“I have a plan!”

Aki screamed, drawing the attention of his friends and his foe.

...

Around 15 days ago, shortly after the morning lecture had concluded. The students were already heading over to the dining room to eat lunch, Shainaq followed suit and was walking towards the mansion with a contented grin on his face.

Today's lesson was awesome, everybody seemed so interested... That girl Misaki, she sure is a diamond in the rough. Can I adopt her? Wouldn't she be like my grand-grand-grand-or-whatever daughter then? It's not a bad idea!

“Shainaq.”

A faint voice drifted along with the refreshing wind and entered Shainaq's ears. He spun around and confronted the student that had called him out.

“Oh, if it isn't Aki.”

Shainaq’s elegant face brightened further when he saw Aki walk towards him. Shainaq was used to the students approaching him with their numerous questions. Shainaq was effectively the only source of information for the students since they couldn’t interact with anybody else.

Shainaq had explained that conversation would be plausible the very moment they would come into possession of their very own [Blessing Tablet], however, it appeared that the said moment was still far in the future. As such, the twenty-six of them had no choice but to pester Shainaq for anything and everything. Be it personal or professional.

“May I borrow some of your time?”

“Of course. How may I help you?”

Shainaq was somewhat nervous as this would mark the first time that Aki had approached him in this manner. Shainaq had always been interested in Aki, for he had heard a lot about him from Misaki, the one deemed smartest amongst the students.

Shainaq had vehemently praised Misaki for her intellect. He was genuinely awed by the petite girl’s abilities. He was someone who had observed more people than he could count in his lifetime. Some were intelligent, some were mighty, some were shrewd, and some were straight psychopaths. However, Misaki stood out even amongst those. He had a feeling that Misaki had a potential even his wise eyes couldn't measure.

That same person had glorified Aki to be someone in a completely different league than her. She had also requested Shainaq to not expose Aki, for he had his reasons for not wanting to stand out. Misaki came across as proud and all-knowing, but when Aki was mentioned, even she humbled herself to some degree.

As such, Shainaq was burning with anticipation for the discussion that would follow Aki's approach.

“From what I understand… [Lord’s Blessing] is, to a certain extent, an universal energy that embraces the entire planet, and something humans and various other species can ‘channel’ to utilize as they wish. Be it for military purposes, for research, for development, etcetera... Correct?”

“Yes.”

“Setting aside all the complicated stuff about transforming it into another energy, [Lord’s Blessing]'s most fundamental application is to reinforce our bodies, right?”

Why is he asking about such a thing?

“Yes. ‘Channelling’, unlike breathing or blinking, is a manual process that an intelligent creature is capable of after it manifests a certain value of comprehension. For humans, it is around 3-4 years of age. We voluntarily siphon [Lord’s Blessing] from the environment and use it to strengthen our bodies. As you remarked earlier, it's deemed universal energy as it can be converted into other forms such as thermal energy or electrical energy at will once proficiency in [Lord’s Blessing] has reached certain heights. There are many other intuitive ways to use [Lord’s Blessing], one of the more popular ones is to create a [Lord’s Blessing] barrier or to manipulate objects using [Lord’s Blessing]... Wait... Now that I think about it... If we disregard the whole energy aspect, [Lord's Blessing] has an uncanny resemblance to 'telekinesis.'”

Shainaq had an astonished expression on his face. He had lived more than 2 years on Earth and had watched numerous movies and read countless books, but this thought had never crossed his mind.

"Jean would do very well here."

Shainaq facetiously said before he took a step back, the invisible [Lord’s Blessing] covered his body. A rock lying near his foot drifted up, he was consciously manipulating the stone using [Lord's Blessing], making it twist and turn in the air a few inches away from him. It made Aki think he was watching a superhero movie. Then, as soon as he stopped siphoning the energy from the atmosphere, the rock fell with a dong sound, as if the previous scene had never occurred. After that, Shainaq channeled [Lord’s Blessing] again, the space distorted in front of Aki’s eyes, and a barrier was erected around Shainaq, about 10 centimeters away from his body. Aki couldn't exactly 'see' the barrier, but he could tell that 'something' was making the air disperse.

This guy is a monster, he can create a barrier ten centimeters away from without breaking a sweat. I wonder what’d happen if he goes all out.

