"What? Wait… hold on, could that really be?"
Uhyon exited the online experimental article on his phone and opened the internet. The reason was simple—an idea had struck him so logical and explosive that it nearly blew his mind apart. It might have sounded strange, but to Uhyon it seemed far more convincing than any other theory he had ever considered.
The idea was this: all magical creatures did not reproduce from one another. Or at least, not in the way people assumed. Instead, they came into being independently, slowly developing—almost like an egg. But then again, even eggs came from male and female parents…
Just moments before—right before going online—the same thought had flashed through his mind. Yet, almost instantly, an answer followed. Strange as it seemed, something heavy had dropped into his consciousness.
In his imagination, he saw a rock, and from beneath it a green slime oozed out. Soon it hardened into a round, crimson orb. While he watched, the stone began to darken, its surface shifting, hardening, shining. Ancient-looking red runes carved themselves onto the darkened piece.
At that moment Uhyon realized—this was a creature's Mana Stone. Mana Stones were believed to be crystals that contained the power of monsters, yet they might also function within a certain non-standard system of ranking or classification. Even now, the meaning of the runes engraved upon them was gradually being uncovered.
For example, creatures of tier A or lower had no runes on their Mana Stones. But higher-ranked beings often possessed them. And not all runes were the same. Scholars believed there were five primary runes: Strength, Intelligence, Speed, Defense, and All. With such a discovery, even if an unimaginably powerful monster emerged, its rune could reveal its weakness and provide a chance to defeat it.
But for now, this was all theory. No one had ever seen a creature with the "All" rune. If such a being were to appear, it was said it could wipe out an entire continent in a matter of seconds.
Uhyon gave a short chuckle for no reason—but ignored it. His mind was occupied by two things: first, retrieving the right information online; second, recalling the vivid imagination that had just overtaken him. He strained his thoughts so intensely that his condition weakened, but he achieved his goal.
The crimson orb with the black crystal began to tremble. Uhyon watched with fascination. Such a imagination would never have come to him in either world. The orb shook violently, a crack split its surface with a brittle sound, widening quickly.
When it finally shattered, strange liquid spilled forth. Uhyon couldn't see it clearly from his imagined perspective—he stood on the far side of the fracture—but what came next seized his attention. The black crystal shifted and slowly sank inside the orb.
When it was fully absorbed, a small red hand—slightly smaller than a human's—emerged from the crack. Its nails weren't very long, but they looked sharp. Luckily, it was only his imagination. Otherwise, Uhyon might have fainted.
The hand moved, and soon its owner stepped out. About 1.2 meters tall, a red-skinned demon with short black hair and black eyes stood before him. The black Mana Stone gleamed from the center of its chest. Unlike novels and myths, not all real demons had horns. Yet in almost every story they were drawn with them. This one had neither male nor female traits—its gender was impossible to discern.
The imagination unfolded like a film, but Uhyon paid it no further attention. His focus was solely on what he sought: to observe multiple members of the same creature type and pinpoint exactly where their Mana Stones were located—even down to the millimeter.
For him, the placement of a mana stone was the key proof of his "theory." He believed it was formed during the creature's orb stage, encoding its entire existence—much like human DNA.
It was a bold hypothesis, for Mana Stones did indeed store vast amounts of information: the creature's essence, its strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps even more secrets awaited, still undiscovered by mankind.
All of this flashed in mere seconds, yet Uhyon's mind swarmed with thousands of thoughts—even dreams of fame if he truly uncovered this mystery. But he forced himself not to drift.
The quickest way forward was to recall what he had witnessed yesterday—his encounter with goblins.
"Damn it!"
Even though he had taken a goblin's Mana Stone with his own hands, the memory was fading rapidly. His mind blurred the details until his imagination replaced them entirely. That was why he had turned to the internet for help.
***
For five minutes, Uhyon searched on the internet. Yet not a single full-body depiction of any creature appeared. Most were incomplete images—or computer-generated fakes. He browsed goblins, orcs, bigfoots, yetis, spiders, insectoid beasts… his browser history overflowed with searches like: "… full open-body appearance."
Every time, the same repeated sources popped up—copied research, recycled articles.
"Damn it all! Wasting my time with trash theories that don't even hold water. Curse this stupid head of mine!"
Though barely ten minutes had passed, the frustration burned hotter than hours of failure. Furious, Uhyon muttered every swear word he knew. When he finally cooled slightly, he staggered toward the kitchen and gulped a glass of water.
Only then did his thoughts clear.
"Huh… what an idiot I am. What difference does it make if I swear at myself? It's not like my brain will suddenly turn into a genius afterward. And all this, just for a lousy ten minutes."
But it wasn't just ten minutes. For Uhyon, time was precious—especially since he still hadn't finished his homework. He downed another glass of water to calm his nerves.
"Hmm, 5:46. I should still make it," he thought, gazing at the clock.
Though he had planned to eat breakfast after finishing his homework, hunger gnawed at him, his stomach rumbling. But he ignored it. He knew himself too well—if he ate now, he would lose all motivation to do his homework. If he do his homework first, at least food would serve as his motivation. It might distract him a little, but it was better than not doing homework at all.
And so, stomach growling, Uhyon made his way to the living room.