"My stats look a lot different now," Sim cheered, forgetting about all the fatigue he had.
"Same, my highest stat is Int, maybe it's because I had to think of ways to go around you to not accidentally shoot you and also to not get hit by the slimes," I replied.
"Probably, anyway, do you feel any different?" He asked.
"Hmm... Not really... Maybe it's like growing up. When it's your birthday and people ask if you feel any different and you awkwardly answer with something random."
"Haha, you're right. It does feel that way. But our stats sure rose up a lot."
"It sure did. It surely has to do something with that torturous training."
"Yeah... Sung did say that torturing yourself would raise your stats... Maybe the only difference here is that we're fighting."
I nodded at his words. We continued to talk for a bit more until our exhaustion finally kicked in again, telling us to go to sleep like a strict parent.
The night went by, and before even the break of dawn, Trin knocked on our door a few times.
*knock* *knock* *knock*
When she was met with silence, she knocked again, but this time heavier.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
It was akin to a horror movie.
"Lulu! Sim! wake up."
I finally opened my eyes as I heard the heavy knocks.
"Trin? What is it? It's kind of early," I replied with a question.
I looked at Sim, who can be seen as groggy. A loud yawn can be heard from him.
"It's time to train."
It really was too much like a horror movie.
My sleepiness immediately faded, and Sim's yawn was stopped midway as soon as we heard her words.
"I -it's kind of too early still, though..." Sim said to the person behind the door.
"What are you saying. It's never too early to train. Get ready, and we'll leave. Else, I'll have to leave without you both."
A few seconds after Trin left, we had no choice but to do as she said.
"Now, I don't know if there's any difference between this and torture," Sim said with a sigh.
With somber expressions in our faces, we started to move. We put on our equipment and went to the living room, only to be told to eat first. Trin informed me that when I run out of bullets, because Sung isn't here, Trin was the one to give them.
After eating, we finally set out to start our day.
Killing slimes all day.
All damn day.
***
Evening came, and our training came to an end. As we walked back home, I felt less fatigued than last time.
'Is this the effect of our stats and finally getting used to what we do?
'However, doesn't it feel kind of fast?
'Maybe it's an advantage given by the God, in order to enable us to defend ourselves.'
When my thoughts came to a halt, I hadn't realized that we had arrived home.
"You can go first, Sim," I said, knowing that he wanted to go shower as soon as possible.
"Alright, thanks."
When he was gone, I went to the living room and found Sung sitting on the couch with a newspaper in his hand, we greeted each other.
'A chair... I don't wanna sit on the couch with the smell of sweat.'
When he saw that I wasn't taking a seat, he figured out what I was thinking about. He put down the newspaper, then clapped his hands and created a chair.
"..." I didn't know what to say.
"Here, take a seat," He said with a chuckle.
"What a really convenient magic..."
"It sure is. Anyway, today, I will be teaching you two how to absorb mana and use mana, it will be convenient as you two get stronger."
As soon as he finished his sentence, I felt excitement overwhelm me, his words echoed in my ears with his gentle voice.
'Mana! we're finally going to learn how to use mana! meaning, magic as well!'
"Well, get cleaned up first, though. It's better to feel more clean and relaxed when first learning how to absorb mana."
I enthusiastically nodded.
***
When I came back to the living room after taking a shower, Sim looked at me with sparkles in his eyes. It seems like Sung told him as well and couldn't wait til I got back.
He jumped up from his seat carefully, eager to learn about mana.
"Okay, let's get started. First, I want you two to be at your most comfortable position. Whether you're sitting or standing."
I stood still on my spot, and so did Sim.
"Good. Now I will explain the basics of mana. As you know, mana means power, it means how much you can do. Mana is in everyone and everywhere, but just because it's everywhere doesn't mean it's continuously next to you, no.
"Mana will only be with you and within you only if you call for it, absorb it."
Sung looked at us, understanding his intentions, Sim and I nodded. Sung continued.
"Now, close your eyes. Relax yourselves. Take a deep breath. I want you to think of what's around you. It can be anything, but at the same time, I want you to think within yourself.
"Think of what's inside your heart and mind."
With my mind, I looked around. I saw nothingness, a void. I followed Sung's explanation and looked deep in my heart and mind. I thought of the things that could be around me, two couches, a table, a drawer, a painting, a window, a door, and people. All of them only looked like a silhouette.
'People. A person.'
I looked deep within my heart. To see a young child crying. A desperate child who had lost everything. I thought of what I could do to help the child.
'To Help. To Protect.'
Suddenly, something surged in me. It felt cold but at the same time hot. It felt like water yet like air. It was coming from everywhere and connected with every part of me.
I looked in my mind to see what I imagined earlier, all the objects. Colors. Every single one of them had colors, no longer a silhouette. The colors were bright and gentle.
