Chapter 55: Breakthrough!

Learning that two of the three people in front of him were the legendary Ethan and Elena Smiths, Terry, although frightened, was secretly relieved.

In Emerald City, there wasn’t anyone who had never heard of the Smiths.

With such a level of fame and influence, it was no surprise that they got news of the apocalypse early and prepared.

Perhaps even the government knew and made some preparations too.

In a world where ordinary people like him can only be forced to accept the changes, perhaps following people like them was a blessing, not a curse.

’Hmm~ I can probably tell what you’re thinking, Terry, but it’s not the Smith family who figured out the apocalypse was coming soon.’

’It was I being reborn that did that.’

Muttering inward, Ethan followed the path from which they had come and headed back to the shelter.

Surrounding monsters cleared and an extra S-class picked up, truly a successful outing.

Thinking this, his lips unknowingly curled upwards, as he felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart.

...

Time soon passed, and the group, now four in number, had begun heading back to the shelter.

Fortunately, the location of the shelter was somewhere on the outskirts of the city, so there weren’t too many people.

However, it was also because of this that their surroundings had a more eerie feel.

"Damn, how long were we there that the world has changed so much?"

"Everywhere we go, abandoned cars, corpses."

"Stains of blood on the ground."

"At first I was wondering why there weren’t more mana zombies roaming around."

"But after seeing this, I have an idea of what’s going on."

Motioning for everyone to stop, Ethan bent down to the ground and examined a huge footprint.

With his mana sense, he could see faint traces of mana on it, proving that whatever created it wasn’t normal.

Not only that, but its shape...

It looked like a mixture between a bear and an eagle, with the paws of a bear and the talons of an eagle.

Adding to its outrageous size, he doubted if the largest predators could compare to it.

"To be honest, I did have an inkling on our way out, but reasoned it out to be because of the few people living on the outskirts."

"But with all the bloodstains and corpses, it’s very obvious what happened."

"They were attacked."

Saying this, his face turned grim.

Fortunately, there wasn’t any red dot showing on the map, so that meant they were safe.

Taking a deep look at the footprint, although Ethan felt it was familiar, he couldn’t put his finger on it.

However, one thing that was for sure was that he felt a hint of danger coming from it.

’That’s it, I need to break through to the second circle as soon as possible.’

’No matter what, if that thing is what I think it is, then we’re all in trouble.’

Thinking of this, Ethan stood up.

"Elena, Victoria, we’re speeding up."

"Terry, try not to fall behind."

Not giving them a chance to react, Ethan started running forward in the direction of the shelter.

And the others, after looking at each other, followed suit.

Although they couldn’t tell what was going on, from Ethan’s expression they knew it was serious.

So with that, the three of them sped up into the distance.

Unaware that somewhere in the sky, a pair of blood-red eyes was looking down on them with killing intent in its eyes.

......

[Emerald City outskirts, Smith Shelter]

Running back at full speed, the four of them returned quite fast.

One reason was that they didn’t leave too far in the first place, and the second was that everyone was an awakened, meaning they had more speed and stamina than a regular human.

However, arriving back at their shelter, Ethan didn’t bother greeting anyone.

Even though his grandpa and the others were now awake, he handed everything over to Elena and went to his room to break through to the second circle.

Ever since he saw that paw print, his mind had been filled with a bad feeling.

He felt that if he didn’t get stronger as soon as possible, he would regret it.

With such thoughts in mind, what time did he have to say hello to anyone?

Now sitting cross-legged in his room and making sure no one disturbed him, he began to focus on his mana core.

"The first principle that allowed me to form the circle was energy."

"Now the second is density."

"What do I mean by density?"

Focusing on his mana core, Ethan slowly began to guide the outside mana into his body.

At the same time, his mind was recalling all the knowledge he had understood with his Max Level Comprehension.

The scene he witnessed after observing Elena awakening her ability...

"Mana as a form of energy is subject to density."

"Just like my ten thousand-fold increase compressed the feedback from Alfred and Grandpa."

"Mana too can be compressed."

"Perhaps if it becomes hard enough, can it leave the body?"

"In that case, can I use it like a mage’s hand to carry items or to shoot outwards like a mana bullet?"

"Can I use it to form those patterns like the one I saw in Victoria and cast ice spells?"

The more questions he asked, the more he understood.

In a trance, the surrounding mana began to become turbulent as it rapidly flew into his chest.

As his understanding increased, that understanding was rapidly being transformed into the principle of density and merged into the formed circle.

At the same time, as the mana was merging into his body, his attributes were rapidly strengthening.

If Ethan were to see his panel now, he would be shocked to see all attributes increasing at +0.0001 per second.

A strengthening speed that was hard to imagine!

It seemed that in this room, right here, right now, he was going to break through and become a 2nd-Circle Mage!