Chapter 7: The End of His Story

The boy opened his eyes. He got up and looked around. He could hear the soft snores of the other students. They were tired from the recent fight. The teachers were resting too. They set up a warning spell to wake them up in case of danger, so they could sleep in peace.

But the boy could not sleep. Whenever he shut his eyes, he saw a certain boy’s face, disappearing into the dark abyss. The boy walked out of the camp. He looked up into the night sky. A crescent in the sky watched over them.

Flane began to remember all the times he shared with him. None of them were happy. All he had ever done was torment the other boy. Why did he do it? Because of her. Because of Melodi. Flane regretted the decisions he had made. Flane had made him suffer because of his selfishness and jealousy. And then Flane had let the boy die. The boy looked down at his hand. The hand that had last touched Kuren Sain. The hand that had let Kuren fall into the abyss.

“What’s wrong? Couldn’t sleep?” a soft voice broke the silence. Flane whipped his head around.

“Oh, it’s just you, Melodi…I just…can’t stop thinking about him.” Flane whispered. The guilt he felt was clearly visible on his face.

“Who?” Melodi cocked her head with a questioning look.

“What? Who do you think? Kuren. You know, your friend.” Flane answered incredulously. Was she being serious? Was she playing dumb? Flane took a closer look at the girl. He realized that she looked like a mess. Her hair was everywhere. Her bangs covered most of her face. She was wearing nothing but a blouse that barely covered her in the cold night.

Melodi stared at him with a blank look. Her eyes seemed to look straight past Flane. Suddenly, a mysterious expression appeared on her face. Flane had always thought of the girl as a flower: beautiful and fragile. But at this moment, the look on her face sent chills down his spine. A new emotion replaced the guilt within Flane’s heart. Fear.

She took a step forward. He almost tripped over himself when he moved backwards. Melodi’s lips curved in a thin line.

She softly whispered, “My friend? That boy? But I barely knew him?”

*         *         *

The boy woke up.

“Ugh. Ow…it hurts.” Kuren groaned as he resituated himself. The first thing he noticed was that he was soaked. And very hungry. He looked around. It was completely dark. He tried raising his right hand, but for something reason he couldn’t. Whenever he tried, he would feel a sudden pain in his right arm. He raised his left hand in the air.

“[Ignis Globus].” A small flame appeared at his fingertips. With a new light source, he began looking around.

He was in a cavern next to a small river that flowed deeper in the cave. On one side of the cavern, there was a small waterfall coming from the ceiling. It seems that Kuren had washed up here after falling down the chasm.

When he took a look at himself, he groaned once more. His right arm was bending backwards. Completely unusable. And completely painful. His right ankle was swelling up too. As Kuren examined his ankle, he remembered the hand that had grabbed his ankle. Who was it? Kuren didn’t see who had saved him.

As Kuren thought about his unknown savior, he realized that he was completely alone. As Kuren thought more about his situation, he began to panic a little. How was he supposed to make out of here alive?

His situation was not looking good. Alone and injured deep underground. Would anyone come and save him? He began to think about his uncle and aunt. Honestly, they didn’t care too much about Kuren. Kuren knew that they took him in only because of his inheritance. They used some of the money to send him away to the Combat Academy, where they wouldn’t see him for a while. Kuren thought they were probably rejoicing at the thought of having his inheritance to themselves.

He shook his head. He shouldn’t think so negatively. He wasn’t going to die here. He was going to make it alive. And not because someone was going to save him. But because he was going to save himself. With newfound determination and calm, Kuren surveyed his surroundings once more. The waterfall in the ceiling was high up. He walked over and looked at the walls. They were too slippery to climb, and he doubted he could climb with a broken arm. It seems that going back up was not an option. He would have to follow the river downstream deeper into the caverns.

He suddenly remembered to check his belongings. The sword he had was gone, probably washed away by the river. His bag was still with him. He checked the contents. The two vials containing a poison and a purgative were still safely sealed. However, the botany book was soaked. He took out the book and looked through the pages. It was still readable, but much of the notes written in the book were washed away. Kuren tossed the book back into his bag.

He didn’t have much, but at least, he had water. The river provided a constant and hopefully clean source of water. As Kuren was thinking about his choices, he heard a quiet rumbling. He looked around to see where the sound was coming from. The rumbling grew louder.