Shainaq looked at Aki and provocatively raised his chin, beckoning him to test the barrier. Aki had to enshroud his whole body in [Lord's Blessing] as he hadn't mastered concentrating [Lord’s Blessing] on a particular body part yet. Focusing [Lord's Blessing] on a certain body part was a relatively difficult technique to master, but it was still considered one of the fundamental skills. It may be obvious, but concentrating and compressing [Lord's Blessing] on a small surface area multiplied its effects, sometimes to a frightening degree. However, this technique had a major flaw, it took the full concentration of a person to execute, as such, it left the unstrengthened parts of the body vulnerable to attacks.

Aki saw potential in this technique, but as he hadn't attained much understanding yet, he could only grit his teeth and enshroud his whole body, making his already meager capacity of [Lord's Blessing] cover more surface area, so the [Lord's Blessing] around his hand was thin and weak.

Aki retreated a bit, pulled back his arm, bent a little, and lunged at the barrier, punching with all his might. However, the result was as expected, nothing happened, not even a scratch was left on the seemingly indestructible barrier. Aki despondently retrieved his fist and both of them stopped channeling. Shainaq looked fine, but Aki's slight exhaustion was clear for anyone to see.

“Can you elaborate further? Although you have explained all of this to us already, I seem to be a little slow on the uptake.”

What is this child saying? Is he really the one Misaki admires?

Shainaq, whose face was always the embodiment of jolly, seemed to show a glimmer of irritation. He sighed in resignation and continued to explain.

“Channeling, like nearly every action that the human body undertakes, costs energy and stamina, as you just experienced." Shainaq pointed at the beads of sweat lingering at Aki's forehead and neck. "As such, those with high physical abilities can sustain channeling [Lord’s Blessing] for longer periods and can convert it into other forms of energy with less strain on their bodies compared to beansprouts."

Shainaq sarcastically spoke, but noticing that Aki did not react whatsoever, he embarrassedly coughed and continued.

"Having said that, the compatibility and capacity have no relation to a person’s physique whatsoever. With physical training, one can decrease the exertion experienced by their bodies when they channel [Lord's Blessing] and avoid any severe repercussions. However, proficiency in [Lord's Blessing], and the quantity of the [Lord's Blessing] one can channel at a time is entirely based on a person’s natural talent.”

“Is that so…? Then here is another question. To what extent... Can a person manipulate [Lord’s Blessing]?”

“What?”

“To what extent can a person-”

“No, no, I heard you the first time! Why would you ask something like that? All of the students, including you, are now capable of channeling [Lord’s Blessing], so you should be able to guess where the limit lies.”

“Shainaq, you have emphasized multiple times that we can only apply [Lord’s Blessing] in the immediate vicinity of our bodies. The range depends on many factors, but essentially, one can’t interfere with anything outside of their ‘[Lord’s Blessing] zone’. For example, during yesterday’s practical lesson, Uenohabaru managed to lift a piece of parchment around a centimeter away from his body, and you had mentioned that his proficiency in handling [Lord’s Blessing] had already surpassed that of an average seven-year-old.”

“Yes, what about it?”

“For the third time… To what extent can a person manipulate [Lord’s Blessing]? If an average seven-year-old can control, what seems to be an entity that all the concepts of this world revolve around, to such a degree… What are those who reign at the top capable of? You don't me to tell you just how overpowered [Lord's Blessing] is from our perspective, even with all the restraints and such. I can see that the people born here take it for granted, which is completely understandable. Humans tend to take what is provided to them without much effort for granted. I wish to know... What is considered absolute strength in this world?”

Shainaq was bewildered. None of the students who had approached him had asked such a challenging dilemma. The questions that most of the students asked were pretty generic, of course, with Misaki being an exception.

Shainaq was forced to contemplate, he was seriously thinking about how to answer Aki. Somewhere deep within, he felt that there was something more to this conversation. He felt like he was falling into some sort of trap.

“It is a very difficult question to answer, you know? One could say that a universal measure of strength is how large a person’s [Lord’s Blessing] zone is... The further one can interfere, the stronger they are. As I've mentioned before, the range is directly proportional to one's [Lord's Blessing] capacity. However, that by itself doesn’t tell us anything about their combat potential... In most cases, people choose to convert [Lord’s Blessing], because, well, it is just the better option. Though it consumes more stamina and [Lord's Blessing], the resulting power is well worth it. And even if people insist on using [Lord’s Blessing], they don't fight bare-handed.”

Shainaq glanced around, and after seemingly noticing something, he walked away with a blank expression, coming back a few seconds later with a normal wooden branch in his hand. He enshrouded it in [Lord’s Blessing], and casually swung it at the ground.

