Chapter 70: Covert Beginnings

Infinite Mana in the Apocalypse

Passing over the tall walls, we went down towards the road that led to the buildings that shined with lights further in. The guards warned me once again before telling me not to break even more rules like flying over the lands. Only people given specific recognition could do this and go from one place to another

If you didn't have that recognition, then even if you were allowed permission to enter the four land masses floating in the sky that people in higher positions resided in, you would have to walk on the long bridges leading towards them

I watched the environment around me as I walked further in, noticing many guards patrolling at every point. My power that only seemed to give off the vibes of rank S did not raise any eyebrows, as there were many guards at rank A and the captains leading them seemed to be rank S

I soon reached the buildings where even this late at night, there was a bustle of activities going on. The buildings were built in a medieval style, looking like grand ancient architecture that shone with the balls of light that were lined up across the streets

I could see various pubs and restaurants, with a few larger buildings that seemed like hotels apparent at every corner. The people walking around looked no different than the humans I have known all my life.

Some had fair complexions and others had dark complexions. Hair colors of all sorts were abundant though, as I had seen a few people sporting radiant red hair, some blue, and others extremely dark shining hair. There were even a few mixtures of humans and beasts, where some people were walking around with tails or others had ears or other facial characteristics of beasts. I marveled at the sight of all these new faces

Many of the people I met seemed to be rank F or E awakened individuals as they let off weak levels of power while the large percentage remained as normal humans. But the number of people that would be considered awakened definitely exceeded the numbers you would commonly see in the Empire or United Federation

I continued walking around and taking in the new sights as I went further in. At the center of this entrance town was a building standing out amongst the many that surrounded it. It had a striking set of words plastered at the front, it was [Mercenary's Hideout]

It seemed like I had found the place to begin my journey in this world as I opened the wide doors into the boisterously loud building. It was a busy scene as people moved in and out

There were seats and tables in one section where people were eating and conversing, and there was another section that looked like a place where official business took place with workers standing behind a counter

The conversations were fairly interesting as I listened in while observing everything around me

"Hey hey hey, how can you drink so comfortably when demons are building their forces to come kill all of us huh?!"

"Bah you worry too much! The Frozen Kingdom has never fallen in the millenium of its creation, you think some ugly mugs would swoop down and do it in a few years?"

"Ugly mugs? You obviously haven't fought against them before, they're relentless and fight with everything they have. Trash like you wouldn't stand a chance!"

A few drunks were trading insults back and forth at the state of affairs, talking about heavy topic with a light hearted tone. From the information I received from the System, the demons they mentioned were the same ones that targeted my world. They were able to set a foothold in the Beast World and are now expanding their forces to conquer every corner of the world

The Frozen Kingdom was one of the remaining kingdoms that stood strong against them. I had found out the identity of the enemies that caused a tremendous amount of pain and death, and I was ready to begin rising up in this world by taking everything I could

So how would I go about it? Nearly infinite mana to play with, but currently only at rank S, and only holding a few rank S skills at that. I haven't even been able to max my attributes while absorbing rank S cores.

From the possible pathways discussed with the System, becoming a mercenary in this world was the fastest way to do this. Mercenaries commissioned by the kingdoms took the role of defending it in the front lines whenever rogue beasts or demons threatened them, and were routinely tasked with forming groups and reducing the size of the beasts populating Nests.

An example of a Nest was one the large landmasses floating in the air that I had seen while flying over here. Nests were a place where large amounts of essence congregated, giving birth to a multitude of beasts continuously

Were these nests left alone, mindless beasts would overflow and eventually a large amount can rise up to threaten the safety of the surrounding Kingdoms.

From piecing together the memories of the three fairly knowledgable rank S beasts that I took down which the System absorbed half of their essence, the Frozen Kingdom currently had three Nests in its nearby surroundings that were monitored and routinely cleared if needed. I could only imagine the beasts congregating in those nest, as even while observing one more than a mile away, I could already feel powerful presences that I hadn't come across before

They posed high levels of danger, but to me, they were also huge opportunities to rapidly gain more rank A and S skillbooks, as well as skills of the next rank. They were one of the main ways I would be increasing my power rapidly before I found a way to grow my influence and work to limit the expansion of the demon forces until I can move on to the next stage

But currently, I was in a different world that had an entirely different way of living, with no money for anything.

I looked through the many cores I had farmed the few days that I spent in the Blessed Empire before coming over here. The cores that condensed from the beasts that hunters killed under the system of strength that the planetary core instituted were a broken down collection of essences that were more easily absorbable by the newly awakening hunters

Beasts normally had their own essence cores in their bodies, but when killed by the hunters with the system these essence cores would be extracted and changed to smaller cores if they were normal beasts, or into either cores and skill books or items if they were powerful beasts considered as a BOSS or TITAN

The inhibitants of this world were all born differently, with some like the dragons receiving innate skills and energy from its powerful bloodline, or humans training for years taking in the essence of the world while also killing and absorbing the cores of beasts and honing their usage of essence to create deadly and destructive ways of using their energy. People and beastfolk like these usually took the role of mercenaries, adventures, or as soldiers that defended their respective kingdoms.

But the fact that cores were widespread and used universally meant that I had the currency of this world, albeit it was broken down into small portions.

I approached one of the desks that held a stern woman with a business demeanor and pulled out a few cores to exchange for the common currency as the gears in my mind continued to churn while absorbing and learning everything about this new world.