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Not long before the present.
The environment around them was almost completely barren. The few animals and birds that might have been nearby felt an overwhelming presence, carrying a pressure so immense that their instincts screamed for distance, and they obeyed without hesitation.
The air was dry. It had probably been two weeks since a single drop of rain had touched that land. If you looked up, you'd see the sun perfectly centered in the sky, blazing intensely that morning, heating layer after layer of the atmosphere, reaching the winds, touching human skin, and finally settling over the ground and the seas.
Surrounding that blazing sun was a single cloud, as if it believed, by some miracle, it could swallow it whole.
If the sun could laugh, even for a moment, it would laugh at the sheer insignificance of that lone cloud.
Below that sun stood Calamity, ready to reveal just a fraction of his power to Kallay's descendant, the same power that had ended his father's life. And he would do it violently, without the slightest weight on his nonexistent conscience.
In his hands, Calamity held two spheres made of Grace, their surfaces rippling like waves.
Let's begin. - Calamity
And don't you dare open your mouth. I hate it when punching bags think they're allowed to talk. - Calamity
Calamity moved his arm within mere milliseconds. When he fired one of the spheres, Kallay's descendant could only truly see it after it had already zigzagged through the air and was about to strike his chest.
The moment that human punching bag felt the cold of that sphere against his chest, everything inside him accelerated, his heartbeat, his blood flow, his brain. His deepest instincts screamed, deafening, urging him to run even though it was already too late.
If that sphere pierced through his chest, death would come so fast his brain wouldn't even understand what had happened.
His eyes widened. Even the sweat on his skin had never moved so fast.
Just before the shot itself, there had been a sharp, rising, distorted hum, as if it were screaming through the air's molecules. Then came the blast, leaving a visible trail of impact through the air.
Only when the sphere touched his skin did his brain finally begin to process that the attack had not been silent.
All his senses screamed that his chest was about to be torn open, but instead, the sphere exploded, launching his body backward with the force of the blast.
When he finally stopped rolling across the ground, his brain confirmed something almost unbelievable:
His body was still intact. He could still breathe.
I didn't die... I didn't die... - Kallay's descendant muttered, coughing and crawling as he struggled to stand.
With all the time and movement I gave you, that's still the best you could do? Barely getting up now? - Calamity
"How...?" the descendant wondered, his fragile body trembling with a deep, gut-twisting fear.
"When he was behind me... he's in front of me now... I'm sure of it. So how didn't I see him move?"
He looked over his shoulder with the kind of fear a child feels staring into the dark, convinced something endless is about to swallow them whole.
How disappointing... - Calamity said, aiming the second sphere at his back, ready to fire at point-blank range.
Your father would've reacted much faster. Are you sure there's even a drop of his DNA in you? This is going to be a hassle. - Calamity
Wait, I— - the descendant tried to speak, but the blast hit him, sending him flying forward like trash.
It's almost a waste to spend this much Grace on something like you. - Calamity
To any distant observer, if one existed, it would have looked like Calamity took a single step and instantly appeared over Kallay's child.
In that case, I'll just use my hands. - Calamity
He coated his skin in Grace and grabbed the descendant by the neck, lifting him off the ground.
You'd better start reacting. - Calamity
He clenched his fists so tightly the bones pressed visibly against his skin and drove three punches into the descendant's stomach, followed by one straight to the face, sending him flying before dragging across the ground on his back.
As time passed and the sun began to set, the descendant, though it didn't look like it, was evolving.
His body still couldn't react to the attacks, but his eyes were learning. Adjusting. Beginning to see movements that once seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Every time he was thrown, Calamity gave him just enough time to recover, barely.
That small window lasted only until Calamity started walking toward him again. Each step was a countdown. That was all the time he had before the next beating.
Even as he failed to defend himself, something was happening inside him.
His body was beginning to absorb the energy from that luminous object Calamity had forced him to consume. It was no longer just temporary. His body was trying to make it his own.
At the center of his brain, between the left and right hemispheres, the seed of his soul reacted to Calamity's Grace. It began to grow faster.
But maybe not fast enough.
The afternoon turned into night. The beating never stopped. No breaks. No food. No water. Just one-sided brutality, soaked in blood.
