Pain and Power
1381 Words
Karl sat on the roof of the male dormitory, one knee drawn to his chest as he gently pressed his fingers against his swollen cheek. His gaze was locked on the distant horizon, where the night sky melted into the ground. He wasn’t really looking at anything, just deep in thought.
Burning.
The system flickered into existence before his eyes.
System Effect: Resilience Initiated
A soft green light seeped from his wounds. He watched as the swelling faded, torn skin knitting itself together in slow, deliberate pulses. The pain dissolved, leaving only faint scars behind, silent reminders of what he’d endured.
“…Didn’t know you could do that,” Karl muttered, directing the comment toward Azareal.
Footsteps echoed softly behind him.
Olenna and Eric emerged onto the roof. Olenna lifted a hand, silently dismissing Eric. He hesitated, concern flickering across his face, then turned and left.
She sat beside Karl.
He didn’t acknowledge her. His body remained rigid, eyes still locked on the distant dark.
“Karl-”
“What do you want?”
The edge in his voice cut sharper than any blade. Olenna flinched.
“Are you mad at me?”
He snapped. “Why are you here? Why are you doing all this?! I don’t need your sympathy!!”
“Karl…” She shifted closer, her voice gentle but strained. “Every time I see you get hurt, I feel like I'm responsible. Like somehow, I cursed you, and-”
“I told you already. It’s not your fault I’m here. Stop feeling bad about it!”
“It’s not that simple!”
Silence came down between them, heavy and suffocating.
Karl exhaled sharply and dropped his head, fingers digging into his knee. Olenna rubbed her fingers together.
“I lost my dad in a dungeon raid,” she said quietly. “A few years ago. Since then, I’ve been the only parent to my little brothers.”
Karl looked at her.
“My father always told me to protect them. No matter what. His words gave me strength, but also fear. Fear of being weak. Fear of making mistakes. Fear of failing the people who depend on me.” Her voice trembled. “And that fear bled into everything, my friendships, my relationship… even with you.”
She met his eyes. Karl stared into her golden gaze,
“I’m sorry. About all of it.”
“…It’s fine,” she said softly.
He drew in a slow breath, steadying the storm inside his chest.
“What’s on your mind, Karl?” she asked.
“I have to beat Tywin,” he said. “I have to find a way.”
“Karl, it’s not worth the risk-”
“You don’t understand!” His voice rose, raw and cracking. “You can’t understand what this is doing to me. I’m trying to belong in this world, Olenna. I’m trying so hard. And he just destroys every step I take forward.”
He reached beneath his shirt and pulled out his pendant. The Azareal stone glimmered faintly in the moonlight.
“Everyone says this is one of the most powerful totems in existence. I don't think Tywin knows that. If he did he'd be a lot more cautious. But it's a good thing, I can use that to my advantage. Once I level up and get stronger I'll-"
"Level up?" Olenna asked.
Karl froze.
He’d said too much.
He cleared his throat. “I just need to train more. If the legends about my totem are true, then eventually… I’ll be stronger than him.”
Olenna’s expression hardened.
“That’s unlikely,” she said coldly.
“Why?”
“Tywin is a prodigy. One in a thousand. His totem has mana reserves rivaling lieutenants, and he’s only a cadet.” She sighed. “There’s a limit to every sorcerer’s growth. Very few ever reach his level. And for a human with almost no experience…”
She trailed off.
Karl lowered his gaze, hiding the truth she couldn’t know. The system.
“I still have to try,” he said.
Olenna studied him for a long moment, then offered a faint smile. “Then how can I help?”
“There’s a lot I don’t understand yet,” Karl replied. “I need someone to teach me.”
She let out a short laugh. “Well, that’s more like it, where do we start?”
Karl pulled a pack of cards from his pocket.
“These?”
She snatched them from his hand, laughing. "Karl, magic cards are for amateurs !!”
“I saw you use them the other day.”
“That's only because I lost my totem to that silly crab demon, I had no choice"
She shuffled the deck and flipped one card over. A knuckle brace shimmered on its surface.
“Manifest.”
The card dissolved into light, forming a real brace on her fingers.
“Card constructs only last about a minute,” she explained. “Then you reshuffle. And there’s a one-in-seven chance of pulling a blank. If that happens in combat… well, you’re dead.”
“That sucks, who made them like that?"
"I don't know, some old dude a thousand years ago, who cares?" she scoffed.
She shuffled again.
“But they’re useful for other things too. Like divination.”
She drew another card and flipped it.
A broken heart stared back at them.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“What does it mean?” Karl asked.
“Cards are vague,” she said quickly. “Open to a billion different interpretations.”
“Sounds unreliable.”
“I know right...”
She dropped the deck and rested a hand on Karl’s arm.
“The real path to strength is harmony with your totem,” she said. “At first, sorcerers and their totems are separate beings.”
She turned her wrist. Her bracelet glowed with a calm, golden light.
“But as we fight together, bleed together, grow together… our identities begin to merge. Until there’s no clear boundary between us. That’s when you become a true sorcerer, fully realized.”
“How do I achieve that?”
“Years of training. Maybe decades. Physical discipline. Spiritual refinement. You have to push both beyond their limits.”
Karl closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around his totem.
“I’m ready,” he said.
The days that followed were relentless.
Karl trained with the male cadets across mountains and grasslands, beneath roaring waterfalls and endless skies. He ran until his lungs burned. He pushed boulders uphill until his arms trembled and his vision blurred. He held stances beneath crushing torrents and did pushups with massive rocks crushing his back.
He trained at dawn.
He trained at dusk.
He trained when his muscles tore and when his bones screamed.
And when his body begged him to stop,
he kept going.
His frame hardened. Muscle etched itself onto his bones like forged steel.
At night, he descended into his inner world, carving through gremlins by the dozens, sharpening instinct into reflex, refining motion into memory.
The system chimed again and again.
You’ve leveled up.
You’ve leveled up.
You’ve leveled up.
User Level: 1.5
Stats:
Health Points: 420
Mana Coefficient: 680
Special Points: 10,680 (+500)
Strength: 115 (+4)
Speed: 131 (+4)
Agility: 129(+4)
Intelligence: 92 (+1)
Perception: 81(+10)
“My physical training is affecting my stats,” Karl realized. “Even without system-assigned tasks.”
The system responded.
The system optimizes user growth through all contributing actions. Experience gained through any meaningful effort is reflected in the status bar.
Stat increases scale exponentially based on current level. Each new point is amplified by your level multiplier.
Karl’s eyes widened.
“If that’s true…” he whispered, “…then I’m already far stronger than I thought.”
Hope sparked in his chest like a newborn flame.
The higher his level climbed, the more power every action would yield.
His resolve burned hotter.
“I’ve been stuck at Level 1 long enough,” he said. “What does it take to break through?”
The system pulsed.
New Mission Incoming. Complete task to unlock new skill and level. Do you wish to continue?
Karl flexed his muscles with a grin on his face.
"Yes."
- Writer
