The Origin Warden

Chapter 7 : The First Threshold

“Am I dead?”

Jacob asked bitterly and sadly while staring at the vast black sky devoid of any trace of stars. No sun and no moon, only the strange darkness that somehow, in a way Jack could not understand, emitted an ethereal light illuminating the place.

“No no I don’t think I’m dead!. I heard or rather read that a human doesn’t feel anything when he is dead. Wait how did they even know that in the first place. I mean someone has to experience death to know what it feels like. And it’s impossible to die then come back to tell others what happens in death. Those scientists are just a bunch of frauds. Oh wait. That wasn’t scientists talking...ah, whatever”

He turned his head to the side and stared at the crimson red water. He was currently lying on his back upon it and yet he did not sink downward. He placed a finger into the water and moved it slightly, then raised his finger and stared at it with a confused expression.

“Strange!. My finger didn’t get wet at all”

While staring at the red water, or rather staring at the reflection of his face upon the water.

“No wound!!. No blood!? ”

His mind wandered for a moment. Memories of his final moments facing the monster surfaced before him. Clearly he had injured his forehead when he went mad for a moment.

He snapped out of his daze, placed both hands on the water and pushed himself into a sitting position. His eyes dropped to his thigh and he was not surprised by the absence of the wound.

He let out a bitter laugh and said with sadness and a hint of unwillingness.

“Of course. I’m dead”

At this moment the system’s voice echoed through space like an anchor pulling him out of his confusion and sadness.

[ Congratulations! You have reached the first threshold ]

[ Do you want to awaken the latent powers? ]

“Haaah, the system!. So I’m still alive...”

“Latent power?. Of course why not...”

He placed a wide smile on his face and said in a flattering tone.

“Yes please awaken my latent power. Mr. System”

[ As you wish ]

[ Awakening latent powers ]

[ You have received access authority to your spiritual sea ]

Jack did not have time to process the system’s words before unbearable pain ignited from the depths of his body. He felt as though he was burning alive even though he had never experienced such a feeling before. His mind became blank for a moment from the intensity of the pain.

With difficulty he raised both hands and grabbed his head then began rolling left and right upon the red sea.

The situation lasted only a few seconds but what Jack felt made him believe many hours had passed.

When he opened his eyes he found himself suspended in the air between the black sky and the red sea. Before him was a giant naked faceless manifestation. The giant was kneeling on one knee, raising both hands to chest level and spreading his palms toward the sky.

But that was not the strangest thing about the matter. The strangest thing was the giant blue and silver chains restraining the giant.

There was one emerging from the red sea connected to the silver shackle on the giant’s right wrist, and the same thing for the left wrist.

The feet were no exception. There was a silver collar surrounding his stomach connected to four chains.

And finally there was a collar around his neck connected to two chains that were slightly larger than the others.

Jack was in a strange state of shock while staring at the giant. At this moment one of the chains restraining the shackle around his stomach lit up and suddenly shattered into several small white lights.

Jack turned his head and stared at the light fragments that flew toward the black sky and gathered into a glowing white energy sphere. It floated there like a star, but it was not alone. There were three green lights and two red ones slowly revolving around it like moons.

The ethereal system voice echoed once again across the silent space announcing Jack’s achievements.

[ You have successfully awakened your latent powers ]

[ You have awakened the ability : Distortion ]

[ You have successfully advanced to the Rooted rank ]

[ You have obtained 7 ]

[ Your level increases ]

[ You have obtained 3 points ]

Jack remained silent for a long time before a wide smile spread across his face. He opened his mouth and shouted like an idiot within his spiritual sea.

“I was right. Reaching level 10 gives points”

His excitement lasted for several moments before he quickly summoned his status.

Name : [ Jacob Lightherb ]

Level : [2]

Rank : [ Rooted ]

Origin Energy : [200/52]

Attributes : [ Physical ] [ Spiritual ]

Talent : [ Distortion ]

Items : [ Lily’s Handkerchief ] [ Narcissist’s Mirror ] [ Azoth Armor ] [ Heart of the Sea ] [ Eye of the Night ]

Points : [10]

He ignored everything and went directly to the new line.

Talent : [ Distortion ]

His lips nearly reached his ears because of the wide grin that spread when he saw that he had truly gained a supernatural power exactly like those heroes he used to read about in manhwas and novels.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about”

Talent Description : [ Wherever life and prosperity exist, death and destruction exist alongside them, and you O bearer of the Distortion talent...]

“Hm, hmmmm...”

Jack continued humming trying to maintain his good mood but clearly he failed. His face reddened with anger.

“You damned system is this all you’ve got?, where is the rest of the damned description. Tell me more about my superpower. Damn you, you only know how to include long descriptions for those trash items like a cheap poet and now...”

“Never mind. At least I got a power, I’ll figure out how to use it myself”

After venting his anger on the system interface which did not even bother responding to him, and again was the system a living being?.

Naturally this question crossed Jack’s mind but due to his somewhat lazy nature he did not bother thinking deeply about it.

Whether it was alive or dead none of that mattered to Jack. As long as this system provided him benefits why bother thinking about its identity.

After failing to learn more about his supposed ability Jack redirected his focus toward the changes that occurred to his system interface. First he noticed he had gained 10 points. He resisted the urge to use them temporarily.

“Did my level decrease?!”

He asked in confusion when he noticed his current level was 2 after he was certain he had already reached level 10 and the proof was awakening his superpower and also obtaining points.

His confusion did not last long as he noticed his rank had changed as well from Dormant to Rooted.

He placed his hand on his chin and stroked his black beard which had become clean as if his falling into the spiritual sea represented his soul and not his body.

“Oh. I see!”

“So level is like a counter or bar that must be filled and when it fills up it resets back to zero and in return the rank evolves... I see Mr. System you are a fan of watching shows aren’t you?”

“You turned humans and damned animals into monsters then started giving rewards in exchange for killing them, what can I say... you truly are a damned genius aren’t you, ah wait... maybe I’m not sure, but maybe you are not the reason behind what is happening right now and that makes you the savior helping humanity...”

Jack stared at his reflection on the surface of the red sea and smiled sadly.

“Between you and me, I don’t mind the current situation, even if it nearly got me killed I don’t mind the current chaos. When my mother got sick and problems escalated between her and the man called my father I started reading manhwas to escape from bitter reality and I always imagined myself in the place of the heroes of those stories, I mean everyone does that right?, that’s the purpose of fictional stories...”

“If I wake up and I’m not even sure about that as you know I clearly remember before losing consciousness there were dozens of zombies with nothing separating me from them... maybe I’ve already become one of them now, maybe this is what happens to people who turn into zombies...”

He looked around at the strange space called his spiritual sea before his gaze settled on the chained giant.

“Imprisoned in this cursed space with their only neighbor being this strange perverted giant who looks like a statue...”

“But if I wake up I’ll seek my mother Selena. My mother was unlucky and diagnosed with a damned brain tumor that turned her life upside down. My father could not endure the person his wife had become so he left while she was at her weakest moment, can you believe even her children... my siblings abandoned her, I swore to myself if I ever get married in the future I won’t have any children...”

Jack stopped talking and released a hollow crazy laugh.

“I’m really talkative aren’t I Mr. System!. Actually I usually don’t talk much, maybe the near death experience made me like this... and please if you are listening please pity my miserable story and give me a better power oh this time with a full description”

Jack closed his left eye and tilted his head to the side staring at the dark sky and specifically at the white star. He waited without hope for the system to truly respond to him but all he received was complete silence.

He shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

“Well at least I tried”

He redirected his focus toward his status and specifically the section dedicated to attributes. It was time to allocate his precious points.