I ducked under a swipe. Then dashed in for a cut. Before I could get my attack off, Cain slammed his boot into my chest knocking me flat on my back. My body slid on the grass as I felt the awful sensation of all my air evacuating my lungs.

My aura lost so many layers taking several aspects with it. Before I could get up, I saw a spear coming for my face. All I could think was, “move!” to my surprise as if my body already knew what to do, it did.

My head tilted to one side allowing the spear to hit the ground beside my head. I activated my caterpillar aura allowing my body to slide on the grass. This got me away from Cain. He tried coming after me, but I left a landmine behind. Unlike the one I used on Zubu this one was refined.

The spell exploded, knocking Cain up into the air and on to his own back. My Qi was at 30% and I was sure he still had quite a few layers to go.

Waving my hand I put a platform on top of Cain, but he unleashed a wave of lightning burning the green transparent square. I tried pulling the heat aspects from his attack and managed to get quite a few.

Casting fireball I spent the extra 3 seconds to turn it into a solarball and suspended it into the air. I quickly began feeding it hydrogen aspects converting them to more heat aspects.

Cain was on his feet and was trying to catch his breath. I saw layers reforming over his aura. Using the heat aspects, I not only fed them into my aura, but I also created multiple fireball spells and chained them together.

“Multi-fireball!” I called the name of my spell, as several basketball sized novas were released from their spell circles.

Cain gritted his teeth as he forced lightning into his spear and began spinning it around creating an electrified force field. My spells slammed into it, causing the flames to erupt and spin around his spear.

They weren’t strong enough to punch through. It was so frustrating. This was all I could do without an affinity. Why was I still not strong enough!? I worked so hard! I learned everything!

How is it fair to lose to such an asshole! “Die!” I yelled as I fired off my Solarball.

My brother unleashed a massive bolt of lightning causing the yellow star to explode prematurely, not only catching him in the line of fire, but me as well.

My aura fell apart. All that was left was 3 layers. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t draw a single drop of blood! It was so unfair! Was he really just gonna get away with it? Get away with hurting Aku?

I don’t understand! I’ve always been able to do something when the people I love were hurt! Why couldn’t I do it now? Was this really my limit?

Cain rose to his feet. His aura was slowly being repaired. I tried to do the same, but I could only get about 20 layers up. Any more and my Qi would run out too quickly.

I didn't want to be on the ground so I forced myself to stand. My body was screaming at me, telling me it was nap time. Stupid child body. I rubbed my eyes and realized my sword was gone.

“What's the matter is that all you got? Pathetic. I knew it. maybe you should just run back to your mommy Cosmo and let her take care of you. That's where you belong, mommas girl.” Taunted Cain.

I laughed mostly out of how frustrating the situation was. The universe really hates me. “I’d rather you kill me.” I said honestly.

It was pretty much over. There was no way I could win with the low amount of Qi I had left. Even if I could still cast spells, my aura was what let me keep up with him. Hell, it was the only thing keeping me standing right now.

Burning Qi really did make you tired. Curling up against Cosmo's big boobs sounded really nice right now. Though I probably shouldn't think of stuff like that since I am married. In all honesty, I was just happy to have a normal guy thought for once.

Still why the hell did seeing this asshole again make my heart burn. I felt like slamming my head against a rock after hearing the absolute nonsense he kept shouting. He couldn’t have a normal conversation. He was always so loud, so annoying. All I ever wanted was peace yet he would always antagonize me. Doesn’t he understand I was showing him mercy?

We have neighbors you know! What if they hear you beating the shit out of me. What if they see the bruises? How would mom and dad explain that? I can’t keep covering for you jackass…. Uh, where did my mind go there. Stupid memories. Stupid ascension. This fucking hole won’t leave me alone either.

“I fucking hate you. You’re such an asshole and the most frustrating part is that you can’t even see it.” I said nearly pulling my hair out. My brother gave me that look. Like I was crazy. Then immediately fell into the most angry glare he’d ever given me.

