The sound of metallic clinks enters back, and I notice something. These are the guards from the neighbouring market – but even though they are such a tremendous help – they aren’t right now.

Since they aren’t doing the main fighting. Father is. He looks around sharply with anger growing in his muscles – growing stronger and stronger.

He isn’t over he’s about to decimate his future opponents as well it seems by the sheer determination in his eyes that stare into every soldier.

“Go quick! Evacuate the village!”

They stand still looking at him still very bewildered by everything and by not knowing anything.

“Come on!! Quick I said!”

They start marching off into the background at a very fast pace probably fuelled by fear of what he might do next to them if they were not to compile, with a few full on sprinting out of formation.

He quickly turns back to the mess. I see a man approaching, the exact same to the one last time. But this time he’s visibly beat.

“Warm up round is over now I guess.”

He speaks low but I can barely hear.

“Jim!”

He shouts not adding anything on and both nod their head at each other. Although the entire ground seems already damaged beyond any normal repair, I think it can get worse.

Then instead of Jim casting usual water spells, he re-uses his trump card again.

“Water draak!”

He shouts but this time he drops a bit as his knees fail to support him.

“There... I put the remaining energy into a higher cast! Take the rest!”

I look over to Father and he gives me a quick look.

“Ed. Run!”

I start to then I hear him shout something even more shocking.

“Lucht Draak!”

I’ve never heard this spell before, but I do notice the dragon part. And it takes that to make me turn around. The man is gone though.

Then quickly he reappears in front of Father wielding his blades of flame. I want to shout so desperately like a baby to warn him. But, anything, any little movement from me could throw him off...

Father grabs the man’s wrist. Then he goes to slash his arm. But right as he does so – his entire body shatters backwards. He’s hit with Father’s elbow.

Jim then dashes towards him and targets hit leg, but right as he does so the man recovers. He then jabs towards him. And with another arm swings downwards arching towards his forehead.

“Bevriezen!!”

Jim shouts and quickly he casts a splash of water around him and freezes it locking his arms in place.

Then like a perfect duo, I notice two titans of objects diving downwards. I'm perfectly familiar with the water dragon. Which even now scares me. Just one cast of that thing would be able to take down a village.

But this time for whatever reason the dragon seems different – although it seems unbelievable it got larger in size, and already half of it is part frozen with some sort raging blizzard accompanying its very existence.

But it’s not finished. Like a twin there’s another but this time it’s like a visual illusion. The air itself becomes dark and grey forming itself a dragon but one with swivels of air constantly repeating like sharpening daggers.

Its eyes glow yellow and it becomes entwined with the dragon of water, creating a spiral on the way down. I look sharply back and by the time Jim finishes his freezing spell he and Father dash out the way.

But the man is still there – unable to move and quickly glances at what seems to be certain death. I run backwards almost tripping.

I fall.

Not because of some stone or hole.

The dragon’s force through the air is horrifying.

A second later leaves me almost deaf as the loudest noise of the Earth’s crust reverberating knocks down trees and houses.

My eyes are glued in place. It’s... It’s... It’s beyond words. There’s an entire tornado formed, and it carries water from what had been the water dragon.

When I look back at the village the guards seem to be witnessing hell. But I am already in the middle of it.

The village takes a massive hit, but everyone is evacuated by now.

I feel like even if this is a God we are fighting. He must have died.

“Stay alert!”

I hear his voice, but I hope the voice is from my mind. As it confirms that for whatever reason this person is still alive.

Everything. The tornado. The water. The casted pillars all seem to disappear in a click. Leaving clear air. I flash back to the black hole and almost want to cry in agony when I think about it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

But no, it is just the man.

“Looks like I’ve countered out using too much energy... I’ll have to get this done.”

He speaks low then at the end shouts loud as if a maniac. There’re no more words to describe it. Even my mind is drained bleak with all the effort I use just looking at the situation.

“Kid come on! We have to run! We’ve cleared this entire part!”

I look towards the guard, knowing he’s right that I must go with them. Or else I’d probably end up dead.

And so, against all curiosity I go, but unable to look away. I can't hear every detail, but I feel like I know what's next - the black hole spell. A mastery emblem skill... A mastery... Only a few people have ever reached such a level – and part of me didn’t want to grasp people would use this for bad – even if it appeared to be a dark emblem user.

Then even though I hear more and more grunts, yells and pain. No tiny dot appears in the sky – or maybe I just don’t see it.

“Please... Please be safe...”

This time I run more but I can’t look back, when I’m in the middle of the streets I appear to join the crowd of horrified people crying and screaming. Every second seems to send me in a new direction. And within seconds the crowd already advances far past me – leaving me seamlessly alone.

That’s when the sun gets blocked out. I stop all my movements.

“No. No. No. No. No. No!”

Then once again it appears. A black scale-like star... Growing in what seems to be fear. I feel numb... But right as I go to lay down defeatedly shock overwhelms me.

Right in front of me Gaven stands alongside Rob, Jack, and behind them is Angela. The only time I don’t want to see them – I unfortunately have to.

“Come Ed! We have to get out of here! Right now!”

Angela speaks frantically, and then Gaven goes to give me his hand to grab. But I don’t grab it.

“You don’t understand... I have to stay here...”

“Do you have a death wish or something! Come on you idiot! Don’t let their sacrifices be for nothing!”

Rob quickly counters me. I go to grab my pocket watch – to avoid this or all of this before it all comes crashing down.

Then in a fraction of a moment I see Richard running past me.

