Director Of Photography Manga

fter using his lightness art for quite some time, the place where Mok Gyeong-un came to a stop. That place was the vicinity of the tall pagoda where Origin Kill Pavilion’s manor was located. Aside from the main building where the Society Leader was said to reside, the tall pagoda, called the tallest structure in the inner castle, stood attached to Origin Kill Pavilion’s manor. That was why, though Mok Gyeong-un still did not fully know the geography of the inner castle, it had not been particularly difficult for him to find it. At that moment, Blue Spirit’s voice sounded in his ear. -Sentient being. Are you not pushing yourself too hard? -Pushing myself? -You may have crossed the wall, but if something like what happened earlier occurs again, you may be the one who dies instead. Blue Spirit was worried about what had happened earlier. That strange method that had rendered even the rapidly strengthened Mok Gyeong-un utterly unable to move. If he were caught in that state and his throat got cut, it would bring about an irretrievable situation. -It is not too late yet. Let us go back. -No. If we go back, it will be too late. -Haah. What do you mean, too late? -If he is someone who can cast such a bizarre technique, then there is no way to know what he might do. Mok Gyeong-un was worrying about something different from Blue Spirit. If it were something that could be dealt with to some extent, there would be no need to rush. But if it was a technique against which there was no way to respond at all, then the answer was to strike first instead. Mok Gyeong-un believed he had to deal with the man before that opponent did anything. -Really, whenever it is a time like this, you stubbornly refuse to listen. Blue Spirit clicked her tongue. Once this sentient being brat had made up his mind, he would never bend. Short of her manifesting and dragging him away by force, there would likely be no means to stop him. So Blue Spirit said, -Tsk tsk. Nothing can be done. Then avoid breaking through from the front. -That is the plan. If he went in from the front, it would instead amount to letting the opponent know that he had come. To make himself hard to see with the naked eye, he had moved all the way here through the densest shadows. Ever since crossing the wall, ordinary people could hardly even sense his presence. That was why those martial artists guarding the front of the manor were chatting among themselves without even realizing he was nearby. -At least it is fortunate that night has fallen. At night, fewer people moved about and there were many more places to hide. Mok Gyeong-un opened his qi sense and focused on Ghost Eyes. It was to identify the easiest route possible. -Gooooooo! ‘…Oh?’ Once he opened Ghost Eyes, he could see two forces beyond the wall at roughly the level of the entrance to the transcendent peak realm. ‘To station two transcendent-peak masters here.’ If they had just entered the transcendent peak realm, it would not be excessive to say they were on the level of great unit leaders. It seemed the Shadow Sect Master had been right when he said that the Society Leader valued Origin Kill Pavilion highly and that its security was strict. Moreover, most of the other forces guarding the manor were at least of first-rate level or above. If someone infiltrated out of mere curiosity, the probability of ending up in trouble would be high. Of course, Mok Gyeong-un did not care about any of that at all now. -Swoosh! Mok Gyeong-un’s figure scattered like mist. It was Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step of the Na Family, stolen from Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang. When Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step was used in earnest, it was so fast that even transcendent-peak masters would have difficulty noticing it with the naked eye. -Swoosh! In a single bound, Mok Gyeong-un went over the wall and inside. Then he moved rapidly through the manor. There were fifteen buildings in total inside the manor. Among them would be the occult practitioner who had used that bizarre method on him, a technique that lay outside the bounds of common sense. -Do you intend to search every one of them one by one? -I have to. But if I do that, it will take too long, so I should begin with the main hall. -The main hall? -Yes. There was no way an occult practitioner with such tremendous spell power that he could instantly detect even Blue Spirit’s aura was an ordinary person. At the very least, Mok Gyeong-un guessed he would be an executive-level figure or above within Origin Kill Pavilion. -If that is the case, would it not be easier to tell that fellow Jo Ui-gong what he looks like and have him identify him? -Oh. That is a good idea. Mok Gyeong-un agreed with Blue Spirit’s suggestion. Jo Ui-gong had originally been the pavilion lord and master who had become pavilion lord by toppling In Seo-ok, the former lord of Origin Kill Pavilion and his own teacher. He would identify the man at once. With that in mind, Mok Gyeong-un headed straight for the main hall building. -Swoosh! Throughout the time he used Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step, not a single person noticed Mok Gyeong-un’s movements. Not long after, Mok Gyeong-un arrived at the main hall of Origin Kill Pavilion. Upon reaching the front of the main hall, he surveyed the surroundings and looked for a way to enter. ‘Two at the entrance.’ Two masters of the absolute peak were guarding it. With the doors closed, it would be difficult to enter without them noticing. Then he discovered one open window on the second floor of the main hall. There were also first-rate guards on the second-floor corridor who seemed to be escort warriors, but fortunately there was no such person at the open window. -Tap! Tap! Mok Gyeong-un formed a hand seal and used the Six-Person Boundary Art. He used the Six-Person Boundary Art so that he could detect spell power and prepare for any occult arts that might be present. He could feel a faint spell power at the open window. It seemed that an occult technique had indeed been laid there. ‘There is no answer except to go in and dispel the technique at the same time.’ -Tap! Tap! ‘Kishimojin Divine Seal!’ Folding in his thumb and pressing three fingers together to form a hand seal, Mok Gyeong-un recited a dispelling incantation and, while using Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step, ran upside down under the third-floor roof and thrust his body through the open window. At the same time, he changed the seal in his hand into a blade seal. “By urgent law and command, dispel!” As he thrust the blade-seal hand sign forward, the surroundings instantly went quiet. It looked as if nothing had happened, but the nine talismans attached to the wall crumbled into ash. -Pasusususu! ‘Was it the Nine Shadows Piercing Spell?’ It was an occult art in which nine shadows bound an intruder and pierced holes through the four limbs. It was quite an aggressive technique. As expected, the fact that this had been installed meant that the window had been intentionally left open. But that did not matter. -Swoosh! Mok Gyeong-un used Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step again and moved along the corridor. There were six guards in total protecting the second-floor corridor. All of them were only at first-rate level, and not one of them could truly obstruct Mok Gyeong-un. -Swoosh! Mok Gyeong-un undid the formations of occult arts installed in between and moved quickly, climbing up to the stairs to the upper floor in a single bound. When he reached the top, Mok Gyeong-un paused for a moment in the corridor on the third floor. ‘Hmm.’ There was a cloud bridge installed there leading to the tall pagoda. Seeing that it allowed passage directly from the third floor, it seemed the tall pagoda too was used by the executives within Origin Kill Pavilion. Yet something felt strange. -What is it? At Blue Spirit’s question, Mok Gyeong-un looked around and said, -I do not sense any forces. -You do not sense any forces? -No. The main hall building extended up to the fourth floor. He knew that the pavilion lord’s chamber was on the fourth floor, yet there was no one guarding the third floor. Ever since crossing the wall, Mok Gyeong-un’s qi sense had become even sharper. Yet on this floor in particular, there was neither what could be called a trap nor anyone standing guard. That only made him feel more wary. Mok Gyeong-un looked upward. He could sense a single force on the upper floor. It was a very familiar one, that of Jo Ui-gong, the current pavilion lord and a Square Moon. After examining the surroundings even more carefully, Mok Gyeong-un finally went up to the upper floor. In any case, the pavilion lord Jo Ui-gong was outwardly his master, and because he was bound by the Chain of Commanding Words, he was little different from a slave and would have no choice but to obey his command. -Swoosh! Thus Mok Gyeong-un came to stand in front of the pavilion lord’s chamber. Preparing in case anything unforeseen happened, Mok Gyeong-un formed a simple Kishimojin Divine Seal with his left hand and opened the door of the pavilion lord’s chamber with his right. -Creeeak! As the door opened and he stepped inside, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed. The reason was, ‘An illusion technique.’ An illusion technique was unfolding before his eyes. For Mok Gyeong-un, who had Ghost Eyes open, most illusion techniques did not work. That was because he could see that they were false images formed from spell power. The scene shown by the illusion looked like pavilion lord Jo Ui-gong sitting at his office desk. But in truth, ‘Hah…’ Inside, he could see Jo Ui-gong bound naked by all four limbs, his mind gone blank. “Hehehehehik.” Jo Ui-gong wriggled his body and let out a grotesque laugh. Yet his expression was twisted like that of a man in agony. -…It seems we have been found out. -It seems so. There was no way he would be in such a miserable state otherwise. Mok Gyeong-un lightly waved the hand that held the seal while chanting the dispelling spell. -Srrr. At once, the illusion cast at the entrance of the pavilion lord’s chamber unraveled. Once the illusion broke, the overlapping effect before his eyes disappeared, and the sight of the current pavilion lord Jo Ui-gong with his limbs restrained became clear. -Wait. Do not go closer. At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un stopped where he was. Even without her warning, he would have stopped because he had already discovered something. It was because of Jo Ui-gong. -Thudududuk! Grrr! “Uheuheuhk!” Something moved beneath Jo Ui-gong’s skin, making it bulge and writhe. The shape was extremely disgusting, resembling centipedes. They were crawling all over beneath his skin, and every time they moved, Jo Ui-gong bled and writhed in pain. And this was not just one of them. No, it seemed there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, moving all across the skin of his whole body. -Vile indeed. With things like that burrowing and eating through his entire body, it was only natural that his mind had gone. With sharpened eyes, Mok Gyeong-un looked at the Chain of Commanding Words on Jo Ui-gong’s arm. The chain had dug into Jo Ui-gong’s wrist. -It seems he tried to fight against the chain’s restriction. -That appears to be the case. The one who had reduced Jo Ui-gong to that condition would have been trying to find out who had placed the Chain of