The week following Goblin's departure was a whirlwind.
The first day, I spent twelve grueling hours in the training room, sweat pouring off me as I practiced with the pick, testing out different fighting styles, formulating counters for potential opponents.
My movements blended elements of Setkai—a style mocked for its lack of practicality in real-life combat—with standard stabs, slashes, and quick maneuvers. Setkai might be considered one of the most useless techniques by most, but its ability to close gaps between opponents was an advantage I wasn’t ready to abandon.
With each thrust, each calculated slash, I could feel more power slowly building behind my strikes. The sense that my abilities were on the verge of awakening spurred me on, and I trained harder. There was no denying the surge of excitement in my chest—a promise that something more lay within my reach.
Of course, I didn’t neglect the physical side either. Goblin hadn’t left behind any specific exercise regimen, but it didn’t take a genius to know that legs and core were my primary areas to focus on. Aura and my Heartile would amplify my strength, and while my upper body could be supported by them, the speed and agility gained through powerful legs would be my ace.
Keeping my aura usage minimal was a strategy. I didn't want to reveal all my cards too soon. The last thing I needed was my opponents understanding my full potential before I even got a chance to tap into it. Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
After the training, utterly drained, I returned to my room. A notification awaited me: my next fight was scheduled for tomorrow. I glanced at it briefly, not allowing myself to obsess over it. Worrying would only mess with my focus. Instead, I sat on the floor and flipped through the book Goblin had left me, hoping to find something useful.
It wasn’t long before I found a passage on the "minor stages" of Heartile progression.
Apparently, these stages were only recently discovered—before, people believed each minor stage was its own evolution. Turns out, an evolutionary stage consisted of three minor ones, categorized as Low, Mid, and High order.
While the gap between evolutionary stages was much larger, the difference between these minor stages could still make or break a fight. Goblin hadn’t bothered to explain much of this, and I wasn’t going to rely on Infra anymore. So, I remained in the dark.
But the most crucial piece of information in the book wasn’t about the other fighters or even the stages themselves. It was about stabilizing my foundation. The secret was to replicate the emotion I’d felt when I first awakened my Heartile.
As I read that, a surge of bitterness welled up inside me. If I had awakened through joy, I could just lock myself in my room, listening to happy music, and meditate. But no. My awakening had been born of pain, of violence, and so my path to progress was clear: endure the beatings, the losses, the suffering.
And that’s exactly what I did. My second fight? Another brutal loss, though I managed to last a bit longer. But over the week, it was the same story—training, meditating, fighting, losing.
My body ached, my mind was a storm of strategy and survival, and I barely had time to think about anything else. Every moment was consumed by the thought of improving, of awakening something deeper within me.
Today was no different. After another lengthy defeat, I trudged back to my room, bruised and weary. But something gnawed at me.
A nagging sensation that I was forgetting something—something important. I couldn’t shake the feeling.
“Infra,” I called out, collapsing onto my bed. “Am I forgetting something? Something major?”
Infra’s voice echoed through my mind,
I groaned, already regretting allowing it to speak so freely. “Something related to me. My future.”
I sat in silence, tapping my foot impatiently.
The words slammed into me like a sledgehammer. My heart dropped. “WHAT?!” I shot out of bed, frantically yanking off my training clothes and throwing on something more suitable. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Yes! Yes, you were!” I shouted, sprinting through the maze of tunnels beneath The Underground. My mind raced faster than my legs. Panic surged through me as I skidded to a halt.
Wait. Can I even leave?
With a burst of adrenaline, I veered off-course and headed straight for Enzo’s office. I reached the guarded tunnel outside his door– which was actually surprisingly close to the exit–panting, heart hammering in my chest. After what felt like an eternity of convincing, they finally let me in.
His assistant, not Enzo, greeted me with an indifferent expression.
“I need to leave,” I blurted out, barely able to contain the desperation in my voice.
She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“Not forever! I just need to do something on the outside.”
Her lips twitched into a smirk. “Why are you bothering Enzo with this?”
“Who else am I supposed to ask?” I shot back, glancing at the clock on my Tenus. Time was slipping away faster than I could afford.
