Was it wrong to close oneself?

To Zanetor, no one but his mother stood by his side.

When his father abandoned them, she still smiled at him and comforted him whenever he cried.

When he was bullied, she would confidently walk up to the school and give them a piece of her mind.

Even when loneliness and pain would threaten to steal his mind, his mother would kiss him on the forehead and give him assurance.

To him, no one else had access to who he truly was except his mother.

Was it wrong to kill the emotions within him that caused him pain?

When his mother fell ill, everything around him turned dark. The fear returned, the fear of stepping out into the outside world and having to deal with the annoying falsity on the faces of those people who pretended to care.

The poor boy closed his heart and lived in solitude. He was content with it. There was a certain peace that came with it. A peace that only he could ever fathom.

Yet, he felt something was amiss.

Indeed… without his mother always at his side, there was going to be something essential that he would lose access to.

Within him was a flame that ignited the instant his soul landed in this strange land.

His only light having been taken by some unknown entity, sparked emotions of deep negativity.

He landed in this other world without a peaceful send off from the other.

He died in a whisper

A whisper no one heard and no one would ever be aware of

Now, he has the chance to chase that necessity that would fill the hole in his heart.

But, his weakness served to be his greatest obstacle.

Would he notice its origin or would he succumb to it without a clue of its existence?

*BOOM!!*

Large volumes of dust and tiny rocks flew into the air as the flaming spirit warrior landed yet another attack on the battered shadow soul.

The dust then gently blew away, revealing a figure which struggled to stay on its feet.

"Oi oi oi", Kekeli scratched his head. "Things are getting a bit too repetitive."

"Command", Zanetor's lips barely moved as he struggled to utter a word.

"Hah!?", the spirit warrior placed a finger in his ear. "Did ya say something!? I didn't hear ya!"

Zanetor clearly did not agree with the spirit warriors' method of calling forth their hearts. There were shortcuts to everything and in this case, he was willing to take it.

For the sole purpose of keeping his heart to himself and his mother.

Risks? Who cared about those?

"I'm beginning to run out of spirit energy", Kekeli got into position, ready for a powerful lunge. "Time to end this!"

A crater punched itself into the ground as he leapt full throttle towards his target. He pulled his right fist in and the flames around it became larger.

"I'll simply command it", Zanetor muttered, intentionally ignoring his impending doom. "It's my heart, right? If that's the case…"

The shadow soul suddenly felt everything around him come to a slow stop as the spirit energy in his core began to flow out in a familiar pattern.

Water droplets gathered near his feet and a few gathered around his right palm.

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

"If that's the case!!", the shadow soul's eyes lit up. "Then I'll rule over my heart and force it out!"

"AHAHAHAHA!!", Kekeli closed in on his opponent. "What the heck are you screaming abou—"

The spirit warrior's words suddenly died down his throat as he felt something wrong with his movements.

A stinging feeling seemed to source from his lower abdomen, prompting him to glance at the origin of the pain.

His eyes widened in shock as his innards spilled out, splattering on the side of his left waist. A spray of blood then gushed out from the wound.

Kekeli didn't have another second to react as several other holes punched into his body at several parts in an instant!

"What in… the world…", an expression of disbelief revealed itself on his face as his body fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Edem, who quietly observed the battle from high up in the air, frowned for only an instant as he somehow could not believe what he had just witnessed.

However, it later made a rush of excitement flow through him.

"Ho? The contradiction seemed to have put a leash on only part of his heart, eh?", he smirked. "Ignoring what you feel in your heart and forcing your own will with your mind, you took advantage of that little freedom the partiality gave you."

The shadow soul's coat fluttered in the air as gentle winds blew in from the west. He loomed over the fallen spirit warrior and a tear stream flowed down from his left eye; however, it seemed like he never noticed it.

"With that, you summoned a part of your heart that you unwillingly revealed to those around you", Edem continued and then chuckled. "How long will you last after taking such a foolish decision, Zanetor?"

Zanetor's grip on a strange object in his right hand increased. It took the shape and size of a pistol of some sort. Blue markings covered the majority of its body and tiny vents took over the remaining parts that were untouched by the blue colour.

Edem raised both his eyebrows, "So that's a part of the infinity blazers; the torrent blazer? Intriguing."

The shadow soul stepped on the spirit warrior's bleeding body.

"You're right", he aimed the torrent blazer at Kekeli's head. "It truly is time to end this."

Just then, the black cat from before leapt onto Zanetor's arm.

Zanetor instinctively moved back with quick movements, moments before the spirit beast could gain a firm footing on his arm.

"Just now…", the shadow soul whispered to himself. "That cat was releasing something. Was it spirit energy?"

Kekeli's cat, Jackie, landed softly on the spirit warrior's body and immediately caused it to burst into flames. Every single wound on the body slowly began to close and his intestines slowly returned to their place.

"Tch", Zanetor clicked his tongue.

The flames died down the instant he was healed and the cat stepped to the side. It then proceeded to tap Kekeli on his cheek.

"Ngh", the spirit warrior rose to his feet, staggering as he tried to stand straight. "W- What… in the world did you do?"

Kekeli slowly turned around, wiping the blood off his lips.

"Those shots", his voice shook slightly. "How come I didn't hear it? Your heart's voice… There was nothing but emptiness."

