The hours passed slowly, each minute feeling like an eternity. When the final bell rang, Aric made his way to the rooftop. The setting sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, casting long shadows across the concrete. The city skyline stood tall and silent in the distance, a stark contrast to the turmoil brewing within him.
He stood there for a moment, taking in the serene beauty of the twilight skies, trying to find a sense of calm before the storm. Then, he heard the sound of hard footsteps approaching. He turned to see Laric, his expression a mix of arrogance and malice, striding towards him. Soon a crowd gathered around the pillars, whispering and watching with bated breath. Among them were the girls from before, Maki, all of his classmates, and a few unfamiliar faces.
Laric walked right up to Aric and stared him down, his eyes filled with contempt. But Aric remained still, his gaze unwavering as he met Laric's eyes. The rooftop seemed to hold its breath, the tension between them palpable.
"So, you finally decided to show up," Laric sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "I hope you're ready to be humiliated."
Aric took a deep breath, feeling the void within him, the emptiness that allowed him to adapt and flow without form. He let it guide him, grounding him in the moment.
"Let's get this over with," Aric said, his voice low but firm.
Laric's sneer widened, and he lunged at Aric with a burst of speed, his fists aimed to inflict maximum damage. Aric, however, moved with a fluid grace, stepping aside and allowing Laric's punch to sail past him harmlessly. The crowd gasped at the near miss.
Laric recovered quickly, his eyes narrowing in fury. He threw a barrage of punches, each one powerful and swift, but Aric was like water, flowing around each attack, his movements almost effortless. He dodged and weaved, his body reacting instinctively, guided by the void within him.
The crowd watched in awe, the whispers growing louder. They had expected a brutal fight, but what they were witnessing was something far more elegant and controlled.
"How are you doing this?" Laric spat, his breath ragged.
Aric's perception sharpened, and he could feel every movement of Laric's body. It was as if the void within him allowed him to hear the very muscles and sinews of his opponent. He began to target Laric's footwork, disrupting his balance with subtle, well-placed kicks. Each time Laric tried to regain his footing, Aric was there, deflecting his fists in a way that made them twist painfully.
Laric's punches lost their power, and with each misstep, his frustration grew. Aric's movements were a dance of precision, and he could feel the strain in Laric's muscles, hear the minute tears as they struggled under the relentless pressure.
With a deft move, Aric deflected one of Laric's punches at a critical angle, causing a sprain. Laric's face contorted in pain, and the crowd gasped at the visible damage. But Aric didn't stop there. He continued his assault, his strikes finding their marks with unerring accuracy. Each hit sapped more strength from Laric, each deflection causing more damage.
Finally, with a powerful blow to Laric's chest, Aric sent him crashing to the ground. Laric lay there, gasping for breath, his body wracked with pain and exhaustion.
For a moment, it seemed as though Laric would stay down, but then he snarled in defiance, summoning a burst of energy from deep within. With a furious roar, he lunged at Aric, his movements wild and desperate.
Aric's senses were heightened, every fiber of his being attuned to the movements and intentions of his opponent. As Laric lunged, Aric moved with the same fluid grace that had guided him throughout the fight. He stepped aside, catching both of Laric's wrists in a firm grip. Using Laric's own momentum against him, Aric twisted around, redirecting the force of the attack.
In a fluid motion, Aric twisted Laric's arms around his own body, the pain and shock evident on Laric's face. The momentum carried them both towards the edge of the rooftop, where the safety fence loomed. With a final, decisive twist, Aric sent Laric crashing into the fence, the metal rattling with the impact.
Laric hung there, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his strength utterly spent. The crowd, which had been silent, erupted into a mixture of gasps and murmurs, the tension finally breaking.
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Aric stood over Laric, his expression calm and resolute. "This is over, Laric," he said, his voice steady and unwavering. "You will leave Maki and the rest of us alone."
His opponent took a ragged breath.
“I…surrender.”
Aric approached him, extending a hand to help him up, his expression a mix of relief and happiness. His opponent slowly reached out to his hand, grabbing it with intensity. Laric's demeanor abruptly shifted. He seized Aric's outstretched arm and twisted it violently. Caught off guard, Aric stumbled forward, his balance compromised.