“Me! I’m the asshole? You’re the one that ruined our family! So what if I bullied you when we were kids? That’s what brother’s do! You’re a monster Isaac! You killed that kid Jack and don’t give me that crap about self defense! You fucking broke every bone and smashed his head in!” he yelled.

I felt pain in my core as Jack's unrecognizable face flashed before my mind. For a moment I saw that mystery blood on my hands again. Cain wasn’t there. He had no idea what it was like. I felt the echo cry in outrage. It was like a crying baby begging for something I didn’t understand.

Cain continued, “What kind of person does that? What kind of person CAN do that? Then you attacked me and took my leg! You stabbed me over 30 times and smiled while doing it!” Cain argued while clutching at his leg.

For a moment I felt his pain. The anger and hatred he had for me. It was weak in our youth but after I took his leg it turned into something else. A bottomless ocean of rage. No! Fuck him he doesn’t deserve my sympathy!

He hurt me too! He helped create that monster in the hole and it bit him! I can’t be held responsible for that. He was one of the ones that helped create Squirmy! I couldn’t take it. I needed to balance the scales between us. He needed to hear his sins too.

“You hurt me! You beat the shit out of me almost everyday! You destroyed grannies flowers! you sat back and let mom torture me! What kind of brother could do that! What kind of brother is so afraid of their sibling that they feel the need to constantly put them down! It took years to fix some of the damage you caused and its still hurts so much!” I cried, clutching at my chest.

It burned making it hard to breathe. My brother said nothing, instead he shook his head readying his spear. I prepared myself. My Qi was dangerously low. There was only one move I had left.

It wasn’t even meant for fighting, but it did fit my current needs. The fact was I couldn’t do anything without Qi. Without access to more complex spells. There was very little chance I could blast my way through with raw essence. I needed Qi. Screw it, I had nothing else I could do. I’m gonna lose, but at least I can say I tried.

With a bit of focus, I added water aspects to my shell. Then activated my caterpillar aura focusing it’s crawl ability under my feet. I began moving my body in the kata Mr. Brutus showed me.

Cain let out a laugh. “Haha, no fucking way! Are you seriously trying to cultivate right now, in the middle of a fight! You ran out of Qi already? I knew you were weak! That's such a basic cultivation technique too! You're clearly a beginner. I don't know why I wasted my time with you.” He lifted his hand and fired a blast of lightning. Only for my caterpillar aura to pull me to one side avoiding it just as my arms followed the kata of the flowing river.

Something odd happened though. I felt some of his Qi get pulled into my body mixing with the other aspects. The Qi was… kind of angry. It was lightning aspect, but there was something else there.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

It almost felt like anger, but darker. More harmful. Almost like a combination of righteousness and… arrogance. Like a self important teacher that won't let you leave her class room after the bell rings, because she believes the bell doesn’t dismiss you, or like a security guard that takes his job way to seriously.

“Quit your dancing and fight me like a real man!” He blasted me again, but I avoided it by only moving slightly with my caterpillar aura. I tried to move less so that I wouldn’t run out of Qi right away.

It was surprising. I didn't need to put that much movement into my dodges, I just needed to move a little. Just enough to get out of his path.

Maybe instead of kicking and screaming, I should have just slowed down and swam in the ever changing world. I’d always freak out when in reality, I just needed to react less and not allow my thoughts to spiral out of control.

The world might spin. The universe might expand, and the people might walk past me, but I could allow reality to flow through me instead of simply being dragged along by it’s current.

My brother dashed forward going for a stab. I avoided it with the smallest of margins while pulling out the heat and momentum aspects from his movements. Then reversing them by feeding them into the aura around my fist and redirecting them into his gut.

He staggered back as I continued the kata of the flowing river.

-Yukio-

“What's going on? How is Isaac doing that? I thought that was just a cultivation technique.” I said as Isaac performed the flowing river.