“There’s no need to ask anyone.” She gave a dismissive wave. “Just send me a message about when you’re leaving and how long you’ll be gone. A guard will pick you up when your time is up. You’re not under a slave contract, Mr. Saint.”
I wanted to scream, to rage about how no one bothered to tell me this. But there was no time for a tantrum. I sprinted back towards the exit, typing a message while running. After showing the guard my confirmation, I bolted outside into the open air.
It took me about twenty meters, nearly colliding with a speeding vehicle, someone pulling me back and telling me life was worth living, to realize I had no idea where I was going.
“Infra,” I wheezed, “what now? Do I run? Call a car?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
My screen? Why didn’t I think of that? Relief washed over me. I followed its instructions and, sure enough, there was a massive green button labeled PICKUP NOW. I clicked it, assuming a vehicle would be on its way.
But instead, my body began to shimmer and distort as my screen vibrated and pulsed, all of it making me feel as if I was dissolving into thin air. Panic clawed at me as I watched my legs disintegrate into dust, inching up my body.
I was convinced I’d died.
When I blinked again, I was in an unfamiliar place—an empty, echoing hall with an eerie, eastern aesthetic. Every inch of the room radiated foreignness, as though I’d been whisked away to another world.
‘Infra, do you know where I am?’ I asked, my voice shaky as I scanned the room.
Great. I wandered the hall, searching for any clues. The place was vast but abandoned. Paintings hung on the walls, bookshelves stood untouched, but there were no obvious traps, no hidden levers. Just an eerie, unsettling quiet.
At the far end of the hallway, two massive suits of armor flanked an empty table. My instincts told me to investigate the table, but curiosity got the better of me. I approached the towering suits of armor, half-jokingly imagining myself wearing one and running around like some hero from a fantasy. I knocked on its legs, it was surprisingly dense.
But before I could finish the thought, a cold breeze swept over my head. I reacted on instinct, throwing myself into a roll just as the armor shifted.
“What the hell?!” I scrambled to my feet, wide-eyed as the once-immobile suits of armor came to life. Massive swords gleamed in their hands, their hulking forms advancing toward me with terrifying speed.
I barely dodged the first strike, the sword whistling past my ear. My heart thundered in my chest as I dove and rolled, avoiding each swing by a hair’s breadth. The knights moved with deadly precision, relentless in their pursuit.
I had no weapon, no armor of my own. All I could do was dodge, my muscles straining with every desperate movement. The armor’s blows were relentless, each one sending shockwaves through the air as they connected with the stone floor.
They had me cornered.
The first knight loomed over me, its sword poised for the final blow. “Wait! Hold on a second!” I threw my hands up, praying for a miracle.
To my surprise, the knight hesitated, its glowing eyes flickering red and narrowing as if considering my words.
I exhaled, my lungs burning, using the precious moment to steady myself. “Alright. Let’s do this.”
I summoned my aura, feeling it flood through me, filling every inch of my body with a familiar, searing heat. My limbs felt lighter, my reflexes sharper, but even with my Heartile power coursing through me, the knights were an entirely different level of strength.
I launched into a flurry of strikes, focusing on their legs in a desperate attempt to unbalance them. Every punch, every kick, bounced off their armor like I was hitting a brick wall. They barely registered my attacks.
We fought for what felt like hours. The same pattern repeated over and over: I’d strike, they’d counter, and I’d barely escape. I was exhausted, my body aching with the strain of keeping up with these unstoppable juggernauts.
⥁
“Fuck me!”
As we circled back to the same stretch of the room for what must have been the hundredth time, my eyes caught something—a glint beneath the leg of a nearby table. A key. Small and seemingly insignificant, but it was there. A sliver of hope gleaming in the midst of chaos.
I had tried for that key before, lunging for it between dodges, only to be met with a blade swinging dangerously close to my neck each time. Every attempt had nearly ended with me headless. But this time would be different. I had a plan now.
As the towering knight closed in on me, its heavy footsteps reverberating through the ground, I feigned a kick. Its glowing eyes flared as it predictably reached for my leg, but I was already moving. Cutting my kick short, I ducked and rolled beneath its massive legs, sliding through the narrow gap as its gauntleted hand clutched at nothing but air.
