The night was too still.
Even the crickets had stopped singing.
Raven's eyes traced the treeline, his bow half-drawn, breath steady. Beside him, the fire crackled faintly — a fragile light against the blackness pressing from all sides.
He had fought monsters, assassins, even demons before. But this silence was worse than any battlefield.
---
I barely slept. Every time my eyes closed, my Sixth Sense screamed. There was no direct killing intent, but the feeling of danger lingered.
I sat near the fire, sword across my knees, cloak wrapped tight.
Across the flames, Lucas studied the black shard we'd found earlier. It had stopped glowing but still pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat muffled under stone.
"I don't like this thing," Brock muttered.
Raven stood, scanning the horizon.
Lucas hesitated. "I tried feeding it mana. Every time I push energy into it, it drains it — like feeding fire with oil."
My gaze flicked toward the shard.
"Everyone up," I said quietly. "It's starting again."
---
The ground trembled.
From deep within the earth came a low hum — rhythmic, pulsing like a heartbeat.
The mist that had vanished began to return, swirling around our feet. The air grew heavy, oppressive.
"Shit," Raven hissed, drawing his katana. "Get ready!"
The party formed a tight circle. Lucas raised his staff; Emma and Emilia guarded the flanks, Brock stood at the front with his spear braced.
I focused, activating Omniscient — the world sharpened. Every vibration in the soil, every breath from my companions burned into my senses.
Something was rising below.
Then the forest floor split open.
The battle turned chaotic.
Raven leapt across the field, arrows raining from his bow, each striking whatever was emerging.
Lucas shouted, "It absorbs our mana attacks! We need physical impact!"
"Then stop holding back!" Raven roared.
My Sixth Sense flared wildly — so many killing intents it blurred together into a storm. My vision pulsed red.
Not taking any risks, I used Apocalypse.
The ground caved in. Trees splintered. The night itself seemed to tear apart.
My body screamed in agony — skin splitting, blood burning. I could feel my muscles tearing under the backlash.
---
When the dust cleared, I was lying motionless in the center of a crater. Smoke curled from my cloak.
"Adrian!" Emilia rushed to me, kneeling beside my body. She uncorked two healing potions, pouring them over my wounds.
Raven dropped to one knee beside me, eyes shadowed.
My lips twitched — a faint smile. "It… worked, didn't it?"
Raven snorted, though without humor. "Barely."
---
When I woke my senses screached
Then I felt it — something huge.
I ran toward it, and what I saw made my expression turn bitter.
About a kilometer ahead, the air itself distorted — not from space magic, but from something else.
It was the epicenter of a Mana Quake.
Just like earthquakes or tsunamis, a Mana Quake is a natural disaster of this world.
At its center, mana concentrates so intensely that it distorts reality itself.
There must be a Natural Mana Stone forming there. But such stones are useless — not because they lack power, but because they hold too much.
No material or rune can handle that amount of Nature Mana.
Try to crush one for potion use, and you can say goodbye to several cities.
Now it made sense.
The wyverns had been agitated because of this.
The Apocalypse I used must have struck the epicenter by mistake. The result — it struck back.
Since the Mana Quake is formed by excessive mana concentration, my Apocalypse tried to compress it, and the energy bounced back violently.
Then, during the night, the Mana Storm must have resonated with it.
The storm was caused by the Mana Quake, and the resonance made both react violently.
When I used Apocalypse again to stabilize it, the force of the Mana Quake increased briefly, but the resonance broke — calming it a little.
That's when we fell here.
The "attack" on us earlier must have been someone's lost spell — one that went out of control because the Mana Quake fed it immense natural mana.
Once the spell lost its caster's control, it began attacking everything until I stopped it with Apocalypse.
And the thing that emerged just now… that was a regular Mana Break — periodic energy bursts from a Mana Quake.
As for that shard — it's no surprise. When mana concentrates like that, it solidifies naturally.
