Chapter-7
The Roots of Power
Cover Art: Evan Luans (@suptlr on discord)
Ha-Jin stared blankly at the intestine hung on his hand, he was covered with Ji-Yeong's blood… his first friend… gone before they could even talk to each other properly. It took a great toll on Ha-Jin for reasons even he didn't know. He had killed hundreds of the Choi family, he had been tortured for days but still, even after all that, he was just a small child and most importantly— human.
Tears welled up in his amber eyes as without him even realising, a tear ran down his cheek as he frantically wiped it away. "Why am I crying? What the hell is wrong with me?! I killed hundreds of people but now that someone that had started to gain importance for me dies, I selfishly cry?!" He thought, cursing under his breath— not to anybody else but rather, himself.
He tried his hardest to regain his composure as the door burst open and Jae-Woo ran inside, the nurse that was working in the office had informed him of what had happened and he had come here as fast as he could.
"God fucking damn it! They got to him too!" Jae-Woo cursed out loud walking past Ha-Jin and grabbed Ji-Yeong's heart which was on the floor.
He closely inspected the heart before he saw the symbol of the four claw marks and the dragon's head, muttering something under his breath. He looked absolutely pissed.
"It was those damn— Nevermind…" Jae-Woo said, cutting himself off. His gaze fell onto Ha-Jin who had now regained his composure. He pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking. "I wanted to train you and this boy, however, it seems that only you survived. Have you decided whether or not you want to train with me yet?"
"..."
"How about I train with you after the next match? I still haven't won properly… it leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Ha-Jin finally said.
"Oho? You sound confident about winning the next match now don'tcha?" Jae-Woo said, a small smile tugging at his lips as he still gripped onto the heart tightly.
"I doubt there's somebody stronger than Ji-Yeong in this place. The monster had two mana arts he could utilize with efficiency after all." Ha-Jin said, never tearing his gaze away from Jae-woo as if he was questioning whether the guy was genuine or just a scum slave trader who wanted to sell him off for some money.
"Then you might be in for a surprise." Jae-woo said, though, he looked content with the boy's decision. "Rest up and win the next match quickly, yeah?" Jae-Woo said with a cheerful smile, giving him a thumbs up before leaving the infirmary.
***
A few days had passed since Ji-Yeong's passing. Ha-Jin was now fully recovered and ready for his next match in The Arena.
Joo-Hee looked at him, a tinge of concern and worry in her gaze. "Are you sure you're fine now, Ha-Jin?" She asked him, getting up from her chair and directly looked at him. She was a head shorter than Ha-Jin with her long caramel hair flowing past her shoulders. Only now did Ha-Jin come to realise how beautiful she was up-close.
"Yeah, I'm sure, don't worry about me, okay?" Ha-Jin replied to her, patting her on the head. Despite not looking like it, Ha-Jin and Joo-Hee had grown closer as friends over the past few days. Ha-Jin had told her about his life in the Junkyard and his life with the Choi family, keeping the fact that he was the one who massacred the Choi Family a secret from her. There was no chance she would believe him, and even if she did, she would probably distance herself from a criminal— no, a mass murderer like him.
Ha-Jin did not wish to lose his first and probably last friend like that, eventually leading to the decision to lie to her about the incident and telling her that the Choi family had been cleared by a horde of monsters attacking the residence. He told her that he had been there while they were attacked but survived as the Royal Army came and saved him, taking him into custody and throwing him into the Arena as he had no place to return to.
Ha-Jin finally left the infirmary, stretching his limbs and breathing in the non-existent fresh-air. Though seeing the bloody ring did not bring back pleasant memories, he was excited for the fight nonetheless.
Ha-Jin flinched in surprise as the referee announced the next match, damn was that loudspeaker not loud.
'Ha-Jin vs. uhhh… what do you mean there's no name specified? Ugh, fine." The referee said over the loudspeaker.
