Staring at me, she says, "I had no intentions of caring for you in the start, just using whatever connection you could bring me to survive and thrive in this new land. You were prey, and I was the hunter. But your words captured me; the ideas you spoke made my heart shake; they made my life stutter as it tried to reject the fact that the dream you released was what it truly desired. So I had some faith in you, I became a fan of the person you said you'd one day become, I wished to see if you could truly make the world bow to you. But that was all a mirage of the mind. Adrian, you are selfish, you are lazy, you are prideful, you are rude, you are arrogant, you are bitter, you are manipulative, you are dishonest, you are a procrastinator, you are impulsive, and worst of all, you can never see anything as your fault. You're not someone who can make the world kneel around you. You're very much human, just like everyone else here, nothing worse, nothing better. And if you're like everyone else, I might as well join those who have the most power, those who can keep my family and friends safe."
Her barrage of words smashes into Adrian, breaking him down in ways that would be considered horrific if they had mass.
The pain each word, each syllable inflicts on him spreads a poison that moves all the way down to his soul, yet he doesn't wish to fall, he doesn't wish to collapse under it all, so he yells, "I AM NOT THE SAME, I AM DIFFERENT, I AM DIFFERENT!"
Turning her back, she says, "You are different, but being different holds no value; it just makes you weak. What your words truly mean, you liar, is that you want to be superior, you wish to stand at the apex, yet you're only a ghoul who can hope to catch the streaks of light that shine down from heaven. Goodbye, Adrian."
As she walks away, his head drops and in that instant, from the depths of his soul yell out throughout the area.
-Break-
Location: Zaad Ziener; Captivant's House, Bedroom
Φ The rest of that day is a blur to me; all I remember are the tiny images that popped into my brain as I walked along the pathways towards my house, along from the forest.
I remember reaching the door of my house, and the words Siegrund told me as he saw me. "Captivant, sorry. I was running around upstairs, and an issue occurred. It seems Genius ate Rebellion, and after that, it started rushing out of the house trying to eat the farm animals in the rest of the village, so it was attacked and put down. I was too slow to do anything about i-."
"Where is Genius? TELL ME WHERE MY FOX IS!"
"We dug a grave for him behind the house."
My body moved with force; it shouldn't have been in its container any longer. Why am I even moving? I don't even care for this stupid animal, I just took it in because it was something I had to do to be Captivant. It's just a foolish beast that couldn't control itself and got killed.
Seeing the little grave stone standing behind my house, over a small mound of dirt, I rush over and plunge my fingers into the ground as I start digging it out little by little at full speed, until the body with a wound from a spear in its side becomes visible to me.
Pulling its entire body out of the ground, my eyes fall upon its corpse, and I say, "You're just a dumb dog, a creature that has no self-control, a beast who ate his friend because he couldn't control himself. I despise idiotic mongrels like you who fall to the world at the slightest inconvenience."
"I hate you. Every single day you played with Rebellion, every single night you snuggled up close to Rebellion. Whenever I forgot to get rebellion food, you went down and pestered my mom, getting me slapped. Whenever Rebellion felt scared and would fall into his idle pose, you'd do the same thing to make a sense of camaraderie with him, like the genius you were. You loved him."
Crying, I say, "I am sorry I didn't keep feeding you, I am sorry I pushed you to become a creature like this, I am sorry I humiliated you during the life you wish to gain. I am sorry I didn't protect your friendship from the world. I am sorry I failed you."
I grip his lifeless body, trying to transfer to the vestiges of warmth that remain after my long walk over to him, as I say, "I am sorry, I am so sorry."
-Break-
Standing in front of Genius's rebuilt grave, I turn to Siegrund and say, "Thank you for helping me."
"It's the least I could do, given I could've stopped this from happening."
"You do not need to feel guilt from this. But if you do, if you feel like the pain caused upon me today falls squarely on your head, please hear my words. Siegrund Bisumod, please teach me how to use Spirit Energy and how to fight."
Staring directly into my eyes, he says, "For what reason?"
"So I can become a person who can make the world bend towards me, so that I shall not be swallowed in the current that is existence. So that I may become a hero whose name is known across the world. So that I may stand at the apex. So that I may become someone who is truly superior to the rest of the rabble you find on the streets, and will never die a death like Genius."
Smiling, Siegrund says, "The truth at last. If that's what you desire in that selfish heart of your I will dedicate myself to it, and will teach you all you wish to know."
