Chapter 1 - Chapter 1- Thrown into the Forbidden Region

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Race: Vey'zareth

Age: 14 Zyretheil years

Class: not found

Talent: none

Velhara Level: not unlocked

Skills: none yet

Curse: not active>>

Kaelen woke up when that strange dream occurred, in which he saw his own growth status. Yet, as far as he knew, no one was supposed to receive that status until they turned fifteen. So why had his turn come early?

Just as the 14-year-old boy managed to open his eyes, a strange sight immediately entered his vision.

All around him, countless strange creatures were surrounding him. Kaelen didn't even know what he was lying on now. But when he tried to get up from his sleeping position, Kaelen felt unbearable pain in his chest, forcing one of his hands to clutch at it.

"My Elarith?" Kaelen muttered as he looked down and found his chest seemingly hollow.

Kaelen's shock grew when he realized that a silver crystal shaped like a crescent moon—with a small black orb in its center resembling the sun—embedded in his chest had disappeared.

His thick eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to remember where the crystal, encircled by two silver rings—one positioned vertically and the other horizontally, each rotating in opposite directions—had gone.

Without that Elarith, someone of his race would not survive more than three days and three nights. For that object functioned as the magic core that channeled energy throughout the body.

And mana itself was the life center of a non-human being like him.

As his mind stubbornly tried to recall what had happened before, Kaelen suddenly felt his body lifted up by the giant brown grasshopper-like creatures.

These creatures hoisted Kaelen atop their thin horns, then cheered loudly and carried him away.

"Hey, what are you doing? Where are you taking me? Let me go! I don't even know any of you!" Kaelen shouted, struggling to resist.

But aside from his mind still trying to process what had happened, the strength of these creatures was far too great for Kaelen to mount any real resistance.

Along the way, the grasshopper-like beings—who Kaelen was certain were not of his race—kept cheering in a language Kaelen could not understand.

But judging from their tone and intonation, Kaelen could tell they were cheering joyfully—like they had just obtained some precious treasure.

"Oh gods, what should I do now? Forget how I ended up here. The only thing I should be thinking about is how to escape and keep myself alive for the time being," he told himself inwardly.

He then touched his chest again with an expression that couldn't be explained. "Now I only have three days left to live. Life or death—it will all be decided by what I do from this moment on."

Lying on his back, Kaelen could clearly see the structure of this place from below. Suddenly his forehead creased as he realized the place resembled a Colosseum.

He quickly moved his head left and right, then turned around. Judging from its structure, this place didn't consist of just one level. It was well-structured and layered.

The layer Kaelen currently occupied appeared greener, with many trees and plants. Huge hanging roots of various shapes occasionally brushed against Kaelen's body.

Meanwhile, the second layer—above where he now stood—looked like barren land, more like hell itself. The soil and aura radiating from it glowed reddish, with steam constantly rising.

"Wait, don't tell me I'm inside one of the Forbidden Regions known as Xal'zarioth?" Kaelen's blue eyes widened even more as he realized his guess might be correct.

As his gaze scanned the entire structure, Kaelen spotted its peak. There were more than nine layers—nine realms in total. And at the very top was an exit glowing brightly with sunlight.

That confirmed his suspicion: this was indeed Xal'zarioth—or what was also called the Layered World. But how had he ended up here?

Kaelen began struggling again. He twisted his body back and forth, trying to ignore the pain coursing through him, especially in his hollow chest. "Let me go, damn it! I have nothing to do with you people! Release me!"

Right after his last shout, the creatures suddenly stopped walking. For a moment Kaelen was stunned—had they actually obeyed his words?

But a split second later, his body was dropped roughly onto the ashen ground.

"Ah!" Kaelen gasped in pain as he felt his back ache. He writhed desperately, his already battered body feeling even more shattered.

Soon, the crowd of creatures surrounding him began stepping back in an orderly fashion. At first, Kaelen thought they were leaving him behind.

But he was wrong. The monsters had merely stepped back a few paces to form a formation—trapping Kaelen in the center.

Moreover, they all moved in unison, turning to face Kaelen directly with blank, unnatural stares.

Even in pain, Kaelen noticed this. Clutching his chest with one hand, he tried to sit upright despite the soreness, stiffness, and crushing ache that wracked his body all at once.

He stared at each of the creatures around him.

It was then Kaelen realized something: their gazes were completely vacant, as if under hypnosis or some kind of spell.

Still observing intently, Kaelen was startled when a root suddenly shot up before him. If he hadn't reflexively spread his legs, one of them would've been impaled.

He almost cursed before finally noticing who stood before him.

It was a creature nearly five meters tall, its entire body like a giant tree, its torso and upper body entwined with green roots swaying behind its back.

The green figure walked toward Kaelen using dozens of roots of varying sizes that served as its legs, closing the distance until only about twenty centimeters remained between them.

Kaelen's body trembled violently—not from pain, but from fear. The most terrifying part of this creature was its five large eyes just below its thick foliage, and its face that resembled the flat trunk of a tree.

"I'm sure I've seen this creature in a book. If I'm not mistaken, this should be one of the Zorgathr—monsters with consciousness—that inhabit the lowest layer of Xal'zarioth. If I've reached this place, could it be I'm actually in Elyndor? The bottommost layer of the nine-tiered Xal'zarioth?" Kaelen kept questioning inwardly, for there was nothing he could do without understanding the root of the problem.

