The mist swallowed him, and as soon as his torso passed through, the pain appeared. His entire body trembled violently as a horrible burning sensation spread through his muscles, reaching his chest, stomach, and head, as if tiny needles were being driven into every living cell from the inside.
"Aaaahhh!"
Enrico fell to his knees with a dull thud against the rocky ground, but tried to remain conscious.
His eyes trembled within their sockets, and his heart raced as if it were trying to escape whatever was consuming the inside of his body.
'Poisoning... from the Mana Zone...'
Enrico's body belonged to someone who was still in Circle Zero, and, in that part of the cave, the concentration of mana was so dense and corrupted that it seemed alive, aggressive, and hungry. The air he breathed was practically pure poison for someone like him.
Veins began pulsing with a dark tone across his arms as the pain intensified. Even with difficulty, Enrico tried to crawl forward, but could barely move his fingers after moving the rocks.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
The only thing preventing him from losing consciousness was a fixed thought in his mind.
'If I can't endure this now... then I'll die later, when something even worse appears.'
With every second, his body seemed to implode from within, but even so, Enrico did not turn back. If he wanted to become strong, he couldn't retreat now.
'Calm down. You can't scream or waste air unnecessarily. Breathe deeply.'
Enrico forced himself to control his breathing and, after some effort, managed to crawl to a rock near the wall. He sat behind it and leaned his back against the stone, trying to endure the pain.
'If it weren't for the necklace, I would already be dead. This necklace is reducing the pain considerably.'
He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
'And I have to stay here for at least an entire day? Damn... Enrico, why did your potential have to be so low?'
The potential of that body was even lower than Tolen's, who was already considered someone with little potential. It wouldn't be surprising if Enrico were the character with the lowest potential in that world. If someone else hadn't taken over that body, he probably wouldn't even have reached fifty percent of Circle Zero during the first year.
'To make matters worse, the first three Circles are considered the easiest to advance through. I have to break my limit soon.'
If he managed to reach the state of "breaking the limit," the potential of that body would reach the same level as Tolen's before he also broke his own limit.
'That's why I admire him. He managed to increase his own potential. I mean, he was still below average when he broke the limit, but he was only one step below.'
Enrico continued breathing in a controlled manner while observing the surrounding area, making sure there were no Ranvil-level Nartheis nearby.
'Besides, I'll increase my potential again when I get the pacts.'
[What are you planning to do? You know, with your pact, I'm curious, since it still needs to be approved.]
'How curious... I'll tell you now, so the Constellations can start analyzing it.'
[That's right, tell me.]
'The system really seems excited. Wait, why is it excited? That scares me. I know. It must be because it wants to add some disadvantage, just like with the previous pact.'
[Do you think I'm really that cruel?]
'Yes.'
Enrico's face showed no doubt whatsoever.
[...You didn't even hesitate, did you? Now I'm really sad.]
'Anyway, I'm sure they'll accept it.'
[Quite confident, aren't you? Very well, tell me.]
Enrico took a slightly deep breath before revealing his proposal.
'The pact is like this: in exchange for increasing my potential by only one step, I will get Fire Cancer.'
[What? What is that? It sounds really serious.]
Fire Cancer was a disease caused when a fire mage received the Phoenix's Curse. The potential of those who possessed this curse seemed to increase, but there was a price. Once a month, the person had to survive a specific hellish day of that month. And with each new month, that day became even worse.
'And finally, the curse always kills the person who possesses it when they reach nineteen years old, if they don't die beforehand during one of the previous months.'
[Hey, wait. So you're going to die at nineteen even if you manage to survive all of that?]
'There is a way to partially cure it: receive the blessing of the God Apollo or reach the Eighth Circle.'
[But wouldn't that be impossible for someone with that potential? Even if it improves, from what you said, it will only reach the same level as Tolen when he broke that limit.]
'If I don't take risks, I'll die anyway. I have to increase this body's potential, and I'm sure these Constellations will do something to make this even worse.'
[What do you mean?]
Enrico could already move a little better. When he looked at his own Fire Circle Zero, he noticed that his percentage had increased and was now at 72%.
'The pain from this disease increases every month. If I start now, wouldn't it be too easy for the Constellations?'
The system remained silent for several minutes before finally responding, as if it had received a message.
[You're right. The Constellations just called me and said they will make a roulette to decide which month will be the first month of this disease, starting from the month this body was born until the current month.]
'Well, that surprised me. They're going to leave it to luck. This could be very bad or very good.'
Enrico seemed relieved, but at the same time, he remained worried. Before he could think about it any further, an explosion was heard far above them.
[Is it Serenya and Valença?]
'No. It must be the battle for this territory between the mages and the Nartheis. In the original story, around this time, there was a great battle where the mages won. It was a two-day battle.'
[They're not in danger, then?]
'No. They shouldn't even be able to hear it, since this battle is happening in the Mana Zone above. The concentration of mana is so great that it created its own dimension in that place covered by the mist. Besides, I made sure to cover the hole as well as possible so they wouldn't see it.'
Enrico continued thinking while trying to breathe properly. The pressure in that place was enormous, and even remaining seated required effort. After some time, he put his hand into his pocket and took out a small bag with bread.
'Thank you, Mr. Damian, for the necklace.'
[Why doesn't he make more of these necklaces?]
'Well, because he needs to sacrifice a lot of his own mana to create one. This necklace restores everything that was destroyed, and we can say that it only recovers the mana he spent two years later. He only has two, and one is with me now.'
Enrico gave an amused smile at the thought.
[Please don't make that smile. It's disgusting.]
Enrico began to want to laugh.
'Right, well... this limitation was placed by an unknown God, because I think the world would become boring if there were a bunch of these.'
[What a petty God.]
'Yeah... He is pretty petty in the original story—'
Before he could continue, Enrico felt an overwhelming pressure that made him stop immediately. His breathing, which was already difficult because of the density of the mana in that place, became even heavier. His entire body stiffened as he tried to understand what was happening.
Then, he felt a finger touch his shoulder several times.
Enrico slowly turned his head.
"How interesting. I didn't think I would find such horrible potential in this world. You will certainly be useful."
To his surprise, a Nartheis was standing behind him. She had long black hair, half of which was completely white, while a mask covered her face from the eyes to the mouth, forming a kind of cross. Her body seemed to be made of gray stone-like skin, marked by black lines that ran across her legs, hands, and torso.
Enrico couldn't see her statistics, but there was one piece of information that appeared clearly before his eyes.
Rank: Ranvil.
His heart raced.
"Hello, boy. I hope you don't die, because I need you to do something for me."
Even though he couldn't see her entire face, Enrico was certain that she was smiling.
Name: ?????????
Rank: Ranvil