Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne-Chapter 45: What it can do

Tap... tap.

Two footsteps echoed on the cafeteria roof as Jenny and Cynthia arrived, spotting the figure they’d been seeking.

Jon sat cross-legged with a book in his hands, glancing up at them with a face that seemed detached from everything. Even looking at him, they didn’t know what to say, and they couldn’t keep asking if he was okay forever.

And after being there for a while and having nothing to say, Jon decided to start.

"Congratulations!" Jon said, closing his book with a soft thud. But instead of a "thank you" or some reply, he was met with curious stares.

"You’ve changed," Cynthia finally blurted out, her brow furrowing. If before she wanted to keep it to herself, now she just couldn’t.

"Yes, you’ve changed," Jenny added, moving closer and studying him.

Jon gave a thoughtful nod, gazing down for a moment before meeting their eyes. "It would be stranger if I hadn’t."

It would have been strange if he didn’t change after committing two massacres and experiencing two deaths. And the result of that change was:

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED PASSIVE SKILL ’DISTANT HEART’]

[’DISTANT HEART’ (UNIQUE THIRD REALM): YOUR MIND AND HEART HAVE BEEN DETACHED FROM PEOPLE. YOU WILL BECOME LESS FRIENDLY TO STRANGERS AND MORE PROTECTIVE OF CLOSE FRIENDS. YOU HAVE BECOME LESS ATTRACTED TO CHARMING AND GORGEOUS PEOPLE.]

Looking at the skill, there was nothing about it that felt good. It was already detaching him from people and making him overprotective of them.

Wasn’t that the worst kind of person to live with? A person who, though never close to someone, was always stopping them from doing what they wanted to do.

And now, as he looked at Cynthia again, she seemed less attractive than she usually was. With this skill, together with his ’Composure’, his mind was as sturdy as a truck, and he couldn’t possibly tell the girls about it.

He wanted to; however, that would make them want to be there for him, and that totally went against the trait. And because it was now a part of him, he was fine with it.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t relate to them.

As he snapped out of his thoughts, and as if he remembered something, he stretched his hand towards Cynthia.

She raised a questioning brow.

"You owe me a dress."

Then realization dawned on her.

"Ah..." she murmured something and started shaking her head.

Then she suddenly looked up and said with a smile, "Fine, I’ll get you one too." She chuckled and lifted her dress on the spot.

"What are you doing?" Jenny asked, slapping her hand.

"Uh? He said he wanted..." Her voice trailed as she faced Jon. A part of her thought he was back to normal.

"Then I guess I’ll also tell everyone about ’Dark Flaming Tornado’." Jon’s voice turned a pitch higher towards the end of the sentence. He tried to make it sound friendly, but it came out distant.

Cynthia immediately froze.

Her eyes widened so much they were close to popping out. She had formed that skill alone, in the depths of the darkness dome. She even felt the name was a bit irky.

Even when she shouted the name out toward the end, it was only Jenny and the now-dead skeleton who heard her.

And the only reason he would know this was—

"You... you were there?" Jenny stammered.

"No, I just... saw it," Jon pointed out, trying to correct their misunderstanding.

"That’s a skill?" Jenny tilted her head.

"Well, more like an application of mana," Jon explained, a faint whitish glow forming on his palm and turning into various shapes. The roof fell silent as the two girls watched in awe.

Well, he didn’t necessarily need to tell them about his divine sense. They didn’t have the ’brilliant mind’ skill to create one, so he could only say it was an application of mana.

After a while, Cynthia, who had not heard anything after the mock, muttered under her breath,

"I need to change that." And her shock quickly faded, thanks to her calming trait. Then she, too, looked at the forming shapes in his hand.

Curious, she asked, "How much do you know?"

"About what?"

"Everything that’s happening," she clarified.

Jon shrugged. "Not much. But I do know... this is the new reality."

Both girls nodded, a shared understanding passing between them. They had already long accepted what the remaining survivors were just accepting: that life would never return to "normal."

"Then, what about this mana?" Jenny asked, forming a small glow of energy in her hand.

"This mana is fascinating. With it, you can amplify your senses, your strength... basically, with it, you can do anything better."

If there was nothing else he knew about mana, he knew that this mana was a very interesting concept. He had heard of it being used in novels and cartoons; however, he didn’t expect the concept and application to be very similar, even the name.

He was a Physics student before the world fell, and if there was even a single thing one needed to know about physics, it was that there were rules to everything in the world, and they must be followed.

But this mana shattered every possible rule. And if that wasn’t interesting, then what was?

Then he began theorizing aloud, surprising even himself with the connections he was making. He was talking of ways they could apply mana to do things. Jenny and Cynthia also sat on the roof, fully engaged as he explained what he’d pieced together, his enthusiasm sparking their own.

And surprisingly, they added their contributions too. They said what they felt about it and all.

Then, after spending hours talking, they began experimenting with it in various forms.

And Jon, who was meant to be detached, found the first people he didn’t want to be detached from. By the time they looked up, the sun was sinking below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink.

They didn’t know it was this fun to learn about new and strange things, and with reluctance, they decided to end their lesson for the day. Though they hadn’t talked and demonstrated all of what mana could do, they knew one thing: their current selves would play their previous selves to death.

Before they went down, their bodies started glowing white. It was an application of mana they had talked of the one to cleanse their bodies of dirt.

"We’re eating monster meat tonight," Jon suddenly announced as they stood to leave.

The girls stopped, the faint glow from their mana fading as they turned to him in disbelief.

"Is it... safe?" Cynthia asked cautiously.

"Apparently," Jon replied with a smirk.

"Have you tried it?" Jenny inquired, her expression skeptical.

"Not yet," Jon admitted and descended from the roof amidst the lighthearted banter of the girls.

...

Night fell, and the survivors gathered for dinner.

Boiled rice, vegetable stew, and the addition of monster meat were the source of both excitement and unease for the survivors. However, nobody had tried eating it yet.

The only reason they even added it was because of the little validation from the leaders that it was edible, but they too didn’t know. Plates were served, but even until the last person, no one dared take the first bite.

Instead, glances darted across the table, each person waiting for someone else to try it. Jon, after a moment of observing the hesitation, closed his book, eyed his food, and picked up his bowl.

His "Moon Gaze" skill had assured him that nothing was out of the ordinary. Then, he took a deep breath, speared a piece of the meat, and brought it to his mouth.

Collective gasps echoed around the table as Jon chewed.

"Hmm..." His eyes widened in surprise before it disappeared. Almost immediately, he ate another, savoring the tender, flavorful meat. He could feel the juices invigorating him, bringing an unexpected warmth. Then a message appeared before him:

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED STAMINA +6]

’This is...’ his gaze unfocused as he processed the unexpected boost.

The stats weren’t significant for him, but it was still surprising. It felt like getting rewarded without doing any work.

Seeing Jon’s reaction, the Beast Lord was next to grab a piece, diving in without hesitation.The only reason he hadn’t eaten first was because he was waiting for Jon to take a bite first, and since he had done it...

He ate with gusto; he didn’t even bother about the rice and just ate the meat. After finishing his, he even took meat from the plates of those hesitating nearby.

His boldness spurred others on, and soon the fighters, their faces lighting up with each bite, joined in, tasting the rewards of their meal. The meat did indeed give a small stamina, strength, and agility boost, though eating more didn’t increase the stats further.

And before they knew it, they all started rushing their food. They wanted to see what was making the leaders act surprised, and also didn’t want their food to get taken away. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The taste and the message from the system were the highlights of the meal.

They had all endured hardships together, and tonight, the simple joy of a good meal felt like a hard-earned reward.

Tears of joy fell in droves.