Jet stood motionless beneath the steady spray of the shower, letting the cold water trickle down his muscular frame.
His white pupils stared fixedly at the sleek bathroom tiles as he watched the water droplets roll over the vast, dense networks of dark ink clinging to his flesh.
Even now, hours after the global initialization had successfully stabilized, he could still feel a deep, throbbing ache radiating from his bone marrow.
"Luckily, I didn’t get Inez a tattoo," Jet muttered to himself, his hoarse voice barely audible over the sound of the running water. "Otherwise... the sheer amount pain of the awakening would have killed her, even if it was only a single, tiny design."
During his thirty days of frantic preparation, a persistent thought had crossed his mind to give his little sister a small, elegant piece as an insurance policy for her future.
At the time, he had backed out, feeling a sharp hint of guilt and regret for leaving her ordinary while he planned his own ascension.
But now, experiencing the lingering pain firsthand, he was thankful that he had made that decision. Inez was only seven years old. Even if her awakening pain wouldn’t have been even one percent of the horrific multi-point torment he had suffered, her fragile, young body still would have collapsed under the strain.
Jet was never going to put his little sister through that kind of physical agony. As for her protection in this new world order, he was an Awakener now. Her long-term safety was fully guaranteed by his own hands.
A few minutes later, Jet stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a rough towel.
He pulled on a set of casual, durable black clothes, a heavy cotton t-shirt, flexible cargo trousers, and a pair of broken-in combat boots.
Walking out into the spacious living room, he found Inez sitting in her usual spot on the fabric couch, her attention glued to the flashing television screen.
Today, he still did not allow her to go to school.
With the city and the entire world currently plunged into a chaotic uproar over the sudden Second Awakening, the outside streets were far too dangerous.
Until the municipal guard and the Awakener Association stabilized the newly awakened civilian population, it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Inez, I will be entering the Beyond now," Jet said, stepping up to the sofa and gently rubbing her platinum hair. "So be a good girl and stay put inside the apartment. Keep the deadbolt locked, and don’t go running about outside under any circumstances. Do you understand?"
Inez’s large white pupils instantly sparkled with a raw, intense excitement. She turned her head, nodding her hair rapidly as a wide smile split her chubby cheeks.
"Okay, big brother! Inez will be a very good girl and stay right here!"
"Good," Jet smiled softly, his hand lingering on her shoulder for a brief moment before he turned around and walked back into his private bedroom.
He closed the heavy wooden door behind him, turning the lock with a firm click. The air inside the room was still faintly tinted red by the lingering atmospheric light filtering through the edges of the curtains.
Jet let out a massive, heavy breath, the tight muscles in his shoulders flexing as a wave of pure adrenaline and anticipation took over his mind.
He stood perfectly straight in the center of the floor, his eyes flashing with excitement.
"Open Beyond Portal," Jet commanded cleanly.The response was instantaneous. The red, glitching digital interface materialized in front of his eyes, and the system’s cold, mechanical voice ringed inside his ears.
[ Opening The Beyond Teleportation Gate... ]
An intricate, highly complicated red runic circle abruptly erupted beneath Jet’s combat boots, burning into the floorboards with a silent, blinding energy.
His vision went completely blurry for a fraction of a second, the familiar walls of his bedroom dissolving into a chaotic vortex of crimson light.
He felt a sudden, heavy pressure clamp down on his chest, as if his entire physical body were being forcibly squeezed through an impossibly narrow, twisting tunnel of pure gravity.When he finally came back to his senses, the suffocating pressure vanished.
His heavy boots landed with a sharp thud on solid, uneven ground.
The sudden spatial transition hit his equilibrium like a physical blow. A violent wave of nausea surged from his stomach to his throat.
Jet immediately dropped to his hands and knees on the damp earth, lowering his head as he violently puked his breakfast onto the grass.
He stayed down for a long minute, his chest heaving as he took in ragged gasps of air, fighting to stabilize his vision.His face was distinctly pale as he slowly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up to scan his surroundings.
He wasn’t in his apartment complex anymore. He was in the middle of a massive, ancient green forest. Towering, prehistoric trees with thick, moss-covered trunks stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, their heavy canopy completely blocking out the direct view of the horizon.
Thick, tangled bushes and wild ferns choked the forest floor, and the sharp, crisp scent of damp pine and rich soil filled his nostrils. The continuous, unceasing sound of foreign birds chirping high above and the low rustling of leaves in the wind filled his ears.
After looking around the immediate perimeter to ensure no imminent threats were lurking in the foliage, Jet took a deep breath and sat back on his haunches.
He focused his mind, calling up his baseline metrics.
"Status Panel," he whispered.
A clean, red interface screen dropped down before his eyes, displaying his current attributes.
[ STATUS ]
Name: Jethro "Jet" Saint-Clair
Age: 18
Race: Human
Star Rank: 1-Star
Star Saturation : 0.00%
[ ATTRIBUTES ]
Strength: 25
Agility: 18
Stamina: 21
Vitality: 30
Perception: 12
Intelligence: 25
[ INVENTORY]
•None
[ DIVINE RUNES ]
Divine Runes: 10 / 10
Divine Rune Rank: SSS
Active Runes: 1 / 10
Active Divine Rune: [Eight-Armed Asura]
[ SEALED RUNES: 9 / 10 [
[Rakshasa] — Sealed
Yama — Sealed
[Ouroboros] — Sealed
[Lucifer: The Morning Star] — Sealed
[Nine-Tailed Void Kitsune] — Sealed
[Samsara: Eight-Spoked
Dharma Wheel] — Sealed
[Ilios: The Undying Sun] — Sealed
[Thanatos] — Sealed
[Primal Yin-Yang] — Sealed
Looking at the digital layout of his status panel, Jet raised an eyebrow slightly. His physical attributes were completely average, matching the baseline metrics of a 1-Star Awakener.
He had zero items in his storage space, and his star rank was sitting at the absolute bottom tier.
But his eyes lingered on the Divine Runes section. Ten out of ten registered. Even though nine of his SSS-Rank Divine Runes are currently sealed, the presence of the active Eight-Armed Asura meant he possessed a tier of combat potential that no other 1-Star hunter on Earth could match.
Just as he was about to tap on the active Asura rune to review its initial skill set and passive bonuses, a faint, sharp rustling of leaves sounded abruptly from the thick bushes directly behind his back.
The sound was subtle, but with his elevated Perception attribute of 12, it hit Jet’s ears like a gunshot.
He instantly closed the digital status panel with a swift flick of his wrist, his entire body going completely rigid.
He spun his frame around, his combat boots digging into the soft soil as his white pupils locked onto the dark foliage.
The moment he turned around, the thick green bushes violently exploded outward. A low, guttural growl tore through the quiet forest air as a large, dark shadow lunged directly out of the leaves, pouncing straight toward his exposed chest with bared claws and flashing teeth.
The system interface flashed red in the center of his vision.
[ You have encountered a monster. ]