Chapter 62: Run First

"A meal?" Max asked in confusion. He had expected he would need to fight a formidable enemy to free it. If all he had to do was have a meal, just what kind of seal was used on the Frog?

"Yes. Please find a hidden door on the left of the cavern and enter it," the voice said.

Hearing this, Max walked toward the left wall, running his hands over the rough wall. After searching carefully for a hidden switch, his fingers brushed against a small, slightly loose rock. Pressing it inward, a heavy click echoed, and a seamless portion of the wall smoothly slid aside.

"Wonderfully done. Please enter the room," the voice said.

Max did not rush in. He peeked inside, but it was completely dark; he could see nothing. Taking a torch from his belt, he focused the light into the room, yet nothing appeared. It was as if the darkness refused to allow the light to penetrate.

"Do not worry, there is no danger inside the room. Just enter," the voice said.

Max silently debated whether to believe the Frog's words. However, since he had already promised to help, he took a step inside. Furthermore, the Field Energy was as stable as it had been in the cavern.

As soon as he entered, the room came into view as if the darkness had never existed. Looking around, Max saw a moderately sized stone room. Nothing existed within it aside from a dining table at the center, with a seat placed at each end.

"Please, come and have a seat," the voice said.

This time, however, Max could pinpoint where the voice was coming from. Looking at the other end of the table, something sat in the chair. It looked like a stone statue in the shape of the Frogs he had been killing since entering the Dungeon.

"Are you the Legendary Bull Frog, The Marlak?" Max asked as he walked slowly toward the empty chair, his eyes piercing the stone Frog.

"You guessed right. I am the Legendary Bull Frog, The Marlak," the voice came again from the stone statue.

"You are a stone statue?" Max asked as he took a seat. At the same time, he noticed something already placed in front of him: a bowl filled with soup, or perhaps some strange green water.

"Yes, that is how my enemies sealed me," the voice said.

"So what now? Should I crack open the stone to release you?" Max asked.

"No, there is no need to crack anything. Just have the soup first," the voice replied.

"This is soup? Is it even edible?" Max asked, his expression shifting to one of disgust.

"Do not worry. It will taste good, and no harm will come to you," the voice assured.

"So, drinking this soup will break the seal placed on you?" Max asked. There was simply no correlation between drinking soup and removing the seal on the Frog.

"Yes, sort of," the voice said.

"Okay," Max said.

Reluctantly, he picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the bowl. The liquid looked fresh; there seemed to be no insects or dust mixed within. Although he had absolutely no appetite looking at the green soup, he had no other choice. Scooping up a spoonful, he brought it close to his nose and sniffed. Again, there was no particular odor.

Bracing for the worst, Max closed his eyes, took a sip, and swallowed.

To his utter amazement, a rich, savory warmth burst across his tongue. It did not taste like swamp water at all; rather, it was incredibly delicious.

In quick succession, Max sipped a few more spoonfuls. However, while he was enjoying the green soup, he heard the voice speak.

"Run!"

"What?" Max asked, sipping yet another spoonful of soup.

"I said, run!" the voice screamed.

Instinctively, Max covered his right ear. The scream had come directly from his shoulder. Taken aback, Max glanced at his shoulder, only to discover a Frog sitting there.

Immediately after, his gaze shifted from his shoulder to his surroundings. He was no longer in the stone room; he had been transported somewhere else entirely. Looking down at his hands, the spoon and the soup were gone, and the dining table had vanished.

"Where are we?" Max asked, bewildered.

"Run if you want to live," the Frog sitting on his shoulder said.

In the next second, Max sensed a vibration beneath his feet. Something was charging in his direction. Max backed away, his eyes focusing straight ahead. Soon, the vibrations intensified. He felt as if a horde was rushing over, though the dense vegetation hid it from sight.

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"Faster!" the Frog said.

Hearing the Frog, Max turned around and sprinted without a second thought. He weaved between vines and trees, but the obstacles heavily slowed his speed.

"Watch your left," the Frog suddenly said while Max was fully concentrated on running.

Shifting his gaze without turning his head, Max noticed something moving alongside him just a few meters away. Unable to see it clearly, he turned his head to get a better look, his eyes immediately widening.

"What the hell is that?" Max's heart leaped into his chest.

"That is the Ossified Mantis. We have to escape from it; otherwise, it will kill you," the Frog warned.

Hearing this, Max pushed past his limits and ran. The creature he saw looked ugly and terrifying. Was this the monster chasing them? If so, they were doomed. It would not even take a few seconds for their bodies to be shredded by those claws.

"Where are we going?" Max asked calmly. He did not panic, keeping his concentration fully on the obstacles in front of him. If his thoughts were distracted, his speed would drop, and the charging mob would easily catch up to them.

"You will see. Follow my instructions and we will escape," the Frog said. "However, there is one more thing I hate to say."

"What is it?" Max asked, a bad feeling welling up inside him.