T-that branch ANNIHILATED the ground. Can a gun do that? NO! That was like some rocket launcher kinda stuff.

Aki's expression was calm and composed, but he felt chills going down his spine at Shainaq's display of strength. It took a minute for the dust and debris to clear up. Shainaq casually blew away what remained of the powdered branch in his hands.

The branch... Disintegrated.

“Even if someone can only control [Lord’s Blessing] in a range of 2-3 centimeters, they can defeat opponents stronger than them with the help of a good weapon. As long as a part of the weapon is touching your body, and you can provide that extra energy to sustain the [Lord’s Blessing] that is covering more surface area, it will act as an extension of your own body. Warriors focus their [Lord's Blessing] on their sword-wielding arm, legs, and the sword itself to maximize their attack power.”

“So... If one were to hold an object and cover it with [Lord’s Blessing], depleting stamina faster because of the increase in surface area, the said object would also toughen as their body would?"

“Yep. However, it largely depends on the object as well. If I were to cover a sword made from high-quality metal with [Lord's Blessing], the sword would strengthen. If I were to cover a normal branch, it would strengthen. Now, here's the difference. The sword wouldn't just immediately disintegrate as the branch did earlier. It would lose durability, yes, but not fall apart instantly. There is a difference in their 'limits'. The objects are inanimate after all, they can't channel [Lord's Blessing], it's us who are covering them, so it's natural for the objects to crumble under the pressure. A good weapon holds on for longer and hits harder. That's why I said, fighting barehanded against an armed opponent is stupid."

"You mentioned the weapon would be an extension of our bodies. So can we control the areas around the weapon? Like if my [Lord's Blessing] zone is five centimeters, does it apply to my weapon as well? If I have a two-meter-long spear and a piece of paper near the other end of the spear, can I make it float?"

"Oh, yes, of course. It'd just take a ton more concentration, more than it takes to focus [Lord's Blessing] on a body part. Though it may be extremely straining, it is a very practical technique that many professions utilize, you know?"

“Okay, my final question... Can we not channel [Lord’s Blessing] inside our bodies?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“From what I comprehend, [Lord’s Blessing] channeling can be somewhat related to conscious breathing. Like how we hold our breath for fun? [Lord’s Blessing] is like the air in our lungs. The one with a better physique and better lung capacity can hold out longer while the average joe is just the average joe. Then there are two extremes- those with asthma and those with naturally healthy lungs.”

Aki looked Shainaq in the eyes as he said the last part, implying that there existed a certain gap between those who were talented by birth and those who were damned by fate.

“In this analogy, the lungs can be said to be the surface of our body. We channel [Lord’s Blessing] only on the outside, however, respiration as a process isn’t limited to the lungs, now is it? I may be wrong, but shouldn’t it be entirely possible to channel [Lord’s Blessing] inside our bodies? No, if I think about it, it should be easier to channel inside our bodies. What do you think?”

Shainaq was startled, it took a moment for him to recover. Under Aki’s inquisitive eyes, he stood unmoving, contemplating on how to respond. After what seemed to be an eternity for the curious Aki, Shainaq’s lips slowly parted.

“Sigh~ Fine, you win. All that pointless discussion, you had all that knowledge already, didn’t you? It was all just to lower my guard.”

“No, enshrouding objects to extend our reach was something entirely new for me. So…?”

“Ah, well… You see Aki, it’s natural for you to not know since I haven’t discussed it yet, but unlike your world, this world has a very very very long recorded history. I don’t know about all the countries since they don’t communicate with outsiders, but there are countries with millions of years worth of heritage. Even our small country’s origin dates back to about 300,000 years ago. It seems that we were a single country back then, Raveez, named after the merchant that found this land, but some stuff happened about 170,000 years ago and the country was split into three parts. The three small countries remained at war for more than 70.000 years. Then, around 90,000 years ago, a single warrior raised his sword and conquered the three lands and merged them into one, restoring the original land, and named it Gliblici, after his wife whom he had lost in one of the battles. However, a few thousand years later, as the result of a political dispute, it was torn apart once again, this time into two parts, and gradually became what it is now, North and South Gliblici.”

“While I appreciate the information, I don’t understand the purpose of you telling me this.”

