Viviane, who had just gotten up to leave, suddenly heard a scream of agony that startled her and made her take a step back.
— What was that? — she asked herself, trying to peek into the battlefield. But as she approached, the cries of despair repeated, causing her to lose her balance and rush into the field.
Upon entering, she had no chance to see anything. As her feet touched the edge of the training field, a heavy aura fell upon her. It was Tyler, her kind father.
— Father, what happened? — her voice came out slightly frightened and worried, but it was quickly drowned by the aura and his response:
— GET OUT, VIVIANE! THIS IS NOT YOUR PLACE!
It was the first time her father had ever shouted at her. Under the weight of sorrow and the heavy aura, her steps slowly retreated before fleeing the place.
Rushing away, she felt confused; her father had never done that before. As his aura fell upon her, despair took over her body—a primal fear in front of a stronger being.
— But why did he do that? — it was the question that would haunt her for some time.
As Viviane moved away, Dante's screams grew increasingly horrifying.
The process of mana initialization is already considered painful, even more so for a combatant. Tyler was connecting the meridians of Dante's body:
36 out of 360 meridians in the muscles
29 out of 290 meridians in the veins
15 out of 150 meridians in the bones
9 out of 90 meridians in the organs
3 out of 30 mental meridians
Dante would officially become a combatant. However, without feeling the mana, he would be limited to level 0.5, still considered an ordinary human but with greater accomplishments. This level serves as a foundation for delving deeper into the combatant path, focusing on strengthening the body and preparing for mana nourishment.
When the first spark of mana entered his body—guided by himself, without external help—and was absorbed, Dante would enter level 1 of the combatant realm.
Unfortunately, the process is extremely painful. Each meridian opened increases the pain, and each type of meridian hurts more than the previous one. The mental meridians are the most painful; it is said that the sensation is hallucinatory, almost as if the brain were being torn apart. Without this gradual increase in pain, starting at the highest level would be almost a torture in the form of training.
The opening of the meridians varies depending on the path:
Knights: usually open muscle, vein, and bone meridians, but may also open organ and mental meridians.
Mages: focus on mental and organ meridians, never the others.
Combatants: must open all types of meridians so every part of the body is nourished, though they don't need to complete the mental meridians.
Dante, as a potential combatant, was in the process of opening all meridians, likely starting with the muscular meridians.
Within his body, Tyler's mana flowed like a river, colliding with the small meridian barriers and destroying them without resistance.
With each meridian, the pain intensified: 7, 8, 9… and Dante began to hallucinate. 16, 18, 20… his veins contracted so tightly that blood ran through the openings.
34, 36, 1… as the mana began to fall on his veins, seeking more meridians, his hands tore through the ground at the edge of the training field. His veins, once bulging, now seemed on the verge of exploding.
29, 1, 15… the mana broke from the veins into the bones. His body convulsed against his will, as if each bone were crumbling. His hands, which had been tearing the ground, lost strength; his veins returned to normal, before the pressure began acting internally on his skin.
1, 9… as the mana fell on an organ—the largest organ, the skin—it opened a single meridian. The strength that had disappeared returned; his hands clenched his arms and began to squeeze until the pain subsided.
When the mana reached his heart, his blood seemed to freeze. Shortness of breath, despair, pain… all the sensations that lead to death.
But it was not the end. The mana, through the heart, ran through a vein to the brain, where three meridians blocked the passage—it was the final objective.
The mana collided with the resistant meridians, and the pain began to tear apart Dante's mind. His hands went to his head, his nails tore his own skin, and his hair was pulled. His vision became numb.
The world slowly faded, like a puppet being turned off, and he fell hard to the ground.
He had succeeded. Dante had become a combatant and reached level 0.5.
Tyler looked proudly at his disciple. He had already had three disciples before, and all three had died during the initialization process, which had shattered his expectations.
His mind was so apprehensive about the possibility of not having an heir that he even shouted at his daughter, even though she had done nothing wrong. She only cared for him, for he did not even know if he could endure a fourth time. That was why he acted without preparation and without forming any attachment to Dante.
A sigh, carrying an enormous weight, came calmly from Tyler's mouth as he poured a blue liquid over Dante's head.
This time, my eyes did not fail — it ended, and he vanished along with Dante's body.