Morning arrived quietly...fresh air blowing...leaves rustling like soft music as a fresh breeze brushed across the camp. The campfire had burned out.
Toka's eyes slowly opened. For a second, he stared at the morning sky and remembered last night's terror "Ah yes… the day I nearly died in different ways. Wow."
And on his stomach "HUH!?"
Ansu was sleeping peacefully on his belly like he was her Foam mattress. Toka sighed "Kid, my abs are not some memory foam pillow…" Carefully, he lifted her and placed her on a sleeping bag without waking her. Neelu was curled beside her like a protective air cushion.
Toka got up, stretched, and walked to a tree, he snapped a twig, peeled one end of twig, crushed it with his teeth , and began brushing his teeth with it.
"Mmm. Fresh nature flavor."
He brushed, he replayed everything he had gone through last night.
"Equivalent Exchange… yeah, it is a cool skill also nearly fried my soul."
He thought about what that mouth said—play by the rules.
Toka squinted and thinking "What rules? Whose rules? God's? Physics?...Or is their a rule that says 'Don't die like a Dry fish'?"
Then it clicked to his mind "Wait… I only used my energy safely. But the moment I put that blue bottle energy in the circle…"
PAUSE...
Then he compiled three rules.
Rule 1: No more using energy potions inside the first circle.
Rule 2: He can't exchange things for others unless he has enough energy.
Rule 3: Only a few items per exchange maybe.
He spit out twig fibers and rinsed his mouth with water.
...
He is searching through books which left after the knowledge exchange, so he can get to know about this place where they are, then he found a "HISTORY" book and grabbed it and flipped through it.
A page slipped out. It was a world map—but only one continent was drawn.
"TRESSERA"
Toka traced the map with his index finger, searching for forests.
"Okay… there are lots of trees everywhere. So basically… we could be anywhere in the forests mentioned here. Great."
But for now at least he knew the continent's name.
He kept reading the book "150 years ago, Tressera—formerly known as Indie Continent—was attacked by monsters from space cracks appeared randomly thorough out the Indie…"
Toka stared "…ALIEN monsters? Seriously? What the !!"
The book continued, Humanity was powerless against them. Kingdom's Armies were wiped out Empires collapsed.
Until...Gerard the Sword Monarch appeared.
A man who slayed an "impossible monster" with his blade.
Toka raised brow "What an OG character??!"
Gerard then revealed the existence of the power "mana", a hidden energy. That can kill this Monsters. He taught everyone a method called the Mana Furnace, with ranks:
White → Violet → Blue → Green → Yellow → Red → Black
Toka muttered "Bro skipped indigo and orange. Maybe the great Gerard also seems to be color-blind. Okay then."
Gerard demonstrated how to channel mana through a weapon and cut down a massive, one-eyed monster which is like a dried giant tree.
Toka grinned "Great, A Space Grooot."
After that victory, Gerard became the continent's mighty hero. He traveled, sealed monster gates, destroyed these Monsters and helped develop new technology alongside Scholars from another continent called FRAMAHAL.
Together, they sealed the dimensional cracks, But…Monsters still spilled out occasionally. They called it the "Pressure Cooker Theory". Mana built up inside cracks, causing them to whistle out monsters to balance the energy without it tearing the space completely. Toka closed the book halfway and glared at the sky "…This world is…Very creative."
He then resumed reading, across generations, the Mana Furnace evolved, branching into family fitting their styles. They eventually divided each rank into three progress stages:
Beginner → Veteran → Master
Toka snapped the book shut "Okay, that's enough with the history class, Where's the chapter about 'How to go home'? No? I Thought so. Okay ,Past is Past"
Suddenly—-
GROOOOOWWWWWLLL—!!
Toka froze, his spine stiffened, his heart jumped "W-wait… that's not my stomach… ? Tell me that's not some wild beast behind me."
He turned around slowly… and saw Ansu, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Toka sighed in relief. "Oh thank god, it's just the tiny Brat."
Ansu blinked at him, then pointed weakly at her stomach "Anna… I'm hungry… let's eat…"
Before Toka could respond- GROOOOOWWWLLL—!!!
This time it was his stomach.
Ansu giggled "Anna, you're hungrier than me—pfft hahaha!"
Toka groaned dramatically and they both laughed.
As he gave the twig to Ansu "Listen here, little brat…Go brush your teeth and then we can eat."
He reached into a scrap bag, pulled out some metal bits, and given them to Neelu.
"Here you go, little jelly monster."
Neelu happily melted the scraps with a blurp.
Toka tossed a few fruits toward the horse, the horse sniffed them, then began munching calmly.
Finally, Toka and Ansu sat down with two pieces of bread and the jam he made last night.
Ansu dipped her bread into the jam "Mmm! Anna, this is good!"
After a while they finished their Breakfast.
...
