Two cold grey eyes watched from a roof, as a doctor and a stoic man hurried across the street. They seemed to be discussing about the stoic man's son who had fainted for some reason.
As the duo arrived closer to him, the man who was observing them, jumped from the roof and softly landed a couple of steps behind the duo.
He had already put on a silver-blue ring on his middle finger and his body seemed to meld into his surroundings. One could only notice him if they were an expert rank agent or if they had a gold-rank item from the Court of Doves.
The doctor in front of him, seemed to be a elementary rank agent from the Star order and the stoic man was just a normal person. The doctor was also carrying a small briefcase but it didn't have any aura, so there was nothing he needed to worry about.
He silently followed the duo and arrived at a small house. The stoic man knocked on the door and called out loudly.
"Ula, it's me."
After a few seconds, a woman with a worried face opened the door. She seemed panicked and spoke in a hurried tone while wiping her eyes.
"Doctor Aaron! Kim! My son, he's upstairs a-and he's finally opened his eyes but he's not moving or a-anything! P-please come in quickly!"
The doctor and the man beside him looked confused and worried, but they hurriedly followed Ula up the stairs, without asking any questions.
An invisible figure also followed them closely.
He had entered the house before the stoic man closed the door and was also very curious about this boy.
The symptoms according to the woman, were quite similar to the ones shown by assistants (civilians who helped preserve order) when they absorb a fragment. Of course, this wasn't 100% accurate. Most would usually just blow up in flames and the ones who did survive would show a variety of symptoms.
But something about this just felt like it was related to a fragment, and the invisible man wondered how this ordinary boy could come across one.
They arrived at the boy's room and saw exactly what Ula had described. The boy was lying on the bed with a peaceful expression on his face. He seemed to be relaxing and staring at the ceiling, ignoring everything around him.
This was a very eerie scene.
The quickly doctor placed his briefcase on the floor and took out many medical equipment from it. He then started performing some tests with the various objects but there was no response from Geo.
After a few minutes, he started repeating the tests again. Kim and Ula couldn't realize it as the doctor had changed the procedures slightly but the invisible man immediately understood what the doctor was doing. He was using a passive skill from the Star order called [Solution] !
The skill would give great insight on solving a problem if one spent more time trying to solve it! . Using it to find out a patient's problems was just one of the skill's uses but it was very useful right now!
The solution would be clearer if the problem was easier or if the caster was of high rank, but the doctor did not care about it. In Doctor Aaron's eyes, Geo was just a normal teen who probably used some abusive substance and passed out because of it. He had seen this symptoms many times and just wanted to find out what Geo used, so that he could provide a reasonable explanation to his parents.
The invisible man watched this from a corner and smiled.
The doctor kept repeating the tests but gave up after a few minutes.
Surprisingly, his power did not even reveal a single hint when using it on Geo. Usually if the answer was too complex, [Solution] would show him a vast starless sky, but this time it didn't even show him that.
The Doctor had a guess that Geo had encountered something from the 'World of Order' but immediately ruled it out. Cinter was a green zone that was heavily monitored by the Church of Doves. No normal person could come into contact with the 'World of Order' unless they were an 'assistant'.
He turned to the worried couple and said in a confused tone,
"I'm sorry but I couldn't find anything wrong with him. He seems....completely fine...."
"B-but something's clearly happened to him!"
Ula immediately replied in a slightly angry tone. How could the doctor say that her son was fine when he was in a state like this?
She looked at her husband, expecting him to do something about the situation. Kim got the message through her eyes and asked the doctor,
"Doctor, I know it's not my profession but my son is clearly in some serious state right now. Are you sure he is fine?"
"Yes... I know that it looks serious, but just trust me. He will recover soon."
"Can't you at least tell us what the cause may be? Or maybe some kind of medicine to relieve him? Just anything to help our son?"
"Well.....he seems to have overworked himself mentally and had fainted due to the backlash. Give him one pill if he has residual headaches when he wakes up."
Doctor Aaron, then took out a small container with pills and handed it to the worried father. He then picked up his suitcase and looked at the couple, indicating the end of the situation.
"Well, that's all there is, I guess.
No need to pay for the check up. There was nothing wrong with him. Just pay for the medicine later at my office.
He'll probably wake up normally in the morning. Call me again if he still doesn't wake up, otherwise I'll be back in two days with some other doctors to check his condition."
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The sun was shining brightly through his window when Geo finally regained his consciousness.
He had finally regained his vision after what he felt like weeks.
