As Devon looked down on Trey's unconscious form only one thought ran through his mind, devoid of any rage or hate towards the man that had done this to his friend. There was only the overwhelming sensation of self-loathing.

What the fuck have I been doing?

Dancing upon the line? Have I lost my mind? Trey could have fucking died while I… did what exactly? Once the chief died there were so many opportunities to do anything else, but all I could see was the thrill of a fight.

Now that Devon wasn't lost in his craze for battle he realized that Val Kazar had probably never really wanted to exterminate the humans of the tutorial. His true enemy had always been something Devon couldn't see.

No, I did see it. I witnessed their clash of ideologies firsthand and just… ignored it. An alternate possibility presented itself and I pretended as if it didn't exist. Why? Why did I not even consider changing my course?

The events from the beginning of the tutorial played back through his mind as he tried to identify where he had started becoming someone else. And what he found was different than what he expected.

…From the beginning, I wasn't prepared to handle this place.

A college student, directionless and bored out of his mind from the repetitive lifestyle he'd led suddenly found himself in a magical place of adventure and intrigue. That was him.

When I learned about the overseer's plot I became convinced I could be some kind of hero. The old knight's memory broke that spirit down and warped it into something else. Perhaps it was also there I began to enjoy the taste of violence. No, it was. That was simply the person I had to be, otherwise being surrounded by so much death would have driven me insane.

My mistake was not realizing I'd changed so much. But Trey saw it.

Trey had caught onto the changes in Devon's personality. That was why he'd said, 'I'm afraid that if you become so lost in your strength you'll lose sight of who you are.'

Except even Trey wasn't aware of how far gone I really was. I ignored everything as I lost myself in the thrill of battle.

Another line stuck out in the back of his mind, something he'd said back when he'd proposed his plan to Trey.

This tutorial is the point at which we define ourselves, right? And what have I defined myself as but an egotistic and bloodthirsty villain? One who was content to ignore his friend's pleas for help as he satisfied his need for an adrenaline rush.

"Oi, don't go ignoring me!" Zane shouted at him.

"...Shut up. I'm not finished deciding what to do with you."

A vein bulged on Zane's head, "What to do with me? What exactly do you think you'll be doing in that condition?"

Devon had almost forgotten he was wounded. It still hurt, of course, but the bleeding had already stopped. Having a monstrously high vitality seemed to significantly bolster his natural healing. At that thought an idea occurred to him, but it immediately reminded him of the side of himself he loathed, and he bit down on his cheek at having to think of it.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

But… is that the only way?

"...What's wrong with you? Why do you seem so… empty? Isn't he your friend? Or are you so far gone that you don't even see people as such anymore?" Zane seemed unnerved, and Devon supposed he couldn't blame the man.

"Back in the overseer's camp… you mentioned a sister, didn't you? I'm assuming that was Nix."

"Don't you speak her fucking name. Not when you two are the ones responsible for her death."

"I see. I'm sorry things turned out this way. She hardly deserved the fate she received."

He couldn't bring himself to hate Zane anymore. Everything the man had done made sense. In a way, he had simply done the same thing Eve had done and discarded everything besides the thing that had mattered most. But unlike Eve, he'd lost his loved one.

I can't find it in my heart to truly hate this man when I can understand what drove him, and why we're the targets of his rage.

But Devon's feelings meant nothing to Zane, "Don't you fucking talk like you're human after what you've done!"

Zane rushed Devon, activating the skill Devon had seen in the forest when they'd fought before. Afterimages followed the man's sword as it arced through the air. Then suddenly the images exploded into more than a dozen different attacks.

I figured this would be a possible application of this skill. However, in your current state it's unbelievably easy to counter.

Devon's words had caused Zane to fall out of the calm fury he'd been in, and all Devon could see before him now was a rampaging beast.

In response to the flurry of attacks, Devon stepped backward to dodge almost all of them. Then, out of the haze of would-be attacks, one sword broke through as all the other illusions shattered. The blade soared through the air in a thrust straight towards Devon's neck.

Unsure of where the true blade was within the afterimages, Devon let it come within an inch of piercing his neck before he reached up and caught the blade almost effortlessly.

Zane's eyes opened wide in shock, but Devon wasn't done. He kicked his leg up into Zane's extended bicep with enough force to break the bone inside and dislocated the limb from the shoulder.

The man gasped in pain as he involuntarily released his grip on the blue sword. Devon flipped it around until the handle was comfortably in his hand, then drove it straight into Zane's abdomen.

He pushed it forward with enough force that it pierced through the man's body to the hilt and took him off his feet. Then Devon pushed on Zane's upped torso to angle the man backwards before driving the sword forward again, staking the man to the ground with his own blade.

Zane let out a strangled cry of pain as he writhed on the ground, but every movement only served to bring a new flash of pain from the sword lodged in his stomach.

"Let's see… The burns on your face seemed to be healing, so I can assume you already took a healing pill. Suppose it'd just be best to give you another."

A tear rolled down Zane's cheek, and the expression on his face spoke of the futile frustration he felt, "Just… fucking kill me already."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"I promised I wouldn't kill any humans."

"You…" Zane's eyes once again lit with rage, "If you don't kill me now then I will never stop pursuing you. I'll chase you to the ends of infinity to make you-!"

"Yeah, I know," Devon said as he shoved a healing pill down Zane's throat, "I figured that's what you'd say. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to do that after all."

He held his hand over Zane's mouth as the man lost consciousness, not wanting to hear any other scathing remarks or vows of vengeance.

I promised I wouldn't kill anyone, but I'm not sure this is any better.

Decon looked out over the wrecked and flaming forest in silence. This was the battlefield of his design, yet it didn't fill him with any sense of thrill or accomplishment as he'd once believed it would.