Synchronize

"Run, Soldier, that's an order!" a distant muffled voice cried out.

The scene changed, twisted, and landed somewhere else.

"Damn it, Colonel, I'm not leaving without the rest of my men," my voice younger than I remembered.

"It's not a request, Martinez, take the men that are here and get the hell out of the city. We lost. The otherworlds have the center, don't let them get our men two." the gruff, deep tired voice of the Colonel resounded within the concrete walls.

"There are still thousands trapped within the city limits we can't just abandon..." I never got the chance to finish as the building crumbled and shook around us.

A screech roared through the skies that made the ground quake. In the distance, through the new window in the base, massive blood-scaled wings cyclone through the air. A Red Dragon!

"Take the survivors and get the hell out of here! We'll hold them off," the Colonel commanded at the top of his lungs.

A shockwave from the roar of the ever-closing Dragon blasted us across the room.

As the dust still traced our path, "Run, Soldier, that's an order!" he cried as the dust-filled darkness overcame us.

----

My eyes shot open, only to be hit with more darkness. I looked around as my eyes slowly adjusted and could make out a room. After a second of observation, my brain finally caught up to my eyes.

"That's right, I'm back here," I whispered hoarsely.

I reached out and turned on the lamp on the shelf above me and glanced at the clock. 0500. It's early.

'It's been a month since I came back. I still can't get used to it,'

I stood up and stretched around a bit, noticing the sore muscles all over my body. I circulated some mana around my body, and almost immediately, the pain subsided, an old trick I picked up from the future.

'Uh, finally, today is the last day of school.' looking at the calendar above my bed.

I got dressed in my running gear, pick up a key, Moxby, and a bottle, and left the room. This time, I exited from the back door to not disturb Paul's nap.

After the morning workout, I headed back to the room, took a shower, and a 30-minute nap.

"Hey, I know school doesn't start for another hour, but you're gonna miss breakfast, if you don't get up," Mike said, placing his blazer around his arms.

"I was up the moment your alarm sounded. I just didn't want to get up," I said, taking the covers off my face.

"Sure, whatever you say," Mike responded in a condescending tone.

I stood up, washed up and got dressed in less than 10 minutes, and sat on my desk.

"If y'all don't hurry up, we'll have to eat breakfast at school," I said, tapping at my watch.

"How the hell? I thought you were a conjure, not an augmentor? How can you move so fast?" Angie said, tying her shoes.

"How can you be so slow? You're an athlete, pick up the pace," I rebutted, letting out a small blast of cold air towards her direction.

"Hey! Actually, that's kinda nice. Do it again," Angie said.

"Just hurry up. You're the one we're waiting for!" Mike urged.

After Angie finally finished, we rushed down to the cafeteria and got our breakfast.

"Hey, what are y'all planning to do since school ends at noon today?" Mike asked, peeling a clementine.

"Angie and I are going to the mall, just to laze around," Rose responded.

"Hahaha, sure to 'laze' around," Angie mocked.

"What? what are y'all doing?" Mike urged.

"We're going to buy bik...uff," Angie started speaking, only to abruptly stop, as Rose placed her elbow on her ribs, with a sudden stop after a fast acceleration.

"Nevermind that. What are you two doing?" Rose said, trying to change the topic.

She tried to steal glances at me; to see if I caught on. Seeing me more focused on the bowl of oatmeal in front of me, she relaxed a bit.

"Oh, I have work. I was asking so I could live vicariously through y'all. You Jay? Mike responded.

"Mhm, well, Kevin and Chen had asked me to hang out with them at the Arena." I said.

"Those two spend so much time there they should just start working there," Mike added.

"Are you going with them?" Rose asked.

"I told them no. I have other things to do today," I responded.

"What other things? You have the least to do out of all of us," Angie said, her voice filled with sarcasm, still holding her side.

"I'm gonna sign up for the arena," I immediately responded.

The three of them looked at each other for a second then turned to look back at Jason.

"If you don't want to tell us, just say so," Mike said while shaking his head.

After that charming conversation, we finished our food and headed to school.

A few minutes later we arrived and headed off to our own individual homerooms.

Since school starts at 8:15, we had a little bit of time to spare.

"Hey Jay, so quick update Hunter and Brooke, had a light fire under their asses and are looking for you?" an ordinary-looking Asian teen boy said in a rushed tone.

"Who, slow down, Kev, I just got here," I said, genuinely startled by Kevin.

"He's not joking man, you better avoid them. They look pretty pissed today," a black teen with glasses said, appearing just behind Kevin.

"You too, Chen? At least let me sit at my desk first," I added. "So, what happened?"

"So you know that Hunter and Jenna are dating right,?" Kevin asked at a quick pace.

"And how Mike convinced you to try out for the Dual club a few weeks ago?" Chen added a little quicker.

"Well, Jenna and Hunter got into a fight a few days ago, and you know her birthday is coming soon?" Kevin continued a little faster than Chen.

"Brooks was trying to enter the Dual club for his freshman year but didn't make the call backs," Chen quickened his pace again.

"Well, Jenna said to one of her friends she would ask you to be her escort to her party. Well, Hunter eventually heard," Kevin added quicker again.

"A sophomore let it slip today that you were the one who took Brooke's place, only to reject the invitation to enter the Dueling club," Chen finished and finally took a breath.

"Okay? I should care why? I've beat their asses before," I calmly responded, taking a sip of my water.

"Well... Because there are two of them?" Kevin asked with confusion filling his face.

"Because! It's the last day of school, and you're already at your third strike for the year," Chen added, pushing Kevin to the side.

