—This damn mark is annoying as hell…
I frowned while staring at the purple symbol on my chest.
It was still pulsing slowly beneath my skin.
Annoying.
Not painful.
But definitely uncomfortable.
I sighed.
—I should go train my physical abilities.
Magic training could wait until tonight.
Physical during the day.
Magic at night.
I still needed to understand the mark better before pushing my magic any further.
I got out of bed and prepared to leave.
Comfortable clothes.
Dark hoodie.
Nothing flashy.
But just as I was about to open the door—
I stopped.
Silence.
My pupils narrowed slightly.
And then—
The vision appeared.
Darkness.
A black puddle.
No.
Something far deeper than a simple puddle.
Like a liquid abyss.
Several purple eyes floated around it, silently watching.
Blinking slowly.
And within the liquid…
A figure began to rise.
Tall.
Distorted.
Covered in shadows.
The vision ended abruptly.
—…
I blinked slowly.
—Heh.
A small smile appeared on my face.
—So the power activated again.
Future vision.
I still didn't completely understand how it worked.
But I understood the message.
That thing…
Was going to awaken.
I didn't know when.
I didn't know where.
But it was going to happen.
I clicked my tongue.
—Tch…
I scratched the back of my neck and sighed.
—I was planning to take this slowly…
My eyes glimmered faintly.
—But it looks like I can't.
If that thing fully awakened, things would become far more dangerous.
And if it had more subordinates…
I needed to eliminate them first.
One by one.
I smiled faintly.
—Well…
—That just makes things more fun.
I left the house and headed toward the park.
The weather was cool.
The sky gray.
A typical quiet day in New Jersey.
Once I arrived, I watched people walking around without worries.
Some were walking their dogs.
Others sat on benches talking.
Couples walked together carrying coffee.
Children ran near the playground.
Everything looked…
Normal.
And honestly…
That felt strange after last night.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked toward the exercise area.
Bars.
Stairs.
Metal structures.
I smiled a little.
—Let's see.
I started with something simple.
Push-ups.
Too easy.
Way too easy.
I sighed.
My physical strength had already surpassed anything human a long time ago.
I didn't even feel real effort anymore.
That much was obvious.
I hung from a metal bar and started doing one-arm pull-ups.
No problem at all.
—…
The purple mark burned slightly.
I ignored it.
While exercising, I remembered something.
—Right…
Next week were the tryouts for the football team.
I sighed.
—That exists too…
Though honestly…
With my current strength, I'd probably accidentally kill someone if I wasn't careful.
That would be problematic.
Very problematic.
I jumped off the bar and landed softly on the ground.
Then I noticed something nearby.
A group of guys doing tricks on metal structures.
Jumps.
Fast movements.
Flips.
Parkour.
Calisthenics.
The kind of stuff that was starting to become popular through internet videos and forums.
I watched them for a few seconds.
And slowly…
I smiled.
—Now that… I like.
Useful movement.
Body control.
Speed.
Balance.
And besides…
It looked fun.
I tilted my head slightly.
—Trying it wouldn't hurt, right?
I looked at the metal bars.
Then at the roof of a nearby structure.
And then—
I disappeared.
The guys didn't even see me move.
I appeared on top of the structure using only a fraction of my speed.
Silence.
—Oh…
I looked down.
—That was easier than I expected.
My smile widened.
For the first time since the fight against the entity…
I felt something close to peace.
Then I jumped again.
Faster.
Higher.
Moving across bars, benches, and structures as if my body weighed less than air itself.
The wind hit my face as I spun through the air and landed with absurd precision.
And then—
The purple mark burned again.
Harder this time.
I stopped on top of a metal bar.
Silence.
My eyes narrowed slowly.
I could feel something.
An uncomfortable sensation.
Like someone was watching me from far away.
I looked around.
People.
Dogs.
Cars passing in the distance.
Nothing strange.
—…
No.
I couldn't find the source.
I mobilized a bit of magic and hid the mark beneath my skin.
The burning weakened slightly.
I sighed.
—Annoying.
I kept moving.
Jumps.
Spins.
Momentum.
Little by little, I started drawing too much attention.
Well…
That was normal.
Most people had never seen something like this in an ordinary park.
These kinds of movements were usually only seen in professional gymnastics or weird internet videos.
I heard murmurs nearby.
Several people had stopped to watch.
Even the guys practicing parkour were staring at me in surprise.
One of them even pulled out a small camcorder.
2006.
People didn't record everything with phones yet, so seeing an actual camera wasn't unusual.
I performed one final flip in the air.
This time using only one hand to propel myself from the bar.
I spun.
And landed perfectly on my feet.
People around me let out impressed reactions.
Some even applauded.
I sighed.
—Not bad.
But I had already attracted enough attention.
I shoved my hands back into my pockets and calmly left the park before anyone tried talking to me.
As I walked home, my thoughts returned to the vision.
That entity…
Might be close to awakening.
The problem was that I didn't know when.
Or how.
And that was the most annoying part.
Not having information.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
—Once I capture and eliminate more of its subordinates…
—I'll probably understand things more clearly.
Because I was sure of one thing.
That thing wasn't working alone.
I sighed.
—But for now…
A small smile appeared on my face.
—I should see what Vivian is doing.
She had probably already received the letter.
And she was most likely talking to Brittany about it right now.
I laughed quietly.
—Let's go do a little gossiping.
My eyes glimmered faintly.
—And if I have time…
My smile became wider.
More mischievous.
—I might give them a little scare.