It wasn't surprising that Kaelen knew all this, even though he was still so young. That was because he lived in a world where only the strong and the intelligent survived.

From childhood—even from infancy—people in this world were immediately confronted with life and death. If they lost, they had no place here.

So this wasn't the first time he'd faced a life-or-death situation. The difference was, before he had his Elarith—which also determined his talent. Now that it was gone, his natural talent had vanished too.

Not long after, hot air swept across Kaelen's face as the creature sniffed his body, exhaling heated vapor that, paradoxically, grew colder by the second.

Kaelen froze. He wasn't sure he could escape the grasp of these beings—creatures he had never even imagined could exist.

He had read about them in books. But he always thought they were just bedtime stories for children. Because even though he had lived in Zyretheil—the Cursed Land—Kaelen had clung to his innocence, believing such things were only myths.

"He is a perfect offering for Vazyrath Mudrienne," the creature said after pulling away from Kaelen and turning toward the grasshoppers, who Kaelen assumed were its followers.

Or perhaps simply servants under the command of this tree monster.

"Understood, Elder!" they replied in unison. They were like puppets, moved solely by their leader. Without being commanded, they would neither speak nor move.

"You must guard him well until the moon Aelurnis reveals itself in the sky. If that time comes and we fail to present the offering, you know what will happen to Elyndor afterward."

"Understood, Elder!"

Swallowing hard, Kaelen fell silent as he listened to their conversation. For some reason, he could suddenly understand their language, though earlier he hadn't grasped a single word.

What Kaelen thought at that moment was that perhaps they had switched to a tongue he could comprehend—so he would realize just how dangerous this place was.

Yet something else tugged at Kaelen's curiosity. "An offering? Vazyrath? Does this mean they intend to sacrifice me to their supreme feminine leader?"

Among monsters who possessed self-awareness and could evolve—born from primordial hatred—they usually chose one supreme leader.

And Kaelen was certain their leader carried a feminine aura. That was why they referred to her as Vazyrath. In their world, monsters—especially those dwelling in the Forbidden Regions—generally had no gender.

Realizing the danger he was in, Kaelen's body began emitting spirit vapor—an energy of faint light flickering across his skin, replacing the function of sweat.

Spirit vapor emerged when one felt fear, exhaustion, or when the body demanded perspiration.

Kaelen forced his bones to move. One way or another, he had to escape this place.

Once the living tree—whom Kaelen believed to be the leader of the grasshoppers surrounding him—had walked away, Kaelen's eyes scanned the area again.

Far behind the rows of giant grasshoppers now standing with blank stares, Kaelen spotted a place untouched by light—directly beneath the layer above.

Seeing this made Kaelen think, "If I can get there, I might have a chance to escape. But how do I get past these creatures with my body nearly destroyed?"

His eyes kept rolling over the creatures forming a living fence around him. Then he remembered: "They only move or speak when their leader gives the order. Now that their leader has gone, does that mean I can leave without resistance?"

The boy didn't really have the courage to test his theory. But if he didn't try, he would just end up as a helpless sacrifice.

So the only option was to find out—even if it risked his life.

Slowly, Kaelen began moving his legs. It hurt, but not as badly as when he had been thrown earlier. He winced softly, nearly silent, for fear the creatures might notice.

He kept his eyes fixed on them as he struggled to stand.

When he finally stood upright, the dozens of grasshoppers indeed made no reaction. Out of curiosity, Kaelen waved his hand right in front of their faces, yet still they did not move.

The corners of his lips curled upward, giving him confidence. "Looks like they really do move only by command."

Ignoring his wariness, Kaelen then tried walking calmly. But suddenly a thorn-covered root slithered around him, binding his body and stopping him in his tracks.

Kaelen screamed involuntarily when the thorns pierced his flesh. "ARGHH!!"

Realizing his actions had been noticed, his body went stiff. Reflexively, he clamped his mouth shut, though he still grimaced in pain.

He writhed desperately, trying to break free. "Why was I still caught? It doesn't seem like the leader came back here. Could it be they've been watching me all along, waiting for the right moment to strike?"

"You must not escape. The Elder commanded you to stay still, so you must remain until the appointed time," said one of the grasshoppers—using a root extending from its abdomen to seize Kaelen.

The moment Kaelen opened his mouth, his body was hoisted high into the air, dangling above a swamp of bluish-black water, whose stench nearly ruined his nose.

"Oh gods, what is this smell? Why is it so foul? Do you throw corpses here after devouring humans until they rot in this swamp?" Kaelen coughed continuously, overwhelmed by the suffocating stench.

Unfortunately, Kaelen's bound hands couldn't even cover his nose. "Oh gods, what a terrible way to die. There's no way I'll last until the Aelurnis moon rises above."

After muttering those words, Kaelen suddenly sensed something odd. His mind snapped back into focus.

"But why Aelurnis? Out of the eighteen moon phases in Zyretheil, why did they choose Aelurnis?" Kaelen wondered inwardly, his gaze returning to the creatures now standing still like statues once more.