Jihoon felt confused. Why was his Mana Circle thinner? It did not make sense.
However, he then realized something.
My Mana Circles are still there!
He sighed in relief. When he got hurt from using his Mana Technique he got scared that something had happened but luckily everything seemed fine.
Well, almost everything.
He focused on his heart. A single Circle was rotating around his heart. Slight Mana streaks were escaping the Circles. It might seem dangerous but Jihoon knew it was normal.
The streaks escaping his Circle were just Mana he hadn't refined yet. Sure, if it was a ton more, it would have been dangerous, but such a minuscule amount was nothing to worry about.
To advance one's Rank, one had to absorb unrefined Mana either from the air or by killing awakened beasts and monsters. The second option however was seen as much superior than the first one, as the speed depended on oneself the most.
The Mana would travel inside his body and stop inside his Mana Circles.
This Mana was however not usable as he would have to refine it, to make it his. To do that he would have to sit down and meditate and use his full mental power.
While it is not completely known what increases the speed of absorption it was a known fact that the stronger one's mental power and resilience the more and longer one could refine Mana.
After the Mana was refined the Circle would grow to its maximum capacity, once it was grown to its maximum capacity you would be at Mid of a Rank.
To reach the High stage of a Rank one had to compress the Circle, till it you cant anymore.
Then to advance from one Rank to another one had to form another Mana Circle by again absorbing Mana. It is said that the more Mana you could put into a Circle, and then compress it, the higher quality that Circle would be.
Knowing all this Jihoon tried to find out whether he somehow started compressing his Mana Circle.
However after ten minutes of checking he had a bad premonition. He had doubled and tripled checked but he could only come up with one conclusion
His Rank has regressed!
He somehow went from only needing to refine his Mana to reach Mid F Rank to starting from the bottom again!
Heh…so the dungeon is basically in vain.
Veins started to appear on his forehead as he remembered the pain he had gone through. The scar he had to accept in order for him to grow.
But now?
Nothing.
Everything was in vain.
Jihoon took a couple of deep breaths to calm down but nothing seemed to help as even after a couple of minutes his anger had not vanished.
He paced around the cave and even went for a brisk walk but he was still angry.
Fuck it…
Slowly physical and emotional exhaustion set in. His body grew heavier as his mind shut down.
Not only did he fight Goblins and almost die, no he also had to kill his first human, arrive in a new world and have his progress reset.
Even if he did not want to rest. Even if his mind and anger would not allow it he knew it was for the best.
So he slowly laid down and closed his eyes.
It was time to sleep. Time to rest.
However, there was one thing he had forgotten.
There were still the demons from his past.
With each breath, his eyelids grew heavier as he slowly fell into a deep sleep.
Slowly but surely his mind drifted into countless dreams before something happened.
A couple hours later images started to appear inside his mind.
He was standing inside a dark forest. The suns were nowhere to be seen, there was no light yet he could still see.
The first thing he noticed was the smell. The scent of death and decay met his nose as it wrinkled in disgust.
Jihoon started looking around confused.
First, he looked at the ground.
The grass was hanging there on a thin thread of life. It was brow, dark as if it just waiting for its death.
He then looked at the trees around him. They were in worse shape. No leaves were attached to the branches. Their bark was dark and brown.
Then he noticed it.
Everywhere his gaze landed, decay began and death followed.
Suddenly the air trembled.
A sharp gust of wind swirled around his feet. Tugging at his clothes throwing his hair into a frenzy and cutting his face.
He put up his hands to defend his face and closed his eyes.
The wind grew stronger– wild, relentless— until it suddenly stopped.
He slowly put his hands down and opened his eyes.
The terrified faces of the bandits appeared as their severed heads lay there in front of him.
They started to float their hollow eyes looking into his as tears of blood started to leak out of them.
Their mouths slowly started to move as their whispers echoed inside his head.
"Why…?" said one of the bandits as they all cried together. Their cries were sharp and unyielding as they followed him everywhere he went.
The grass and trees slowly turned to dust as they died and morphed into skulls made out of grass and wood.
They started crying as Jihoons head started to hurt.
They surrounded him as their cries continued creating a symphony of grief and cruelty.
He lay there in a fetal position trembling in fear and guilt.
