[Strength: 85]

[Health: 110]

[Speed: 68]

[Skill: 81]

[UP: 12]

[Exp: 2/120| Level 15]

[You have leveled up!]

[+25 UP, +1 Spin] 

***

Jin stood next to the Wizard, looking at the Inn. The Inn was virtually radically destroyed. Most of the walls had fallen. The entire place was torn asunder.

The Wizard wore an anomalous look on his face. A nuance. He was expecting the Tournament to spell some issues. But not this great. "Where is the Hunter responsible?" He asked.

Jin smirked as if that was an appropriate answer.

The Wizard was certain that Jin had the Hunter eliminated. However ...

Suddenly, Jin snapped his fingers. A clone appeared right next to him, slamming Errick into the ground. Errick's body rolled, and then came to an abrupt halt. He looked dead. Though, it was quite clear that he was breathing. His nostrils were faintly flared and his chest expanded and contracted.

There was a subtle change in the Wizard's countenance. Jin didn't slaughter him? 

Cliff was shocked too.

"He's a bit broken," Jin said, "but he'll live." He looked at the Wizard. "Want me to change that?"

"No thanks," the Wizard said. "I'll have him apprehended right this instant. He'd receive special treatment in solitude for his treason."

Jin smirked. "And what about my reward?"

"Your reward," the Wizard finally turned to Jin, "is the tournament. It's all yours, and, well, Kaylie's as well." He then glimpsed at the Inn in the distance. "You said there were more victims of the attack?"

"Yeah," Jin said, "my apprentice. He's either dead somewhere or the Innkeeper must've have saved him—don't know, don't care."

The Wizard narrowed his eyes at Jin. "My assistant, Ava, will take it from here."

The Wizard suddenly vanished, and Ava appeared in his place with a notebook and a pen for note taking. 

Ava clicked her pen and looked up at Jin. "Do you have an idea where your apprentice is?" 

Jin scoffed. "Don't know." 

"Nevermind," Ava said, "A citizen has reported that Stevan Brave was found and is now hospitalized. You might want to go check up on him. You are required to, as per the laws of mentorship."

Jin hadn't gotten any laws of "mentorship" from them. He had no clue they existed.

"Fine," Jin said, "I'll pay him a visit. I just hope he dies when I'm on my way."

Ava made no comment. She just looked Jin over, and then turned to Errick. "I suppose Errick Miller has committed this crime to secure a higher position in the upcoming Hunter's tournament. It would also appear that Errick's apprentice has already been apprehended being the one responsible for Stevan's horrible condition."

An apathetic look lingered on Jin's countenance. "Boring."

***

Jin somehow found himself amidst a medical zone. He stood beside Stevan, who remained on a bed, almost radically wrapped in bandages. 

Jin looked his nose down at the child. "What a fool. Can't believe you lost to a poison user."

The Doctor walked in on those words, grimacing subtly. Then, he halted before Jin. "Unfortunately, Stevan Brave is unable to communicate. The poison has dissuaded him away from stimuli to the real world. The situation is complex, and my knowledge in magic is very limited. And as the only professional doctor here, the chances of Stevan Brave's survival are awfully low."

"Actually," Jin said, "that would be easy."

The Doctor grimaced. The confidence on Jin's face was unfathomable. It was like he knew exactly what he was talking about. "What do you mean, sir? Could you reiterate?"

"Kill the person responsible." Jin smirked.

The Doctor grimaced once again. "I'm afraid violence would not solve this problem." 

Jin narrowed his eyes at the doctor. "You really don't know anything about magic, do you?" He tittered. "Don't worry. I'm not going to have West Willow killed. That would be boring. All I'll do is watch."

The Doctor stared in confusion. Then, he simply shook his head and walked away. Why couldn't the days of being a doctor go back to how they were before? Before magic. Before all of this madness.

Magic defied science in every way possible. Maybe he was no longer cut out for medical field.

***

A boy went crashing into the Great Wall. There were cracks all around, appearing as something reminiscent to a spider-web. This boy was Stephen Brave. 

"Stevan," Jerald came sauntering toward him with balled fists, "what did I tell you? It's all about control."