"Third? Oh, right. Crap!" I said subconsciously. I had forgotten that in my third year of middle school, I got in some trouble. Even if it's the last day of school, a third strike will get me in trouble, either during summer or once school starts up again. "I'll deal with it, don't worry."

"That's what actually worries me," Chen said, concern filled his face.

"It's like they selectively forget that you grew up in the underworld," Kevin said once he returned to the conversation.

"Well, narcissistic self-conceited teenage boys will do that, as long as it challenges their authority," Chen answered.

"Well, look at you using the big words!" I said.

"Shut up," Chen rebutted.

After that sudden change of pace, the rest of the school day went by. I managed to avoid Hunter and Brookes; unfortunately, I ran into Jenna in the bathroom, who invited me to her birthday party. I was gonna reject her, but Mike, Rose, and Angie had already agreed. If they went, they would drag me along by force either way.

"Oh hey, Josh. Waiting for Angie?" Mike asked a tall boy around 15. He was waiting outside the school, leaning on a simple beginner car.

"Yeah, she asked me to give her and Rose a lift to the mall. You two coming along? It would really help having another dude with me," Josh asked with pleading eyes.

"Sorry, I have work. The summer editions are due," Mike answered disappointedly.

"Jason!?" Josh asked, with puppy eyes, pleading with me to say yes.

"Sorry, I'm also busy. I got a new job and today is my first day," I answered, looking away from him. I'm too weak to puppy eyes.

"Damn, there goes another evening as the bagboy." Josh cursed at his plans for the day.

Since Angie and Rose appeared to be late, Mike and I left Josh and headed to our room. Once we arrived, we changed and said our goodbyes for the day as Mike left for the studio. I then proceeded to sit on my bed and begin my actual training path.

In front of me, I had two paths, both of which needed to be completed before April 20, 2093. Unluckily, I could only do one at a time, and both would take approximately 1 year to fully complete, even with the aid of high-class resources and potions. One path was called Mark Synchronization; the second was called Mana Heart.

Mark synchronization was the process of rewriting a transplanted Mark, separating it from the donor, and making it one's own Mark. Since a transplanted Mark belonged to a completely different person, the mana and magic it produces could never be used to its full capability. As the name suggests, it synchronizes the Mark to a person's unique frequency, allowing for a more personalized spell repertoire and more usable mana.

Mana Heart was a technique learned halfway through the war with the Otherworlders that allowed humans to use mana more efficiently. Mana Heart is a secondary cardiovascular system made of mana for the sole purpose of transporting mana around the body. It allows not only superior mana circulation and distribution of the mana but also greater control. This technique was compiled almost entirely from the Dragon's own second heart.

Whichever I choose, both will benefit me, and both are necessary for future growth and evolution. The Mark Synchronization brings me to the starting point since using mana that is not mine limits and restricts me. As for Mana Heart, it would allow me to do much more than any person could do currently with their Mark, some that have been theorized but never accomplished, some that no one has even thought of.

Currently, the most appropriate path forward is Mana synchronization, no matter how much of a boost Mana Heart gives me. It would be a waste of its benefits if I'm lagging behind on the thing that makes it possible for me to use magic.

I took off my shirt and sat crossed-legged on the bed, then I expelled all the mana from my body. Creating a thin strand of mana made from the neutral atmospheric mana, I connected it to the Mark on my chest and began weaving the strand through it. After the strand had encompassed the Mark, I began to physically pull against it. The pain was as if someone had stitched a pattern into your skin and began pulling at every string simultaneously. Fighting through the pain, I continued to pull with all my might; I created enough space to allow a secondary strand underneath the Mark and began cutting the metaphorical strings.

I had to make sure to control every last inch of the Mark encompassing it in neutral mana; if any type of elemental mana came into contact with it, it would start to prematurely start reacting to it, affecting the end result. After a few more minutes of excruciating pain, I freed the Mark. The moment the last string was cut, the Mark lost all shape; the concentric pentagons turned to string waving and moving without purpose.

In this moment of respite, I finally allowed myself to breathe. Sadly, I could not rest long as without a Mark, I could not use magic or mana. Getting back into it, I pulled the Mark over the transplanted organ, in my case, the heart.

The Mark once over the sternum expanded two tendrils; one connected to the heart, while the other continued to my spine. The tendril reached the vertebrae and followed up the spinal cord until it reached the base of my skull and connected to the hindbrain. It felt like someone just stuck a needle into the back of my head and heart at the same time.

Once the two connections were established, the Mark perched over the sternum and settled in. Once there, the lines returned to their original shapes of concentric pentagons, one frosted over while the other was solid black.

The main difference was they were almost transparent as if they were on the verge of disappearing. The Mark was now in the process of synchronizing with my body. In the meantime, I'll use a pseudo-mark.

The pseudo-mark has no affinity, shape, or style, but it'll let me use mana and magic in the meantime.

"Fuh..." I exhaled, "I won't be able to have any specialized style of combat or magic, but it's better than nothing. My magic will be weaker now, especially my ice magic, but in return, for as long as I'm synchronizing, I'll be able to use every type of magic."

I stood up, took off the rest of my clothes, as they were now filled with sweat. I put on a set of combat clothes I bought for cheap in the underworld market and put them on. I have no sense of style, so I chose function over appearance and went for an all-white suit. The pants were simple white cargo pants, black combat boots, with a white military-style jacket.

I then took a mask from the bottom of one of the drawers and put it inside the jacket, then snuck out the back of the orphanage.

"To the Arena. Good thing the starting process only took 30 minutes. I'll get there by 1:15, and after I am done registering, It'll be around 2," I said as I closed the orphanage back door as quietly as I could.