-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
If you want to find something as quickly as possible in a place where there's a chance you won't find what you're looking for, then what do you do?
Simple and straightforward would be answered: if there is nothing for the moment, then have fun. After all, there is plenty of time, even plenty of time, to explore.
Although, who plays with weird things like having fun killing monsters while searching for a cave that has mana crystals? Of course, that's Asher.
Still, Asher decided to fight monsters whenever he encountered them. After all, it was a source of training.
Skating on the ground, Asher positioned himself right behind the monster.
The monster was another ogre and then, easily, Asher moved his hand that held an arrow and then....
Clank.
The arrow was stuck squarely in the back of the ogre's head.
It continued like this as more ogres joined the battle. The green blood of the monsters filled the ground like pools of water scattered everywhere.
Drip, drip, drip.
The greenish monster blood splattered Asher's face, slowly dripping down his cheek as a smile appeared on his face as he moved so fast that the monsters didn't look at him.
Clank.
He justly stuck an arrow in the back of the monster's head again and it immediately lost its balance and fell to the ground. The monster's eyes turned white as its mouth opened and green blood sprayed out.
"Haa... It's... A... Good warm-up."
Despite saying those words, Asher was sweating, but a smirk was on his face. Since a long time ago, Asher, for some reason, started smiling every time he killed monsters.
"I could get out of control."
That's a very accurate possibility. Slowly, Asher's sanity will start to crumble.
Asher knew this, therefore, he stopped moving and looked at the various ogre corpses. Green blood was scattered everywhere: on the walls of the cave, the floor and the ceiling; some drops on Asher's face as well.
At a glance, anyone could tell that a lunatic was here.
"Haa..."
Asher put his hand to his head, rubbed his forehead while squinting his eyes. Then, he looked at the monsters again.
"I feel like I'm getting out of control."
"Haa... I hope I don't make my emotions worse in the future."
Then, Asher looked further into the back of the cave. He walked, and then the place started to become more spacious and wider. The walls began to have spikes and the ceiling was beginning to have stalactites, which from their tips dripped drops of water.
Then, Asher came to a wall, looked around and it seemed to be the end of the cave.
"Well, that was to be expected."
Then, turning around, Asher exited the cave.
Although it was a waste of time, inside he felt a great thrill at killing the monsters....
"Wait a minute, why were those monsters there if there was nothing there?"
No, in fact, why would those monsters be in an empty cave with nothing? Even though it's a bit deep, there's nothing, there aren't even bodies of some animals for the ogres to feed on.
That alone means something.
"There must be a secret entrance."
Then, returning to the cave, Asher quickly ran and reached the wall from before.
Carefully inspecting the wall in front of him, he could tell that it was strangely straight and square.
There is definitely a door.
But how do I open it? There must be a way.
As he fumbled with the wall, it was then that Asher felt a hole.
"Got it."
Thud.
Suddenly, the wall began to crack.
Creaking.
It was then that the wall crumbled into chunks of rock and dirt. The place filled slightly with a curtain of dust.
Shaking with his hand, the dust vanished, and then in Asher's view were several tunnels, a total of three of them. Looking at the three parts, Asher decided on one.
"The one on the left... I feel something strange, then that would be the one."
A total of three tunnels: one on the right, one on the left, and one in the middle. But somehow Asher felt differently about the one on the left. So, walking in the left direction, Asher quickly entered through the tunnel.
It was really surprising that there was something like these tunnels hidden in the cave, but who made the tunnels?
Encrid had already mentioned that mana crystals are formed automatically, so dungeons and caves should also do the same. After all, a domain only creates a world, it does not create the caves, monsters or dungeons.
So the cave is one hundred percent automatically created, that means you don't know what's there and you don't know if there are monsters.
Still, Asher kept his guard up. Although the domain is currently only for grade 9 and 8 monsters to appear, there might be some snag along the way.
Then, slowly, Asher began to see the end of the tunnel. Seeing that he was coming to an end, he began to walk faster.
Tap, tap, tap.
All that could be heard were Asher's footsteps. The place was dark and soundless; the footsteps caused echoes all the way down.
"I should go faster."
Then, Asher kicked the ground and quickly disappeared from his position, reaching the end of the tunnel.
"How strange, it seemed like something was strange and it looks like I was right."
It was then that Asher looked at several grade 8 monsters everywhere. Large pillars held up the ceiling; there was a straight path to a throne made of wood, and others were beside the path that led to the throne, but Asher looked at it.
"An ogre king."
It was then that a much larger, muscular ogre, whose skin color was not green, but brown, with two heads, leather armor protecting his body, and a sword in his left hand, appeared.
Asher looked at the ogre king. He was certainly more incredible than in the book he read.
"His strength is twice as great, and this one has no weak spot."
The ogre king, being bigger and with more strength, is also faster and has good reflexes. His strength is more than double that of a normal ogre, and above all, he wears armor and a sword.
A normal iron sword, half rusty, but still functional.
Just at that moment, the roar of the ogre king echoed throughout the room.
Raaaaagghhh-KKRRRAAAWWW!!!!
Quickly, the ogres standing as guards moved in Asher's direction.
But at that moment, a smile appeared on Asher's face. Moving his mana to the dimensional ring, a black sword with golden edges and intricate details emerged from the ring and quickly, Asher held it by the hilt.