He did not want to fight, yet he did
He did not want to kill them, yet he did.
He promised himself that the people around him would not die, not for him, not because of him, yet here he was killing for his survival.
For his benefit.
And what scared him the most was that he knew he had to kill again.
Suddenly the world trembled.
It started to morph as it turned into a whirlwind of death and chaos.
The faces dissolved into the darkness, reshaping into three blank, gray figures.
Slowly features began to grow on these bodies.
One of the bodies turned male.
Two of the bodies turned female.
Minutes passed as their hair began to grow.
Another couple of minutes passed until familiar clothes started to appear on their bodies.
Jihoons eyes trembled, and his breath quickened as his heart started to beat like war drums.
Suddenly the features began to grow on their faces.
Their grey skin turned pink.
Their hollow eyes gained color and emotions.
Their blank faces morphed into familiar faces as emotion began to appear on these faces.
Jihoon broke down again. This time not from guilt but from grief.
Tears streamed down his face as cried out the names of his family.
"Mom!"
He sniffed.
"Dad!"
His body trembled.
"Big Sister!"
He yelled as he tried to stand up.
But it felt like all his strength left him.
The body of an F Rank Hunter?
Nowhere to be seen.
He looked down at his hands. Confused.
Wondering where his scars were.
Why did they look so small?
He looked at his body.
Jihoon was back to his six-year-old self.
At the same age, he lost his family.
He quickly looked back up, ignoring his body, and focusing on their faces.
They looked down at him smiling as their eyes were filled with love.
"Jihoon…"
Their voices filled with adoration flowed into his ears.
His parents floated down to him, picking him up and kissing his face.
Their mouths moved, but he could not hear their voices.
But he knew they were comforting him.
The same way they did when he bruised his knee riding his small bike.
The same way they did when he broke a cup and cut his finger.
They continued to shower him with affection as he let his tears stream down his face without holding back.
He felt like a small child again who could rely on his family and cry his heart out.
Without any worries in his life, he continued crying in the arms of his parents.
His body was weightless.
As if no gravity existed.
Then his sister moved. Her smiling face filled with love looked down on him.
Her mouth began moving and he heard her voice!
"Little JiJi," she said, "everything will be alright."
"There is nothing in this world that you can't do."
"Remember you have to be strong. No matter what it takes."
She continued smiling but her eyes were serious.
"You have to survive. You did the right thing. Do everything you can to grow stronger. To survive. Even if you have to kill."
"Remember this world does not allow for weakness. Show no mercy to your enemies or you will be cruel to yourself."
"If you can't be weak, be strong. No matter what… remember no matter what…"
Just as he was about to answer her.
Talk to her.
Talk to his sister.
Suddenly the world stirred. The world behind his family blurred as a shadowy figure appeared behind them.
Without any warning, the shadow transformed into a big claw with five sharp and gnarly fingers.
The shadowy figure raised its claw as a roar echoed through the woods.
The claw swiped down as Jihoon watched in horror. It felt like time slowed down as it came crashing down.
His family, their smiling faces.
Beheaded.
Their smiles never faded even as their heads continued flying across the air.
The heads landed in front of him.
Looking at him.
Smiling at him.
Just like in the past.
Ironic.
Jihoon broke down again.
His murders morphed into his loving family as they both called out his name with different emotions.
His family was executed by monsters the same way he executed the bandits.
No mercy.
Just for their gain.
Combined with the last words of his sister it broke something within him.
Something that could not be repaired.
The whole day he tried to run.
Distract himself.
But he could not hide.
He remembered everything. He burned the image into his mind. The dead bandits, his dead family, and that goddamned claw !
Whoever or whatever you are I will find you!
His mind seethed with anger and hatred as he started banging his head on the ground. But there was no pain.
He started yelling, shouting, questioning the world why. But there was no answer.
Jihoon lay there, on the ground exhausted. His six-year-old body did not have the strength to go on.
Nor did his mind.
However, Jihoon realized something.
People change.
A loving couple grows apart.
Family dynamics change.
And now it was Jihoons time to change.
He started changing. His body started changing.
It grew older. He was back to being 12 years old.
His demons caught up to him.
The only thing he could do now was confront them.
The only way to conquer your demons was by running straight at them.
To fight them.
He was back to being 18 years old.