Chapter 9:

“Want with you? Nothing much really. All you have to do is sit there and look pretty for a bit.”

“What are you even on abou-”

“Hey, you two! I have to talk to you.” A young voice interrupted.

William turned around with an irritated expression as he confronted another nuisance.

Looking towards a certain clearing in the surrounding forest he saw a young child of about fourteen. The child’s appearance was shabby to say the least, as his hair was mottled with grime and blood. The hair formed clumps that either stuck close to his scalp or flew around listlessly with the wind. His face was tear-stricken and covered with dirt and blood. These features coupled with his torn clothes and haphazardly bandaged arm made the boy look like some filthy vagrant that lived off the street.

But William was unbothered by all of this as he simply stared at the boy’s blazing eyes. Like a wounded beast, the boy’s eyes gave off a feeling of unbridled fury and frustration, but also immense determination.

It was only sometime later that William recognized who the youth was. “My my. if it isn’t our little porter friend Silva brought along.” William’s voice was riddled with sarcasm, he did not bother using any word bindings. After all, why would he waste origin on a mere child?

“Why?”

“Pardon me, child?”

“Why did you do it? Why did you kill them?”

Rine’s voice cracked.

William began to grow irritated, especially so after he glanced upon the smirking face of the old man. Having had enough of this farce, he decided o cut all leftover ties.

“Answer me! {Fireball}!” Rine let loose his pre-prepared spell as a ball of fire exploded forth towards William.

“Pathetic.” William scoffed as he used a fraction of his origin to rip apart the spell. Though a flash of surprise did appear in his eyes ‘This rural bumpkin actually managed to become a first-grade magician huh.

Rine’s eyes widened in surprise “How?”

William smiled in disdain as he chucked a bit of origin towards Rine at blazing speeds.

The youth took a couple of steps backward as he felt the fear of death upon him.

“I’m afraid I have to step in.” The old man said as he waved his hand towards the ball, instantly dissipating it.

Rine looked at the old man and nodded slightly before turning away and fleeing.

This interaction did not escape William’s eyes. “So this was all a part of your plans?”

The old man did not reply and merely elected to sit upon the tombstone lazily. “So are you going to let him go that easily? He seems to know the truth about the death of those poor mercenaries. Sure, as a citizen of Verlau you have the luxury of not caring about your reputation in the low-lands but still…”

William’s face did not change as he stared warily at the spirit. “Unfortunately, senior I don’t have the time to be playing chase with an infant. I bid you farewell.” Having said this, he disappeared from his spot suddenly.

“How impulsive.” The old man said as he watched William’s disappearing figure.

Mere seconds pass and a loud thud appeared a distance behind the old man.

William reappeared with his hands pressed against the middle of the air in front of him. “I did not know senior was also proficient in the art of inscription magic.” He struck the air lightly as a golden shimmer radiated from his fist outwards revealing a domed structure encasing the nearby vicinity.

“Not my handiwork, rather a close friend of mine. Incidentally, he also placed the void inscription that’s keeping you from absorbing more surrounding origin” The old man then proceeded to dissipate William’s attempts at breaking the barrier with Origin.

Feeling like a rat trapped in a jar, William turned to face the old man before sighing “Amy leave us, go after the child.” William elected to dispose of Amy as she was simply luggage at this point.

Amy nodded and hobbled her way towards the direction of the boy while clutching her chest.

Oddly enough the old man did not attempt to keep Amy still and merely watched her go.

“So then senior it seems we have reached an impasse. My origin is nearing depletion and I have virtually no routes of escape. Conversely, you have no methods of killing me save for starvation. So how does making a deal sound?”

“Today truly is a busy day, this will be the third deal I make.” The old man smiled. …………………………………………

20 minutes before Rine stood against William.

Rine parted the plants to enter the clearing with a fluttering heart. “It’s here. My first real battle.”

But all semblance of excitement immediately left his body as he stared at the carnage in front of him. The first to hit him were the bodies of the archer twins. Their limbs were separated and mangled; deep gashes and bite marks decorated all along their lengths, and Rine fought back the desire to retch.

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It was then that the smell came upon him, and with a burning intensity. The metallic smell of blood coupled with whatever hellish odors the land had to offer, he could no longer hold back the urge and expelled the contents of his stomach in a violent heave.

Rine dropped to his knees as he propped himself up with his hands. After emptying his stomach, a fleeting yet horrendous thought flashed through his mind ‘The meat Silva gave me is among this puddle.’ Rine’s eyes grew blurry with tears.

But as he began to wipe his face off, he felt new wetness spread across it. Widening his eyes in surprise he was horrified to find out that his hands were covered in blood. “No! No! Please No!”

He crawled backward in a pathetic attempt to escape the hellish scene before him. But as his back made contact with a nearby tree, he grew stock still as he stared at a single location with hollow eyes.

It was not the patches of different colored blood that kept his gaze but rather the place where the blood was uniformed in color. Where the blood of man was indistinguishable from that of beast. And it was amidst this sea of blood that he saw the familiar silver hair of Silva.

