Morgan followed Karl through the corridors as they moved around inside the place. The hallways they passed through were completely ordinary, bearing nothing particularly eye-catching—except for a strange emblem engraved on the walls here and there. Morgan's gaze lingered on that emblem more than once, and each time he stared at it, he felt a vague sense of comfort, as if it had an inexplicable effect on his nerves.
He drifted into his thoughts for a few moments, immersed in that strange sensation, until Karl's calm voice interrupted him:
"Alright, we've arrived. This is your room. Inside, you'll find some clothes that suit you, and you can take a shower—the bathroom is over there. If you need anything, press this button. I'll come back to check on you in thirty minutes, and you should be ready by then."
Karl extended his hand and handed him a small black device. Morgan took it cautiously and immediately noticed the smoothness of its surface and its slight coolness. The device was decorated with delicate engravings and was roughly the size of a phone. He turned it over between his fingers, staring at it with curiosity, feeling something unfamiliar about it, before hearing Karl's voice again:
"Place your finger on the edge and it will activate. See you later."
Karl finished speaking and walked away down the corridor, leaving Morgan standing there for a few moments. Morgan exhaled slowly and muttered to himself in a faint, sarcastic tone:
"I really need to work on improving my facial expressions… my poker face is truly terrible."
He stepped toward the door and opened it slowly, then entered the room. He glanced around and found it to be relatively small—simple, but tidy. There was a bed suitable for one person, a chair in the middle, and the walls were adorned with the same strange emblem. As for the windows, they were small, allowing faint moonlight to seep through, giving the room a calm yet melancholic atmosphere. The room looked somewhat old, resembling a neglected dormitory, but it was still usable.
Morgan did not waste any more time contemplating the place. He could no longer tolerate his foul smell. He opened the bathroom door and found it to be small and simple, containing a sink in the middle and old facilities that were nevertheless clean enough.
Morgan quickly took off his clothes and threw them outside the bathroom without hesitation—the stench coming from them was unbearable. He turned on the water, and soon the tub filled with warm, soapy water. Before stepping in, he felt a slight surprise as the water touched his feet; the temperature was perfect, as if it had been designed especially for him.
The moment his body was submerged in the water, he let out a deep sigh of relief.
"So this is life…" he murmured to himself with a faint smile.
His body gradually relaxed, and he felt a sense of comfort flowing through every part of him. He closed his eyes and stayed like that for about five minutes, immersed in a rare stillness he hadn't experienced in a long time.
Then he slowly opened his eyes and said in a lazy tone, "I never want to get up from here… I'd like to stay like this forever. But… there's no escape from getting up."
Morgan slowly rose from the tub, his body now completely clean, radiating a fresh, pleasant scent. He grabbed a nearby towel and began drying himself calmly.
Morgan was drying himself as he stepped out of the bathroom, running the towel over his body carefully, enjoying the feeling of warmth and cleanliness after minutes of relaxation in the tub. When he finished drying, he raised his gaze to the mirror hanging on the wall in front of him, and studied his reflection carefully.
He paused for a moment, staring at himself with mild surprise. He reached out to touch his face gently, as if to ensure it was clean and free from the traces of dirt that had been on it before the shower. Then he whispered:
"It's better than I expected… this must be because of the dirt that was on my face before the shower."
After that, Morgan looked at his abdomen. There were small muscles forming on his body. He gently touched his muscles, inspecting them carefully before starting to do some simple exercises on his stomach. He began with one, then two, until he reached five, and stopped there, a smile of joy spreading across his face.
"I did it… I completed five push-ups! I won! Haha… Didn't I tell them I'd do it someday in the future?"
Morgan smiled to himself, remembering how his friends always mocked him for not being able to do even a single push-up. He took a deep breath and then felt a slight sadness remembering those moments, but he quickly shook his head vigorously as if to chase away all those negative thoughts.
