"Uwaa!" I wake up with a startle. My body is drenched in sweat, and my heart beats like crazy.

"S-Shouldn't I have died?" I quickly pat my whole body to make sure that I am okay. "I got no injuries—my clothes are fine too ... Was that just my imagination?"

I frown, then quickly look around to figure out where I am. The moment I do that however, someone enters my vision.

"You did well."

"Miss. Valeria?"

"Have you forgotten my face?"

I shake my head faintly, then stare at her silently. She has taken her blind mask off, and now she is exuding the aura I am already familiar and comfortable with.

I stare at her too much that I forgot to figure out where I am. I quickly look around, and find out that I am in my hut.

"You look perplexed."

"Yeah... My mind knows this place, but my body refuses to believe that I've been here before." I frown, then stare at my hands weirdly. 'Now that I think about it, my body feels different. I don't feel familiar with it.'

Valeria must have also congratulated me for a reason, so that wasn't a dream. I must have done something that is up to her expectation, which I strongly believe is my feat of surviving her punishment—for being able to survive that long.

'In other words, Valeria must have saved me from that weird-ass tiger. That's the only explanation why I end up being here. I must have lost my consciousness a few seconds before Valeria appeared to save my ass, so I couldn't witness it.'

"Thank you for saving me..." I bow my head at Valeria politely.

I raise my head, and witness the moment Valeria waves her hand nonchalantly. "I am responsible for your life as long as you are under my guidance. I can't afford to have a Demon King Candidate die on me yet."

"I see..." Although it's not really what I expected to hear from her, I am still happy nonetheless. 'At least, I know there is someone who will always save my ass for the time being.'

Looking at the hourglass, I find that it is already 07:15 in the morning, so that means I have run for roughly an hour. 'How long have I been out is the question, huh?' Turning to Valeria, I look at her questioningly.

"Miss. Valeria, may I know how long have I been out?"

"Not long: around 10 minutes. You woke up the moment the Demon King's Mark had healed the injuries you received."

"Injuries?" I look at Valeria in puzzlement, but I can't help gulping drily for some reason. "Are you referring to the scratches I received from those branches I hit?"

Valeria quirks her eyebrow, then smiles faintly at me. "Do you not really remember what has happened?" She uncrosses her hands, then walks toward me. "I will let you remember it then."

I don't know what has got into me, but I am extremely reluctant to know what has happened to me.

"Uh, no. You can just—huh?!"

Alas, Valeria's hand has landed on my forehead even before I managed to cover it with my hands.

By the time I realized it, I am back to lying on the ground in Lost Cause forest. I can smell the familiar scent of the accursed forest vividly, and I can even strongly feel the impending doom I am about to face.

"W-What is this nightmare?"

Looking ahead, I can see the same weird-ass tiger I thought I had managed to run away from. Terror overwhelms my soul, and I quickly push my body off the ground so I can run away from it.

"F-Fuck! I can't move!"

Alas, my body doesn't seem to respond me. The only thing I can do is sit on the ground, and watch the gigantic tiger swing its paw at me; I can't feel my feet, and I don't even know whether I am already pissing myself.

Slash!

I am no stranger to pain; have been beaten up for most of my life. At that moment however, I experience true pain.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Spurt!

Blood gushes out from my chest profusely, and I can witness the scene slowly. I am wishing for the adrenaline to kick in so I don't have to feel the pain, but such a thing doesn't happen to me.

I lie my body on the ground, clutch my chest, and only then did I realize that my bone and the organs it protects are also cut along with my chest. Blood rises to my throat, and I quickly cough it out to prevent it from clogging my throat.

"AAAHH! AAHHH!"

Of course, I only hurt myself with the movement my chest made upon doing so. I cry heavily, asking for help that I don't know whether will be heard as tears blur my vision.

I am sure I have lost so much blood at that point, but I strangely can still maintain my consciousness.

"Adre..na...line."

Speaking is now a labour, but my eyes still can see the scene happening in front of me—although a little blurry due to my tears. Therefore, I can see—I can see that the tiger is now toying with my viscera that it has taken out.

I didn't feel a pain when my abdomen was torn up, so I can safely say that the adrenaline has finally kicked in. Despite so, I can still feel the pain in my chest vividly.

"Ah... Let me... Die in... One piece."

I am already aware of my imminent death, so I want to, at least, die with a complete body parts and organs. I have already thrown away any hope of surviving—my injuries are a death sentence anyway—but someone's arrival changed it all.

I can't clearly see who it is, but I am sure it is Valeria judging by the shadow.

"UWAA!"

Bam!

My butt crash onto the ground, and my vision has returned to normal by the time I realized it. I can see Valeria is looking at me with a small smile when I look up, but I quickly ignore her due to the extreme nausea I am feeling.

When my stomach can't bear it any longer, it expels everything it contains inside.

"Blergh..."

I throw up on the floor right in front of my bed, since my feet are not strong enough to carry me to the more proper place to throw up.

"Calm down..."

I can hear Valeria's soft and soothing voice, but I can't concentrate on it. My mind is too occupied with the nightmarish scene I have just watched, and my body is too overwhelmed with the nausea.

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my head, before a comfortably cold aura washes over me. My mind calms down, and the nausea disappears like a lie in the next moment.

Coughing out the rest of the vomit in my throat, I turn my pathetic face to Valeria. "T-Thank you."

"Take your time. It's your first time of greeting death, so I will tolerate your unsightly display."

I slowly nod my head, then look down to the floor. "Huh? Where is...?" I can't see my vomit, but I choose not to pursue the matter. I am sure Valeria has a hand on it.

I push myself off the ground and try to stand up, but my feet are still weak to support my body, so I sit myself on my bed in the end. I look ahead, and see Valeria coming my way with a tray that I believe she has taken from the table.

She then hands me the tray, and sits beside me.

"Thank you, Miss. Valeria."

Valeria says nothing, but I don't wait for her response as I open each of the food cover. The foods are different from last night, but they considerably look more ordinary.

"07:30."

"Pardon me?" I stop myself right before digging in, then turn to Valeria.

"Your next training will start at 07:30, so finish your breakfast at least 5 minutes before it."historical

"Ah, yes." Turning my head back to the food, I stare at it with a nervous gulp. "Ah, damn it!" I mutter inaudibly, then wolf the wheat porridge down on the tray first.

"This is... Holy crap, this porridge is awesome!" Unlike last night, I don't feel any word feeling upon eating it.

I grab the bread right beside the porridge, take a bite on it, then widen my eyes upon finding it tastes just as heavenly as the porridge. I don't clearly remember what happens afterwards, but I finish the whole foods in five minutes.

"Pheww... I'm full." I wipe the sweat off my forehead, then turn to Valeria. "Miss. Valeria, why are the foods different than last night?" She is giving me a rather weird look, but I pretend I don't realize it.

"Kuhum! You will only be fed with Mana rich foods at night, because your body processes Mana better when you sleep."

In other words, I will never sleep during the day.

"So, can I say that I already have Mana?"

"Yes, you do, but you don't have the ability to control it yet." I am slightly disappointed, but I make sure to listen to what Valeria says next. "Which is why, we will train your physical prowess from now on."

"Huh? Shouldn't we train how to use Mana instead?"

"It's not that fast, Laylow." Valeria stands up, then wears her blind mask once again. Darth Valeria is back, and she is showering me with her dreadful aura. "To be able to control Mana, you need to have a durable body."

She motions me to follow her with her hand, and I do exactly what she instructs me to with a dry gulp.

'Oh, boy. This is not going to end well.' I can somehow imagine another gruesome death waiting for me.