-TWO DAYS LATER-
Jinhyuk had almost recovered from the battle . Although there were almost no injuries but it was necessary for him to get a check-up to find any kind of internal injury . The result , however , was in favor of Jinhyuk as there were no internal injuries as well .
This was not just co-incidence but rather his use of 'Infinite Regeneration' skill which he used continuously with his remaining mana . As soon as his body was back at a minimum optimal condition , his heart started gathering mana in his heart which it always used to do . After that , it was just about receiving enough rest to remove the fatigue .
Na-ri was as usual sitting on Sumi's lap and eating an apple . Na-ri had become a part of their family after Jinhyuk explained Sumi the details about her origin . She was getting more and more amazed as she saw her brother . Just a year ago , he was a normal college student worrying each day on how to pay his own living costs but now he was one of the strongest in the world with a monthly income exceeding 300 million won .
Jinhyuk came out as he sat beside Sumi . Na-ri looked towards him as she raised her tiny hands and flashed a smile and said
"Papa!"
He took Na-ri on his own lap as she clinged onto his shirt and buried her face . The both siblings couldn't help but laugh after seeing her reaction . Suddenly , the thought came to Jinhyuk's mind . The memory of the dragon where he clearly mentioned him of being 'her' son .
Jinhyuk and Sumi's mother was Sung Ji-yeon . She was an ordinary house wife who loved both her kids and her husband very much . She was a kind-hearted , sweet and charming woman . Jinhyuk loved her very dearly . He remember his mother saying that her parents died when she was young but never mentioned the cause of their death .
She wasn't anyone special or powerful and yet , the words of the dragon clearly indicated that he knew his mother's name .
Jinhyuk was lost in thought with one hand guarding Na-ri and preventing her from falling while the other carefully caressed her small head . Na-ri was now like a normal 2 year old as she can hide her wings , tails and horns but the real trouble was that she was actually only 4 days old but she had already achieved the growth of a 2 year old child . With this rate , she would reach the characteristics of a adult only after her actual 2 years age .
Sumi placed a hand on his shoulder as Jinhyuk snapped out to reality . He looked towards Sumi with a dumb-founded expression . Sumi asked him
"What's wrong with you ?"
"Sis , I remember something I heard that dragon say"
"….."
"From his words , it seemed like he knew Mom very well"
"What ?!"
Sumi almost jumped out of the sofa almost disturbing her . She sat down again as her voice lowered than usual .
"Jinhyuk , are you sure ?"
"I am"
"But , why would he know Mom ?"
"I don't know but Mom wasn't simple like we thought"
"What do you mean ?"
"The way he said was a bit different"
"Different ?"
"Yes , almost as if he was telling the name of someone he fears"
"But , Mom was just an ordinary human . Wasn't she ?"
"That's what we thought but I think Mom's past is more complicated than I could ever imagine"
"This world awakened to mana just 17 years ago"
"Correct and Mom could either have been someone from the first generation of Awakeners or …."
"Or ?"
"I don't know but I seem to have an idea"
"Tell me"
"Can't . You will know when its time"
".…."
"Sis , please stay and watch over Na-ri . I'm gonna go for some work"
****
"Is it ready ?" asked a masked man
"Almost , sir"
"Good . I want it within 3 days"
"Okay , sir"
"Don't do anything rash . We have to avoid that hunter at any cost"
"Sir , won't it be easy to just eliminate him ?"
"Foolish . That man wasn't defeated even by the Apostle of the Demon King"
"W-What ?!"
"Don't doubt my orders . Leave and bring it within 3 days"
"Y-Yes sir"
The person left . The masked man placed a hand on his head as if relaxing the pain of headache . From the time the demonic human organizations learned about the death of the Apostle , they all have been on high alert . The Apostles are regarded as the highest rank in the organization and can only be achieved by forming a soul contract with the Demon King himself .
"Sung Jinhyuk ….. What are you ?"
*******
Jinhyuk came to the old base of the Demonic Humans near Seoul from where he rescued Deok-gu . He had searched the place once before but felt as if something was wrong . He achieved a ring from the treasure room but it couldn't be the only valuable item they had . Steven was a S-Rank Hunter of the highest caliber . Even if he just became a demonic human but his rank and power should already be in a higher rank than the normal ones .
According to the information Jinhyuk collected and read , the demonic human hierarchy is divided into :
Common Members : These are the members of the Demonic human organizations . They have almost no power or authority within the organization . This is the rank for majority of the members .
Priest : This are the people who are responsible for the affairs of the demonic human members and the task of helping and supporting the Cardinal falls on them . They are also responsible to draw utmost loyalty among the other members .
Cardinal : They are the leaders of a specific branch of the organization . They are responsible for the tasks and missions of the branch which falls under their jurisdiction .
Bishop : They are the leaders of a local headquaters of the organization . Each local HQ consists of multiple branch organizations and the main connection between these branches and the main HQ .
Pope : They form the board of council for the main HQ . They aren't the leaders of the organization itself but play a major role in the decision making , strategy and the types of missions assigned to each branches .
Apostle : They are the true leaders of the Demonic Human Organization . These people signed a soul contract with the Demon King for unparalleled power and influence . Each one of them is so strong that they can easily crush a Pope rank Demonic Human with just a finger .
