Revenge for humanity

Drops of rain were falling around as the two kept staring at each other. The weather was getting worse all of a sudden. No wonder, since they were in the rain season on those lands. A happy time for Jasmine, who lived mostly with what they cultivated there, but at that time it just served as a melancholic background to the discussion between two youths.

The pain never left Alice's face as she stared at Ares' swallowed face. The boy was gazing at her eyes as well, making evident all the feelings that were stuck in his heart. Sadness, fury, agony, revolt, disgust, pain... Alice could see every single one of these emotions in the eyes of her friend, which made her get even more hurt.

"Please, don't tell me that you are still planning to--"

"Yes," he interrupted, bruskly. "Yes, I am. You don't need to ask me always the same thing. And take your hands off. I know how to take care of myself, and I know what I want for my life. I have my reasons."

She got flabbergasted while he was brushing off her hands and somehow managing to stand on his feet. He didn't lose any more time looking at her face and walked off step by step. He was clearly limping with his left leg, though he struggled to not let it obvious.

"What!? What are you saying? What reasons do you have exactly to just become a suicidal person, living this shit of life, and getting into arguments every day? Don't you get tired to charge yourself so much? Don't you prefer to seek peace instead of going after vengeance and try to become a hero or whatever you want to become?"

Ares stopped in the same place. His left hand was supporting his body on the wall, preventing him to fall again. That same hand made a fist out of frustration and anger, his jaw became stiff. Nonetheless, he didn't turn to look at his best friend. He didn't want to look at her face again and have memories returning to his mind, nor that she saw the awful expression that he was making now.

The hurtful voice of Ares could be heard even under the rain, which was getting stronger every minute. Their clothes were starting to get very wet.

"It's not just because of becoming a hero of humanity or not, dammit! It's about seeking power! Did you see that thing that attacked us all of a sudden? It just came, did what it wanted to do in some minutes, and then flew away with no consequences at all. Nobody could do anything to stop that Ancient. And there was more out there that can do the same thing over and over again with other humans. How many lives are being lost right now while we talk? Can you ever imagine how painful it is to realize those things!?"

After his shout, Alice went silent. She tried to find the right words to say, because, if she said the wrong thing, it could worsen the situation.

"Humans that are not powerful will be at the mercy of those murderer beasts! Soon or later, they will awake again and start to try to conquer our lands, then we will have nothing to do anymore. The only choice of humanity will be to sacrifice their lives in a battle that they know they won't win, just like my father did!

"That's why I will find a way to get stronger, to have the most overwhelming power that this world has ever seen before. I will find a way to hunt all these monsters and give hope to humanity. I am not trying to avenge my father by killing that Phoenix, only." He punched the wall with his fist and, right after, a clap of thunder could be heard in the distance and a lightning bolt illuminated the gray skies, making Ares' face get grim. "What I will do is take revenge for everything that humans once lost for these monsters: our lands, our resources, our families, our lives... All those things will be in the tip of my sword as a burden that I will carry to get stronger every day!"

Alice was amazed by such a display of determination but also scared with the type of person that Ares was becoming.

"You didn't earn the title of the god of war just to act alike." She spoke in a severe voice.

"I am not acting, Alice. I am!" He began to walk again. "And if I am still not, then I will be, at all costs. I will clean this world again, even if it means that I will need to start a whole war."

Ares disappeared in the thin mist that came with that rain.

Under the rain, Alice watched while her friend walked off. She felt deep inside that they got more distant every time that they met each other in such a situation and Ares nourished those kinds of thoughts on his head.

Currently, the silver-haired girl was feeling that they were several kilometers away already. Alice wondered whenever she realized it, whether they would be able or not to approach again.

...

The next day, a rare event happened. A second consecutive battle was happening in the noon.

Usually, Ares wouldn't fight with the guards for consecutive days. He preferred to let himself rest and heal for some time before he could do it. That's why he just fought them two times per week.

The youth knew how he should deal with his own recovering and energy spent. After all, if he just brawled every day, he wouldn't even have the time or the motivation to train as well. Also, it could get him permanently harmed in the long run.

Sometimes, the guards would be drunk enough to prompt themselves to use weapons, and those days generally were the ones which Ares enjoyed the most. He had just a few opportunities to get his sword skills tested in real sparring those days.

The noisy atmosphere was the same as always. The guards were gathered in a circle, looking at its center and seeing the brawl with amusement. Most of them were drinking, while the others were just eating or having water.

Nevertheless, there was someone who never drunk those days and was sort of Ares' rival. The day before, he could beat the youth until he fell to the ground. However, Ares was tired on that day because he had two other fights before his last one.

Now, he challenged Matteo right away, and to a battle with real swords.

They were staring at each other. Both had killing intent in their eyes, but everyone knew that the battle would stop once they got great harm on their bodies that seemed to be too serious, or when one of them gave up.

Nonetheless, looking at Ares' determined expression, one could say for sure that he wouldn't give up on that fight even if he lost a limb.

Someone threw a glass bottle in the middle of the circle, between Ares and Matteo. The fall lasted some seconds before it touched the ground and broke. In the next moment, both brawlers pushed forward and started their fight.

Their swords swung quickly in the air, drawing perfect circles or straight lines. Their feet moved in synchrony and both seemed to be dancing. Their bodies swiftly avoided the attacks that they delivered on each other, and from time to time their swords would lock in a loud sound that would echo through the main square, where the brawl was taking place that day.

Not just the guards but other people were looking at it. Most of them were rooting for Ares, for their own reasons.

Ares was wielding the sword much more comfortably than before. His muscles began to develop better, and since the folk of Jasmine continued to feed him properly, he had enough nutrients to keep improving his strength.

His technique with the sword was almost flawless. Ares' body acted like a unity. His attacks were sharp and precise. No matter what kind of position he was, or how he needed to move his body, he always could find a way to keep his balance and deliver powerful blows from various angles.

The guard had far more experience than him and was one of the most prestigious and skillful of the county's guards. He was not one of the highest-ranked warriors, but soon he would be for sure.

However, his attacks seemed to be too slow or predictable, since none of them were even scratching the boy in front of him. Also, he was out of breath because of the pressure that Ares was applying. That brat could move his sword with brutality and grace at the same time and he always aimed for vital points or blind spots.

Matteo delivered a powerful horizontal swing while Ares seemed to lose balance on his pivot foot after an unsuccessful attack of his own.

He was sure that it would land. But it didn't.

All the time, Ares followed Matteo's blade with his eyes. It made him move his body in advance, bending his knees and waving his head backward. The blade passed right above him.

'This... This brat! Does he can think this fast while fighting!?' Matteo thought, perplexed.

Ares regained easily his balance, posing his sword forward and staring at Matteo without even blinking.