Chương 4: Another Battle, Another Meeting

Maximus walked through the evergreen forest until he finally reached what he had been searching for: the wolves' lair. He had observed the way the surviving wolf tried to flee, noting the subtle angling of its desperate retreat, and correctly deduced that it wanted to run toward their territory to hide and lick its wounds. The lair itself was a small cavern, dug crudely into the back of a tree-covered hill, its entrance partially hidden by ferns and low brush.

Maximus ducked inside, finding the interior surprisingly dry, the floor covered with old grass, shed fur, and a pile of bones. He sat down on a patch of dry moss and finally let out a slow breath. Finally, some peace to think and rest… so… not only am I in a new body, he thought, but also in a new realm where people rely on some absurd System instead of learning sword arts or magic properly. He sighed and shook his head. I suppose everything has its positives and negatives. Ah well… let's see what I can do now.

He opened his skill and trait screen with a thought, eyes narrowing as he assessed his options. I'll put three Talent Points into Thorn Whip and save one. I can strengthen skills by using them, sure, but at the moment I don't have the luxury of waiting.

Skills: Thorn Whip (F) Level 5 – Summon one thorny 6 -meter-long vine to whip your enemies. The number of vines and the damage are scaled from the level of the skill and the Tier. Costs 20 of your Spirit to cast.

"Well, that's not bad," Maximus murmured.

"Longer vines should be useful." He memorized the updates and sat cross-legged again, absorbing the ambient spiritual energy flowing gently through the forest. The feeling was different than mana, warmer, softer, almost nurturing, but he adapted quickly. After some time, he opened his eyes and smiled. His Spirit was full. Trait Leveled Up: [Natural (F) Lv. 2] Class Traits: Natural (F) Level 2 – One chosen by nature and the spirits of the world.

Nature-type spells are easier to learn, and spirit energy regenerates 0. 6% per 120 seconds. Spirits are observing you.

"Good… very good. So, this is a way to accelerate Trait growth." Maximus smiled, satisfied.

"Alright, let's open this so-called Store." He thought of it, and a new interface unfolded, a strange array of categories and tabs, everything purchasable only within the Planes using Battle Tokens. Hmm. I'll need something sharp in case something gets close. A proper staff will come later. He opened the Weapons tab: ' Swords' submenu. At the top sat blades worth hundreds of thousands of tokens. He scoffed and scrolled all the way to the bottom.

[Starting Iron Sword (F)] Simple blade crafted from iron, perfect for new swordsmen. Cost: 70 BT"I'll take this. I have the most experience with blades after staves," he muttered, "and some food, water… and a bag." He spent his remaining 30 tokens on four bottles of water, five bags of jerky, and a medium-sized satchel that he strapped across his chest, so it hung at his left hip. The water and food materialized out of thin air with a faint ripple, and he stored them in the bag quickly.

He hadn't tested his Subspace ability yet, and for now, he preferred having survival items within arm's reach until he was certain that this Inventory was reliable. He fastened the sword to his right hip and stepped out of the cavern, breathing in the cold forest air. Though he had been an Archmage in his previous life, he had lived alone outside the elven support network, forced to learn everything from hunting to crafting to swordsmanship simply to survive.

Back on Veridiyum, swordsmanship was considered as basic as learning to walk, and no matter one's profession, every man needed to know how to properly handle a blade, and that was the only thing he had left of his old human father, his sword skills and unbreakable discipline. He adjusted the sword at his waist, feeling the cheap iron's weight.

"Alright then," he muttered, eyes narrowing as he scanned the forest around him. If these Trials want to forge me… I'll welcome it with open arms. Gods are waiting to be slain after all…

He left the wolves' cave and walked northward for half an hour, chewing jerky and sipping water until the hollow ache in his stomach finally faded and he felt something resembling fullness for the first time since waking in this world. Just as he wiped his mouth clean, he spotted two dark-haired men locked in combat beneath a cluster of trees, kicking up dirt and leaves as they clashed violently. One held a simple iron sword, while the other wielded two short daggers.