In a swift and shocking turn of events, Laric used Aric's own momentum against him. With a powerful heave, Laric lifted Aric off the ground and hurled him towards the edge of the rooftop. Aric's body twisted in mid-air, his heart pounding with disbelief and panic as he realized what was happening. The crowd erupted into shouts and gasps, their voices a cacophony of horror. Aric's fingers clawed desperately at the air, but there was nothing to grasp onto. In a heart-stopping moment, he collided with the safety fence at the rooftop's edge with bone-jarring force. The metal rattled violently upon impact, and then, in the next instant, Aric's body plummeted over the edge.
His scream pierced the air for a fleeting moment, swallowed by the vast expanse below. The rooftop fell silent once more, the weight of what had just transpired settling heavily upon everyone present.
A couple of hands flew to mouths in disbelief, but nothing compared to Maki’s scream of terror.
For Aric, the world spun in a dizzying blur as he fell through the air. His mind raced with fragments of thoughts, the shock of betrayal burning bitterly in his chest. The ground slowly rushed to meet him. He felt as if every memory was flashing before his eyes, and it would all be over in a few moments.
As he closed his eyes, ready to accept what seemed inevitable, a sudden, blinding light pierced through the darkness of his thoughts. Aric's eyes shot open, a surge of determination flooding his veins. Two words echoed in his mind, "3 Debts." In that moment of clarity, Aric understood. He couldn't die, not yet. He focused his gaze on the ground below him, feeling a strange heat building in his chest. Power surged through him, and he could sense invisible shackles materializing around him, binding him in an otherworldly embrace.
In an act of sheer desperation, Aric seized the spectral chains that ensnared him, their ethereal grip tightening with each passing second. With an agonizing scream that echoed through the void, he tore at them with a primal force, feeling pain shoot through his entire being. The chains resisted fiercely, as if alive, but Aric refused to yield to their suffocating embrace.
Driven by an unyielding determination and the mysterious power pulsing within him, Aric's next act defied all reason and logic. In complete agony and longing for freedom, he tore his own arms from his body. The pain was excruciating, white-hot agony searing through his nerves. Blood sprayed from the torn limbs, painting the darkness around him in crimson.
Yet, with bloodied stumps where his arms once were, Aric staggered forward. Each step sent waves of pain crashing through him, threatening to overwhelm his resolve. The ground rushed toward him with terrifying speed, but he did not falter. With every ounce of strength left in him, he stumbled toward the blinding light that beckoned like a distant beacon of hope. In a final act of defiance against the chains that bound him, Aric thrust his mutilated hands forward. Darkness and light converged in a blinding flash. Aric felt himself enveloped by a dark aura, an ominous manifestation of the newfound power surging through his veins. The very fabric of reality seemed to twist and bend around him.
As gravity threatened to claim him once more, Aric turned his back toward the ground and extended his hands, now shrouded in that dark and ominous energy. In a breathtaking moment, the force of his will halted his descent. The air around him shimmered with unseen forces, defying the laws of nature themselves.
With a violent cough that rattled his entire being, Aric crashed onto a ledge, barely clinging to consciousness. Blood poured from his wounds, pooling around him in a dark reminder of the sacrifice he had made. Yet, against all odds, he had survived the fall.
Gasping for breath, his vision blurred and senses reeling, Aric knew that he had unleashed powers beyond comprehension. The dark aura still pulsed around him, a testament to the price he had paid for survival.
As Aric staggered towards the alley, his steps faltered and grew increasingly unsteady. Every movement was a struggle against the searing pain coursing through his body and the overwhelming fatigue that threatened to overwhelm him. Blood continued to trickle from his wounds, staining his clothes and hands a deep crimson.
He glanced down at his hands, the fingers now whole again but slick with blood. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and he knew he couldn't continue much longer. The world around him began to blur, his vision dimming as consciousness slipped away from him.
With one last effort, Aric leaned against the cold brick wall of the alley, gasping for breath. His legs gave out beneath him, and he sank to the ground, his back sliding down the rough surface. The pain was unbearable, a constant ache that pulsed through every fiber of his being. As darkness closed in around him, Aric's eyelids grew heavy. The sounds of the city faded into a distant murmur. He fought to stay awake, but his body had reached its limit. With a quiet sigh, he succumbed to unconsciousness, his form slumped. But before he gave up, his mouth curled into a gleeful smile. He had completed the first part of his first debt. Cultivate natural magic.