A few tears ran down my face, sunlight filtering in through the windows of an unfamiliar room. A blanket lay draped over me. My arm remained outstretched, bandages thinly wrapped over it. Every muscle in my body ached with an ancient pain as I hurriedly wiped the tears from my eyes, attempting to sit up, but I was prevented by the weight on my chest. However, the weight soon lifted as I saw messy green locks obscuring a pale face, bathed in golden light.

“Hu…a?” My entire body was sore, and the sound of my voice was unfamiliar to me. It sounded croaky, old, lifeless. It didn’t seem like mine, and I was quite surprised when I heard it. In response to that, her eyes seemed to shimmer, out of happiness, and something else. They wobbled, and her whole body shook, countless tears streaming down her face and cascading onto the floor as though they were fast-moving currents.

She hugged me tightly, and I didn’t need to understand. She, as mature as she acted, couldn’t lose any more people. She was still young, yet… And I knew it wasn’t fair to her. Because she deserved a family too– but misfortune didn't pick and choose. The only fair thing in this world, I had noticed…was how unfair the hands people were dealt, were.

“Three days,” She whispered. “Three days you’ve been asleep.”

My fists clenched, and my teeth gritted. She was like this because of me. Worrying about me. Because I was weak. Not strong enough to handle the awakening of my own power, not good enough to even get the answers I sought from Isabella. Fucking useless by all accounts. My fingernails dug so deeply into my hands, they began to blend, as I felt it soaking my fingertips. Deserving, I thought.

Rudely awakened from my thoughts, as well as the rather sweet moment with Hua, loud knocks sounded upon the wooden door, before it was pushed open without a word. A redheaded man stood in the doorway, hair hanging around his shoulders, glasses perched on his face. My eyes narrowed, glancing over to Hua, whose expression didn't seem to be shocked or scared. Was he a threat…?

However, I was immediately preoccupied by the sight of what looked like specks of dust in the air. No. They were… soul particles? Like the ones I'd been drawing to my core the whole time. I could see them now? I had… awakened?

“I've…. awakened?” My voice was low, curious. Almost a question to myself. But that much was always clear. I just wanted to reassure myself that I had been able to do something. That I’d now be able to provide something.

Red hair hung down to the man’s shoulders, half-tied in a bun atop his face. He made his way over, and I visibly tensed, but I was unable to move. My body wouldn’t respond due to how long I’d been lying in this damn bed for. Move. Move, damnit! His hand stretched towards me further. And I closed my eyes, awaiting whatever it was. However, it simply slipped…. Behind my back, pushing me up into a sitting position. Pain spiked through my chest and I clutched the centre, coughs violently exiting my mouth as I gasped.

“Your core is stable,” He commented, “But weak. If you wish to protect Miss Hua, you will fail… Ah. We haven’t been introduced yet. My name is Jasper. And you?” His voice was gentle, polite, to an uncanny degree. But there was an undertone of something I simply couldn’t understand. Like he was playing with his food. For that reason alone, distrust brewed in my heart.

“Atlas. Atlas Reyes.” I responded cautiously, never taking my eyes off of him. Hua turned to face me, crossing her arms.

“Now, once you’ve recovered, we have to go to the capital– Xing– to get your affinity checked. If you have one, that is.” She said, half-heartedly, sombre. It was as though she didn’t want to go. As for why, I couldn’t fathom. Nonetheless, I nodded. Jasper piped up from the corner, back against the wall. So silent, I had forgotten his presence.

“Ah, you’re heading there too? My group and I will be heading there as well. I hope you don’t mind us accompanying you?” He smiled, before it dropped from his face. Hua seemed to be fine with that, allowing for a small nod. She clearly trusted the group more than I did– then again, I’d been asleep for three days. As I dragged myself off the bed, she helped me hobble over to the door. My body turned to face him, eyes locking onto his in a silent war. I didn’t trust him, but that didn’t mean he had nothing to offer.

“If I’m doomed to fail,” I said, “Then what about teaching me? So I don’t.”

His eyes flickered for a moment, before a smile was brought to his face. Cunning, I didn’t like that face. It was as though I were staring into the eyes of a serpent. “If that’s what you wish, young Atlas. Your wish is my command.”

–

Recovery, after the last few weeks, was now my least favourite activity. There wasn’t much more that could be more utterly boring than that– but at the very least, I had the books from the study with me, since training my soul core at the same time as healing my body was important, now that it had awakened. The process of cleansing my impure core was slow and arduous, undoubtedly. Even with days, I was barely getting anyway– the methods used in the books were rather… inefficient, I thought.

As I made my way around the house sometimes, I’d notice Hua hanging around her room, gazing mindlessly at the framed photos, seemingly reminiscing a distant past. She had seemed both happy and sad when we’d agreed to go to the capital. Happy to go, but sad to leave. After all, I doubted we’d be returning to this place, since “the time had come to return”, or that’s what she told me anytime I asked.

Along with that, the Lizards were now staying at an inn close by as well, and they had begun to train the both of us, since I had now regained some control over my arms and legs, albeit not without pain. Whilst Hua was practising her nature magic with Mari, I spent my time doing bladework with Jasper, Anthony, Nessa, and Makko, since my affinity was unknown, and I couldn’t be trained under any specific element yet.

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From what I had noticed, Jasper was an Releaser and a Fire Sage, who used a halberd. Anthony was a Releaser, and an Air sage, who used a greatsword. He had beard stubble, unlike Jasper. Nessa and Makko were both Amplifiers, who used Water and Earth respectively along with a bow and gauntlets.

