The morning light filtered through the ruins of the city, casting long shadows over Ha-jin and Mirae as they began another day of training. Though they had grown more powerful, Ha-jin still felt the weight of the unknown pressing down on him, particularly the mysterious powers that had come with his newfound stigmas.
The encounter with Samehada had left a lingering mark on him, not just in spirit but in strength. He could feel it—those hidden powers stirring just beneath the surface, waiting for him to tap into them. Today, he would finally explore them.
Ha-jin stood in the quiet of an abandoned park, the remnants of old trees creaking in the wind. He turned his gaze to Mirae, who was quietly observing him, sensing the shift in his energy.
"I need to test something," Ha-jin said, his voice calm but firm. "The stigmas I received… I need to understand them fully."
Mirae nodded, stepping back to give him space. "Do what you need to."
Taking a deep breath, Ha-jin closed his eyes and focused inward, feeling the power of his three stigmas. The first to surface was the one that had already proved its worth in battle: Absolute Silence, tied to the title The Man Who Killed a King.
As Ha-jin called upon the power, a second version of himself materialized beside him—a perfect doppelganger, just as before. But this time, Ha-jin pushed the ability further, testing its limits. He allowed the doppelganger to move freely, almost as if it had a mind of its own, but always tethered to him. It absorbed the energy from every strike that Mirae's practice attacks threw its way, storing the kinetic force like a coiled spring.
When Ha-jin decided the doppelganger had absorbed enough, he willed the energy to return to him. With a thought, the doppelganger released all the stored force back to Ha-jin, who channeled it into a single, devastating punch at a nearby wall. The structure shattered under the impact, debris flying in all directions. Ha-jin grinned.
"That one's dangerous," he muttered to himself, impressed by the sheer destructive potential of Absolute Silence.
Next, Ha-jin turned his attention to the stigma from The Being Who is Feared. The power began to seep into him, coiling up from deep within his core. His heartbeat slowed, his breathing becoming unnaturally calm. He opened his eyes, now glowing with a faint, malevolent light—the manifestation of Bloodlust Gaze.
When he met Mirae's gaze, she visibly flinched, her muscles tensing involuntarily as a wave of dread washed over her. The power wasn't just psychological; it had a physical weight, pressing down on its target, paralyzing them with fear.
Mirae clenched her fists, shaking off the effect. "Your gaze… it's like a predator staring down its prey," she murmured, rubbing her arms to dispel the lingering chill.
Ha-jin smirked, but there was something unsettling about the power. It wasn't just intimidation; it made others feel small, helpless, weak. He couldn't shake the feeling that Bloodlust Gaze could bend minds with enough pressure, force people to submit to his will.
Lastly, Ha-jin braced himself for the most daunting of his stigmas: The Man Who Slayed a Constellation. This one, he knew, would push his body to the brink. The power of this stigma was simple in concept but terrifying in practice—it allowed him to boost all of his physical attributes at will: speed, strength, agility, endurance.
He decided to start small. Focusing on his muscles, he activated the power. Instantly, his strength increased, the sensation of raw power surging through his limbs. He tested his new strength by hurling a piece of debris across the park, watching it crash through several walls before it finally came to a stop.
Boosting by one was simple enough. But Ha-jin had felt the potential for more. He increased the boost by five, then ten. His muscles strained, veins bulging as his body began to shake from the sudden surge in power. Pain lanced through his body, hot and sharp, but he forced himself to hold on.
"It… hurts," he hissed, gritting his teeth as every muscle screamed in agony. His heartbeat thundered in his chest, and his vision blurred.
"Ha-jin!" Mirae called out, taking a step forward, but he held up a hand to stop her.
Sweat poured down his face as he forced the power back under control, reducing the boost. The pain subsided, leaving him panting and drained. He had only gone up to ten, but he had felt the danger lurking at the higher levels.
"Boosting my physical attributes by ten nearly tore me apart," Ha-jin muttered, shaking his head. "Going beyond that would be suicidal."
Mirae stepped forward, concern evident in her expression. "What happens if you boost by fifty?"
"I die," Ha-jin said bluntly, wiping the sweat from his brow. "No question about it. The pain was unbearable at ten, and it gets worse the higher I go. I might be able to handle more with time, but fifty would kill me instantly."
The weight of the revelation hung between them. Ha-jin had immense power at his fingertips, but it came with immense risk. Every time he used this stigma, he would be gambling with his life.
"Still," Ha-jin said with a dark smile, "the power is there. If I ever need it, I can push myself beyond human limits… as long as I'm willing to pay the price."
Mirae regarded him with a mix of awe and apprehension. "You really are something else," she said quietly.
Ha-jin shrugged, the smirk still on his face. "I'll need everything I've got if we're going to survive what's coming."
The truth of his stigmas weighed heavily on him, but Ha-jin wasn't the type to back down. He had learned the dangers of his powers, but he also knew their potential. And in this world, potential was everything.
But one thing remained clear: the more he delved into his powers, the closer he came to being consumed by them. The voice of Samehada lingered in his thoughts, a constant reminder of the dark path that lay ahead.
As the sun set behind the city's ruined skyline, Ha-jin stood tall, knowing full well that his journey was far from over. He had mastered his stigmas, but the true test of his power was yet to come.