Chapter 2: The Highland Mountain's
2 days have passed since Jin was hospitalized, he found himself talking more with Cain on ways he can make himself stronger.
"Well today is the day I get discharged, so explain to me how I'm supposed to become stronger"
"To explain things simply, your power Mr. Aldeus is one that evolves over time, to gain strength you must train your body and your mind. At your current level you can only sustain your maximum output for about 30 to 45 seconds if you pushed far enough. But there is a way to become stronger faster"
A female nurse entered the room with Jin's discharge papers and belongings; she swiftly exited the room and Jin put on his suit that was still stained with Eva's blood. He muttered in a quiet voice
"So, tell me! What's this faster method I need to do to get stronger "?
"You can absorb the mana from a Reapers mana crystal, if you can obtain just a few lower-level crystals you may see an improvement more quickly"
Jin sighed and exited his room, as he was walking down the hallway to the elevator, he spotted that same woman that was with Eric. She was trying to be discreet but failed due to weirdly staring at Jin.
"They're spying on me now, how amusing"
Jin left the hospital not thinking too much of it, he returned home but it felt hollow and empty, he felt tears building up but he shook his head and wasted no time entering his room. He opened his closet and grabbed a baggy white hoodie and a pair of black sweatpants. He cleaned himself up before looking up a map of the city and outer walls.
"I just need to find a way to get outside the walls, I heard of a small nest in the Highland Mountains so it shouldn't be much trouble, wait! Do I have any special skills I can use"?
"Actually, sir you do but currently it is only at its lowest level you can only use it at most twice a day, anything further and you risk serious injury or even death. But you must use it to cultivate it and increase its mastery level"
"Well spit it out what does it do"?
Suddenly a screen appeared in front of him that had a list of his current skills
"Hyper Tension... What does it do"?
"It causes a reaction in your muscles making all of them tighten, making each move you make explosive, powerful and fast. It's also how you leapt into the air when you fought that Reaper"
Jin smiled grabbing his keys before leaving his home, he left the Venland district continuing toward the outer wall. When Jin finally made it he looked at the wall towering over him saying
"Woah, can I even jump over that"?
"The only way to find out is to try, if you use Hyper Tension at its current level you should be able to clear it. But remember if you use it, you can only activate it one more time for the day"
Jin scoffed and looked down at his feet, he started to stretch and readied himself to jump, suddenly the muscles in his legs tightened and the ground slightly cracked around his feet. Without a second thought he instantly jumped screaming
"WAIT... I WASN'T READY"!
"Mr. Aldeus may I give you a little insight"
"Whatever it is, make it fast"!
Jin's body started to glow blue once again, Jin felt a surge of power rush through him and Cain said
"You can use your mana to enhance your body. By channeling your mana you can increase your physical abilities such as speed, strength and stamina."
Jin started to fall fast and when he hit the ground a small crater formed from the impact. He looked down at his feet and chuckled saying
"I guess it's time to test this power, to the mountains I go".
Meanwhile at the WHA security building, Eric sat in his office watching a video recording of the fight between Jin and the Reaper
"Just what are you capable of Mr. Aldeus"?
suddenly a knocked was heard on the door, Eric clicked and paused the video, he sparked a cigar before yelling out
"COME IN"!
the door opens to reveal a young man with long brown hair, he was maybe in his early twenty's, he was dressed in a WHA service uniform with a black cloak covering most of it
"You wanted to see me sir"?
Eric stood up without saying a word he gestured for him to sit, the man sat in the chair and Eric proceeded to walk over to a table next to his desk and poured himself a drink. He slowly took a sip and said in a firm tone
"Adam, I need you to do something for me. You're the only person I can trust with this assignment"
"Of course sir! What is the assignment"?
Eric walked over to his desk turning his computer screen toward Adam, he had rewound the video and unpaused it to show him the fight
"This is footage we caught of a regular man fighting off a Reaper that we've classified as a Class B or even A"!
Adam observed the video, a confused look washed over his face and he questioned
"It just looks like a fight between a man and Reaper, is there anything I'm missing here"?
"I ran a background check on this Jin character; and in his last mana assessment he showed extremely low levels of mana within him, clearly not enough to fight off that Reaper".
Eric paused the video as he put out his cigar he pulled out a file from his desk drawer and handed it to Adam. He sighed and they both sat in silence for a few seconds before Eric says
"I want you to keep an eye on him! This file contains his address, a picture of his face and also his work address"
"It will be done sir; is there a certain approach you'd wish me to take"?
