...
Right after changing, Shin sent a message to David and Grandmaster Benn, informing them about his current condition. He was still confused at what had happened and sought guidance from the two who were much more experienced than him. Grandmaster Benn might even know the answers to his questions.
After that, he walked out of the tent, planning to head over to the commander's tent. He also wanted to know what had happened when he lost his consciousness.
While walking, he activated a healing technique of the Celestial Vermillion Bird Method out of habit. He was usually using this technique every time since one of its effects was to check on the current state of his body.
During his special training, this was the technique that he used the most. He was using it every time he finished his morning training and other form exercises during that time. Thus, it became his habit to occasionally use this technique.
Halt!
But something unexpected happened this time. He was even forced to pause his steps due to it. "What the…!?"
"What the hell is going on!?" he could not believe what was happening. And to make sure that he was not imagining it, he continued to circulate his Mental Energy according to the Celestial Vermillion Bird Method but only discovered that everything was real.
"Fire Elemental Superpowers!?" shock appeared on Shin's face as he felt mixed emotions about it. He was not sure what happened, but he suddenly got an idea of what it was.
"Don't tell me-…!?" to confirm his suspicion, Shin tried to recall what happened in the final moments of the battle. But no matter how hard he tried; he could not remember anything.
He might not be able to remember, but he was sure that something happened during that period. He was sure that he somehow gained the superpowers of that mercenary.
Swoosh!
While wearing a deep frown, Shin summoned a blazing flame in his hands, playing with it. He also tried to spread it on different parts of his body, turning himself into a human torch. To his surprise, he could control the flame with ease as if it was already part of his powers for a long time.
He also could tell it what it could burn and what it could not. Wielding this new power was surprisingly easy. Though, it was closely related to his Mentalism.
He would only be able to use it whenever he was using the Celestial Vermillion Bird Method. He tried it with the other methods of the Four Symbol Scripture, but the superpowers did not respond to them.
After a couple of experiments, Shin found that this superpower did not only give his healing techniques a significant boost, but it also gave the Celestial Vermilion Bird Method a couple of offensive techniques. Even though they were not as powerful as the Sacred White Tiger Method, their offensive capabilities were at least powerful enough to threaten their opponents.
"I may also be able to use the techniques of that mercenary too," thought Shin to himself as he suddenly remembered the techniques of his earlier opponent.
During that time, the sudden rise in temperature really gave him a lot of trouble. His breathing and energy circulation were greatly affected due to it, making him unable to bring out his real potential.
…
It took Shin quite some time to arrive at the commander's tent due to his discovery. And when he entered the tent, he was immediately greeted by the heavy pressure coming from Nathan. "Your late."
"Ugh!" Shin almost kneeled on the ground due to the pressure pressing on him. Fortunately, he was quick enough to respond and managed to pick himself up before he totally lost his balance.
"I'm sorry, uncle. I informed Old Fat-… I mean Teacher Benn with my current state. There are a couple of changes with my Mentalism Powers this time," explained Shin almost immediately.
"Change? What changed?" asked Nathan as he suddenly became curious.
Shin cleared his throat for a moment before informing Nathan of everything. He first started with his experiences during the battle against the mercenary with fire elemental superpowers and how he remembered the fight until he lost consciousness.
He then proceeded with the changes in his Mentalism Attainments. He told everything starting from how they 'regressed' but also somehow remained at the same level of power as his previous strength. He also told Nathan about his sudden attainment of superpowers, which was very similar to the mercenary that he fought.
"Superpowers? Show it to me," said Nathan with a slight frown.
Shin nodded his head and quickly summoned his newly gained powers and showed it to Nathan without any intention of hiding them.
"Interesting," muttered Nathan as he looked at the flame dancing around Shin's hand before falling into deep thought.
He was not an expert when it came to Mentalism but he was experienced enough to have a vague idea of what just happened. Since he was not sure about it, he chose not to tell Shin about it and leave the details to Grandmaster Benn.
As an old monster from the council of elders, Grandmaster Benn would surely have an explanation for what happened to Shin, especially about the strange phenomenon that the young man had experienced.
