Unknown to Andres—
This forest was not random wilderness.
It was a mana-dense boundary zone.
A place where:
Weak creatures mutate or die
Strong creatures evolve or dominate
Human presence is extremely rare
In this world, mana wasn't just energy.
It was environmental pressure.
Like gravity.
But for life itself.
Most humans instinctively avoided zones like this.
Because even breathing here required adaptation.
Andres did not know this.
So he simply walked through it.
Slowly weakening without realizing why.