Chapter 48 - Return of the system

  When all the young hunters had undergone the blood test and learned what power they all had, the mood was electrified. Adam, too, was very excited, and Ellio seemed to have completely flipped her idea of what the best hunter looked like since she now seemed to think that electric and steel magic were the best powers possible.

  All of the young hunters were lined up in the large room as the Grand master waved over some adults that were waiting by the sides.

  “Some of you have become junior warriors today and others have become mages. But what is the point of power if you cannot use it? As such, you will be separated into groups and assigned an instructor to show you the basics of the hunter's heart.

  You will primarily be split into two groups. Mages and warriors. Those of you with dual talents will focus on your primary talent for now.

  To that effect, this is senior hunteress Mai, your mage instructor, and senior hunter Boran, your warrior instructor. Listen to them carefully for your first week of training, after that, you will be assigned your first mission so you need to have minimal control over your hunter hearts by then.”

  The young hunters looked at each other with excitement and nervousness. Senior hunters were practically heroes to the common folk, not to mention they had to learn how to use their powers in a week's time. But Ellio looked over at her little brother Dorian with a different look. Since he had no primary role, would he learn the path of the mage or the warrior?

  Adam looked back at her, understanding what she wanted to ask. He too was curious, but he already knew what he would do. He would study fire magic of course.

  “Congratulations on your promotion to the real world young warriors. All those who awakened as steel, muscle, bone, or flash warriors, follow me. We have a lot to do and only a week to get you in shape.” Said the muscular instructor in a loud and authoritative voice. Half of the teens began to follow after him as Boran strode towards the exit of the large awakening room.

  “It seems like you lot are the lucky ones. While your friends are off exerting themselves with physical training to push their bodies to the limits and force their powers to manifest, mages have a much more civilized way of doing things. But he is right, we don’t have a lot of time, so let's not waste any more of it.” Said the blond-haired instructor with long green robes. She was only missing the pointy hat and she would truly resemble a classic witch.

  Ellio nodded at Adam in approval as they both began to follow their new instructor. Inwardly, Adam was ecstatic, but he wore a mask of calm confidence as he walked back along the soft red carpet. Observing him carefully from behind, the Grand master held himself back from following the intriguing young boy.

  He was told of his unusual showing during the candidate test and then witnessed a strange fluctuation of power within the boy when he swallowed the awakening pill. This boy had intrigued the old man, a feat that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. After all, some called the Grand master a mad man for his obsession with his research.

  Adam and his group of eight other newly awakened hunters-incuding his sister Ellio-where moved to one of the training courtyards close to the tower. Their new instructor stopped and turned to them after entering a large dirt patch with several targets spread out around them. There were bullseyes painted on large boulders at the end and several other obstacles visible.

  “Today, I will teach you to access your new powers and harness them to become a real hunter.”

  Mai lifted her hand and aimed for the large painted boulder on the other side of the training ground. Her body seemed to erupt with power as a rock spike formed in front of her open palm. Most wouldn’t notice, but her fingers moved in rapid patterns as the stone appeared and grew at her command. Then, it was sent hurtling towards the target and impacted the large boulder with a roaring crash.

  Adam and everyone else stared in disbelief at the scene, the dust settled and revealed a large hole in the target. The projectile must have exploded into a million pieces as only a large crater remained. All eyes snapped back to their instructor a moment later as she turned back towards the group.

  “As you can see, I’m a senior earth mage. And I will teach you how to draw on your hunter hearts in order to master your powers like what I just did. Don’t worry about what type of power you have, all mage powers are similar in their function. But today, you won’t be learning how to weave an attack, simply expelling your powers for now.”

  Small rocks raised from the ground as she spoke, and they all began to spin around her. Adam was now completely lost in childlike wonder. Ever since he was on the island, learning how to properly use magic was his dream, and now this woman was literally using magic to do things that should be impossible.

  He had been able to use mana beforehand, but conjuring matter out of nothing? That went against so many laws of physics that he didn’t even know where to start. It seemed his awe wasn’t out of place either as Ellios' eyes seemed about to pop out of her head.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “First, let me explain the two types of mage attacks. The first is the one you will be learning today, it is called freeform, as you can see, these pebbles floating around me were ordinary pebbles until I exerted my power to bring them under my control. This is how most mage hunters fight. Using the elements available to them and bringing them under control with your hunter's heart.

  This works the same way for all mage powers, earth mages can use the ground itself to attack Niorbos while steel mages need to bring weapons to control and fire mages need a flame to pull from. As a result, these kinds of attacks require certain preparations and delay before an attack is possible, and it is also why mages tend to be weaker than warriors in the early days.

  But once you begin to understand your powers and your control grows, you will be able to use weaving techniques. Mage weaving is the art of crafting with your power directly, and creating an attack without external preparations. But the control and power needed to use mage weaving means that it is only possible when you become senior hunters. When that day comes, you will be able to conjure attacks out of nothing just like I did to hit the target.”

  Adams' eyes were practically shining. He desperately wanted to use mage weaving, he could already imagine summoning a pair of fire wings and raining down hellfire on all his enemies, but a sudden jolt of pain in his body pulled him out of his daydreaming.