Neither used any skills, no flares of spirit or mana, nor aura or circles, which immediately made Maximus think they were beginners in the Trials just as he was. He slowed his pace to a quiet stalk, eyes scanning the terrain, ears pricked as he closed in and listened to their frantic shouting.

"That skill stone is mine! It dropped from a monster I killed!" the man with the daggers screamed, narrowly avoiding a stab that came far too close to puncturing his stomach before spinning left and slashing wildly with both blades.

"You can't even use it, idiot! I can sense that it's a Warrior skill stone anyway!" the swordsman barked back, thrusting again, this time grazing the man's shoulder and leaving a faint trail of blood.

"You'll die fighting like this, you fool, just let it go!" the swordsman snapped, frustration flaring in his voice as he pressed forward. Skill stones? Maximus questioned. Are there such things here? This world keeps showing more depth the longer I look… His mind raced with possibilities, paths to growth, shortcuts to power, ways to accelerate his progress in this weak vessel. The System was strange, yes, but also full of hidden opportunities.

Then, just as Maximus was forming new theories, the fight shifted dramatically. The dagger wielder invoked some sort of skill, his blades suddenly glowing with a sharp green radiance. He hurled one dagger forward like bait. The swordsman dodged instinctively, only for the second dagger to fly straight into his exposed chest. The green light erupted around the swordsman's body with a sharp flash, paralyzing him in place.

"I win, you bitch," the dagger‑wielder snarled as he retrieved both daggers and seized the shimmering skill stone from the fallen man's limp grasp. Without hesitation, he stabbed the paralyzed swordsman through the heart, twisting once, and then pulled back, letting the corpse slump lifelessly onto the dirt. He snatched the dead man's sword, tucked it under his arm, and sprinted away without so much as a backward glance. Maximus watched him disappear between the trees and let out a low chuckle.

"Not everyone is as polite as that last group, it seems." He waited several long, quiet moments, ensuring the murderer was truly gone, before stepping out from behind the trees and approaching the body to scavenge whatever had been left behind. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Maximus slowly rose, staying low to the ground as he moved toward the corpse with careful, deliberate steps. The body lay sprawled in the leaves, eyes still wide open in shock, and blood pooling beneath the torn shirt. He searched the man's pockets first, then the belt, boots, and anything that might resemble storage, but found nothing except dirt and a faint metallic smell.

With a tired sigh, Maximus tugged off the man's sleeveless vest, shook off dust and dried leaves, and cleaned it with his hands as best as he could before putting it on.

"Forgiveness, but you won't need it anymore," he whispered.

"May the Great Stream carry your spirit to a gentler shore." He closed the dead man's eyes with two fingers and slipped away in the opposite direction from the killer. He moved for nearly an hour through dense foliage, stopping often to catch his breath until, at last, he spotted movement, something large and crimson shifting gently between the trees. A deer. Not an ordinary one, but a crimson-skinned deer with silver horns curving like polished metal, grazing peacefully on broad-leafed plants.

Maximus lowered himself, moving silently from tree to tree until he reached the ideal range for his skill. He activated Thorn Whip and altered the poison properties into pure paralysis before aiming with calculated precision. Woosh. The vine shot from the glowing green circle on his palm, arcing through the air and wrapping itself tightly around the deer's neck. Maximus gripped the vine and jerked hard, embedding the barbs deep into flesh and flooding the beast with paralytic venom.

Its legs buckled instantly as if someone had cut its strings. The moment the deer collapsed, Maximus lunged forward, unsheathing his blade in a single smooth movement and stabbing deeply into the deer's neck, ending its life quickly and with respect.

"Thank you for your sacrifice," he whispered as he gently closed the deer's eyes. You have defeated: [Redhide Deer Lv. 1] Battle Tokens earned: 10"Only ten tokens?" he muttered.

"Hmm. I'll need to understand the logic behind token distribution." He mused to himself while crouching beside the carcass and beginning to butcher it with practiced efficiency. He stripped off the hide and wrapped the venison neatly inside it, cleaned the whip's thorns and venom residue with grass and dirt, then tied it all into a tight, makeshift bundle. After that, he activated his Subspace ability, and a wide blue screen shimmered into existence before him. He imagined storing the meat.