“The point I am trying to make is… During these countless years, there have been many Philosophers who had gone beyond the limits of humanity in terms of intelligence, however, even they couldn’t figure out how to properly channel [Lord’s Blessing] inside our body. It is as you say, it is very simple to ‘channel’ it, you could even do it right now, however, there are huge risks with severe consequences that can't be ignored. I didn’t have much time to study biology while I was in your world, but I grasp enough to gauge the complexity of the human body. Nerves, tissues, arteries, organs, some more important than the others... Can a human truly reach a level of precision where one could channel [Lord’s Blessing] inside one’s body without killing themselves in the process?”

“Does this relate to what you mentioned before? Strengthening an inanimate object beyond its limit can destroy it? Like that branch just now?”

“Yes. [Lord’s Blessing] may seem overpowered on the surface, but it carries more dangers than you think. I didn't tell you this earlier, but inanimate objects aren't the only things that have limits. Lungs can easily fall apart if they're not taken care of properly after all. This is why I mentioned that you lot will have to train your bodies relentlessly, or you’ll undoubtedly break. Your bodies are way too soft, and I know that it is because of the peaceful nature of your world, but it’s different here.”

“I understand. So essentially, if one wants to channel [Lord’s Blessing] inside their bodies, they have to know every nook and cranny of it… If while channeling, one loses concentration even for an instant, something important might burst apart, and they can perish.”

“Yes.”

“But it isn’t impossible, right?”

“Well, I mean… It is considered to be impossible. I know of a project undertaken by a research and development facility situated in one of the 7 great powers. They had researched for more than thirty years. They procured bodies of soldiers lost in war, and intensively studied the internal structure of the human body, but the warriors that inherited this knowledge just couldn’t master the technique. It is rumored that one person, known to be a genius from a noble family, managed to master internal channeling, but died a few days later when he lost focus for a second and burst an important artery.”

“Is that so…? Okay then, I should go to eat, my friends are waiting.”

Wait, what? That’s it? After all of this, he just leaves?

Shainaq was bewildered, baffled, and in an overall state of chaos, but it seems that the person in front of him couldn’t care less as he just left after bowing, not waiting for his reply at all.

...

“What do we have to do?”

Umi grimaced, a dread never witnessed before covering her face.

“Step back. Don't come close under any circumstances.”

Aki's voice was low, but it resounded within the silent forest and penetrated the three's ears. The tips of Aki’s fingers were trembling, his knees were on the brink of giving out. However, he mustered up his courage and walked towards the leisurely sitting blood-striped mazen. The beast was licking the small wound left on its side by Akio’s sword and shifted its focus to Aki when he began moving towards it. The beast's eyes narrowed in amusement as ridiculing Aki's effort and it returned to licking the wound.

“Muranaka-kun…?”

“I’ll be fine… Probably.”

Aki brushed away Akio’s concern, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking about anything other than his opponent. Akio, on the other hand, was wallowing in despair. She could see the determination in Aki's eyes, and even though she wished to stop him and run away, there was a part of her that understood that running away wouldn't do anything. This may very well be the only chance they had against the beast.

It’s a seventy-thirty, no, more like eighty-twenty. It's a huge gamble. And while my chances of survival are low, if I succeed, it’d be a HUGE boost…

Aki gritted his teeth and slowly advanced towards the animal. The blood-striped mazen’s vigilance towards Aki was so low that it didn’t even stand up when its opponent was near its body.

Aki, perfectly aware of his adversary’s conceit, slowly moved towards it until he was in lunging distance. He took a deep breath, hoping to calm himself down. Aki didn't notice it, but an unnatural cold glint flashed within his eyes, and his entire body stopped trembling at once.

At that exact moment, both of their gazes sharpened. Aki stretched out his hand laced with a dense concentration of [Lord’s Blessing], and the beast, visibly startled, hastily leaped away. It was probably because its bestial instincts sensed danger from Aki’s hands, however, it couldn’t completely escape as Aki’s hand landed on the beast’s hide.

““RAAAAAAAWRR~!””

They both roared, one couldn’t tell whose roar was louder. The leaves fluttered and the ground trembled. The rest of the group was forced to step back while covering their ears. Umi and Vinayak huddled together while Akio was standing a few meters away from them.

As for Aki, his entire concentration was focused on his palm, more accurately, on the [Lord’s Blessing] covering his palm. He was aware that if he lost focus even for an instant, a painless death would be the most optimistic result.

“PLEASE WORK!”

Aki considered himself to be a true atheist. He had suffered torment for many years, many situations had him on the verge of a breakdown, he had been crushed and rebuilt over and over, but never once had he turned towards the supreme yet unscientific existence for spiritual assistance.

