In a dense forest famous for hunting animals by people all over France.
The sun shone on the peaceful forest as usual that afternoon, but unlike the calm during the hunters' working hours, the forest was now full of chaos.
Birds flew around in panic in the sky.
Small rodents hid in their tree homes out of fear.
Wild boars ran in a frenzy after seeing their pack get slaughtered one by one by a maniac.
And the maniac causing all the chaos in the peaceful forest was Michael.
Four days had passed since his evolution that night.
Right now, he was running after a pack of terrified wild boars that had been hunted down over the last three days.
He raised his right hand and made a gun gesture when he saw the pack running through a field with few trees blocking his view.
A round black light with a creepy aura gathered at his finger, and after calculating the pack's movement, the black light shot out at a speed hard to follow for untrained eyes toward the fleeing boars.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three black lights hit the bodies of some boars, making them squeal in pain.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kikkkkkkhhhh!
If an outsider saw this, they'd curse in fear at what the hell that scary bullshit coming from his finger was.
But maybe only Michael knew it was one of the four gifts he got after evolving that night.
This was what he called a lucky break hidden in the bad luck from before on his evolution night.
[Gandr
A basic curse magic that if it hits the body makes the victim feel insane pain until their body slowly breaks down from inside if they're too weak.
This curse magic can evolve (0/10)]
Like what's written on the transparent screen in front of him, this was curse magic he got after the curse on his heart got destroyed by the Angel's attack before, and his Sacred Gear used it as a catalyst for his evolution.
He didn't know if it was Cao Cao or Georg who gave him this curse, but he was thankful for the gift.
Over the last three days, he'd been staying in this forest to hunt innocent animal souls after escaping his hometown.
He didn't know what creature made his sixth sense tingle that night, but he wasn't betting on them not noticing him if he stayed in the city.
So he safely left the city and came to this forest to hunt.
But he'd bet that the creature making his sixth sense tingle was probably the Angel who attacked him before. She must have realized the chains binding him broke after his evolution finished.
If his guess was right, he was really grateful his sixth sense warned him of the danger, because he knew that even after this evolution, he probably wouldn't have a chance against that Angel.
[+0.5 Soul]
[+0.5 Soul]
[+0.5 Soul]
Looking at the three boars that had finished squealing in pain and the notifications popping up in front of him, he used one of the gifts he got before to vanish from where he stood and appear at the three boar bodies a few meters in his view.
He quickly showed up in front of the three dead boars without any sound or warning.
This was the gift he'd used to escape the dangerous situation his sixth sense warned him about that night.
[Blink
Short-range teleport magic that lets the user instantly teleport to any spot they want as long as it's still in sight.
This teleport magic can evolve (0/10)]
Over the three days in the forest, he'd been testing the three spells he got to find their max limits.
From his tests, he learned he could adjust how much magical energy output he used for his Fireball and Gandr as he wanted.
If he used half his magical energy, the spells would have a bigger impact.
The more magical energy output he used when casting, the more amazing the spells became.
Same with Blink, the farther he tried to teleport, the more magical energy he needed.
Like what he did now, he snapped his fingers at the pile of dead boars he'd stacked up.
Using half his magical energy reserve, he threw a Fireball bigger than the one from his evolution night.
BOOM!
A big puff of smoke and explosion echoed in the forest as the three boar bodies quickly crumbled and evaporated.
Even though he knew no extra soul notifications popped up from evaporating the three bodies, he couldn't hold back a light laugh at seeing his current soul count.
[Soul: 76.5]
That was a lot if all those souls came from animals in this forest.
So far, he'd counted that he'd killed 153 animals over the last three days. not all boars, even some rodents and birds flying in the sky.
He'd practiced on the birds to improve his spell shooting accuracy.
And during his time in the forest, he'd improved super fast, and he was sure he at least qualified a bit now to step onto the big stage called the supernatural world.
Plus, there was another reason he stayed in the forest for three days besides hunting souls... it was to prepare an excuse for those Hero Faction bastards.
He didn't know if the destruction of the curse on his heart alerted them, so he needed the quiet forest environment to sort out his thoughts.
The curse's destruction probably did get noticed by them.
He could imagine Cao Cao's reaction if he found out. that arrogant and cocky guy would be pissed about losing control over him.
There were only a few possible reactions after finding out.
Kill him... or use him until he was worthless then kill him.
He knew if that guy and his goons wanted to kill him, he wouldn't be able to dodge for long.
Especially after becoming a target for that Angel.
So he'd decided to lay some of his cards on the table to buy time until he was ready.
If he was fully ready to step onto the stage, he'd definitely scream curses and flip a middle finger with a sun-sized Fireball at that guy's face.
