As Yuri walked down the dirt path through the open clearing that stretched on for kilometers with no end in sight, he looked in front of him into the distance and took in the scenery.
In the background, many kilometers away, a giant mountain range bore peaks that weren't visible to the naked eye as they pierced through the clouds. It was a stunning sight that would make even the tallest and prideful men feel miniscule, he continued to walk in a sour mood from his previous fight. He couldn't help but think of how close he had been to losing his life the next day after the tragic incident.
"Tsk, I can't believe I almost lost to a few wolves. If Niro was here..." The sudden thought of his previous best friend popped into his head, a sour memory, one of his death. Niro had always been perfect in everything he did, a natural leader, kind, and strong.
By now, Yuri had surely surpassed him in strength due to the sudden increase in mana, but something in him still told him that if he were to fight him, he would still somehow lose.
The thought of losing to his best friend instead of making him sad it oddly infuriated him more than it should have, Yuri’s happy memories of Niro slowly became replaced by a dark sensation, he always admired Niro like a big brother, but now he started to feel this unpleasant sensation in his heart as if he disliked the idea of Niro being better than him, he was stronger than him now, so why were his thoughts lingering on himself losing to Niro?
He should be mourning his best friend's death and everyone else's, yet he felt like he wanted to be better than him. Was this jealousy?
"No, no, no, I love Niro like a brother. He always wanted what was best for me." As those words left his lips he felt something strange in himself, a dark and twisted emotion rising up.
Why was he so nice to me? Why did he always let me play even though I was younger than them? Wouldn't they normally send me to play with kids my age? Why was I always playing as the monster? Why was he always smiling at me that way? Was he... pitying me? Was he... mocking me? These questions kept flooding his mind, getting darker and darker some of them even warping the truth.
A conflict brewed inside Yuri's mind. What did Niro's kindness mean? Could it have been simply friendship, or was it something deeper than that... pity, a sense of superiority? Was he getting a feeling of superiority from helping?
Yuri quickly dismissed such thoughts. After all, he knew Niro better than anyone, he could trust that Niro was his friend... right? Niro accepted him into his social circle without asking for anything in return. He let Yuri play with them, he made him feel accepted by the others.
So why, why did he feel that way? Yuri tried to bury those thoughts and move on, hoping they wouldn't resurface ever again.
While walking his every step felt heavy as if boulders were tied to his feet. The thought of Niro resurfaced briefly, nabbing away at his sanity and at his sense of friendship.
"What if... no... but what if he just pitied me? Wouldn't that have made me a burden in his eyes?" His jealousy and anger pitted against his memory of his best friend. A sense of inferiority arose inside of him. Even though Niro was dead, his image burned in Yuri's mind, the smug look he always had on, that bright smile.
“I want to know the truth, how he really felt, but it's too late now. I mean, he trained with me even though he didn't have to, so my growth must have brought him satisfaction of some sort, meaning we were friends at least. But what if he did it simply to show off to me? To show off his superior skills, like a way of telling me I would never be able to beat him? That can't be right. I mean sure he was always a little smug but still.”
Yuri's mind began contorting, his memories of Niro felt fake to him now, he felt as if maybe he was tricked by Niro. Every step felt heavier as his memories continued to clash, Yuri didn't know what to believe anymore, he didn't know why he felt like this, he didn't want to feel like this, yet it just happened.
Was it a way for him to cope with his loss? Or maybe he was trying to twist his own memories of the past in order to not feel guilty for being the only one left alive? Or maybe a way to shut himself off from everything else? He felt like hatred was beginning to consume the last of his happy thoughts of everyone.
A few hours passed as Yuri walked along the dirt path, his mind unclear on what to think, but he felt it, the hate and uncertainty were getting to him. The thoughts of his family and his friends became darker and more twisted, farther and farther from what he originally remembered. He always felt different, no…, he was different, people always avoided him if possible. He was naturally stronger than people his age.
"The sun is going to be setting soon, -sigh- even so, I don't really feel tired. Maybe because I slept until noon." suddenly his stomach lets out an infernal growl. "Guess that wolf meat didn't cut it, huh." While yes, he ate until he was completely full, the meat still tasted disgusting and repulsive, combine that with the muddy water, his body must have been fighting against it.
He continued walking peacefully for a few more minutes taking in the views, he looked at the horizon but now he felt a bit angry, annoyed even, as it reminded him of his family and his friends and the time they spent together. He hoped this sudden hate would stop but it kept slowly consuming him and he didn't even notice it.
Looking away and shaking his head Yuri hoped the unexplainable hate would perish and leave what was left of the memories of his family and friends alone. He looked up, ahead of him a few hundred meters away he saw a thrashed carriage. Quickly, Yuri ran to it and inspected it, the side of the carriage was filled with arrows, and the cloth was torn to shreds.
