“Before you head out, do you have any questions?” Yumi asked.

Sora thought for a moment before asking: “One thing I did not ask about ranking up. How do you go from each stage of each magas realm?”

“Well, in the magic sensing realm, it is all about continuously sensing the magicules in the air until you are able to fully see them. It can be a long, tedious process, but it is the only way. As for when you reach the next realm, a novice mage is able to take those magicules into their body. They then allow those magicules to strengthen them from the inside out. This is what makes a strong basis for a magas. As you rise higher in realms, your life span will also rise, but this only happens from the apprentice mage realm on.” Yumi explained as best as she could so that Sora would understand.

“Alright. So basically, I will need to work on sensing magicules as much as possible.” Sora knew it was a tedious task, but he had nothing better to do. He only needed to work hard every day. He could get used to casting magic by hunting, and when done, he could quietly sit in his small hut to sense the magicules. He was already starting a training regime for himself as he made his way out of the crevice.

“There are some rank one monsters not far from here. I would suggest using a rock to attract one of them and pull it away from the group.” Yumi suggested. She knew Sora did not have much experience fighting monsters. Although rank one monsters were easier to fight, at Sora’s current rank, it would not be possible without his more powerful fireball. It was just that he had to land the attack for it to kill anything.

“Alright, I will try what you said.” Sora nodded and made his way further down the river bank. He only walked for about one hundred feet when he saw the monsters that Yumi spoke of. They were short-legged and round, but seemed to have a furry body. He could not clearly see what kind of creature they actually were. Even though he had been in the crevice for so long, and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness somewhat, it was still hard to see far off. He could only tell the distance between the monsters due to the dim glow of the river. 

Sora made his way to a tall rock where he could get a better view. He looked at each monster, and only when he saw a smaller one wandering farther away from the group did he decide to attack. With rock in hand, he threw it as hard as he could. The rock soared through the air, flying right at his target. Luckily his past life of throwing rocks to pursuers came in handy. Back then, if he did not hit, it would mean a beating for him or maybe even getting arrested. He had to get good at aiming, or he would end up leaving his little sister all alone by herself.

The rock did indeed hit its target, causing a snort to come from the monster. The monster turned its head and narrowed its eyes, looking towards Sora’s direction. Sora made himself known by being in the monster line of sight before turning and running. The monster snorted again and chased after him. It seemed to think that Sora was easy prey, or maybe it was just young and stupid. 

Sora weaved in and out of the rocks on the shore, towards a spot he had spotted early and planned to use to make it a sure-fire hit on the monster itself with his spell. He only had two casts and needed to make sure he could definitely kill it. When he reached the gap between the rocks, he ran to the back of them and turned around, and reached his hand out. A small bar showed up in front of him, showing a fireball icon, This was a hot bar that Yumi created for him to use his spells easily. It only required him to use his mind to manipulate the buttons. He did just that, he used his mind to click the fireball icon, and a fireball shot out from his hand. It shot out like a speeding bullet so fast that the monster had no time to even stop or try to dodge. It smacked into the monster sending it tumbling back with a booming sound that echoed through the area. 

“Hah… Hah… Is it dead!?” Sora was out of breath. He looked at the smoking monster in front of him, unsure if he could go forward or not. 

“You should be fine. Hurry up. Grab the corpse and drag it back to the crevice that sound just now will attract monsters over.” Yumi warned.

Sora did as he was told and quickly grabbed the monster and dragged it towards the crevice. Luckily it was only burnt and not wounded, so no blood was left behind, making it so even if monsters showed up, they would not sense any blood. Although they would smell the crispy monster smell.

Sora reached the crevice and realized he would not be able to pull the thing through, so now he was unsure of what he should do. “Yumi, any ideas?”

“I have one, but it will have to wait. For now, you will have some time. I need you to crack open its head. You will see a small bluish orb inside. Capture it, rip off one of its legs so you can have something to eat, and then enter the crevice. I will explain what to do with the orb after we get back to the safe area. Try to be quick.” Yumi replied hurriedly. There was not much time, and Sora had to be quick.

Sora got a big rock and used all his strength as he began bashing the monster's head. It took almost ten strikes before he found what he was looking for. He looked at the bluish orb that had an image of the monster he had just killed inside with great interest. He then reached out and grabbed it with his hand. “Hmmm? Where did it go?” 

“It’s in the soul lantern. Quickly get some meat off the monster so you can fill your stomach!  I can sense more monsters coming this way.” Yumi urged. She knew the smell of blood would attract more monsters, but this was also a good thing. If the monsters began fighting here over the meat and some were killed, Sora could easily obtain more monster souls. Each soul that Sora could get at this stage was a huge benefit to him!