CHAPTER 41

After the game, Savio made Hirayon rest so the child slept. Hirayon felt much better the next day and used the Opod to train as Savio was busy with something else.

Back in his training room, Hirayon set the whole room filled with salt water. He wanted to try and train his body underwater.

As crazy as it sounds, Hirayon read that training underwater could increase strength and speed. He thought it would be the perfect training for him as he could also breathe underwater as long as he wanted.

With that in mind, Hirayon went to the ocean floor, which the training room imitated perfectly. Not only does it have sand, rocks in different shapes and formations, marine animals, and much more. The overall feeling was similar to the ocean, including the water pressure increasing the deeper he got, pulling him down further like gravity. If he could not breathe underwater, Hirayon would drown just from the pressure keeping him from swimming toward the surface.

Hirayon looked for a wide area with sand. Following his usual training routine, he started to run, but his movements were like a slow walk. It was extremely slow, and he had difficulty keeping his feet in the sand. He kept floating and drifting in a different direction.

His usual time for running a lap was doubled, but that didn't stop Hirayon from continuing training. He persisted in doing his routine until he finished it, which took him three times longer than his average time.

With exhaustion getting him, Hirayon lay on the sand to rest. His heavy breathing let out bubbles, which the fishes around him found amusing. They swam around the bubbles and chased after them.

'How peaceful,' Hirayon thought.

Maybe because his element was water, but Hirayon feels at peace when his element surrounds him.

Some would find deep oceans scary, but to Hirayon, it was the opposite. He might not know what dangerous creatures were hiding in the shadows, but it was still the most comforting and ideal place.

'Now that I think about it. What do I need to do to increase my Water Breathe ability? I can sleep underwater and even do training like this, so why is it only Low?' Hirayon opened his Status Window and stared at the very first ability that he got.

Name: OWS59

Age: 6

Elements: Water, Blood

Title: Veteran Oddity

Money: 0 quea

Strength [Rate Unknown]

Stamina [Rate Unknown]

Aura [Rate Unknown]

BASIC ABILITIES

1. Enhanced Sight (Unknown)

2. Enhanced Stamina (Unknown)

3. Enhanced Memory (Unknown)

4. Intuition (Low)

INNATE ABILITIES

Water Element

1. Water Breathe (Low)

2. Water Pool (Unknown)

3. Water Orb (Unknown)

4. Water Wall (Unknown)

Blood Element

1. Blood Manipulation (Unknown)

Opod Assets

1. Training Room - Grade A Room 406

Water breath was an ability that appeared while Hirayon was hiding from the monsters. Back then, he was picking fruits in the forest when a monster was heading toward his location. The only hiding place near him then was a lake, and he had no choice but to plunge into it. He hid underwater for over two hours because the monsters kept coming until they finally left. When he returned to the cave, he learned that breathing underwater for hours wasn't normal and was his first-ever ability.

He had used it several times when hiding from monsters so he could even sleep underwater. But since it was still rated as low in his status window, Hirayon figured there was more to it.

'I hope I can discover it, but I don't have much time,' Hirayon thought and stood in the sand.

"Oddi, please create arrows and have them attack me in 5-second intervals. I will tell you when to stop."

[Understood. Shooting arrows in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]

More than thirty wooden arrows appeared around Hirayon in different directions. It started to attack the child every 5 seconds, and Hirayon swam around to dodge them.

Since the arrows were shooting randomly in an unknown direction, Hirayon had to look around in circles. He followed them with his eyes, and when that was impossible, he used his ears.

Left, right, up, down, Hirayon dodged every arrow. He managed to distance himself from most of them but barely managed to avoid some.

The child frowned when two arrows scraped his side. The longer it was, the more he was having difficulty avoiding them. Moreover, he lost his concentration once injured, and his alertness wavered.

"Oddi, stop."

[Understood.]

The arrows had stopped and immediately disappeared. Exhausted, Hirayon let the water carry his body.

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He had received a few scrapes but no direct hit. It was good for the first time, but Hirayon thought otherwise. He felt like he needed to be faster even though he could see and hear where the arrows were coming from. His body couldn't catch up to his senses.

'I should strengthen my body, increase speed, and enhance my intuition,' Hirayon thought and planned the changes he would apply in his training routine.

A few minutes later, Hirayon logged out. He wanted to continue training underwater but planned to eat first and then train his blood ability in the afternoon.

After eating lunch, Hirayon decided to take a nap. A few minutes later, with his eyes closed, he felt something strange.

'Hmm? What is this feeling?'

Hirayon felt light and weightless. It was a rather pleasant feeling that reminded him of when he would watch the fishes shoaling outside the library. It was very comforting and peaceful to the extent that he didn't even care what was causing him to feel that way. The only thing he was sure about was that it could be a good dream. Something that he didn't have after he was kidnapped and brought into the Familia facility.

Hirayon wanted to stay that way as much as he could, but then he was blinded by bright light even though his eyes were closed.

Annoyed that his dream was disturbed, Hiryon opened his eyes and glared at the source, only to be in awe.

"What is that?"

