Chapter 17: Origin Fire Test [lll]

"How was it?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm feeling stronger, like I'm filled with euphoria and refreshed..."

The butler patted the young boy's shoulder.

"You've passed the hurdle and are now eligible to use the Majesty's power."

"Hmm."

The young boy nodded since he knew himself better than anyone and understood what he had passed through.

"Take a good rest. From tomorrow, your work will start."

"Take him to his room."

The masked soldier instructed the young boy, and he followed steadily while his eyes flickered as he pondered over some thought.

"It's your room."

"Ok, I'll handle it from here."

Creak!

The young boy entered the room and threw his body on the comfy bed, but instead of enjoying it, his eyes stared at the ceiling.

'So, I transmigrated again, but to complete a mission...'

'What would be the mission?'

"I have to review it," shaking his head, the young boy named Sam muttered under his breath.

'Merge ability and that beam of fire-light—then I'm here, which means everything is related to merge ability... That means if everything links together, every rune pill that was refined was ignited by origin fire, but there wasn't any buff or other enhancement...'

"This isn't the time for this. I have to prepare myself to survive in this world since, according to the memories of the young boy, this primitive world had no concept except divine power, which derives from their religious god, and this region is governed by the Fire God, which means merge ability can access the divine power of every religious god."

Sam's eyes flickered because he had an intuitive feeling that, while everything may sound cool, reality might give him a hard check. Controlling his fidgety body and standing up straight, he took a deep breath, analyzing his situation.

'Now, I'm a secret agent of the Fire God, while the Majesty is the agent of the Fire God on the surface...'

'That explains perfectly why the death of every manager was gruesome.'

But the thing troubling him the most was why they didn't do everything in secrecy, letting no one know. As he was lost in contemplation, his eyes widened.

"If we look at it logically, it means everyone's eyes would be on me, which means Majesty's hands wouldn't be so tight. Paradoxically, many things can be manipulated. Also, if I were to be saved from many intentional accidents, then eyes would keep growing with passing time, which means..."

Gulp!

Sam swallowed down his anxiety since he could guess these things correctly or incorrectly, which meant everyone else could as well. More importantly, the manipulators would have already assumed this circumstance and may have already laid the trap ten steps ahead of him.

'So, I'm now in a bigger cage where they would have already prepared my death scenario. Since no manager has managed to escape this matrix, maybe I won't be much better off.'

As Sam's thoughts ran wildly, his entire existence was soaked in sweat.

'Can I really trust this origin fire...?'

As the thought crossed his mind, he threw it into the back of his mind.

'Since merge ability gave me a chance, it means origin fire is innocent, and there would be no backhand, but I have to use everything carefully.'

As time passed and he continued comprehending his situation and position, he already got the gist of it, but he hadn't even experienced life outside, so he couldn't be completely sure. However, his intuition told him that his guess was 90 percent correct.

'Anyway, I can't leave, so why not check the ability of origin fire?'

Throwing back all disturbing thoughts, he took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he exhaled, and the round tattoo with a branch of fire flickered on his back palm.

As if commanded, a dim fire came into existence and started flickering around his palm, as if it might diminish at any moment. But the comfy bed instantly fried and turned to charcoal just from the heat.

Sam's eyelids trembled, and his eyes regained vision.

"That's how I was supposed to use it."

Getting up from the bed, he gave a side glance to the burnt remains but ignored it and cast his eyes at his tattoo.

'It traveled with me,' he thought, a faint caress on his face.

"And the burn marks—it's now ineffective against me."

Sam nodded, understanding why he had to go through all that suffering before using the origin fire. If the fire caster's body couldn't resist the heat or burn of other materials, then it would be better to change his abilities.

This time, without closing his eyes, Sam focused, and a flickering fire appeared before his sight.

'That's how the fire...'

Even before the thought fully formed, the fire extinguished before his eyes.

'I need training!'

Having gotten the gist of how to use it, he decided to implement his knowledge immediately since doing something was better than nothing.

In an instant, fire came to life, hovering before his eyes. Manipulating it with thought, the fire moved left and right, up and down.

Sam continued this process for around 30 minutes, but there wasn't even an ounce of sweat. Relaxedly practicing, he realized something.

'My body, willpower, and mental energy—everything is enhanced!'

He was stunned by this transformation. He had expected to get exhausted within five minutes, but now he was breaking his limits. This transformation motivated him to invest more in his ability.

This time, he decided to give the fire free movement and let it appear anywhere.

Time continued to tick, and with every passing moment, his efforts bore fruit.

Finally, an hour passed, and he slumped onto the bed, his entire attire soaked in sweat, but his face carried a glowing smile.

Tired, his eyes shut down, and his entire consciousness was engulfed in the shroud of darkness.