Morgan moved toward the wardrobe and opened it slowly. There were five pieces of clothing hanging neatly, each in a different color: red, white, black, blue, and green. Morgan looked at them with a strange feeling; all the pieces were identical in design, differing only in color.
Morgan chose the black one, as it had always been his favorite color. The clothes consisted of long black silk pants, very smooth to the touch, and a black shirt decorated with fine wavy lines on its surface. Morgan looked at the new clothes, frowned slightly, and muttered to himself:
"Who's the idiot who wears clothes like this? Their taste… really awful."
Morgan quickly put on the clothes, and once he finished, he felt comfortable. The clothes were very comfortable.
"At least I can move freely… but there's just one problem: how will I go out like this? Surely someone will laugh at me… but it doesn't matter, I don't care."
Morgan walked over to the chair and sat down slowly. The chair wasn't entirely comfortable, but it wasn't bad either.
He remained sitting there for a long time, but soon boredom began to take over. He had been waiting for Karl for a while, but time seemed to crawl unbearably. Morgan tried to occupy himself with something, but he could no longer bear the feeling of emptiness and boredom. In a moment of desperation, he reached for the small black device Karl had given him and held it in his lap to examine it closely.
"What is this thing? And how does it work?" Morgan muttered to himself, inspecting the device. Suddenly, he remembered what Karl had told him: "Place your finger on the edge." Morgan smiled to himself and lifted his fingers to the edge as instructed. The moment he touched it, a sensation spread across his fingertips; it was a feeling he had never known before—electric and light at the same time. He wanted to look to see what was happening, but before he could, the device activated on its own, displaying a holographic image on its screen with words written in a language he did not know. Morgan examined it intently, trying to understand its meaning, when a soft, beautiful female voice entered his ears:
"The city of Haven, in Nirvan Province, has suffered a terrorist attack. The Death Worshipers sect has sent multiple Carmens into the area, and the rescue team could not intervene quickly. They also spread a plague that resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. The Empire has confirmed it will conduct a full investigation into the incident, and the search team will pursue and eliminate the perpetrators. As for the Church of Life, it has announced it will hold them accountable for their crimes, as they have no right to take the lives of others…"
Morgan sat silently, listening attentively, his feelings a mix of shock and curiosity, trying to comprehend as much as he could.
Suddenly, the room door burst open violently, causing the black device to fall from his hands and shatter on the floor. Morgan jumped up, his heart racing from the surprise, as Karl entered the room with calm steps, looking directly at him:
"Did you press the device?"
Morgan slowly shook his head, then said, trying to regain his composure:
"You really scared me! I thought my heart would stop for a moment. Can't you knock before entering?"
Karl smiled lightly and said:
"Sorry about that… hmm, it seems you're ready now. And sorry for being late too, I was a bit busy."
Then Karl left the room, leaving Morgan to pick up the broken black device from the floor. Morgan sat back on the chair, trying to organize his thoughts and process what he had just heard. He took a deep breath and said quietly to himself:
"Alright… never mind, let's focus on what I have to do now."
Morgan slowly rose from the chair, trying to regain his calm, and then left the room, following Karl's steps…
In front of them stood a massive iron door, and right at its center was a strange emblem: wavy lines intertwined without any order, with a dense black spot at the middle, surrounded by dark red edges, as if they were traces of dried blood. Small, hazy spots scattered around the emblem, interspersed with obscure symbols whose meanings could not be clearly discerned, as if they were written in a language not belonging to this world.
The door slowly swung open with a heavy creak, releasing a grating metallic sound, revealing a scene Morgan had never encountered before. The place resembled a gigantic mechanism operating in terrifying silence; massive gears rotated in opposite directions without stopping, occasionally clashing against each other as if on the verge of collapse. In the center stretched a narrow corridor, surrounded by smaller gears rotating in reverse as well, and inside each gear was a small box, each bearing an engraved label, with strange letters meticulously inscribed on its surface.