The words that came out of my mouth that day were the only blade I had left to defend myself. Yet it was weak, fragile, easily shattered under the weight of any scrutiny, so I hate to perfect it.
-Age 10-
So I trained this body of mine that has never known true struggle till it resembled that of the heroes I admired.
Standing with one foot balancing on my hand, Siegrund swings his sword again and again, sending me off balance, yet as I am about to fall I his wooden sword swing down towards me, smacking me in my face as I fall to the ground.
Landing on his feet, he stares at me and says, "Get back up, you still have 3 laps of the village to go."
Smacking my fist into the ground, I say, "How much longer till I can use spirit energy! I thought impact was the main way to learn, but you've just been making me learn."
"Impact is the main way people learn, but that's for people who already have a keen sense of spirituality, or to put it simply, are not carnal beasts like the boy who lies in front of him. Blame yourself for not shreading your beastly nature."
Gripping my hands against the ground, I ask, "Will I be able to do it then, if I keep running. Can you promise me that?"
"As long as you are willing to run for as long as I demand, I can guarantee you that without a doubt you'll learn it."
Standing up, I say, "Hope back on."
-Age 11-
So I read all the maps I could on information that would be necessary to me in the future.
Location: Zaad Ziener; Captivant's House, Bedroom
With a giant sheet of maps gathered around my body as, as I move through them and I say, "Between the borders of the nations of Enotita, are a series of villages usually held by mountain tribes. Travelling through them without proper preparation is a death sentence for most. If I cross-reference some of the newer maps with the older ones, along with declarations of war that have taken place in the last few centuries, then I get the villages of Est, Aki, Kangchen, Eibrush, existing between the border of the Dá Dynasty and Di Mhoop."
-Age 12-
I gained skills necessary for my survival each day, in the challenges I would be facing.
Location: Zaad Ziener; Captivant's House, Kitchen
With my family and Siegrund gathered across the table, I drop plates of food one after another in front of everyone, and staring down at it, my father says, "Did you make this?"
Sitting down beside Siegrund, I say, "Your eyes don't deceive you. I need to start taking better care of my nutrition if I want to not die at the hands of Siegrund."
My mother scowls at my master, and he says, "My beautiful, perfect Queen, don't hate me!"
Smacking him in his side, I say, "Don't be a bother, and enjoy the food. Or I can just bin it all."
My mother nods as she starts to eat it, whilst my father turns to me and asks, "Are you okay, son?"
"Of course, I am. Is the idea that I might want to pick up a few skills, I am a man anyway, and it's not like I will ever trust a woman to make my meals for m-."
"DELICIOUS!!!!" my mother says as her face fills with delight. Turning to me, she sticks her thumb up.
Seeing the look in her eyes, I turn my head away and say, "Dammit, can't you keep quiet?"
Smiling, my father says, "I like you more when you look like that."
"Shut up, you old fart."
A fist from Siegrund slams into the top of my head as he says, "RESPECT YOUR PARENTS!"
-Age 13-
I gained a connection with those who could become a base for my future.
Location: Zaad Ziener; Grasslands.
Standing around the tall grass, I turn to the man beside me and ask, "And this is where you can find the dancing flowers, the gems in them are hard enough to gain, but I can grab a few for you as a favour."
"Then sounds utterly wonderful, but I have to ask, why would you do all of this for someone like me?"
"Don't worry, just think of it as an investment in the future. If I ever need something proportional, I am sure you would be first to answer my calls."
"What a sly young man you are, but I assure you on my pride as a merchant, that I will look over any deal you give to me."
-Age 14-
I pushed myself to my limit and back, until I could reach a domain far greater than I ever thought possible.
It's massive, bigger than anything I have ever seen before. Its skin is no different from the trees that surround me, the orange flames in its flesh make the sun look cold, the blood that spews out of its body and over mine, it is grander than the amount of water I have drunk this month, yet it lies under me, as my sword rests inside it.
I turn my head around and stare at Siegrund, and with a smile, he says, "And with that, you've completed your training, Captivant. And the time of my leave is near."
-Age 15-
I even betrayed the two people who held me closer than all others throughout the years, where I could barely call myself a human.
Location: Zaad Ziener; Captivant's House, Kitchen
Staring at my mother and father across the table, who grip a piece of paper in their hands, I say, "How much longer do you need to read this?"
Slamming the paper onto the table, my father says, "Do you even know what this is?"
"Yes, it's a contract to sell my property rights to the King by the end of the month."