That was the conclusion he reached after sorting his thoughts over the last three days.
He really needed the connections and influence that guy's group had right now.
Since he didn't want to be blind and deaf entering this new world, he could only rely on that guy for now.
So right now, he was leaning against a tree, waiting for the person he'd contacted earlier to show up.
After making sure there were no traces of anything he didn't want them to know, he looked around and waiting.
And after a bit, his Sixth Sense picked up the flow of magical energy gathering not far from him.
A purple magic circle appeared where the magical energy was gathering, and after a moment, Georg stepped out of it.
Without any warning or signal, Michael threw a Fireball at his face.
Swish!
Boom!
Georg hadn't even had a chance to look around when a big Fireball was launched at his face. Luckily, the passive purple mist defense from his Dimension Lost blocked the spell's impact, or he couldn't be sure he wouldn't have gotten hurt.
He looked at the guy he sensed had thrown the fire spell.
Michael?
"Was that really necessary? And where'd you learn that magic?"
Georg stared at Michael's face, which was now frowning angrily for reasons he didn't know.
Did he already know about the curse placed on his heart?
He'd sensed the curse had been destroyed earlier. His first thought was that the guy might've died for some reason he didn't know, especially after not hearing from him for days.
But he was shocked to get a call a while ago telling him to come pick him up.
It really made him suspicious of some scheme waiting, especially since the coordinates the guy sent were in a forest.
There was a reason his passive mist defense was stronger than usual, he was expecting a surprise attack, but not from the guy in front of him.
"I should be asking you that. What did you give me?!"
Give?
The only thing he'd ever given him was...
Oh... so the Snake made him this mad?
If the Snake pissed him off this much... it meant this guy had used it, and if that fire spell was any clue...
It meant this guy had awakened his Sacred Gear using the Snake.
Now he understood why the guy was mad after using the Snake he'd given him... he was no stranger to the side effects the Snake could cause.
He'd often given it to other potential recruits causing some to go crazy and die.
Now the only question he had was what Sacred Gear this guy awakened that let him use magic... and whether he'd reached Balance Breaker.
If he had... they might need to reassess this guy's usefulness.
"So you awakened your Sacred Gear with that Snake?"
"I'm the one asking questions here, bastard!"
Swish!
What an impatient rookie... getting cocky because of his Sacred Gear?
Raising his left hand, a defensive magic circle appeared in front of him, blocking the big Fireball coming his way.
BOOM!
Not bad for a rookie.
So his Sacred Gear let him cast magic without a magic circle... or even use imagination like those devils, if his finger snap was any clue...
Alright, since the guy in front of him wanted to know what real magic was, he'd play along.
He slowly raised his left hand toward the guy.
Suddenly, a dozen colorful magic circles appeared facing him.
Sparks of electricity and intense heat started showing up as his magic circles were ready.
Ignoring the wary twitch in the guy's eyes, he smiled while adjusting his glasses.
"If you survive this, I'll tell you about the Snake I gave you."
"Don't die."
With his last words, several Thunderbolts and Fireballs bigger than the one the guy threw earlier shot out from his magic circles.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Michael who expecting something lighter was genuinely shocked for a moment.
He expected a counter from the guy, but not like this.
In a panic, he raised both hands, and several Fireballs appeared, shooting down the incoming lightning and fire spells.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
But even after blocking all the spells, he couldn't handle the damage from the impact.
He was blasted back several meters, crashing into a tree behind him.
Thud!
He was a complete mess from the impact, his body showing burn marks from the explosion of the lightning and fire spells.
His clothes were completely torn and scorched from the fire spell.
"Cough... cough."
Coughing through the pain from the spell explosion's impact, Michael stared at the guy in front of him, whose face now showed a bit of surprise.
He could've used Blink or Gandr... but he wanted to keep some trump cards, so he only showed his Fireball.
But after seeing how that lightning spell was cast earlier... he raised his right hand and aimed it at Georg.
He tried to recall how the guy's magical energy flow gathered earlier... from when he released the energy to forming it into a purple magic circle.
He remembered it all; his Sixth Sense had really worked hard when the guy cast all those magic circles earlier.
And after a moment... he smiled as a purple magic circle, just like the one Georg used, appeared in his hand.
So this is Magic Talent?
He really didn't need to calculate all the variables for this spell; he just had to remember how the magical energy flowed and replicate it as he wanted.
This card alone should be enough to negotiate with those bastards.
Swish!
The same Thunderbolt that Georg had thrown earlier shot out from his magic circle.
BOOM!
Georg who had been curious about what Michael would do was now completely stunned by the sight in front of him.
Raising his hand to cast a defensive spell, he blocked the explosion while staring at the guy in front of him in shock.
This guy just replicated his Thunderbolt spell after seeing it once?
