The room smelled of iron and burnt wax.
It had been an hour since I started, and blood was still dripping from my fingertips.
The faint sound it made against the floor was almost rhythmic, a counter to my thoughts as I stared at the finished sacrificial circle.
The circle glowed faintly, its edges traced with the blood I had painstakingly offered.
My fingers were numb, a result of the need to make intricate designs made up of overlapping sigils and unfamiliar runes.
Their shapes jagged, twisting into each other like vines choking a tree.
Looking at this wonder, I realised that it wouldn't have been possible to make this if I hadn't burned the image I'd seen in that book. Back then, when I realised that there was a way to awaken my physique, I had put all my focus on learning the Awakening Ritual. Symbols of fire and ash were etched near the circle's outer edges, while the center bore a hollow spiral—empty and ominous, like it was waiting to devour whatever lay in its grasp.
I sat cross-legged at the very center, my body perfectly aligned with the spiral, my breathing steady but shallow.
The dim light from the candle at the corner of the room cast a flickering glow over the runes, making them look alive.
Feeling a sense of overdrive fill me, I felt acutely aware of the silence that now filled the room.
No wind rustling through the cracked window, no distant hum of life outside. Just me, the circle, and the faint crackle of the candle's flame.
As I stared down at my hands, the blood running from the shallow cuts I'd made earlier began to slow, eventually stopping altogether. But my focus wasn't on the blood.
It was on something much more terrifying.
The bruises. The cuts. The pain in my ribs from the beating I'd taken yesterday.
All of it was... gone.
When Grandma Sylvie had woken me up, I hadn't noticed at first.
I'd been too distracted, too consumed with embarrassment and the urgency of what I needed to do next.
But now, with the room silent and my body still, it was clear as day.
It must be the Book Of Sin.
I flexed my fingers, the cuts from carving the circle visible. Perhaps the only injuries I could account for.
My skin was smooth, unbroken, where bruises should have lingered.
My ribs no longer ached, and even the faint traces of blood that had been sucked by the Book of Sin had been replenished.
A chill ran through me.
It had to be the book.
There was no other explanation.
It had taken my blood, drained me, and yet here I was, whole again.
Then again... at what cost?
I did not like the possibilities that came in my mind, so I shoved them aside.
There was no time to dwell on the consequences righy now.
I reached out for the dagger resting beside me, its blade dull in the candlelight but sharp enough to cut through flesh.
I felt it's smooth and cold surface on my hand, unsure if what I was doing would be the right choice...
"The greatest gifts are born out of nothingness.
To seek what you desire, you must lose what's most important."
The words echoed in my mind, a grim reminder of the path I'd chosen.
I looked down at my chest as I traced the outline of my navel.
This was where one's mana core was placed, right below their navel.
I imagined it pulse faintly beneath my skin, my fingers brushing against the faint glow of my mana core.
But it was all a make believe.
My core did not shine.
Nor did it store mana.
I had an empty physique.
And if the book was right, this was the only way to change that.
The murals in the book had shown me what needed to be done, even if it hadn't explained why.
I knew what I had to do.
My grip on the dagger tightened as I tried to reinforced myself.
'Could I really do this?'
The spiral at the center of the circle seemed to pulse faintly, inticing me to offer the 'sacrifice'.
It felt alive, like it was watching me, waiting. The glow of the runes grew brighter, their light flickering along the pounding of my heart.
I took a shaky breath, lowering the dagger to hover just above my abdomen.
The tip was aligned perfectly where it was described in the book.
I'd imagined this moment so many times in the last few minutes, but now that it was finally here, my hands started trembling.
What if it didn't work?
"Stop thinking," I whispered to myself, my voice hoarse. "Just do it."
I clenched my teeth, forcing my mind to go blank.
The hesitation was unbearable, like a wall I couldn't climb.
My chest felt tight, not from fear but from the overwhelming weight of what I was going to do.
And then, in one swift motion I plunged the dagger, deep into my mana core.
A/N: Including the ps before reset and the current, we have finally reached 100ps!!
Here's the promised bonus Chapter—
100ps = 1 bonus Chapter
4 Golden tickets = 1 bonus Chapter
Any gift = 1 bonus Chapter for gifts amounting to every 2000 coins.
2 Golden tickets to go for a Bonus Chapter!!