"Ha-Jin vs. X!" The referee finally announced, choosing a random name, not wanting to waste any time. Ha-Jin let out a stifled laugh at the referee's reaction.
He got up onto the ring even though he was nervous and though he wouldn't have admitted it, scared. He calmed his nerves by taking deep breaths and stretching his muscles before the fight. Ha-Jin once again expected some kind of tall, intimidating and muscular man but in front of him was a boy younger than him, probably 13. He was wearing a mask which was cracked at one of the edges, it was a plain white mask with gold forming designs across it. "Is that real gold? He must be rich." Ha-Jin thought, staring at the boy's mask, his eyes fell upon the boy's auburn hair, it was neatly trimmed unlike Ha-Jin's black hair which was getting longer and longer.
Ha-Jin took a step forward and bowed. He was not greeted back with one and shot the boy a glimpse of killing intent which he thought would intimidate him. However, he was shot back with a drowning sensation, like he was being eaten away at by a pack wolves. "No… fucking… way… that's killing intent… he's just a darned child younger than me!..." Ha-Jin muttered under his breath, trying to get up from being on his knees. The killing intent was suddenly released as he gasped for air.
"This is not a laughing matter anymore, is it?" Ha-Jin thought, finally getting up and getting into stance.
"Let the fight begin!" The referee yelled for the entire crowd to hear.
Before Ha-Jin could react, he was hit square in the face, sent tumbling down the ring. Ha-Jin could literally not see this boy as he moved around the ring with a flurry of quick foot movements that Ha-Jin could barely follow after transferring mana to his eyes. Ha-Jin got up without the boy hitting him once more, blood dripped from his mouth, Ha-Jin expected this because of Jae-Woo's words from the other day. "Oh, you're in for a surprise then" He had said— and he was sure as hell not lying.
Expecting this, he had coated his face with mana beforehand and it turned out to be a wise decision. Despite all his mana coating his face, the boy's fist had shattered through the mana easily. If he hadn't used mana to protect himself, he wouldn't have gotten up a second time.
Even after all this, Ha-Jin felt insulted by the boy not hitting him, he felt as if the boy were taunting him to come closer and try to hit him. He wasn't going to fall for it like Ji-Yeong had fallen for his taunts.
"Come on, fucker, tis' all you got?" Ha-Jin shouted at the boy, flashing his middle finger at him. "I hope this works, if it doesn't, I might be fucked." Ha-Jin thought, he couldn't even sense how strong the boy was.
Despite the boy's immature looks, he did not fall for the taunts and instead used his earth attribute mana to form a hand made of the earth below Ha-Jin's foot and grabbed it, leaving him wide open for a split second in which he punched him in the stomach, sending him flying outside the ring, into the crowd.
Ha-Jin's vision was now riddled with black dots, his stomach caved in from the punch. As he started to fall into the realm of unconsciousness, his mind went back to the things he had learned in the Choi family.
There were four attributes of mana: Earth, fire, wind and water. Only some could master such elements and create mana arts. These Mana arts included: Magma, Hell flames, Lightning and Ice.
This information seeped into his brain like he was about to give an exam before his vision went totally blank and he fell unconscious.
His eyes fluttered open, he was lying on his back in a tattered hoodie and jeans. He quickly sat up, looking around frantically for any sight of "X". He calmed down once he didn't see X anywhere. Once he had calmed down, he looked around him, realising he was in a sort of temple. It was dark and there was a statue of god in front of him.
He got up and dusted off his clothes. "What is this place?" He said aloud. "Can anyone hear me?!" He yelled into the distance and it echoed right back to him. He sighed and turned around to look around the temple and find out more about it. Before he could turn around and leave, a deep voice boomed behind him, startling him and sending chills down his spine.
All this happened while his body in the "real world" had gotten up, bending his spine to an unnatural level while getting up to his feet. His eyes had turned black again with the same terrifying white pupils. Seeing them, X hesitated for a moment before Ha-Jin's body lunged at him.
—Ch-7 End—