Wake Up!

Ji Min braced himself for the pain that was to come and even tried to comfort himself by reminding himself of his high pain tolerance.

But the moment the white rodents arrived, they simply rolled him over, planting his face into the dirt, allowing a feeling of uncertainty to surge through his entire being.

Then out of the blue, Ji Min abruptly felt the muscles behind his knee split open like paper sliding out of a shredding machine.

Squirt!

Blood sprayed out of the shredded veins as he felt a sharp pang of pain that sent his consciousness straight to the brink of oblivion.

---

Darkness encroached upon his consciousness, as he tried to bear through the pain, but it was at that exact moment that he felt another sharp shredding pain shoot through him from his right leg.

Spurt!

The veins at the back of his second leg tore apart just like the first one, and a few seconds later, he felts a vicious slash diagonally tear through his face as his consciousness began to fade out.

Ji Min's consciousness tried to fight its way back to clarity, but the pain shooting out of his injuries, coupled with his gradual blood loss ensured that his consciousness fluctuated between life and death, placing him in a semi-death state.

But the white rodents didn't seem to be done with him, and instead, turned him over once again. They looked straight into his eyes to find any form of negative emotions which could satisfy and sate the pain of loss they were also feeling.

But no matter how they looked through, they found nothing barring the painful expression etched onto his face, leaving them feeling like he hadn't suffered enough.

Squeak!

The slightly smaller rodent said as it sent a vicious claw slash toward Ji Min's jugular, slicing apart the skin on his neck which revealed his shredded neck muscles and finally, severed jugular veins.

Spurt!

Ji Min's dead limbs suddenly found their strength as he clutched his neck which was spurting blood like an Italian fountain.

"Nooo!"

Ji Qing screamed in horror when she saw blood spray out of Ji Min's jugular like a pressurized hose. Her body tensed up and lost all its desire to move as she stood there staring at the situation in disbelief and utter shock.

Then Ji Min began to choke on his own blood, and it was only then that it really dawned on her that everything was truly happening, and it was no illusion of any kind.

Cough! Cough! Bleurgh!

Ji Min gave two bloodcurdling coughs that caused blood to stream out of his wounds in greater quantity.

As a little girl, the sight of such a level of viciousness, gore, and blood proved to be too much for her to handle, especially when it was coming from Ji Min.

Her heart felt like it had shattered to pieces as she tried to approach him, but the moment she took a step, all her exhaustion, pain, and ache assaulted her simultaneously, causing her eyes to roll into their sockets as she dropped to the ground and passed out.

The rodents had shut off their intelligence due to their berserk mode and were only attacking any moving target, but now that their only target was now unmoving, they began to attack themselves and tear each other apart.

Squeak! Squeak!

The white rodents then quickly gave a squeaking sound of different frequencies that snapped them out of their berserk mode, leaving the rodents with no memories of what had happened.

They circled around Ji Qing and nudged her body in a probing manner, but after receiving no response whatsoever, they simply clustered around her and awaited further orders from their leaders who were still watching Ji Min struggle.

They left Ji Min there, twitching and gurgling, and choking in a manner that sent some sort of psychopathic pleasure through the rodents.

Color gradually faded from his face and skin as the white rodents watched him gradually fight to keep a hold of his life, making happy squeaks whenever he gurgled or twitched.

[S-sensei, I'm past my limits.]

[You've endured long enough Young Lord; I've gotten a hang of it now, let me take over from here.] Sensei consoled as Ji Min heaved a relieved sigh.

The moment he sighed, it was as if every last drop of blood in his body flowed out with that last breath, as his heart began to beat weaker and weaker until it got to a point where it was barely moving.

Squeak! Squeak!

The white rodents squeaked furiously at Ji Min for a few seconds before turning away toward the unconscious Ji Qing unaware of the looming calamity that was about to befall them.

Ji Min's heart finally stopped at the exact moment the rodents turned their backs on him.

Then it happened; once again, just like it had done before.

The tranquil poison within Ji Min's heart condensed into a drop of solid poison and then exploded into a massive amount of gas that inflated Ji Min's heart to its limit before it then condensed into a drop once again.

Ku-Kum!

The phenomenon caused Ji Min's heart to give an induced but weak heartbeat, and just like a prompted automation, the tranquil poison looped the process and kept repeating it at appropriate cycles.

With each explosive pump, liquid tranquil poison surged through Ji Min's veins like a raging stream, diffusing through every single seam and pore they could find within and without his body.

In less than a minute, Ji Min's skin turned extremely pale, his muscles shrunk to the extent that they were barely noticeable.

His bones became so prominent that one could almost identify his skeletal structure without any hassle. His lips dried up, and his teeth elongated slightly whilst two pairs of extremely deadly greenish fangs completed his dental structure.

Grr!

His first breath was nigh inaudible, and it sounded like the angry growl of an incensed beast.

'Wake up!'

Sensei blurted mentally, and the moment the thought surfaced, Ji Min's eyes suddenly snapped open.

Boom!

A shockwave of energy rippled out of Ji Min's body, spreading across the area like a sonic wave, carrying debris and dust all across the area like the eruption of a pressurized volcano.

His eyes turned black whilst his pupils gleamed with a bright green glow.

Every beat of his heart sent streams of green liquid surging through his veins like lemon juice being sucked through a transparent straw.

The white rodents were the first to sense the new development; their furs abruptly stood on end, as a sense of foreboding washed over them like a torrential waterfall.

They managed to turn their necks which were now stiff from terror and looked behind. Upon seeing the result of their deep feeling of unease, the duo hurriedly scrambled into the midst of their comrades.