*****

"If what you said is true, we are getting awfully close to breaking the barrier". He said it with shock appearing in his eyes.

"Yeah, I know. I have completely memorized all the directions, so can you repeat everything I told you?".

The reason I was asking him to repeat the directions is so that I know he is not misunderstanding anything.

This is the 11th time, so there is no time for mistakes.

As he repeated all the directions, I noticed that he didn't make any mistakes.

"Yeah, those are the directions... good luck". I said it with a hopeful tone.

"You too". He said as he pulled his hand to cover my eyes.

It failed again, but I didn't lose hope.

*****

"So up, down, and then down three times in a row?"

"Yes, that's correct".

"Wow, Taeho, you are very strong. Not in the physical but in the".

"I know you have already said it before, so thank you". I interrupted him because I already knew what he was about to say.

At some point, he started to respect me for going through this so many times. But now I was too far in to give up, and the pain that I felt from the start lessened a lot.

And I realized that it was because of this.

Pain Resistance[D]:

- You feel less pain.

It was a skill that I had acquired at some point. I didn't know when I got the skill, but I realized that I had the skill when I checked my status window because I leveled up.

Name: Taeho Kim] [Level: 14]

[Age: 21]

[Stats]

Endurance: 64.4 (46)

Agility: 64.4 (46)

Strength: 64.4 (46)

Magic: 0 +

Mana: 25 +

[Stat points: 13]

[Skills]

- Perfect Clear[X]

- Swordsmanship[C]

- Trap Detection[F]

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

- Bowmanship[F]

- Daggermanship[F]

- Wolf Dash[C]

- Regeneration[C]

- Mental Resistance[B]

- Pain resistance[D]

My status window was getting a little too big because of all the skills that I had acquired.

It looked a little overwhelming compared to when I first began. But because I got these skills one at a time, I didn't realize how much they added up.

I didn't even use some of the skills anymore. Skills like 'Bowmanship' were useless, since I never used the bow after I practiced it for a week.

Maybe it's just something I can flex with in the future.

"Are you ready, Taeho?".

"Taeho?"

He interrupted my thoughts, and I realized that I had dozed off.

"Yes, sorry, my mind was occupied for a second there".

As he put his hand on my eyes, the warm feeling appeared again.

But this time no burning pain appeared, and I knew that this attempt could be the final one.

As his hands got warmer, I heard a small breaking sound.

But there was no feeling of pain.

'Did he do it? Am I finally done?'.

As he pulled his hand away, I saw his panicked face.

"Taeho, quick! Use the heart phoenix and seal it in your eyes." He said it in a panicked voice.

"What? How do I do that?"

"Didn't my previous version tell you? Quickly or else all of this will be for naught and you will be blind forever." He raised his voice in panic.

Because of his panic, I also started to panic.

'What? His previous versions didn't tell me sh*t'.

"Quickly beat your chest and at the same time make grunts!".

I quickly tried to do as he said in panic.

And after, I beat my chest and grunted at the same time. I saw Alderon trying to keep his laughter in.

When I saw him try to keep his laughter in, I knew that something was wrong. So I stopped beating my chest.

"Hahaha, you looked like a gorilla doing that!". He laughed as he clapped at the same time.

"Wait, so it wasn't real?". I asked in disbelief.

"Of course not. There is no way I wouldn't tell you something like that before".

What! So he made me panic just because it was fun for him?

Well, honestly, it wasn't that surprising. But does he know that the situation in which he did it was very serious for me?

I had to experience so much pain that I ended up getting a skill that made me feel less resistant to it.

"The heart phoenix was not a lie; we do have to seal it in your eyes". He said this as he floated until he was right in front of me.

"But that isn't your job. Your job is done; you did good". He placed his hand at my chest, but just like all the other times.

We couldn't touch each other; he was only placing it right in front. Or else it would go right through.

"It's my job to seal the phoenix in your eyes". He said this as I felt the warm feeling leave my chest.

And as he pulled his hand away, I noticed the heart phoenix was in his hands.

I didn't know before, but I had gotten used to the warm feeling the heart phoenix gave.

And now that it wasn't inside my body, I felt cold. But I had another question.

"Why couldn't you give me another heart phoenix?". I asked, puzzled.

He shook his head.

"It's not possible for two heart phoenixes to coexist in the same body; they would end up destroying themselves".

"That's why I took the heart phoenix out from inside you". He said this while showing the heart phoenix.

"This is your phoenix! Look at it, isn't it beautiful?". He said it with awe and reverence.

Perched delicately on his palm was the creature of the mythical legends. But it wasn't the colossal fierce bird of the legends that we usually think of.

Instead, this one was small, just the size of a small fingertip.

Yet it glowed with such bright brilliance that it seemed to light up the surroundings like a small sun.

It was way brighter than a firefly.

The tiny phoenix tilted its head, regarding me with eyes that sparkled like molten amber, and for a small moment I felt it peering straight into my soul.

"I think it recognizes you". He laughed as he pulled it closer to me.

His cheerful attitude was replaced with a solemn one.

"Don't get attached; promise me that". He said this as we looked deep into each other's eyes.

Why the serious tone?

"I promise". I answered, confused by the sudden difference.

"Good".

He talked with the phoenix, but I couldn't hear anything. His mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.

The phoenix flapped its wings gently, sending tiny sparks into the air, each one fizzling out before it could touch anything.

It flew right in front of my eyes.

The phoenix chirped softly with a sound that was surprisingly melodic, like the gentlest of bells.

It filled me with a sense of peace that I had been missing for a long time.

And as the feeling of peace arrived, the phoenix flew right into my eye.