Actually, using magic near a Mana Quake is dangerous.
It can seize control of your spell and overload it with raw Nature Mana.
But now the question remains — what do we do?
If I can remove the Natural Mana Stone, the Mana Quake will reduce a little.
Alright, let's try Apocalypse again. It works on natural mana — it can temporarily separate it.
The stone forms within the quake, but over time, it's slowly ejected as the Mana Quake moves.
Alright. First, I'll get closer.
I teleported a meter away and began absorbing mana from the distortions. After checking that I had enough healing potions ready, I whispered:
"Apocalypse."
A violent displacement occurred.
I quickly reached into the distortion and pulled out the Natural Mana Stone.
Then I drank every healing potion I carried.
It would calm the quake — at least for now.
As for the stone itself… it's useless, as I said.
I'll just keep it as a memory.
---
They packed what remained of their camp, preparing to move at first light. The Sky Dogs had returned — though even they seemed uneasy, refusing to step near the distortions.
"Let's go," I said.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "You're keeping that thing?"
"For now," I replied. "If someone wants it destroyed so badly, I need to know why."
The others exchanged uncertain looks but didn't argue.
They mounted the Sky Dogs, rising slowly into the morning sky.
The valley below looked peaceful again — deceptively so.
As we climbed above the clouds, I looked back one last time.
The crater glowed faintly, threads of mana weaving into the soil — not fading, but spreading.
It's not over, I thought.
---
Mana Quake… something I'm not ready for.
Entire nations have been erased from maps trying to tame it.
I felt strange — drained by the repeated use of Apocalypse.
I drank more healing potions.
The members of the Claw watched silently. They'd seen my power before, but the aftermath this time looked terrifying.
The other good thing about the Flash is that I can sleep through the flight.
I just need to tie this here… and this here… done.
I should rest a little.
Soon, I drifted into the world of dreams — though I didn't dream a damn thing.
When I woke up, what Emma told me made my heart sink.
I had slept for an entire week.
The healing potions had helped, sure, but they couldn't restore me completely. The long sleep only proved how damaged my body was.
My throat was dry, my stomach empty, so we rested a little longer.
Raven said to me, "If you use that Nature Force any more, you'll die before our mission ends."
I was shocked.
"You know about it?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yes. My father was a librarian in a Duke's household. When I was young, I read books there."
"I see," I replied.
He looked distant. "Yes. It was the knights who taught me to fight. Then the war happened — my father died, so I became an adventurer to support my mother. She died a few years ago."
I laughed softly. "Or else you'd have been a librarian."
He shook his head.
"So when I take you to all these strange places, you don't doubt me?" I asked.
"I don't care," he replied. "Take your recent power as an example — it's basically a sweet poison. You can't stop using it, but it won't be long before it kills you. Of course, I mean no disrespect, sir."
I laughed. "No, you're right. It's true."
I'll need a full body check-up once we reach the destination city.
I took out the Natural Mana Stone, examining it, wondering if it had any use.
In the novel, there was no mention of this.
Nothing about Mana Quakes either — it was Adrian's memories that came in handy this time.
At the academy, they only taught the basics about Mana Quakes.
Now, I'd lived through one.
And I never want to get close to another.
In fact Nature Quake isn't always so destructive but the more someone does something to it, the more it reacts.
So just leave it alone and it sleeps silently.
But then again even monsters can disrupt it's calm behaviour.
Maybe it was my luck or I would have just continued the journey normally with no disruptions.
.........
Meanwhile the blue haired teacher in front of a class full of students said
" Welcome back. I hope you are ready for Rank evaluation exam."
The students had all kind of reactions
The teacher continued
" Do your best. Because the better you do the more academy have motivation to support you."
Alright everyone take these papers on my desk one by one as I call your name for attendance.
"..."
"..."
" Adrian Lewin"
"Adrian Lewin?"
" Looks like he left. "