  It felt as though someone had just jumpscared him and his body had jumped by reflex. He hadn’t actually physically reacted much, but the shock was very real. He looked around to see what was gaping on, but nothing stood out to him. He tried to zero in on the feeling and his stomach dropped as he looked inwards.

  His soul had only been a fragment of a heavily depleted soul, and therefore probably far weaker than what it should be at this age. He hadn’t thought much about it until now, but that sudden feeling inside him was his soul momentarily slipping. Like someone holding onto a railing and dangling above an endless void, his soul had lost its grip for a fraction of a second before adjusting its hold, but it was still slipping.

  Fear rose inside Adam as the voice of his instructor became muffled and inaudible. A fear coursed through him and caused his hands to shake.

  ‘This can’t happen, not now’ He thought to himself as he saw his soul beginning to tear. He had messed with it on two occasions already, and it was now straining to hold onto his host’s body. Adam tried to fix it, he tried to push it back together like he had done to heal his soul in the past, but he no longer had his soul mana. His body was sweating as he realized there was nothing he could do. The memory of his death flashed in his mind.

  He had been transported to an alien world, struggled to survive, discovered so much, and then, when he was on the precipice of becoming something so much greater, when he finally untangled his powers and learned how to use them, he was killed on the spot. It was a fucking joke…

  Bile rose in his throat and he barely managed to hold it down. His hands were clenched as he stood staring into empty space in the training yard. Nobody seemed to notice the young Dorain as they listened to their instructor talk about controlling freeform attacks. Not even Ellio, the older sister of his host, noticed her brother's distressed state.

  Internally, Adam was on the verge of exploding. He had expected to fail in this mission and only to return with scraps of information, yet he had been given hope. He was going to learn how to use real magic and he was in a good place, a place where the people were kind and the strong defended the weak. He wanted to stay here, he was heartbroken over having to lie to Ellio, whom he still saw as his sister despite knowing the feelings he felt for her were simply the left-over remnants this body's previous owner.

  He could feel his soul losing its grip like it had with the tiger and he knew that he would die once again. His soul simply didn’t have the strength left to hold onto this body. He was confused at first since he didn’t have any wounds and nothing should be pulling his soul out of the body, yet then he understood.

  Simply existing within this body was already too strenuous for his weak fragment of a soul. It was like a baby trying to puppeteer an adult. No matter what he did, he was never going to be able to live a long life with such a small and weak soul. He had been on borrowed time ever since he touched that light and possessed the drowned Dorian.

  Then, just when the panic, anger and disappointment reached some invisible threshold, everything went quiet. His hands unclenched, his body relaxed, and even his soul stopped tensing as much. It was like he had been dropped into a pond of absolute tranquility, all his emotions washed away like dust in the wind. It was a feeling he recognised. He had felt the same thing when returning from his first trip from the soul realm. But this was different, he didn’t feel anguish and fear, he felt his soul.

  He felt it properly for the first time since he discovered it, it was not simply a pretty light inside of him, he could feel a strength emanating from it. It was like feeling the heat of a fire for the first time. It shocked him, but also opened him up to a higher truth. As he experienced that feeling of warmth for the first time. He felt a shift in the air, as though he had lived his entire life through an isolation chamber, but now he had stepped outside and could finally feel the wind on his face and the warmth of day.

  He was no longer Adam, the soul fragment of a desperate and lost human looking for answers the only way he could, nor was he Dorian, the deceased boy hoping to fulfill his dreams of becoming a powerful hunter. He was something deeper, in his moment of deep loathing for his soul's weakness, he had discovered a truth about the universe that vibrated with his very being.

  Like a picture finally coming into view, Adam saw what he had seen for so long but could never truly comprehend. A screen flashed in his mind, but before he could properly take it in. A flood of power engulfed him and seeped into his entire being. The floodgates had opened, but no source was apparent, it was as though power simply seeped out of nothingness and engulfed him in a warm embrace.

  His mind was revitalized as he welcomed the feeling. His soul seemed to resonate as it flickered and flowed in tandem with it. Every strand of his soul seemed to move in step with the universe as he marveled at the feeling. It was as if the universe itself was propping him up and helping him fight back the demise of his previously failing soul.

  When the feeling dissipated, his soul was no longer struggling to cling onto his new body. In fact, it was stronger than he had ever seen it. He finally looked at the status window that he had longed to see ever since his arrival in this new world.

  Dorian Perl

  (Adam’s fragment)

  Divine patriarch (reincarnation): [soul realm pioneer]

  Dao: Dao root of the soul

  Balak's lesser gift: Fire - Flesh

  (???)

  “WTF” Adam stared at the floating screen with confusion and disbelief. He had been unable to open his status window every since he arrived in this new body, yet now it just showed up.

  The new line about a Dao was definitely the power he felt flooding him moments ago, so who the hell was Balak and why did he get a lesser gift from him?

  “Are you okay?” Came a concerned voice from next to him.

  He snapped out of it and turned to meet Ellios' worried gaze. He forced a smile and nodded before looking around once more. Everyone was looking at him, even instructor Mai had a confused face as she stared at him. Adam didn’t know what he did to warrant such stares since he didn’t know what his moment of enlightenment looked like to others. He awkwardly shrugged and apologized with a small smile.

  Consider supporting this story by following and giving me your thoughts with a quick review.

  Consider becoming a Patreon member

  Any feedback is welcome.