Lex hastened his steps, each thud taking him as far as he could go. They were no longer just faint mana signatures anymore. The beasts had emerged from the bushes and were gaining on him at a frightening speed. But Lex ignored the fact that he could die at any moment and kept his focus on one thing. The quest. He still had to find the magic stones, and from the fact that the mages who created the portals had hurriedly sent him into a dungeon without preparation, it likely meant that the stones were not hidden but were placed in open sight. All he had to do was keep his eyes open and survive. Lex felt a mana-imbued strike coming from the left at full speed. He slipped, tripping on the snow in a very disgraceful manner, summoning his spell while in motion and materializing a vine ball that could shield whatever strike it was. The vines immediately enveloped him, but the force behind the strike was simply too strong and too sharp. It pierced through the ball like a blade. Le

Lex sank deep into the ocean. The fall had been long, and he couldn't stop the momentum. He hadn’t held any breath earlier, and he was sure this wasn't going to end well. Blood spilled from the wounds on his back, and the poison in his legs had begun to spread. Lex knew that even if he somehow found a way to survive the first part of the quest,there was no way he could survive outside not while he was a useless slave. So Lex accepted his fate and embraced the cold of the dark ocean. His eyes closed as he recalled memories from his past life, how he had been absolutely average. He hadn’t expected anything from life, and life hadn’t given him anything without a bargain. So, was he going to go now?He was okay with it.{Ding!}The sound rattled in Lex's ears. With his eyes closed, he raised a brow, curious about what the system wanted from him."Hey system? Can't you see I’m trying to die here? Stop with the dinging."'I have accepted my fate. Even if I somehow make it out of here, the

The crowd roared once again in pure excitement and confusion. Lex had lunged forward with a speed that wouldn’t seem normal for any mere unawakened. He had finally escaped from the claws of the ravenous magic beasts and was now rushing towards the edge of a cliff.The crowd, who simply hadn’t cared whether he lived or died, were now starting to hope he might survive. It was only natural to let the underdog win and probably forget afterwards.However, the point of view of the nobles at the royal section of the arena was entirely different, as tension had slowly begun stirring amongst them.In Noble Trask’s perspective, this could probably mean the selection team had made a mistake, which was something that hadn’t happened for the past three decades. It also meant that this Lex Sterling was actually a mage and had probably concealed his aura so deeply that even their detection system couldn’t spot the flaw.The other possibility was that Noble Barristan was planning to add a mage to hi

Lex touched the red magic stone at the last possible second. Having touched the magic stone, Lex let it all go. He had survived, and that was what was important. At least those mages who sent him to the higher rank dungeon earlier would not see him as so weak anymore. Although his body was numb, Lex could not miss the feeling that he had escaped the hell hole of the volcanic dungeon and somehow survived from its boss. The only part of his body that was well and alive was his consciousness, and Lex was certain that anytime soon he would also lose it. Unexpectedly, a strange warm sensation hit him like a slow crashing wave, and with that wave came a painful sensation. Lex felt like he was being thrown into a river of eternal healing. However, in contrast to its name, the river wrecked his body, switching broken bones, wiping out poison, and repairing his burnt skin with frightening speed. Lex, who could barely hold on to his thoughts, slowly began feeling his pulse. He felt the blo

Lex took a few steps forward, his gaze lingering on the atmosphere of the arena, his sight apprehensive. He momentarily glanced at the three mages who sat amidst the crowd in the arena, the ones who sent him to the dangerous dungeons. He had spotted them in the crowd through sheer luck. He studied their overalls. They were slightly pale at the edges. The aura around them was weak, but even from that distance, being the author of the novel, Lex was well aware of the situation. Although their aura presented them as elemental mages, they were far stronger, more powerful. They were sages, which was one of the toughest ranks to surpass in the realm of mages. Although they didn’t even scratch the realm of the immortal level mages, which no mage in Aetheria had ever surpassed. However, what bothered Lex the most was that he expected them to be below the realm of elemental mages, showing that their outfit’s color would be a pale green on the left side and blue on the right. Instead, they