5. Feel The Pain

After coming out of the forest, Ethan went to his apartment while injured. On the way, the system tried to cheer Ethan up, but his focus was on something else.

It was already night when Ethan reached the slum area. Stars were shining in the sky, and the night was silent; nobody could be seen on the street. But he wasn't afraid; after going through a life-and-death battle in the forest, his courage was somewhat elevated. After half an hour of walking, he reached his apartment.

Upon entering and locking the door, Ethan first went to the bathroom to wash up and relax; he really needed to unwind. After coming out of the bathroom, Ethan went directly to sleep and slept peacefully for six hours straight. When the sun was on the horizon, Ethan opened his eyes full of energy and went to have his breakfast.

After returning, he sat down on the couch and started thinking about yesterday. Ethan had read many novels and knew about the legendary system, but the system he had was a little different in many ways.

Firstly, it was as intelligent as humans and also had emotions that differentiated it from other systems. Secondly, he didn't receive any newbie package like in the novels. Thirdly, his system wasn't just a support system but an active one that wanted to become stronger like him.

After pondering all of this, Ethan concluded that regardless of whether it could be trusted or not, just by saving his life once, Ethan already owed it his life.

"Thanks for thinking kindly of me," the system suddenly said, causing Ethan to want to bang his head on the wall.

"You like to spy on people's thoughts," Ethan retorted.

"No, my life isn't that boring yet. I also have to save my energy, you know. I don't have infinite energy like your novel systems."

"Fine, you made your point. But now that you're talking, it reminded me... When do you want to absorb the beast core?"

"Oh, I thought you forgot about it." 'Huh. You wouldn't let me forget about it, you moron,' Ethan thought.

"Okay, answer my damn question." Ethan didn't want to listen to this babbling buffoon.

"It's very easy actually; just put all the cores in front of you and I will do the rest." Ethan was surprised to hear this.

"That's it?"

"Yup. What did you think, you would have to perform some kind of ritual?"

"Kinda."

"You're really into novels too much; always remember reality is different from the dreams in a book." 'You don't have to tell me that,' Ethan thought.

"Let's start then," Ethan said, bringing all the cores from his bag and placing them on the table in front of him.

After waiting for some time, but nothing happening, Ethan couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing? Why don't you start?"

Hearing Ethan, the system was speechless. "Do you think I'm going to start my breakfast or something?"

"Once I start the skill, you will feel like hell when the energy runs through your undeveloped veins. But if you say so, I will start," the system said, not waiting for Ethan's reaction before beginning the skill.

Suddenly, Ethan, who was on the couch, fell to the floor and started writhing in pain. White foam-like substance was coming out of his mouth. The pain he felt right now could be said to be worse than dying.

He really wanted to die right now, not because of the pain, but because of the unreliable system that he got.

After an hour of torture, the pain became a little lighter, and after a few moments, it was over. As for Ethan, he was already out of commission.

In the evening, Ethan woke up from his sleep beautifully but started to remember all the pain and torture he had been through. His muscles started to tremble just remembering it.

"You bastard, come out; I want to kill you!" Ethan was so angry that his teeth were about to fall out from grinding.

"Oh, you wake up quite early, Ethan. How do you feel?" But suddenly, his voice was drowned out by Ethan's angry roar.

"Don't give me this shit, you asshole! You knew this was going to be painful, but you didn't tell me beforehand!"

"What do you want me to say, 'Oh Ethan, this is going to hurt like hell, please be prepared?' Then your pain would have been a little lesser, I think, right? Don't be naive, Ethan; there is nothing in this world that comes free of cost. For everything, you have to pay something."

Ethan, who was angry, became silent. "So every time you want to absorb something, I will feel the pain?" Ethan asked.

"What are you talking about? Who said I was absorbing cores? The cores are still on the table." Ethan felt like he had been hit by a hammer. The pain he went through was only because of those cores, but they were still there. Why did he go through so much pain?

"System, why didn't you tell me what you were doing while I was being tortured?" At first, his voice was normal, but the more he spoke, the louder it became.

"Hey, Ethan, calm down; drink some water first."

After drinking the water, Ethan calmed down. But seeing the cores on the table, he once again started to shout.

"You want me to calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down?" The system knew that it had gone too far this time; Ethan was just a normal human. Even though he had somehow gone through this hellish pain, trauma is hard to overcome.

"Actually, Ethan, what I did is called clenching of bone marrow and veins. Now that you've gone through this process, your future will be limitless. And now you can also use your power without any worries. As for the pain you suffered, I wanted to tell you, but I thought you would give up on this process because of the pain, so I didn't tell you."