'I don't know but Steven should atleast be a Cardinal Rank Demonic Human'
'It's impossible for his base to not have any valuable treasures'
'The ring I found last time was probably just a B-Rank Artifact'
Jinhyuk closed his eyes .
[Dragon Senses (SS) activated]
He opened them as his senses spread throughout the place . He noticed a difference this time . The last time he came here he wasn't able to cover the whole base with his senses but this time his senses reached all the way to the end of the base . He checked his system screen and noticed a message which he didn't even check last time .
[Dragon Heart (Syncronization Progress) : 45 %]
His eyes stopped when he read the message . This was the sync rate of his dragon heart . Jinhyuk thought that he absorbed the heart and was able to use all the powers but he didn't expect that his dragon heart wasn't fully synced with his body yet . This could also mean one thing .
As his sync rate increases , so will his mana and strength . His powers will amplify the more the heart sync with him . His current mana is already at the top of the world . The amount of mana Jinhyuk has is at a level impossible for others to reach even in their complete lifetime that includes his friends and sister too .
If his mana increases more than he could perhaps compare to the godly beings which Sylus mentioned earlier . Till this point of time , Jinhyuk had already forgotten about his reason of visit but he didn't care . His mana will increase the more the heart syncs with his body . Jinhyuk pressed the '\/' button on the side of the message panel . The details about the heart came down .
[Dragon heart (SSS)]
[Current Sync Rate : 45 %]
[The heart of a Dragon which are creatures made of mana]
[This heart holds a tremendous amount of mana which couldn't be absorbed by anyone except a dragon]
[Current Host : Sung Jinhyuk]
[Sync rate is currently paused]
[Body Reconstruction required to increase sync rate]
'The rank of the heart increased too ?!'
'The last time it was SS-Rank but now it's SSS-Rank ?'
'And , what is this ?'
'Body Reconstruction ?'
'Isn't that what I went through when I turned into an Elf species ?'
'What do I turn this time ?'
Jinhyuk took a deep breath as he slowly released it . His eyes were closed as he slowly opened them too . His voice hard as rock and cold as ice as he said
"Start Body Reconstruction"
Jinhyuk didn't feel anything for 10 seconds as an intense pain wrapped him up completely . His heart started beating too loudly . He felt like he was burning as his bones , muscle fibres , tissues and even cells of his body were being completely changed . The mana leaked from his heart and it spread throughtout his body through the veins and blood vessels . His mana was completely filtering even the impurities present in the cellular level of his body . The impurities started leaking out from his nose , ears and mouth . His skin was also releasing impurities from his body .
His each and every part of the body was being influenced by mana as his organs and muscles strengthened . Jinhyuk who was in extreme pain had his eyes closed as he was gritting his teeth to bear the pain . After about 20 minutes which felt like hours completed , Jinhyuk's new body laid on the ground . The pain had died down and his brain was in a relaxed state .
Jinhyuk slowly got up from the ground . He saw that he was laid down on a pool of black liquid as his clothes were dirty . His entire body was smelly but he noticed differences the moment he got up . His body was a lot lighter than before . His abs were more defined . His skin was more smoother than before and more white than before .
He also felt an increase in strength . He casually punched the wall without the use of mana but his punch smashed the wall into pieces which fell on the ground . He closed his eyes as he checked his mana . He saw that his body was now rich in mana as every cell in his body was brimming with vitality . His mana channels are more broader than before and his mana was much purer . Even the elfs who are known for having pure mana were mere child in front of the purity of his mana .
Jinhyuk brought out mana from his heart and released it on his hand . The mana this time wasn't green like just a few minutes ago but was rather a slight golden aura . He couldn't see his hair or eyes which he remembered also changed after he turned into an elf .
In front of him was a system screen which showed the message .
[Dragon Heart (Syncronization Progress) : 52 %]
His sync rate has increased by 7% which wasn't much but it mattered much in a world of superhumans . Every being is in a race to grow stronger . The more stronger you are the more authority and power you hold . This is the law of the jungle and the law of the current world 'Survival of the fittest' or in this case 'strongest' . Those who are strong get everything while those who are weak are trampled upon .
Jinhyuk knows this . He still could remember the time when he lost his parents . His sister wasn't with him so she doesn't know but the feeling he had in his heart was wretching . The death of his father and mother . His mother was a kind and beautiful woman . He suddenly remembered a detail about that incident that he didn't have clear memory on before but now that his brain is expanded with the help of mana he remembered . He didn't see his mother's body .
The place where the incident took place was a bridge and it had water underneath it . The car they were travelling with had exploded . His father was lying dead on the ground with blood flowing out but he didn't see his mother . She was with them in the car but she wasn't present after the incident .
The creature which attacked them was a kraken . It was a S-Rank monster which falls in the top 10 strongest S-Rank monsters . There wasn't only his family which were attacked but rather the people on the bridge all were attacked by that monster . Only he survived the attack but it wasn't intentional at all . The kraken seemed to ignore him all the way or rather it was scared to attack him .
Jinhyuk looked towards his hand . He clenched his fists tightly as only one sentence came out from his mouth .
"Mom , where are you ?"