Chapter 3: New Sub-Skill Shotgun!

Jin and the Reaper were very still, both staring at each other until Jin noticed a twitch in its legs and immediately sprinted at it. The Reaper shot its arm forward like a spear and Jin jumped onto it running up its arm and kicked it in the head

"I only absorbed two crystals. Did my power really increase that much"? 

The Reaper snarled swinging its other bladed arm toward him to which Jin narrowly dodges, he jumped down to the ground and began to run around it dodging and jumping over its blades. 

"Cain, can you explain to me how Shotgun works. Maybe I could use it to take this thing down"! 

As Jin said this, the Reaper swung its massive, bladed arm at him. He watched as it got closer and time seemed to slow for him; he slid under it just barely escaping the blade

"That was really close"!

"Sir to answer your previous question, Shotgun is a powerful sub-skill created from Hyper Tension. When you are ready, you need to find or create an opening and then when you see it ready yourself use Hyper Tension and wind up your fist and punch it with everything you have"!

Jin stopped in front of it and smirked, again lightning charged around him as he started to zip around the cave jumping from wall to wall in an attempt to throw it off guard. This angered the Reaper, it started to become erratic and began to flail around destroying everything around them

"This thing is starting to piss me off; at this rate it's going to cause a cave in"!

Jin observed it watching as it kept lifting one leg up when it slammed its arms into the ground. He smiled, and then shot himself in front of it and he says 

"Hyper Tension" 

his body shot at the Reapers legs; Jin's body started to distort from the speed he was reaching; he kicked it in the chest causing it to fall over onto its back. Jin immediately vanished and appeared on the ceiling he used Hyper Tension again to propel himself at the Reaper, as he got closer, he cocked his fist back and his arm shot forward but before he could react the Reaper smacked Jin into the ground. He groaned in pain as the Reaper got up, he slowly stood up feeling dazed and he watched as the Reaper's arms each split into two bladed tendrils and began to rapidly flail them around. Jin eyes widened and he jumped back, his body surged with mana, and he tried his best to flee, he says to himself

"I'm not going to die here... It's bigger than me so he's slow, I'll just have to overwhelm him with my speed"

Without realizing it Jin activated Hyper Tension subconsciously and shot behind the Reaper and hit it with Shotgun, he blew a hole through the left part of its torso, but it wasn't enough. The Reaper swung its arm around to attack and Jin backstepped to dodge but got a cut on his right cheek, he dashed at it and the Reaper swung downward to slice him in half, but Jin activated Hyper Tension just in time and swiftly dodged it. He dashed to the side of it striking it again blowing the Reaper off balance for a moment

"I'm getting tired... I have to finish this now"!

Jin shot himself at it and began to throw dozens of punches at its body, lightning began to crackle around him as he stopped his assault, he took a step back planting his right foot firmly on the ground and cocked his right fist back. As it surged with mana; he roared throwing his fist forward at the torso of the Reaper. When it collided, it sent out a shockwave and the Reaper exploded sending parts of its body everywhere. Jin fell to his knees and Cain says 

"Sir you must rest now you've overexerted yourself"

"I'll... be fine, just catching my breath"

Jin looked up as his vision was fading in and out something caught his eye. A red mana crystal sat just a few feet away. When he reached out to pick it up his body immediately felt revitalized and began to glow blue. The crystal started to leak a red mana and Jin's body started to absorb it, and as the crystal dissipates Cain says

"A new skill has been acquired; Weapon Forge allows you to use your mana to manifest any weapon of your choosing"

"That sounds like it could be useful, so if I just do this"

Jin stood up and held his hand out in front of him, an orb formed from the palm of his hand, it suddenly took the form of a sword. He inspected it and was satisfied with his results, with a smile on his face Cain suddenly utters

"Cultivation level two achieved, commencing enhancement now"

"What"?

Jin felt a powerful surge of power shoot through his body, suddenly he felt very light and floaty and Cain says

"You have unlocked a new cultivation skill; Hyper Sense, this passive ability heightens your overall perception to everything around you. This skill can be very useful in fights".

Jin was very pleased with the results of the nest, he looked around to make sure he didn't leave behind any stray Reapers and made his way out of the cave. Jin reaches the halfway point on his way out of the cave and he says

"Hey Cain, Can I ask you something"?

"Of course Mr. Aldeus, what is it you wanted to ask"?

Jin took a deep breath and hesistated before blurting out

"Why couldn't I hear you my whole life? Why did you decide to manifest when you did"?

"It wasn't up to me Mr. Aldeus, I awakened because of what you desired. I exist because of you"

Jin teared up a bit and said to himself

"If only I had this power that day"

In that moment Jin relived the moment he saw his wife and unborn child get killed, he heard Eva scream for him and all he can focus on is how he could do nothing.