Zanetor refused to utter a word.

Realising that his opponent didn't want to negotiate, the spirit warrior hung his head and began to laugh.

It began with light chuckles and before one could notice, he was laughing hysterically.

"I see", Kekeli began to calm down. "I won't take your head fresh or neat."

Jackie began to walk a small distance away from its owner and towards its opponent, glaring at the shadow soul with eyes as deep as the void.

Zanetor began to feel uneasy

What was Kekeli planning to do?

A faint red light suddenly appeared around the spirit warrior's body and soon, a bit of the light began to move from him to the black cat.

'Should I attack?', Zanetor thought. 'Damn it. I want to move, but my body's frozen stiff. Why?'

The lights that now surrounded both the spirit warrior and the black cat erupted into a harsh red as both began to circulate their spirit energies in a strange pattern.

"This time…", Kekeli growled.

Jackie's body began to increase in size. Its fangs grew larger and sharper, its eyes turned blood red and red runic patterns appeared all over its body as it bared its claws.

"I'LL SIMPLY TAKE YOUR ASHES!", the spirit warrior slammed both his fists together.

The large cat then opened its mouth, exposing a well of incredibly intense flames that spawned a heat wave around it.

[Fire spell: Devastating hell sphere]

Jackie released the attack, sending an enormous fireball in Zanetor's direction.

The shadow soul grounded himself and began to pour energy from within his soul core.

'If this truly is my heart's physical form, then I'm literally holding my soul core', he began to concentrate harder. 'This makes this easier.'

Vast amounts of water droplets from the atmosphere began to race into the vents on the torrent blazer. The weapon glowed an ominous blue as it fully charged itself with Zanetor's spirit energy.

Beads of sweat began to form on the shadow soul's forehead as the fireball got closer.

"Now!", Zanetor pulled the trigger.

A tiny bullet burst out from the nozzle and at the instant of release, great volumes of water surrounded it. The bullet progressed as some sort of large water drill, slamming into the incoming attack.

Thick steam erupted from the collision, completely blinding Zanetor's vision.

"Damn it", he squinted his eyes. "I didn't consider this at all! Maybe I should use the serene swift."

The shadow soul began to command a familiar flow of energy within him, but nothing happened. His vision didn't change and he couldn't see a single water droplet.

"H- Huh!?", he fell to his knees as he no longer had the strength to stand.

"Seems like you're out of energy! HILARIOUS!!", Kekeli suddenly appeared behind the shadow soul from within the steam. "You fell for it! Idiot!"

'Shit… Shit! Shit! Shit! Move! Why can't I move!?', Zanetor could do nothing but watch in horror as Kekeli charged his fist.

Flames erupted around the spirit warrior's right palm as he readied for a final, power-packed punch.

"GOODNI—!!", Kekeli froze and then immediately took a powerful leap several metres back. "Heh, t- that was close. What's with this downright scary presence."

The steam steadily cleared, revealing a small figure standing in front of Zanetor. Her hair was a shing blonde, delicately woven into an elegant crown braid and her plain white dress radiated an aura of purity.

"Annoying girl?", Zanetor blurted.

"Shut up!", Leticia retorted. "Hmph! People like you really do piss me off!"

The shadow soul raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Is this for real?", Kekeli stared at the little girl with a look of concern on his face. "Am I dreaming!? It's you! You're alive! But then, your soul core was-"

"You too! Shut up!", she pointed at the spirit warrior. "Shut up… Kekeli."

'What? She knows him?', Zanetor thought as he barely managed to stand on both feet.

"I really don't like you at all, you know?", Leticia clenched her fists.

"Wha? What are you saying!?", Kekeli's voice wavered. "Is that really what you have to say to me after all these years? I understand that I couldn't fulfil my promise… but, I swear it. One day-"

"Ahhhh!! I told you to shut up already!", Leticia's eyes grew teary.

Just then, her blonde hair began to lengthen and soon her face was completely obscured.

*BOOM!*

Her hair forcefully dug into the ground and raced towards the spirit warrior who had let his guard down. The ground cracked and broke under the sheer pressure exerted by each fibre in her hair.

Leticia's sudden advance finally reached its opponent, trapping him in some kind of hair cocoon.

[Fibre spell: Dirt trap]

"Uncle", she muttered under her breath.

Edem smirked as he snapped his finger and at that instant, a large shadow loomed over everyone's bodies.

"What's going on!?", Zanetor looked up. "I- Is that-"

*SLAM!*

A large spirit beast landed in the space between the cocoon and both Zanetor and Leticia. The beast had yellow fur, four tusks and three trunks and its roar was enough to shake a person to the bone.

"Get him far away from here", the little girl coldly ordered.

The maliciphant followed suit, charging at the cocoon at top speed and knocking it so far from the canyon that it became nothing but a spec within seconds.

"Farewell", Leticia's blonde hair began to fix itself. "Maybe, we'll talk better when we see each other again."

The little girl's blue eyes were completely stern as she stared at the cocoon that soon disappeared in the distance.

Of course to someone else, the little girl seemed really strong.

But, Zanetor witnessed a part of her she rarely revealed to anyone.

"If it hurts you so much… so much that it'd make you cry within…", Zanetor suddenly spoke up. "Then why did you come here in the first place?"

People like her

Truly made his head hurt