Jin woke up the next day feeling completely exhausted, but strangely happy.
Even though it felt like a dream, Jin was sure that what had happened was real.
Jin wasn't sure about the nature of his new power, but he was convinced it would change his life completely.
"What a beautiful day to be alive," Jin took a long breath as he looked around.
Jin decided to leave the medical complex today.
Although he hadn't suffered any physical injuries, the doctor had advised him to stay for a few more days until he could be sure that Jin's mental state was stable.
But in the end, Jin couldn't stay any longer. He still wanted to go home to sort out some things, and he also wanted to visit his grandfather's grave.
After leaving the medical complex, Jin approached one of the soldiers and asked him,
"Hello, I want to leave the military fortress for a little while. Can you show me the way?"
The soldier replied,
"Of course. You can go through the main gate," and pointed Jin in the direction.
Jin headed to the main gate, where two guards were standing watch.
"Hello, I'd like to go out for a bit," Jin said.
The guards responded,
"Sure, but don't be late because we close the gate at sunset every day."
"Also, avoid heading north as there might be chaos creatures moving there."
Jin nodded. "Alright, thank you."
Since the military fortress was used for supplies, it wasn't located within the main city.
Of course, since Jin lived in the main city, the direction he had to take was south to reach it, which would take about half an hour on foot.
Jin headed along the road that ran through the forest and continued until he reached the walls of the main city.
When he returned, the city looked different. Usually, the areas inside the walls near the gates were crowded with travelers and merchants, but now there were fewer people than usual.
The shops and stalls that once filled the city were mostly empty. Only a few shops were open, and all the stalls had been removed.
The normally noisy streets now felt strangely quiet.
Jin had an idea why it was probably because of the rumors spreading about the chaos creatures.
The merchants' conversations Jin had heard indicated that they were planning to leave the city, and it seemed many others had decided the same.
Anyway, Jin continued walking through the city until he reached his house.
Jin felt a mix of emotions as he stood at the doorstep.
He really missed his grandfather his kind smile and the smell of the food he used to make for Jin every day. Even though it was cheap compared to what Jin had been eating recently, it was something he cherished a lot.
Jin stepped inside the house. He was used to seeing him relaxing by the fireplace, but the warm, cozy home now felt sadly cold without him.
Jin went into his room and gathered some of his belongings, then went out to his grandfather's room.
There wasn't much there, so Jin gathered some of his stuff too. Then he left the house and headed to the city graveyard.
When Jin arrived, he stood in front of his grandfather's grave, which looked faded compared to the others. He sat down and placed some flowers on the headstone.
Jin wanted to open the grave and leave some of the belongings he loved—like his grandmother's necklace and a few cherished items but he didn't want anyone to think he was disrespectful or a grave robber. So he let the idea go and decided to keep those things with him instead.
Jin spoke to him for about 30 minutes. Even though he didn't really believe the dead could hear us, he needed to speak anyway… he guessed he just wanted to let out what was in his heart.
After that, Jin got up and left the graveyard.
There was still plenty of time before he had to return to the military complex, so Jin decided to do some experiments to test the power he had just gotten.
First, he needed somewhere out of sight, so he chose a forest near the military complex and went there right away.
Jin found a perfect spot and put his belongings under a tree.
"Alright, how should I do this?"
Jin tried calling random ability names, but nothing happened.
"Did I do it wrong or something?"
Jin kept trying over and over, but nothing changed.
"Hmm, was it just a dream after all?"
"I don't think it was a dream, but why isn't it working?" Jin sat on the ground thinking.
He remembered that the paper told him his power was related to blood.
"Maybe I need some blood first?"
Jin broke a branch from a nearby tree and tried to cut himself.
"Well, no harm in a simple attempt, right?"
Jin wounded his hand, letting a bit of blood flow, then he thought of a dagger.
Surprisingly, it worked! The blood dripping from his hand shaped itself into a small dagger of blood.
Jin shouted happily, "Let's fucking go! This is really working!"
Jin waved it around for a bit, imagining he was fighting with it. Then he decided to hit a tree to see what would happen.
Jin hit a tree beside him with the blood dagger, but the blood evaporated and the tree wasn't even scratched.
"Huh?" Jin tried again and again, but nothing happened.
"This shit is useless! What kind of power doesn't even do any damage?" Jin said, feeling so disappointed.
Suddenly, Jin felt dizzy and exhausted, beginning to stagger. "Wh-what's happening?"
A paper appeared in front of his face out of nowhere, with writing in red font: "You've run out of mana. Your body will now enter refilling mode."
"Mana?" Jin muttered, collapsing to the ground, unable to move. "Noo, what the hell—"
Jin was conscious but couldn't move or speak. He lay there in that awkward, embarrassing position for hours, doing nothing but thinking, until night came.
Then Jin started to feel his limbs again and finally was able to move.
"Fuck! This shit is useless, I curse this stupid fucking paper!" Jin shouted, kicking the ground in anger.
Jin tried to stand but could barely move his legs. "Fuck, the gates are now definitely closed."
His stomach growled with hunger. "Ugh, I'm hungry."
Jin wandered around the forest, looking for something to eat, but only found some berries. "Is this even safe to eat?"
Sighing in frustration, Jin ate them anyway.