Morgan stared around in silent astonishment, his eyes moving between the moving mechanisms and the unknown symbols. His breaths felt heavy, and his heart beat with an irregular rhythm. He had never seen a place like this before, not even in the strangest, most insane films. Conflicting thoughts crept into his mind:
What is this place that brought me here? And why exactly are we here?
He could not see anything that seemed useful; aside from the strange and frightening design, nothing in the place appeared to justify their presence. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he turned to Karl and said in a hesitant voice:
"Excuse me, Mr. Karl… why are we here? And what exactly is this place?"
Karl turned to him, remaining standing in his spot, holding a black device in his hands. It closely resembled the device he had given Morgan earlier, but this one was larger and more complex, covered with various carefully engraved symbols.
Karl spoke in a calm voice:
"We are in the warehouse. I'm looking here for something that will help you awaken your Djinn essence."
Morgan's features tightened slightly, and he furrowed his brows, repeating in confusion:
"Djinn… essence?"
Before he could think further, Karl's voice continued smoothly:
"The Djinn essence is what allows you to use your abilities. If it isn't awakened, you won't be able to use your power as a Liberator. Without this essence, you are no different from an ordinary person. That's why it must be awakened before you go to the trial, so you can use your power as a Liberator."
Morgan slowly nodded, as the picture began to become clearer in his mind.
"So that's why… that's why I couldn't use my power back then."
Suddenly, the reverse-spinning gears began moving violently and frenetically, striking each other with a loud metallic clang, before one of the boxes loosened from its place and fell onto the central corridor. The box slid quickly toward Morgan and Karl, stopping directly in front of them.
Karl stepped forward with steady strides, bent down to grasp the box firmly, then turned and began to leave. Morgan followed silently.
They continued walking for a while until Morgan began to feel exhausted and was about to complain, before Karl finally stopped in front of a separate room.
The door of the room was made of strange wood, black in color, emitting a faint glow as if the darkness itself was pulsing within it. Karl opened the door, revealing a scene even more unsettling.
The room was shrouded in a dense black aura, and along one of its walls stretched a large glass panel. The room resembled an interrogation chamber or an isolated wing in a mental asylum.
Karl stepped inside and stood in the center of the room, then began speaking in a strange language that Morgan had never heard before. The words were heavy, charged with an invisible energy.
As soon as he finished, the box he was carrying began to vibrate… before slowly opening.
Revealing its contents, Karl carefully reached into the box and pulled out a small gray ball. At its center was a dense black spot, surrounded by red edges. The ball was not large, but it carried a strange presence.
Morgan's eyes widened instantly upon seeing it.
He stared at the ball without blinking, before suddenly feeling heat rising in his hands.
He looked at them in confusion…
The tattoo engraved on his skin glowed with a faint gray color, pulsating with an irregular rhythm.
What is happening?
Is my tattoo reacting to this ball?
Morgan touched his hands anxiously and felt the heat increase, though it was not painful. Then he heard Karl's calm voice:
"Take this, and swallow it. It will awaken your Djinn essence. Just be careful… and don't drop it."
Morgan stepped toward him with hesitant but steady steps, holding the ball in his hands very carefully. He stared at it for a long moment, examining its details, then swallowed with difficulty. He wasn't sure if he was truly ready to eat something like this. He lifted his head and asked cautiously:
"Hmm… Mr. Karl, what exactly will happen to me if I swallow it? I mean… could I die? Or could it start torturing me from within? Melt my bones, perhaps? Or burn my insides? I don't want to experience a slow and painful death, honestly. Just tell me, will I come out of this alive? If you are sure that none of this will happen, I can swallow it immediately… but I'm still a bit hesitant, or—"
Karl could not tolerate it any longer. He interrupted sharply:
"Stop talking. You and your sick imagination. None of what you said will happen. And stop calling me 'Mister'; I'm not an old man, nor your boss. Just shut your mouth… and swallow it."
