He looked at Akira, and she looked surprised. It wasn't just a hallucination.
"It seems we have to stay away from touching anything," Akira suggested.
Shun grunted in acknowledgment and continued checking the town.
As he did, he found a fountain in the middle of the town. Its water was crystal clear; one could see coins glinting at the bottom, and it looked clean too.
Shun wondered to himself if the water was drinkable.
Given the situation, this might be their only source of water. The only thing that bugged him was whether the water would decay like the apple did.
He gave it a try and touched it. Unbeknownst to them, tiny runes carved around the fountain glowed faintly.
Akira wanted to stop him, but it was too late. She watched quietly, her face marked with concern.
The surface stirred and made tiny waves.
They waited—and nothing happened. They breathed out in relief.
This made Shun ponder: what were the things that would decay, and what would not?
He could only figure it out by turning the entire town into an experimental ground.
With that in mind, they continued strolling and began their experiment. They avoided touching the buildings, just in case something crumbled and caused further mess.
Shun touched a piece of hanging wet clothing, and in mere seconds, its fabric shrank, tore apart, and turned into a tattered mess full of holes. Shun touched it again—and nothing happened.
There was a limit to how far things could decay, he realized inwardly.
He noted this and moved on. He then found a wooden carriage.
The inside was empty and looked spacious.
I could use it to sleep, he thought and got in, but as soon as he did, the carriage trembled violently.
Shun jumped out and watched as the tires collapsed under intense corrosion. The planks of the carriage followed—time peeled away its skin and insides, gradually darkening the color.
The carriage then collapsed with a loud thud. Despite that, the decaying didn't stop. It finally halted when the planks looked weathered and cracked. Its surface was extremely rough and textured. It looked like it'd break with little effort.
The tires had lost their shape and turned into small fragments. One wouldn't even recognize them as tires anymore.
"There goes my sleeping spot," he sighed heavily.
"Could you take this more seriously?"
"I am!"
She let out a sigh. "Everything except the fountain seems to decay. Staying under a roof doesn't seem to be an option."
"And there's also the problem with food. We didn't see any animals on the way here. And how are we going to build a temple? I don't know anything about carpentry."
Shun stroked his chin. "I have an idea about our dinner. As for the temple, I'd like to try something."
She looked at Shun, eyes flickering with curiosity.
"What are you planning?"
"Follow me."
They left the town and stepped onto the empty field. Shun pressed his palm against the ground and could feel the earth as though it were a part of him.
Mana spread out like nerves, and the earth rose into a four-sided polygon with one pair of parallel sides.
This is the temple's base, he thought and checked the progress bar.
---
Advancement Quest
Objective: Build a temple 0/1
Progress: 0%
---
Disappointment flashed in his eyes. He stood up and clapped his hands.
"Well, that didn't work."
On the other hand, Akira was stunned. What Shun did wasn't normal at all.
She asked, "What are you? You're neither a mage nor a hunter."
Should I answer truthfully? he pondered.
"I'm a vessel of the gods, descended from the heavens to erase evil."
"What?" She looked at him, confused. Then she realized something. "You're not lying."
Shun smiled mysteriously. Following that smile, Akira gave up.
"Sorry if I was being a busybody."
"It's okay."
She nodded weakly, and silence lingered for a moment.
"Man, I'm hungry. Let's go eat something."
He walked into the city, and the girl followed.
"Isn't the food there rotted if you touch it?"
"Didn't I mention I had an idea?"
She raised an eyebrow. "What on earth are you planning?"
They stopped before a food stall.
"I'm curious if the decaying effect is only valid inside this city," Shun said.
"You're planning to bring the stall outside? How are you going to do that?"
Shun placed his hands on the ground, and the earth below the stall rose. He moved it just in front of him, the stall lifted with it.
He then encased the stall in an earthen wall. Next, he turned to Akira and checked her level.
[Akira Momose – Lvl 21]
[Osamu Shun – Lvl 7]
"You're level seven?!" Akira exclaimed, shocked.
"You're stronger than me. Come stand next to me."
"What are you trying to do?" She hesitated for a bit but heeded his words. "What now?"
"Stomp the ground as hard as you can once I tell you… so!"
At the last word, Shun cloaked his feet in aura and stomped. Akira was a bit late, but thanks to her higher level, her legs caught up in time. They stomped together.
The ground trembled intensely. Inside the casing, the stall jolted upward.
"Kick!"
Shun twisted his waist and kicked. Akira adjusted her posture and front-kicked the wall. Both feet hit the casing simultaneously.
The case of earth shot toward the entrance and landed on the empty field. Dust filled the air before wind blew it away.
They approached it. The earthen casing had crumbled, revealing the stall. Its contents spilled to the ground, but overall, about eighty percent remained only slightly damaged.
"Here goes nothing." Shun grabbed a fruit. They watched intensely, instinctively holding their breath.
Five seconds. Ten. Fifteen.
They exhaled in relief and smiled.
It worked. Nothing happened to the fruit. His theory was correct.
The decaying effect only applied inside the city. Once outside, the effect vanished.
Which begged the question: what on earth happened to this town? Where is everyone?
Shun could only shrug. Such questions didn't matter to the objective, and probing further would only waste his already limited brainpower.
"We've got food covered now."
Shun was somewhat relieved that the plan worked.
"You're a genius, Shun." She picked one up and took a bite. It tasted sweet and fresh.
"Hey, if it weren't for you, I doubt I could've kicked this myself."
She chuckled cutely. "I guess you're right."
After Shun finished around five fruits or so, he got up and checked his body.
There was something wrong with this place—and it affected him.
From the last time he used Divine Forge until now, fifteen minutes had passed—and his mana had only recovered a drop. His mana recovery was painfully slow, and it hurt him.
In gaming terms, his mana recovery rate was 0.1 per second, with a capacity of 50 mana points. His current mana was 8.
The consumption rate of Divine Forge was 2 points per second. With only 8 points, he could use Divine Forge for just 3 seconds. His innate ability, in contrast, consumed 0.5 per second—it used the least mana but was weak and far less versatile.
Of course, none of these numbers were definitive. Only Shun could feel precisely how much mana he had left and how much each ability consumed.
He sighed. "If only I knew this earlier."
"What's wrong?" Akira asked.
"The mana recovery rate here is incredibly slow. What should take 30 minutes now takes 12 hours."