24 Hearts

The system message floating in front of my eyes snapped me back into reality. Before I had time to gather my bearings fully, the door was splintered open. Jacques once more entered the room, bloody ax in hand.

“Hey there, little boy. Were you sleeping? I’m sorry if I woke you, I’m just taking a look around, see? You can go back to bed now.”

The utter absurdity of the situation bought a bitter chuckle to my lips. As long as this man remained undefeated, the current scenario would play out in an endless loop.

“This is just too much for me, truly too much,” I muttered.

You clicked a mouse and hit some keys to defeat foes in a game, but now I had to kill this man with my own hands. The truth was that if I did not play along, I would never be able to leave this room and this scenario. I had to do what I was supposed to do. I made a quick study of Jacques as he approached me. I knew that there was no space for thought; no, only action could bring about the desired result. It might turn out that I would hate myself for what I was about to do, but deep down, I knew that I should hate Xian for leaving me in my current predicament. The time for action was upon me, as I did not wish for my head to be cleaved in once again.

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[Combat Initiated]

[Shadow Swordsmanship Activated]

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The screen notified me of my activated skill tree as a near-uncontrollable surge of energy coursed through my body. This gifted me with a semblance of confidence as I took a deep breath and prepared myself for action. Three of my skills became active simultaneously.

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[Skills Activated]

[Shadow Justice (邪法)

Form 1 – Spreading Shadows

Form 2 – Magic

Form 4 – Lower Black Arms Manifestation; Dagger]

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I sensed as the shadows cast by me started to spread through the entire room. My sight became as sharp as a hawk’s, and my tactile senses were greatly improved. A dagger appeared in my right hand, and, considering that I was a child, it felt like I was wielding a sword. The weapon had formed from black particles, the stuff of shadow. Its weight was manageable. I’ve never held this blade before, yet it had a familiar quality to it. It was surprisingly cold.

No excitement or panic existed within me at that moment. My mind was clear, and my goal was survival, preferably without getting wounded. My legs formed into a crouch as I pounced toward Jacques. The only skill from my previous life that could aid me was my practice of Taekwondo, so I had no idea how to handle a dagger effectively or, for that matter, wound someone mortally.

Something, an instinct, came to me then, and my strategy became as clear as a summer’s day. My foe’s swing of the ax was lazily done, as he obviously did not see me as a threat. This counted in my favor. I ducked the blade just in time, feeling as steel touched my hair. I backpedaled, putting a few feet between Jacques and me.

“Hah! You dodged my axe, boy.”

I started sweating, and the rate of my breathing had increased. I now knew that it was far too dangerous to engage this man in direct combat. How could I defeat him, then?

I chanced on an idea as I put my other hand upon the dagger, taking a step towards my foe. He seemed surprised at my stance and frowned. Taking a step backward, he once more swung his ax towards my head, and once more, I dodged his blow, retreating again, this time making sure that about six feet were between him and me. I threw my dagger at him, shadowy energies embracing it and molding it mid-air into a lance of pure darkness that drove itself into his chest.

He stared at the spear stuck into his torso, then stared at me, his face contorted in surprise and despair.

Even though I had sensed what I was doing, the result had surprised me as well. He once more gazed at the blade sticking out of him as his eyes started to lose focus. As I approached him, I once more shifted the weapon’s form into a dagger that appeared within my hand. The sudden absence of the spear caused blood to spurt out of the hole in Jacques’ chest, some of the hot liquid splashing onto my face. I stared at his shattered ribcage and the carnage that had once been his heart and lungs. Disgusting.

His corpse slowly tilted backward until it hit the ground with a loud thump. I tried to wipe the blood off of my face but only managed to make more of a mess. I stared at my bloody hand and then at the remains of what had once been a living man.

So, this is what it felt like to take a life. Staring at the corpse, a strange sense of excitement filled my being. Before I could analyze this emotion, the sound of footfalls upon the stairs entered my ears.

“Jacques, what’s the hold up? You all right up here?”

The moment the man’s feet touched the shadowy tendrils I had sent out earlier, I became aware of both his relative position and his relative size. Right, so that was what Spreading Shadows did: It expanded my senses over a larger area. This amazed me as I stared at the man who had just entered the room. He was smaller than his pal, but then again, most men would be. Jacques had been a meaty guy. As soon as he saw the corpse, he drew his sword into a two-handed grip, meeting my gaze. His eyes darted to my dagger and then to his dead partner.

“What happened here?”