"Alright, I get it. It is better to consult Grandmaster Benn about it since he is an expert in this area. He is also the creator of the Four Symbol Scripture, so he will likely have an answer to your concerns," said Nathan before quickly proceeding to another topic. "Now, let's talk about our main concern about this incident."
Nathan did not bother to beat around the bush and quickly went straight to the topic. "Someone put a bounty on your head and it is a pretty big one at that."
"Eh? What the hell-…!?" Shin was completely caught off-guard when he heard those words and immediately became confused.
"That is what we are investigating right now. We are already interrogating the captured mercenaries, so we will have the answer later," said Nathan, answering the question that Shin had.
He then paused for a brief moment before asking. "But just to make sure, have you ever offended someone recently? It does not matter if it is here in the real world or inside the game."
His tone was so calm even if he was mentioning the 'game'. It was as if it was something natural. Or to be more precise, he seemed like he was already used to these kinds of situations.
And when he saw the confused look on Shin's face, Nathan quickly added. "You don't have to be so surprised. Something like this is pretty common back in the day. Some people are so bitter about their losses inside the game that they bring the issue into the real world."
"Such situations are very rare these days because of the founding of the World Gaming Organization. If any player drags the conflict inside the game to the real world, then whoever that person is, they will be banned for life in any kind of virtual games."
"Since the World Gaming Organization have the collective data of every player, if someone raises the issue to them and they found the other party is guilty after a thorough investigation, then the punishment will surely be a serious one."
"You should know that there are a lot of organizations working inside the game. Whether it is an underworld organization, the world government, or other big and influential groups, all of them agreed to this particular rule. And the World Gaming Organization is the one acting as the mediator."
Nathan paused for a moment before laughing. "You shouldn't underestimate the virtual games. It can have a huge impact in the real world more than what you can imagine. It had a lot of secrets that everyone has to work together just to uncover them."
"It is also one of the reasons why there are no experts stronger than Ethereal Stage and peak Grandmaster Realm playing the game. They are banned from entering the game."
Shin further furrowed his brows before saying. "You sound like someone who played a lot of games before, Uncle. You are too familiar with the 'rules' of the virtual world."
Nathan cleared his throat for a moment before dodging the question. "So, have offended someone? Or have you humiliated them so bad that they built a vengeful attitude to drag it into the real world?"
Shin clicked his tongue as he knew that Nathan was trying to avoid the topic. But at the same time, he now had an idea of what was going on. "I have a person in mind, but I am not sure if he is really the one who did it or whether he has the guts to do it."
"Fill me the details," said Nathan, planning to take this matter into his own hands.
He was very busy right now due to the recent incidents that were happening these past few days, but if it was something that concerned his family, then he had to show those people that the Springfields were not someone that they could afford to provoke.
They would usually not be bothered by this issue since it concerned the younger generation. If it was a conflict with the younger generation, then they will leave it to the young ones to deal with. But if it reached the point where the opposing party was hiring dangerous mercenaries to deal with their people, then the older ones needed to step up a little and remind those guys who were they facing.
After listening to Shin for a few moments, Nathan slightly nodded his head. "Alright, I will take a look on this matter personally and see if it is really that little twerp Justin is the one behind those mercenaries."
"You can head back home for now and take a rest. I will inform you of the results later," after that, he started dialing a couple of people and gave them some instructions before turning back to Shin. "Something comes up, so I will be going for now. If you need anything, tell Ken about it and he will aid you with your everything."
He did not even wait for Shin to reply as he quickly disappeared and went to who knows where.
Shin could only sigh helplessly before turning around and walking out of the tent. He was about to look for Arthur and Leonard when he suddenly remembered something. "Wait! I think the mercenary also mentioned something about the other target or something."
"If my suspicions are right, then-…!" his thoughts suddenly came to a halt when he reached this point as he did not want those thoughts to be right.
He quickly run back toward the tent where he was previously resting looking for the keys to his car. And when he found what he needed, he ran straight to his Black Panther, ignoring everyone on his path.
"Please, please! Tell me that I am wrong!" he muttered repeatedly as the unease inside his heart grew heavier.
He started the car and drove it back home as tried to calm himself down. At the same time, he also started sending messages to different people, especially Arthur, Leonard, and Kevin, who were left in the scene, explaining his actions.
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