The bundle vanished instantly and appeared inside the interface as a small icon representing its contents. He imagined retrieving it, and there it was, appearing in his hand as if teleported from another dimension. This behaves similarly to my Subspace Magic… yes, this will be extremely useful, he thought, nodding in satisfaction. He then placed a small crimson monster core into Subspace as well, before dragging the deer's remains to the base of a large oak.

Using rocks and soil, he covered the bones in a simple, shallow grave.

"May you return to the source," he whispered, placing his hand over the earth for a moment. Once done, he moved onward. Eventually, the forest thinned, and he stepped out into a long, wide steppe stretching endlessly beneath a pale-blue sky. He frowned.

"This will be unsafe," he muttered. Steppes were open ground, too easy for predators or enemies to spot him. But just as he turned to look back, a thin plume of smoke cut through the distant sky towards the east. Let's see what that could be, could be something good, he decided, taking a sip of water before setting off on a jog. His body protested immediately, every muscle burning, lungs aching, strength draining faster than he liked.

Not even a word from you, Maximus, Aurelius thought bitterly as he forced himself to keep going. You treated this body so poorly… He argued with the body like a madman as he rushed toward the smoke.

As Maximus approached the smoke-marked area on the border where the steppe bled into a rocky, almost desert-like terrain, he heard voices he unfortunately recognized far too easily. Those fools again… for people who apparently know so much about the Planes, their survival instincts are questionable at best.

Maximus shook his head in weary disbelief as he peeked around a cluster of jagged dark-red stones and spotted the familiar trio fighting what looked like a desert-colored lizard, easily four meters long, with crescent-shaped spikes lining the lower half of its back and a forked tail it used like a whip to slash viciously at them.

Just as Pete activated his Taunt skill, the lizard's eyes flared into a blood-red glow, and two sacs at its neck ballooned grotesquely before it spat a stream of purple liquid that melted stone on impact and splashed across Pete's leg, burning through flesh like boiling acid. Hmmm... that acid looks highly flammable; the stench alone makes it clear. Why does she not ignite the lizard's venom sacs then? Should be an easy victory for them... Maximus observed, clearly disappointed at the trio.

Pete screamed in agony and collapsed, forcing Tom to throw himself forward and slash desperately across the beast's neck right before the creature's tail crashed into him and sent him flying backward like a rag doll. Sarah, meanwhile, fell to her knees in terror, sobbing helplessly, completely unable to muster the will to cast even a single fireball. Damn it. Why do I even care about them? Maximus gritted his teeth. I should just ignore this… I owe them nothing.

But despite himself, he sighed and activated Thorn Whip, shifting its formula with practiced precision into the strongest venom an F‑Rank spell could contain, then dashed to the left with blade in hand, targeting the lizard's exposed neck. The elongated vine burst from his palm and wrapped around the lizard's mouth and throat, thorns driving deep into its scaly hide and injecting venom.

The poison hardly seemed to affect the creature at all, and it thrashed violently, trying to rip its jaws free of the constricting vine.

"Fools! What the hell are you doing?!" Maximus shouted, preparing another vine and using it like a grappling line to hurl himself onto the rampaging lizard's back, gripping the blade with brutal determination.

"Sarah, get up and shoot a fireball at its venom pouches. They should be highly flammable! Tom, use your strongest move to cripple one of its legs! Pete, hang in there!" Maximus barked out orders like a seasoned general, stabbing the blade into the base of the lizard's neck and clinging desperately as it thrashed in a maddened frenzy, even whipping its own back with its tail in a desperate attempt to strike him.

At the sight of their unlikely savior, Tom and Sarah moved, hope flickering across their faces for the first time since the fight began. Sarah hauled herself upright using a staff she had acquired like a cane and began shaping another fireball, her hands trembling uncontrollably. Tom activated his body-strengthening skill again and lunged forward while the beast was distracted by Maximus torturing its neck. He dove beneath its thrashing body and began slashing at its right leg like a man possessed.

