Aftermath.

As I looked at the lifeless, unrecognisable corpse of what used to be Michale, I felt an emotion I had never felt before. It was so strong, even Mage's fortitude couldn't completely nullify it.

'What a mess...', I thought to myself.

I deactivated Mage's fortitude and immediately collapsed to the ground out of pain.

It hurt all over. I couldn't just focus on one point, my entire body hurt like it was a pin cushion.

All kinds of emotions rushed through me.

After the headache subsided, which took about 2 minutes, I could see my own body bleeding profusely.

I quickly cast some healing energy magic spells. It didn't really heal completely, just stopped the bleeding and killed the pain a bit.

But now, my body was feeling numb.

I tried not to look at Michale's corpse, as I knew that if I did, I would most probably throw up.

The new feeling I was talking about before? It was the feeling of hollow.

I was feeling so weak. Both mentally and physically.

'I lied to myself... I was never strong... I was always weak...', I thought.

It's true. I'm not talented enough to even be considered a mage. My mental strength is nothing compared to the main cast... The only reason I'm still alive is that I stole some artifacts and skills from the would-be villains...

I'm weak... Deep down, I always knew that... That was the reason I planned everything so thoroughly before doing anything. I contemplated a thousand times before doing something.

I counted on my intelligence, foresight and knowledge of the novel to get stronger...

'Haha... how foolish... Plans always get deviated... Intelligence? Without the Mage's fortitude skill, I'm as smart as a rock... Knowledge about the novel? That's irrelevant now that this has happened.'

'I've lost my most powerful weapon, my knowledge about the novel... My other weapons are strong but unreliable...'

"Haha... aren't I fucked?", I chuckled.

I don't even know why I'm laughing...

Beneath all of the skills, artifacts and gear, I wasn't a strong person at all.

"keuk...", once again, my true nature surfaced. A weak, pathetic little boy who thinks he's all that just because he's got a few wins under his belt...

'I don't wanna die here!', I thought as I cried.

At the end of the day, I was back to my original self... No improvement whatsoever...

But then, my mood slowly changed.

'I don't wanna die here...'

'No, I can't die here!'

I thought before wiping off my tears.

'Even if I have lost a major part of my power, I won't give up...'

'I can't give up!'

With newfound determination and my body's condition in a slightly better position, I stood up.

'I won't die just because of some stupid novel... I will survive and return back home... To my parents... and my friends...', I thought.

After sorting out my head, I limped towards the Elvish Pine tree to activate the quest and get the Spirit Boots. I'll absolutely need them to survive in the future...

'I'll need every single artefact I can get my hands on to survive... I'll no longer delay anything... I'll plan things even better and have backup plans for backup plans... And... I'll do absolutely anything to survive...', I looked back at Michale's corpse.

'Even if I have to take lives... Because... at the end of the day, it is I who is the most important entity in my own life. Why should I care what others think or feel? I will prioritize my own goals over everything else...', I turned back to the Elvish Pine tree and continued to limp towards it.

But after having that dark thought, I suddenly, out of nowhere, remembered an image. A beautiful image of a gorgeous girl smiling and laughing. Her eyes looked like it was made of blood and her hair was a beautiful shade of off-white...

I smiled bitterly and thought, 'Okay, maybe not EVERYTHING else, haha...'

...

After I reached the tree, I knelt down and broke off a small branch that was protruding out of the trunk and stuck it into a hole in the same trunk.

A blue window with a notification sound popped up-

[Congratulations on finding the {Spiritual Resting Grounds}!]

[You will now be able to access the {Spiritual Resting Grounds}!]

[Special Access granted: {Elvish Trust}. With this, you can travel into Elvish territory without much restriction.]

'Oh? A new thing I had no idea about... I'm not really surprised...', I thought.

The tree suddenly started to vibrate and soon, the ground was also vibrating.

The tree's roots opened up a gate leading underground.

I climbed down and entered the hidden room underneath the tree.

'This room has special protection by the System... whoever made this must be quite strong...', I concluded.

The room's size was about half as big as a hospital ward. Not too big, but big enough to be considered luxurious.

The interior was being lit up by some kind of artificial sun created using magic. The ground was made of soil and was lush green with grass. Some small trees and bushes were in the area, livening things up in the room.

'The foliage is probably all maintained by the System too... After all, when a person creates a quest, they can 'assign' a specific area to be their quest area, and the System preserves that area for a maximum of about 200 years.'

In the middle of the room was a white pillar. Its design looked a lot like ancient Roman and Greek combined... a strangely pleasing-to-the-eye design.

On top of that was a pair of shoes. They were also white in colour and looked like unisex shoes.

I didn't like the colour, but one of its special abilities is colour changing, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[Spirit Boots]

[Type: Artifact]

[Grade: A]

[Special Ability: Fatigue Reduction, Agility Increase, Aesthetic Sense.]

My lips involuntarily smirked as I greedily yoinked the shoes from the small pillar.

'With this, my plan to successfully survive the Dungeon break has increased a lot...', I liked that thought. Especially so, because it was true.