Toka grabbed his tools, rolled up his sleeves, and walked toward an open patch of ground near their clearing.
"Alright…it's time to build a cart before this horse turns into a freeloading pig."
He set his bags down, stretched his fingers, and got to work.
He sorted everything like a professional scavenger-engineer. Although he was. His hammering echoed through the clearing.
MEANWHILE...
Ansu was happily playing tag with Neelu, who bounced like a shiny water balloon. The horse stood patiently, letting Ansu pet its mane with a proud hrrrmmmmph.
Toka glanced at them and muttered "Nice. They are having fun… while I, the adult here ,am suffering. O God, what a blessing"
Hours passed.
The sun climbed high, shining directly over his head.
Toka wiped sweat from his forehead and squinted at the half-built cart.
Something was missing: a roof.
"Yeah… we're not travelling around as grilled kebabs in this hot climate"
He fetched the broken wagon roofs and placed them inside the drawn exchange circle.
He pressed his palms to the arrow, closed his eyes, and focused:
"Convert… into one ideal roof. Something durable. Something not made of sadness."
FWOOSH—Fragments dissolved into threads, shapes twisted, aligned, and smoothly merged.
A perfectly crafted cart roof materialized—sleek, sturdy and somehow way better than anything he expected.
Toka blinked "Okay… that looks… expensive."
He fixed it onto the cart, just as he tightened the last bolt—
GRRRRR—KRRRR—CHAK!
Gears whirred in his mind, a robotic voice echoed:
[Congratulations:
Equivalent Exchange has leveled up in Craftsmanship.
Future crafting-related exchanges will produce higher-quality items.]
Toka stared into the air,with blank expression. Then "…BRO WHATTTTT?! My skill can level up?! What the Fu*k"
He looked at the beautifully finished cart, it gleamed like premium merchandise from a fantasy IK.EA "Hah… so if I keep building stuff like… I can become a legendary craftsman?"
He wiped his hands dramatically "Nice. From scrap collector…to master crafter in another world, my Promotion will not take too long."
He called out "Ansu! Neelu! Pig! Cart's ready—come check it out!"
Ansu ran over excitedly, Neelu bounced happily, the horse snorted proudly as they reached the cart.
He grabbed some old ropes and worn-out horse reins from his bag.
He placed them into the first exchange circle, placed his hands on the arrow, and focused his energy into it.
FWOOSH—
The ropes unraveled into glowing threads, then reformed into a new set of high-quality reins, sturdy and smooth like handcrafted leather.
Toka's eyes sparkled, he started jumping happily like a kid.
Toka secured the reins onto the horse, tightening them properly "There you go, buddy..". The horse snorted in Happy.
Next, Toka began loading all their belongings, swords, shields, camping tools, food, books and his precious bags containing all his precious treasures.
Ansu helped by carrying the small items. Neelu tried helping too… mostly by eating metal bits from Toka's bag.
Toka drew another exchange circle with a few wooden planks and some metal scraps.
"Let's make… a BIG tub. A bath is essential for good hygiene."
He pushed mana through the arrow then the materials dissolved into wood pieces, then formed a large, sturdy wooden tub, big enough for both of them to wash.
Toka snapped his fingers "Perfect! lets exchange water!"
He gathered a huge pile of leaves, bushes, and plants and dumped them into the first Exchange circle.
"Okay…now give me water please." He activated the exchange by passing his energy to the first circle.
To his shock—
they didn't turn into water that fast,
instead :
Leaves turned into fine dust, Twigs and branches became clean, dry sticks.
All moisture separated and formed floating water inside the second circle.
Toka's jaw dropped "…Wait wait wait- What the ??? it turned PLANTS into DRINKABLE WATER?!"
Ansu clapped excitedly, Neelu bounced like a water balloon begging to jump in, Toka grinned.
"Well… who cares about the logic and science when I can turn scrap metals into fine swords? UHHHUUUUUUUU!!! BATH TIME!"
He directed the floating water into the big tub, they washed off all the dirt and stink.
Ansu giggled while Neelu splashed around. The horse even dipped its nose into the tub.
Then Toka shouted "Hey!! Pig how's the taste of my water??"
In reply to him the horse snorted Happily.
Afterward, they wore the clothes Toka exchanged earlier, Toka stretched proudly.
"Aaah.Now THIS is how you start an adventure! But now I became a dry grape, waaaaaaaaaah"
Toka lifted Ansu onto the cushioned seat inside, Neelu hopped in next, bouncing twice before settling into Ansu's lap.
Toka patted the horse's neck "Alright buddy… Let's go for an adventure"
He climbed onto the driver's seat, grabbed the reins and "Hyah!"
Just like that…Their journey began.
...
Silence returned to the massacre clearing.
A man covered in a long, dark cape stepped out from between the trees. His entire body was wrapped—face, hands, everything concealed except his eyes.