Arc 2 Chapter 2- Realization

Kyosuke looked down at the plate he had been washing, fear went through his mind.

-What the hell? D-did I die? There’s no way I could have died, I passed the trial!

Kyosuke’s mind wasn’t made up, he thought for a fact that after the trial, his hardships would be done and people would stop trying to kill him, but, it seems that he has new trouble ahead of him, something dangerous enough to kill Kyosuke without even needing to be seen.

“Kyosuke? Are you alright, you’ve been staring at that plate for more than a minute now, are you sure you don’t drink?”

The tavern owner was quite worried at the fact Kyosuke wasn’t being himself. Kyosuke found the job in the first place because the tavern owner was friends with Edwin before he passed.

“Yeah, I’m fine Senka, I just wanna ask if that adventurer could come to escort me to my house tonight.”

Senka was the name of the Tavern owner, Kyosuke and Senka have gotten close over the last three days and Senka considers Kyosuke “the son he never had”.

Kyosuke pointed over at the adventurer that had told him stories of slaying dragons, knowing that he was powerful enough to do that, he eventually dared to ask for help.

“Oh, you need help from me? Well kid it’s your lucky day, I’m feeling quite generous so I’ll give you a discount, how does five hundred Dekadrachm sound?”

The man had a scandalous look on his face and Kyosuke had finally put this guy in the “bad person” zone, he knew that he was just exploiting him for easy cash but decided that it was better than dying.

“Fine, take it, but you better keep me safe.”

Kyosuke said this in the hopes it would scare the guy into showing his true colors, sadly it didn’t work and the guy just chuckled. Even though Kyosuke wanted to scare the guy, he didn’t want him to die, so he put all of his trust into the guy hoping that he was a great adventurer.

“Alright kid, let’s head on our way!”

Kyosuke stopped and asked the man a simple question.

“What’s your name?”

The man looked down at Kyosuke and sighed showing his boredom with the formalness of Kyosuke, he was an adventurer, after all, names seemed like the last thing you’d tell to the cargo you’re supposed to be protecting.

“The name’s Ken, don’t forget it, kid.”

Ken seemed more serious than before like he wasn’t himself anymore and he knew what troubles lay ahead. Kyosuke started to get the feeling that he wasn’t a poser after all and if he was he was damn good at hiding it.

The two made their way to the path heading back to Kyosuke’s home, nearing the point where Kyosuke had last died. He made sure to check the trees and bushes for any distortions of color.

“Hey, kid, what’s your story?”

Kyosuke looked confused, he didn’t know exactly how to answer the question, since he’s never really told anyone what’s happened to him. When he tried to tell Adal and Edwin about his death he was censored by the gods. Kyosuke, looking to finally tell someone his story, started to speak.

“Well, my name is Kyosuke Matsuda, I’m sixteen years old and I’m not really from this country. It may sound crazy but I’m not even really from this world either.”

Ken looked at Kyosuke with an intriguing glare, it seemed that he could understand Kyosuke up to this point.

“I’m not really sure how I got here, but I did out of luck. It’s funny actually when I originally came here I was sent to prison almost immediately, scheduled to be executed. I was able to squirm my way around it by escaping with a funny-looking elf named Adal, he’s probably hundreds of years old and I don’t even know, haha.”

Kyosuke started to laugh a bit, tears at the side of his eyes.

“I met an old man named Edwin, he was the king of that kingdom I was trapped in, one that cared for everyone, even the prisoners. I took his daughter out to go shopping after being saved by him.”

Snot began to clog up Kyosuke’s nose and the tears began to come down his face.

“I was too late… After I saw a family grieve over their child who was still in a burning building, I went to save him. I knocked down the door when I thought I heard him, but in reality, the only voice I was hearing was him screaming as he burned to death, he didn’t even have skin.”

“In the end, I watched two lives leave their husks that day, Edwins, and that boy.”

Ken stared at Kyosuke, he knew the pain of losing someone he cared about since he too has lost many friends on his journeys.

“If it makes you feel any better kid, losing someone is a part of the journey, you’ll have to deal with that sometimes and you can’t let your emotions get the better of you, because that will be your downfall.”

Kyosuke cleared his eyes and nose, he looked at Ken with a new form of respect, he no longer saw Ken as this scam artist trying to make a quick buck, but more of an adventurer who’s seen one too many people die.

“If you want to save everyone, you have to get stronger, go to a magic school for all I care, but you need to do it.”

Ken spoke these words of wisdom before Kyosuke replied with something that Ken found funny.

“You know the adventure school in Charpel? I wanted to go there and learn all of the cool magic and sword fighting techniques!”

Ken’s face lit up, he began to laugh, not at Kyosuke but at the fact that they were so similar.

“You know kid, that’s someplace I wanted to go when I was a kid too! But for further advice, it’s called Mutien Academy and they don’t let just any people go, you have to have a skill no other person has, that means even having the most advanced water, fire, or air magic won’t help you. You’re going to need something big to win those tuff bastards over!”

The two laughed as their bond grew stronger, Kyosuke had finally gained some trust from Ken by showing his want for strength to save the ones he cares about.

