The Author's POV

Squeek—! Squeek—!

"Hold still."

Squeezing the syringe in his hands a couple of times, only till a clear liquid dropped from the body of the needle did Joseph let out a satisfied smile.

Licking his lips, he walked up to a burned body that was laying down on a rectangular metal plate; the man's hands and feet were bound by metallic latches.

Rolling his chair forward and arriving before the burned body, Joseph proceeded to put some gloves on.

Plack—! Plack—!

Glancing at the man laying down on the table, Joseph started to speak.

"I know that this is only our twelfth dosage of many, but trust me, what I'm doing is for your best."

Grabbing onto the man's shoulder which was filled with blisters, Joseph leaned his body closer and brought the syringe next to it.

"A perfect soldier is one that can perfectly blend with the world we are currently living in. One that can understand the human heart, yet at the same time, not have one. One that can watch the whole world burn before them, yet feel nothing from it."

Pressing his fingers on the man's arm, Joseph looked up.

"This might hurt a bit."

Squeek—!

He squeezed the tip of the syringe, and the liquid and 876's body started to spasm uncontrollably.

A rattling sound came out as a result of the latches binding 876, moving up and down. Taking the syringe out of 876's body, Joseph turned around.

"Don't hate me too much, 876. All I'm doing is breaking you so that one day you don't break."

***

"Uahgh!"

My eyes opened abruptly and my body shot up.

Lowering my head and staring at my bedsheets which were drenched in sweat, I forcefully opened and closed my eyes.

"Haa...Haaa...what was that?"

Clenching my teeth, I leaned back on the bed.

'Shit, just when I thought they had stopped...'

The nightmares about my time at the Monolith.

There used to be a time when I had nightmares every day. As time passed, the nightmares had become a lot less frequent.

Especially in Issanor.

Ever since I reunited with the others, I had thought that the nightmares had stopped.

The last time I had gotten a nightmare regarding my time at the Monolith was about half a year ago.

Just when I thought I had overcome my inner demons, the nightmare suddenly came again.

'Was it because of what the professor said yesterday?'

It could be.

Having him remind me of the incident and his talk about inner demons may have reignited the memories that I tried so hard to forget.

"Haaaa..."

Covering my face with the palm of my head, I let out a long breath.

Feeling the warm breath on my hand, I slowly got out of bed.

"What time is it?"

Taking my phone from the side of the bed, I looked at the time.

[Tuesday, 4 : 31 A.M.]

"It's still quite early."

phone, I sent

Shurle, a professor staying in the academy. Don't care about the funds, or anything else, just find whatever you can find on him.

may just be paranoid, however, the situation yesterday really triggered something from

happened yesterday really a coincidence? I

my phone back, I

'I should train.'

I was no longer sleepy, sitting down crossed-legged on the ground, I closed my eyes

my age, I was a far

no time for me to think

had to do

"Haaa..."

my eyes, I sensed millions of different colored particles roaming

in Issanor, my perception of psyons drastically increased. If I had to make a guess, my perception was

"Huuuuu...."

moved up and the particles in the air started

to separate, and before long, only

"Hm?"

something, my brow suddenly

weren't only

were in fact a couple

'Light psyons.'

little.

was close to understanding the fifth and final

***

8:30 A.M.

sun shone brightly from the

packed with students. Everyone stood by the

he calmly walked toward the middle of the grounds. Along the way, I saw him move a

everyone

the chatter

to see this, however, now that I thought about it, although the professor may not be

'Let's observe for now.'

watch,

before I entered the academy, I received a message

: Thomas

Age : 48

Wife and two

.

Price Academy in the northern district of the human domain. At the age of thirty-nine, he managed to break through to rank where he stagnated till now. Unable to breakthrough to rank. He is a professional

---Read more---

'Everything checks out...'

away from my watch, I gazed in the direction of the professor who was

off by diverging the mana in the air and call out for the preferred psyons. Once you have managed to select the desired psyons, fine-tune them to pursue the flow of your

was, he didn't

There was nothing strange about him, yet, something about yesterday's conversation really bugged

I couldn't really explain.

really

have demonstrated how to do

that moment, Thomas's voice rang

area

would like for everyone here to start practicing. Space yourselves

he looked at me. This time, I felt nothing as I

watch over the other students. Help them

"Understood."

my eyes away from him, I glanced at the students who had taken out their weapons

hues started to appear on the bodies of the students. Some were

everyone around me, secretly, I channeled the mana inside

I had developed back when I was in the forests. Just so that I would be prepared for any situation that

weapon you

face, my gaze couldn't help but land

"Thank you."

her face. Taking

ranked in the top five,

of each individual in the class, and from there, I was able

of

I pointed at her weapons which were glowing

individual

"Yes ."