n

n

nThe hawk moved its right wing to the side.

nSHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

nShang’s body was pierced by seven long needles, his body now being pinned to the ground.

nBlood flew out of Shang’s mouth as several of his organs had been destroyed.

n‘That was so fast! I would have maybe been able to evade two of them.’

n‘But it shot seven!’

nThis was an insurmountable difference in power.

nEven if Shang had tried his best, five of the huge needles would have still nailed him to the ground.

nShang’s body tried to heal with Mana, but some kind of destructive force in the needles was preventing every form of healing.

nClink!

nThe hawk had landed on one of the needles and was looking into Shang’s eyes.

nThere were no emotions in the hawk’s eyes.

nShang was prey.

nPredators didn’t feel a connection to their prey.

nPrey was only food.

nShang looked into the hawk’s eyes.

nThe last thing Shang saw was the hawk’s beak rapidly becoming bigger and bigger in his vision.

nAnd then, it was over.

nThe hawk had pecked a hole through Shang’s head.

nThis wasn’t anything special.

nThis was simply a beast killing something.

nSilence.

nSuddenly, Shang’s eyes shot open, and he took a deep breath.

nShang didn’t think or say anything while simply looking at the sky.

nThe last moment before his death continuously replayed in his head.

nThis feeling…

nIt was indescribable.

nIt was a mixture of terror, shock, denial, and finality.

nIf put into words, this feeling would only be a loud shout of “No, please-“.

nIt was a deeply seated fear in every living being.

nThis feeling wasn’t like when someone decided to end their life. When someone decided to end their life, they were still in control, and they were the ones trying to end it.

nThis was a feeling of someone else having the ultimate power over you.

nYou will forever sleep because they want you to.

nThere was nothing you could do.

nThere was no control.

nAll the money in the world, all the power in the world, all the begging in the world wouldn’t help you.

nThere was nothing you could do.

nYou are helpless.

nThis was how Shang had felt in his last moment.

nIt was terrifying.

nThe end of his journey.

nThe end of all his goals.

nEverything he looked forward to would never reappear again.

nLight and joy, taken.

nA life, ended.

nClink!

nShang felt something metallic touch his right hand.

n“Are you alright?” Sword’s voice appeared in Shang’s mind.

nShang took a deep breath and slowly sat up.

nThen, Shang looked at his left shoulder.

nHis arm was back.

nMost of Shang’s anxiety left him, and he left out a long sigh.

n“I’m fine,” he said as he stood up.

n“Are you sure?” Sword asked.

nFor a while, Shang didn’t answer.

n“I never want to feel this feeling again,” he said.

n“Is it so bad?” Sword asked.

n“Yes,” Shang answered.

n“Could you describe it to me?” Sword asked.

nShang looked at Sword for a bit and looked away again.

n“It’s the epitome of helplessness.”

n“It is the opposite of power.”

n“It is the opposite of control.”

nShang’s eyes narrowed.

n“I never want to feel this helpless again!” he said with conviction.

nAt that moment, two wheels appeared in Shang’s vision.

n“Well done, participant!” the mechanical female voice said. “You have earned eight points in the beast category!”

n“Are you ready for the warrior category?”

nShang looked at the two wheels.

nThis time, there were no funny pictures on the wheels.

nOne wheel showed different weapons, while the other showed colors.

nShang was pretty sure that the colors represented different Affinities.

nHowever, Shang was surprised that there were so many different colors!

nThere were probably over 25!

nTogether with all the Mixed Affinities, Shang barely knew thirteen!

n‘Sure enough, this world is far bigger than anyone in this place realizes,’ Shang thought.

nThe Affinities on the wheel had different sizes.

nThe biggest ones were red, brown, green, and blue, which obviously represented fire, earth, wind, and water.

nThe second biggest ones were light-blue, silver, and grey, which represented ice, lightning, and metal.

nAfter that came several different pictures with mixed colors.

nShang only recognized some of them.

nOne of them was blue on one side and black on the other. There was a slight purple sheen in the middle. Shang guessed that this represented the Poison Affinity.

nOne was red on one side and icy blue on the other. In the middle was a green sheen. This probably represented the Temperature Affinity.

nHowever, there were several more of these mixed colors.

nAfter that came two pure colors again.

nWhite and black.

nThese obviously represented the Darkness and Light Affinities.

nHowever, that still wasn’t the end.

nIt was very difficult for Shang to see it, but he could swear there were even smaller colors, which meant that there were even rarer Affinities.

nApparently, Light and Darkness were not the rarest Affinities in the world.

nHowever, these colors were so tiny that Shang could not even truly see them.

nIn essence, Shang only saw a thin, black line since they were so small.

nThese Affinities were probably extremely rare, even when looking at the entire world.

nHowever, Shang only thought about these Affinities for a little bit.

nHis mind was still occupied with the feeling of death.

nIt was just so strange, intense, and indescribable.

n“I’m ready,” Shang said absentmindedly.

nThen, the wheels began to spin.

n“Level one: Weak Initial General Stage warrior.”

nShang barely heard the voice as his mind tried to process the feeling of death.

nThe weapon wheel stopped at the image of a sword and shield.

nShang only looked at the ground, absentmindedly. He was thinking about something, but he wasn’t sure what he was thinking about.

nThe Affinity wheel stopped at the Earth Affinity.

nShang didn’t look at it.

nAfter a short burst of light, a man appeared in the distance. He had long, brown hair, and he carried a sword and shield. He looked healthy and clean-shaven.

nHis posture looked relaxed.

nThe jester lifted his hand and hit the bell.

nThe man opened his eyes and looked at Shang.

nThen, he readied his weapons in a scared manner.

nHe obviously wasn’t confident in his own power.

nWhen the jester had hit the bell, Shang looked at his opponent.

nFor a while, the two only looked at each other.

n‘This strange feeling that I never want to feel again is something I force on other people.’

nShang began to walk toward his enemy.

n‘When I kill them, they are feeling the same thing. They realize that they will never see their loved ones again.’

nShang took more steps as the man only hid behind his shield.

n‘The epitome of helplessness and losing control. This is something I inflict on others.’

nShang stepped closer.

n‘I am so scared of this feeling, and I feel terror just by thinking about it.’

nShang lifted his sword as the man struck forward with his sword.

nShang sidestepped the stab, and he now stood directly in front of his opponent.

nAnd then, Shang vertically bisected the man’s head.

nThe corpse collapsed to the ground, and Shang only looked at it as the cheering erupted again.

n‘But I have to do it.’

nThe corpse vanished, and the two wheels returned.

nShang narrowed his eyes.

n‘My goal is more important than their feelings!’

nAnd the wheel began to violently spin again.

n