Waking up to footsteps in the hallway, I half-heartedly turned and tossed, rubbing my eyes to catch a glimpse of what was making that noise. It was Jeremiah. On the kitchen table, he was looking at an array of equipment. He was even equipped in a set of battle gear. Fully protected from head to toe, he counted every piece multiple times, examining it. Over and over until he knew it was perfect or good enough for use for whatever he was hunting. He even had a bottle of water he was 'praying' over? A few minutes passed until he noticed me.

"Did I wake you, Jack? sorry about that?" The usual arrogant Jeremiah was replaced with a more somber one. Something was wrong; I couldn't pinpoint what.

"Kinda, but I've always been an early riser. Since my Con has risen so much, sleep has been a nuisance, honestly."

"Yeah, early system adaptation, you'll get used to it. Your body is getting used to the new influx of energy. After a while, you'll get to choose if you'll even need sleep or not."

"Wow, for real, now that's something interesting, Jeremiah Emily told me you would be going out hunting, but why this late? Also, what's with this mood? I can feel something is off."

Sorrow and grief were written over his face. "Jack, I'm about to go hunt the undead that destroyed Emilia and Emily village."

"Like zombies?"

"Yeah, zombies in most aspects, since the extreme energy storm undead types have been popping up, and my team and I have been assigned to handle them."

"That still doesn't explain your mood. You're leaving something out of this, Jeremiah. If you don't want to tell me, it's ok."

"It's all good, Jack. It's my brother. He was spotted attacking some monsters and turning them in the forest. While I was out yesterday with Emily, a scout told me. It's why I was such an ass yesterday towards you. The guild tells family members strong enough to handle the creature to be the ones to end it's life if they want. To put them to rest finally."

I didn't have any words to explain the mix of emotions coming from Jeremiah and me both. "I know me repeating I'm sorry wouldn't help but Jeremiah. I know what you're about to do would help him in many ways. Maybe then, as Emilia told me, he can finally reincarnate and meet you guys again."

"Thanks for the sentiment Jack, but it's already too late for that. When an undead infects you, it's not just the body that's infected but also the soul and spirit. You become corrupted in more aspects than one, only seeking to devour and spread that infection to other living beings around you. My brother is gone; that thing in his body is no more than a ravenous beast, seeking only destruction."

As he spoke those words, his voice started to croak, and I could tell even behind the full-face helmet, tears were running down his face. He loved his brother to mourn his death not once, but twice would be hard for anyone. But to be the one who has to know that he would never come back into his life. It would bring about more pain than most could endure. I did the only thing I could think of and stood up and hugged the man. This was not a pain one could fix through words, but I could lessen it only if slightly through actions.

To my surprise, he didn't push me away but stood there and let me embrace him in open arms; minutes passed as his bodily shakes and trembles slowly dissipated.

Then he spoke and what he said gave me a chuckle. "Ok enough, Jack, I ain't into this like you" We both looked at each and for a solid second and had a silent but hearty laugh at the occasion. Not wanting to wake up the girls, we kept it light.

"Jeremiah, I know this is hard, but I also know you're the only one here that can set this right, and I trust that you know that."

"Thank you, Jack. If you're still here by the time the girls wake up, tell them I'll be back either tonight or tomorrow morning. I didn't have the heart to tell them everything."

"I will. Good Luck"

With that, he left the apartment. I could only look into the barely lit room and sit on the couch. "This is too bloody much" How many people will have to suffer because of me. How many will have to lose this much just for my existence? A goddamn pity party helps no one, but the longer I stay here, the more sadness and sorrow I experience from my one selfish act. Is this what they mean by karma? I committed the ultimate sin, and now others must suffer for my selfishness. What must I lose and take from others for my species to exist? You think a person transporting to a different world to explore and fight monsters would be one of the best things to happen where the hero is always on the winning side. That isn't true; the source knew this would happen, for what is my lesson to learn? There's a reason for everything, and I'm starting to understand that truth. As Jeremiah said, 'Never doubt who you are, and success will find you,' but what else can I do than doubt myself when my very existence brings grief to others. As the tears ran down my face, I could only pray to the same god that abandoned humanity to bring forth some form of light to my never-ending darkness.

"You are never alone. This is your path and yours alone. Remember your Truth, Jack Talbot"

This will be the last time I shall answer you. Never doubt what has happened. The present is your gift. The future is unpredictable, the past unchangeable. Forge a strength none can deny. Where you can carve in a future where you have no regrets.

The same feeling of when I was transported to this world overcame me, and in an instant, my mind went blank. I went to sleep, too soon to forget this message, but the feeling it instilled in me was engraved into who I was. Forever changing how I saw my walk into the unknown of this world.

As I awoke, I checked the time on my status screen, still having a few hours. I saw both Emily and Emilia in the kitchen. I had a blanket wrapped around me. I needed to tell them Jeremiah's message.

"Emilia, Emily. Jeremiah told me last night he would be gone until tonight or tomorrow. He and his team got assigned a mission by the guild."

"Ah, ok, I was wondering where he went off late. Thanks for telling us, Jack," Emilia answered back; Emily was more preoccupied eating her breakfast. I don't blame her; that's kids for you.

I'm gonna head out. I have a mission coming up in the next few hours. Thank you for everything yesterday. What you did for me really helped me yesterday.

"It was nothing Jack, don't be shy to come by. You're always welcome, no matter what."

With that, I left before walking towards the guild. I looked at the manatherian book I bought yesterday. With the increases in INT and WIS, my memory or mental clarity has improved by a good amount. I guess I can narrow down the effects of increasing these two stats. From skimming over and recalling from memory as I walked.

It seems manatherians come from a monster race, will-o-wisp. Every god can create their species from scratch or select a monster race to imbue with source energy, and over evolution would have them evolve into a specialized race. Comparing this to humanity, I can see we were based on some monkey beast, explaining some extreme evolutionary gaps in our history. With manatherians being pure mana, they don't naturally have any Qi in their body but by reversing mana's purification that their body naturally does with the system's help. They could gain a semi-physical body and access to Qi and other previously locked aspects because of their god. That was just the rundown of what was all contained in the body, but that was good enough for right now.