Joren was now sitting in the chair again. His eyes were devoid of life as he was currently engaging in his morning torture. He got so used to the pain that he didn't scream anymore, just flinched.
Trey didn't like this so he upped his torturing methods but even they just caused him to grit his teeth, so Trey just got off by beating up Joren on a daily basis.
His hair was longer and his body taller. An entire year passed and Joren was now 15. He was supposed to be joining the academy in six months but it seemed like that was just a dream now.
His friends never came back to get him, not that he was expecting them to. He assumed that If they were smart, they would train, get stronger, and have a better understanding of the area before coming back to get him. They've probably noticed it by now, but the sigil on their bodies was connected to him, even though his mana core was destroyed, his body still contained mana since everything contains mana, therefore, they could feel that he was still alive.
Joren was not in good condition. His body was badly broken and he had injuries that never healed properly. He walked with a limp, his back was hunched, and he was slightly blind in his left eye. His hair grew to shoulder length but there was a large bald spot on the right side of his head from constant burning and acid. His body was riddled with scars, bruises, and other injuries, so much so that you would question if he got a tattoo of scars on his body just to look cool.
Over the past year, he couldn't tap into mana at all. When he reached his lowest point, he begged the Golden Lady to help him, but he got no answer. He was completely on his own, beaten, broken, and alone.
"Today will probably be the last time we see each other." Trey whipped his hands as he reached into his bag to pull out a vial of a greyish-purple powder.
"I-Infernal power?!" Joren was shocked to see that here. He had dealt with it in that village a while ago and he never expected to see it again.
"Oh, so you know what this is? That's surprising. Not a lot of people know of this. It's some dangerous stuff, Infernal energy. It completely eats away at anything comprised of mana, like us. Luckily this came from a plant so it can be contained in this glass, but when it's combined with water..." He stopped talking and dumped the powder into a water flask.
"Drink!" Force-feeding the substance to Joren, he had no choice but to swallow as he had no power to resist. Instantly, Joren felt the effects.
"It's a shame I can't watch you die as this is contagious, but I'll be back in a few days to confirm its effects and give you a proper burial. Hope the dogs are hungry, hahahahaha!" He left the room, securing it after he exited.
"GHRRR!! AGHHHHH!!!" The effects of this were more potent than what Joren worked with in the past. He tried to use divine energy, but since he couldn't access his mana, he couldn't tap into the divine energy as they were connected.
"Fuck!!! It hurts. Dammit!" He felt his insides being eaten by the infernal energy and since he couldn't put up any resistance, the effects were taking place faster than normal.
'This is it.' He thought to himself. 'I'm sorry everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't see you again Gloria. I'm sorry for breaking our promise Gramps. Mom, I'm sorry for leaving your side. I'm sorry I won't get to see you again Grace. I'm sorry.' Full of regret, he passed out from the pain.
"Is that it? This is how you die, like a pathetic loser? You were given a second chance at life and you blew it by trying to have fun and play the hero. You're a disgrace."
Opening his eyes, Joren was once again in the dark void. The same place where he first spoke to the Golden Lady. He looked in the direction of the voice and instead of seeing the Golden Lady, he was looking at...himself?
"Wh-Who are you?" Joren asked
"Are you serious right now? Take a look at me and speak what you see." The entity spoke
"Y-You look like me!"
"Of course I do! I'm you after all!"
"How is that possible?! I-Isn't this my soul form? I shouldn't have two souls."
"You don't. I'm just a reflection of yourself. A manifestation of your regrets."
"I don't have any regrets," Joren spoke confidently
"Cut the bullshit. What the hell were those words you spoke? "I'm sorry everyone"? Sounds like regret to me. You really don't take life seriously do you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?! You're me, aren't you? Why are you acting like you know more than me when you are me?"
"Heh, back in the old world, you suffered a lot because of your neglectful parents and horrible upbringing. Then you were betrayed by your best friend and were killed by him! Don't tell me you forgot about that?!"
"I-I didn't! But that doesn't matter anymore!"
"It doesn't? Didn't you promise yourself that you would never be taken advantage of again? Didn't you promise Gramps that you would reign supreme? You said that you would live your life your own way and not let anyone get in the way of it. But look at you, dying in a fucking dungeon like you're back in slavery. You're fucking pathetic. No wonder Alice fucked your friend instead."
