Chapter 83 Fallen Star

As I got infinitely closer to the star, I felt an enormous shockwave hit me and catapult me in the direction of the lingering star, making me hit it directly rather than being able to put it within my inventory.

While before, I might not have felt anything, now that I was within the cave and had reached extremely close distances from the star, I could feel it. It was a current of mana strong enough to make me struggle moving forward. It was as if the star was trying to siphon the energy from the outside and absorb it into itself.

I had a feeling that the moment the star reached a certain point in its 'evolution,' something spectacular would happen. This was one of the main reasons I had tried to absorb it into my inventory, but before I could do that, the shockwave slammed against me and shot me into the star.

While I usually would have been injured due to the amount of mana concentrated in a single spot, I felt my vision fade and reappear. Yet, instead of me being within the cave, I was inside an abnormal realm where everything around me had become a grassy plane with nothing else to see for what seemed like miles.

"What is this place?" I asked myself while looking around warily, but after not feeling or seeing anything, I quickly relaxed and dropped to the ground before crossing my legs.

Memories of what happened before touching the star appeared within my mind before regret filled my chest.

"Damnit!" I slammed my fist onto the ground, causing it to cobweb with cracks. "I should have used appraisal!" I shouted again, my voice spanning out into the distance, but not a single echo returned even after trying to hear one with my keep hearing.

The only thing my ears could detect were the winds that blew on the grassland and the churns of the blades of grass now and then. My blood eyes also did not detect anything within the area except the grass blades that seemed full of life.

[You have entered an unknown pocket dimension]

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The ding of a notification rang out within my mind, causing me to look towards the bright flash of light from the screen that appeared before me.

"Unknown?" I asked, slightly surprised by the words of the system.

[Pocket dimension has been analyzed thoroughly]

[Origins uncovered]

[You have entered the trials of a fallen star]

My eyes widened slightly, but my expression immediately turned grim.

"Trials? Ugh... For god's sake! Anyway, what's a fallen star?" I asked aloud while willing to use appraisal on the words 'fallen star.'

[Fallen star: A sporadic occurrence that happens every few thousand years depending on the planet and its average prowess. A fallen star is created by the will of a nearby star and is used to test whoever comes upon it to see if they are worthy of its power.]

As I read the system's explanation, my face became grimmer. This fallen star thing was trying to find someone worthy of giving its power to, but I knew I was far from that. I was someone that was barely capable of surviving in this world alone, and even then, I was far from what could be considered a talent. Yes, when it came to runes, I succeeded much quicker than Blanca, but that was mainly due to my modern way of thinking compared to Blanca, who probably didn't even know what atoms and electrons are, let alone how they worked.

In my eyes, mana was the same as electricity. It comes from infinitely small particles that create specific energies. Humans used materials with metallic bonds to wield lighting, while people in this world used mysterious runes that allowed them to use mana almost the same way we used electricity. However, unlike us humans who were limited by the rules of physics, mana and cultivation aren't, allowing anyone who had mana within their body to wield elements in a way that no human would have been capable of.

Anyway, now that I stood in the middle of nowhere, I simply waited for the upcoming trial. After seeing that it hadn't come for several minutes, I dropped to the ground again before crossing my legs and closing my eyes.

"If I'm going to be stuck here for the remaining hours, I might as well try to comprehend earth element further." said aloud, but to no one in particular. I was a man who liked his solitude. While I used to be outgoing before entering this world, isolation for up to a month without hope of finding any other intelligent creature to communicate with had automatically conditioned my mind to get used to solitude.

I knew that my mind was using a self-mechanism that would make my solitude and lack of contact with other humans easier, but even after learning so, I simply could not revert such a change. In a sense, it was like depression. I might know that I am depressed but does that change anything? Yes, it is reversible to a certain extent through things such as therapy, but it simply wasn't something I could change on my own.

I now liked to be alone no matter what, and social interaction would only serve to siphon me out of any social energy left within me.

Trying to change that would only tire me further, regressing me into an even deeper anti-social state.

Letting out a sigh, I quickly fell into a trance as my eyes became glazed and my mind focused on one thing and one thing only.

Earth...

***

Blanca immediately felt her connection with me weak in the outside world, which only served to panic her further after seeing how much destruction she had caused by letting out such a powerful attack on accident.

Of course, she did not mean to use so much force in her attack. Still, her battle fanatic side had taken over, causing her to use much more power than intended, destroying the lightning bolt and almost everything behind it for hundreds of meters.

Her killing intent exploded out with tremendous power, causing almost every tree within a 30-meter radius to be uprooted and flung through the air. However, even with so much power behind her killing intent, the leopard stood firmly, not moving an inch even though it felt like death herself was peering into its very soul.

However, its eyes almost bulged out of its sockets when it felt something appear in front of it at a speed that, even after infusing with the elements, could not rival.

*BOOM*

A tremendous power slammed into the head of the leopard, not only turning its body into smithereens but also creating a crater large enough that one could fit an entire highway truck within without many problems.

However, even after landing the final hit, an expression of worry still filled Blanca's face as her eyes darted in the direction of the cave, and her body blurred out of sight, separating the dust cloud in the wake of her powerful step.