Chapter 18: (part 3- The Beginning and the Unknown)
The fire crackled softly, its orange flames flickering and swaying as they danced over the burning wood. The sky above was warm, a cool breeze swept through the air, carrying with it the faint scent of smoke, charred mushrooms, and roasted cricket. The smoky aroma lingered, mixing with the earthy smell of the forest around me, reminding me of the meal I had just devoured.
I stretched my legs out in the grass, feeling the gentle tickle of the blades against my skin. The warmth of the fire kissed my face, while the breeze cooled my back, creating a perfect balance of comfort.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the peaceful silence wrap around me. My mind drifted back to my life on Earth — those lonely days when finding a decent meal felt like a battle. I opened my eyes and stared into the fire.
"The one thing I really learned about food when I was living alone on Earth," I whispered, "was that food is expensive. If you're poor, you don't get to be picky. You eat whatever you can find."
I picked up a stick and poked at the fire, watching the embers rise and like tiny fireflies. My voice grew quieter, almost like I was afraid to say the words out loud.
"It could be anything... a penguin, a lost chicken, a rabbit, a snake as long as it's not venomous. Wild fruits, bitter vegetables, or roots you dig up from the ground. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you can eat it."
I clenched the stick in my hand, feeling the rough texture of the wood against my fingers.
"Whether it's rubbery, sour, bitter, bland, fishy, slimy, or even smells awful... as long as it fills your belly and doesn't cost money, you eat it. Because that's what survival looks like when you're poor."
I let out a dry chuckle, shaking my head.
"People like us... every day is a struggle. If you only get to eat one or two meals a day — or none at all — that's just normal. Food in the city is expensive, especially for people like me. The work is hard, but the pay is barely enough to scrape by. Even when you break your back working all day, sometimes you still go to bed hungry."
I lifted my hand to the sky, my fingers spread out as if trying to catch the sun.
"That's why I should be grateful," I whispered. "Grateful that I had eaten a lot. Because for people like us... a full belly is a rare blessing."
As I said that, I still felt a little bit pang of sadness and add.
"... Yeah, maybe I just miss the kids, Grandma, and Mom. I want to eat with them again, just like we used to. But still... I don't have any vegetables to eat. If Grandma saw me now, eating only meat and mushrooms, she would scold me. She would march straight to the backyard, pick some fresh vegetables, and make me eat them. I can almost hear her voice saying, 'You need greens to stay strong!."
I stretched out on the grass, letting my body sink into the earth. The sun's rays warmed my face, while the cold breeze caressed my skin like nature's way of comforting me. I just lay there, staring at the endless sky above. The clouds slowly shifting/change and lazily drifting somehow... it was comforting.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn't feel the gnawing ache of hunger in my stomach.
My body was tired, but my heart felt lighter than before.
And so, I closed my eyes and let myself rest, feeling at peace under the vast, bright and warm sky.
After resting for just 20 minutes, I noticed the sky slowly changing colors. The bright blue faded into soft shades of orange and pink as the sun began to sink lower. The warm glow spread across the horizon, casting long shadows on the ground. The gentle shift in the sky's colors was a quiet reminder that night was coming.
I slowly stood up and stretched my arms. The fire had burned low, the flames now just glowing embers. I carefully poured dirt over it to put it out, making sure there were no sparks left behind. Then, I gathered the leftover sticks I had used for cooking. They were still sturdy enough to use again, and I didn't want to waste anything. I tied them together with a vine and set them aside for the next meal.
After collecting the sticks, I went back to gather more branches. Some were as thick as my arms and legs, heavy and rough against my skin I carefully drag them. I also picked up a bunch of large, soft leaves to use as a cushion for my bed. It wasn't going to be anything close to a real bed, but it would be better than sleeping on the cold, hard ground.
I kept some branches aside for firewood, while the rest were for blocking the entrance of the cave where I planned to sleep. There was no way I was going to just lie down on the damp, uneven floor of a dark cave, especially in a place like this. I had no idea what kind of creatures might be lurking around — giant bugs, strange animals, or even monsters. The thought of waking up to something crawling on my face made me shiver. I wasn't about to take that chance.
I carefully started stacking the branches at the cave entrance, choosing the right sizes to fit together like puzzle pieces. Then, I explored the area to find heavy stone for the second layer and accidentally found some ruins of old stone buildings scattered nearby maybe from the old civilization of [draconis Aeternum]. The stone ruins were heavy, but I carried them back, one by one, and chipped some of them into smaller pieces to fit tightly between the branches as a second layer of protection.
Not satisfied with just two layers, I made a third layer with more branches and bigger stones, stacking everything carefully to make a sturdy wall. It wasn't perfect, but at least it could block out the wind and make it harder for anything to get inside.
"I needed to make a door, even a simple one, so I tied up some branches together. Luckily, I didn't have to look far for rope. Thick vines had fallen from the massive trees nearby just like what I used to tie the sticks but bigger. They were tough and heavy, almost like cables, but they were exactly what I needed."
