[One week after the goblins and bear encounter]
Beside a rushing river, a young man hovers midair, his body perfectly still as elemental orbs spin lazily around him like a celestial dance. Each orb glows with a distinct hue: crimson flames lick the fire orb, liquid swirls inside the water orb, and crackling energy pulses within the lightning orb. For minutes, he hangs suspended, his brow furrowed in concentration, until the orbs dissolve into motes of light. He lands softly on the mossy bank, dusting off his tunic.
'Ugh… That took everything I had. A whole week of nonstop training — testing elemental magic, inventing spells, and using goblins as glorified target dummies. At least they're good for something besides being pests.
'Sure, having all the elements makes me overpowered, but figuring out how to combine them? That's the real work. Take the dark element — total mindf**. I thought it'd be all curses and blood sacrifices, right? Turns out it's split into two uses, and one of them…* shivers*… Let's just say I'm glad I'm the one wielding it.*
'First use: stealth. Wrap myself in shadows, and poof — invisible. The darkness eats any light touching me, like a black hole wearing a cloak. The second trick? Found it by accident. I was stalking a goblin shaman, right? Stepped on a branch like an idiot. It heard me, panicked, and blasted the whole area with a curse. When the magic hit, my dark element snapped — not like a shield, but like a starving beast. It devoured the curse, and boom — new spell unlocked: {Devour}: "Living or dead, magic or mundane, all things fall to the void."
'Tried it on the shaman afterward. A black circle opened under its feet, and it sank like it was drowning in tar. No body, no crystal… just gone. Cool as hell, but I can't use it often. Need those crystals for cash. Sitting on 98 now.
'Leveling's a slog too. Only hit Level 6. Goblins give crumbs for EXP now. Remember grinding those first 3 levels off four goblins? Feels like a lifetime ago. Pathetic.
'But hey, can't whine. Being OP means I get to pick my fights. Time to dive deeper into the forest. Let's see what else wants to die today.'
[One Week Later]
The man stands motionless in the kobold lair, 20 pairs of amber eyes glaring from the shadows. The creatures snarl, claws scraping stone, but he doesn't flinch. A heartbeat before they leap, the temperature plummets. Frost erupts from his boots, spiderwebbing across the floor, walls, ceiling — and the kobolds freeze mid-lunge, their twisted faces locked in rage.
"Break," he mutters.
The ice shrieks as it fractures, statues crumbling into glittering shards. Crystals rise from the debris, drifting like fireflies into his outstretched palm.
'300 crystals. Not bad. But monsters are getting scarce — like they're fleeing the forest. Did my two-week murder spook them? Whatever. Nowhere's safe if I want it.
'Teleport: Home.'
He blinks out of existence, reappearing in what was once a damp cave. Now, it's a magically sculpted sanctuary: a 6×8×5-meter chamber with smooth obsidian walls and a vaulted ceiling. To the right, a plush king-sized bed draped in emerald silk dominates the space, flanked by a mahogany desk cluttered with scrolls. To the left, a stone bath steams with magically heated water. (Sure, I could've bought the whole bed, but stitching the mattress myself with earth magic? Cheaper, and way more satisfying.)
He peels off his bloodstained clothes, sinking into the bath with a groan. The water tinges pink as grime dissolves.
'Freezing those kobolds? Easy. Merged my Sword Domain with magic, evolving it to {Magic-Sword Domain} — default range 100 meters, but pump in extra mana, and it stretches to a full kilometer. Inside 300 meters, I can slash or cast spells. Beyond that? Pure radar. Like having eyes in the back of my skull.
'Teleportation's thanks to the Fourth Hokage — ripped off his Flying Thunder God technique, basically. Used leftover knowledge from my {Magic Runes} skill (before it fused with Sword Domain) to carve a return rune here. Hit Level 8 too. Tomorrow, the forest's inner ring. But first… sleep.
He towels off, slips into fresh linen clothes bought from the village shop, and collapses onto the bed. Moonlight filters through a fissure in the cave ceiling, painting silver stripes across the room.
'Two weeks… and I'm just getting started.'