The halls of the Fitness centre were, as per usual, packed with people. Their steps could be heard all over the place, even from inside the gravity chamber that Minori was currently using.
A chamber, which as the name suggests, incrementally increases the level of gravity in the room as time goes on.
The system works on a timer, increasing by 10% every 20 minutes. The system is meant to allow some buffer time for cadets to realise and extricate themselves in case of being overwhelmed.
The gravity chamber used to have no limit, allowing for sets of inane amounts of time and crushing pressures. However, in just the last year, an incident occurred where a cadet had pushed themselves too hard, resulting in minor injuries. Even so, the chamber was updated to have a pressure cap at 200% gravity.
In other words, it was made more accessible for the weak.
Meaning what used to be the near barren steel floors were now populated by cadets. Many were exhausted and laying on the floor panting. Others had to be escorted out once their mana levels reached dangerously low levels.
'Weak…' A certain dark haired boy thought to himself, obviously not saying it out loud for fear of being mobbed.
This boy was Minori, one of the few people who had been standing, swinging his practice blade. Practicing basic kata's like his life depended and staring dead ahead with an… intense expression.
Up.
The dull blade glinted in the white light. It was filled with mana, shimmering a pale white light.
'Keep your posture grounded. Relaxed arm. Make sure to keep the mana flowing. Don't get crushed. Keep standing. Keep swinging.'
Down.
The air, as heavy as it was, allowed the blade to pass through in a clean cut. The moment the Minori's arm fully stretched out, the mana in the blade dispersed in a controlled burst.
'Arms straight, pull the bottom, push the top. Minimal mana output. Don't let it get far, don't pour your energy out.'
The controlled burst lit up in a small flame before instantly being snuffed out.
"...tsk." Minori grit his teeth as his grip unwillingly let the blade drop.
Iron fell to the floor and shook a couple times before laying flat. It made no sound throughout the process.
'Another failure… my physical abilities have reached a plateau. F*ck… why do I keep acting like I'm a swordsman… I'm a mage, that's where my talent is!'
Minori bent down and curled his fingers around the blade, raising it up and getting back into his stance.
He let sweat drop from his chin and gazed at the clock.
'Sigh… I took the wrong route. Going to the hero academy instead of the mage tower… I would've made it to Cube either way. Maybe I could have avoided all the trouble with the Djinn… No, the exhaustion is getting to my head.'
Minori paused before swinging his blade in a downwards motion, this time focusing on his grip.
'Connections… yes, connections. That's why I tried to get into the Cube as early as possible… even when I was rushed into action by purely bad luck, I still did a pretty good job… I made friends with Rachel and Suho, have a developing partnership with Kim Hajin and even sparked something with Yoo Yeonha…'
The threads of mana pulled taught in a spellless shape as his body toughened against the oppressive gravity.
'Though there is something that bothers me… it's too easy. Becoming so close feels unnaturally easy. Kim Suho and Rachel, I can understand. But as for Kim Hajin, I know we established a partnership, but you can hardly call it that. If it's a partnership, it's give and take… maybe I'm overthinking it, but it feels like we're going nowhere… It feels forced.'
Strings grew in number, thinly spreading just beneath Minori's skin to keep his blade held high.
'Yeonha too… I tried using her survivor's guilt to have her help me out a bit but I haven't deepened our connection, nor have I put it to use. It's time sensitive, she may realise what I'm doing before I can make the relationship more natural. She won't stay guilty forever…'
The once dull eyes flickered with something like annoyance before morphing into determination.
Minori's practice blade naturally returned to its sheathe before Minori made his way out of the gravity chamber.
But then there was a pause. Tense shoulders relaxed and lungs expanded to draw breath from the relatively cooler air of the fitness centre.
'Stop. Don't be an idiot. I…I need to calm down. I have more pressing priorities. The Evil Society, are they still hunting me? I have absolutely no idea what the situation on their end is anymore. And then there's Vatz and the cultists, I haven't gotten a message since Paris…no, Paris was only three days ago. There's still time before I have to get worried. The most important yet most dangerous issue is probably Bell. He might show up at any moment for god knows why and…'
Minori took measured steps towards the shower room, walking on auto pilot. His dull expression made him seem rather zoned out and aimless.
So much so, that someone came to check on him.