The moment I was clear, I scrambled onto its back, my fingers scrabbling for a hold on its cold, iron plating. The knight roared, its metallic voice echoing in the empty hall, dropping its sword in frustration to grab at me with both hands. But I clung on, heart pounding in my ears, as it spun wildly, trying to throw me off.
It was like riding a storm. The knight twisted and thrashed beneath me, each violent spin a nauseating whirl of metal and movement. My vision blurred, and I fought the urge to vomit, my hands clutching desperately at anything I could grip.
But finally, it happened. The knight, in its blind rage, barreled straight for the wall. At the last second, I pushed off from its back, landing hard on the stone floor just as the knight collided with the wall in a thunderous crash. The impact shook the entire room, dust and debris raining down from the ceiling.
I didn’t waste a moment. Aura surged through my legs, and I sprinted toward the table, ignoring the pain that shot up my limbs with every step. My fingers fumbled beneath the table, feeling for the cold, iron key. Just as my hand closed around it, I felt something else—a grip like ice clamping down on my ankle.
I twisted around in terror. The knight, somehow already recovered from its collision with the wall, was hauling me upward. Its hand squeezed with relentless force, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Can I get another second to catch my breath?” I asked, my voice trembling with forced humour.
The knight, of course, was not in the mood for jokes. It swung me through the air like a rag doll, and I crashed into the nearest wall with bone-shattering force. Pain exploded through my body as I hit the stone, the impact rattling my skull. The sickening crack of my bones echoed through the empty hall. My vision blurred, and I tasted blood, warm and metallic, pooling in my mouth. Every breath felt like knives tearing through my ribs.
‘Just one week,’ I thought bitterly, ‘one week without ending up in the hospital.’
The room’s Tecz, the strange energy that flowed through this place, began to seep into me, slowly knitting my broken body back together. My bones mended with agonising slowness, each breath less painful as my lungs began to heal. I forced myself to my feet, eyes widening in horror as the knight approached once more, its massive form looming over me.
But this time, it wasn’t alone.
The second knight emerged from the shadows, its hulking frame even more imposing than the first. What the hell had I done to awaken this one?
Its steps were thunderous, each one shaking the ground beneath me. I barely had time to process what was happening before both knights were advancing, their weapons gleaming ominously in the dim light.
For a brief moment, a thought crossed my mind: What if I had just given up two months ago? Let the strange dream of fire and fury consume me? Would I still be here, living through this nightmare?
“I know no one forced me, Infra!” I shouted, my voice hoarse as the metallic whirring began as the footsteps of the knights grew louder.
Half-bent, barely able to stand, I wiped the blood from my mouth and gripped the key tightly in my hand. I shoved it into my pocket, knowing full well that it might not matter. If I failed here, maybe they’d at least let me keep the key as a souvenir. Or recompense for my suffering.
The knights were only a few steps away now, their glowing eyes locked onto me. My heart raced, and the room felt colder, the air thick with the scent of metal and dust.
‘I can do this. I’ve got this,’ I lied to myself, forcing my body to move. ‘So what if they’re twenty feet tall, armoured giants? I don’t need a weapon or armour. I’ll be fine.’
But as the first sword came slicing toward my chest and the second knight’s axe swung for my head, all my bravado vanished.
‘I’m screwed.’
The blows came down hard, sending me flying backward. I hurtled through the air, crashing into the ground with a sickening thud. The world around me went black, the knights, the hall, everything swallowed by the void. I couldn’t feel the pain anymore—my body was too numb from the trauma. My senses dulled, and I thought it was over. The darkness pressed in, suffocating and endless.
But then… warmth. A flicker of light, a soft glow in the midst of the dark.
I opened my eyes slowly. The crushing weight of the void lifted, and instead of rubble and broken stone, I found myself lying on something soft, warm. My body still ached, but it wasn’t the searing agony I expected. Instead, it was… manageable.
When I finally focused, the first thing I saw was faces. Human faces, staring down at me with confusion and curiosity. Five of them.
My eyes struggled to adjust, but they were real. People. Actual people, not knights or figments of some twisted dream.
“Hello?” I coughed weakly, my voice hoarse and dry, but somehow still intact.