"No... But whatever you do don't harm him. I believe he could be useful later"
Adam stood up pulling a hood over his head, he shoved the file into a pocket on the inside of the cloak. Before leaving he says
"It will be done sir"!
Back to Jin, he had finally made it to the foot of the mountain, he looked up and he could see a small pathway leading up a small hill toward some trees, he saw birds fleeing from behind some of the trees. Suddenly Jin got goosebumps all throughout his body, he quickly observed his surroundings before finally deciding to make the trip. As he made it up the hill he saw a large cave entrance
"Remember Mr. Aldeus this may be dangerous, I can sense there is something quite strong in there. Be on guard"
"I'll be fine Cain, they won't know what hit em"!
Jin began to channel his mana through his body; he took a deep breath and walked inside, glowing crystals covered parts of the walls and ceiling. After walking for about five minutes, he saw dozens of dead animal corpses , they were completely ripped apart and mangled and he said
"Whatever is in here must be vicious... hmm this will be fun"
He continued to walk until he came upon an open clearing in the cave. His eyes darted around scanning for anything out of place, and that's when Jin was suddenly swept off his feet, he got grabbed in midair and was thrown at one of the cave walls.
"What the hell was that"?
When he stood up he saw a group of 8 Reapers that all looked similar with each sharing a spiky boney armor-plated skin, their heads had had a dozen eyes and was split down the middle with a gaping mouth. While they stood tall on two legs and they also had arms that could form into weapons
"Shit, that's a lot of them! I need to be careful"
Before he had time to think they all rushed him at once, Jin leapt into the air and kicked one down into the ground. A Reaper from behind him struck him with a giant hammer created from it's arm, he let out a pained groan and gets knocked onto the ground
"What the hell am I supposed to do there is too many, I may have bit off more than I can chew"
he gets struck again by the hammer smashing him deeper into the ground, as they all gathered around Jin, he felt like time slowed down. He suddenly remembered something his wife said to him
"I know life has been hard for you, but you've worked so hard to become the man you are today. that's why no matter what you're going through... I will always be with you to get through it together; I love you so much Jin"
suddenly a spark was lit within him, he touched his fingertips to the ground and the ground caved in causing his body to shoot up. He landed behind the Reapers and shouted
"LET'S GO YOU UGLY BASTARDS"!
The Reapers all let out a loud shriek and ran at Jin, He looked at them with intensity and lightning began to crackle around him. He lowered himself into a running stance and smile slowly crept onto his face and he says coldly
"Hyper Tension"
The ground around him cracked and he shot himself at them, he grabbed the first one he could and ripped its bladed arm off and sliced it in half. A reaper came swinging a blade at Jin to which he blocked and was suddenly hit back by hammer Reaper. He screamed throwing the blade at the one with the hammer impaling it, he sprinted to it grabbing the sword and began slicing down the Reapers one by one until there was one left. It shrieked and it began to get louder and louder when he felt a quick rumble until it scurried away
"Mr. Aldeus you must absorb to the mana crystals of the defeated Reapers now, something very powerful is approaching"!
the rumbling got so intense it eventually became hard to stand, Jin rushed to grab the mana crystals as one of the cave Walls was completely destroyed sending rubble flying everywhere
"I thought this was a lower ranked nest"
"I believe your information was wrong sir"
"WELL, NO SHIT"!
Jin looked at the creature that was a bigger version of the Reapers he had just fought. It hadn't noticed him yet, so he hid behind a boulder that landed next to him, it shrieked and was stomping around and Jin quietly asked Cain
"So how do I absorb them? I only managed to grab two, so we need to be quick"
"Basically, use the same technique you do when you control the mana within you, accept this time try focusing on your hand feel the mana within the crystal and pull it from the crystal"
Jin held both of them in each hand and tried to focus, a light began to shine from the crystals and Jin instantly felt a surge of power. He dropped them and asked Cain
"In my current state, how do you think I would do against that thing…Could I win"?
"With the mana from the crystals your body and mana reserves were increased, also your Hyper Tension's mastery level has been increased. You've unlocked a new sub-skill as a result of Hyper Tension reaching mastery level 2, it's called Shotgun, your estimated survival rate is still only forty percent"!
"Screw it, I'm going to beat this thing here and now"!
Jin stood up and walked out from his cover, the Reaper still searching heard the crunching of the fine dirt, gravel and rocks underneath his feet, he turned around and stared Jin down. He smirked and said
"Looking for me ? Come on you fucking disgusting bastard"!