Kyosuke stopped laughing as he felt the air around him get denser, coldness started to enter Kyosuke’s lungs as he began frantically looking around.

-Where, where, where the hell is that thing!

Ken stood silent and slowed down to a stop, he closed his eyes and put a finger to his head, “Sentora!” Kyosuke noticed waves appear from his head, Ken was using sensory magic to locate the hidden person.

“KYOSUKE, DUCK!”

Kyosuke slammed his head to the ground right as an ax was thrown at his head, the blade smashed into the ground digging itself deep into the soil.

“Damn, looks like you two idiots were able to sense me!”

A familiar voice shouted its way out from the trees, hidden in the darkness was a silhouette vibrating an arrogant voice.

“Who the hell are you and why are you trying to kill me?! I don’t even know who you are.”

The man started to laugh at this sentence formed by Kyosuke, it sounded like a laugh of pure enjoyment for what was about to happen next, the world went silent and the voice spoke.

“So you asked for a little guard after dying the first time huh? How pathetic of you Kyosuke Matsuda, how the hell will you ever be an adventurer, HUH?!”

Ken and Kyosuke stopped in fear, Ken looked over at Kyosuke with confusion in his eyes. Ken was asking Kyosuke if he knew this guy just from his look.

“H-How the hell do you know my name?”

Kyosuke was able to mutter these words after staying silent for so long, the world around them stood silent, not even a cricket made a noise, the world was truly dead.

“Come on Kyosuke, don’t you want to know how I know you’ve been dying?”

Kyosuke didn’t even think of that, how did this kid know of his deaths and why did he bring it up now.

Ken looked at Kyosuke confused since he couldn’t understand, Ken never learned the language of the gods so even hearing that was enough to creep him out.

“This red-haired man with you, I assume he doesn’t understand the language of the gods? He seems to be quite freaked out, are you sure he can even stand a chance against me?”

Ken finally heard some words he could understand, the language of the gods may have seemed like a wild stretch to him but protecting Kyosuke was the only goal on his mind, he was paid after all.

“Kyosuke, run.”

Ken asked Kyosuke to run out of desperation to save a single person.

“But-”

Kyosuke muttered before Ken screamed.

“I SAID RUN GODDAMMIT!”

Kyosuke understood Ken and began to run away, the cold air slowly left as he got further, without looking behind him, Kyosuke could hear the sound of metal smashing together.

-DAMMIT! WHY CAN’T I BE STRONGER, WHY DO I HAVE TO RELY ON EVERYONE ELSE TO SAVE MY USELESS ASS!

He began running harder, trying to think how that person knew of not only his name but his deaths. The world inside Kyosuke’s head began to shatter and he started to laugh, he needed to take out some tension that he’s kept up for the last two weeks. This hell of a life, one where he’s so used to dying that now it comes naturally, it was fair.

-Dammit I need to speed up, I still have another damn mile to go! Think Kyosuke, THINK!

The fresh thought of a spell came into Kyosuke’s head, one he had never used before.

“What was it, Atonus? Adtonus? Oh, that’s right it was… ADTONITUS!”

Kyosuke’s world went into slow motion as the world went brighter than the sun, in an instant, Kyosuke teleported what felt like half a mile ahead, it wasn’t perfect and he couldn't get the distance right, but he had used his first spell and on his first try!

He kept running, he kept hoping that Ken would show up any minute now, Kyosuke’s breath began to get hot as the adrenaline in his body was slowly being removed.

*SLAM*

Teleporting into Kyosuke in an instant was Ken, without speaking a word Ken picked up Kyosuke and began to run with him in his arms.

“What the hell happened back there?”

Kyosuke asked this while also knowing the answer since Ken grabbed Kyosuke so fast, he knew that for a fact he was going to receive bad news.

“I think I lost him, I’m taking you back to your home and you are to stay there until this monster is DEAD.”

Kyosuke and Ken saw the silhouette of Kyosuke’s house, their hell was almost over and they would be able to hide there while they contacted the correct reinforcements.

Ai and Adal were outside waiting on the porch for Kyosuke to come back home when they noticed him being cradled like a baby.

-NOT IN FRONT OF AI PLEASE!

Ken and Kyosuke made it back to the house where Adal and Ai waited, they both looked concerned about what was happening, they had been waiting so long that this level of pressure was starting to get their blood pumping.

“You thought you could escape me, Bratorm!”

A bolt of lightning shot out of the air striking Ken in the back, luckily, a magic backplate protected him from any real harm. They all looked down the street to see a black shadow slowly walking towards them.

They hoped that the closer it got the more detail its face would show but no, the face showed no detail whatsoever. An even darker shadow covered the face of the man who was hiding from the group.

“Who the heck are you?!”

Adal wasn’t very tough in terms of guts but he wasn’t someone you wanted to anger.

“Poor Adal, I know someone a lot like you in fact, but he’s a little darker. If you want to meet him someday, just give me a call.”

An evil laugh came out of the mysterious shadows area, he was mocking them, he knew how much more powerful he was than them, they were nothing but pawns in this game of chess.

-I can’t be weak anymore, I can’t let them hurt my friends!