He looked in the back to see if anything was left, but it was completely empty, the still annoyed boy walked around the carriage and saw the corpse of an old fat man; his clothing was a little torn, and his face was hidden under a straw hat, the corpse was neither new nor old. While there were maggots that had already begun to eat it, it was still mostly intact with only an arrow in the neck.
"An ambush, huh, a few hours, maybe days ago." Yuri looked around to see for any signs of a possible threat lurking, but as far as the eye could see, it was just grass. "I guess it's useless to look for them... but I could use some new clothes, mine are..." He looked down at his torn and slightly burnt clothes from his previous fight. He looked at the corpse one last time.
"Weak." Yuri stated before walking away, down the dirt path again, now keeping an eye out for any signs of an ambush.
As he walked, the sun set, and night came. However, Yuri chose to walk during the night as well due to not feeling tired, the darkness enveloping his small body as his mind began to wander back into the dark thoughts of his own, he wanted to bury them or forget.
"Why did they look at me so differently? Why was I always the odd one out?... Why was I always the monster?" From that moment on, Yuri stopped considering Niro as his best friend who always used to help him out and now remembered him as a smug bastard who always showed off his skills with the sword.
To Yuri, the only reason Niro talked to him was to mock him, his image of Niro had been completely twisted, and so was the image of everyone else.
"They didn't actually care. They pretended, but why? Were they... scared of me?" He knew he was different and now accepted that fact. He could see the image of all the people he cared about burn away as his mind twisted the truth so much it was unrecognizable making everyone seem like they despised him.
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While walking Yuri could feel the cold embrace of the darkness of the night and the one in his heart, he had now chosen to cast aside everything, even his original will to survive for them had now become ash, being replaced by intense hatred for everything and the desire for strength.
A few hours of walking in the darkness passed, not even the moon wishing to offer Yuri its soft glow anymore, far into the distance the boy spotted a faint light a little off from the dirt path, a fire.
“Maybe it’s just a small wildfire starting, but maybe it could be the bandits. Maybe I’ve finally gotten lucky and found them before they found me.” His stomach growled a little as he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for hours. For a child who was fed three times a day with delicious meals made by his mother, going hungry was definitely a new experience for him and he did not like it.
"Tsk, they better have food or I’ll make sure they regret living." Yuri wandered towards the fire.
As he got closer and closer, he could make out more details: five, no, six men sitting around the fire, all dressed in dark clothing with swords by their waists and bows over their shoulders they all gave off a certain vibe; it was bloodthirst.
They were so full of it, a group of killers, people who didn't care who they hurt or what they did as long as it benefited them, maybe even doing it for fun, a few meters away, there was a small carriage filled to the brim with small crates, probably stolen from the transporting carriage he saw a couple of hours ago.
"That's weird, don't they have a leader or something? I guess bandits really are disorganized and messed up groups full of brainless killers," He muttered to himself as he hid in the tall grass, off the road, he continued approaching the camp carefully, finding what could be called a small hill that gave him a slight advantage of having higher ground and being able to observe them better.
It was pretty close to their camp, only a rock's throw away. Suddenly, someone came out from behind the carriage, he was much bigger than the others, at least a head taller than most men, his armor definitely much better than the ones the others were wearing, with a short green cape looming over his broad shoulders with a small golden outline made of silk.
With him the giant man carried a glaive that was bigger than any man Yuri had ever seen, its whole body looked to be made of solid steel and the tip a dark gray color with a pearly white edge that looked ike it could cut steel as if it were butter.
While Yuri watched the man, he felt something inside himself saying: that man was on another level than him, he was the bandit leader. Yuri’s confidence dropped immediately, but his ego fired up. "How dare he?".
That man had hurt his pride by making him afraid. Yuri was no longer the innocent child he had been just a few days ago. Now he was on his path to becoming the monster Niro made him play, a monster that wanted the world to burn.
Yuri knew that if he used his mana, while the others wouldn't notice, the leader surely would, and within an instant, he would rush to the hidden boy’s location and dispose of him easily. Yuri’s mind lingered on what he could do.
If he were to fight head-on, he would die, even if he was lucky enough to kill the leader, he would be too exhausted and hurt to fight the other bandits, his only logical option was to avoid them and go about his way, but his ego and hatred couldn't let this go. That man made him feel threatened with his mere presence.
Plus, they were just a gang of crazy killing bandits, so nobody would care if they died.
"Hmmm, maybe there's a way to pick them off one by one, or maybe traps? No, what am I thinking, I don't even know how to make traps, and if I make trap spells he'd sense it and just avoid it, then he would be alert."
