Chapter 4: The Exiled Lands

As the name implies, the exiled lands were a place of exile.

According to the myths of old, the exiled lands were a place abandoned by the gods. One hundred years ago, when the calamity struck and killed a third of the world population, the exiled lands became a place of filth and ruins, filled with savage beast and creatures of nightmares.

What once was a green forest filled with life, had become into a desert full of dust, rocks, and filthy water. The few monsters that still lived here had to struggle each day to survive.

So, after some years, the exiled lands began to be used as a place of exile. Political enemies, dangerous criminals, and people that must not exist were sent to this place to die.

According to some rumors, some people have created communities inside the exiled lands. Small villages and towns made up of people struggling to survive.

However, even after wandering for one month, Bloed had not met another human.

After he killed the fox, Bloed faced many more enemies. The first night, he was ambushed when he was sleeping in the tent he found inside the storage ring.

Bloed almost died that night, but fortunately, lady luck smiled to him and allowed him to kill the monster that attacked him, a panther-like beast.

From then, Bloed stopped using the tent to sleep and slept on the branches of the trees.

One week later, he faced a pack of wolves. The wolves chased after him for two hours, forcing him to hide inside a cave. But the wolves guarded the entrance of the cave for two days until finally they were scared off by another predator.

Once, he was bitten by an unknown small insect. Bloed suffered from fever and headache for three days. In fact, Bloed was not sure how he survived the insect's poison.

But the time when he was the closest to death was when he met a colossal monster. The monster woke up when Bloed was near it, causing a powerful earthquake that killed countless smaller monsters. Bloed also suffered grave injuries, but maybe because fate had pity on him, he survived the catastrophe.

In the last month, Bloed fought not less than one hundred battles. Each time he was the weaker party, and each time he survived. Even when he faced monsters that could use mana, Bloed relied on his sword and wits to kill them in the end, although more than once he was close to death.

After one month, his smooth skin had turned dark. His body was filled with scars of every size, some on his face. His clothes were filled with dirt and blood. Bloed stopped changing his clothes when he discovered that the smell of blood and dirt helped to mask his scent.

After all, Blood existed everywhere in this place.

His tender face turned vicious, and his eyes flashed with a murderous light. No trace could be seen of the kind and smart prince of the kingdom of Alterna. Instead, he had turned into a small monster living between monsters.

After three months, Bloed aura became even more murderous. His sword had chipped in many places, but it was the only weapon he had. He had lost the count of the number of monsters he had killed during the last three months.

Even after three months, he did not find traces of living humans. He once saw an abandoned village, but it had been destroyed long ago.

Bloed had begun to forget how to speak. He had tried to talk to himself during the nights, but he soon realized that it attracted predators, so he stopped doing it.

More than once, Bloed thought about taking his own life, but every time he considered the idea, he remembered all the lives he had killed until now. He had stolen their right to survive, so it was his duty to survive in their place.

After six months, Bloed was unrecognizable. His childish face was filled with so many scars that nobody could see his original features. Even his black eyes seemed to have turned darker, and his once silky hair had become long, messy, and dirty.

His sword had broken long ago, but Bloed created a few makeshift daggers using the claws and teeth of monsters he killed. The daggers were not as useful as the sword, but at least, they granted him a bit of self-protection. To be honest, Bloed continued being at the bottom of the food chain even after six months. Most of the time, he was the prey and not the hunter.

As of now, the food in the storage ring was over. Even the mana inside the storage ring had been spent, so Bloed simply threw it away. He never would be able to use it due to his lack of mana anyway.

Bloed continued wandering the exiled lands, facing the dangers of this place and doing his utmost to survive. From time to time, he would remember the beautiful outside world.

However, even that memory had started to become fuzzy.

Bloed did not care though. Such memories were just a burden for the current him.

Unfeeling, murderous, and cold. He was even more of a beast that the true beasts. Only knowing how to kill.

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He forgot about the books he used to like.

He forgot about the family that betrayed him.

He forgot about the knowledge he liked to learn.

For Bloed, only surviving was important.

But one day, Bloed found a strange cave.

He was being chased by a giant serpent. His body was riddled in injuries and two of his ribs were broken.

Desperate to survive, Bloed entered inside a strange cave. The serpent continued chasing after him, but Bloed made use of the narrow passages to escape from it.

Finally, he shook off the serpent's pursuit.

But then, he realized that he had arrived at a strange place.

An enormous metallic wall, filled with strange symbols and ornaments, was standing in front of him.

Bloed was startled. However, his curiosity got the best of him. He remembered all the stories he had read in the palace about someone finding an opportunity and then becoming a legendary master of his era.

Thus, he approached warily towards the wall and put his hand on it.

… Nothing happened.

Bloed smiled wryly. 'What was I expecting? Really…'

But in the next instant, a blue electric current flashed in the wall.

"Argh!" Bloed screamed in pain. The electric current burned his hand and threw him away. Bloed hit his head against the wall and then fell unconscious.

The last thing he saw was some strange characters appearing on the wall.

…

[Detected abnormal activity outside the ship. Initializing procedure E-1901]

[It has been confirmed that the abnormal activity is due to the presence of a foreign lifeform. Executing the corresponding action, wait…]

[According to the protocol, someone with the corresponding clearance is needed, wait…]

[Executing procedure, A-1250. Starting up the ship's main AI.]

[Welcome Tito, please decide the next course of action.]

A short silent fell in the insides of the spaceship.

Then, the entire spaceship lit up.

[… It has been four hundred years, huh. Has master's long wait finally ended?] Tito mechanical voice resounded through the ship's systems.

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