Kuren realized it was coming from the waterfall. He cocked his ear, listening. The rumbling grew even louder and more intense. All of a sudden, a rush of water came pouring out of the waterfall. Kuren stepped back. The water poured into the river, widening it by a meter or two.

Kuren noticed a few black shapes in the water. Were they rocks? As Kuren leaned in to take a closer look, sudden jets of water came bursting out of the water. He tried to dodge them, but one of the jets hit him in his right shoulder. The jet cut him open and blood began flowing out of the wound. Kuren cried out in shock.

The flame in his left hand went out.

Kuren vaguely saw the black shapes leap out of the water. They hit Kuren and bit into his flesh. New wounds opened up on his body and began bleeding. As Kuren felt the pain, he began vigorous shaking the unknown monsters off him. He heard their bodies hitting the ground. Then, he heard flopping sounds.

Fish? They were most likely fish if they were flopping on dry ground like that. Kuren raised his left hand again.

“[Ignis Globus].” He re-chanted the spell. With a renewed light, he looked at his attackers. Flopping on the ground were black fish. Black scales with red beady eyes.

Magical beasts. Kuren remembered. The chasm was filled with magical beasts. That meant danger was around every corner. Kuren suddenly felt that his chances of survival had significantly decreased.

As Kuren looked at the fish, his stomach began to growl. He looked at the fish hungrily. There was nothing wrong with eating the fish right? They were still animals.

Kuren moved closer to one of the fish. Suddenly, a jet of water burst from the fish. Kuren barely sidestepped the blast and he backed away.

“All right. You still got a little fight left in you. I respect that.” Kuren smiled. “But now it’s my turn.”

Kuren left the flame sphere floating in the air. He grabbed a rock on the ground with his left hand. He slowly edged towards the fish. Suddenly, he pounced and swung the rock down.

He was right-handed, so his swing was quite clumsy. He managed to land a glancing blow on the fish. But it was still much alive. He wasn’t done. Kuren slammed the fish with the rock once more. The fish’s scales were cracked and its red, pulsing veins could be seen.

Kuren raised the rock and swung once more. A large indent appeared on the fish’s flesh. It desperately tried to flop around in a desperate attempt to escape.

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Wham! This time Kuren slammed the rock with all of his strength. The fish stopped moving.

Wham! Once more.

Wham! The fish was almost completely flattened by Kuren’s swings.

Wham! The fish was nothing but a scattered pile of flesh and scales.

Wham! Kuren finally stopped. He was breathing heavily, a wild look in his eyes.

He dropped the rock and began ravenously shoving the scattered bits of flesh and scales into his mouth.

“So hungry…” Kuren muttered with his mouth full. The scales in his mouth poked and cut him but he was too hungry to care.

“So disgusting…” The flesh in his mouth tasted absolutely revolting. Honestly, Kuren felt like throwing up. But he continued to shovel the fish remains into his mouth.

With effort, he swallowed the bloody mess. He lay there on the ground, his hunger satisfied. But then, it hurt. Kuren felt a sudden pain rack his body. He curled into a ball. His stomach felt as if it was going to rip apart.

Then, Kuren realized what he had done. He was an idiot. Consuming the flesh of a magical beast… What was he thinking? Obviously the flesh was tainted by raw mana. If he ate the meat, he was obviously going to experience the repercussions associated with raw mana.

“Hurts…IT HURTS!!!” Kuren screamed as his body was racked with pain.

It hurt so much. It hurt so very much. It felt as if he was going to split into two. The raw mana coursed through his body like a deadly poison.

Even amidst the unbearable pain, a sudden light went out in his head. The purgative. His last chance. It could remove poisons. Why not raw mana?

Kuren reached for the bag and desperately grabbed for the vial. When he had the vial in his hand, he used his teeth to rip the cork off. He took a large swallow of the clear liquid and downed the whole thing.

The purgative burned in his throat. He could barely feel it when his entire body felt as if it being ripped apart. The burning sensation grew greater and spread through his body. At this moment, the only thing Kuren knew and felt was pain. He forgot everything else. The mother who gave her life for his birth. The father who left him behind. The relatives who used him for his inheritance. The lack of talent he was born with. The girl who used him as her plaything. The boy who tormented him. The plan to take revenge and end the life of another human. He forgot them all.