“It is, but it was originally designed as a fighting style. It looks like the kid got so desperate for Qi he started Cultivating and figured out the other half of the technique.” Master Brutus explained

“Wow, Master Gorilla! You’re like Mr. Miyagi!” Ron said excitedly.

“Not really. I actually forgot it was a fighting style until a moment ago when the kid went all flow state on Sparky.” Said the brute to everyone’s disappointment.

“That… sounds more like you.” Said Cosmo.

“I want a cool fighting style!” said Pez.

“Me too! Me too!” said Riza.

“I want one. Teach us Master Gorilla.” Commanded Ron.

“You three don’t even have basic fighting skills. Learn to fight first then we can decide on styles. Yukio learned sword play. The kid however is a combination of a lot of things.” Said Master Brutus.

“He’s close.” Mumbled Lore keeper.

“What was that?” I asked giving her a nudge with my elbow.

“He’s close to unlocking his muse.” She answered, confusing me even more.

-Aku/Isaac-

I took a stab to my chest piercing 3 layers of my aura. It almost knocked me over but my caterpillar aura kept me standing while reducing the damage by sliding back away from the spear.

I still had more than what I started with. Which was 34 layers thanks to the influx of Qi. This wouldn’t work. I could use flowing river to soften his attacks, but it still required me to be fast enough to avoid them.

If only I was faster. I needed to even the playing field. The reach of his spear was hindering my progress. He went for another stab, but this time I avoided it. Then pinched the shaft of his spear between my left armpit.

Gathering the heat and momentum aspects I slammed my right hand into the shaft of the spear breaking it in half. Then jumped back to avoid any retaliation.

“You asshole! That spear was made from the tail of a dead dragon!” Yelled Cain clearly angry with me.

I tossed the other end aside. “That’s what you get for hurting Snowball.” I said.

“Your stupid doll?” He yelled in frustration.

“She wasn’t stupid! She’s my best friend you big fat meanie!” I yelled back. Aku was clearly still very upset. I didn’t blame her. I also had a fondness for Snowball. She made me feel less lonely.

“It doesn’t matter how much you try. You’re still going to lose. I’ll make you pay for what you did to mom and dad.” Said Cain as he threw his remaining half of the spear aside.

“Yeah, I guess those were my fault in one way or another, but blaming all your problems on me is stupid. The truth is you can’t deal with their deaths, so you don’t. You blame it on me instead because its easier than not being able to do anything.” I said.

“I blame you because you’re the one that got mom and dad to fight! You’re the one that pushed mom down those stairs!” He yelled.

His words stung. I remembered it. The night mom died. She wanted to send me to some kind of camp. She said by going their I’d finally become an angel.

All I wanted was to be with Alice. She wouldn't listen. I asked god for help and no one answered. I tried to run away, but she would always find me. Those people. The ones in white. They were always smiling.

I didn't want to go, so on our way their, I pushed her down some stairs and ran away. I was later found by cops and brought to my sister.

Sis got the inheritance and we sold our old house. It wasn't a bad life, but sis had to hold off on college until we got older, and ended up becoming a nurse instead of becoming a surgeon like she originally wanted. Cain blamed me for everything.

When he lost a job, when he got kicked out of school, even when his girlfriend broke up with him. He would always find a way to make it my fault and beat the crap out of me for it. He would always say I was laughing at his misfortune.

I didn't really care. His beatings weren't that bad compared to moms. I never got angry. I never got revenge. I didn't react at all, and that pissed him off.

He hated that I was friends with Alice. He tried several times to get with her. Alice and I didn't date at that time, so technically she was up for grabs. We were just friends. It wasn't until my 18th birthday that we became a thing.

She was always weirded out by the age difference. Especially since she was legally an adult and I was just a teen. We were only two years apart but I get it. If the roles were reversed, I’d feel the same.

My sister strangely let her “babysit” me. Why a 16 year old boy needed a babysitter was beyond me. Really, she just needed someone to make sure I didn't do anything crazy, but she called Alice my babysitter to tease me. It was embarrassing. Even Alice played along sometimes.