"It's not Stevan," Stephan snarled, "it's Stephen! That's Steffen! For the last god damn time! In all honesty, you're strong but you should go back to school."

"Nothing is wrong with my education, fool," Jerald said. "Now get out of that wall before you get my arse in trouble. You're gonna fill that hole after your nine hours of training today. Is that clear?"

"You don't have to remind me now," Stephan scowled, "wouldn't you be training alongside me for the same amount of hours?"

"Yes," Jerald said, "except I won't be training with you. When I train with you, I ultimately end up pausing to mentor you in order to fix your shit. That's why I'm not training next to you: you're truly a lump of excrements, Stevan."

"Stephen," Stephan said, "and suit yourself. I was just gonna say that I won't be working with you anymore. You can remain my mentor. But I'm not training alongside you because your shouting tends to throw me off. I can't beat my brother unless I do this."

"Focus on beating the older apprentices," Jerald said.

Stephan grimaced. "I told you before—I don't care about the win so much. I just wanna prove that I'm better than Stevan."

"Maybe you should just, I don't know, forget about him," Jerald folded his arms. 

"Why should I?" Stephen asked. "And how could I possibly?"

"Your brother is dead, Stephen!" Jerald snapped. 

Stephan's eyes widened. 

"He was found," Jerald said, "he seems he was killed by West Willow, and his mentor, Errick Miller—the two who has sworn their allegiance to us after we showed 'em who's boss."

Stephen launched out of the wall. "How could they!"

"Listen Stevan," Jerald leaned in, "you must focus on your training."

"Forget my training!"

"STEVAN!" Jerald furrowed his brows, and balled his fists at his sides. "You don't want to get on my nerves. We'll avenge your brother. You see, his mentor, Jin Pierce, SS-rank, is responsible for all of this. He fled and left your brother to fight two opponents by himself."

Stephen clenched his teeth. "But it's your fault!"

Jerald clutched a hand around Stephen's neck. "What do you mean by that?"

"You let them go instead of killing them!" Stephan snapped. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? If we got rid of them, my brother would be alive!" Tears trickled down his face.

"Listen to me now," Jerald said, "listen carefully. It's not my fault. I had no intentions of murdering any of my adversaries. I am a wicked man but I'd never kill. When I'm winning that tournament, I'm winning it fair and square. You hear me?

"Believe me, Stephan. It's Jin's fault. He doesn't care about your brother. I heard he had him training himself. Another person told me that he was reluctant to visit his apprentice at the hospital. For a good while now, Jin wanted your brother off of his hands so he left him for dead. He plans to solo this entire tournament himself.

"This entire thing is planned. This colony. Jin Pierce. The tournament. The Wizard's retirement. They're trying to control us. The tournament's sole purpose is getting the system users stronger. And soon enough, Jin Pierce and Kaylie will be governing this place with zero experience. Can't you see it, Stevan?

"We must win this tournament and throw off their plans. This Jin Pierce is nothing but bad omen. Nothing but bad. He's the devil in print, Stephan. I sense unrivaled evil in his heart. He's a monster. We must try to put a stop to them before it's too late. They don't care about us. 

"So man up, boy. Accept your losses. And aim toward gains as a means of compensation for them. Let's rise together."

Stephan sniffled. "What about my brother?" He wiped his tears with the heel of a palm. 

"Revenge," Jerald said. "We avenge your brother by eliminating Jin. And we're not eliminating him now. We'll use the tournament."

Stephen sniffed thrice. "How are we gonna do that?"

"Just wait and see, m'boy," Jerald smirked, "wait and see. I survived the outside apocalypse for months because of," he placed a finger atop his right temple. "this. You can trust me. We lose everyday. This whole colony will come crumbling down. The security is no longer tight. An intruder had breached the walls and spied on us. The apocalypse will get into these walls very, very soon and our little utopia will die. That's why we must do everything to survive. And killing men like Jin is the key to survival."

Stephan felt pain like never before. He assumed his brother was dead. He never got to tell him how much he loved him because of the time spent rivaling and pretending to hate him. If only he could turn back time. But truth be told, the only thing he wanted to turn back to was revenge.

"I'll kill Jin myself!"