even seemed to try to affect him, but even so, it was still harmless.
The building was quite massive, and it looked painfully familiar. The elf immediately understood why—a temple. It looked very much like the temple where he had undergone the magic awakening ceremony. The main differences were the condition of this building and the fact that it was made of dark stone, from which shadow mana flowed.
"We've arrived. Spread out and check the area, make sure no creatures are lurking around," Livia said, turning to the team.
Everyone nodded, including Ragryno, and quickly began carrying out her order. The guy used his mana detection, so it was easier for him to detect an enemy in advance. Perhaps this gave him some sense of calm as he inspected the surroundings. He didn't find anything unusual, except the air seemed… more saturated with mana. But it was too weak for him to properly assess what it was. Shrugging it off as just the fact that the shadow mana in these ruins was extremely concentrated, he returned to Livia.
After reporting that he hadn't found anything, the others soon returned, saying the same. Finally, they approached the massive temple, the entrance of which was a huge arch, completely obscured by the darkness within. Everyone looked at Ragryno, and without a word, he infused mana into his hand, which began to illuminate the nearby surroundings.
They immediately entered the temple, but just before stepping inside, Ragryno heard the cawing of crows, clearly agitated by something. The guy decided not to pay it any mind, and soon they found themselves inside the temple. It wasn't too large, so they immediately entered the first and only room. In the turquoise light coming from his hand, Ragryno saw a lot of dust and cobwebs, which covered almost every corner.
There were wooden benches along the sides, each of which was in terrible condition. Ragryno immediately realized that the temple had been abandoned a long time ago. There was only one strange thing—the windows. The temple had windows, covered in dust, but to his surprise, they let no light in from outside. Ragryno scanned the windows with his mana detection and understood the reason.
They were filled with an enormous amount of shadow mana. At least that's how it felt to him. Perhaps that's why no light from outside could penetrate inside.
"So. Zack, I think it's time," the girl said, looking at Zack, who silently nodded in response. Everyone looked at Ragryno, who tensed up from the sudden and intense attention.
"What?" he said in a tense voice.
"Don't worry, we're not going to beat you up. You don't have anything valuable on you anyway," Zack joked, noticing how tense the elf became when everyone looked at him.
Ragryno blushed a little at the comment but soon calmed down, waiting for them to tell him what this was all about.
"As for what Livia's talking about. I think she means it's time to tell you why we came here in the first place, and why we mostly avoided this topic during today's conversations," Zack said, gesturing for Ragryno to move deeper into the temple.
The boy was still on guard, but seeing that everyone was as calm as one could be in the Shadow Forest, he decided to follow him. Soon, in the light of his hand, a large slab appeared, different from the ones on the floor. Something was carved on it, and upon closer inspection, the boy realized that this was the greatest treasure one could find in the Shadow Forest. A map.
"Is that a map?" he immediately asked Zack.
"No, it's my drawings from when I was five, beautiful, right? Of course, it's a map, a map of the entire Shadow Forest that we discovered not too long ago... About a month and a half ago," Zack explained in his usual mocking manner, teasing Ragryno.
"Well, unfortunately, you don't have any talent for drawing, because I have no idea what all these symbols on it mean," the elf countered, taking a jab at Zack.
"At least I'm not the only one who said it. Zack, it's time to come up with something new," Alex chimed in, making it clear that Zack had used this joke before.
"Oh, excuse me, it's not my fault you can't grasp the genius of this art and its creator," Zack said, pretending to be slightly offended.
"Boys, enough. You can compare your wits when it grows. Better explain what this is and why it's important," Livia cut in, putting an end to the teasing.
"Alright, in truth—this incredible discovery is a treasure for people like you, me, and everyone else in the forest. I've studied it for a long time and concluded that it shows the key locations that will help us not just survive... but get the hell out of this forest," Zack said in a serious tone, emphasizing the last words.
"What?! There's really a way out of the forest?! Then why haven't you..." Ragryno started to speak quickly, but Zack stopped him by raising his hand in front of his face.
"It's not that simple. We've only been to one place on this map, and... the journey there was far from pleasant. In fact, we couldn't even make it halfway. Here it is," Zack said, pointing to the map. It was near the drawing of their temple, where the group was currently located, and Ragryno immediately had many questions about it.
"Why?" the boy asked, the most reasonable question at the moment.
Zack exchanged glances with Livia, Catherine, and even Alex before looking back at Ragryno.
"Third rank. The entire area around this place is guarded by a third rank. We encountered it halfway there and... lost half of our group in the process. If you didn't know, at first, there were ten of us, and six of them... died just running away from that cursed creature."
Ragryno fell into deep thought. He looked at the map again and saw that the place was marked by a lake or perhaps a spring. But the boy couldn't help but glance once more at each member of the group. When Zack talked about the third rank, everyone but Ragryno was visibly tense. And there was a slight tremble in Zack's voice.
'What kind of creature was it?'
"I get it. So we're not going there. What about the other places?" Ragryno asked, shifting his gaze to the map.
It had seven other markings besides the spring and the temple itself. Two of them resembled ruined castles, one looked like a levitating crystal with chains bound to the ground, another, like an arch—positioned right in the center of the map. The others seemed like small houses, though the last one stood out the most since it was located in the farthest corner of the map.
Looking back at Zack, the boy saw a sly grin on his face, one he didn't like... oh, how he didn't like it.
"Do you want me to tell you something interesting? I write stories, and in one of them, to defeat the third rank, we just need a new hero... And until yesterday, I didn't know how to describe him. But with your appearance—I immediately got inspired! Can you imagine?"
Ragryno did not like what Zack was implying. No way, they couldn't... go after a third rank while only being at the first? But Zack's spreading grin told Ragryno that's exactly what they were thinking. The elf's face instantly turned grim, and he took a step back from Zack.
"No way... Don't tell me... Are you all insane?! A third rank?!" Ragryno shouted in disbelief.
"Exactly," Livia said, her voice completely emotionless, causing Ragryno to stumble slightly.
'Madmen... They're just mad...'