Setting Up the Arena

'woosh wooh woooooo'

Strange were the sounds which woke me up. I opened my eyes and was amazed by the beauty of the forest. It was the time I was able to see the forest properly. The greenery all around amazed me. Then heard the woo-woo sound again and found a humongous bird flying above my head. It seemed as if it was inspecting its territory. The bird was as big as a 2 stored building and was enjoying its morning walk (I think morning flight sounds correct, lame I know).

Now I was sure that even mythical beasts are present in this world. It's not like I was amazed by this sight, but rather it was a relief for me. Now I am sure to even make my pet crew of wild beasts.

But before doing that I need to enhance my fighting abilities and more importantly powers.

"Arora let's start the wild ride. Enough of chilling, I guess past three days were enough to make my mind adapt to these kinds of environments. Now my thirst for power is getting wild. I have had enough wastage of time, put me into battles. I want to improve my fighting skills"

"You will need this Rage, our today's mission even includes demolishing the Spear Goblin village. It is currently at a distance of 40 m north from our current position"

"Will I get anything for kills"

"Yes, but it varies. Some enemies kill give you experience. While some possess stones and abilities which can be extracted once you defeat them. But these rewards mostly depend on the levels of the opponent you defeat or the powers they possess."

"Hey! aren't power and level the same thing"

"Not really. There are some powers that are stored in some objects. The user always needs to possess that object in order to make use of its power. If the user is not in contact with the possessed object, he/she won't be able to make use of its power."

"I don't like this rule. Do something about it. I can't roam around with multiple stones and objects. I want to have many power stones and this rule ruins my plan ."

"I have heard of a legend. It says that in the spear goblin village, there's a dungeon. The dungeon has a power stone which synchronizes all the power objects possessed to the soul of one who possesses it."

"I know you are smart. There must be a catch and that must be the reason why you didn't tell me this before. "

"Yes, the problem is that the legend states that once a user enters the dungeon he/she won't be able to come back to the Manloch ever.

Are you ready to take this risk? "

"Has anyone ever found this dungeon?"

"Yes many users have proclaimed to have found the dungeon. But they didn't enter because they wanted to come back to this forest again.

So will we take this danger of entering into that dungeon? The legend may be a myth but the curse is real. In history, only one man dared to enter the dungeon but failed. Although he somehow escaped the dungeon. But he was never able to enter this forest again."

"What was his name"

"No one knows. But he is often referred to as 'The Sole One."

"I see. I don't mind the danger. If the thing inside the dungeon is so very important that it restricts one from entering this forest again. Then for sure, it's worth must be way more than anything I will find in this forest."

"I clearly know what your decision is going to be. But before we enter the Spear Goblin forest you must explore this forest for the very first and last time."

"You are correct. I still have 3 more items to collect and 4 items to consume. At most I can eat only 3, which I am really upset about. I wanted to have all 5 of them. I have already wasted one in eating that E-grade recovery fruit, now I really need to eat the 3 most effective and powerful fruit."

"I have a solution for you Lokk. According to my investigation, there is a fruit name "Pralay" in this forest"

"What's that?"

"This fruit enables one to make a void, its like your own personal storage"

"I know what you mean, I have read about such type of storages in many manhwas. Will this storage be permanent or a one-time use kind of thing?"

"It's permanent. The level of fruit you will be eating will be of D grade, which means you even have the chance to enhance its levels. And in this world of Astral, the level of one is directly proportional to its range of powers and usage. You can store some fruits here and can have them after a week. It won't initiate the chemical reaction and you won't be converted into poop"

"Sounds good to me. Let's terminate this conversation, and provide me with the location of this 'Pralay' fruit."

"800 m south of our current position"

"Well, what's today's daily quest?"

"Task-

1. 600 pushups

2. 1000m run-up

Reward: Muscle Development syrup"

That's quite hardcore. I need a proper plan. I need to get the Pralay fruit and complete the task.

I moved towards the south in order to get the fruit. Since I also had to complete the daily task, I decided to run rather than walk. I didn't run with my full force. The reason being you never know in what situation you will be in the very next second.

"Arora is this Pralay fruit that very common"

"No, it grows only once in every 100 Astral years"

"Astral years! , so how much is that in human years"

"Around 200,000 human years"

"Nice, I want only the rare items."

I know it looks like I am turning evil, but it's not true. I know who I truly am from my heart. I know whatever I do will be only meant for the betterment of humankind. What I currently need to achieve this goal is strong powers. And I am ready to do whatever it takes.

I was almost 10 meters away from my destination. I decided to stop running and make every move carefully. A fruit appearing after every 100 years won't be that easy to procure. There must be someone to either protect the fruit or check the potential of the one who seeks it.

The distance was shortened by 5 meters and I was able to see the "Pralay" fruit right in front of me.

The rest 5-meter radius area was completely barren. It seemed as if all the nutrition had gone into one single plant, one which was right at its center. The plant was strange, just like every single one out in this forest. It was like a sprout, about 1 m tall. Between the two widened leave was a small cherry, bright red in color. I was doubtful if it was really mature enough to be eaten. But who cares.

Strangely there was no one there to protect it. I approached the plant and was about to pluck the cherry. But to be sure of any kind of danger, I asked Arora

"Arora, scan the entire area and find if there's any threat."

"Scanning. Result: No threat found."

I then plucked the cherry and without any second thought gobbled it.

Nothing really happened. I was completely fit and fine. Are these rare items that easy to get, I think I overestimated them.

"Arora, start the analysis and extract its powers"

"I have been trying to do that but I am unable to do so"

Then a strange voice said-" And you won't be able to until I allow it"

"Who are you", I asked the strange voice.

"I am Jhambhu, protector of the "Pralay" fruit. I will now test your potential, to see if you are worthy enough to possess this item. I will be asking you three questions. If you are able to satisfy me with your answers, I will reward you with the powers possessed by 'Pralay'. But if you fail to provide a satisfactory answer to any of the three questions, then, your life force will be extracted. Remember even if you are able to satisfy me with your answer, still, your stay in Manloch forest will be reduced by 3 days. "

Now, this situation really makes me feel like I have eaten something rare.

To be continued.....

(Note: '---' means the Arora is explaining the situation to the Lokk. Basically, the system will be considered as the narrator and will be explaining the analysis. It will be used in upcoming chapters")