I knelt by the entrance, struggling to tie the vines around the branches. The vines were stiff and hard to bend, and my fingers started to ache from pulling so hard.
"Having a part-time job at a weaving company came in handy," I muttered, wiping sweat from my forehead, "but still, tying these huge, hard vines is really difficult."
Even though it was tiring, I kept going. I knew that building a secure shelter was the most important thing right now. "At least if something tried to get in while I slept, I would hear it struggling with the wall and the door. It gave me just a little bit of peace of mind in this unfamiliar place."
"It seems like it's really getting dark now," I said, realizing that two hours had already passed. I stepped into the cave and quickly and blocked the entrance with the door that I created and started making a fire. The cold was unbearable. Even with the fire burning, I couldn't feel any warmer.
"It's freezing," I muttered, shivering. "It's not even winter, but I feel like I'm going to get frostbite. My country doesn't even have snow, so my body isn't used to this kind of cold. The air blowing through the cave feels like a giant air conditioner."
I rubbed my hands together, trying to warm them up, but it didn't help much.
"If I can hunt a rabbit or a wild boar, I'll use their hides to make a blanket or something to keep me warm," I thought. The idea of warm fur covering me felt like a dream, but.
If this cold didn't let up, I might not last more than a few weeks.
I stared at the fire, my body trembling. "Why does time feel so slow here?" I wondered. "Are the days and nights different in this world?"
The questions lingered in my mind as I hugged my knees to my chest, hoping the fire wouldn't go out before morning.
I still wasn't feeling sleepy, so I decided to read a book called Mystery of the World to help me relax and sleep afterwards. I picked up the lantern with the glowing stone, placed it carefully beside me, placed the silver monocle in my right eye and slowly opened the book. The gentle glow of the lantern cast soft glow on the cave walls, making the space feel a little less cold I guess....
As I started reading, I quickly realized how strange and different this world truly was. Everything here felt unfamiliar — the size of the land, the creatures, and even the flow of time itself. A single day lasted a long 34 hours, stretching far beyond what I was used to. And a full year was even longer, with 671 or sometimes 672 days. It felt like this world moved at a completely different pace, making me wonder if I would ever get used to it.
The more I read, the more curious I became. This world was vast and filled with mysteries I couldn't even imagine. I kept turning the pages, eager to understand the place I now found myself in.
As I turned the page of the book, I saw detailed drawings of towers rising from the ground, appearing suddenly in every corner of the world. There were also sketches of dungeons that seemed to pop up out of nowhere, as if the world itself had created them overnight. Some pages explained strange events, like monsters regaining consciousness — as if they had minds of their own, waking up from a long, dark slumber.
The book also described how the human body worked in this world. Inside every person there was *seven small cores, or orbs,* used to channel mana. These cores were placed in specific parts of the body: one in each arm, one in each leg, one in the brain, one in the heart, and the last one deep in the abdomen. These orbs were the source and container of MANA and life energy of everything in this world, yet they held many secrets that even the people of this world didn't fully understand.
As i continue to read I found out that there are over *88 types of power sources* in this world. People call them [Multidimensionalanchornexusace], or just (MANA) for short. It's the name for the rarest ultimate source of energy that exists across endless worlds, timeliness and dimensions.
There was a big drawing of a big circle/wheel graph. Inside the wheel/circle graph, all the 88 types of power sources are listed.
*Nagual, Orenda, Teyolia, Iká, Pneuma, Axé, Yachay Æther, Odic force, Glamour, Nauthiz, Lebenkraft, Asè, Nyama, Moya, Sereti, Qi, Chakra, Ki, Reiki, Prana, Ling, Baraka, Ruach, Sekhem, Ka, Mana essence, Tapu, Wairua, spiritual essence, nature essence.*
*Malefic Essence, nether force, soul Energy, abyssal energy, infernum, blightflow, sin Energy, blood sacrificial essence.*
*Divine energy, Divinum, Luxforce, Aetheris, Grace essence, Halo Flow, Seraphic Flame, Auracrest, Ethereal Chorus, Virtue Stream, Luminara, heroic mana, apocalyptic essence, dracora enythis, aura essence, force essence, mythren, animara, vitalis, lunaris, mutate, Cosmic essence, holy essence, phantasm essence, mythical energy, epic essence, ancestral mana, primal essence*
*Nyxith, antilumina, chthonic Resonance, primordials death star, madness Surge, Lurker's veil, Genesis mana, world pulse, astral Vitae, leystream, voidseed, eonflow, omniforce, essence of the origins, Aetherium, starforce, star dust, galaxium, nebulight, cosmara, Celestia Vitae, singularity spark.*
Inside the 7 core/orb, this are the *88 different types of power source*, almost like elements. But you can only use one type, and it depends on who you are — your strengths, race, habitat, personality, and your connection to a host. That host could be a *god, heroic spirits, historical figures, legends, epics or mythical being* and etc... It's like they're your other half, your twin soul.
Because of this, everyone's MANA is Unique, like a finger print. No one can copy or steal your MANA — it's something that belongs only to you.