However, right now he was praying to every god he knew the name of, from Jesus of the West to Amaterasu of the East, he pleaded for his life that was slipping away from his hands in front of his eyes.

“Go.”

Following Aki's whisper, a blinding light filled the dark and gloomy forest.

...

Akio had watched Aki walk towards the beast that made her cower in fear with steps full of undeterred conviction. Every step he took was like a blade stabbing at her heart. She wanted to help him, and she was sure that the other two felt the same, but they were aware of their utter powerlessness.

They could only hope.

Akio witnessed the moment Aki stepped near the beast, and she was probably the only one who was able to judge the situation to a certain degree thanks to her gifted talent in [Lord’s Blessing].

[Lord’s Blessing], deemed to be an energy, didn’t possess many characteristics of one. Its material existence resembled more air than energy. [Lord’s Blessing] had mass, but it couldn’t be perceived by the naked eye, and while its presence could be felt strongly by the students when they had first arrived because of the change in pressure, however, adapting to the new environment had made them somewhat ignorant to [Lord's Blessing]'s presence.

However, Akio, who was considered to have a very close relationship with [Lord’s Blessing] could instinctively sense when someone close to her was utilizing it. Her senses were still in their developing phase as her proficiency in [Lord’s Blessing] manipulation was amateur at best. According to Shainaq, if she were to diligently train for a couple of years, she could theoretically sense [Lord’s Blessing] being used from miles away. And while this sort of talent wasn’t exactly super rare in the upper-class society, it could still prove to be a priceless asset in many situations.

Akio could tell that Aki had collected a large amount of [Lord’s Blessing] and had condensed it on the surface of his palm. Aki’s capacity was low, so he could barely create a layer 0.2 centimeters away from his palm, but Akio could tell that Aki had pushed himself over the edge and collected every bit of [Lord’s Blessing] he could manage, which was a miracle in of itself.

The students had learned to shroud their bodies in [Lord’s Blessing], they hadn’t reached a level of proficiency where they could only cover one limb or a certain part of their body in [Lord’s Blessing]. Shainaq had mentioned that covering a specific body part with [Lord’s Blessing] would be the next part in their training after getting out of the forest, but Aki had already managed to accomplish that. And Akio would be overjoyed and praise him if not for the situation.

Akio witnessed Aki plunge at the beast, and as the beast attempted to leap away, Aki placed his [Lord’s Blessing] clad palm on the beast’s skin.

““RAAAAAAAWRR~!””

What are you doing!? Get away from it!

Akio gritted her teeth, but she didn’t dare scream, for she could perceive how hard Aki was focusing.

“PLEASE WORK!”

Aki’s roar penetrated Akio’s ears, making her heart jump in worry.

At that moment, Akio saw Aki’s mouth move a little. She couldn’t hear what he had said, and she didn’t have time to contemplate it. For her vision was painted in white, and then immediately in red. She instinctively closed her eyes and covered her head with her hand that wasn’t holding the sword, she could feel something exceedingly warm drench her whole body.

It took a second for the pouring to stop, but Akio, who had above-average exposure to blood for a high-schooler, could immediately tell the nature of the liquid that covered her from top to bottom.

Her heart went cold with terror. Her hands fell to her sides. Her extravagantly beautiful face that had become much prettier after being in the care of [Lord’s Blessing] turned ghastly pale. Her slender hands began trembling, and in about thirty seconds, her entire body was shaking furiously.

“No… No… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

Akio, known to be rather polite and timid, screamed at the top of her lungs. Her vision was blurred by the red-green liquid sliding down from her head to her face.

The shock she received was so severe that she couldn’t even recognize the color of blood. Her grip on the sword in her right hand suddenly tightened. Her grasp was so strong that the hilt, which was supposed to be made from the wood from one of the strongest and long-lived trees in the entire country, cracked under the force of her delicate palm.

Akio threw all caution to the wind and ran forward. She couldn’t see where she was swinging her sword, but she continued to do so as she ran. She was not using [Lord’s Blessing], for it was a process that required concentration and a certain degree of composure. She ran while brandishing a sword weighing more than 2 kilos with her fragile and feminine physique. However, at this moment, she wasn’t sane enough to care for her body.

...

Vinayak and Umi, albeit weaker than Akio, had feelings of concern gnawing away at their composure as they watched Aki walk over to the beast and place his hand on its body. Both of them were at the top in terms of strength in their class, but they couldn’t tell what was occurring at all, they weren’t as sensitive to [Lord’s Blessing] as Akio was after all.

