The temperature in the room began to drop slowly. Some of the magic stones that served as lighting started to dim—leaving a darker but deeper impression.
The sound of water droplets from the pointed stones on the room's ceiling echoed. Each drop seemed to carry its own unique rhythm.
Amid all that beauty, the smell of iron still hung in the thin air. Down below, several ogre corpses lay scattered lifelessly. In addition, there was a weak body among them that was still struggling to survive.
Celis remained lying down for two full hours. He had lost consciousness with his body still filled with layers of pain.
His eyes slowly began to move, showing signs that he was starting to regain awareness. His face furrowed very clearly, expressing the pain that was coming.
His eyes then opened. Several times he blinked with a body that had already lost a lot of strength.
"What… did I lose consciousness?" he whispered in a weak voice.
He wanted to stand up to find out more about what happened after fighting the five ogres.
"If it keeps going like this, I'll become easy prey. Especially if that pack of monsters comes."
He was only talking to himself because there was no one else he could talk to.
Celis tried to stand, but the heaviness in his body wouldn't go away. When he used his hands as support to stand, a strong tremor occurred. One of the factors was that his energy was already depleted and his muscles were extremely exhausted from contraction.
Because his effort was in vain, he dragged his body with full struggle. He gripped every small crevice in the floor to help pull his almost paralyzed body.
He finally managed to reach the wall to position himself in the most comfortable position—sitting with his legs stretched forward. His back leaned against the damp stone wall.
The dizziness in his head still remained.
He only stared at one of the flickering magic stones with tired eyes. The hunger in his stomach had turned into pain that would feel even worse if he didn't get any intake.
He then closed his eyes in silence. In his heart, he offered a prayer for himself.
'If this world can become my home someday… I can leave peacefully.'
Having no family, friends, or anyone precious would make it very difficult to survive the harshness of the world. They were the light that repelled every cruelty of the problems already present in the wheel of fate.
Celis glanced to the side because there was an iron smell piercing his nose. He caught sight of the ogre carcass that he had previously killed with a slash.
He briefly thought about using that ogre's body as food. Remembering that the monster walked on two legs made him hesitant to take this step.
There was no other choice because finding food was impossible with a body that couldn't even lift a small stone.
"There's no other path I can choose. I'll do it."
He shifted his body closer to the ogre corpse that had been split into two.
His hand picked up a sharp-pointed stone with a sharp edge to cut the meat.
Celis slowly began to slice every inch of the flesh while holding his breath. The thin oxygen made him almost nauseous as it mixed with the smell of blood.
His hands were covered in dark red blood, but he took the part that looked more acceptable compared to the other side.
After getting a large piece, he shifted his body farther away from the corpses there.
"Finally I don't have to smell that rotten stench anymore…" he said in a whisper. He was now in a place farther from the corpses.
His face now looked confused.
"How do I use this meat?"
An idea flashed in his mind.
"How do I turn mana into fire magic?"
He still didn't understand the potential of every basic mana structure. The mysterious knowledge inside him was no longer working in his thought system.
Celis tried to think hard while continuing to stare at the large piece of meat. He did it in the hope that a miracle would happen.
Tuk!
One of the magic stones illuminating the room fell from where it was attached.
The sound of the falling object instantly broke his focus.
His gaze now shifted toward the sound of the falling object. He caught sight of the crystal emitting a warm radiation.
"This?"
Without thinking long, Celis touched the surface of that crystal stone.
"Aw! It's hot!"
His finger felt burned and he reflexively blew on the tip of his finger.
He began to pour his thoughts. The magic stones neatly attached to every wall did not emit heat. Especially since he had previously held one of them.
Now he found a point where there was something different compared to the other crystals. The emission from this crystal was unstable, as if the mana in its central system was disturbed.
After realizing all that, he finally conducted his first experiment.
His body shifted closer. His hand lifted with his fingertips aimed at the object.
He slowly began to control mana little by little. This was difficult for him because controlling every basic required hard effort.
A warm sensation began to gather at his fingertips along with a faint blue light emission.
Celis understood that if he could change even a little of the crystal's structure, there would be a different result in every reaction.
The mana inserted into the stone successfully changed the structure, but it also didn't guarantee the desired result.
He looked at the stone seriously.
"I'm just trying to make a grilling tool. I hope this works. It would be really bad if I had to eat the monster meat raw."