Commanding Words on him. That was why he must have committed such cruelty. But once a man was bound by the Chain of Commanding Words, betrayal was absolutely impossible. So the clash of occult arts and occult arts seemed to have left Jo Ui-gong this ruined. -Do you think you can undo it? At Blue Spirit’s question, Mok Gyeong-un shook his head. This was the first time he had ever seen such an occult technique. It was almost impressive that Jo Ui-gong had not died already with that many bug-like things crawling under the skin of his whole body. -…It seems it was him. -Him? You mean that bastard? -Yes. That being who had instantly sensed Blue Spirit’s presence and then, through a method operating on a different axis, had stolen every sensation from Mok Gyeong-un’s limbs except for his consciousness. It seemed likely that being was the one who had reduced Jo Ui-gong to this state. ‘Ah.’ After staring at Jo Ui-gong, Mok Gyeong-un drew a line with his sword-fingers, his eyes turning emotionless. -Slash! Sharp sword energy cut through the air of the pavilion lord’s chamber. At the same time, a red line appeared at Jo Ui-gong’s neck, and then, -Srrr! Thud! His head fell to the floor. Mok Gyeong-un let out a light breath. Now that Jo Ui-gong no longer had any value as a card to use, the only thing he could do for him was to take his life cleanly. If he tried to save him by force, it would only end up binding his own feet. Mok Gyeong-un gave a faint laugh. ‘It is not proving easy after all.’ It would not be an exaggeration to say that Jo Ui-gong, who bore the title of Square Moon, had possessed greater skill in occult arts than any occult practitioner Mok Gyeong-un had encountered. Yet to think someone like him could be dealt with this helplessly… Now Mok Gyeong-un could form some idea. That being who had reduced Jo Ui-gong to this state, sensed Blue Spirit’s spiritual power, and pursued them all the way to the brink. ‘…Is it a man called Jo Tae-cheong?’ That eldest senior brother whom Jo Ui-gong, Square Moon, had feared. He seemed by far the most likely. [My eldest senior brother Jo Tae-cheong possesses spell power rivaling Master’s. To me, he is absolutely beyond handling.] Those were the words Jo Ui-gong had once spoken to him. Because Jo Ui-gong had even subdued In Seo-ok, the lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, Mok Gyeong-un had thought that if Jo Ui-gong made full preparations, he would certainly be able to resist. But it now seemed he had underestimated him. Rather than the arrogant, aged In Seo-ok, this seemed to be an existence far more troublesome to deal with. He might even be a stronger occult practitioner than Jo Ui-gong had expected. ‘If I do not kill him now, he will become troublesome.’ Killing intent flickered in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes. It was at that moment. -Step! At once, the sound of footsteps reached Mok Gyeong-un’s ear. -Step! The moment he heard the second footstep, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head back. -What is it? -…It is him. Mok Gyeong-un’s memory far surpassed imagination. Since he could remember even the stride and sound of an opponent’s footsteps, he could identify who it was at once from that alone. It was undoubtedly the same being that had entered the old shrine. -He is coming? -Yes. -What will you do? -…Kill him. There was no need to hesitate. Even if this being was a tremendous master of occult arts, there was only one point that mattered. If he killed him before the man could cast a technique, that would be enough. Once Mok Gyeong-un reached that conclusion, his actions became extremely fast. -Swoosh! Mok Gyeong-un’s figure scattered like mist. At the same time, using Bright Manifest Water-Crossing Step, Mok Gyeong-un burst out of the pavilion lord’s chamber and rushed down the corridor in a high-speed movement. -Ssssss! To Mok Gyeong-un, who was moving at high speed, the being walking along the corridor was no different from someone moving at a greatly slowed pace. It was that ordinary-looking occult practitioner in the gray yin-yang robe. This time, unlike in the shrine, his senses had not been sealed, so he could see the practitioner’s aura clearly. And yet, ‘The aura overlaps?’ Something was strange. As he rushed toward the man in high-speed movement, the aura was unlike that of ordinary people. Since opening Ghost Eyes, auras had become visible to him in formed shapes, and this man’s aura appeared overlapped. As though it were not one existence, but two existing together. Yet unlike the extraordinary spell power, the overlapping aura itself was not much different from that of an ordinary person who had never learned martial arts. That was why killing him should not have posed much of a problem. -Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! In an instant, Mok Gyeong-un passed by the occult practitioner and stood directly behind him, raising sword energy in his knife-hand. Because the man had not learned martial arts, he was still moving forward at a very slow pace. So Mok Gyeong-un aimed to cut his throat in a single strike. -Swaaaaaaa! But at that very moment. The forehead of the slowly walking occult practitioner suddenly split open. -Jjeojeojeok! And then, -Flinch! In that instant, Mok Gyeong-un frowned. The reason was that the small aura overlapping the occult practitioner suddenly surged to an absurd level. And that aura was incomparably sinister and ominous. But there was no way this alone would make Mok Gyeong-un stop. Mok Gyeong-un still went to cut the practitioner’s throat. Yet the instant the sword energy of his knife-hand was about to reach the neck, -Kwaaaaaang! Something suddenly pressed down on Mok Gyeong-un’s shoulder. At the same time, the floor