This is getting repetitive. Watching you fall like garbage every time. - Calamity
At least you've started trying to hit me instead of just taking it. I guess that counts as trying. - Calamity said, still walking toward him.
That's the fourth time. The fourth time you've fallen asleep during my "training." - Calamity
He grabbed the unconscious body and began choking him until he woke.
It just hit midnight, and you're still the same. You really think you have the right to sleep? - Calamity
The descendant woke again, gasping, choking on the ground.
Calamity loosened his grip just enough for him to breathe.
You're awake. Good. - Calamity said, before slamming him back down.
Maybe I've been going too easy on you, if you can fall asleep while getting beaten. - Calamity
You've got about five or six hours until sunrise. If you haven't improved by then, I'll keep my promise. You die here. - Calamity
And to show you I'm serious... - he formed four spheres of Grace at his fingertips. - I'll start using my Grace again.
He fired them one by one, creating a massive cloud of dust.
The descendant used it to hide.
Calamity didn't even look concerned. If he wanted, he could see through it easily, but his eyes beneath the hood remained dim.
From within the dust, the descendant lunged at him from behind, aiming a punch at his head.
Calamity dodged with a slight tilt, the fist grazing only the edge of his hood.
Not bad. But too slow. Too loud. - Calamity said, grabbing his wrist and, without turning, driving an elbow into his chest before slamming him down.
As the descendant lay at his feet, Calamity rolled up his sleeve.
Took you long enough... but it seems you finally started to— - he said, forming another sphere of Grace.
The descendant rolled away just in time to avoid the direct hit, though the explosion still caught him.
Using the blast, he tried to run, stumbling forward.
Calamity appeared in front of him instantly, kicking his face with a dark smile hidden beneath the hood.
...show me even a fraction of the will your father had. - Calamity
He fired another sphere mid-air.
When the dust settled, the descendant was still standing.
Barely.
His body was covered in cuts, bruises, dirt, and blood. Every muscle trembled.
Congratulations. This time you stayed on your knees instead of collapsing face-first. - Calamity approached, completely unharmed. - Still not impressive.
When he got closer, he realized the truth.
The descendant had passed out on his knees, eyes still open.
Calamity's response was immediate. He snapped two fingers, one from each hand.
The scream that followed was raw, desperate.
Your existence is pathetic. And your humanity is even worse. - Calamity said, kicking him away again.
The "fight" continued as the sky began to lighten. Stars faded. The first rays of sunlight threatened the horizon.
The descendant fell one last time, his chest crushed under Calamity's foot.
That was the last time your back touched the ground. Open your eyes while you still can and look at the horizon. - Calamity
See that? The first rays of a new day. And you haven't improved at all. - Calamity
Which means your life ends here, Kallay's descendant. - Calamity
You were a complete disappointment. A waste of my time. - Calamity
He raised his hand, forming a single, large, dense sphere of Grace, its surface violently rippling.
One last thing before you die. Don't bother saying hi to your father. You won't be meeting his soul. - Calamity
With his last strength, the descendant screamed.
Inside his brain, the seed of his soul had grown, nearly touching both sides. Vein-like patterns pulsed around it, as if it were alive, on the verge of breaking.
And as he screamed, it did.
It shattered.
A violent internal explosion lit his body from the inside out, blasting Calamity backward with the force of his soul's energy.
His Just Wrath surged wildly around him, pushing the air itself, cracking and sinking the ground.
When the energy settled, he stood at the center of a crater.
But only for a moment.
His body shut down from exhaustion.
Before he could fall, Calamity appeared, catching him by the collar.
Well, look at that. You chose the last second to evolve. - Calamity
Congratulations. Your soul has matured. It now has the shape of your body. - Calamity
And it looks delicious... but I can't eat it yet. - Calamity said, saliva gathering as his tongue traced the air, savoring the thought of that soul.
But when the day comes... I hope it tastes just as good as your father's. - Calamity
He hoisted the descendant over his shoulder and, in a single step, accelerated from zero to 280 kilometers per hour toward the city of Valerium.
Now, Kallay's descendant was no longer in the White stage of Just Wrath temporarily.
It was permanent.