Days passed, and San sat alone, focusing on distributing his energy, making it bigger and bigger, and he remembered a conversation he had with the teacher in which he said to him:

  "Your talent is not exceptional. In fact, you are ordinary. But the amount of cursed energy you possess is very large. There are people who are born with a greater amount of cursed energy than others, and there are people who have experienced tragedies, so their cursed energy increases due to the rise of bad things and all the negative feelings that come with them."

  "Why do you think the curse grows stronger over time, but we, if we do not train, will remain with the same strength? Because the reason is simple: the curse is born only from negative feelings. These feelings will continue to increase, with nothing to deter them. As for us, we have joy, love, and other positive feelings that act as a deterrent to the growth of negative feelings within us."

  "I expect great things from you, Mr. San. My time for teaching you the basics is over. I will go to inform the others and then return to my work."

  —

  San opened his eyes.

  He stood up. He let go of his focus. He clenched his fist.

  And as soon as he thought of negativity, as soon as he focused on it, it came out of his brain, launched into his hand. So the energy came out of his fist like black fire.

  He started punching the air.

  Punch. Punch. Punch.

  Then he distributed the energy throughout his entire body. He felt it spread in his arms, in his legs, in his back. He moved. He was lighter. He was faster.

  Then he did his technique on a leaf.

  He went back to punching. He became faster.

  After activating his ability, it gave him 25% speed to his entire body.

  He thought: If I had possessed this in my previous world... I would have competed for the heavyweight boxing title.

  He looked at his hands. At the energy still dancing around them.

  Good things sometimes come at the right time for them... not at the time we want them to.

  —

  He went and swam.

  He got out of the water, dried his body, and put on his clothes. Then he headed to the hall.

  It turned out he had been training his focus before everyone else woke up. It was still early, and the other guests had not woken up yet.

  He sat down to have breakfast with them when they arrived.

  The atmosphere was quiet, comfortable. Plates of food on the table, and hot tea emitting a light steam in the air.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Then Shin spoke.

  His voice was polite, but it was clear, direct:

  "Mr. Baylor... Is it done? Are we going to the academy?"

  Baylor looked at Shin. He smiled.

  "Of course." he said. "I've already registered your names. All four of you."

  Clarissa raised her head. She looked at her father.

  "Four?"

  "Yes." said Baylor, his voice calm but decisive. "You are going with them."

  Clarissa was silent for a moment. Then she looked at him with her calm eyes, waiting for more.

  Baylor continued:

  "Stay together. I want you to cooperate. To be something in the future."

  Then he looked back at his daughter:

  "I know you think that being powerless makes the academy useless for you. But you will gain experience, knowledge, and social connections. Your name will rise. You will take on things that build your future."

  He paused for a moment. Then he added in a more serious voice:

  "And what I'm saying is not just advice... but something that will happen. Understood?"

  Clarissa said: "Understood, Father."

  Baylor looked at everyone.

  "This talk is for all of you."

  Everyone nodded.

  Everyone except San.

  San was eating. He didn't raise his head. He didn't nod.

  —

  After breakfast, San walked with Baylor in the palace garden. The weather was beautiful, the sun was warm, and birds were singing everywhere.

  San said:

  "Maybe I don't want to go to the academy."

  Baylor looked at him. He didn't say anything, just waited.

  "I've studied a lot in my life." San continued. "The idea of reading again to prepare for an exam... this is very annoying. And I don't want any positions."

  He paused for a moment, then added:

  "I don't want a job. I don't want additional responsibility. I just want to train, to become stronger, to live."

  Baylor was silent for a while. Then he smiled.

  "I don't care." he said.

  San looked at him.

  "Don't take positions. And don't take the theoretical exam. Do what you want." said Baylor. "I want you there for only two things."

  He paused. Then he said slowly:

  "First: Your presence will save them."

  San looked at him. His eyes narrowed slightly.

  "And second: The academy is not a place of study. It's a place where the strong go—the youth, adolescents, and even the elderly. It's a place where you will be tested... superficially, to the point of approaching death."

  He paused to let the words sink in.

  "What you will gain there is very important. I did not experience this. My upbringing was simple."

  He looked at San, who was walking away slightly.

  San said as he walked, without looking back:

  "I'll go. No need to start your life story."

  That made Baylor smile.

  —

  Days passed.

  Weeks passed.

  A month passed.

  —

  The day arrived.

  A carriage was waiting near the palace. A luxurious carriage, pulled by four white horses, its sides made of carved wood painted dark blue.

  San came out of the palace. He was wearing formal attire, as if he were from the nobility. A soft white shirt, a dark blue jacket embroidered with silver trim, and elegant black trousers. He looked different. He looked older. He looked like he belonged to this place.

  Shin came out beside him. He was wearing a similar outfit, but entirely black, with a red scarf around his neck. He looked like a prince from one of the stories.

  Then Elena came out.

  She was stunning. Her dress was elegant and beautiful, showing her shoulders and part of her feet. Its color was light blue, suiting her eyes. Her blonde hair was shorter than it had been, falling only to her back, flowing like silk.

  Then Clarissa came out.

  She was different. She was wearing clothes that covered her entire body. A long black dress, with long sleeves, and a high collar. Nothing showed of her skin except her face and hands. And her hair... her hair was very long, extending down her back, black as night, soft as water.

  San looked at the two of them. At Elena, radiant, beautiful, bold. And at Clarissa, modest, mysterious, calm.

  He thought: Both are beautiful... but in two completely different ways.

  They all climbed into the carriage.

  It set off.

  San looked out the back window. He saw the city receding, shrinking, turning into a small dot then disappearing behind the horizon.

  This place. He thought. This place where I finally felt comfortable... and now I'm leaving it.

  —

  The journey continued for hours.

  The road was long, passing through dense forests, vast green fields, and small villages with houses of white stone.

  In the evening, they stopped at an inn by the roadside. It was a simple inn, but clean and comfortable. They had dinner, then slept.

  The next day, they continued the journey by carriage.

  And after a day and a half of travel, they arrived.

  —

  San saw something he had never seen before. Something he had only heard of in tales.

  A city that starts from the bottom and rises to the top. In a circular shape, as if it were a precisely carved mountain. It was very white, leaning towards silver under the sunlight. Its outer walls were very high, almost touching the clouds.

  It was as if it was a place that towered above all other places.

  The carriage driver, an old man with a white beard, his features breaking into a proud smile, said:

  "Welcome to City Number 1. The capital of our kingdom."

  San looked at the city. At its beauty. At its exceptional architecture.

  Then he noticed something else.

  It was big.

  Very big.

  It wasn't like the cities he had seen before. It wasn't like Baylor's city, which teemed with hundreds of thousands. This city... was different.

  San thought: Tens of millions live here. At least, that's what I think.

  He looked at his companions. They were all looking at the city with the same amazement.

  Even Clarissa, who had seen so much, her eyes were wide.

  The carriage stopped.

  The doors opened.

  And they got out.

  ...

  Ready, all four of them, for a place whose purpose is to change a person for better or for worse

  ....