The vilge no longer looked at me the way it used to.

  Before the night of the mercenaries, I was “the quiet boy,” the strange son of the bcksmith who rarely ughed and only spoke when necessary. Now, after the “Empty Breath” began seeping into my cells, the looks changed. They were no longer mere curiosity or suspicion. They became instinctual— the gaze of someone who smells a predator even when it’s wrapped in mb’s skin.

  The next morning, I headed to the market to fetch some supplies for my father. I hadn’t walked more than a few steps before I felt it before I heard it: a wave of directed hostility.

  [System Alert: Directed hostility detected.]

  [Analysis: 3 individuals, males, teenagers. Threat Level: Negligible.]

  Baron — the vilge mayor’s son — stood with his two companions at the corner of the road. His body was retively rge for a fourteen-year-old, his mana chaotic and unrefined, but he made up for it with a sharp tongue and an ego fed by his father’s position.

  “Look who’s here… the bcksmith’s son who suddenly thinks he’s a wizard!” Baron shouted loudly on purpose so the passersby would hear. “They say you spend your nights in the forest, Zef. Performing strange rituals? Or looking for a real family instead of that silent bcksmith?”

  I stopped.

  In the past, I might have felt anger, shame, or even the urge to snap back with harsh words. Now? I looked at him and didn’t see a human. I saw a mass of flesh and blood, his mana flickering in a pale, weak gray. A strange coldness crept from the soles of my feet up to the crown of my head.

  [Feature Activated: “Cold Mind” (Level 1)]

  [Perk: Reduction of influence from social provocations by 50%.]

  “Get out of my way, Baron,” I said in complete calm, my voice entirely devoid of tone. The emptiness in my voice alone was enough to make his two companions unconsciously step back.

  “Oh, so now you’re giving orders?” Baron stepped forward, trying to use his height to intimidate. He pced his heavy hand on my shoulder and pressed hard. “My mother says your eyes look like the eyes of the dead. She says you’ve been a bad omen for this vilge since the day they found you.”

  In that moment, I felt the tent lightning mana in my nerves tremble, eager to explode and blow his hand apart. But the system intervened quickly, like iron brakes cmping down on the energy before it could escape.

  [Alert: “Incarnation Sync” is still low. Revealing lightning mana at this stage will destroy the “Camoufge” strategy.]

  [Sudden Quest: “A Lesson in Silence”]

  [Objective: Subdue the opponent without using visible magic.]

  [Reward: “Immunity to Psychological Pressure” Perk + 0.3% Synchronization]

  I smiled. It wasn’t Zef’s smile. It was Ur’s smile — one that promised nothing good.

  “Your hand…” I began speaking in a very low voice, audible only to him. “It’s very warm. So warm it makes me wonder… how it will feel when it becomes as cold as the dirt you’ll one day be buried in?”

  Baron’s face turned pale. The strength vanished from his hand in an instant. He yanked it off my shoulder as if he had touched a burning coal. He tried to look brave in front of his friends, so he raised his fist to strike me.

  “I’ll teach you some manners!”

  I moved.

  It wasn’t an ordinary human movement. Thanks to the ×2 multiplier and Stage Three training, I saw his fist moving extremely slowly, as if swimming through thick syrup. I slipped under his arm and pressed my finger against a specific point on his wrist — the mana flow point I had learned years ago in the forge.

  “Aaaah!”

  Baron dropped to his knees, clutching his arm that had been temporarily paralyzed. No one saw me touch him. It looked as though he had simply tripped over his own feet.

  People quickly gathered around us.

  “What happened?”

  “Did Zef hit him?”

  “No, he didn’t even touch him!”

  The whispers began to rise. I looked at Baron trembling on the ground. I felt no pleasure in victory, nor any regret. I only felt boredom. Were these the humans I was supposed to care about? Were these the weak ones protected by ws?

  [Quest Completed: “A Lesson in Silence”]

  [Acquired New Perk: “Mental Fortress”]

  [Effect: Permanent immunity to fear, intimidation, and emotional manipution. You will always appear calm, no matter the pressure.]

  [Current Synchronization: 1.1%]

  I felt an ice wall rising inside my mind. Suddenly, all the whispers, the hateful stares from Baron’s father who had just arrived, the screaming women… all of it became distant background noise that could no longer reach me.

  “Zef! What did you do?”

  Kai’s voice came from behind the crowd. He ran toward me, his eyes reflecting deep worry. He looked at the pained Baron, then at me. “Did you two fight?”

  “He tripped, Kai,” I said coldly while adjusting my shirt colr. “Maybe his mana isn’t as stable as he thinks.”

  “You’re lying!” the mayor shouted as he helped his son up. “You did something to him!”