"Ignis Arde, Ignis Globus!"
The fireball that formed in Lian's hand was far stronger than the previous one, a clear sign that chanting the formula made a difference, despite the sloppy shape of the circle.
[Accuracy: 43%]
This time, Lian aimed not for the worm's mouth but its belly. He didn't want the monster to swallow this attack, though he thought it unlikely.
The fireball struck the creature's body with speed, and an explosion of fire and sand sent Lian tumbling forward. The blast threw the monster back, a glowing hole now visible in its side.
"Damn, how tough are you?" Lian cursed, watching the worm's body still twitching.
Without a second thought, he launched another fireball, this one aimed straight at the beast's head. The explosion was more powerful—Lian had focused better, drawing a more precise circle, his intent sharpening the spell's edge.
As the sand settled, half of the worm's face remained intact, but the annoying twitching had stopped.
"Good, so you're finally dead," Lian sighed, wiping sweat from his brow, relief washing over him like a desert breeze.
It was scorching in this place.
"Now…" he continued, looking around. "How the hell did I end up here?" he wondered, closing his eyes to recall the events.
---
Much later.
"Well… I'm one lucky guy," Lian said, eyeing his battered body. The blood had dried in the heat, leaving him reeking.
"I don't have water element magic—I can't clean myself," he sighed, glancing at his hands.
"Huh?"
"Wait! I have a spatial ring now! I wonder what Mage Elora put inside. She mentioned books and new clothes…" he muttered excitedly, staring at the ring on his index finger.
"I think it works like this, right?"
Lian channeled his mana into the spatial ring.
Then—
A space opened in his mind. He knew exactly what was inside the ring and how large it was.
"Wow, that's incredible!"
The space was vast, about 3x3x1 meters, allowing Lian to carry whatever he wanted, even the monster's carcass.
"Wait a second… why would I want a monster's carcass?" he said, staring at the worm in the sand.
"Besides… I should find a safe place. I can't stay here, covered in blood, next to a dead monster. It could attract others,"
What Lian didn't know was that he possessed unique powers.
The moment he finished speaking, the sand around him began to tremble slightly.
Lian looked around, only to see the sand forming dunes in two different directions.
"Well, damn! Maybe I should just shut up," he said, clamping a hand over his mouth.
The pain in his body had faded. His right ankle, bitten earlier by the worm, was already healing. After all, the worm was only an Iron 1—it posed no real threat to Lian.
That's why the monsters arriving now were…
Their heads emerged from the sand, heading toward Lian.
"Damn, that energy! No doubt about it—they're Iron 5. I'm screwed!" he hissed, turning to flee as instinct took over, his heart pounding like a war drum.
Fortunately, the monsters merely stared—eyelessly—at the human running, unbothered by him.
Chomp—Chomp—
Hearing chewing sounds, Lian turned to see the two monsters devouring the smaller worm's corpse.
"Damn, they're huge!" he hissed, running with even more determination, his legs fueled by raw survival.
Luckily, the monsters didn't seem to care about Lian. They saw him as too scrawny, not worth the energy to chase.
After a few minutes of desperate sprinting, Lian stopped.
"Sigh, I'm safe. But I can't keep running—I need to find a place to stay—"
"Alright, I'll stay here and hope I don't get killed?"
Lian had looked around the entire time, but apart from an seemingly endless expanse of sand, there was nothing else.
With nowhere to go and surrounded by sand, the only thing left for the poor boy was to grow stronger.
"Fine, one place is as good as another… Besides, thanks to the progress I made during those two days of travel, I should be able to draw a few more lines in my meditation technique."
Lian's eyes gleamed with vigor as he thought about becoming stronger.
"I just need to watch out for Mana Overflow. Also…"
Lian thought about his System. He had been stuck on the first shape for a while now. Despite his repeated use of the Circle, he couldn't reach the 70% accuracy needed to unlock other shapes.
"Well, in this place, I have all the time in the world… Damn it, I wonder how I ended up in a Gate that appeared out of nowhere," Lian cursed, sighing over his predicament.
Newly formed Gates were unstable, impossible to enter. But no one had ever said a newly formed Gate couldn't swallow a human, right?
With nothing else to do but cultivate, Lian sat in the lotus position and began his training.
"Geometric Meditation."
Closing his eyes, the familiar, slightly crooked line appeared before him.
"This is… the fourth line I'm trying to draw. The pattern is becoming clear. With every line I draw, it seems to form the shadow of a circle,"
A circle was formed by countless lines rotating around a fixed point. Lian was witnessing the same thing, except the lines he needed to draw weren't infinite.
With this fleeting thought, he began tracing the fourth line.
"Just as I thought!" he said as his mind effortlessly drew the line.
Then, as usual, a wave of light flashed in his mind, and mana surged into his body and dantian, a river of power flooding his being.
"Ah," he sighed, satisfied. "It's always so pleasant. I might never get used to this wonderful feeling!"
Seconds later, the sensation faded, and another line took the place of the previous one.
"Alright, the fifth line," he murmured, thinking of the future.
"I wonder how many lines I need to absorb to advance to Bronze 2… From what I understand, it takes about six years to go from Bronze 1 to Bronze 5. Of course, it depends on talent, meditation techniques, and other factors, but that's the standard."
Deep down, Lian knew he would progress much faster than his peers. After all, no one else had Geometric Meditation… maybe.
"Alright, no distractions. I need to focus on myself. Let's keep meditating until I hit the limit."