Due to my short stature, they had aptly fitted me with a short, one-handed sword for the time being, since all other weaponry was either too long or too heavy for my body. The greatsword Anthony had me try out had made me… fall over. That could simply have been my lacking strength, however. But I couldn’t do much about this childish body, anyway…

Oftentimes, Anthony and I sparred, since we used similar weapons. I had fought with everyone except Jasper– the strongest for last, it seemed. Today was one such day– after taking the long path to the training grounds, the four were waiting for me. Hua was likely with Mari in the woods near the farm, training to be one with nature. Anthony’s brown hair obscured his eyes for a moment, before he pushed it out of the way carefully, gesturing me to come forward. The muscular man stood in the centre, waiting for me.

I had done this a thousand times in the visions I had seen with Isabella. Those were my memories. Though I was in a different body, they were ingrained into my muscles, into my head. I just had to execute them. Which… was harder than it sounded, since I didn’t understand how I’d managed to pull some of those off. …Older body, probably, since I was now this small, short, young boy, with barely any muscle, skin and bones.

Anthony raised his greatsword. This was a simple fight. No magic, simply pure skill. And I wouldn’t let him have the first move– I had learnt that from Jasper. Letting the enemy have the first move was setting yourself up to lose.

I shot off my left foot as best I could– going any faster was bound to cause more injuries than I’d started this process with– raising my blade, but it simply collided with the flat side of Anthony’s weapon and slid off to the side. Shit.

“Too slow.” He uttered, slamming the tip of the sword into the ground like it was nothing, before spinning and attempting to kick me in the chest. His foot collided with my stomach, sending me flying backwards, skidding. I could almost feel the bruises begin to form beneath my bandages. Not good.

Getting back to my feet, I huffed, throwing a thumbs-up at my opponent, signalling I was good to continue to him. I didn’t want to stop here. Suddenly, without warning, I was off again. I instinctively ducked beneath the swing of his greatsword horizontally, sidestepping the thrust that immediately followed, before getting in a double strike of my own against his side with the wooden practice blade.

This battle was only just getting started.

—

ANTHONY’S POV:

The boy was… good. And he learned fast. We had only been teaching him a few weeks, and yet, he caught on incredibly quickly, as though he had done it all before. His barrage of strikes continued, rapidly. I evaded most of them, only being struck by a few, hefting my blade over my shoulder, stepping in as our swords collided directly, feeling the wood against wood. Batting him away relatively easily after the second-long clash, he didn’t drop to his knees this time. Good. He was becoming more and more resilient with every passing moment.

I swung my blade as he charged again, hoping to hit him in the face– but he was nowhere to be seen. “...Huh?” I said aloud, wondering where he had gone, grasping the hilt of my blade as I finished my swing, turning around. Atlas fell through the air, upside down, as he twisted his body.

And for a moment, I froze, before regaining my focus. As he was about to swing the blade, he missed, as though he had wrongly judged the distance. Odd. I was sure that he knew he could hit me. Just what was going on here? The battle raged on.

With a few more clashes, it was clear he was slowly becoming more and more tired. I had expected this. Though he showed great prowess and skill, his strength and stamina was lacking, though that could be built up with time and effort. It was time to bring this battle to a close.

I dashed in, swinging my greatsword once over my shoulder, forcing him to block overhead. Then, I swung my blade horizontally– and he disappeared again. The air, once more? “The same trick won’t work on me twi–” My voice cut off abruptly. He was perched on the flat fuller of my greatsword, knees bent, crossed arms with palms facing outward, blade in one hand. Through his hair, which was whipping wildly across his face, I could see naught but his heterochromic eyes. They glowed with such a great murderous intent, I froze in my tracks, unable to breathe, suffocating beneath the fear he had instilled within me with nothing more than a look.

He stared me down like a hunter would its prey, with the intent to kill. Callous, unfeeling, radiating nothing more than bloodthirst.

All sounds I could have made died out, as though I was choking. Choking beneath the feeling of death, like thousands of undead hands grasping every inch of my bare skin.They were cold, so cold. Dragging me beneath the ground. The paralysing feeling of death that overrides all my senses, making me want to turn and run. But I couldn’t, because I’d never escape it.

It was the kind of face only a warrior that had slain hundreds, no thousands– until the count itself became irrelevant, nothing more than dust beneath his feet– could make. No, he was… Death. That was the only way to put it. This boy was Death itself.

“STOP!” I yelled, before he swung his blade into my neck. And that look died from his face, and he made his way to the floor. I almost questioned whether I had seen correctly, for the child before me didn’t seem as though he could make such a deathly face. But my hands still continued to shake, as did my voice as I spoke.

“You– you win. I lost that.” My eyes dropped to the floor, and he seemed concerned, but I brushed his attempts off, making my way over to where Jasper, Nessa, and Makko sat. Exhaling, I sat beside Nessa, hands shaking furiously as I glanced down at them, before over to her. She looked over to me, a curious look on her face.

“It’s not like you to end a battle, or concede ‘till it’s really over,” She poked, “so, what’s up?”

I swallowed.

“I’ve met m-many strong enemies in my time as a mercenary. Too many, almost,” I tried to chuckle, to brush it off. “But that boy– that boy radiated murder like no other. It was as though I was a feeble deer, standing before a wolf. I’ve met the King of Sumeria… but in comparison…” My voice trailed off.

“That boy’s presence was five… no, ten times mightier. Uncrowned, that boy…. is a true king.”