This Is Not the Life That I Imagined

The next morning, John reached the training ground invigorated after a day of relaxation and a good night's sleep. He waited for a while before Maxwell and Toby arrived.

"Hello, John," Maxwell greeted.

"Good morning. How was your rest?"

"Good," Maxwell replied, then fell silent, returning to his usual mode of minimal conversation.

John turned his eyes to Toby, who avoided interaction and sat a little farther away. Minutes passed quietly as they waited.

The door to the training ground swung open, and Quinn entered, accompanied by two strangers.

"I see you're all here on time. Good. Let me introduce these two to you," Quinn said, gesturing to his left. "This is Markus, an expert in fire element control."

Just by looking at Markus, John had the illusion of seeing a raging fire for a split second before it vanished. Markus had a look of maturity and appeared to be in his late 30s. He wore black lace-up formal shoes, navy blue formal pants, and a dotted short-sleeve white shirt.

John observed Markus carefully, wondering how a fire control expert would approach training. Even though he wasn't in the best relationship with Toby at the moment but he knew his talent is capable of much more.

'Toby will become much more powerful after learning under such expert… I just hope he learns how to work better with the team.'

"And to my right is Professor Ada, a specialist in dungeon investigations and animal mutations," Quinn continued.

Professor Ada gave a gentle smile. She wore a modest long-sleeve dress that conveyed a sense of class without highlighting any of her body features. She seemed to be in her late 30s or early 40s, as far as John could guess.

"Toby, you will learn from Markus for your upcoming training, preparing you to join the fighting department," Quinn continued. "As for you, John, you will learn from Professor Ada. Maxwell, have you decided which department you want to join?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Then I recommend the fighting department for you as well. Your talent doesn't have any advantage in investigations, but for now, you can learn from both."

After a short pause, he added, "You need to continue training the basics even after joining the specialized training, but I won't come to supervise you anymore."

Without another word, Quinn vanished, leaving them with their new instructors.

Markus chuckled, turning to Toby. "Toby, go to the field and use every technique you can. Use all your power, I want to see where you stand."

"Yes, sir," Toby replied, heading toward the field.

Markus then turned to face Maxwell. "Your hardening is partial element control. Your talent makes it easy to use stone elements all over your body, but at the same time, it makes it a thousand times harder to control the element to do anything else."

Maxwell has a look of confusion on his face. Markus continued, "I read your report. You've learned to partially harden parts of your body instead of your talent default— the whole body at once. It may not seem useful now, but it will be key in your next phase of training. Your goal is to extend that hardening into external shapes, like weapons. We will get into details later."

Maxwell's eyes brightened as he listened attentively. When he first trained and could control his talent to harden only a part of his body, he thought it would be very useful. But as the fighting started, he never found a use for it.

He was worried inside that would be all he could do with his talent. As he saw John's versatile talent change and Toby manipulate his fire as he pleases, Maxwell felt a little envy inside and was determinant to find a way to enhance himself.

Now, for the first time, he saw a way forward, a hope for the future, a path to better himself.

"What should I do now, sir?" Maxwell asked eagerly.

"Start by hardening your fist and attack the training dummy. Keep going until you can't stand anymore."

Despite the harsh-sounding instructions, Maxwell was not a bit intimidated. He joined Toby on the field, ready to train.

"Come with me, John," Professor Ada beckoned, her voice a gentle command. John followed, curious about what his training would entail.

"I've read about your talents. They are very intriguing," she inquired, her eyes scanning him for answers. "Does your double-focus talent help you study faster?"

John responded, "I haven't really tried it since discovering it. I've been training for combat all this time, so I haven't had a chance to see its effects in other areas."

Professor Ada nodded thoughtfully. "Well, you'll have plenty of opportunities to explore that now. Our work in dungeon investigations involves a lot of study and analysis. It's crucial to understand the environment, the creatures, and any potential mutations."

They walked until they reached a new area, unfamiliar to John, where Professor Ada's office was located. After entering, John saw a desk, a peculiar-looking bookshelf, and another door labeled "Lab."

Professor Ada gestured for John to take a seat as she went to the bookshelf, grabbed a thin book, scanned it with her comm (watch), then handed it to John. "Pass your watch over it, and you'll be able to read it from there. Your task today is to read this."

"That's it?" John looked bewildered. The book was too thin to take an entire day to read.

The professor chuckled, reading his thoughts. "This is just a carrier, like a USB drive. But I like the look of books, so I designed them to appear as such. Without my permission, you won't have access to its contents."

John did as he was told, feeling slightly embarrassed. On his watch, a new category labeled "Books" appeared, containing only one book:

(Books:

- Unveiling the Supernatural: Fundamentals of Unexplored Reality.)

John forgot his embarrassment as he was intrigued with the book title. 'This looks interesting.'

"You'll begin your study here," Professor Ada continued. "Later, you'll learn other stuff from me, including how to use some new tools. You'll also need to train with weapons other than your sword."

"Yes, ma'am."

Professor Ada then went into the lap, leaving him alone in the office to study. John was pleased with the arrangement. Although he wasn't fond of studying in college, he appreciated gaining knowledge. What he hated were the tests he needed to take to pass the different subjects. Plus, he disliked fighting even more.

Casting his distracting thoughts aside, he opened the first page of the book.

'The origin of this book cannot be determined, as it has been in existence for many years and has passed through numerous hands before the establishment of the Bureau of Metaphysical Investigation.

Over time, it has been refined, with some parts removed and others added. This is the current version, agreed upon by many scholars.'

"Well, that's interesting!" John mumbled, captivated by the new knowledge.

As each of the trio began their new training, Quinn went to the Director's office to address a different kind of urgency. He stepped into the office, where the atmosphere was charged with concern. Sitting behind the desk, Noah seemed exhausted.

"Any news about the Level 6 dungeon?" Quinn asked as he sat down.

Noah sighed, rubbing his temples. "No, it's still forming. But that's already causing a headache. We've had to deploy extra manpower just to seal off the area, and agents from both our country and Pravine are dealing with any sort of mutations caused by the rising energy levels."

"I already have a few people on mind for clearing the dungeon," Quinn said, sending a name list to the director.

Director Noah's eyes narrowed, his voice rising, "Are you serious, Quinn? This is nearly our entire core personnel! If something happens while you're in the dungeon, we'll have no one to respond."

Quinn looked the director straight in the eyes and replied, "The last Level 6 dungeon appeared a hundred years ago. Many people were sacrificed at that time to quell the incident. You know better than I do how it was back then. Level 6 dungeons are on a completely different scale compared to Level 5. It's not just one level difference—it's practically another world."

Director Noah looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant, sighing. "I know… you don't have to remind me."

"That's why we need the most powerful people possible. Coordinate with Pravine's Bureau of Metaphysics Investigation to not take it lightly and provide their best. And we need time to train together before the big fight to minimize any accidents from happening."

After taking a deep breath, the director let out an audible sigh. "You are right, we can't take it as it's just a more powerful level 5 dungeon. I'll do as you say. I'll inform you when all of them agree, which may take a couple of days."

Quinn stood up, ready to leave. "One more thing, I don't know how long it will take us to clear the dungeon—maybe months or more. So, don't forget to toughen up the treatment for all below master realm. We need more masters for any emergency."

Director Noah laughed softly. "You're becoming more brazen by the day. Why don't you just take my director's seat?"

Quinn rolled his eyes, chuckling. "What is the use of this thing? I better spend my time on more interesting matters."

Speechless, Noah gestured for him to go." Go, do your own thing. I will notify you if there is any news."

 Quinn went out with a smirk, muttering under his breath," That old man doesn't know what's good for him."