"Hey Minori-Nim, you alright?" A brown haired boy came and patted him on the shoulder.
Minori's eyes widened as he looked at the hand before glancing up at the boy. He deliberated for a moment before words flowed from his lips naturally.
"...Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry too much… wait, did you just call me nim?" Minori blinked at the honorific.
He had finally gotten used to being called "Minori-Ssi" after so long of having "-San" added to his name, and yet suddenly a new one has come into play. "Nim", an honorific used to show respect, usually to those with notable skills.
But he hadn't done- oh right. He was busy showing off to the major guilds to think about the aftermath.
Going out of his way to beat Shin Jonghak, not through raw power but tricks, was probably not the best of moves. Especially since she was in the crowd.
"Ah, yes, is it okay, Minori-Nim?"
Minori quickly glanced at the hand that remained on his shoulder again, a silvery glow in his eye flickered for a moment before dying out.
"It's fine. I'm just not too used to people calling me that. Isn't it too great of an honorific for someone like me?"
The boy made a confused expression before finally letting go of Minori's shoulder.
"Of course not! You beat, the, Shin Jonghak on live TV during the midterms. And while it wasn't as well covered because of the incident, it's still amazing!"
"Wait, I don't think I caught your name?" Minori spoke politely as he made paces for the exit.
"It's Ryan, Ryan Thompson." The now, obviously American cadet smiled and waved as Minori turned his back and sped up.
The moment he made it outside Minori glanced down to the shoulder Ryan had patted. And there it was, the filthy handmark made by a gift, made from thin cobweb like strands yet so obviously smoky. It would've been nye untraceable had the boy been human.
'...Ryan Thompson… he is definitely a Djinn.'
Minori dusted off his shoulder and smirked to himself. An opportunity has risen at such a perfect moment. He can't just let it slip from his fingers this time.
…
Late in the evening, long after the sun had set, Minori was taking a stroll through the cube park.
The trees rustled gently in the wind, the stars in the sky… you could hardly see them, but one could imagine they were shining bright.
Under Minori's boot was the hard flooring of the paved path. It was a well made road, he had to say, such a shame that they built it so many of the unworthy souls that come to Cube with lofty hopes of becoming heroes.
It's incredible how so many of them will fall for the temptations of riches.
Minori dropped his eyes to the floor staring with a cold, unfeeling glare. There was a subtle madness to the milky gray surface.
"Haah, you Djinns are like dogs. Rabid animals that should be put out of their misery the moment they set foot onto civilised floors."
The object of his gaze was covered in mud and had grass stains on their shirt. It seems they had hit the earth pretty hard not too long ago. In the boy's thigh was a dull black blade, carved on it were runes that seemed to absorb all light. It was covered in black blood that spurted from the wound on the boy's thigh.
"You know, things have been getting pretty tough for me lately. A lot of stuff is happening that was completely out of my expectations, and honestly its a little aggravating."
Minori adjusted the cuffs on his hunting coat, its original colour had long been overtaken by the dark blood of beasts and creatures. Hours spent on the field to procure materials and test out spells. It had turned his coat rather maroon.
"But things are looking up for me now. I've found people I can reasonably call friends, I have some nice comrades who may lend me a hand in the future."
Minori snapped his fingers and pointed at the brown haired boy. His writhing figure staring daggers at Minori. Auburn hair, ruffled from a tumble, his bright blue eyes and his ordinary looks had revealed the boy to be Ryan Thompson, if that was even his real name.
"And most importantly, I am finally going to clasp a rope I had let loose for far too long." Minori kicked at a bound figure, his boot getting splattered with black blood before evaporating.
"The Evil Society!"
Minori's pale silver eyes, no longer hidden beneath contact lenses, turned into crescents. They stared down at a brown haired boy, watching them squirm and wriggle in rope and gag. Watching as goat horns tried to curl out of their skull yet failed to break out of the skin.
"Oh? Trying to turn into a Djinn form? Hahah! You've stopped your hiding! I respect it!" Minori clapped lightly.
The socially awkward and slightly reclusive boy was nowhere to be seen. In it's place was a maniac, one who had enough, one who didn't want to play along anymore.
"But that won't work. Not when I'm here. See, I've had to deal with so many random boosts in power. So long as I am your enemy, I will never allow that to happen."