"She called for me… an..and I couldn't do anything. I swear I'll make it right, even if it kills me"!

"I'll be with you every step of the way sir"

Jin saw the exit to the cave and when he finally left, he took a look at the sky, noticing it was nighttime he decided it may be best to lay low for the night before making the trip back.

"I should get a fire going… ugh I forgot to bring anything, I guess I'll do it the ole fashioned way"

Jin started to gather some kindling and sticks for his fire, when he finally had everything laid out there was one problem

"Oh yea… I barely have any experience with starting a fire except watching a few survival shows"

"Sir don't forget your enhancement from earlier, try using your newfound strength for a friction fire"

Jin was intrigued by Cain's suggestion, so he grabbed a flat piece of wood and a stick, he put the kindling on it rested the stick on the wood. He put the stick between his palms and says

"Here goes nothing"

Jin's arms let off a faint blue glow and he started to twist the stick, and to his surprise he got a spark almost instantly. Jin grabbed the wood and started to gently blow on the spark, and it caught a flame, he gently fed it more kindling and then some sticks

"I did it… I guess I'm not so useless after all"

When the fire became stable Jin just sat next to it and looked at it intensely, Jin started to get sleepy, and his eyes began to get heavy, before drifting off into a sleep he mutters

"For what's it's worth, I'm glad you're here Cain… It'd suck doing this by myself"

Jin awakened from his sleep and was in his bed when rolled over and saw Eva next to him, she smiled at him before her face suddenly had a serious expression and she says in a cold tone

"Why… why couldn't you save me? I called for you and… nothing"

"WHATS GOING ON"!

Jin shouted falling out of his bed, but everything went black, he felt like he was falling in nothing but a black void and then he heard the scream again. He shot up from his slumber only to see that his fire went out and the sun was starting to rise. His hands started shaking and he slammed them on the ground before screaming at the top of his lungs

"DAAAMMMIITT"!

Jin stood on his feet wiping the tears welling up in his eyes, he took a deep breath and looked back at the dead fire and says 

"I better head back home"

When he arrived back at the city, he looked himself up and down noticing he was covered in blood and dirt he said to himself 

"It may look weird walking around looking like this, I'll just stick to the rooftops" 

his body surged with mana, and he jumped clean over the wall landing on the rooftop of a building just in front of the wall, he kept jumping from roof to roof trying to be as discreet as possible. When he finally made it to his apartment building, he entered it through a door, he had to slip past a few people on the way. When he finally made it to his home, he quickly opened his door, shut the door and then collapsed on the floor just wanting to rest 

"Finally, some peace and quiet".

He heard his stomach growl and sighed getting up from the floor to walk over to his fridge. When he opened it was practically empty, he scoffed saying 

"I guess I'll have to go pick something up" 

he picked up his wallet from the counter and opened it and found no money in it, he frantically opened his phone and checked his bank account and still had some savings left. He wiped some sweat from his forehead and said 

"I'll have to find to make money, I'm not going back to that shitty office" 

He put his wallet and phone back down on the counter and his wallet slipped off and the folded enlistment form popped out. A smile appeared on Jin's face, he then picked it up unfolded it and looked at it, he remembered what Eric said to him, and he says to himself 

"If I want to get stronger, this might just be the perfect opportunity. I could've died fighting that Reaper so... I guess I'm going to enlist as a Hunter"

"I was hoping you would consider this sir, with proper training you can reach even greater heights" 

Jin picked up a pen from the counter and filled out the enlistment form. He took off his dirty clothes and took a shower, when he got out, he readied himself to go drop his enlistment form off at the WHA.

When he arrived and walked through the doors, he saw a receptionist and as he approached, she immediately said 

"President Saldon will see you now, go straight down the hall behind me and walk through the big double doors at the end"

"Thank you" 

Jin walked to the doors and pushed them open, when he entered, he saw Eric sitting at his desk 

"Mr. Aldeus, I see you may have given my offer some thought" 

"Maybe I have... I got my enlistment form right here, but you need to answer a question first" 

Eric gestured Jin to sit down, when Jin obliged, he leaned forward in his chair and said 

"What can I do for you"?

"When can I start killing shit"? 

Eric started laughing and Jin became slightly agitated but before Jin could say anything Eric says 

"Come in tomorrow, I'll get you familiar with your fellow cadets and you can begin your training" 

Jin left his enlistment form on Eric's desk and leaves his office swiftly leaving Eric to his own thoughts, he looked at the enlistment form and he put it in his desk. He picked up his phone and called Adam, when he picked up Eric says 

"There's been a change of plans, starting tomorrow you're a cadet again, I will explain more tomorrow"

He hung up the phone and lit up a cigar he had in his ashtray, and he says to himself 

"Hmm this is going to be interesting"