shattered and Mok Gyeong-un’s body dropped straight down. -Kwakwang! Mok Gyeong-un’s body fell down from the third floor and, not stopping there, smashed through the floor again and fell lower. Mok Gyeong-un lifted his head and looked at the being pressing down on him. They were two enormous hooves. Between those hooves, he could see a pair of vicious eyes and grotesque horns. -It is Earth Ram! Blue Spirit hurriedly spoke to Mok Gyeong-un. This was that strange entity of Mount Kunlun which had pursued her before. True to a strange entity of demon-beast rank, its demonic force was at a level utterly incomparable to fierce beasts or monster beasts. Under the crushing force with which it was pressing him down, Mok Gyeong-un’s body smashed through the second-floor floor and all the way to the first floor. -Kwakwakwang! It looked as though the creature meant to crush him to death just like this. However, the moment Mok Gyeong-un’s feet touched the hard first-floor ground, unlike the wooden corridor, -Jjeojeojeojeok! The floor split in all directions, and Mok Gyeong-un redirected the crushing force through the soles of his feet before swinging his knife-hand toward Earth Ram’s face. -Chwak! At that instant, one of Earth Ram’s vicious eyes split in half, and purple blood sprayed out. Earth Ram, its one eye cut open, let out a roar of pain. -Kwooooooooar! The roar created shockwaves and shook the surroundings. The walls shattered, and it became utter chaos. At the same time, enraged, the demon-beast Earth Ram ran wild and tried to stomp Mok Gyeong-un to death with its hooves. ‘Annoying.’ Mok Gyeong-un dodged it and tried to counterattack, But then it happened. -Paang! Paang! Something like an invisible barrier blocked Earth Ram’s hooves. As he was wondering what this was, “Hey!” ‘!?’ A pretty short-haired girl in maid’s clothes, forming a hand seal with one hand, waved urgently at Mok Gyeong-un and shouted,
Summer in New Thornebridge wasn't marked by beaches or pool parties,ait was the kind of summer that made you believe it'd never end. The air hung heavy with heat, carrying the scent of pine and dust, and the days bled into each other like the sky at sunset. There were no tourists, no noise. Just long windy roads, warm winds, and the kind of silence you only found in places where nature had reclaimed everything [that was only on the outside of the city the inside was ginormous bigger than most cities, it inhabited 1 percent of the worlds population.which may sound like a small number but there is 12 billion people in the world] Jackson loved that silence, he craved it. He hadn't told his mom he was heading into the woods that morning. She'd have flipped. She always did. New Thornebridges woods were the kind of place people told stories about-missing hikers, strange lights, voices when there shouldn't be voices. His mom believed every word. She used to say, "Those trees don't just grow-they watch." But Jackson didn't believe in fairy tales. Not until now. Lately, something had been pulling at him. Every time he looked out his bedroom window across the yard and into the shadowed tree line, he felt it: an itch, a whisper, not in his ears but rather deep in the back of his mind, his soul, calling him, luring him—like something had waited out there for years and had decided he was finally ready. He didn’t know for what. But today, he was going to find out. Jackson, Ken, Sai, and Doug—four kids who'd grown up digging in backyards, biking until their legs gave out, and making up games that lasted all summer—had planned this trip for weeks. It was their last real summer before college tried to turn them into strangers. So they packed up like explorers. Chips, jerky, trail mix. Fully charged phones, flashlights, and walkie-talkies. Even a paper map Sai had found in his grandfather's attic, full of weird old landmarks. Their destination: the legendary train tunnel. Sai had read about it in some conspiracy thread online. An abandoned tunnel from the 1940s, built during the war, supposedly sealed off after a landslide-or a government cover-up, depending on who you asked. Most people said that didn't exist. They were out to prove them wrong. "Bet you twenty bucks we find that old train tunnel today, " Sai said, fiddling with the straps of his ridiculously overstuffed backpack. "Bet you twenty bucks we get eaten by squirrels before we find it," Doug muttered, swatting at another mosquito. Ken laughed and tossed a stick at him. “Don’t give Jackson ideas. He already looks like he’s planning a nature documentary-slash-horror movie. Jackson just smiled, but he didn't say anything. He hadn't said much that morning. His head was full of static, the kind that made it hard to focus. Something was humming under his skin. Like static before a lightning strike. Two hours into the hike, Jackson stopped. "Yo," he said in a low voice. "Hold up. I gotta go." "Nature calls!" Ken grinned, tossing him a granola bar. Jackson caught it without looking and slipped off the trail. But he didn't stop to pee. He kept walking. Deeper than he should've. The air was different here, thicker, heavier. Like wading through water. The usual forest sounds—birds, insects, leaves rustling—faded the farther he went, replaced by a low, droning quiet. Almost like the trees were holding their breath. That's when he saw it. An old, rusted RV. Half buried in the earth, it might have been there for decades. Vines wiggled up its sides. One of the wheels had disintegrated into the ground. Its windows were blacked out, smeared with dust and time. It looked forgotten, a relic of the past. But it wasn't. Jackson knew that straight away. Painted in dark red, dried strokes across the metal siding were the words: “BENEATH THIS SOIL LIES THE The letters