Minori took a step forward. Incidentally his foot landed right on the pommel of the dagger stuck in Ryan's thigh, plunging Omen deeper into the already gaping wound.
The djinn screamed through the gag around its mouth.
"Begging for help is so cringe. If you wanted it to end you could just tell me what I wanted to hear in the first place— why are you staring at me like that? You makin' fun of me?!"
Minori leaned down and scowled, mimicking the face of a yakuza he had stolen from. He then chuckled and pulled back, stepping off the blade and letting the man breathe.
Minori waited for a second before summoning Lich out of thin air with one hand and pulling down the gag with the other.
"Now… Why did you place that tracker on me, kuso yaro." A bit of japanese slipped out of Minori's words.
Ryan Thompson, eyes bloodshot, face slicked with sweat, tears and other liquids began hyper ventilating. He hadn't felt like this since before he turned into a Djinn.
This tightness in his chest, the light straying further and further away, the feeling like there was no escape. Wasn't he strong? All his peers had said so, he had bid his family goodbye promising wealth and power.
So what was this? How did it come to this?
Minori getting slightly impatient, began to tap his foot, a reminder that he could stomp on Omen to cause further pain.
"W-Wait! I was just following orders! I didn't kno-!"
"Didn't know what?! That I could sense it? Didn't know I would catch you?" Minori caught Thompson glancing at the nearby security camera with a hopeful look.
"Haa, you must be so fucking stupid to think that could save you. Ever heard of illusion spells?"
"What! No that's impossible! Illusion spells all require catalysts, unless you had a medium grade artifact… theres… no way you could…" Thompson's voice got smaller and smaller as he spoke.
Minori's eyes glinted with satisfaction as Thompson fell deeper into despair. But no, he was here for information not for fun, he had enough of that already.
–Fwoomp
A plume of flame wisped into existence as Lich growled in anticipation.
"Kay, I'm getting bored, talk fast or I'm burning you to a crisp."
Ryan panicked, his eyes going wide.
"A-Alright! My name is Ryan Thompson, that's true! I was an overseas scholarship student just like you! Around a month ago, one of our seniors conscripted me into becoming a Djinn! They promised that I could still be a hero so I-"
"Cut that shit out. Get to the part I care about." The flame began to heat Omen up, the wound on Ryan's thigh began turning black.
"Kagh! Yes! I-I um, they told me to put a tracker on you! A man named Hwan-Su said to tell him whenever you left Cube next so that they could trail you and ambush you! They wanted to capture you and bring you back to base! T-They said that so long as they get the cuffs on you, you're basically a pin cushion!" Ryan yelled.
'...the cuffs? If they're trying to put cuffs on me, they're either idiots to a magnanimous degree or those are some really strong cuffs.'
"The cuffs?"
Ryan flinched back before wincing at the pain in his thigh.
"I-I don't know about those. T-They didn't tell me anything important! I swear!"
Minori brought the flaming sword to his face and watched as it began to singe. He didn't manage to receive any more answers after that, only screams of "I don't know!" and "please spare me!"
Minori stood up with a sigh before stretching. He looked down at the slightly charred Ryan before recoiling in disgust.
What he saw was the charred black skin beginning to melt off of Ryan. Instead it was replaced by squirming red masses made purely of Devil mana.
'The connection's returning. Well, guess even Omen has its limits.'
Lich purred in delight as Minori swung the blade, cutting into the regenerating djinn without mercy. Muscle and bone sliced roughly, cracking in the wrong places, in part because of Minori's lack of strength without [Wild Blood] and another part because of the dullness of the blade.
Black blood splattered against the cobblestone path as the serene night returned to it's original state.
Minori stared at the body disintegrating while enjoying the wind, for someone with flame abilities he sure enjoys the cold a lot.
After the body disappeared, Minori bent down to collect the djinn's things, such as a modded cube watch and an original. Other than that, Minori took the wallet, checked for cash and then threw it away, burning it along with the other things.
"Alrighty~ now that I've blown off some steam, it's about time I headed back and got some rest…"
Minori tiredly peeled spell slips from a nearby tree. One was for orb of silence, another for minor illusion and the last was for lavender scent creation. Yes those were all necessary spells for the operation to go smoothly.
Minori smiled and took a step towards the dorms before blinking in surprise.
'Is that… the sun?