"This is the sword given to me by the patriarch of the Merwin family. I thought I wouldn't use it, but I guess I'll use it now."
As long as Asher is not in the academy, he can use a sword and use mana as a means of power to wield it.
If Asher uses a sword in a designated academy dungeon or uses it in combat in the academy, he could be punished for weapon use and not using magic.
After all, the academy is for mages, and of course, they only teach magic and not the handling of weapons like a sword.
Lifting the sword to the left and accommodating the right foot a little behind, a curtain of strong wind remained where Asher was before, and then, in an instant, appeared behind the ogre.
"Burst."
The sword pierced the ogre in half and still reached the ground, leaving a small line two meters long and two feet deep.
More monsters rushed toward Asher, and he, wielding the wavy-shaped sword, cleaved two ogres in half, while others had their arms cut off.
Body parts of the ogres fell to the ground.
Aiming the sword at the throat of an approaching ogre, Asher swung the sword upward and then deflected it diagonally, severing the ogre's head. Green blood splattered from the ogre's severed neck as Asher moved quickly and delivered another slash to the back of another ogre's neck.
There were a total of twenty ogres and as they fell to the ground dead, their numbers gradually dwindled. As Asher swung the sword diagonally, he slashed the scarred abdomen of two ogres and they were cut in half.
"Hehehehehe..."
A small laugh came out from Asher. His eyes were bloodshot, they were wide open as he watched the green blood fall everywhere. The smile gradually became wider and without him realizing it, Asher lost control.
His emotions of lust from seeing the bodies and blood as more and more ogres fell to the ground dead, slowly made Asher lose his sanity. His smile and eyes looked like those of a psychopath crazed from watching his enemies die.
***
-Change of scene.
It was like a darkness that was surrounding Asher's whole mind; he could only blur everything in his sight.
But, for some reason, all of this was....
"Pleasant."
It was nice, it felt like he had finally found a quiet place, the one Asher always wished for.
A smile appeared on his face. His world was dark, Asher's eyes were wide open as he floated in the dark void of his consciousness, and slowly drifted away from the blurred view in front of him.
"Hehe."
Again, a chuckle came out of his mouth.
"This I always... wanted."
It was quiet, there was no noise, and floating in a dark void in his consciousness, Asher was relaxing. It was very calm and quiet, a place with no disturbances and no need for caution around him.
It was what he wanted most and he finally found it; his dark world surrounding him was like his true home. Asher felt a great tranquility as he floated.
But then, why wasn't he happy?
"It's nice, the perfect place, one I've always wanted, so.... why do I feel uncomfortable?"
It was because of something. Everything was dark, and as he walked away from the view in front of him, everything seemed perfect, but then why did he feel like something was missing?
Losing his sanity and going into his own consciousness while giving her what she wanted? That really wasn't what Asher wanted.
"I don't want to be given it, I want to get it for myself."
The life he always wanted was not something that his own conscience, having lost his sanity to his emotions while killing monsters, was supposed to grant him so easily. It wasn't really what he wanted. But then, what did he really want?
"What do I want?"
Then Asher realized. Everything he was feeling right now was part of his conscience. This all happened for the pleasure of killing and seeing the blood of monsters in front of his eyes. This was losing the sanity of himself just like that.
"No... I must wake up."
Then he clenched his fists, bit his lips and tried to focus on the blurred view in front of him.
Slowly, he could see more clearly. He could see how he moved inconveniently as he swung the sword and the monsters fell, but most of all, he could see his smile.
Asher could see himself.
"That's not me."
It was a part of him that enjoyed blood. Then, Asher hit his face and it was at that moment that he recovered.
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
It was then that he could feel his body again. Everything that had just happened was from losing his sanity for just a few seconds.
Asher stopped and looked at all the monster bodies. Even the ogre king was dead.
"I killed them all."
No, in fact he unconsciously killed them all while he was in his consciousness enjoying what he always wanted.
His mind tricked him in just a second for losing his sanity.
"Haa... Shit, if I go on like this..."
He paused at the thought of what might happen to him if he kept losing his sanity at the sight of blood before his eyes again.
If he lost his sanity so easily with the death of the monsters, what would happen if he saw human blood? Certainly, Asher would not be able to control himself again and might kill everything in his path unconsciously, without distinguishing between friend and foe.
"Heh, it seems this body weakens my mind."
Indeed, it was true. He still could not control the new emotions, which were slowly emerging. And now, losing his sanity just by seeing the blood of monsters and enjoying killing them meant that Asher's mental strength had fallen from his reincarnation.
"This is bad."
Then he raised his head and looked up at the ceiling.
"Haa..." He sighed slowly and put the sword away in the dimensional ring.
He looked around, which was filled with monster bodies, and then....
"Hehehe..."
A smile and a chuckle escaped Asher as he saw everything around him. But, quickly, he hit his head, stopping that smile.
"Haa... Get a grip, it's just lustful emotions from watching the death of others."
He told himself over and over again. Certainly, if he lost his sanity again, who knows if Asher could recover.
As of now, Asher's mind was broken, and just by seeing the blood or the mangled body of a monster, Asher would lose his sanity and his mental stability would definitely fall....