Morgan sighed, muttering softly:
"Alright, alright… I'll swallow it. But if anything happens to me, I will haunt you even in hell. I will visit your dreams every night, and I won't let you live a normal life and—"
Karl exploded with anger for the first time, shouting:
"Swallow it now, or I will make you!"
Morgan trembled slightly, feeling genuine fear this time. He didn't want to test Karl's seriousness, so he quickly lifted the ball and swallowed it in one gulp.
In the next moment, he felt something strange explode inside him. His vision blurred suddenly, and everything around him turned into pitch darkness. He grabbed his head with his hands, trying to hold on, trying to understand what was happening.
There was no pain, and the sensation was not unpleasant, but it was unlike anything he had experienced in his life. It was as if his mind had shaken violently, then freed, saturated with a new energy.
Yet, he felt that this energy was not foreign to him, but had been dormant within him for a long time, merely waiting for an external trigger to awaken it.
The energy flowed through every fiber of his being. Morgan felt as if his mind had become clearer and sharper, as though the fog that once enveloped his thoughts had suddenly lifted. Then the real change began.
He felt as if a miniature star had ignited at the center of his mind, pulsating with increasing heat. Waves of warmth and radiation radiated from it, and under that heat, his mind began to rebuild and reactivate itself anew.
With every passing second, the transformation deepened further. Excessive, dense confidence crept into Morgan's mind, settling deep within him. He suddenly felt capable of doing anything, even more than that… he felt as if the world itself could bend to his will if he wished.
That confidence grew rapidly to a terrifying degree, turning into a strange, dark sensation that began to pollute his thoughts without him noticing.
A curse upon humans…
The thought echoed in his mind with shocking clarity.
I am now superior to them. I must subjugate them. I must rule over them.
The thoughts surged like a flood:
I must make those who have erred regret their actions. I must offer a sacrifice… an entire city, so that the Great One answers my call. I can hear him. He is calling me… I must find him, and merge with him, until I become purer, stronger, and nobler than I am now.
His mind suddenly stopped.
What the hell am I thinking?
It was as if a cold shock struck his consciousness, and those dark thoughts receded in an instant, vanishing as if they had never been. Morgan's senses returned to normal, and his heartbeat gradually calmed before he slowly opened his eyes.
Strange letters floated in the air before him, glowing with a faint light:
[Congratulations, Liberator, you have awakened your Djinn essence]
"Yes…"
Morgan muttered unconsciously.
A true, pure, sudden joy swept over him in that moment, almost making him smile in triumph. He felt a wild urge to celebrate, to scream, but… he was not given the time.
The letters appeared again:
[Be ready, Liberator, the trial will begin in one minute]
"What?"
Morgan froze in place. The joy vanished from his face as if it had never been there. One minute? Is this a joke? A prank?
Only moments had passed since I was chosen… barely a few hours!
How the hell is there only one minute left?
He was engulfed in confusion when the room's door suddenly opened, and Karl entered with brisk steps, speaking in a serious tone:
"You've finally awakened, and at a very timely moment. Twenty-two full hours have passed. I thought you wouldn't wake up before the trial began. Honestly… I don't have time to explain everything now."
Morgan frowned upon hearing this.
Twenty-two hours?
He hadn't felt as if even a single minute had passed. Could time really have distorted to this extent? It was insane.
Karl continued, running his hand through his hair, saying:
"Well, honestly, I don't know what I should tell you first. As you see, I don't have enough time to say anything, and your expression shows that there isn't much time left. Ugh… you really are unlucky, but at least I can tell you one thing: don't die. Try to hide the tattoo on your hand. Just focus and imagine it's not there, and it will disappear. Adapt to the people who will take the trial with you, and—"
Morgan didn't hear the rest of the sentence.
His body began to fade slowly, as if his very existence was being pulled from the place. His feet vanished first, then his body, while the strange letters reappeared in the air, glowing brightly:
[The trial has begun, Liberator]
Before Morgan completely disappeared…