"All I've told you so far applies only to pure Danchi users. Forbidden Danchi users have it worse. Their corruption rate is twice as fast," Jake began, shaking Renzo to his core.
Twice as fast? Could that explain the two black lines on both of his arms?
Was he… a forbidden Danchi user?
"Seventy percent of forbidden Danchi users are completely controlled by their Danchi. They destroy everything in sight," Jake continued.
Renzo's heart sank. "Father… he was like that," he thought, stunned.
"The remaining 29% die in the Dormant Realm. They fail to awaken in four days, and then the Dankii come and devour them. But the world still fears forbidden Danchi users."
Jake's voice lowered.
"Because the final 1%... they are terrifying. They possess four times the power of a pure Danchi user. Yes, their corruption rate is doubled, but they're incredibly strong. I've heard that once they reach the Blazing Realm, corruption can't touch them. They become unstoppable.
"On the other hand, pure Danchi users, though they gain control over corruption at higher realms, become more exposed to something worse: reality corruption. They don't die, but many become puppets to the very Danchi they tried to master."
Jake paused, watching Renzo's expression.
"You see now? Even at the higher realms, where death is no longer a threat, there's still the risk of losing yourself."
Renzo's voice was low, uncertain. "What about forbidden Danchi users? If they're immune at the Blazing Realm, then why does the world still fear them?"
Jake laughed bitterly. "Because corruption doesn't affect them… not because they've conquered it but because they've already become slaves to their Danchi. They destroy everything. No restraint. No mind left."
Renzo trembled.
Jake noticed and smirked. "No need to worry. You're not one of them. Fire Danchi is pure. Forbidden Danchi is toxic, it spreads chaos. You're safe. Actually, you're talented. You've already broken through to the Early Ember Realm right after awakening, skipping the Dormant stage entirely."
Renzo didn't hear most of that. His mind had drawn its own conclusion:
"I'm a forbidden Danchi user."
"Which means my death will come twice as fast…"
"But wait, how do I stop this? Jake didn't say anything about stopping the corruption…"
"Jake," Renzo spoke up, fear creeping into his voice. "How do I stop the corruption? If I keep using it… won't I die faster? I don't get it. What's the point of surviving if the power that saves me is killing me?"
Jake stopped walking.
"Mastery," he said simply. "You need to understand your Danchi. The deeper your understanding, the slower the corruption. Normally, someone at the peak of the Ember Realm would be long dead by now. But I'm still here… because my mastery is near perfect. I've only lacked one thing,luck. The chance to break into the Kindled Realm. But I fell short. And now… death is knocking."
Renzo's thoughts swirled.
"There are seven known realms of Danchi power," Jake continued. "Dormant Realm, Ember Realm, Kindled Realm, Blazing Realm, Infernal Realm, Sovereign Realm, and finally… Transcendent Realm."
"Reach the Kindled Realm and you'll no longer fear death. But after that, your battle will be against losing yourself. You'll fight that corruption until you reach the Transcendent Realm, the realm beyond even the gods."
Jake turned and looked at Renzo.
"My time is nearly up. But maybe… maybe you'll be the one to break through."
Renzo said nothing as an instructor walked toward them.
"Instructor Jake," the man greeted with a smile. "You're back. I see you've brought your student."
Jake nodded. "Yeah. Any missions?"
"Yes. And now that you've picked a disciple, the mercenary guild has assigned you your binding mission."
Jake laughed. "Hope he doesn't go missing again, right?"
"Haha, right!" the instructor chuckled. "You're allowed to bring a third member too."
Jake turned to Renzo. "You heard that? After picking a personal disciple, instructors are given a mission by the guild. It helps strengthen the bond between teacher and student. It won't be too hard… and we're allowed to bring an extra teammate."
Renzo's curiosity briefly overtook his worry. "So I'm your personal disciple?"
Jake nodded. "Yes. You're talented. You broke through right after awakening. All the instructors wanted you, I had to offer a few favors to Lady Lucy before she gave me the green light."
Renzo bowed slightly. "I'm honored, teacher."
Jake gave him a playful smack on the back. "At ease, kid."
They entered a small hall.
"Instructor Jake! Welcome. I assume that's your student?" the receptionist said warmly.
Jake nodded.
"Aww, I'm jealous," she added, glancing at Renzo with a soft smile. He quickly looked away, flustered.
"Stop scaring my student, haha," Jake said. "So, what's the mission? And where's the extra teammate?"
The receptionist turned and gestured to her left. "She's right here. She's at the peak of the Dormant Realm. She'll complement your student well, together, they could take on even middle Ember Realm missions."
Jake laughed. "Looks like you've got a great partner, Renzo. You two will make a strong team."
Renzo looked up to see a beautiful girl around his age walking toward him with a confident smile.
"Hi, my name's Min," she said, extending a hand.
"I'm Renzo. Nice to meet you," he replied, shaking her hand.
(So soft…)
"Alright, we should get going. Hand me the mission parcel," Jake said.
The receptionist handed him a sealed scroll.
Jake checked the contents and nodded. "Good. This one will be perfect. With this mission… everything begins."
As they walked out, the receptionist sighed wistfully.
"Sigh… I'm jealous."
*******
Jake and the other two quickly left the base, heading toward the mission area nearby.
"A village lies ahead. For normal humans, walking there would take a full day,but we're Danchi users. We'll use our enhanced bodies. No need to activate your Danchi this time. Even at the Dormant stage, our physical bodies are far stronger than average humans. Just follow my lead," Jake explained.
Boom!
He vanished in a blur of motion. Min glanced at Renzo with a grin and took off right after him.
"Try to keep up, okay?" she said playfully.
Renzo blinked as they both disappeared from view.
"Isn't it just running? I can do that too… I'm curious,just how strong am I now? How fast?" he thought.
He crouched slightly… and launched forward.
In a few strides, he vanished from sight, accelerating at incredible speed until he caught up with Jake and Min.
"Not bad," Jake said, glancing back at him. "You're using your power for the first time. Be careful though at this speed, you need to watch your surroundings."
Renzo quickly veered to the left, narrowly dodging a tree. Min laughed softly.
"Let me guess, you just awakened?" she asked with a teasing smile.
"Yeah," Renzo replied. "What about you?"
"Oh, I awakened about a month ago. Went from early Dormant stage to peak Dormant within that time," Min said as she ran beside him. "For weak Danchi users like me… our only hope is to get picked by an instructor. If not, we're as good as dead."
Renzo frowned. "What do you mean?"
Without slowing, Min pulled her shirt slightly to the side, revealing faint dark lines along her skin,corruption marks.
"Unlike talented people like you, who awaken straight into the Ember Realm, we have to claw our way up. Every day we don't improve, the corruption gets worse."
Renzo's chest tightened as realization hit him.
"Life really is cruel," he thought, watching the determined expression on Min's face as they continued racing toward the distant village.
Jake, Min, and Renzo ran without pause, three Danchi users heading toward a place in need of their help.
*****************†*******************†*****************