I stop when I have my hand clutching onto it. I see all of their faces glow an unusual green. And then I quickly look back to the object of death in the sky – it’s completely radiating with a green substance.

Then right as I see a flash coming, I prepare for what I can imagine to be mental torture. But nothing happens. I feel more and more scared. And even though I know I am embarrassing myself in front of my friends I keep doing so.

“No... No! Just go away, why did you curse me with this why!?”

The ground shakes silently... But still nothing else happens. I lift my eyes. Knowing that everyone around me is probably gone. Any slight tinge of red would break me.

And when the light of the blast hits my eye. A frightful, fierce sound erupts along with a tremor tumbling.

I see Angela, Galen and Rob. All crouched onto the floor – perfectly fine. Nothing not even the shards managed to launch and nothing remains of the object in the sky nor the green blanket to it.

I run and run and run – ignoring any calls from the others. I need to know what happens now. Depending on this singular result – I may finish with all of it and not think once more about emblems, I can go back and try to see everything like before.

Everything in peace and serenity, even if Aella annoys me, I promise myself I won’t ever complain!

I get to the battle scene and even before I step foot into the area, the land seems to speak back to me in the way it looks. Every stab and scratch look agonising and flashes images. Horrible images of prior resets.

“What’s going on…!?”

I feel my voice threshing the air with ringing like a chime suddenly distorted and static, however I couldn’t hear the faintest decibel.

“Jim! Father! Hello!?"

Nothing. No response. No sound.

I stumble like a blinded man running in the mountains away from some danger inconceivable to him, but knowing well that he might die, any second.

The smoke finally sets away with a gush of wind.

My vision is nebulous, confined, restricted against will.

“Father! Richard! Jim!”

Once more, I try but to no avail.

Then a faint blurry image forms, as if I were looking through a telescope a billion miles away.

Five silhouettes, five crisp shadows with outlines. One with a sword. One with his hands up casting. The other three on the floor beneath…

“Versterken!”

And even though everything is better, I feel anguish and torment with every step. But I can see.

The very image of stalemate and loss is what ends the two people standing. A slimmed, void sword piercing one through the chest. And the other engulfed by spikes emerging from the ground.

‘Who is this fifth person? And who are these two!?’, If I really ever want to achieve any significance, If I want to even save the people I love. Then I must find out!

For a tiny miniscule of time that I waste to blink, both are on the floor.

Exhausted and defeated I arrive with no triumph, nor happiness. A melancholy, inextricable anxious heart pounds. Knocking, shaking, crying.

Father… Jim… Richard…

Bodies barely recognisable. Hairs, bones, blood, clumps. Nothing left as it was once before.

Anxiously I look over to the other two.

Nothing.

Nothing but two catastrophic indents in the ground, no trace of them.

As if an emblem god had simply snapped his fingers and removed them from existence?

Or some how some sort of incompressible emblem power user’s spell?

Maybe It was just me?

What…?

Deadbeat, enervated, devastated, I fall without wanting to stop myself.

Within seconds a small crowd emulsifies from the air near me.

Angela, Gaven, Rob, Jack, the guards, and faces I’ve never seen before.

Angela seems to mirror my exact cloudy emotion, I see her even starting to tear up, and I try my best not to. Then she looks away and I’m left feeling empty.

Rob and Gaven are left speechless and even though they are the closest thing to brothers I have, neither can muster anything.

A couple guards come closer to me, with a different wear, one not from the village – from the capital maybe ‘reinforcements?’ I think to myself.

“Are you okay boy?”

They say with a sturdy, emotionless visage. These guards were much more powerful. If… If only they were here earlier.

I don’t respond to them. Neither did they speak back to break the silence.

As one of them crouched down and with a cold, harsh claw of steel clutched onto my shoulder and pulls me up.

“I have to reset…”

Hopelessly, I mumble. And as I am being held up by two guards, I see a dagger in sight. I drop my arm and I hold the worn-out handle.

I pull the blade out which makes a swishing sound through the air, and everyone looks.

I thrust towards my chest, exactly where the watch is, then a scream hurdles towards me.

“Stop!”

Then a block of ice engulfs my hand. I look towards the voice. It’s Angela.

“Do you really think that’s going to make things better!?”

Then uncontrollably, and with unstoppable intent she sobs and tilts her head towards the sky.

Horrifyingly I endure the response of shock from the crowd.

“Don’t be so ungrateful! After all they sacrificed!”

Horrified Gaven shouts, with Rob looking at me in a same judging manner. And when I look at Jack for any signs of comfort or redemption, instantly I am shut down with a gaze downwards.

“You don’t understand! I have to!”

Urgently, I struggle out the tight clasp of the soldiers in any hope to break the watch or even somehow die and wait for the watch to be broken…

Exasperatingly enough, I stop after many more hold me, and no matter the shame it brings nor the embarrassment as I cause a chaotic clutter of sounds, It won’t stop me trying later.

Suddenly, I feel a sharp force hit my hip, and I couldn’t move any longer. All I manage to see is a monk emblem embedded within one of the guards forehead. Meaning he must of hit a pressure point!

Frantically thinking in my head, all I can muster out of one-hundred-billion neurons is ‘damn it?’, a dire sense of defeat that becomes way to familiar.

Silence emerges as my arm slops as if I am drunk beyond thought, my emblem mark stares catastrophically into everyone.

Then within an instant. As if some sort of code a signal is passed around, with me being the only oblivious.

Panicking, my intense overwhelmed state could not care an utter second what would and could ever happen to me past this point.

‘But what about... Aella’ in this single thought I possess such clarity of the disaster and calamity this single event cause...