บท 15: Leaving Enchanta Grove

"Aaaggghhh, my whole body aches."

Getting off the cold, hard cave floor, Bellator's hungry stomach rumbled.

A splitting pain, comparable to getting stabbed, assaulted his brain as he groggily lifted his head.

'How much time has passed?' Bellator thought, looking at his watch.

Multiple messages were on his watch as his mom worriedly tried to contact him.

'Mom is going to kill me,' Bellator thought as he saw dozens of calls that his mom had sent.

Sending her a message that he was okay, Bellator finally caught sight of the date.

"3 days, no wonder my body hurts so damn much. That means I've spent a total of 10 days here without contacting mom. She's gonna kill me," Bellator thought, a chill running down his spine.

Inspecting his body, dried blood stuck to his skin as a foul odor released from his body.

Circling mana through his storage ring, a portable grill popped out as Bellator decided to make himself a meal.

Taking out all the necessary ingredients, which included a huge steak, soup, and some vegetables, he started cooking as he prepared a meal.

'While the meal prepares, I should check out my new trait,' Bellator thought, excited after all the struggles he went through to obtain it.

Birth Name : Bellator Arctic

Name: Bellator Salvatoris

Age : 16

Rank : G

Talents:

- [Sword Talent]

- [Dagger Talent]

- [Bow Talent]

Weapon Art : None

Bloodline Ability : Locked

Traits : The One Who Sees All

Strength : G-

Agility : G

Mana Control : G

Charm : C+

Endurance : G

Defense : G-

Focusing on his trait, a description came into view.

[Trait: The One Who Sees All] (SSS+)

[Abilities]:

- [Inspect: Allows the user to inspect the status of all items and monsters (growth type: 0%)] (current: G rank)

- [Illusion breaker: Allows the user to see through all illusions]

- [Locked]

*Sigh.*

'After everything I went through to get this, I can't help but feel disappointed,' he thought as he checked his new trait.

Seeing his inspect skill, Bellator intended to use it on something he had been curious about for a while.

Thinking about the necklace, it materialized around his neck as he used inspect on it.

[Seal of the forgotten evil]

[Rank: ???]

[Description: ???]

[Abilities: ???]

[Hidden functions: ???]

'ARE YOU SERIOUS, I STRUGGLED SO MUCH, AND THE TRAIT DOESN'T EVEN SEEM WORTH IT,' Bellator thought, furious.

Pissed off that the trait was more underwhelming than he thought, Bellator failed to notice a burnt smell releasing from his food.

'Shit,' he thought as he quickly switched the portable grill off.

'Nothing is going my way; I've only suffered since getting here.'

As he put his burnt steak on a plate, Bellator immediately devoured his food.

'It's not the best, but it's still edible,' Bellator thought as he finished his meal.

*Sniff.*

Smelling a disgusting odor emanating from his body, Bellator finally realized how dirty his body actually was, dried blood from the wolf stuck to his body.

As a rusty, pungent, metallic smell released from his body.

'Damn, I reek,' he thought as he took out the water from his storage ring.

Quenching his thirst, Bellator got undressed as he poured the water all over his body.

Scrubbing his body down for 15 minutes straight, the blood had finally been cleaned off his skin.

Taking out a new pair of clothes, Bellator put them on as he planned his next actions.

'I don't have much time left. Although I want to go and see my family, if I go home now, it is unlikely that mom will allow me to leave again,' he thought.

'I should go and get the next item. Luckily, I know how to get the item and won't struggle as much as I did here,' Bellator thought as he left the cave.

As a blinding light engulfed his vision, Bellator quickly shut his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light.

'I've been in darkness so long that I forgot what the light looked like.'

Taking the only path he knew, Bellator saw remnants of his battle with the wolf, as the once lively greenery was a dark black color.

On his way, he saw the corpse of the wolf, and seeing it, he had an idea.

' Inspect'

Name : Alpha Miasma Wolf

Rank : G+

Type : Monster

Abilities :

- Poison Mist (G+): Miasma gets released from the pores of its body, causing death and decay. Prolonged exposure to the mist will cause living beings to tire out faster as the poison kills them slowly. Only works on beings G+ rank or lower.

- Poison Blood (G+): Ingesting the blood will poison any living being which is not above G+.

'A monster?, I thought it was a beast, How did a monster get into the forest?' Bellator thought, confused.

'Well, that makes a lot more sense. No wonder it was so intelligent, but it shouldn't be possible for a monster to be here without the Central Union noticing,' Bellator thought, surprised.

'I guess this trait isn't so useless after all. I mean, knowing an enemy's abilities beforehand should give me a big advantage in battles.'

Ignoring the dead wolf's body, Bellator continued his journey.

It seemed luck was on his side as he encountered no beasts, and after several hours of walking, he finally reached the exit.

A commotion could be seen at the entrance as multiple guards watched the entrance, not allowing anyone to enter.

Spotting Bellator, a guard with the insignia of the Central Union immediately shouted at him.

"Hey you!" The guard screamed as he faced Bellator.

Murmurs could be heard as various people tried to approach Bellator, but the guards stopped them.

*Sigh.*

'What now?' Bellator thought, pissed.

As the guard approached Bellator, multiple news anchors could be seen swarming the area as the guards held them back.

The guard immediately took Bellator to a separate area as he was sent for questioning.

"Who are you?" The guard asked as he questioned Bellator.

"My name is Bellator Servantos," he replied, showing the guard his identification.

"Why were you in Enchanta Grove?" The guard asked suspiciously.

"I came here for a hike," Bellator lied without batting an eyelid.

"How long have you been there for?"

"About 10 days," he answered, not sure exactly why they were questioning him.

"While you were there, did you notice anything strange?" The man questioned.

"First, clarify what you mean by strange," Bellator said as he looked at the man seriously.

"Like any monsters? " The guard asked.

'This must be about the wolves'

"Are you talking about the wolves?" Bellator asked.

"Yes," the guard answered happily.

"Can you tell us anything about the wolves you saw? A dungeon break occurred, which we weren't aware of, and you're the only survivor we have seen so far."

"Yeah, sure." As Bellator went on to describe the wolves, a look of shock appeared on the guard's face.

"Why did it have to be miasma wolves, I'm definitely gonna get fired for this," the guard whispered as he listened to Bellator.

"Thank you for your assistance," the guard said.

Standing up to leave the room, the guard quickly stopped Bellator.

"Wait, as an apology from the Central Union, here."

Tapping Bellator's watch with his own, a notification appeared on Bellator's watch.

[25,000 UC has been credited to your account.]

Seeing such a large sum of money, a smile flashed on Bellator's face as he finally left Enchanta Grove.

'It seems this trip had a lot more benefits than I thought,' he thought as he walked away.

'Now onto my next destination.'