Chapter 29 - Human

Alex gathered everything he owned and checked if he got everything.

After looking over his broken shed one more time, he nodded in appreciation.

Then, Alex jogged towards the south.

It had been about half a year since he had arrived in this world, and today, he would finally leave this wilderness!

He had killed the ice bear about two or three months ago, and he had already used up all of the fruits he had gotten from the hedgehog.

Near the end, Alex had realized that the fruits weren't that useful anymore.

He would need over ten fruits for one attempted suicide of training.

That wasn't so bad, and Alex could still get some use out of the fruits.

However, there was a problem.

For the past three days, the hedgehog had refused to appear in front of Alex.

No matter how much he searched or how many fires Alex lit, the hedgehog just wouldn't come out anymore.

Without the hedgehog, Alex's progress had slowed down severely. Now, he could only train with the normal meditation, which felt far too slow to him.

Additionally, Alex hadn't found another beast on the level of the ice bear in the past couple of months.

Sure, Alex had found a couple new creatures, but they were all about as strong as the Stalker.

By now, Alex could beat a Stalker without even needing to use his sword.

His body was just that powerful.

Because of that, Alex had decided that it was time for him to leave the safety of the basin.

It was time to see the wider world!

Alex jogged leisurely, but he still moved faster than the fastest human on Earth could sprint.

The trees acted as obstacles, which made Alex's journey a bit awkward, but he arrived at the edge of the basin in about an hour.

If he could run in a straight line, he could easily get there in less than half an hour.

Alex touched his new coat and kept hold of his sword.

He didn't know what would await him on the other side of the mountain.

The basin was surrounded by mountains, and Alex would be traveling through a natural pathway between two of the mountains. He would need to awkwardly climb to a height of about 500 meters to pass the mountains. That wasn't really hard for his new body, but it was still higher than all of the trees in the forest.

Even more, Alex wouldn't be surrounded by the forest anymore. Any beast would be able to see him as soon as he started climbing the mountain.

Alex still remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen near the mountains on his first day.

Alex was uncertain if he could win against such a beast.

At least, the mystery of why no truly powerful beast entered the basin had been solved.

It was obviously the hedgehog.

In the past, Alex had been unsure of why no powerful beast had been here. After all, the hedgehog couldn't be everywhere at once, right?

Well, in a certain sense, the hedgehog could be everywhere at once.

Its needles could.

The hedgehog would probably hear or smell the gigantic beasts. Then, it would run there and shoot them down from hundreds of meters away.

Alex guessed that the hedgehog hadn't used his needles earlier since one needle probably cost it more Mana or energy than the prey was worth.

However, if it were something like that big lizard, it would probably be worth it.

The mystery of why there hadn't been any powerful sea creatures had also been solved.

A river stretched through the basin, and logically, there should be a couple of powerful creatures.

Well, these creatures had obviously been consumed by the octopus.

Sure, with the death of the octopus, powerful sea creatures would probably appear in the basin, but Alex knew his own limits.

He could attempt to fight a powerful land creature, emphasis being on attempt, but he wouldn't have any chance when fighting such a creature in the water.

The basin had become useless to Alex, and it was time to move on.

Alex looked at the path he would travel to, took a deep breath, and started climbing.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you."

Alex's heart nearly stopped in fright.

Alex quickly turned around and saw something he hadn't seen in over six months.

A human!

An actual human!

Behind Alex stood a middle-aged man in green robes. These robes reminded Alex of several dramas playing in the middle-ages. These were the robes that a dignitary would wear. They radiated splendor and respect.

He had green hair and a black beard, making him appear a bit mismatched.

Even more, Alex felt Mana revolve around the person.

There was so much Mana!

'First human contact in the new world! Don't be awkward!'

"Yo!" Alex said with a slightly raised hand.

It was normal to greet others like this on the street. It was a relaxed greeting.

The man raised an eyebrow in skepticism when he heard Alex's greeting.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked.

Since Alex could pay attention to the words now, he noticed that the words didn't sound English, but they felt like English to Alex. The man obviously spoke a different language, but Alex felt like he was speaking English.

It was a weird feeling.

It was like a badly dubbed movie.

"I've been living here for the past six months, and I lived in the wilderness to become more powerful," Alex explained.

The man nodded.

