Jin, finally steady on his feet, tapped his heel against the ground. tap… tap…
"Hey! Stop deciding my fate in the middle of some petty argument!"
Not knowing where to aim his words, he just stared forward
"Oho? And you think you have any choice in the matter?" a stern voice descended from above, calm but carrying the weight of finality.
"Yeah, you're deciding my—"
drip… drip…
The air shifted, faint but undeniable, and something wet landed on his right foot.
Jin blinked, craning his neck upward in search of rain clouds, or maybe some illusion hanging in the sky.
He raised his arm to shield his eyes from the eclipse—except nothing appeared. His hand wasn't there.
Slowly, trembling, he looked down.
His right arm was gone.
No gore. No spray of blood. Just a quiet drip from the stump, pattering onto the ground. The rest of his limb had vanished as though it had never existed.
What the fuck… was Jin's last coherent thought.
THUD!
Heat surged from below, overwhelming the whispering wind.
"Gosh, you can't just do that to one of the mongrel's chosen," a rumbling voice echoed from beneath the earth, deep and wise.
In the same instant, a radiant orange-yellow glow wrapped around Jin's sprawling body.
His stump closed, flesh and bone weaving back together in less than a heartbeat. shhhhhh! The hiss of healing left him whole once more.
"Who cares anyway," the stern voice dismissed coldly. "The child will never survive whatever the mongrel has planned. He's far too weak."
"The boy was chosen, was he not?" the older voice countered, calm but firm. "There must be a reason."
As those words lingered, the world around Jin drained of color, collapsing into endless grey.
Then the underground heat vanished, and the restless wind slipped away as if fleeing in fear.
The eclipse broke, and the sun's harsh light bled back into the world.
Hmmmm… A single, resonant hum reverberated from through the world.
Its pressure was so immense the top layer of pebbles cracked, crumbled, and sifted into dust.
Then—whoosh!—a colossal shadow tore down from the heavens. An ungodly giant, a pure-black owl, crashed onto the earth with a bow so deep it dared not reveal its eyes.
Rumble… The ground split as a monstrous tortoise rose, its jagged shell as massive as a mansion. Countless hollow bright red tunnels riddled its back, as if meant to gush with molten lava, but all lay dormant.
Its enormous head remained buried beneath the earth.
Neither spoke. Neither even breathed first.
From far yet near, a man's voice rippled through the air. "Who is this boy?"
A beat of silence stretched thin. Finally, the owl's voice carried softly, careful and heavy."We believed he was one of your chosen."
The world itself seemed to freeze, suspended in wait for the Mongrel's judgment.
The pause stretched longer than comfort allowed. Then—tsk!—a sharp click of the tongue split the stillness.
A sudden rush of wind tore through the scene as a unconscious girl appeared beside Jin without warning.
"The boy is not mine," the voice declared. "But the girl is. Train only her, or train them both—I care little."
"Do with the boy as you wish. Do not give him to me."
Another fleeting pause. Then.
CRASH!
A giant orb materialized before the owl and tortoise, swirling with countless shifting currents within.
"Split it."
And with that, the weight pressing down on the world lifted.
Color bled back into the landscape.
Leaving only Jin, the girl, and the two silent beasts in the wake of the Mongrel's departure.
The world lingered in silence, unwilling to begin again.
Jin snapped awake, sitting upright in a rush.
His eyes widened as he stared at his newly restored arm, flexing the fingers in disbelief before scanning his surroundings.
To his left, the towering form of a bowing, shadow-black owl.
To his right, a massive shell like a slumbering volcano, its jagged ridges piercing the earth.
Wha—
His ears twitched at a faint groan nearby.
Turning, he spotted a girl about his age sprawled across the ground.
Her hair blazed a fiery red with bright blonde tips, like molten lava spilling freely.
She had sharp pieces of armor encasing her elbows, knees, and feet—shaped less for defense, more like unconventional blades.
She groaned again, shifting weakly.
The owl's fierce white eyes narrowed, locking onto her. Its voice cut the air like a blade.
"She is already awakening? It has only been a few moments."
Straightening, the owl's gaze slid toward the glowing orb.
