Breaking News: Wind God Captured? – All Details on the Rotterdam Heist. That was the first thing Shin saw in the morning.
The arrest dominated headlines, even slightly overshadowing the reports on the new towers popping up every few days. It has already been a week since the so-called 'Wind God' was taken into custody, but the story continues to ripple across social media like no other. Be it the press or the people, the country starved to know more about the slippery thief who stirred the entire nation.
Demonstrators stormed a Rotterdam police station earlier this week, demanding to meet the masked thief they hailed as a hero. To them, the Wind God was not a criminal but a symbol—someone striking back against corruption and weakness.
But reality was often disappointing. The suspect thought to be the Wind God was nothing but a madman. Witnesses describe him rambling about a cloak and "a shadow watching from the rain." Police sources confirmed he repeatedly demanded his cloak back, speaking in fragments and contradictions.
Some officers suggested he was a scapegoat, and the real Wind God was a puppeteer still hiding in the shadows. But this idea was soon disputed and dismissed after the investigation pointed out his history: Few reports mentioned the suspect had previously been prosecuted by Mr. Aäron Jansen—the very victim of the recent hit-and-run case—giving further proof that Milo had not just been manipulated by others.
With no better options, the case was expedited. The suspect was tried swiftly and transferred to a mental health facility for treatment and observation. "No crime will be tolerated," Commissioner van Dijk stated at a press briefing. "Whether hospital or prison, justice will be served."
For a few days, the debate raged on. Was he a criminal, a pawn, or a symbol of something greater? But like most storms in the news cycle, the story soon dissipated. The name Wind God now existed only in small forums and memes on social media, and the name Milo van Gerven faded from the world's memories.
But for some, the story of Milo and his cloak was far from over. In fact, it was just the beginning.
—
The room was quiet, save for the soft sway of dust and the shifting molecules of air around Shin's hand.
He stood barefoot on the wooden floor, his eyes closed, focusing not on the movement but on the sensation of the currents. Around him, the air responded in layers of pressure. It didn't oppose, but it carried a resistance, or perhaps it was merely memories. Each breath stirred the wind like a pulse rippling through silk.
Hovering just above his palm was the remnant cloak—the artifact he'd taken from Milo. It no longer moved on its own; most of its reactive properties had already burned out from the intensive testing. Yet it still echoed something deeper than anything he'd felt before.
Shin wasn't sure what he was trying to unlock, only that the cloak still answered in ways too subtle to be chance. Ever since he got it, he could feel some resonance with his own power, a connection that begged to be explored. He knew it was related to the truth Wind had left him, and he was determined to find what that was.
He shifted his focus, this time pressing a thin thread of wind against the artifact's surface—not a push, really, but a frequency—a call of sorts. The cloak fluttered once, and heavy warmth spread through Shin's body—a feeling deeper than any motion, a profound truth that whispered of immeasurable potential.
Energy.
It seeped through his palm like water made of thought, spreading not into his mind, but through his flesh. It seeped into bones and nerves, slipping through his muscles to the inner workings of his body—tuning or perhaps even transforming him from within. It didn't hurt—on the contrary. It felt incredible.
It felt like every cell in his body had been demanding to be filled. His lungs expanded, the air rushing in like he'd been underwater for too long. His perception sharpened not in sight, but in awareness. Where the wind curled, when it halted or hesitated, it all became clearer than ever before.
This wasn't just motion anymore. It was power—the kind of power that didn't spark or flash but simply was.
His mind locked onto the source—it wasn't coming from the cloak anymore. It was everywhere. The room. The air. The pressure outside the window. He could feel it even from the tiny space between two footsteps.
He exhaled and tried to reach again, this time not with just the wind but with his own intent guiding the flow. The power came willingly. It flowed into him like heat into cold metal—the warmth spreading down his spine, it rolled through his arms, and into his legs and feet. But more than that—it held. It lingered—staying inside him like it had always belonged to him.
His body didn't just feel stronger. It was stronger. The Tendons flexed tighter, his breath flowed more easily. His posture straightened not out of pride, but necessity—as if his frame had adjusted to carry the weight of something more.
Then something deeper stirred. A hum—not in the room, but within him. Something had clicked and shifted, and the resonance sharpened.
The cloak fluttered again, even without his guidance.
So this was what Wind meant, Shin realized. Not mere synchronization—but alignment. The invisible link between him and the elemental wasn't a condition to meet. It was a path. And that path got clearer the more he absorbed this... this Divine Power.
Yes. That's what it felt like now. Not magic or some foreign fuel.
Divine.
It was warm and immense. A breath of something older than the body it now empowered. It made his sword techniques faster, his air pulses tighter, and his subtle manipulations more accurate—all within minutes.
He could feel the very air around him change—an overflow of motion becoming lightly charged as if responding to his presence—responding to him. Wind didn't just lend him tools; he expected him to master the medium itself.
And this—this power in the air—this was the bridge. His control had always come from technique. But now it came from the connection. From the resonance.
And from that day on, the link between man and god finally earned its formal term:
Compatibility.
And that meant only one thing:
"This is thekey," Shin murmured. "This is the key to increasing one's power. "
This is the key to ascending beyond human limits.
He let the wind fall silent again, but the strength didn't fade—not completely. The power wasn't just visiting anymore—it had now stayed within. He released the current, letting its fiery touch dissipate in the cold breeze, and left to take a shower.