"So this is what they call a Mana core," said Shunya as he inspected a bead-sized gem glistening in the darkness.
After walking away from the area, like an idiot, he had come back to pick up his food—the beast that had been hunting him earlier.
Now, having found a safe place, he sat down to plan his next move, to think clearly about how to grow stronger.
One thing was certain: his body and mind were made for battle—not for slave labor.
Shunya didn't know anything other than working in the fields, day in and day out, year after year. As an enslaved monster, all he did was toil endlessly and eat scraps just to stay alive.
But now, enlightened by strange memories and foreign knowledge, he realized—he was more than just a slave.
He still wasn't sure what he was as a monster. But during that earlier chase, something inside him enjoyed the dance with death.
Just one mistake and he would've been eaten alive.
Yet he couldn't understand why the beast had suddenly lost consciousness. What was that feeling back then? He had tried to replicate it afterward, but it didn't work.
In fact, he had almost gone looking for another fight.
Am I a battle maniac or something? he wondered.
His instincts screamed at him:
> Find something to fight.
To kill.
To eat.
Shunya looked away from the Mana core and closed his eyes.
"First, I need to learn to calm myself down—especially outside of combat and during hunts. For that, I need a secure place to sit and figure things out."
He ate the Mana core, and, like always, felt nothing. He didn't bother to overthink it.
Other fellow slaves had fed him Mana cores once or twice before, and even then, he hadn't felt anything. So, Shunya assumed this was normal.
Asuras didn't evolve like normal monsters—because they weren't completely monsters.
As far as he knew, he belonged to a very rare class of monster.
A Majin.
His appearance was monstrous—red glowing eyes, a closed third eye on his forehead, sharp canine teeth like a wolf, and a tall, broad body like a barbarian.
His dark hair blended seamlessly with the shadows of the forest, creating an almost perfect camouflage.
His naked, tan, muscular upper body showed off natural abs and warrior-like shoulders. A simple linen cloth wrapped around his waist, extending to his thighs. He was barefoot.
A thick black horn was purduting from left side of his forehead shaped like a flame but soild.
A body built for war.
And yet, he had been nothing more than a disposable slave—a living meat shield with passive buffs for any adventuring party.
Like every wall, he too had been broken.
But those Royals would never believe that their treasured 'item' had come back to life.
After walking for a few hours, he arrived at a deserted cave. He had already scouted the area and sensed no presence inside.
Darkness didn't bother him—he could see clearly in it.
> Go kill.
Destroy everything.
Suddenly, voices rang inside his mind, followed by a searing pain.
He bit his lips to keep from screaming, careful not to attract any other monsters near the cave.
Scream and attract those insects.
Kill them and eat them.
Shunya sat with his back against the wall, enduring the pain.
With every passing second, the pain grew worse.
He was going into withdrawal.
He remembered that, on many occasions, these screams in his head had forced him to go berserk. The humans would then feed him some kind of drug—but afterward, he'd feel lethargic.
Weak.
But now, there was no way he'd ever go back to those scum.
Never.
"I will never lose again," Shunya growled through gritted teeth.
Then, out of nowhere—a memory surged into his mind.
"Meditation?"
A voice followed.
> "Listen, child. Meditation is a way to conquer your inner self—to find harmony, peace, and self-discovery."
"Sure, I'll teach you."
Shunya saw an old man sitting cross-legged, eyes closed.
Complete stillness.
After a few moments, the memory showed him twelve distinct images—the old man forming twelve different hand signs.
The memory continued.
"These signs are symbols of movement in stillness, child. Harmony in chaos—the way of the universe."
Somehow, those signs were etched into his mind as if branded into his soul.
Shunya didn't even realize when the memory had ended. Slowly, through sheer will, he forced himself to sit cross-legged—just like the old man.
The pain in his head intensified, but Shunya endured it.
' Go back to your master.'
Your master needs you to increase his soldier level cap.
Protect your master.
Protect them with your life.
The voices began to distort—shifting from commands to growls, then to an eerie, hypnotic hum.
But none of it worked.
Shunya slowly calmed his mind.
His body, once shivering and convulsing in pain, gradually came to stillness.
His willpower suppressed the chaos inside.
Then—
Silence.
Suddenly, he heard nothing.
Felt nothing.
As if transported elsewhere, Shunya found himself surrounded by eternal darkness.
A void—eerie and terrifying.
He had entered his consciousness.
Guided by instinct, he formed the first hand seal.
Inside his mind, a mirror-like crack appeared in the void.
He changed the seal.
The cracks deepened.
By the fifth seal, light began to shine through. His mind felt lighter. Thoughts grew clearer. Instincts sharper. Senses heightened.
With each hand seal he performed, cracks in the void spread further—until finally—
Crack!
Crack!!
The void shattered.
Shunya found himself staring into a space glistening with stars.
In front of him hovered a glowing, white bead-like structure.
"This must be… my Mana core."
Every monster had a Mana core situated in the heart. What Shunya saw now was the astral projection of his core inside his mind.
Then he noticed something disturbing.
A creepy, black mass—like a chain—was tightly wrapped around his core.
"Is that black thing… devouring my core?"
Unprecedented rage surged through him.
His eyes locked onto the black chain-like mass strangling his essence.