Ato sprinted through the fields, trying his best to ignore the stabbing pain in his left foot. Blood from his face wound seeped into his eyes, massively blurring his vision.

He brought his arm up to his face, wiping of the blood that resided on it and fixing his blurry vision. Up ahead, he could see the fork in the path, yet he couldn't for the life of him remember which one he was supposed to take.

A sudden collision with a stone sent the young man plummeting to the ground. Causing a collision that knocked the wind straight out his lungs.

"Haa... Haa..."

Ato rose to his feet, only to abruptly fall to the ground once more. He clutched his left foot, which was oozing more blood than it had before.

"Damn it..."

The young man lay face up on the ground, and watched as the first few raindrops began descending.

Seriously? Rain, at a time like this?

Ato cursed out loud, he cursed the world, the people in it, himself. He reached deep into his psyche, drawing deeply from emotions he never knew exisded within him; regrets, dissapointments, false affirmations and institutional lies he'd been told since childhood.

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The rage he felt was not a shallow one, it was much more deeper, more insidious than anything he'd ever experienced.

And at the midst of it all, Ato felt more lost than he ever had.

"I-I tried... I really tried! I thought I could be someone, do something better with my life!"

He took a deep breath and then bought his knees up to his face. At this point, the rain had began falling heavily, and there was very low visiblility on the path.

"So fucking useless..."

Ato's mind began to wonder back to his fight. He relived the confidence, the desperation, the intent to flee.

And then he came to a sudden realisation.

He could've won.

It would've been quite easy, too. All he needed to do was use his spell, the one edge he had over the creature, to kill it.

It was such an easy plan and yet... He'd somehow managed to screw it up.

Like he always did.

Overcome with a flood of emotions, Ato shifted to the meditative position, conviction sculpting his face into one of utmost seriousness.

He was never going to lose again.

Never.

The burning sensation set in, becoming more and more painful as the minutes flew by. Ato was near his limit -- he knew that much, yet he kept persisting, even when the heat grew so great that the ground beneath him began to dry up.

And then, there came the sound. It wasn't the usual soft cracking, but a loud, sharp, ripping sound that went on for minutes.

SNAP!

Ato's eys shot open, pure glee reflected in their hazel depths.

He'd broken through. Ato had overcome an obstacle he thought he'd only reach by the next year.

He was supposed to be filled with energy, he was supposed to be brimming with a higher level of Kra, it was supposed to be a wonderful moment for him.

So why...

Why did he feel so empty?