"We are too slow. You need to run at double your current speed to escape," the Frog sitting on his shoulder said.

"Hey, didn't I warn you earlier that I don't have as much potential as you claimed?" Max said angrily. "This is my top speed. So, live with it!"

"Yeah, yeah, I understand," the Frog said.

Max crouched down, avoiding a vine that was about to tangle his neck, and dashed between two trees. Running alongside them, the creature moved closer, aiming to hunt Max for a quick meal. Having anticipated this approach, Max drew his sword. Holding it in one hand, he swung it sideways, aiming at the creature. A sword aura shot forth from the blade, cutting through the vegetation before landing on the monster's face. However, the strike was blocked by those two scythe-like hands and dealt no damage to the jagged limbs.

"You are not strong enough to kill these monsters. Just use your Mana to speed up your running," the Frog advised as the horde of monsters gained on them.

"I do not know how to use Mana that way," Max said.

"That is easy to do. Just release the Mana outside the Mana Path," the Frog instructed.

Max was taken aback by this. Was using Mana truly that simple? However, he did not know how to release it outside of the Mana Path. The Mana Path existed for the very reason of allowing Mana to travel. Now, he was being asked to release it outside of that path. Did that not defeat its entire purpose?

Boom!

While Max was going through these thoughts, he heard a massive commotion behind him. The horde was clearly nearing them. Running beside him, the Ossified Mantis readied an attack. Max took a quick dip under a low-hanging branch, avoiding the readied strike.

Seeing Max move away, the monster ran for its life, leaving Max alone. Fortunately, it was more focused on its own life rather than its appetite; otherwise, Max would already be dead by now.

"Release the Mana out of the Mana Path!" Max muttered. He tried thinking of how to do it, but the little concentration he spared yielded no results.

He either had to sit down and figure out how to do it, or run with his full concentration. He could not do both at the same time.

"What are you waiting for?" the Frog's panicked voice sounded.

"I do not know how to do that!" Max said in frustration.

"Just block the Mana Path at the core and activate the Mana Core. It will do the trick," the Frog said.

Max thought for a while about what the Frog had just said.

"Just do it! Otherwise, we will die in ten seconds!" the Frog screamed. Currently, Max could not see what kind of horde was behind him, but the Frog could. Thus, it was urging Max to hurry.

Hearing this, Max looked at the terrain ahead. He quickly analyzed where to run to continue his current pace without needing his full concentration. Once he found a path, he memorized it. Letting his instincts follow that route, he placed his entire concentration on blocking the Mana Path.

Quickly concentrating, he entered the Core, which was easy for him. Now, he needed to block the path. Usually, he would grab the mana thread and navigate it through the path to release it. Now, he still had to grab the mana thread. However, instead of navigating it, he had to block the path and release the Mana within the Mana Space itself.

That seemed very easy, but how was he going to block the path? Did he have some plug to cover it? The thought filled Max with frustration. Should he have read some Mana Technique books? He regretted his choice of putting that topic off, although it had seemed reasonable at the time. Two weeks ago, he was not even able to use his Inborn Skill, so reading something completely different and difficult was unnecessary. But now, the time of necessity had arrived. He had to do it; otherwise, he was going to die in this unknown place.

God damn it, he cursed at being in this situation. He should have simply leveled up and left the Dungeon. Instead, he had gotten tangled up in this Frog's business. As frustration grew within him, the path he monitored ahead was about to end. After that, he did not know what lay ahead. A single misstep on a small burrow or vine would be the death of him.

With nothing else coming to mind, Max severed a small piece of the mana thread. Working quickly before the energy could dissipate, he compressed and reshaped the loose strand into a dense plug. Immediately, he jammed the makeshift plug directly into the pathway, sealing the flow tight.

Max did not know if this would work or hold firmly, but he did not have the luxury of overthinking. He released the mana thread inside the Core Space.

At that exact moment, he heard the voice of the Frog.

"Get down!"

Without a second thought, Max slid to the ground. Just as his body hit the dirt, he heard a sharp snapping sound from above.

Feeling a shiver run down the back of his neck, Max stood up and bolted. The moment he took his first step, his body shot forward with incredibly long strides. At the same time, a unique sensation spread throughout his entire body.

A special kind of energy began to flow through him. He could move faster and react faster. His vision pierced further into the distance, and his mind felt completely clear.

Seeing this speed, the Frog noticed that the monster horde was rapidly being left behind. Once they reached a safe distance, it leaned forward and looked at Max.

"You did great, Young Adventurer," the Frog said.

However, Max, who was still running, did not hear anything the Frog said. He was simply exhilarated by this newfound energy. He never knew he could access this much power using Mana.

Although Skills were an Awakener's main life-saving tools, killing an enemy was the best way to survive. However, using Mana in this way to escape and save his life was not half bad.

Max liked it! He could not wait to find out what other awesome things he could do with this technique.