Chapter 52: Mark Of Origin
Alex looked at the notifications with anticipation.
[Tutorial Quest 3 completed: Reach Level 10.]
[Mark of Origin gained.]
[Gold Reward Box gained.]
[Bronze Reward Box (2) gained.]
A golden spiral-shaped mark appeared on the back of Alex’s hand. It radiated a faint warmth that felt strangely soothing before suddenly beginning to move.
Alex could sense it drawing some invisible form of energy from the dungeon itself.
Focusing on the mark brought another screen before his eyes.
[Mark of Origin]
[Level 1]
[Origin Energy: 4/10]
[Inventory Slots: 0/5]
[Innate Skill: Return (Consumes 2 Origin Energy at base)]
Alex’s heartbeat quickened the moment he read the skill’s name. He immediately focused on Return, causing another description to appear before him.
[Return]
[It’s here. You can stop whining now.]
[Effect: Allows you to return your consciousness to your other body.]
A faint smile slowly spread across Alex’s face as he finished reading the effect. He could finally return to check on his family on Earth.
The temptation to activate the skill immediately was overwhelming, but he forced himself to stay calm and first looked around the cavern.
Frank was lying on the ground, breathing hard. Sarah, Petra, and Yulia were gathered around Joseph, making sure he was truly alright, while Emma stood nearby waiting for Alex to finish checking his notifications.
As Alex observed Emma, he noticed Emma couldn’t see the Mark of Origin on his hand.
It seemed everyone could only see their own Mark of Origin, just like the Status Screen.
"We can return home now," Alex said with a faint smile.
"What?" Emma asked, her eyes widening.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Did you not reach Level 10 yet?"
Emma shook her head, and explained that after receiving the ’progress’ from clearing the dungeon, everyone else had only reached Level 8 or Level 9.
"Why are you asking about Level 10 though? Did the Tutorial Quest..." she didn’t complete her words, but the smile on her face was bright, and full of expectations.
"Yes. We can return to our other body with the reward we get from completing the Tutorial Quest 3," Alex said.
"Nice! We only need a few more monsters. After that, we should all be able to return as well. Though, we don’t know if these body—the second body of ours—will remain here, or disappear," she said.
Alex nodded in understanding. If their second body remained in the Land of Origin, they needed to make sure they left behind protection for it.
No one wanted to die, even if they had two bodies. The consequences were unknown.
Notifications suddenly appeared before Alex.
[Alex Mercer has reached Level 10.]
[Tutorial Quest 4 issued: Return to the Earth.]
’A Tutorial Quest to return to Earth? So, returning to Earth is important,’ he theorized.
Alex also noted that his Return skill allowed his consciousness to return to his "other body", not first body. So, he could return to the Land of Origin after checking on his family.
While he was looking at the notification, Joseph slowly walked toward them.
Although every one of his injuries had healed, his leg below the knee was still missing, making Alex realize that leveling up wasn’t a perfect cure.
It could restore damaged flesh, but it apparently couldn’t regenerate body parts that had already been completely severed.
That discovery was both valuable and concerning. If someone lost a limb in the future, leveling up alone wouldn’t be enough to restore it.
Fortunately, everyone else’s injuries had healed perfectly, including Yulia’s arm, which looked as if it had never been close to being torn off.
Joseph stopped in front of Alex and remained silent for a moment. His expression was calm, but his eyes carried a gratitude that words could barely express.
Finally, he lowered his head and said quietly, "Thank you."
Alex simply nodded before looking around the cavern. "Let’s deal with the corpses and set up a temporary base here. Most of the monsters are dead already, so anything that comes back should be easy to handle. We can use them to finish leveling everyone up."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Alex then told everyone about the Mark of Origin and the Return skill it had granted him. As they listened, the worry that had lingered on their faces gradually faded.
Knowing there was a way back to Earth was enough to lift everyone’s spirits.
"So we really can go back?" Frank asked.
"It looks that way. The skill lets me send my consciousness back to my other body. The only thing we don’t know is what happens to this body after I leave," Alex replied.
After discussing it for a few minutes, they settled on a simple arrangement. Alex would return to Earth first while Yulia and Joseph stayed behind in the boss chamber to guard his body in case it remained in the Land of Origin.
Emma, Sarah, Petra, and Frank would leave the boss monster chamber and hunt the crab monsters that returned after searching for food elsewhere.
With the plan decided, everyone got to work. Alex dragged the corpses of the crab leader and the two Level 10+ monsters to one side of the chamber.
Since reaching Level 10 had unlocked the inventory, there was no reason not to make and take a few extra shields while they had the materials.
Joseph stood beside him and occasionally pointed out where to cut. Thanks to the old man’s guidance, Alex wasted far less shell than before, and the finished shield looked noticeably sturdier than his previous attempts.
A notification appeared before him.
[Crappy Crab Shield (F Rank)]
[Alright, I’ll admit. You have some talent in crafting items.]
[Effect: A good shield that can block powerful forces.]
Alex looked over the shield with satisfaction.
The first one he had made was only Trash Rank, while this one had reached F Rank. Better materials certainly helped, but his craftsmanship had also improved after making several of them.
While Alex worked, Joseph tried several times to learn Mana Thread Spell. Unfortunately, despite understanding the theory, he failed every attempt.
The spell demanded an incredible degree of mana control that couldn’t be mastered simply by watching someone else use it.
Although he couldn’t learn Mana Thread, Joseph still taught Alex how [Mana Bullet] actually worked.
..
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