His eyes were burning due to dryness and his mouth was also parched. A terrible headache still lingered from the mental work he had just accomplished, but he wasn't bothered by all these things.
Geo was actually extremely delighted at his accomplishment but looked a bit pained due to the headache.
To obtain the fat man's powers, Geo had to absorb a brilliantly shining gold magical ball in the sealed world. This gold ball was the fat man's fragment and he had finally it!
Absorbing the fragment was indeed an extremely difficult task and the process had taken him weeks and maybe even a month!
The fat man's fragment had many impurities, unlike the true God's fragments, and it was extremely difficult to absorb even after the unknown force in him enormously lightened his burden. To absorb it, he had to thoroughly 'clean' the fragment with his willpower and forcefully pull it into his body using only his willpower. It was like trying to bend a spoon by intensely staring at it. An impossible task in his previous world, but Geo was somehow able to do it in this world. He had survived through the weeks of mental torture and had finally found what he was searching for.
Magic!
After listening to the fat man talk about this world, he knew that this was going to be a tough and secretive life from now, but he wasn't going to give up. This was his one and final chance at finding out why he was sent to this world!
While in the midst of his thoughts, he suddenly heard a very familiar voice.
"Geo!"
It was his mother, Ula.
She was carrying a bowl and a towel and immediately put them down before rushing to her son.
Geo grimaced in pain after receiving a tight hug from his mother and smiled. He was extremely happy to see her and also felt a bit guilty about making his parents worry about him.
"Are you alright?! Does it hurt anywhere?! Oh Geo! Do you recognize me?!"
"Mom...you're...crushing me..."
His mom hugged him even tighter and let out a sigh of relief.
Releasing him, she worriedly asked,
"Do you feel okay now?"
"Yep, just a slight headache."
"Thank God. Oh here...take one of these....Doctor Aaron came by last night since you suddenly fainted. I was soo worried! Did something happen before you fainted last night?"
"Um....I can't remember.....I just felt dizzy and now I'm suddenly here...."
Geo swallowed the pill with a cup of water and frowned a little. He realized that he had only fainted last night even though it felt like a couple of weeks to him!
'Pain really does things to your sense of time huh.....'
His mother looked at him even more worriedly and said,
"It must be because of those long history books that you read. The doctor said that you had probably mentally exhausted yourself in the library! Don't push yourself too much okay?"
"Okay..."
"Promise?"
"Yes mum....I promise...."
"Promise-promise-promise?"
"Mom....."
His mother smiled and got up before kissing Geo on the head.
"You must be hungry. I'll get breakfast in your room so just keep resting, and oh!
Dad has gone out to find some other doctors.
Doctor Aaron said that you'd wake up soon but your father was too worried since you didn't wake up even after ten in the morning. It already eleven so he should be back soon.
Maybe with another doctor. Rest up till then."
Geo just smiled and nodded as he watched his mother leave the room.
He then sat back on his bed and sighed. There was still one thing he had to do before he could activate his powers.
Since he absorbed the fragment in the sealed world, his physical body had not directly absorbed it. It was his soul body that absorbed the fragment, and to use the Order's powers, he had to allow the fragment to seep into his physical body.
His memory of the conversation with the fat man was a bit fuzzy but he knew what to do. The process was very simple, all he had to do was think about the fragment and use his willpower to force the fragment into his physical body from his soul body.
Geo was still a bit scared though.
'What if it fails? Will I get a backlash? What if I turn into an artifact like what the fat man said?'
All these questions came to Geo's mind but he shook them all away. He had already reached this far and no one was going to stop him from finally acquiring magic.
With a confident mind, Geo closed his eyes and tried to recall the familiar gold ball of light. It was dim and clustered with black spots but Geo had turned it into a brilliantly bright ball while he was in the sealed world. Looking closely at the bright ball of light, one could see a small cube with many complex circles inscribed on it.
When the perfect image of the fragment formed in his mind, Geo suddenly saw the fragment move further and further away from him. Then he saw it swim through the vast black space until it arrived at a blue light that was a million times bigger than it! The fragment tried to approach the blue light but it kept bouncing back because of some unknown force. With all his willpower, Geo tried to pull the fragment towards the blue ball.
After a few struggles, Geo was finally able to make the fragment touch the blue light. Suddenly, as soon as the fragment touched the blue light, the entire ball of light turned gold and burst out, sending out countless smaller balls of light in the black space! They looked like stars in the vast black space!
