Strange Notification

The night wind whistled back and forth like a whining ghost. Numerous arcs of lightning tore through the lonely sky accompanied by the thunderous sounds that reverberated the entire atmosphere. There was a heavy downpour of rain, and waves of bellowing storms swept through the earth's surface.

Something seemed different lately. Everyone could faintly feel it, but they couldn't tell what it was. Perhaps, it was caused by the sudden change in the weather…

*GASP*

Karan's face was full of horror as he jerked up from the bed. It took a series of wheezing to calm his heart which beat wildly like the heavy insistent drumming of rain hitting upon the windows pane.

Taking a look at his surrounding, he discovered he was in an intensive care unit. His full body was wrapped up in bandages that had become red as a result of the blood that flowed from his wounds. A sharp pain emanated from his chest region, but the confusion that racked his mind nullified the effects.

He tried his best to remember what had happened. Just then, a clump of memories came flashing in.

The last thing he remembered was being torn to pieces by a swarm of poison steel spiders. How the hell did he end up in the hospital? There was an incomprehensible shock on his face as he peered toward the room's window, his gaze meeting the drizzling rain.

As he wandered in thought, the door of the intensive care unit was pushed open.

Amon and Darvyn were all smiles as they walked into the room. Quickly, they hurried to his side with a touch of care on their excited faces.

"How is your body? Do you feel any pain?" Amon asked as he squatted beside him.

Darvyn glanced at Amon and said, "The Injuries were too severe, it will still take a little more time for them to heal."

Karan remained silent as he thought of something. There was a strange expression on his face.

Seeing this, Amon sent Darvyn a whisper, "Shouldn't we give him some time to rest?"

Amon responded with a slight nod. Just when they were about to leave the room, Karan suddenly asked, "Who saved me from those monsters?"

Amon and Darvyn found his question quite absurd. They took a quick glance at each other before asking, "You mean who brought you to the hospital?"

Karan frowned and replied, "I mean, I was killed… ugh, surrounded by many monsters..." He paused his words because he found the incident very strange. How could he suddenly wake up in the hospital after dying? Was there anything like that in this world?

Amon and Darvyn saw his confused expression and felt a touch of pity.

"You probably don't remember what happened due to the traumatic experience," Darvyn said in a low voice. "Some group of awakeners found you unconscious just a few meters from the dungeon's gate." He added.

A hint of surprise flashed through Karan's eyes. He then asked, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three months," Darvyn replied solemnly.

'Three months…' The memory was so fresh that it felt like it happened just moments ago.

The image of a person reflected in his mind.

'Fabien! Hateful bastard. Just you wait.'

Karan's gaze exploded with anger and resentment as he thought deeply. He would stop at nothing the get back at him for what he did. Just as he thought, he clenched his fist tightly as he tried to revolve his essence energy. Instantly, sharp pain emanated from his chest region, as if he was being trusted through with a spear. With a loud groan, he stumbled from the bed to the ground and spurted a mouthful of blood.

"Be careful!"

Amon and Darvyn rushed to his aid and lifted him up from the ground.

"You haven't fully recovered, you shouldn't act rashly," Amon spoke, slightly annoyed by his recklessness. He had just woken up from a three months comma after a near-death experience, he should be focused on resting so his condition can get better.

Karan had a startled look on his face. He furrowed his brows and asked, "What the hell happened to me?"

When he tried to revolve his essence energy, the sharp pain in his chest became more severe. He could feel that there was a big change in his body. It was as if he didn't have any energy at all!

Amon and Darvyn's expressions became extremely solemn as they remained silent. Seeing this, Karan ordered impatiently, "Just speak up. What happened?"

"Your core, it was damaged," Amon answered in a somber tone as he gazed at him pitifully.

An awakeners core was just the term used to refer to the capacity of mana they can store within their body, which will then be used during a battle. Although there was no recorded physical manifestation, it was rumored to be a solid crystal that forms in an awakeners body and disappears upon their death.

If the body of an awakener was to be compared to a vehicle, the core would be the tank that holds the fuel. Without it, the vehicle will lose its capacity to use fuel.

Damaging of an awakeners core wasn't something new. Numerous awakeners die during dungeon raids and numerous end up injured. There were several cases where the core of an awakener would be damaged due to severe injury. The problem was that there was no means of fixing a damaged core. They were left to either heal, which was highly unlikely or forever remain damaged.

Karan sighed deeply and glanced at his bandaged chest region. An inexplicable sadness washed over him. In the end, he couldn't fulfill the oath he made to become stronger and avenge the death of the awakeners at Lymhurst. He felt like he had failed humanity.

"I'm aware that fighting for the good of humanity has been your lifelong desire. You might have lost your ability as an awakener, but that isn't the end of the road. I've known you for a long time, and I trust that you'll keep working hard to overcome your current predicament. Apart from fighting the monsters directly, there are other areas you can venture into to fight the monster invasions and this might just be the right time for you to venture into those areas…"

Amon spoke in an encouraging manner. He tried to alleviate Karan's mind, lest he enter a state of depression.

His words could only fall on deaf ears as Karan remained in a state of self-reflection.

At that moment when he was being severed by the swarm of monsters, he remembered seeing a strange notification before he completely blacked out. He couldn't tell if it was real, or it was just him hallucinating.

Karan tried to remember the details of the notification. He gave it a little thought and suddenly, a large notification screen appeared in his vision. He couldn't help being startled. He quickly glanced towards Amon and Darvyn as he thought they could also see it, but there were no changes to their expression.

Karan felt confused. Was he the only one who could see this strange projection? He glanced at the notification screen suspiciously and read the words written on it.

Name: Karan Mo | Level:1

Race: Human

Identify: Fragment

Title: A lost soul

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HP: 6/15 | Mana: 0/0

Source points: 137 | Source Control: 0.00000032%

___________________________________________________

Strength: 9 | Vitality: 4

Agility: 12 | Intelligence: 18

Defense: 3 | Dexterity: 2

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-Active skills: None

-Condition: Injured