The boy decided to wait quietly and look for any opportunity that might present itself to him, he laid on that small grassy hill for hours waiting for the perfect time to strike, then he saw it, a chance to strike. Everyone had gone to sleep around the fire except the bandit leader, who had his own tent, leaving only two bandits standing watch. Now the only problem was how to draw them out.
Finally, a few minutes later, one of them started moving. He went behind the carriage. This was possibly the only chance Yuri might get the whole night, so without a second thought he ran there. The sound of his small footsteps was drowned out by the singing of crickets and the whispers of the wind blowing as it moved around him, Yuri took out his dagger from his waist. Just as he did so, the bandit started turning around while pulling up his pants after relieving himself.
As the bandit slowly turned around his eyes widened as he saw Yuri behind him. Before he could scream, Yuri lunged at him, stabbing his throat and slashing it open.
As Yuri landed back on his feet, the man's body flopped onto the ground. He was holding his throat, trying to scream, but all he could do was gargle and drown in his own blood. Yuri looked at his blood-covered hands and dagger before shaking his head.
He flipped the bandit's body over and took the bow, he tried drawing the string back, but the draw weight was too much for his weak child muscles, and he could barely move it, Yuri decided to leave the bow there.
"Hmmm, some new clothes would be nice." He looked at the body of the dead bandit, took his clothes, and put them on, throwing away his own.
The clothes were dark, covering most of his body, and they seemed light but were very oversized and loose. The pants were loose, and he could feel them almost coming off his small body, so he tied them with a rope around his waist and used the dagger to cut them shorter so they would fit him. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming closer.
"Oi Mark, what's taking you so long to piss?! You better not be jerking off back here, asshole!" The voice of the other bandit who was standing guard was closing in, without a single moment to spare, Yuri charged. Just as the bandit turned the corner, Yuri stabbed him in the stomach. The bandit froze, his eyes widening in shock, it took him a second before looking down and realizing what had just happened.
The man let out a blood-curdling scream before kicking Yuri in the stomach, sending him tumbling on the ground and leaving the dagger stuck in the bandit’s stomach as he put his hand over the wound, not pulling the dagger out.
"You little piece of shit, you'll pay for this!" The man yelled out before pulling out his sword and charging towards Yuri.
Yuri got up from the ground, he looked around a little, seeing the body of the bandit he had killed next to him he took the dead man’s sword; it was heavy but not unmanageable.
He pointed the sword at the charging bandit and did the same. Their swords clashed, but even with the bandit being wounded, the difference in strength and speed was still noticeable, even if he had trained and had a natural talent for fighting, Yuri was still a child.
His mind rushed back to the fight with the wolves, even though they were as strong as the bandits, the only reason he had won was the sudden burst in mana but what could he do if he couldn't use much mana?
As the combat went on Yuri found himself more and more on the defensive as the bandit kept swinging his sword with fury. A few seconds later, the man's flurry of attacks seemed to be slowing down and losing power, his face became paler, and the wound bled more.
He must be running out of adrenaline.
"Luckily for me, the bastard seems to be running out of energy, he's probably so shocked and focused on surviving right now he forgot to use spells and just seems to be swinging wildly," Yuri thought to himself as he looked at the wounded man, the flurry of blows had stopped, and he was panting, his face pale and sweat running down his face.
The man tried to swing again, but this time it was so wide and sloppy that Yuri simply stepped to the side as the bandit fell to the ground. The man rolled over and looked at Yuri, a look of fright and insanity in his eyes.
"Damn monster," he said weakly while looking at Yuri. All he could see was Yuri's outlined figure as the moonlight struck his back, at that moment to the bandit, Yuri looked like a terrifying monster.
A twisted grin grew on Yuri's face. With a mocking tone, he replied, "Thanks," before stabbing the bandit through the eye, ending his life on the spot.
Yuri let go of the sword, leaving it stuck there in the man’s head and picked up his dagger, cleaning the blood off it on the corpse's clothes before holstering it in the rope around his waist. He picked up the dead bandit's sword from his cold hands.
The boy’s crimson eyes landed on the bandit's lifeless body for a few seconds, he knew what he had done and what he was becoming, a small part of him wanted to stop and try starting a normal life again but the flame of his hatred and pride easily overwhelmed that desire.
As Yuri walked around the carriage, after turning the corner he saw the worst possible scenario had happened; everyone had been woken up by the bandit's scream, they all stood around the fire, swords in hand, ready to fight and eyes filled with a thirst for blood.
Behind them, sitting down on a stump was the bandit leader, his eyes pierced into Yuri's soul, the young boy knew this was an impossible battle to win, all he could do now was get ready for his impending doom, his pride wouldn't let him die without a fight after all.
He took up a stance that could only be described as a cornered beast ready to fight till its last breath and got ready for the worst.