Jin then sat, gazing at the blue sky, thinking.
"That stupid dagger drained all my mana. What a worthless power."
"What is mana anyway? and how much do I have of it?"
Jin cursed for a while before saying, "Summon Statistics."
─────────────────────────
[ Statistics ]
Title: ???
Rank: Dormant
Artifacts: 0/1
Weapons: 0/1
Summons: 0/1
Kills: 0 / 500
Ancient Souls: 0/ ???
─────────────────────────
Jin scratched his hair. "Why don't I see this mana thing here?"
Then Jin asked the paper, "Yo paper, why can't I see the mana thing?"
The writing on the paper changed to respond: "You haven't met the requirements to view your strength stats."
"How do I get that?"
The writing on the paper changed again to say: "You are too weak, get stronger."
"How to get stronger?"
The writing on the paper replied: "Work harder."
Jin placed his hand on his head, sighing. "What a useless answer."
Then Jin said, "Close statistics," and the paper burned in front of him and disappeared.
Jin sighed. "What will I do now? The gates are closed, and I can't return."
Jin lay beside his belongings and looked around.
"I guess I'll just sleep here tonight"...
Meanwhile, Morgan was still in the training ground, cursing under his breath. The veins on his forehead were clearly visible as he looked extremely angry.
Sai watched him, sighing heavily. "Commander, please let me go home, I'm really sleepy."
"That little brat has the nerve to skip my training," Morgan gritted his teeth.
"Tomorrow, find that brat and tell him his upcoming days will be hell," Morgan added.
Sai looked at Morgan as he placed the sword he had been holding for six hours, waiting eagerly for his student who never arrived.
"I pray to the saints for your mercy, boy," Sai muttered, looking up to the sky as he and Morgan left the training ground.
Jin woke up scratching his back. "That wasn't a good night's sleep at all."
Jin got up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, gathered his things, and headed to the military fortress.
When Jin arrived, the guards saw him and looked worried. "Hey, kid where the hell have you been? Didn't you say you'd be back before sunset?"
Jin laughed nervously. "Haha, well something happened and I got a little lost."
"You've gotten yourself into a lot of trouble, Commander Morgan is furious."
"Oh shit, I forgot about that," Jin muttered to himself.
Then Jin asked them, "Oh, right… I think so. Hmm, can I come in? I'm really hungry." Jin gave them an innocent smile.
The guards looked at each other, then one replied, "Yes, come in, but I think you should avoid Commander Morgan for a while."
Jin gave them an awkward smile and thanked them for their advice, then headed to the restaurant to grab some food. Jin was very hungry, so he ordered grilled fish with rice and sauce.
"What a delicious smell," Jin sniffed the food while smiling.
Jin began eating, enjoying every bite. He was really happy as food is one of his favorite things.
"Ah, rich people's food is the best," Jin muttered with his mouth full.
As Jin was eating, he noticed something strange… the restaurant suddenly became quiet.
Jin kept chewing, looking at the confused faces in front of him. "Huh… what's wrong with them?"
Then suddenly Jin heard a voice behind him…
"It's quite tasty, right?"
Jin looked back to see Commander Morgan standing behind him, gripping his hand.
Jin's face turned blue. "Would you like some fish? It's really delicious."
Morgan replied, "Ah, of course."
He gave Jin a smile, and Jin smiled back. Morgan didn't eat anything, but Jin did eat some slaps…
Afterward, Jin went to the medical complex to treat the bruises he got from Morgan's slaps.
"This fucking bastard, all I did was just miss one training day," Jin muttered as he felt pain in his cheeks.
Weeks passed as Jin trained every day.
The training was harder and more intense than before. For example, Morgan's punishment for skipping training on that day was brutal he made Jin eat the cheap food again instead of the rich meals, and then forced him to run for hours.
That punishment was extremely painful for Jin…
By noon, they were sword training to the point that Jin got bruised almost every day.
In the evenings, Jin would practice and strengthen his body, lifting weights or carrying heavy bags of rice back and forth to the base storage.
Sometimes, Jin also trained with Elena, sparring with her in practice matches but he couldn't even hit her once.
Jin's routine revolved around daily training, and he would end up completely exhausted, collapsing onto his bed like a dead man.
On the morning of the eleventh week, Morgan received an acceptance letter.
"Looks like that brat will finally be leaving."
"Sai, tell that boy to pack his things. He'll be leaving to Lucaria after two days."
Sai nodded. "Alright, I'll tell him." Then he went off to inform Jin.
Meanwhile, Jin was training with Elena.
"You're so fast!" Jin tried to dodge her attacks.
"No, you're just slow," Elena said with a smile.
"Jin, I have good news for you!" Sai called out as he arrived to the training court.
Jin looked at him. "What's the news?"
At that moment, Jin got hit from a wooden sword on his head.
"Ouch! Why did you do that?" Jin scratched his head as he looked at Elena.
Elena laughed. "You shouldn't let your guard down."
Sai approached them with excitement. "Your acceptance letter has arrived, Jin. You're finally going to Lucaria."
Elena smiled. "Congratulations, Jin. You'll finally be going there."
Jin looked at Sai. "Oh really? When do I leave?"
He replied, "After two days, so pack your things and ready for that."
"Hmm… so finally, I'll go there"…