Kyosuke got up, he stepped in front of the group and drew his sword, he hadn't got to use it yet, and since he was frozen to death last time he saw no use in taking it out then.

“I want to be the one to take this guy down, he knows something that I want answers to, and only I can get these answers.”

They all looked nervous, Kyosuke wasn’t strong by any means, he knew no offensive magic or sword styles, he was practically a normal boy with unknown powers that he couldn’t use on-demand.

“Kyosuke’s stepping up first? Well, I’ll make this one quick and then you’ll have to try again next time.”

The voice mocked Kyosuke’s spirit, this did not sit well with Kyosuke, so on the count of three in his head, he ran towards the fight, he wanted to make his first win, one that would be sent down for generations in this town.

Kyosuke was dodging and weaving the various spells that had been cast his way, it felt like the world was moving in slow motion and no matter what came at him, he was able to defend against it.

“So it’s like that huh? TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE!”

Just then the figure shot a bolt of lightning, hitting Ai and electrocuting her to near death, her body twitched and she started to lock up in a seizure. Ken ran over to Ai giving her medical attention.

Kyosuke looked back in horror, he saw someone he cared about getting shocked to near death, the life of a friend was precious to Kyosuke, he never had many friends thanks to his quirks, but he learned that people didn’t hate him, Kyosuke came to find that out the hard way.

“You bastard, you sick, diluted BASTARD! ADTONITUS!”

Lights flashed around as Kyosuke teleported right behind the figure, right as he got behind him though, he felt a dark aura, one of familiarity. This caught Kyosuke off guard giving the figure enough time to smash Kyosuke’s face in with an unknown blunt object.

Blood, shot from Kyosuke's mouth and blood started to drip down his head into his eye. Kyosuke's hair soaked the blood up to the point where it looked like his hair turned pink.

Adal looked in fear, he saw his friends getting injured around him while he was too scared to even move, he clenched his fists. Adal wanted to help.

“STOP!”

Adal screamed, the air around them again went silent. The figure looked away from Kyosuke and to Adal.

“So you want to fight, is that right? Well, this might be fun!”

Adal rushed towards the figure throwing wind magic toward him, he wasn’t able to dodge as easily as Kyosuke though which made him get hit by multiple wind blades, they were not big enough to bring Adal down though.

Adal began to remember what Kyosuke had said to him on the day he saved him and how he needed to get over the past, something that he didn’t even know happened, and there is nothing he could do to fix it.

A green aura began to form around Adal as he moved closer, his hair grew lighter in shade and he began to speed up.

The figure started to tense up, the power coming off of Adal was powerful and it scared the man. Even though Ken and Adal couldn’t see his body, they knew he was scared.

“Haha, just kidding!”

The figure teleported behind Adal and sent dark magic straight into his head, Adal’s green aura left his body and everything about him turned back to its original state.

“What the hell did you do to him you son of a bitch!”

Ken shouted while looking away from Ai, he had healed her a bit using the little amount of healing magic he was taught as a kid. The figure looked at Ken and laughed, Ken knew what was about to happen, but with healing Ai and using all the magic he could trying to escape the figure the first time, he knew that fighting wasn’t an option.

Kyosuke’s eyes began to open, he saw Adal lying a few meters from him, he looked up to Ken with tears in his eyes. Kyosuke saw the look of true horror on Ken's face, it was the look of giving up, even a strong adventurer knows when to give up.

The figure lifted Ken into the air slowly crushing his windpipes, Ken tried to use magic but his mana reserves were empty.

The tears in Kyosuke’s eyes grew larger, he was so weak, he knew he couldn’t help anyone.

“Why… Why am I so weak, why can’t I save anyone! Dammit… Why can’t I be stronger? Please go-... Who am I kidding, you’re not listening are you? If you are, send my angel parent my way, I don’t know if it’s my mom or dad but I need to help my friends, I need strength…”

Kyosuke began to laugh, the pressure of watching Ken slowly die while his friends who were also close to death lay just meters away.

The laughing began to grow more intense, it made the figure turn around with curiosity, Kyosuke started to yell while laughing.

“DAMMIT AHAH WHY CAN’T I AHAH STOP LAUGHING HAHA!”

The laughter turned into crying as Kyosuke slowly got up from the ground, the grip on Ken slowly let loose and he fell to the ground coughing.

Kyosuke looked at the figure with pure hatred, he couldn’t stand looking at him anymore, he wanted him to leave him and his friends alone. An evil aura started to surround Kyosuke before, he heard them.

Kyosuke’s head started to fill with words, words of encouragement. These words sounded familiar like he remembers these from a time not too long ago.

“Is he a boy or a girl?”

A mysterious female voice asked this question in his head.

“A BOY! BY THE GO- EHEM, sorry Hunny.”

-A man and a woman? Who are they talking about, why is this in my head?

“What should we name him dear?”

Even though Kyosuke couldn’t see them, he knew they were smiling while looking down at this baby.

“How about…”

The female voice stopped to think about the answer, whatever they named the baby was the final name the boy would have for the rest of his days. The female's voice finally spoke up.

“How about Kyosuke.”