Each MANA type is connected to a percentage inside you, ranging from 0.1% to 1% or more. If one type has the *highest percentage*, that's the MANA you can awaken and use to unlock skills, powers, and more.
In short, your MANA is one of a kind, and the stronger your connection to it, the more powerful you become.
I felt really confused and bored, so I quickly flipped it without hesitation.
As I read further, I discovered countless mysteries that had shaped the world across different epochs. Each event sounded very interesting.
One section talked about the *D.E.A.T.H - 222 Unknown destruction of the great kingdom of Silver* during the 3rd Epochē. No one knew what caused its downfall — one day, the kingdom thrived, and the next, it was reduced to ruins.
Another chapter detailed *E.C.H.O - 799 Unsolved greatest massacre in human history*, which wiped out the kingdom of Velmorra during the *8th Epochē*. It was said that the kingdom drowned in blood as countless lives were taken in a single, brutal event that no survivors lived to describe.
Then there was the horrifying tale of the * O.R.I.G.I.N - 304 Night of the hundred towers/Screams That started and lasted Till Dawn* in the *2nd Epochē*. Without warning, countless black towers erupted from the ground across the region of Ashford. The towers unleashed endless waves of monsters, which swarmed the kingdom like a plague. By sunrise, the entire region was nothing but rubble, and every last civilian had been slaughtered/crushed.
And these were also few of the countless disasters written in the book like the *V.E.I.L - 606 Uncontrollable green devils that cause famines* during the 3rd Epochē and the *T.O.X.I.S - 024 The Great plague (the ticking death) that killed 70% of the population of the empire of velanthar in just 1 night* during the *7th Epochē*.
As I continue reading the book, it talked about the *17 Ancient highly restricted forbidden civilization C.A.S.T.E.L.L.A - 001*, including the kingdom of *Draconis Aeternum*. The illustrations were so detailed that they looked like photographs taken with an advanced camera. Every line, shadow, and texture made the drawings feel real, as if the places and creatures might come to life at any moment.
As I turn the page once again, something catches my attention and interest.
one of the pages, of the book used a whole two pages just to draw a massive map of the entire world. The map was incredibly detailed.
In the very center of the map was a massive landmass called the *Human World*, located in the very center. this massive land is where the human kind live and almost all of the land of the human world is territories of the *Undisputed Rulers* where they ruled, some of them are like neighbors like the northern center part, northeast, west, south, southwest, and east.
Because these rulers were not just ordinary kings or queens. Their power was so immense that even the divine realms of the gods sometimes fell under their control. The sacred domains of the Greek, Norse, Mayan, and Egyptian pantheons etc... is the place where the gods once walked among mortals — could not always resist the influence of these rulers called *Undisputed Rulers*.
"Their words are law. One mistake brings death — disobedience is never forgiven."
Around the human world, there are more than a thousand of scattered lands. Some are large, others small—like pieces of a broken puzzle. Each land is different.
There are forests ruled by beastfolk, quiet valleys where elves live, stone-covered mountains where dwarves build their homes, and hidden villages of demi-humans. Some lands are filled with old stories—places where legends were born or ancient myths. But not all are peaceful. Some are still unknown and dangerous, infested with monsters, demons and even curse.
Those lands were known as the *Lands of Uncertainty*
The smallest lands were as big as continents, but even larger than anything I could imagine. The *Forbidden Forest*, where I stood at this very moment, stretched over 50,456 miles — and this was only a small part of the northwest.
Outside the Human World and the lands of uncertainly was a ring-shaped land with rough edges called *Mýrkwud*, also known as the *Food Chain World or Hollow Earth*. This land was home to colossal creatures, plants, tribes and specially a place where terrifying monsters kill and eat each other, every single day.
And *Mýrkwud* has Four enormous gates, called the Gates of the *the gate that lead to the outside world*, stood in each direction, blocking the intruders from entering the Human World.
Next to the *Mýrkwud/Hollow earth* were the *Great Lands* it was four separate regions to northwest, northeast, southwest and south east is outside the *Mýrkwud/hollow earth*. These lands were ruled by the four *highest orders* — beings even stronger and more powerful than the undisputed rulers. They also held the highest status in the entire world, both inside and outside of the Human World one step above the *UndisputedRulers*.
Scattered beyond the *Great Lands* were slightly smaller lands maybe around 150000 or 200000 miles. These lands were filled with terrifying monsters, including beings known as the *6 World's Greatest Masterpiece/ king of monsters/ calamities* they are creatures so powerful they were considered as unstoppable calamities.
Finally, surrounding everything was the *The Devils Continent/ the place where evil begins*. This dark, stormy land completely encircled the Human World, Mýrkwud, great lands and the territories of the king of monsters. It was home to countless demons, criminals groups, demonoids, cults, dealers with the devils, monsters etc... the continent ruled by over a thousand demon lords, a hundred demon kings, god of death, god of the underworld, eldritch great old ones/outer gods And more.
After reading just a small part of the book, my eyes grew heavy trying so hard to understand it. I closed the book, lay down next to the lantern, and quickly fell asleep as its glow softly glow in the darkness.