When the blinding light filled their vision, instead of defending himself, Vinayak dropped his sword and ran over to Umi, wrapping her in his arms. Fortunately, nothing damaging happened to Vinayak’s broad back for he just felt a warm liquid soaking him from the back of his head to his calves and feet.

Vinayak maintained his posture, he brought up [Lord’s Blessing] to cover his body in case attacks were to follow. Fortunately, no such thing happened for a couple of seconds, so he released Umi and reached out behind his head to wipe off the warm fluid.

“Is… this…”

It took a second for him to register the color, but as soon as he saw the red blood with hints of green, his healthy brown face went pale. His eyes lost their focus as he turned towards the source of the blinding light. The [Lord’s Blessing] shrouding his body dissipated as he lost concentration.

He was just about to run towards the source of the light when someone tightly gripped his arm from behind and a loud voice penetrated his ears

“It’s not his blood!”

Umi, probably the calmest person around, was initially thrown into disarray because of the blood, however, be it fortunately or unfortunately, her feelings for Aki weren’t nearly as strong as the other two. As such, she could identify the discrepancies in the situation.

“Release my hand! Aki!!”

Vinayak, who was one of the top combatants in the class along with Asahi and Yoshida, was being restrained easily by a woman. This just went to show just how much difference [Lord’s Blessing] could create irrespective of one's raw strength.

“Are you dumb!? Look at the color of the blood! It is not human blood! The density is different, the color has a tinge of green hue, and the temperature is way warmer than human blood.”

Vinayak, after listening to Umi’s explanation, looked at his hand smeared in blood once again.

“You’re right… What happened to Aki then…”

Vinayak asked with an anxious expression.

At that moment, they heard a voice coming from a few meters away.

“No… No… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

...

Aki, who was standing over the unrecognizable corpse of the blood-striped mazen faintly smiled. The body of the beast had completely shredded apart, with blood and lumps of body everywhere. Normally, this scene would make even the most veteran of warriors nauseous enough to throw up, however, Aki didn't have the energy to move his eyes.

“I didn’t die.”

He wanted to chuckle, but he was incapable of doing so.

If it had resisted even a bit there, my [Lord’s Blessing] would've rebounded. I guess overconfidence really does precede carelessness.

Aki, covered in red-green blood from top to bottom, staggered. Human blood flowed out of his nose and mouth, but as he couldn't physically wipe it, the red blood just continued to flow out and blended with the red-green blood of the dead beast.

When a person walks, jumps, or does any bodily movement in general, energy is used up. The more strenuous the movement, the more energy is consumed.

It was the same for channeling [Lord’s Blessing]. As such, building up stamina and raising proficiency in [Lord’s Blessing] were prioritized in order to triumph in a battle of attrition.

Aki, who had pushed himself to the very limit, had run out of energy. He used every last ounce of energy to channel as much [Lord’s Blessing] he physically could. It sucked him dry, and now he resembled someone who hadn’t eaten in weeks.

His skin paled under the mixture of human and beast blood. His consciousness was fading by the second. His legs were trembling. He had already lost any sense of feeling in his arms. Dizziness, thirst, hunger, headache... These were some of the many ailments that assaulted him as recoil for using more [Lord’s Blessing] than his body was capable of. His entire being was in pain, so much pain that his senses had gone numb.

Aki’s head shook a little, he thought that he had heard a scream just now, a scream filled with pain and despair. He wished to find out which of the three this scream belonged to, but the only thing he could do was suffer under the excruciating pain that made him wish for death. He had lost all sense of time, all he had now was his life, he could tell that the very last strand of strength he was using to stand was about to run out.

Ting

The sound of something metallic falling filled the red atmosphere, but Aki, whose knees had finally given out, couldn’t care less.

As he fell, nothing specific was going through Aki’s mind. His final thoughts while falling face-first into the gory corpse of his enemy were.

Fuck, that’s gonna be gross as hell. I hope it doesn't go in my mouth.

He resigned himself to his fate, somewhat relieved knowing that at least his companions would get him out of this bloody hell.

Pomph

Aki couldn’t express it physically as he had lost all control over his body, but he was extremely startled. He was expecting the meaty and bloody ground, but his face had landed in a region of softness and warmth.

“Thank you for surviving…”

These were the final words he heard before losing consciousness.