Sure, it wasn't impossible since he could mimic magic after one look too, but their situations were different. He was experienced with magic, which is why he could replicate a spell he saw for the first time.
But this guy? He hadn't even known magic for a week and was already pulling this off...
He really needed to tell Cao Cao to rethink this guy's value.
A Sacred Gear that let him cast magic with just imagination, and this magic talent...
They couldn't just toss him aside after his usefulness ran out.
Adjusting his glasses, he looked at the guy in front of him.
"Surprisingly, you survived and even fought back."
"Huh... you happy with that welcome gift?"
"Couldn't be happier to find out our new recruit is actually this talented."
Georg wasn't exaggerating his praise because it was true.
"So you really want to know what that Snake was?"
"Just tell me what it is."
"Your worldview might crumble after hearing this."
"Nothing can shock me anymore after learning magic is real."
Georg shook his head at that. If only he knew how big this world was...
"Alright. You know Gods exist, right?"
"Yeah. You told me before."
"Right. All the Gods recorded in the Bible or mythologies are real. Even if some stories exaggerate, Their incredible power is just as described."
"If it's written that a certain thunder God from Greece, I won't say His name because it could draw His attention, you know who I'm talking about, right?"
"Gods can know when someone's talking about Them?"
Michael frowned at this new info.
"Yeah. They can hear prayers and Their names being mentioned. So you gotta be careful with someone favored by the Gods, because their prayers can really catch Their attention."
"Back to what I was saying, if it's written that a certain thunder God has power over the Sky in Their mythology, then that's really how it is."
"You can imagine how strong They are, controlling the entire Sky itself."
"Anything in the Sky, creatures, objects, or even phenomena, They can really control it."
"I feel like there's a 'but' coming..."
Georg nodded at that.
"But... Their absolute power only works in Their own territory."
"That power is called Authority. And that Authority will clash with the same Authority from a God controlling the Sky from another Pantheon if that Greek thunder God goes to a place like China or India which known for their many Gods."
"Even so, that Greek thunder God would still have some control over the Sky there, just less than the God with Sky Authority in that territory."
"You following me so far?"
Georg looked at Michael who was thinking over his words and after a moment nodded for him to keep going.
"Now that you get how powerful Gods are, it's time you knew that even with Their incredible power, They can't fully control the whole world because of one super strong race out there."
"Dragons?"
That was the only race Michael could think of that could hold back the Gods' power, since in every culture and mythology, Dragons were recorded as top predators that were feared.
"Looks like you did the homework I gave you." Georg looked at the guy who'd only known the supernatural world for a week. "Among dragons, there are two dragons that have always been a thorn in the Gods' sides, besides the Heavenly Dragons."
"Heavenly Dragons?"
"That's for your future lessons since they're not relevant anymore."
"The two dragons I'm talking about are the True Red Dragon God Emperor and the Infinite Dragon God."
"Fancy names."
Georg felt the same when he first learned about those two dragons, but after meeting one in person? He thought their titles were an understatement given Their majestic and immeasurable power.
"There's a reason those two are called Dragons among Dragons. They have absolute power over Dream and Infinity."
"Gods are really nothing compared to even a sliver of their power."
"Now back to your question. The Snake I gave you before was a tiny piece of power from the Infinite Dragon God, who has absolute control over Infinity, Chaos, and Nothingness."
"Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
Michael really didn't know how to react after hearing about the two strongest beings in the world.
Before, he thought that Angel showed him what the true peak of this world was.
But now, even the God who created that Angel was nothing compared to those two dragons if what the guy in front of him said was true.
He looked at Georg, who was now enjoying how speechless he was from the massive info dump.
"So your faction has ties to that Dragon?"
"Oh? Why do you think that?"
"No reason a being that strong would give even a tiny bit of Their power to humans They probably see as ants."
That was the only reason Michael could think of for why Georg had a piece of that Dragon's power.
He even wondered if Cao Cao wasn't really running the Hero Faction, he just a puppet leader, and the real one in charge was that Dragon called the Infinite Dragon God.
But why would a being known as The Strongest play faction games if They could just wipe them all out?
Was it some weird personality quirk that powerful beings like Them had?
He didn't know.
"Haha... I couldn't expect more from that sharp mind of yours to figure out that secret info with just a little back-and-forth."
Georg had deliberately shared this info because after he told Cao Cao about this encounter, he'd definitely reassess this guy's value. Maybe he could even join their core team.
They just needed to figure out how to handle the conflict between Jeanne and Michael.
"This is info few people in the world, even gods, know about. The Infinite Dragon God leads a huge organization with different factions from the entire supernatural world, and the Hero Faction is one of the strongest factions in it."