Shining brightly in vast darkness, a giant orb emits a dazzling blue light. The light was blinding at first, but the longer Hirayon looked, the more it became bearable. It was mesmerizing, almost like the underwater buildings of the dark blue sea. There, Hirayon saw an orb with a blue Aura swirling inside. The Aura looked so pure that it looked like liquid delicately dancing inside the ball. It was a captivating scene that enchanted Hirayon.

Still, questions emerged in his mind. The scene before him was surreal, reminding him that he was in a dream.

'Just what kind of dream is this?'

Hirayon looked around and observed his surroundings with confusion. He then saw a horizontal light in the distance, surrounding the whole space, seemingly like a ring with an orb in the middle. It wasn't too far, so Hirayon attempted to approach it. He tried to walk away from the sphere and approach the ring-like light but wasn't progressing. He can't get away from the orb.

Giving up, Hirayon faced the orb and walked toward it instead. Surprisingly, the sphere got bigger as he walked, so Hirayon did not waste his time and ran toward the still-shining globe. Even though it should be impossible because it would be more blinding the closer he gets, it is the opposite as it becomes more apparent to Hirayon.

When it was in arms reach, Hirayon stopped and stared at the ball that was almost his size. A pure, translucent blue aura was still swirling inside, but Hirayon was surprised to see swirls of deep red and a different shade close to mahogany.

It was only minuscule compared to the amount of blue Aura, but it didn't mix with the blue. Their colors were still clear and swirling around like fishes in the sea.

Hirayon frowned. 'Just what is this? Darkness-like space, a horizontal light like a ring, and orb that contains Aura, where could I...'

Hirayon's eyes slowly opened wider as realization slowly dawned on him.

"Space? Orb?" he muttered.

Hirayon stared dazedly at the orb, then at the horizontal light in the distance. A thought came to him, slowly making his lips curve into a smile.

"Core Space! I finally managed to enter my Core Space!" He exclaimed.

'That's why I feel comfortable. It's the sole place an oddity can feel peace.'

Hirayon almost jumped in happiness. He had been waiting for it for so long, and he finally could train in secret.

Without wasting time, Hirayon happily trained once again. Even though he had already done his daily routine in the Opod earlier, he repeated it with an evident bright expression, as if the training wasn't exhausting.

Although no conclusive proof exists, many researchers push the idea that time flows slower inside an oddity's core space. This was because it is easy to lose track of time inside. Many oddities have said that they grow faster when they train in their own spaces due to slowed time distortion, but some say the opposite and that time flows more quickly for them.

Despite such contradictions, Hirayon believed in the former, as his father also told him that it was more effective to train in Core Space. He couldn't be sure as time and counting got confusing, but Hirayon was sure that person would grow the more training they did.

Breathing heavily with a relieved look on his face, Hirayon felt refreshed. He just finished training his body, and he was now planning to level up his abilities. He first made a Water Orb and observed it closely. He is the type to move after observation and draws conclusions as to what more he needs to improve. As for his Water Orb, he decided that it needed more power when exploding. It should've been a good offense ability to fight the Hawk in his first game, but Hirayon knew his capabilities. His Water Orb wouldn't budge the Hawk, so he used the Water Wall instead.

Hirayon applied what he had read in a book and compressed more Aura inside his orb. Adding them slowly, his first try ended up bursting. On his second try, the sphere couldn't contain its shape and burst again. Hirayon repeatedly tried, but it always exploded, drenching him entirely after several attempts.

Not planning to quit, Hirayon made another water orb and held it in his hand. He was about to increase the Aura in it when he got distracted by the Core Orb in front of him.

Looking closely, his Water Orb was highly similar to his Core Orb, only a lot smaller. Hirayon's orb contained translucent bluish-violet water, unlike the Blue Aura inside the larger ball.

'They both look the same,' he thought as he stared at the two.

'Similiar...'

Realizing their similarities. Hirayon stared at the Water Orb in his hand and started swirling the water like the Core Orb. When he threw it and burst in the air, Hirayon felt the shockwave, which was more powerful than the first.

Hirayon felt elated when he discovered how to strengthen his Water Orb. He created another orb, swirling the water inside faster and adding more Aura, creating a ball of water that looked like it had a tornado inside.

With an excited gleam in his eyes, Hirayon moved his arm to throw the Water Orb when he saw a different scene the next time he blinked. He looked at his hand, and there was no Water Orb atop it.

"Master, what's wrong?" FORT685 asked. He was looking at the child with confusion as Hirayon looked like he was in shock.

Hirayon stared at FORT685 in disbelief. Seeing that he was still lying in bed, Hirayon realized that he had woken up. Thinking it might still be a dream, Hirayon raised his hand, stopping FORT685 from asking, "Wait."

Hirayon closed his eyes and tried to go back to his Core Space. He did it by concentrating and then feeling his Aura within. When he felt light and peaceful, Hirayon opened his eyes and saw the familiar vast darkness and bright lights.

Confirming it wasn't a dream, Hirayon exited his Core Space and asked FORT685 with a bright voice and thrilled expression, "Is it time for dinner?"

R E H I L I Y A