Trust. Mom told me that it was one of the most valuable currencies in all existence. The thing being bound by so-called promises and expectations of the person you are trusting.

And yet sometimes the other person who we trusted failed to live up to those expectations. They fail to honor the trust you have given to them, no matter how little or big it may be. But the person who trusted them is the one who is at fault.

Because they are the ones who trusted them, and not including foul play, have trusted them based on their better reasoning. Trusted them because they are a friend. Or at least, thought of as someone who won’t stab them in the back. The one who trusted the other person based on preconditioned judgments of what the person is like, and so it’s their fault if someone stabs them in the back.

It’s my fault that i trust people on the basis that i spent a lot of time with them. Deep down i knew that i couldn't trust him but i did it anyways

Why i did that, i did not know. A possible reason could be that i had hoped that he was trustworthy. A person that won’t betray me no matter what happened.

I was wrong.

Trust was something to be earned, and it is paid every single day. To be able to trust someone because of their slick words is insufficient and naïve. Strong, unbreakable is achieved through the continuous effort of the people involved. It is hard work.

Only now do I understand that. And based on my current situation, it may already be too late.

“Um, Ms. Flying Tiger?.”

“What?”

Gazing at Ms. Flying Tiger in the air, I ran from the monsters as i looked at her with some expectations in my heart. The little trust that she would save me from my current predicament.

“Uh… As you can tell from my current situation, I’m kind of in need of saving.”

“Hm, sure.”

Ms. flying tiger responded, yet the way she said it was a little off. She wasn’t looking at me and was looking in another direction, and i felt a little bit down because of it.

But I try again, twice, and then thrice. But she responded in the same robotic manner and continued gazing off into the distance, seeming to be looking for something.

Without warning, i felt my hair stand on its ends, prompting me to use {Lightning Movement} on instinct, moving me several meters away from my previous position.

I looked back and what i saw scared me out of my wits. I saw that my previous position got swallowed by a creature that intended to catch me off guard. Its mouth big enough for me to consume whole and then sum.

Except for the new addition to the fishes hunting me, the monsters beside it were of course, the Kraken who had clear intent on squeezing me to death while the shark-like creature looking at me with eyes signaling that it wants to rip me to shreds.

Don't ask how I know that, i just do.

I looked closer and it was becoming clear what creature was trying to swallow me whole. It was a bit strange. No more like so strange that i couldn't believe my eyes.

It was a fish. A big gigantic fish.

Not like a huge monstrous fish that had sharp fangs protruding from its mouth and spikes extending from its back. No. It was a fish. A normal-looking fish that looks like the ones i bought back in the market in the city.

But there was a slight difference with it, it had a menacing look in its eyes as its expression was of pure hatred and desire to end me. Now I'm confused, what the hell did I do to those fishes to deserve this?!

My senses were tingling once again, using {Lightning movement} to move out of the way, and right there after the water exploded in destructive splendor. Numbed to everything in my situation, i gazed at the giant monster and would ya look at that. It was the damned fish.

Somehow someway i concluded that he was shooting air projectiles from his mouth with enough force to decimate my entire body. What the actual fuck.

“You’re in a pretty tough spot, Cosmo.”

Ms. flying tiger evaluated as she watched the entire charade in the air. The sea creatures didn’t even pay her any mind and continued chasing me like I’m some sort of big red target. The problem is I’m wearing blue right now…

“Please save me!”

I shouted with all my energy as i used {Lightning Movement} again.

“Sorry kid, i can’t. I’m busy with other things.” She replied as she gave a shrug.

“But teacher, I’m dying here!. Like literally.” I cried out, pleading once more.

Ms. Flying Tiger didn’t seem to care and continued staring at the situation. Thinking that she was about to ignore me once more, i almost gave up hope as i hunkered my head down. Not noticing that a spell of immense heat travelled to my side and collided with the monsters behind me.

Shocked, i noticed that Ms. Flying Tiger finally helped. In my overjoyed state, i was about to thank her when she just smiled in a sort of creepy manner and disappeared from where she stood.

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Oh no.

A feeling of dread wrapped around my mind. I noticed that the monsters stopped chasing me and observed me. Their skins were charred and their body was giving off black smoke. Taking a whiff of the air, the scent reminded me of the fish that my mother used to cook.

But before i could savor the scent, the monsters lunged at me with even greater force this time, their eyes filled with utter rage.

Stupefied, i used {Lightning Movement} and began running once more. The monsters roared with immense ferocity and rage; The Kraken extending all of its tentacles and the shark trying to circle me and preventing me from going in certain directions. While the big fish shot air projectiles at me.

The situation was growing more disadvantageous to me by the second. Well, it’s not like i had the advantage in the first place but anyways.

I have already forced myself to use {Lightning Movement} several times already, depleting what little amount of mana I had, as well as my own stamina. There are still limits to how much I can use {Lightning Movement}.