looked uneven, almost scratched into the metal in a rush. His heart thudded. But the thing that really perplexed him was the shovel. The only thing leaning beside the RV door, half-concealed in the weeds, was a shovel. New. Clean. The metal blade gleamed under the dappled light, untouched by time. It shouldn’t have been there. And yet it felt like it was waiting for him. Calling him. Before he could second-guess, he picked it up. And started digging. The earth gave way slowly, damp and dense. The deeper he went, the harder it was to breathe. His arms hurt, sweat pouring down his back, but something kept him driving. With every shovelful, the world seemed to shift. The colors around him dulled. The sounds twisted. Like reality itself was watching him dig. And then— THUD. He hit something solid. The earth quaked beneath him. The RV let out a metallic groan, like it was telling Jackson something that it shouldn't have. And the sky— The sky turned purple. Not sunset purple. Not storm-cloud purple. Incorrect purple. Jackson stumbled backward. The air distorted around him, compacting with pressure and electricity. His ears rang with the sound of whispers underwater. Shadows writhed. Trees stretched and leaned, as if trying to flee-or trying to see. Then—stillness. He looked at his hands. They glowed. Not bright, not blinding, but pulsing with something alive. Something impossible. It felt like his skin was just a disguise—and underneath was something not quite human. A quiet, hungry power. He raised a shaking hand. A rock floated into the air. He snapped his fingers. The rock exploded. His breath caught. Something inside him had changed. The world itself felt like it had turned a corner, and he was the one who pushed it. By the time he climbed out of the hole, the light was gone from the sky. The woods were completely dark. Cold. Cold to the bone. Too cold for July. He looked around—no Ken. No Sai. No Doug. No trail. Even the trees looked wrong, as though they had shifted when he wasn't looking. He checked his phone. Dead. He commenced walking. It took hours, or maybe longer. Time didn't feel right anymore. The streetlights at the edge of the woods flickered when he finally saw them, like they weren't sure if they were supposed to be on. His house was only a few blocks away. That is when he heard the scream. Quick. Short. Cut off mid-breath. He ran. Turned the corner—and stopped. A figure loomed over a body in the street, hunched and trembling. The light caught something in his hand-metal red stained. Jackson's legs locked. The figure looked up. Their eyes met. Cold. Empty. Wrong. The man then turned and disappeared between two houses, swallowed up by shadow. Jackson dropped to his knees beside the body. His throat closed. M-Mom? Her shirt was saturated with blood. Her eyes fluttered, out of focus. Her lips moved, but no sound emerged. Her fingers jerked, reaching toward him. "No," Jackson whimpered. "No no no- Mom, stay with me—please—" He grasped her hand. Tears blurred his vision. He could feel the power surging beneath his skin, begging to be used. Do something. Check it. Reverse it. He tried. He did everything. The glow brightened—and then flickered out. His hands went still. She died in his arms. He couldn't scream. He couldn't sob. He sat there, his eyes wide, staring at a sky gone purple, cradling the one person hed ever want to save, but he couldn’t save her. The stars above pulsed like slow heartbeats. Something had stirred beneath the earth that day. And it had changed everything. Jackson didn't know what he was anymore. But he knew one thing. Whosoever killeth his mother… Wasn't human anymore. Whatever it was, had just signed its name in bold letters in the book of death. Jackson didn't sleep that night, He sat with his mom until the sirens came, until they pulled her body away and asked him questions he couldn't answer. He said nothing. The paramedics looked at him like he was broken. Maybe he was. The purple was gone from the sky by the time he took off, but the emptiness inside his chest wasn't; he wandered aimlessly, his heart guiding his body where it needed to go. His feet led him to one place that made sense: Ken's garage. The old couch inside was stained and lopsided, but it was home base to every dumb plan they had ever made. The lights were still on. They were waiting. “Jackson!” Ken jumped up at the sight of him. “Dude, where the hell have you been? We thought you got mauled by a bear or something!” Doug was sitting on a cooler fiddling with a flashlight. “We looked everywhere, man. You just… vanished. And Sai’s gone. He split right after you.” “Sai’s not back?” he asked. “Nope,” said Doug. “Left the trail without saying anything. We thought he was chasing after you.” Slowly, Jackson sat down. He looked like he hadn’t blinked in hours. “I need you to listen to me,” he said. “And I need you to believe me.” He told them everything. The RV. The digging. The light. The power. The man in the street. And his mother. By the time he finished, his hands were shaking. Doug was pale, while Ken hadn’t looked so good since he drank that poorly brewed cider. “She… she didn’t make it?” Ken asked softly. Jackson shook his head. The silence in the garage set in like a heavy fog. Then Ken sat down beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I'm so sorry, man.” Jackson's throat was raw, but he forced the words out. "I could've saved her. I had the power. It was right there in my hands and I couldn't do anything." “You don't even know what you are yet,” Doug said, voice low. “You said you lifted a rock and exploded it, that’s not exactly in the Beginner’s Guide to Resurrection.” Ken leaned forward. "Can you still do it? The powers, I mean. Can you show us?" Jackson demurred. He