Splash!

Zaen jumped off the bed as soon as the bucket of cold water hit his face.

"Who the hell—"

"Get up," a masculine voice replied, before yanking him off the bed by the collar. "You need to train."

From the way the man behaved, someone would think they were close. In reality, Zaen had never seen the man's silhouette before.

He was sure since it was the first time he had seen a blinding silhouette. The person was literally glowing so much that Zaen had to look away.

"Who, no, what even are you?" he asked.

"Your personal instructor," Rudra replied. "We can discuss the rest once we're on the training grounds."

Just like that, Zaen was dragged towards the training grounds. However, it wasn't the usual place where everyone trained. The place was far more compact and equipped with hundreds of mysterious machines along with the usual gym equipment.

"Congratulations," Rudra said once they were inside. "You've just been promoted."

"Promoted?"

Zaen was naturally confused. According to the manual they had received, a recruit would only get promoted after clearing three games or dealing with a low-risk anomaly fissure alone.

As far as he knew, he hadn't accomplished either. Unless they were talking about the shit he had been doing in the name of tasks.

If that's the case, then shouldn't I be getting a double or triple promotion?

Just as the thought appeared in his head, Rudra smacked him in the back of the head. Despite Zaen's high stats, the hit stung him more than the maw's bite.

"Geez…!" Zaen grumbled, rubbing his sore head. "What have they been feeding the instructors here…"

"You need to learn a lot," Rudra sighed. "As for double and triple promotions, those hardly come by ever."

Another stupid thought appeared in Zaen's mind, but he was quick to suppress it since the man before him could clearly read minds.

"But that doesn't mean you didn't get it."

Before Zaen could ask about it, Rudra placed a badge, a card, and a handgun in his hands.

"From today onward, you're a junior operative working under me," Rudra said without any enthusiasm. "You'll now receive a weekly salary of 400,000 credits. You can use it as money anywhere in the world."

"400,000…" Zaen mumbled, a bit surprised.

Just because he was rich didn't mean he didn't know the value of money. But then, a thought appeared in his mind.

What would these credits be worth in the real world?

After all, there were hundreds of currencies in the world. If the salary were in euros or USD, then he would be quite rich, but if it were valued like the Iranian currency, then he'd be cooked.

As if sensing Zaen's predicament, Rudra came to his rescue.

"You can exchange one credit for a unit of any currency as you wish. It can be a dollar, a rupee, one of anything."

"…how is that even possible? The entire world's economy could collapse with a system like this."

"That's true," Rudra smiled. "Which is why the credit exchange only recognizes equivalence, not value."

He continued, "You can convert a credit into a dollar, but you cannot convert that dollar into any other currency, as the credits you own aren't physical. Everything is inside your salary card. Do you get it now?"

"More or less, I guess."

"Good. Now that's out of the way, we can focus on your training."

Saying so, Rudra sat on the ground, his legs crossed one over the other.

"Meditation?" Zaen asked. "What good will that do?"

Before he knew it, Rudra was already on his feet and smacked him between the brows.

"Ouch! Will you stop—"

Zaen's complaints got stuck in his throat. For a moment, his perception peaked like never before, and he could almost 'see'.

What he saw was a muscular man with shoulder-length hair tied in a man bun standing before him. His body was tanned, and a strange yellow paste was smeared on his forehead.

The image flickered for a second before disappearing into the bright silhouette Zaen had been conversing with previously.

"Ajna chakra, or as you might know it, the third eye chakra," Rudra said. "It's located between the brows, and training it could help cure your blindness without needing 'eyes' or the stick in his hand."

When Zaen said nothing, Rudra continued.

"Not only can training the chakra improve your perception, but it can also control your anger. You know why that's important, don't you?"

Zaen nodded. His anger was the reason he couldn't hold on to his berserk state for long before losing his mind. It was also why he didn't use it against Nuang, even though he would have surely defeated her if he had tried.

"The higher-ups know you're capable of great things," Rudra commented. "They also recognize the strangeness behind your abilities and want me to help you control them to some extent."

"…is it possible? You can give it to me straight, I don't mind—"

"You think I care about your emotions?" Rudra scoffed, crossing his arms. "I am going to give you the truth. Not the easy version Eira or the others have fed you."

"…"

"As for your question, yes. It is possible. However, it's not easy and requires unparalleled devotion and dedication. Though I know a philanderer like you is incapable of such a feat."

Zaen's mouth twitched when he heard Rudra calling him a 'philanderer', then again, it was true. He had entered into twisted relationships with plenty of women ever since awakening his powers.

While he had plenty of excuses for it, from the few words he had exchanged with Rudra, it didn't seem he would care about his excuses at all. So Zaen decided it was wiser to keep his mouth shut for the moment.

"That said, you're not a complete lost case," Rudra continued. "Only the ones in complete control of their body and mind can conquer the chakras within. So, do as I say and you shall get strong naturally."

Zaen nodded hastily before mimicking Rudra's sitting posture.

"I'm willing to learn, sir!"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.