The boy with the scarred face in the corner had watched what happened.
The thin, psychopathic smile on his lips widened even more. He returned to his knife game, but his rhythm had quickened.
Lilith did not take her eyes off Aren. A competitive gleam appeared in her ice-blue eyes.
Perched on the reception desk, having dropped his file, Xeras was watching this little theater with a grin. He focused on Aren with an approving look in his crimson eyes.
'This boy is not bad. Even though not much time has passed, his mana has concentrated exceedingly well.'
Even though Aren felt Xeras's gaze on his back, he didn't turn to look.
Leaving the terrified whispers of Marcus and his group behind, he headed to an empty armchair in the most secluded, shadowed corner of the lobby.
He sat down, lightly tossing his robe. He turned his back to the wall and his face to the lobby.
He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.
To an outsider, he looked as if he were sleeping. However, Aren's mind was clearer than ever.
He could hear every heartbeat in the lobby, every trembling breath, that thin metallic sound the swords made as they scraped against their scabbards.
Time flowed differently for the people in the lobby.
For Marcus, seconds felt like hours full of shame, pain, and suppressed anger. The glances he shot at Aren while rubbing his wrist were full of venom.
For the more cowardly ones, time was the footsteps of approaching death. Every number dropping on the timer was a blow to their hearts.
As for Aren, time was merely a concept.
TIME REMAINING: 01:00:00
An hour passed.
The air in the lobby grew heavy. People were having trouble breathing, as if the oxygen had decreased.
The scarred boy had stopped his knife game, rested his head on his knees, and started rocking. He was in a trance. He was whispering to himself, over and over, "I didn't do it... I didn't do it..." His voice was so low that only he could hear it.
Lilith, on the other hand, was motionless like a statue. Staring at a single point, she seemed to be running a mental simulation.
During this time, Aren slowly circulated his mana through his body. He was preparing every single cell, every muscle fiber for what was approaching.
TIME REMAINING: 00:10:00
The last ten minutes.
The whispers in the lobby stopped.
Absolute, deadly silence prevailed.
Xeras broke his comfortable posture on the desk.
He straightened up. The grin on his face widened.
Aren opened his eyes.
00:00:02
00:00:01
00:00:00
"I hope you are ready for the 'Grand Finale'!" Xeras's masculine, cheerful, and equally terrifying voice echoed in the lobby like thunder.
Xeras snapped his fingers.
A moment later, Aren found himself in a different place.
The first thing he felt was a suffocating heat.
That cool, artificial, and sterile air of the hotel lobby was gone.
It was replaced by a heavy, sulfurous air that burned one's throat and gave the feeling of lungs filling with broken glass with every breath.
There were no soft carpets beneath his feet. The ground he stepped on was dried, cracked, black earth.
He took his sword out of his storage ring and held it in his hand.
Aren raised his head.
There was no sky.
The sky was covered with dense volcanic ash clouds swirling endlessly in shades of gray and black. These clouds moved as if they were a living organism, occasionally illuminated by crimson lightning passing through them.
From top to bottom, black ashes fell like snow.
They silently settled on the shoulders of Aren's black, dragon-embroidered robe.
Aren looked around. He was in a forest. But this was unlike any forest on earth.
The trunks of the trees were pitch black as if charred, and they twisted upwards toward the sky. But what was truly terrifying were their leaves.
Blood red.
A dark, vivid, and bright red.
When the wind blew, these crimson leaves rustled, and from afar, the forest looked as if it were a massive, bleeding wound.
"This place..." Aren murmured.
"Perfect... This place is perfect for your cultivation." Seraphina's voice echoed in his mind.
Aren took a deep breath. In this hot, sulfurous air filling his lungs, he felt a strange sweetness. He felt very 'comfortable'.
"You feel it, don't you?" Seraphina said. "Thanks to the Divine Phoenix Mantra, your physique is becoming increasingly more compatible with fire. Your cells see fire not as an enemy, but as a friend, even a food source."
Seraphina paused for a brief moment, then continued, adding a condescending yet explanatory tone to her voice.
"Also... Don't think this environment is a coincidence. Remember the bloodline of that lizard, Xeras, who is your instructor. He carries the Crimson Dragon bloodline."
Aren nodded.
"Crimson Dragons are a dragon species with a very high affinity for fire. They like volcanic places. I am sure they made this 'Grand Finale' area exceedingly dangerous. Be careful."
At that moment, the ground shook slightly. A rumble coming from the depths of the earth vibrated the soles of Aren's feet.
Aren turned his gaze to the horizon.
There, at an uncertain distance, stood a massive mountain rising to the sky amidst the crimson trees.
An active volcano.
Its peak pierced through the ash clouds in the sky. Black smoke and occasionally erupting crimson lava constantly spewed from its crater. Lava flowing down the slopes of the mountain like a river twisted its way into the depths of the forest.
The grandeur of the volcano was like the embodiment of nature's destructive power. It was right at the heart of the forest, and it was as if it were the creator of this entire cursed ecosystem.
While Aren was watching this magnificent view, a screen appeared in front of him.
QUEST: GRAND FINALE.
TIME LIMIT: 60 DAYS.
DESCRIPTION: BY KILLING ONE OF THE 10 GREAT 'WARRIORS' IN THE CRIMSON FOREST, OBTAIN AN 'ESCAPE TOKEN'.
REWARD: TO BE EVALUATED BASED ON PERFORMANCE.
PENALTY: DEATH.
Aren frowned as he read the notification.
"10 Great Warriors?" he murmured. "Isn't this term a bit too general?"