closed his eyes and reached inward. Searched for the spark. Nothing. His hands remained dull and lifeless. “I don’t get it,” he muttered. “It’s like it’s… locked away.” “Then unlock it,” said Ken. “We’ll help. We’re in this together, remember?” Jackson looked up. And something in him hardened. “Then let's start.” The training started the next morning. Jackson came back to the woods, to that place where everything started. The RV was gone—vanished into thin air, it seemed—sealed away by the earth as if nothing had happened. He meditated. Focused. Pushed himself. Pain was part of it-he learned that fast. His powers responded strongest when his emotions peaked, when his mind buzzed with grief or rage. But that wasn't control. That was chaos. He needed more. He practiced until his fingers bled, until stones hovered in the air, bending to his will, until he could twist a tree branch into a spiral with a thought. In less than a week, he could shift the gravity around him. Warp air. Tear a hole in reality and peer through the seams. When he came back, Ken and Doug stared at him as though they barely recognized their friend. "Jackson," Ken said, wide-eyed, "you're glowing." Jackson didn’t smile. “I’m ready.” That night, he stood beneath the street light in the spot where she'd fallen. He raised his hands and rewrote reality. Then it all fell apart. She was gone. Again. He screamed and fell on his knees. The universe didn't care. The power he'd been given was not enough, not in this case. But he could do one thing. He could share it. A week later, Ken felt it first. Time slowed for him—his own heart thundered, but the world moved through syrup. He lifted his hand and the second hand on his watch froze. Doug's was next. He blinked—and a door opened that wasn't there. A room between seconds, space bending around him like a second skin. A pocket dimension, empty and malleable: a safe place he could reshape. They weren't just kids anymore. They were a team. It led to the abandoned power station on the edge of town, the one that had been shut down for years. They found him in the middle of the turbine room. Sai. He turned slowly as they entered, his hoodie torn and burned, his eyes glowing faint blue. His arms were loose at his sides, but he didn't look surprised to see them. “You finally made it,” he said low. “Took you long enough.” Jackson stepped forward. “Where the hell have you been?” Sai tilted his head. “Where I needed to be. Learning. Changing. Like you.” "What happened to you?" Ken demanded. “The same thing that happened to him,” Sai said, nodding in Jackson's direction. “Except I listened to the voice. I embraced it.” Jackson froze, realizing. Remembered those glowing blue eyes. “You… you killed my mom.” Sai's expression didn't change. "I didn't want to. But she saw me before I was ready. She would've told someone. They would've tried to stop me." “You were our friend,” Doug said, his voice cracking. “I am your friend,” Sai said. “That’s why I’m warning you. Leave. Go back to your lives. You have no idea what’s coming.” Jackson felt a sort of, uncontrollable anger at that exact moment, an anger from deep within his own being. His fists were clenched; his teeth were gritted against each other. His heart and soul were battling each other-his heart wanted to take everything back, and his soul wanted to move forward until everyone who had ever done him wrong was gone. Sai's eyes were narrowed and suddenly his body was moving, quicker than the eye could follow. “Then I guess you'll die trying.” The turbine room shook, the two forces colliding: Jackson's raw energy against Sai's speed and precision. Ken froze time in waves, trying to slow Sai's attacks; Sai moved between, seconds like water through cracks. Doug opened rifts, trying to trap him in his pocket dimension, but Sai slipped through them like smoke. Both Sai and Jackson knew that Jackson was stronger, but they knew. They weren’t ready. For the first time, Jackson fought. He'd always hated conflict. But now it was necessary. And now he wouldn't be fighting alone. The turbine room exploded. Steel beams clattered, glass shattered, and sparks rained from the ceiling as Jackson's blast hit the concrete where Sai had just been, missing him by inches. Sai moved like a streak of lightning: the first second across the room, the next behind Ken, hand outstretched like a blade. Ken barely had time to flick his fingers. Time buckled. Jackson didn't need a second longer. He raised both hands; his veins glowed pinkish purple, and reality cracked. The floor split in a jagged line, throwing Sai off balance. But even in frozen time, he moved-twisting just enough to avoid the next wave of force as time resumed, like a snapped rubber band. Sai was already gone, crouching high on a support beam like a predator. "Not bad," he said, eyes gleaming. "But not enough." Doug raised both palms and a door opened in midair, a swirl of silver like liquid glass. From inside his pocket dimension, huge vines burst out, wrapping around the beam. “Try dodging this.” They snapped like whips toward Sai. He vanished. Then he appeared behind Doug, foot swinging in a brutal arc. Doug hit the wall hard, groaning as his portal fizzled. Jackson roared, fury igniting around him like a solar flare. The aura around him was a menacing purple; the air bent with the force of his charge. He blinked across the room and planted a fist in Sai's face. BOOM The shockwave flipped turbines, shattered railings, and sent Sai skidding back. Blood dripped from his lip. His hoodie was torn across the chest, showing skin marked with black etchings that were like ink bleeding from his veins. “I see you've gotten strong, old friend, ” Sai said while cracking his neck. “So have I”. In an instant, he