I wasn’t exactly the most stable person, so turning it into a joke took the edge off the real reason she was there. Julia always thought I might kill myself and she liked seeing me smile when I was with Alice. Now that I remembered a lot of things, I knew sis had abandoned me with my mother.

It sucked and I knew she felt bad, but after mom died, she didn’t hesitate to take us in. At first she hated me. Not just because of dad, but mom’s death too. However, When she saw my scars, she broke down crying and kept saying she was sorry.

I didn’t understand why back then, since most of my memories had been dumped into the hole, but after awakening them I finally understood how she felt in that moment.

Cain didn't care about my scars. He would just tell me to man up and that it wasn't that bad. He would always go out of his way to make me look bad in front of Alice. Telling Alice stories about embarrassing things that happened when we were kids.

Alice still liked me though. Around the age of 25, we got married. My brother hated that I was happy. That I ended up with her despite all his attempts to sabotage our relationship.

One time he had a friend of his call Alice and tell her how I was cheating on her. Of course she didn’t believe it for a second. Most marriages probably would have ended there, but Alice knew I wouldn’t do something like that. Especially since I had so much trouble talking with other people.

Then one day my brother couldn’t take it anymore, so he showed up at my place, but this time he acted all friendly. He started talking about how he wanted to make amends.

Then a year later after managing to befriend my wife. He tried to kiss her and when she refused him, he went off and made a post online about how I’d been abusing Alice. He also said he and my wife had been madly in love and sleeping together, and how he got her pregnant, but that I made her get an abortion even though Alice isn't able to have kids.

There was a whole bunch of garbage like that. I tried posting it on reddit for advice, but I guess I put it in the wrong sub reddit, because it got deleted. And when I put it up in the right place people just kept telling me it was a fake story, so I gave up on that.

Anyway, Cain’s post made Alice cry, and I blacked out. I remember it’s voice. It’s promises for retribution. How it could make everything stop. I don’t even remember agreeing to Squirmy’s deal.

The only thing I did remember was the part where Cain told me he knew what mom was doing to me. He knew the whole time and didn't once think to try and help me.

After that I woke in a psych ward and started fighting the doctors. They drugged me and I went dark again. It wasn’t until 2 years later that I came out of that haze.

I suspect Centa was in control during that time, but I don't know. I was only told about her which meant she had to have come out during that period. It was hard to believe that this person standing before me was the same brother that did all that crap to me all those years ago. And to think I actually cared about him at one point.

Cain came at me again unleashing a fury of lightning charged punches. I avoided them while syphoning off their power. One of his attacks actually landed knocking a few layers off my aura. I managed to stay up using my caterpillar aura and continued to avoid his attacks.

Eventually, I saw an opening and manage to throw his power back at him with a well timed counter. It was decent damage, but never enough to break through his shell. I felt so tired, so I injected apathy into my aura.

That’s when I started to feel his anger. His frustration. There was this overwhelming urge to lash out. To find something he could control. That something was apparently me.

Unable to bring the world to its knees he chose to pick on me instead. My brother was just a big old bully and now I could see his movements before they happened.

It was strange. Like I was in perfect sync with him. I understood him better than he understood himself. Not just his emotions, but his body movements and muscle twitches. This was a level of sympathy I'd only gotten glimpses of before.

With it, I blocked attacks I shouldn’t be able to block, and best of all I countered him perfectly, sending waves of force through my finger tips. I was taking his power and focusing it into his weak points. It was as if he was fighting himself.

I ducked under another fist, stealing the momentum and heat aspects from it. Then redirecting them in a punch of my own. My tiny steel hard fist slammed into his gut sending him staggering backwards.

His attacks were so simple compared to before. I didn’t even need to move all that fast to intersect them.

My brother coughed up blood. It splattered to the ground. “What the hell… What are you?” He asked, his words and expression a mix of anger and fear.

I took a deep breath. “I am the river.”