"Old man, rise. The Mongrel has actually paid us this time. This girl must be special."
Rrrmmmble… The tortoise stirred, the ground trembling with his deep chuckle as he lifted his head.
"Oho… one thousand beast adults, fifty beats jesters, and even a single baron. Hah! Almost enough for us to rank up."
Without hesitation, both beasts lunged at the orb, tearing into it with crunching bites until it was evenly split between them. Their gazes then fell on Jin.
"Boy if you are not the mongrel's then I dont know how or why you got here."
"but you will remain. Only as a stepping stone for the girl." the owl declared coldly.
With a sweep of its wings, it launched skyward, reclaiming its post before the sun and plunging the land back into shadow.
The tortoise lingered a moment longer, offering Jin a slow, rumbling smile.
"Don't worry too much. You'll receive training as well. And since you are spared from the Mongrel's hand… we will find tasks fit for you."
Then with a deep grrrrnch the earth split again, swallowing the massive shell as the tortoise descended back underground.
"First lesson, boy." The stern voice echoed from above.
"Watch how the mana in her body subconsciously responds to her situation."
A brief pause, then that same voice continued, calm yet edged with superiority.
"This is the difference between you two. It took you a week for your mana to adapt and heal you—but for her, only moments. So, pay attention."
Jin leaned forward, eyes narrowing as he studied the girl's form. Hsshh— the faint hum of energy whispered through the air.
At first, he squinted, trying to focus. Then his eyes widened in disbelief.
This… this isn't anything like mine.
He rubbed his chin, mind racing.
What he saw was how a prodigy's mana behaved—instinctive, fluid, perfectly balanced without command.
It was also, he realized, how every being's mana in this world seemed to function.
Except for him.
Her mana shimmered with faint colors, all born from a single current of pure white mana that flowed like a river from her brain down her spine.
Now and then, a thread of that white mana branched off, changing color into green energies for instance then would wrap beneath her skin, forming a protective layer.
Moments later, fsshh, that green faded away, dissolving into nothing as a new strand replaced it.
That was the nature of mana—temporary, reactive, and ever-cycling.
Unlike Jin's energies, which lingered, stubbornly refusing to fade once their purpose was done.
And she—unlike him—produced that white mana herself, from within, rather than drawing it from her surroundings.
Realizing the implications, Jin decided to test the waters.
"She's… different from me," he said aloud, voice low but firm. "I don't have that white energy."
He used the word energy deliberately—aware now that whatever flowed through him might not be mana at all.
The ground trembled—whum—and a wave of heat pulsed outward, rippling through the air.
"Explain."
The wise one's voice carried, deeper than before. Jin stiffened. There was a faint edge to that tone now—something simmering beneath the calm.
He swallowed hard, steadying his breath. Choose your words carefully.
"I… don't have the flow of white energies," he said slowly.
The heat flared again, hotter this time—an unspoken demand to continue.
Jin got the message.
So he began to speak.
He explained everything he could about his powers—how they worked, what he had discovered, what he didn't understand.
But he carefully cut out every mention of Ohner, weaving a new story in its place.
According to Jin's version, he was an unfortunate experiment—kept locked away by a mad scientist since birth.
The man had spent years altering Jin's body, forcing it to channel mana differently. Then, when the "experiment" was over, Jin had simply been… discarded.
Dropped here.
By chance.
The heat around him faded, the air cooling once more.
"So," the wise one rumbled, his tone thick with disbelief, "since you were born, a mad scientist imprisoned you and ran experiments on your body."
He paused. Seemingly trying to wrap his head it.
"And when he finally completed his magnum opus—a body that uses mana unlike any other—he just happened to drop you in the same place the Mongrel sends his chosen to train?"
Jin crossed his arms and gave an exaggerated nod. "Yup… yup. That's all correct."
A faint shift brushed through the air, so soft only Jin's sharpened hearing caught it—like a blade slicing through mist.
"The Mongrel must have noticed the way you use mana," the stern one said. "That's the only reason you're still alive. Otherwise…"
A low silence followed.
"…he would have killed you."
Huh? killed me?! What is wrong with everyone in this world?!