Chapter 135: What went wrong

Chapter 135: What went wrong

They had ventured deep into the park before finally coming to a halt beneath the shade of a large tree.

The first thing Kai did was purchase a potion from the System.

[Expert Grade Healing Potion: 500 SP]

[Current Balance: 8720 SP]

He stored it in his inventory, just in case. Perhaps he was being overly cautious, but what was the point of having so many points if he couldn’t prepare for the worst?

"I just need to swallow this, right?" Jean asked, holding the small pill between her fingertips.

Kai nodded. Before she could take it, however, he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"And don’t worry. Regardless of the outcome, nothing will change between us."

Jean offered him a faint smile.

"I know. All right, then."

She drew another deep breath before finally swallowing the pill.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, suddenly...

"Gah!"

Jean groaned in pain and staggered backward.

Kai frowned and immediately caught her by the arm.

"Jean? Talk to me. What happened? Are you okay?"

She nodded weakly.

"Just... give me a moment. Agh!"

Another wave of pain struck her, forcing her to collapse onto the nearby bench.

Kai was about to question the System when his phone suddenly rang.

"Why is Mark calling?"

He had explicitly told the man not to disturb them unless it was an emergency.

Kai hurriedly answered the call, keeping one hand on Jean’s shoulder.

"Mark?"

"Kai, Elara won’t stop crying!" Mark’s anxious voice came through the phone. "Mia is trying to soothe her, but it feels like she’s in a lot of pain!"

Only then did Kai realize what was happening.

Jean’s sudden agony had completely overshadowed everything else, preventing him from noticing the distress of his own daughter. Now that Mark had mentioned it, however, he could sense that Elara was crying and suffering as well.

Something was terribly wrong.

"Kai... my arm..." Jean gasped, extending her left arm toward him. "It feels like something is burning!"

At the same time, Mark’s panicked voice rang through the phone again.

"Kai! Something’s wrong with her! Her arm is burning!"

For a moment, Kai’s mind went completely blank.

On one side, Jean sat on the bench, her face pale and her body drenched in sweat as she struggled with the pain. On the other, his daughter’s cries echoed through the phone, each one tearing at his heart.

Just what... went wrong?

...

Back at the house, Mark and Mia stood side by side in the living room.

Fortunately, Elara had finally stopped crying. Exhausted by the ordeal, the little girl had fallen asleep again in Kai’s arms.

Silence had settled over the room, but the tension refused to fade.

Mark was growing increasingly anxious, and he finally broke the silence.

"Kai... what happened to Jean and Elara?"

Kai had carried Jean into the bedroom when they returned. She hadn’t looked well at all, and even after he had laid her down, the sight of her pale face continued to haunt him.

Elara’s cries had been just as frightening. The little girl had seemed to be in such terrible pain that Mia had eventually broken down in tears herself.

Kai remained silent for a few moments before answering.

"They’re... fine. Just exhausted. I can’t tell you exactly what happened because I don’t understand it myself. But don’t worry. They’re safe now."

His voice lacked its usual confidence.

And understandably so.

The two people he wanted to protect more than anyone else had suddenly been struck by something he couldn’t comprehend, let alone prevent. No matter how much strength he possessed or how many resources he had at his disposal, he had been utterly helpless in that moment.

"We’ll be in the living room," Mark said quietly.

He understood that his friend needed some space to collect his thoughts.

Gently guiding Mia away, he led her toward the other room. Even then, she kept glancing back at Elara, her expression clouded with worry.

Mia was overwhelmed by a storm of emotions, but grief and regret weighed heaviest on her heart.

Once they were gone, Kai slowly removed the fabric covering Elara’s arm.

And there it was.

An engraving.

His heart clenched at the sight of the deep red lines imprinted on his little girl’s delicate skin. The pattern looked almost as though it had been carved into her flesh, yet he knew that no one had done this to her.

Click.

He opened the bedroom door and stepped inside.

Jean was sleeping peacefully on the bed. By the time he had carried her home, she had been completely exhausted, her body still trembling from the pain she had endured.

Kai approached her bedside, his attention immediately drawn to her upper arm.

There was an engraving there as well.

Just like Elara, Jean had developed the same strange marking. However, since her arm was larger, he could make out more of the pattern.

At first glance, it resembled a constellation, with several intricate lines connecting different points.

But when he looked closer, he realized what those shapes actually represented.

Feathers.

A single pair of feathers had been engraved into her skin.

Kai’s gaze shifted toward Elara’s arm, and he compared the two markings carefully. The patterns weren’t identical, but there was an unmistakable similarity between them.

Whatever had awakened within Jean, his daughter appeared to have received something related to it.

But what exactly was it?

Kai’s expression darkened as he finally addressed the System.

"What is this? You said Jean wouldn’t get hurt during the awakening."

[Host, the Awakening Pill fulfilled its intended purpose and successfully enabled the subject to awaken mana. However, alongside mana, something else within the subject awakened as well.]

Kai stared at the marking on Jean’s arm.

He could see that much for himself. Something had awakened within her, and whatever it was had caused both Jean and Elara tremendous pain.

But that still didn’t answer the question that mattered most.

"What exactly is it?"

°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. First in the bloodline to not awaken mana, yeah, there was definitely something anomalous about Jean.