I held my tongue and stalked towards him in a confident manner. There was no doubt within my heart, I was the beast, and he was the prey. I was going to ram the dagger into his heart. Fear crept into him then, for he froze and stared into smoldering eyes. He finally snapped out of it, but too late, for I had already plunged my weapon into his chest and, as I had planned, his heart. His arm twitched as he tried to strike at me with his sword, and that was all it did: It just twitched.

“How did…” The man never finished his sentence as his legs gave in, and his body crumpled to the floor.

I had fought and defeated two grown men while in the body of a child. I had taken two lives, yet I didn’t feel bad about it. In fact, I felt nothing.

The urge to rest came over me, yet I knew that there were things that had to be done. With some effort, I dragged my father’s body down the stairs into the room below. His name was unknown to me, and I had never seen his face while he had been alive. As I finally laid him down upon a rug, I noticed the corpse of a woman slumped within the entrance. She had been stabbed through the throat the moment she had opened the door and now just lay there, unseeing eyes staring at the ceiling. She had probably been my mother, considering her age.

As I looked at her, a sharp spike of pain flared through my heart. The problem of what to do with the bodies now faced me. I had considered calling for help, but the cottage we were in was isolated from the rest of the settlement, and it was midnight. A bitter chuckle escaped my lips as I considered the situation.

Finally, I decided to drag the two men’s bodies down the stairs as well, then began to rifle through their pockets and bags. I found a few gold coins and, upon each, a silver disk that denoted their membership to the Mercenary Guild. The disk’s face showed an elongated shield while the back was engraved with their names as well as the region in which they had been recruited. I dragged their bodies outside, knowing that someone would come to investigate once they saw the corpses.

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[Quest Completed]

[You passed the tutorial for Judah Arche]

[Level 4 reached]

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「Character Status」

[Name: Judah Arche]

[Title: None]

[Level: 4]

[Specialization: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]

[Number of Resurrections: 1]

[Strength: 20(D) / Potential A]

[Health: 15(F) / Potential S]

[Agility: 15(F) / Potential SS]

[Magic: 30(D) / Potential B]

[Magical Resistance: 50(C) / Potential S]

[Luck: 75(B) / Potential A] ◀ Special

[Remaining points: 3]

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I had leveled up, but right now, I did not want to deal with such things. I skimmed over the text and closed the screen. It could wait.

I slumped into the living room chair with a sigh. Dried blood was caked all across my skin, and on top of that, the chair was far too large for a child to sit in comfortably. As I stared at the corpses of my parents, a simple fact crossed my mind. A lot had changed in a short time. In my previous life, I had not been so cold, so comfortable with death and suffering. I could never look at animals that had been killed on the road, and when I had gone fishing with my dad, I never looked at or touched the dead fish. The sight of blood had always made me nauseous, even if it was a perfectly normal biological phenomenon.

Brutality seemed to be essential for survival in this world.

“I’m not sure whether I can accept this.”

What kind of person would I be once all of this was over? A memory came to me then.

It was a memory of a dream wherein I had traveled with my parents all over the world, dining in many places and having a great time.

* * *

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[Hint:]

[ There are five types of Mercenary Disks: Bronze, Silver, White, Gold, and Platinum]

[Bronze Disks are carried by Novice Mercenaries]

[Silver Disks are carried by Skilled Mercenaries]

[Skilled Mercenary leaders, like Baek Eun, carry Gold Disks]

[Platinum Disks can only be granted to mercenaries who become the Spirit Sword Wielder]

[Mercenaries who carry Platinum Disks are recognized by the nobility and the knightly orders]

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「Character Status」

[Name: Judah Arche]

[Title: None]

[Level: 4]

[Specialization: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]

[Number of Resurrections: 1]

[Strength: 20(D) / Potential A]

[Health: 15(F) / Potential S]

[Agility: 15(F) / Potential SS]

[Magic: 30(D) / Potential B]

[Magical Resistance: 50(C) / Potential S]

[Luck: 75(B) / Potential A] ◀ Special

[Remaining points: 3]

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「Ability Grade Table」

0-19 F

20-39 D

40-59 C

60-79 B

80-89 A

90-99 S

100-109 SS

110 SSS

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[Potential increased naturally by conducting certain actions or gaining achievements,

As an example: If the potential is A, the stat can only be raised to 89. Points have to be spent to reach 90. Points can not improve stats beyond a 100; to bypass this cap, the character needs to earn special achievements.

Stats that are designated as ‘Special’ can be improved using points.

If you have enough potential, the stat increases without having to spend points. Once a stat reaches Grade A, it has reached its natural cap and can only be improved at a drastically slower pace.]

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