Geo was surprised but he quickly calmed himself down and proceeded to the last step. He focused on the largest 'star' and suddenly an array of gold words appeared in his mind.
==========
[Order : Machine]
"Become free from the invisible chains of God!"
[Order Passive : Blueprint] - Beginner rank
(Unique Passive)
Gain a 'small' amount of knowledge of any skill when concentrating on it.
[Order Skill : Fuel Tank] - Beginner rank
(Unique Skill)
A 'very small' portion of your excess Soul energy, Life Force and Stamina will be automatically stored in a 'fuel tank' whenever the user is in top condition. Activating [Fuel Tank] will use this stored energy to replenish the user's energy.
Additionally, user gains 'good' control over his body whenever the fuel tank is full.
==========
Geo had successfully merged the fragment!
He smiled and silently read the skills with his eyes closed.
The order's passive skill was a bit vague but Geo vaguely had an idea about it. It was probably a skill that would let Geo see the weakness and strengths of someone's magic skill, fighting style, or order. Plus it was still beginner rank. Maybe it would become stronger in the future,
Geo was satisfied with the skill but wished it was a bit more destructive or magical, like some of the other order's passives that he learnt from the fat man.
The unique skill [Fuel Tank] was also non flashy but Geo was satisfied with it. He was a fit person as he usually jogged in the morning and could see the potential of the skill in the future since it was just beginner rank too.
He couldn't feel the buff from the skill right now but he had a reasonable theory.
'I've just finished absorbing my fragment and my body is still a bit tired. Maybe it's because of that. I'll probably feel the buff from the skill tomorrow morning after a good rest. Also, I don't know how to feel my Soul Energy. I have to figure that out by myself I guess.....'
During his short discussion with the fat man, Geo had a vague idea about the three fundamental energies.
Soul energy, Life Force and Stamina.
According to the fat man, Soul Energy and Life force were the two magical energies that every person is born with.
So everyone is actually born with magic!
But then why could normal people not use magic? What does a fragment have to do with being able to use magic?
Geo had many unanswered questions but since the fat man did not explain much, he hoped to find the answer to all of these questions in time.
From what the fat man had explained, he only knew the basic information.
Life force is basically the vitality or well being of a person. If you depleted it, you'd die. The end.
Soul energy was a bit different.
It remained dormant until a fragment was absorbed. Using the fragment as an intermediate, soul energy could be used to cast skills which were clearly defined by one's order. Therefore, one couldn't create spells until they were powerful enough to perfectly define a skill in one's fragment.
It was very important to not use all of it as soul energy affected the mind, and one could go insane or become an idiot when depleted completely.
And last of all, Stamina, which was basically the same as the normal world.
Important thing to note was that Stamina and Soul energy were completely unrelated. One could still run a thousand miles with low Soul energy and cast a expert rank spell while his body lay limp on the ground.
Geo focused on the other smaller stars in his mind but nothing happened.
'I'm probably too weak right now to access these stars.'
Shaking the disappointment away, he then started recalling some important points that the fat man said.
Geo had asked what would happen if Geo just abused his new power.
The fat man had just snickered and replied,
"These powers are not named like that without a reason, are they?
As I said earlier, each order has a set of principles. The penalty for rejecting an order's principles are somewhat related to it's own name.
The easiest explanation would be an order called Gore. It's principle is to reject relying on things that were not given at birth, and it's penalty is probably related to severe/horrifying/torturous/extreme/etc, mutilation.
But don't worry about the consequences! After all, my order's principles are very easy!
Prepare for the apocalypse and prevent it!
So easy!"
Geo had a mild headache when he recalled these words of the fat man. He shook his head and finally got out of bed. After stretching his body a few times, he grabbed his towel and headed towards the bathroom. His body was slightly sweaty and languid, so he wanted to have a quick shower to freshen up before breakfast.
'I don't know how to prepare for the apocalypse but I better start doing it! I don't want to become....I don't know....a piece of junk metal! Finding more information in Teral forest probably counts as preparation but I have to get stronger first!
The fat man also said that the initial release of the seal, emitted out a lot of soul energy, so there will definitely be agents who noticed it.
Since I might be monitored, I should not try my skills for a week like the fat man said.
I did wait a long time for this day to come. Waiting for a week is too easy!'
Geo then entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him.
---------------------------------
A pair of cold grey eyes had been watching all of this from the corner of the room.
The invisible man had waited for Geo to wake up this entire time!
He stared at the boy who was walking to the bathroom and smiled,
'Interesting.....'
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