Moved by wrath

Ares was lying on the bed of the guard's break room. He was trying to sleep, but couldn't do so as he was too restless. He tried his best to relax, but couldn't.

Contrary to what Ares thought before, that room wasn't the place where Giovani and Donovan spent their nights and days off. They had their own assessments built inside the fortress. That room was used just in their breaks or right after their shifts ended as a way to rest their bones before beginning their routines again.

It was a cozy place to be. The bed wasn't the best that Ares ever slept but was good enough for his body to recover, way better than sleeping on the ground or om top of trees.

Ares was still pondering about what both those guards said to him. He needed to admit that there was truth behind their words. They weren't trying to deceive him at all, neither they did have the motivation to do so.

'I couldn't see malice behind their words, but I thought at the moment that they were exaggerating a lot. But... what if they aren't? Should I really keep going on this path? But what can I do right now? I already trained my entire life for this and I am willing to train even more to become what I ever wanted to be.'

The boy had his morals and ideals questioned a lot of times. However, he wasn't talking with peasants or with his parents right now, but with experienced people that knew what they were talking about, lived that life of risk and struggled every single day. They knew the pain of being there in that fortress while waiting for the upcoming attack of something that was clearly way stronger than them.

'After I cross these walls separating me from Stokil Fortress, I will be going to a point of no return. I will be engaged with the military forces completely. That is, if they accept me as a novice.'

Ares was facing a stage in his life where he would let his objectives dominate him completely or then let go of that pretentious self of his and come back to Jasmine.

Giovani and Donovan gave him that choice, and although he didn't want to hear them nor did he ask for that, he needed to thank them for allowing him to think about it.

Ares tried to be truthful and reasonable to himself, but always when he tried to think rationally, that wild wrath appeared again, burning in his heart, traveling across his body and opening numerous wounds.

The image of his father being killed in front of him was still clear in his mind, and so was the death of his grandfather.

"Damn it! Why do I have to think about this matter!? Since when do I care about what society thinks about me? Since when am I worried about burdens and responsibilities!? To hell with all of it! To hell with those arguments as well! I want everyone to get out of my freaking way already!" He clenched his left fist tightly and delivered a punch on the wall as he got up from the bed.

He continued to punch the wall until all his frustration was vented.

Ares was panting hard and his body began to get achy again, those effects just got him more stressed.

"My only objective since the start was to kill the Ancients and prevent that things like the attack on Jasmine don't happen again. Also, that Phoenix is still outside, wandering as it pleases and destroying the lives of more people!

"I don't care about anything that they pointed as long as I can exterminate these beings from this world once and for all!

"Those guys... they seem to be good people, but they will never understand. They will never know how it is to see their extraordinary best friend getting crippled, their family getting executed, and their folk getting homeless and helpless. That's something unforgivable, and there is no burden that I cannot carry while these feelings are still burning inside my heart! Everyone used to say that this hatred of mine was unbecoming, but it will be the scythe that will reap the impurities of this world!"

While Ares cursed and swore out loud inside that room, someone heard what he was saying on the other side of the door.

'They said that he was an interesting kid... For me, he is just a traumatized brat. I am disappointed. Anyway, let's see how far his frustrations will get him. For some reason, I feel like someone with this distorted will, fed by anger and melancholy, will do a good job when working with us,' that person thought as they walked away from the break room of the guards.

The break room was an annex built inside the walls of the fortress. Some corridors away was the exit from that place. That was the way that the occult figure went.

Once that person left the insides of the walls and got inside the fortress, Giovani and Donovan appeared. They seemed to be a bit apprehensive.

"I saw the brat that you brought to my fortress. He seems to have not even a bit of discipline, nor potential. He is a kid blinded by fury and moved by his traumas. He is useless in this form that he is shaping himself right now," a feminine voice muttered to them, narrowing her eyes towards the two guards.

Giovani and Donovan nodded to her.

"Can he, at least, settle here until he can recover and go back to his home?" Giovani asked.

"No. I know that you two are good people, but this place isn't an orphanage or a refuge. If he wants to stay here, he will need to work, I just don't see him as a potential worker that will be worth the risk," she frankly said. That person was way too straightforward, but it was her duty to be like that.

Giovani and Donovan lowered their heads. They had a lot of empathy for the boy because of something that happened in their past, but it was of no use if the Captain didn't have a good impression of him.

Seeing their reactions, she just sighed.

"Bring him to the dormitories tomorrow, though. Let's see if he has the guts to go through our test. If he passes, then I will think about it."