Seraphina, her voice turning serious. "They are entities that have reached Level 100. Warrior is the 'title' acquired by those who reach Level 100, Aren."
'Level 100. Warrior.' Aren murmured.
And he was only Level 12.
Seraphina chuckled melodically in his mind. "Don't worry, we have 60 days. This forest is swarming with savage beasts. Use them to level up."
Aren turned his gaze back to the depths of the forest. A golden gleam passed through his eyes.
Aren silently glided toward the shadows of the forest. He was no longer running. Like a ghost, he advanced without making a sound, without leaving a trace.
His first goal was to level up.
As Aren advanced in the depths of the forest, every step of his was silent; thanks to his 'Ghost Step' skill, he barely put any weight on the ground.
"Left." Seraphina said. Her voice was clear in his mind. "Three of them."
Aren turned his head in that direction. On the trunk of a thick, charred, pitch-black tree, stood three camouflaged entities.
They resembled lizards, but their sizes were each as large as a crocodile.
Their skin was black and bumpy like cooled lava.
However, as they breathed, a glowing orange light, burning like embers, seeped from the cracks in their skin. And their eyes shone as if made of pure fire.
Suddenly, a question mark popped into his mind.
"Seraphina, how can I tell how strong a creature is? Is there a way to see their levels and stats? If they are much stronger than me, wouldn't that be inviting death?" he said.
Seraphina's deep, exasperated sigh echoed in his mind.
"You finally asked a right question." Seraphina said. "The System does not violate anyone's privacy. Unless an entity voluntarily shows it, you cannot see its stats or level. This is one of the fundamental rules of the system."
"So we're going to play Russian roulette. What if the thing across from me is a god?" Aren said.
A mocking sigh was heard from Seraphina.
"God? It's a bit unlikely for you to encounter any God in such a miserable place." she said, and immediately afterward continued with seriousness. "Still, your eyes might be blind, but in reality, you are never blind. By looking at entities' auras, you can estimate their power."
"How will I do that?" Aren said.
ACCEPT INFORMATION COMING FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE?
After Aren accepted, a flow of information entered his mind.
'Basic Vision.'
"This technique is the simplest and most primitive form of reading auras. In addition to reading auras, it can also somewhat estimate the direction entities cultivate." Seraphina said.
"Now, focus your mana on your eyes as described in the technique. But be careful; if you overload them, you might burn your optic nerves and go blind."
Aren took a deep breath.
He directed the energy he drew like a thin thread from the mana pool in his abdomen, up his neck, into his head. When the energy reached behind his eyes, he felt a sharp burning sensation, as if hot pepper had been rubbed into his eyes.
"Focus!" warned Seraphina.
Aren gritted his teeth and resisted the burning sensation. He didn't blink. Suddenly, the golden gleam hiding in the depths of his hazel eyes reappeared.
The world changed. That suffocating darkness and physical details of the crimson forest blurred. The trees, earth, and stones turned gray and faded into the background.
Aren looked again. He no longer saw three black lizards there. Standing there were three dark orange flames, flickering erratically.
"What do you see?" Seraphina asked, her voice carrying the seriousness a teacher assumes while conducting an exam.
"An orange flame." Aren said. "But... Erratic. It's flickering."
"Good." Seraphina said.
"Being in the shape of a flame means they have an affinity for and control over fire. Being erratic and flickering means their foundations are weak. As for its size, it represents their mana reserve. Now focus on yourself and tell the difference."
Aren lowered his head and focused his gaze on his own chest, where his mana pool was located.
He was slightly surprised by what he saw. A similar version of that scattered, flickering, orange flame he saw in the lizards was also inside him.
However, there was a massive difference.
While theirs was the size of a candle flame about to go out in the wind, the flame burning in Aren's chest was at least three times their size.
And its color wasn't orange, but pure, bright gold. It burned roaringly like a fierce fire, radiating intense golden light around it.
It wasn't flickering; it was steady and powerful.
"Do you see?" Seraphina said, with a pleased tone in her voice.
"Why is my flame golden in color?" Aren asked.
"Because it's not an ordinary flame." Seraphina said.
There was evident pride in her voice.
"That golden color is the nobility coming from the 'Divine Phoenix Mantra'. The mana you use cannot be compared to that filthy, savage flame coursing through the veins of these lizards. Yours is pure, dense, and divine. Though you are too ignorant to understand all this. Anyway."
Aren, swinging his sword slightly to the side. "Time to test."
The lizards on the tree had realized Aren noticed them. There was no point in hiding anymore.
The lizard in the middle lunged from the tree with a shrill hissing sound coming from its throat.
While gliding through the air, it opened its mouth and spat a dense, sticky ball of magma at Aren.
For an ordinary human, this attack was lethal. The heat of the magma ball would melt flesh in seconds and reach the bone.
But Aren wasn't ordinary.
49 agility wasn't a joke.
This number didn't just mean running fast. It meant the world slowed down slightly.
Aren saw the magma ball coming at him in slow motion.
He leaned slightly to the left. The magma ball passed a few centimeters beside his right shoulder, hit the volcanic rock behind him, and began to melt the rock.
Before the lizard could even land on the ground, Aren moved.
His weight vanished. His sound vanished.
The moment the lizard landed on the ground, Aren was already beside it. He swung his black sword horizontally.
"Cut."
There was no resistance.
As if cutting the air, the black sword passed through the lizard's reinforced skin, which was as hard as rock.
The lizard froze for a moment. Then its upper body separated from its lower body and slowly slid to the ground. Instead of blood, a fluid burning like embers flowed from the severed surface.
Experience gained.