Kuren knew only one thing. And that was pain. Blood poured more intensely from his open wounds. His screams echoed throughout the cavern. He choked and threw up blood and other bodily fluids. Red, glowing liquid began to flow from his body. The raw mana was being purged from his body.

As more blood poured out of his body, Kuren felt his body changing. Hair began to simultaneously grow and fall out. His nails grew long like claws. He felt his muscles growing to the point of bursting. His once brown hair was turning into a deep black. His blue eyes changed into a crimson red. Red veins filled with liquid mana were visible on his skin. His body, tainted with raw mana, was breaking apart and reforming itself at the same time.

Kuren shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear the pain. He lost consciousness as he was overwhelmed with pain.

*         *         *

Kuren’s body was constantly destroying and reshaping itself. His hair and eye color all changed color. His skin cracked and blood and mana oozed out. Then it would heal almost instantaneously. Then it would crack once more. His body went through a constant cycle. It progressed to the point that Kuren was completely unrecognizable. His body had become muscular and lithe. His nails were sharp like that of a beast’s. His teeth became hard and sharp. His appearance began to match those of the magical beasts that lurked in the chasm.

It wasn’t just his appearance. His mentality too. Magical beasts care about one thing only: survival. Thoughts, emotions, and memories disappear when an animal is tainted by raw mana.

A human could never handle the corruption of raw mana. Even if the human had the help of a purgative. If Kuren was a normal human being, he would not be able to survive even with a purgative. But he was normal. Average. Below average, to more exact. So how was he still alive?

Even though he was weak. Even though he had no talent. Even though his fate was to die alone deep underground. He did not give up. He did not have a reason. It wasn’t like he had someone waiting for him. It wasn’t like he had some motive or dream to fulfill.

He just wanted to SURVIVE. He wanted to LIVE. His will to survive was great. Enough to defy logic. Enough to defy his body’s capabilities. Enough to defy his fate set by the heavens.

A will that could surpass the heavens. Kuren’s will of survival had been fully awakened within the depths of the underground. With determination, he had survived. But at the same time, he hadn’t.

His body was completely changed; nothing was left of Kuren’s old body. His personality and memories were also gone, leaving behind an empty shell.

Kuren lost his humanity. His thoughts. His feelings. His emotions. His heart.

Kuren had died in that cave. His body and mind were completely gone, wiped away.

And a new entity replaced him.

A being that should not exist.

A being that should not be alive.

A boy with no heart.

An Anomaly.

*         *         *

Deep underground, a boy lay soaked in a pile of blood and liquid mana. He woke up.

He looked around. His red eyes saw easily through the darkness. It seemed that he was in a cave. He honestly had no idea had no idea where he was. Or how he even got here. Or who he even was. He tried to think, but he couldn’t remember anything. The boy was oddly calm. An ordinary person would have panicked from being in an unknown situation with amnesia. But the boy didn’t care. More accurately, he didn’t feel anything. He felt as if there was hole in his chest, as if he was completely empty inside. The boy didn’t question this emptiness. He simply didn’t have any interest or curiosity in the matter.

He took a look at himself. He was lying in a pile of blood, but he didn’t see any open wounds on himself. His body looked fit and healthy. He frowned, unsure where the blood had come from. He noticed there were black fish lying around. They were dead, deprived of water. A small river flowed not too far away. Another strange mystery. Why were the fish out of the water? He felt a gnawing hunger in his stomach, so he walked over and picked up one of the fish.

He placed the fish in his mouth and bit down. His sharp teeth easily broke through the fish’s scales. The taste was familiar, but the boy didn’t think anything about it. His hunger satisfied, he took a better look around. A bag lay on the ground. He reached in and found a book and a vial of a green liquid. The book was mostly ruined by water. There were still a few usable pages, so he tossed the book back in the bag. He unstoppered the vial and sniffed the liquid. It was sickly sweet. He did not trust it. Probably poison of some sort. He slung the bag over his shoulder and looked at the river. A waterfall came from the ceiling, but it was too slippery to climb.

The only path left was following the river deeper underground. The boy didn’t hesitate and walked alongside the river.

The boy left behind the cave without a second thought.

And with that…

The story of the boy named Kuren Sain came to end.

And the boy with no heart began his own.