was everywhere. Ken threw a hand out and rewound time by three seconds. Sai's last attack had now never landed. Darkness. Silence. “You're done!” Ken shouted. “Give up! For a moment, something in Sai's eyes flickered, like the boy they knew was still inside. Then the darkness swelled. The shadows coiled up from the floor like smoke. “No,” Sai breathed, voice echoing with something inhuman. “You’re too late.” The shadows then swallowed him. The chains snapped, sucked into the void. Doug lunged to grab him—but his hand passed through nothing. Sai was gone. Again. Only the echo of his voice remained, hanging in the dark like smoke: The lights crackled back to life, one by one. But they were alive. And next time… they would be stronger. “Next time… I will.” They barely made it out of the power station. He couldn't. Every time he closed his eyes, he envisioned Sai's face-the flicker of hesitation, the venom in his voice. “Next time… you’ll have to kill me.” Jackson knew he wasn't ready. Not yet. He had the raw strength, sure. He could bend light, twist gravity, and crush steel with a thought. Sai was different; he moved through space as if it didn't exist, fought like his body read time before it happened. But Jackson needed more than power. The next morning, he left a note for Ken and Doug. Then he vanished into the woods again. Not to the old trail. Not to the RV site. Deeper. He walked for hours until the forest swallowed up all signs of the town. No signal, no sound, just trees and shadows, with the pulse of the world beneath his feet. He sat on a stone ledge at the edge of a forgotten river and closed his eyes. The universe hummed. And he listened. Day 1 Day 3 Why won't you just be calm and embrace your feelings? Day 5 He stopped trying to force it. He meditated beneath a waterfall. Let the forest speak. Let time slip around him without chasing it. Let himself forget pain, forget revenge, forget control. The click of something unlocking. Like his soul had shifted into gear. He stood barefoot in the clearing, his shirt soaked, his hair dripping. Energy danced around him, but not like before. This wasn't rage. This was clarity. His thoughts were still. His power didn't scream now; it sang. He raised one hand and whispered: “Freedom of Reality.” The world bent. Space peeled back like paper, revealing a second layer underneath: a pure white zone beyond dimension. His body moved faster than sound, faster than thought. He blinked and was standing across the clearing. Every law of physics bowed to him. He wasn't breaking reality anymore. He was moving it as he wished. He lifted his hand, and the waterfall froze in mid-air. Hung suspended like shards of glass. He spoke again. “Continue.” Everything started again - as if it had never stopped. When he returned to town, Ken and Doug were waiting, wide-eyed. "What the hell happened to you?" Doug asked. Jackson's eyes glowed faint with pink. His steps did not even leave marks on the ground. Ken blinked. “You're gonna have to explain that.” Where time and matter and thought obeyed his bidding. Where Jackson became more than human. But that came at a cost. Every time he entered that state… He felt a little less connected to the world he knew. A little more like something other. And he'd need every ounce of it. Besides, Sai was changing too. Ken sat on the lawn chair, wearing sunglasses that were too big for his face, flipping through a dog-eared comic book and pretending like he wasn't humming along to the music. Jackson sighed. "This is weird." Ken didn't look up. "What, the fact that Doug thinks syrup goes on the stove?" "No." Jackson frowned. "This. Us. Just… chilling." “Yeah.” Ken grinned. “Kinda freaks you out, huh?” Doug kicked open the screen door and stepped out holding a plate stacked like a tower. “PANCAKES, LOSERS.” Jackson stared. "Are those… pink?" “I added strawberry protein powder,” Doug said proudly. “They look like crime scenes,” Ken muttered. "Eat them and get jacked, can't you just make it to where you aren't allergic anymore?" Doug said throwing a pancake like a frisbee at Jackson, who caught it mid-air with his powers and spun it gently like a plate then threw it back. “Look at you,” Doug said with a smirk. “All enlightened and floaty now. Mr. Freedom of Reality.” Jackson smirked back. “At least I didn’t burn breakfast.” Ken stood and stretched. "Alright, alright, food first, then we finally play the new Super Mecha Tournament. I've been saving this moment." "It's called being prepared," Ken said, pulling a small hourglass pendant from his pocket like it was some kind of badge of honor. They spent the whole day goofing off. The kids spent their time playing video games, taking turns jumping off the dock. Doug accidentally opened a portal in the lake and almost got sucked into a dimension full of bees-they didn't ask questions. Ken made time loop so Jackson was stuck in an accidental dance for fifteen minutes. At one point, they tried to roast marshmallows. Just because he could. But as night fell, as the fire had ticked down to embers and the lake was reflecting the moon in perfect silence, the mood changed. He sat alone, away from everyone else, looking up at the stars. "You thinking about your mom?" he asked softly. Jackson nodded. “Every night.” Doug came over too, wrapped up in a hoodie. “We’re gonna fix it,” he said. “Somehow. We’re gonna bring her back. And we’re gonna stop Sai. Jackson nodded again. “I know. Just… tonight, I needed this. Us. The dumb jokes. The fire. Even the pancakes.” Ken slung an arm around Jackson’s shoulder. “We’re not just a team,” he said. “We’re brothers. You hear me? End of the world or not-we got you.” He just smiled. And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime— He didn't