I mean I had to get struck by thunder while running in the rain to learn this technique. That was not a fun fond memory i want to recall not repeat.

And yet I pushed on. For the simple reason that i don’t want to die yet. That’s enough of a reason for me to keep running, i believe.

There’s another slight problem though. It’s that for some reason the monster was creeping ever so slowly toward me. I noticed that throughout this whole situation that i am running out of both stamina and mana.

Every assault of a tentacle, every air projectile, and every attempt of the damned shark of breaching me has indeed failed in its previous attempts, yet now when i used {Lightning movements} to change positions, i felt that if i was late by a quarter of a second, i would be stewing in its stomach right now.

Several tentacles once assaulted me and without a second thought, i used {Lightning movement}, but I felt that something was wrong. My body froze in place as something in my mind was preventing me from using the technique, so instead of using {Lightning Movement}, i jumped up into one of the tentacles to glide through it.

And thank god for that since the moment i did that, i saw that in the far-off distance, the shark breached once more and breached out of the water. I had goosebumps running down my arms when i saw that.

Because that’s where the place i was supposed to be when i used {Lightning Movement}. This cannot go on, it seems.

And so i began thinking of various solutions to get out of my current predicament. Running on the tentacle, an idea was lit in my head. There was that way but I don't feel like doing it.

I analyzed my current situation and saw the Kraken staring at me with those beady little eyes as it tried to crush me with its tentacles. The damned fish was also firing air projectiles and to this moment I still don't know how it can do that.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down my thumping heart. I remembered the constant torture er… i mean the training i went through to survive this far. There was only one way out of this and it was the simple solution, and it was to fight.

I opened my eyes and held steadfast, readied myself for the fight to come. My scythe appeared on my right hand as I jumped high into the sky. For a few seconds, I admired the vast, almost seemingly endless sky as it stretched out into the beyond.

There were three monsters below this peaceful scenery, and so i gave a slight sigh. Realizing that this may be the last time i would enjoy the beautiful scenery of that nature has to offer.

Falling from the sky, i gripped the handle of my scythe with both hands as tight as possible, colliding down into one of the tentacles as i hit it squarely on the surface of it. The shock of the collision vibrated my entire body as if i tried slicing a mountain with a kitchen knife.

I expected my attack to at least damage it a little... But there was nothing.

The moment my Scythe tried slicing the tentacle, i angered the Kraken even more than it already is. It began thrashing around in place, its tentacles becoming even more fierce as the shockwaves of it even hit its supposed allies.

In that chaos, while i was trying to escape, one of the tentacles collided with me by accident as I felt almost the full brunt of its rage. The impact hit me with so much force i felt like i got clocked by a mountain. And considering that it was a literal Kraken, my reference was quite right.

The Kraken threw me several kilometers away from its madness, giving me a way of escape from my current predicament. Slight problem again, i streaked through the sky as if i was a meteor.

I felt the wind against my body as I flew through the air like a dagger being thrown by Mr. Samuel to a target. And make no mistake, it was fast and swift. Who knew it was possible to both become a meteor and a dagger.

But all things must come to an end as I felt myself crash into the ground. The sand billowed through the air with my body streaking through it as i eventually crashed into several trees, breaking those in half as it tried to catch my fall.

I laid flat on my back, trying to order any part of my body to move nad yet there was no response. The immense pain i expected from being a meteor was nowhere to be found, as i felt my own body did not become my body.

Numbness was the only thing i felt in that moment.

My consciousness was drifting off between being half dead and awake to being knocked out. With my blurry mind not being able to tell the difference. I tried moving my body, yet i felt that it was broken in several places, places in which i never thought i was able to break. That is, until now.

…

Scanning my body through the massive jolts of pain and numbness in some parts, i can conclude that my bones are broken in several places. A good way to put it is that my whole body wasn’t doing so well.

Without warning, I felt blood accumulating in my throat as i spat it out in the next second. My blood splattered right in front of me. I also felt that the next one might be coming.

“So you survived, good job.”

A voice made its presence known near me, yet i wasn’t able to see who it was as I felt that even moving my head wasn’t a good idea. But there was no need to anyway. There was no need to see who it was.

“…Yes I… survived…”

I replied as i was barely able to mouth off the words. It was becoming clear that my consciousness was drifting away as time passed on, yet i forced myself not to pass out since i might not wake up next time.

"You passed young one. You may be half dead right now but hey, your still alive so congrats."

He responded as he floated in the air, observing me with interested eyes. He smiled as patted me on the head.

“Now sleep child, ill take care of everything else.”

I wanted to ask what he meant by it but my vision became blurry as the comforting darkness consumed me once more.

…

Lucius observed the child in front of him with unknown intent. Eyes that seemed to say a lot of things and yet none at the same time. He looked away and gazed at the far-off distance with indifference in his eyes.

"This child..."

Lucius disappeared from his place, leaving a slumbering Cosmo to his dreams.