***
As I heard Sung say to be in a comfortable position, I hesitated between doing the lotus position like the novels I read or standing up. I decided against my idea and decided to stand.
Then he explained to us what to do.
I sensed everything around me with my heart and mind. I imagined the hallway, the floor, the ceiling, my shoes, my sweat, a rug on the floor, and the door.
I looked deeper into my heart to see what I had within me. A silhouette of a person, a silhouette of danger. Next to the silhouette was another silhouette. It emitted an aura of respect.
'Run. Strength.'
As I thought those words, a baffling sense came within me, coming from everywhere. It connected to me like it was a sixth sense.
I opened my eyes and saw that Sung had a gentle smile on his face. My eyes were sparkling, not due to the excitement, but due to the tears running down from it.
It took a bit for the streams of tears to stop.
"I do not know what it was that you saw that made you cry, but everything is all right now, Sim," Sung said, trying to comfort me.
"Thank you."
I looked at everyone's faces; Lulu had a sorry face, Sung had his usual gentle face, and Trin had her sad face. I initiated the talk again as I was the one to bring the awkwardness.
"Sorry about that everyone, let's continue," I said with a cheery voice, hoping to lighten up the mood.
"All right, but..." Sung replied, but this time he had a sorry expression. "I will tell you how to use mana tomorrow. It's already kind of late, and we haven't had dinner.
"Now that you grasped the feeling of mana, just remember that feeling, and you will be able to absorb mana anytime. You can even do it while in a battle, but that takes extreme mana control. For now, you can only do it while you're really focused."
Lulu and I nodded at his words. It took us a moment to realize that it had been an hour and a half since we started our mana training.
We ate our dinner and said our goodnight. Lulu and I didn't talk much when we got into our room. We said goodnight to each other and went to sleep.
***
After a night's rest, we didn't get woken up by Trin to train. I did my usual routine and went to the living room, followed by Lulu. Surprisingly, Sung was there sitting on the couch.
"Good morning, you two," He greeted us.
"Good morning," We replied.
"Okay, good, let's continue your mana training, but first go eat. This way, if you learn it magic by today, you will be able to use it for your physical training."
We nodded and went to eat our breakfast quickly. Almost choking on some of the food. Once we got back, we let Sung take the lead again.
"Now, I want you to sit down on the couch. Because just yesterday alone made you two stand for an hour and a half."
We followed as Sung said, and he continued teaching.
"Using magic is almost the same as absorbing mana. But this time, you only have to think of why you want to use this particular type of magic.
"You will have to look to the deepest part of your memories," He said with a somber expression.
We did as he said and did almost the same as yesterday. We looked at our deepest memories.
***
A young boy, about 7 years old, could be seen sitting on a couch with his father and enjoying the show on the TV. His father looked just like him but had a tanned and toned body.
"On behalf of the ****, I will punish you!" The speaker of the TV shouted.
"What a nonsense of a show! You enjoy this Sim?" His father exclaimed. His voice was low pitched. He looked to be in his mid - 30s.
"It's not nonsense! It's fun to watch, and I get to talk to Lulu about it because she watches it, too."
"Hahaha, okay, kiddo, at least you're having fun," He said as he ruffled young Sim's head.
They continued to watch the show, but soon, a warm voice called out for them to eat dinner. His father would have helped with making the food, but he would only be hindering his already weak mother in the process, lest a fire accidentally burn the house.
"Sim, Dad, dinner is ready, come and prepare the utensils and such."
"Okay, Mom," the both of them replied.
But before they could go to the dining room, a loud crashing sound could be heard from the far left window.
When they looked, at the said window, a man with a mask covering his entire face could be seen, his hand was wrapped along a sharpened knife. Sim's mom looked at the commotion and quickly went to Sim and held him.
"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" Sim's father shouted at the man.
However, the man did not answer his question.
"Give me everything you have!" The masked man yelled in an authoritative voice.
"We'll give you everything. Just leave us alone!" The father replied.
"No. I mean everything YOU have."
The father's face paled as he heard what the masked man said. He had fear in his eyes.
'What?! What have I done to have someone do this? I never made enemies my whole life,' the father thought as he reached deep in his mind to figure out who the invader was.
"Look, man, I don't know who you are, but I haven't done anything wrong my whole life! So please just take everything in this house and leave us alone."
The father pleaded, but it did not stop the invader. He moved forward with his knife and pointed it at the father.
Surprisingly, the father was calm. Maybe it was due to the reason of being trained from martial arts at a young age or the fear of losing his loved ones.
"Mom! call the police!" He shouted. The mother was nervous til now and didn't know what else to do other than protect her child. She snapped back to her senses and took out her phone from her pocket to do what the father had just said.
But the invader was not just going to sit idly by. His foot moved towards the father with his armed hand stretched out straight. The man looked like an amateur. However, this amateur had a weapon, and the father did not.
...