"You don't get to criticize me! You know what I went through! I just wanted to live a happy life, have fun, go on adventures, and be loved! All I ever wanted was to be loved! You know this! Don't make this what it isn't! This doesn't have anything to do with our old life! I'm loved here! A mom, sisters, Uncle, Aunt, and friends! I have no regrets. I got what I wanted!"
"Heh, is that what you think? What do you think will happen to your family once they know you died, huh? Your mother and sisters would be devastated. Think about Gloria, she hasn't seen you in ten years. You're supposed to be meeting her in six months. Imagine how destroyed she will be once she learns that the brother she's been waiting on died again.
What about your companions? They must be out there trying their hardest to figure out a way to save you. How would they react to your death? What about Gramps? The person who started our journey? You were supposed to go back for him, now, he'll just die a slave. No regrets you say? You have more than you can count."
Joren was silent. He didn't have anything to say, he was speaking to himself after all.
"Forget all of it!"
"What?" Joren didn't understand what his other self meant.
"Didn't you want to be the strongest? Didn't you want to trample on anyone in your way? Didn't you want you want to determine your own destiny? Didn't you want to live a life without any regrets? We'll now is the time!
Forget how you lived prior to this point! Forget the emotion that ties you down to others! Forget helping people! Forget being the better person! Forget all of it! Be yourself, your true self. Be the Joren you were supposed to be! Become the Joren who will reign over the heavens!"
At that moment, Joren felt his body absorb mana even though he was in his soul form.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"The answer to everything. You looked into the makeup of the body's mana system and found that there are many layers to what a human can achieve with their power. Well, a part of it is now awakening.
BOOM
Mana rushed into the room at such a rapid pace that he blew apart the chair that he was on. The mana poured into his body, hitting every spot, suffocating the infernal energy. It was then that he felt one of his meridians activate, surging with power.
BOOM
Another meridian activated.
BOOM
Then another one
BOOM
And another one
BOOM
Until finally, 11 meridians were pulsing with power. Joren woke up from his soul nap and felt a large amount of energy coursing through his body. He could feel each of his meridians form a mana core. The mana rushing into him didn't stop. His body kept absorbing and absorbing similarly to when he was absorbing mana from a mana stone, but when his body started to overload, something amazing happened.
All the excess mana converged at one point in his body, his heart meridian where his shattered core was. The mana started wrapping around his destroyed core, mending it.
"A-Amazing!" Joren felt his mana core being restored. The broken pieces were put back together like a puzzle and the dead core was starting to come back to life. Finally, all 11 meridians connected to the 12th, the heart, and with an explosive amount of mana, fully restored his mana core while simultaneously blowing up the room he was in. He felt his mana return, and he broke through to the 3rd circle.
"Heheheh, hahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm back!!!!" Willing it to be so, Joren healed the entirety of his body. Every injury that never healed properly was now fully healed and his malnourished body was now beaming with life. He healed every deformed part of his body, giving back his handsome appearance, but he left the scars and burn marks on his chest, back, and parts of his arms and legs as a testament to overcoming this trial.
"I'm glad I asked how healing magic works, this shit does wonders." He clenched his fists feeling power in his hand. Once he opened it, he noticed a black substance leaking from the pores of his body.
"What is-" Just as he questioned what the black substance was, he felt his mana purify and expel all of the impurities. All the waste, harmful substances, and infernal energy were expelled from his body in the form of this black inky substance. Even natural waste was expelled.
"Body cleansing! This is something that people breaking through to the 5th circle go through. But I'm only in the 3rd circle." He wondered why this happened, but then he remembered. "My meridians!"
He removed all the black liquid from his body using mana and started walking forward.
"Halt!"
"Stop right there!"
"Stay where you are prisoner!" Tons of guards came running at the sudden explosion that happened in the dungeon and saw Joren standing amongst the rubble. They all drew their weapons and got into a battle position, ready to take Joren down.
'Remember' Joren's counterpart spoke in his head. 'Forget your old self. Become a new Joren, the true Joren. Trample on others! Don't let anyone stand in your way! Become a God!'
Smiling manically, Joren stuck out his hand and lifted both his pointer and index fingers. In an instant, the entire fortress detonated with massive amounts of electrical energy, killing everyone, even the prisoners.
"Yeah." Flying into the air, Joren looked in the direction of the village and rocketed off at lightning speeds. "I'm coming for you, Trey."