Silva’s body was marred with web-like markings that released copious amounts of blood. His sword lay beside him silently as it reflected the moon’s light off its blade. His right hand was outstretched from his body as it cupped the hand of Cinder.

Unlike Silva, Cinder’s body was relatively preserved. In fact, were it not for the grim scene surrounding them, Rine would have guessed that she was merely sleeping. And that was somehow worse.

In some dark corner of his mind, Rine was fully aware of how ludicrous it was to be this sad over people he met mere hours ago but still. ‘But still…’

His tears dried as curled his arms around his knees. For the first time since first seeing it, Rine began to hate that pillar of light. He hated it for keeping the darkness at bay, the darkness that would have hidden such a sight from him.

As Rine fell deeper into the quagmire of his inner thoughts, he heard a voice call out to him.

“Is that all?”

Startled, Rine turned towards the direction of the voice only to see an amiable looking old man. With his long beard and ancient eyes, he looked like the wizards his grandfather spoke off often. He was even slightly transparent which only deepened his mysterious air.

“W-who are you?” Rine’s hoarse voice sounded.

“Who I am, does not matter. Rather it is who you are that does.” The old man said pointing towards Rine.

“What are you talking about.”

“You see you have two choices before you right now, well three.” The old man continued without waiting for Rine to respond.

“Option one is that you head back home and live with this scene etched in the back of your mind forever, and while this may seem like the least interesting, it is also the safest.”

Rine’s head cleared slightly as he heard the old man’s words. Ordinarily, he would have never believed such a random person spouting even more random words. But oddly enough, it just felt right. Almost like placing the last block on some puzzle.

“The second option, and in my opinion the best of the lot, I could just kill you right here and now.”

The sensation was beyond bizarre. If someone were to force Rine to describe it he’d say that it was as if the entire world was a fuzzy, convoluted mess; that was until a single path so clear, it damn near blinded him came from out of the blue.

“The third is the most troublesome. I shall offer you a deal.”

‘Take it. Take the third option and hold on tight.’ his mind pleaded. Every fiber of his being wanted whatever deal the old man had to offer, his blood boiled over as if due to his frantically beating heart. Yet what stopped Rine from immediately agreeing was an infinitesimally small shred of doubt. ‘Why me? Is he lying? Is this a trap?’ That shred spoke with ferocity. Painfully he felt the slow yet constant march of time slip through his fingers as he tried to decide.

Coincidentally the thought of his parents, as it had done many times before, flashed through his mind. That single thought seared right through the shred of doubt as if made of acid. Suddenly his blood cooled and his heart slowed as a pure, unfiltered desire grew within him.

“The conditions of the deal will remain unknown to you for now-”

“Stronger…”

“Excuse me?”

Rine made a sad attempt to stand as he threw himself towards the old man. His body fazed right through him, yet he did not care.

The old man looked at the youth’s blazing eyes as he muttered “I’ll do anything. Fight anyone. Just. Just make me strong.”

The old man’s non-existent heart thumped slightly as he watched those eyes. Eyes filled with determination. Words were useless, let me act; the eyes seemed to say.

“Alright. Loud and clear. Lucky for you, that’s part of the deal.” …………………………………………

Rine shook from his reverie as he saw the magician approaching.

She cut a sorry figure as she approached him.

Her hollow eyes seared through his soul as he began to feel guilty. His opponent was not only low on origin, but she was also fatally wounded.

But Rine shook the feeling off as he rekindled the anger writhing within him. ‘For Silva.’ He thought.

He kept the old man’s words in mind as he reminded himself of his inability to absorb more Origin.

Muttering beneath his breath, he began to ready himself. Against him, the magician stood still as she merely observed him.

‘Three shots.’ He noted as he observed his origin reserves. ‘Better make the most of it.’

“Ready yourself! This fight won’t be pretty.” He shouted at the magician.

“No. It won’t.” Even her voice was mechanical, though Rine did note the slight sneer in her tone.

“{Fireball}!}” He chanted as fire burst from his outstretched palm. The projectile left a trail of light in its wake as it forcefully made its way towards Amy.

Amy remained still as she simply watched the ball draw close.

Learning from his mistake, Rine began to chant another fireball. He recalled the sight of the hooded man so easily tearing his spell apart.

But contrary to his expectations, the spell successfully made it to its target. Only problem was, the target was no longer there.

Rine watched with a slacked jaw as the magician became enveloped in an emerald sheen “{Boost}!” Her robotic voice echoed within his mind.

Her lithe body ducked under the fireball as she began to make her way towards him, all while muttering beneath her breath.

Rine kept relatively cool as he completed his chanting “{Firebal-” but before he could continue, he was met with a fist to the face. Rine felt his bones moaning, but that was the least of his concerns “{Gale burst}” The magician said as he felt a fierce wind emanating from her palm.

His body was roughly pushed back as the wind swept through him. Quickly the distance between the two of them widened, and he felt a short-lived sense of relief. But soon his back made contact with a nearby tree and his head smacked against the trunk. Pain radiated from the sight of impact he yelped a pain-filled cry. …………………………………………