He managed to carve a deep wound at the knee right as the enraged lizard's tail struck Maximus across the back, launching him violently off the creature and crashing him into a pile of rocks.

"Fireball now! Aim at its neck!" Maximus roared in pain. At his command, Tom grabbed the barely conscious Pete and dragged him back with strength amplified by his skill, while Sarah released another fireball. The sphere of flame shot forward, but the lizard's writhing caused it to barely graze its throat, leaving only a streak of ignited scales behind.

"Damn it!" Maximus snarled.

"Prepare another one!" He shouted as he shoved a handful of sour seedlings into his mouth, chewing furiously to recover faster. He fired another Thorn Whip, the vine detonating outward and coiling around the lizard's throat again, dragging Maximus up onto its back once more. This time, he pulled out his blade and wrapped part of the vine around its hilt, using it like makeshift reins to wrench the lizard's head upward.

"Now! Fire!" he roared. Sarah screamed, forcing her eyes wide open through her terror as she launched her final fireball, refusing to miss a second time. This time, the fireball slammed directly into the swollen venom sacs. The explosion was instantaneous. The entire head of the lizard detonated like a biological bomb in a massive flash of fire and gore, sending chunks of flesh and sand flying in all directions and hurling Maximus several meters back.

He crashed onto the ground in a heavy heap, pain flaring across his back, his left elbow scraped raw until it resembled torn tomato skin, while his flank darkened almost instantly, bruised and bloodied.

"Aaah!" he groaned as he staggered onto one knee, his ears ringing from the explosion. What the hell is this weak body? he cursed, stuffing more sour seedlings into his mouth. I'm living like a damn savage, he thought bitterly as he forced himself upright using his sword as a crutch. Skill Leveled Up: [Thorn Whip (F) Lv. 7] You have defeated: [Sandwalker Lizard Lv. 8] Class Leveled Up: [Druid Lv. 3 > Lv. 5] Talent Points gained: +4 Battle Tokens earned: 150 Alert: You have reached Level 5.

New skills may now be selected from your Class Tree.

"Is everyone alive?" Maximus shouted, wobbling toward the injured group. Sarah looked paler than parchment but managed to tear off her hoodie and wrap it around Pete's grotesquely burned leg. Tom rushed to Maximus and threw the man's arm over his shoulder, helping him walk.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked breathlessly, trying to steady himself.

"I'll be fine," Maximus muttered through clenched teeth.

"He, on the other hand, does not look too good. Bring me closer; I can help a little."

"Right. Damn, we really owe you… If we ever get out of the Trials, I swear I'll get you into my brother's guild; they're one of the best in the country!" Tom said, half-grateful, half-bragging. Maximus ignored his rambling. He knelt beside Pete, pulled out a handful of seedlings, and shoved them into the man's mouth.

"Disgusting, I know, but it dulls the pain. Chew." Then he looked at Tom.

"I need a sturdy bowl and a small round rock." Tom nodded quickly and fetched the first stone he could find before purchasing a wooden bowl from the Store. Maximus adjusted the Seedling formula as much as the System allowed, shifting the sprout toward a variant with mild antitoxin properties, weak but usable under the circumstances. Skill Leveled Up: [Seedling (F) Lv. 2] Skill Leveled Up: [Seedling (F) Lv. 3] He crushed the seedlings into a green paste, unwrapped Pete's leg, poured water over the wound to clean it, then applied the paste directly over the burns. He wrapped it back up tightly and forced another mouthful of seedlings into Pete like he was feeding livestock.

"There. That's the most I can do. He needs rest, but we don't have that luxury. We need to move, that explosion could be seen from twenty minutes away. Give me a moment to check my skills before we head out. You do the same."

"How… how did you know we hit Level 5, too?" Tom asked, frowning.

"We fought the same opponent," Maximus replied dryly, "and judging by the state of your gear, you killed something on the way here. It required no great leap of logic. Now be quiet, I need to see my options." Tom and Sarah exchanged confused looks as Maximus ignored them entirely and opened the Class window.