Drawbacks

Ms. Shino's eyes glowed as there were magic circles in her retinas. She observed his condition.

"He's not lying. His brain structure is changing at a visible speed."

"Can you heal him? I need to know more."

"We can kill him, capture his spirit and then ask him. Spirits cannot lie."

"Such a thing possible?"

"Yes, but not for me, I don't know Mysticism."

"What's the difference between your magic and Mysticism?"

"Mysticism has a troublesome side effects every time you use it. I used magic and it cost only mana. If I use it too much, the worse thing that can happen is exhaustion unless I put myself to the extreme, I will die.

"Mysticism, however, if you use it even within the limit, it would affect your mind and when you use it more than you should, it might make you crazy and cause you to fall into madness, turning you into a mindless monster." She explained.

Put simply, magic has less consequences than Mysticism but the latter can do what magic can't, take talking with the dead, for example.

"Is Mysticism exist before Divinity?" I pondered.

"It is. It exist way back to the bronze age."

They must've hide it from the public very well.

"Is your magic from Divinity?"

"Yeah, it is. After I gained this power, I learned that magic exist even before Divinity. However, only a few people are blessed by it," she informed thoughtfully.

I grunted in acknowledgement and turned my head to Hanazaki.

"Do you have magic that can seal his powers?"

"I do. Are you not going off his head?"

"No, he still has some uses." I grabbed his left leg, dragging him as I walked to the nearby forest. She followed from behind, nonchalant about the scene.

We entered the forest and walked for half an hour.

"Where are we going?" She asked curiously. After walking for half an hour straight. Her legs felt weak and tired, so she casted a flying spell on herself. Her body rose and suspended in the air, just a few inches away from the ground.

Ryuta didn't answer, instead, he bit his thumb and placed his hand on the ground. Five kilometers in diameter turned into blocks! Her eyes widened in surprise.

She approached the nearest tree. It was made of block. She knocked it a few times with her hand and tiny cracks began to spread. Curious, she knocked a few times, but the crack still remain small.

What will happen if I punch it? She thought to herself. She punched it and the crack getting bigger. She punched a few times until the crack fill the block. The block then breaks and becomes a small icon on the ground.

She bent down to pick up the block. She looked at the tree she just punched. As if mocking the very foundation of reality, the tree remain still despite its middle part just got chop off!

"Fascinating." She returned her gaze to the block on her hand. What can she do with this?

She averted her gaze to me. I already made a wooden axe and began to cut more trees.

"Ryuta, how did you get that axe?" She asked as she approached me. I stopped what I was doing and place a table with a six star pentagram on the ground.

"What's this?" Curiosity flashed over her eyes.

"It's called a Crafting Star. You put materials to get items. To make a pickaxe for example, you need four sticks and two wooden blocks. Once you get the materials, you put them into the circle and arrange them neatly according to the recipe." Ryuta puts the materials on the table and they exude a glow before merging and becoming a pickaxe.

He then stored the pickaxe into his inventory, dug the ground and never came out. Shino looked into the hole, wondering if something happened.

"Hey, are you alright?" Her voice echoed in the empty cave.

"I'm alright! I accidentally found a cave vein! I will be right back! Could you watch him for me?"

"Don't take too long! You still have something to do!"

"I won't!" I responded with a shout. My voice also echoed.

I went deeper into the cave and mine ores along the way. I found a lot of coal in the way too. For simple tools, I didn't need a Crafting Star.

If I expanded my inventory slots, I would see a miniature size of myself inside a box. This located right above the inventory slots and below mini me were four empty grids for armor slots. Everything mentioned positioned itself on the right of my screen.

On its left was a rhombus shaped star with a curvy outline. I used this to craft torches and place them on the cave wall as I ventured deeper into the cave.

I mined more different kinds of ores and unknowingly, I found pixelated lava flowing down.

I looked at it in amusement. This was the first time I saw it, although it didn't look like the real thing.

I moved forward and went deeper. If this was a real cave, I would feel cold and have a hard time breathing. Fortunately, I didn't feel anything except from hunger. The hunger bar lost four bars.

I will manage as long as it isn't empty. I continue mining and gain considerable loot. I smiled in satisfaction and was about to leave when my danger senses tingled.

I raised my guard and looked around cautiously with a sword materialized in my hand. In the darkness, my eyes discern a silhouette of a tiny creature.

It turned around and its glowing, white eyes sent chills in my body. I tensed up and gripped the sword tighter while waiting for the thing to attack.

I sensed something coming at me, a long arm stretching towards me and aiming for my neck.

I parried, sparks went everywhere. Its attack were heavy and powerful, enough to knock me back a few meters away.

The arms retracted and the owner of it got closer to me. It stepped into the light, revealing itself.

An entity with a scrunched back, headless with its eyes and mouth on its torso. It had long limbs with sharp claws and very tiny legs like a munchkin. This thing looked disturbing.

I gulped instinctively. I mean, a fight with a monster! Exciting and scary simultaneously.

[This looks like the drawbacks of your ability, it looks strong.] Zero said.

How come an ability that can craft everything and anything be so simple?

"Well, I expect as much." I sighed helplessly before taking a deep breath and assumed a fighting stance.

Although his blows pack a punch, I can see through it. Earlier, it was because I tensed up plus got nervous, I failed to react in time.

I've fought a human, but a monster? Never imagined I would, and so, I recount back the moves I trained to boost my confidence even further.

I cautiously approach it. The entity fixed its head. No, torso? Regardless of both, its white, glowing eyes fixed on me. It waited for me to launch the first attack.

There is no opening, I'll try to figure out how he moves, I said to myself and slashed his left arm. It leaped backward with a push of its arms, and my katana hit the ground.

I immediately chased after it. In a few breaths, I arrived before him and swung my sword at him. The next thing shocked me, however, when it abruptly stretched out its arms and spun like a tornado!

"That's ridiculous!" I yelled, feeling unfair.

Then, excruciating pain came as it hit my stomach and launched me into the air, crashing me into the cave wall. I coughed a few times and checked the health bar. My expression changed to fear as I only left with three hearts!

I immediately got up and ran. If I got hit one more time, I'm dead.

I could kill it if I used the familiar Airi gave me, but using it on a monster where I am not obligated to kill– it felt a waste.

Seeing me running, it hopped around with a push of its arms to get closer. I found the path where I came from and it was a narrow path. I filled it with cobblestone blocks and continued running.

The monster stopped chasing me after I blocked the path. Just to be extra careful though, I kept running without turning back.

I felt relief when I found the exit. Exhaustion came about with two hunger bars left. I was just about to resurface when two pair of hands came at me from the distance.

My pupils shrank and I quickly go up by placing the block below me after each jump

Shino had waited for roughly half an hour and was slightly concerned. She dare not to jump into the hole but asked, "Is everything okay?"

Immediately afterward, my figure entered her vision as I was going up. She took a few steps back.

I left the hole, cover it with a cobblestone block and start to pant heavily. My expression white as paper. My eyes widened in fear.

"What happened down there?"

I kept panting, seemingly ignore her words. Yet the next thing she heard was a notification from Divinity chat. I sent her a picture and she opened it.

A headless creature with eyes and mouth on its chest. Its eyes let out a white glow. It had a scrunched back like an old man, tiny legs but long limbs. It looked disturbing.

"What is this?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "Whatever it is, it dealt a lot of damage to me and I was forced to run."

Looking at my heart bar, my heart tightened in fear. Thank goodness I survived.

"So this is your ability's drawbacks. It will spawn powerful monsters to kill you. What might happen if you activate it in the city?"