I Found a Door to the Elven Realm-Chapter 35: Door Master - Level 2

The southern forest was where Eren spent most of his time these days. It was dense, dark in places and full of low-level creatures that gave decent experience without too much risk. Slimes, mostly. Some rabbits. Occasionally a stray fox or two.

He’d memorized every tree and path in this section but today he decided to vary his route and actually look around instead of just grinding mindlessly.

The dungeon entrance was here somewhere, hidden behind that flower garden with the cubs. He made a mental note to check on them later. They were probably sleeping after yesterday’s marathon hunting session.

As he walked and killed the occasional slime, Eren paid attention to the geography. The southern section sloped downward slightly and the trees grew thicker the deeper you went. Undergrowth tangled everywhere, making it perfect hiding spots for ambush predators.

His stats had grown enough that these low-level areas felt almost safe now. Almost. He’d learned the hard way never to get too comfortable in a magical forest.

By midday, he’d circled west toward the lumber operations. This section was completely different from the south. The trees here were enormous, old-growth timber that the elves carefully harvested. Oldir and his team had marked certain trees for cutting, leaving others to maintain the forest’s health.

Eren found Oldir taking a break near a half-cut trunk, wiping sweat from his face.

"Eren! Out for a walk?"

"Hunting, mostly. How’s the work going?"

"Slow and steady." Oldir patted the tree trunk. "This one will give us enough wood for three houses, but it’ll take all week to process. Strong trees don’t fall easily even after chopped hahaha..."

They talked for a few more minutes before Eren continued north. The northern section was where the ground started rising into rocky hills. You could see the distant mountains from here, the ones Emily’s mother had supposedly crossed to reach human lands.

The mountains looked cold, jagged and completely uninviting. No wonder nobody travels that way.

The northern area had fewer trees and more stone. Moss covered everything and small streams carved paths through the rocks. It was beautiful in a harsh way, but Eren didn’t see many creatures up here. Too exposed, probably.

He killed a few slimes that had wandered up from the forest proper, then turned east.

The eastern section was the most alien part of the village territory. The ground turned soft and wet, transmitting into a marshland that buzzed with insect life. Fruit trees grew in strange clusters where the soil was firm enough and the elves had built raised pathways to access their crops without sinking into the mud.

Eren stood at the edge of the marsh, watching dragonflies the size of his hand zip across the water. The air smelled like wet earth and rotting plants and the sound of buzzing insects was almost deafening.

This place was a nightmare and could see why beasts avoided it. There were too much noise, too little cover and the ground would trap heavy creature trying to move through on it. It was a natural barrier that protected the eastern edge of the village better than any wall.

Still, it was productive. The fruit farms here was amazing according to villagers.

He grabbed a piece of fruit from one of the accessible trees, something that tasted like a mango mixed with honey. He ate similar ones in breakfasts before and ate it while watching the marsh. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

A few massive beetles crawled across the watery cannals’ surface with their shells gleaming in the afternoon light.

Everything in this part was either trying to kill or feed each other.

He didn’t try attacking those bugs as Emily forbid him and walked away with his fruit.

By the time Eren returned to the village, the sun was setting and his experience bar had barely moved. Level 20 to Level 21 was taking forever, even with steady grinding.

He needed stronger enemies, but Emily had made him promise not to go after anything over Level 10 without her permission. It was frustrating but understandable. She was pregnant, worried and probably having nightmares about him getting himself killed by some random forest creature.

"At least I’m getting my cardio." He was muttering happily. His body was changing and he knew it.

Back home, he sat on the living room floor with his back against the couch, thinking about his stat distribution. He’d been putting off this decision for half an hour, but it was time.

Three points. Two to Agility, one to Mana.

With the decision, all his stats except mana finally equalized!

The moment he confirmed, power flowed through him. His body felt lighter, more responsive. The single mana point wouldn’t do much by itself but every bit helped.

And for the most part he could feel the differences of mana more than other stats. Maybe he couldn’t really use all of the more biological stats but mana was easy to use. Even Emily didn’t know this.

Now for the real test.

Eren stood and walked to the bedroom, placing his hand on the wall. He focused on his Door Master skill, imagining his old bathroom back on Earth. The place where this whole insane journey had started.

His mana drained instantly. A door materialized on the wall, shimmering with that familiar blue light. Through the opening, Eren could see his old bedroom, the same tiles, the same mirror, the same everything.

Home.

He took a step forward, getting closer but not inside, but before he could see the actual details, the door slammed shut and dissolved.

"Slow down..."

[Congratulations! Through repeated use and understanding, your Door Master skill has advanced to Level 2]

"Nice!" He opened skills page and checked the changes with the level up. His heartrate peaked with anticipation.

[Door Master (First Evolution League) - Level 2

+Efficiency improved - Doors now last longer based on skill level)

+Portal Duration: 1.1 second per 100 maximum mana

"1.1 second instead of 1 per 100 mana. So my math actually worked with that experiment." He smiled with a tired face. All his mana drained didn’t feel good for some reason.

Eren did the math in his head. With thirty mana stat, his maximum was 300. That meant three seconds. Three seconds to cross between universes, grab something and get back.

"That’s actually impossible for anything useful but maybe- no."

He’d need at least 1000 mana to have ten seconds and even that felt too short with some possible complications.

To comfortably travel back and forth, grab supplies, maybe talk to his parents? He’d need several thousand mana.

At nine stat points per level, with one going to each stat... He would need to be level 200 or higher to make reliable Earth trips.

The realization hit him like cold water. Earth wasn’t unreachable, but it might as well be for now. He’d be stuck in this world for years at minimum.

Emily, the baby, the village and this was his life now. For better or worse.

So maybe giving some priority to mana after this point would be better.

Eren stared at the wall where the door had been as his mind racing. The skill had upgraded, which meant it was changing and evolving. And the new description said something interesting.

The effect depends on the environment, imagination and available mana.

Imagination.

He’d been thinking about this wrong. Door Master opened doors between universes he’d been to before Earth and Evon. But both of those were universes, plural. Massive spaces with countless locations.

What if he wouldn’t try to cross universes? The thought hit him so suddenly he actually said it out loud. "What if I use Door Master to open a door inside this forest?"

"I am dumb. This is a teleportation ability and I never tried to use it to open inside this side."

The village to the dungeon. The village to the mountains. The village to wherever Emily’s mother had gone to find humans. Or some incredible cities and flying islands.

Possibilities were endless. If it worked for universe-hopping, why wouldn’t it work for teleportation within the same universe?

His heart started beating faster. This could change everything. Instead of walking for hours or days to reach distant locations, he could just open a door and step through.

But would it work? The skill description mentioned "universes he has been to before." Did that mean he could only open doors to places he’d physically visited? Or was there more flexibility than that?

There was only one way to find out.

"I have to look into mana regen situation but but I’m testing this after dungeon."

The possibilities spun through Eren’s mind as he sat in the darkening room.

If this worked, if he could really teleport within Evon and then everything would change.

Traveling to human cities wouldn’t take months. Exploring dangerous areas would be safer with an instant escape route. He could even set up supply lines, moving goods and resources between locations instantly.

The mana cost would still be the limiting factor, but at least it wouldn’t be 1 second for 100 mana. Maybe he wasn’t as stuck as he thought.

Hearing footsteps outside, he knew Emily had arrived home and it was time to go to the Dungeon.