sleep anymore. But Sai didn’t notice. The day he changed—the day Jackson did—it hadn't been random. It had been chosen. And it saw potential in Sai. A broken boy, sharp, angry, hiding pain behind laughter, full of love… and loneliness. It gave him more than power. Sai's abilities had no flashy name, no glowing aura. But it wasn't just speed. "Fate drawn in blood." It let him fracture reality through blood. If he'd fought you long enough, if he'd spilled even a few drops of your blood, he could see your fate-the strings of possibility branching from your body. And then he could cut them. Make your heart beat wrong. Make your bones forget how to hold shape. Once. Someone whom Jackson loved. Sai opened his eyes. He stood, blades of wind coiling around his arms like scarves. The candles flickered in fear. In the rear of the cathedral, a figure stirred. “You’re restless again,” it rasped; a voice like dust and smoke. Sai didn't turn. "They're training. Growing stronger." “I don’t doubt,” Sai said. “I remember.” He touched his chest. “I know what I have to do,” he said. “But I won’t kill them. Not yet.” “I still feel everything,” Sai snapped. “That’s the difference between me and them. Jackson’s becoming light. But I…” He turned to the shadows. “I’ve become what lives beneath it.” The voice hummed, pleased. And whispered: "Next time, I end it." Just a blur. A breeze. A storm waiting to strike. Jackson's living room had become command central. And on the front door? A hand-painted sign: “HOLLOW CORE — Defend the Light. Break the Shadows.” Doug raised his hand. “Do we get codenames?” “Yes,” said Jackson, without missing a beat. They trained every day. Enter: Master Sasaki. A retired martial artist, once rumored to train world champions in secret. Now? He ran a used bookstore on the edge of New Thornebridge, lived above it, and only took students "worthy of being punched through a wall." Ken was second. Jackson blocked it, but only just. He trained them with bamboo swords, ankle weights, and wooden dummies rigged to explode. He had them fighting blindfolded. He had them sparring each other without powers. And he had them meditating in cold rain until their breathing synchronized. And slowly… Then came the alert. Not the dark force behind him. Name: Aki Abilities: Cybernetic speed enhancement, combat-grade exosuit, electric arc blades. Cars overturned, smoke everywhere, and people screaming. And amidst all of them was a tall figure clad in black and chrome armor that pulsed blue with energy: Aki. “Looks like we've got company,” Aki growled, eyes glowing beneath his visor. Jackson stepped forward. Ken blinked out of view, reappeared behind Aki, and swung a crowbar through a slowed-time loop. Aki dodged effortlessly and countered with a surge of kinetic energy that sent Ken tumbling. They clashed: metal tech versus real powerz. Aki slid back, armor steaming. Jackson fought hand to hand, power flaring in every strike. But Aki was calculated: every punch a program, every block augmented by nanosecond reaction time. Then Jackson remembered Sasaki’s voice: "Strength is nothing without timing." He baited Aki. Feinted left. Kicked the inside of his knee. Aki blinked. "Collapse." Doug opened a void. They left him tied in carbon-fiber wire, police en route, as the crowd started gathering. Cheers. Phones flashing. Ken smirked. “We need better masks.” Jackson just watched the skyline, serious again. What kind of monster was running the syndicate? The room smelled of old pizza and burnt circuits. Jackson leaned over the busted helmet they'd taken off Aki, running his fingers over the melted wires and the shattered plating. Ken worked his magic, scanning it with his modified tablet. Untouchable. Until now. Ken pulled up the file. "Cassian Rook—ex-military, dishonorably discharged. Runs the Syndicate. Specializes in tech-weapons, black-market biotech, energy siphoning. Rumors say he's been recruiting enhanced individuals." Jackson's hands clenched into fists. "If Sai's working with him." His voice trailed off, tight and furious. Ken nodded. "That’s our lead." Jackson stood up, energy crackling faintly around his fists. "Then we're off to see the docks." The Mission: Night fell heavy and wet over Fox Hollow. Clouds blanketed the sky. Thunder rumbled far off, as if the city itself was holding its breath. Dressed in dark clothes and masks, Hollow Core moved through the abandoned shipyard. Cranes rusted into the fog like metal skeletons. The only light came from a few buzzing sodium lamps—and the warehouse at the end of the pier, humming with neon lines. “Multiple heat signatures,” Ken whispered. “And turrets.” Doug made a portal high above the warehouse roof. “In or out?” "In." Inside the Warehouse: Jackson, Ken, and Doug moved like shadows. They found the main room. Rows and rows of black-market tech. Weaponized exosuits. Serum canisters. And in the middle, a reinforced vault door. Ken hacked the security panel, fingers flying. "This. isn't just weapons," he said, voice tight. "It's augmentation tech. This is how they're making enhanced soldiers. This is how Aki got juiced up." Jackson shook his head. "Not yet." They found it tucked behind the vault. On the desk—a laptop, still open. He plugged in immediately. Files spilled across the screen: movement logs, transaction records, test subjects, enhancement experiments. And then they saw it. "Subject 000 — Raptor." "Subject has demonstrated exponential growth in physical capabilities. Demonstrates full awareness and the will to push further. Requires additional advanced augmentation support to survive further evolution." Alarms burst into noise. "They aren't forcing him," he said, his voice cold. "He's choosing this. He's training to beat us." Ken nodded grimly.