"You know what to do after hearing that info, right?"
"My lips are sealed."
Georg nodded at his words, and now it was his turn to ask the question he wanted to know.
"So what exactly is your Sacred Gear?"
Michael had expected that question from the guy in front of him.
Even though he was shocked by the mind-blowing amount of info the guy shared, he was glad because it showed that this guy at least saw him as valuable enough to keep, maybe even to join their core group.
At least his plan to buy some time had worked.
There was no reason this guy would share secret info that even gods might not know if what he said was true.
Though he'd still keep some suspicion about the truth of this info in the back of his mind.
"Forgotten Wisdom. A kind of grimoire that records all the magic a certain Magician had in the past."
Michael said it with a straight face, like what he was saying was pure fact.
There wasn't a hint of a lie on his face; it didn't even twitch as he stated it.
"Forgotten Wisdom? Do you know the Magician's name?"
Georg had never heard of that Sacred Gear before. While he wouldn't claim to know everything about Sacred Gears, he was well-versed in their names and types since their group hunted people who had them for recruitment.
So this new name really made him think hard.
"That's what I wanted to ask you, because the notes in the grimoire say that if I find out the Magician's name and meet its requirements, I can unlock my Balance Breaker and use all the magic recorded in it."
"I'm short on info to figure out the Magician's name. What are the other requirements?"
"Writing magic formulas in the book up to 10% of its total. And that's a lot."
Michael made a gesture of a thick book with his hands, like he was describing all of world history written in one book.
"That's a lot. So what powers can you access now from your Sacred Gear?"
"Instant Casting. Like this."
Michael made a gun gesture with his finger and aimed it at a white rabbit that had come out of hiding after the chaos in the forest calmed down.
A spark of electricity shot out from his finger.
Swish! Boom!
[+0.5 Soul]
"Thunderbolt?"
"Right. I can use that magic instantly without calculations after recording it."
"There's a catch, though...?"
"Yep. Right now, I only have two default slots, and I've used them for Fireball and Thunderbolt. The slots will keep growing as I write more magic formulas. For every ten formulas I write in the book, I get a new slot."
Michael wasn't totally lying about that. After his evolution, he realized he only had four magic slots to use. And now all four were filled with Fireball, Blink, Gandr, and Thunderbolt.
This didn't mean he couldn't learn other magic if his slots were full. He could still learn other spells, but not as easily as those four, which he could cast with just a snap of his fingers.
To learn new magic, he had to recall how the magical energy flowed to form the magic circle, like when he cast Thunderbolt for the first time.
That was already a huge advantage compared to other magicians like Georg who had to calculate all the variables first before making a magic circle.
Each time he evolved, his magic slots should keep growing.
"That's a really interesting Sacred Gear. So where's the grimoire?"
Georg looked over Michael's messy body and didn't see a grimoire anywhere.
"It's in here." Michael pointed to his head. "When all the requirements are met, then I'll be worthy of bringing out the grimoire."
"Ah, got it... Alright, I'll teach you some magic later and find you a mentor too."
Honestly, Georg was really curious about that Sacred Gear. If he didn't already have a Longinus, he might not have been able to resist the greed to take it.
It was a magician's wet dream.
"We've been here too long. I'll take you to meet the others and maybe your new mentor."
He raised his hand, and two green teleportation magic circles appeared under their feet.
"By the way, before we go. Are you still feeling pain in your chest?"
Michael smiled inwardly at that.
Looks like his earlier guess was right, the destruction of the curse on his heart must've alerted them.
And now he knew there was a chance this guy was the one who cursed his heart.
"No. After my Sacred Gear awakened, I stopped feeling pain where my heart used to be."
"I see... You should deal with that devil who took your heart and your wife sooner."
"Did something happen?"
"No. Just reminding you that your heart and your wife are still with that devil. I'm just worried your power boost made you forget that half your life is still in that devil's hands."
"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid."
Georg nodded at that and finished casting their teleportation circles.
With a flash of blinding green light, they both vanished from the forest.
---
A/N: Btw, here's the status of that bastard right now if you're curious.
---
[Michael]
[Race: Homo Magi (0/100)]
[Soul: 77]
[Abilities:
- Sixth Sense
[Magic (4/4):
- Fireball (0/10)
- Blink (0/10)
- Gandr (0/10)
- Thunderbolt (0/10)
[Power Scale: Low-class]
[Note: Congrats! You've taken your first step toward greatness. Feels good to turn your bad luck into a win, doesn't it?]
A/N: Low-class is just a rough gauge of his base power. If he maxes out his magic, he could be a threat to beings above that.
---
Btw, if you like this story and want to support me while reading the next few chapters, feel free to visit my patron: patr eon . com /XElenea (remove space)