Then, the man pointed at Alex while reciting some confusing words.

Alex's hair stood up.

Was that a spell?!

Would the man attack him?!

Alex immediately jumped to the side and ran into the distance.

The man was surprised as he stopped chanting.

He only looked at Alex running away.

Then, the man spoke a couple of words.

It didn't even take him a second to speak all of them.

BOOOOM!

An explosion of wind appeared behind the man, and his body shot forward with absolutely ridiculous speeds!

It was like he had been shot out of a gun!

WHOOOM!

The man appeared in front of Alex in less than a second, and after another small explosion of wind, his body stopped.

Alex's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the man in front of him.

Just now, the man had been even faster than the hedgehog!

"Calm down," the man said evenly. "My first word was +%&. You should know that this word is reserved for investigative spells."

In Alex's mind, the word the man was referring to sounded like pure gibberish. It didn't even sound like an actual word. It was more like a weird combination of noises that made no sense.

However, Alex knew that he couldn't do anything against the man if he wanted to try something on him.

It was better to simply follow his instructions.

The man spoke the same words again, and after a while, Alex felt Mana gather around his body.

Alex's body subconsciously absorbed the Mana, and Alex immediately felt refreshed.

However, Alex was still confused about what the man was actually doing.

The man stroked his black beard in thought. "It's just as I've thought. You're a Physi."

"A Physi? What's that?" Alex asked.

The man raised his eyebrow again as he heard Alex's question.

Was something wrong with this kid's head?

"Physi, as in, physical fighter, someone that can't practice Magic," the man said.

'Physi?' Alex thought with an uncomfortable expression. 'That sounds like a nickname for a group of people in high school or college. Is that how physical fighters are referred to in this world, Physi?'

"What are you then? A Magi?" Alex asked.

"Mage," the man answered.

For a while, the man had been suspicious of Alex's supposed memory loss and lack of common knowledge.

However, if Alex were truly acting, his acting skills would be deserving of several awards.

There was no way that someone this weak could act this well in front of him.

"Why did you say that I shouldn't go to the mountain? I want to leave," Alex said.

"A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard has its nest between those two mountains. If you disturb it, you will die," the man said.

"A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard? What's that?" Alex asked.

"Greyish-brown lizard," the man answered. "About twenty meters long with an Earth Affinity. Gravel Lizards are beasts at the Second Realm. A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard is in the middle of the Second Realm."

The man pointed at Alex.

"Judging by your physical power, you are in the Late First Realm. By fighting smartly and with lots of preparation, you can maybe attempt to fight a beast at the Peak of the First Realm, but one in the Middle Second Realm will directly kill you," the man said.

Alex nodded, and his eyes shone in curiosity.

Finally, he could get some actual information about this world!

These Realms the man was referring to were probably a sort of classification or quantification for power. The man had said that Alex was in the Late First Realm. Alex assumed that he had come to this world while being in the Initial First Realm, which meant he had made quite some progress.

However, according to logic, a Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard was probably stronger than Alex just as much as the current Alex was stronger than the past Alex.

The past Alex and the current Alex couldn't be compared.

Alex also remembered something else.

"I've also seen a polar bear, which was about three meters high and could condense ice spears. What was that?" Alex asked.

"Ice Spear Bear, straightforward name. Beast of the First Realm. It sounds like a High-Grade Ice Spear Bear, according to what you've said. Did you kill one?" the man asked.

Alex nodded.

The man nodded back.

"Quite impressive for a Physi. You two should be at the same level. It's not a given that a human can fight against a beast on the same level. Well, at least not as a Physi," the man explained.

Alex scratched his chin in thought. 'My body has become far stronger now. I guess, back when I fought the Ice Spear Bear, my body was probably in the middle First Realm.'

Alex glanced at the man.

'However, I probably shouldn't tell him that. I don't know him.'

"What brings you here?" Alex asked the man.

"I'm here to ask you a question," the man said.

"Ask away," Alex answered.

"What happened to the Old Ice Octopus in the lake of this forest?"

Alex's body shook.

Now, he knew why this man was here.

He was investigating what happened to the octopus!

Even more, Alex knew why they were probably interested in it.

The ethereal spire!

And where was the ethereal spire right now?

Alex stealthily hid his left arm.